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A conversation with Barb Rocks - Part One
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Barbara Wahli aka Barb Rocks, music promoter
Over the past three or so years, Barbara Wahli – aka Barb Rocks – has become a recognized figure on the local South Bay Area live music scene, booking bands and setting up shows at most of the venues in the South Bay as well as managing several local bands. Additionally, she is also a core group member of the community outreach movement that created and hosts Left Coast Live, a premier downtown San Jose (and hopefully annual!) music event, as well as being on the West Fest committee, which organizes this annual all-ages show at West Valley College. As if all of that wasn’t enough, Barb is also a contributing writer to Santa Cruz-based Your Music Magazine and used to contribute CD reviews to San Jose-based Zero Magazine.
Recently, I sat down for lunch with Barb to discuss the current state-of-affairs with regards to the South Bay live music scene.As a heads-up - given the sheer volume of information I got from Barb, this is part one of a two-part interview.
South Bay Rock Music Examiner: Tell me how you got into the business of promoting bands and putting together shows.
Barb Rocks: Being that I was in my 30s and recently divorced, I kind of realized that I wasn’t really following my passion in life. So on a drunken night at The Brit – with really horrible grunting death metal bands that had been playing there a few nights in a row – I and my friends were complaining to the owner and I made a very big scene, telling him that I knew better local bands that he should book in his venue. At the time, I only knew three bands. But I talked big and he, who was also a big talker, threw it right back at me and told me to put a show together for him. I said “Give me a date” and he walked back and got the calendar and gave me a date. I called the three bands I knew…..and booked them. Then I asked him for more dates and he thought I was crazy because I hadn’t even had my first show yet. So, I kind of conned him into giving me more dates - and he did - and my first show had about 175 people at it. That was the start of Barb Rocks. He kind of even came up with the name. A friend of ours used to always say, “Barb, you rock!” and so the “Barb Rocks” thing sort of started from there. When I was going back and forth challenging him, my friend said “You should do a show, you should call Barb Rocks Presents!”
After that first show, where I booked the three bands I knew, I had to go find bands! So I went to every show in San Jose, everywhere, wherever I could go, I went. That’s how I built up the whole Barb Rocks thing. I just went up to them and said, “Hi, I’m Barb Rocks, come play for me!” And bands for some reason thought I had some game or something. They actually started to play for me.
SBRME: How do you feel about the current state of the local music scene in the South Bay?
BR: Wow (pause to consider answer). I think there are some parts that are really good. We have a lot of dedicated bands that have been around for a long time, who really work hard at doing their thing and getting their name out there as much as they can, trying to play other markets. But I think as far as fans and people coming out to shows, there is definitively not as much motivation. I think that when venues like The Cactus and other venues that made San Jose a very vibrant music scene back in the late 80s and early 90s…..when those closed down I think people just stopped going out to support local music (although The Blank Club has really been doing a great job keeping the scene alive ever since The Cactus shut its doors.) Getting them out now is a lot harder. At least for the 21 and over crowd. I think there’s a lot of kids out there who are looking for all ages shows. When San Jose Skate was open there were always people out and national touring bands that came through……I just don’t think the city supports an all ages venue. They shut down a skating rink, and even The Gaslighter in Campbell closed.
So there’s the good and the bad, I guess. There’s the people that are doing a good job and there's the people who aren’t really coming out and I think people really need to be provided a better atmosphere and more live music venues and a little more variety and really encourage people to come back out. I think something like Left Coast Live is something that might make that happen.
But it definitely needs work…..
SBRME: That said, where do you see it going? Do you see any progress being made now or is moving forward, slowly but surely? Or is it just not moving at all?
BR: In the last two years I think it has been moving forward, slowly but surely. A lot more venues are doing live music. Like The Voodoo used to be just all dance, and then they started doing the live music. First it was just during the weekdays and they kept their Friday/Saturday still as their “dance club”. Then they started doing Thursdays and Fridays. So, you can see the gradual change toward it (live music) that’s been happening over the past two or three years. Mission Ale House is starting to do some live music….so you do see some venues embracing it and seeing that they need to, mostly now with the promoter’s license, that the city is basically trying to get all of the DJ and dance crowd and promoters away. But I think that stuff like Left Coast Live, if this is really a big success, will – I think – push it over the edge to maybe make the pace move faster. At least that’s the hope. So, I mean, there is some progress.
SBRME: What makes a great band? What impresses you?
BR: I think it’s a variety of things. Obviously, their music needs to touch you somehow. Whether its emotionally, lyrically, musical skills, or a combination of all of those. I think stage presence is really important and I think a lot of bands lack it. I don’t like watching a band where everyone (band members) just kind of stands there, where the rest of the band thinks that as long as the lead singer is doing their thing that they don’t really need to do anything. It’s just not fun to watch them. The more active every member of a band is, the more excited I am to see them. It adds to the energy level and you get more involved. I think eye contact is important; there are a lot of singers who sing over people instead of looking at their audience. So anytime I see, y’know, a band that has the extra stage presence, seeing the movement, that they’re passionate about what they’re doing, that their excited, that they’re jamming out themselves, that they love it…..that’s important, I think. Originality is something I look out for. I like to hear a band that might remind me of something but they also have something totally new to offer me that I haven’t heard before…..that’s just, like, “Wow, this is great, I’m not listening to Blink 182 times 500!” Because there was that period, where everyone wanted to sound like that “pop punk” and it was boring because every time you turned on the radio, everything sounded the same. And then all the bands locally were doing it and it was just, like, “Argh!” If there’s something more exciting where they are bringing something new or reviving something from the older days…..just something original and unique.
