Posts tagged high five

5 Food & Music Questions - Evan Rail, Czech Beer Pundit Twelve years ago Evan Rail’s passion for beer led him to Prague, one of its historic homelands and the per-capita consumption leader. But he wasn’t just another expat looking for a party. The appreciation for authentic artistry he nurtured as a young independent music fan guided him through endless travels, tours, and interviews. Now the author of several books and a blog on the subject, Rail has been called upon by The New York Times, Saveur, and Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations to serve as an expert on the beers of Central Europe.  You wrote about music for the SF Bay Guardian out of college. It is safe to assume some drinking implied by a job that requires you to see live shows a couple nights a week. But when did your interest in beer take on a life beyond that? Yeah, I used to see a lot of bands in SF, sometimes seven or eight nights in a row, and beer was usually a big part of going to shows at the time, Gilman Street notwithstanding. But my real interest in beer came about once I moved to Prague for good in 2000, after leaving SF for good in 1999 — it was a way to understand the country better, since beer is so important here. It’s actually kind of ironic, because SF and Northern California are definitely at the forefront of contemporary craft brewing, but my own connection to beer comes largely from a nation that is one of beer’s most traditional homelands. Beer as field recordings. Was the transition between covering the two different cultures abrupt or subtle? Very subtle. Basically, the work of writing about culture is pretty much the same, no matter what you’re covering: food, drink, music, photography, dance, whatever. The process doesn’t really change — you try to ask non-yes-or-no questions, take good notes, and keep yourself out of the picture as much as possible. If you write about music, you can write about anything.  Moreover, the two subjects really have a lot in common. Twenty years ago, we all thought that indie rock was going to save the world. Nowadays, a lot of people seem to have the same idea about craft beer. They both have a strong DIY component — people making their own music, setting up their own record labels or brewing their own IPAs. And they both focus on individuals paying attention to what they consume, whether that means what kind of music they choose to listen to or what they choose to slake their thirst. Beer and music share that common impulse, the idea of making a conscious choice and not just accepting whatever shows up, either on the radio or on draft.   And, it should be said, both music geeks and beer geeks can get a little arcane, where — for some people, at least — a band isn’t cool anymore once people have actually heard of them, and a beer is only interesting if it comes from the most obscure brewery on earth. Coffee culture can be like that, too. A lot of food culture is like that now. Things can definitely get territorial. Were you made to feel like an outsider or is that less of an issue there with it being more about tradition than the new new thing? That’s actually something that I’ve been thinking about a lot recently, for a story I hope to put out in a few weeks. I would say it was more of a linguistic thing, being someone who didn’t speak the language when I got here. (My Czech is still pretty terrible, to be honest.) I would say people throughout central Europe, maybe most of Europe, are often wary of outsiders, understandably so. But I felt like I got some nice breaks in that regard. People have been far more open than I would have imagined.  On the subject of nice breaks, how did you hook up with Bourdain for the Prague episode of No Reservations? A couple of his producers kept coming across my name when they were planning for their trip. We corresponded via email for a while, then had a couple of long phone calls to talk about what we could do together and where we could shoot. I was pushing for Pivovar Kout na Šumavě, because the brewery is so old and run-down, and yet the beers are just amazing. Also, it’s pretty remote — no one goes out there. How has your perspective on beer-drinking music changed after over a decade of living in Central Europe? A lot, actually. When I started drinking beer, an appropriate soundtrack might have been, I don’t know, the Untouchables or Agent Orange or the Jam, which all seemed like perfect beer music at that age. Maybe they still are. Music and beer go together in interesting ways: the mood you’re in when you drink, which is affected by things like music, can definitely influence your behavior. I mean, Altamont was a Stones gig, right? I bet there haven’t been too many riots when Philip Glass performs. Living here, you can’t avoid Central Europe’s traditional beer-drinking soundtrack, which the Czechs call dechovka. A lot of people hate it, but oom-pa music really seems to connect a bunch of different cultures: one of the best American beer-drinking songs of the past hundred years was probably “Roll Out the Barrels,” but that was actually a Czech polka, written right here in Prague. You still hear dechovka a lot here, at festivals or in small towns, songs like “Já Ráda Tancuju” or “V tom našem venkovském kostelíčku.” I think it goes with the traditional Central European beer-drinking atmosphere: very “up,” very positive, happy and lighthearted.    And it’s the weirdest thing, but when you hear a Czech polka from across a beer hall, it sounds just like mariachi music. And then suddenly you’re right back home in central California. @evanrail | beerculture.org | amazon.com

5 Food & Music Questions - Evan Rail, Czech Beer Pundit

Twelve years ago Evan Rail’s passion for beer led him to Prague, one of its historic homelands and the per-capita consumption leader. But he wasn’t just another expat looking for a party. The appreciation for authentic artistry he nurtured as a young independent music fan guided him through endless travels, tours, and interviews. Now the author of several books and a blog on the subject, Rail has been called upon by The New York Times, Saveur, and Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations to serve as an expert on the beers of Central Europe. 

