Page 760 – Good Times

Opinion October 18, 2017

Steve Palopoli

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October 18, 2017

EDITOR’S NOTE

Sometimes the news happens so fast we can barely keep up with it—and when it comes to wildfires, that’s not a good thing. We had this week’s story, warning of the increased fire risk brought about by climate change, nearly ready to go when we awoke Tuesday morning to the news that a 125-acre fire was burning east of Boulder Creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It makes Stett Holbrook’s story, a letter from the destruction in Santa Rosa, hit even closer to home. The facts are disturbing, but perhaps the most important part is the “human element” that the story describes. How can we adjust to the extreme shifts in our new environmental reality, and avert—or at least prepare for—disaster?

I also want to point readers to our news section, where we’ve done something a little bit different this week. In recognition of Affordable Housing Week, which kicks off on Thursday and includes 17 events around the city (go to santacruzcommunitycalendar.org for details), we have an all-housing edition of news this week. There’s a lot there, from a look at how we might better model affordable housing to the new push for rent control. Give it a read for some new insights into what is arguably the most pressing issue facing Santa Cruz.

STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Read the latest letters to the editor here.

SCPD Chief on Homelessness

Can we break the cycle of reactionary homeless policy at the federal, state, county and municipal level?

Billy was a golden glove champ in Los Angeles. Now, at 50, Billy is a drug addict, homeless, and living on the streets of Santa Cruz; camping in front of the post office. SCPD officers woke Billy recently and as he rolled over to greet them, he exposed a handgun. Fortunately, the gun was a pellet gun, and Billy did not reach for it. He uses it for protection.

The downtown U.S. Post Office is a homeless camp and ground zero for the Hepatitis A outbreak. Since my arrival, I have spoken with hundreds of locals including the homeless. Almost everyone I have spoken with agrees that problems in and around the downtown area are untenable. The problems demand action. Now!

We know long-term relief is years out, and permanent housing for our homeless population is a long way off. Besieged by the impacts of an epidemic of heroin addiction and methamphetamine abuse, often resulting in bizarre and frightening behavior, the community is tired and stressed. The homeless exist in a wasteland of hopelessness, despised by some, enabled by others, but ignored by most of us, who just walk by pretending they don’t exist.

The challenge: Clean up the downtown area while treating the homeless with respect. In other words, SCPD should police the downtown with passion, while demonstrating great compassion. What SCPD will not do is pass the buck. We own it. If we don’t have the resources, we will find a way to partner with those who do. To protect this city, we will celebrate those who help and confront those who abdicate their responsibilities. SCPD polices with your consent, not as a private army, but a force for good.

From the Clock Tower to Laurel Street, from Front to Center streets, SCPD will spend the resources needed to ensure order. All people are welcome to visit this spectacular area, including the homeless, but SCPD and SC Park Rangers are fully prepared to enforce the law evenly, thoroughly and rigorously. It is also vital that all locals create natural surveillance by visiting the mall, walking the streets, visiting stores and creating a welcoming environment. I do so regularly both on and off duty. Please join me. Our downtown is remarkable.

Homeless people cannot just disappear. Enforcement alone cannot be an effective way to deter homeless people from taking over public spaces with shopping carts filled with their belongings if they have no other place to idle and store personal property. A place to rest does not mean a location should become a free-for-all, or an encampment. The county and city together need to provide wrap-around services such as mental health to work with the homeless. In a focused location, we can encourage all advocates, social services, and support systems to give everything they have to those willing to move forward.

Finally, SCPD will continue to implement our current policy of camping enforcement, which balances legitimate concerns of community health and safety with the needs of our homeless population. From 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. SCPD will not issue camping citations unless there is a complaint by someone in control of that property or some other crime or nuisance behavior is taking place. Instead, the police will turn its focus to finding those stealing out of your yards, cars, and homes during the night. SCPD will pursue them with vigor.

I believe we can break the cycle of reactionary homeless policy, if not, another chief in 15 years will struggle with the same problems I wrestle with now and that Santa Cruz did in the year 2002. For now, our job is to create a safer environment for everyone.

Andrew G. Mills

Chief of Police | Santa Cruz

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

Submit to ph****@go*******.sc. Include information (location, etc.) and your name. Photos may be cropped. Preferably, photos should be 4 inches by 4 inches and minimum 250dpi.

