DRILL LOS ANGELES Day 3: WIRE, JULIA HOLTER and more (updated) April 1st 2017

Photos by Alexander Laurence and Liane Chan

All the bands I played in 1980s: The OC and LA scene

All the bands I played in 1980-2012
BY Alexander Laurence

Besides all the noise I made with my brother when I was 10 years old, my music career probably started around the summer of 1981. The plan was to form a band with Patrick Quinn, who I knew in High School. Patrick was good a classical music guitarist and he liked punk rock music. I took guitar lessons that summer and learned to read music. It was very traditional. I remember studying the cover of a Plasmatics single and learned how to do a bar chord. In the Fall of 1981, Patrick moved to SF to go to college and I was still in high school. Through some friends, I met Rick Harrison, and we decided to form a band along with Benny Rapp and Greg Sisson. Greg Sisson was in one the first punk bands from Huntington Beach, called The Slashers.

We called ourselves THE SLIP KIDS. We were named after a song by The Who or China White, a punk band who were our friends. Sisson didn't play with us for the first few months because he didn't have any gear. We rehearsed as a trio for a few weeks. I was horrible. I knew how to play but I had no experience playing with others. Rick Harrison had one song, and I wrote three songs pretty fast. I realized that in this band we lacked a vocalist, a songwriter, but it was okay. I realized that even though I didn't know what I was I doing, I had to be the main songwriter and default leader, even though it was Rick's band. There was a big difference in direction we all wanted to go. Rick and Benny wanted to be like the Damned or Generation X. I was more into the Buzzcocks and Wire. I think that we sounded unique: a combination of lack of ability and the confusion of ideas. None of our songs had titles, but to me a few came to be known as "Genocide" and "Another Reality." It was late 1981, and I was feeling that punk had already been done. What we did was a little pop punk and very limited musically.

(Greg Sisson and Rick Harrison, Slip Kids 1982?)

For a few weeks we practiced with Don Snell, who was a great guitarist and a lot older than most of us.  Me, Rick and Benny were all 17 or so. Don was at least 20. With Don, he was more of a lead guitarist and I played rhythm. With Don, we played all our five original songs, and one song by Don, and also "Untouchables" by Gen X. The song by Don was like a hardcore punk song. It was more like an instrumental song. I was thumbs down on that one. It was actually more like a weak song by Wire. The band was getting ready to actually play a show. We all hung out in Hollywood one night. Benny told me how they wanted Frank Martinez (at one time in The Vandals) to be the lead singer. In my own mind I wanted to be the lead singer, and I wanted Craig Stonoff (Movement) to be the guitarist. 

A week passed and I was out of the band, and Frank and Greg Sisson were in. A few months later I heard THE SLIP KIDS were playing at a party at a friend's house. I watched them and was bored. Rick nodded his head when they played one of my songs. It all sounded a little dated to me. It took so long to write songs and find people to play with, by the time the songs were actually played to an audience, it was a little dull. I remember trying to start another band very quickly. I heard that Don Snell and Jeff Milucky were forming a band, and I wanted to join, but that never happened. Stonoff wasn't really doing Movement anymore, but he was very negative about any new bands. He was really jaded.

Around this time I wrote my first decent song entitled "Powerline." 

I found a flyer in Zed's Records in Long Beach. There were two guys in Palos Verde looking for a guitarist. I was getting better at guitar and had taken a class in music theory. I taught myself how to play a little piano. One of these guys in PV was Steve Brown (later he would be in the SF band Broom). These guys were great musicians. They could play anything. We played during 1982 when I was 18, and they were closer to 15. We were more like some post punk bands like Magazine and Joy Division and Outer Circle. I played guitar and keyboards. The drummer played a different beat on each song. We had slow songs and fast songs. I had a big tape recorder and recorded most of our practices. We created a ton of material quickly. We had one song called "The Other Room." I met this guy named Adam who wanted to play with us, but Adam ended up playing with Jesse Rodrigues from Movement. It was a long drive to Palos Verde, and sometimes we wouldn't practice for a month. I had left high school and a few months had passed. When I came back to Palos Verde, Steve Brown was playing with a whole new group of guys. It was more rock oriented. By the end of 1982, I was more into Birthday Party and stuff like that. The Palos Verde Group never had a name, and soon we went our separate ways. We did have one song that was a little like Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and I had written a song with very similar chords to Mazzy Star "Flowers in December" in 1982. We were a little more advanced and probably could have done something interesting.

