Jizz Grenade
Pacifico Cantina
Monterey Park, Calif.
May 11, 2019
Tear Down: A Q&A from the San Gabriel Valley
Jessie – vocals, Hungry Ass Youth
Josh – drums, Hungry Ass Youth and Y.A.P.O.
Pigeon – bass, Jizz Grenade
Angel – drummer, Jizz Grenade
Beau – guitar, Jizz Grenade
*Interview done just outside Pacifico Cantina in Monterey Park.
A helicopter showed up, a fight broke out and someone brought an office chair into the pit. Last month’s rager in Baldwin Park at a backyard collectively drew from all parts of the San Gabriel Valley when it came to the crowd but also the bands – ranging from Local Retards and Beauty Brains to Y.A.P.O. Fast-forward a few weeks later and the setting is not a backyard, but a bar on a quiet stretch of Potrero Grande Drive in Monterey Park. It’s smaller, not as wild, but same deal: there’s an overriding sense that everyone knows everyone else and they’re there to support their friends in the bands (that night the lineup being Antagonist, Vile Life, Hungry Ass Youth, Tangwich and Jizz Grenada).
Most usually like to lay claim to their scene being the best – each one technically is for different reasons. Someone from the outside can always make the attempt to describe and provide guideposts, but isn’t it always better to hear it from the inside? Here, members from Jizz Grenade, Y.A.P.O. and Hungry Ass Youth talk about their scene, the past and the present.
What follows is a brief conversation had just before the start of their May 11 show at Pacifico Cantina.
So the San Gabriel Valley scene –
Josh: It’s one of the best punk rock scenes. A lot of the best bands are SGV. I think we turn out – like, the L.A. scene is just, it’s fucking punk rock. But I would have to say the SGV punk scene, we’re all united. We all know each other.
Angel: I think the L.A. scene is the way it is or as big as it is because there are a lot of people there in that area.
Josh: It is.
Angel: So it’s a given there’s going to be a lot of people turning out, but I think here we have to fight for our shows a little more. You know what I mean? Kind of support it a little bit more.
You mean fight for venues?
Angel: Or promoting it and making sure that you’re making it worth going to. There’s not as many people as there was at one time. When I was a kid in 2002, 2003 that was like the tail end.
Josh: Hell, yeah.
Angel: That was the tail end of backyard shows.
Josh: Tons of people.
Angel: Every week there was something. Abandoned houses they’d throw them there. It was life and that was the tail end, from what I understand, was a really flourishing scene and now, it’s not dead – here we are, right?
Josh: I started doing backyards in 2005 and it was badass back then. And there was just a hiatus for a little bit.
Beau: It peaked in Baldwin Park and La Puente and El Monte.
Josh: Yeah, so crazy story. How I met Jessie was actually in Las Vegas. Hungry Ass Youth is from El Monte; I’m from Monrovia. And they had their scene, but we met in a whole different state. And we became friends, clicked and we started doing little Halloween gigs like Misfits cover bands. And then we just merged and I joined Y.A.P.O. and I took over drumming for Hungry Ass Youth.
What about the backyard scene out here then? Is it coming back?
Josh: In certain areas. I mean, obviously you saw [the backyard show in] Baldwin Park. That was good. It just really depends on the city because a lot of the shows get shut down.
Angel: Yeah I think that people are there; I just think that people aren’t throwing them as much as they once were.
Beau: There’s a lot of liability. You get fined all kinds of money.
Angel: I think when I was a kid I remember hearing with a live band you could be ticketed right away as opposed to before you get a few warnings. But if you have a banda there, it’s a little bit different.
Josh: I always felt like if you were in the band and shit hit the fan, all the people at the party got – the cops interrogated them but for us, ‘Hey, man, I’m just in the band, dude.’ ‘Let them go.’ For real that happened in San Gabriel in 2006. There was a huge fight that broke out and the cops came swarming in, helicopters and everybody was like ‘Yeah, those dudes were the ones who started the fight.’ We were like ‘Man, what are you talking about? I’m just with the band.’
What do you think makes your scene unique from other pockets in Southern California?
Josh: Nostalgia. I mean, look at James [Y.A.P.O.]. James has been here from 1984.
Angel: Yeah, he’ll remind you every time.
Josh: Well, yeah, that’s how I know so much. He has been posting old flyers and even videos. Just the scene back then to now. I mean, there’s a huge difference but I feel like it is making a comeback.
Beau: It’s not a fashion punk scene, you know? It’s not all about fucking studs, mohawks.
Angel: How everybody’s dressing..
Beau: We always wore cut-offs and a band T-shirt and flannels. You don’t have to look that way but at the same time, don’t mistake it. Just ‘cause we don’t dress that way we ain’t no fucking hipsters neither.
One thing I hate more than anything is ‘Oh, I remember when we used to be punk rock.’ Like fuck you.
Josh: I think a lot of bands are doing skateboarding too, man.
Beau: Yeah, dude. Come on. Look at the first fucking Tony Hawk fucking soundtracks. Dude introduced you to a lot of punk rock and a lot of hip hop.
Josh: Yeah a lot of the bands I look up to today are from the Tony Hawk soundtrack.
Beau: Fuck yeah.
Josh: Dude and that’s great because he promoted underground punk bands you know?
Beau: Big time. It’s something you couldn’t do without the skating scene. It went hand in hand with it.
Angel: Yeah, we benefited from that too. We’ve been to shows where people were like it’s not heavy enough or whatever the fuck. People were just there to judge. And then we go into the skate scene and they’re all about it.
Josh: Yeah, they love it.
Jessie: I think what also makes us unique is our scene is intergenerational. We have Tangwich. They started in like '95 and some of their members were in bands prior to that. And then we have Y.A.P.O. and then we have bands like us, Hungry Ass Youth. We started in 2007, but when we first came out we lied about our history because we realized that kids, at least at that time, they only paid attention to bands that were from the 80s. So we used to lie and say ‘Yeah, we started up in ’86. My uncle – my false uncle – he started the band and he died of heart failure and I carried the torch.’
Josh: It’s great, man.
What about the sound that’s coming out of the San Gabriel Valley – is there anything to be said on that front?
Josh: Yes. I mean, Tangwich has the skate/punk vibe, like the ’95 pop punk sound. But Hungry [Ass Youth] and Jizz Grenade, I feel we have a harder sound. We also listen to different types of music. I love a lot of pop punk and metal core.
Beau: You hear about a lot of subgenres nowadays but ...
Angel: We call ourselves cunt rock.
Jessie: I think what’s contributing now to this emergence of new sounds is the accessibility of music. You can get music anywhere in the world now, whereas before you really had to do your research, find out where the band was from. Now you can get all the information from Spotify.