Category: FEATURES

Angelyne: Billboard Queen, Punk Diva & Archetype Of The L.A. Dream

Jessica Moncrief June 19, 2017

One great thing about living in Southern California is that seemingly everyone you meet is here with specific creative goals in mind- that experience MAY be magnified if you yourself have your own dreams of creative success or recognition since, obviously there are MILLIONS of people who live here that are just living their lives everyday just like any other city in the world. All things being equal, you may randomly end up befriending a transplant swedish waitress, only to find out she’s actually a screenwriter or even end up becoming friends with a famous local on any given day or night of the week. It’s part of the LA charm that I have come to love so much. I recently met billboard queen, Angelyne through a friend when I was invited to join them for dinner at El Coyote. Like many, she was instantly recognizable to me, even though I didn’t know much about her. But after meeting her, I was compelled to find out as much as I could. Over the course of the last month or so I have been able to get to know her more though our conversations. What I have learned has given me a

Punk Rock Bowling 2017: You Can’t Be What You Were…

Danny Baraz June 9, 2017

Looking out into the sea of people in the expanses that sprawl out from the upgraded festival stage at Punk Rock Bowling’s virgin location in the booming district of Downtown Las Vegas was a seismic life experience. Not just because of how fucking rad Punk Rock Bowling was this year but because all the events of the weekend set to the music of the festival served as a soundtrack to life’s highlight reel in my head. A series of events culminated into the bitter-sweetest regression of lonerism one could ever celebrate, as I stood alone, backstage, watching The Adicts play the best set I’d ever seen from them. Being 2 months out of knee surgery, that familiar human turbine engine of 7,k people dancing and swirling in front of the stage like a pack of bats taking flight at sun down or a school of fish changing direction in unison was unfamiliar from this vantage point- I’ve always preferred being IN the engine instead of being a spectator. Because when you’re in the pit, you’re dealing directly with any physical manifestation of frustration or anger that might have built up through the grind of life and you aren’t really thinking

Spike Slawson- Me First & The Gimme Gimmes

Me First & The Gimme Gimmes Janky Smooth Sessions w/ Spike Slawson

Dave Unbuckled May 20, 2017

7 days until day 1 of Punk Rock Bowling 2017… Last Saturday, May 13th, I sat down with the not-so-soft-spoken Spike Slawson, of Me First & the Gimme Gimmes, at the Fonda Theater before their Los Angeles appearance of their Greatest Hits Tour. We discussed his punk rock super hero origin story, eating ass on tour, and how the Gimme Gimmes choose the songs that make it onto their album. He also shared intimate stories of the late Glen Frye and Co.’s opinions of Desperado’s punk makeover, fronting a band called Ukehunt, his favorite Judy Garland songs to sing live, and what it really feels like to watch Leonardo Dicaprio do a lot of cocaine while hearing your voice in the background. Read the Full Review From The Gimme Gimmes Show at The Fonda Photo: BodhiFox Photography

The Secret Journal Of A Pizza Spy at Coachella 2017

Dave Unbuckled May 10, 2017

Thursday Thoughts On The Night Before Weekend 2 of Coachella 2017 Starts The drive to Indio from LAX was supposed to take three hours & forty seven minutes, but it would be a lot longer than that before we would be out of the car and setting up our tent. We made the conscious decision to depart at 2 pm, in avoidance of desert traffic, as well as the Thursday night Coachella rush. We actually made it to the festival check-in as sun down was finishing, despite the longest stretch of time I have ever spent in a WalMart, in which no expense was spared. After all, we were planning on working at a Pizza Tent for the majority of the weekend and were assuming to soon be handing out dollar bills like Ted Dibiasse. When we finally breached the city limits of Indio, after passing multiple billboards advertising Linkin Park’s new ‘album’ and ‘Gaymoji’, which is exactly what you think it is, we realized we were trailed by a cop all the way to the festival entrance. The presence of added desert police officers was apparent throughout the weekend- especially when we arrived to security several hours later. We

