Coachella Valley Independent March 2024

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MARCH 2024

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Mailing address: 31855 Date Palm Drive, No. 3-263 Cathedral City, CA 92234 (760) 904-4208 www.cvindependent.com

Editor/Publisher Jimmy Boegle staff writerS Haleemon Anderson Kevin Fitzgerald coveR and feature design Dennis Wodzisz Contributors Melissa Daniels, Charles Drabkin, Katie Finn, Bill Frost, Bonnie Gilgallon, Bob Grimm, Valerie-Jean (VJ) Hume, Clay Jones, Matt Jones, Matt King, Keith Knight, Kay Kudukis, Cat Makino, Brett Newton, Greg Niemann, Dan Perkins, Gilmore Rizzo, Theresa Sama, Jen Sorenson, Robert Victor The Coachella Valley Independent print edition is published every month.

All content is ©2024 and may not be published or reprinted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. The Independent is available free of charge throughout the Coachella Valley, limited to one copy per reader.

Additional copies may be purchased for $5 by calling (760) 904-4208. The Independent may be distributed only by the Independent’s authorized distributors.

The Independent is a proud member and/ or supporter of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, CalMatters, DAP Health, the Local Independent Online News Publishers, the Desert Business Association, and the LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert.

CVIndependent.com

People who are unfamiliar with the Independent sometimes ask me how we’re different from other valley publications and information websites—and my response is always something to the effect of: “Well, we do journalism. And journalism is hard.”

The Desert Sun, the Palm Springs Post, the TV stations and, in some cases, Palm Springs Life all do journalism. Beyond that, most other local “news” outlets largely run press releases, or simpler stories—and that’s fine. There’s definite value in those press releases and simpler stories. But we do journalism. And journalism is hard.

To clarify what I am talking about, I’ll refer you to two pieces in this issue. First is Haleemon Anderson’s piece on the Calexico recall election, on Page 8. While we almost always stick to coverage of the Coachella Valley and nearby high desert, we made an exception in this case, given the locally applicable themes of this important story unfolding just 90 miles from here— including California’s recall system, accusations of bigotry and anti-trans sentiments, and even downtown redevelopment and homelessness.

To pull off this piece, Halee had to do a bunch of research, talk to multiple sources, transcribe a lot of interviews—and then organize all of that into a well-written 2,000-word piece. This is not easy to do; it takes time, skill and expense.

We do journalism. And journalism is hard.

Next, turn to Page 10, and you’ll find a tiny portion of Kevin Fitzgerald’s herculean effort for our first Candidate Q&A this election season, on the seven candidates running in the primary to replace Assembly District 36 Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, here’s how our Candidate Q&A series works: We develop a set of three to seven questions for candidates competing for a particular office; we then contact all of the candidates, set up interviews (almost always by phone), ask those questions, and publish the answers—in their entirety, edited only for style and clarity.

You’d think it’d be easy to at least track down and set up interviews with candidates … but that’s not always the case. Yet Kevin managed to do that for all of these candidates (even the one who doesn’t have a campaign website). He then had to do the interviews, transcribe their answers, edit those answers for style/clarity, and research/write the main intro and each candidate-interview intro.

Even though we asked these candidates just three questions, the resulting story was more than 13,000 words long. That would have taken up about seven pages of text— without photos—in our print version.

Unfortunately, we have just one page to give the piece in this print edition, so we’re running only the intros, and referring everyone to CVIndependent. com, where the whole shebang is published.

Of course, these are just two of the stories you’ll find in this issue. All of the others were also researched, factchecked, written and edited by our staff and contributors; with a few exceptions, they all required at least one phone interview.

Once Halee, Kevin and our other fantastic writers/reporters finished their work, I then had to dedicate hours to editing, fact-checking, finding/editing photos and presenting/publishing the stories so you, our amazing readers, could properly be informed about these important issues.

How many press releases did we simply copy and paste into the issue?

Zero. Because that’s not what we do here at the Independent. We do journalism— and journalism is hard.

—Jimmy Boegle jboegle@cvindependent.com

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 3

MARCH 2024

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760-834-3593 CVIndependent.com

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MARCH 2024

OPINION OPINION

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION MAKE THE EASY CHOICE

HIKING WITH T

Whether or not this is a super-bloom year, you THE #1 CHOICE have plenty of opportunities to enjoy wildflowers COMFORT AIR

W

BY THERESA SAMA

ill we have a super bloom this year? Given the mix of sun and rain we’ve had recently, a lot of people are wondering.

The good news: The flower-heads at DesertUSA predict a vibrant 2024 wildflower season in some desert regions. They have a very informative up-to-date Wildflower Guide that includes reports on wildflower season, as well as the best spots for wildflower viewing. You can find the Wildflower Guide at www.desertusa.com/dusablog/desertusas-wildflower-guide.

