Heeb mag's Diamond Days - just what brings it to the Bay from Brooklyn? There's no denying that the lineup is doozy, including Audacity, Fences, Glitter Wizard, Thee Makeout Party, Tiny Vipers, Ellen Mary McGee, and Young Animals, as well as a slew of local talents. I traded e-mails with Heeb magazine publisher Josh Neuman and associate editor Amy Westervelt to find out more.
SFBG: How did Diamond Days originate?
Amy Westervelt: It started last year in Brooklyn as sort of a throw-back to music shows you and your friends might have put together in high school or college. One of Heeb's contributing editors, Jay Diamond, grew up in the ‘burbs of Chicago playing in bands and putting together shows and he wanted to recreate that fun, but focus it on really great local bands in Brooklyn. After the first fest, we really wanted to recreate it in different parts of the country.
Josh Neuman: The fest is partially named in honor of Jay, and partially an homage to a Vashti Bunyan song, which is everything a summer song should be.
SFBG: Why did it move from Brooklyn to Oakland this year?
JN: Diamond Days premiered in Brooklyn last year. Over a thousand people attended. These Are Powers, Marissa Nadler, and Psychedelic Horseshit were all quite under the radar at the time. It was a great fest for people who truly like music: Nick from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jared from the Black Lips and TV on the Radio all came to watch.
Oakland is sort of the Brooklyn of the West. Geographically it's a similar set-up -- near the city, but you have to cross a body of water to get there. Also, it's less expensive so a lot of younger, creative types tend to live there, which has resulted in a handful of galleries, cafes, independent music clubs, and the like cropping up. It's also got a thriving music scene and a similar indie vibe to Brooklyn. We've been looking to expand in the Bay Area and this was the perfect opportunity.
SFBG: What's the concept or goal behind the programming?
JN: First of all, our goal isn't to showcase Jewish musicians (we couldn't care less if the musicians are “Jewish”) or "Jewish music" (a murky moniker that generally signifies some sort of backwards gaze at a mythical, "authentic" past). Like the magazine, the goal of the fest is to showcase emerging talent for an audience that identifies at some level as being Jewish. Heeb has been throwing events like this for years.
AW: I asked Jay about this, and here's what he said, "When I was much younger I became obsessed with listening to the radio, listening to older rock ‘n’ roll, blues, etc. I also played music when I was a kid, and got really into jazz, and that started opening me up to different music and ideas. Then I started getting into punk rock, and everything sort of meshed together. Somehow all of the artists I invite to play Diamond Days are sort of a continuation of all that. I like to base the idea of the fest not on the bigger Lollapalooza/Coachella idea, more on the underground hardcore festivals I used to go to when I was younger. That feeling of community is really amazing."
SFBG: Does anything tie the performers together?
AW: Here's what Jay says, " While I really don't think Diamond Days has a set genre that is focused on, all of the artists invited push some sort of creative boundary that interests me. I hold onto the belief that all of the bands involved really love what they are doing, and it's a total honor to me that they would spend a day playing this fest."
JN: They're just emerging bands we like and, by extension, that we think Jews should like.
SFBG: By chance, Mission Creek Music Festival is also happening the week of July 17 and the two fests share a few performers -- any worries about overlapping audiences?
AW: I can't believe those copycats! Kidding, of course. Nah, we're happy that these bands are getting more exposure, and if folks miss them at one fest, they can catch them at the other, which is pretty much in keeping with the whole community idea behind Diamond Days.
JN: They may share some of our performers, but do they have a "pork cook-off"? In all seriousness, we held last year's fest the same weekend as the Siren Music Fest, and if anything, it helped us find our audience.
SFBG: Will future Diamond Days fests be held in the Bay Area or move on to other cities?
JN: Probably another city -- we're wandering Jews.
DIAMOND DAYS
Thurs/17, early jam at Mama Buzz Cafe, 2318 Telegraph, Oakl.
Mist and Mast (Oakland),
Ben Becker (Los Angeles), and Emily Jane White (San Francisco)
Thurs/17, 7 p.m. show at Ghost Town Gallery, 2519 San Pablo, Oakl.
Whalebones (Seattle),
Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound (San Francisco), Sleepy Sun (San Francisco), Jeff (Los Angeles),
Cult of Youth (Brooklyn), Ellen Mary McGee (London), Young Animals (California), and the Broads (San Francisco)
Fri/18, 7 p.m., Ghost Town Gallery
Thee Makeout Party (Anaheim),
the Moon Upstairs (Los Angeles),
Tiny Vipers (Seattle), Princeton (Eagle Rock), Fences (Seattle),
Greg Ashley (Oakland),
No Bunny (Oakland), Mountainhood (San Francisco),
Lazarus (San Francisco),
Audacity (LA), and Damon and the Heathens (Oakland). Plus a pork cook-off with Chow.com
Sat/19, 5 p.m., Ghost Town Gallery
Ancestors (Los Angeles), Tweak Bird (Los Angeles),
Aleks and the Drummer (Chicago), Ojos Rojos (Claremont), the Fucking Wrath (Ventura), What Cheer? Brigade (Providence, R.I.),
Im a Gun (Seattle),
Bridez (San Francisco),
Loving Thunder (Seattle),
Glitter Wizard (Oakland), and Lotto Ball Show (Chicago)
Sun/20, Mama Buzz Cafe
The Chapin Sisters (Los Angeles),
Ruthann Friedman (Los Angeles),
Night Canopy (Seattle/Los Angeles), and Garrett Pierce (San Francisco)
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Comments (2)
Heeb repeatedly demonstrates that it is pretty clueless when it comes to Jewish culture outside of a narrow set of tired shticks. When Neuman comments that "Jewish music" is "a murky moniker that generally signifies some sort of backwards gaze at a mythical, "authentic" past)" he's demonstrating that he has no idea what's going on in the Jewish music scene. Jewish music has never been so forward looking as it is now, there are artists all over the country (and the world) exploring what Jewish music can become. Some of these artists draw on historic musical influences, some don't. Some draw heavily on contemporary music genres ranging including rock, hip-hop, jazz, country, chamber music and more. Some don't. Some are anchored in liturgical music and prayer, some are outspoken activists, many are great entertainers, no more, no less. The point is that they are, with no more lofty goal than making great music, creating a new American Jewish culture that is as vibrant as anything that has come before. But Heeb hasn't noticed and isn't interested. In Heeb's world being Jewish is nothing more than wearing a hip "tribe" t-shirt while laughing at your grandparents. Who's looking backwards?
Posted by Jack Zaientz | July 17, 2008 03:52 PM
Heeb repeatedly demonstrates that it is pretty clueless when it comes to Jewish culture outside of a narrow set of tired shticks. When Neuman comments that "Jewish music" is "a murky moniker that generally signifies some sort of backwards gaze at a mythical, "authentic" past)" he's demonstrating that he has no idea what's going on in the Jewish music scene. Jewish music has never been so forward looking as it is now, there are artists all over the country (and the world) exploring what Jewish music can become. Some of these artists draw on historic musical influences, some don't. Some draw heavily on contemporary music genres ranging including rock, hip-hop, jazz, country, chamber music and more. Some don't. Some are anchored in liturgical music and prayer, some are outspoken activists, many are great entertainers, no more, no less. The point is that they are, with no more lofty goal than making great music, creating a new American Jewish culture that is as vibrant as anything that has come before. But Heeb hasn't noticed and isn't interested. In Heeb's world being Jewish is nothing more than wearing a hip "tribe" t-shirt while laughing at your grandparents. Who's looking backwards?
Posted by Jack Zaientz | July 17, 2008 04:02 PM