Punk Rock Bowling Transforms BYO Boys Into Wisdom Brigade

Danny Baraz April 28, 2017

This past Monday, April 24th I interviewed members of an iconic, first wave California skate punk band, the owners of a record label and the brain trust of a popular annual cultural event that completely consumes every hotel room, a dozen bars and music venues and every beer coozy in Downtown Las Vegas- and I did them all in the span of an hour and a half. Like a wise man once said, “Let’s do the whole fuckin village, man.” Bunny from the movie, Platoon. Sometimes, people make the mistake of thinking wisdom and maturity are the same concept but Confucius say, “enjoying or telling of a fart joke, occasionally, does not preclude you from being able to call on experience to make the right decision’” -from Confucius’ early, more obscure teachings- the more underground stuff. Some people have an inherent, child like disposition. On the latest Janky Smooth Sessions, it’s hard to tell with the Stern brothers if it’s the brother dynamic that brings out the towel snapping, one-ups-manship and verbal noogies because I’ve never spent a moment with them while attending a tax seminar to witness how they conduct themselves amongst the squares. But fortunate for all of

Keith Morris Speaks Freely On Lawsuits, Politics & Punk Rock

Danny Baraz April 25, 2017

Not a lot needs to be said about Keith Morris and his contributions, not only to punk rock music but to the entire culture of “art” itself. I could easily get too wordy in this intro, to this transcript, of a bucket list interview with Morris for the temporarily defunct Janky Smooth and the NSA radio show from this time last year, but why? Everything I could say is in the archives of this interview and in his biography, My Damage I imagine there aren’t too many icons in the world who have remained as authentic and right sized as Keith and the fact that he gave a smaller publication like Janky Smooth one of his first, post lawsuit gag order interviews just speaks volumes about what this man values as an artist. Authenticity can not be feigned in art as easily as it can be in life and it’s rare to talk to someone in any capacity and get the vibe that what you see is what you get- especially when they’re talking about themselves. Most Recent on topic: Redd Kross, OFF! & Melvins Commemorate Teen Babes From Monsanto This interview took place in April of 2016 as one of

Glenn O’Brien is Dead & The Squares Are Back in Power: The Time to Party is Now

Brent Smith April 12, 2017

“We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds, and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.” -Bukowski In the past year, we’ve lost a lot of artists, icons, and legends in series of celebrity death waves the likes of which America hasn’t seen since maybe the 60s. The best of us have been dropping like flies. It weighs on the psyche, some more than others. The recent passing of writer, editor, and host of the bacchanal public access show TV Party, Glenn O’Brien, hit me harder than any. This came even to my own surprise. I spent the weekend mulling it over. Maybe it’s because he wasn’t any household name, most people have never heard of him. Maybe it’s because I felt a closer bond to the understated legacy of O’Brien than say that of Bowie or Prince—figures of such demigod magnitude that they were untouchable. O’Brien was accessible. I’d catch an infrequent Instagram post or the occasional sardonic dig at Trump on Twitter. I looked up to O’Brien, and always will. For me, he’s canonized, and not in any awe, but in

Identity Politics in America-Part 1: Mind Control for Dummies

Danny Baraz March 15, 2017

Did you ever wonder where the debate over trans-gender bathroom rights came from? Surely there must’ve been some actual incident, some gender-identity 9/11, something horrific enough to mobilize both conservative and progressive activists into their current scorched-earth strategy of political opposition, leaving nothing but worn-out pundits in their wake? Did a gang of drag queens assault an underage girl in a Disneyland bathroom? Though seldom acknowledged, the debate actually started in Houston from a local anti-discrimination bill: the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO). It passed into law in 2014 with widespread support across city council party lines. Yet HERO was repealed only a year later after opposition groups like the Family Research Council created petitions and fear-mongered over men dressing in drag to assault little girls in the bathroom. Then when North Carolina did its thing, Houston was all but forgotten. Whether or not an actual incident occurred suddenly was beside the point. Welcome to Identity Politics in America. Identity politics (IDP) needs no historical context or accuracy to serve its real purpose: keeping the spotlight off events that actually impact voters’ lives. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t care about the most marginalized in our society or fight for them. 0.6 % of the U.S. population are

