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Chico n the Hornets
USA
299 Posts |
 Posted - 07/19/2004 : 12:02:04 PM
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I apologize up front. I have nothing to do and I already washed the dishes. This will be long and potentially boring.
Fresno is a small town and up until I left the scene, every band was connected in some interesting way.
The summer of 1990, my friend Kyle and 'Stinky' Painter took me to small all ages show at the Metro where I first saw and heard ska.. Let's Go Bowling to be exact. I was instantly mezmorized and threw myself head first into finding out all I could about this music. Shortly thereafter, I found out that a high school buddy (Brian Dixon) was starting a ska band. I think it was called the Spiral or Cathedral or something. I played tenor sax from high school so I bid to get in... unsuccessfully. I can't remember why, but they later let me in. Our horn section consisted of myself, Stinky, and Jason Olmstead. Brian played guitar, Adam Ament on drums, Djinni Christner on vocals, and some skinny dude named Jeff Martin on bass. We established a new name, "Checkmate" and we practiced our asses off in Brian's garage a couple of times a week. It was a strange music, kind of a mix between punk, ska, and inexperience. We played one house party and were ready for the ... uh... big time.
A friend of mine at work was the girlfriend of (the late) Dave Molina who played guitar for the only other ska band in Fresno, Let's Go Bowling... seriously... no other ska band had even attempted to play ska because LGB ruled the land. Dave hooked me up with Deon Watts who was the then manger of LBG and he allowed us to open for LGB at a local 21 & over venue. None of us were old enough to be in there so they made us split directly after our show.. but we got enough of a taste to know that we were hooked.
We picked up a couple more musicians, Lenny Munoz on 'bone, and 'punk-rock' Nikki Nelson on trumpet. Nikki had a beautiful DD rack so I instantly made her my girl. She was very competitive and she began to despise Stinky Painter and his lack of musical vision. She attempted to oust him from the band but was unsuccesful due to the fact that Stinky was Brian's buddy. It was about this time that I heard a band called Jump with Joey... and I was transformed. This was ska at its best and this is the style I wanted to change to. So Nikki siezed this opportunity and convinced me that I was better than Checkmate and to start my own band. This was pretty easy for me to wrap my head around cuz I have a wicked superiority complex...LOL. My new band was named by Javier Molina.. the Tabasco Fiasco.
Tabasco Fiasco sported Scott Ables on the drums, me on tenor, Terry Crouch on guitar, Nikki on trumpet, and I took Jeff from Checkmate for bass. Nikki was not a good trumpet player so I kicked her out (I know... I'm brutal) and started to look for a new one. It was about this time that Scott realized he was too good for us and went to play with Hepcat. So in a lurch, I was lucky to locate Guss Gomez for drums and a jazz musician from Fresno State on trumpet, Tony Luna. Tony brought some bone player... I can't remember his name... but he was practically blind. It was a VERY rough start because Tony and Gus had NEVER heard of ska before... and they were clueless to the culture. I lost Jeff to some goth band so I put in my best friend Kyle Christner (later, the bass player for Linkin Park). We started to gain some local fame and things were going pretty good, save a bit of notoriety between me & Brian from Checkmate.
-to be continued-
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Chico n the Hornets
USA
299 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2004 : 12:03:01 PM
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Dean Olmstead went missing so I was asked to fill in for him on a short tour with LGB. It was the greatest time ever (I could write another story about this). I made a bunch of connections and took them home with me to start to escalate my Tabasco Fiasco project... but then.. disaster struck. At a practice, Tony and Terry staged a faux argument and everyone quit the band. I gave it a week to cool off and called Gus to see if we could get a practice together. He told me that they already got back together and that Kyle and I were replaced. That rat bastard Tony kicked me out of my own band... LOL!! The method was pure genious though... I have to give him that. The resulting band is hereby known as Los Hooligans.
