South Bay-based Dogcatcher will be celebrating the release of their new single, “SRM.” The song—alternatively called “Stark Raving Mad”—tells the story of the band’s own Andrew Heine, an Iraq War veteran who spent time after his return living out of his car and selling paintings to support himself. The track also features a contribution from Gift of Gab, one half of Blackalicious, who turns in a verse that ruminates on the early days of his career when his friends and family encouraged him to give up rapping in favor of a more traditional career.

Dogcatcher
Fri, 7:30pm, $12.50+
Art Boutiki, San Jose

It’s official. South Bay locals Curious Quail have won the last remaining spot on Live 105’s Soundcheck local band stage at BFD 2013. They will share the stage with nine other bay area bands, three of which are also from the South Bay—Picture Atlantic, Anya and the Getdown, and the Trims. Not only did Curious Quail win, but they did so by a sizable margin, earning a whopping 39% of the vote, with twenty bands total in the running.

“We’ve been working really hard as a band to get our name out there; the community support we got was tremendous. Being in a local band working your way up, you have this series of milestones of people taking you seriously. For a while it was the iTunes factor, then it was Spotify, or Pandora. Well, you namedrop Shoreline Amphitheatre as someplace you played and then that person you’ve known for ten years that knows you’re in a band might actually go and listen to your music and enjoy what you’re doing,” says Mike Shirley-Donnelly, lead singer and guitarist for Curious Quail.

Even though every member of Curious Quail worked hard to encourage people to vote for them, their friends and fans it seemed, were excited to help out. Even Dogcatcher, who were also in the running, told their fans to vote for Curious Quail.

“We threw up a few posts on twitter, Facebook and instagram and like everyone shared them. Everyone! It just kept going. One of the pictures had over 60 shares on Facebook and the Facebook “insights” said “11,000 people saw this post”. That’s insanity,” Says Shirley-Donnelly.

The fact that nearly half of the bands playing BFD’s local band stage this year are from the South Bay reflects well on the scene here, especially considering the degree that the rest of the bay area has long since written off any band that hails from San Jose.

“The South Bay has always felt like the bastard child of the bay area when it comes to the music scene, and rightfully so: our 2000’s era metal/hardcore scene that thrived was not something to be proud of. I should know, I was a part of it. Having so many south bay bands not only on the bill already for the local stage, but also in the contest was encouraging. It’s showing that we as a community down here are actually doing something of note,” says Shirley Donnelly

Another South Bay band could be joining locals, Picture Atlantic, Anya and the Getdown and the Trims on the Soundcheck Local Band Stage at BFD this May.

Live 105 has opened up one additional slot, and the San Francisco radio station is letting its listeners vote on who it should fill it. There are 19 bands in the running and six are from the South Bay: 1989 (from Gilroy), Dogcatcher (from Mountain View) and San Jose bands All City Elite, Conversions, Curious Quail and Sweet HayaH.

Voting continues until 3pm on May 3. The winning band will be announced on air at 7pm on May 5th. Visit the voting page for more info.

More info on BFD 2013.

PHOTOS: Images from BFD 2012

Local’s Picture Atlantic’s latest music video “Twist,” released earlier this week is one of the band’s most aggressive, dissonant songs today.  While the rest of the band’s latest album Digital Tension isn’t nearly as abrasive, it shows some changes in songwriting, not to mention, it showcases the group with one less guitar. We spoke with lead singer Nikolaus Bartunek about the video, the new album and their upcoming tour.

Your newest album “Digital Tension” sounds different than you prior releases, in that the vocal hooks are a little more subtle and the tone of the music is darker. Can you tell me a little about what factors influenced this change of songwriting?

I really can’t speak to that, simply for the reason that I think a lot of the changes happened without intention for a specific sound or vibe. Sometimes thinking too hard on what our sound will be frightens me too much. Sometimes thinking too hard takes the magic out of things. Sort of like closing your eyes on a roller coaster and just letting it happen. Every time we get into the studio, things seem to always come out at the end in a much different manner than the music before it.

Your new single “Twist” is the most aggressive, dissonant song I’ve heard of yours, including the remaining songs from Digital Tension. I’m curious to learn more about what motivated this song and why you chose this song to be your single?