Video Premiere: Sunshine Mind- Synchronize

Janky Smooth Central Command January 31, 2017

Janky Smooth is proud to premiere the video for Los Angeles Psych Rock outfit Sunshine Mind and their single, “Synchronize” from Sunshine Mind’s forthcoming debut EP on Lolipop Records. In a sea of psych rock in Los Angeles, Sunshine Mind have that raw, born of the garage, unmanufactured feel of authenticity that takes you from a morning surf session and into band practice. Synchronize shot and directed by MJ Wat Edited by Chris Mares & MJ Wat Sunshine Mind is: Travis Moore– Drums and Percussion Henry Lopez-Guitar and Vocals Sonia Hernandez– keys Edgar Barrios– Bass Stanlee Sigala– Guitar Sunshine Mind started when Henry Lopez hooked up with Travis Moore and began jamming the riffs that were the building blocks of Sunshine Mind. Through minor speed bumps such as a life threatening motorcycle crashes with brain injury, Sunshine Mind lives. Come explore the possibility that the insane might see something out of sight for our dimension and that brain damage opens the doorway to second sight. Sunshine Mind are planning an official release show in April at Lolipop Records Headquarters in Echo Park. Stay tuned. Sunshine Mind on: Facebook Bandcamp

The Faint Get Freaky w/ Janky Smooth Sessions Interview

Janky Smooth Central Command December 15, 2016

In our latest installment of Janky Smooth Sessions, Lauren McKnight successfully stalked The Faint from Orange County to Salt Lake City after their chance encounter outside a porta-potty at Beach Goth V. With this interview taking place just days before Halloween, Lauren had a plan to carve pumpkins with Dapose and Todd Fink of The Faint. It became evident that bringing knives to an interview probably wouldn’t get the band as relaxed as one would want to get them to spill their guts- so to speak… The interview DID get spooky when the boys from The Faint confirmed that their old studio had an overflow of dead bodies stacked in it at one point and when Lauren lost consciousness and started making sandwiches in a comatose state after a strobe light sent her into an uncontrolled seizure. We swear. The fact that this was supposed to be a Halloween special and we’re releasing it mid-December shouldn’t surprise you. Janky is the first word of this publications name- the last word in accessible culture. related content: Beach Goth 2015- The Party of the Year Words: Danny B Videographer: Steven Stone Video Editor: Pedro Torres

The Two Americas- Obama, Hillary and President Donald Trump

Danny Baraz November 10, 2016

Obama spent the bitter part of 8 years trying to convince us that there weren’t two Americas. Even though he’s a scholar and a student of history, he was optimistic his election was the beginning of the end for what Nixon started- The Southern Strategy. But it’s becoming evident, no matter how much Obama campaigned on the slogan, no one knows better than Hillary and Barack that there indeed are two Americas. It’s not just that Trump won- It’s how and what he won on. “Their” obsession with the Gordon Gecko, greed is good archetype and the fact that the “other” America has only ever excused the WASP president for lies and looting and pillaging the earth and making windfall money and grabbing every woman by the pussy- because that office has been filled with a lot of pussy grabbers, until Obama was in it. So without those types of scandals, all there was left to do was discuss birth certificates, brown suited salutes and Michelle’s beautiful exposed arms –Purr MOST white people in America do not like talking about race- PARTICULARLY Blackness. We still live in a pretty segregated society even though it’s definitely improved since I was a kid- at least

Lauren McKnight- Janky Smooth Sessions at Beach Goth 2016

White Girl Makin’ It Rain At Beach Goth 5- Janky Smooth Sessions

Lauren McKnight November 10, 2016

Beach Goth/bēCH gäTH/Noun It begins with a question. A question as old as 2002… “what do you mean cash only?”. It grows through a lie… “Oh no, it’s cool, I’m supposed to be back here”. It ends with a realization. That realization is that I have no memory of Beach Goth V whatsoever, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t try to give the most accurate account possible. related: Beach Goth 4- The Party of the Year After 4 or 5 bullshit story attempts to finagle an Artist wristband, I finally secured one out of pity from a friend. Within the hour and after an appropriate amount of substance abuse, I was lost in space next to a trash can in the Artist Lounge with no pants on, a pink kimono, and shoes far too tall to be practical. I locked eyes with Eric Andre (who was hosting Beach Goth), to my surprise, he came straight up to me and told me he saw me at the liquor store. I asked him if he needed anything from Ikea, and somehow that segued into how fart jokes were “never NOT funny”. This would set the tone for the rest of day