Neil Blender, Terence Yoshizawa, Charlie Christian, Eric Johnson, Wes Montgomery, Stiff Little Fingers, Lance Mountain, Magic Sam, Joe Satriani, Elwood, Eric Clapton, Freddie King, The Descendents, Steve Vai, Steve Caballero, Bjork, Marc Ribot, Dave Biller, Mimi Knoop, Kenny Burrell, Tom Waits, Tony Hawk, The Misfits, and on and on and on....
Hi, I'm Adrian Demain. Some of you may remember me from my days as a professional skateboarder. Here's a quick rundown for those who don't: During the mid-late '80s I rode for Powell Peralta as part of the illustrious Bones Brigade with team mates Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Lance Mountain, Mike McGill, Tommy Guerrero, Rodney Mullen, Ray Barbee and a bunch of other really talented skaters. As the industry changed I felt I needed to work with a smaller company where I could get back to my roots as a skater and have a little more control over my career. I changed sponsors in '88 to ride for the House Of Kasai run by my good friend and skating legend, Lester Kasai. I had four different signature models with this company. It was a dream come true to be able to skate and travel with many of skateboarding's legends and it allowed me to travel all over the US as well as to Germany, France, Spain, Italy, England, Australia and Japan. I'm still skating, but it usually ends up being once a week these days.
I'm also a working musician, having played guitar since 1984. Here's a brief run down: started out with '60s pop Beatles stuff, started listening to Steve Vai and Joe Satriani and dove into the world of shred guitar (yes, I did my share of Yngwie neo-classical metal), discovered modern blues via Stevie Ray Vaughan and Johnny Winter which lead to Hendrix, Clapton, Albert King, Freddie King, Albert Collins, etc., began sitting in with blues bands around San Diego in the early '90s. Joined a local band called the Forbidden Pigs and began touring extensively throughout the US and Europe. Recorded the album "The Other White Meat" produced by Dave Alvin of the Blasters. Although primarily known as a rockabilly band, we played every style of roots music from rockabilly and blues to R&B and swing to country and Tejano border music. It was a great learning experience and really taught me a lot about performing live and playing in a trio. After leaving the Pigs I was picked up by Lee Rocker, bassist for the legendary Stray Cats. I worked on 2 albums with Lee (No Cats and Lee Rocker live) and toured extensively, including shows in Madrid, Amsterdam, Holland and even Moscow! Lee is a great person, fun to travel and play with and he always made sure to take care of the band, first and foremost.
What have I been up to lately? After leaving Lee Rocker I joined a band that plays Hawaiian music from the '40s and '50s called the Cheap Leis. Our uke player is the oh so well known "O" from Olivelawn, Fluf and more recently Reeve Oliver. We've mostly played around San Diego, but thanks to O we've also had the opportunity to open for the Knitters and Exene Cervenka's band the Original Sinners as well as a short stint on the Warp Tour where we shared the stage with NOFX. Although we've never put out a CD we do have a track in the surf film "The Seedling" by Thomas Campbell. There are apparently some bootleg recordings of the Leis floating around out there. Along the way I was recruited into a traditional Western Swing band called the Golden Hill Ramblers with Johnny Maccree on guitar and Jim Austin on upgright bass, who are also members of the Cheap Leis. Johnny is a very talented singer and songwriter and a great swing rhythm guitarist and Jim is one of the best rockabilly and western upright bass players in the biz. I've also been playing blues around San Diego with Billy Watson. He's a great performer and I've had the pleasure of working on 4 cds with him (Live At The Rhythm Cafe, Madcap Extravaganza and Numero Cinco and Blowin' Crow). If you've never experienced a Billy Watson show you simply owe it to yourself to see him perform. In between things I was fortunate to have spent some time in the studio with Big Sandy And The Flyrite Boys for their "Feelin' Kinda Lucky" record and Big Sandy's "Dedicated To You" as well as being on the Supersuckers' "Must've Been Live". In the past couple of years I've had the great fortune to play with a couple of very talented local artists, the Mattson 2. They're twin brothers, Jared plays upright bass and guitar and Jonathan plays drums. Together with their friend Eric Poline on turntables we played a few shows of completely improvised music from start to finish; no outline, no set chords or rhythms. Pure expression and very rewarding. I've continued in that vain a bit with some solo performances that I've dubbed "Exoticatronica." It's basically me, a guitar and a bunch of nifty guitar gadgets building improvised loops.
And that, as they say, is that.......for now at least!
"Ticklin' The Strings" by Sweet Hollywaiians
Amazing Japanese hot string band playing 1920's, 30's, 40's style hawaiian, swing, calypso, blues, italian music and originals,featuring vintage instruments.3 songs with Robert Armstrong and Tony Marcus(from Robert Crumb and His Cheap Suit Serenaders)
"The Sweet Hollywaiians have probably the best feel for this 20's music of any string band working today. They manage the rare feat of sounding relaxed even when their playing is hot, are top notch musicians with tasteful arrangements and a full, rich, warm sound.Plus, they have a nice gamut of tunes, from King Nawahi to Giovanni Vicari to Bobby Leecan. See them live, if you can, for an unforgettable experience. If you can't, buy their Cds!" ~ Terry Zwigoff
Sweet! Let's skate during your lunch break. What time do you usually take it? Holly and I might go snowboarding on Wednesday and I have to work day shift on Tuesday. So, how about next Monday, Thursday, or Friday?
Hey Adrian, thanks for coming by the restaurant yesterday, it was really good to see you again! I hope you enjoyed the food.
I want to buy your old school HOK deck so that you can sign if for me and I can hang it at Wingstop. Is buying it directly from Tracker the best way to get one?
Also, if you have time in the mid day during the mid week, let's go skate Oceanside with Holly.
