Musician Interviews
“I had so much fun jumping around in the crowd, I nearly lost consciousness twice.”
When J Mascis, Dinosaur Jr. frontman, was preparing to record his new solo album, Tied to a Star, released on August 26, he searched for musicians capable of not only singing backup vocals but people …
“He wanted to stay around Southern California, you know he never ventured into New York. That’s where you’ve got to go to get an international reputation. Had he been exposed to a larger audience, he …
“I found a dead body in the doorway. It was gone in the morning, and no one believed me.”
When San Diego musician Kamau Kenyatta learned that his protégé Gregory Porter had won Best Jazz Vocal Album at the 2014 Grammy Awards for Liquid Spirits (an album Kenyatta produced), he was momentarily indisposed: “I …
“I’d like to be like Edith Piaf and say, ‘Je ne regrette rien,’ but that wouldn’t really hit the mark.”
“It would be weird having my grating, aggravating-sounding voice on ‘Here Comes Your Man.’ It would be really awkward.”
“I usually am backstage furiously learning something before I walk on.”
Forged in the horror of the Kent State shootings, bolstered with bracing irony and a handful of religious and pseudoscientific screeds, Devo (short for “de-evolution”) took showmanship, synthesizers, and science fiction to the masses. They’re …
Back from a lengthy hiatus from the local music scene is Grant Reinero with a new band, a goth-pop trio he calls Stewardess. Reinero seems intent on making up for lost time: “Stewardess has played …
The Donkeys started in 2004 with Timothy DeNardo, Jessie Gulati, Anthony Lukens, and Sam Sprague. DeNardo explains that the band shared a small Mission Gorge rehearsal space with three other bands that eventually went away. …
“My live show is a one-woman act of sorts,” says electro-opera singer-songwriter Trish Hosein, aka Trishes. “It includes beat-boxing, vocal looping and effects, and keyboard synth hooks that showcase indie-pop tunes. I think these layers …
Former TV star (Drake & Josh, filmed in San Diego)–turned–plunking tunester Drake Bell has a new persona ready to spit-shine: rockabilly boogie! He took some questions from the Reader over email. What are your memories …
“Most of my songs consist of simple lyrical concepts in the form of a melodic pop song, broken down with raw, acoustic production,” says soulful troubadour Lee Coulter. “Then I like to change it up …
“Move to San Diego as soon as possible, and don’t waste your time anywhere else.”
While he has released some ten albums, appeared in a handful of movies, had years of MTV exposure and tons of radio airplay for his novelty hits (“Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love …