GOOD IDEA

UNDER ONE ROOF
As part of Affordable Housing Week, tenant advocates are getting together to discuss renters’ rights. The first of two free clinics—hosted by California Rural Legal Assistance and the Tenants Organizing Committee—will be at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 26 at Nueva Vista at 711 East Cliff Drive. The second will be at 1 p.m. at the Live Oak Family Resource Center at 1740 17th Ave. Contact Cynthia Berger at 222-0359 or sa**************@gm***.com for more information.

GOOD WORK

GUIDING SPOT

Activists and homeless supporters have put together a listing of free services, meals and bathrooms that they’re calling the Santa Cruz Free Guide. The list is available at the Homeless Services Center and local libraries. Additionally, there’s a separate guide for Watsonville, as well as versions of both in Spanish. For a copy of the guide, email sa****************@gm***.com, visit free-guide.org or find the guide on Facebook.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“A paranoid man is a man who knows a little about what’s going on.”
-William S. Burroughs

What does patriotism mean in 2017?

Columns

Matthew Cole Scott

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October 18, 2017

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“Apparently nowadays it’s patriotic to build walls and fire people who are investigating you whenever you do something wrong.”

Alineh Garbellini-Ghazarian

Santa Cruz

Student

“Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.”

Eric Heckert

Santa Cruz

Business Owner

“What it appears to be is unquestioning loyalty in support of troops and the flag, I guess. ”

Mellow Honek

Traveling

Retired

“A personal way of expressing one’s love and appreciation for your country. But with no particular structure. ”

Betel Yimer

Santa Cruz

Student

“I’m sorry to find that in present times it’s come to mean the same as nationalism. It shouldn’t be a problem to love your country, but it’s connected to some very sinister values.”

Morten Neilsen

Santa Cruz

Research/Education

Affordable Housing Week: Report Details Crisis for Renters

Local News

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October 18, 2017

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Affordable Housing Week: Report Details Crisis for Renters

Stacey Falls, a science teacher at Santa Cruz High School, has been keeping a nervous eye on rents in recent years, as she’s watched friends and colleagues move away.

Falls, who sat on the high school’s hiring panel, says Santa Cruz High won’t even consider candidates who would have to relocate to Santa Cruz “because it would be too challenging.”

“It’s hard for people to relocate here, and we don’t even want to go there,” says Falls. “I’ve heard stories about teachers accepting jobs, and then they can’t find housing, and they have to apologize and say, ‘I can’t accept the job because of housing.’ This is happening in Santa Cruz.”

If Falls ever became forced to move in the middle of the school year, she has no idea how she would make it work. It can take months, after all, to track down a new place—a concern her fellow teachers share. “People are freaking out a little bit,” she says.

Seventy percent of renters surveyed for a forthcoming UCSC affordable housing report are “rent burdened,” meaning they pay more than 30 percent of their gross income on rent and utilities. Surveyors for the study “No Place Like Home: The Santa Cruz County Affordable Housing Crisis Report,” spoke with 1,700 residents, who were given gift cards and renter’s rights handouts, as part of the investigation into the housing market’s impact on renters, especially those who are low-income.

“We haven’t seen another issue where people across Santa Cruz, and across income levels, come together, because we’re all experiencing the housing crisis,” says Steve McKay, associate professor of sociology at UCSC, who co-led the study with sociology professor Miriam Greenberg. The report will be out in the spring, and McKay will present the preliminary results at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 19, at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, for the first of many Affordable Housing Week events.

A majority of the survey’s respondents live in the city of Santa Cruz, with others living in Watsonville and Live Oak. McKay admits that his research group intentionally “over-surveyed low-income areas,” choosing to focus only on renters because his previous research with Greenberg showed that those are the people most impacted by housing costs.

According to McKay, 57 percent of respondents said they had experienced at least one major problem with their rental, like maintenance or the overall condition of the unit. And one in four renters, the report found, devotes 70 percent of their income to rent and utilities.

Additionally, 50 percent of renters who moved in the last five years said that move was “forced or involuntary”—most often due to eviction or a rent increase.

