Slum Summer’s rhythmic butt massage soundtrack

Guitarist/singer/songwriter Hugh Noble came to San Diego from the UK in 2014. Over the past eight years of gigging with his band Slum Summer (new album Living in Milk out now), he’s delineated the highs, lows, and weirds of local gigging. “Best: our last show, on June 4th, at the Tower Bar, with The Fictitious Dishes and Wicked Echoes. This was on my birthday, at my favorite bar, with lots of my favorite people. And miraculously, I didn’t drink too much, at least not before playing the show! Worst: The City Pub, in 2018, with a ‘bluegrass’ duo I won’t name. They played for three hours, and we couldn’t leave because our kit was still on the stage. Read the room. Oddest: we loved playing ‘Bed Club’ at the Sleep Bedder mattress store in North Park. We got into our pajamas, set up the light show, and played our set as the incense burned and an enterprising young businesswoman offered rhythmic butt massages to anyone bold enough to try.”

Lineups have shifted, but nowadays, says Noble, “On drums we have D.J. ‘The Bad Dog’ Anderson; on lead guitar and backing vocals, Jen ‘Booze Balls’ Edwards; and on bass guitar, the band’s newest addition, Gedeon ‘Nickname Pending’ Deák. We found each other through Craigslist, which is a testament to our ability to sift through crap, avoid dick pics, and write and read sentences that follow the basic rules of spelling, punctuation, and grammar.”

Now that the lineup is firmed up, he says they’re ready for the future. “We want to keep playing more shows around San Diego, both the city and the county, and are always up for playing weird, non-traditional venues, like mattress stores, house shows, art spaces, etc. We would also like to get further afield for some shows, even if it’s just to LA and TJ.”