According to DesertUSA, one of the most frequently asked questions about desert wildflowers is, “When will the wildflowers bloom?” That’s also one of the most difficult questions to answer.

WE'RE #1 FOR A REASON

ASK US

experience-anza-borrego/wildflowers).

I’ve been seeing various wildflowers Here are some popular and easily accessible blooming throughout the Coachella Valley spots around the Coachella Valley to view since December, and as of this writing (in wildflowers, super bloom or not: mid-February), I’m finding patches of desert • Indian Canyons: Just a short drive sand verbena (Abronia villosa), hairy desert south of Palm Springs at the end of South sunflower (Geraea canescens) and brittlebush Palm Canyon Drive, you’ll find the entrance (Encelia farinosa) to be most prominent. to Andreas Canyon, Murray Canyon and Now for the bad news: Although we have a Palm Canyon (one of the largest natural vast array of color flowing across the desert desert palm oases), all known for their lush floor right now, I’m going to predict that we vegetation, various flora and numerous will not see a super bloom this year, due to hiking trails. The Indian Canyons are on tribal the heavy rainfall and cooler weather we have land managed by the Agua Caliente Band had in recent months. I hope I’m wrong! of Cahuilla Indians. The nature preserve is My reasoning: While rain is needed open for day visits from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., throughout the winter, it is needed in small with the last vehicle in at 4 p.m. Ranger-led doses, because too much rain can rot or wash interpretive hikes are offered from October away the seeds. Temperature plays a vital through June. Visitors pay a modest entrance role as well; a full blooming season needs fee. Dogs are not allowed. Learn more at warm days that aren’t too hot, as stated by www.indian-canyons.com.

DesertUSA. If the temperature is too cold in • Oswit Canyon: Another great place certain regions, we may not see blooms in south of Palm Springs where you can catch those places at all. a variety of early blooms is Oswit Canyon, Parts of Joshua Tree National Park, Death located at Bogert Trail and South Palm CanValley National Park and Anza-Borrego yon Drive, just before Indian Canyons. This Desert State Park have all endured recent is a moderate, 4-mile, out-and-back hike, flooding, as well as flooding during Tropical with an elevation gain of around 900 gradual Storm Hilary back in August. Some of feet. It’s most majestic, and if you make it far these places have even had recent snowfall. enough, you may get to see an amazing waterSome areas may still be closed due to storm fall this time of year. Dogs are not allowed. damage; Whitewater Preserve and Big • Randall Henderson Trail: A scenic and Morongo Canyon Preserve have had some well-marked trail loop, nearly 3 miles with an trail-section closures as well. (Consider elevation gain of just more than 400 feet, this this your fairly normal reminder that it’s moderate trail is a part of the Santa Rosa and always a good idea to check the current HIGHEST QUALITYinto EQUIPMENT BEST San PRICE Jacinto GUARANTEED Mountains National Monument. forecasts before venturing the desert EXTENSIVE WARRANTIES 24/7 LOCAL You may seeSUPPORT a beautiful display of various areas; a great resource is the Friends of the wildflowers and blooming cacti when the Desert Mountains Open Trails page at www. timing is right. You may even be lucky enough desertmountains.org/open-trails.)

UP TO to see some bighorn sheep along this trail. It’s In and around Anza-Borrego DesertSAVE State located near the Visitor Center and Friends Park, wildflowers seem to be most prominent of the Desert Mountains, just off Highway 74 near the entrance of Coyote Canyon and (on the east side), about 3.5 miles south of along Henderson Canyon Road, just outside LENNOX SIGNATURE SERIES SYSTEM Highway 111, as you’re heading out of Palm of Borrego Springs.

(Herds of bighorn sheep *SAVINGSDogs AND RESULTS VARY on this trail.

Desert. are notMAY allowed have been seen along the Borrego Palm • Art Smith Trail: This is a longer and Canyon Trail recently, too!) Mid-March is often the peak time for wildflower blooms for more 7 6difficult 0 . 3 out-and-back 2 0 . 5 8trail 0 0that’s CALL TODAY FOR DETAILS! also a part of Santa Rosa and San Jacinto this area, according to the Wildflowers page c o m f o r t a c . c o m Mountains National Monument; it features at Anza-Borrego Foundation (theabf.org/

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A hairy desert sunflower, found along a trail in Desert Hot Springs between Dillon and Varner roads. Theresa Sama

beautiful wildflowers and spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. The trailhead is located almost directly across (but just before) the entrance to the Randall Henderson Trail, on the west side of Highway 74. This trail is a little more than 16 miles with an elevation gain of more than 3,000 feet, but you can make it what you want and turn around at any point. You may also catch a glimpse of the bighorn sheep here as well. Dogs are not allowed on this trail, either.

Even a drive around the desert backroads— Varner Road, Indian Canyon Drive, Dillon Road, Thousand Palms Canyon Road, etc.— can offer nice views of desert wildflowers.