Tice Vierling, a massage therapist, briefly faced homelessness last month, after being forced to move out due to a 25 percent rent increase. When he couldn’t find a new place, he asked co-workers to cover all of his shifts at work for the whole month. He began couchsurfing at various friends’ houses, while looking full-time for his next home.

“I almost had to quit my job and move out of Santa Cruz,” says Vierling, who has since found housing, something he credits to knowing people in town. “If you don’t know anyone in Santa Cruz, it’s almost impossible to find affordable rent.”

Vierling, who’s lived in Santa Cruz for nearly seven years, adds that he knows a handful of people who are splitting rent with people who are not signed onto leases, just so they can afford it.

Thursday’s event, kicking off 10 days of housing-related events, will feature a full roster of housing advocacy groups, who will be tabling and passing out information. A visual and literary art exhibit on the meanings of “home” will be on display.

On the housing front, Mayor Cynthia Chase and Planning Director Lee Butler have been on a “listening tour” in recent months, to take suggestions from residents on how to address the housing crisis. Councilmember Chris Krohn says he hopes the council starts voting on possible solutions by the end of the year.

Santa Cruz routinely gets listed as one of the most expensive markets in the country, and the current housing predicament is hurting businesses and affecting local government’s ability to attract prospective employees.

Deputy City Manager Scott Collins says he’s seen that high housing costs are “definitely a factor in potential employee decisions about taking jobs.”

“This is true not only with the city of Santa Cruz, but all major employers in the region, such as the university, school districts, health care providers, etc.,” Collins says. “We are working with a group of representatives from these large employers to come up with potential solutions.”

The forum for ‘No Place Like Home: Housing Crisis Report’ will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 19 at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. For more information about the survey or the event, visit noplacelikehomeucsc.org.

Rent Control for Santa Cruz?

Local News

Jacob Pierce

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October 18, 2017

9

Sitting in traffic recently on his way to pick up his son from school, Josh Brahinsky looked around at the cars surrounding him.

Most commuters, he realized were using Highway 1 to get home from work because they can’t afford to live in Santa Cruz.

“People have not stopped working in town, but they’re rapidly stopping living here,” he says.

Along with fellow organizers from the Lower Ocean Neighborhood Assembly, Brahinsky says he has a plan to get a handle on the skyrocketing rents that are changing the fabric of Santa Cruz. “We’re not only a city that’s less creative and less diverse, we also get more congestion,” he says.

The neighbors’ idea is to pass a ballot measure establishing rent control in Santa Cruz, and tie it to the cost of living. They’re also pushing for a ban on short-term evictions so that landlords will have to give a reason before kicking out tenants. Brahinsky says they’re almost done writing the ordinance, which the group has been keeping under wraps, and they’re preparing to make an announcement about it at the “No Place Like Home” event at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium on Oct. 19.

Organizer Martin Devecka notes that their group has gotten a surprising amount of buy-in from homeowners who’ve grown tired of seeing their neighbors move away. In a way, rent control is really about creating stability in neighborhoods, Brahinsky says.

The movement first began when the group went door to door in Lower Ocean asking people about their priorities. Rent was far and away the top issue in those conversations.

Lately, there are other ideas out there about how to to address the housing crisis, as well—some of them further along than others. The Santa Cruz City Council, for instance, has been moving toward limiting the number of vacation rentals in town. And former Mayor Don Lane has been working with former county Treasurer Fred Keeley on a possible bond measure to fund new affordable housing. For the Lower Ocean neighbors, reigning in rents seems like the most effective fix—even though previous local efforts have been unsuccessful in establishing rent control, which some see as a political hot potato.

The usually very liberal economist Paul Krugman, for example, is among the country’s more well-known rent control critics. Krugman, a New York Times columnist, wrote in 2000 that “rent control is among the best-understood issues in all of economics, and—among economists, anyway—one of the least controversial.” The policy, he has argued, breeds animosity among tenants—not to mention between tenants and landlords. It creates hotly contested rental markets with long lists of applicants, who can afford the rents but can’t find a place to live, he says.

However, Maya Gupta, one of the local organizers, grew up in Massachusetts and remembers once-infamous rent control laws in the Boston area when she was young that have since been repealed in the name of giving the housing market a shot in the arm. “It’s been just the opposite. There was no change in housing supply when rent control ended,” she says, adding that rents there have since soared.

