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THE CROWD
BLAST!
Blast!has been playing in and
around the Santa Cruz/Bay Area for
some time now, getting rave reviews
for their energy and perhaps (not
exactly) a coincidental similarity to
early Black Flag. We managed to pin
them down after a show at the Stone
in S.F., a city that Blast! finds tough
to crack, even though it's right in their
own backyard.
Blast! is: Clifford Boswell, voice;
Mike Neider guitar; Dave Cooper,
bass; Bill Torgerson, drums; and
Steve Stevenson, guitar..
Blast! started off as M.A.D., which
stood for Mutually Assured Destruc-
tion, about six years ago, without any
direction. They took some time off
before regrouping with better ideas,
more creativity and a new name.
Blast! has a new record out. It's
called "Power of Expression on the
Wishing Well label (on Roadrunner
in Europe.) It's old to them but new
to everybody else. It's selling well on
the East Coast.
Blast! is not a skate band but they've
all been at it for years. Personally,
Cliff is just a humble surfer getting
frustrated because the only thing he
can do on a skateboard is grinds.
Blast! is proud to say that they were
part of the early days of skating when
was new and fun and growing. And
they grew right with it.
Blast! all went to high school
together in a place rather forgotten,
have been friends for years and
relocated to Santa Cruz."
Blast! exists because they feel there
it
MOCK
CK
Having a BLASTIL. to R., Steve, Bill, Clifford, Dave and Mike
is a need to do what they do. They're
just being themselves, not sorry if
anybody else thinks they're not cool,
They desired to create music that
they find necessary to exist.
Blast! is not ashamed to list SSD
and Black Flag as influences and
say that being compared to them is
a compliment. Had Black Flag not
existed they're quite sure they would
still be doing what they're doing.
However, they think more in terms
of power, presence and intensity:
"People always have to condemn
something, they just can't purely
appreciate what you're doing. For
some reason people feel the need
to criticize, they'll either love us or
hate us. There are usually no in-
betweens," says Cliff.
Blast!'s songs come mainly from the
mind of lead vocalist Cliff Boswell.
Says Cliff, "There's no way to put any
definition on it or behind it. The first
album may have clung to certain
themes and the next record may do
the same thing, but as far as what
those themes are, it just comes out
and when it comes out I'm almost
scared. The world situation and the
tensions, the threat of nuclear war
hanging over our heads does con-
tribute, and a lot of the metaphors I
use are usually pretty obvious. But
I'm trying not to be too specific as
far as aiming at anyone or anything
in particular. I just say what I feel
needs to be said. As far as the next
album is concerned, the music has
gotten way heavier and the words
will get way heavier. When Steve and
Mike make up a song, it's a form of
communication. I'll hear a song and
within 10 minutes, words will literally
come into my head. I try to express
what I feel they're saying through
their music.
Blast! sometimes feels isolated
coming from Santa Cruz. But that's
why it feels so good to get out and
tour down south to LA, through the
Central Valley or up to Reno where
they do quite well. Although they
have cracked the scene in S.F, they
still feel hexed in their local urban
marketplace. "We're just another.
band, everybody's out to do the
same thing," claims Steve. Cliff adds,
"We just want to do what we do and
have the freedom to do it. That's what
we stand for: protecting that freedom.
In some way it's our contribution.
Someday the rules are going to be
bigger than us all and we might not
be able to express ourselves in that
manner. Right now we feel it's very
important to take advantage of it as
highly as possible."
Blast! performs cover tunes in their
set, namely Alice Cooper's 'School's
Out. "That's our celebration of
summer," says Cliff, "Wires' 12XU
is a fun song to do, it's that simple.
It's just a classic. The Germs' sig-
nificant piece. The Slave,' is such
an incredible song. That's how we
feel. We are literally slaves to our
music. We don't make any money.
we go through endless hassles to
get places, we question ourselves
daily whether or not it's worth it. It's
our drug. The Slave' is a very
appropriate song. On occasion
everyone in this band has felt like
quitting or killing themselves or
something, but something always
makes us do it again."
Blast! cannot play in their own home
town of Santa Cruz. "That's pretty
absurd but it's up to us to rent a hall
and put on our own show. Every
promoter is always worried about,
oh my God, am I gonna break even
or am I gonna do this,' if we had to
worry about all that it's a big burden
to have hanging over your head.
