SIRIA: WHAT I LISTENED TO IN JUNE
Alright, this month I listened to an overwhelming amount of music. I was less discriminating than ever. My motto seemed to be if it’s music, throw it at me. Alternative, Country, Dance/Electro, Grunge, New Wave, Power Pop, Punk, Rap/Hip Hop, Soul, etc. Genre? Didn’t matter. Obscure or well known? Didn’t matter. If it was music I wanted to hear it. I didn’t end up in a fetal position with the sweats and shakes, but I might’ve overloaded on it just a bit as by the end of the month all I wanted to hear was Alex Chilton. Unfortunately, I can’t list everything I listened to so you’re getting a list of songs that got stuck in my head. However, soon enough you’ll all know the reason why I subjected myself to the music of hundreds and hundreds of music artists this month.
Marvelous Toy – “The City is a Washing Machine”
I love this song by local artist Marvelous Toy (yet another music discovery from a few years back, who I can thank Jon Hershfield for. You can check Marvelous Toy out on IsGoodMusic.com). The lyrics make me think of so many of my musician/artist friends, some of which my old roommate and I used to poke fun of mainly because of the reasons expressed by these lyrics in particular
“I know how my life began and I know how it will end I will be searching for a word that rhymes with dying as I lay dying”
“I’m always writing songs sometimes you think I’m listening, but I haven’t heard a word you’ve said. I’m silently building chords and melodies.”
Cloud Control – “Ghost Story”
The Shakers – “Villain”
I’m so proud of local band The Shakers and how far they’ve come as a band when it comes to their live performances in such a short time. This is their first music video which they recently debuted:
OUT TO SEE: SILVERLAKE JUBILEE PART 2 OF 2
If you missed my Part I, click here to read about Day 1 of Silverlake Jubilee.
Sunday, Day 2
Day 2 at the Silverlake Jubilee started later than Day 1 for me. I had brunch with friends at around 1 p.m. Come around 2:30 p.m., I went home and took a 30 minute nap. I was exhausted from my Saturday activities (once again, see Part I). After my nap, I drove on down to Silverlake Jubilee, parking along Hyperion (this is actually a semi-important point).
Santa Monica Stage
Silverlake Jubilee was on a tighter schedule for day 2 versus day 1. The first band of the afternoon for me was Lilofee. They started their set with an awesome wall of sound.
Comment: “We’re so excited to play here. We’re half way from Los Angeles and half way from San Francisco.”
Noticed: Lead singer had this female claw motion.
Sunset Stage
Next was a brief encounter with Seasons. I only caught half their set, if that. By missing half of Seasons’ set, I realized that Silverlake Jubilee had Sunday’s schedule tightened up compared to Saturday’s.
Comment: “We’ve got to make sure we’re in tune for our last song.”
Santa Monica Stage
I caught part of Division Day’s set where I heard the lead singer doing the sound check by saying, “Potato. Potato. Potato. Banana. Banana. Banana. Elephant. 
Elephant. Elephant. Potato.”
Noticed: Couldn’t help but notice the yellow shaker used by the drummer. I have no clue why this caught my attention, but it did.
Sunset Stage
Yes, at this point I was spinning with my constant back and forth between the two stages and had to settle down.
I stuck around the Sunset Stage to catch the Monolators’ full set. While standing near the stage, one of the band members kicked an opened Gatorade bottle. Gatorade flew towards the audience and the handful of us near the stage back paddled a couple feet. “I just wanted to add some special effects,” was the comment made afterwards.
Comment: “Does anyone know what a fop tie is?” (more…)
THIS THURSDAY: SUMMER COLLECTION DEBUT BY REPORT SIGNATURE AT FRED SEGAL FEET
Come join us for the debut of Report Signature’s Summer Collection at Fred Segal Feet (8100 Melrose Ave. LA, CA) this Thursday June 22nd! See invitation below for full details.
Friend Art the Shoe Guy (your source for all things Report) on Facebook for all of the latest happenings for Report Footwear and Report Signature!
EVERY MILE A MEMORY…
I had a friend come into town for a few days. On one of the nights that she was here she and another of our friends who resides in Orange County decided they were going to go out in Hollywood. I unfortunately had another commitment that I couldn’t get out of and couldn’t join them. Halfway through the night they called completely lost, trying to find a bar/club– in all fairness this place is a little hidden. They had the address, but couldn’t find it anywhere. I asked them what they were near and then they told me. I knew they’d gone too far because I happened to know the address of one of the places they’d just driven past, The Key Club. I then told them they needed to head back in the opposite direction and gave them some other landmarks along with the addresses so they’d know what their destination was near. They only had to call me back for re-directions once more and eventually they got to the place they were looking for and had a good time.