Towards the end of 1982, I had met Jeff McCann. He had just moved to Huntington Beach from Texas. The band we formed was called SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS. It was mostly Jeff's esthetic and style. We played a bunch of instrumentals by The Cramps, Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones. For a while it was just me and Jeff, and then we were joined by a guy named Mark. It was the first two guitar and drums, no bass guitar band that I knew about. Some girl who played bass in our band was in The Cramps for a few years. I think now that Jeff was ahead of his time. I wanted to write some original songs, but my songs didn't really go with this band, which was more like a psych garage band. I quit some time in 1985, and was replaced. I met up with Jeff again at Long Beach State, and we played for fun again, in 1988, after they had played a few gigs. They were doing this retro garage rock instrumental thing in 1983, and now, a few decades later, it seems like every other band now is like that.

                                       (Mark and Jeff from Satan's Cheerleaders)

Satan's Cheerleaders live at Safari' Sams 1985: https://archive.org/details/sc1985-10-10

At the same time I had try to form a band with Greg Yalch. We were in this band called MASQUE for a few weeks. But the other guys wanted to be a Bauhaus clone band. I wrote a few songs with Yalch. One has survived called "So Happy." By 1983, when there was idle time, we were joined by Clark North (who is now an important Tattoo Artist). We hung out more than actually did anything. I left and was replaced by Brad Logan and Rob Whitecotten. They called themselves Cinema of Cruelty, or COC. I remember one show at Clark's house by Edison High. Greg used to play me wild tapes of his new band. Logan quit and went on to join a hundred punk bands. Some new guys joined and they called themselves THE BELLJAR. I saw them play at Safari's Sam in 1986, and Greg was the only original member left. It was a far different band, more like The Doors and the paisley underground bands. The Belljar was one of those bands that wore a lot of black and could be taken as a Velvet Underground revival band. Greg Yalch got heavily into drugs and the band broke up by the end of the 1980s. 

 

The Bell Jar (Greg Yalch, left, and Clark North)

I also played with Sharon Vaughnn in a band called HOUSE OF CARDS. I had met her when she worked at Fedco. Sharon was in a rockabilly band. Me and Sharon played with a number of people. One who I remember was Dave who later played in Swamp Zombies. I saw them play a few years later in San Francisco. I was originally the guitarist, but Sharon found some guy who wanted to play guitar and wanted me to play bass. I lasted a few weeks. I heard that they played some places like Radio City, where many of these bands also played.

From 1982 to 1985 I was always making tapes. I had a little recording studio in my bedroom. I would record demos all the time with anyone who would come over. I had a drum set in the corner of my room that belonged to my girlfriend. Mark Held and I had a band called FUMES. We also did some rap songs in 1984 and performed them live at a poetry night at Safari Sam's in 1984. Our best songs were "Recovery Room" and "Fuck The World." They were like anti-punk songs. I recorded a lot of dub reggae tracks. I recorded hours of drums tracks, in case I wanted to use them as a backing track. The Mark Held stuff was more experimental. More anti-rock. In my own mind I wanted to do something more like Eno and Talking Heads. 

Mneumonic Devices

THE IMMACULATE CONCEPT 1985
a film by Alexander Laurence

By 1985, I did record some songs with Ann De Jarnett (Mneumonic Devices). I started making 8mm films and most of the stuff we did was like soundtrack music. Ann De Jarnett and Greg Yalch were in my first film The Immaculate Conception (1985). For about a year all we did was films and photography. I sold my guitar and my amp and retired from bands for at least a year.

For about a year, I didn't do much music. I started to take college more seriously. But I still had time to try out for a goth band. I was in EX-VOTO with Larry Rainwater and Greg Bevington for about a week. I couldn't play it with a straight face. It was like a Sisters of Mercy clone band with drum machine. We played songs by Steppenwolf, Joy Division, and Bowie. I couldn't get the guitar part right in their song "In The Modern Time." They wanted me to make noise and play power chords, and not play any real guitar stuff. It was secondary. The bass riff was on top of everything. They were goths.

