North Carolina Artist Rosali and Her Resolute Tales of Defiance Coming to Rickshaw Stop

Photo credit: Asia Harman

The cover of Rosali’s dazzling 2024 album, “Bite Down,” presents a strange, discomfiting vision. The North Carolina based singer-songwriter (born Rosali Middleman) is only slightly visible behind a blanket of green flora, her expression blended somewhere between demonic smile and anguished howl. 

That delightfully eerie visage is the perfect avatar for the album, a defiant, kiss-off record that champions resoluteness and tenacity in the face of endless challenges. It’s an album about getting up and dusting yourself off, time and again—an act that can be both tragicomic and triumphant.

“I saw a fan write online that the album cover is what healing looks like, and I kind of couldn’t agree more,” said Rosali. “This record is about healing and transformation and sometimes that isn’t pretty. It’s not just a love and light thing—it can be dark and horrible and it can also be funny. The photo is a little bonkers, but so is life.”

Released on the venerable indie rock label Merge Records, “Bite Down” is a showcase for Rosali’s considerable skills, with the album vacillating between billowing country-inflected ballads and knifelike guitar anthems that recall Crazy Horse at their finest. It’s a collection of blunt confessions, candid introspections and breezy declarations—a compendium of an artist searching for solace and finding it in unlikely places.

On Tuesday, Rosali will bring those tunes to the Rickshaw Stop, part of a two-week West Coast tour that will mostly conclude more than a year’s worth of touring behind “Bite Down,” the fourth album released under her mononymous moniker.

“Bite Down” reflects the winding, but ultimately rewarding journey of Rosali, who’s enjoying a second act of sorts as a folk-leaning artist rooted south of the Mason-Dixon line. For years, Rosali was based in Philadelphia, participating in a number of noise-rock and experimental outfits. 

After the dissolution of a longtime relationship and during the onset of the pandemic, Rosali was looking for a change of scenery. She had some friends in the Durham area and decided to visit them during the early days of Covid. Initially intending to stay for just a short visit, Rosali has lived in North Carolina ever since.

Not only did Rosali embrace living in the more bucolic settings of North Carolina, she was serendipitously closer to Merge, which is also located in Durham. After acclimating herself to her new home, Rosali contacted Merge head Mac McCaughan about releasing her new album on the label. McCaughan quickly agreed and “Bite Down” debuted in early 2024, to much critical acclaim.

“It just made sense—I was living down here and I had met Mac before when I was playing in Philly,” said Rosali. “When I had another album ready to record, I just reached out, basically to let know I was down here. Mac agreed to put the album out and they’ve been great since.”

Rosali picked an apt time to make the move, as North Carolina and the American Southeast are quickly turning into the epicenter of “indie country” sound that is having a zeitgeisty moment. Buoyed by Asheville acts like MJ Lenderman and Wednesday and Kentuckians S.G Goodman and Ryan Davis, the scene is making national headlines. With her penchant for pairing confessional, cerebral lyrics with expansive and exploratory sonic landscapes, Rosali is a natural entrant into that cohort.

“I’ve never categorized myself as country music, but I can also see how I fit within the realm,” said Rosali. “I’ve known Ryan [Davis] for many years and I’m really stoked with all the attention he’s getting. I feel a certain kinship with him, since we're both kind of on the older side of this group. But yeah, I feel very much in alignment with what’s happening here and that’s exciting.”

Rosali is quick to credit her partnership with Mowed Down, an Omaha-based band led by David Nance that has played with her on the last two albums. The squawking, feedback-heavy interjections of the backing band provides the perfect complement to Rosali’s unwavering, steady vocal presence. After being introduced by a friend, Rosali toured with Nance while playing with her former band, the Long Hots, in 2019, and the two formed an instant bond.

“It was kind of this adult going to summer camp vibe—where you’re like, ‘wow, this is my new best friend,’” said Rosali. “The whole time was a blast. And toward the end of it, Dave was like ‘we want to be your backing band.’”

