San Joaquin Sound

Madball, The Ataris, and Atreyu all played at The Gate at 2010 O Street in Bakersfield California. But the Gate was more about local bands than big shows. Eman ran a lot of the shows during this final era. Tons of local bands played here throughout the years. Eman was also the drummer of SymphonyNumberNine and the singer of The Rugged Spud, playing a lot of shows at The Gate himself. He is currently the frontman of Earth Expired. Listen to Episode 24 of the San Joaquin Sound podcast to hear an interview with Emmanuel Fernandez about the final chapter of The Gate.

Ceremony, Capitalist Casualties, and Melt Banana played right here in the early 2000s. Located in this building was The Boiler Room, The Gate’s noisier, louder little brother. Speaking of Brothers, Steven and Bobby Allison ran The Boiler Room throughout its run. They grew up watching their father Rob play bass in Traxter. 5 years into the Rob running The Gate, The Boiler Room opened inside of The Gate. Steven and Bobby didn’t just run the Boiler Room, they played guitar and bass in a lot of awesome bands. Bobby played in Loser Life and Steven in Symphony Number 9 and later Redadare and Niner Niner. This is Steven’s band the Crime playing the The Boiler Room. The Boiler Room gave space for Bakersfield bands like Forlorn, Calico Sunset, or Hips to play shows. Listen to episode 23 of the San Joaquin Sound Podcast to hear an interview with Steven and Bobby Allison for The Gate Part 2: The Boiler Room.

The Gate held shows for 19 years, overseen by Rob Allison. Rob grew up in Bakersfield. He was the bassist in the Christian Hair Metal band Traxter. They won the Bakersfield Battle of the Bands in 1989 and 1990. Rob started The Gate in 1997. They hosted all kinds of music and supported the local scene. They held benefit shows to raise the money for bands to record their own albums. The Gate became a home for many different local bands throughout the years. Listen to Episode 22 of the San Joaquin Sound Podcast to hear an interview with Rob Allison about the history of The Gate - Part 1.

Kris Tiner is a world class trumpet player. He has had longtime collaborations with Mike Baggetta in Tin/Bag and also pianist Cathlene Pineda. He has played in hundreds of groups including the Empty Cage Quartet, Wooden People, Psychic Temple, Evil/Live, Garden of Souls, and Vinny Golia’s Jazz for Models. Like his mentor Doug Davis, who built up the Jazz Program at CSUB (see episode 14), Kris Tiner oversees the DownBeat award-winning Jazz Program at BC. He has worked tirelessly for decades to build up the Jazz scene in Bakersfield.

It was the first Women's Music Festival in Bakersfield. The year was 1984. Performers included Buck Owens protege Susan Raye, Festival Organizer and Emcee Colette Shewcraft, Tracy Waddell and Sylvia Simms. For two years this was a benefit concert organized by the group Bakersfield Women and raised money for organizations that helped women in need. I interviewed Colette, Sylvia, and Gloria Dumler who were all instrumental in the Bakersfield Women’s Music Festival and who were activists for Gay Rights and Women's Rights. Listen to this episode of the San Joaquin Sound Podcast to hear their story and share this with your friends.

The Montereys released the 45 single Darlin (Send Me a Letter)/ Darlin (I Love You So) in 1962. It was released on the label Trans-American which was owned by movie star Aki Aleong. The lead singer was Manuel Cañez along with Tom Rey, Tom Lopez, and Santos Cepeda. The record is not extremely rare and sought after. I interviewed Santos Cepeda about his time in the band and recording this record.

The most underrated band of the 2000s is Loser Life. It's fitting because they were an underdog band, in an underdog town in the middle of the desert in California. Back in 2005, they were the flagship band of the Munoz Boxing Gym home to other legendary Bakersfield bands like The Pine and The Contaminators. They take the feeling of growing up in Bakersfield in the early 2000s and distill it into 2 minutes of punk-infused Melodic hardcore. The lineup for most of the records was Steven, Bill, Bobby and Reuben. For Episode 18 of the San Joaquin Sound Podcast I interviewed drummer and vocalist Steven Koontz. In addition to Loser Life, Steven was the drummer for The Pine and Human Mess. In addition to Loser Life, he was the drummer for The Pine and vocalist for Human Mess. Don't miss this episode.

Bakersfield California is home to the greatest country music that ever was. Everyone knows Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. But in 1972, Sonny Anglin debuted his first record: Mrs. Olsen with Today’s Tomorrows Yesterday on the B side. He’s played all the classic spots like the Blackboard, Tex’s Barrel House, Trouts and even toured the US and headlined a show at the Sahara in Las Vegas. His most iconic song would have to be I’m a Truck Drivin Pool Shootin Son-Of-A-Gun. It’s been covered by Devyn Brinsfield, The Soda Crackers and the B-Side Sing Born To Lose has been covered by Shontice Marie. Sonny Anglin is a local legend and at age 87 he is still singing multiple nights a week around town. Listen to episode 17 of the San Joaquin Sound podcast to listen to a great interview with Sonny Anglin.

Ed Sanner who is 88 years old and still working on guitars and making pedals. He worked at Mosrite, a legendary guitar company based in Bakersfield, California. For rock and roll, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, Fred Sonic Smith from MC5, and Johnny Ramone of the Ramones played mosrite guitars. Mosrites were ubiquitous in surf music, most famously played the Ventures. They even had their own model. Mosrites were originally used in country music with Joe Maphis, Buck Owens, and Roy Nichols all having played Mosrite guitars at one time or another. At the peak of production in 1968, Mosrite was making an estimated 600-1000 guitars every month. Mosrite didn't just make guitars, they made amplifiers and pedals too. The main designer of those electronics was Ed Sanner. He was one of the pioneers of early solid state amps and created the Mosrite Fuzzrite fuzz pedal back in 1966. This pedal was made famous on iron butterflies Inna gadda da vida. and Don Rich even used it on Buck Owens song Whose Gonna Mow Your Grass?In this episode, we talk about a lot of different people involved with Mosrite, so let me give you a short explanation. Semie Moseley is the founder of Mosrite. He was a great guitarist and a master guitar builder that pushed boundaries with his designs. His brother Andy Moseley also worked in the factory. The branch manager who was in charge of running the factory and ordering all the parts was Ken Gilstrap. Ed sometimes refers to him as Bilstrap. I also want to give a special thanks to Chris Goodsell who you may remember from episode 9. He has been friends with Ed for years and without him this interview could have never happened.

Prohibition is a Powerviolence band from Bakersfield, California with ties to Oildale. They have released an incredible EP: PROHIBITION'S Greatest Hits Vol. 1 that injects a country influence into Powerviolence. This interview features Liam, lead vocalist and Cannon, Lead Bassist and Backing Vocals.