Answers | The Che Underground

Recovering Mondo Vanilli

December 14, 2017May 21, 2011 by admin

A lost artifact from the heady cyberdaze of the 1990s Bay area emerges two decades later. After being hidden away since before the turn of the millenium, the album “I.O.U. Babe” by Mondo Vanilli (a k a M.V., Inc) has been officially released, and after being initially offered for free on Bandcamp, downloads of ‘IOU Babe’ have exceeded the site’s limit for free downloads. A conventional CD version of the album (with bonus tracks) will be released soon.

Download Mondo Vanilli’s “IOU Babe” album (free download limit exceeded, it’s now 50 cents to download but still free to listen/stream ) and view remix videos by Link C!

Hear Mondo Vanilli’s “IOU Babe” album for free on Soundcloud!

Quick history: A few years after a brief collaboration as the Merry Tweeksters in the mid-‘80s, cultural visionary R.U. Sirius (of Mondo 2000 fame) and Che Underground expatriate Dave Fleminger reunited to begin work on creating the world’s greatest cyber-band. Soon thereafter R.U. invited alien/artist Sim1 3Arm to join the mix, and Sim1’s boundary-pushing performance experience helped turn MV into a sirius triple-threat.

Says Fleminger, “At that point, I had literally no computer experience, and knew nothing of the music RU was referring to as a stylistic jumping-off point, but his ideas were quite inspiring to me and he said, ‘You’ll figure it out’ … so that was enough encouragement for me to give it a try.

Lemons Are Yellow play Che Games

September 4, 2011March 23, 2011 by admin

Che Games for May 2009 continues to pay dividends for aficionados of San Diego subculture, encapsulated here in two choice cuts from the reunited Lemons Are Yellow: “Thousand Island” and “America’s Finest City.”

The LAY lineup comprises Paul Kaufman (guitar, vocals); Dave Fleminger (guitar, vocals); Kristin Martin (bass, vocals); and Seth Affoumado (drums). Heather Vorwerck shot the performance, which opened the festivities May 29, 2009.

The Answers at Lestat’s: ‘Color Notes’ b/w ‘History’

January 22, 2018February 24, 2011 by admin

(Answers guitarist David Fleminger tells the story behind two Answers classics from the early ’80s, which the reformed band — including bassist Tony Suarez and drummer Dave Anderson — performed Jan. 29 at Lestat’s.)

“Color Notes”
I’m not exactly sure what originally inspired the idea for “Color Notes.”

the song was written in 1982 and perhaps I had seen something somewhere about synesthesia, perhaps not. Often music creates clear images in my mind, but not the kind of visions seen by the synesthete, somebody who literally sees colors that correlate with specific notes.

Years later I did discover that once I might have been trained to equate notes with colors … a folded sheet that came with a favorite childhood toy, a Fisher-Price Pull-A-Tune, one of those rolling xylophones with differently-colored metal bars. Fisher-Price included some examples of melodies complete with ‘Color-Notes’ that correspond to the colors on the toy. Perhaps there was something in the simple melody of this song that reminded me of playing with the xylophone.

Jeffrey Luck Lucas: ‘We Were on Fire’

September 4, 2011January 11, 2011 by admin

We’re overdue to devote a post to the recent work of one of the Che Underground’s most protean talents: Jeffrey Luck Lucas, veteran of San Diego’s Morlocks, Mirrors and Answers and a prolific Bay area solo artist.

I was privileged to play with Jeff for a few years in San Francisco — a longtime aspiration of mine — and I can testify to the intensity of his artistic vision through many incarnations.

The Answers: “Margaret Flies”/
“Creative Art” at Bar Pink

January 21, 2018December 1, 2010 by admin

More Answers for the 21st century: Videotaped at Bar Pink July 31, 2010, at the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend, “Margaret Flies” and “Creative Art” represent two eras of this incredibly prolific band.

“Margaret Flies” was a highlight of the band I first encountered in spring 1983; Jerry Cornelius’ lyrics, set to music by Jeff Lucas, still take my breath away after all these years. Meanwhile, guitarist/vocalist Dave Fleminger describes the return of “Creative Art” to the Answers set list:

The Comeuppance: ‘Eyes of Love’/’Elegy’

July 3, 2011November 25, 2010 by admin

A Thanksgiving treat from the Comeuppance, the sublime pairing of Dave Fleminger on guitar and vocals and Heather Vorwerck on cello.

These two songs closed the Comeuppance’s set at the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend July 30, 2010. The band’s first formal San Diego appearance also closed a circle for Dave nearly 25 years after relocating to San Francisco.

Live at Lestat’s: An underground evening

April 21, 2012November 9, 2010 by admin

(David Rinck offers a performer’s-eye view of a recent night of musical eclecticism in San Diego.)

On the evening of Thurs., Nov. 4, we again converged on the little theater at Lestat’s Coffee House on Adams Ave. in Kensington, which is beginning to feel like home for some of us here.

Lestat’s most recently hosted the first night of the Che Underground Rock and Roll Weekend on July 30 and 31, and the Nov. 4 show was an exciting follow-up to that event. Some of San Diego’s finest underground musicians offered up an eclectic array of sounds from a range of genres. At the same time, the visual arts were represented by terrific graphics, photography and video recording, some of which is available here.

Play “Misty” for me:
BOMBAST rocks out at Bar Pink

December 11, 2017September 25, 2010 by admin

(David Rinck provides his back story of this meeting of musical minds at the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend. Plus, let’s go to the video, courtesy of Paul Kaufman!)

Now I’m really perplexed by this one. Dave Fleminger calls for the “end of the Age of Irony,” and then he is largely the perpetrator of a band called BOMBAST. This seems like a contradiction.

And then there’s the song-list issue — a couple old San Diego classics like the Wallflowers (“Rubber Room” and “Survive the Jungle”) and Blues Gangsters (“Tigershark Blues”), some Arthur Lee and Love (“Bummer In the Summer”), and even the Stooges (“TV Eye”) and Parliament (“Unfunky UFO”). Seems like a pretty strange brew, more contradictions? “Well, what do we all agree on?” I asked with great trepidation as the project grew. Pretty much one thing — BOMBAST is LOUD! Okay, that’s enough for me. I’m good to go.

DaveFest Four: ‘Richie Dagger’s Crime’
b/w ‘Let’s Lynch the Landlord’

March 30, 2019September 10, 2010 by admin

More highlights from the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend July 30 and 31, 2010, in San Diego: Che Underground supergroup the DaveFest Four performs the Dead Kennedys’ “Let’s Lynch the Landlord” and “Richie Dagger’s Crime” by the Germs.

The DaveFest Four plays “Richie Dagger’s Crime”: Listen now!

“Dave Rinck came up with the idea to do an all-Dave set of our favorite punk anthems with a semi-acoustic roots sensibility,” writes Dave Fleminger.

The Comeuppance with Graziela Damian:
“Sunday Morning”

February 2, 2011August 5, 2010 by admin

The Che Underground officially entered its second generation Friday, July 30, when Graziela Damian joined the Comeuppance onstage at Lestat’s Coffee House during the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend.

The daughter of Lou Damian and Charisse Sciuva graced us last year at the post-picnic for Che Games for May with an a capella rendition of Love’s “You Set the Scene.” This year, Graziela returned with this beautiful rendition of the Velvet Underground’s “Sunday Morning.”