For this string of West Coast dates, Rosali is hoping to record some of the performances for a potentially future live release. Once this jaunt is finished, she has a few European festival shows, but she said the plan is to decamp with Mowed Down for some more recording sessions in the near future, continuing the partnership that has been so fruitful.

After years of nestling herself within the more opaque worlds of noise rock and experimental bands, Rosali is excited about embracing the more vulnerable nature of her current outfit.

“I can be a really shy person, so I just didn’t think about putting out solo music for a really long time,” said Rosali. “But once I did, I felt like I had to continue pulling that thread. And I don’t think I can turn back at this point.”

Show Details:
Rosali with Walt McClements
Where: The Rickshaw Stop
When: 8 p.m., Tuesday, August 5
Tickets: $24, available here.

In Photos: Legendary Hip-Hop Trio Deltron 3030 Take Over the Regency Ballroom

Deltron 3030, the longtime hip-hop trio composed of producer Dan the Automator (Dan Nakamura), rapper Del the Funky Homosapien (Teren Delvon Jones) and DJ Kid Koala (Eric Yick Keung San) stopped by the Regency Ballroom on July 24  to play their legendary self-titled debut album in full. Lealani kicked off the night with an opening set accompanied by DJ Kid Koala.

A space-opera set in the dystopian future year of 3030, the album imagines the title character (Deltron Zero) rebelling against an oppressive society controlled by rich corporate interests and machine learning overlords (okay, so maybe these guys were just 1000 years early on their predictions.) As Nakamura grew up in San Francisco and Jones in Oakland, this was a hometown show of sorts for the group.

Broken Dreams Club photographer Aaron Levy-Wolins was on hand to chronicle the spectacle. A gallery of photos is below, all credited to Levy-Wolins.

Mosswood Meltdown, Oakland’s Gloriously Offbeat Music Fest, Returns This Weekend

Mosswood Meltdown, a two-day music festival that always boasts an utterly unique lineup devoid of the corporate uniformity stifling most contemporary multi-day gatherings, will make its triumphant return to Oakland this weekend.

With a lineup featuring new-wave legends Devo, riot grrrl legends Bratmobile, beloved noise rockers Osees, resurrected indie rock heroes the Exploding Hearts and longtime Bay Area mainstays Shannon and the Clams, Mosswood Meltdown continues to remain delightfully offbeat. That outsider energy is exemplified by festival emcee John Waters, the low-brow comedy auteur who has been a staple of Mosswood Meltdown for years.

On the festival website, Water sums up the attitude of Mosswood Meltdown in a way that only he can:

“Some call it “The Warped Woodstock’ or ‘An Asshole-free Altamont’ while others holler ‘Coachella, Go-To Hella’. We’re Mosswood Meltdown and we’re going to lose our musical marbles again this year with a lineup of lunatic acts that will make even the angriest punk- rocker pogo their way to paradise with a twisted smile on their dirty little faces.”

The festival kicks off on Saturday at Oakland’s Mosswood Park (hence the festival name). The opening day lineup includes the Exploding Hearts (who will be fronted by lone surviving band member Terry Six), Osees (the latest incarnation of former SF resident John Dwyer’s ongoing rock project), Bleached and a headlining performance from Devo.

Sunday’s roster features La Luz, Oakland rapper Kreayshawn, Shannon and the Clams and Bratmobile in the closing slot. In addition to the two-day festival, there will be an array of associated clubs shows in Oakland, from Thursday – Sunday. 

Tickets for the festival are available here.

LINEUP:

Saturday:
Devo
Osees
Exploding Hearts
Prison Affair
Bleached 
Niis
Diesel Dudes
Gentleman Jesse

Sunday:
Bratmobile
Shannon & The Clams
La Luz
Kreayshawn
Twompsax
Guida
L'Trimm
Tina!!!

M. Ward, Coming to Bimbo’s on Monday, Specializes in Finding “Light and Shadows”

Photo Credit: Autumn de Wilde

Throughout his celebrated, 25-year career, M. Ward has managed to sound both timeless and timely—feeling completely of the moment and also like a holdover from some lost, distant era. 

