Buzz Blog

Two weeks ago the Tower Theater held their 6th Open Mic Night film festival for local filmmakers to showcase their work. When all was said and done, a western piece walked away with the Critic's Choice award.

At ten years and still going strong, Area 51 has solidified itself as the club to end all clubs in all of Utah.  --- Outlasting most upstart places that continue the come-and-go trend, Area has been able to adapt to changing times while still holding onto the roots that made it great.  From 80's nostalgia nights to the monthly Fetish Balls, they've continued to be a mainstay in the SLC nightlife.  I got a chance to talk with owner Alan Moss about the club, it's history, where it's headed and other random topics.  All while taking pictures during the daytime.  It's an odd feeling walking through the place with no Nine Inch Nails... and in daylight no less.Alan Mosshttp://www.area51slc.com/Gavin: Hey Alan!  Tell us a little about yourself.Alan: I’ve lived in SLC most of my life. I graduated from Brighton High and the U of U. My degree is in Biology, and I used to do genetic research and computer programming before I started AREA 51.

I hadn’t been out to cover a concert in over a month.  I call it being busy, you call it being lazy.  Hey, why we gotta fight like that?  Let's go back to the way things were.  So to get back on track, I thought best to do a rock show with one of the long standing bands in Utah.--- Heading over to Urban Lounge this past Friday I was able to get in on the small birthday bash, as well as catch three great rock acts at their best.  The experimental sounds of Laserfang, our old friends Tolchick Trio, and the soul rock of Red Bennies.  I skipped Tolchock this time around since we’ve already talked to them, but still grab pictures of all three bands after the interviews.Laserfang  (Weston Wulle, Mike Torretta, Shane Asbridge and Stephen Chai)http://www.myspace.com/laserfangGavin: What do you think about the birthday gig?Shane:  It’s awesome because it’s for our really good friends Mike and Dave.Gavin:  I know you guys play in other bands, so how did you decide to form this project.Shane:  Me and Mike have been playing together for years, and this is kind of the remanence of the first band we started.Mike:  We’ve had a few different lineups, but it’s always really been Shane and me.  But we really became more of a solid band when we got Wesley and Stephen.  It’s the first time everyone really liked the music and had their own part to play.  Everyone adds to the music.  It’s cool.Gavin: What’s your opinion of the local music scene as it stands today?Shane:  I think it’s amazing.  I think we have a really big group of kinda good bands whoa re all really supportive.  Everybody supports the next band instead of being competitive.  That helps.Mike:  There’s a huge range of styles of music and everyone is pretty much welcoming to all types of music.  There’s so many creative musicians that it makes it super fun to play.  I just wish more people would come out to shows, we’ve kinda been put in the light of playing bars, but we just haven’t played too many times at places like Kilby.  We want to because there’s a huge underground music scene, and those kids and those people are amazing musicians.  So I can’t wait for the next wave of kids to start being in bands and playing at bars.  It’ll be awesome.Gavin:  Do you have any complaints or feel there’s anything that could be done to make it bigger?Shane:  Not really a complaint, but just noticing that Salt Lake gets passed over in the national media.  It seems to be written off already as a place where nothing cool happens.  I think in the longrun that might help us out and keep it underground instead of being stupid and all over the place.  Everybody’s working real hard to do cool stuff.  Maybe thirty years from now someone will find it and think it’s cool.Gavin: What’s your take on the current music you hear on radio and whatnot?Shane:  I don’t really listen to it, to be honest.  I don’t even know what’s out on the radio right now.  I really don’t.  I just listen to records and CD’s and stuff like that.  Mike:  Yeah, I would agree with Shane on that.  I’m not really aware of the Top 40 pop culture music that goes on right now.  Not because I don’t like it or anything like that, it just doesn’t seem to fit what I listen to right now or my whole life.  Never been a Top 40 type of guy and it’s never really driven me to dislike that music, as more to find a really awesome place where we can fit into the underground scene.  I think a lot of people would agree that we can kinda unite that way because everyone has this passion for music and everyone’s trying to do different stuff.  We could care less about playing a big show or getting a lot of money or whatever, we really just do it for us and our friends.  That’s enough for me.Gavin:  Do you have any thoughts on the record industry and the state it’s in?Shane:  I don’t know everything about it, but I’d be very wary about it if an opportunity came to us.  I’d rather seek out a more independent style of record label.  We’d probably go broke if they did, they’d give us a bunch of money and our record wouldn’t sell, and then we’d owe them money.  That doesn’t sound very fun, I’d rather just cut even rather than make a ton of money.  The industry is built more on Britney Spears and the numbers that those guys put up.  Rock bands can’t do that anymore.Gavin: Then do you have any issues with music downloads or do you care all the much about it?Shane:  I’d rather everybody had our music as much as possible.Mike:  It’s an interesting subject, it’s like a whole other beast with these downloadable cards that have everybody’s album on them.  Some would rather have the CD or the album, but to each his own, it’s a labor of love.  If you want to put time into making a CD, that’s awesome, I’ll keep buying CD’s.  But I have no problem with people downloading tunes for free.  We just do it for our own releases and enjoyment, so anyone should be able to grab that if they wanted to.Gavin:  Are you looking to do a CD anytime soon?Mike:  We recorded a couple of tunes, then Weston moved away, so we tried to rearrange the type of music.  Then he moved back and the pieces fell together, so now we’re ready to record a bunch of demos.  But with the stuff we grew up doing, those demos are as good as anything produced CD for us, we’re totally happy just putting those out we just need to get around to doing it.  We’re pretty lazy.Gavin: Are you aiming for EP or LP?Mike:  I don’t know.  It’ll be an LP probably.  Gavin:  Who are your favorite bands in the local scene today.Mike:  One of my favorite bands is The Wolves, the Red Bennies I really like, Tolchock Trio.  That band Airliner was really good, I don’t think they’re around anymore.  The Glinting Gems are awesome.  Ether Orchestra and Ether, those bands are top notch.  Shane:  Purr Bats are awesome.  Vile Blue Shades, the Coyote Shades, there’s a bunch of them that I can’t really think of at the moment.Red Bennies (Terrence Warburton, Scott Selfridge, Daniel Thomas and David Payne)http://www.myspace.com/redbenniesGavin: What do you guys think about doing this birthday show?David:  It’s for me!  It’s my birthday.  And Mike’s.Gavin:  You like the idea of playing your own music for your birthday?Scott:  Well it kinda sucks to play when it’s your birthday.  But once everyone starts buying you drinks, it’s alright to play.Gavin:  You’ve been around since 1994, how did you first get together?David:  Well it wasn’t all of us, it was me and a bunch of other guys.  The group’s been around for a long time, it’s just different every three years or so.  Not anymore though, we’ve just kinda cooled down and smoothed out.  Now that I’m an old man.  I was serious about music and wanted to do a really good job to the point where I’d kick people out of the group and straighten them out.  But now that I’m a man, we just really want to do a good job. And we usually do a good job when we’re not stressed out about doing a good job.Gavin: So how did the current lineup join in?David:  Mutual friends, I guess.  Saw them play at a club in California.Scott:  It’s a long story, but I ended up just living out here because of the cheap rent.

