From Paradigm Fall 2021, issue 6.3

Against the Odds

There's something to be said about the bands that can maintain the same members year after year. But what about the ones that keep going, despite an ever-changing lineup? That's some dedication. Carson's Street Threat is a prime example. 

By KARI HAMANAKA

“It just wasn’t our thing,” Street Threat bassist Sam said of taking band pictures. A recent night outside CideShow Rehearsal Studios in Gardena marked only the second time Street Threat assembled to take a formal group portrait. 

“‘Did you record anything?’ ‘No.’ ‘Ah, fuck,’” singer Jorge Pena said mockingly of any past attempts at documenting anything Street Threat has done across its 14-year run. 

“It was just always party time. And I’m just about the music. As long as the music’s good,” Sam continued. 

The sentiment seems contrarian when so many-even the punks who say they don’t give a shit about anything-are hyper aware, or maybe it’s just baked into behavior now, of personal branding and perfectly manicured social feeds. 

Sam and Pena, along with drummer Manny Mora, are talking about the release of Street Threat’s four-song EP “Redemption,” the first release since 2012’s “Start the Chaos” in perhaps a rare moment of self-promotion for the Carson band. The album title, which might immediately conjure images of people screaming to be saved, is particularly relevant-although in a much less dramatic way-for all the fits and starts this band, like so many others, has managed to steamroll past: funding the operation, a rotating cast of guitarists and drummers and, of course, life.  

“Seems like the older you get, the harder it is [to play in a band] and the smaller the crowd gets as far as available musicians because people have jobs and lives to tend to, and it interferes,” Mora said. 

“But we’ve always just rolled with the punches,” Sam said. 

“I always felt like you guys had a lot of potential, but you never got the opportunities,” Mora said. “Or, maybe you did but…”

“It was kind of like self-sabotage,” Sam said. 

Today, Street Threat’s lineup is full and Sam and Pena, Street Threat’s lone original members, are confident the group of four meshes well with one another and there’s dedication across the board. Mora and guitarist Cokie both joined around July, with the four set to play their first show together Oct. 9 at the three-day Fresno Punk Invasion fest. 

“I feel this lineup we have we seem to jam a lot and hang out. Some old members we had, they would play and then just take off. Or, they wouldn’t want to make it to a practice. They would go off and party,” Pena said. 

Not only will Fresno be exciting coming off the Sept. 28 release of “Redemption,” but also because it’s the first time Street Threat is playing outside of Southern California. It’s a second chance considering they had the opportunity to play out there in 2016, but all four members weren’t able to go. 

“It’s definitely going to be something new for us,” Pena said. “We plan to go over there, sell some merch, play a show and meet some new people.” 

The hope is Fresno provides the push for what will be continued momentum around a music video, another album release as early as next year with the arsenal of archived songs plus new ones in the works and more out-of-town shows. 

The band appears to be in the right position to tackle all of this.  

“With [the album] ‘Us Against the World’ that was what I would say was like a high school album. We were fresh out of high school. We didn’t have a lot of responsibility and all we knew was being out on the street. Now, it’s more mature,” Sam said. 

“[The song] ‘Redemption’ I wrote about redeeming yourself, going from bad to good. We’ve lasted a long time and this is like a fresh, brand-new start. That’s kind of the redemption,” Pena said. 

In August 2007, Street Threat began practicing in Pena’s mom’s Carson backyard. 

The band’s name, which was conceived by Sam, is a riff off “street punk.” 

“It used to be a lot angrier back then,” Pena recalled of the lyrics he wrote. “I used to drink a lot heavier back then, so I used to write a lot about what I was feeling. I was a teenager. I started the band when I was 17.” 

Street Threat’s first ever gig occurred in 2008, the year following its formation. The band also released in 2008 the album “Us Against the World.” Four years later “Start the Chaos” came out. 

Despite the inconsistent lineup-mostly with respect to the band’s guitar players-Street Threat never went on a hiatus, nor did Pena or Sam feel like it made sense to change the band name when new members joined. They’ve held fast to the logic that, even with a slightly altered lineup, the sound tends to be the same. A name change, they say, would only confuse people about who they’re listening to. 