There’s also a new precedent in the Bay Area for creating rent control; the Lower Ocean neighbors have looked to ordinances in both Mountain View and Richmond while crafting their version, Brahinsky says.

He adds that the “new generation” of rent control laws has proven more effective, although he does wonder what possible changes would mean for people who already have a hard time finding a place to live.

“But working people will have homes!” he says optimistically. “Because people are leaving.”

UCSC’s Quarry Amphitheater Re-Opens as Santa Cruz’s Largest Music Venue

Georgia Johnson

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October 18, 2017

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UCSC’s Quarry Amphitheater Re-Opens as Santa Cruz’s Largest Music Venue

Every rock is intentional, event and facility manager Jose Reyes-Olivas assures me, peering down at the stage from above the Greek-style rows of seating in UCSC’s Quarry Amphitheater. Even that big-ass one jutting up through the floor. Having overseen months of renovations, Olivas has something to prove.

“This is the best way to show off what the hell we’ve got, we need to do a big show right out of the gate,” Olivas says.

The Quarry is a historical site, having been a center of Vietnam War protests and the Tiananmen Square Vigil. It’s hosted Cesar Chavez, Joan Baez, Ravi Shankar, countless graduation ceremonies, and a nude psychology class or two. But it fell into disrepair through the years, eventually closing in 2006 after safety and stabilization became a concern.

Nearly 10 years later, Alison Galloway, former executive vice chancellor, rolled up—literally. She drove a backhoe into the groundbreaking ceremony of the Quarry Amphitheater in 2014, with the goal of restoring the venue to its rightful place as the epicenter of the campus.

“My hope is to see this place being used as a creative outlet,” Olivas says. “This can and should be a bridge builder for the city of Santa Cruz. The campus has had such a big impact on the city, why shouldn’t the campus have events here, too?”

Nearly one year and $8 million later, the newest and largest music venue in Santa Cruz is complete. In celebration, UCSC booked Chicano Batman, a popular Los Angeles-based four-piece, to christen the restored Quarry last weekend. Chicano Batman’s newest album, Freedom is Free, is an eclectic mashup of jazz, rock and Latin influences—think James Brown meets Tropicália Joe Bataan. Olivas says that with a large percentage of UCSC students hailing from Latino backgrounds—and in the wake of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) repeal and anxiety over AB540—the band is really a perfect fit.

It’s no surprise that with the popularity of the band, and a student body of more than 18,000, demand for the free concert on Saturday was above and beyond what was expected. Tickets were raffled off, leaving more than a few disappointed students. I had a Willy Wonka-esque moment as one of the lucky few ticket holders, despite not being a student or a die-hard Chicano Batman fan.

There was security everywhere, which was both reassuring and good for a bit of conversation between sets. Why are there video cameras here? When I asked the UCSC Chief of Police Nader Oweis why there were so many security guards and police officers there, he explained that though the event security was planned before the Las Vegas tragedy, it did have an impact.

“There definitely was a greater sense of awareness after Las Vegas, but it didn’t necessarily change our numbers,” he says.

When I wasn’t chatting it up with security, I was admiring the venue. It was hard not to, as a stunning green hue illuminated the underside of the trees and bounced off of the limestone face, and a thick haze of smoke swirled up from the stage and front row. I was getting emotional seeing the amphitheater come back to life—until I would glance down at the empty rows of seating.

Maybe people didn’t turn up, or something happened with tickets? No, it turned out, the organizers had simply underestimated how many people the Quarry could hold. The sheer enormity of the space dwarfed the 1,800 people spread across the aisles and packed into the standing room. The amphitheater seemed only about halfway full. Though the fire marshall will have the final say, the possibilities were visibly exciting to Olivas, who, when not pacing back and forth between aisles, stood in the back mingling.

“Now we know how many more it can hold,” he says, craning his neck and voice over the shrill keyboard of Chicano Batman’s opening set. “This is the next chapter.”

For more information about the Quarry Amphitheater or for upcoming events, visit deanofstudents.ucsc.edu.

Update 10/24 10:48 a.m.: Link updated.

Music Picks Oct 18-24

GT Staff

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October 18, 2017

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Live music highlights for the week of October 18, 2017.