Taking a moment this weekend to update you a little on some stuff.  Stepped in to catch the show at Urban Lounge last night with Laserfang, Tolchock Trio and Red Bennies.  I already talked with Tolchock a couple months ago, but I'll have interview with the other two up on Monday.  In the meantime, here's a snapshot.--- I'll also have an interview involving Area 51 later this week, and who knows what else.  For those of you wondering, the piece with Disorderly House is now posted from last week.  Head on down a few posts to check it out.

Some of you may have heard about it, but for those who haven't, there's some major staff changes happening over at the Women's Art Center.  The majority of their staff are packing up and headed out.  And of course I wanted to know why and find out what's happening to the Center, so I gave our old friend Cat Palmer a buzz to see what the story is. --- Cat Palmer (with hubby Blake)Gavin: Hey Cat, how you been? Cat: Really good and busy with art and getting ready to have a babyGavin: What's with the changes going on at the Women's Art Center?

Part two of the Stroll continues today. And yes, this one was on time!Going on sixteen years of business, based everywhere from a rundown warehouse to the heart of Sugarhouse, Mechanized Records has been an ever constant staple of the more modern local scene since the early 90's.  Everything from turntables and snowboards to music and collectibles.  This past Friday the store featured Jonny Barrett of Closer To The Sun Photography, and fellow photographer Sara "mAx" Mongalier put on a dual show inside the store.  I got to talk with Jonny and take some pictures of their work.