The next morning we all went to breakfast and I was asked how on earth I remembered those addresses. I actually have a pretty good memory, but before I could explain how I recalled those addresses my good friend shrieked to our other friend “Oh my god! Has Siria ever told you about how she remembers things by what she outfit she was wearing?!!! She remembers everything! Siria tell her!!!” This may sound weird, but this is true sort of, and if you are good friends with me then you know this already. If you aren’t, I’ll explain the outfit thing in a minute.
Everyone has their own memory tricks and perhaps you use mnemonic devices like acronyms or rhymes? Mine is a little different, but I’m sure just as common. So before you start thinking that I have Savant syndrome (think Rain Man) my ability to recall something is almost usually only as good as my ability to visualize it, and usually that serves me well as I have a pretty good memory.
For example the way I recalled the Key Club address wasn’t very complicated. We put shows on there on a monthly basis for a little over two years, so I constantly had to give that address out. However, the way I recall it still is by either visualizing an old flier advertising a show there or an email blast that had the address on it. Most of the clubs ( Three Clubs, Lava Lounge, The Echo, Safari Sams, Spaceland, Zen Sushi, etc.) that we put shows on at I can remember the addresses to in this manner. El Cid was a little harder for me for some reason, but one day I came across a photo of a friend that was taken during one of our shows and right above his head is a close-up of the address, so after that anytime I needed to recall that address I just visualized that photo.
I remember on long (or even short ones sometimes) car trips, I used to try to memorize license plates of the vehicles on the road. (more…)
WHAT I LISTENED TO IN MAY – SIRIA
What a busy month May was! Now more than ever I seem to have good friends with birthdays in May, as well as my own birthday. It proved to be such a challenge to make time for my own birthday celebration (yay for bottomless champagne brunches) that I ended up having to delay it to a week later. I also feel like I gave A LOT of advice this month, as many of my friends seem to have reached crossroads in their lives. As you may have guessed, I was in town a lot more this month, but still wasn’t able to make it to as many music shows as I would’ve liked. So with that said, here is my soundtrack to this month of socializing and life evaluation.
The Slow – “Hear Out of Reach”
Ok, I really love this song and wish I could share it with you. Unfortunately, when I googled this band I could not find anything on them, but did manage to get temporarily distracted by a “Slow Clap” video
Every now and then this song pops up when I let my music library play in random mode. The last time it came on I left it on repeat. I initially got it via the Pop Culture Press ’07 Winter Sampler, but seriously it’s like this band never existed.
Voxhaul Broadcast – “Fact or Fiction”
Caught them at Silverlake Jubilee, you can ask Notes from Vivace how we ended up with super VIP parking Sunday night –a situation he wasn’t so amused by and chastised me for “living on the edge.” Ugh, yes I make mistakes too loyal TRAffIK readers (some I make over and over), only they sometimes come with perks. Many kudos to the El Cid load-in director. I wasn’t able to catch many of the bands performing unless they played the Santa Monica stage, since most of the time I spent there I was at our Rock Camp for Girls LA table, but I did enjoy Big Whup and My Pet Saddle.
Roxy Music – “Jealous Guy”
I actually listened to quite a bit of Roxy Music this month. I’m coming to the realization the older I get, that all guys are jealous. Some are just better at hiding it for a longer period of time.
Devo – “Through Being Cool”
Jont – “Don’t Waste All of Your Tears” (more…)
SPOTLIGHT: BRENT ROSKE – “LIVE AT THE VIPER ROOM”
While weaving stories of love, separation, and lessons learned via the trials and tribulations that we all go through while attempting to find our place in life singer-songwriter Brent Roske manages to engage us with tale after tale about his personal journeys. With the vulnerability never leaving his voice, he paints a picture with every song, making you feel many a time as though you were there with him sharing this ride. At times you wonder, could all of these tracks be about the same person or is it a combination of people that the songs refer to? Are they all stories that Roske actually lived? Or are they just signs of a rich imagination?
If your answer is that it’s all three then you’re probably correct. Perhaps utilizing his vast experience as an Emmy-nominated Producer/Director, some of Roske’s songs could be the basis for many a screenplay. “Raining in Scotland,” could easily be turned into parts 1 and 2 of a film franchise. Roske also succeeds in giving us a synopsis of sorts of True Romance in “Clarence and Alabama” playing on the dysfunctional dynamic of the film’s main characters’ tumultuous relationship.
Throughout “Live At the Viper Room” you are constantly reminded of those storytellers that came before Roske, including John Stewart, Dave Carter, and Townes Van Zandt– whose primary goal seemed to be to make their songs come alive for their audiences via the emotion evoking lyrics they penned and delivered. For the LA residents (current and former), an almost heartbreaking “Say Good-bye to Hollywood” is included where we’re all instructed that “if you ever make it to Hollywood, you better make sure to rehearse the final scene.”
End scene.
Here is Brent Roske’s video for “Good-bye to Hollywood” starring Richard Dreyfuss and Josh LeBar (“Entourage”):
Brent Roske “Live at the Viper Room” is currently available via Amazon and iTunes.