June 14, 2007

For a thorough sampling of the current Bay Area rock/indie/pop/folk scene, look no further than Penny Arcade, a monthly, semi-acoustic showcase hosted by one of the cities most likeable citizens, Raul Sanchez. For the past two years, Raul has regularly packed various venues, such as the Make-Out Room -- now the event's permanent home, Bottom of the Hill, and The Hotel Utah with bands and fans alike.

Tonight, come celebrate Penny Arcade's Two-Year Anniversary at the Make-Out Room with the following stellar line-up: Mumlers, The Dodos, Nathan Moomaw & Raul and more!

Penny Arcade
Make-Out Room
3225 22nd St, SF
Tonight, 9pm, $6

If you can't make it tonight, the next few months' events are July 19th, August 15th, and September 27th, all at the Make Out Room.

Upon reading Raul's answers below, we find ourselves left with a hankering for margaritas, more local history, and of course, lots more music...

What's been the most stand-out Penny Arcade show so far?
Ooh, hard to say. They've all had their own unique moments of radness. The 1 Year Anniversary Party with The Papercuts was awesome. The Sugar & Gold gig was nuts. LSD and The Search for God were pretty cosmic…But I'd have to say the first one in 2005 still resonates in my mind quite a bit. I can't believe it's been 2 years…We had the Bellyachers, Loquat, Patrick Abernethy, the Junior Panthers, Pat Johnson, and Nathan Moomaw perform…6 acts!…My pal Greg Morantz was DJing…I don't think anyone went on stage sober…including myself. (We can vouch for that! -- SFist Leanne)

If Penny Arcade could transcend space and time, what would be your ultimate line-up of all time?
Aw man…lets see…Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem - you know the "Muppet Rock band", The Banana Splits, The Monkees, and Fat Albert's band…alright we'll throw in Billy Bragg to politicize it a bit…hmm no. Ok…Seriously? I'd have to say Woody Guthrie, Silvio Rodriguez, Big Star and George Harrison.

Got any crazy stories that happened during Penny Arcade?
Pat Johnson was scheduled to play solo, but recruited enough musicians in the audience to play with a full backing band…even the sound engineer/musician, Chris von Sneidern, got into the action playing bass…rad times indeed. (Yep, that was awesome! -- SFist Leanne)

Lots more after the jump!

What does the future of Penny Arcade look like?
There's been a great resurgence of local folk/pop/rock/indie acts that I'd love to host. A lot of new comers and new faces that I've noticed lately…it's refreshing and kinda reassuring. I guess I'd like to continue hosting nights that have a nice blend of the old guard and the new kids. I'd also like to host more female acts and maybe even acts that perform in another language or something…as long as it fits the format…which I even have a hard time describing at this moment.

We recall you mentioned that you're drumming again? If so, tell us about your new gig, as well as any past bands you'd like to talk about.
Rumors! Heh, Actually, I'm drumming with a band called The Aerosols with Joe Z. Armin on guitar/vocals and Josh Bevalacqua on bass/vocals. Great guys…super chill and rad musicians. We'll start playing shows in August.

And in the past…I've played drums in the Junior Panthers, The Damsels, saxophone and keys with The Sounds of the Barbary Coast, and guitar/vocals with Nathan Moomaw. I've also sat in and recorded with several pals including Pat Johnson, and Patrick Abernethy.

Name:
Raul Sanchez

Introduce yourself in one sentence:
My name is Raul and I have clean fingernails.

Age and Occupation:
33/Advertising Sales

Home Town:
Oakland/San Jose

How long have you lived in the Bay Area and Where (city, neighborhood etc.) and WHY?
I grew up in the Bay Area…born in Oakland, lived in Emeryville, grew up in San Jose, now residing in the Lower Haight. Been in SF for almost 10 years.

I came here under the guise of going to school but in reality wanted to play some rock and roll in San Francisco. It just seemed like it was the right place to be at that time in my life.

Favorite place to spend time online (website/blog/RSS feeds) – You Tube, Stereogum, any guitar chord site that has Teenage Fanclub tabs and lyrics, tv-links.co.uk, and yes, even fucking myspace.com…that site's a soul-killer.

Favorite local business
Amoeba, Aquarius Records, Green Apple

What I'm currently Reading
City of Quartz by Mike Davis, and re-reading some Paulo Coelho – good for the soul.

Best Deal in San Francisco
$2-3 slices at Arinell's or Serrano Pizza.

Favorite mode of transportation
My feet.

Best Band or Musician to come out of the Bay Area
Jellyfish, Sly and The Family Stone, Flaming Groovies, Red House Painters, CCR…too many to name just one!

Favorite Bay Area Stereotype, and whether or not you buy into it
That we hate L.A….I think it's just a lame thing that's been blown WAY out of proportion. Sure we have our differences, but L.A. has its own thing and we have ours…no big deal. No reason to bring "hate" into the equation.

Favorite local hangout
Casanova on Fridays, The Make Out Room, Latin American Club.

SF has the BEST
Bookstores and bars…all a guy needs.

You've never lived in SF until
You've had a run in with Tom Guido…whatever happened to that dude? Regardless I hope he's well.

Favorite Bay area politician of past or present
Harvey Milk …seemed like a very nice gentleman.

Now that Mayor Gavin is single, who are you going to set him up with?
I'm gonna set him up on a date with reality.

You can tell someone is a local here IF
…they remember the crazy hippie driftwood sculptures at the foot of the eastern span of the Bay Bridge. They were up there for ages when I was a kid.

SF would be soooo much better if only
…people reached out to one another more often.

Best Burrito
El Castillito on Church.

