Tag: janky smooth sessions

Janky Smooth Sessions: INVA//ID at Bar Sinister

Danny Baraz February 5, 2023

Goth, Industrial, EBM, Dark Wave, Post Punk, et al, born in the shadows, is having it’s moment in the sun- to the dismay of some of its denizens. But to Industrial acts like INVA//ID, the spotlight is deserved and somewhat welcome. After all, bands want people at their shows. On this Saturday night at Bar Sinister in Hollywood, there was no lack of patrons. Janky Smooth got a chance to speak with Christopher Rivera and and Krz Greenhaw of INVA//ID about their music, the state of the scene and the sounds and places that have influenced them. One of those influential places is Boardners/Bar Sinister and it’s constant presence in Los Angeles post punk and other scenes and genres cannot be understated. So it was fitting that this was the setting for both the show and our interview. Keep an eye out for the next single from INVA//ID dropping on Feb. 14th with the full length expected in July 2023. INVA//ID: Bandcamp Instagram Videographer: Chris Shaibi Video Editing and Words: Danny Baraz Photos: Jessica Moncrief

A Place To Bury Strangers Interview at Levitation 2021- Janky Smooth Sessions

Grace Dunn February 11, 2022

Janky Smooth Sessions sat down with A Place To Bury Strangers for an interview at Levitation 2021. Among the topics Grace Dunn and Scott Urian discussed with Oliver Ackermann, John Fedowitz and Sandra Fedowitz were the new APTBS album, “See Through You” released by Dedstrange in 2022, the creative process and both the moral and practical challenges of touring during a global pandemic. Related Content: A Place to Bury Strangers Make Ears Bleed at The Echoplex Video and Editing: Grace Dunn Interview: Grace Dunn and Scott Urian

Janky Smooth Sessions Interview w/ The Side Eyes

Danny Baraz July 12, 2017

When you see The Side Eyes live or just sit down and talk to them for a spell, it becomes clear pretty quickly that their genealogy and punk rock pedigree have little to do with the rate in which their star is rising- but it certainly doesn’t hurt them, either. related content: Beach Goth Blackout- Janky Smooth Sessions We caught up w/ the band after they opened for Redd Kross at The Echo in our latest Janky Smooth Sessions Interview w/ The Side Eyes. Astrid McDonald, Kevin & Chris Devine and newest addition, drummer Sam Mankinen (Melted) seem to be quite loving- a supportive band of punks in a genre built on cynicism and frustration. Punk rock being just like any other microcosm, we explore the ways in which the world has changed by noting the ways punk rock and it’s faithful approach “the scene” and subsequently, the world. related content: Steve McDonald Assembles All of His Family and Paid Gigs to Commemorate Teen Babes from Monsanto We discuss what having Charlotte Caffey as your mom, Jeff McDonald as your dad and Steve McDonald playing in Melvins, OFF! and Redd Kross as your uncle does to a kid’s sense

Me First & The Gimme Gimmes Inter-Review At The Fonda Theater

Dave Unbuckled May 23, 2017

Me First and The Gimme Gimmes made their welcome return to Los Angeles at the Fonda Theater on May 13th to a sold out crowd that was comprised of every demographic one could think of. After all, the band has been celebrating their 20th anniversary for the past two years, and were prepared to perform their greatest hits, both of which incentivized longtime fans in their forties and your typical Los Angeles punk teenagers. The band was joined by openers Kid Congo Powers and Together Pangea, both who were warmly received, and both who stood out from the typical Fat-Wreck bands that usually get put on these bills. Perhaps it was the absence of Fat Mike on this tour that separated this from your standard Gimme Gimmes appearance, though the band did have suitable substitutes in tow, including Chris Cheney of The Living End. Some in the crowd seemed disappointed that their punk rock idol wasn’t performing, but most got over it as soon as the band opened their set with “Summetime,” off of Are a Drag. But for both Janky Smooth and myself, this was a special show since I was interviewing Spike Slawson in the hours before fans would even

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

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

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

Janky Fest w/ The Dwarves & 15 Bands Celebrating 2 Years of Jankiness

Danny Baraz October 25, 2016

It ain’t easy standing out in the sea of L.A. music blogs all looking for ad dollars, access and an invite to the after party. Janky Smooth doesn’t post ads on our website and we’re still not sure what the end game is here but what we do know is that it’s been a hell of a ride so far. As a thank you to Los Angeles for bringing us into it’s cold embrace, we bring you Janky Fest, November 19th in Outer Space from 3pm- Midnight. To attend Janky Fest with the Dwarves, The Birth Defects, Death Hymn Number 9, Sloppy Jane, Wild Wing and so many other bands, just RSVP by joining our newsletter at www.newsoundalliance.com and we’ll get back to you on instructions for making your $10 donation to fund Janky Fest. Special thanks to Pabst Blue Ribbon for donating all the $2 Tall Boys. RSVP now before we make an announcement on our super secret special guest band that we can’t publicize due to contractual obligations. For the past 2 years, Janky Smooth has attempted to give our readers an honest take on the independent music scene that is exploding, both in Los Angeles and all

