“Sounds of the Mighty San Lorenzo”

There’s a new art co-op in town. The Tannery has been going full speed ahead – putting on shows, art openings, and establishing a low income housing option for Santa Cruz artists. It’s pretty impressive if you ask me. I recently had my first visit to the Tannery and got to poke around for a bit. They have a nice little art gallery and a tiny recording studio packed full of old musical equipment that had me drooling just a bit. There is still a lot of construction going on for the apartments, but it doesn’t seem to bother the current tenants that are making all of this possible. I’m still not sure how they got the city to fund most of this though. In the past couple of years city officials have spent a lot of time and money on new ordinances to make exactly what the Tannery is doing impossible, like the noise ordinance that was passed that shut down house shows and turned Santa Cruz into a black void where a pretty awesome music scene used to be. But now it looks like things are finally on the up and up. The “Sounds of the Mighty San Lorenzo” comp is proof that not all hope is lost.

The compilation is divided into two discs, a folk side and a rock side which is very fitting considering the two genres are more or less the two predominant scenes in town. The whole thing is done up very professionally but still manages to hold on to some of that diy charm that all great things have. With a hand printed cover and forty something tracks the comp is a very straightforward representation of what our little town has to offer. It also works well as a sort of re-introduction to Santa Cruz as well as announcing our presence to the world.

So naturally if you’re going to release a compilation with two sides it’s only right to have two shows to showcase both genres being represented. The first night was the folk night featuring Mylo Jenkins, Hod, Birds Fled From Me, Johanna Lefever and various other acts. The second night brought us Brown Irish, The Spurts, A Dark and Stormy Night, BATTLE/MTN\, etc, etc. Both nights were fantastic and sold out. If you were there you were a part of something that hasn’t happened here for a long time. You were there for the beginning of something new and beautiful. The start of a music scene that has long since died in our sleepy coastal town. And if you weren’t there, well you missed out. Don’t worry though, like i said it’s just the beginning.

The Sounds of the Mighty San Lorenzo is available at Metamusic, Streetlight Records, Logos and other local stores. Check it out.

Hiram Coffee

a filler piece by Hiram Coffee

I have lived in Santa Cruz for a very long time. I grew up here. It was not fun, I didn’t grow up in Santa Cruz proper, but rather the god forsaken San Lorenzo Valley. There was not much of anything going on at all. We would have to take the bus to town do anything worthwhile and while I was there I was more interested in raising hell than going to art openings. Needless to say my background on the subject matter is probably severely lacking.

I’ve learned that art comes to you in a different form here. There aren’t any galleries worth going to anymore and anything you might find hanging in a cafe setting is probably crap. Most of the time anyway. I’ve found that all things a person like me would consider artful are lying around on my friends’ living room floors, up on their walls, or stenciled on the sidewalk. It’s found on fliers and at shows.

When I was about 19 the house I was living in threw a huge artist showcase. It was amazing, we had a couple of bands play and there were paintings and other various pieces all over the house. The most memorable was the cameras and monitors set up all around our small home. A friend of ours had spent all afternoon strategically placing small cameras everywhere. From the kitchen you could pretty much watch the whole party doing whatever it was they where doing. I think it was then I realized that all of our friends are incredibly gifted artistic people. The problem has always been motivation. The show was a perfect example of how a bunch of kids can actually do something awesome if they just properly apply themselves.

As of late the artistic spark Santa Cruz once had is on its way out, being replaced by, well, nothing. Yeah there are plenty of artists and the like, but no one’s doing anything with it. Everyone has adopted the idea that if you want something you have to pry it from their cold, drunk hands. Which is much more difficult to do than one might think. This is the trap that is Santa Cruz. It’s comfortable, it’s relaxed, it’s fucking lazy. So please, DO SOMETHING!

Now don’t take this as saying that there is no scene in Santa Cruz because there is still a thread hanging on. You just have to dig pretty deep to get to it. It exists under a heavy layer of egotistical UCSC art majors and new age faux spiritual bullshit. There are some kids out there doing some incredible stuff. Whether it be music, films, paintings, or slightly illegal it’s there. And with any luck it will hopefully start picking up a little bit. Okay, I’m done. Check out the VitaminC4 art section for further updates.

Hiram Coffee

The Santa Cruz hardcore scene has changed a lot since i was a kid. It has had it’s ups and downs but now exists in this weird middle ground that i don’t really understand. Maybe I’m too old or maybe hardcore got a little too old for me. Either way i’m hoping my little brother, at the prime age of 18, can help me make sense of something i was so dedicated to when i was his age.

Hiram Coffee– You can sit down if you want.

Hugh Coffee– okay..

Hiram– So you’re in a band?

Hugh– yeah..

Hiram– it’s called HEROSHIMA

Hugh– yeah..

Hiram– So you guys are playing a show with Shai Hulud on Wednesday, how stoked are you?

Hugh– pretty stoked.

Hiram– i was surprised to hear that they are putting on the show at a roller rink in San Jose

Hugh– yeah……

Hiram– this is the part where we insert “awkward pause”

(awkward pause)

Hugh– yeah i have no idea why this is weird. Oh, on Wednesday we get to skate for free!

Hiram– So why do you think it is that a lot of the younger kids in Santa Cruz are drawn to hardcore music and start bands with funny names, like there’s your band and a couple other of high school hardcore bands

Hugh– yeah, i don’t really know any by name

Hiram– fair enough. i feel like you’re giving the scene a lot of support by playing shows at the 418, Do you think there is even much of a scene in town anymore?

Hugh– not really, just cause not that many shows are happening anymore.

Hiram– i hear a lot of kids talking about how bad the economy is and it surprises me that people are saying that the reason why they can’t form bands, go on tour or put on shows is that the economy is shit.

