Reviving San Diego's Rock Renaissance
(Ray Brandes provides a brief history of a new band with a long San Diego history.)
The Secret Squares: pleased to make your acquaintance!
The Secret Squares is a musical project that has its origins in Gary’s Kids, a band assembled to back Gary Heffern on a solo performance at the Casbah in January 2019, and The Wrecktangle, which performed once at the Che Underground’s Leap Year show at the Riviera Supper Club, mere days before the world went into quarantine in March 2020.
As The Loons prepare for their Feb. 19 appearance at The Casbah San Diego for A Che Underground Midwinter Masque, lead singer Mike Stax reflects on how he and the rest of the band — Chris Cancelliere, Chris Marsteller, Marc Schroeder and Anja Stax — have kept their collaboration fresh despite pandemic pressures.
Navigating the lockdown as a band was strange.
I know some other bands were anxious to stay “relevant” and felt the need to release new music or new videos to remind people of their existence. We never felt compelled to do that.
We figured that everybody was preoccupied with a potentially life-threatening global pandemic — that raised uncertainty about their income, their health, their families, their futures — and the last thing on their minds would be whether or not the Loons had any new music to share. So we went about our lives, and took care of our families and didn’t fret about staying “relevant.”
Friday was always the Loons’ practice night, so during the lockdown Fridays nights were Loons Zoom meetings. We’d spend two, three, four hours hanging out on camera, having some laughs, catching up on the previous week’s news and of course talking about music. So even though we weren’t playing music, we still felt bonded as a band.
David Rinck shares a recent interview about the etymology of his band The Goldfingers. Featuring Eric Bacher (guitar), Kinch Degrate (keyboards), Dave Doyle (bass) and Matt Johnson (drums), The Goldfingers will rip it up at Casbah San Diego Feb. 19 for A Che Underground Midwinter Masque.
AMR Reporter Doug Faride caught up with Goldfingers rhythm guitarist and vocalist Dave Goldfinger in his native San Diego. What he learned about the origins of the band and their plans for the future are revealed here in this exclusive interview. These guys are definitely shaken, but not stirred in the least!
AMR: So, when I mention the Goldfingers, a lot of people say, “Yeah, I’m not that familiar with their music, but I do know the name.” Why do you think that is?
DG: Well, it’s the name of a James Bond movie.
AMR: Really? Is that true?
DG: Yeah, it’s like the third Bond film, with Sean Connery.
AMR: Oh wow, okay. So why did you pick that one?
DG: Well, a lot of the other the films wouldn’t make good band names. Like, if we called ourselves “The Spies Who Loved Me” or “The Men with the Golden Gun,” that would be lame.
Read moreShaken, not stirred: The Goldfingers at A Che Underground Midwinter Masque
Attention all shutterbugs: The Che Underground’s quarter-century reunion weekend is on track for May 29-30 (advance tickets at the Casbah Web site). Besides the fun of getting the bands back together (not to mention our oldest, dearest friends), some of us are excited about do-overs for the historical record.
Between the primitive technologies of the early ’80s and a youthful lack of focus, many great performances went unrecorded. We’re hoping to capture some high points in May, and we’ve got videography and audio pretty much nailed for the events.
But we’re still hoping skilled photographers will volunteer for the Che Army.
The Che Underground’s quarter-century reunion weekend is taking off like a rock-‘n’-roll Hindenburg! Here are some updates and an opportunity to ask additional questions about the greatest May 29-30 event since Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848.
First, a couple of hot topics that have already arisen:
Other burning issues to raise — logistical, rhetorical or existential? Float ’em here!
Set the controls for the heart of the sun: The Che Underground’s quarter-century reunion looms ever larger — so large, in fact, that one night just couldn’t contain it.
Now scheduled for May 29 and 30 at Tim Mays’ legendary Casbah Club in San Diego, the event will comprise:
(Manual Scan/Lemons Are Yellow veterans Paul Kaufman and Dave Fleminger put the jangle in the world’s first Che Underground jingle!)
Hey Ché fans, Dave Fleminger and myself have put together a little musical promo for our much-anticipated reunion at the end of May at the Casbah in San Diego.
Here are the lyrics, so you can sing along at home:
All you Rockin’ Dogs on the blog,
Meet us there.
The Wallflowers still have raw power!
You can see them there!