Pardon our drama, but Earlimart are survivors. We first saw them at Noise Pop back in 2000 when they tore back a jaded crowd with their own mix of bucolicly poppy punk. Since then, band veterans Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray have weathered their share of The Business' ups and downs, most notably a complete meltdown and rebirth of their Central Valley monikered collective. They kept swinging, even when Espinoza was broke and crashing in a sleeping bag in his studio. Long story long, they returned to San Francisco bigger and stronger each time we saw them, until the absolutely nutty night in last September when we watched them play the Fillmore. When you've seen your friends go from playing to ten people in a tiny club...to a couple thousand in a major venue, you simply have no choice but to beam with pride, even if you didn’t' do a goddamn thing but stand on the sidelines, chart their progress, and cheer them on.

Recently Earlimart headlined a show at our New Great White Hope of venues, The Independent. Squid pulled Aaron away from his pre-show BBQ grilling duties to get the down low on the band's Highway to Hell and the Mtv studded glory beyond it.

Squid: Alright so...

Aaron: You haven't thought about this at all, have you?

Squid: Yeah I have actually! (Aaron bursts out laughing) I've been thinking about this all DAY!

Aaron: (imitating confused Squid) "What am I gonna...? I dunnoo.."

Squid: I think about the first time I saw you guys..it was a Devil in the Woods thing and I didn't know anything about you guys at all, I just knew that I wanted to listen to THAT band. And I bought Filthy Doorways...and I was listening to that.

Aaron: I'm sorry.

Squid: Now wait, why do you say that, do you not like the older ones as much?

Aaron: I dunno, I don't think...I was just learning how to record and learn how to write songs at the same time.

Squid: Do you sometimes have to pull away and be a writer sometimes and a producer at other times? Is that weird?

Aaron: I don't know, I mean for me, personally, the way Earlimart works is that I just do it kinda at the same time, write and record at the same time. But I've been recording other people too, so that's a separate thing so...So I just keep learning every time. Seriously! So...that older record...

Squid: Filthy Doorways

Aaron: That older record's okay but the second record's pretty bad...

Squid: It's amazing that you say that, Cause I was driving around listening to all the records today..

Aaron: You listen to the old shit?

Squid: Dude, I got the Beerock EP, okaaaaaaaay?

Aaron: Well, THAT one's cool...

Squid: I was listening to them and having all of these memories and flashbacks and I have all these associations with different songs. But I know for the person who makes the record, their relationship with it is totally different. So looking back on it, what don't you like?

Aaron: The first record, I can kind of ...I can buy..i have a get-out-of-jail card on that one Cause I was literally trying to learn how to record and learn how to write..

Squid: Absolutely

Aaron: So. Some happy accidents happened, and some...y'know...are just accidents!

Squid: So the second one.

Aaron: So the second one (Kingdom of Champions), the reason why I don't like it, is..well, it doesn't sound very good, technically, on the recording, and, I think I was just trying to...to be something that I wasn't. y'know what I mean? I dunno, it was just a weird time. It was, uh, I mean, I'm still rippin' off the Pixies all the time. It's just like "Come ON!"

**

Squid: So...then let's talk about the third album, so you you've been out touring behind that one for a year and a half so what's that been like?

Aaron: This one I like. Because...I got better at recording...I'm still learning, but I got better. I guess it's just getting older, and I got more...I was more comfortable with myself?   For a minute? Or something? (laughs)

So, I feel like, whatever, all my songs and lyrics are all vague and stupid but ... (laughs) .   They're not stupid but they're vague. Anybody can make whatever they want to (out of them). But, to me, I felt like, I was being more honest with myself. Whereas before, on the other records, I was just learning how to make records and write songs and you can be a little scared. You get like, "I'm not going to say that, or talk about that, I don't even want to think about it!", y'know? So, this time, I guess I got older and got more comfortable with...being brave.

Squid: (When writing) a lot of times the sound of a word comes to me first.   Do you get images, or is it more like, a little phrase that pops into your head?

