Lounge Daze

In mid-2007, Laurin Askew left Ovipositor. Colin and I had already decided to take our time finding a new bass player. Still, I wanted to keep up a rigorous pace of drum playing.
After searching through craigslist for a few days, I found an ad, "Lounge Drummer Wanted". I'd never played drums in a lounge band, but was familiar with the Lounge/Exotica music of artists like Les Baxter, Yma Sumac, Martin Denny, etc. I figured it would be a nice change from the skewed sounds of Ovipositor.

This trio, dubbed Champagne Weekend by singer Anne-Marie Russo, lasted only a few months. We played tunes by Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra and the amazing Italian chanteuse Mina for the most part. It was fun, but I got bored with it pretty quickly. That said, I wish the guitar player, Frank, had accepted my offer of purchase for that amazing cocktail drum kit!

Barney Cauldron at the LiPo Lounge, 9/25/10

The LiPo Lounge in San Francisco is probably the most ignominious spot for bands to play at, seeing as that it's pretty much a "you book it, you rent it, you run it" affair. I am totally OK with that. I like having control that way. I think most musicians want to have a big deal made of their trip, and all of the accouterments that go along with "the show" seem to add to the fantasy. As for me, I'd really rather do it myself.
As such, BC booked it, schlepped the pa over, strung lights (anything to make that dank basement a bit less gnarly), and played with two great bands (the Midnight Snackers and the Grains).
I actually played less drums at the show, instead focusing more on vocals.

BC bassist Dan Kennedy suggested that there was a "darkness" to the proceedings, and I had to agree. Perhaps a result of having to do a lot of the dirty work ourselves? Possibly. Still, it was a fun show.

Barney Cauldron plays the LiPo Lounge in SF, 9/25/10

Another great flyer by Scarp Home! We will also have t-shirts for sale!

Above: Yours truly modeling t-shirt with Barney Cauldron logo. I did the initial design, BC bassist Dan Kennedy made it awesome, along with doing the silk screening.

Barney Cauldron
Grains
The Midnite Snackers
LiPo Lounge
916 Grant Ave.
SF CA 94108
$5
21 and over

Session work, pt. 2-Scorpios

Scorpios was originally on a solo CD by George Earth. I heard it and immediately loved the surging synthesizer line. On a whim, I asked George if I could produce a new, more drum-heavy version of the tune. The idea was to build up a "wall of drums" around that heavy synth line.
George gave me the OK, and I spent a day in April of 2008 at John Axtell's SOMA, S.F. recording studio building up drum and percussion parts for the new version. The middle part, where all of the drums fade out, and an electronic whine leads them back in, was heavily inspired by Brian Eno and his Oblique Strategies.

https://archive.org/details/scorpios-re-mix
 

One result I had hoped for from this process was the re-invigoration of Shards, but with George being in L.A., and me in Oakland, that turned out to be untenable.

Above: Flyer for first Shards gig. I love the graphic that I designed. It was inspired by Magma's logo.

Session work, pt. 1-Torch Songs

For a few months in 2003, I thought I could make a living playing drums. Using the few connections that I had within the S.F. music scene, I managed to get a few gigs doing session drum work.
The songs here were from one of such gigs. They were written, arranged, and produced by Allison Lovejoy. Recording was done at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills.
Allison played piano and sang, Paula O'Rourke played bass, and I played drums. Paula and Allison are both great musicians, and I was really inspired to be playing alongside of the both of them.
I still love these tunes, along with the performances on them, and wonder if they've ever been legitimately released.
http://soundcloud.com/mark-pino-on-drums/allison-lovejoy-foxglove
http://soundcloud.com/mark-pino-on-drums/allison-lovejoy-smoke-rings
http://soundcloud.com/mark-pino-on-drums/allison-lovejoy-i-did-it

Ovipositor-Live at KDVS O:RMF 2007

This was the penultimate Ovipositor show with Laurin Askew on bass (his last occurred at the Knockout in S.F., but it was not so good, nor that well-documented).
KDVS is a fantastic radio station, operating at University of California, Davis. They have a true free-form operation. They were also very friendly towards Ovipositor. Along with letting us participate in their Operation: Restore Maximum Freedom 2007 event, they let us play a live in-studio session in 2005 and played our CDs somewhat regularly.
Ovipositor played early on the bill, but we all seemed to have a great time, and played very well, despite the heat of the day. It was probably our best show with Laurin.

 Dig on Colin's particularly inspired solo here:
http://soundcloud.com/mark-pino-on-drums/ovipositor-while-i-wasnt-looking-live-at-o-rmf-kdvs-1997

My best memory from this show is one of watching a hipster college student/music fan dancing during Colin's solo on While I Wasn't Looking.  It was a fun day.

Lithium Milkshake-First Demo Tape

Lithium Milkshake was born out of a late night conversation between Justin Martin and I, which took place on Mowry Ave. in Fremont, CA, in the spring of 1990.  I was out on a late night bike ride, and saw Justin, with his characteristic long-armed amble, heading east toward Fremont's main drag, imaginatively named Fremont Blvd. I recognized him from Ohlone College, and knew that he was locally renowned as a gifted musician. I pulled over and introduced myself, and we spent a few hours talking about bands we liked, bands we didn't like, and the possibility of starting a band of our own.
Bands that approached their music making from an angle of Funk-Rock were all the rage at the time, but Justin and I wanted a lot more Rock and a hell of a lot less Funk in our sound. The first few bass players that we jammed with could not have gelled less with our concept, but thankfully we stumbled upon Hans Stahl, who had moved to the SF Bay Area from the Sacramento area. He posted an ad at a local music supply store; within one jam we knew that we'd found someone who had his own ideas about his music and his approach within it.  I suspect that Hans had some reservations at first, but he kept coming back as we scheduled practices and worked out tunes.
Within a year we had written several tunes, and were starting to play out. I have to give credit to Justin for that. He worked really hard to promote the band, get us on good bills, and generally push the group forward. With hindsight, we probably could have done a lot more. Bands from Berkeley, Oakland, and S.F. were tapping into the well-established touring/recording circuits built up by the two or three generations' musicians that had preceded us. I guess we held our suburban-ness as a kind of badge of honor, and never really got the concept of networking. This willful backwardness left us to fend for ourselves in most matters, and Justin, at that point, shouldered the load. I wish I could apologize to him now, for my selfishness as regards those dynamics within the process.
All that said, Lithium Milkshake did play on some pretty exciting bills:

Above: Lithium Milkshake choice gigs. Plaid Retina and Mudwimin were particularly amazing.
Above: Our place in Punk History-2/7/92 at Gilman St., w/ Neurosis.
Below: Not quite a tour itinerary, but, hey, it beats hanging around in Fremont.

The demos here were recorded by a guy named Wick, at his parents' house in Fremont, right next to the lovely Lake Elizabeth. I'm still embarrassed by some of my drumming gaffs, but what the hell.
 

https://lithiummilkshake.bandcamp.com/album/demos-ep

My first stint in Lithium Milkshake ended in 1993. I was replaced by Tony Fag, an amazing drummer who could play a lot more simply than me. I think that the management team which had taken over the band at that point realized that someone with a bit more talent for the simple approach was needed, as the goal had become "get signed or bust". I was less enthusiastic about the idea, and also realized that I wouldn't have a chance in those waters. It was an easy decision to just move on, but it stalled my music making for many years to come, at least in terms of Rock band drumming.
Below: great flyer art by Hans Stahl. What a unique and talented guy.