RARE/UNDERGROUND MUSIC
Friday, July 07, 2006
KOOKOONAUTS INVADE WASCO, WAS THEIR NEWPAPER HEADLINE!
(From : Bakotopia.com) "Bakersfield has always been known for its' leading the way in music styles and variations, often called Nashville West, and the Bakersfield Sound. It is true with Country and even more so with Punk Rock and Ska music. Here the pioneers of this new Rural Punk/Ska style music showed their stuff" (Wasco Newspaper June 2005
KOOKOONAUTS PLAYED SEVERAL WEEKS IN A ROW AT THE blue cube in WASCO, CA in the sweltering heat of summer. The first few shows were packed, but after while they stopped coming in as much. They played at other venues on days off the Cube.
posted by UNDERGROUND at 12:47 PM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 23
KOOKOONAUTS PLAYED MOHAWK REVOLUTIONThis show was probably one of , if not the biggest punk shows at the worlf famous Jerry's Pizza.
HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE:
Mohawk Revolution "British Punk Invasion is a tour put on by World
Wide Concerts in association with J Rock Entertainment, Guerlla Urban
Marketing and Libertalia Marketing. And featured bands from both the
UK and California, USA. The Skulls (United Kingdom), The Partisans
(United Kingdom) American Made (New Port Beach, CA) The Koo-Koo-Nauts
(Bakersfield, CA) Willie Psycho (El Cajon, California). Also, several
special guest bands. Tour date locations included: Newport Beach,
CA, Tijuana, Mexico, Irvine, CA, Santa Cruz, CA and Bakersfield, CA.
It was the July 9th Bakersfield show that I was able to attend and
hence review.
I didn't think I would ever see it, the Jerry's punk resurrection.
As I drove south down Chester Ave. About 6:30 PM it was still hot and
sunny, I didn't really expect much but as soon as 22 street off the
178 I started to see them, a steady migration of colored hair denim
vested -stud gladden punks, majestic Mohawks reminiscent of a time
gone by, not even at this years Van's Warp Tour a week before did I
ever see such a site. As I got closer to Jerry's I could see this was
something really big. I went around 18th street and lucky for me and
my old Nova someone was just pulling out so I slipped right in.
There were sever levels of Punkdom surrounding the front orifice of
the venue. In the ally there were several clusters of various
subspecies of punk, Skater punks with their boards, Straight edge-
with their XXXs on their hands, hardcore- with their old schools
hawks, liberty spikes and vests, T-shirt punks with "Rancid and
Ramones T-shirts, Skin Heads, and the ever present street punks
drinks barfing and otherwise hang'n out.
I had purchased my ticket the day before at Downtown Records for ten
bucks, I gave my ticket to the awesome looking babe at the door and
was in. It was a show where you can't go in and out, sort of like
L.A. shows, this works well and it is safer and more people tend to
watch the bands. Since I could not go in and out, I opted to do some
hang'n out and some other stuff before going right in. Unnoticed I
cruised around the scene, listened in and made some rounds. Downtown
records was abuzz with conversation and up and down the 19th street
corner. It was a lot like the punk scene from a few years back,
really vast.
Most of the time when you get big acts from out of town a lot of
people are just hanging out, but this time it was different, most
everybody came in. I bought a slice of world famous Pizza, a cola
and down the stairs I went. I got there as the local band "The Koo-
koo-nauts" were setting up. The Cavern was about have backed and as
the sound check was going on people were hustling down the stairs
with pizza slices giggling with each step down these historic steps.
Jerry's ambiance has stayed fairly close to it's classic feel and
this quote from a 2002 Black Board Magazine arcle pretty muck sums it
up :"The underground cavern that is the basement theater of Jerry's
Pizza on Chester in downtown Bakersfield. Jerry's is reminiscent of
the 1963 Cavern Club in Britain where the Beatles began their career.
The atmosphere is amazing: three black wooden staircases lead you
into a punk underworld; this blackened, brick-walled underground
cavern comes alive as darkness falls outside. The bright white stage
lights break the underground darkness with silhouettes of majestic
mohawks and liberty-spiked punks who cast thunder from the stage as
the mosh pit raves like a fevered tribal war dance. From above creeps
the smell of Jerry's famous pizza, breaking the historic musk below.
Above the cavern is the actual pizzeria. In the bar-like register
with its glass circular pizza warmer, a slice is a mere buck fifty.
There are a couple of wooden booth tables for your dining pleasure,
two roof-mounted televisions and a really frightening clown gum ball
machine. Occasionally the oxygen bar man is there, doing his flavored
air thing.>Jerry came to Downtown Bakersfield in 1992 with old
country traditions for pizza baked on a stone hearth. The best part,
though, is the thunderous outpouring of sound from the bands below in
the cavern. This is the ultimate in dining atmosphere for the punk
and early rock music connoisseur. If you want to relive those early
1960s days at the Cavern Club, come to a punk show some night at
Jerry's" (Black Board 2002).
posted by UNDERGROUND at 12:26 PM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 22
KOOKOONAUTS 3RD RECORD
Noveltown created a souvenir compilation CD of Bakersfield bands titled, Growing Up Fighting: Bakersfield Hockey Vol. 1. Many local area bands contributed songs that promote Bakersfield ice hockey. In turn, bands get great exposure.
This one was a compilation CD, Produced by Nick Belardes for Novel Town.
N.L. Belardes currently resides in Bakersfield, California, the very same city where the 'Lords of Bakersfield' still make headlines. His background is in history, which he has taught as a professor at Bakersfield College, along with creative courses at the Art Institute of Las Vegas. He has worked as a creative writer/storyboard artist making sound-and-light shows for the Las Vegas Fremont Street Experience. He has also written for state-funded TV, various magazines; and he takes haunting photos. N.L. Belardes currently works as a creative director for a high-tech company. (www.nlbelardes.com)
Mr, Belardes convinced the Kookoonauts to do the record and play at Rabo Bank Arena for 8,000 fans. They barely got the recording done on time. Both projects were a huge success.
Press Box
Noveltown Hockey CD Makes Debut
Feb 16, 2006
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MEDIA RELEASE
February 16, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Phone: (661) 324-PUCK (7825)
Contact: Dayna Cashion, Ticket Administration & Client Services Manager
E-Mail: dcashion@bakersfieldcondors.com
Noveltown Hockey CD Makes Debut
CD to feature local bands and Condors players
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The Bakersfield Condors and Noveltown announced today the official release of Growing Up Fighting: Bakersfield Hockey Vol.1.
The Condors teamed up with local author N.L. Belardes and bands to create a compilation CD of original hockey-themed songs such as the Condors Fight Song and Zamboni Zombie. Saturday evenings in the Rabobank Arena can find fans of all ages rocking out before the game and during intermissions to the sounds of local Bakersfield bands like Rocky Nash, Myndsick and The Kookoonauts. The CD even features Condors players Reagan Leslie and Alexandre Bolduc along with former teammates Ryan Cyr, Scott Basiuk and a special appearance by Director of Media Relations & Broadcasting, Devin “Patchboy” Rossiter.
“I’ve been a hockey fan for a long time”, said N.L. Belardes. “I used to listen to Canadian punk hockey songs and thought Bakersfield area bands could do better. The cross support for the compilations is amazing. Noveltown gets funding to publish a children’s story, the Condors get amazing fun-filled music and entertainment, and local bands get exposure to a potentially wider fanbase. It’s a hat trick all around.”
”We truly appreciate all the time these bands have devoted towards making these songs and performing them at our games”, said Condors President Matt Riley. “This is something very cool to be associated with.”
Growing Up Fighting: Bakersfield Hockey Vol.1 song list:
1. Bobblehead – Rocky Nash
2. Born to Fight –Myndsick
3. Zebras- Dirty Spanglish
4. Hat Trick- King Mark
5. Condors Fight Song- Fatt Katt and the Vonzippers feat. Condors Scott Basiuk, Reagan Leslie & Devin "Patchboy" Rossiter
6. Five for Fighting- Gramercy Riff
7. Birds of Prey- The Kookoonauts
8. Drunken Hockey Fight- Whiskey Galore
9. Condorstown- The Filthies
10. Let’s Score a Goal- Fatt Katt and the Vonzippers
11. Zamboni Zombie- T.C.W. feat. Condors Alexandre Bolduc, Ryan Cyr & Devin "Patchboy" Rossiter
12. Hockey Hangover- Rocky Nash
13. Power Play- Heath Dobbler and the Redhead Explosion
14. Crosscheck- Splitminded
15. Bakersfield- Thurston Oswald and the Hurst City Choir
A CD release party is currently in the planning process. The CD can be purchased at all Condors home games, at the Condors Team Store located at 1022 Truxtun Avenue, or at www.noveltown.net. Also look for special opportunities to get your own copy of the CD signed by the bands as well as the featured Condors players. Proceeds from the sales of the CD will go towards Noveltown publishing and will help in their pursuit to publish children’s stories by local authors. For more information please contact the Condors office at 324-PUCK (7825) or visit www.noveltown.net
The Condors host the Idaho Steelheads on Friday, February 17th for the Team USA Jersey Raffle and Auction, where five lucky fans will walk away with a game-worn jersey courtesy of KGET-TV 17, 98.5 the Fox and American Business Machines. The following night, February 18th, the Steelheads and Condors square off again as Dora the Explorer visits Condorstown courtesy of Bright House Networks, 101.5 KGFM and the University of Phoenix: Bakersfield Campus.
To bring out a group of 20 or more fans, contact the Condors office at 324-PUCK (7825) for special pricing.
Individual game tickets are on sale now and may be purchased through the Rabobank Arena box office which is open 10am – 6pm Monday through Friday, and 10am – 4pm on Saturdays with extended hours on game days. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at 322-2525, online at www.bakersfieldcondors.com, or at any Ticketmaster location.
posted by UNDERGROUND at 12:09 PM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 21
The second KOOKOONAUTS record
Here is the second KOOKOONAUTS record, this record had a lot of local air play on KRAB radio FM 106. This was recorded at Bakersfield Sound Studio for Rodent Records. Some of the songs can be heard on bakotopia.com, myspace, and several other internest radio sites. Well over 2,500 distributed. I think there was 6 or 7 songs on this cd? Searching and Motivation were the most played on the radio and they can still be heard on bakotopia.com
posted by UNDERGROUND at 11:40 AM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 20
Here is the first kookoonauts record. One of the songs can still be heard on their old myspace. Over 1,000 were sold or traded.
posted by UNDERGROUND at 11:24 AM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 19
ABOVE THE FIRST NIGHT CRAWLERS RECORD, OUT OF PRINT. NOTE THE E-MAIL IS FROM THE OLD MISSING IN ACTION DAYS.
Songs: Coffin Cab, Hell Town, Psycotic, Live Again.
Night Crawlers and The Kookoonauts
James-Stand up bass and vox, local legend for his upright bass playing.
Mike Crawler-Guitar and vox, excellent guitar player that rivals any fifties or sixties guitar hero for wammy bar use. He has a great "surf" guitar style with psychobilly edge.
Jeremy-Drums, I personally never heard this drummer, but seems fine on their myspace recording.
Influences
psychobilly
alternative
punk
rockabilly
Sounds Like
punk/psychobilly with our own style blended in.
The Night Crawlers, still play many local and out of town shows, with their special Bakersfield blend of psychobilly. The band started out with James Harwood on Drums, James left to play for brother Bryan in the KOOKOONAUTS, This was probably a mistake for him, as the Night Crawlers out lasted the Kookoonauts, They also opened for Tiger Army and several other big names in LA.
Later James from the Night Crawlers Joined the Kookoonauts on bass. He left the band when Kurt came back to the band. Both the Kookoonauts and The Night Crawlers were in High school together over at Stockdale. Both bands were made up of brothers, the Night Crawlers are twins.
http://www.myspace.com/nightcrawlers
posted by UNDERGROUND at 10:55 AM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 18
KOOKOONAUTS SET FORTH A CODE OF BAND ETHICS
Reflecting on a year of local bands leaving, breaking up or just disapearing. Rumors of local venues decreasing local showcases and KRAB land Sunday going away? No moe Danny Spanks locals? If these rumors R true I blame the lack of a local band code. Like the Pirates code! I now set forth a code of ethics for local B-town bands:.
