Two years ago, in September of 2012, Pennsylvania emo-punks Spraynard broke up, seemingly out of nowhere. Not only were the three members long-time best friends, but the band was just starting to take off. Then, just as suddenly as they had disbanded, they became a band again. They played their first reunion show—if you could call it that—in May, and started touring again as if their messy breakup had never happened.

“The shows have been really awesome,” says Patrick Graham, the group’s guitarist and vocalist, speaking about a recent two-week tour. “I’d say our worst show on this tour was one of our best shows on past tours.” They come to the San Jose Rock Shop on Aug. 1, with Colossal Wrecks

The timing of their reunion could hardly have been better. The group has returned to find that their following has grown tremendously. In the short time since their breakup, Spraynard’s flavor of emo has been gathering steam, as bands like Joyce Manor, The Hotelier and The World Is Beautiful and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, have released a string of great records, which recall emo’s first wave—replete with endearingly tangled, spiraling guitar lines, bitingly honest lyrics and cathartic sing-shout-along choruses.

Credit for the group’s reunion belongs in part to Mike Park and his esteemed San Jose punk label, Asian Man Records. Park, who also released the group’s pre-breakup 2011 record, Funtitled, released a collection of Spraynard B-sides in May—The Mark, Tom, and Patrick Show—which featured one new song and served as an impetus for the band to begin playing together again.

“More than anything I was trying to get them to be friends again,” Park says of his motivations in reuniting the trio.

The band are seeing bigger crowds than before they broke up, and want to continue to build a following more naturally this time. Members of Spraynard have said in interviews that the initial surge in popularity put a great deal of pressure on the group to make music their job, which ultimately led to their disbandment.

Graham says he feels good about being a band again—especially when he hears how important his music has been in the lives of Spraynard’s fans.

Since his group’s reunion, Graham says he has even come to feel a certain responsibility to the band’s fanbase—many of whom are young, suburban kids, according to the guitarist. Reflecting on his own adolescence, Graham notes that punk bands, especially Green Day, helped him cope with the anger, sadness and other difficult feelings he had.

While he never intended to play the same role in the lives of others, Graham says he has found himself doing just that.

“It’s not something we set out to be, but kids told me that I saved their lives. The fact that I was voluntarily taking that away from kids was something that we had to come to terms with. I think all three of us felt guilty,” Graham says. “At the end of the day, I think it was more important for us to sort out our shit. It was definitely worth the wait.”

Spraynard play the San Jose Rock Shop with Colossal Wrecks on August 1 at 6:30pm. More info.

Jaake Margo is a busy man. He’s the lead singer of Kill the Bats, a San Jose melodic punk band currently recording their debut LP on Asian Man Records. He also recently started promoting local shows at the San Jose Rock Shop, a music store and private club in downtown San Jose. And he still finds time to perform his solo.

Margo (listen below) brought his brand of confessional acoustic punk to the Rock Shop last night, July 21, where he played along with the San Jose punk quartet Blank Frame and other local artists.

As it turns out, Margo hadn’t intended to perform, but due to some last minute cancellations—from San Jose veterans Stickup Kid and So-Cal act The Wild Young Hearts—he was forced to scramble, drawing on his connections in the local scene and DIY spirit. In addition to stepping up to the microphone, Margo also convinced Jeremy Romero to perform under his harsh noise alias Cluster Headaches.

While the changes in lineup resulted in a low turnout, the show—which turned out to be an all-San Jose affair—was great.

Monogatari played a blend of classic melodic and trendy emo—equal parts Shinobu and Leer. De Cor (listen below) played a high-energy brand of punk that took some cues from hardcore, while each member of the trio switched between instruments.

Margo’s acoustic cast a spotlight for his skills as a lyricist, as he played both stripped-down versions of songs by Kill the Bats and original solo tunes. Blank Frames (listen below) put on a fun, danceable set that ended with a cover of NOFX’s “Murder the Government.”

Cluster Headaches was a big departure in mood and style from the previous sets. Romero played a 20-minute set that was cerebral and violent, which likely proved perplexing to some, but clearly intrigued attendees with eclectic tastes.

Jason Newsted has played bass with some of the biggest acts and names in metal and hard rock over the course of more than 30 years, laying down a monstrous bottom end and solid foundation for Flotsam and Jetsam, Ozzy Osbourne and, of course, Metallica.

After decades of being the bedrock and collaborator in other acts, Newsted has stepped out—make that stomped out—into the spotlight with his own eponymous band, which released its debut EP, the appropriately titled Metal, this January. The record quickly went to the top of the metal genre charts on iTunes.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer first displayed his formidable chops on the bass in Flotsam and Jetsam in the early 1980s, and he hit the international spotlight when he joined Metallica in 1986, following the death of their original bassist, Cliff Burton.

After leaving Metallica in 2001 (citing personal reasons), Newsted spent several years in Echobrain, along with touring with acts such as Ozzy Osbourne and Voivod before undergoing several shoulder surgeries, from 2004 to 2008, to repair damage from years of physical abuse (from both playing and lifting gear). He moved away from music while recovering and rehabbing.

An invitation from Metallica’s Lars Ulrich to join the band at its 30th-anniversary gigs at the Fillmore in San Francisco at the end of 2011, and people’s reactions to his appearances there, were the impetus for Newsted to get back into playing again. “The fans really screamed me back into this, I hadn’t felt that energy from the people for a long time, and I got bit by the bug pretty seriously,” Newsted says.