Blast! doesn't always agree with
each other but as Cliff says: "I can't
speak for the band. We don't speak
as a band. Any band that says they
agree on the same thing, or are into
the same thing is lying. We are five
different individuals. Personally
would like to progress and get to
where big bands are, but get there
uncorrupted. Still being the same-
person that I've always been and will
always be. Doing it in an honest way,
not having to give in to anything or
anyone. And keeping the same
intensity, the same feeling behind
our music.
Write to Blast!: 2815 Chanticleer,
Suite C, Santa Cruz, CA 95062.
Clifford-Blasting off.
IN THE CROWD
JON MALVINO
For the last 20 years or so John
Malvino has been doing something
most of us can appreciate. Having
played a major role in nourishing a
highly active Northern California
skate scene as a skater and film-
maker, John has amassed quite a
collection of 16mm film documenting
his adventures and the exploits of
follow skaters.
Recently, Bay Area skate-fans
have been fortunate enough to view
some of his best via a series of local
showings Recent material from
Hawaii, Glory Hole pipe sessions
and the street blended with older
classic clips have been garnering
howls of approval at auditorium
screenings.
Catching up with John after his
latest showing in Sacramento, we
got a view from behind the camera-
some of his feelings on the skate
scene he covers and how he covers it.
ON FILM VS. VIDEO
I know people are working on
videos with a story line and relying
on video effects, and other people
have a whole $250,000 array of toys
and they are just itching to learn how
to dial in the techniques. I think any
product is better than no product. I'm
not standing on some pedestal be-
cause I still work on film and they're
all tied into videotape. Because of
limitations with videotape, they can't
do live video playback in a large
format, which you can do with film.
I can take my film to video and it'll
look botter than original videotape.
Most people in TV shoot on film and
then edit in video. That's the ticket.
In the post production phase of video-
tape you have a lot more electronic
processes you can access very
quickly with videotape that are
harder to create in film. Super
imposition, solarizations and color
changes, a lot of tricks they are using
on MTV have nothing to do with the
original negative or the original tape.
When it gets back to what's really
happening, it's still basically a skater
going up on the wall and doing an
aenal, it's real authentic and I don't
lay on any effects at all, post produc-
tion effects-none of that B.S. I get
good feedback from the kids, things
like, "It changed my life, it's the best
product I've seen, it told me things I
never knew. I love it, keep going. "I
get nothing but reinforcement from
these kids.
just can't get that kind of adrenalin
going with two kids pounding beers
watching a television set.
There aren't a lot of guys out there
that are "independent film makers"
who four-wall these films. There are
only a couple of independent film
makers who really make a hearty
living yearly and one of them is
Warren Miller. I think he's the number
one independent filmmaker, making
ski movies. He writes a ski movie
every fall and he breaks it in 300 inde-
pendent auditoriums nationwide,
and the guy makes mega-bucks. I
don't see why I can't do that, but I'd
sure like to get more than 35 guys in
Sacramento to come to my fim when
there are at least 30,000 skaters and
As a filmmaker, I've gotten my 18 skate shops and a million guys
hands on better equipment. I go to promoting. And I can't get a hundred
a great lengths to show the movie people to come to my movie?
with really good sound-it's not like THE MALVINO PORTFOLIO
one little tiny squawk box, I really go I will work for other people as a
out on a limb to get the sound. The
bass really hits you in the chest. That cameraman and do anything they toll
costs a lot of money and I bring in me to. I was riding on a train the
enough power to drive any hardcore into a tunnel for a very large shoe
other day going 60 miles an hour
band around. I never used to do that commercial. Totally illegal. These
with my old films, but hey, I'm getting people call me on the fly because
older and I know about all these toys I'm the guy who will do what a lot of
it
and I just want to bring the experi
ence to the kids. And I want to make
better.
What I've always got a rush out
of, was presenting a film to a lot of
people won't do. I'm well known for
hand-held work, special photography
and tripod work. They call me up
do it. I'll gladly pull it off if I can.
when a regular videographer can't
people, as an event. To see a film
One of my high points was in 1980
where someone is acting like a dork
when the Dangerous Sports Club
or doing an incredible maneuver (from England) came to California
when it's 12' x 12' and having 200 and decided to jump off the Golden
kids scream and yell, applauding or Gate Bridge with bungie cords. They
not, it's worth it all to me as a contacted Striper Productions, a
presenter. I'm hooked on that that's friend of mine in Marin County. I
what I live for. When I go and show ended up doing all the camera work
my film, it's the reaction. And you
Cordon near pape
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