The Rubber Band played at Rancho BEERnardo again. The Sunshine Rotary Club hosts it annually and invited us back – this time as the sole headliners for the 5-hour event. We prepared roughly four hours of songs spread across as many sets.
It was hot….not as humid as our last show at the Westwood Club, but well over a hundred degrees. I think it put a damper on the festivities, but we powered through and the crowd seemed to enjoy us. Not bad for a bunch of middle-aged Dads.
We have one more show coming up before we pack it in for the holidays – our annual Halloween block party. More on that soon!
About a year ago I was at my daughter, Kaylee’s, cheer competitions at the San Diego Convention Center downtown. I took a break and headed to nearby Seaport Village and ended up sitting on an empty pier that overlooked a few rusty fishing boats. I think it was actually called “Tuna Pier” or something – and I started thinking about the Portuguese side of my family and what that pier was probably like when San Diego was a booming tuna / fishing town. Then, my mom asked me if I’d write something about my grandfather and Point Loma – and well, this song is kinda’ all of that.
Here are the lyrics :
“Tunaville”
Down by the waters edge Where the seiner ships rust away I rested on a mooring On a pier next to the bay
A voice woke me from my daydream As it broke into a song. She stood amongst the hustle. But only her voice belonged.
She sang of small islands And the homes up in the hills. Where neighbors felt like cousins She called it Tunaville.
She sang of boats painted white. A parade and the grand hall. How her uncles fished the coastline. They didn’t have much, but had it all
…but, the tourists – they ignored her As the seiners rusted in the bay And the seagulls – they kept calling. But … I couldn’t look away
I couldn’t look away
When the canneries closed, she sang And the fishermen all stayed home. While the seiner ships sat idle. In the bay all alone
And I looked around me. Surrounded by tourist traps. And the girl, she smiled sadly. But I couldn’t smile back. Ohhh……
…but, the tourists – they ignored her As the seiners rusted in the bay And the seagulls – they kept calling. But … I couldn’t look away
I couldn’t look away
Then the girl – she stopped singing The tourists had all gone. The seagulls had flown off But I heard faint applause.
From one of the old seiners A lone sailor arose. He said just one word, “Obrigado” And then the girl – she was gone.
Live life. Stay Healthy. Daydream a little. – Scott
The Labor Day show was a learning experience. We played on the hottest day of the year. I clocked 102 and 80% humidity at one point. The equipment started overheating almost immediately. First, the iPads stopped responding to touch. Next, the router overheated and gave out, making it impossible to connect. We ended up bringing in fans and ice packs to cool everything down, but the condensation made everything worse as water spilled out onto Aaron’s keyboard.
So, yeah. Brutal.
But, rumor has it? We sounded great. I mean – sure, maybe everyone was delirious from the heat, but after we killed the mains I had a handful of people come up to me and want to talk.
One handed me a twenty. “A tip”, he said.
The other really wanted to play with us, or at least know how to start his own band.
How to start a band … ?
“I don’t really know what to tell you,” I replied. “There’s a bit of magic involved in getting six guys with competing responsibilities together once a week.”
I’m always a little amazed when it all comes together – even for a weekly rehearsal. I’m also a little amazed that people come to me asking, “How?” Like I’m some professional musician or something. At best, I’m the most average at everything that ever walked the stage.
“Look”, I told him.
“Find one person to play with. Just one.”, I said, “You don’t have to be good. You just gotta’ show up.”
Told I was horrible when I started. Shawn, too. We both started playing together 5 years ago as I was winding down cancer treatment. I played three chords and he played drums back then – poorly.
“You have friends you used to play with, right?”, I asked, recalling what he had told me.
He nodded.
“My guess is they are just like you. They have kids, jobs, responsibilities….and they are probably looking for an outlet, too”, I said.
“So find one”, I encouraged, “Not four. Not five. Not a band – just one. If you grow too fast it’ll all fall apart.”
“And play together and try to play out”, I suggested, “because it’ll motivate you to keep doing it – even if it is just an open mic.”
He nodded and smiled.
“And get in touch with me in two months, because I want to hear how you’re doing.”, I ended.
I kinda’ hope to hear from him again.
Special thanks to “Spoiled Bananas” and “Dencity” for opening for us. Kenn, our lead singer, invited the Bananas, a 6th Grade rock band. “Dencity” has opened for us before at last years’ Halloween show. The drummer, Benji, is the son of our multi-talented guitarist/keybaordist, Aaron.
I thought I knew everything when I was 18. Turns out I know even less at 50.
This is a song I wrote about being thrown into adulthood ( “18” ) and everyone expecting you to do the right thing, but you’re really still just a kid.
Ash and I joined a couple of friends to see “Brit Floyd”, a Pink Floyd cover band at SDSU. They were absolutely amazing.
One of my favorite albums of all time is their “Pulse” album ( 1994 ), a live recording from one of their concerts. It was unique in that they decided to mount a pulsing red LED in the case. That light blinked throughout my 4ish years of college and got a lot of play time.
It’s been a while since I shared a song. This one is called “Peace”.
I posted the video on Facebook and Instagram first. My Mom asked me, “[Do] you really feel like you’re losing control?”
The thing about “being from the 1900’s” ( hah, hah ) is that I have 50 years of anxieties and trauma to pick from. Although my days of teenage angst, rebellion, and that weird reoccurring nightmare of not being able to find my classes are far behind me, I can still draw from those experiences.
This song is actually about sitting in the computer lab at UCSD, confused, frustrated, and pounding my fist in anger while everyone else seemingly just “got” it. I never felt like I belonged there and ended up dropping out after a couple of years.
So, there it is.
I probably shouldn’t have shared that.
Just like one should never have explain the punchline of a joke, songs ( I feel ) should be left up to interpretation. You might get something entirely different out of it if I never explained the premise – even though I wrote and sang it. That’s art I guess….
Now it’s your turn.
Live life. Stay healthy. Go make some art.
-Scotti
P.S. I did eventually graduate – just not from UCSD. It took a transfer to USD and the help of some really good friends.
I wrote the lyrics a while ago but wasn’t convinced they’d work as a song seeing as how cassettes died out when recordable CDs became popular – followed by iPods, Spotify, and ( wow ) I’m feeling old here…
It took some indirect “encouragement” from my daughter for me to move forward.
“Hey, Ash”, I asked, “Do you know what a ‘Mix Tape’ is?”
“Yeah, but my friends just exchange playlists now”, she replied.
“Like – on Spotify?”, I asked.
“Yeah”, she replied.
Okay, so – not entirely the same thing, but at least “mixtape” is in the teenage vernacular.
Thing is?
I used to love mixtapes.
There was something so personal and endearing about someone spending time to record a tape ( often from the radio ), decorating it with sharpies and ballpoint pens, and giving it away as a token of their friendship. Those songs offered a glimpse of “who” someone was, too.
I feel like it’s a lost art – one of the many things that got pushed to the wayside in the rush to modernize and optimize everything. A Spotify playlist is way more convenient, sure, but it just isn’t the same…