You wrote about music for the SF Bay Guardian out of college. It is safe to assume some drinking implied by a job that requires you to see live shows a couple nights a week. But when did your interest in beer take on a life beyond that?

Yeah, I used to see a lot of bands in SF, sometimes seven or eight nights in a row, and beer was usually a big part of going to shows at the time, Gilman Street notwithstanding. But my real interest in beer came about once I moved to Prague for good in 2000, after leaving SF for good in 1999 — it was a way to understand the country better, since beer is so important here. It’s actually kind of ironic, because SF and Northern California are definitely at the forefront of contemporary craft brewing, but my own connection to beer comes largely from a nation that is one of beer’s most traditional homelands.

Beer as field recordings. Was the transition between covering the two different cultures abrupt or subtle?

Very subtle. Basically, the work of writing about culture is pretty much the same, no matter what you’re covering: food, drink, music, photography, dance, whatever. The process doesn’t really change — you try to ask non-yes-or-no questions, take good notes, and keep yourself out of the picture as much as possible. If you write about music, you can write about anything. 

Moreover, the two subjects really have a lot in common. Twenty years ago, we all thought that indie rock was going to save the world. Nowadays, a lot of people seem to have the same idea about craft beer. They both have a strong DIY component — people making their own music, setting up their own record labels or brewing their own IPAs. And they both focus on individuals paying attention to what they consume, whether that means what kind of music they choose to listen to or what they choose to slake their thirst. Beer and music share that common impulse, the idea of making a conscious choice and not just accepting whatever shows up, either on the radio or on draft.  

And, it should be said, both music geeks and beer geeks can get a little arcane, where — for some people, at least — a band isn’t cool anymore once people have actually heard of them, and a beer is only interesting if it comes from the most obscure brewery on earth. Coffee culture can be like that, too. A lot of food culture is like that now.

Things can definitely get territorial. Were you made to feel like an outsider or is that less of an issue there with it being more about tradition than the new new thing?

That’s actually something that I’ve been thinking about a lot recently, for a story I hope to put out in a few weeks. I would say it was more of a linguistic thing, being someone who didn’t speak the language when I got here. (My Czech is still pretty terrible, to be honest.) I would say people throughout central Europe, maybe most of Europe, are often wary of outsiders, understandably so. But I felt like I got some nice breaks in that regard. People have been far more open than I would have imagined. 

On the subject of nice breaks, how did you hook up with Bourdain for the Prague episode of No Reservations?

A couple of his producers kept coming across my name when they were planning for their trip. We corresponded via email for a while, then had a couple of long phone calls to talk about what we could do together and where we could shoot. I was pushing for Pivovar Kout na Šumavě, because the brewery is so old and run-down, and yet the beers are just amazing. Also, it’s pretty remote — no one goes out there.

How has your perspective on beer-drinking music changed after over a decade of living in Central Europe?

A lot, actually. When I started drinking beer, an appropriate soundtrack might have been, I don’t know, the Untouchables or Agent Orange or the Jam, which all seemed like perfect beer music at that age. Maybe they still are. Music and beer go together in interesting ways: the mood you’re in when you drink, which is affected by things like music, can definitely influence your behavior. I mean, Altamont was a Stones gig, right? I bet there haven’t been too many riots when Philip Glass performs.

Living here, you can’t avoid Central Europe’s traditional beer-drinking soundtrack, which the Czechs call dechovka. A lot of people hate it, but oom-pa music really seems to connect a bunch of different cultures: one of the best American beer-drinking songs of the past hundred years was probably “Roll Out the Barrels,” but that was actually a Czech polka, written right here in Prague. You still hear dechovka a lot here, at festivals or in small towns, songs like “Já Ráda Tancuju” or “V tom našem venkovském kostelíčku.” I think it goes with the traditional Central European beer-drinking atmosphere: very “up,” very positive, happy and lighthearted.   

And it’s the weirdest thing, but when you hear a Czech polka from across a beer hall, it sounds just like mariachi music. And then suddenly you’re right back home in central California.

