July 28, 2005

Backstage PassRock On!

Local bands rock historic Gaslighter

Schizophrenic lineup wows diverse crowd

By Michelle Gibo
Times Intern

Approximately 400 ears of all ages stuffed Campbell’s historic Gaslighter Theatre on July 7, where a smash mouth line-up of local bands including Leland’s prodigy Signal the Siren and fogy Starving Millionaires headlined local acts Overdrive A.D., Mixed Signals, Straightouttaluck and Myc Ripley.

Fans spill out the door on July 7. The Gaslighter holds rock shows five days a week. Photo by Gina Benedetti

The Millionaires played host to promote their newly released debut EP “First Ditch Effort,” enlisting the likes of Signal the Siren who thrilled a notoriously loyal fan base with renditions of “A Concrete Impact From 30 stories” and “Death Wishes are for Those Who Cannot Take Action.”

Signal the Siren
STS is hailed as a melodic hard rock band, and after six months in collaboration, recently recorded a demo called “This is the Result of Being Set on Fire.” The band is led by Leland grad Jonathan Stanyard on melodic vocals and incoming senior Bryan Rios screaming, and is widely reputed as a good band within high school circles.

Guitarist Sean Duff, a 2005 graduate of Branham High, drummer Anthony Perez, Leland ’05 grad, and bassist Peter Anderson, also a Leland senior, round out the lineup.

With practice once a week, the group improvises to create songs. They claim to avoid following popular methods such as longing for lost love, rather stretching their imagination to write lyrics.

“Sometimes I imagine being on a ship or in another world,” said Stanyard.

In their first performance at the Gaslighter, STS enjoyed playing to a live crowd; consequently, they hope live shows become one of their greater strengths.

“We all love music and like to move,” said Stanyard. “As a band we let our energy flow with our music as we perform.”

Also according to Stanyard, the members of Signal the Siren have each felt a passion for music since childhood.
“I was raised on music and always have played music,” said Stanyard, who began playing piano at 9, bass at 10 and currently is a music major at San Jose State University.

Starving Millionaires
Joe Reghitto, David Mun and Eric Maehl, all Leland grads, formed their heavy reggae-influenced punk rock band upon return to the Almaden Valley after school and work in San Diego and Los Angeles, respectively. A quick six-months together has gained the Millionaires a diverse resume and growing fan base via performances at various nightclubs and high schools throughout the South Bay.

Starving Millionaire Eric Maehl nearly overheats at the Gaslighter on July 7. Photo by Gina Benedetti

The band vows that music has strengthened and renewed their friendship since meeting at Bret Harte Middle School and delving into the grunge scene. The members recall supporting one other even as Reghitto’s high school band Exile took the first Lelandpalooza trophy in 1997, while the others left empty handed.

The Millionaires collaborate on each of their songs, contributing, at times, conflicting views about everyday life experiences. The result thus far is their debut EP “First Ditch Effort,” comprised of five songs including, “Double Brown,” “4th of July,” “Untitled,” “Roll the Dice” and “Hopscotch Girl.” The record reportedly took two weeks to record in Mun’s garage.

“The entire show was really good,” said Signal the Siren fan Michael Steranka. “[There] were a variety of extremely good musicians who all came together and put on a good show at the Gaslighter.”

Promotions
The success of the show hinged largely on the Millionaires’ promotional efforts.

“You need to get people out to the shows,” said Reghitto. “If you don’t do it, nobody will know about your band and you’ll be playing with yourself.”

Diversity in local music scenes has rendered the search for fans nearly impossible without savvy use of the Internet. Community oriented Web sites, such as MySpace, Pure Volume and Friendster, are becoming staples of the independent music scene. As a result, local bands are becoming wizards of mass marketing, implementing rather sophisticated e-mailing techniques in conjunction with blogging.

Mike Sorenson and Katy Bencik of Straightouttaluck. Photo by Gina Benedetti

“A lot of bands just put up a couple of signs and that’s it,” continued Reghitto. “But it probably depends on whatever you want to be as a band. We don’t intend to be some local novelty act.”

MySpace houses more than 23,000,000 individual and group Web sites, with the operator’s contact information provided.

Signal the Siren took steps to post their own Web site. The site provides various facts about the band and free downloads of their songs.