Learn about snakes

Snakes are out! If you’re interested in learning about the diverse snake species found throughout Joshua Tree National Park, why they are important, and what to do when you see one on the trail, join Paisley Ramstead, an avid desert naturalist, at 3 p.m., Friday, April 5, at Black Rock Nature Center in Joshua Tree National Park. This will be an all-ages, classroom-based course about “all things snakes,” with a short hike/field excursion around the Nature Center. The fee is $35, and pre-registration is required. Get your ticket at Eventbrite.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 5

MARCH 2024

R E V O L U T I O N S TA G E C O M PA N Y PRESENTS

“It’s charming, oddly inviting, and a love letter to an oftenunsung group of people: Caregivers.”

—Houston Press

MARCH 10-31 The West Coast premiere of

THE WOMAN IN THE MIRROR When it comes to Alzheimer’s, if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry

THE WOMAN IN THE MIRROR is a dark comedy about navigating Alzheimer’s with love, laughter and wine, adapted from Dayna Steele’s best-selling book Surviving Alzheimer’s with Friends, Facebook, and a Really Big Glass of Wine.

Tickets: $25 and $35 with a $45 VIP meet and greet (with a really big glass of wine) Previews: March 8 and 9 — all seats $20 Starring Dayna Steele and Rebecca McWilliams. Directed by Laura Stearns.

T IC KETS ON SA LE AT WWW.REVOL U TI ONSTAG E CO M PA N Y.CO M CVIndependent.com

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MARCH 2024

OPINION OPINION

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

HELPING THOSE IN NEED P

BY ERIC FRANKSON

eople often ask, “What can be done about all those homeless people on every street corner?”

The answer: Support those who are making a difference!

There aren’t a lot of resources for the homeless person on the street to escape their environment. There are virtually no shelters in the Palm Springs area to handle the 300 souls (or more) who need shelter every night, and there is no place for them to even lock up their personal possessions.

If you can’t protect your stuff, you have to take it with you. Everywhere. If a street person is forced to leave their cart, bike or backpack unattended, odds are it will be looted, stolen or deemed “soiled” and thrown away by local police—and the vicious cycle of homelessness starts clean. We feed them all. We care because no once again, with them owning absolutely one else will. nothing, with nowhere to go.

But we do so much more. Suppose a street Except to the Well in the Desert. person wakes up from a fentanyl binge, The Well in the Desert is a local charity beaten and bloody, dirty, starving, desperate. and the main food supplier to hundreds of The first place they would go would be to one Palm Springs and Coachella Valley residents of our daily free meals, held at four local Palm who are homeless and hunger-challenged. We Springs churches. There, 911 would be called, help the hopeless. We feed those who can’t or they would be given the chance to clean provide themselves with a warm meal—the up, take a shower, get new clean clothes and unemployed and the unemployable. The shoes, be given a new sleeping bag or blanket, disabled and the mentally depressed. The be given a warm nutritious meal, visit with addicts who refuse to leave their addictions. medical personnel, discuss their plight and The former addicts who are trying to go

CVIndependent.com

With food, services and a new bike program, Well in the Desert is spreading kindness in Palm Springs

Eric Frankson.

needs with staff, and be given a bus pass or other types of needed transportation. It’s a life-saving, non-secular service the Well has given the city of Palm Springs for the last 25 years.

What would happen if the Well didn’t feed the starving and clothe the naked? If the homeless folks’ injuries or medical problems weren’t addressed, left to fester and rot? If their mental challenges weren’t listened to and cared about? Where would the 300-plus homeless individuals go? Starving people can do stupid and dangerous things.

We protect the residents in Palm Springs in so many unseen ways. One way is by curbing the need to scavenge about for food and basic survival items from local homes and businesses. Our bike-gifting program has attempted to reduce the theft of local homeowners’ bikes. Many times, a bike is stolen, or “parted,” because the street person desperately needs that part for their only means of transportation. But why steal a bike for its wheels or tubes when you can be given a tube, a patch kit, or even a whole bike, for free, by the Well—one that is registered, engraved and photographed?

One of the shining examples of kindness has been the 2-year-old bike-gifting program.

Almost 170 donated bikes, as well as thousands of parts, have been gifted to street people in need of reliable transportation, allowing them to get to jobs, parole meetings, medical appointments and basic services needed to change their life’s trajectory. When asked if they have reliable transportation, they can answer that they now do. The bikes have all been donated by desert angels who want to see their bikes reused in a meaningful

way. Every bike is a good one—repaired, re-tired, greased-up, made road worthy and gifted with really good bike locks. Clients from the Well help repair the bikes; no one knows a bike better than a street person.

The program has done wonders for passing kindness from one giftee to another. It has peacefully solved more than one street skirmish. Street folk seem willing to fight over two things: drugs and bikes. The trust built through the gifting of bikes can be further developed into helping them break the cycle of homelessness.