Hugh– that’s everyone’s excuse.

Hiram– i don’t feel like that’s true at all and definitely not in the spirit of hardcore music. i just feel like the scene has changed a lot in the last six years.

Hugh– yeah, i don’t know.

Hiram– you wanna play Dead Space?

Hugh– YEAH!

For this portion of the interview Hugh and i decided it would be a good idea to go inside not only because it was cold but also because that’s where the xbox lives.

Hiram– so you guys just finished recording a new CD?

Hugh– yeah

Hiram– How’s that going?

Hugh– We still haven’t put it out yet, we’re waiting on CD art

Hiram– Are you going to put it out on a label or just do it yourself?

Hugh– Well we sent our CD to a couple of record labels but we haven’t heard back yet so we’ll probably just put it out ourselves.

Hiram– I feel like that’s kind of the way to go anyway.

Hugh–yeah. Whoa. Sick! (Hugh just started playing Dead Space.)

Hiram– So awesome.

Hugh– what!? is that me?

Hiram– yeah it’s all in third person. okay, hang a left and there is a small med kit.

you have to wait for the door to open.

Hugh– Oh i get it.

what was that? oh my god. holy crap. What is that!? OH SHIT!!

Hiram– OTHER DOOR! OTHER DOOR!

Hugh– WHAT DOOR!?

Hiram– THE ONE ON YOUR LEFT! NO YOUR OTHER LEFT!!

Hugh– this is scary.. SHIT IT”S BACK! oh my god oh my god.

i am not into this dude.

Hiram– you have to cut off their limbs to kill them.

Hugh– Oh, alright i can do that.

Hiram– Hey so what does metalcore even mean?

Hugh– it’s pretty much, you know, a converging of metal and hardcore which creates this like, really bad music.

Hiram– those weird necromorph things come through the vents.

Hugh– Oh, that sucks. AHHH! FUCK! FUCK!

did you hear? i shot a gun.

Hiram– you shot a gun?

Hugh– yeah i shot a 12 gauge shotgun.

Hiram– that’s sooo metal! where?

Hugh– at Jordan’s (bassist for Heroshima) dad’s house.

Hiram– what were you shooting at? cars? squirrels?

Hugh– cans.

Hiram– you were out in Boulder Creek weren’t you?

Hugh– No, i was actually in Huntington Beach which happens to be in the middle of nowhere.

Hiram– awesome.

Hugh– it was during tour when we didn’t have any shows so we hung out with our parents.

Hiram– did you just bring the shotgun with you guys?

Hugh– no it was at his house.

Hiram– that would have been pretty hardcore.

Hugh– this one band we toured with did.

Hiram– what? brought a shot gun with them?

Hugh– yeah, they were kinda crazy though.

Hiram– well yeah.

Hugh and Hiram– Bye Cedric

Hiram– Oh yeah, how was summer tour ’08?

Hugh– Um… pretty shitty. We didn’t really play any good shows and a lot of shows got canceled.

Hiram– lame.

Hugh– we only made it to Utah and we were supposed to go across the country and back.

Hiram– that sucks.

Hugh– yeah we just ran out of money and all our shows fell through. i think this door is locked.

Hiram– use your key dude.

Hugh– i have a key?

CJ- i think you dropped it.

Hiram– no i think it’s still there yeah the storage key. Oh yeah GET THE POWER NODE!!

Hugh– Where is it? what the hell is a power node?

Hiram– just go left. i mean right. yeah right. power node.

Hugh– sick. power node, what do they do?

Hiram– now go to the bench.

Hugh– bench? Oh bench!

Hiram– now you can upgrade all your equipment with the power nodes. if you have one more you can upgrade your health meter.

Hugh– what should i do?

Hiram– go back and just put them in your plasma cutter.

Hugh– HELL YEAH!

AHHHHH!

Hiram– KILL IT!!

Hugh– I’M TRYING! WHY WON’T YOU DIE!

Hiram– grab the stasis pack.

Hugh– what?

Hiram– just grab it. get the med kit too.

Hugh– Oh shit, what happened?

Hiram– RUN!

Hugh– oh great. i’m on fire. oh god. did i lose?

Hiram– in a way, yes.

Hugh– really?

Hiram– no.

Hugh– oh fuck. oh fuck. oh my god. Hiram. Hiram!

CJ- RUN!!

Hiram– SHOOT IT! oh cool a store. if i were you i would get the level 2 suit. Oh wait. get the scorpion suit.

Hugh– whoa, i look so bad ass. I’m like indestructible now!

Hiram– not quite, but it looks pretty cool. and your inventory is huge.

Hugh– alright, i should go.

Hiram– thanks for coming over Hugh.

Hugh– no problem, thanks for cutting my hair.

Hiram– sure, anytime.

The last portion of the interview was done via text message.

Hiram– What’s with the whole bro-core that seems to be coming out more at shows and hardcore in general?

Hugh– Well i think it roots directly from hard line straightedge crews and the idea that they have that if you’re really tough you’re really cool. I actually went to a town in Utah when i was on tour with an actual documented straight edge killing.

Hiram– Whoa. So did a bunch of straightedge kids kill a junkie or what?

Hugh– You know i don’t really know the whole story but i imagine it was something like that.

Hiram– When i was a kid i felt like there was more of a sense of community and involvement in the scene. Do you think that holds true today?

Hugh– No, i feel like people really try to keep the scene alive, but there are to many assholes who go to shows and kinda ruin it for everyone.

End.

Hugh Coffee plays guitar for Heroshima and is one kick ass little brother. Keep your eye out for the new album “Through Hell and High Water” out soon. I already have a copy, it’s so good it makes me want to disown Hugh and never speak to him again.

Hiram Coffee