I think that’s why I like Jade of Days. Dana (lead singer Dana Kelley) has such a unique voice and she carries herself so well with it and the instrumentation and the skills with the band are not what you typically hear on the radio. I don’t even know who to compare them to. I mean I kind of want to say Paramore, but even Paramore doesn’t have what Jade of Days has in my mind.
SBRME: How much have the changes in the record industry impacted how a young local band approaches the “business” of music?
BR: Oh, completely. Completely. Y’know, you used to shop labels, major labels and get your record deal. Now with digital music there are just so many mediums, so many things that you can do, so many places to put your music, and so many ways to get discovered…..I don’t even know what the right path is anymore. I think that you just try everything and hopefully something works. I’m kind of still figuring that out. Because I don’t really know. I hear so many different stories. You might have a band that has a lot of MySpace plays….and they get signed. Or a band who sold a lot of merch, got picked up by a booking agency, and just started touring all over, sh***y venues, and barely making any money, and then getting discovered. What is really the path? Do you play as much as you can, do you try to put your music up everywhere…..I don’t really know. So, yeah, it has definitely impacted how a band gets signed and I think it has also enabled so many more bands to exist, y’know? So the competition is even greater.
Did I answer the question? I feel I may have sidetracked there a little……
SBRME: Yeah. I think so (laughs). So, what – in your opinion – needs to be done to help the local music scene thrive?
BR: I think, to make it thrive, we need to revitalize some new energy into it and make people want to come out again. And that takes the bands to get their friends, and fans, and family, and whoever to come out, it takes people to feel welcome at venues and city environments. For example, having San Jose PD everywhere doesn’t make downtown San Jose always that friendly a place to come out. It kind of scares people sometimes. It takes the community, it takes the city, it takes everyone’s involvement to get that back up and going. I just think it needs a whole new fresh look. Maybe if the image gets revamped and everyone says, “Wow, everything’s kind of different; maybe I should go and try this again?”
SBRME: Which local bands currently working the scene do you feel have the potential to break into more mainstream success?
BR: You know, that’s a hard question. I think I would answer this question very differently ten years ago than I would now. Because my taste in music has changed and I think my answer would be different than, say, a 22-year old’s would be right now. I think because I’m older, I appreciate different kinds of things more, look for more different things, maybe it’s a little more refined of a taste? So, I would probably say I am definitely a Jade of Days fan, that’s why I started managing them. I was really impressed when I first heard them play (on CD) and then when I saw them live I was really blown away and they just continue to blow me away. People might say its biased, because I manage them, but that’s what made me want to manage them. I was a fan and that’s how I became a friend. And with their new stuff they are just continuing to get better and I think with the industry right now picking up female-fronted music that has a little more intricate guitar…….I think they do have a chance. I think if the right person were to hear them, they would get signed in an instant. Kind of like Flyleaf or Paramore got big, y’know, so quickly. I think the same thing could happen for Jade of Days.
I like what Kung Fu Vampire does, because it’s kind of different, with the Gothic, and the hip hop, the opera, you know the whole feel to it……the cello, the violin.
SBRME: It’s (Kung Fu Vampire) definitely different.
BR: It’s definitely different. And I can see how that can grow. Plus, its such a stage presence thing…..it’s a show. It’s almost like you have to see them live because the CD just doesn’t do them justice…..but I think that might actually contribute to his downfall. And I don’t think he’ll like reading this…..but it (the CD) just doesn’t capture everything that you see when you see them live. It feels a little naked. Does that make sense? I mean, it’s there, musically, it still sounds good, but…..maybe because I have seen them live, I know what’s missing.
I like different bands for different reasons. This is War just played for me recently, Scott Rose’s new band, he used to play in Fingertight, I really liked Fingertight and I was really impressed with that band. I was a really big fan of The Moderna Complex and I was kind of bummed when J.C. left the band; he’s in a new band now called T Minus 7, so I don’t know if I’m going to like them, I haven’t seen them yet, I’ve only heard a few songs. But I think The Moderna Complex had some potential to get signed. They had that Tool, Deftones, kind of mix. It was very hard hitting and audiences just loved it and I could see that taking over. Northern Sun – used to be Whiskey State – with members of My Former Self; they do really great indie-rock music and have been playing acoustic lately and they’re just fabulous. There is definitely a lot of talent in that band.
I like Point 3. They are a great group of guys. I really like their music, personally, but I think the younger generation may not be as open-minded to it. It’s not exactly what’s popular right now but I personally see a lot of talent in it. And I like it. I think Mark (Mark Heaps, vocals/guitar) has a very unique voice and way of writing music and lyrics. So, when I first them, I really loved them and I’ve been a fan since. And, honestly, they’re all older (only because I think they may be in their 30s?) and you can tell they have the experience and they’re great on stage. They joke around, y’know, they’re very entertaining. They have that connecting with the audience thing down. They actually just did an acoustic set for me, last month, and it was awesome to see them play. It was phenomenal just seeing how they stripped it down, just made it really good. I loved it. Yeah, I’m a fan of Point 3.
I can throw some metal at you too. Shadow Beat Ritual and a band from San Diego called Etched in Red. I’m a really fan of both of those, I think they can make it. Etched in Red is kind of like your Tool meets some nu-metal sound. Oooo, and I forgot San Francisco’s Solid State Logic…..that’s probably my favorite local band. They are incredible and they recorded with Sylvia Massy Shivy. I think they should have been signed three years ago and I can’t believe they haven’t yet.
It is at this point where we need to end part one of my interview. Check back tomorrow or so for part two!
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