Ex Voto

I had lost focus. I was never going to be in a proper band. I was in the middle of an English Lit degree. But in 1987 some things happened. Wire reformed. I had written a ton of poems. Patrick Quinn was going to move back to the west coast from Boston. I had envisioned a band ever since the days when I hung out with Ann of Mneumonic Devices. It was like a band that combined rock and classical influences. I had written about 30-40 songs. This new band I called THE ELIZABETHANS. But Quinn didn't actually move back to California until 1989, and when we started to play the new songs, he struggled. We could only play the simplest stuff, the drones of songs like "Heliotropes Turn Black." Then we co-wrote a bunch of songs together, but there was no band. Just a massive amount of songs on tape and ideas. As the years went on, it was easier to record songs, and do demos. I started out with a two track tape machine, where you could only record live takes, or music, and dub in the vocals.

In the meantime I recorded some stuff with Devin Rench. We called out new band VICTIM. It was more industrial sounding. We had a friend who worked for Yahama and we recorded a few tracks at his studio. I showed Devin the songs I had written previously. He wasn't interested. Devin wanted to write his own lyrics and wanted me to do the music. We tried to play some parties with backing tracks but it never really worked. 

That is mostly what I did during the 1980s.

PS.

1) I probably only played two real gigs in the 1980s.

2)  I wrote about 100 songs during this time.

3) I also wrote 20 short stories and 3 novels.

4) I focused on going to college during the later part of the 1980s.


5) There was no internet in the 1980s, so you had to do demos and play live shows to be noticed.


6) The bands I was in, Ex-Voto, Satan's Cheerleaders, The Belljar, released records years later after I had left the band.


7) All this happened in LA and Orange County.


8) There were hardly any PR people in the 1980s. Now there are 3 publicists for every journalist.


9) There were no computers like today and no itunes in the 1980s. If you wanted to hear a record you had to own the record.


10) I realized that I didn't have the patience for bands. I moved to San Francisco in 1988. Things would be a lot different there during the 1990s.

Scott Sellers RIP 2017. Top left with blonde hair. 

Other guy in these photos is Clark North, now a famous tattoo artist based 

in Las Vegas. Both were in The Bell Jar and Bar Twang Blues.

Temples Sign To V2 Records, Announce New LP + Share "Jet Stream Heart" Single + Video via FLOOD | 'BLISS' LP Out 2026 via V2 Records

Temples Sign To V2 Records, Announce New LP, Share "Jet Stream Heart" Single + Video via FLOOD BLISS LP Out 2026 via V2 Records

Photo Credit: Jimmy Fontaine PRE-SAVE: Temples - BLISS LP Pre-Save LISTEN & SHARE: Temples - "Jet Stream Heart"  Stream | Watch PRAISE FOR TEMPLES "No matter where they were working on music and regardless of what influenced their style, Temples has created a sound that is uniquely theirs, genre-bending, and loved by fans across the globe." -The Aquarian "an album fizzing with ideas, bursting with kinetic energy and balancing an immediate impact with an enduring, timeless intensity" -Paste "huge, monolithic, reaching-for-infinity psych-rock" -Stereogum "Renowned for their mesmerizing live performances" -The Big Takeover "Like many young bands before it, the four-piece from Kettering in Northhamptonshire embraces — and proudly plays up — the influence of The Beatles and other '60s legends, notably The Byrds. But Temples' music claims its own place, weaving these inspirations into crazy-beautiful and richly idiosyncratic music." -NPR After celebrating the ten-year anniversary of their debut album Sun Structures—marked by a 2024 U.S. anniversary tour—British neo-psychedelic rockers Temples return today with the announcement of their new LP, BLISS, alongside their signing to V2 Records. Hailed upon their debut by Noel Gallagher of Oasis as “the best new band in Britain,” Temples re-emerge with renewed intensity on lead single “Jet Stream Heart,” a menacing, funky, and hypnotic groove that signals a bold evolution for the band. On the track the band shares, "We always strive to make a bold sonic statement. The feeling of music in a club is visceral, almost like you're directly wired into the song. Mainlining the rhythms to the heart. This song explores the feeling of being seduced by music, being pulled into a sonic jet stream, and having to give in to the magnetic feeling of certain music. Sampling in music has always been an interesting creative approach to me, but I liked the idea of actually sampling our own music. Sometimes even sampling the song that you are currently producing to evoke the feeling of a sample from an old record, without the need to get it cleared by the original artist." "Jet Stream Heart" blurs genres, and blurs the line between what’s a synth and what’s a guitar/bass. Using home made fuzz pedals and odd studio gear to create anything but conservative sounds. BLISS ushers in a new chapter for Temples, showcasing their most experimental, polished, and confident work to date. "Jet Stream Heart" is out February 20, 2026 via V2 Records. Temples - "Jet Stream Heart" (Official Video) BLISS LP - TRACKLISTING Jet Stream Heart Revelations Megalith Glimmer Blue Flame Vendetta Jaguar Horizon Waiting On The Echoes Fantasy Realm TEMPLES BIO: This British neo-psychedelic band formed in Kettering, England in 2012 and consists of singer/guitarist James Bagshaw, bassist Tom Walmsley, keyboardist/guitarist Adam Smith, and drummer Rens Ottink. Their unique sound is a blend of vintage inspired production reminiscent of 1960s psychedelia and fresh, modern groove. Celebrating 10 years since their debut album Sun Structures was released and earned a great deal of recognition, they have since become one of the most forward-thinking and endlessly inventive rock bands today. TEMPLES LINKS Website | Instagram | Facebook | Tiktok | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music

