Radio Free Silver Lake

Torches: Northwest Tour Diary 2012

Torches performing at Make Music Pasadena (photo by K.Pinto)

The much buzzed about eastside trio TORCHES set off northward on a tour to support their new album Heads Full of Rust four weeks ago with a AAA card, a big box of merch and a dream. Along the way they wrote down some notes about the scenery, sleazy clubs, friendly women and the vegan bounty of the Great Northwest. Road weary but stoked they share these tales with you,  good readers of Radio Free Silver Lake. TORCHES is back home to play July 30 at the Echoplex with Seasons, Manhattan Murder Mystery, & Body Parts.

By Azad Cheikosman of Torches

Day One - LA to Santa Cruz: June 29, 2012
We’ve embarked on our first northwest tour and we couldn’t be happier. The ride proved to be pretty smooth until we got a flat tire ten miles outside of Santa Cruz. Luckily a guy who works for a state-run highway program came to our rescue. Timing was perfect because he arrived minutes before the AAA guy got there. Shortly after we were back on the road again and arrived in Santa Cruz to play our first show of the tour. Metavinyl is a really rad record store and not to mention a great and intimate place to play a show. The place is pretty small, but it’s cozy and the people who watched were kind seemed to dig what we were doing. We haven’t ended our streak of selling albums at shows yet, which is a good sign…for now.

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Day Two – Santa Cruz to Humboldt: June 30, 2012
We were fortunate enough to be able to sleep in. I must have forgot to mention our friend Matt surprised us by showing up to the Santa Cruz last night. The only thing is…he didn’t make it to the show on time. It’s alright because we got some time to make a stop at Streetlight Records, the Boardwalk, and the beach. Now we’re on the road headed for Humboldt where Eric’s [Fabbro, the band's drummer] cousin lives. We’ll be staying the night in Humboldt before we head out to Portland in the morning. Tomorrow’s show takes place at Ash Street Saloon. At this particular moment in time we’re driving through the Redwoods.

SXSW 2012 Tour Diary: (Azad from) Torches

By Azad Cheikosman of Torches

As if touring isn't crazy enough, we managed to fit all of our gear (lots of pedals 'n shit) and ourselves into a goddamn PT Cruiser. We could have toured in our big Chevy Club Wagon, but this time it boiled down to funds. Our ride was pretty smooth besides getting our car searched at Border Patrol in El Paso. The dog was freaking the fuck out and luckily Bridgette was able to hide her greens. By some strange cosmic coincidence we happened to be driving on the same stretch of highway as Voxhaul Broadcast in the middle of nowhere Arizona. Bridgette's dad shamed us for not mooning them.

Here in Austin we've seen loads of streets performers, weirdoes, and beautiful people. It's hard to catch everything because there's so much going on at once. There isn't enough time to see or hear everything, but it's fun to be able to choose and catch as many live sets as possible in a day. As for LA bands we've seen NO, The Henry Clay People, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Seasons and more. We also caught Stepkids, Erykah Badu, Trash Talk, Built to Spill. We were pretty bummed about missing Deerhoof, but there will be another time.

On the road to SXSW with Light FM--Part 3: Video Diaries

When the sweet and multi-talented Josiah Mazzaschi of Light FM agreed to cover South by Southwest for Radio Free Silver Lake we were thrilled. When he suggested recording some video dispatches from Austin we said, "Yes, definitely." Fresh back from the festival Josiah and his bandmates sent a couple of film shorts that give you a front seat view of a Los Angeles band playing SXSW.

By Josiah Mazzaschi and Light FM

Video Diary Part 1

 

Video Diary Part 2

 

 

 

On the Road to SXSW with Light FM--Part 2

By Light FM and Sonia Zopuyan

Light FM here reporting from hot and sticky SXSW. It's Friday March 18th and we have a day off! A few of us who just barely survived the previous night hopped into the Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the Austin streets. 

Our first stop was the Filter day party. We arrived just in time for a packed house as NY's Phantogram took the stage. They were energetic and captivating as usual. Great show! But way too hot for us, so we headed to the convention center "artists lounge" and stocked up on free swag, popcorn, and of course beer. I think one of us even got a free massage! Thanks SXSW!

We were on our way again refueling on more free beer and pizza. I don't know if it was the beer talking or not, but we found ourselves at Hoboken Pies literally every single day and agreed it was pretty damn good. We never made it into any of the infamous BBQ joints because the lines were miles long. So we stuck to food trucks. And boy are we feeling it! Ouch.

On the road to SXSW with John Graney of the Californian--Part 3: The Hang

By John Graney

Friends, I am going to give this entry a title: "The Hang."
If my last post was a prime example of the typical daily experience of a musician at SXSW, then this entry will give you a glimpse into another side of this funny little house of mirrors.

