What's Up! Magazine

Hey ya’ll, how’s it going? I hope everyone is doing well in le Beat land.
Instead of my normal BS to start off the column, I’m going to head straight to the music news you can use (did I just quote MTV?).
In venue news, things are a little up in the air with the all -ages scene. Fantasia is obviously not doing shows anymore… or are they? A source “from the inside” has told me that the coffeehouse might begin doing shows again, just on a more low key scale (i.e. no punk). I guess, while it was a great place to see a show, the bands were bad for business. If you go see a show, buy a coffee!
Tweek’s has a ton of shows booked for May, but there’s no word yet on whether the place will stay open into June. Brian Tweek is running the show now and he might pull the plug on the whole operation. That, as a friend of mine used to say, would suck.
Whiskey Galore will be heading into the studio on May 4 to begin work on their debut full length album. I’ve been told it should be ready to go by mid-June.
Stell Newsome continues to be one of the hardest working men in Bellingham. Sweetheart of the Rodeo continues to have an every other Monday gig at the Acoustic Tavern and he’s playing in Kasey Anderson’s band. Plus, he’s got a new band with Carly and Kevin from Bison printing called The Librarians.
Feed and Seed have lost Dave the mandolin player. I’ve been told there is no hard feelings, which is nice. I hate the hard feelings.
The kings of brutality, FFA, will be heading out on their third West Coast tour in June. The tour kick off will be with Toe Tag (ex-Accused) at Chiribin’s. Long live metal!
Those wild men of Police Teeth will be heading into Egg Studios in Seattle soon with Conrad Uno behind the board (the man, the myth, the legend). James, Richy and Chris will release Jazz Records for Sale soon afterward. That has got to be one of my favorite album names of all time.
Typical Ace have a new 3-song EP out, available at shows. It’s a precursor to their new disc, which they’ll be recording starting May 18 (with Jackson from Racetrack). Good stuff, glad they’re back in the saddle again!
Our old friend, Kasey Anderson, is a busy, busy man. His new band, which now includes Dan Lowinger on guitar and Julian MacDonough on drums, is gearing up to play a ton of live shows before his disc comes out this fall. Also, the song “Raining in Hattiesburg” off of the Dead Roses LP will be used in the new VH1 show “Whitestarr.”
Captain Seahorse is heading into Slengteng in May to record a new batch of songs for our listening pleasure. No word yet on the release date.
Pirates R Us continues to grow and grow. They’ve added a trumpet player (Ian) as well a percussionist (Chris from Savage Henry). They did, however, add Lucas Hicks as a percussionist a couple months ago (which was reported in these fine pages). I won’t name names as to who hold told me this lie (but you know who you are!).
Couple new bands to keep yer eye out for. Sea Tiger includes members of Sparrows as well as Pirates R Us. Memes is the latest project with Jordan Rain and his wife Tina North.
Thea Rosenburg is working on an EP for Murder Mountain, something I’m really looking forward to. I’ve heard nothing but great things about her. Also on the MM slate is the completion of Kayla Jeffress’s new disc, which is also supposed to be fantastic. Speaking of Kayla, she’s been booking shows at the Western Gallery every Wednesday at 6:30. The lovely Kat Bula has told me the acoustics are fantastic there and everyone should go. Good enough for me!
Bar Tabac has now expanded their field recordings to include every Sunday at The Temple. Plus they’ve got the Wednesday gig at Chiribin’s (unless otherwise posted). Sweet Jesus that’s badass!
I was lucky enough to run into Matt from the Narrows the other day and he gave me a copy of their new disc, right off the truck. It is AMAZING! There’s no two ways around it, the disc will blow yer mind. Not sure of its official release date yet, but I’ve gotta assume it’s within the next couple of weeks.
The one-man funk machine Joel Ricci is having a hell of a party on May 11 at the Nightlight. It’s in celebration of his 31st birthday (I remember when he was just a young pup) as well as the release of a double CD on Westsound records. The disc, chock full of La Push live sets over the years, is the first release from Westsound in awhile, so grab it while the grab is good. The show itself will feature members of the Westsound Family, some of whom haven’t played with Joel in awhile, all back on stage. You can also check out the new version of La Push, the street band, at several locations throughout Bellingham in May. Check the calendar for more details.
