San Francisco Voice

Scubacat is a Bay Area acoustic rock jam band with a quilt of music woven together by the thread of creativity.  SFV was lucky enough to score an interview with Adam the “vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, manager, booker, driver, roadie, sound man, and babysitter for Scubacat”.  He tells us about meeting in the same place that everyone else in SF meets, the down-to-earth spots they love in SF and the boundary-pushing attitude that makes this city perfect for them.  Seriously, the music is worth checking out so get to reading and make sure to mark your calendar for Tuesday, May 15, when they’re playing a show at El Rio.

What’s the story on how you met and decided to start playing together?

After doing the solo singer/songwriter thing here in the Bay for a few months, I placed an ad on Craigslist looking for band mates. It actually read: “Looking for Non-Professional Musicians…..aren’t you sick of these pretentious asses on CL?” I had a feeling that would attract the right kinds of people, and it did. Our drummer had just arrived in California from Montreal and was looking for an original group of musicians. Our other guitarist and I both went to music school for college, so we had a connection there, and our bass player is just a drunk sailor we found wandering the streets of Oakland.

Describe the average Scubacat fan.

Approx.imately 23 to 32 years old. Short, stocky, balding, slacker total nerds … and beautiful Amazon supermodel women … oh and underwater diving cats of course. Seriously though, Scubacat fans are people who are looking to hear original, creative music that is unlike anything they have heard before, but which is also vaguely familiar and pleasing. I think that people who appreciate complex music will enjoy us more than the top 40 radio listening crowd might. We definitely try to push the boundaries of conventional music and art and I think that attracts a certain kind of listener. That’s why we love the Bay Area –  I think the only other place that comes as close to embracing original artists and creative, unique movements is New York City. The Bay Area has very intelligent and open listeners. The diverse scene here makes it a very inviting place to be as a musician.

What’s your favorite song to perform live and why?

I think our favorite song to play live is Neither Do You. It has an intense energy and we always jam out at the end, ending in an eruption of nasty noisy happiness.  (And yes, you can hear that on the MySpace page.)

Which spots in the city can you be found in when you’re just out and about? Neighborhoods / stores / bars?

You can usually catch us eating at many of the fine taco eateries in the Mission then washing the eats down with frosties at The Kilowatt or Zeitgeist. Toby’s Revolution Cafe is a great chill spot for Scubacat.  The lower Haight is also a favorite rendezvous – Mystic Pizza, the Toronado, Mad Dog in the Fog; you can’t go wrong.

We always love an excuse (or a sunny day, ha!) to have a Que or play some frizz in Dolores or GG Park. When we have money (yeah right!) we go to City Lights Bookstore, Vesuvios and Specs in North Beach or Tres Agaves in SoMa. We’re also big baseball fans and being from both East Bay and SF we love to go to each others’ ball parks and root against each others home team! Go A’s, Go Giants!

Do you have a favorite SF venue?

To play at, I would say The Cafe Du Nord.  It has a great staff, great crowds, great sound, and feels comfy like a good hoodie. To see a show at, I love going to the Warfield. The sound there is always phenomenal, I’d love to hear it from the stage someday!

Where do you want to be a year from now? Five years?

By next year, we would like to get into the recording studio and do a few Scubacat albums. Also, we just want to continue to write new material and play out as much as we can, eventually getting out to LA, Portland, and Seattle for a West Coast Your. Five years from now, I think we will be cashing checks, big ones. Or writing them, one way or the other.

If the band was a San Francisco landmark, which one would it be and why?

Great question, how many bands say Coit Tower? I’m guessing a lot. But, I would say Scubacat is more like The Castro. We, much like the Castro, are not afraid to be who we are. Our name, Scubacat, was chosen to represent the idea that we are pioneers in a new world of music. We are always seeking out unknown territory, where others may be intimidated to go. We love to challenge old ways of thinking, and in turn we challenge ourselves and our listeners with the ideas of truth, reality, and introspection. We are always trying to open up people’s perceptions of the world around them. Just instead of using gay pride, we use music.

If there was anything that you could make sure your fans knew, what would it be?

We love the power and influence of music. We live for the feeling of playing music for a room full of people, it is an amazing collective experience. I think that this is an ancient human desire; to get together as a group for some reason to share an experience. Be it religion, politics, moral convictions, art, music, sports, whatever; people love to share in something enjoyable, and that is what we are all about!

When we all come together for an hour or two, us playing music for everyone, the audience becomes the fifth member of the band. They are as crucial to the experience as the music itself. Certainly the experience would be very different if they weren’t there with us.

Our mission as a band is to bring a fun experience to all around us. Our intention as a band isn’t to make gold records with Chris Walken’s “Bruce Dickinson” and Will Ferrell, but just so everyone knows, we do know how to rock the cow bell, oh yeah we do. Don’t fear the reaper baby!

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