Top 10 things I liked about 2011

My favorite parts of this past year.


10. Occupy Wall Street

9. I bought a scooter and am now in a very serious relationship with it.

8. I got paid to drive to the following place: San Francisco, Portland, Chicago and New York.

7. At one show I got to see Wire In The Walls, Moostache, AND Genius And The Thieves! (In San Francisco!)

6. I got a car... for free! Seriously, how did that happen?

5. Was introduced into the world of owning a smart phone.

4. Recorded a record with some of my favorite musicians. 

3. Started working at a PR firm that I really like.

2. Moved to LA with Scotty Cantino.

1. Grew a mustache... TWICE!

Honorable mention: Francisco The Man and Yellow Red Sparks playing at The Silverlake Lounge on my birthday. RAD.

The Library

Have you ever sat in front of a blank screen, waiting to write something profound but it doesn't happen? Nothing comes out... nothing inspires you... and you feel slightly stupid because of it?

Well that's never happened to me. 

So here it is, my profound thought for the day.

The number 1 most stolen book from public libraries is the Bible.

Let that sink in for a moment. Is that beautiful or completely shameful? Who steals a bible?

"Thou shall not steal." Right? I mean it says it in the book you're stealing. Then again... if you're stealing a bible then you're probably going to read it. Once you read that commandment you might want to donate that book back to your local library.

Or maybe the Devil is stealing them so people can't read them! And they are forced to go out and BUY one, thus perpetuating a demand and pumping life into this completely topsy turvy capitalist economic system of ours. The Devil must be pro-american too... just like God.

The end.

Los Angeles

So after years of always saying I would NEVER move to Los Angeles I did... Yup. I am now an official resident of the most populated city in California. Roughly 3,792,621... plus me. (By the way, while looking that last number up I found out my hometown of Anaheim is number 10. Which means that all the cities I've lived in are in the top 10! Booya!) My home base is now a sparsely furnished apartment in Silver Lake, right off of Sunset and near a bunch of interesting cafes, bars, restaurants, and boutiques. Despite it's reputation of being a hipster hangout the entire area got a little less cool since I took up an address here. I am pretty happy I can walk to not one but both The Silverlake Lounge, AND The Satellite. Not to mention I got the hook up at The Music Box and maybe if I ask nicely, Ocean Way Recording Studios.

So how did I get here? Well about 6 months ago I started working in Hollywood at a place called Bandago. It's a company that rents tour ready vehicles to touring artists. You may be wondering "Kyle, which artists... Come on tell me which ones?!?!" Well, I'll tell you. They've rented to some of my favorite bands... Rx Bandits, Saves The Day, Beirut, and bands I don't love so much like Sum 41, Peter, Bjorn, and John, and a slew of other bands I know nothing about but are probably very decent. This job allowed me to drive all over this fine country of ours in vans that are equipped with outlets to charge laptops, cell phones, provide wireless internet access, play CDs, iPods and iPhones, and still store all your band gear. Because of this awesome job I was able to visit places like New York city, Chicago, Salt Lake city, Portland, San Francisco, San Diego, and even North Platte Nebraska.

So wait... why did I move here? Well, cause when you work in LA but live elsewhere you have two somewhat crappy options... Drive (I'd rather cut off my right foot) or take the train (at least I can sleep at the same time.) I did the whole train thing for a while... 4 months or so. After some time it became clear that if I was going to be making a living in LA and living in Anaheim I wouldn't really feel like I was actually living at all. It just took too much time out of the day. Not like I have a wife and kids to consider. So I packed up my bag and moved into Garrett Sadlers living room where every night I hand pumped an air mattress up till it was about to pop and dreamt of my own apartment. At the same time I was doing that and saving money up, my future roommate Scotty Cantino was feverishly looking for a new home. I lucked out because his watchful Craigslist eye found a very decent, exceptionally located 2 bedroom in Silver Lake. After a non-confrontational price negotiation with our landlord we landed this sweet pad for less than asking, and an installation of blinds for the windows. Yep, we're just that good. So we've been here for a month now... since August 15th and the place looks like two guys are still moving in. It's on its way though to becoming the coolest apartment that has ever occupied this address.

Since then I have actually been offered a new job working for a PR firm in Hollywood called Wagstaff Worldwide. I took this opportunity despite still enjoying my current position at Bandago. You may wonder "Why Kyle? WHY?!" Well, for many reasons but I won't bore you with them here. I'll just say that I think it will be a growing experience personally and professionally and in the long run a very positive decision.