THURSDAY 10/19

PSYCH-ROCK

LUKE SWEENEY

Drawing inspiration from Marc Bolan of glam-rock band T. Rex, as well as indie-rock pioneers Pavement and legendary soul artist Al Green, Luke Sweeney swirls the disparate influences around into a psychedelic, listener-friendly sound. The San Francisco-based poet, composer and guitarist was dubbed a “pillar of San Francisco’s garage-psych community” by the Bay Bridged, and is celebrated for his “handcrafted” sound, soulful feel and irreverent humor. His stories explore romance, urban life, spirituality and more. CJ

INFO: 9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $10. 429-6994.

THURSDAY 10/19

HIP-HOP

ELIGH & MORE

Eligh, Scarub, Amp Live—on their own, each of these underground hip-hop artists is a force to be reckoned with and can sell out a venue. But now, the master lyricists and producers join forces for one night of hard-hitting hip-hop. Adding to the excitement, Pure Powers and Eliquate will be repping Santa Cruz in an evening that’s easily one of the best nights this year for underground hip-hop. MAT WEIR

INFO: 8:30 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $15/adv, $20/door. 479-1854.

THURSDAY 10/19

FUNK

GEORGE CLINTON & PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC

Anyone that digs the funk—and everyone should dig the funk—needs to put aside whatever they were planning on doing Thursday and join George Clinton, as he tears the roof off the motherfucker. His groups Funkadelic and Parliament transformed funk in the ’70s into something fun, crazy and totally bizarre. Or, as he himself put it: “Ain’t nothing but a party, y’all.” Alice Cooper and KISS may be seen as the dominating forces of over-the-top theatrics in the ’70s, but Clinton created a sci-fi spectacle that reveled in its own absurdity, while simultaneously claiming a new black identity. Now a bazillion years old, Clinton is still a force to be reckoned with. AC

INFO: 9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $39.50/adv, $45/door. 429-4135.

FRIDAY 10/20

FUNK/SOUL

DRAGON SMOKE

Hailing from New Orleans, Dragon Smoke is a super-group of artists who have helped define the contemporary Crescent City sound. Comprising Ivan Neville from the legendary Neville Brothers on vocals and keys; Stanton Moore—who was born and raised in New Orleans and was a founding member of Galactic—on drums; funk, blues and roots rock standout Eric Lindell on guitar and vocals; and lean, mean bassist Robert Mercurio from Galactic, Dragon Smoke was formed with a goal of bringing a diverse group of artists together to see what happens. On Friday, the crew brings the blue-eyed soul, funk and groove to Moe’s. CJ

INFO: 9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $30. 479-1854.

SATURDAY 10/21

ROCK/FOLK

INVASION OF THE HIPPIES

An invasion of hippies is usually not big news in Santa Cruz; it might just mean it’s summertime. But this Invasion of the Hippies is something different altogether. This one is hosted by Ukulele Dick and Snazzy Productions, and features a roundup of local artists, dancers and musicians aiming to celebrate—and, in a way, recreate—the Summer of Love. Among the featured acts are Zun Zun, Alan Heit, Simone Cox, the Skifflebeats, Ken Bewick, David Graham, Neal Hellman, Richard Stockton, Wallace Baine and the Bainiac Trio, and many more. Scare up your beads and bell bottoms and prepare to be transported. CJ

INFO: 7:30 p.m. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $25. 423-8209.

SATURDAY 10/21

PUNK

THE VIBRATORS

When it comes to punk rock, there’s a cornucopia of bands who never really got the credit they deserved, and the Vibrators are definitely in that category. The band’s 1977 debut, Pure Mania, is filled with killer tracks, gave Stiff Little Fingers its name, and helped spawn power-pop punk. Reportedly, this will be their final tour ever—after 41 years of dancing to the music, the Vibrators will be sailing into the future with a new sweet, sweet heart. MW

INFO: 8:30 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $12/adv, $16/door. 429-4135.

SUNDAY 10/22

SAD

PUDDLES PITY PARTY

Let me paint a picture of the saddest thing on the planet: a teary-eyed clown crooning David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” If you aren’t already bawling just imagining this in your mind, you have no soul. For the rest of us, there’s Puddles Pity Party, which is what this weep fest of a musical act is called. Puddles has been uploading dismal originals and heartbroken covers to YouTube for several years now. He rose to sort-of-mainstream prominence earlier this year after competing on America’s Got Talent. Now you can see him live! AC

INFO: 8 p.m. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $30. 423-8209.

