Che Cafe | The Che Underground

Birth of the Nephews!

December 25, 2021December 25, 2021 by Mmrothenberg

A Che Underground exclusive: San Diego legends The Nephews revisit four decades of music ahead of their Feb. 18 appearance at The Casbah San Diego for A Che Underground Midwinter Masque. Book your tickets early and often!

The Nephews began as a comedy act in middle school around 1980. The original name was Ceilings and Floors, but we changed it to The Nephews (which has the same amount of meaning as “Ceilings and Floors”) around 7th grade.

We were very heavily into music, started playing as a rock band in high school, and were able to start playing club shows fairly quickly. Actually, our very first show outside of inland North County where we grew up was at the Che Cafe in 1984. We supported Manual Scan at Club Zu pretty early on.

Eric Cullen (Nephews keyboardist, 1989): “The first memory I have of The Nephews is of them playing during lunchtime at Poway High School. The
thing that immediately hit me about their music was how sophisticated their sound was, considering this was high school and all. Their harmonic language was dense, their chord progressions rather abstract, the lyrics obtuse. The Nephews’ music seemed advanced and not really belonging to the time, which was 1984 or ‘85. They were mining their own sound, and to this 17-year-old it sounded great. They had an air of ’60s psychedelia but were in touch with current underground bands like R.E.M., Minutemen and Pere Ubu. They also had a slight Zappa/Beefheart side about them, as well.”

Ready for ‘A Che Underground Leap Night Showcase’?

February 13, 2020 by Mmrothenberg

Most rock-‘n’-roll historians know San Diego’s Che Underground scene as a mad scientist’s lab for musical experiments at the top of the ’80s.

Named for notable shows they staged at UC San Diego’s Che Café — but active across the region — the bands of the Che Underground brought together artists steeped in punk, psychedelia, garage and more. Throwing their influences into a high-speed blender, bands like The Answers, Hair Theatre, Noise 292, The Rockin’ Dogs, The Tell-Tale Hearts and the original SD Wallflowers provided a soundtrack for Southern California youth culture.

Four decades later, those musicians and artists continue to kick out the collective jams — and on Feb. 29, some of the best minds of that generation will stage a family reunion at the Riviera Supper Club & Turquoise Lounge for “A Che Underground Leap Night Showcase.” The night’s lineup of Che Underground supergroups will feature two stars of the scene who haven’t performed in San Diego for more than three decades: Jeremiah Cornelius and Tom Clarke.

John Nee: From UCSD’s student impresario to Marvel Comics maestro

January 23, 2018January 21, 2018 by Mmrothenberg

Congratulations to John Nee for his high-profile hire as the leader of Marvel’s comic-book pack, where he’s taking over as publisher in the wake of Dan Buckley’s promotion to president of Marvel Entertainment. “As the Marvel publisher,” writes ComicBook.com (which got the exclusive), “Nee will oversee the health of the comics line both print and digital [and] be tasked with ensuring the quality of the line, managing budgets [and] guiding marketing.”

John has been a legend in the comics world for decades. He ascended to president of WildStorm Productions, then joined the executive team at DC Comics when DC bought WildStorm in 1999. John rose to Senior Vice President of Business Development at DC before staking an independent claim as co-founder of Cryptozoic Entertainment in 2010.

Like the rest of the heroes portrayed on this blog, John Nee arrives at his new job with his own Che Underground origin story.

Sign your support for the Che Café

March 22, 2015March 22, 2015 by Mmrothenberg

Time is running short for the performance space of our youth. Here’s a note from Susan Wingfield-Ritter, who’s gathering signatures in support of a last-ditch effort.

Urgent Request from C.H.E. Café

Dear Friends and Supporters of the C.H.E. Café,

The C.H.E. Café Collective is requesting your support at this critical time. On March 15, 2015, the collective received a letter from the UCSD administration stating that they will now go ahead and post the 5-day notice to vacate (eviction order). They can post it any day now.

The appeal we filed of the eviction lawsuit is still pending a ruling from the appellate court. We need your help to try to convince the administration to not finalize the eviction. We appeal to our friends and supporters at UCSD and in the community to submit a statement of support for the C.H.E. Café.

