Entrevista a Bart Mendoza

Regresa a nuestro blog Bart Mendoza (será, la suya, una presencia habitual aquí, y se lo agradecemos sentidamente), en esta ocasión con motivo de unas declaraciones suyas que nos envió en marzo‎ de ‎2005. La fotografía de The Event en vivo que las acompaña también se la debemos a él. Fue tomada en la edición de 1988 del festival New Sounds, la quinta, que tuvo lugar en el SDSU Montezuma Hall el día 27 de agosto.

1) ¿Conociste a los miembros de The Event en la escena Mod de San Diego antes de que formaran el grupo? De ser así, ¿qué impresión te causaron?

I met the guys in the band at shows here and there around San Diego. They were great - nice guys and they looked perfect, you know, both the clothes and the sound was just right. Great attitude as well, unlike some of the older surlier garage bands. Later on I booked them for shows and we did a few concerts together - that was always a lot of fun. I distinctly remember talking to Ken about The Easybeats at UCSD's Che Café.

2) Inicialmente, cuando comenzaron a tocar en vivo, en 1987, The Event eran una banda más bien orientada al power pop. ¿Les viste en directo en aquel período de su carrera? ¿Qué te parecieron como grupo? ¿Ya destacaban entonces entre las bandas Mod locales?

I saw them from the beginning, but I always thought of them as a Mod band, the real deal, not watered down ska or third hand R&B. Their youth had a bit to do with it for sure, but they wrote killer songs that sounded like classics of the sixties. Heck, with the fidelity of the demos, you could have probably passed them off as vintage material to the unwitting. The brash enthusiasm was great as well. They had a bit of swagger, with the chops to pull it off. They stood out from the pack in the same way that Silver Sunshine does from the current crop today.

3) Recuerdo que, en el verano de 1988, la demo que el grupo grabó me entusiasmó. ¿Qué te pareció a ti?

It's great stuff and no accident that I included "Pop-Think-In" on the Sound Affects compilation tape – I never understood why Voxx never issued the material on CD.

4) ¿Qué me puedes decir a nivel personal sobre cada uno de los cuatro miembros de la banda?

I always saw them as a collective presence. Ben was a great drummer and rather dapper if understated. Tim always looked serious and had a great presence with his guitar. Ken was a GREAT frontman, while Mike always had a dry wit – something he kept with The Loved Ones and Dave Gleason. I've run into to Ken on a few occasions since those days, but it's Mike I probably saw the most – The Shambles stayed at his house in our Ron Silva days while on tour and I always catch any group he's in – what an amazing bassist! He more than any of them I think would have fit in perfectly in The Small Faces.

5) ¿Tienes anécdotas divertidas sobre The Event para contarme?

Just how mesmerizing they were and how much the audience loved them – I always remember that one anecdote where they smashed up a row of TV sets at New Sounds one year. Glass flew everywhere and people packed in at the front got cut. I was worried about liability, but everyone was thrilled at the action. I remember walking by a guy who was bleeding from his face (not bad) who was excitedly retelling everyone how it had happened. The sort of things we couldn't get away with at a show today.

6) Háblame un poco de los conciertos de The Event. ¿Eran uno de los grupos más espectaculares que había entonces en San diego?

Well, keep in mind that this is the same ground stalked by Ron Silva and Ray Brandes, but yeah, they were good – though they didn't cross over to the regular public as much as the other groups, the crowd from their high school was more than enough to sustain them. I realize that most bands lifetime is only a few years at best, and things get dicey when you're young, but I always felt that the band had a lot more to offer and a second album would have been magic.

7) Háblame del club 2581, en el que The Event tocaron a menudo.

I did a lot of the booking at the club. 2581 was an all ages club located literally at 2581 University Ave. in San Diego, run by Julie, and the hub of the Mod scene at the time. It only lasted a couple of years and was a little hole in the wall, but essential. All kinds of band played there not just Mod groups – many of the New Sounds pre and after events were held there. It was pretty small – maybe 75 people legally with tables a back bar for sodas and food and a small stage, but on bigger shows, like Lyres many more would cram in there. The club moved and became a 21 and up bar called Megalopolis, basically the home of The Shambles. 2581 was really comfortable – after closing hours, the door would shut, the outside lights would go out and musicians would gather to play until the wee hours. I was there nearly every night the club was open and more than a few when it wasn't. While there are many great clubs in town, there is nothing like it in San Diego today – heck I slept on that stage more than once.