“We also hang out with the people who come out to see us after our shows, so they will remember us,” said Reghitto. After spending extra time getting to know their fans, the Starving Millionaires encourage them to come to their other shows, too.

Gaslighter
The Gaslighter Theatre has offered a live stage for local acts since 1971, run by the Gaetano family since 1971. Currently, the Gaetanos post a calendar for upcoming months on their Web site, so that bands may select available dates to perform.

“It’s a nice way for bands of all ages to perform,” said Susan Gaetano. “It’s exciting when you see new bands perform. Some previous bands that performed here now have record deals, but there will always be new bands coming.”

The bands, which performed at the Gaslighter on July 7, also encourage teens with aspirations of pursuing musical careers to follow through.

“Learn to play your instruments well, play what music feels right to you, write down your own songs, and don’t ever stop trying,” suggests G.D. Hensley of Overdrive A.D.

Michelle Gibo is a Leland High School incoming Junior.

WORTH A HOOT

Tarah Knaresboro
Junior, Leland High School

The Asian American Journalist Association selected Leland Junior Tarah Knaresboro as one of 42 high school students nationwide to attend the prestigious J-Camp, sponsored by the largest professional organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander journalists, held at the University of Minnesota this August.

J-Camp is a free, six-day-long intensive journalism training camp where high school students of all ethnicities may, if selected, hone techniques described by professional journalists on site. This year guest instructors include Seventeen magazine editor Atoosa Rubenstein, Josh Freedom du Lac, a pop music critic for The Washington Post, and Neal Justin, television critic for the Star Tribune.

Knaresboro, who writes regularly for the Mercury News’ “Read This” section compiled by South Bay Teens, hopes to narrow down her career options after studying technique with industry elite.

“Journalism is a way to convey information from people writing it to people reading it,” said Knaresboro. “But I am not necessarily interested in being a news anchor. I like the freedom to write about what I am feeling. You can’t do that in school.”

For more information on how to apply for J-Camp visit www.aaja.org.

Talking Turkeys

What you said about music in your natural habitat. This time it was all month at your house, except for the girls at Starbuck’s.

Katrina Musco (left), 16 Pioneer High School Megan Peterson (right), 16 Pioneer High School

BSP: What instruments do you play?
KM: I play the flute.

BSP: Is music important to you?
MP: Music is important because it sounds good. It makes you feel good, too.

BSP: How often do you listen to music?
KM: More than I can think of.
MP: 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
KM: Either in her head or actually going into her head.
MP: Or when I’m singing. I listen to it when I do homework and when I go to bed. And when I’m doing nothing.

BSP: What do you think of the school band?
KM: They don’t really challenge us.
MP: Our school band? They stink.

BSP: Do you have any interest in forming a band?
MP: I could sing!
KM: No! You don’t want to hear her sing.

BSP: (to KM) What about you?
KM: I don’t think flute really counts. Plus, I’m more into food.

BSP: Food?
KM: Yes, food!

Johnathan Stanyard (circled), 19 Leland grad on behalf of Leland band Signal the Siren

BSP: Would you recommend playing music to others?
JS: Of course, music is art.  Art is the largest medium to express yourself.  I would encourage every single person in the world to try some form of art, whether music, painting, or poetry, it makes the world turn.

BSP: Why music? Why not painting or poetry?
JS: I was surrounded by music, my dad used to play the Beatles and Tower of Power. My dad is a pretty versatile music listener so it kind of widened my eyes. I started piano when I was 9, I saw some kids on one of those amazing kids shows just tearing up the piano and I was like, ‘I want to do that!’ I took piano lessons for about two and a half years, and within the next five years learned every instrument, so I kind of play everything.

BSP: What does it take to become a band?
JS: Well anyone can form a band. I could probably create a band in a week, on craigslist or something, but to actually form the unit, and have a band where you know what you’re thinking while you’re onstage, it takes practice. Just like anything else, practice makes perfect. A lot of kids start a band just for fun, but some won’t pursue anything else and will rely on a record deal and it’s very hard to get.

