Archive for June Owatari

The Paper Thins: Joining them for band practice

Simon Leader playing drums for The Paper Thins

Simon Leader of The Paper Thins

Michael and Will playing guitar/vox and bass (respectively) in The Paper Thins

Michael Esten and Will Hagan of The Paper Thins

“Did you bring your earplugs?” Will (who I arrived with) asked me. He led me to a nondescript building near Societe Brewing and Southern California Comics to meet up with the rest of The Paper Thins for practice. I nodded but rummaged through my purse just in case.

Sweaty and miserable from the heatwave, we trudged through the building to the practice room, where a struggling air conditioning unit greeted us.

Rich playing guitar and singing backup vocals for The Paper Thins

Rich Marques of The Paper Thins

As the band set up, they answered some questions for their biography on this site. Finally, to prepare for practice, they turned off the fluorescent overheads, leaving only the illumination of a small lamp. It gave the practice space a moody, exclusive feel. I was about to get my own private Paper Thins show!

“Wait,” Michael said. “June wanted to take pictures. Should we turn the lights back on?”

I shrugged. I only had an old iPhone, so I knew the pictures wouldn’t come out amazing. I just wanted something to record that I had been there.

They turned the lights back on for me. And I got those exclusive photos.

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A quote from Our Band Could Be Your Life

Recently, we picked up and started reading a book about the underground indie scene in America, and found a quote that resonated with us. We thought we’d share it with you, so you get an idea of our ethos.

From Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 by Michael Azerrad.

The indie movement was a reclamation of what rock was always about. Rock & roll hinged on strong, personal connection to favorite bands, but that connection had been stretched to the limit by pop’s lowest common denominator approach, not to mention things like impersonal stadium concerts and the unreality of MTV. Indie bands proved you didn’t need those things to make a connection with an audience. In fact, you could make a better connection with your audience without them.

Corporate rock was about living large; indie was about living realistically and being proud of it. Indie bands didn’t need million-dollar promotional budgets and multiple costume changes. All they needed was to believe in themselves and for a few other people to believe in them, too. You didn’t need some big corporation to fund you, or even verify that you were any good. It was about viewing as a virtue what most saw as a limitation.

Sullen Ray’s BLUE MINOR available now on Bandcamp & iTunes!

I’ve been too busy listening to Sullen Ray’s Blue Minor to really blog about it until now. The newest release from the Los Angeles duo, Blue Minor is the first of their “primary colors collection.” My favorite tracks? “Without You,” previously released as a single, and “Just For Tonight.” Both feature Dee’s vocals and her impeccable lyric-writing.

When I listen to “Just for Tonight,” I can feel the hairs on my arm stand up… Haven’t we all felt that unrequited craving for someone that we shouldn’t be craving? It’s a sexy, slow song… I imagine two people dancing, lips almost touching, and their significant others about to return any second to catch them…

Listen to “Just For Tonight” and the rest of the album on Bandcamp, or buy on iTunes and Google Play. And stay tuned for a CD release party coming up in October!