(No actual bands chumbs were injured in this study)
1. A band shall not tear down other bands posters and or dump their fliers.
2. Bands will not tell all their friend, co-workers or class mates to walk out on the next
band. (HAVE SEEN THIS!)
3. Bands should not steel each other equipment.
4. Bands should not bad mouth other bands.
5. Bands should help each other to reach their goals and potencials.
6. Bands should not post evil on another band's "myspace"
Thanks NLBELARDES.COM and " BUMS" FOR PHOTO S
posted by UNDERGROUND at 9:51 AM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 17
Urban Regression came right after Missing in Action.
Urban Regression came right after Missing in Action. I don't recall the year or month it formed. Bryan was still front man, brother James was still on drums and Doug (guy with skull) was lead singer. This form of the band was really hard core punk. They played the same venues as Missing in Action had (Jerry's Pizza, The Gate, Down Town Records, Active Ingredients Party and others, Tehachapi Punk Fest and others, Studio 45, and Vetran's Park in Porterville and so on).
The band was wild, but still straight edge. It was this period when trio started getting in trouble and rebelling against family, school and the system. It was amazing that they made it through this phase of KOOKOONAUT evolving. The did record a demo, but it has long since been lost, but there are sevral dozen videos of both bands..
posted by UNDERGROUND at 9:14 AM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 16
KOOKOONAUTS EVOLVED FROM MISSING IN ACTION
Bryan Gunther Harwood, whom went by Bryan Gunter, as a stage name, started MIA , with brother James on drums and Kevin on Base and Jeff on Guitar. Bryan had some song with the guitar and some without. As you can see by this poster, that ordained the streets of Bakersfield, they were some high voltage act. Theyt were like being strapped on the hood of the space shuttle as it took off. By the end of the show Bryan was usually lying on the stage floor.
posted by UNDERGROUND at 9:01 AM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 15
THE NIGHT CRAWLERS AND KOOKOONAUTS. Here is the flyier and one photo of one of the shows that the Night Crawlers and Kookoonauts had together. JAMES FROM THE NIGHT CRAWLERS CAN BEEN SEEN SINGING AND PLAYING BASS IN THE BACK GROUND. Downtown Records used to put on some great shows on Sunday afternoons. When the Kookoonauts and Night Crawlers played the was packed! The X on Bryan's hand, for straight edge, is thought to be why they started loosing the large following they enjoyed 2003-2005 and 2002 as MIA. This show was Nov. 21st 2004.
posted by UNDERGROUND at 8:38 AM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 14
THE KOOKOONAUTS PRE SHOW RITUALS:
1, GET DRESSED UP FOR THE SHOW. INSTEAD OF "COWBOY UP", ITS KOOKOONAUT UP!
2. EATING FOOD AND MANY MOON PIES.
3. HANG OUT.
4. GET GEAR INTO THE TRUCK
5. CHECK AND INVINTORY GEAR.
6. DRIVE TO SHOW!
posted by UNDERGROUND at 8:02 AM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 12
THE KOOKOONAUTS HAD A BELOVED CAT THAT USED TO LAY ALL OVER THERE AMPS AND STUFF. THEY WOULD PLAY WITH THE CAT, FEED IT TREATS AND PLAY CAT GAMES WITH HER. HER NAME WAS JABOBE. THE KITTY PASSED AWAY AND IT WAS VERY SAD.
posted by UNDERGROUND at 7:58 AM 0 comments
Thursday, July 06, 2006
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 11
To Kookoonaut or Naut to Kookoonaut?, that is the question.
Will we ever see our heros again? Have they Kookooed their Last Naut?
With the climatic change in music to metal, I doubt it, and KRAB land bands show is gone?
posted by UNDERGROUND at 5:03 PM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 10
DARK DAYS OF NUAT/ Belardes and Munoz reflect on a kookoo contraversy.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
"Letter of KooKooNots support from major KooKooNauts fan - By N.L. Belardes
The controversial KooKooNots show is just days away on April 7th at the Gate/Boiler Room. MySpace.com word battles haven't been waning as supporters of both the original band and the satirical KooKooNots have been jousting with big words like, "Pussies!" and "You suck!" Recently I received a letter from from one of the KooKooNauts parents who offers her support for the satirical band while also declaring that MySpace.com name-calling should stop.
Read more on the controversy and find band links here...
Now read a letter from a KooKooNauts mom:
Hello,
I am Victoria mother to Kurt Moren of the KooKooNauts. I feel it is time for me to voice my opinion on the rumors flying around town. I find it hard to express how I feel about the current situation with the KooKooNauts. It saddens me to think that these three young men feel they have to give up their love for music and their dreams of "making it big." When did expressing yourself thru music become so complicated? Has it always been that way? I hope not. These guys share a bond of friendship that has lasted several years and several name changes. Kurt is now eighteen but I remember driving him to band practices, hauling his drum set in the back seat of my Intrepid. Kurt, Brian and James work hard at their gift and I do mean gift. I know for Kurt music is his way of expressing himself. They each have a unique personality. Kurt is sometimes quiet but he is not arrogant and tries to see both sides of a situation. Neither is he hypersensitive to criticism, he goes with it and mostly keeps things in perspective. Sometimes what comes off as arrogance is something else entirely. It can be just a defense mechanism.
As for the kookoonots I am all for them. Whatever their motives are they have the right to do or say as they please. But if it is out of spite or hurt feelings from past experiences, they won't find satisfaction from their deeds. I look forward to their show in April and I hope a lot of people come to see them. I wish them only good things.
This whole they said we said stuff from my space and such has gotten out of control and it needs to stop. By the time people hear about what was written it becomes distorted, and that's when the trouble starts. We all need to trust what we know to be true, not what others have told us to be the truth. Your friends slant on a person or situation is just that, their take on it. Find your own opinion about someone with your own eyes, and ears. Look past the masks we all wear to see what's underneath.
Finally I just want to say lets all remember what all the local venues are supposed to be about. That is enjoying the music and enjoying each others creativity and individuality.
Thank You,
Victoria Moren
posted by n.l. # Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Comments:
Nicely put Victoria. Thanks for sharing this Nick.
# posted by mike generic : 6:04 PM
That is too bad. You got my support homies....
Kookoonauts were one of the first bands on Bakotopia. One of 'em even won a PsP in a contest..
I need an interview for Bakotunes! Let's talk some s**t, musician to musician!!
http://www.bakotopia.com
# posted by Matt : 7:25 PM
No way, essay. I heard N.L. Belardes was getting the exclusive... In fact, I think they threw away that little plastic contraption they won. Just kiddin'... when is the next unity podcast??
# posted by n.l. : 7:35 PM
Hey, How many Kookoonauts are there anyway??
I found this!
http://myspace.com/kookoonauts
# posted by Anonymous : 7:50 PM
I agree with this letter when it talks about kurt. He always is chilled and never gets mad at anyone. The part about making it big, I completely disagree with. Making a living off of earnings from a band is one of the toughest things to do. You have to be lucky, and also have talent. The kookoonauts had no talent. Anyone who heard bryants voice would cringe. I remember a time where a friend of mine was playing the demo through his car speakers in a parking lot that a few people were hanging out around and another guys goes...dude turn it down this is embarrassing. It really is embarrassing though. I feel awkward when I listen to their music. The other thing is, The Koo Koo Nots is a joke band. None of us have any expectations of going anywhere.
To me, the kookoonauts seem to be weak. I remember a bulliten that bryant posted that said...All you S*** talkers will never bring us down, we do it for the music and we have fun so what ever you say isnt gonna effect us, and stuff like that. I took that as a challenge. I started the kookoonauts with bryant and kurt in 9th grade, and ended it.
# posted by brad : 10:40 AM
I got pix of The KooKooNauts protesting the naked ladies of PETA in front of Quiznos downtown! Carne asada lovers unite! Noodge!
Check it out: www.bakotopia.com
# posted by Matt : 2:19 PM
Those guys are everywhere. They're like Where's Waldo, only cooler...
# posted by n.l. : 2:42 PM
Oh, and in response to Brad. I like the KooKooNauts... I think they're a fun band... oi oi oi!
# posted by n.l. : 2:43 PM
Damn! I keep getting the "Nots" & "Nauts" mixed up! Arrrgh!!!
I meant..
The KooKooNOTS were out protesting the nekkid PETA ladies.
Noi-Noi...
# posted by Matt : 6:09 PM
While Brad is more than welcome to say what he likes, I somewhat disagree on a few things. I agree with him that the KooKooNauts making it big isn't very likely, but I think that considering the mockery we've made of then by forming the KooKooNots already, at this point, I'm much more apt to encourage the KooKooNauts to keep making music considering that it was what they enjoyed doing for so long than to berate them. In my opinion, if they were as serious about it as they said they were, they shouldn't let something like the KooKooNots get in the way of them making music. Also... consider this a public announcement: I keep seeing more and more people saying theyre going to be at the show and they can't wait, etc. etc. etc., and to be honest, I'm a little worried. We haven't played any of the songs in our 3 song set list more together once- ever. All we did was record them, one instrument at a time, so don't expect an amazing spectacle out of us, and don't be surprised if our set turns into one mass mockery of all of hardcore music- as a matter of fact, you should probably expect that last part."
posted by UNDERGROUND at 4:51 PM 0 comments
RARE/UNDERGROUND MUSIC: kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 9
RARE/UNDERGROUND MUSIC: kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 9
posted by UNDERGROUND at 4:44 PM 0 comments
RARE/UNDERGROUND MUSIC
RARE/UNDERGROUND MUSIC
posted by UNDERGROUND at 4:31 PM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 9
Writer nlbelardes.com and Matt Munoz from Bakotopia Radio (and singer for Mento-Buru) Discuss attack on kookoonaut.
