Blog Archives - Page 9 of 12

The UPTONES – "East Bay Orbits"

This is a compilation featuring each of the six people (so far!) who have performed lead vocal duties in The UPTONES: Erik Rader, Charles Stella, The Rev. Paul Jackson, Moose Lethridge, Emily Jayne, and myself. The most recent recording (“T.V. Guns”) is from 2010, and the earliest (“Out To Sea”) is from 1983! We did a show in 2011 in which we got all these characters onstage to perform their signature Uptones songs. It was an epic bit of cat-herding but definitely worth it, the show was a blast. That probably won’t happen again, but you can still get the record from iTunes, or order a CD from uptones.com – I think we have like 2 left!

Aidin Vaziri profiles Matt Jaffe in SF Chronicle

Here’s a nice little write-up from Aidin Vaziri about Matt Jaffe & The Distractions in the SF Chronicle. It’s a local paper so I picked up a paper copy for my wall of course! I love Matt’s songs, and it was really great fun playing guitar with the his band the Distractions, on their latest recordings. See these guys on tour if you get the chance, they’re phenomenal!

The UPTONES – "Live!! 924 Gilman"

Playing the Gilman Street Project as it was then known, is unlike playing any other venue. It’s all-ages and volunteer-run and there’s no booze inside. All of the energy of the audience pours onto the stage and is amplified by the band and launched back in a way you don’t often find in mainstream clubs. There’s a sign that says “NO STAGE DIVING” and that’s pretty funny. We played two sold-out shows in August of 1989. Beserkley Records got ahold of a recording of the 2nd night, mastered it up and released it! You can pickitup at iTunes.

Bernie Sanders for President!

I decided to start fundraising for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, so I created a page at ActBlue.

It’s called, of course, “Eric’s Virtual Bernie Sanders Fundraising Bus!”

You can donate directly to his campaign through my page, or make your own and spread the word even further.

Goal Thermometer

I set an initial goal of 100 people, and 8 of us came up with over $250 in 3 days! Thanks friends!!

I agree with Bernie Sanders’ policy positions. I also favor him because rather than change course with the political winds, Bernie has been singing the same tune for his entire career.

The number of contributors is important. A thousand $3.00 contributions means more, in some ways, than one $3,000 donation. The whole point is that the Bernie campaign runs on people, not corporations. That’s why Bernie is the ONLY presidential candidate in the 2016 race so far with significant and growing momentum.

I’m on the bus. Hope you’ll join me!

Update, Dec. 3 2016:

We tried, we did good. The campaign was stopped by the Dem Party who clearly thought they knew better than the VERY PROCESS AND IDEA OF DEMOCRACY ITSELF, YOU SELF-ABSORBED MYOPIC TWITS!! Ahem. My little ActBlue page there with the Bernie Bus raised over $3,300 for the Sanders campaign (THANKS, FRIENDS!!) and we would have almost certainly won the general election. Now we’re doomed. Thank you DNC, thank you 3rd party “protest” voters, thank you apathetic lazy stay-homers and, apologies to polar bears and all life on earth. Whoopsiedaisy

The UPTONES – Skankin' Foolz Unite!

The UPTONES recorded “Skankin’ Foolz Unite!” live-in-the-studio with Matthew King Kaufman and Michael Rosen producing, at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley in 2008. We went in with the intention of capturing our live performance energy and not messing around with a lot of overdubs or studio trickery. It turned out to be one of the most exciting and fun recording sessions I’ve ever been involved with. We played some songs from our early years like “Radiation Boy” and “Get Out Of My Way” and some new ones like the title track “Skanking Fool,” and “Bad Men Of Bodie.” Covering The HEPTONES’ “Book Of Rules” was an out-of-body moment, and it just felt great to make a record in the old-school method which I always thought would be best for the band, but somehow we never previously completely achieved. You can hear some songs from it or order a CD direct from us at uptones.com, or pickitup pickitup at iTunes for instant ska satisfaction.

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Hooligans United – RANCID Tribute Album Rocks!!

Very happy to receive a copy of this whopping 3-LP vinyl set and double CD in the mail yesterday from Elvis at Smelvis Records. “The 11th Hour” – a song I wrote with Tim for the “…And Out Come The Wolves” LP, is track 2 on “Hooligans United,” as covered by THE INTERRUPTERS. They did a cool version, faithful to the original but with a very ska twist. The record is a fun listen – it’s great to hear all these different bands interpret their favorite RANCID songs. EL GRAN SILENCIOS’s “Time Bomb” cover en español is epic, and INSPECTOR’s “Ruby Soho,” also en español, is dub ska disco beauty. Available from Smelvis Records!

Nate Seltenrich’s East Bay Express Story on Skanking Fools Dance Contest

The headline says it all:
At the Uptones’ Skanking Fools Dance Contest, Ska Reigns Supreme

When the Uptones finally appear after 11 p.m., the energy in the room seems to peak. “Y’all ready to skank? ‘Cause that’s what we’re here for,” announces guitarist Musashi “Moose” Lethridge. …Again the dance floor is abuzz with energetic young skankers, a flurry of flailing limbs and bobbing bodies.”

Read the whole story at East Bay Express.

Thanks Nate, and thanks everyone who skanked it up at our shows.

The Fashion Slaves at de Young Museum after-party

One of my favorite gigs with The Fashion Slaves was at de Young Museum, as part of the finale for their Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition in 2012. Aidin Vaziri interviewed our lead singer Emily Jayne and wrote a preview for the event, which ran in the San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate:

The Fashion Slaves at de Young Museum after-party

Thanks Aidin, and thanks de Young for including us in this unique and fabulous occasion!

Wrestling "Wrestling Jerusalem"

Saw this.

Absolutely brilliant. I can’t recommend it highly enough. There’s also a movie of it in the works, so you’ll get a chance later. He’s taking it on tour too. Very proud of my fellow Berkeleyan, Aaron Davidman.

Aaron does all these characters, channeling people he met in the Middle East and on both coasts of the US and elsewhere in his travels. They argue with each other, in between powerful monologues, wrestling strongly held ideas. But it’s all performed by one actor, who is on stage for ninety minutes, changing roles seamlessly, and sometimes very quickly. He even cops their accents, he assumes their impassioned voices. And the way it’s written, they are talking to him. He performs them, saying, “Aaron, you must understand that.. etc.. “ They tell him their arguments, share their stories with him. Only, it’s him acting, and then giving his own reactions, as himself.

He must have put in so many hours to rehearse that! It’s musical. He sings and dances in character too, as these folks he met in Hebron and Jerusalem and elsewhere did. A tour de force. And it carries a profound message of peace, love and compassion.

Will be interesting (or horrible) to see what zealots on any “side” of these issues might complain about, once they get word of it. But a person would have to be pretty thick not to be moved by this. I hope it’s seen far and wide. I think it will do some good. Actually, it already has.

Here’s a preview:

WRESTLING JERUSALEM – Stage Trailer from Aaron Davidman on Vimeo.

Faceplant

Gutenberg would be posting kittehs, you know he would. Einstein would be liking Oppenheimer’s existential freakouts and Lewis Carroll would wonder why Freud never friended him. James Brown would tweet “I feel good!” and Ian Curtis would ask “why?” John Cage would post three minutes of silence and Miles Davis would play some stuff with his back to all this and never explain his process.