I've only ever been to SXSW as a musician, so those are the experiences I'll describe.  I don't know if this is true for normal patrons out here, but probably my favorite part of SXSW is running into various musicians who you know from all over the place.  A band you played with in Atlanta one time, a band you met when they were touring through your town, and of course good friends from your own hometown local scene. This was just one of those days.

We saw a few shows.  We watched the band Colts from above.  They are super awesome, and have well maintained scalps.  We then crossed the river to South Austin to catch an acoustic set by Apex Manor ...and the hanging began.  Those guys are awesome.  A small intimate setting works incredibly for their music.

On the road to SXSW with Josiah Mazzaschi of Light FM--Part 1

Reporting from the road, South By Southwest veterans and official showcase band Light FM are sending dispatches from their charming and talented frontman Josiah Mazzaschi. Here is Part One.

By Josiah Mazzaschi

OK. So this is the second time my band Light FM has played SXSW. We played the fest in 2009 after our sophomore release, Black Magic Marker for which RFSL hosted the record release at Boardners in October 2009. We had one official showcase but it was a long drive just for one show, opening for the Happy Hollows. We were met with many disappointments and empty bank accounts.

I wasn't about to let that happen again. I took plenty of time in advance to make sure this trip was going to be beneficial for our band. I was able to book three shows, two on Thursday and an official showcase on Saturday. It wasn't a lot but it was better than playing just one show! It's a 24-hour drive from LA.

On the way out to Texas we played a show at the Rogue Bar in Phoenix and then drove overnight to arrive in Austin Wednesday evening. It was a long drive and we were all super tired.

After a good night's rest we ventured into the city swamped with hipsters, industry folks, and music enthusiasts to claim our wristbands and tons of free schwag: condoms, gum, magazines, and CD's, at the Austin Convention Center.

On the road to SXSW with John Graney of the Californian--Part 2

By John Graney

Friends, if I showed you all of the pictures of the Californian from yesterday and last night you would have us institutionalized, or call the cops, or lift us high above your shoulders and parade us through town as heroes.  But we don't have time for any of those things right now. Right now I have to tell you what happens when you attempt to drive a car in Austin, Texas during SXSW.  A crippling rage and a mind melting confusion that borders on lunacy.  That's what happens.  And that is precisely what happened to us for the first many hours of the day.

When our heads stopped spinning we rose from an underground parking lot to hear the foot thumping ass shaking sounds of Fitz & The Tantrums.  We followed said sounds, joined the crowd, thumped our feet, and shook our respective asses.  That band has such a big huge awesome sound it's incredible.  We only caught a few songs in the parking lot of Waterloo Records, but what we heard was rad.

On the road to SXSW with John Graney of the Californian--Part 1

 It is March once again and time for the South by Southwest music conference in Austin (and college hoops). RFSL has dispatched some of our favorite LA bands to cover the madness that is SXSW. First up John Graney of the Californian brings us his report from the road.

By John Graney
Friends, I write you from the belly of a white Ford Explorer named Honey barreling down I-10 towards the same destination as countless other bands.  My name is John Graney, lead singer for the Californian.  My cohorts and I are obviously on our way Austin, Texas to experience the five days of noise, beer, plaid shirts, pizza, fuzz pedals, sweat, long lines, beer, late nights, favorite bands, shitty bands, half naked people, completely naked people, beer, tacos, indie anthems, breakbeats, folk ditties, geniuses, morons, and human beings that is South By Southwest.

The sea of indie bands passing us on the road today remind us silently that the roomier Ford Econoline Van is really the standard in band transportation.  We like to do things  differently here at the Californian.  That is to say that Honey is taking very good care of us.

The drive out to SXSW is always a surreal one.  What once was a stretch of barren highway speckled with the occasional road stop now more resembles a mobile Williamsburg.  Gas stations become one massive staring contest between truckers and dudes in tight jeans.

On the Road to SXSW w/ Death To Anders -- The End

by Staff

Over the last week, photographer Zoe-Ruth Erwin sent us photos and notes as she toured with LA's Death to Anders on their way to SXSW in Austin, Texas and back again. This time, singer/bass player Nick Ceglio sent a tour diary to accompany her last group of pictures.

Nick writes, "Quite a successful ten days on the road. SXSW was more than any of us could have ever expected. I must admit, the best part about the whole Austin experience had nothing to do with the shows we played.

Claire Mc Keown from Afternoons at SXSW: Part 4

by Staff

For most of this last week, Claire Mc Keown from LA indie pop group Afternoons has been sending reports about the band's adventures at SXSW in Austin, Texas. This final entry covers playing twice in one day, including a dream show at Antone's where some familiar faces also performed.

The Last Day

After a good breakfast/lunch and too much coffee at The Magnolia Cafe, we were off to our first show of the day. There was a little panic the night before, due to timing issues, as to if we could actually do both of the shows. We knew the second show at Antone's was a big one and wanted to be really on for it, but we said we would do it. The people running the first show switched us an hour earlier, which made it possible to do both of them.