"Bryan of KooKooNauts talks hockey tonight on KRAB tonight - By N.L. Belardes This just in: Bryan of the KOOKOONAUTS is back! Listen to the interview on KRAB Radio 106.1 FM tonight between 8:30 and 10 pm. Sunday October 30, 2005. Remember daylight savings time- fall behind...Buzz will talk about January 7th show at Robobank Arena "Condors and Kookoonauts" the new "Growing Up Fighting" Hockey CD with Nick Belardes and the recovery from his brutal attack. Friday, October 21, 2005 News of attack on Bryan of the KooKooNauts reaches Las Vegas - By N.L. Belardes I received this email yesterday from a friend in Las Vegas who writes in an email titled, "Punks attacking Punks ?": Just skimming your blog today, Sad to hear that yet another episode of mindless violence has hit the local concerts. I just wanted to remind/let you know that this has been a problem almost from the start, and was beautifully addressed in the Dead Kennedys song, "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" (still available on vinyl from A.T. Records). "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" Punk ain't no religious cult Punk means thinking for yourself You ain't hardcore cos you spike your hair When a jock still lives inside your head Nazi punks Nazi punks Nazi punks-Fuck Off! Nazi punks Nazi punks Nazi punks-Fuck Off! If you've come to fight, get outa here You ain't no better than the bouncers We ain't trying to be police When you ape the cops it ain't anarchy [Repeat chorus] Ten guys jump one, what a man You fight each other, the police state wins Stab your backs when you trash our halls Trash a bank if you've got real balls You still think swastikas look cool The real nazis run your schools They're coaches, businessmen and cops In a real fourth reich you'll be the first to go [Repeat chorus] You'll be the first to go You'll be the first to go You'll be the first to go Unless you think posted by n.l. # 5:15 PM 0 comments Thursday, October 20, 2005 Why? - By N.L. Belardes No parent wants to go through the decision the KooKooNauts dad, Ray has to make tonight... posted by n.l. # 6:36 PM 0 comments Will the Bakersfield City Police Department find the perpetrator? - By N.L. Belardes We can only hope that someone sheds some light on this case and turns evidence over to the DA or Bakersfield City Police Department. Do you have any evidence/leads that can lead to the arrest of the attacker of 16-year-old Bryan from the KooKooNauts...? Were you at the scene of the crime? What do you know? There's a father in Bakersfield with a son who will either lose an eye or have a large scar, and then maybe still lose an eye, not to mention all of the other scarring that has occurred... Are you a parent? What would you do? Sketch sent to me: posted by n.l. # 12:36 PM 0 comments What if this was your kid? Exclusive image of Bryan of the KooKooNauts - By N.L. Belardes There's a lot of angry folks in Bakersfield about the cover-up and silence regarding the injury to Bryan of the KooKooNauts; Bryan, a kid no bigger than my own kids, a kid who on the straight edge of the punk scene was taken down for what? For being a musician and having fun releasing teenage energy to the rebelliousness of youth? It's a big decision for a parent to allow anyone to see an image of their kid injured. But let this be a reminder that this could have been any of our kids, friends and loved ones. This image you are seeing is a full two days after the attack and details only one aspect of this horrendous injury. You can't see the broken skull and blown out eye socket from the outside... posted by n.l. # 6:18 AM 0 comments Wednesday, October 19, 2005 Matt Munoz of Mento Buru writes a letter about the angry punk attack - By N.L. Belardes Don't go thinking the music scene is going to ignore this recent attack on its youth. I've been getting lots of emails regarding this horrible crime. If you don't like what's happening in the scene in the way of violence, and especially, what happened to Bryan of the KooKooNauts, then now is your time to write in and express your opinion to nl@nlbelardes.com. Matt Munoz has written a letter about punks and the Straight Edge movement that is a must read... Dear Bakersfield Music Scene, It is with deep anger and sadness that I write to you regarding the latest act of violence involving a young member of the KooKooNauts and an unknown member of the community. Although I don't have all of the facts regarding this incident, what I do know is that shouldn't have happened. In fact, it should've never happen at all. I became aware of the KooKooNauts through NL's blog some months back and taking a glance at the DVD they released on their Straight Edge Records label at his place one afternoon. It was pretty amusing, especially since they put out a DVD themselves. During one scene, a fight breaks out during a taping of their show at Jerry's Pizza. Funny stuff for the casual onlooker, shocking to conservative parents. Nothing too intense, just kids getting crazy. I've seen worse on Backyard Brawls. During a closer look, I noticed the term "Straight Edge," and an "X" painted across some of the members hands. I was immediately taken aback to see that The KooKooNauts were members of the Straight Edge scene, a name I haven't heard in years!! For those of you who don't know, the term "Straight Edge" means you are part of the Straight Edge movement, which has been around since the early 80's. My earliest recollection of the term was during my high school punk days listening to Minor Threat, a band also credited with kick-starting the youth movement through their song "Straight Edge" (Minor Threat, 1981,) and watching Another State of Mind, a documentary featuring Youth Brigade, Social D and Minor Threat. During one scene, MT's lead singer Ian McKaye talks about being "Straight Edge," and following a non-alcoholic, anti-drug lifestyle, while still following a "hardcore," punk creed of anarchy and rebellion. The band and their followers lived in a house which resembled a hippy commune for punks. **side-note: After the demise of Minor Threat, Ian McKaye formed Fugazi, and didn't allowing moshing of an kind during shows. Even going as far as chastising the crowd and leaving if anyone got out of hand. Cool, huh? Yeah, well I admit I thought it was too. In fact, I still think it's cool some 20 years later. I'm not sure how deep The members of the KooKooNauts were into following the Straight Edge credo, a philosophy that also attracts members of different groups of people including vegans and neo-nazis. Yes, neo-nazis. Strange, but true. You can be white, black, brown, or green and call yourself Straight Edge. All you have to do is think for yourself, and eliminate things in your life that you believe are detrimental to your existence. From what I've experienced in the past, being Straight Edge is supposed to be about individuality, but not necessarily being tolerant of others all the time. Judging by their music and personalities, I doubt The KooKooNauts were part of a negative campaign to hate and hurt other people who weren't followers. If they choose to stay away from drugs, alcohol and casual sex, more power to them, that's great. They're probably just a bunch of young kids having fun standing up to "the man and his destructive institutions." I say let them have their fun. I dare you to show me one kid who is a "true punk." Go to any school or church and you might see a a kid wearing an "Anarchy" shirt, a wallet full of money in his pocket and a nice car. Yep, that's punk? Like I said, when you're young, you think you know it all, and it's fun to be a part of something cool. What kid doesn't want that? It's okay that you shop at Hot Topic, homie. Another thing I remember from back in the day was that there was often an "elitist" attitude from some in the local Straight Edge community. Not all of them, but confrontations were not rare between the various punk factions, skins, and those in the scene who chose an alternative lifestyle. Bakersfield was not known for a huge Straight Edge following, but it did have a few. This was back in '84. Now in 2005, I was surprised to see that there was resurgence of followers to this "clean-living, individual thinking" punk lifestyle. In trying to find out more information about what happened to Bryan from the KooKooNauts, a lot of thoughts ran through my head, "Was this a direct hit on a Straight Edger because of his beliefs?," "Was this revenge for something Bryan did?" Who knows? What I do know is that it was a senseless act of violence. A young man almost lost his life, and is now laid up at home with a serious head injury. Not to mention his families suffering, knowing that they might've lost Bryan forever. Violence is not a new thing at punk shows. Not kids beating each other up in a rage to hurt people, but more of a "friendly bonding" act. Slamdancing (Do they still call it that?,) pogoing, skanking, or whatever you wanna call it, is part of every punk show I've ever been to, and something I look forward to. If your buddy or the kid next to you falls down in the process, you're supposed to PICK THEM UP AND HELP HIM OUT, then continue! That is something MCA from the Beasties Boys calls, "Proper punk rock etiquette." Being a teen isn't an easy thing these days, and frustrated kids need an outlet to vent, so mosh. Hell, it's a lot safer than playing football, or so I thought.... Why should any kid get purposely hurt at a show? Don't we have the right to feel safe in the crowd? Who's fault is it? Is it the promoter's fault? Where was security? There's absolutely nothing cool about being irresponsible and careless at shows of any kind, especially punk shows. I've seen stupid drunks, or "jocks" as we used to say, hit girls near the stage on purpose and think they were the so bad. Yeah right. If you're so bad, go look for some 7 ft. beast with your scrawny self and see what happens next. Talking to locals and reading stories about the rise in violence at local shows saddens me, especially as a veteran of the Bakersfield music scene and a concerned parent. I have two kids of my own and I would hate to be in the Bryan's parents shoes. That's their kid, and they have to go through the agony of wondering if he'll ever be the same. If you're a frustrated fan and sick of all the senseless violence happening at shows, it's time for the youth of Bakersfield to find a solution to the problem. You can't always rely on the the venue to provide proper security, which should be mandatory especially when huge groups of kids are present. What you as a fan can do is just keep an eye out on your friends and fellow punks. Don't be stupid. There are plenty of assholes out there that won't think twice about hitting you for a stupid reason like wearing the patch of a band they don't like or hanging out with a "Straight Edger." Let the haters know they're NOT WELCOME at your show. As of this moment, there isn't enough information about who injured Bryan from The KooKooNauts, and it's a shame if that coward doesn't get caught. Bryan is just one of countless people who are victims of senseless crimes. I don't care if you're Straight Edge, Gutter Punk, Stoner, Skater, Skin, whatever..It doesn't matter. We should be able to be who we want, believe what we want, go to shows, get rowdy, but get home safe after a crazy night out with mates. Sorry to get preachy on you, but I've been around the scene before many of you young punks were born and hate hearing stories about kids getting hurt for stupid reasons. I will always be a fan of the punk scene, and you'll still find me out there moshing at the next Youth Brigade show at Jerry's. Punk rock kids getting put in the hospital, beatings with padlocks and chains aren't cool. Don't be the next victim. Take Back Your Scene! Haters Stay Out! Matt Munoz / Mento Buru "Straight Edge," by Minor Threat, 1981 I'm a person just like you But I've got better things to do Than sit around and fuck my head Hang out with the living dead Snort white shit up my nose Pass out at the shows I don't even think about speed That's something I just don't need I've got the straight edge I'm a person just like you But I've got better things to do Than sit around and smoke dope 'Cause I know I can cope Laugh at the thought of eating ludes Laugh at the thought of sniffing glue Always gonna keep in touch Never want to use a crutch I've got the straight edge posted by n.l. # 10:31 AM 0 comments Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Thoughts on the angry punk attack on Bryan of the KooKooNauts - By N.L. Belardes I met Bryan of the KooKooNauts at Starbucks at the corner of Chester and California one Saturday just before he and the rest of the band headed off to watch Star Wars Episode III with their family. It was a good meeting. They gave me a CD that I took home and found a song that I wanted played on Danny Spanks’ Sunday night local hour on KRAB radio. The song wasn’t just punk, it was a fun rural rock punk song titled “Searching” that we aired on the show during an interview with me and Jesse Rivera of Illpressed. Bryan pictured on left... Up until that time, the KooKooNauts were part of what was hailed as a locally dying punk scene with few hardcore punk bands. Only, the KooKooNauts, they attracted crowds. Bryan had also given me a self-titled DVD with the words “Music Not Drugs” spelled across the case. Put it on and you can see that kids attended their shows. Put it on and you can also see an angry punk fight watched by the band, bystanders and a kid in a gorilla suit. In and of itself, this videotaped fight isn’t a big fight or a big deal. It doesn’t last long and is broken up rather quickly and appears to be between two angry punk friends who pulverize each other’s faces and then hug and laugh about it. Kurt, Bryan and James of the KooKooNauts What this fight does capture on tape is a metaphor for part of the local punk scene. It symbolizes that there is an angry punk subculture in Bakersfield, one out to get other punks, skinheads, and perhaps, people in general; it lashes out, not to fight fairly, but to kill and destroy. Is it the anthem of such punks to strike hard at society? To kill, fight, destroy, butcher, rob, demean; all in the guise of angry punks in leather and Mohawks with chains and padlocks? Active Ingrediants recently talked about being a punk without having to be such angry leather-wearing haters of society. Makes me wonder if that is the root of some kind of schism, one behind clean kids who play punk, and the other behind dirty kids who use punk as their tool to destroy people and culture in their outlet to fight against society. Bryan isn’t dead, thank God. But I do know some of the severity of his injuries. A head injury isn’t an easy injury to overcome. Your brain is encased in a hard shell. Trauma to one side of the head generally results in trauma to the opposite side because the brain gets smashed from initial impact and then gets smashed with equal fury as the brain hits the opposite side of the skull from where the injury takes place. In this case, the downward motion created by the impact on top of Bryan’s head caused Bryan’s right eye socket to blow out into his nasal cavity. The injury suffered affects bone, eye, ligaments, brain matter, including the surrounding meninges, blood flow; it causes clotting, fuzzy consciousness in an angry disorienting fog; seizures can result in a potential lifelong struggle to over come basic functions such as: motor skills, auditory skills, and cognitive reasoning. The injury is extremely painful. Do you like headaches? Sufferers of meningitis might understand how such headaches feel… Bryan, Kurt and James showed up that day at Starbucks, excited that someone in Bakersfield would listen to their music and maybe help connect them to an audience on a level that would get them listened to, get them shows, get them the attention they deserved. These kids would play anywhere: on college campuses, in parks, in the Pizza-a-go-go (if they weren’t stiffed), the Boiler Room, and more. But during the dead era of Bakersfield punk, they couldn’t get shows. After we played “Searching” on KRAB radio from their e.p. Lonely Nights, the KooKooNauts entered a new heyday for their music. They got some airplay, they got some more notoriety, and respect from many folks except for maybe, the angry punks who may be the ones who possibly wanted Bryan dead. I’ve only been around the current music scene for ten months. But a lot has happened. I don’t truly know why the angry punks attacked Bryan. I don’t even know if Bryan will tell me. Already there are 1-2 deaths attributed this year from this dark subculture group of angry punks to which the KooKooNauts clean style of musicianship likely rebelled against, and now an attempted murder. Bryan had written to me earlier this year he was afraid someone was going to try and kill him. He had asked me not to mention anything on nlbelardes.com. I didn’t, but would that have changed anything? We’re in a Bakersfield era where police don’t show up to every crime because they are overloaded with what we can only think are more severe crimes: murders, rapes, carjackings, stabbings, shootings, etc. So-called lesser crimes are left on a long list of low priorities: windows are left smashed for days; Damaged cars as well; kids are assaulted outside of football games; and here, a teenage boy is practically left for dead, except for hopefully the services of other emergency crews arriving in timely fashion. I never saw the KooKooNauts perform live. Now I wish I had made the time as the uncertainty of them ever playing again hangs over the shadow of the Bakersfield punk scene." *footnote: "Searching" is the KooKooNauts most played song on myspace. posted by n.l. # 10:23 AM 0 comments
posted by UNDERGROUND at 4:21 PM 1 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 8
NLBELARDES.COM was great in the promotional area for the Kookoonauts. Nick Berardes got the Kookoonauts on the radio, the Hockey CD, the giant stadium show at Rabobank Arena (8,000 fans) and this was televised for several weeks. See note Below. Mr. Belardes has published many books and blogs and has promoted several local underground bands. His photography is also outstanding. See NLBELARDES.COM, and the photos above are great examples .