8) ¿Qué puedes decirme sobre el festival New Sounds, que tú organizabas? Sé que The Event participaron en algunas de sus ediciones.

It would be 30 bands or so from all over. The Jetset, The Risk, The Donkey Show, The Tell-Tale Hearts, and on and on. I just felt that there were a lot of great bands that were never going to come to San Diego unless there was an event like this, and a great selection of local talent that was escaping media attention. During the years that the festival ran, we had incredible support. The local papers always gave it a huge coverage – a full page, with a front page banner – the biggest radio station in town, 91X, always gave us 3 hours the Sunday night before the show to promote it. The whole show was sponsored by Secret Society Scooter Club, and I worked with different people over the years, notably Matt Fidelibus and Ron Friedman. At its peak the shows drew over 1,000 paying customers in a 14 hour show day, with multiple stages and DJ rooms, rare films and merch area, with visiting rock stars making the backstage scene, including Johnny Marr of The Smiths and assorted Bangles etc in 1987 – and we always lost money. But the main purpose was served, a great show was seen by many and my favorite bands got some great exposure. It was a lot of work though. As for The Event, they were exactly the sort of band who the festival was designed for.

9) ¿Formaban parte The Event del sector más heterodoxo de la escena Mod de San Diego? ¿Qué tipo de discos escuchaban entonces los Mods más integristas de tu ciudad? ¿Los Mods más puristas seguían a The Event?

The Event were essential to the scene, and they were latched onto by purists with a vengeance. Many people were listening to stuff like The Creation, The Eyes, The Action and so on – the rarer the better, and The Event really knew their tunes. At the time it was all about vintage Mod, psyche and garage.

10) La banda evolucionó hacia la psicodelia en 1989-1990. ¿Cómo fue recibido este cambio de planteamientos musicales en la comunidad Mod de San Diego? ¿Fue aceptado?

At the time it wasn't seen as a big deal, it was just the guys with new material. The Mod scene here loved the band until its final days – and still does. At most it seemed like a natural progression, though nothing compared to where Tim ended up with The Fucking Champs.

11) En 1988-1989 los miembros de The Event se relacionaron bastante con los músicos de The Birminghams, el grupo de Berkeley. ¿Qué puedes contarme sobre The Birminghams?

Good guys and an incredible live act – I have a tape around here somewhere from a show Manual Scan and The Birminghams did together at 2581– real cocky especially Bart Davenport. To my ears they were kind of a new younger version of The Crawdaddys. I always liked the guys, and we hung out several times in San Diego as well as the Bay Area. The Event and The Birminghams represented the new era though and it was obvious that this was the changing of the guard. Both groups always impressed me. In retrospect I suppose that was the end of the first revival, but at the time the Berkeley scene was so tight knit and happening it was the envy of scenesters the world over. To my ears (and eyes) The Birminghams always seemed to follow in the footsteps of The Crawdaddys, indeed Ron and Bart had been in The Driving Wheels together. But I have to give the frontman edge to Bart – he was manic and driven, the latter of which Ron could never be accused of.

12) Se ha comentado a veces que el álbum "This Is The Event" no refleja lo que la banda ofrecía en sus conciertos. ¿Te decepcionó relativamente el disco cuando lo escuchaste por primera vez?

Well, no. The record was one thing – and I think it's a perfect snapshot of the era, but their concerts were something else, full of energy and tight, with some great covers. I first played the album over the store stereo at the Wherehouse record store and I remember thinking how authentic it sounded. But live on a good night? You couldn't think of a better place to be.

I have to say that one of the things that I loved about The Event is how unpretentious they were. They were almost a time warp – they weren't dressing a certain way to impress anyone or writing in a certain style to sell records – they just did what they did and shook things up a little in the process – nothing like having a new band do really well to make the old guard start rehearsing again.