Ashley Giersch (left), 15 Pioneer High School Ashley Romo (center), 15 Pioneer High School Kelsey Romo (right), 15 Pioneer High School

BSP: Do you like music?
AG: I listen to rock and rap, pretty much whatever’s on my iPod.
AR: Fallout Boy.
AG: I like Green Day, the “American Idiot” album.
AR: I hate it.

BSP: So those are your favorite artists?
AG: What would be an artist?
AR: Some one who sings, ha, ha, ha.
AG: I don’t really like hardcore rap, only 50-Cent, Nelly. We like Ciara.

BSP: (to KR) You’ve been pretty quiet. What about you?
KR: (to AG) I hate everything she said.
AG: Kelsey’s different.
KR: Music’s cool because it mellows you out. I listen to a lot of Beatles, the Eagles, some Clapton. They keep it real.

Review U

Backstage vows to review what you want us to. We’ll examine songs, albums, short stories, poems, novels, jokes, art, your home, your family or your attitude. Please contact Justin Petersen at (408) 386-7373 or by e-mail at justin@timesmediainc.com.


“This is the result of being set on fire”
Signal the Siren
Jonathan Staynard—melodic throat
Bryan Rios—scream throat
Sean Duff—guitars
Anthony Perez—drums
Peter Anderson—bass

An emotional display of power.

Signal the Siren took valiant action on this collection of nearly metal rock riffs. Staynard’s vocal arrangements enlisted the zealous support of Rios, who could likely out-howl any creature in Quicksilver. Meanwhile Duff’s haunting licks on guitar serve as an open canvas for Perez and Anderson to demonstrate a very heavy rhythm section.

BSP: We give it three turkeys. The production quality took away from intelligent and moving songs, arranged with a blaring message.

“First Ditch Effort”
Starving Millionaires
Joe Reghitto—bass, “let’s go’s”
Mun—drums, sonic manipulation
Eric Maehl—throat, guitar

A heavy swab of reggae, paced by pretty pretty punk rockers.

The Millionaires have a catchy collection of five foot-stomping party anthems to show for their first six months together. Maehl’s bouncy vocals are grounded by driving bass lines and diverse, oft pounding arrangements on the drums. Despite hints at vulgarity, the Millionaires sound like the real deal. Watch them.

BSP: We give it two and one-half turkeys coolin’ with one pigeon. Despite an original sound and substantial energy, the lyrics are at times distracting.

There are a lot of turkeys in Almaden, especially in the foothills. We appreciate that, so turkeys are awarded to reviewed work in place of stars.

Get it

Punk kids!
More teens play punk rock music every day. Learning four or five chords makes it possible for anyone to start, and its expanding longevity, and accessibility, in the music world has helped people develop both original sounds and new ways to think. But the one thing all punks have in common is guitar.

Times Intern Gina Benedetti rocks.

What to buy, what to buy?
When Leland senior Cuyler Meade of local band Dying Breed began playing the guitar, he used the legendary Fender Stratocaster. So he was surprised when salespeople at CB Perkins on Winfield Boulevard in San Jose handed him an entry-level Dean Avalanche. But this guitar is similar to the Strat—and it’s affordable. Meade strongly recommends the Avalanche to anyone beginning to play because it has quick action and a very smooth sound.

Meade bought his Avalanche for about $200, as opposed to as much as $1,200 for a high-end Strat.

“It also upsets the more experienced guitar players when beginners play expensive guitars and can do them no justice,” said Meade.

Teach me!
Teens play guitars to rebel against authority, pick up chicks, or for the sheer entertainment value. The draw is that guitar has an attainable learning curve—and it’s always portable. Learning a few simple chords can have a person playing like the radio in no time, but practice is important and that likely means lessons.

CB Perkins offers 30-minute lessons for $25 apiece. And for really early beginners, Meade is willing to make house calls.

Where to go?
CB Perkins is a great place to begin shopping for an instrument and lessons. Ask for sales guy/instructor Mike at CB Perkins. He demonstrated an extensive knowledge in guitar history to me. He is also willing to help anyone, no matter how ‘lame’ their questions are.

For private lessons, call Cuyler Meade at (408) 391-4845 or visit Andy at the Guitar Showcase at 3090 S. Bascom Ave. or Mike Bautista at CB Perkins 5807 Winfield Blvd.

—By Margo Consul, Leland Junior