October 2011 - Dionysus Records

Dionysus bands, Dionysus mail-order cart, Dionysus Records

Warehouse find! 27 Devils Joking LP with R.K. Sloan cover art.

While poking around a closet at the Dionysus office, I came across two sealed boxes of an 1989 Dionysus Records LP release, “Smells Like Fun” by 27 Devils Joking, a guitar dominated psychedelic band from New Mexico. This is a timely find as the cover art is by the late R.K. Sloan whose art is in the current La Luz de Jesus 25th anniversary show. I’ve just put the stock in the Dionysus cart which you can find here. There are also a few copies for sale at Soap Plant / La Luz de Jesus.

October 23, 2011 by Dionysus Records

'77 Punk Legends, Book reading, La Luz de Jesus

Video from Alice Bag’s “Violence Girl’ event at La Luz de Jesus 10/11

When I found out that Los Angeles punk rock legend and personal friend, Alice Bag was about to release her first book, “Violence Girl,” through Feral House, I asked her if she would be interested in doing a double book signing event at La Luz de Jesus Gallery with photographer and friend Dawn Wirth who had just self published “The Bags – Hollywood Forever“ with previously unseen photos of Alice’s group taken in 1978. I had suggested to Alice that I’d love to play bass with her if she were to perform some songs. The night before the event, we rehearsed three songs along with Lysa Flores.

A crowd of people showed up to see Alice, filling the gallery spaces and part of the store. After the reading and performance, a long line formed for the book signing portion of the event. Alice and Dawn kept busy for two hours signing books and chatting with fans.

Alice was a trailblazer in the early punk era and her experiences growing up in East Los Angeles, being woman in the Los Angeles punk scene, and her life after as an activist, mother and teacher are documented in her book which actually started off as a blog, Diary of A Bad Housewife. Alice’s contact with friends and fans via her blog inspired her to write this book which is not only an interesting read for fans of the early Los Angeles punk scene, but a powerful and empowering read for young people, women and Hispanics no matter what music of choice!

Here’s some video of the event – shot by my girlfriend Samantha on an iPod Touch. It was a honor to play with Alice!

October 18, 2011 by Dionysus Records

Creepxotica, The Creepy Creeps, Tiki

11/12: The Creepy Creeps play Tiki Farm’s Big Ole’ Tiki Bash 3!

Tiki Farm is throwing their Big Ole’ Tiki Bash 3 on November 12 in San Clemente, CA and The Creepy Creeps will be part of the entertainment! For more information go to the Tiki Farm website or join in the thread on Tiki Central

October 17, 2011 by Dionysus Records

Creepxotica, San Diego, The Creepy Creeps

Two Creepy Creeps San Diego area shows in October

The always loveable Creepy Creeps will be playing at Hensleys in Carlsbad on October 28, with the always amazing Thee Swank Bastards! click the link for more information.

And, on October 29, the band will be playing a Halloween show at the Til-Two Club with Thee Cormans, Haunted George and Mother’s Worry.

Go – see ’em play!

October 17, 2011 by Dionysus Records

'77 Punk Legends, Events, Hollywood, La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles area events, Los Feliz, Musical archives, Silver Lake, Stuff We Like

10/15: Alice Bag and Dawn Wirth sign books at La Luz de Jesus

Punk Pioneers Alice Bag and Dawn Wirth double book signing party

October 15, 2011, 7pm – 10pm
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90027

323-666-7667
www.laluzdejesus.com
info@laluzdejesus.com

La Luz de Jesus Gallery presents Los Angeles punk rock pioneers Alice Bag’s “Violence Girl” and Dawn Wirth’s The Bags – Hollywood Forever” double book release and signing party.

Alice Bag will be reading from her new book and performing two songs on acoustic guitar, accompanied by Lee Joseph on acoustic bass. Dawn Wirth’s delicious home cooked Alice Bag Peanut Butter Brownies (packaged in brown paper Bags) will be given to the first 25 people who buy both books at the event.

Alice Bag “Violence Girl”
Alice Bag was there at the origins of L.A. punk, at the famed Masque and Whisky-a-Go-Go, hanging out with Darby Crash and the Go-Gos. But she started as Alicia Armendariz and English was her second language. She knew Mariachis better than rock music. A certain violence was passed on to her from her Mexican-American father. The proximity of the East L.A. barrio to Hollywood is as close as a short drive on the 101 freeway, but the cultural divide is enormous. Born to Mexican-born and American-naturalized parents, Alicia Armendariz migrated a few miles west to participate in the free-range birth of the 1970s punk movement. Alicia adopted the punk name Alice Bag, and became lead singer for early punk visionaries The Bags, and her Alice Bag Band was featured in Penelope Spheeris’ documentary The Decline of Western Civilization.

Here is a life of many crossed boundaries, from East L.A.’s musica ranchera to Hollywood’s punk rock; from a violent male-dominated family to female-dominated transgressive rock bands.

Violence Girl takes us from a violent upbringing to an aggressive punk sensibility; this time a difficult coming-of-age memoir culminates with a satisfying conclusion, complete with a happy marriage and children. Nearly a hundred never before published photographs energize the text in remarkable ways.

