All that is night

Locals Only

San Diego’s music community was shocked and saddened when news hit that former Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower and Prayers bassist Willy Graves had died on Sunday, Sept. 14. Although the official cause of death isn’t known, sources close to the band and posts on the web report that it as an apparent suicide.

Plot bandmate Brandon Welchez (now of Crocodiles) posted a statement on his MySpace page lamenting the loss of his former bandmate:

“During our years together, we felt more like a family or a gang than we did a band. Every high and every low we experienced together. Willy brought so much to our band artistically, aesthetically, and in terms of general morale…. When the going got tough (and believe me, things would get fucking rough), we could always count on Willy to be the eternal optimist. Whether we were getting beat up in Salt Lake City, having our tires slashed in Baltimore, or getting pint glasses heaved at us in Wellington, NZ, we could always count on Willy to crack a joke or act silly to distract us from the lows…. We discovered so many things together, went through so many things together—it’s unbelievable that he is gone so young.”

Local DJ Mario Orduno (of Art Fag and Skull Kontrol) wrote on the SK blog:

“A funny, lovable, kind, talented and beautiful person. We spoke too little toward the time of his death…. But when we were together things were so great.”

A fundraiser for the Graves family is scheduled for Oct. 4 at The Casbah and will feature Kill Me Tomorrow, Crocodiles, The Muslims and Wild Weekend with Orduno DJing between sets.
—Seth Combs

Clooney gets sultry ’n’ savage

It’s somehow reassuring to learn that mega-celebrities can cut loose at a public bar when everyone’s watching. One might expect superstardom to give way to seclusion and private parties, what with all the staring, the camera-phone photo snapping and the constant douchebag buggery that famous people must endure.

Not so with actor George Clooney, who was living it up Downtown on Sept. 18 during Cabaret Night at the Hard Rock Hotel’s Sweetwater Saloon. The two most overheard comments were akin to: “Wow, he’s really short” and “Wow, he’s really hammered.” When Clooney wasn’t playing what looked like some sort of hide-the-shot-glass-underneath-the-martini-shaker game at the bar, he was all smiley-faced and impressed as he watched DJ Scooter do a sweet mash-up of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and Bernard Hermann’s “Twisted Nerve” (the whistle song from Kill Bill).

Or he was groovin’ on the dance floor and gettin’ real friendly-like with a couple of the hotties from Sultry Savage Burlesque who performed that evening—Miss Dixie Von Trixie (local musician Amanda Suter) and Miss Sophie Naugahyde (CityBeat’s own Diana VanRooy).

“Diana and I were dancing and the next thing I know George is dancing with us, his arms around us, and he kept kissing us on the cheeks,” Suter reflected in an e-mail. “We of course were kissing him back on the cheek, and at one point I realized that my lipstick was all over his face. I told him, “Hey, I’ve got lipstick all over you! Lemme get it off!” And I proceeded to wipe it off with my finger. He laughed and said, “No, keep it on!

“I just remember looking around during all of this and seeing a bunch of fake downtown blondes mad-dogging us,” Suter said, adding that Clooney “totally lives up to his charming bad-boy reputation. The guy likes to party, that’s clear. But he was totally cool and very nice.”
—David Rolland

Local Roots

After performing with acts like Public Enemy and Wu Tang Clan and winning two San Diego Music Awards (one each in 2005 and 2006), hip-hop group Deep Rooted is ambitiously plotting its next moves leading up to the release of D.E.E.P.R.O.O.T.E.D. The album is set to drop in early 2009 under a deal with the Hiero Imperium imprint Clear Label, which is operated by Hieroglyphics and Souls of Mischief MC Tajai.

Art Mitchell (aka DJ Artistic) is a self-promoter of the highest order, and it’s hard not to get caught up in his enthusiasm. The group clearly has a lot riding on the forthcoming release, as evidenced by guest spots from Exile and Blu (Sound in Color), DJ Rhettmatic (Beat Junkies), Moka Only (Swollen Members) and Killah Priest.

