screams, whispers and songs from planet earth

Tag: Fort King

Fort King: Everything Falls Apart (a tribute to Charles Bukowski and the Hollywood Park Racetrack)

It’s time to briefly check in with a favorite L.A. band, Fort King. They created a simply stunning video tribute to two Los Angeles legends, Charles Bukowski and the Hollywood Park Racetrack, scripted to the soundtrack of their lovely and haunting song, “Everything Falls Apart.” Singer-songwriter Matthew Teardrop (of Manhattan Murder Mystery) stars as Bukowski. The video is directed by Mike James and features cameos by Rob Danson as a bartender at Lot 1 and Ryan Fuller as a racetrack janitor.

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Lost and Found (IX of XII)

A Los Angeles story of madness and awakening, in twelve parts

Blackwater Jukebox with Burly Temple frontman Alex Volz at Echo Country Outpost. I think.

Blackwater Jukebox with Burly Temple frontman Alex Volz at Echo Country Outpost. I think.

Part IX: A few of my favorite establishments, Urth Yoga, Echo Country Outpost and a 1am traffic jam to Costa Mesa

Out on my own now and free of amateur therapist duties, with my doomed work assignment (and dinner with cousin) behind me, I was free to relax and indulge ahead of my drive down to Costa Mesa. This day was all about hanging out in what will be, barring unforeseen circumstances, my home at some point in the future. I’d visited twice before but this time as I wandered around, I did so with the very serious thought in my head, “could I live here for a while and be happy?”

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Lost and Found (VI of XII)

A Los Angeles story of madness and awakening, in twelve parts

Ryan Fuller and Rob Danson of Fort King, at The Echo

Ryan Fuller and Rob Danson of Fort King, at The Echo

Part VI: Echo Park Rising, Sunday

Upon waking on Sunday morning, the second day of the Echo Park Rising Festival, I was badly in need of loud music, comfort food and a cozy spot to curl into a fetal position. Preferably all at once. I had a strange dream during the night. There was a paranoid and delusional crack head who had left a cryptic message on my friend’s cell phone, threatening to come by the house and quite possibly do us bodily harm. In a dazed panic, we discussed various options (call the police, take a posse back to the house, not go home that night and stay elsewhere, etc.), while standing in a drunken crowd that included a throng of KXLU DJs on the sidewalk outside the Lot 1 Cafe in the middle of the night. As the fog began to clear from my sleep-deprived brain, I realized it was not a dream. After an hour of strategizing our next move, we actually listened to the message and determined that he was not a serious threat after all. As it happened, our sleep was only disturbed by the usual roving dogs and ghetto birds. At a friend’s suggestion (thank you, Rob Danson), I grabbed my stuff, scrambled back to Lot 1 and found the safe haven, satisfying brunch and healing music I was looking for.

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The (Infamous) Eastside L.A. 2013 Midyear Round-up! (part II)

Haunted Summer ~ Photo By: Sarah Sitkin

Haunted Summer ~ Photo By: Sarah Sitkin

Here is the second installment in my four-part Eastside L.A. midyear band round-up. I’ve decided this will be my “last hurrah,” so let’s make it a good one. These are all fine bands and are highly recommended. Have a listen and see them live if you can. This time I feature Fort King, George Glass, Halfbluud, Haunted Summer, Ima Robot, Leslie Stevens, Local Natives, Many Embers, Marvelous Toy, Nightmare Air, Northern Youth and One Trick Pony (or rather, Randolph Williams’s solo projects). Here we go then, marching bravely on.

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Introducing…. Many Embers

Two days ago, I wrote about Haunted Summer. It was about something beautiful coming out of a painful break-up. Two break-ups, in fact. Out of endings come new beginnings, and the results can be quite lovely. Today, I’ve been completely captivated by a new project called Many Embers. As with Haunted Summer, Many Embers was born out of sadness. After about 6 years of recording and performing, Eastside L.A. band Death To Anders called it a day. But instead of finding a a sensible day job, lead singer and guitarist Rob Danson, along with George Glass guitarist Nick Ceglio, embarked on an experiment. With no particular goal in mind, they started recording together.

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