5 Records That Changed My Life – Chef Scott Winegard  With stints in several award-winning NY kitchens, high profile clients calling on him as a private chef, a recent stage at Noma (the Denmark restaurant thought by many to be the best in the world), his pop-up vegan dinner club Nasturtium, and new ventures with Matthew Kenney like Chicago’s In The Raw, Scott Winagard is a busy man. That isn’t likely to change with the recently announced reunion of his mid-90s post-hardcore band, Texas Is The Reason. Scott slowed down long enough to talk about the five(ish) records that changed his life. Beastie Boys, Liscenced To Ill I just bought this on CD for cheap and I put it on in a car that I have been using for work. It brought me right back and I found myself so stoked and still knowing all the words. I was 14 when this came out. Me and my friends communicated through the lyrics of every song. It was like our new language. Too bad we probably didn’t even know what we, or they, were talking about. R.I.P. MCA.  Minor Threat , Out Of Step Trying to remember the first time hearing Minor Threat… I definitely remember a skate spot in my town that an older skater friend wrote on the wall, “We’re Just A Minor Threat” and the black sheep. I think Betray might be one of the best opening tracks on any album ever.  Bad Brains, I Against I I loved Rock For Light and the Roir Tape. I went to Slipped Disk my local metal/punk record store on Long Island when this came out and there was a display of sorts, I remember being so stoked and the owner told me he thought it kind of sucked. I really didn’t trust him and bought it anyway. I’ll never forget being in the furnished basement of my parents house and putting it on for the first time. The intro blew my mind instantly. I think Sacred Love and Re-ignition were my favorite songs for the rest of my teenage years. Rites Of Spring, End On End End On End changed my whole view of punk and hardcore. I told a friend I really liked some of these hXc bands where the singers actually sang. He had just bought this at Venus Records and we heard that Guy was now in a band with Ian from Minor Threat. He hated it. I took it from him so I could tape it, and I never gave it back. I played it over and over. Still do. It made me want to play the bass, it made me want to be in a band, and it made me realize that hardcore wasn’t totally about being a bald tough guy. I loved the Cro Mags but I connected with the whole Dischord/revolution summer thing way more. My Bloody Valentine, Loveless Post-Hardcore. This came out when I was in a band with some friends called Fountainhead. We got compared to Rites Of Spring and Quicksand. I’ll never be bummed at that. Our singer’s girlfriend at the time left this at my house and it was just incredible — the prettiest loud and heavy music I ever heard. So glad I got to see them play. Unbelievable. George Harrison, All Things Must Pass I have to sneak in a 6th. Like any normal person, I became obsessed with the Beatles. I always loved George. I found this on vinyl and opened it up with the killer poster and 3 LPs. It just rules. It’s got the best vibe and feeling for any record and blows away any of the post-Beatles stuff.  @scottwinegard | tumblr | nasturtium

5 Records That Changed My Life – Chef Scott Winegard 

With stints in several award-winning NY kitchens, high profile clients calling on him as a private chef, a recent stage at Noma (the Denmark restaurant thought by many to be the best in the world), his pop-up vegan dinner club Nasturtium, and new ventures with Matthew Kenney like Chicago’s In The Raw, Scott Winagard is a busy man. That isn’t likely to change with the recently announced reunion of his mid-90s post-hardcore band, Texas Is The Reason. Scott slowed down long enough to talk about the five(ish) records that changed his life.

Beastie Boys, Liscenced To Ill

I just bought this on CD for cheap and I put it on in a car that I have been using for work. It brought me right back and I found myself so stoked and still knowing all the words. I was 14 when this came out. Me and my friends communicated through the lyrics of every song. It was like our new language. Too bad we probably didn’t even know what we, or they, were talking about. R.I.P. MCA. 

Minor Threat , Out Of Step

Trying to remember the first time hearing Minor Threat… I definitely remember a skate spot in my town that an older skater friend wrote on the wall, “We’re Just A Minor Threat” and the black sheep. I think Betray might be one of the best opening tracks on any album ever. 

Bad Brains, I Against I

I loved Rock For Light and the Roir Tape. I went to Slipped Disk my local metal/punk record store on Long Island when this came out and there was a display of sorts, I remember being so stoked and the owner told me he thought it kind of sucked. I really didn’t trust him and bought it anyway. I’ll never forget being in the furnished basement of my parents house and putting it on for the first time. The intro blew my mind instantly. I think Sacred Love and Re-ignition were my favorite songs for the rest of my teenage years.

Rites Of Spring, End On End

End On End changed my whole view of punk and hardcore. I told a friend I really liked some of these hXc bands where the singers actually sang. He had just bought this at Venus Records and we heard that Guy was now in a band with Ian from Minor Threat. He hated it. I took it from him so I could tape it, and I never gave it back. I played it over and over. Still do. It made me want to play the bass, it made me want to be in a band, and it made me realize that hardcore wasn’t totally about being a bald tough guy. I loved the Cro Mags but I connected with the whole Dischord/revolution summer thing way more.

My Bloody Valentine, Loveless

Post-Hardcore. This came out when I was in a band with some friends called Fountainhead. We got compared to Rites Of Spring and Quicksand. I’ll never be bummed at that. Our singer’s girlfriend at the time left this at my house and it was just incredible — the prettiest loud and heavy music I ever heard. So glad I got to see them play. Unbelievable.

George Harrison, All Things Must Pass

I have to sneak in a 6th. Like any normal person, I became obsessed with the Beatles. I always loved George. I found this on vinyl and opened it up with the killer poster and 3 LPs. It just rules. It’s got the best vibe and feeling for any record and blows away any of the post-Beatles stuff. 