“I want to associate with [the highest] caliber of artists,” Mitchell says.

Judging from their new single, “Crazy,” Deep Rooted have also hit on a new production talent from—the Imperial Valley?

“G Rocka produced the first single, and he’s from El Centro,” Mitchell says.

Lately, the group is six deep onstage, with vocalist Brea, MC J.O.H.A.Z., MC/producer Mr. Brady and DJ Artistic flanked by two dancers, Boosie and Cessi.

“We wanted to get the visual element to reinforce the audio,” Mitchell says of the additions.

The ambition doesn’t stop there. Mitchell says he’d like to work with West Coast hip-hop super-group Strong Arm Steady (featuring San Diego mix-tape hustler Mitchy Slick), fellow San Diegans Black Cotton and even P.O.D. Hell, throw some soul into the mix, too.

“I wanna play with Lady Dottie and the Diamonds,” Artistic says.

Deep Rooted rocks the crowd with L.A.’s Busdriver at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, at UCSD’s The Loft, with opening sets from dance groups Bodyrock and MCIA.
—Todd Kroviak

The Enrique Experience

Patchouli was in the air as Wiccan moms and dads, Druid singles and even a pagan Pomeranian came out to Balboa Park for the sixth annual Pagan Pride Day.

The event included three spiritual rituals, a small dance stage where even the most prudish polytheist got down with an open drum circle and belly dancing by Maha Dansari, vendors selling such items as hangover tea and devil’s claw root, a Narcotics Anonymous booth and a kiddy area where the little ones got a chance to throw sand bags through a colorful hole-punched wooden pentagram for prizes.

“I think the biggest misconception is that we’re Satanists,” a member of an El Cajon pagan group said.

“We’re not Satan worshipers. Satan is a Christian mythology. We worship the Earth and its elements,” she added as a girl wearing an “I’m not a Pagan, but my Witch is” silk-screened T-shirt walked by.

Among the attendees was Michelle Rojas, a fun-loving East County pagan who sells Avon cosmetics on the side. “I’ve always been a tomboy, but my gods felt I should connect more with women and rediscover my feminine side,” she said of her job transition. “I feel that makeup has a lot to do with fairy magic.” She then pulled out the current “Halloween Tricks & Harvest Treats” Avon catalog from her tote and hooked me up with some wicked cologne samples.

“After-party at my house,” someone in the Village Witch Pagan Temple area exclaimed, proving the old adage: Ain’t no party like a Pagan party ’cause a Pagan party don’t stop.

True to the beauty-products theme, my night culminated at Kadan, where MAC artists gave makeovers in exchange for donations to their AIDS Walk team. DJ and makeup badass Diana Reyes was spinning up a storm and applying blush in tandem in the makeshift station over by the electronic darts game. Clients included Chris Bengtsson, a Swedish visitor who opted for a nude lip and a heavy dose of guy-liner.

“Man, I gotta stop drinking,” said a drifter outside the neighboring Handy Liquor as the Swede walked by. “I swear that chick had a beard.”
—Enrique Limón

Beck       Photo by NOISEMEDIA

Shot on Scene

Random Street Scene observations: If you squinted just right and you were high enough, you could convince yourself that Beck was Tommy Shaw from Styx and his bass player was Andy Dick…. Jumping over the fence by the Zarabanda Stage shouldn’t have been as hard as one teenager made it look—his not-so-graceful climb over the fence took a good five minutes, but he still wasn’t caught by security…. No one noticed when Justice, jet-lagged from the red eye from Paris, set up military cots and let the winners of a radio-station contest press “play,” “pause” and “next” while they took a nap…. Apparently, Cat Power’s public speaking classes have worked: She only lurked around the wings of the stage for 30 percent of her set…. Tegan and Sara are like a hipster Indigo Girls and The National is like a really old hipster U2. The little samples in the beer-festival area were great, so let’s go ahead and confirm full-size orders for next year’s event.