Bonnie and Larry of Death Valley Girls by Josh Allen

Death Valley Girls in a Desert Daze Disneyland- Janky Smooth Sessions

Danny Baraz October 25, 2016

Death Valley Girls front woman, Bonnie Bloomgarden aka Bonz Doomgarden is no stranger to the unexplained mysteries of what lay just beyond the logic of the material world. Death Valley Girls axe man, Larry Schemel stands guard at the gates of sanity to guide his friend and artistic collaborator through the challenges of channeling other dimensions and both friendly and diabolical deities that look to walk through the doorway of this domain. Does that sound hyperbolic? Have you met Bonnie? Larry and Bonnie joined Janky Smooth Sessions and Danny Baraz at Desert Daze 2016 to discuss the magick of the festival and the significance of ending their nationwide tour supporting their impressive sophmore LP, Glow in the Dark at what so many that attended the fest agree is one of the most significant festival experiences of their lives. Alien abductions, fan sing alongs, corporatism, Desert Daze founder, Phil Pirrone vs Disneyland founder Walt Disney and attempting to quantify the magick that surrounded Desert Daze under the blood red, hunters super moon that enveloped the Institute of Mentalphysics in Joshua Tree California. Read more about Death Valley Girls: Buzz Bait: Bonnie of Death Valley Girls on Music, Magic and Metaphysics Death

White Fang & No Parents Escape from L.A.

Janky Smooth Sessions: Beers, Buds & GnarBurgers w/ White Fang, No Parents

Danny Baraz October 14, 2016

White Fang, No Parents and the Birth Defects have embarked on a tour for one of the first lineups of L.A. based bands that has made sense to me in quite a long time. We’ve seen No Parents play with Mystic Braves, we’ve seen The Birth Defects play with Fuzz and while I like all of those bands, having them play together is like having Donald Trump and Martin Luther King follow each other in speaking engagement. My fellow Janksters, Paige, Travis and I went to kick it with the bands at GnarBurger as they made their pre tour preparations that included beef, beer and buds as they got ready to hit a nationwide tour in a caravan of sin and friendship. That brings us to the latest installment of Janky Smooth Sessions with White Fang, No Parents, The Birth Defects and friends hanging at GnarBurger before they shoved off on their Escape From L.A. tour. Sunday 16 October 2016 White Fang The Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL, US BUY TICKETS TRACK EVENT I’M GOING Monday 17 October 2016 White Fangwith No Parents The Majestic Café, Detroit, MI, US BUY TICKETS TRACK EVENT I’M GOING Tuesday 18 October 2016 White Fangwith No Parents The Basement, Columbus, OH,

Cosmonauts Interview with Paige Vreede of Janky Smooth

Janky Smooth Sessions: Cosmonauts Interview By The Lake

Paige Vreede October 5, 2016

It’s 4pm on a sunny Saturday afternoon and I’m running amuck at Echo Park Lake trying to track down Cosmonauts, Derek Cowart and Alex Ahmadi after all of our phones died at the exact same time. I saw the boys at a gig the night before so I figured if they were anywhere nearly as hung over as I was, I could probably find them lounging in the shadiest part of the park. Past zooming Pokémon goers on skateboards, beyond the tempting smell of corn on the grill, towards a playground full of screaming children, I spotted two dudes in space-age, senior citizen style sunglasses amongst a group of a dozen 20-something year olds enjoying a picnic. We eventually find a quiet spot of our own to sit down and enjoy a couple of beers and homemade brownies, (no, unfortunately they were not the “special” kind) and discuss weird fan experiences, their recent album release of A-OK! and why having accordions for legs is better than having a ten inch belly-button. Their fourth full-length album A-OK! was released in August, via Burger Records, and it is everything the Cosmonauts have always promised their fans. Its shoe-gaze, its psychedelic, its

A Backyard Interview with Deap Vally- Janky Smooth Sessions part 2

Danny Baraz April 8, 2015

Part 1 of our debut segment of Janky Smooth Sessions with Deap Vally/Moon Block explored the production and process of putting an event like Desert Daze together. Co-founders Phil and Julie Pirrone, along with Deap Vally vocal vixen Lindsey Troy, discussed the inner workings of the Moon Block family. Part 2 is all things Deap Vally as they put the finishing touches on their Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs/Head Wound City) produced, 2nd album. The ladies discuss the difference between recording their debut LP, Sistrionix and how that differed from working with Nick. It was refreshing and inspirational to see the independent spirit of Deap Vally and it’s easy to see how they Make Their Own Money. The ladies from Deap Vally are currently at the tail end of their tour with Marilyn Manson and getting geared up to play Desert Daze. If you haven’t entered our Desert Daze ticket giveaway then you can do so here: Win 2 tickets to Desert Daze 2015 and enter another dimension Shot by: Travis Moore Edited by: Fishscales Interview by: Danny Baraz Music by: Deap Vally Still Photos: David Evanko Date Venue Location Tickets Apr 09 MTS Centre w/ Marilyn Manson Winnipeg, Canada Tickets