Go Folk Yourself

Wes — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:35:33 +0000

Every Tuesday at the Airliner is a different theme, like the 60s night here

This Tuesday’s event at the Airliner is GO FOLK YOURSELF and features Pierre de Reeder (of Rilo Kiley), Pete Covington (from New South Wales, Australia), Homesick Elephant and Mister Nervous (hey that’s us, we’re opening up this weeks show at 8pm with a bang… well we can get kinda loud…) and 6 other musical artists. With 2 (or more) stages running at the same time wandering through the large funky building allows you to check out many different artists in a single evening.

I had a chance to interview Vince Munoz, he’s the guy who puts these Tuesday things together, so instead of me raving away let’s see what the man who makes it all happen has to say.

“Every Tuesday I do is a different monthly event”, says Munoz,” For example the first Tuesday of every month I do an indie-electronic event (Tektonik LA). Every 4th Tuesday we’ve just started doing a ’60s night. We normally have DJs spinning ’60s soul, mod, motown, etc. downstairs, while upstairs we’ve been getting some really good local acts covering different bands from the ’60s.”

“The fact that my job is getting to listen to good bands is very cool. With Go Folk Yourself what we want to do is turn the venue into more of an experience. We want the event to be a place where artists, musicians and vendors can network and get their name out. The goal is to get really good acts that not only make the show strong and fun but also we want to give them an opportunity to come back every month and build their fans. We’ve been getting vendors and artists to setup their products, paintings, sculptures etc. in our back patio.”

“The plan for all of our events is to branch out to a bigger community”, Vince stresses,” we want to do more than just be another show with a bunch of bands.”

GO FOLK YOURSELF

APRIL 13th 2010 – 8pm

THE AIRLINER

2419 N. Broadway

Los Angeles CA 90031

- WES D

(hit the link below and read my complete interview with Vince!)

HERE’S THE COMPLETE INTERVIEW

WES (Mister Nervous):What do you look for / listen for in the artists you invite to The Airliner on Tuesdays?

VINCE MUNOZ (Swamp Monster Productions) : I’m usually searching for a band or DJ that has an original sound and presence. Good and original music is important but they also have to fit the genre or type of night we’re doing. Every Tuesday I do is a different monthly event. For example the first Tuesday of every month I do an indie-electronic event (Tektonik LA). The second Tuesday is a folk show (Go Folk Yourself) and so on. The goal is to get really good acts that not only make the show strong and fun but also we want to give them an opportunity to come back every month and build their fans.

WES: When I’ve been to past Tuesday shows I notice you seem to have a kind of festival vibe going at the Airliner: you can have 2-3 stages running at the same time. Is that what attracted you to the venue?

VINCE : Well I didn’t start at the venue as a promoter but it definitely is great to be able to book so many acts because the Airliner is a pretty big spot. For anyone attending the show, if they’d rather not sit through the setup of a taking-their-time kind of band on the downstairs stage they can go upstairs and check out who’s playing. Or if a person doesn’t necessarily care for a DJ on one of the stages they can go to the patio to dance.

WES: What local LA artists are you currently excited about… do you have a favorite band?

VINCE : A few bands/solo acts I really like that usually play for us monthly or at least every once in a while would be Coyote, Sonark, Chase Carlisle, Franklin Music School, Ryen Slegr, Ricky Berger, Cyn Electric, Zaptra, E.C.E.K. and Pierre de Reeder. Now these are only a few of a long list but they’re people that make me glad to be doing this. The fact that my job is getting to listen to good bands is very cool. Some of our resident DJs that I like as well would be N.D.A., Prophet Panther, Syntex, Cinema Stereo, Heavygrinder, A.I. and the list goes on. Oh we also had Leslie and the Badgers play once, awesome show. Hmmm favorite band of all time would have to be The Beatles of course.

WES: Are you going for a different type of night (and in what ways) when it’s a Go Folk Yourself show or a regular Tuesday show?

VINCE : Well the plan for all of our events is to branch out to a bigger community and starting this summer we want to do more than just be another show with a bunch of bands. With Go Folk Yourself what we want to do is turn the venue into more of an experience. We’ve been working on getting vendors and artists to setup their products, paintings, sculptures etc. in our back patio. We’ve had 2Bad Vintage, a shop from Echo Park, bring in a bunch of vintage clothes, necklaces, furniture and we really like the vibe. What we really want to do as well is setup games and turn the place into a small carnival. We want the event to be a place where artists, musicians and vendors can network and get their name out. We also want to possibly do more with fashion for our other events. When people come for they show they’ll be able to find out about all types of local LA art and have fun which is the most important thing in my opinion.

WES: What inspired the name Swamp-Monster Productions?

VINCE : I’ve been doing shows on Tuesdays at the Airliner for over two years and when I first started all I could come up with was the name Tank! Tuesdays. Over time I kind of grew tired of it and I now have a very recent business partner who suggested a new name. It took a while but we (probably just he actually, I’m horrible at coming up with names) came up with Swamp-Monster. It just stuck, to me it creates a visual image in your head the moment you hear it.

WES: Putting together massive shows can be a lot of work, what keeps you motivated to continue making the effort?

VINCE : A big motivation boost are the bands and DJs. A lot of these people I get to see at least once a month or more and they’re the kind of people I can tell my ideas to and get feedback. We’ve sort of become a team and also I have more people helping me these days which is great. Originally I was literally alone doing everything and it’s been fun seeing it grow but I’m happy to have people I can rely on now.

WES: What’s your favorite food (or if you prefer what is your favorite color)?

VINCE : Hahaha, well I made an omelette today and I really like those. Favorite color is gray.

WES: Is there anything you want to add, or something you’re just aching to say?

VINCE : Oh yeah, two things. Every 4th Tuesday we’ve just started doing a ’60s night. We normally have DJs spinning ’60s soul, mod, motown, etc. downstairs. Upstairs we’ve been getting some really good local acts covering different bands from the ’60s like Hendrix, Cream, The Who, The Velvet Underground, The Doors and more. I’m in a band that does The Beatles every show and this month should be fun. April 27th we’ll be having a band do Aretha Franklin so I’m pretty excited about that. Also, for any info on upcoming events or RSVP discounts, you can go to www.going.com/swampmonster to see what’s going on.

UNKNOWN THEATER 3/18

Wes — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:21:48 +0000

We’re having a party to release our new cd DRAMA! We’ll be performing the album with special guest musicians ( our friends who helped make the music on DRAMA). Two of our favorite local bands are also on the bill: yes, MY IMAGINARY FRIENDS and THE SUNDOWNERS are playing too.
We’ll be at THE UNKNOWN THEATER 1110 Seward St – Los Angeles CA 90038

Thursday 3/18 - Doors open at 10pm

$10 at the door… awesome space, affordable drinks, great music!

You’re coming, yeah?

misternervous.com » power trio

Go Folk Yourself

UNKNOWN THEATER 3/18