ROCK TALK : Three Local Bands Survive Rocky Road to Record Deals : Groups are the exception, since most fall by the wayside. Winners say the best way to a contract is to play in L.A.
Just about every musician in every band has those MTV dreams which, when they come true, will enable him or her to quit that brain-dead day job and become the rock star they know they are. All they have to do is get signed. It would help if David Geffen was Uncle Dave. In the meantime, for most bands it hasn’t worked out yet.
Of course, some bands will say they’re only in it for the music, which is another way of saying they don’t have any fans. Justice and even talent seems to have little to do with getting a deal.
Over the past five years local bands such as the Mudheads, the I-Rails, Raging Arb & the Redheads, Tao Jonz, the Sleepwalkers, Blackworm, Lion I’s, the Ska Daddyz, Durango 95, Contradiction, The Upbeat, Los Guys, Pinching Judy, Popsicko, Shellfish, Aerial, Woodburning Project, Spencer the Gardener, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and others have made great music, but as yet, remain unsigned. Some of them broke up.
But there may be hope. Within the last few months, three local bands have actually inked deals--Dishwalla from Santa Barbara signed with A&M; Sykotik Sinfoney from Ventura signed with Red Light, a label affiliated with Relativity Records; and April’s Motel Room from Simi Valley signed with Immortal, an Epic-distributed independent label.
All three bands were signed after gigging incessantly in L.A., doing the dreaded showcases where industry types schmooze with each other, and occasionally even watch the band.
A quintet of Santa Barbarians who began as Life Talking then became Dish and now Dishwalla, may soon have enough money to be Dishwater, if they choose. J.R. Richard, the singer, told his story.
“Yeah man, it’s true. We got signed to A&M; about a month-and-a-half ago. Our manager got a tape somehow into A&M; through a lawyer. The first A&R; guy that got it liked it, and called us up. As it turned out, we had a gig at the Lingerie in L.A. that same week, and after we played, a guy named Mark Mazetti came up to us and said, ‘We’ll sign you.’
“We’re working on our album right now, which we’ll probably record in September or October. It should be released by the end of January. It’s just a matter of playing enough, and actually getting someone to listen to your stuff.”
Once the deal is made, then new deals arise. For example, most rock bands wouldn’t be caught dead in the same area code with the Carpenters unless they were planning to rob them. Now A&M; is going to release a Carpenters tribute album featuring excess adrenaline by the likes of Cracker, Sonic Youth, oh, and Dishwalla. Their song is going to be “It’s Going to Take Some Time.”
What’s stranger than that? How about Ventura’s own Sykotik Sinfoney--they’re stranger than everybody. They dress up like aliens and play like maniacs. Their practice site must sit on Three Mile Island West.
Mark Meister, the guitarist in the group who sometimes dresses as a cow, told this story:
“John Fichera, the owner, and his second-in-command Tom Silva from Red Light Records came to see us at the Roxy about four or five months ago and told us, ‘We want you guys,’ ” Meister said.
“Anyway, we’ve probably played over 300 shows in L.A. over the last three years and probably just six or seven up here. We recorded our album, ‘Eargasm’ at Goldmine Studios in Ventura, and now we’re just waiting for a release date which should be within three months. You have to play L.A. because it won’t happen here, not unless you know somebody. If you just swamp yourself with L.A. gigs someone will see you or else you’re not worth a damn.”
April’s Motel Room, out of Simi Valley, got out of Simi Valley to get their deal. It went down this way, according to singer Tom Kelly:
“Well, we started doing all these industry showcases. One night we were playing in this tiny hole-in-the-wall bar and this guy named Happy Williams from Immortal Records came up to us and told us he was interested.
“We recorded an album called ‘Black 14’ in December, and it should be coming out soon. There are 14 songs on it, some new and some old ones off our tapes. The label just sent out a five-song EP to a bunch of college radio stations. ‘God’ is going to be the first single and we’re going to start on a video,” he said.
“I can’t believe all that’s happened to us the last few months until I started talking about it. Now it’s getting really crazy--there’s lawyers, business and contracts. Happy got us in with the William Morris Agency and we’re going to be on the H.O.R.D.E. tour July 12 with the Allman Brothers, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Blues Traveler, Sheryl Crow and the Black Crowes.
“Anyway, I’d say going to L.A. is actually the thing, and playing as much as possible. You’ve got to play those industry gigs because every once in a while, something happens.”