His raspy, forlorn vocals and barebones instrumental setup recall mythological figures such as Lead Belly and Hank Williams, but his influence can be clearly felt in contemporary artists like Hayden Pedigo and Ryley Walker.

He's managed to deftly transcend those competing forces—seamlessly bridging disparate eras and epochs—through an uncanny knack for finding common ground. Ward doesn’t try to define or defend that talent—he attributes that gift as something that just happens during his creative process.

“So much of writing is walking blindly into every song, not knowing exactly what you are doing,” said Ward. “I think the most important thing is to not have any fear of what’s going to happen when you’re alone in a room with a guitar.” 

A certain kind of fearlessness has been a core component of all Ward albums, most notably in his 2003 breakout hit, “The Transfiguration of Vincent,” which he’ll play in full at Bimbo’s 365 Club on Monday. That record, made in the wake of his close friend’s death (the titular Vincent), set the template for Ward’s specialty of finding the gray area between then and now—of locating that balance between joy and pain. 

The album has plenty of melancholic moments, but it is never morose or hopeless. Always a skilled wordsmith, Ward’s wry, mordant lyrics provide levity to heavy topics—managing to uncover the absurdity of daily existence, even topics as wholly sacred as love and death.

“When I’m in the writing process and something is too obviously sad or too obviously happy, it just doesn’t have staying power for me,” said Ward, who will also be playing at the Felton Music Hall on Saturday, during his swing through the Bay Area. “If it’s minor chords, singing sad lyrics, with no sense of humor or insight at all, it never really makes it to the studio. I like to have songs that have a good balance of light and shadow.”

Those gradations are found throughout “The Transfiguration of Vincent,” as Ward’s pitch black humor can be found in songs like “Undertaker,” a joyous paean to the wonders of love that is punctuated by the ominous chorus, “Oh but if you're gonna leave/Better call the undertaker.” 

Never are the disparate emotions more profound and heartfelt than in the glowing ode to the album’s subject matter. On “Vincent O’Brien,” Ward plaintively sings, “he only laughs when he's sad/And he's sad all the time, so he laughs the whole night through,” although paired with an uproarious boogie woogie piano and knifing, distorted guitar lines, that line feels more like a celebration than a wake.

The root of the “Transfiguration of Vincent” tour started two years ago, when a friend of Ward’s introduced him to three musicians from Australia, who were fans of the singer-songwriter. Performing as M. Ward and the Undertakers (an ode to the song from the album), the group barnstormed through Australia, Japan, Europe and America’s East Coast. Now, this winding journey has taken them to the West Coast, where they’ll perform a series of shows stretching from New Mexico to Vancouver.

Included in the “Transfiguration of Vincent” setlists is Ward’s unique take on the David Bowie classic, “Let’s Dance,” the penultimate track on the 2003 album. Unlike the original, Ward’s version is a languorous, loping dustbowl tune, with the chorus refrain sounding more like an exhausted sigh of defeat than a glorious act of celebration.

“I was in love with that whole record in high school, but the production on that particular song never spoke to me,” said Ward. “But I always loved the lyrics, so I wanted to see what would happen if you stripped everything back. I started performing it live and got some really interesting reactions. It’s definitely a deconstruction of the song, but I like how it turned out.”

With a tour covering half the globe, it’s already been an eventful year for Ward, but after this string of West Coast shows winds down, he said he’ll focus on writing for his next album, a follow-up to 2023’s “Supernatural Thing.” For that effort, Ward said he’ll decamp to Europe for some recording sessions. 

He’s also put the backburner on his myriad other projects, including She & Him, his long-running duet project with the actress Zooey Deschanel. The last She & Him release was a tribute album to Brian Wilson, who helped contribute vocals to the record. Ward recently attended the funeral for the late Beach Boys legend, who passed away on June 11.

“We were able to work together on several projects,” said Ward. “He was one of the biggest influences of my life. His memorial was beautiful—just a very powerful and very heavy moment.”