So after many years of working my damn ass off in Anaheim I have moved up only to work my damn ass off in Los Angeles, but I'm glad to do it. So many thanks to my friends and my family for helping me even if you didn't always agree with what I was doing. Too many people to list but I've got you written down in my heart and I love all of you.

More updates to come, probably about music and not so much my boring life updates. But if you're having trouble falling asleep feel free to read this over again.      

Tales Of Moron

I need to get this blog up and running again.  For reals.  I will.

Tales From The OC Music Awards

The Academy Awards aired Sunday March 7th, and the red carpet was abuzz with celebrities, media, and high fashion. The most talented people in the industry gathered to pat each other on the back and say "job well done babe!"

But seriously... who cares! We had our own awards show the night earlier!!! And our red carpet was abuzz with some of Orange County's most talented musicians, industry professional, and friends. Oh yeah, a lot of interesting fashion as well.

The OCMA really kicked off on January 5th with the start of the season's showcase series. The first of which was at Detroit Bar featuring Kiev, Melanoid, Yellow Red Sparks, The Union Line, and Make Moon. Through out the next 2 months 7 showcases, split between the Live Band Showcases and the Live Acoustic Showcases took up every one of my Tuesday evenings. This year was a GREAT year for the showcases. Record attendance numbers, energetic and passionate performances, and some of the best venues in Orange County playing host made these showcases a success! Creating the buzz leading up to last Saturdays Awards at The Grove of Anaheim. The bands playing the showcases were actually playing for a nomination spot in the Best Live Band, and Best live Acoustic categories at the OCMA. Of course plenty of acts didn't make it to the finals showcases, so I just wanted to quickly choose a couple performances that I thought were worth highlighting.

Make Moon: The last band to play the first night of the OCMA Showcase series, and as usual they put on an epic performance. When watching Make Moon you can sometimes feel as if you are being transported sonically to a different place and time. It's psychedelic fun for the whole family, if your whole family does acid.

Barrett Johnson: The first night of the Acoustic Showcase series and Barrett Johnson captured everyone's ears and probably most of their hearts with his touching portraits of love, life, loss, and redemption. Needless to say, I cry when I listen to Barrett Johnson, but isn't music supposed to hit you that hard? The answer is YES.

Handsome G: I've seen Handsome G many times before and their set at The Continental Room was the perfect start to such an amazing night. Their blend of rock, pop, country, and fun makes them stand out on a bill usually soaked in take-yourself-too-seriously-indie bands.

Kurt Hunter: The talent Kurt Hunter possesses is amazing. I am convinced that Kurt could write just about any song for any occasion or mood. His vocal range is great and his presence on stage is charming. His set at the Gypsy Den only made me want to see him on a bigger stage.

Moostache: Opening up at this years only all ages venue until the finals you could see Moostache was in control from the start. To look around and see kids getting excited for a local band with such energetic performances and humor, but also sincerity makes me excited for the future, and excited for Moostache's future.

Parker Macy Blues: To see Parker Macy for the first time is somewhat of an experience. The soul, depth, and conviction with which Parker plays with can catch you off guard, especially since you wouldn't expect someone so young to play so powerfully. It's one thing to sound big when you're in a band with all those instruments, it's much more impressive when you can achieve the same thing when it's just you and your guitar taking on the world alone, and Parker Macy Blues does just that.

The New Limb: There is always a lot of talk going on about The New Limb, and it's well deserved! People love them! In the past few months I've started to see them more than just a really good indie band. I see them as a really good experimental band. Their sound has become this great balance between indie rock, pop, and experimental. That element I've often felt was there, but lately it seems they have started to embrace it a little more. You could see it in their set at The Gypsy Den on the last night of the Showcase series (not including the finals.) Hey, New Limb... EMBRACE THE EXPERIMENTAL! WE LOVE IT!

All these showcase led up to the last 2 final shows. The Live Acoustic finals included Stacy Clark, I Hate You Just Kidding, Mike Vitale, Marc B Music, and Billy Kernkamp. Kernkamp played an amazing set at the downtown Santa Ana venue, The Yost Theater. This earned him 4 days recording time at Red Bull Studios, 2,500 bucks from Fender, and a spot to play the OCMA at The Grove! The Live Band Showcase was equally exciting with performances from some of my favorite Orange County bands, including The Steelwells, BLOK, The Union Line, The Colourist, and Dusty Rhodes and The River Band! Dusty Rhodes won the title of best live band, as well as 4 days recording time at Red Bull Studios, 2,500 bucks from Fender and of course a slot to play the OCMA! Both Dusty Rhodes and Billy Kernkamp deserved their respective achievements but to me, the showcases and the awards aren't about the winning aspect or competition. It does something much more valuable. It brings people, music, and musicians together. It provides the opportunity for everyone to get to know each other a little bit better and makes the entire music scene in Orange County a little more cohesive and accepting. I think that is the real value in something like this.