MONDAY 10/23

JAZZ

MARQUIS HILL BLACKTET

The first order of achievement for a jazz musician is attaining a personal sound on his or her instrument. With his thick, rounded tone, Chicago trumpeter Marquis Hill has carved out his own identity on the horn, but he’s also taken the next step in honing a beautifully calibrated group sound with his vibraphone-centric Blacktet. Already a formidable player before winning the 2014 Thelonious Monk International Trumpet Competition, he introduced a rising generation of Windy City players with the release of his 2016 The Way We Play, a set of standards set to a diverse array of grooves. With several of his longtime sidemen now rising bandleaders in their own right, he’s touring with the latest incarnation of his Blacktet, featuring the brilliant young drummer Jonathan Pinson, alto saxophonist Joshua Johnson, bassist Jeremiah Hunt, and vibraphonist Joel Ross. ANDREW GILBERT

INFO: 7 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $25/adv, $30/door. 427-2227.

MONDAY 10/23

POWER-POP

PAUL COLLINS

Ever wonder why the English Beat is known simply as the Beat in England? It’s because in the U.S. there was another band already called the Beat. Eventually, the lead singer of this group, Paul Collins, started playing shows under his own name. Paul Collins’ Beat was an underrated power-pop group with killer hooks and mid-tempo guitar-based New Wave riffage. Collins most famous song, “Hanging on the Telephone,” was a hit—not for the Beat, but for Blondie, who famously covered it. In other words, Collins has always been a more culty kind of thing. But he’s consistently released music his whole life, and fed a core audience wonderful rock ’n’ roll tunes. AC

INFO: 7:30 p.m. Don Quixote’s, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $15. 335-2800.

IN THE QUEUE

BANDA MAGDA

World fusion group led by Greek singer Magda Giannikou. Thursday at Kuumbwa

MOTET

Denver-based funk, Afrobeat and jazz group. Friday at Catalyst

URBAN THEORY

Soul outfit out of Oakland. Saturday at Crepe Place

SEAN HAYES

North Carolina-raised singer-songwriter. Saturday at Moe’s Alley

BIG SANDY & HIS FLY-RITE BOYS

Western swing, rockabilly and “Ameripolitan.” Sunday at Don Quixote’s

Giveaway: Beats Antique

A&E
Music

Cat Johnson

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October 18, 2017

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A Beats Antique performance is less of a concert and more of a full-body, multi-media experience that relies on the audience to bring it all to life. Imagine people dressed like animals, carnival ringleaders, mythological creatures and cabaret characters dancing to gypsy-influenced violin melodies that slowly build to a crescendo before a cross-cultural, worry-consuming beat drops, turning the whole thing into a rhythmic collective of bouncing, swaying bodies. A decade in, Beats Antique has inspired a generation of world-fusion artists and beatmakers, and established themselves as one of the enduring bands of the Bay Area electronica movement. On Halloween, the band brings the party to the Catalyst.

INFO: 9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $30/adv, $35/door. 423-1338. WANT TO GO? Go to santacruz.com/giveaways before 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 25 to find out how you could win a pair of tickets to the show.

Love Your Local Band: Bananarchy

A&E
Music

Aaron Carnes

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October 18, 2017

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There isn’t a great story behind the name Bananarchy—turns out it was simply the only name everyone in the band could agree on. However, Bananarchy’s genre of choice, “hangar rock,” has an interesting story.

What makes it hangar rock? Well, technically the band plays garage rock, but they practice in an airplane hangar in Watsonville, so why not?

“It’s oddly specific,” guitarist/lead singer Matt Ruiz says, laughing.

You see, Ruiz partially owns this hangar. He was getting airplane lessons, but has kind of stopped.

“Paying for recording studios was getting expensive, and finding houses to practice at in Santa Cruz is difficult without pissing off neighbors or police.”

Ruiz believes Bananarchy turned out to be a fitting name for the group, which plays aggressive rock songs with sad lyrics, and adds a whole bunch of silliness when they play live.