I guess I must have had some inclinations for an angrier, crazier sound when I was writing those songs. The sound fit the lyrics, and the lyrics fit the sound. The motivation almost didn’t exist. I really liked the music a lot, and I wrote it in under 15 minutes on my couch one day.

If anything could be said specifically about the song though, I am certain it developed out of my love for the band Ceremony. I wanted to write something that had the same dissonance and angry aesthetic. But again, it took me barely any real focus to write it—sort of a “zen” song in that regard. As for it being our single, I don’t think we’ve really focused on it so much as a single, but it just happened to be a really easy song to film a music video for. It’s so short; just pure coincidence really. And besides, when do you normally see four guys in suits playing a song like that?

The cover for Digital Tension has a lot going on, particularly some political commentary on the state of America’s consumerist culture. Would you say this is a more political album compared to what has tended to be more personal songwriting in the past?

That was purely the work of our friend and partner in crime Mikey Montoya. He is an artist/tattoo artist who is an insanely good friend of ours, and he helped us out immensely with the album. When we were sitting around doing the art, he made this goofy collage image of Obama dressed as a cop giving the middle finger. The image was so outrageous that I told him he had to use it. It would be a crime not to. The rest of the cover fell into place around that.

Digital Tension, is less political and more social in its commentary, as a lot of the cover portrays. My politics aren’t blue or red. It isn’t any color for that matter. But my thoughts on our social culture in this country is definitely well defined. For the months where we wrote and recorded the album, I had all these ideas and concepts clashing and melding into each other in my mind. A lot of how I felt personally translated well into my thoughts about our society and culture. Not the most original or striking concept for a music album at this point in the history of rock, but it was an honest one.

Picture Atlantic, for the longest time, was a five-piece band. How has becoming a four-piece band altered your sound and songwriting dynamic? The biggest different I notice is the obvious lack of lush guitar-interplay, which was always one of your signature traits.

Being a four piece is the best thing that has ever happened to us musically. Having two guitars was nice to create a tapestry of sound, but at many times it just got tired, and expected to me. It was also damn hard to reign in two guitars. Someone had to play second fiddle to the other guitarist in many cases, or risk the “wank” factor. Some practices were living hell—like being in Guitar Center on a Saturday afternoon. Having the band downsize was really a huge hidden blessing. We had to learn that less is more; it took us years to see that. With four people, everyone does what they want and we rarely step on each other’s toes.

You are embarking on a West Coast tour with Dogcatcher. How successful have you been at building an audience outside of the bay area, and how have you done it? Also I’m curious to know why you are touring with Dogcatcher, who are a noticeably different band stylistically.

Building our name outside the Bay Area hasn’t been easy. Yet, I am still surprised at the places we find our fans popping up. It’s not that hard to do in this digital age, but it still astounds me sometimes that someone far away cares about what we do. The main thing we have followed in that approach to spreading our name is simply to stay out and about if we can, and as best we can.

Touring with Dogcatcher may seem like a really odd choice from the outside, and I don’t blame people for thinking that. It all comes down to two things: They are an amazing band in all regards. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t want to tour with them. The second reason is they are very good friends of ours and we love them a lot. Working with people you are close with is more valuable than gold.

Tour Dates w/ Dogcatcher:
02.07 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill w/ Cash Pony
02.08 Fresno, CA @ Kuppajoe w/ Sea of Sound and Indian School Rock
02.09 Davis, CA @ The Turtle House
02.15 Newark, CA @ Love at First Slice w/ Girl Named T
02.23 Hollywood, CA @ AMYPLYFi w/ Summer Leagues and Cat Who Will Eat Planets

More than half of the 20 Bay Area bands competing for an opening slot at Live 105’s Not So Silent Night, featuring Jack Whit, the Shins, the Killers,  M83, Tegan & Sara, Passion Pit and more on December 7 and December 8 at the Oracle Arena, are from the South Bay.

As of this this posting, Curious Quail and Light the Rocket are the two South Bay bands with the most votes. They are neck and neck for 3rd and 4th place. The first place position belongs to Livermore group Hear The Sirens. To win, some of the bands are finding creative ways to motivate their fans to vote. Dogcatcher, for instance, is offering all their albums for free online until the voting ends. Curious Quail uploaded a video explaining to their fans all the reasons why they should vote for them.