Sukpatch and R&Rchives release 'Thin Skin Diver'

R&RCHIVES AND SUKPATCH RELEASE COMPILATION ALBUM THIN SKIN DIVER  FEATURING UNEARTHED AND UNHEARD MATERIAL THIN SKIN DIVER OUT NOW VIA R&RCHIVES

Courtesy of R&Rchives Thin Skin Diver https://ffm.to/thinskindiver (February 20, 2026) - R&Rchives release a new compilation album from 1990’s cult heroes Sukpatch. Thin Skin Diver features a curation of unearthed and previously unheard material by the LoFi pioneers from Minneapolis, remastered for the modern day. The compilation album’s release trails the band sharing their latest single “Bucked Hide” in January along with “Florida Orange” and “Mexico City Big Vacation” late last year. Thin Skin Diver is now available on all platforms via R&Rchives.  The 19-track Thin Skin Diver is the first full-length release from R&Rchives, the new archival label by R&R Records, home of Dijon, Mk.gee, Shlohmo, Racing Mount Pleasant, cktrl, and more. Two of their singles from this album “Florida Orange” and “Bucked Hide” were initially released on Sukpatch’s debut album Haulin’ Grass Smokin’ Ass, which was released in 1996 by Seattle-based independent label Slabco Records. It was their first full release and represented their transition from a more LoFi indie rock DIY tape sound to a more polished electronic and sample-based sound. Formed in 1991, Sukpatch is the Minneapolis-based trio of Chris Heidman, Steve Cruze, and Steve Hermann. Fusing the influences of the indie rock scene of the Pacific Northwest and early 90’s hip-hop, they cemented their status as LoFi pioneers, eventually inventing the hip-hop infused bedroom-pop genre.  Sukpatch first took shape through traditionally indie rock homemade cassette recordings. In 1993, their sound came together on their cult classic, Lite Hits. Unable to afford a sampler, they taught themselves to create tape loops on reel-to-reel tape recorders that they would buy at thrift stores. Their process became very layered, mixing breakbeat loops with snippets of audio recorded from public-access TV. They followed Lite Hits with a series of 7-inch singles on Slabco, Motorway, and Sub Pop, eventually leading to their critically acclaimed 1996 full-length debut, Haulin’ Grass and Smokin’ Ass. Sukpatch later inked a deal with the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal label, releasing their 1999 EP Tie Down That Shiny Wave, followed by Naturalizms in 2001. After a complete and total calamity, the band walked away from music, reuniting briefly in 2006 to release their final album, Twenty-Three on Moshi Moshi Records.  Now, all these years later, Thin Skin Diver timewarps us back to those mid-90’s sessions and breathes a new life into the groundbreaking music that was so far ahead of its time. Check out Thin Skin Diver and stay tuned for more news from Sukpatch and R&Rchives. Sukpatch Thin Skin Diver  Out now R&Rchives Florida Orange  Cabo San Lucas Hollow Tips Bucked Hide Sparklin’ Remake  Stained-Strained Broken Facility  St. Louis Runs  Mexico City Big Vacation  Nice Notes & Texas Extasy  Stickerchamp Carmine  Halflawn Otha Fish  Sump Miniature Pee Pee Shrimp Cocktail Reason Why Jerry Mulligan on 45