Bicycles are the future of Palm Springs.

More and more residents are riding bikes on local bike lanes and paths. Bikes are good for the environment. They are good for traffic.

They are good for the health of retirees and snowbirds—but they are especially important to the person who is trying to work themselves off the street.

It has taken a lot of love, sweat and bikes to get to this point—but with a renewed vigor, the Well is stronger than ever. Some 88% of our donations go directly to serving our valley’s most hunger-challenged—a rare ratio indeed for a charity that serves the poor. We truly are a well, the provider of the “water” needed by the poorest of Palm Springs residents. But there must be sustenance to fill the bucket, to pull up to those in need.

Please donate to the Well in the Desert, so that we can continue to help so many.

Eric Frankson is a board member for Well in the Desert. Donations to Well in the Desert are fully tax-deductible. Donate, volunteer or learn more at www.wellinthedesert.org, or call 760656-8905.

MARCH 2024

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 7

Introducing the Independent’s new events newsletter Every Wednesday, 11 Days a Week features curated recommendations from our knowledgeable staff and contributors on what to over the next 11 days—in other words, the coming weekend and the following week!

Emailed to our readers and posted on CVIndependent.com, 11 Days a Week is an inexpensive, high-impact way to let thousands of people know about your event, in a variety of ways!

Want your event considered for inclusion?

Email 11days@cvindependent.com Want to advertise? Email ads@cvindependent.com CVIndependent.com

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MARCH 2024

NEWS

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

RADICALS OR PROGRESSIVES? I

by Haleemon Anderson

f you can’t beat them, recall them.

That could be the unofficial motto in California. The Golden State leads the nation in recall attempts—including the most recent attempt in Calexico, a border town with about 38,000 residents 90 miles southwest of the Coachella Valley.

A coalition led by a former mayor has forced a recall election against two City Council members—including the first openly transgender mayor in Calexico’s history—and is attempting to recall a third City Council member. The campaign has been rife with rumor, internet bullying and accusations of misconduct on both sides. “radical” ideas that do not align with the city’s Raul Ureña was a popular candidate when needs, and that with Romo, they’ve formed he ran for the Calexico City Council in 2020 a voting bloc that overrules the other two and 2022, but now he will have to defend his councilmembers. The recall petition accuses office at the ballot box on April 16. His oppothem of not supporting the interests of nents were successful in getting more than business owners and being unresponsive to 4,000 signatures to bring the recall to a vote. the needs of city police and firemen.

Ureña believes he is being targeted for his Manzanarez responded that genderprogressive politics and his gender identity. identity bigotry has been part of the recall (Ureña said he doesn’t have a preferred campaign, and that it can’t be separated from pronoun, but most often uses he.) politics.

“In 2022, we were able to get a progressive “The bottom line here is, they want to flip majority in the City Council,” Ureña the council back to where they used to have said. “Now after literally nine months of the power,” Manzanarez said. “However, I do governing, we’ve had tremendous headways, believe that they are dog-whistling to people (getting funding to build) a transit center who are upset by Mayor Ureña’s sexuality and (starting) the New River environmental and lifestyle choices. It’s very evident by the project in the most polluted waterway in the amount of things that have been posted on nation. However, I’m the first transgender their recall page—just so many people making Latino mayor in the state, and I’m the disgusting comments. second-youngest mayor in California. Our “The very person who served Ureña progress is being threatened by this recall. the recall papers was the very person who They’re using transphobia and using a whole attacked him at an LGBTQ flag-raising event. bunch of hate. But the bottom line is, this In fact, (other recall proponents) tried to old political group—not old in age, but old distance themselves from that person at in mentality, and old in how long they’ve the time. That’s the moment when Maritza been there—wants to take back power from Hurtado, former mayor of Calexico, came into the progressives who won the power fair and the spotlight. She was pretty much forced as square through the election.” the leader of the recall, because prior to that, At the May 3, 2023, City Council meeting, it was mostly Ms. Rebecca Lemon.”

Ureña was handed a notification of intent to A video posted to the Facebook page for recall. He was just months into both a full four-year term and his one-year rotating term the Beyond Borders Gazette shows Lemon at the aforementioned pride-flag-raising event as mayor. Ureña dramatically tore apart the on June 15, 2023. She approaches Ureña document. yelling profanities before she is detained by That didn’t deter Maritza Hurtado and officers; the video has 222,000 views. A public the others backing the recall. At the same Facebook page for Lemon has multiple antimeeting, they notified City Councilmember trans posts.

Gilberto Manzanarez that he, too, was a Hurtado responds that the recall target for recall. Eight months later, on the committee warned members against bigotry day she became mayor of Calexico, the group toward Ureña and has taken down slurs notified City Councilmember Gloria Romo and hate speech that were posted to the they would be seeking signatures to remove group’s page. During her interview with the her from office.

