The Tuesday Local Jam and Jelly at Luminescent Hookah Lounge

Moe Rizvi visited UCF’s Tent City event last week, where he witnessed the performance of Afeefa and The Boy. Shortly thereafter he offered them a gig at the Luminescent Hookah Lounge, of which he is the event director and coordinator. The business has been open for about six months and seeks to be a place to showcase local talent. “After hearing the local talent, I can bet that you won’t want to listen to the radio anymore.”

Stu Sauce would be the opening act that night. For Sauce, songwriting began in high school. Now in college, he continues to write and perform while pursuing a degree in Language Arts Education. “I like writing short songs, to match my attention span. Pay attention to the proletariat, we hate long songs!” Songs such as Miss Mary Jane, Aarrgh! Revolution and The Squirrel Song welcomed approving laughter and applause from the entire lounge.

In between sets, Afeefa Ayube spoke extensively about her experience with music. She began playing guitar and writing songs only about a year ago. While growing up in a religious home in Toronto, she was not permitted to listen to music. “I have just about zero musical influences and began writing music accidently, finding rhythm in poetry. Then the very first time I did an open mic performance, I met [Jay Yerkes], which was the beginning of the band we have now. I write the lyrics and melodies, and [my bandmates] just play what they feel and sooner or later we have a song. We formed so organically, and we have great chemistry. Honestly I have no clue what I’m doing, music was just something that arrived in my soul and I couldn’t shake it.”

Later…

“Hey, thanks for coming out. We really like your blog, by the way.”

“Thanks so much. I’m running out of adjectives to describe your band. [tone of despair] The English language limits me.”

“Dude, that’s a great idea, let’s do a song in Latin!”

To be continued…?

Ricin House

A group of people, some fans, some musicians, sat at a round table outside of Friendly Confines. The band members completed each other’s stories with ease, mocking one another with an affection commonly found among longtime friends. Iain Hart, the guitarist and vocalist, begins the long tale. In the beginning, Hart had a full ride to Rollins College on a music scholarship, but GPA problems and other life pursuits led him elsewhere.

 “After I got into a car accident and had to learn to walk again, I moved in with my mom in Melbourne. I’d been in 3 bands before the crash and swore I’d never be in another, so at that point I decided I wanted to become a chemist. Then I met [Mercedes Rosal]. When I first saw her, I thought this girl looked like she could kill a bitch, but her friend was really hot, so I came over to chat.”

Rosal interjects, “What happened was, I needed a study partner for chemistry and I thought he was really smart.”

“But she was wrong!”

“Anyways, one time we got bored studying and starting talking about music, and found out we both liked Nirvana. So we started jamming at her parents’ house, and they were creepy supportive of the whole thing. A few months later I convinced her lawyer dad to let his daughter, his baby girl, move in with me for the purpose of making music.”  Both of their families were supportive of their musical pursuits; Rosal’s parents bought her a drum kit, while Hart’s father told him that following his dreams and doing what he loves would be the most fulfilling experience of his life.

The band was originally called Paradise Boulevard, but when their bassist went to prison, they disbanded and later reformed as Ricin House.

“It was the only name we could settle on…because drugs.”

“What am I? Some kinda druggie alcoholic?!” Hart says as he downs a pint of beer.

They recorded a couple of demos at Valencia College and soon thereafter began to get gigs, recording their first EP with the help of Christian Goblin from the Green Goblyn Project at Rocket City Studios. They are currently recording music at KDS Studios.

Brian Villalobos, Bass “the soul of the band”

Words of wisdom: “If he doesn’t wanna cum, then just keep pounding till its raw.”

Mercedes Rosal, Drums “I am the band”

Iain Hart, Guitar and Lead vocals “the hips of the band”

“Music is more important than money, but money allows you to make music. Figure it out. By the way, we love the Grizzly Atoms.”

Tent City IX "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

Under the tall trees of an arboretum sits a group of tents. Crickets, a mockingbird and a lonely guitar come together to form a new song whilst its’ player awaits the arrival of tent citizens, those who will be camping there for the next week. The 9^th annual Tent City is organized by Campus Peace Action, a grassroots activist student group at UCF currently led by Lowen Gruseck. Gruseck is also a member of Sleazy Cheese and has a solo project called Lowenbehold. A friendly community atmosphere permeates tent city, as anyone who needed help received it. The shouting of hungry college students signaled the arrival of the evening’s meal, Puerto Rican Vegan food! 

Anyone who came with an instrument was free to jam, including Philip Bauer on clarinet and Francisco Sabatier, who played Latin style guitar music as part of a sound check before the arrival of those scheduled to play. In the beginning, the lack of stage lighting reduced the performers to ghostly figures. That is, until someone parked a van close by and left their headlights on. Like most free shows, performers brought their own equipment, some of which could be seen as a creative way to recycle or save money. Stu Sauce, for example, used a vacuum cleaner that doubled as a microphone stand. 