“It’s kind of funny, but also slightly angsty. So, it was a match,” Ruiz adds.

Just how sad are the lyrics? Well, don’t sit down and read a book of Ruiz’s words without the heavy guitar-bass-drums blast of the band behind him unless you want to get bummed out.

“If you sat down and read the lyrics, it would just look like sad poetry,” Ruiz says. “People have fun at the shows. We’ll be cracking jokes between every song to make sure everyone knows that we’re not trying to take ourselves too seriously. Our presence and our performance is usually pretty silly.”

INFO: 9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24. Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $5. 423-7117.

East Bay Punk Documentary Dives Deep Into the Underground

A&E
Film

Steve Palopoli

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October 18, 2017

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East Bay Punk Documentary Dives Deep Into the Underground

What do most people know about the East Bay punk scene? Green Day, certainly, and Rancid, too. Possibly Rancid forerunners Operation Ivy and Crimpshine, and maybe the Berkeley punk playhouse that brought up those bands, 924 Gilman.

If you want a clue about how deep the new documentary Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk—which is showing for one night only on Wednesday, Oct. 18, at the Del Mar in Santa Cruz—dives into this long-underappreciated punk history, consider that it doesn’t even get around to Gilman Street and Op Ivy until an hour into its two-and-half-hour running time. A less ambitious documentary on East Bay punk might very well start there, but with its zeal to chart the complete lineage of the scene, Turn It Around is truly exhaustive.

But not exhausting. In fact, it moves along at such a rapid-fire pace for most of its running time that it probably requires more than one viewing to truly wrap one’s mind around everything it has to offer. How can you not get behind a documentary that within literally two-and-a-half minutes of mentioning “punk rock” for the first time, has already referenced the Ramones, Sex Pistols, Patti Smith, Dead Kennedys, Avengers, X, the Cramps, the Clash, Lou Reed, Angry Samoans, Fastbacks, Blondie, Flipper, the Buzzcocks, the Pretenders, Tuxedomoon, Blondie, the Stooges, David Bowie, the Dils and Devo—and that doesn’t even include the bands I didn’t think I recognized as they flashed by on the screen. That’s how fast this thing moves sometimes.

Those who come to it most interested in the scene’s breakout success stories might be surprised at how absorbing the pre-Lookout Records material is, and that’s partially thanks to some brilliant structural work by director/writer Corbett Redford and his co-writer Anthony Marchitiello. For instance, the film starts with a crude DIY-style animation sequence set to Crimpshine’s “Another Day,” then jumps back to footage of Vietnam War protests in Berkeley, with Country Joe and the Fish’s “Feel Like I’m Fixin To Die Rag” playing on the soundtrack. There’s a lot of mirroring going on here: both of those songs are by Berkeley bands, who released them exactly 20 years apart, in 1987 and 1967. The former approaches social commentary on a personal level, while the latter attacks it from a political one, setting a template for the themes of personal and political transformation that are at the heart of Turn It Around.

The long list of musicians, artists, activists and other members of the scene featured in Turn It Around runs from the expected (Lookout’s Larry Livermore, Dr. Frank of Mr. T Experience—whose “At Gilman Street” is sort of the movie’s unofficial theme—and the members of Green Day, Op Ivy, Crimpshine, Rancid, Neurosis, and pretty much every band from the last four decades of the scene) to the unexpected (Miranda July, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Guns N Roses’ Duff McKagen, Primus’ Larry LaLonde, Angry Samoans’ “Metal” Mike Saunders) to the simply delightful (the Yeastie Girlz, Pansy Division’s Jon Ginoli, Michael Franti, Tre Cool’s parents). Iggy Pop’s narration is just as gruff and quirky as you would hope it would be.

The highlights, to me, are the most offbeat bits, like Tim Armstrong suddenly breaking into Op Ivy’s “Hedgecore” on an acoustic guitar during his interview, Billie Joe Armstrong explaining how Pinole is different from the rest of the East Bay, the story about the Yeastie Girlz somehow performing Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” on tampons, Franti remembering his band the Beatnigs driving their van directly from playing Gilman Street to opening for U2 in Yankee Stadium (and Bono admonishing him for accidentally calling the Irish superband’s guitar player “Ed”), and the tense tale of what happened when Nazi skinheads invaded Gilman.