Independent, she did not acknowledge Lemon Hurtado denies the recall is about Ureña’s as a member of the recall group, nor did she gender identity. She claims Ureña did not acknowledge Lemon’s role in delivering the mention any instances of transphobia when recall paperwork to Ureña and Manzanarez. he filed a response to the recall. Instead, she Instead, Hurtado reiterated her view that the said Ureña and Manzanarez are bringing in CVIndependent.com

Two members of the Calexico City Council— including the first transgender Latino mayor in the state—face a recall election

Calexico City Councilmember Raul Ureña: “Our progress is being threatened by this recall. They’re using transphobia and using a whole bunch of hate. But the bottom line is, this old political group—not old in age, but old in mentality, and old in how long they’ve been there—wants to take back power from the progressives who won the power fair and square through the election.” Barbara Davidson/Capital and Main

recall is only about the way Manzanarez and Ureña are conducting city business.

“Raul had done two years (on the City Council),” Hurtado said. “He and Mr. Manzanarez and all their followers belong to a social justice group called IV (Imperial Valley) Equity and Justice. They were already out there trying to be active in the community, (and Manzanarez) was a natural candidate to join Raul and run together. “(The people) realize they elected two individuals who are anti-police. They’re radicals. That knowledge was not known, that they were going to push their ideologies through our teeny tiny budget. They call it progressive, but they’re not. They’re extremists.”

Hurtado was on the Calexico City Council from 2010-2018, including a stint as mayor in 2017-18, and she has remained active in city politics. She said she has run her familyowned tax business in Calexico’s “tiny” downtown for more than 35 years.

Hurtado said she also objects to council meetings being conducted in Spanish, and claims Ureña and Manzanarez sold city properties to establish homeless housing near her office. She believes this will exacerbate lewd behavior and drug use.

“I participate all the time with homeless

programs; however, we have to be realistic in the city,” Hurtado said. “If you’re in support of businesses, why would you think that economic development includes bringing a 300bed (homeless) facility to your downtown?”

Hurtado said she wants the City Council to instead focus on cleaning up the city’s parks and downtown spaces.

“We’re not a city that has a budget for homelessness; that’s why they had to seek the funding somewhere else,” Hurtado said.

“And the thing is, when they got that money for homelessness, (they were) funneling it to someone else. The city wants parks, and the children and parents have been there to tell them that they need to focus on things for the families.”

Hurtado said that when she heard about the 300-bed homeless facility, she felt she had to action. “I figured that … we needed to remove these two people, because their ideologies were going to kill our city,” she said.

Manzanarez said the timing of the recall is suspicious. He’d only been on the council for several months following his election in November 2022 when he was notified of the recall attempt. Calexico was dealing with the results of a state audit at the time, and once elected, Manzanarez said, he and Ureña made the audit their primary focus.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 9

MARCH 2024

NEWS

The lengthy audit’s opening statement summarizes the city’s financial status: “Our office’s audit of the city of Calexico (Calexico)—conducted as part of our high-risk local government agency audit program—concluded that Calexico faces significant risks related to its financial and operational management. For several years, the City Council approved spending despite indications that the city’s budgets were based on unreliable financial data. As a result, the city’s general fund was in a deficit from fiscal years 2014-15 through 2018-19.”

Manzanarez cautioned voters to remember that he and Ureña were not in office during the financial crisis.

“In the recall statement, they cite that it’s because of the condition of the city,” Manzanarez said. “They throw just about every possible issue the city has—the amount of homelessness, the state of downtown deterioration, all of these things which are very much real problems. But how can I, in four months, destroy the city? That’s a little ridiculous.

“To say that we created this is just such a false statement to the community. I’m in disbelief that the people of Calexico might have forgotten, or they simply don’t know, that the city went into negative $8 million dollars in reserves pretty much during those years (that were the focus of the audit). The city of Calexico was taking ill-advised and non-accurate financial information, approving multimillion dollar budgets of money that we

Maritza Hurtado addresses the Calexico City Council in December. The former City Councilmember and mayor is leading the recall effort against Raul Ureña and Gilberto Manzanarez. Barbara Davidson/Capital and Main

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS didn’t really have.”

He said their progressive agenda reflects the needs of Calexico’s citizens.

“We tend to look at things a little differently, because the state of the country is not so forgiving toward the younger generations in terms of housing and the economy,” Manzanarez said. “We are pro (in favor of) the working-class people. We’re going to push for affordable housing. We are a generation that cares more about police accountability, and that has seen the effects of the post-George Floyd protests. It doesn’t mean that we are anti-police. We’ve certainly not made any ‘defunding police’ measures like the recall movement has claimed. I feel like we are all aiming for the betterment of Calexico. We just have different views to go about it.”