So, in May I didn't just hit up one spot, I hit up two doing their thing along the Stroll this month.  But with a different change of pace as neither were spots that were officially a part of the Stroll, but still partake in the event showing people that there's more to the experience than what you've been told is out there.First one up, Disorderly House.  Taking over the space on the Broadway Strip once occupied by Redemption Department, this fixed gear boutique is giving downtown another fixture for both fashion as well as bike accessories.  And with the restrictions of the Stroll not imposed on them, they stay open later to bring in the crowd looking for something outside the norm.  --- I dropped by to take pictures of the place, and interview co-owner William Lapthorne about the store as well as the art on display this month and various other topics.William Lapthorne & Tony Jacobsenhttp://www.myspace.com/disorderlyhouseslcGavin: Hey, first off, tell us a little about yourselves.William: We're just a couple of guys really.  We really like bikes.

Opening tonight, just below Slowtrain Music, is a brand new art gallery that is sure to give any local concert goer a feeling of reminiscence.--- Signed & Numbered takes the conventional poster or flyer and shows it off for the work of art is truly is.  Bringing back memories of concerts gone by in the Utah area from both local and national artists.  And what better place to be than right below a record store.  I got a chance to talk to very talented artist and owner, Leia Bell.  As well as snap some photos of the new place before it opens up to the general public.Leia Bellhttp://www.leiabell.com/Gavin: Hey Leia, tell us a little about yourself.Leia: I was born and raised in Tennessee with one older brother, and mom and a dad. I moved to Utah about 10 years ago, and now I think of Salt Lake as my home.

So for the past couple weeks I was wondering what was up with Gallery Stroll's website.  Okay, granted, there's always something wrong with their website. --- Pages won't load, there's nothing in the Press and Links sections, no one responds to messages, etc.  But the past couple weeks they didn't even update their info for May.  Until today, which is nice to find out, but is still kind of annoying that the general public had to wait until two days before the Stroll to get info.  I realize a good majority of the project is on a volunteer basis, but do they really only have one person running their website?  An open plea, please, find someone to run it more than once every two weeks.  In any case, their info is updated, so our calendar listing is too.  I'm aiming to cover at least one thing on the Stroll this Friday, but I may be covering two.  We'll see what happens.More internal news, recently I've been helping book some of the musical guests that come play for our newscasts on Saturday mornings.  Giving our show more of a local music vibe while giving the state a taste of the underground.  It's cool being able to bring that to at least one of our shows.  In the past we've had guests like Emme Packer, Wendy Ohlwiler and Johan The Angel.  We've got new musical guests over the next couple weeks.  First up on May 17th we bring you the sugary-sweet sounds of The Mollies, and then on May 24th we bring in the hip-hop jazz stylings of Scenic Byway (as seen above).  As soon as planning gets finished, I'll let you know who's coming around in June.  But I got a good idea of who we'll be bringing by...Coming up this week I'll have an interview with Leia Bell as she opens up her new store "Signed & Numbered", where you can get such wonderful posters like this rare Decemberists flyer from one of their first tours.  Plus whatever I do from Gallery Stroll down the road.  For you film makers out there, Tower Theater is doing it's 6th Open Mic Night tonight.  Plus keep on listening to UtahFM as I have been off and on this week, hearing some old favorites from that other community station, and new voices that look to be keeping the station original.  As for me, it's all up in the air and unpredictable, as usual.  More good things are on the way.

Remember community radio?  It's back... in net form!  --- For those of you looking for an alternative to the new KRCL format that was launched last week, your web browser has the answer today.  Launching at 9AM this morning, Utah Free Media becomes the state's first internet based community radio station.  With an amazing staff and tons of support behind it, the station quickly got its act together in building a studio and getting a format finalized, in what is probably one of the quickest station start-up times I've ever witnessed.  Before the launch I got to talk with Patrick Commiskey, one of the first supporters for the station and now one of the DJ's set to start off Monday's inaugural broadcast.Patrick Commiskeyhttp://www.utahfm.org/Gavin: Hey Patrick, tell us a little about yourself.