"*side note from KooKooNauts: SEE THE KOOKOONAUTS ON T.V. The game will air continuously on channel 99 On Bright House network until Friday, Jan. 13th 2006 at 12:40 A.M.. KOOKOONAUTS ON T.V.! Kookoonauts are part of the N.L. Belardes record project Growing Up Fighting: Bakersfield Hockey Vol. 1 As part of the promotion, the bands on the CD are plying at 1st section break of the Condors games, right after the T.V. commercials. The Kookoonauts played last Saturday night to 7,142 Condors fans. Brighthouse filmed the game and also the Kookoonauts indoor performance of "Birds of Prey", the new song on N.L. Belardes record project. The Nauts were also televised do their song and some antics with Colonel Claw'd, the Condors mascot."
posted by UNDERGROUND at 10:11 AM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 7
A fan remembers the the Kookoonauts: I have fond memories that stretched deep into the darkness and mistry of night. Hanging out with local punk bands at Jerry's as they waited, what seemed like forever, for the other bands to play so they could play. It was like a storm coming, the the clouds blow in. the the rain, a little thunder and lightning and then the hurricane. Sometimes it was passed midnight when the Kookoonauts to the stage. Fans would poss for pictures with the Kookoonauts before their set, usually when they had their mowhawks up and stuff. The songs were more complex than some of their contemporaires.
posted by UNDERGROUND at 9:55 AM 0 comments
Sunday, July 02, 2006
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 6
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 6
Bakersfield has always been known for its' leading the way in music styles and variations, often called Nashville West, and the Bakersfield Sound. It is true with Country and even more so with Punk Rock and Ska music. Here the pioneers of this new Rural Punk/Ska style music show their stuff in a rare but very high quality recording. Sit back and listen to the new sounds of Bakersfield with the KOO-KOO-NAUTS!
posted by UNDERGROUND at 2:24 PM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 5
KURT HIT BY CAR The latest tragedy nightmare to befall the "Nauts" is Kurt, the bass player, was struck by a speeding car while in a local cross-walk. Kurt is the tall thin bloke the often is seen with an Abraham Lincoln top hat and black coat playing for the KOOKOONAUTS. The car hit Kurt hard and then, as kut lie there, the car came back for seconds! Kurt rolled frantically out of the way and barely saved himself. The ordeal landed Kurt in the Hospital . Get this, the police report put The Kookoonaut at fault! Punk prejudice, can we play the race card? NAW! Well he is half Hispanic!
The band, KOOKOONAUTS, have had a long string of bad luck . First attacked on stage in Jerry’s Cavern area and they had to swing their axes. The next evil to befall the Kookoonauts was vandalism domicile and all their show posters torn up on their lawn. Then the Drummer broke his arm at Warped Tour, Then the bass player broke his arm playing Soccer, and then the Guitar player was attacked and his skull smashed, nearly lost his eye, at Montgomery World Plaza, no arrest made. Then Some mean kids made a fake web site with the Kookoonauts photos and jokes of their songs, this was mean humor, but N.L. Belardes whom once supported the "Nauts" turned on them and came out in support of the cover-joke band, this was very hurtful. Someone sent e-mails out insulting gang members under the Kookoonauts name and almost cost them their lives. Their are at least 3 police reports now!
posted by UNDERGROUND at 2:09 PM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 4
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 4/ MORE THAN MEETS THE NAUT
DARK DAYS OF NAUT N.L. Belardes, once a friend of the Nauts and some What of promoter, pulling them out of the Underground Bakersfield Music scene and letting them play at break time at a 8,000 plus folks. Putting the Nauts ON HIS Hockey record and writing several very nice articles about the band on his Blog. Nl’s blog, along with several others, has served to document the Bakersfield music scene in an awesome manner. He also got the Nauts on the radio their first time, with the Danny Spanks show NL helped try to catch the singers attacker in October, by posting the wanted poster. No one was ever caught. Any-hooter, an attack on the kookoonauts came from a faker copy band that stole the Nauts songs, made a web site and allegedly e-mailed dangerous folks insults under the Nauts name and photos with a phony web site. When NL was asked again to help, he turned on his long time friends and sided with the phonies. There was a lot of heart ache here that I will leave out. I was told in one post on Nl’s Blog someone was claiming the phonies were the original band. NL knew this was a lie and allegedly posted it anyway? The band has decided not to play in Bakersfield ever again, the death threats, allegedly stemming from the imposters cruel prank has made it to dangerous. What a shame! Inspired by the passing of one of their heros, the Kookoonauts of Bakersfield, California wrote a song for Buck Owens. The day they heard about it, they took one of their old guitars( Blue Ridge Acoustic) and taped plastic flowers on it, like a creeping vine. After attending the viewing at the Crystal palace The song was written. The words are deep and spellbinding. The song lyrics were posted on the internet and the band was contacted by A talent agency for the Nauts to make a of it. To much pain from the horrible trick (very mean sons of beaches) and from the passing of Mr. Owens. The band decided not to and recorded nothing. Another band however picked up the “Streets of Heaven” song is recording it (my Johnny D Blues Band). “Streets Of Heaven (Song for Buck) (By the Kookoonauts) The Lord saw fit to call upon a friend. I bit too soon for a life like that to end. I thought I saw your shadow on the wall. I thought I heard your G-i-tar down the Hall. Chorus: (Now he walks the streets of heaven, where the honky tonk angles sing Now he walks the streets of heaven, can’t you hear old Buck’s guitar ring?) Sometimes life don't seem to fair, -as I turned- I thought I saw you sittin in your chair . You left sometime just before the dawn, - we went out- we left some flowers on the lawn. “The fake nots” “he KooKooNots began when 4 people decided to bring together their common love for the most amazing band ever, The KooKooNauts, and form a cover band. We hope one day to be on a major label like Rodent Sandwich, and we're even working on making flyers to put up around town all over the place so that everyone knows how awesome we are. Hopefully soon we'll be headlining a major show at the Boiler Room, or maybe even Montgomery World Plaza (we'll be totally famous.) Our eventual goal is to even get some airplay on KRAB radio!!! Everyone in the world will hear us and we are going to be FAMOUS!!! Our influences include Ska, Hardcore, Power Metal, Classic Rock, Old School hip/hop, Early Punk (we only like the early stuff, like Operation Ivy, and The Germs, all the new bands are posers), and a few other genres that we can list because people like those genres of music, and even though they are impossible to combine into one style, we hope people will see that those styles are our "influences" and maybe come to our show. Thanks a lot for visiting, but we dont really care that you came- we make music for ourselves, because we enjoy it, and were only doing it for us. We don't care what people think about us, so everyone can go to hell (but PLEASE PLEASE come to our show, we desperately want attention, you can tell from our flyers and stuff). Anyways, we dont really care about our image, were just in it for the music, we're not sellouts or anything. So anyways, enjoy our amazing music (thanks to the KooKooNauts for all the inspiration). ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ IMPORTANT NOTE- It has come to our attention that Bryan, formerly of the KooKooNauts apparently fears for his life due to threats from punks or hardcore kids or something, and there is supposedly some legitimate basis for his fear of getting his ass kicked, so we have decided to release a statement. We really appreciate all the messages, comments, etc. from people saying that they support our cause and think what we are doing is awesome, but if you want to physically hurt someone because you dont like their band, we don't really want your support. That's stupid. Beating people up because you think their band sucks or they aren't real punks or whatever similar reason you may have is just straight up dumb- if you're bitter or annoyed or you don't like them for whatever reason, getting creative is a lot more fun and socially acceptable than physically attacking someone- hey, just look at us. WE LUV MATT SCHAUER <3" Chorus” Just to show the Nauts (Kookoonauts) were here before the Fake “Nots” I have included a little history (a lot!) And some photos as well. See our Band (Johnny D. Blues Band) and get our CD soon in nearby Oildale, California. We’ll be giving away some free groceries! Anyway, I advise folks to look out for back stabbing sobs, There are a lot of them pout there~! THE UK NAUTS LEAD GUITAR AND VOCAL. Paul Jeans is breaking the mould of the current singer/songwriter trend with an uncompromising approach to emotive yet uplifting music. Born in 1979, Paul began his career playing to eager audiences in his native north east. He soon found himself in high demand from both local and national promoters. Paul’s reputation as a live performer – able to touch the listener with his incredibly powerful voice and intelligently personal lyrics – ensured that the 1,000 copies of his debut album ‘Tides’ (released on Tunafish records) sold out within a few months through word of mouth alone. In August 2005 Paul Jeans formed his band and released his second album ‘Original’ to high critical acclaim with NME stating “Mr Jeans is one to watch” and the Guardian approving of his “well crafted melodic tuneage”. Paul and his newly assembled band headed out on a headline tour of the UK selling out venues and gaining press and radio exposure in every city they visited. Paul and his band are currently dedicated to taking their music to larger audiences with higher profile shows and the imminent release of the first single from the new album. myspace.com/pauljeansandhisband Band biOG the interwebby home/hovel of the UK's premier punk/country/blues/glam/art noiseniks Picture this! A cold, wet Saturday afternoon on your local high street, you’re on your knees in a run down charity shop rummaging through a damp cardboard box full of second hand music cassettes. Furtive glances left and right, then you grab a handful of tapes, shove them in your coat pocket and make a break for the door. You stumble outside, trying not to trip over the ageing bicycle blocking the exit. Once you’re out the door you don’t look back, you run and you don’t stop running until you’ve made it safely home and slam! Your front door is locked behind you! From your raincoat you produce the handful of stolen cassettes. Titles such as “The Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Felicity Kendal’s Shape up and Dance, Phil Spector’s Xmas Album, Hank Wangford’s Greatest Hits etc…”swim, beguilingly, before your eyes. So, taking as many cassette players as you have cassettes, and arranging them in a circle you sit in the middle. Now ensuring that the aforementioned cassettes are in the cassette players you begin pressing the play buttons and, when all are pressed, you lay back and listen! This is one way of trying to emulate the effect of the schizophonic jumble sale that is The bulBS, but, when you have to go to those extremes, you might as well just give up and listen to the real thing. The bulBS are a melodic, hypnotic, chaotic rocketship of hits and, quite possibly, the best band you’ve never heard in your sweet, short life. The bulBS deliver everything your heart could desire and tie it with a bow of talent and confidence rarely witnessed here, there or anywhere. ypical Set We usually tailor our set to suit the audience A typical set would include material by:- Free, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Mott The Hoople, Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, AC/DC, The Undertones, David Bowie, The Clash, Stealers Wheel, T Rex, The Police, Van Halen, e.t.c. We also have an extensive 60's and Soul repertoire for functions inc:- The Beatles, The Kinks, Spencer Davis Group, Al Green, Bill Withers, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, Eddie Floyd, The Swinging Blue Jeans, Jeff Beck, The Small Faces, Van Morrison, Elvis, Chuck Berry, e.t.c. Northern Echo 01/08/05 'Original' album review - by Andrew Cummins A lot of the time if you call music emotional they take it as a bad thing, conjuring up images of Radiohead’s Pyramid Song and other exercises in depression. So whilst Original, Paul Jeans second album is definitely emotional I will also say that at times it sounds incredibly uplifting. The album is packed with quirky, upbeat moments, from the intro to opening track Now All I Feel is Love which sounds vaguely like Snow Patrol to the funky beat and chorus of Our Love is Bleeding. He undoubtedly has a stunning voice and he is allowed to show it off through out the album particularly on the slower songs like What Kind of Fool am I? Original is a really well crafted and well-created album and he should definitely be worth checking out live when he comes to Darlington in August. Album Reviews "Tides" Get Rhythm Magazine - April '04 "Tides" album review "Tides" marks Paul Jeans full debut album on CD as a solo artist. The first thing that strikes you is just how powerful and individual this guy's voice is. Opening with "How High" Paul puts his unique stamp on things immediately, a slow, smoking acoustic burner with his soaring voice full of expression. That's what he's good at - slow burners, none better than "Time". Paul, who is from Northumberland, has played around Europe and the gigs that "matter" in London. When he returns to these venues with "Tides" under his arm he'll sell bucket loads of them. North East label Tunafish should be congratulated for seeing the potential of this young man, they have already released two EPs by him. Paul is in the right place at the right time and "Tides" is a great example of what can be achieved. Full marks also to Fred Purser and Trinity Heights where the album was recorded. ----------------------------------------------------------------- So begins the rise of ‘charity shop’ rock, “Are You Ready to Rummage”?!!! The bulBS are: Andy Whitbread - Guitar and Lead Vocals (andy@thebulbs.co.uk) KOOKOONAUTS BECOME AWARE OF EACH OTHER! Subject: another kookoonauts Name: me Date Posted: Dec 11, 04 - 9:42 PM Message: hey so i was wondering. im from bakersfield, ca and there is a band here by the name of kookoonauts too. and i thought it was u guys but turns out it wasnt. so yeah i was just wondering can they use your name like that or.... Replies: Subject: Re: another kookoonauts Name: Kook Date Posted: Dec 13, 04 - 3:02 AM Message: That's quite strange that another band would pick the same name (as it is quite a bizare name). I don't think much can be done about it (esp with them being American) but you would have thought they would check the name on google or something. We shall obviously have them hunted down and shot! USA KOOKOONAUTS INTERESTING POSTING Sunday, 31 July 2005 News The KooKooNauts are on a break for a while because of vacations and such. They will be back playing shows in september. If you listen to the radio they have been played a lot on KRAB 106.1 and played a few shows at montgomery world plaza. If you want to support the KooKooNauts and come to the shows, keep checking back in the upcoming shows section for when I post the exact dates of the shows in september. If anyone does not have a copy of the Lonely Nights E.P. e-mail james and Bryan and leave your address and they will mail it to you. Posted by punk5/kookoonauts at 4:01 PM PDT | post your comment (0) | link to this post Monday, 30 May 2005 Article on kkn/"Searching" on the Radio! hey this guy wrote an article on his website about the kkn check it out its really cool KooKooNaut Article ALSO did anyone hear the kookoonauts on the radio sunday night about 9:30??? well i didnt cuz i was out of town but the same guy that posted that article on his site went on the KRAB radio to promote his site and talked about the kookoonauts. they played "searching" for everyone to hear. the new e.p. from the kkn is out its called the lonely nights e.p. if anyone would like a copy just e-mail james. his e-mail address is on the front page at the bottom. peace. Posted by punk5/kookoonauts at 10:45 PM PDT | post your comment (0) | link to this post Thursday, 26 May 2005 recording continued hey again, the kookoonauts are pretty much done recording they are just going in to finish some mixing of the songs tomorrow and then it will be done. the songs that are on the cd are motivation, the march, lonely nights, I'm coming back, and searching. and go to the show on saturday at jerrys 6pm. ill keep you updated...peace. Posted by punk5/kookoonauts at 8:20 PM PDT | post your comment (0) | link to this post Wednesday, 25 May 2005 Recording Hey kookoonaut fans, the boys are going into the studio today to start recording their 5 song demo. i'm not sure what the list of songs that are going to be on it are, but i will post that when i know. stay tuned for more news. About Us: 3 piece Punk/ Ska / old school hard driving rock and roll music, from Bakersfield, CA. Members: Bryan Harwood: Guitar and Vocals Kurt Moren: Bass James Flint: Drums Band Favorite Places http://www.myspace.com/thekookoonauts http://kookoonauts.blogstream.com http://angelfire.com/punk5/kookoonauts http://bums661.blogspot.com/2005/11/profile-koo... The Game: We KooKooNauts landed on a kooky planet. It was fun, but now we're done, and we want to blast back to our spaceship. Spin the spinner to march us toward our ship. Or take a chance and move us into a short-cut pod. But watch out. We might end up landing on an angry alien or worse. When we make it onto the launch pad, hit the blaster-upper to shoot us into the ship. Be first to get three of us into the ship to win. Saturday, May 21, 2005 KooKooNauts inspire punk history in The Davenport Article - By N.L. Belardes It recently came to my attention from this really cool kid, Bryan Gunter H. that I am not giving enough attention to some of the younger bands here in Bakersfield like his band, Bryan and the KooKooNauts and that Psychobilly band, The NightCrawlers. I don't totally agree with that. But I give such comments my respect because I am about to publish an article here written by some kid I don't know named Johnny Davenport. I'll refer to it here on out as 'The Davenport Article'. For all I know, Johnny Davenport might not exist. He might be Bryan himself. But I shall give the benefit of the doubt: Bryan claims Johnny is a friend from school, so I believe him. Either way, ‘The Davenport Article’ is an engaging piece of punk rock history that includes nostalgia and a great inside look at a Bakersfield hardcore punk band. Sounds like Johnny used old Jeremy Cravens as one of his sources. Now, me and Jeremy go way back to the days before he played punk rock in Four More Feet. Heck, I wrote Bryan from the KooKooNauts that I once prayed for Jeremy's pet rat back in the 1980s. How's that for brotherly love? Now I know punk history here in Bakersfield is more than what this next article claims. The Davenport Article is a partially history at best. To truly grasp punk history in Bakersfield you have to dig into the heads of bands like The Filthies or Primer Grey. You have to research and data mine at a much deeper level and talk to bands about what used to happen on the very streets themselves, like the old hero from high school days of the Filthies, a cool kid, a major influence gunned down mysteriously in the dark streets near Oleander. He was a kid on punk streets, in the Bakersfield shadows who could play punk and who influenced young punks with his ability to play great music and rebel with that age-old anarchy slogan painted on a denim coat... and you have to go back to the 1970s and 1980s. The article mentions them, but gives full credit to Bam Bams in 1990 as the nexus of punkdom. There were punks, I saw them, befriended them around 1978/1979 when I was part of the first busload to help desegregate Emerson Junior High. The old James Green and Greg Seaton punks... I knew them hanging out on South Chester Avenue. And that was just one group of them... Makes me wonder, who the punk bands were in the 1970s and 1980s in Bakersfield? Did they exist? I believe they did. Whose garages were they playing in? Did they perform live in Bakersfield? Did they have to tour to get their music heard? I believe the history of punk rock in Bakersfield can be broken down into these categories. So if you have information for any of them, please, send an email to nl@nlbelardes.com: BELARDES Tuesday, July 26, 2005 A Bakersfield Novelist Descends into the Caverns of Rock and Roll - by N.L. Belardes I open the DVD case. It’s the same black-and-white case I got at Starbucks on a bright Bakersfield midday; a seemingly unlikely drop-off point for a group of punk rockers to give a DVD to an old man sucking down a mint mocha Frappuccino. I plop the DVD into my computer, open Windows Media Player and begin to watch the KooKooNauts video, “Music, Not Drugs.” I’ve seen parts of it before. It’s a tour of the KooKooNauts playing at various venues around Bakersfield: Jerry’s Pizza, the Gate, CSU Bakersfield, Beach Park... But it’s the beginning I want to see again. I take a closer look at the video. I lean toward the monitor, frequently hit pause, fast forward and rewind so I can get a better look at the details. It starts off with a black screen—the lens is apparently covered with some cloth. The words ‘Koo Koo Nauts’ appear. Music starts and we see some black-haired punk drinking from a can. Is it an energy drink? Looks like it is. Keys dangle from his right hip; he’s got tattoos on his arms that I glimpse as he passes by the camera. Nearby, one of the KooKooNauts, before he joined the band, I think, is eating a greasy slice from the Pizza-a-go-go. I know it’s the Pizza joint because not only did the camera show the logo above the counter, I can see a booth and the staircase entrance into the black descent to the Pizza-a-go-go cavern. Now the view is outside of the parlor along Chester Avenue. There are punks outside with spiked Mohawks that rise like great spires from their heads. One punker wears a jacket with a glowing red skull on the back. I wonder who has the baseball cap on; he talks to the camera eye but we can’t hear him… Now we’re back inside and we descend down a set of old wooden stairs. We only see them for a brief second—dirty wooden planks as rickety as the boards of a weathered and broken pier; but it’s enough to see we’ve dared descend into a haven for punks as the intro had showed us, with images of punks in near howlish form; here would be a dark descent into a subculture of not just punk, but into a dismal hollow of a pizza venue where Bakersfield musicians have been performing for years, willingly, suffocatingly. The camera eye has entered into a black room with bare, dirt-covered walls that are never scrubbed. On stage are the KooKooNauts, some of the nicest kids you could ever meet, yet who are charged with a punk-driven energy you’d expect from a band just like them. I remember them at Starbucks, a bunch of Bakersfield kids who jumped out of an old truck. Just like you could meet anywhere in town—although they don’t put off the rich kid vibe—something Stockdale High School yuppy cliques might frown on because they’re down to Earth, down in the trenches with the punkers, deep in the subculture where they create, sing, energize, in hardcore cyberpunk song frenzy. They had been writing to me that they had a following. I was skeptical. But then I’ve seen the DVD. There are crowds watching them, albeit, some are crowds endemic to various venues and areas… but there are crowds. The KooKooNauts do have friends. Though I wonder if they will show up to Montgomery World Plaza on July 28th. I lean further toward the monitor. The KooKooNauts are on stage. In a moment of punk rock prophecy, Brian, their lead singer reaches out to the audience and says, “Come on up. We’re not gonna hurt you.” The crowd chants “KooKoo KooKoo KooKoo!” in response. Suddenly we’re not in Jerry’s Pizza anymore, but the Boiler Room over near 23rd Street and O. How do I know this? I just recognize it. The stage is just as dark, but you can see the difference. Here, there is lighting and black curtains along the stage. A picture on the south wall is a dead giveaway, as is the chandelier on the southwest corner and a pillar near the stage. Punkers with leather jackets, chains, and wild cyberfreak hairdos are drawn to the KooKooNauts’ show, and as the music plays I glimpse a kid in an ape suit without the head; he’s still nearly a frightening sight. And then it happens; a fight suddenly breaks out. I was wrong when I reported before. This is not Jerry’s Pizza. But there’s a connection. Sources inform me that something is amiss in this video tied to a murder in or near Jerry’s Pizza. Which leads me to my actual story as I wonder if I am entering murderous depths as I make a decision to descend into the rock and roll cavern… I arrived at Jerry’s Pizza with camera in hand. There was no telling what I was going to see. Would punkers jump me from the cavernous depths for writing against the old promoter and meatball sandwiches? Surely punkers would be around. What about the KooKooNauts? Would they be lurking nearby? I didn’t know, but felt it was time to take the risk, not that I was afraid the KooKooNauts would do me harm. But there is a self-loathing subculture tangent to them. They swing chains and fists and aren’t afraid to be hauled off to jail for it. I entered the pizza joint and saw no sign of Jerry or punkers. I half expected him to see me and throw me out right away. Outside, Alex from Gigantic sat at the door in the stifling heat and took money. He charged me five bucks. Steep for someone who takes pictures of shows and does write-ups for free. Then, Alex is just a businessman looking to make a little cash. And I wasn’t here to see Alex as much as I was here to see a possibly once murderous lair. I wanted to see firsthand where this ghost of the downtown dark subconscious might dwell… down in the sleeping black dragon’s lair of Bakersfield downtown music. uesday, October 18, 2005 What is up with the fucking morons in this town? I am reading,in absolute horror, about the assault on Bryan of The KooKooNauts. What kind of fucking asshole attacks a KID from behind like that, and what about the bigger assholes that came to the show with this guy that have kept their mouths shut while someone is hospitalized because of their pussy friends actions? I hold no loyalty to ANYONE that attacks an innocent person, so step up to the plate and put this dick behind bars. As you can tell...I am pissed the fuck off. This is another account of a bunch of macho assholes bringing down the scene. It has been a violent year, but this type of incident has ALWAYS been a part of underground music in Bakersfield. Hell, even Henry Rollins wrote about Black Flag never playing in this town again because of a bunch of idiots that thought they were punk, STARTED FIGHTS WITH THE FUCKING BAND! How bad must this shithole town be, if a band that couldn't get a venue in LA because of their fans, refused to make a second trip over the grapevine to do another show? Anyway...Violence at shows is not acceptable. The pit used to be an almost civilized form of physical expression where if you fell down a fellow music lover helped you back up. Now, you go down and you are fair game. The Whores would like to personally offer our support and prayers to Bryan, his family,and his band. I had the chance to meet Bryan and his father when he came to try out for a play that I am in. The kid was an amazing guitar player, he could listen to something and play it right back, solo and all. His father is so supportive of his son and his music, just thinking about what he must be going through breaks my fucking heart. Please,if you were at the show and saw ANYTHING call the police and help put this person behind bars. The issue of the BPD not showing up until the next day is best saved for another rant on another day, because the focus needs to be on Bryan , his quick and complete recovery, and his return to playing music. posted by threechordwhore at 8:14 PM 2 comments