Looking back on that event, Ward spoke with a mixture of sadness and gratitude, that same beguiling mix that inflects so much of his work. He said he’s excited to be returning to play San Francisco after a lengthy absence, eager to perform an album that’s both mournful and celebratory, light and dark, modern and ageless.

“It’s never been too painful to revisit that time or this album,” said Ward. “It’s a combination of emotions, and that’s what makes it interesting.”

Show Details:
M. Ward and the Undertakers with Bebe Stockwell
Where: Bimbo’s 365 Club
When: 8 p.m., Monday, July 21
Tickets: $46.36, available here.

Broken Dreams Club Video Premiere: “Bastard” from Galore

Photo credit: Marisa Bazan

Anyone who dares sneak a peek at the news these days can understand why a rage room would be a nice place of refuge.

These oases of destruction are designed for people to take out their frustrations by smashing inanimate objects—glass bottles, air conditioners, old computers, you name it—to little bits and pieces. It’s a wonderful way of shoehorning catharsis into anti-social behavior, because, c’mon, everyone deserves to completely fuck something up at some point.

Galore, the great indie rock quartet out of San Francisco, fittingly stopped by a local such establishment recently to film the music video for their terrific new single, “Bastard,” the second release off their upcoming album, “Dirt.” That video is premiering now on Broken Dreams Club.

Like all Galore songs, “Bastard” defies easy convention. It’s lean and unadorned, full of crisp guitar lines and steady rhythm movements, recalling sleek and slender acts like The Feelies or The Clean. But guitarist and singer Griffin Jones’ clear, ringing vocals belie the slacker insouciance of those bands and her earnest delivery adds depth and poignancy to the song’s lyrics of self-loathing. 

Because as one could expect from a song called “Bastard,” the track isn’t exactly an ode to the human spirit. Jones catalogs her various shortcoming in a haltingly reflective manner, highlighted by her declaration that she’s “the bastard of almost everything.”

In their press materials for “Bastard,” the band astutely notes that the song is about, “in so many words, being a fuck up.”

“We’ve all messed up. I try to grow and learn from my mistakes,” Jones said in the release. “Getting older is crazy. You learn that life isn’t a joke. It feels more like a casino, fun but full of calculated risks.”

Those are heavy words of self-realization, but this song isn’t a morose dirge about disappointment. In fact, it’s fun as hell at times, no more so when the whole Galore gang—Griffin, bassist Ava Rosen, guitarist Ainsley Wagoner, and drummer Hannah Smith—jump in together for some inspired group vocals. 

Chanting, “Oh no, not me/What’s that I see/Smoky doorways/Lit windows/Who’s there,” the band sounds defiant and cheeky, evoking New Wave bands of the 80s or the kiss-off anthems of outfits such as The Breeders and Grass Widow (a beloved local act cited by Galore as an inspiration.) 

As evidenced by their highlight reel of smashery, Galore clearly had a great time making the video for “Bastard,” which was directed and edited by Taylor Giffin with camerawork from Juan Urrea. Rosen and Wagoner handled the titles for the video.  

An absolutely dynamic single, “Bastard” will only heighten the anticipation for “Dirt,” Galore’s long-awaited second LP. That effort will be released on July 25 through Speakeasy Studios SF, a San Francisco label managed by longtime musician and local mainstay Alicia Vanden Heuvel.

The late-July date can’t come soon enough, and for those who think that 3 ½ weeks is too long to wait for the new record, we might advise a visit to a rage room for some anxiety relief.

In Photos: Metallica Lights Up Levi’s Stadium

Thrash metal legends Metallica returned to the Bay Area for two headlining shows at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara last week, and Broken Dreams Club photographer Aaron Levy-Wolins was there to capture the band’s triumphant performance on June 20.

Oh yeah, nu metal survivors Limp Bizkit also made an appearance.

A gallery of photos is below, all credited to  Levy-Wolins.

Beloved Actor Michael Imperioli Bringing His Band Zopa to The Chapel

Photo Credit: Danny Clinch

Long before he was Christopher Moltisanti or Dominic Di Grasso—even before he was the ill-fated Spider—Michael Imperioli was in a band.

