show review: fifty on their heels, the new motherfuckers & zerox @ the ken club

thank you to all those who turned out. the show was termed a success by the owner of the ken club. here is what he said to me after the show, "it's really a testament to how well fifty on their heels draws, because you had a band from los angeles and an all ages band before them." he said that to me after the show.

zerox led off- they are the latest offering from the chula vista scene.

i really liked zerox- despite the fact that they can barely play. here's a hint: that's what makes them so cool! the lead singer has charamatic stage presence and a v.v. darby crash vibe, which is cool. hopefully this show will get them more gigs.

new motherfuckers came down from los angeles for this show. i'm trying to develop an audience for them down here by bringing them down repeatedly. i think they are like the talking heads(initial comparison made by josh feingold). there is an incredbile "upside" to the new motherfuckers and any potential album they might put out. i think i'd like to release that album. there were some discussions about it. when i started cat dirt, i thought it would be an exclusively "san diego" record label, but, i'm pretty much over that idea right now. it would be nice to have geographical diversity on the roster of artists- it would be easier to book shows for BOTH bands, and build up awareness of the label OUTSIDE of san diego. so nothing in stone about that-- just a dialogue that's kind of gong on. i told them they would have to change their name to "sunshine dandellion" for the radio play... ha ha.

i was pleased to see tim pyles(94/9), owen salerno(94/9), josh hammond(91x) and rich biacco (union tribune): would have been a great networking opportunity for all the chula vista bands that came and left- but hey- we all know they don't give a fuck whether anyone LIKES them OR NOT.

fifty on their heels shot some footage for a video that's being put together by some "friends" of the band. personally- i don't think "licensed videographer" is a real title, but you wouldn't know it from the way they were throwing that term around the ken club last night. this isn't the sun set strip. shooting on that continues on... um... the city bus system... today. can't wait to see that video. my guess is that it will be wierd and artsy- with tons of punk attitude!

fifty on their heels played a great set to an apprecitive audience. if you haven't seen them in a while you should come out and hear their four new songs- two of which will be on the 7" coming out in april, and two of which are on the pyles session mp3s. now rocking on my last.fm station!

so that's about it- we clocked about 35 or so paid admissions, but with all the comps- at least 50 during the course of the night and the 10-15 people who sneaked in at the end to hear the fifty on their heels set(i saw you, but.. it's cool.) at the end of the night there was a good, apprecative crowd listening to fifty on their heels, the touring band got paid and the owner was pleased and invited us back "anytime". you'll be hearing from me! i have a metal show i want to do! leather nun and buzz or howl! i'm going to hook that up ha ha.

it was cool to see how "hands on" the owner was- he seemed to have a good (market driven) understanding of the local music scene. he was like- "get another local band that has a good draw and you'd really have something." and i was like "i'd rather have this something then a huge night." the point is simply not to lose money, and to have another show. oh- and i fucking HATE having to collect money- but fuck you- it's $5. with the exception of really young kids- to whom i know five bucks is a big deal- the adults- who fucking would like, poke their head in the room, or stand in the doorway listening... are you kidding me? fuck off, alright? they should charge the people in the bar away a separate one dollar cover. that is the one thing i hate about the ken club. but analytically, it's like- a market that you have to try to pull into paying for your show- like- they'll look at the poster and have a little conversation about whether to go in or not. so if you can pull people in from the bar- that is better then having no audience at the venue at all.

oh and zerox is the fucking hotness- they have real authenticity! the singer is like darby crash! you can use those quotes for your myspace blog.

also, i dropped off the masters from the ep off with preston swirnoff(habitat sound system). i bought his new lp, and he said that the next habitat sound system full length is coming out on soul jazz records! fuck yeah! we talked about distribution for cat dirt records - he already has distribution as an ARTIST because he is the shit. that would be a positive step for cat dirt records- but i've been told i need to wait until i have actual product to distribute...

the pyles session with fifty on their heels

ah the funny part is when justin unpacked his drum kit and found one of his high hats missing. the whole recording was almost cancelled, but ace producer alan sanderson found the needed part in a junk drawer inside the studio and we were all saved from disaster.

can't thank strate sound recording studio enough - they are the fucking bomb. major props to alan sanderson for being the man with the place. and mr. strate- who is clearly a man with excellent taste in music- and he is super into the project.

truckee brothers april... the power chords in june.

the recording session went great- five songs were recorded- i am the riot, holliday, outside world, chickens!, moving on up. it will be on the radio between 8 and 10 PM on sunday. all five songs exist as mp3s.

don't forget to come out tonight to the ken club- fifty on their heels, new motherfuckers and zerox.... should be fun...

the relationship between corporations of the cultural industrial complex and authentic sub cultures

A "sub culture" is a group of people who share a common "culture taste". Sub cultures often share unifying characteristics (beyond shared culture taste) like a geographical area or an age group. However, it is the shared culture taste that is the sine qua non of any particular sub culture.

Specific sub cultures most often develop initially around one facet of culture taste (fashion, music, film, art), but more powerful sub cultures will exapnd into new areas of culture taste over time.


The cultural-industrial complex is fully aware of the relationship between sub cultural development and product sales. Sub cultures often embrace certain products well in advance of the culture at large and so can serve as an indicator for future sales. The mandarins of the cultural industrial complex require control and long lead times to bring products to market, and the vagaries of sub cultural taste do not work according to the quarterly reporting requirement of Wall Street. This makes the relationship between the cultural industrial complex and authentic sub cultures uneasy. The cultural industrial complex does not PREFER to deal with sub cultures, rather it will resist a particular sub culture up and until it's "market power" is demonstrated by identifable metrics (sales, most often).

This uneasy relationship between sub cultures themsleve and the cultural industrial complex has produced a recognizable (though highly fluid) class of intermediaries. The intermediaries are publiic relations experts, independent record label owners, advertising executives, guerrilla marketers, venue owners, night life promoters, journalists, radio dj's, graphic designers, etc. etc. etc.

Certain geogrpahical locations become repeat incubators for new sub cultural development. The emergence of new sub cultures as a market force can typicall be traced to a confluence of the sub culture itself, a central hub of a particular culture industry- and- this is the most important part- the presence of intermediaries who simeltaneously maintain spaces in both the sub cultures AND the cultural industrial complex.

The harnessing of a particular sub culture to the propganda organs of a specific culture industry is a significant event, for that is the mechanism by which the "culture taste" of the mass market is changed over time. Any change in the culture taste of the mass market producers new winners and new losers within the mass market. obviously, the corporations which constitute the cultural industrial complex maintain a big advantage, but the most opportunity is presented to those individuals who can influence the decision making process of specifiic culture industry corporations. The only possible goal for those employed by the corporations is to influence the decision making process. Financial benefits accrue to the top decision makjers of a corporation. Intermediaries are the predictors of the cultural industrial complex. The sub cultures themselves never benefit financially from the dissemination of their particular culture taste to the mass market. They may move on to create new sub cultures or stop particpating in sub cultures (adopting the mass market culture taste laster in life).

For those employed by the corporations of the cultural industrial complex, there is sigificant potential financial/career advantages to maintaing contact with multiple sub cultures, specifically those that create products that could be selected for dissemination by the propaganda organs of the culture industry. Similarly, the actual particpants of the sub culture can only benefit by creating products for the culture industry, OR mimicing the distribution mechanisms of the culture industry.