Slum Brigade
Pepe’s
Silver Strand Beach, Oxnard
January 26, 2019
Tear Down: A Q&A With Slum Brigade
Victor, vocals/drums; Isaiah, vocals/drums; Jose, guitar; Roland, bass
*Interview conducted January 26, 2019 just a few doors down from Pepe’s, following the band’s set.
OXNARD, CALIF. – Victor’s got a bit of blood smeared front and center on his forehead, but he’s fine. The Slum Brigade drummer and vocalist, along with his bandmates have just finished a pretty rowdy set complete with mic banging against the head, heckling from some of the inebriated in the crowd (it was the end of the show after all) and garbled mumbling at one point as Isaiah, who doubles as drummer and vocalist, laughed through the fact that he had forgotten the words to a song or two. Blame it on not enough practice, he told onlookers.
Slum Brigade, hailing from the San Gabriel Valley, capped the afternoon show in the parking lot of Pepe’s in Oxnard’s Silver Strand Beach. The day also included sets from South Bay band 1034 and locals Civil Conflict, Bootleg Brigade and Binaural Yucca.
The four, their first time there in Oxnard, were set to check out the beach across the street after their set. But before they did that, they stopped to chat with Paradigm about the San Gabriel Valley scene, what they’re doing to breathe new life into it and the pitfalls of the P.C. police.
Victor: I’m trying to be like GG Allin, fool....
How often do you guys practice? Since you kept mentioning it during your set.
[laughter]
I: Lately –
Roland: Like two times in a row.
Victor: Yeah this week. Just because we thought we were going to have a kick ass show [here in Oxnard].
Isaiah: I was on their ass, “Guys we need to practice, because I know this one’s going to be good.”
Victor: But a year ago we practiced every day.
Isaiah: I remember my girl getting mad at me because she was like, “You need to spend time with me.”
Victor: Can call in sick to work; can’t call in sick to the band.
Isaiah: I know. I quit my Wingstop job so we could play a show.
That’s dedication.
Isaiah: Yeah, they were like, “You want to work Friday at midnight?” I was like, money or a show?
Victor: I quit my job just to get another job where I’m free weekends.
What do you guys have that’s out for people to listen to?
Isaiah: YouTube.
Victor: Nobody watches it, except us. We have 13 views. It’s us and a couple of our buddies.
Roland: And three dislikes.
Isaiah: We recorded it good through a homie, but me and him we just feel awkward doing vocals.
What else have you got coming up?
Victor: We’re playing MDC with Verbal Abuse. Our buddies YAPO and Repeat Offenders are going to play that, too. They’re from Baldwin Park.
Isaiah: That’s pretty much where we came from.... Bad Town went on for how many years and they didn’t play. They’re good but no one’s got a spot for anyone to play.
Roland: Everyone gets the same old bands.
Isaiah: We like putting big bands – like out of my pocket, I got False Confession [for a past show] – and I put them with bands like NNN, new bands.
Victor: Even if we don’t like you, we’ll give you a chance.
Isaiah: False Confession, they wanted $500 from the start and we made $100-something, $250 and they were cool. They understood. I still feel bad about that because I had high expectations. I had a lot of hope and it all came out of my pocket. But I don’t regret it because in the end, I got to see them, too.
You shouldn’t regret it. You did something for other people – you put on a show.
Isaiah: Yeah, I’m trying. A lot of people say support your local scene. None of them are there [at a show]. We had an incident where one person told the bartender, “I’m going to call the cops because you’re giving minors beer.” Why would you do that?
Somebody attending the show threatened to call the cops?
Isaiah: Yeah. Why would you do that? It’s like, we’re doing this for you, and you’re fucking it up for everyone.
Now, you guys are also the same guys who run [the show organizer] SGV’s Not Dead. How long has that been around?
Isaiah: A year because everything’s been dead so we were like why don’t we fucking do something?
Do you have a lot of shows lined up?
Isaiah: Right now – I saw your interview with Recoi!l where the last show that we threw [at the VFW, an incident occurred], so we kind of stayed away. But we also work with Los Amigos Presents, so right now they’ve got MDC and Verbal Abuse lined up and we’re helping them.
Do you see the scene coming back to the San Gabriel Valley any time soon?
Isaiah: Well, I see it as it’s like anything else. On our way [here] we saw where there was a fire in the hills and there’s grass now. It needs to die in order to be reborn again. That’s just the way it is. We’re planning on doing a kickback where everyone meets, so we get the community together.
Personally, I feel like no one knows each other. No one knows to, “Oh, should I throw a show” et cetera.
When do you think you’ll put that together?
Victor: Maybe in a month or two.
And you’re all from the San Gabriel Valley?
Isaiah: Yeah. There used to be so many punks there, but we’re the last ones left.
Is that just the result of people growing out of the scene?
Isaiah: It’s that and then it gets kind of stupid. Me and this guy’s other band had a show and a guy stabbed another guy because he was like, “Oh, Nazi punk.”
Victor: Dude, that was our second show. The guy tried stabbing me, but he fell on our drummer. I thought he fucked up his drum kit so I picked him up and then a bunch of people started fucking with him.
Isaiah: That’s partially what kills it and then a lot of kids – and this is coming from us. I’m the oldest; I’m 21. Other kids are like, “Oh, you can’t say that. That’s offensive. Someone might find that offensive.”
And that kind of kills it because this [scene] isn’t something that’s supposed to be left or right. It’s something that’s just all of us.
But we always meet people and especially over here [in Oxnard] that inspire us to keep going. Like [show organizer Hailey Hinojosa from] Punky Dorie. She’s doing her thing over here and everything used to be 21 and up. That’s kind of like with us. The backyard scene – we want something for us, for the kids.
Do you feel like you always have to watch what you say?
Victor: Yup.
Isaiah: Definitely.
Victor: It’s just a trend. Everybody’s quick to say, “Oh, fuck this. Fuck that.” Well, what about if somebody says “Fuck you”? Then they’re quick to say, “No.”
Isaiah: Then you get called a Nazi. Like, come on. I think people manipulate what’s good or bad. I get people have tensions and they’re not out there to get you. They have good intentions, but it’s all distorted and manipulated.
Victor: Like good guy, bad guy.
Isaiah: Yeah, it’s not about that. It’s about we’re all together, even if we fight. Whatever. We were throwing shows. We were at the shows. A lot of people would rumble and then say, “Let’s go get a beer afterwards.” Now, it’s just everyone stuck in their cliques and speaking their gossip.
Roland: It’s just little groups.
Isaiah: And that’s what’s killing it.
Victor: When really it should just be a fucking party.
Check out Slum Brigade March 2 at the VFW Baldwin Park
MDC, Verbal Abuse, Elected officials, SMD, Repeat Offenders and Yapo
6 p.m. All Ages, Full Bar, $10 Pre-sale, $15 at the Door