So on my search to locate another band, I was lucky enough to catch The Growlers set- and I was not the only one, it seems the majority of FYF had now gravitated toward the goth-infused surftastic tunes.  The tracks had guys and dolls braving the heat and tempting sun-stroke in search of a dance partner they could tempt into joining the beachy-keen good time.

 

I tracked down the sweet sextet (Brooks Nielson, Matt Taylor, Scott Montoya, Warren Thomas, Kyle Straka, Brian Stewart) for a little last minute meet and greet, and there I was again, perched upon the grass (honestly, I need to start supplying lawn chairs) and people watching with the six boys about fame and how it doesn’t matter- but money does.

 

BNB:  Hey guys!  So Lauren here from bestnewbands.com- introduce yourselves!

TG:  We’ve got Brooks, I sing for the band.  Jesus and I play keyboards and guitars and sometimes I play the flute and then sometimes I also play the accordians!  Scott, I play bass.

 

BNB:  Nice to meet y’all!  If you had to classify yourselves as one musical genre- what would you choose?

TG:  Bud Rock!

BNB:  Who are you stoked to see tonight aside from yourselves?

TG:  Ariel Pink- he’s been haunting us for a week straight now.  Pretty stoked on the Harry Lizards, the Iron Snakes, and the Zit Tits.

 

BNB:  If you could collaborate with one other artist- who would you pick?

TG:  Blood Fart.  Wait , what was the question?

BNB:  What artist would you collaborate with?

TG:  Shannon and the clams are awesome- I think that Brooks should do a duet with Shannon- that would be the coolest thing in the world!

 

BNB:  Hey- and this is Warren by the way who’s just joining us fashionably late!  Warren, what do you do for the band?

TG:  I play the giant bongos!

 

BNB:  Warren- I actually have a question for you!  Somebody just came by a couple minutes ago and said to you “I don’t really know if you guys know this- but you’re pretty big now!”  Your response was “Yeah, we don’t really care about that”- so it’s really just about the music for you!?

TG:  Yeah I mean, we just have a fun little family- we just have a good time, ya know?  So I don’t think anybody’s really too caught up in that.  Yeah- we don’t really care about getting big, or getting famous- we’re here just strictly for the money.

 

BNB:  Nice!  And if you could play and one festival aside from FYF- what would you choose?

TG:  COMIC CON!  Or, the Fuck No Fest!

 

BNB:  Main musical influences?

TG:  Probably how much Vanessa’s been coming on to me lately.  And, I’ll never get sick of Bobo and the Baby Dicks.

 

BNB:  It’s hotter than hell out here- how was it onstage?

TG:  It was cool up there, we had air conditioning, and lemonade- before we went onstage we just did so much blow- and it just got really out of control- so when we got onstage, it was awesome.

BNB:  So you guys are really pacing yourselves is what you’re saying.

TG:  Yeah- we don’t pace ourselves.  We had a long drive.

BNB:  Coming from where?

TG:  Sac- Town.

BNB:  So what was on heavy rotation music wise along the drive?

TG:  We listened to the history of- nah we didn’t do shit- I was just trying to stay up the whole time, and hang out with Matt- a little hand job here and there.

 

BNB:  And what would you do for a Klondike bar?

TG:  We actually have been having a discussion on how people base stuff they want to get out of on how much sexual shit they’d do with a dude.  Like would you suck a dick or do this, or this, or this to get out of that?

 

 

BNB:  So what’s up next for The Growlers?

TG:  We’ve got a new album coming out in October called “Hot Tropics”- they’re gonna sell it at Hot Topic.

 

BNB:  Closing remarks?

TG:  Hey Shorty!

By far one of my favorite sets of FYF, The Growlers brought the laid back beach vibe and accessorized it with a little western goth vibe- like a luau set to take place on the dark side of the moon.  Unfortunately, aside from the music there was nothing dark about the mid-day sun set to take people out with an extreme vengeance!

 

But the cardio kittens and dancing queens were in no way going to miss the chance to rock out swing style to The Growlers’ afternoon tune-tastic set.  Like they needed an excuse- people improvised, they hydrated, they danced under their umbrellas and had a fun time sans shade.  The Growlers definitely brought their A game, and their que sera sera vibe towards the sun was contagious- leaving people with an endorphin induced high and possibly a third degree burn.  But we’re willing to make charred the new black if The Growlers are playing.  Sacrifices must be made in the name of good music after all.  You can find out where to catch their adventures next by heading to www.myspace.com/lbcgrowlers!