Buzz Blog

With the corporate deathnails being put into the once vibrant Sugarhouse area, the Broadway Strip is now becoming one of the new areas to carry on the local vibe it once had.  Just over a year ago, the northwest corner of 2nd East and Broadway was nothing more than a antique china store.

--- Now Red Light Books has taken the area and turned it into a new hotspot for alternative reading and music.  This past Friday the store played host to a ska and punk show of both local and Vegas acts.  I stopped in to take photos and talk with the bands playing.

Vanzetti Crime (Treyson Bird, Erin Tooke, Mike Westbrook, Austin Wood)

http://www.myspace.com/vanzetticrime

Gavin: Small venue here tonight, what did you think of the turnout?

Erin:  Awesome.

Mike:  This is our second show so it’s a great turnout.

Austin:  Everything went well, except for Mike coming unplugged, but who’s counting.  But yeah, everyone was cool and it was great to see them come out.  We had a good time.

Treyson:  Everyone was really into it, which is always good.  Lot of people I haven’t met before so we enjoyed that.

Gavin:  What do you guys think of the local scene here?

Erin:  It’s really good.  Kids looking for a great place to listen to music where people aren’t all on drugs or drunk.

Mike:  Well I don’t know if it’s good, because rock music sucks for the most part.  But the punk-ska scene is getting bigger, there’s more and more bands so that’s always good.

Trey:  There’s also a lot of jerks in the scene.

Erin:  Describe how they’re jerks, Trey.

Trey:  Just going to shows and showing up drunk and beating up people for fun.  People are going to shows to have a good time and hang out.

Austin:  Let me tell a story.  There’s this one show we played where this guy came all drunk and started groping this girl during the set.  That stuff’s not cool.  You don’t come to a show drunk, that’s a total jerk move.  Some people kicked him, which I’m fine with because you don’t do that.  But that kind of stuff isn’t what we’re about.

Gavin:  So then what do you think of the major scene in general?  Emo seems to be trend right now, but what’s your opinion on the industry as a whole?

Erin:  I hate Emo!  That’s it.

Mike:  Emo is a trend and it’s a gimmick.  It’s like our song, “Gimmick Gimmick Gimmick”, it’s about bands who wear makeup and how they relate to 7^th graders trying to sound like they relate to age but they sing about stupid things.  Like breaking up with your girlfriend in high school.

Austin:  The one thing I will say about Emo is to have a genre called Emo because it’s emotional is just retarded.  Because all music should be emotional, right?  Shouldn’t there be emotion in all music you play?  You have to call it Emo so you can dye your hair and cry?

Treyson:  I hate the fact that a band can start out by doing some double bass and some screams and all the girls will just flock to it.  And twelve year old girls just eat it up.  Bands should have some talent, they should have something to stand behind, they should believe in what they play.

Gavin:  Any local bands you guys recommend?

Mike:  X-Communicated-X, The Pacifists.

Erin:  Trebuchet.

Mike:  The Play Dead Movement.

Gavin:  You have an album out, or anything you’re working on?

Austin:  We have demos out.  Just a couple songs, spray painted the tops and got some sleeves for them.  We ask for donations.

Mike:  Yeah, it’s not about getting cash for your CD, it’s about having fun.  It’s about trying to do it as much DIY as you can.  You shouldn’t have to pay $200-$300 to record something, you can do it yourself for cheaper.  It’s all about motivation.

Murder Majesty  (Shane, Sean, Beavis, Arron, Gabe)

http://www.myspace.com/murdermajesty

Gavin:  What did you think of the outturn tonight?

Sean:  It was fun.  Salt Lake City is pretty alright.

Shane:  Definitely.

Gavin:  What do you think of the local scene here in Utah?

Beavis:  I feel the same way as I do about the turnout of the show.

Sean:  The snow sucks, but watcha gonna do?

Beavis:  Like it.  It’s thriving.

Shane:  We’ve seen a lot of ska-punk coming out that’s good.

Gavin:  Any local acts you recommend?

Shane:  I am not familiar with any, sorry to say.

Sean:  Vanzetti Crime were great.  Them and Talking Buzz.

Gavin:  You guys got an album out or working on anything?

Sean:  Yeah our CD just came out.  It’s called “Hidden Politics”.  Came out this past Tuesday.  A whole five bucks.

The Explicit (Jesse, Trent, Slim, Taylor, Devan)

http://www.myspace.com/theexplicitut

Gavin:  It’s a small venue, what did you think of the turnout tonight?

Trent:  Amazing.  Just amazing.

Devan:  We’re not used to having not only a lot of people in the venue, but a lot of people into the music.  So that made it great.

Taylor:  I liked the atmosphere a lot because it was just so 80’s hardcore, and just spray paint all over the walls and the ceiling is coming down and slippery cement.  It’s just so cool.

Gavin:  What do you think of the local scene here in Salt Lake City?

Slim:  You gotta find it.  It’s not just there.

Devan:  Kinda got bigger, then it faded out, then it got big again and now it’s just fading.

Jesse:  We’re bringing it back.

Devan:  We’re trying, we’re trying.

Gavin:  What do you think of the industry in general?

Taylor:  It’s almost funny, the kind of crap people like.  But… you gotta do what you gotta do.

Slim:  We try to stick with what’s real and what we feel, and Emo isn’t us.

Trent:  You need musical talent to play, if you got a sound just go out and go for it.  You know?

Gavin:  Any local acts you recommend?

Taylor:  Check out the show at the Avalon on the 18^th, it’s gonna rock.  Total ska vs. punk.  Those kind of acts.

Gavin:  You got an album out or anything you’re working on?

Devan:  We’re working on it.  Twenty songs.  Should be around February.

Slim:  It’s up to Devan, he’s just lazy.

Devan:  Maybe February.  Probably early March.  It’s all DIY.