“We always kept jamming or kept in contact,” Sam said of any short pauses when they were looking for new members. “And even throughout that time, if we didn’t have band practice, I still had songs I had written. I still have songs we haven’t recorded or jammed. So even if we did take a hiatus, I would always have music to make it seem like we never took a break because I’m always playing bass.” 

That drive strikes at the main motivator for why all four of Street Threat’s members have been in the scene for as long as they have. 

There’s a true enjoyment there, Pena said. 

“You can have your day job or your girlfriend, whatever. But, when you go and chill with your band members and play shows, it’s a stress reliever,” he said. “It’s a time to get away and I’ve always had that since I was 17. That energy involved with playing shows, the excitement.” 

“That’s the same for me,” Sam said. “I would always tell everybody that would ask why I’m still in it after so many years, I’d tell them-and it’s the same thing with skateboarding and other stuff I’m into-I’d tell them I do this shit for reals, not thrills because a lot of people do this for the thrill and that can pretty much fade away pretty quick, so you’ve got to love it…. Love it and hate it.” 

“Yeah, when I get on stage, the first song you kind of know what’s going on, but with the second song and on everything just kind of goes numb,” Mora said. “You forget about everything, how you got there, whatever. You’re just focusing and then when the show ends, you’re like ‘Oh, shit. Where’s my stuff? Where’s my backpack?’ You just zoned out for the moment; it’s just fun.” 

Mora, who has played in a number of bands for just as long as Pena and Sam, got into playing the drums out of sheer boredom but fell in love with the music. He knew Pena and Sam for around a decade from running into one another at shows and knowing mutual friends. He had even filled in on drums for them at a show last year. When the band’s most recent former drummer decided to part ways, Mora stepped in, meshing well with the rest of the group. 

“For me,” he said, “I play drums; I’m not leading the band. My main objective is to keep the beat and make the songs just a little bit better, but not to go crazy. Just keep the beat.” 

A similar happenstance occurred with Cokie, who Pena and Sam knew through friends in the band Recoi!l, helping make it easier for everyone to gel. 

The coming together of the lineup, Fresno and “Redemption,” are all assembling at an opportune time with Street Threat’s sound and the members’ own maturation. 

“It’s changed for the better. It’s more complex. We were more simple back then. We used to play basic, very simple beats and it’s gotten complicated in a good way,” Pena said. 

“I’m self-taught and basically learned from our original guitar player, Mike,” Sam said. “The songs, the way we write, the music has evolved, but we still try to keep it simple just because that sound’s always worked for us. Some bands, when they progress, they lose their fan base.” 

Mora described Street Threat as good “meat and potatoes” music.  

“Their stuff is solid punk, not too thrashy metal,” the drummer said. 

To further take control of Street Threat’s own destiny, the band in 2019 started the label After Dark Records to handle their own music releases and also collaborate with other local bands. 

That goes back to something Sam pointed out earlier. Even when Street Threat wasn’t consistently practicing, he was still picking away at the bass. That was the same mentality that pushed Pena to run to Staples some 14 years ago to make himself Street Threat T-shirts with iron-on transfers or for the band to keep going, despite a cadre of former members cycling in and then out of the lineup. 

“Now, since I see we have more of a solid group that’s constantly jamming, we’re starting to head off to places like Fresno,” Pena said. “So hopefully now we can start to fulfill all those things we want to do.” 

A big part of that is bringing their music to beyond the Carson and greater Harbor Area, where their name and their talent is known. Expanding beyond their hometown had always been the challenge. 

“I think a lot of the local people in the Carson area they've known our situation, but far-out places we've never really reached. The people around us, I appreciate all the local bands around here: Deviated [State] are really good people, Recoi!l, Catacomb Rockers,” Pena said.  

Stopping isn’t in the cards for them. 

“I think after so many years playing, if you stop, you always get this little itch, right? Like, I want to do it again,” Mora said. 

“Yeah, that happens to a lot of bands,” Sam said. “They’ll stop, but there’s always something that eats at them that makes them want to do it again. And, I think we all share that feeling.” 

KEEP IN TOUCH

▶ INSTAGRAM: @street_threat

▶ MERCH: streetthreat.bigcartel.com

▶ NEXT SHOW: Oct. 9, day three of the Fresno Punk Invasion

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