James Patrick Regan is a Bay Area guitarist who has been leaving his musical fingerprints on the local music scene since his first band, St. Laurent, first got big back in the eighties. Currently, he’s got good gigs going with his low key band, Urban Slack, and is also having a lot of fun with his new surf punk band, The Deadly (or potentially harmful) Surfinatics. But his work with St. Laurent isn’t all in the past; the band has recently come back together and recorded a new CD which James says is reminiscent of the sounds of San Francisco from about a decade ago. In this interview, James tells SFV about his experiences in the different bands, his homes away from home here in the city and how happy he is just doing what he’s doing.

What can you tell us about the basics of your musical history? I started on trumpet when I was knee high to a grasshopper. I switched to guitar when I was in middle school. In high school, I started playing in local bands all over the Bay Area. I went to Berklee College of Music in Boston and then flew as far away from there as I could to study with Keola Beamer and John Keawe in Hawai'i.

You play in several different bands â€" how does working in each of them differ from the others? Well, the Urban Slack stuff is chill music and it has the biggest reception. I play at least two gigs a week with it and it pays! The Deadly (or potentially harmful) Surfinatics is the newest thing I'm doing; it's a blast. We're playing instrumental surf tunes from the 50's and 60's and "punking" them up. People love it! St. Laurent is the band I cut my teeth with. We were big in the early eighties at the beginning of the "Glam" rock scene. We all kind of went our separate ways in different bands and a year and a half ago we put it back together and we sound much better than then. We're much more entertaining to the audience as well.

What can you tell us about St. Laurent’s most recent CD? The new CD captures us in our best form. We have a couple of new songs, a couple of old favorites we never recorded and a couple we redid from the old days. I think it's very reminiscent of bands like Head On, Benny and the Jets, SVT and Tyrant … bands that didn't record a lot but were the San Francisco sound a decade or so ago. That being said, it's new, it's fresh and it ROCKS.

Who are some other musicians in the Bay Area that you like to go out and support? The Aquamarines, Social Unrest, Pollo Del Mar and Slacktone  -  not from the Bay Area but definitely worth the effort.

Do you have a favorite SF venue? By far… Brainwash is home. Brainwash is what the Fab Mab, the Rock on Broadway or the Stone were just a few years ago, those people are family to me. And they have Great Food!

Which spots in the city can you be found in when you’re just out and about?  Well I love the XYZ bar at the W, as matter of fact I love the W period. Again, Brainwash is home. SNOB wine bar on Bush is a favorite. For neoghborhoods, you can't beat the Castro or SOMA. But you'll most likely find me at OB.

Where do you want to be (musically) a year from now? If I'm able just to keep doing what I'm doing, I'll be happy.

If there was anything that you could make sure your fans knew, what would it be? How much I appreciate them all coming out to the shows. There are so many options these days for entertainment and to make the effort to go see live music…. I love them.

If you want to go see James perform live, your next opportunity is this Saturday, June 30th, when The Deadly (or potentially harmful) Surfinatics will be doing there thing at Brainwash Cafe. For other opportunities to catch his performances, check out any of the above links.