Aaron: Yeah, first we'll work on the music, and the chord progressions and the whole feel of it. Then some thing is happening in life at that time, some little phrase that works with it. Cause everything is syllables, it's all syllables and they have to fit in a certain frame. There's like, four bars here, and if you can make something fit in that spot, and then also mean something to you...*then* you're starting the process.

So usually, that's how it happens for me. Maybe it's a chorus, I'll come up with a chorus, okay, and then, I see where the song is leading. So I write a verse that makes sense and talks about the description of what the chorus is. So you kind of write the end of the story first? And then you gotta go, "okay, so why did all this happen?" But...in a very short amount of time.

Squid: So then you write it, and you've got the record, and you tour it.

Aaron: And that's a whole other animal.

Squid: How does your relationship with the songs change once you take them out on the road? Do you find you have to discard things? I mean, obviously the studio is the perfect environment, you can add little touches. Do you find yourself changing the way you approach certain songs once you've played them for two, three, four nights?

Aaron: Totally, well when we're recording it's just me in the studio, and then the song just comes out the way it comes out, and then it's fun, because then we go on tour, and get the band together, (affects old man's voice) "get the old band back together!" They learn the songs and they totally recreate it and it becomes something...it's usually louder and faster when we play live. So I don't feel like it's a repetitive process, because the band is so great and they totally put their own spin on it at that time. It's not like, "Well I'm the leader of the band, and we gotta do it this way". Everyone comes up with their own stuff, and sometimes, oftentimes, it's better than the recorded version.

Squid: I have a couple of personnel questions too, because obviously, there are marked changes in the band. Ashod (Simonian, former guitarist) is now off doing the Panty Lions, and Brian (Thornell, former drummer), is, a full time member of the Radar Brothers now?

Aaron: He and Mark (Wooten), they started Pine Marten, and that was their main thing, and still is, hopefully. They basically got hired on to do the Radar Brothers thing.

Squid: I feel so spoiled now, with everyone joining each other's bands, I get to see my friends all the time.

Aaron: Kinda weird how that happens, huh? Sort of incestuous!

Squid: It is...and on that note, and speaking of people who've learned to record themselves, you had Jason, you had "the lytle" and Jim (Fairchild) came down to help. Obviously, you have a very humble attitude about learning to record, and the process, and what is it like to working with someone like him who also is kinda self-taught, do you guys have a similar style or...?

Aaron: Well, the whole band have become very good friends of ours. Jim, our relationship, is great, it's just totally, took off and he's one of my best friends. Jason, who I met first, out of the band, I don't know, it's kinda one of these things where, where we're really, really good friends, but at the same time, in a weird, uh, I don't know if it's like a brotherly thing?, Cause he's older than me, and he's... (laughing), "older and wiser", I feel like he kinda took me under his wing in a way, and I learn from him all the time, well, I mean not just about recording, but just about anything, you know, just life and stuff. He,in particular, and the band, they've really helped us out a lot. So working with him, that was kind of, a fun thing, because he didn't do that much. He did with Fiver and Rodriguez, once in a while, like Howe Gelb will come over to his house and record a song, but I don't think he likes recording other people that much?

With the Earlimart thing, I had been sending him rough mixes, and he was pretty familiar with how the album was coming together, and they were just in on the process the whole time. He had been coming down to LA with Jim, because at that time, they were going through management changes, and all this like, business shit. So we would hang out, and then we would go get drunk, and they'd end up playing on the record. So he was already in the mix, and it was kind of, beneficial in a way, for him, 'cause he set up the new studio to do Sumday. I had this idea like why don't you produce a couple songs on the record, which I had never done before, no one else had ever recorded Earlimart, and had been in charge of it.

Squid: Wow.

Aaron: It was totally safe, though, it wasn't like I had some stranger...I just called him, basically it was really like, drinkin' beer... (laughs) but it was good for him, too, because he could get the bugs out of the studio so he could start Sumday.

Squid: So this happened out in Ceres, this wasn't at Eagle Rock at your studio.

Aaron: He played on some songs in Eagle Rock at our studio, but when we actually, like the songs he produced, we went to Ceres, and we went to his house and stayed there for a few days, and we did those songs there.