Best Restaurant
John's Grill

Best movie scene filmed in or about SF
Vertigo – that whole movie just rocks.

Favorite artist to come out of the bay area
Scott Campbell

Favorite author to come out of the bay area
Jack London

Place you always tell visitors to check out
Muir Woods

Favorite Bridge in the area
Bridges creep me out, but the Golden Gate Bridge is pretty damn amazing.

You have two hours and $15 bucks to kill in SF, what are you going to do?
Margaritas at the Casanova.

I have found/sold/bought the following on craigslist
…posted a garage sale on Craig's List once!

I want all the SFists out there to know
…you have the responsibility to get to know your city.

Tell us a San Francisco Story…
Bull vs. Bear fights were once held in the Mission District. There used to be a bullfighting ring across the street from Mission Dolores up until the 1850's.

Question you'd ask if you were doing this interview
None really…damn fine questions.

Penny Arcade Celebrates 3rd Anniversary (aka Raul is One Sweet Dude)

Last Wednesday night I headed over to the Make-Out Room, admittedly a place I frequent much less since they scaled back their music calendar to mostly early evening shows on the weekends. Only a year ago, I could recall dozens of times where serendipity and a disco ball promised a respectable, if not a standout night of local music on any given night for slightly more than a take-home movie. While I can appreciate any local business's adaptation amidst the new missionocracy, it still bums me out a little.

Without covers, and an innocuous dj easing the awkward gaps of conversation of its "after dinner drink" crowd, perhaps the bar is racing through a lot more Grey Goose. This is not to say I do not occasionally enjoy some of the fine dj-themed evenings they present, but it goes without saying there's something a bit more visceral about a live show. So, when I arrive, the astute doorman gives in to a couple who pleads with him to duck the cover, grab a drink, and leave before the music starts. Naturally, the moment exemplified their business dilemma, and kinda made me want to spill beer on them.

That aside, I was happy to learn that Penny Arcade (a semi-monthly celebration of local artists with a folk bent) had been awarded a regular weeknight from the club. In its brief history, the Arcade's alumni includes: The Dodos, The Papercuts, Mia Doi Todd and members of Rogue Wave and Beulah. Celebrating its third anniversary, and the hard work of its charismatic founder Raul, were San Jose's The Mumlers, Oakland's suave music vet Bart Davenport and San Francisco's nearly one man band (Nathan) Moomaw.

Moomaw, celebrating the release of his CD 26, braved the reverb chamber of chatter in the room with his breed of understated kitchen sink folk. Looping musical saw melodies, tabla and some keys underneath his deftly plucked guitar, the mild-mannered Moomaw was just shy of confessional and sometimes reminiscent of the sunnier side of Donovan as he charmed onlookers for most of his set. I found myself wishing I was listening to him around a campfire with a handful of friends for full effect. The tune "September," with its quiet annunciations and color metaphors, recalls a time when Kings of Convenience, Iron and Wine and M. Ward ushered in the "Quiet is the New Loud" era with their low decibel indie folk, before their musical "careers" and compositions became more grandiose, and some dude named Bon Iver had to lock himself in a cabin for a year to rediscover the elusive Q.

Next, clad in white from head to toe with a blouse/dashiki hybrid up top, Mr. Davenport took the stage armed with enough panache to give Shaun Cassidy a run for his favorite bell bottom dungarees. If the Bay Area published a folk music Teen Beat geared toward twenty and thirtysomethings, it's hard not to imagine who would grace its inaugural cover.

When I was new to the area, I was solely familiar with Davenport's robust, soulful falsetto on various neo-soul cuts off of one of 2004's most underrated records, DJ Greyoy's Soul Mosaic. His newish band, Honeycut, embraces the latter sound so well that I tend to lean toward this aesthetic, and feel a little overserenaded by his lovegurufolkcore and retro-fetishisms. Like, I could have gave my go-go boots the night off and subbed in my mandals (Aldo run, anyone?).

As if to concede to my sentiment somewhat himself, halfway through Davenport teased about turning off the club's famed disco ball in the hopes of stirring up the crowd some. Fortunately, he followed through with a few samba-laced duets, inspiring a few people to couples dance. A slow night for Bart, though, is like a Viagra cocktail (on the rocks) — the guy is a born performer who can somehow pull off genuflecting his way through a forty minute set of cooing folk to most anyone's amusement.

Shortly following, a septet from San Jose called The Mumlers assembled on stage with cumbersome french horns, bulky organs, an upright bass, creamy amplifiers and the collective posture of a once loved, shambled easy boy at curb's edge on the eve of garbage day. If opener Moomaw was nearly earnest to a fault, and Bart lavish as a Haight street vintage mart, the Mumlers were refreshingly nonchalant as they effortlessly channeled the spirit of their halfway sad and swaying arrangements from their latest Thickets & Stitches (2008) released on Galaxia records.

While the Mumlers may not entirely escape the breadth of consideration among higher profile indie folk ensembles like Beirut, Arcade Fire and so on, they exhibit a stylistic hodgepodge of old folk, blues and soul without borrowing a riff from their favorite LPs. Lead vocalist Will Sprott's lazy blue-eyed soul delivery can land sometimes in 60s Van Morrison territory, especially on the piano romp "Shake That Medication," but then suddenly invoke the distant sentiment of Nick Cave on the quieter, baritoned hush of "The Hinge's Lament." The versatility of Sprott and the presence of his quirky band, who are not afraid to dance to their own songs on stage, make for a compelling performance that never seems to try too hard. I may have to learn the way to San Jose to see them in their hometown soon enough.