Recruiting friends Jesus Mendez Jr. on drums and guitarist Jessie Farnsworth—with whom Newsted had been jamming off and on for many years—the bassist put the wheels in motion for a new group.

“I got the boys together, wrote these songs, and here we are a year and half later, and we’re getting ready for a world tour with this new band, so I’m pretty excited about it,” he says. “It’s a great collective; everybody is hard working and focused; they’re not afraid to put in the hours. I do grind these guys pretty good. We go for hours and hours, but that is what has to happen to order to get the results that we have.”

The show here will be the band’s second live gig—and the venue, the San Jose Rock Shop, is exactly the type of place in which Newsted wants to start out. “These initial shows are to kind of buff the rust off of ourselves, and get out to the fans to let them know what it’s all about—playing in a cool, small, intimate, crushing-feeling, sweaty kind of place, so we can see everybody’s eyes, we can feel what’s going on, forming the band.”

Although Newsted has always had a rightfully deserved reputation as an incredibly intense and fierce player onstage, he has also always been known for his down-to-earth attitude and friendly relationship with fans.

“Meeting people has always kind of been my M.O., almost my forte; I meet fans before, during and after the show, that’s how I’ve always conducted myself in my career,” he explains. “I’m never going to change that as long as I can help it.”

One thing that has changed since Newsted was last out on a major tour is the advent of the VIP package that many bands now offer to fans. For an additional charge, concertgoers can get in early, with the guarantee of an autograph, a photo with the artist, commemorative merchandise and more.

While he was somewhat reluctant to participate in the new avenue of the touring business, Newsted agreed to do so after hearing directly from his fans.

“I’ve never charged people to meet me before, it still feels weird for me, but these VIP packages are something that people actually demand,” he tells me. “The fans are used to that as something that happens at a show now—and it’s something that puts diesel in the bus and makes the wheels go around.

“I will still always be available to talk to fans whether they pay for the VIP package or not,” he adds. “You have to take the music to the people, one fan at a time—sell the T-shirts at the gig, sell the CDs at the gig, and sell the concert experience—those things cannot be downloaded.”

With his band currently mixing a debut full-length album, slated for release in June, and with a European tour set for the summer (featuring new second guitarist Mike Mushock of Staind), Newsted—who just turned 50 in March—is looking forward to getting out on the road again. He wants to play his music for fans live, loud and in their face—the way he says it should be done.

“I am still that 19-year-old heavy metal kid—I’ve worked a long, long time to get this young,” says Newsted. “The game is a little different, the rules have changed a bit, but the most important rules are still the same—you still have to take it to the people.”

The members of San Jose pop-punk band Stickup Kid look more like average college kids than rock stars, yet they could very well be the next band to break out of Silicon Valley and achieve national success.

Even though most of the members are only a few years removed from high school, they are on the verge of releasing their second full-length album after a surprise opportunity to open for Green Day last month during one of SXSW’s marquee performances.
The last-minute invite required the band to drop everything and embark on a 30-hour nonstop drive from the Bay Area to Texas. It was a welcome chance for national attention, but big things were already brewing for Stickup Kid.

The band emerged in 2009 as a group of friends, mostly with the intention of hanging out and having fun. While most of guys were high schoolers—drummer Cameron MacBain, the youngest, was 15 years old—bass player Jonathan McMaster was 21 and was the band’s primary songwriter. Within months of their inception, Stickup Kid booked its first tour—and haven’t stopped touring since.

In 2012, they got a record deal with Adeline Records, the Oakland-based label co-owned by Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong that has released records by AFI, Emily’s Army, the Living End, the Frustrators and vinyl editions of Green Day albums. So far, the relationship with the label has been a perfect fit.

“It’s more like a community rather than a dictatorship,” says singer Tony Geravesh. “They’re there to help us, but they’re never there to control anything.”

Adeline first released Nothing About Me in June 2012, which Stickup Kid had already finished, and were preparing to put out independently. The EP did well enough that Adeline wanted to do a full-length record.

While the EP featured mostly straightforward, fast pop-punk, Stickup Kid’s new material for the album is more eclectic, drawing influences from indie rock and showing a wider range with tempo. Part of the change was prompted by Geravesh and guitarist Bo McDowell taking over songwriting duties. While the band was taking a break, the duo attempted to write a few songs and quickly turned out some 40 demos.

“Once we got started, it was hard to stop,” Geravesh says. “It’s pretty addicting.”

The five members of Stickup Kid, which also includes second guitarist Curtis Wallace, whittled the demos down to 18 songs, recorded them, and are currently mixing and picking 12 or 13 for the new album. No release date is set, but everyone is hoping it will be sometime this summer.

“The label has a plan,” Geravesh says. “They have the whole nine yards set up. Hopefully, once we put out the record, then more of the benefits of the label will start shining through.”

Whether or not fame is the result of this record isn’t the biggest concern for Stickup Kid.

“Our whole goal when we started the band was just to make friends,” Geravesh explains. “I don’t look at it like we have fans. I look at it like they’re people I can talk to; people I can relate with, because the only reason I started going to shows was because I wanted to find people I can fit in with. I figure if those kids are coming to fit in, I can fit in with them.”

Stickup Kid
San Jose Rock Shop
Saturday April 13 6pm $8