posted by UNDERGROUND at 1:58 PM 1 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 3
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 3
Rodent record presents: Kookoonauts invade Wasco At: The Blue Cube, Down Town Wasco corner of “7”ST. AND “D” St. @7:15 pm, every Tuesday all summer. Free Show, free! Free 5 song Kookoonaut CD with any purchase, one per customer. “This has been great fun for the town” “Bakersfield has always been known for its’ lead in music style variations, often called Nashville west, and the Bakersfield Sound. It is true with Country music and even more so with Punk Rock and Ska music. Here the pioneers of this new Rural Punk/Ska style music show their stuff in a very high quality show. Sit back and listen to the new sounds of Bakersfield with the KOO-KOO-NAUTS at one of their many local shows.”THE BLACKBOARD” The punk war goes Hardcore help needed for witnesses. According to the Bakersfield Californian, May 15th , 2005 "A boom in urgent calls to Bakersfield police this year doesn't just have officers scrambling. No one's investigating the theft of your garden hose these days. Last year, roughly one in nine calls were coded "priority one," including carjackings, rapes and robberies, according to Bakersfield police." It was just such an attitude or perspective that nearly cost one young music fan his life. According to witnesses, a 90 pound, blond haired16 year old, Bryan Gunter of Bakersfield, was simply standing and watching "Taste Of Blood" at a local music show when an adult of over twice the weight, and much greater size, crept through the audience and struck the youth in the head from behind. The cowardly blow landed squarely and left Gunter's skull cracked in several areas as well as soft tissue, blood clots and nerve damage. Gunter is still Hospitalized a week later and will be transported to L.A. for surgery Monday. The victim's family have sought advise from the District Attorney's office concerning possible attempted murder charges against the perpetrator. The show was a hardcore show Sunday Night at Montgomery World Plaza, P.M. on the 9th of October Bands that played. Despised Icon, Taste Of Blood, Moria, Old Fashioned Knife Fight, Farewell, Closed Casket Funeral. The Bakersfield Police were called at 10:PM but never showed up, this giving the assailant plenty of time to watch several more bands and drive casually home. Bryan is known in the local music scene as the lead Guitar/singer of the rural punk band "The Kookoonauts". The "Taste Of Blood" incident is frightfully similar to the violent attack on a young man in downtown Bakersfield, across the street from the famous venue Jerry's Pizza, a while back. A teenager allegedly killed a 24 year old Bakersfield man by beating him with a chain and padlocks that had been wrapped around his right hand, he was charged with murder . Justin Armendariz, 17, was charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the killing of Jason Sutton in downtown Bakersfield. According to sources on the street the blow that killed Sutton was nearly identical to the type that used to dispatch Bryan Gunter, a full arc swing landing in mid skull. Sutton, 24, succumbed to his injuries at Kern Medical Center y when doctors pronounced brain death, Supervising Deputy Coroner John Van Rensselaer pronounced, less than an inch either direction and Gunter would have met the same horrible fate. According to local attorneys, cases involving assault, battery, murder and so on, are not rare at local shows. But when a large adult attacks, and attempts to kill, a teenager without provocation - things have gone to far - at a music show or not. Many citizens of Bakersfield are calling for the disbanding of the BPD in favor what has been called the more professional Kern County Sheriff, I have yet to see any petitions for this movement. The investigation into the brutal attack at the Taste of Blood show was, or so far, nearly nonexistent, the day after the call and nearly 24 hours after the attach BPD showed up at Mercy Hospital to take a report from Bryan Gunter and his family. Offers of eye witnesses were brushed off and it seemed like there would be no follow up. If the police would have come when called there would have surley been an arrest at the time. The description of this alleged child beater is as follows: about 5 ft 9 inches or taller, dark short brassily hair, short beard stubble, appeared light Hispanic and very fat. His clothing were as follows: baggy dark blue jeans, dark brown sweat shirt with two emblems on the chest and a "T" shirt of the band "Unearthed" with a skull with wings. We need a name to go with the discription. If anything is known about this person or either one of these heinous crimes, please contact Johnny at (661) 664- 8190, we need to get this mater to the District Attorneys office soon ! Leave a message if no one is home. Please help us if you saw or know any little thing, no clue is to small and photos or video of this show or of this person is also needed. Help us wake up from this nightmare!" “ KOOKOONAUTS NEWS JAN 26. 2006 KOOKOONAUTS NEWS JAN 26. 2006 http://www.mcsedepot.com/brighthouse-network.html Read about the kookoonauts on Brighthouse web site! See the Jan 7. Kookoonauts show at Rabobank Arena on channel 99, Condors 1st admission brake. Still playing on Bakersfield on Demand. See Kookoonauts at Jerry’s this week end! http://jerryspizza.com/ Hear Kookoonauts on Bakotopia.com radio show with Matt on Bakotopia radio show #2 Matt’s life revolves around the arts, so if you're an artist, you've probably met him before. He has also been an artist myself as singer for local latin ska band, Mento Buru. Mat sates that the KOOKOONAUTS are similar to Operation Ivy. http://www.bakotopia.com Thanks to Krab Radio 106.1 for playing Kookoonauts tunes on the Danny Spanks show! dannyspanks@clearchannel.com Thanks to contact@nlbelardes.com for the great Kookoonauts article last week. Johnny Davenport wrote "Walking With Kookoonauts" for the next issue of Blackboard Magazine. http://www.theblackboardfreepress.com/200511/music.html “ Walking with Kookoonauts: By Johnny D. Walking with Kookoonauts: By Johnny D. Let’s pause for a minute and take stock of the world of the Kookoonaut! It was a Belardes-esk morning, caked in with tulle fog and the baccate of Borba Dairy hanging in the Bakersfield air. "How many of you that sit and judge me, have smelled the streets Bakersfield?" Got over to Home Depot, the over by Sam’s Club. Got the white board, clear paint and vinyl letters to make the Kookoonaut sign . Driving bake home in the hedge rows of dirt back home, parting the roads treasure dust, McDonald’ bags and chicken feathers as I roamed. Then back to the door of the Kookoonaut brothers in Silver Creek , the small section of Southwest Bakersfield that seems to have been created as an after thought and then forgotten by the Okey Lords (see Lords Part 1). It was koo koo for Condors night at Rabo Bank Arena and the Kookoonauts were getting set to play at 1st section break inside the massive arena and in front of the arena at 6Pm. N.L. Beraldes had set up this type of show, with Graig Turney of the Condors, for several of the local bands to promote the new CD "Growing up Fighting"which comes out this month (February 2006) . I was their for my friends helping gather cords, picks and drum sticks, the sign was an after thought. The Nauts were just getting up when I got there. Eating Cherios an old Mickey Mouse cookie and Moon Pies . Then it was get the gear into the front room and inventory it....toms, cymbles , base drum, sticks, picks and licks! Then it was make the set list for the outside show. Tune the guitar and Bass and make the sign. Then it was call from "My Dysfunctional Me" and set up the use of the PA system they own. My Dysfunctional Me kindly offered the Nauts the use of their gear and help for free, these guys are the real unsung "spirits of the Golden Empire" , not the self absorbed, self righteous TV folks that continuously pat themselves on the back for other people donations. Off the soap box and back to the story; We were now all set to go. Next we scrambled into the car and tooled down to "The Get-Away Café" and pigged out on some Hardy Pair: chicken and tri-tip and fixins, I never new what "fixins" were until a few days ago, they are side orders, I regretted having the beans later! We loaded up the old truck with everything that was good and descent in the world and headed off to Rabo bank Arena , formally the majestic and grandiose "Centennial Gardens" . We unloaded and started setting up on the cement stage in front of the fountain on the front court of the Arena. One of the amps fell on Bryan’s effects peddle so about half the songs had to be a wash - all the ska ones that had multiple guitar settings. Kurt had made T shirts, Bryan had made posters and James had made bumper stickers and the bunch together made CDs, but they forgot to set up the merchandise table, later they found it down on Truxton somewhere , so sales were not megamart in quantity. It started getting really dark at about 5:30 PM and My Dysfunctional Me had just finished setting up the PA and amps. There was maybe a couple hundred folks in line and meandering around the Grand Foyer. My Dysfunctional Me had th Nauts do a sound check but the band thought they were supposed to start playing, so the did, it was load, and rumbling like a hurricane, playing originals, including the song of the hockey CD "Bird Of Prey" and punk rock classics like "Blitzgrieg Bop and Last Caress ( the T-Rex and Triceratops of punkdom) and for the oldsersters some pumped up Elvis and Johnny Cash tunes - who says there is no "rural punk"? Anyway, we had forgotten to bring lights, so the whole show was played in pitch darkness, kind of artsy-fartsy though. Like the indoor announcer said on the onset of the Kookoonauts inside arena show "get ready, this is going to be really load!" After the outdoor show, that went from 5:30 to about 7:00 I talked to some folks that had heard the show from " Tailgaters" down the block and it was shaken out their fossilized dentures - even the Poly-Grip was no match for the velocity and veracity Kookoonauts unleashed on downtown Bako-land. There in their darkened corner the Kookoonauts unleashed their madness on an unsuspecting world. Prehistoric predators of the deep,sea monsters. It was a strange sight to see Bako-sapians , spectacular creatures, emerging from the darkness into the realm of the Kookoonaut and requesting CDs, posters and T-Shirts from and old fat guy glad in a green rubber alien mask. Even old weathered faces crinkling into a smile, I thought that was only a fantasy, like coming face to face with long extinct reptiles. Then through the darkness and the strife emerged the face N.L Belardes himself, a comforting sight to the Kookoonauts I am sure, like a clean well lighted place to a lost wanderer. The Nauts were surprisingly well received for a punk rock band ("rural punk pioneers") in a republican stronghold. Next, it was take down the rig and head inside for that show, it was like changing meals on a cattle drive with the old chuck wagon. The Condors and Aces fought it out down on the ice and 7142 fans cheered them on. The Nauts, and friends My Dysfunctional Me, set up for the inside show high above the action packed game below. It seemed fairly quick to me and the spot light shot a large white stream on the trio and a tsunami of sound came pouring out of leather jacket clad cave dwellers high up on the ledge, like Birds of Prey, like Condors often do. There was indeed sound, energy and persona ...it was a magically delicious, whole grain wholesomeness and for sure historic moment in the history of Bakersfield’s rich punk rock history and a milestone for the pioneering of the rural punk world wide. Has punk rock gone extinct or has it just evolved into something else? Deep in the human psyche a flow of evolution gave rise fear of darkness and thunder, what kind of creatures make us afraid of the dark and then strangely attracted at the same time, it’s Rock and Roll. Growing up fighting / kookoonauts Back to Full Blog The Hockey CD: Though Noveltown is a small press, we will also support local arts. We are pleased to announce the upcoming December release of the CD, Growing Up Fighting: Bakersfield Hockey Vol. 1. Proceeds go towards Noveltown publishing children's stories by regional authors. This fun tribute to minor league hockey's Bakersfield Condors promotes these local artists: The Filthies, Mento Buru, The Kookoonauts, Sioux City Sarsaparilla, Rocky Nash, Fatt Katt and the Vonzippers, Exithead, Myndsick, Whiskey Galore, Three Chord Whore, The 28s and The Dusk Devils. THE GROWING UP FIGHTING CONCERT SERIES AT ROBO BANK ARENA : Hockey Songs - 2005-2006 Band Performance Schedule: Rabobank arena: October 22 - The Filthies "Condorstown" 6pm OPENING NIGHT Rabobank arena: November 5 - Myndsick "Born to Fight" 6pm Rabobank arena: November 19 - Rocky Nash "Bobblehead", "Hockey Hangover" 6pm Rabobank arena: November 26 - My Dysfunctional Me "I Hit an NHL Star" 6pm Rabobank arena: December 31 - Fatt Katt and the Vonzippers "Condors Fight Song" "Let's go Condors" 6pm Rabobank arena: January 7 - the KooKooNauts "Birds of Prey" 6pm Rabobank arena: January 21 - Sick Trigger 6pm Rabobank arena: February 4 - Whiskey Galore 6pm Rabobank arena: February 18 - The Filthies/Dirty Spanglish "Condorstown"/"Zebras" 6pm Rabobank arena: March 11 - Three Chord Whore "Zamboni Zombie" 6pm Rabobank arena: March 18 - Rocky Nash "Bobblehead", "Hockey Hangover" 6pm Rabobank arena: April 1 - Mento Buru "Minor League Nose Break" 6pm Rabobank arena: April 8 - Sioux City Sarsaparilla 6pm “We have never played at Rabobank arena before. So, we are really excited and nervous to play for a large crowd. We are playing outside of the arena for about an hour just before the game starts. We wrote the song ( Birds of Prey ) in like two days, and recorded it that week. I think a lot of the influences for the song came from our love european melodic metal and old school punk. Our motivation was that, we had a deadline to write our song on a specific date! I guess it came about when Bryan was playing guitar in his room. One day he called me up and told me that he figured out the hockey song and that's how it happened.