@scottwinegard | tumblr | nasturtium

5 Food & Music Questions - Nick Tangborn, Batter Blaster You’d be forgiven for assuming the days of successful products originating outside the world of consumer research, demographic targeting, and major marketing campaigns are long gone. But you’d be wrong – at least in the case of Batter Blaster. The now ubiquitous organic pancake/waffle mix in a can was born at the epicenter of San Francisco’s garage and twang scenes. It’s staff has remained connected to their independent roots through the product’s whirlwind success. COO and music lifer/journalist/label owner, Nick Tangborn, told me about this journey. You’ve followed independent music for over twenty five years. How has that influenced your approach to marketing what has turned into a very successful packaged food brand? First, most of the staff here at the Austin BB HQ is from music in some capacity – Sean O’Connor, our CEO and the inventor of Batter Blaster, used to own Thee Parkside in San Francisco, which is where a lot of us met originally. Sarah and Chris, who run logistics for us, worked in various capacities there, and I practically ran my record label from a bar stool there. Second, one of the first things we did after I started here was put together a national tour for Batter Blaster, but instead of punk rock clubs, we were at state fairs, Taste Of events, anywhere we’d be able to sample a large group of the appropriate people. The mindset of getting on the road and getting in front of eyeballs was the first and primary driver of the brand, especially with a minimal marketing budget.  The get-in-the-van mentality. You mentioned the move from SF to Austin - polar opposites in many ways but both music and food towns. I trust you’ve settled in and found a new barstool to work from? Absolutely. Austin’s a great fit for Batter Blaster because of the incredible growth in food culture here and of course the great music. The food culture of Austin is amazingly broad, from the thousand-plus food trailers and carts and trucks to world-class restaurants like Uchi. There’s also a healthy number of consumer packaged goods companies here like Stubb’s BBQ Sauce, Deep Eddy Vodka, Tito’s… We fit right in. As far as barstools to work from, we love Donn’s Depot, the White Horse and the Liberty, which has the added bonus of Paul Qui’s East Side King in the backyard. I could eat the beef tongue bun (thin slices of beef tongue, peanut sauce, peppers, cilantro…) every day.  A lot of your favorite SF bands come through town on tour. But it isn’t the same with food. What do you miss the most?  Oh boy. Let’s start with lunch: the carnitas quesadilla at La Taqueria on with their really spicy green salsa, flour tortilla fried in a little pit of oil on the flat top grill. Then downtown for Hog Island oysters and white wine at the Ferry Building. Second lunch at Mifune in Japantown for beef curry udon, awesome thick beef gravy, crunchy pickled ginger on top. The pretzel platter snack at Postrio with the trio of mustards and some good wine. Then up to Gualala for a late dinner at St. Orres, which is possibly my favorite dinner spot on the planet. The last time I was there I had squab stuffed with andouille sausage and pistachios. I am now very hungry.  I had carnitas at La Taqueria last weekend and it is still insanely good. I don’t know St. Orres up on the coast. I’ll have to check that out. What Austin-based music have you gotten into?  For Austin-based music, I definitely lean heavily on the country / roots side, mostly because I haven’t really dug into local rock too much in the relatively short time I’ve been here. I go see Jesse Dayton at the Broken Spoke on Thursdays, he always has a great crowd and it’s classic honky tonk – and I got the chance to be a zombie in his first feature Zombex, which is coming out this Fall. So I can cross that off the Bucket List – I got to be a zombie who kills a major character in a movie with Malcolm McDowell, Sid Haig, John Doe and Corey Feldman.  Mike Stinson, a tremendously underrated songwriter who’s written for Dwight Yoakam among others, lives in Houston but is up here all the time playing Ginny’s Little Longhorn, the Continental Club…  Speaking of Ginny’s, that’s of course the only place on earth you can go play chicken shit bingo while Dale Watson plays most every Sunday. For local rock I dig My Jerusalem, a relatively new band from Jeff Klein, who’s played with Greg Dulli among others. I dig this band Leatherbag that’s got a quirky pop thing going on, although they’ve changed their name to No Future. That comp Gerard Cosloy did on Matador of local Austin bands (most from the Beerland world on Red River) is fantastic. And Dana Falconberry is great, simultaneously intimate and lush.  Everything after “…John Doe and Corey Feldman…” turned into white noise. That’s going to take some time to sink in. So, this concept of using Batter Blaster to make pancake portraits has taken on quite a life of its own. Do you have a favorite?  The Justin Bieber portrait was pretty funny, and the Ellen Degeneres one was terrifying. But my favorite portrait in a pancake was much earlier in the company, when we got a news report that a woman in Arizona claimed she saw Our Lady of Guadalupe in a Batter Blaster pancake. That had all of us scratching our heads. batter blaster

5 Food & Music Questions - Nick Tangborn, Batter Blaster

You’d be forgiven for assuming the days of successful products originating outside the world of consumer research, demographic targeting, and major marketing campaigns are long gone. But you’d be wrong – at least in the case of Batter Blaster. The now ubiquitous organic pancake/waffle mix in a can was born at the epicenter of San Francisco’s garage and twang scenes. It’s staff has remained connected to their independent roots through the product’s whirlwind success. COO and music lifer/journalist/label owner, Nick Tangborn, told me about this journey.