The citizens of Calexico will have the last word. The special recall election is set for April 16. The city will foot the bill. The tab, including the funds to verify more than 10,000 individual signatures, is estimated at $150,000.

Manzanarez wants the voters to focus on the work he and Ureña have done. He said the City Council, working with city manager Esperanza Colio Warren, has already resolved some of the issues in the audit.

“Because of mismanagement of grants funding, we have millions frozen from the state,” Manzanarez said. “In the last couple of years, they’ve started to unfreeze some of these funds for us. The transportation center was stuck because the City Council at the time didn’t want to provide the Imperial County Transportation Commission with the power of eminent domain. So I get (elected), and in my very first City Council meeting, we approved that eminent domain, immediately triggering the state to look at the project and seeing that (it) can move forward.

Congressman Raul Ruiz comes in and does a ceremony, and there’s $18.5 million secured now for the project.”

Ureña admitted that he didn’t take the recall seriously at first. He never thought the effort would get the required signatures—but it did, and come April 16, he wants voters to remember why they elected him and Manzanarez in the first place.

“A lot of people ask me: How were you able to win?” said Ureña. “What I tell them is, ‘You don’t understand that the people I represent are the products of some of the most radical movements in United States history.’ … My grandma and my grandpa on both sides of the family, most of them marched with Cesar Chavez, so these people know how to change society. They’ve done it before. Maybe they don’t know about LGBT issues, but once they have someone who shares their language and comes from them, they’ll understand it.

And that’s exactly what happened. They’ve embraced me.”

CVIndependent.com

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MARCH 2024

NEWS

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

CHATS WITH SEVEN CANDIDATES

S

We asked all of the candidates for Assembly District 36 the same set of three questions; their answers can be read at CVIndependent.com

by Kevin Fitzgerald

even candidates are running in the March 5 primary to replace longtime California Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia as the District 36 representative in Sacramento.

On Dec. 11, Garcia announced that he did not intend to run for a sixth and final (due to term limits) two-year term, surprising many. He endorsed Joey Acuna Jr. for the office he was vacating.

On Dec. 15, Garcia issued a statement explaining his decision not to run for re-election.

“Next year will mark 10 years of service in the State Assembly,” Garcia said. “Ten years of delivering for our constituents. Also, 10 years of commuting to Sacramento Mondays through Thursdays or Fridays—away from my family. My son was 10, and my daughter was only a few months old as I held her in my arms to take my oath of office.

Joey Acuna Jr. (Democrat) He is now a talented, creative young adult, and Currently the president of Coachella Valley Unishe is now a smart, charismatic 9-year-old. I fied School District Board of Trustees, Coachella can’t count the number of basketball games resident Joey Acuna Jr. has served on the board and back-to-school nights I’ve missed in this of multiple nonprofit organizations; he’s a vocation. … Ultimately, I want to be present for founding member of the Coachella Valley Educamore of these precious moments with them.” tion Foundation and has served on the Imperial District 36 includes far eastern Coachella Irrigation District’s Energy Consumers Advisory Valley communities such as Coachella, Indio, Committee. Acuna works as a development Mecca and North Shore, as well as all of Imperimanager for health clinics and as a grant writer al County; part of northeastern San Bernardino for a local tribe.

County, including the city of Needles; and “I believe that Joey is the best candidate to portions of Riverside County south and west of succeed me in the State Assembly and continthe Coachella Valley, including Hemet. Accordue the fights to address climate change, build ing to the CalMatters 2024 Voter Guide, voter affordable housing, expand access to higher registration in the district is 43.8% Democratic, education, and improve mental health-care 27.3% Republican and 21.3% with no party infrastructure,” Garcia said in his statement preference. endorsing Acuna.

The Independent recently spoke with all seven As of Feb. 10, Acuna had raised $229,000 candidates, and asked each of them the same (per the CalMatters 2024 Voter Guide) and slate of three questions: had received at least 50 endorsements from • What are the two most important issues high-profile individuals and organizations. facing the constituents of District 36 in 2024, and what would you do to address them if you Waymond Fermon (Democrat) are elected?

A lifelong resident of Indio, Fermon has served • There are a lot of key environmental issues as an Indio City Council member since being unfolding in District 36, including the restoelected in 2018. He became Indio’s first Afriration of the Salton Sea, the Colorado River can-American mayor in 2021-2022. For 20 years, water disbursements, industrial-scale solar he has been employed at the Calipatria State projects, the responsible development of the Prison in Imperial County. According to his biogLithium Valley industries, and the future of the raphy on the city of Indio website, “Fermon has Chuckwalla Valley National Monument proa passion for supporting local youth sport and posal. What would be your key environmental academic pipeline programs … (and) has been priorities should you be elected? active in numerous outreach programs through• From 2022 to 2023, the homelessness popout the Coachella and Imperial Valley such as ulation in Imperial County increased by 24% for school fundraisers, career day, guest speaking individuals, and 30% for households. In Indio, engagements, and youth interventions.” the counted homeless population increased According to CalMatters, Fermon’s campaign from 322 in 2022 to 427 in 2023. How do you had raised $26,800, and his campaign website propose to address the homelessness challenge showed more than 30 endorsements from indiin District 36? viduals and organizations, including numerous However … the version of this piece with regional council members, and the mayors of all of their answers, edited only for clarity and Blythe, Cathedral City, Indio, Palm Springs and style, is more than 13,000 words long—and Palm Desert. would take up about seven print pages to run.

