Livin’ like a rock star, diaper bag in tow

BUCKCHERRY lead singer Josh Todd might be sad to see 2006 close out. The hard-rocking frontman has had a banner year -- with the birth of a daughter, and a hit song that recently earned the long-running L.A. band a Grammy nomination for best hard rock performance. The group will celebrate with a show at the Key Club on Dec. 29 and a New Year’s Eve gig at OCNYE’s 2007 “Orange Drop.” But here’s how the Valley resident spends time off.

Packing the baby

I’m married with child, so a typical Friday night would just be relaxing with my 7-month-old daughter and wife. We like to pack up the baby and go to a sushi place called Iwata over on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. It’s really good sushi, reasonable in price, and just a good vibe. We always get spicy tuna on crab cakes, and I always get a salmon hand roll with fresh jalapenos and avocado, nice and spicy. Then they have this karate studio across the street, and we always like to go and stand in front of the window and watch the kids in karate class. That’s a lot of fun.

And I love going to the movies. Our favorite place is the ArcLight. It’s a little more expensive, but you get assigned seats so you can walk in no matter how close to movie time and you always have your seat, it’s really clean, the movie screens are huge, the sound systems are amazing. You can see a lot of indies there, which I like to do on the big screen. I saw “The Departed” there too. Great movie.

From wet suit to trunks

Saturday afternoon I like to try to get out by myself and go surfing. I usually go south, ‘cause I came up surfing down there, so I go to Upper Trestles or out in Huntington Beach. Then Pedro’s Tacos is the best place for a surfer to eat; it’s really inexpensive and it’s Mexican food, the best surf food.

I’m a boxing fanatic, so when I’m free on Saturday night, it’s fight night for me. I like to go to live fights; I’ll go to Staples Center or Pechanga Casino down in Temecula, or I like to go to Vegas. And usually almost every Saturday there’s a great fight. I box over at the Bomb Squad Gym off Santa Monica and La Brea; that’s where I go to work out. It’s an old-school boxing gym; there are no real weights or anything, just heavy bags, a ring, jump ropes and stuff like that. I’ve been boxing like four years now.

Pigskin passion

Sunday is football. And if there’s no football, usually I just chill at home and play with my daughter. Right now she’s learning how to crawl; that’s very exciting. Then I make a really killer spaghetti and meat sauce. Whenever I’m home my wife makes me make spaghetti. And I just work and read books. Right now I’m reading a book called “Fantastic,” about Arnold Schwarzenegger. He’s had an extraordinary life, and I want to know what he’s done to get where he’s been.

I like to go to Book Soup on Sunset. I love going there. They’re way more up to speed, they have more of a selection, everything is laid out nice and it’s really kind of a peaceful atmosphere. And if you can’t find a book they’ll look it up and order it for you. They’re really accommodating.

For dinner we might go to Vitello’s off Ventura Boulevard. I like to get chicken Parmesan there. It’s really old-school Italian. It’s kind of like “Cheers,” where everybody says hello to you and they remember your name. It’s just a real family atmosphere, that’s why I like it.