The bottom line is that no matter how well you think you know the story of this music, you’re going to learn something from this film—probably a lot—and it’s a fun ride down the East Bay streets that drove this community to find each other and make some of the best underground music of all time.

‘Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk’ plays Wed., Oct. 18, at 7 p.m. at the Del Mar in Santa Cruz.

5 Things to Do in Santa Cruz this Week

GT Staff

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October 18, 2017

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Event highlights for the week of October 18, 2017.

Green Fix

The Missing Arm

When things go missing around Waddell Creek, you can blame family, your memory, or the dog, but it’s really Benjamin Basin’s larcenous severed arm that’s taking your stuff. His arm was cut from his body nearly 150 years ago and buried in a meadow, but legend has it that it still haunts the Big Basin redwoods today. To hear the rest of the story, join Big Basin State Park rangers for a nighttime tour around the redwood loop, complete with music and marshmallow and apple roasting. Bring a flashlight and a friend for protection from the tenacious phantom arm.

INFO: Registration opens at 6:30 p.m., tour at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21. Big Basin Redwoods State Park, 21600 Big Basin Way, Boulder Creek. thatsmypark.org. $10 per vehicle.

Art Seen

Entertainment With an Edge

From Sherlock Holmes to The Godfather, all of the best stories (and movies) come from mystery novels. But what goes into the hair-raising suspense mystery novels? The norcal chapter of Mystery Writers of America brings a panel discussion on “what is suspense?” to answer that question. The panel includes New York Times bestselling author Laurie King and USA Today bestselling author Gigi Pandian, plus many more mystery specialists. The discussion is open to mystery enthusiasts of all ages.

INFO: 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19. Santa Cruz Downtown Public Library, 224 Church St, Santa Cruz. mwanorcal.org. Free.

Saturday 10/21

Heritage Harvest Festival

Travel back to the early 1900s Wilder Ranch for some old-timey square dancing, wool spinning and pumpkin decorating. In celebration of the harvest season, the state park hosts the annual event, complete with tours of the ranch’s Victorian house, live music, and Heritage apple tasting. This historical recreation may be your only chance to see an antique tractor or blacksmith shop. Carpooling is encouraged, since parking spaces are limited.

INFO: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Wilder Ranch, 1401 Coast Road Santa Cruz. 426-0505. $10 parking, free admission.

Monday 10/23

Richard Harris at the Rio

In the age of fake news, NPR has led the way in both national radio coverage and localized dialogue. There are few things better than lounging about listening to NPR’s weekend edition, but one is seeing NPR correspondent Richard Harris live. Harris is a UCSC alum and reporter focusing primarily on environmental issues, science and medicine and has travelled pretty much anywhere you can think of, or damn near close to it. He will be talking about his new book and the issues he’s seen during his career as a science journalist. This free event was relocated to a larger venue after receiving tremendous interest—meaning you should probably show up early for a good seat.

INFO: 7 p.m. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz. riotheatre.com. Free.

Saturday 10/21

Make-A-Vase Workshop

You make it, they glaze it. Join Good Life ceramics in making your very own slab vase while sipping a glass of wine. Sculpt your vase, attach the bottom by slip-and-scoring, chose your glaze, then pick up the finished piece a few weeks later. This is the ideal workshop for creating a one-of-a-kind holiday gift with all of the tools and materials provided. Quinta Cruz winemakers will be pouring wine, and snacks will be included.

INFO: 1:30-3:30 p.m. Annieglass, 310 Harvest Drive, Watsonville. annieglass.com. $60.

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EDITOR’S NOTE

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

GOOD IDEA

GOOD WORK

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Alineh Garbellini-Ghazarian

Santa Cruz

Student

Eric Heckert

Santa Cruz

Business Owner

Mellow Honek

Traveling

Retired

Betel Yimer

Santa Cruz

Student

Morten Neilsen

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INVASION OF THE HIPPIES

THE VIBRATORS

PUDDLES PITY PARTY

MARQUIS HILL BLACKTET

PAUL COLLINS

IN THE QUEUE

Green Fix

The Missing Arm

Art Seen

Saturday 10/21

Heritage Harvest Festival

Monday 10/23

Saturday 10/21