Therefore, we are using this space to simply Edgard Garcia (Democrat) introduce you to the seven candidates. You can Edgard Garcia, a resident of El Centro, is an read their answers at CVIndependent.com. attorney who established his own law firm 12 CVIndependent.com

years ago. Garcia’s LinkedIn profile describes his firm’s focus as being “bankruptcy, family law, DUI and criminal defense.” He has served as an El Centro City Council member since 2015.

Over the last few years, Garcia has represented Imperial Valley in the League of California Cities, serving on both its Finance Committee and the Public Safety Committee. Garcia is married and has three sons, age 14, 13 and 11. He told the Independent that he’s proud his wife and sons are all active supporters of his campaign.

According to CalMatters, Garcia had raised $18,000 for his campaign to date. His campaign website had no listing of endorsements we could find.

Jeff Gonzalez (Republican)

On his campaign website, Jeff Gonzalez describes himself as “a combat veteran, small business owner, pastor, community leader and father.” Gonzalez enlisted in the Marine Corps and served for two decades before retiring to become a local pastor. On his website, Gonzalez describes how that transition occurred: “Motivated by the tragic loss of 10 fellow Marines to suicide, he (Gonzalez) felt a calling to serve as a pastor to protect those most vulnerable.” He is a dedicated husband to his wife, Christine, and the father of four children ranging in age from 17 to 31.

According to CalMatters, Gonzalez had raised $25,000, and had garnered more than 20 endorsements from individuals and organizations, including Rep. Ken Calvert, California Republican Assembly Leader James Gallagher and the Imperial County Farm Bureau.

Kalin Morse (Republican)

A first-time candidate, Kalin Morse is a nonprofit director from Westmorland in the western Imperial Valley.

According to CalMatters, Morse’s campaign had raised $350. No online campaign presence or any record of any endorsements could be found as of this writing.

Tomas Oliva (Democrat)

An El Centro resident since early childhood, Tomas Oliva said he was first introduced to Sacramento governmental workings when he was chosen to be a Richard G. Polanco Fellow, and interned in the Attorney General’s Office, where he researched the underground economy and its effect on California’s revenues. In the second part of the fellowship, he served as a legislative assistant for then-Assemblymember Jose Solorio. In 2008, Oliva campaigned in support of V. Manuel Perez for the California Assembly, and was hired to be on Perez’s staff in Sacramento.

In 2018, Oliva was elected to the El Centro City Council, where he has served since. In 2023, he accepted a role as senior field representative for the Rep. Raul Ruiz’s campaign.

According to CalMatters, Oliva had raised $14,000. A list of endorsements provided to the Independent by Olivia included the Imperial County Democratic Party, the Teamsters Local 542, and more than 20 area officials, including the mayors of Calipatria, Brawley, Imperial, El Centro and Holtville.

Eric Rodriguez (Democrat)

Born and raised in Brawley, Eric Rodriguez has worked as an El Centro Police officer and is currently working as an emergency response social worker with Child Protective Services of the County of Imperial. The father of five children in a blended family, Rodriguez has served as an elected trustee for the Central Union High School District Board, where, according to his campaign website, “he has been a driving force behind many positive changes, including strategic allocation of budget funds, increased student and staff morale, creating new employment opportunities, transparent governance and policy, and ensuring positive outcomes in significant school site projects.”

According to CalMatters, Rodriguez had not reported raising any money, nor had he reported any outside expenditures. No endorsements were listed on his site as of this writing.

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NEWS CONTINUING RE-IMAGINATION M

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Closed since 2020, the Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert has revised re-opening plans for May

by Kevin Fitzgerald

arch 25 is slated to be a big day for the Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert in Rancho Mirage.

The museum, like so many other congregate destinations throughout Coachella Valley, was forced to shut its doors due to COVID-19 back in March 2020. The board of directors decided that the indefinite period of closure would provide the ideal opportunity to initiate a “re-imagination” campaign for the 27-year-old facility. New exhibits would be conceived, designed, built and installed—but copious fundraising would be needed to pay the projected $3 million cost of the upgrade’s first phase. really increasing accessibility.”