The beloved actor—famed for bringing pathos and complexity to volatile, tragic characters—traces his musical roots back decades, starting with a scrappy two-piece band in the mid-80s that, upon reflection, was likely not destined for greatness.

“Around 1985 or 86, I started this band with a friend that I guess you could categorize as no-wave,” said Imperioli. “There was no singer—it was two guitar players, one electric guitar and me playing an acoustic nylon string guitar, which I really just started playing. I would glue a pickup to the guitar so I could plug into an amplifier. I think we recorded some demos, but they’re lost to the ages, which is probably a good thing.”

Despite that inauspicious start, Imperioli continued to pursue his musical passions in tandem to his acting career. Since 2006, he’s been fronting Zopa, a post-punk trio that will be performing at the Chapel on Tuesday in support of their great new album, “Diamond Vehicle.”  Unlike Imperioli’s short-lived band from the 80s, Zopa’s sound is full and vibrant, a Television-meets-Galaxie 500 blend of lean and lengthy guitar-based expositions.

Imperioli said his love for music goes back to his earliest memories, when he would listen to classic rock bands like Queen and the Beatles with his family. During his teen years, he discovered The Smiths, the legendary Mancunian quartet he said is “still one of the most original bands to ever play,” before transitioning into outfits like Echo and the Bunnymen and REM. Lou Reed—who grew to be a close friend of Imperioli’s—was also a huge presence in his music fandom.

Traces of Reed’s urban insouciance can be heard in the noir-ish sound of “Diamond Vehicle”, including a rangy dual cover of Velvet Underground’s “Ocean” and “Heroin” on the second half of the album. The record is also heavily indebted to the precepts of Tibetan Buddhism. Imperioli has been a noticeable devotee of Buddhism for nearly two decades now and the fundamentals of that religion can be found throughout the music of Zopa, most noticeably in the band name, which is Tibetan for “patience.”

“I kind of stumbled into Buddhism after exploring a bunch of different spiritual paths,” said Imperioli. “It turned out that there was a great Tibetan Buddhist center right near my house where I was living in New York, and my wife and I started going there. I think it resonated with me because it’s not really a religion so much as a teaching of methods working on your mind. There is no theistic element to it—and that stuck with me.”

References to Buddhism are scattered throughout the album. In the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club-esque jam, “Love and Other Forms of Violence,” Imperioli recites a Buddhist mantra known for its “protective and purifying qualities,” and on the jaunting anthem “Red Sky,” Imperioli cites the “seven knots” of the chakra system that is fundamental to meditation.

“I try and write stuff that has meaning to it—I’m not trying to write pop songs,” said Imperioli. “Some people prefer rock ‘n’ roll music that isn’t too complicated, but that’s not what we do, for better or for worse.”

While the lyrics of Zopa contain kernels of hard-won wisdom, the sonic structure underpinning the songs is one of a dimly lit, New York City landscape, evoking last call moments at bars and neighborhoods that reside just beyond the bright lights. With their deployment of pointed guitar stabs and an understated but effective rhythm section, Zopa recall a host of New York City bands, among them the Walkmen and Interpol, but with a preference for exploratory, wandering tracks, their closest reference point might be CBGB mainstays Television.

Their sound is undeniably tight and contained, which should come as no surprise from a band that has been in existence for nearly 20 years, although Zopa’s history has not always been a straight line.

Imperioli actually met Zopa bassist Olmo Tighe on the set of a 1994 indie movie, “Postcards from America,” when the latter was just eight years old. Following that film, Imperioli kept in touch with Tighe’s older brother Michael, also an actor, over the years. When Imperioli mentioned to his pal that he wanted to start a band, the elder Tighe recommended his brother, who had turned into a formidable bassist. Olmo Tighe then suggested his friend Elijah Amitin as a potential drummer, forming the trio that makes up Zopa.

The band formed in 2006 and recorded material for their first album way back in 2012, but those songs were never released, for a variety of reasons, mostly stemming from Imperioli being located on the West Coast while his bandmates remained in New York. In 2020, Imperioli moved back to the East Coast, prompting the band to release their debut album, “La Dolce Vita,” and they’ve been steadily putting out music and touring since then.