Photos courtesy of R&Rchives

"Lana Del Rey" is the face of unabashed confidence to Jesus Christ Taxi Driver - new single out today

“LANA DEL REY” IS THE FACE OF UNABASHED CONFIDENCE TO JESUS CHRIST TAXI DRIVER — STREAM THE NEW SINGLE NEW ALBUM TAXI THE RICH SET FOR DIGITAL RELEASE ON APRIL 24 AND BUY BEFORE YOU STREAM INITIATIVE VINYL ARRIVES MARCH 19 VIA MIDTOPIA — PRE-ORDER  ANNOUNCE THE TAXI THE RICH AGAIN TOUR  IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ONE NIGHT LIVE + UPCOMING FESTIVAL PERFORMANCE AT TREEFORT — SEE ALL DATES HERE

“Whacked-out rock stylings"

“...effectively loose and untethered in the best ways, like a Stooges album, had that band been from 2000s Colorado rather than ’60s Detroit.” Today, Colorado’s Jesus Christ Taxi Driver finds their unbridled bravado with the new single “Lana Del Rey.” Heralding her as their unabashedly confident North Star, she is a mode the band has to snap into from time to time. With no shame, JCTD stares themselves down in the mirror, repeating the mantra “I’m Lana Del Rey” until they start to believe it themselves — Stream the new single.  Vocalist and guitarist Ian Ehrhart said, “Lana Del Rey is representative of self-belief and confidence amidst persecution and self-doubt. She is a pop icon that transcends pop icons through artistic integrity and an unrelenting sense of identity. She has it all… mystique, intellect, depth… She is a figment of our imagination.” JCTD’s upcoming second album, Taxi The Rich, will be released digitally on April 24 via Midtopia. Rapturously irreverent, politically pointed, religiously disoriented, and existentially uncertain, the suite of songs’ ethos is pure rock ‘n’ roll, but the sound sure isn’t. Taking cues from garage punk, funk, surf rock, twang and even power pop, Jesus Christ Taxi Driver assembles an unlikely thematic cast of characters on Taxi The Rich including serial killers, Lana Del Rey, Jeffrey Epstein and more. Press photo by Hailey Jane  Jesus Christ Taxi Driver is participating in Midtopia’s Buy Before You Stream initiative. Working to escape the algorithm, the program gives listeners early access to the new album. The early vinyl offering of Taxi The Rich arrives on March 19. Artists receive 100% of the profits and the artist to fan bond is brought back to the human level. Pre-order Taxi The Rich on vinyl here.  Announced at the end of January, JCTD is headed back out on the road for the Taxi The Rich Again Tour. The tour is proudly presented by One Night Live, a touring initiative created by Live Music Society in collaboration with like-minded organizations to provide crucial support for emerging artists and small independent venues. Launched in 2025, One Night Live is a response to the ongoing economic challenges facing emerging artists and independent venues, the initiative brings together touring support, artist incubator partnerships, and direct financial assistance to help create more viable touring opportunities while strengthening connections between artists, venues, and local communities. On March 19, the band will play a hometown Denver show to celebrate the release of their album on vinyl, alongside their close friends The Thing. And the following week, they will make their triumphant return to Boise, Idaho’s Treefort Music Fest. See all upcoming dates here and below. UPCOMING TOUR DATES February 18 - Boulder, CO - LMS Summit February 19 - Wichita, KS - Wave February 20 - Tulsa, OK - Mercury Lounge February 21 - Manhattan, KS - Auntie Mae’s March 19 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater (album release show with The Thing) March 20 - Colorado Springs, CO - Lulu’s Downtown March 25-28 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Fest March 29 - Seattle, WA - Baba Yaga March 30 - Spokane, WA - The Big Dipper March 31 - Yakima, WA - Bearded Monkey April 1 - Portland, OR - Bunk Bar April 2 - Bend, OR - Silver Moon Brewing April 3 - Reno, NV - Club Underground April 4 - Sacramento, CA - Torch Club April 5 - San Francisco, CA - The Knockout April 7 - Los Angeles, CA - The Redwood Bar April 8 - Las Vegas, NV - Red Dwarf April 9 - Salt Lake City, UT - Quarters DLC April 10 - Laramie, WY - Ruffed Up Duck April 11 - Pueblo, CO - Steel City Showcase See all dates here