posted by UNDERGROUND at 1:53 PM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 2
KOOKOONAUTS OF BAKERSFIELD PART 2
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Nick Belardes, of Nlbelardes.com a local Bakersfield music and scene writer posed this question on his web site a few months back: "Have you heard this astro-band, these kookoo cocoapuff kings of guitar-blasting SKA punkdom…? Well, I have to say after this show hundreds of punks from near and far can say "OH YA "and "kings of guitar-blasting SKA punkdom" is right on the mark! The very first song the crowd ignited in a massive mosh pit, by song number2 the basement was packed like a punk sardine can and on song 3 about 1/8th of the audience was singing along ! I guess punks do listen to Krab radio, Krab is where the kookoonauts are often played on the Sunday night Danny Spanks show, a lot of people were singing along with the bands self written tunes like : "The March" and "Searching" . On one of the bands old songs "Inevitable", Bryan Gunter, "the jammin' German", flung the Fender Strat up behind his back and cut loose on some awesome piercing guitar licks to the flurry of light speed drum flurries from bother James and pulsating bass thumps from Naut brother Kurt- blue hair and all. "The song "Inevitable", a song warning of judgment day on those whom destroy nature. Inevitable, one of the trio's many original creations, was a local hit for a time around the high school and at shows where dozens of folks would often come up and sing along. At one point even the Night Crawlers, a local phsyco Billy band, covered the tune. My favorite part is the lead-in: "humans are the parasite, earth is our host, wide spread panic from coast to coast." Amazing Chuck Berry-type guitar riffs rounds out this great tune, especially when done behind the back." (From : Bakotopia.com) "Bakersfield has always been known for its' leading the way in music styles and variations, often called Nashville West, and the Bakersfield Sound. It is true with Country and even more so with Punk Rock and Ska music. Here the pioneers of this new Rural Punk/Ska style music showed their stuff" (Wasco Newspaper June 2005) The Kookoonauts show awesome, tripple threat : great songs, great singing and great musically, it was filled with action and sound and smell and feel - it was like being in the midst of a level 6 hurricane! After the Kookoonauts experience I had to take a break, I had hurt my shoulder in the mosh pit and someone stepped on my historic, stone baked pizza . I missed the band that played after the Nauts but I could hear a Johnny Cash tune ? The next band to get fired up was "Amerikan Made" , that's American but with a "K" in it Their base of operation and Home town is Huntington Beach, California and the several hour trek to Bakersfield was well worth the trip for both the band and the audience. Wow , it was like a cherry bomb went off in the place, an explosion of punk thunder- like a blasting cap man! These guys were all over the stage. Again. The mosh pit was ravenous - like savages man, put some more Johnny Bravo in you hair dudes the Mohawks are drooping- lots of heat and slamming around is hard on the dew! Amerikan Made has a driving and original sound but, as I had read before, they did sound sort of like of a hot concoction of roots of NOFX, The Clash , along with some new stuff like Blink 182, Pennywise and The Ataris, really fast and well executed punk styles. Ryan Ernie Oi : Bass (& Lead Vocal), Nick Name: Lead Guitar (& Backing Vocal), Josh Neel: Lead Guitar (& Lead Vocals), Pat Magrath: Drums . All great musicians and really nice fellows. This bands puts pride back in the statement "American Made" After Amerikan made and the Kookoonauts I was dog tired, hungery, thirsty and bruised up and went up stairs, climbing behind others out of our punk underworld. Upstairs I was able to mingle with some of the bands and found the Nuts to be playing next week at the Boiler Room and gossip around the watering hole that Gigantic's clothing store was going to be booking Jerry's shows soon and that, Nate, the icon of the Bakersfield punk booking for many years was no longer employed there? Anyway, I stuffed into my skull hole another piece of pizza and cola before once again scurrying back underground like a weasel chasing down a sage bunny. Lots of hot kittens in the house tonight brother! The next band was going to be Punk icons and heroes of your's truly, "The Skulls". I always thought the Skulls were a UK band because some of the members are Englishman. The actual facts are however, the band was Originally formed in 1977, The SKULLS were one of LA's true original punk bands, this band was the genuine article. It's not a band you can say they are like so and so, they are one of the originals that others must compare to. Billy Bones; lead vocals, Kevin Preston: Guitar and backing vocals, James Hardslug Harding :Bass & backing vocals, Sean "Geranamo" Antillon: Drums and Backing vocal.,After a quick tune up I could almost feel the ground shacking, a storm was coming man, it was a locomotive paced rage and the place was shaking like a earthquake and the mosh pit was raging and music was being thrust from the stage like lightning bolts from the hand of Zeus on his cloud above. The band was on, clear crisp and driving tunes, this band has not lost a thing though the years but has gained in talent, charisma and experience. My favorite Skulls tune is "Can Punk Rock Pay The Bills" by Hardind/ Harding/Armstrong/Griffin, a cavalcade of punk heroes! The song asks the age old question "can punk rock pay the bills? And in answer back type song Billy Bones replies "I don't think so" in his heavy British accent. .When the show was over, I felt numb, it was like I just got off an extreme ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain . The last band, The Partisans from the Uk was next but it was midnight and I had a curfew to meet, besides someone had barfed on my foot earlier and I really wanted to go home and bath! After I left I felt like Smokey the Bear had just snuffed out the towering inferno with his little animal feet or something! What a rush, then instant come down, I hope it happens again soon. at the Corner Stone Church, the stained glass was rattlin'. Hardcore Bands from near and far were layin ' the laws with the thunder of Gibson and Fender guitars, and earth shaking drum flurries and rumbling bass lines. Man this stuff is awsome! Crimson Stained Nails, Active Ingrdeiants, The Kookoonauts and several other bands were rockin the hollowed ground. It was brought up by the Kookoonats that some one or some group has been pulling down their posters and shredding the on their front lawn and throwing raw eggs all over their car and house. If you thing this sucks you are correct, but what was worse is that Active Ingredients was sited and fined $147. 00 for posting their flyers. They sais they thought Jerry's or Nate repoted them and filed a complaint. They we called hypocrate for doing so as they post more poters than any one and post them with permanent postal tape.
posted by UNDERGROUND at 1:48 PM 0 comments
kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 1
KOO KOO FOR THE KOOKOONAUTS. Part 1
By Johnny Davenport
“Bakersfield has always been known for its' leading the way in music styles and variations, often called Nashville West, and the Bakersfield Sound. It is true with Country and even more so with Punk Rock and Ska music. Here the pioneers of this new Rural Punk/Ska style music show their stuff in a rare but very high quality recording. Sit back and listen to the new sounds of Bakersfield with the KOO-KOO-NAUTS!
Every once in a while you find a band that you connect with and really are taken by their style, songs, singing or musicianship. In my case I got lucky, it was a local punk/ska band, and to me they had all the above in abundant amounts and they played somewhere in town, or neighboring towns almost every weekend. I have been following the band for quite some time now. I took pleasure in researching them, and on several occasions interviewing them. Now I take pride in sharing my favorite band with you, and band that took its name from a space theme board game, "The KooKooNauts".”
To understand who and what the KooKooNauts are, you have to understand Bakersfield punk and punk history. Using back issues of Blackboard Magazine I have come up with a fairly accurate background and lead-in to the Kookoonaut story.
Punk comes to Bakersfield a little late, but no worse for the wait. Bands existed through the `70s and `80s. Then, according to punk historian Jeremy Cravens, "In 1990 a club called Bam Bam's opened in Bakersfield. Bam Bam's promoted, and put on punk shows every weekend. In this Gulf War Era, Bakersfield punk thrived." Craven's Bakersfield Scene reports that "Bakersfield had it's own style of hardcore (punk)," and his list of the better bands of the early 90s were as follows: Big Jed, Primer Gray, Hossbrutten, Chaotic Evil, Midget Toss, Active Ingredients, and Six Feet Under. According to Billy S. The first wave of Bakersfield punk, from roughly the same time as the Ramones, Germs, Misfits, Dead Kennedys, etc., produced local bands like Teen Suicide, The Lizards, The Contaminators, The Gags and more. After that first wave ended, the bands became too numerous to mention. There was the original Primer Grey, with the infamous Bodie Chavis, Steve Crooks, Todd Short and Dave Butler, and the song that was on everyone's lips at the time, "Hey You! What You Lookin' At?" There were the Feelers, Big Jed, Fatal Vision, and lots more.
When I discovered hardcore punk in 2002, the punk scene in Bakersfield revolved, for the most part, around the underground cavern that is the basement theater of Jerry's Pizza on Chester in downtown Bakersfield. Jerry's is reminiscent of the 1963 Cavern Club in Britain where the Beatles began their career. The atmosphere is amazing: three black wooden staircases lead you into a punk underworld; this blackened, brick-walled underground cavern comes alive as darkness falls outside. The bright white stage lights break the underground darkness with silhouettes of majestic mohawks and liberty-spiked punks who cast thunder from the stage as the mosh pit raves like a fevered tribal war dance. From above creeps the smell of Jerry's famous pizza, breaking the historic musk below. Above the cavern is the actual pizzeria. In the bar-like register with its glass circular pizza warmer, a slice is a mere buck fifty. There are a couple of wooden booth tables for your dining pleasure, two roof-mounted televisions and a really frightening clown gumball machine. Occasionally the oxygen bar man is there, doing his flavored air thing.