Bruceshock, Joel Myrene’s chance to “hang with the ponies” will be held at the Nightlight this year on June 2. Headlining the festival is a very un-Bruce band, our own Idiot Pilot, who are getting ready to release their new disc Wolves. Along with Idiot Pilot, The Boss Martians, Guinness and the Reparations, Go! Slowpoke and Jenni Potts will be playing. As if that wasn’t cool enough, Joel will have ponies in the alley. Wait… did I say “cool?” I meant, a very, very bad idea that will end up with him having poop in his hair… again.
Mark May 20 on your calendar. I know it’s a Sunday, but there are not one, but TWO shows that can’t be missed. At the Nightlight, Dinosaur Jr will be returning to the line up that made them gods and hitting the stage. Then over at Chiribin’s, DMBQ will make their triumphant return, with Akimbo and Cicadas in tow.
Now, if yer thinking “hell, I’m going to see Dinosaur Jr, this a no brainer,” think again my friend. DMBQ is one of the best bands I’ve seen in the last couple of years, just mind blowing. Unbelievable prog-garage rock from Japan. Hopefully the show times will be a bit staggered so we can all go to one, then the other. Then back to the other again. And so on…
Offset have hung it up for good, their final show will be at Hot Shotz on May 4. I know they parted ways with their lead singer recently, guess it was time to call it a day.
The barely local Black Breath are hitting the road in July. Neil is the only one still hanging in Bellingham – but it’s enough for the lovin’!
Lewis Wilde (the band, not the man) hit the studio in April and should have a new disc on the stands within a month or so.
Whatcom Community College will be hosting a great hip hop show on May 19, it’s the first of its kind. Slated to play are Sweatshop Union, the mighty One Be Lo, as well as a whole slew of local artists. Once the show is over, go up to Austin and thank him for working his ass off for the local hip hop scene. The guy is a machine!
Project Bham will make its return on May 18, again at the Market Depot. If you missed it last time, this is your chance to find out how to look good in Bellingham. Not just good, but sexy good. Ask Aaron Tapscott.
Before I sign off for the month, there are a couple things I want to talk about, both of which I think are extremely important.
First off, you should be touring. Seriously, if you are reading this and yer in a band, you should have a summer tour scheduled. I don’t care if yer a band that’s played just a couple shows or one that’s got an amazing disc out, you should be on the road. When we started the magazine, within the first couple months, Federation X came in and dropped of a demo of things to come. Bill, Ben and Beau told me about the tour they were heading on in the summer – it was only seven shows and they were all over the country, but they were going to do it. It set up a foundation for the band that still lives to this day.
It’s pretty simple, if you don’t tour, you won’t be shit. In the almost 10 years I’ve been doing the magazine, every band that didn’t tour, didn’t end up doing anything. But those who did, actually gave themselves a chance to grow as artists and develop as a band. If you don’t tour and only play in Bellingham (usually for your friends), you’ll become stale and burn out. Touring gives you a chance to grow – playing in front of crowds every night that don’t necessarily give a shit about you makes you work a lot harder.
I could go on and on about this topic, it’s one I feel passionately about. Next month we’ll have a “how to book a tour” article in the mag. In the mean time, ask someone, anyone, who’s been on tour. They’ll help you with advice on how to get it together.
Now to the other side of the rant. There have been some subtle reminders over the last year or so that some in Bellingham don’t really care for the local music scene or the college students. Some in this fine community act as though they’d prefer the college wasn’t even here. Instead, Bellingham should be a nice little retirement community. I don’t want to name names or point fingers, but I believe we can all see what’s going on here. I bring this up because if you ever want to know who does support you (the local music fan), all you have to do is look in these pages. The folks who advertise in What’s Up! believe in the music scene and the people who read the mag. If they support you, you should support them. Ever want to know where to get some clothes? Want to know where to get a tattoo? Want to go to a chiropractor? Our advertisers give a shit about you, so give a shit back. You want make the scene better, frequent those who care about you.
Wow… that was a lot to chew on. I’ll close on that note, and now I’m going to hang out with my son. He’s 9 months old now! Have a fun May!
And oh yeah, if yer in a band, send us your info. We’re finally updating the band database.