With my tail between my legs I went back to Checkmate (after a short bit with a band called Suspect 72) and played merrily alongside my buddies... all the while, working on a side project called Chico & the Hornets. Chico featured Jenny Sarabian on upright, Jeremiah Owyang on bone, Sean Alderetti on drums, Braydon ? on trumpet, Scotty Moore on guitar, and a slew of on-agian/off-again keyboard players. I'm sorry for all you jazz ska fans out there who weren't able to see us live... cuz I was a cheap bastard and spent very little on recordings (and it shows). I left Checkmate when Chico was fully developed and left Chico to raise a family. I've played only here & there since.
These were great times. I fuzzily remember sitting around a kitchen table on Christmas night, 1999 with Kyle Christner and Joey Altruda. We were pounding 40s of St Ides malt liquor when out of an alcohol induced coma, Joey came to life and said to me, "hey, I know you" and proceeded to hum one of the melodies I penned. That was it for me... fullfilled, I guess.
I shared the stage with so many great bands, I hope they are still at it: LGB, SeeSpot, Bad Manners, the Specials, the Selector, Jump with Joey, Upsetters, Oceans 11, Dancehall Crashers, True Tone, Hepcat, ... tons.. I can't remeber all of them.
Anyways, thaks for letting reminice....
Manu
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Monkeyboy
Jamaica
2253 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2004 : 12:05:43 PM
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BACK FROM THE HILLS MANU?!?!?!
You might or might not remember me. I was John Withrows friend from Hoover. The crazy guy that shaved his head, yet maintained a mullett??? Anyways, mulletts gone and I now play Bass for Monkey (www.monkeyska.com)
GET CHICO BACK TOGETHER!!! So many people I know from the Fresno scene to offhanded comments by the likes of Brian "Boom Boom" Dixson and more we all ask "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO CHICO & The HORNETS?!?!?!?!"
You guys were such a GREAT addition to the Traditional scene that Fresno had: Checkmate, Hooligans, Bowling. Checkmate for obvious reasons will never reform. Hooligans and Bowling are still working on new material (And OCCASIOANLLY playing shows!) and all. There's a ton of GREAT, BORED musicians in Fresno. Contact me and I'll see about getting you intouch.
Great to hear from you "Ska Boss" (I was in the comic shop the day you showed Eric the new ink on your arm) PLEASE get Chico back together and start playing shows!!!
Support local music!
BOOK MY BAND!!! |
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vicwong
China
502 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2004 : 12:45:38 PM
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Great story, Manu. I especially liked the bits about the "staged" argument to break up the band and reform as Los Hooligans. Nowadays, there aren't enough ska musicians around to do that kind of thing. Not that I would, I love all the musicians I work with. Also, I had no idea Scott Abels was playing in Fresno. Thats wild. He's like my favorite ska drummer.
Its crazy how everyone is connected by about 2 degrees of separation in the ska scene.
As for the bands you mentioned, Jump with Joey, Ocean 11, and Seespot aren't active anymore. Joey Altruda sorta does his own studio thing. Scoring movies and the like. I don't know what happened to the members of Ocean 11. They did a one-shot reunion show last year sometime. See Spot has been sliced and diced wtih members scattered about bands in LA like the aggrolites, Chris Murray Combo, after hours. They try to throw together shows every once in a while, but unfortunately, it looks like thats gonna start happening less and less.
-Vic |
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Chico n the Hornets
USA
299 Posts |
Posted - 08/15/2004 : 11:16:56 AM
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Sorry, John... I don't remember. Don't take it personally, though... I'm a heavy drinker...LOL. Thanks for supporting us though. We had a very loyal and positive fan base in Fresno, I miss it (obviously).
Everyone from Chico & the Hornets has kinda scattered. Scotty Moore & I (by pure chance) played some ska at the Landmark a month ago. Sean was on drums. That was about as close to a reunion that we're gonna get. I'm interested in pursuing a project that I had going on a few years ago called 'Burrito Service' where I had Mike (from Sparkle Jet) playing guitar. He brought something all new to my ska sounds and I was (and still am) really interested in making it happen. His playing style really brought out a new personality, I think people would get a real kick out of it.