Imperioli said the group is currently working on new material, and might have a release (either a full length album or an EP),coming out next year. In the interim, they’re excited to be playing live, particularly in San Francisco.

“San Francisco is a great city—one I always really, really look forward to,” said Imperioli, who also has at least two movies coming out this year—“The Housewife” and “Song Sung Blue.” “I have a lot of friends in the city, and places I love to go. My friend Jerry Cimino founded The Beat Museum, so I always stop by there. I’m excited to be back.”

It should come as no surprise that Imperioli is an appreciator of the Beat Generation, a cohort of citizens who embraced the same philosophical longings found in Buddhism. Whether it’s acting, music or spiritualism—Imperioli seems to be on a constant quest, and Zopa is a fitting stop along that journey.

Show Details:
Zopa with The Asteroid No.4
Where: The Chapel
When: 8 p.m., Tuesday June 24
Tickets: $33, available here.

Broken Dreams Club Interview: Whitney’s Playland

Photo Credit: Kittie Krivacic

In 2023, Whitney’s Playland released their dazzling debut album, “Sunset Sea Breeze,” one of the best records of that year. A collection of lo-fi pop nuggets and janglepop gems, the album showcased the vibrant creative partnership of founding members George Tarlson and Inna Showalter, longtime friends and veterans of the Bay Area music scene.

After a quiet 2024, the band recently reemerged with a show at the Four Star Theater on May 30 and on Friday they’ll release a 7” EP, “Long Rehearsal,” through Meritorio Records and Dandy Boy Records. Now a solid four piece with the addition of multi-instrumentalist Paul DeMartini and drummer Evan Showalter, the band will play selections from that new album as part of a record release party on Saturday at the Edinburgh Castle, alongside local mainstays Black Thumb, Mister Baby and Rhymies.

Broken Dreams Club recently connected with Showalter and Tarlson over email to catch up with the band and get some more details on the songs behind “Long Rehearsal.”

It’s been more than two years since the release of the amazing Whitney’s Playland debut album, “Sunset Sea Breeze.” What have you two been up to since that record came out?

Whitney’s Playland (WP): Our last show was in September of 2023, and we went on hiatus for a little while after George and Rachel’s son, Leo, was born in October 2023. By early 2024, we were working on writing and recording the songs that are on the new 7”. For the rest of 2024, we worked on recording and mixing the songs. In early 2025, we started practicing again in anticipation of releasing the EP. During our hiatus, Inna’s other band Magic Fig released their debut record and wrote and recorded their second album. 

Your new EP, “Long Rehearsal,” which is out this Friday, was recorded as a four piece, correct? As opposed to “Sunset Sea Breeze,” which was written and recorded primarily as an effort between just the two of you, right?

WP: Yes, this EP was definitely more of a collaborative project. 

What was that like? How was it different to have Paul [DeMartini] and Evan [Showalter] involved in the creative process from the start?

WP: On “Sunset Sea Breeze,” a lot of the songs were brought to the project fully formed by George, while a couple were melodic and lyrical collabs between George and Inna. For the new EP, Inna wrote many of the lyrics, and Paul, Evan and Inna each contributed to the instrumentation and structure of the songs. Writing the EP was great! We really enjoy and get lost in the process of recording. Everyone has a unique ear for what’s happening in the song, and we’re all on the same page with adding our contributions in the effort to make the song as good as it can be. 

Were the songs still written and composed by you two? Or did Paul and Evan help with that as well?

George Tarlson (GT): Inna and I split the lyric writing duties. I wrote the original concepts for the music but the band finished the instrumentation together. 

Inna Showalter (IS): George had already written a lot of the music for “Long Rehearsal” and “Talk” and written all the music, vocal melodies, and lyrics for “Only Daughter.” He had shared the demo for “Long Rehearsal” with me a while earlier and I quickly came up with vocal and lyrical ideas, which George helped cement, and that little keyboard melody on the second verse, which Paul executed. We weren’t sure how to start the song, and Evan’s drum fill was a fitting addition for the intro. “Talk” was definitely the most collaborative effort. Everybody was very involved with writing and arranging that track. 

