[MEDIA=10]

Filmed December 10, 2007
The Fucking Ocean Practice Space
San Francisco, CA

On April 6, 2007, I played a show in a strip mall in Richland, WA. The next day, I played a show at the Hemlock in San Francisco. Unfortunately, 750 miles separate these two venues, and these miles could only be traversed overnight by automobile. Fortunately, the windy road from Richland to San Francisco offers splendid vistas and breathtaking views of Mt. Shasta for those awake enough to regard them.

Distracted by Mt. Shast’s pristine alpine glory, I arrived at the Hemlock very late. As we were loading in, a bespectacled man wearing a skirt, a diminutive Asian, and woman armed with a Rickenbacker bass took the stage to perform abrasive, but somehow “posi” no-wave. I later learned that this band was the Fucking Ocean and its Rickenbacker-wielding public relations officer was Marcella Gries. Impressed by her band’s aesthetics and can-do attitude, I played a number of shows with the Fucking Ocean in San Francisco (including another at the Hemlock) earlier this month. Aware that thieves roam the San Franciscan night, Marcella graciously allowed me to store equipment during at the Fucking Ocean’s practice space during my three-day “San Francisco tour.” There, I filmed her in front of a white wall.