But for now, I'm just trying to get out and play with who ever (I had a long convo with Jeff Logan from TruTone a month ago) and get my chops back. Living in the 'hills' can make a guy rusty,... cause theres no room for the sax in a bluegrass band...
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Chico n the Hornets
USA
299 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2004 : 5:52:06 PM
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That I can recall, we recorded a total of 8 tracks on two different occasions (not counting a live recording in Santa Monica that we never heard). I own all the original DATs. Most of it is decent, lots of it is crap. We mostly used them for trying to secure gigs, not too much for sale. One of these days, I'll convert the good stuff to MP3s and share 'em.
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Jazzska
USA
81 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2004 : 11:56:40 PM
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Manu! Oh s#@t! How are you? I haven't been on this site in a while, and I thought your story was, well, interesting...LOL. Still playing your ax???
Tony "Rat Bastard" Luna
PS - I was listening to ska before you were born...LOL!
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ted
Kyrgyzstan
1864 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2004 : 12:08:00 PM
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quote:
Tony "Rat Bastard" Luna
So, uh, Tony. Any word on that T-Shirt we talked about at the LGB Birthday Bash? *hint-hint*
"I like my coffee like I like my women - tied up in a burlap sack and dragged across the Andes on the back of a donkey."
-Some guy on Slashdot |
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Chico n the Hornets
USA
299 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2004 : 7:58:03 PM
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Hey Tony! Hope everything's going well. I heard you guys just got done recording another one.
Yeah, my story is completely skewed... and rat bastard is a term of affection... really...LOL.
Keep up the good work... I bought your last one and I'll buy this one, too. Especially since I heard it features the BEST drummer ever.
Manu
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Chico n the Hornets
USA
299 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2004 : 11:40:03 PM
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I just heard that the Fresno Ska... (mother of CA ska) has another connection. Apparantly my trombone player went on the play with Monkey for a while... Jeremiah Owyang.
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zara
USA
1 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2004 : 11:04:04 PM
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I know Brain Dixon, we drank together in April at the Blue Beat Lounge, where we saw Chris Murray and the Toast.
He has this nick name for me, "Hot Pants".
Hello my name is Sara Marie
So, how does the Rollerboys movie end? |
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Monkeyboy
Jamaica
2253 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2004 : 10:30:58 AM
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It seems that at one point or another EVERY ska musician worth their weiht in salt from/in California has played with See Spot/Mobtown/Allentons, Checkmate/Los Hooligans/Bowling and or Monkey!!!
I know we've had last count something like 38-40 musicians come and go in our 8 year span.
Support local music!
BOOK MY BAND!!! |
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Chico n the Hornets
USA
299 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2004 : 6:07:03 PM
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when can I play with Monkey? Apparantly, that is last thing I need to do to get my Weeblos Ska Badge...
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oldskaguy
5 Posts |
Posted - 10/08/2004 : 11:00:51 AM
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Hey Manu, this is Eric from King Sugar. I ran across this doing a search for Checkmate to see what might be out there. Anyway, I just thought I would add two bands to your Fresno history. My old band, Kyber Rifles, which was the precursor to Let's Go Bowling and the other was I think, Secret Beat. Secret Beat was a bit more Mod and had Ronnie Woods who later drummed for the Miss Alans. Kyber Rifles was probably the first known ska band in Fresno. Marc Michelle the bass player in Let's Go Bowling was the bass player in Kyber Rifles.
Anyway, this was in 1984-85, so a bit before everyone's time probably.
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Chico n the Hornets
USA
299 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2004 : 5:02:23 PM
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Yea, I remember Kyber Rifles. I had a 45 from them in 1989 (I think). There's also the King Sugar connection if you guys decide to keep me around. I think we got some real work done on Wed... remember I'm real rusty....LOL.
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TheJokes
96 Posts |
Posted - 10/11/2004 : 11:09:46 PM
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My friend Joelle who works with me in Fresno said she ran into someone from King Sugar at the Brig. How can I get contact info from you guys (website, email?)
Higgins
www.thejokesband.com
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connections - Fresno Ska (really long) part 1