You’ve followed independent music for over twenty five years. How has that influenced your approach to marketing what has turned into a very successful packaged food brand?

First, most of the staff here at the Austin BB HQ is from music in some capacity – Sean O’Connor, our CEO and the inventor of Batter Blaster, used to own Thee Parkside in San Francisco, which is where a lot of us met originally. Sarah and Chris, who run logistics for us, worked in various capacities there, and I practically ran my record label from a bar stool there. Second, one of the first things we did after I started here was put together a national tour for Batter Blaster, but instead of punk rock clubs, we were at state fairs, Taste Of events, anywhere we’d be able to sample a large group of the appropriate people. The mindset of getting on the road and getting in front of eyeballs was the first and primary driver of the brand, especially with a minimal marketing budget. 

The get-in-the-van mentality. You mentioned the move from SF to Austin - polar opposites in many ways but both music and food towns. I trust you’ve settled in and found a new barstool to work from?

Absolutely. Austin’s a great fit for Batter Blaster because of the incredible growth in food culture here and of course the great music. The food culture of Austin is amazingly broad, from the thousand-plus food trailers and carts and trucks to world-class restaurants like Uchi. There’s also a healthy number of consumer packaged goods companies here like Stubb’s BBQ Sauce, Deep Eddy Vodka, Tito’s… We fit right in. As far as barstools to work from, we love Donn’s Depot, the White Horse and the Liberty, which has the added bonus of Paul Qui’s East Side King in the backyard. I could eat the beef tongue bun (thin slices of beef tongue, peanut sauce, peppers, cilantro…) every day. 

A lot of your favorite SF bands come through town on tour. But it isn’t the same with food. What do you miss the most? 

Oh boy. Let’s start with lunch: the carnitas quesadilla at La Taqueria on with their really spicy green salsa, flour tortilla fried in a little pit of oil on the flat top grill. Then downtown for Hog Island oysters and white wine at the Ferry Building. Second lunch at Mifune in Japantown for beef curry udon, awesome thick beef gravy, crunchy pickled ginger on top. The pretzel platter snack at Postrio with the trio of mustards and some good wine. Then up to Gualala for a late dinner at St. Orres, which is possibly my favorite dinner spot on the planet. The last time I was there I had squab stuffed with andouille sausage and pistachios. I am now very hungry. 

I had carnitas at La Taqueria last weekend and it is still insanely good. I don’t know St. Orres up on the coast. I’ll have to check that out. What Austin-based music have you gotten into? 

For Austin-based music, I definitely lean heavily on the country / roots side, mostly because I haven’t really dug into local rock too much in the relatively short time I’ve been here. I go see Jesse Dayton at the Broken Spoke on Thursdays, he always has a great crowd and it’s classic honky tonk – and I got the chance to be a zombie in his first feature Zombex, which is coming out this Fall. So I can cross that off the Bucket List – I got to be a zombie who kills a major character in a movie with Malcolm McDowell, Sid Haig, John Doe and Corey Feldman.  Mike Stinson, a tremendously underrated songwriter who’s written for Dwight Yoakam among others, lives in Houston but is up here all the time playing Ginny’s Little Longhorn, the Continental Club…  Speaking of Ginny’s, that’s of course the only place on earth you can go play chicken shit bingo while Dale Watson plays most every Sunday. For local rock I dig My Jerusalem, a relatively new band from Jeff Klein, who’s played with Greg Dulli among others. I dig this band Leatherbag that’s got a quirky pop thing going on, although they’ve changed their name to No Future. That comp Gerard Cosloy did on Matador of local Austin bands (most from the Beerland world on Red River) is fantastic. And Dana Falconberry is great, simultaneously intimate and lush. 

Everything after “…John Doe and Corey Feldman…” turned into white noise. That’s going to take some time to sink in. So, this concept of using Batter Blaster to make pancake portraits has taken on quite a life of its own. Do you have a favorite? 

The Justin Bieber portrait was pretty funny, and the Ellen Degeneres one was terrifying. But my favorite portrait in a pancake was much earlier in the company, when we got a news report that a woman in Arizona claimed she saw Our Lady of Guadalupe in a Batter Blaster pancake. That had all of us scratching our heads.

