Herrera Keeps Spirit Alive as Showcase for Talented Musicians

Those who can hardly imagine the San Diego music scene without local institution Jerry Herrera can relax--at least for now. Herrera acknowledges that he has gone about as far as he can with Spirit--a Morena District club known for more than a decade as a proving grounds for local bands playing original material--but he has no immediate plans to retire.

However, in a daytime interview earlier this week in the Gothic darkness of the 350-capacity club’s gaming area, the 48-year-old proprietor concedes that he has been considering a number of intriguing options. And even the notion of abandoning the rock ‘n’ roll business altogether comes a little easier to him now than it would have a few years ago.

Dressed in blue running shorts, running shoes, and a black satin jacket, and speaking at a clip that suggests a professional typist on deadline, the gregarious, forthcoming club owner intimated that his thoughts about the future cut across a surprisingly wide swath.

“I have about five years left on my lease here, and I haven’t really decided what I want to do,” Herrera said. “I might renew it, but I’ve also been toying with the idea of seeking a bigger venue, of doing another J.J.’s type of club. I’ve been looking at buildings and talking to people. I just don’t want to keep doing ‘small’ stuff that much longer. So, I might either go bigger or get out of it altogether. Maybe go into real estate or something.”

The mention of J.J.’s conjures images of the Pacific Highway venue Herrera and erstwhile local concert promoter James Pagni operated in 1972. Before troubles initiated by a meddlesome landlord put an end to both the partnership and the 1,000-capacity club two years later, J.J.’s had presented such future mega-star bands as Steely Dan, Hawkwind, ZZ Top, the New York Dolls and the Electric Light Orchestra. It’s that type of entrepreneurship that Herrera pines for when he talks about seeking a bigger venue. But his desire is conditional.

“I would not want to open a big club on my own,” Herrera said. “I would want to do it together with a promoter. I don’t really like dealing with (talent) agencies and playing that game. It takes a certain type of person to do that. That’s why J.J.’s was so perfect: Pagni had been promoting concerts for years and he was very sharp at getting acts at the right price, while I had been running a club and was real good at that. I think you need both types of individuals, because it’s too hard to do otherwise and today the competition is stiff.”

In thinking bigger, Herrera is relatively undaunted by the recession, the anti-alcohol movement, and a general downturn in the music industry, all factors now posing grave threats to the club business.

“I have a lot more experience now than I did in the ‘70s,” he said. “I’ve done both sides of it--the big club with major acts and the smaller club with smaller acts. And the major difference is knowing how to make the bar profitable, because I’ll bet you that on any given night the club that brings in a top act is lucky just to pay the band with the door (receipts). You make your money with your liquor, and that’s something I’m good at now.”

Certainly, no one questions Herrera’s ability to wring profit from what looks on the surface to be a marginal enterprise. After the J.J.’s closure, Herrera in 1975 leased a squat, afterthought of a building on Buenos Avenue, off Morena Boulevard. Spirit--briefly called The Spirit of ’76 to capitalize on the then-imminent bicentennial--began inauspiciously.

“I had been doing the kids thing for years without making much money, except for that short time with Pagni, so I decided to do something different,” Herrera said. “This place was just a mom-and-pop operation--a bar and restaurant with no entertainment. So I booked Latin and then Top 40 bands while learning the food and liquor business. I did that until ‘79, when new-wave music started clicking and I got back into that again.”

Spirit, and Herrera, soon formed the local fulcrum of yet another music trend. Hot recording acts such as X, the Plimsouls, the Blasters and Romeo Void drew big crowds. Local bands, including Fingers (whose guitarist-vocalist, Joey Harris, is now a Beat Farmer), DFX2, the Monroes, the Penetrators (whose drummer is now the Beat Farmers’ Country Dick Montana), the Rick Elias Band, and the Rockin’ Roulettes (featuring a young Buddy Blue)--and their fans--made Spirit the hub of local music activity. It’s a time Herrera fondly recalls.

“In the early ‘80s, we would have 400-500 people here, with a lot of them spilling into the parking lot. It was quite a scene, and neither the fire marshal nor the ABC (state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control) bothered us,” he said.

In time, however, the new-rock movement tapered off, and the malaise that has come to plague pop music in general is reflected in Spirit’s business. Although Herrera claims that he has been largely unaffected by the deepening recession, he concedes that the outlook is not as sanguine as it once was.

“The art acts, the more creative alternative bands, don’t really seem to be drawing that well anymore,” he said. “Bands like the Connells, the Dictators, and most of those popular southern bands have surprised me by not drawing at all here. Having outside promoters bring acts in here doesn’t work anymore, because the promoter will get the door, and I’m left trying to make my overhead by selling drinks to 75 or 100 people. That’s not enough.”

The dearth of touring acts at Spirit, however, has proven to be a boon to local bands. Even those musicians who complain about Herrera’s policy of not paying an untested group are grudgingly thankful for the opportunity to perform their own music in public. But although he remains something of a champion of local original music, Herrera confided that such support comes at a cost.

“I’ve always enjoyed the creativity of original music, and the easiest thing is to cultivate your own back yard, rather than worry about bands from L.A. or San Francisco,” he said. “But back in the early ‘80s, at the height of the scene, you could book three bands and pack the place. Now, unfortunately, you have to book five or six bands to attract half that crowd. And with people not drinking as much these days, you need to get more and more bodies in the place to keep the doors open.

“Originality is a real hard sell,” Herrera said. “You have to work to get someone to turn out to hear unfamiliar music. But while we don’t pay bands whose appeal is unknown, I still think it’s a fair set-up. I give them the facility, a stage, lighting, PA system, mikes, and a sound person, and all they have to do is get people in here. I’m struggling like everyone else. This is an owner-worker situation; Madalene (Herrera’s wife) and I alternate putting in 9-to-5 days during the week--ordering liquor, paying bills, booking acts. And then we both work Friday and Saturday nights. And we’re not driving a Mercedes to work.”

As Herrera examined his options, he seemed to push the prospect of retirement further into the recesses of his mind.

“There’s no question that I could make a lot more money by revamping the place inside and out and turning it into a disco or Top 40-type place. But I wouldn’t be happy doing that,” he said. “I could also renew my lease with an option, remodel the place to get a lot more bodies in here, then sell the business.

“But I’ve never given much thought to getting rich,” he said. “I like the idea of being able to come to the club when I want to, to be able to hear some good bands and pay my bills. And, hopefully, the day will come again when we’ll launch some really good bands out of here.”

Herrera said it has been a while since he has seen any groups come through with the sort of strong songwriting that could land a record deal. Nor does he sense anything new and fresh that could take hold of the ‘90s the way new-wave grabbed the early ‘80s.

“I’ve thought about getting out of the business, but then I think, ‘Well, what would I do then?’ ” he said. “If I can make a living doing what I enjoy, then I’m pretty content. I’ll probably stay in music as long as I think I have an ear for what’s going on.”

Spirit, a 21-and-up club, is at 1130 Buenos Ave. It is open 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and closed Sundays and Mondays. The cover charge is $4 Tuesday through Thursday, $6 Friday and Saturday, and more for special engagements. For information about upcoming shows, call 276-3993.