Surplus 1980 full length out now!

When I was blogging yesterday about the Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl shows, I realized that I never posted about Pigeon Obstacle Course, our brand new full length release! CD, LP, digital! All available here:

Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl with G.W. Sok-The Uptown Night Club, Oakland and Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco; 8/23-24/19

I may be jumping the gun by posting this so soon after this past weekend's Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl shows in Oakland and San Francisco. I'm trying to let the impressions sink in really deeply, you see. That said, I also want to log them on this here blog with as fresh a perspective as possible. Kind of a conundrum, really.
I'll just come out and say that I felt that both of the shows went really well. They'd been a LONG time coming. The CD that contains the music that we recorded was tracked a full three years ago, plenty of time for everyone to forget their parts as they worked on other stuff. Thankfully, we managed to get a few rehearsals in; we even had G.W. Sok with us for those, too.
All of the musicians got our parts in order and we seemed to roll into the Uptown Nightclub in downtown Oakland pretty confident. This set felt pretty good to me. I got to use the full Surplus 1980 drum kit, kind of a treat as always. That Pearl bass drum sounds dope. The large group rocked the four pieces, conducted by Moe! in a good way. The emotional weight of them really struck home for me, which I had never noticed during the recordings back in 2016 nor during a few spins of the disc in my car. This music is pretty heavy, and not in a plodding way, which is quite an accomplishment for 13 people sharing a stage. I feel a lot of "shadow" energy to it. It doesn't feel as though I'm explaining it really effectively, but, trust me, it's there.
A good night for Moe! and all of his pals in Oakland.

Below: Surplus 1980 kit and Jordan Glenn's kit; the full band (photo by and courtesy of Thomas Scandura, thanks, Tom!)

The Bottom of the Hill show started off kind of weird, with some miscommunication about gear leading to a last minute scramble for needed drum parts. That was smoothed over in remarkably good time, thanks to the ever cool Ralph Spight. Ralph remains THE MAN.
As for our Saturday night SF set, the energy seemed to be even darker and more heavy. A really solid block of sound emanated from the Bottom of the Hill's stage. Its intensity was kind of scary to me. As compared to Friday night's set, where all of the instruments' tones were sort of side by side, Saturday night had us being one unit. A giant slab of heaviness! Moe! seemed a lot more confident in the City, too. How I wish that we could have played a few more shows a few days after this one, as the Ensembl was REALLY gelled.
Who knows, perhaps we'll find a way to do it again at some point!
Oh yeah, and Victims Family. Just incredible, what a rhythm section.
OK, now I feel as though I'm not doing justice to what went down in Surplus 1980 world at the Uptown and Bottom of the Hill. Suffice it to say that I am incredibly satisfied with it. Hopefully all of the other members are, too.
Thanks to Moe! for putting this all together, to Melne for doing a ton of legwork, and G.W. Sok for participating.
Now, someone please go and buy the CD!

2 shows with Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl this week!

A larger version of Surplus 1980 will back G.W. Sok for two SF Bay Area performances this week!

Fri., 8/23/19
The Uptown
1928 Telegraph Ave.
Oakland 94612
8PM
Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl
Esses
Hazel Atlas
$10

Sat. 8/24/19
The Bottom of the Hill
1233 17th St.
SF 94107
Victims Family
Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl
Preening
8:30 PM
$15

Looking forward to these shows a lot!

ebolabuddha-Noto Motors, Palo Alto CA; 8/16/19

ebolabuddha hasn't been playing that much lately, so I'm happy to report that we had a cool, albeit somewhat short set last Friday. Things started out with our traditional group reading of books, during which some audience members did indeed participate. These pieces are always interesting as the combined words of various band members and said audience turn into this strange glossalalia. Probably lasted about four minutes or so before the drums started. SO many drums, as Lorenzo Arreguin, Patrick Telesfore Jr., and me played drum sets. Along with this, Eli and Steve did not even bother with their respective bass guitar and lead guitar, instead hammering out rhythms on old cymbals and this piece of sheet metal that I've had. In a sense, these items were a continuation of the last Failure Cock set: same exact gear. Us trap drummers all stuck to a more free-form feel for a while, as Jade streaked around the crowd in his skivvies while yelling into a megaphone. I'm not sure if anyone could hear him over the percussion maelstrom, but he gave it his all. Jade also handed out crayons and paper for people to make art with. Yes, ebolabuddha gigs are multi-tiered! Eventually all drum sets got into this tight blast beat, during which we all synced up really well. I was hoping that this portion would continue for a bit longer than it did, but Eli signaled a hard stop, and indeed a hard stop was achieved.
A cool, albeit slightly short set for another Noishaus! Many thanks to Keith at that great organization for giving ebolabuddha a slot!