The title track is a great way to kick off the EP. It’s a piece of janglepop bliss and Inna’s voice is so clear and stirring. Particularly on this song, the production feels like it’s stepped up a bit—was there a concerted effort to “clean up” the sound for this EP?

GT: Thanks! We record all our music in our home studios, which has worked great for us so far. I love how the first record's sound was a little funky and hopefully memorable, but I'm very happy with the sound of the new record. We took our time with it to try to make sure things were how we wanted them. We used more microphones on the drums and spent more time tracking and editing than we did on the first album. 

IS: Yes, we definitely took our time with these. We recorded the main tracks all together at George’s and added overdubs and additional ideas later. Sometimes we’d get together to work on the songs, or we’d record portions at home as ideas came up and send them to each other, adding what we liked to the final project and removing what didn’t work. There was a lot of exploration and experimentation. 

I also love that the opening track is so short—a very Guided By Voices (or Tony Molina) approach there. How important was it to start the EP with a real direct, concise track?

George: I'm not really sure we thought about it that much. The band has always tried to write collections of songs with some contrast, different textures, and different lengths. “Long Rehearsal” is a shorty for sure. 

The video for that song is great. Whose idea was that story? (Also, love George’s skateboarding skills—very impressive!)

IS: I remember the day the idea was born. Kittie (Krivacic) and I were at the SF Botanical Garden talking about the new songs, which we had just finished recording. Kittie is an extremely talented filmmaker. We had always wanted to collaborate on a project together, and this seemed like a great opportunity to finally make it happen. She first came up with the idea of me singing on the vintage F train car. Later that day I shared the idea with Evan, and on the spot he came up with the plot for the video: I travel across the city with a mysterious suitcase, while the rest of the band tries to track me down. I ultimately added the bit at the end where we see ourselves playing the song inside of the suitcase. It came together in a really fun way, and of course paid homage to my favorite city. I’d grown up taking the F car and always been enamored with those beautiful, colorful old trains. It turned out exactly how I envisioned it and was a very fun creative collaboration. 

“Only Daughter” seems like a pretty funny little ditty about being an outlier in a community that’s not super open to strangers. Was that narrative based on real-life experiences? Or is Lydia a character dreamed up out of the blue?

GT: “Only Daughter” was loosely based on a real neighbor of mine who came around and made quite an impression on me for being a very loopy, funny, outgoing, old artist. It’s a portrait of her in song. Although the song sort of took on a life of its own and isn’t really about that person anymore. 

I wanted to write something with a 50’s ballad influence (I was listening to a lot of that at the time). The song is set in the backdrop of the suburbs, where the cultural norm is to be a little boring. When you run into someone who fights against that, it’s like a breath of fresh air. I grew up in the suburbs and I guess I still live there, although El Cerrito is very multicultural and just a BART ride away from the City.

And in contrast to the “Long Rehearsal,” is “Talk,” which is the longest song you all have ever recorded. The latter half of the track in particular is very exploratory and improvisational, with these interesting sonic manipulations and unique instrumental arrangements (it sounds like there is a xylophone in there?) What was it like making that song—did it feel nice to loosen the reins a little bit and push the envelope beyond the typical Whitney’s Playland structure?  

GT: “Talk” is a song that took a long time to come together. We're pretty proud of the end result though. We really tried to play with the layers of instrumentation that made up the song. Mixing it was really hard because of that!