Hair Theatre: ‘Place in Space’

November 29, 2014 by Mmrothenberg

Here’s another selection from Hair Theatre’s Nov. 17, 1983, performance at the Che Cafe, where the band joined Eleven Sons and Noise 292. For the occasion, Hair Theatre added Answers co-founder Dave Fleminger to the original lineup of Sergio (vocals); Sergio Castillo (bass); Cesar Castillo (rhythm guitar); and Howard Palmer (drums).

Listening to songs like “Place in Space” at 30 years’ remove, I’m more aware than I was then of the contemporary qualities of Hair Theatre’s sound.

Watch Hair Theatre perform “In Obscurity” at Che Games for May, 2009!

Read moreHair Theatre: ‘Place in Space’

End of the line for the Che Cafe?

October 21, 2014 by Mmrothenberg

Today carried this blog’s namesake closer to the brink, when San Diego superior court judge Katherine Bacal ruled in favor of UCSD in its efforts to evict the Che Cafe.

While the collective argued it believed it was protected from decertification before losing its co-op status in a vote by the Graduate Student Association, Bacal was unconvinced.

According to NBC, “she said the Che had the burden of proving that it sought dispute resolution, but there was no evidence that it had tried to obtain it, so the university was allowed to move forward with the eviction proceedings without dispute resolution.”

Save the Che Cafe!

December 16, 2017August 20, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

A Che PSA: UCSD’s Che Cafe is the target of a fundraising campaign to continue its decades-long run of music and memories. I hope a few of our many readers can get behind this cause with their wallets and creativity.

Followers of this blog will recall that the Che (for which this blog is named) suffered the catastrophic theft in August 2009 of its sound equipment, and insurance costs for the venue bring the fundraising goal to $12,000, according to the site.

The genesis of Elvis Christ

September 30, 2011August 2, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

(Jack Gamboa continues his Che-infused memoir of his mid-’80s band.)

It was the very first day of school after summer break. I was walking to my Propaganda Films of the Third Reich lecture. (I had already taken Bram Dijkstra’s “Devils, Vampires and Other Horrible Creatures of 19th Century Literature.”) Suddenly on the path to the quad I saw my best childhood friend Steve. I had not seen him in months!

He was a guitarist, so we were talking about the local band scene, I was telling him about the rockabilly outfit the Wild Desires. I “BongoChild” drummed for Dave “LadiesLove” Ellison on Magnatone Typhoon and bass legend Andy “ThunderTrain” Seidlinger on lownotes. A bad-ass situation too perfect to last. We had broken up a few months before. Andy had also been playing my borrowed drums for a pair of punks who called themselves Leather Geek, but he transferred to UCLA to study Structural Engineering. I told Steve: “I would love to meet up with Leather Geek! I never saw them play, but I hear that they threw legendary parties. Rumor has it that Jory is an excellent guitarist, and Eric did a poetry reading of ‘Walk This Way’ by Aerosmith!” Steve was laughing and digging that. So we were gossiping about musicians and stuff like that. We turned a corner and entered an open lawn area (I think it was called ‘the Quad’ in those days) …

Elvis Christ at the Che Cafe!

September 4, 2011July 2, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

(Drummer and rabble-rouser Jack Gamboa recalls a memorable performance at our namesake venue.)

The Che Cafe was an island of freaky, funky freedom in the otherwise cold, institutional-strength rigidity of the mostly cement UC campus. They used to serve a bowl of brown rice and pinto beans with a giant glass of iced tea for less than two dollars. I survived on that chow when I was an art student. I also flirted with the hippie-honeys who worked there and smoked a lot of weed out back.

I played drums for Elvis Christ in those days, and it seems like half our gigs took place at the Che. We also used to practice there, and when Isabelle Tihanyi shot photos of us naked for a Guardian interview (Vol.60 #38), it happened there.

More photos of Hair Theatre and friends

September 14, 2014January 2, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

Che Underground New Year’s resolution #1: Get better about tackling our backlog of treasures.

Here’s an assortment of photographs I’m long overdue to post from the collection of Laura S. These 10 photos include mid-’80s shots of Hair Theatre and other nears and dears, followed by Laura’s recollections of the circumstances behind each. Help fill in the blanks!