Below: drums and cymbals and crayons

Above: ebolabuddha in action (photo by and courtesy of Steven Barnes, thanks, Steven!)

ebolabuddha this Friday in Palo Alto!

We'll be playing for Noisehaus!

Fri., 8/16/19
8PM
Noisehaus 14
Noto Motors
906 Industrial Ave.
Palo Alto 94303
ebolabuddha along with many other fine acts!

Recent shows roundup!

Early August was pretty busy for me. I'm tired, but allow me to ruminate a bit!

Surplus 1980-KALX Saturday Night Live Show, Berkeley CA; 8/3/19
It's kind of a miracle that Surplus 1980 was even able to play this one, as members were tied up in various pursuits all day before our set. Hell, we didn't even get a practice in for this on! Thankfully, everyone arrived on time and able to perform. A really hot, tight set ensued, within the really tight and hot live room of KALX studios. I felt as though we played well; maybe a few gaffs here and there, but given the circumstances leading up to this show, all good. For me, it kind of redeemed the bad feelings from our album release show when only a handful of people bothered to show up. Our energy blasted those feelings away, at least for me. After our set, a really nice interview with DJ Cia Cia la Piratta happened, and that was fun too!

Below: Moe! sets up, Surplus 1980 getting ready to rip

Above: me and Cia Cia la Piratta, an incredibly nice person!

Feral Luggage-The Make Out Room, SF; 8/5/19
Back to the Mission, and of course another walk, with more of the same visions of the ever-changing SF. The development never seems to stop, but, thankfully, places like Revolution Cafe and the Make Out Room still stand. Feral Luggage, which is essentially Cartoon Justice with two drummers, had the third spot for this Monday Makeout event. After some really fine music from the Holly Martins and the Jason Levis Septet, we took the floor and delved into what Mika has termed Null Wave sounds. In comparison to the lively Jazz of the previous acts, we got into some slow, almost Dub-ey spaces. Jason Levis was kind enough to join us on second drum set. It seemed to take a few minutes for him to sync with me, but eventually that happened. An enjoyable set, and at about 45 minutes, kind of perfect, length-wise. Some people even stayed around for all of it! Alright!

Below: Feral Luggage on the floor of the Makeout Room (photo by Bill Wolter, thanks, Bill!)

Above: the whole set!

The Satanic Tambournies-Mercury Cafe, SF; 8/9/19
The name of this group has shortened, much to my disappointment! I really like the old moniker, but I guess it's tougher to get on a handbill. On a really nice, sunny afternoon in Hayes Valley, I was able to find a miraculously good parking spot, load in to Mercury Cafe with a minimum of hassle, and even take a hike up to Lower Haight for a bit. Really just a lovely couple of hours, there. It was also lovely to play some of Ben Paul's really nice original tunes, along with some great standards. We had a guitarist, Don, and a tenor saxophone player, Mish, sit in with us. Things flowed pretty well, and as usual, syncing up with Eli was a delight. We're a rhythm section! I missed a few cues, and possibly played a bit too loud at times, but, on the whole, a good couple of sets. Mercury Cafe is a fun spot!

Below: Satanic Tambourines with guests!

More shows coming up soon! 

Hayes Valley Satanic Tambourine Jazz Trio Delight plays tomorrow in SF!

Trio Jazz, with guests, this Friday!

Fri., 8/9/19
Mercury Cafe
201 Octavia Blvd.
SF 94102
6:30 PM
Hayes Valley Satanic Tambourine Jazz Trio Delight
free (donations accepted)