***

Squid: Alright, now what the hell's "Burning the Cow" mean?

Aaron: It's a phrase that a friend of mine came up with. From Fresno, and it just means (because I don't live in Fresno anymore), it's like a derogatory term referring to Fresno. Talking shit about where you came from...I just thought it was funny.

Squid: So now you're working on another one?

Aaron: Yeah, it's almost done..

Squid: You're unstoppable, man! (laughing)

Aaron: Tryin'. I mean, I only got so long, y'know?

Squid: It's weird for me to know bands that are playing that have, uh, "made it"? Whatever the fuck that means. You guys play bigger places now, and I've had the totally insane experience of seeing you and seeing Grandaddy at the Fillmore.

Aaron: Right, and like, you've seen us at the Dirty Duck...

Squid: YEAH! It's just...from The Dirty Duck in Modesto to...

Aaron: That's pretty cool, huh? (Dimissively waiving hand, affecting cynical hipster speak)   "I seen these mutherfuckers....")

Squid: So, same thing as your relationship with the songs changing from the album to playing them live...How about the venue thing? Do you have to click into a different mode? Was there an "oh, SHIT", moment where you're like, "Fuck man, there's a lot of people out there!".   Or were you like, head down, just get in there...

Aaron: I'm trying not to do that as much. I'm trying to be more, "oh shit, there's a lot of people!" That's actually better, that means you're looking and experiencing. Where before, you know we've played a few big shows here and there, and I would just put my head down and close my eyes and sing.

But I always felt like, when we were done, that I didn't experience it. It's good and bad. Because you get nervous and that's good, there's nothing wrong with that. I mean tonight, tonight is like our first ever headlining show in San Francisco. I mean we've played bigger places but it's bigger than Bottom of the Hill...

Squid: And there's a lot riding onI mean , (The Independent) has a lot of history. That used to be the Kennel Club before it was the Justice League, every good show that was played in this city...at least most of them, in the early nineties took place there. So it's exciting for us to see that place opening back up again.

Aaron: So, yeah, I'm even like nervous tonight. I mean, I don't know whether it'll be full or not, but the thing is is that I wanna try to start experiencing it more. I think the first time that I started doing that, not putting my head down as much is that we played in London...it was the first time we've ever played in London. It was at this place called the Astoria...pretty big theatre...

Squid: Yeah, it is...

Aaron: We were main support for Grandaddy, who are giants over there.   I mean, they're big here, but they're like, really big over there. And it was on my birthday, June 12 th , and I think it's probably the most people we've played in front of. It's like 2500 people, that's a lot of people to me. And it just...looked like SO many fuckin' people....and it was my birthday, and I was just watchin' the whole thing, and having a really good time. Getting nervous, then getting scared, then getting happy.

Halfway through the set, right before we started the song called, The Movies, Jason and Jim come out with a cake, and they do a Happy Birthday thing...in front of 3000 people, and it was just like, so special. Then they left, and we started the song, and I kinda got a little choked up. I couldn't really sing the verse! But it was cool, and now, I'll remember that. Now, if I open my eyes and watch, and experience it: it's good. Cause now I can talk about that show as opposed to before I'd just get too scared and shy and I would just shut down. That's one way of doing it. But then I could never talk about it, cause I wouldn't remember it.

Squid: Being at the Fillmore was fun because, a lotta times, you know, you're older, you've been to the shows, and you're like, "whatever". But when it's you guys, it was just cool because...

Aaron: Were you down there in front?

Squid: I was right down in front of you, yeah. I guess we coulda stayed in the back and been cool hipsters or whatever but we were just like, "Fuck that! Our friends are up there playing!"

Aaron: That's awesome.

Squid: It was weird because I thought we were going to be the only people down there but all of the sudden (longtime friends) are in front, and everyone's yelling back and forth and giving Aaron (Burtch) shit to come downstairs, and people are looking at us, like, "Who are these drunk assholes?".

Aaron: (Doing Impression of Disdainful Teenager) "Drunk old people!"

Squid: Totally, "Drunk old people down the front!"    