Of all the bands, the one most that the audience seemed most impressed with was Afeefa and The Boy, featuring Andrew Schmitt-Grijalva (percussion), Glen Samuels (piano and cello), Jay Yerkes (lead guitar) and Afeefa Ayube (vocals and rhythm guitar). They were originally a duet formed by Ayube and Yerkes, but after meeting Samuels and Schmitt-Grijalva at Austin’s Coffee and Film, the current line-up was formed. During their set, the audience looked completely captivated, rocking back and forth in a hypnotic daze during each song. If you’re going to listen to their music, make sure you’re not doing anything else, cause the songs will steal all of your attention and make you forget your troubles. 

More info:

http://www.facebook.com/Afeefa.and.theboy

Throwdown Jams at the Red Lion Pub

Walk through the doors of The Red Lion Pub and one will feel the friendly atmosphere right away. To your left, there are dartboards, trophies and a stage area. To your right is a table with a birthday cake and pizza. In the back sits a pool table and a pinball machine. Most of the people here are college aged, but at a table near the door sits a group of geriatrics who, funny enough, were talking about getting old. One guy mentions a few certain physical ailments when Rosemarie interrupts, “Just fucking shoot me, don’t even go there!” It’s not long before they start making fun of themselves.

 “I know how to spell Geritol because I've taken it.”

“I’m so old, my smartphone is smarter than me.”

“At my age, it’s my children who tell me to drink!”

Rosemarie Ryan has owned the Red Lion Pub for 22 years. She tells me about how this Saturday night event began. “We used to have Trivia night on Saturdays, but it was starting to get boring. So I asked Trey [Miller] (one half of the duo We’re All Gonna Die) if he had any ideas. He said it’d be cool if we could, y’know, jam and really, like, throw it down. So that’s how we came up with the name.” The point of the weekly event, Miller explains, is to allow musicians to network and become more comfortable performing in front of an audience.          

It’s only the third or fourth song and Miller has already broken into a sweat while singing and playing harmonica to Hotel California. Miller and OB (the other member of We’re All Gonna Die) were soon to be joined by Stu Sauce, She the Slut, Dark Murbin and Phoenix Tweak. Each of them received an excited greeting from Rosemarie upon their arrival. Certainly, there is no shortage of hugs at the Red Lion Pub.  Music was varied; some of the songs were covers but most was original material. They collaborated on the music, taking turns playing the drums, acoustic and bass guitar, and talking about their music. It is to be expected that many of these songs have a story behind them. Stu Sauce’s song “Don’t Feed the Birds” was inspired by watching tourists feed seagulls on the beach.   Each artist comes in with their own unique personality, combining to form an entertaining, unrehearsed show that doesn't have a set ending time. Oh, and chances are, if you leave something lying around, Miller will decide to wear it, even if it is a pair of leopard print Mickey Mouse ears. He wore them with confidence until the owner requested a return of the said item.

Artist information

 http://www.redlionpub.net/

http://www.facebook.com/PhoenixTweak?fref=ts

http://phoenix-tweak.bandcamp.com/

http://www.facebook.com/wereallgonnalive?fref=ts

http://www.dosemerage.com/

http://www.facebook.com/DarkMurbin?fref=ts

http://darkmurbin.tumblr.com/

http://www.facebook.com/SoundsofSauce?fref=ts

She The Slut, a Biography

As he sits outside the University of Central Florida library, Mario Khoury attracts the attention of those passing by. He sings and plays his acoustic guitar to no one in particular, getting interrupted only by those who stop by to greet him with an enthusiastic high five or fist pump. Women approach him on an increasingly regular basis as we sit there. “It just comes with being a musician, but I try to avoid the Motley Crue image, y’know?”                                                    

Originally from New Jersey, She the Slut currently performs in small venues around Orlando including Natura Coffee and Tea, Red Lion Pub and the Peacock Room. He also enjoys traveling to music festivals, where one may find him sitting by the campfire, playing some tunes for an audience burned out from the day’s activities. To create the perfect song, his philosophy is to provide a message which in some way inspires the listener, and a sound that is able to deliver that message. She the Slut also goes by another name, He the Gentlemen, a name used to perform at venues that take offense at the word slut. “He The Gentlemen plays all of She the Slut’s songs better than he does, and his hair has better flow, too!” To learn more about this artist, visit the following sites. 

http://www.soundcloud.com/she-the-slut

http://www.youtube.com/user/SheTheSlutTV?feature=mhee

http://www.facebook.com/shetheslut