Other South bay bands in the running include Drop Dead Sixty, Fossil Tree, INFM, Pounders, Touch My Rash, The Mess, The Oarsmen and UP&GO.

More than half of the 20 Bay Area bands competing for an opening slot at Live 105’s Not So Silent Night, featuring Jack Whit, the Shins, the Killers,  M83, Tegan & Sara, Passion Pit and more on December 7 and December 8 at the Oracle Arena, are from the South Bay.

Voting is still open, HERE.

Red Rock Studios in Mountain View may have not been known to most people in the South Bay music scene, yet it was an important part of it. It was the practice place and frequent recording spot for Picture Atlantic and Dogcatcher before it closed this month. Several other Bay Area bands also recorded there, including Rin Tin Tiger, East of Western and Coast Jumper.

Michael Toy started the studio in his basement 14 years ago as a place he could practice playing bass and for his Sunday morning church band to rehearse and eventually record their sessions. Through the years he accommodated other artists and bands simply for the love of music, not to make money.

He moved to the current location in Mountain View in 2008, where he paid the bills by sometimes doing voice-over work for corporate videos, but he donated studio time to bands, churches and nonprofits whenever possible. During the last few years, his church Highway Community helped pay the bills to keep the vision alive. In the end, the landlord sold the property to Intuit, who will be using it as office space.

“We just wanted to publicly thank Michael Toy for his vision and generosity with his gear, as well as the great people of the Highway Community who caught the vision and paid the rent for the last few years,” Dogcatcher posted on their Facebook page. “The history of our band would be vastly poorer without this wonderful resource available to us, and we will miss it greatly.”

On Thursday, November 1, Dogcatcher, Picture Atlantic, members of Highway Community church and friends of the studio gathered one last time to bid the studio farewell. It was an emotional experience for everyone. Toy even wrote a farewell poem on the wall at the tail end of the party. Ryan Blair from Picture Atlantic tweeted about it that night.

“We recorded an EP here, tracked tons of demos and rehearsed our choreographed stage moves for countless hours in this place. Sad to see it go. Our hearts go out to you, Red Rock,” Blair wrote.

Please Do Not Fight is currently based in San Francisco, but the South Bay has always been their second home. The band was created in Redwood City and it has strong ties to the South Bay with allies Picture Atlantic and Dogcatcher, who join PDNF for their final show on July 14.

Last year, they teamed up with Picture Atlantic to co-hosting the bi-monthly Rock Hop series at the Art Boutiki, which has proven to be quite successful as far as independent shows in San Jose go. Now, after several years and countless lineup changes, Zen Zenith, has decided to put Please Do Not Fight to bed. We asked him about his decision and what plans he had for the future.

Last year when I interviewed you, it seemed like things were really moving forward with Please do not fight. I’m surprised that you are now calling it quits. What happened?

Well, it was my decision to move on. Things had sort of started to become routine. Kyle, Chris and Geoff all had other bands and I saw them all get very excited for those projects. At the same time, it felt like we weren’t feeling that energy for Please Do Not Fight anymore. I’m certainly not in this business to make any money so if things aren’t fun and they’re not scratching that creative itch any more then maybe it’s time to move on. It had been brewing for a while and it just reached a point where I was finally able to make the jump.

What are your plans with music now?

We have our big final show on July 14 at Bottom Of The Hill and then I’m jumping right into a new musical project. We’re trying to take it slow though and not plaster it all over the Internet until it’s ready. That was one mistake we always made with Please Do Not Fight—putting the gander before the goose, so to speak. I was spending way too much time in front of a computer making flyers, designing websites, running our Facebook and not making music. That’s something I hope to break away from with this next project. I can say this—the new project is very ambitious and will feature a lot of familiar faces from the history of PDNF.

How does PDNF breaking up affect the Rock Hop music series you guys were doing with Picture Atlantic?

That is a great question. Right now, it seems like it will definitely continue. I’m as passionate about throwing events and supporting bands I believe in as ever. The Rock Hop will be taking a short hiatus but it will definitely continue, without a doubt. I love working with the Art Boutiki and Bottom Of The Hill and couldn’t be happier with how the events have been turning out.