batter blaster

5 Records That Changed My Life - Chef Carolynn Spence Hiring no-bullshit, Jersey-bred Carolynn Spence to revitalize the culinary offerings at iconic Hollywood starlet hideaway Chateau Marmont was an idea so crazy it actually worked. An appreciation for hearty classics reflects her stint at landmark NY gastropub, The Spotted Pig, as well as formative years in the city’s all-ages punk scene.  This theme of authenticity extends into her record collection: This very loaded question has had my head spinning. I’m going to cheat a little bit and give a couple records that are compiled. But these compilations have indeed changed my life. Minor Threat, Discography No other band defines me more. Ian MacKaye is a true supporter of independent thinking. All of his bands, collaborations & productions of all music Dischord is awesome and inspiring. The last Fugazi record was probably their best and the Evens is still killing it… Husker Du, Zen Arcade An Epic record with a more emotional punk feel and a lot of angst. You can feel the tension in this album. ‘Chartered Trips’ live will put your head back, eyes shut and fists clenched. Treepeople, Something Vicious for Tomorrow/Time Whore Doug Martsch. “I can’t get that sound you make out of my head.. I can’t even figure out what’s making it” is a quote in his later band, Built to Spill, but that’s how i felt when originally I heard and saw Treepeople. I couldn’t believe this guy had his guitar in such uncontrolled control if that makes any sense. Been a fan ever since. Echo & The Bunnymen, Songs to Learn & Sing The first band I truly rebelled to see. Got in so much trouble.. worth every bit of grounding… Nuggets: Original Artifacts from the first Psychedelic Era 1965-68 I had heard this compilation a few years back and the music - some familiar, some not - had refreshed my love of rock n roll completely and made me appreciate all of the modern garage bands that are killing it live in small venues everyday!! chateau marmont | photo: inked magazine

5 Records That Changed My Life - Chef Carolynn Spence

Hiring no-bullshit, Jersey-bred Carolynn Spence to revitalize the culinary offerings at iconic Hollywood starlet hideaway Chateau Marmont was an idea so crazy it actually worked. An appreciation for hearty classics reflects her stint at landmark NY gastropub, The Spotted Pig, as well as formative years in the city’s all-ages punk scene.  This theme of authenticity extends into her record collection:

This very loaded question has had my head spinning. I’m going to cheat a little bit and give a couple records that are compiled. But these compilations have indeed changed my life.

Minor Threat, Discography

No other band defines me more. Ian MacKaye is a true supporter of independent thinking. All of his bands, collaborations & productions of all music Dischord is awesome and inspiring. The last Fugazi record was probably their best and the Evens is still killing it…

Husker Du, Zen Arcade

An Epic record with a more emotional punk feel and a lot of angst. You can feel the tension in this album. ‘Chartered Trips’ live will put your head back, eyes shut and fists clenched.

Treepeople, Something Vicious for Tomorrow/Time Whore

Doug Martsch. “I can’t get that sound you make out of my head.. I can’t even figure out what’s making it” is a quote in his later band, Built to Spill, but that’s how i felt when originally I heard and saw Treepeople. I couldn’t believe this guy had his guitar in such uncontrolled control if that makes any sense. Been a fan ever since.

Echo & The Bunnymen, Songs to Learn & Sing

The first band I truly rebelled to see. Got in so much trouble.. worth every bit of grounding…

Nuggets: Original Artifacts from the first Psychedelic Era 1965-68

I had heard this compilation a few years back and the music - some familiar, some not - had refreshed my love of rock n roll completely and made me appreciate all of the modern garage bands that are killing it live in small venues everyday!!

chateau marmont | photo: inked magazine

5 Records That Changed My Life – Chef Tommy Habetz As much as Tommy Habetz’s culinary credentials make it look easy, they might also make him look a little insane. One has to question the decision-making skills of a chef who leaves NY, after stints with Bobby Flay and Mario Batali, to ultimately make sandwiches in Portland. But Portland has that pull. And these aren’t just any sandwiches. Now with two Bunk Sandwich locations and rock venue, Bunk Bar, Tommy talks about the soundtrack to the kitchens that shaped him: This is gonna be tough, so I’ll just give the records that I associate with some of the different restaurants I’ve worked at. Notorious B.I.G., Ready To Die - Mesa Grill, 1995 This was my first “real” restaurant job. I started in the pastry department, where I was Asst. Pastry Chef Alfred’s pastry bitch. Sounds glamorous, huh? The soundtrack in that kitchen was, and probably still is, Hot 97. This taught me to love Hip Hop. Jawbreaker, Bivouac - Po Restaurant, 1996-99 Wayne Brachman, the Exec Pastry Chef at Mesa taught me a lot of great lessons. One of them was his advice on line cooking. “Get a really fast, loud punk rock song in your head. You’ll move faster. Like, The Ramones.” Well, for me it was Jawbreaker that was in my head. Stereolab, Dots and Loops - Lupa Restaurant, 1999-2000 NYC, late ‘90’s was mainly GBV, Pavement, and Stereolab that got me through. Stereolab could be on an endless loop in my brain for hours and hours of the monotonous prep work that it takes to fuel these busy restaurants. The Wipers, Is This Real? - Ripe Family Supper, Gotham Bldg. Tavern, 2003-06 I had never heard The Wipers before I moved to Portland, OR. My friend, Travis Ingle, turned me on to this record, and I will forever be in his debt for that. Red Fang, Murder The Mountains - Bunk Bar, Bunk Sandwiches, Current These guys are a constant source of inspiration. They’re just a bunch of hard working guys, dads, who rock the fuck out. They’re kicking ass, too. Our friend, Whitey McConnaughy, has directed all of the Red Fang videos, too. They’re hard working artists, true to their vision, who don’t take themselves to seriously. What’s not to love? @tommyhabetz | bunk | photo: oregon live

5 Records That Changed My Life – Chef Tommy Habetz

As much as Tommy Habetz’s culinary credentials make it look easy, they might also make him look a little insane. One has to question the decision-making skills of a chef who leaves NY, after stints with Bobby Flay and Mario Batali, to ultimately make sandwiches in Portland. But Portland has that pull. And these aren’t just any sandwiches. Now with two Bunk Sandwich locations and rock venue, Bunk Bar, Tommy talks about the soundtrack to the kitchens that shaped him:

This is gonna be tough, so I’ll just give the records that I associate with some of the different restaurants I’ve worked at.