But finally I'll get to the actual awards themselves!

The OC Music Awards in all manners and respects takes itself seriously as an awards presentation, event, show, whatever you wanna call it.  but the mood of it all is more of a party.  It's laid back, packed full of the best entertainment in Orange County, dare I say the entire west coast, and a ridiculous amount of fun!  Live performances included BLOK, Melanoid, The Steelwells, Dusty Rhodes and The River Band, The Dirty Heads, Lit, and Billy Kernkamp!  The nights all around winners were Dusty Rhodes, taking home 3 awards Best Live, Best Rock and Best Country/Americana.  Most of the winners were artists that have not yet experienced great commercial success, but are pushing the creative envelope forward.  Bands like BLOK, winning for Best Hip Hop, The New Limb, winning for Best Indie, and The Steelwells winning for Best Song - "El Capitan" and Best New Artist!  Artists like Atreyu, Thrice, and The Adolescents took home some big awards as well.  Atreyu for Best Metal, The Adolescents for Best Punk and Thrice with the notable Best Album for "Beggars." 

In execution the OC Music Awards were spectacular.  The performances were amazing, the artists enthusiasm and sense of unity felt within The Grove was inspiring.  It was a great night for Orange County music, with much of the credit going to Luke Allen and Ashley Eckenweiler.  This little team has managed to up the ante since they started working together on the OCMA last year.  Check out the complete list of winners below and check out all the bands nominated at www.ocmusicawards.com. 

Best album – Beggars, Thrice
Best song – “El Capitan,” the Steelwells
Best new artist – The Steelwells
Best rock – Dusty Rhodes and the River Band
Best country/Americana – Dusty Rhodes and the River Band
Best live band – Dusty Rhodes and the River Band
Best acoustic – Billy Kernkamp
Best folk – Yellow Red Sparks
Best punk – The Adolescents
Best indie – The New Limb
Best alternative – Stereofix
Best metal – Ateryu
Best hip-hop – Blok
Best pop – Stacy Clark
Best electronic – Electric Valentine
Best blues – Roman Alexander and the Robbery
Best surf – The Growlers
Best jazz – Translucent Ham Sandwich Band
Best world – The Dirty Heads
Best Latin – Boogaloo Assassins
People’s Choice Award – Duress
Lifetime Achievement Award – Jim Washburn    

The Cute, Polite, and Pleasent Mob!

There are a lot of indie bands in the Orange County music scene at the moment, and to stand out from the newest, coolest, hippest thing since last weeks show at Avalon is respectable if not down right amazing at this point.  One band among the ranks of musicians playing here that I can almost guarantee will impress you, or at the very least get your attention during their live set is Matt Kollar and the Angry Mob.  With the energy of a toddler drinking red bull, and the playfulness of... well, a toddler drinking red bull Kollar and Mob display true showmanship with a dancing line of tambourine ready back up vocalists, floating harmonies, and the sweetest of melodies!

Kollar and Mob have a fiercely entertaining live performance, but now they also have an equally pleasurable 6 song EP called "She Changes Face."  From the bluesy rock n' roll of "409 Blues," to softly composed indie efforts like one of my favorites "To The Night" this EP won't get old anytime soon.  It has moments where I feel like I'm listening to Chuck Berry like when it gets wild on "409 Blues" but then relaxes on songs like "Carry The Light" and the listener can hear the vocals of Matt Kollar and Elizabeth Messick dance around each other.  The two voices remind me of a couple of my favorite artists, one of which being Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley ("To The Night" sounds like it could have been on the first Rilo record) and Tom Waits... pre swallowing hot coals and drinking broken glass.


All this adds up to a great record, and a band that in my opinion sticks out when compared to their peers.  The next chance you get go see Matt Kollar and the Angry Mob, and get their new CD "She Changes Face."  You'll be happy you did!

Opialet, New EP by We Are The Pilots

Here are some videos of how we "record" an EP.  We're getting pretty excited!





We are weird.