IS: When George showed me his guitar demo for “Talk” I immediately loved it and a concept for it came to my mind right away, but when it came down to executing it, nothing seemed to stick. I came up with several versions of the vocals and lyrics but none of them ever seemed to really convey what I was trying to capture. There were multiple times when I almost gave up. Sometimes there’s those songs that “don’t want to write themselves” as my friend Muzzy once put it. Ultimately I think the frustration and delay played into the theme of the song itself, which is quite fitting. Paul came over and we sat at the keyboard together trying to workshop parts. The whole time I was hearing these extra little melodies in my head overlapping with the original movements of the song and I ended up recording those on the glockenspiel. Evan added shakers and tambourine. We kept layering additional instrumentation to fill out the parts that needed something extra. When Paul added what we now lovingly refer to as the “Chris Isaak” guitars after the bridge, the song felt complete. I think all the experimentation and trial and error allowed us to grow as a band in a way that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. And of course it was extremely satisfying when it was finally finished. 

The lyrics on “Talk” seem to detail the futility of the spoken word—how what we say will never quite match what we feel. Am I reading that correctly? And if so, how do you all grapple with that disconnect as songwriters—creative people whose work is predicated in large part by an effort to connect with others?

IS: Yes, exactly. This song is about how words can never fully express what one is feeling or experiencing. It’s definitely a concept I grapple with as a songwriter. I’m a very private person. My voice and my lyrics are what really reveal who I am, and I’m constantly plagued with thoughts of “what if this gets taken the wrong way?” This is in essence what the song is about - our interpersonal relationships and the fundamental misunderstandings that occur between us and even those closest to us, due to the nature of being human. We are all in our own subjective realities and have only our words to convey our experience to others, which is inherently flawed and lacking. Still, we can’t help but try.

Do you all have any plans to release a full-length album, now that you have put out this EP?

GT: Right now, we're just going to play some fun shows this Summer. You haven't heard the last of Whitney's Playland though.

I just saw you play at the 4 Star Theater, which was your first performance in a few years. What was that experience like, being back onstage after such an extended absence?

GT: It felt great to be back together again! Good turnout, good bands, good venue. You gotta love it. 

IS: 4 Star is such a special venue. It’s an honor to be able to perform at this beautiful magical theatre that’s seen so much history in this city of ours. It’s quite different from performing in other venues in that the audience is sitting down, everyone is quiet, and you can’t make out anyone’s faces except those in the front row. It does make me more nervous than performing at a bar for example, that has more of a laid-back vibe, but I do really enjoy the feeling of theatrical reverence that I get from being on that stage. I was thrilled to open for Hectorine at their record release; I’ve always really admired Sarah and loved sharing the stage with her and her lovely talented bandmates. I also really enjoyed David’s fantastic performance as Plastic Candles. The projections were spot on for all three acts, and I am always so grateful for the hospitality of Syd and the rest of the 4 Star crew.  

You’re playing a record release party at the Edinburgh Castle with a stacked lineup of other local acts on June 21. Any other shows planned in the near future?

IS: Edinburgh Castle is one of my favorite venues and brings back a lot of fond memories from my younger years. Zack & Nick have been putting on some great shows there lately and we were lucky enough to play their first one back in 2023. We’re very excited to be back again, with friends Rhymies, Black Thumb, and Mister Baby!

GT: We have a few shows booked through the summer. We're playing August 2 at the Little Hill Lounge in El Cerrito with Ryli and Tony Jay. August 23, were playing with Aluminum and Welcome Strawberry at the 4 Star Theater. 

Any other projects you all are working on at the moment? Inna—you’ve been busy with Magic Fig—any new announcement regarding that band?

IS: There’s some figgy magic in the works - stay tuned! ;)

Show Details:

Whitney’s Playland with Black Thumb, Mister Baby and Rhymies
Where: The Edinburgh Castle
When: 8 p.m., Saturday, June 21
 Tickets: $10, available at the door

In Photos: Panda Bear Brings Pop Bliss to the Chapel

Panda Bear, the recording moniker of Noah Lennox, stopped by the Chapel for two nights of Beach Boys-inspired pop bliss last week. A founding member of the legendary freak folk/avant-garde institute, Animal Collective, Lennox was touring behind the amazing new Panda Bear album, “Sinister Grift.”

Broken Dreams Club photographer Aaron Levy-Wolins was on hand to snap up pictures of the May 20 performance. A gallery of photos is below, all credited to  Levy-Wollins.