Notorious B.I.G., Ready To Die - Mesa Grill, 1995

This was my first “real” restaurant job. I started in the pastry department, where I was Asst. Pastry Chef Alfred’s pastry bitch. Sounds glamorous, huh? The soundtrack in that kitchen was, and probably still is, Hot 97. This taught me to love Hip Hop.

Jawbreaker, Bivouac - Po Restaurant, 1996-99

Wayne Brachman, the Exec Pastry Chef at Mesa taught me a lot of great lessons. One of them was his advice on line cooking. “Get a really fast, loud punk rock song in your head. You’ll move faster. Like, The Ramones.” Well, for me it was Jawbreaker that was in my head.

Stereolab, Dots and Loops - Lupa Restaurant, 1999-2000

NYC, late ‘90’s was mainly GBV, Pavement, and Stereolab that got me through. Stereolab could be on an endless loop in my brain for hours and hours of the monotonous prep work that it takes to fuel these busy restaurants.

The Wipers, Is This Real? - Ripe Family Supper, Gotham Bldg. Tavern, 2003-06

I had never heard The Wipers before I moved to Portland, OR. My friend, Travis Ingle, turned me on to this record, and I will forever be in his debt for that.

Red Fang, Murder The Mountains - Bunk Bar, Bunk Sandwiches, Current

These guys are a constant source of inspiration. They’re just a bunch of hard working guys, dads, who rock the fuck out. They’re kicking ass, too. Our friend, Whitey McConnaughy, has directed all of the Red Fang videos, too. They’re hard working artists, true to their vision, who don’t take themselves to seriously. What’s not to love?

@tommyhabetz | bunk | photo: oregon live

5 Records That Changed My Life - Winemaker, Jeff Bundschu Jeff Bundschu’s pairing of wine with independent music would stand out amongst the smooth sounds of Sonoma tasting rooms regardless of his pedigree. But the fact that he’s a sixth generation vintner at California’s oldest family-owned winery helps underscore his role as a maverick.  The Huichica Music Festival, which he co-produces with Eric D. Johnson of the Fruit Bats, has brought Beachwood Sparks, Sonny and the Sunsets, J Mascis, Vetiver and others to Gundlach-Bundschu Winery’s scenic outdoor stage. In the wake of this year’s event, which also included local food trucks, I asked Jeff about records that left their mark on him: I am approaching this as an origin question.  Each of the records below meant a lot to me, but more than that they represent the ‘patient-zeroes’ of my popular musical tastes to this day. Grand Master Flash, The Message Somehow, at the end of a rural vineyard lane in Sonoma, California in 1982, I got a hold of Grand Master Flash’s ‘The Message’.  I was in 8th grade.  To this day I don’t remember how I got it, but I do remember how it changed me forever. It painted vivid pictures of an urban life I had never seen and until then couldn’t imagine. My neighbors were grapevines and rattlesnakes. The imagery of the words, the rhyming, and drum and bass of the music hooked me early and hard.  Red Hot Chili Peppers, Red Hot Chili Peppers This record came out in 1984 and a year later, when I was a junior high school, I really got into it.  When I wasn’t listening to rap, I was listening to punk bands like the Descendents, Suicidal Tendencies and the Dead Kennedys.  My friends were listening to Motley Crue and Iron Maiden.  I was energized by both punk and metal, and the impact they had on their fans, but neither were perfect for me.  Then came the Peppers.  They appealed to my love for deep rhythm and funk with my guttural need for loud screaming guitar and earth-exploding drums.   The Peppers of those days, whom I saw probably 7 times between 1986 and 1991,  set the bar for live rock and roll shows that stands for me to this day.  Kraftwerk, Tour De France The fact that the Chemical Brothers, Moby, Roni Size, Jon Digweed, Tiesto, Deadmau5, Afrojack and many more electronic bands are on my iPod now (with the last three in heavy rotation) all comes back to this song.   I love the movement that electronic dance music inspires, both in the physical and metaphysical sense. REM, Green What certain music means to you has so much to do with where you were and what you thinking/feeling/seeing/sensing at the time you heard it.  The same is true about wine too!!  I was force-fed early REM by my friends and bandmates in college.  I didn’t like them at first — too straight ahead, too benign and not stimulating enough on first listen.  But repeated exposure lead to them becoming one my favorites of all time.  The music saturates and begins to mean more the more you hear it.  And the aspects of it that don’t grab you up front are exactly what keeps you coming back and back again.  Many of my favorite bands of the past 5 years are just like that.  Green is unheralded by most heavy REM fans, but it hit me right in the right spot and I can still cry listening to ‘The Wrong Child’. Shins, Wincing the Night Away The Shins have become my gateway to music discovery in the middle years.  As much as I lived and played and breathed music up through and right after college, I essentially stopped exploring once I came home to Sonoma to work at the winery.  Instead, I learned to love what happened to come my way. Then in 2007 my friend Dave Burton came through SF as tour manager for the Shins. He was the only one in my musical crowd at school that stayed in the business, managing and tour managing developing indie bands.  Through him, my passion for music discovery was rekindled.  That Shins show was a portal that I walked through.  Since then I have seen hundreds of bands, from Death Cab for Cutie to Animal Collective, She and Him to Jack White. I’ve booked some great bands to play at our winery in Sonoma, and co-founded the Huichica Festival to celebrate my most recent discovery- that music, wine and food—specifically the kind of music, food and wine that I like — go together very well!!! @sonojeff | blogschu.com | huichica music festival

