ROCK : The Biggest Thing in Chico : Mother Hips Takes Act on the Road

Being the most popular band in Chico is sort of like having the best legs in Colonel Sanders’ barnyard or being the smartest guy on Death Row.Pretty cool, but no future.

Mother Hips, the Chico band, has done the Chico thing, so now they drive around a lot, a bunch of hippies in a van ready to rock. They’ll be playing psychedelic guitar music Friday night at the Brewhouse in Santa Barbara. The Graceful Punks will open the show.

The four Mother Hips members met at Cal State Chico and started the band a couple of years ago. Chico has a population of about 40,000--and thousands of visiting students, which probably accounts for Cal State Chico being routinely recognized as the No. 1 party school in the United States. Providing the soundtrack to the cavorting coeds are Tim Bluhm, the singer and songwriter; Greg Loiacono, the lead guitarist; Isaac Parsons, the bassist, and Mike Wofchuck, the drummer.

Tired of waiting on some record label personnel to find Chico, let alone produce them, Mother Hips made its own CD, “Back to the Grotto,” in 1992. Discussing the groovy aspect of it all, Bluhm spoke from his Chico crash pad recently.

Is “Back to the Grotto” still selling?

We sell about 50 of them a week here in Chico, and probably over 3,500 of them so far. That album seems somewhat primitive to us now, but we still do all the songs on it. We play better now, because that’s all we do. For awhile, our music was getting complicated, but now the songs are getting more basic again. Also, I think my lyrics are a little more refined.

How often are you guys road dogs?

A lot. We have a van, and we all live in it when we travel. When we’re in Chico, we all live together in a house, but we’re never here. We’ve been touring constantly for the last year, year and a half. We do really well in San Francisco; and we also play Marin and Davis. We play Sacramento, which is a total rock ‘n’ roll town. We’ve been to Seattle, Portland and Spokane, but we like California because California is the best. And we just got back from an industry showcase gig in New York City.

Do those industry things ever work?

Sort of, we’re getting more money and more food because they take us out to dinner. Basically, all they do is grub. So far, MCA seems to want to give us everything we need. We’re hoping they’ll release our album nationally.

So then, a band can get signed out of Chico?

Yeah, if you play out every night. When we’re traveling, we usually play five nights a week. On this tour we’ll be heading south for a gig at the Lighthouse in Manhattan Beach, which is right by my house. My parents will be there--they know all the words to our songs. I think my grandmother is going too.

Any of you guys from Chico?

No, but we all met here at school. Greg is from Marin. Isaac is from Sacramento. Mike is from Redwood City. I’m from the South Bay, Manhattan Beach.

What’s the Chico scene like?

The unique thing about Chico is that it’s far away from everything. The Bay Area is three and a half hours away, and Sacramento is 100 miles away. Chico is getting bigger, but it’s still a small town with a great music scene and a lot of original bands. When I first got to town, I was appalled because there was nothing but cover bands. Not that we’re to blame or anything, but we started our own band and played original music; now everyone does it.

Tell me about a typical Chico gig.

We played last night, a Monday night. When we’re home, we do a lot of weekday gigs to help the bar owners make some money. Last night it was packed to the gills with more than 200 people dancing, no stage, us backed into the corner. But then again, no one claps anymore. We know all the girls and all the guys and all the bartenders.

Your bio says you guys never get any girls, is that so?

It’s an old bio. We didn’t start the band for that, anyway. We just wanted to write some good songs and turn some people onto some new music. It’s our responsibility to make sure what we’re creating is worthy.

What was the worst thing a bar owner ever told you?

Oh man, it was the most infuriating thing; this guy told us he played our tape for all of his friends, and none of them liked it. He almost made me cry. It was down there in your area, so I won’t tell you where. But we’ve played there about four times since.

How did you guys get gigs in Santa Barbara?

We just played some frat parties in Isla Vista for some good money.

Where did the name come from?

It was just inspired by a girl I used to know.

What do you think Mother Hips music sounds like?

Oh man, it just grooves. I dunno.

What do you say to those who say you’re just a bunch of hippies that were born 20 years too late?

I’d say, you know, just let ‘em say it. We laugh at people who say stuff like that. They don’t look far enough into our music. We shop at thrift stores because we hate malls. We don’t cut our hair because we don’t know how we want it to look. We use old equipment that makes an old sound, but the lyrics are definitely ‘90s.

What’s the creative process for writing a song?

I just write about people and things I see. I always carry a book to take notes, maybe a verse or just a word. I’m always playing guitar in my head, so I just sit down and put it all together. I can’t help it; my mind keeps writing songs. There’s probably something like 60 originals. Sometimes we do a couple of Buffalo Springfield covers and, maybe, a Neil Young song.

Do people dance or just stare?

They do both, but we prefer them to sit there. I don’t dance, and none of us in the band can dance. Sometimes, someone will come up and ask if we can play a song so he and his girlfriend can dance, and we always tell them no. It’s not our intention to play dance music.

What was a weird gig for you guys?

Once at UC Davis, we played inside of an artificial insemination horse barn. And we played right next to this big wooden horse that the other horses would mount to ejaculate.

Maybe you should leave that off your resume. So, no more day jobs for you guys?

Naw, we got rid of our day jobs about two years ago. We just play music; that’s it. It’s great getting paid and having the time to write songs. When we’re home, like today, people just come over and we just sit on the couch and play guitars all day.

I’ve always felt that the longer your hair is, the worse the service you receive. Tell me a longhair road story.

New Jersey, 10 p.m. Mike was going about 85 when all of New Jersey is going 85. We’ve got California plates. The guy that pulled us over looked like a soldier or something. He made Mike get out of the car and told us he’d shoot us if we moved. Then he searched our van looking for drugs, but he didn’t find anything. I was terrified. He gave Mike a monster ticket. A few days before when I was driving in Nebraska, I got stopped for speeding. I didn’t get a ticket and I ended up giving the cop a CD. Nebraska cops like rock ‘n’ roll.

Details

* WHAT: Mother Hips and Graceful Punks

* WHEN: 9 p.m. Friday

* WHERE: The Brewhouse, 202 State St., Santa Barbara

* COST: $2-$3

* FYI: For information, call 963-3090