Jerry came to Downtown Bakersfield in 1992 with old country traditions for pizza baked on a stone hearth. The best part, though, is the thunderous outpouring of sound from the bands below in the cavern. This is the ultimate in dining atmosphere for the punk and early rock music connoisseur. If you want to relive those early 1960s days at the Cavern Club, come to a punk show some night at Jerry's. The most active current (JUNE 2002) punk bands in Bakersfield included these: Active Ingredients, The Pin Ups, Crimson Stained Nails, Missing in Action (later renamed Urban Regression and then KooKooNauts), The Condemned, The Allied and Commotion.
Of the original 90s bands, only Active Ingredients still plays on a regular basis. They have a new drummer and several CDs out on a local label and are reportedly in the middle of recording a new full-length CD at Bakersfield's own Pig Studios. The Condemned played frequently at Jerry's Pizza and occasionally at the Porterville Veterans' Park Festivals; they write most of their own songs. Missing in Action often opens (plays warm-up) for many out-of-town bands at Jerry's, (They also play Studio 45 and the Porterville Veterans' park festivals). The Condemned and Missing in Action are the more hardcore bands of the Bakersfield punk community. They are high-powered and in your face. The mosh pits get smoke'n with these youngsters. After I got over being scared of them, I really enjoyed their driving melodies and aggressively charged, screaming lyrics.
The next period in Bakersfield punk was a bit darker, punk was pushed out of the music scene by a music called "new metal". Such music was, or of, the old fat guys that aren't that good, so they shave their heads, grow a goatee and tune their guitar to "Drop D". Guys that aren't real hot guitar slingers even sound good. Open turnings are strange that way. Take the early blues slide players; the were good on standard turnings. But when Robert Johnson came back from the cross roads with the open "Spanish" tuning he changed the world. Several punk-like bands made it OK during this period, and several sprung up. The notable ones being Active Ingredients, Crimson Stained Nails, Bury the Hatchet and of coarse, the KooKooNauts.
Tue Nov 16, 2004 7:32 pm
Subject: new psychobilly band l
‘ Psychobilly has now come to Bakersfield, in the form of a
young band called " Night Crawlers",. Thus far the Night Crawlers
have played at CSUB, Jerry's Pizza and a party or two and people love
them. The trio is still in High school but their music is very
mature. This is an important event in the history of Bakersfield
and American music and I urge any music fan to come experience this
emerging art, free show at Downtown Records ( Jake 324-5235) Sunday,
Nov.21 2003, from 4-6 PM. Also playing are the KooKooNauts, another
enjoyable young band.
http://www.myspace.com/nightcrawlers
Many people were still koo koo for the KooKooNauts, a band that had now evolved into something new, different and amazingly good, sort of a Rancid meets Richie Vallins. The lead Guitar and vocalist had developed a master of both crafts that was both unique and tasteful. He still kept a bit of that rough punk edge from the early years, and they are still in high school with years to mature.
The KooKooNauts went through several transformation during this period. The original members met in drum line and included a bass player named Kurt. Kurt basically coached through the learning process to a mastery of the instrument by the guitar player and front man Bryan Gunter H. Kurt now slaps the four string like a pro.
Bryan is a self-taught musician. In elementary school he taught himself how to read music and within only a few weeks tried out and made the school band where his instructor (Jr. high / elementary) Mr. Bar was amazed at the speed of his mastery of woodwinds.
A few short weeks later he tried out and made the cut for the prestigious Kern County Honor Band and to top things off, made first chair over students much his senior in both age and experience. Later Bryan switched to the bass and ended up playing at the massive Centennial Gardens at a halftime show for the Blitz football team. It was no stretch for him to jump from the bass to the guitar and from there it was just a lot of hard work and playing shows by the dozen.
James H., Bryan's older brother by two years also came from drum line and moved over to the set and his speed and technique filled the bands rhythm section with thunder. The three boys had been in a band called Urban Regression that had also played often in the local Bakersfield venues.
That band broke up as the elder brother James went to drum with the local Psychobilly sensation "The Night Crawlers". Later, a Halloween festival at CSUB needed more bands so some of the Urban Regression formed the KooKooNauts to play the show. The band did so well that they stayed together. Several of the Night Crawlers filtered in and out of the KooKooNauts. The two bands often played shows together on the same bill. This was a mutual beneficial relationship, often yielding fairly large crowds at shows at local venues such as Jerry's, the Gate-Boiler Room , and Down Town Records and so on.
One of the shows went nuts when the large crowd was accosted by a mad man in a guerrilla suit with light flashing red lights as eye balls. The crowd went wild and a fight started on the floor between some street punks as the KooKooNauts played on. When the fight was broken up by a bouncer the apeman mounted the Night Crawler's stand-up bass and started humping it feverishly. It was one of the funniest things I had ever seen in my life and I laughed so hard I nearly wet myself.
It was this time period when both bands recorded their first demo Cds with a school friend, John T. John was in a band called Amigo Diaz (sp?) with the old Drummer from the Condemned. Amigo Diaz also played on the same billing with the KooKooNauts and Night Crawlers from time to time. The KooKooNauts sold over 300 of the demo CDs for a buck each with the first two weeks of its creation.
Later they began giving the two song CD demo away free and as many as a thousand have been burned and distributed locally. The songs were "Inevitable", a song warning of ‘judgment day’ on those whom destroy nature. “Inevitable” was a local hit for a time around the high school and at shows where dozens of folks would often come up and sing along. At one point even the Night Crawlers covered the tune. My favorite part is the lead-in: "humans are the parasite, earth is our host, wide spread panic from coast to coast." Amazing Chuck Berry-type guitar riffs rounds out this great tune.
Another song of that demo is "Take Me to Serious,” a passionate punk love song that was quite the favorite among high school kids struck with the love bug.
One day there was a falling out and the bands no longer functioned together and the three bands went their separate ways. It was never clear to me what had separated the bands but it was a bit tragic. At this time the KooKooNauts added a keyboard player named John and they played shows with him for a while and the sound was very interesting. They drew a lot of positive attention to the band. One day however John's mother made him quit the Kookoonuats. It was speculated he quit because of bad grades but who knows. This happened with an earlier drummer as well.
After the keyboard player departed the band signed up at Bakersfield Sound Studios for another demo cd and I have not heard the status on this project just yet. Last night at the Corner Stone Church, the stained glass was rattling. Hardcore Bands from near and far were laying down the laws with the thunder of Gibson and Fender guitars, and earth-shaking drum flurries and rumbling bass lines. Man this stuff was awesome! Crimson Stained Nails, Active Ingredients, The KooKooNauts and several other bands were rockin' the hollowed ground. The KooKooNauts played a new set, dropping the usual burning rendition of Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" for the Misfits "Last Caress" and dropping "Inevitable" for a new Celtic sounding number about medieval knights.
The other parts of the set were unchanged and they played one of my favorites "The March" and you will have to pick up their new CD to hear that for yourselves. As the night wore on it was brought up by the KooKooNauts that some one or some group has been pulling down their posters and shredding them on their front lawn and throwing raw eggs all over their car and house. If you think this sucks you are correct, but what was worse is that Active Ingredients was sited and fined $147.00 for posting their flyers. They speculated that Jerry's or Nate may have reported them and filed a complaint.
They we called hypocrite for doing so as they post more posters than any one and post them with permanent postal tape. The KooKooNauts speculated that it may have been some of their old friends from the bands they used to play shows with but don't know for sure. I look forward to attending many KooKooNauts shows in the future and hey, hope to see you there!
July 9th. Mohawk Revolution "British Punk Invasion, in retrospect."
By Johnny Davenport. July, 10th, 2005 ( Reporter: The Bakersfield
Scene)
Mohawk Revolution "British Punk Invasion is a tour put on by World
Wide Concerts in association with J Rock Entertainment, Guerlla Urban
Marketing and Libertalia Marketing. And featured bands from both the
UK and California, USA. The Skulls (United Kingdom), The Partisans
(United Kingdom) American Made (New Port Beach, CA) The Koo-Koo-Nauts
(Bakersfield, CA) Willie Psycho (El Cajon, California). Also, several
special guest bands. Tour date locations included: Newport Beach,
CA, Tijuana, Mexico, Irvine, CA, Santa Cruz, CA and Bakersfield, CA.
It was the July 9th Bakersfield show that I was able to attend and
hence review.
I didn't think I would ever see it, the Jerry's punk resurrection.
As I drove south down Chester Ave. About 6:30 PM it was still hot and
sunny, I didn't really expect much but as soon as 22 street off the
178 I started to see them, a steady migration of colored hair denim
vested -stud gladden punks, majestic Mohawks reminiscent of a time
gone by, not even at this years Van's Warp Tour a week before did I
ever see such a site. As I got closer to Jerry's I could see this was
something really big. I went around 18th street and lucky for me and
my old Nova someone was just pulling out so I slipped right in.
There were sever levels of Punkdom surrounding the front orifice of
the venue. In the ally there were several clusters of various
subspecies of punk, Skater punks with their boards, Straight edge-
with their XXXs on their hands, hardcore- with their old schools
hawks, liberty spikes and vests, T-shirt punks with "Rancid and
Ramones T-shirts, Skin Heads, and the ever present street punks
drinks barfing and otherwise hang'n out.
I had purchased my ticket the day before at Downtown Records for ten
bucks, I gave my ticket to the awesome looking babe at the door and
was in. It was a show where you can't go in and out, sort of like
L.A. shows, this works well and it is safer and more people tend to
watch the bands. Since I could not go in and out, I opted to do some
hang'n out and some other stuff before going right in. Unnoticed I
cruised around the scene, listened in and made some rounds. Downtown
records was abuzz with conversation and up and down the 19th street
corner. It was a lot like the punk scene from a few years back,
really vast.
Most of the time when you get big acts from out of town a lot of
people are just hanging out, but this time it was different, most
everybody came in. I bought a slice of world famous Pizza, a cola
and down the stairs I went. I got there as the local band "The Koo-
koo-nauts" were setting up. The Cavern was about have backed and as
the sound check was going on people were hustling down the stairs
with pizza slices giggling with each step down these historic steps.
Jerry's ambiance has stayed fairly close to it's classic feel and
this quote from a 2002 Black Board Magazine arcle pretty muck sums it
up :"The underground cavern that is the basement theater of Jerry's
Pizza on Chester in downtown Bakersfield. Jerry's is reminiscent of
the 1963 Cavern Club in Britain where the Beatles began their career.
The atmosphere is amazing: three black wooden staircases lead you
into a punk underworld; this blackened, brick-walled underground
cavern comes alive as darkness falls outside. The bright white stage
lights break the underground darkness with silhouettes of majestic
mohawks and liberty-spiked punks who cast thunder from the stage as
the mosh pit raves like a fevered tribal war dance. From above creeps
the smell of Jerry's famous pizza, breaking the historic musk below.
Above the cavern is the actual pizzeria. In the bar-like register
with its glass circular pizza warmer, a slice is a mere buck fifty.
There are a couple of wooden booth tables for your dining pleasure,
two roof-mounted televisions and a really frightening clown gum ball
machine. Occasionally the oxygen bar man is there, doing his flavored
air thing.>Jerry came to Downtown Bakersfield in 1992 with old
country traditions for pizza baked on a stone hearth. The best part,
though, is the thunderous outpouring of sound from the bands below in
the cavern. This is the ultimate in dining atmosphere for the punk
and early rock music connoisseur. If you want to relive those early
1960s days at the Cavern Club, come to a punk show some night at
Jerry's" (Black Board 2002).
posted by UNDERGROUND at 1:34 PM 0 comments
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* KOOKOONAUTS INVADE WASCO, WAS THEIR NEWPAPER ...
* kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 23
* kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 22
* kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 21
* kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 20
* kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 19
* kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 18
* kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 17
* kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 16
* kookoonauts of bakersfield Part 15
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