Alice Bag’s work and influence can be seen this year in the traveling Smithsonian exhibition “American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music.” “Violence Girl is published by Feral House www.feralhouse.com www.alicebag.com/violencegirl.html

Dawn Wirth “The Bags – Hollywood Forever”
Dawn Wirth is one of the few to document the “first wave” of the Los Angeles Punk Rock scene. Her initial work for various fanzines such as Flipside, Sniffin’ Glue, Gen X and White Stuff as well as the fliers she created for unsigned local bands and fanclubs helped establish the visual esthetic of American Punk. The first book in the L.A. punk series, The Bags-Hollywood Forever unearths never before seen photos of The Bags early line-up, with only 36 exposures, Dawn makes every shot count – intimate shots of a band that would change the sound of rock for generations to come. “The Bags – Hollywood Forever” – self published

“Dawn Wirth’s verite images are essential to any understanding of first wave Los Angeles punk rock 1977-79…”– Brendan Mullen, founder of the Masque

“Sometimes pictures speak louder than words and in 1977 during the early days of L.A. punk rock, Dawn Wirth was on the front lines, camera in hand, capturing the moment with terrific photographs.”– John Denny, lead singer for The Weridos

October 13, 2011 by Dionysus Records

Art, East Hollywood, Los Angeles area events, Photoblog, sculpture, Street Art, Stuff We Like

Beyond Eden ’11 Art Event draws 5000 – Slide Show and Recap

CLICK FOR BEYOND EDEN 2011 SLIDESHOW

Last weekend’s third annual “Beyond Eden Multi-Gallery Art Event” held at the historic Barnsdall Art Park / Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery in East Hollywood was vibrant and well-attended with an estimated 5000 people passing through the gallery between Saturday night and Sunday day – a fantastic turnout especially in the face of numerous competing art events and fairs during “Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980,”a multi-institutional initiative conceived by the Getty Foundation and Getty Research Institute. The success of Beyond Eden is further proof that the “New Contemporary Art Scene” (an umbrella term which encompasses Pop Surrealism, Street Art, Lowbrow, Outsider, Illustrative, Narrative and beyond ) is a force to be reckoned in the art world now, and for a long time to come.

The event, with its foundation planted firmly in California, the birthplace of the New Contemporary Art Scene, showcased the works of a half dozen Southern California galleries including C.A.V.E. Gallery, Copro Gallery, Gallery Nucleus, La Luz De Jesus Gallery (in celebration of their 25th Anniversary this year), Toy Art Gallery, and Thinkspace. Live painting demonstrations took place at the entrance and bar area of the gallery. This year’s featured events included exhibitions from Cannibal Flower (emerging LA based artists) and San Francisco’s Spoke Art (the LA stop of the traveling ‘Quentin vs. Coens’ exhibit) and a special showcase of Los Angeles street artists presented by Thinkspace and curated by local artist Euth. A screening of the ‘best of’ Sketch Theater, the online site designed to inspire creativity through time-lapsed, start-to-finish sketches from numerous artists ran continually in the gallery’s screening room. The event was topped off with a lively award ceremony, celebrating artist Anthony Ausgang on the 20th anniversary of his first solo show and his continued presence in the art world. Previous Beyond Eden award ceremonies recognized the contributions and influences of La Luz de Jesus’ Billy Shire (2009) and artist Robert Williams (2010) with lifetime achievement awards.

The event was coordinated by Thinkspace and Sour Harvest‘s Andrew Hosner with Lee of Lee Joseph Publicity for the Visual Arts and Dionysus Records. Plans are in store for the Fourth Annual Beyond Eden, in 2012, stay tuned!

Enjoy the slide show (link above) of Beyond Eden 2011 shot by Sam Graham.

October 7, 2011 by Dionysus Records

Art, East Hollywood, Events, Free Event, Los Angeles area events, Los Feliz, sculpture, Stuff We Like

October 7 and 8, La Luz de Jesus Gallery Turns 25 – Part One!

In just two more weeks La Luz de Jesus Gallery opens the biggest exhibition in their history. In fact it’s so big that it’s going to take them two months to showcase it all. This is LA LUZ DE JESUS 25.

On the weekends of October 7th and November 4th, La Luz de Jesus Gallery will be celebrating their twenty-fifth year of groundbreaking exhibitions with a show including almost everyone who’s ever been featured here. Billy Shire has masterminded and organized a monumental group show featuring over 250 artists, each of whom have contributed one new piece and a written anecdote about their experience with the gallery. This is La Luz de Jesus Gallery’s first survey, featuring three generations of the most important artists working today. There will also be a book –a companion to the show, chronicling the rich legacy of La Luz de Jesus and the movements it helped launch.
The exhibition roster for Part One is below
A full index for both exhibitions can be found here.

La Luz de Jesus 25 Part 1
Opening October 7 & 8
Friday & Saturday, 8–11 pm

La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90027
323-666-7667
www.laluzdejesus.com
info@laluzdejesus.com