****

Squid: I was thinking of moments when I was watching (Earlimart's accomplishments) from afar and just thinking "Holy SHIT". How did the 120 minutes thing happen?

Aaron: You mean, the MTV show? You mean how was it?

Squid: Well, first HOW, and WHAT, and how'd it go, and...

Aaron: I dunno...those are weird..Davey remembers. (Drummer and Band Goodfella Davey Latter comes dashing past making a beeline for the head. Aaron intercepts him to enlist help.) Davey!

Davey: What?

Squid: Dude, what the fuck, get over here!

Davey: Dude...?! (Leans over couch) You get hit in the neck every time you say dude. (Makes menacing knuckle-claw fist)

Squid: (flinching) Nooo!

Davey: (shrugs) Now you know the rule! Alright? That's the one time I tell you, if I see you do it again, it's over...

Aaron: I can't say...the "d" word...

Davey: Why would you say the d word? That's silly...

Squid: (shying away from knuckle fist) WHY? Are you not from California?

Davey: Yes I am from California, Hermosa Beach.

Aaron: AND he surfs...

Squid: That is really strange

Davey: But I'm really old so that "D" phenomenon came on a little later in life.

Squid: You're not older than me...

Davey: Whatever, I'm older than this HOUSE.

(A&Squid: hysterical laughter)

Squid: I'm 33.

Davey: I'm 40.

Squid: DAMN.

Squid: See, tattoos make you look young! That's why I got tattoos too!

Davey:(Raises arms to show full sleeves) pfft, not these ones!

Squid: What about the MTV thing? What was it like?

Davey: Uh, which one? We've done so many.

Squid: Have you guys done more than one? Color me ignorant!

Aaron: You mean the one with Jim...what's his name? Jim Rome?

Squid: (laughing) Jim Rome...? So how did it work? Were you guys on some sort of timed...

Aaron: Fucking eight o'clock in the morning.

Squid: WHAT?

Davey: In some stinky bar, that was still stinkin' from the night before.

Aaron: Covered in cigarette butts...

Davey: BUT they edited it really good and it looked really bitchen in the end...

Squid: Think I saw, like, 3 seconds of it, that's why I'm asking..

Davey: And eight in the morning in Manhattan...means you've only gotten about 3 hours of sleep 'cause the bars are open until like 4 or 4:30...

Squid: So did the guy have any clue about who you were?

Aaron: (sounding surprised) He was like, a big fan...

Davey: He was great. Jim Shee....what was his name?

Aaron: Shearer, Jim Shearer.

Davey: The cool thing about that was that they had the Radiohead $2 concert thing? So that was on, so every other commercial, they did an ad for our show. So us and Radiohead.

Squid: That's some pretty sexy placement right there...

Davey: So check this out. So right after we shoot that, and it was good and it aired, we went up to Cape Cod, actually just to go and hang out a friend of ours has a house up there, and we were just going for the weekend, so we booked a show at this place called The Beachcomber and just for the hell of it, y'know. Cause they feed you a bunch of brews and fish.

Squid: Cape Cod...hmmm

Davey: So, we're enjoying it, whatever, but we play, and there's a shitload of people there, but none of them give a fuck about the band.

Aaron: They're all going outside...

Davey: They all leave the room while we're playing... there's an outside deck or whatever, and they're all out partying. We're playing shitty, whatever, sad songs, and they're like, "I don't wanna listen to THIS shit!"

Aaron: There are like 300 people in the bar and we started playing and they were like (makes whistling sound, parts hands like Red Sea).

Davey: They all split, right? So whatever, it's funny. So when we're done, there's televisions in the bar, all over the place, and next thing you know, fuckin' BOOM, MTV pops up, and it's the 120 minutes with Earlimart, we're on the fuckin' thing. We had JUST finished playing.

Squid: You're like "BOOYA, fuckers! Here we are!"

Davey: All these guys are coming up to us going, ""fuuuuKIN' hell man, is that you? We fucked up, can you guys play again?"   I'm like, stoppin' people, (pointing upwards) "You see that? You fucked up!"

---
Check out our previous Earlimart experience:
Review: June 15, 2001 @ Dirty Duck, Modesto



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