Aren’t you the only original member of PDNF? Doesn’t that really mean that you are the band? I wonder why you didn’t just keep the name, if it’s already mutated so much since the beginning anyway?

Well, Erin recently rejoined the band and she was an original founding member but that’s a valid point. Honestly, the fact is I want to go in a new direction creatively and want the new musical project internally to work differently as well. I debated keeping the name and simply throwing the whole thing in a new direction but it felt like time for a clean slate.

Whether everyone else thinks this way or not, to me PDNF has a certain sound I associate it with and whether I mean to or not when I write for Please Do Not Fight I’m very much writing for the band. I wanted to break free of that and allow everyone involved in the new project to be as creative as possible and not feel constrained by the typical guitar/bass/drums/keys format.

Any special plans for your final show?

We’re basically going to be playing a combo of fan favorites mixed in with some tracks from our first LP for old times sake! This isn’t related to the show, per say, but we also just released our final song on BandCamp for free – it was recorded at PopSmear records and we’re really proud of how it turned out. I feel like it’s a great send-off!

Please Do Not Fight will play their final show July 14 at the Bottom of the Hill at 9pm with South Bay groups Picture Atlantic and Dogcatcher. Tickets are $10.

There were so many different slices of San Jose’s nightlife present at San Pedro Square Market this past Saturday night. It wasn’t just because it was Save Alternative’s Daydream Nation’s kickoff show. Really, it was just the perfect venue for Saturday’s show.

There were different rooms for different people—a bar for people looking to hook up, a patio outside for friends wanting to hang out and chat, a place to eat for families and couples and of course a cozy spot to watch the bands. Everyone could hang out together under one roof and get exactly what they wanted. Since everybody seems to be hanging out at San Pedro Square anyway, hopefully they will be doing a whole lot more shows like this there in the future.

Ben Henderson was the main support for the concert. He put on yet another amazing show, performing most songs just him and his guitar, though he had the occasional accompaniment of a backing vocalist, a banjo player and a drummer on two songs. Henderson’s voice has gotten so fierce in the past year and a half that he can command a crowd all alone just as well, if not better, than a four piece rock band. This was Henderson’s farewell show before hitting the road for a month where he will be playing all over the country without a backing band, which explains the decision for him to not bring a full band to the San Pedro Square Market. He wanted to try his act out on a hometown crowd first.

The headliners, Dogcatcher, played a laidback blend of soul, jazz and melodic indie rock. When I interviewed them a few weeks ago they told me that they were a “rhythm section oriented band,” something not apparent on their folksy debut album, KILR, but live, it was crystal clear, this is a band that likes to groove. Even the songs on KILR were reworked to give it a dancey edge. The bass and drums locked into a solid groove while the guitar and organ layered sounds and harmonies over the top. Andrew Heine’s breathy vocals and introspective lyrics were the final touch, creating something artful and original.

Mountain View’s Dogcatcher will play at San Pedro Square Saturday, April 28, the first show in a monthly series called Daydream Nation that will last until August, and comes out of Bill O’Brien (of Save Alternative)’s efforts to showcase exceptional emerging Bay Area and San Jose artists.

It’s surprising to how much intense personal upheaval went into the gentle, jazz-inspired indie folk sounds of Dogcatcher’s debut record, KILR. 32-year old singer Andrew Heine wrote the record during a several-year stint as a bohemian artist in San Diego, which was a 180-degree change from his prior life. This dramatic shift in his life’s direction was a result of re-examining his life after going to Iraq as a Marine.

“I was a completely different person before. I went abroad completely conservative, a George Bush Republican. I came back a straight hippie,” Heine says.

The quiet intensity of KILR presents itself after several listens. Heine does not emote painful screams or make dramatic statements about Iraq, rather Heine exhibits the kind of self-reflection on the album where everything in his life is being looked at through a new lens.

Before joining the Marines, Heine got a degree in engineering and was planning to get a good paying job in the engineering field, while playing bass in jazz bands as a hobby. He was told this was the smart thing to do. The war gave him first-hand experience to not take everything told to him at face value and to look at things from his own perspective.

“We were told that we are the good guys and they’re the bad guys. We’re not necessarily 100% the good guy. The Iraqi are definitely not all the bad guy. Everyone’s the same. We’re all just people. That’s something I came back from Iraq with,” Heine says.