Me and Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Before their sold-out show at the Swan Dive in Las Vegas, I caught up with Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

My band Eyesore used to play with them back in San Francisco in the early nineties. They rehearsed next door to us at Lennon Studios. I remember they were the only band that turned the rehearsal space into a party. When they rehearsed, there were always a bunch of hipsters going in and out of their room and hanging out in the hallway.

One time we played with them at Slim’s — just a few days after their infamous Bottom of the Hill show with Oasis. Backstage, Anton told me how he kicked his guitarist out of the band mid-set for being too loaded to plug in his guitar. I never saw him so proud.

Back in those days in San Francisco, we never waited for the sound guys to tell us when we could unplug our guitars. There were a lot of loud thuds. Only when I got to Vegas did I learn to make sure the sound was off before unplugging. It just took a few angry comments from a couple of sound guys to break me of that habit.

Anton still does it. Very cool.

The show was a major flashback. I loved it. BJM are the greatest.