5 Records That Changed My Life - Winemaker, Jeff Bundschu

Jeff Bundschu’s pairing of wine with independent music would stand out amongst the smooth sounds of Sonoma tasting rooms regardless of his pedigree. But the fact that he’s a sixth generation vintner at California’s oldest family-owned winery helps underscore his role as a maverick. 

The Huichica Music Festival, which he co-produces with Eric D. Johnson of the Fruit Bats, has brought Beachwood Sparks, Sonny and the Sunsets, J Mascis, Vetiver and others to Gundlach-Bundschu Winery’s scenic outdoor stage. In the wake of this year’s event, which also included local food trucks, I asked Jeff about records that left their mark on him:

I am approaching this as an origin question.  Each of the records below meant a lot to me, but more than that they represent the ‘patient-zeroes’ of my popular musical tastes to this day.

Grand Master Flash, The Message

Somehow, at the end of a rural vineyard lane in Sonoma, California in 1982, I got a hold of Grand Master Flash’s ‘The Message’.  I was in 8th grade.  To this day I don’t remember how I got it, but I do remember how it changed me forever. It painted vivid pictures of an urban life I had never seen and until then couldn’t imagine. My neighbors were grapevines and rattlesnakes. The imagery of the words, the rhyming, and drum and bass of the music hooked me early and hard. 

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Red Hot Chili Peppers

This record came out in 1984 and a year later, when I was a junior high school, I really got into it.  When I wasn’t listening to rap, I was listening to punk bands like the Descendents, Suicidal Tendencies and the Dead Kennedys.  My friends were listening to Motley Crue and Iron Maiden.  I was energized by both punk and metal, and the impact they had on their fans, but neither were perfect for me.  Then came the Peppers.  They appealed to my love for deep rhythm and funk with my guttural need for loud screaming guitar and earth-exploding drums.   The Peppers of those days, whom I saw probably 7 times between 1986 and 1991,  set the bar for live rock and roll shows that stands for me to this day. 

Kraftwerk, Tour De France

The fact that the Chemical Brothers, Moby, Roni Size, Jon Digweed, Tiesto, Deadmau5, Afrojack and many more electronic bands are on my iPod now (with the last three in heavy rotation) all comes back to this song.   I love the movement that electronic dance music inspires, both in the physical and metaphysical sense.

REM, Green

What certain music means to you has so much to do with where you were and what you thinking/feeling/seeing/sensing at the time you heard it.  The same is true about wine too!!  I was force-fed early REM by my friends and bandmates in college.  I didn’t like them at first — too straight ahead, too benign and not stimulating enough on first listen.  But repeated exposure lead to them becoming one my favorites of all time.  The music saturates and begins to mean more the more you hear it.  And the aspects of it that don’t grab you up front are exactly what keeps you coming back and back again.  Many of my favorite bands of the past 5 years are just like that.  Green is unheralded by most heavy REM fans, but it hit me right in the right spot and I can still cry listening to ‘The Wrong Child’.

Shins, Wincing the Night Away

The Shins have become my gateway to music discovery in the middle years.  As much as I lived and played and breathed music up through and right after college, I essentially stopped exploring once I came home to Sonoma to work at the winery.  Instead, I learned to love what happened to come my way. Then in 2007 my friend Dave Burton came through SF as tour manager for the Shins. He was the only one in my musical crowd at school that stayed in the business, managing and tour managing developing indie bands.  Through him, my passion for music discovery was rekindled.  That Shins show was a portal that I walked through.  Since then I have seen hundreds of bands, from Death Cab for Cutie to Animal Collective, She and Him to Jack White. I’ve booked some great bands to play at our winery in Sonoma, and co-founded the Huichica Festival to celebrate my most recent discovery- that music, wine and food—specifically the kind of music, food and wine that I like — go together very well!!!

@sonojeff | blogschu.com | huichica music festival