“We raised in excess of $2 million,” The plan has been to develop the main museum CEO Cindy Burreson told the museum building into a space featuring expeIndependent in a recent interview, “and then riences for children up to 8 years old; this is First Bank came in to help us with a line of where the 40 new exhibits are being constructcredit that closed that funding gap so that we ed. Plans for the second and third phases have could finish the project. We are fundraising been tweaked to focus more attention on activto pay that money back and to move forward. ities for toddlers and the sensory-challenged, We’ll be fundraising forever—and I think and create a caregiver library. the thing that people forget is that we’re a “The next phase will be the toddler and nonprofit.” the sensory spaces … and our plan is to While 40 new exhibits—each integrated revamp the second building,” Burreson said. with one of the six program themes of “Then we’ll have the third building with the “Imagine,” “Express,” “Move,” “Experiment,” programming for middle school- and high “Explore” and “Dream”—will be installed school-aged kids. I don’t know in what order soon, the museum board decided in midthat will all take place, and we’re still looking February that it would not rush that to obtain funding for that as well.” installation process, and would instead delay The museum is accepting sponsorship deals the official re-opening until late May. for name placement on the crayon-shaped Still, March 25 remains a significant date pillars surrounding the main lawn on the at the museum: It’s the day when staff will campus. As part of the “Color Our Courtyard” launch two weeks of spring break camp, campaign, for a $15,000 donation, a sponsor providing 20 children each week with five gets to place its/their name (and logo) on one days of varied activities. The camp sessions of the crayon pillars for four years. will be held inside the main museum building “Essentially, it’s a vinyl wrap that looks like as work goes on. a Crayola crayon wrapper,” Burreson said.

“This spring break theme is ‘Guardians “… It’s just a great way to get some color, get of the Green,’” Burreson said. “It’s all about some great donor recognition and, of course, environmental awareness, and repurposing items to create new things with the kids. Also, generate some funding as we near our (Phase 1) finish line.” we have some guest speakers coming in.”

Given the unexpected four-year closure, Another improvement: Upon its re-opening does Burreson have any concerns about in May, the museum will be designated as a re-connecting with past visitors and reaching certified autism center. new fans once operations re-start?

“Visit Greater Palm Springs has an “I think that there’s pent-up demand. initiative … to make the (area an) autismPeople want this place to re-open,” Burreson ready destination by including different said. “It’s a real treasure. I know, as a mom venues like restaurants and hospitality myself, that my kids love this place, and businesses,” Burreson said. “So, for example, I always tell people when I’m out in the the JW Marriott and The Living Desert … community that when my husband and I have already been certified. Now we are part looked at our pictures, we have 700 or 800 of that as well. One hundred percent of our photos of our kids here at the museum. What staff will be trained in sensory sensitivity I want for every family is (to be able) to look awareness, and we will have sensory bags back and think of this place, and remember at the front desk. We’re building a lowthe times they shared as a family, and the sensory room as well, and we got a grant for learning opportunities, and the laughs they accessibility funds. So our focus is reopening shared, and stuff like that. My hope is, and I the museum, but also reopening it in a way think our (team’s) hope is, that folks are going that welcomes all families of all abilities by

The Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert’s long-awaited reopening is now slated for late May.

to rally around the museum. I think we will have a whole new generation of kids who have been born since right before the pandemic, or during the pandemic, or since then who have never been here. We’re going to welcome new families as well, so I think it’s going to be really great.”

On Feb. 28, the Rancho Mirage Chamber of Commerce was slated to honor the museum at its annual “Rammys” outstanding business awards event.

“We are winning what’s called the ‘Heart of Rancho Mirage’ (award),” Burreson said.

“We’re really excited about that. We’re very grateful for the community’s excitement and for their support.

“Remember that every dollar does matter.

We are participating in that big CV Giving Day event (on March 5; www.cvgivingday. org), so we would love for folks to keep us in mind when they’re looking for their places to support. We appreciate every opportunity folks take to champion the museum, and to support it financially as well.”

For more information, visit cdmod.org.

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CV HISTORY G

Carl Lykken was the pioneer who installed Palm Springs’ first telephone at his store

by greg niemann

eneral-store owner Carl Gustav Lykken is credited with helping his adopted town of Palm Springs in many ways—but he is perhaps best known as the man who installed the village’s first telephone.

Born in Grand Forks, N.D., in 1884, Lykken (pronounced Licken) earned a miningengineering degree from the University of North Dakota, and in 1912, he was hired to subdivide lots for a new American colony in Sinaloa, Mexico. The timing, however, was anything but providential, as the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) ended a lot of plans.

Most of the settlers were also from North Dakota, including the White sisters, Florilla and Lykken married Edith Coombs in 1917, Cornelia. With them and three others, Lykken and Edith oversaw the clothing department— escaped from Mexico. They appropriated because she felt her husband lacked a keen a hand cart and took turns pumping as it sense of color that was necessary to stock moved over rails that had some of the ties ladies’ clothing. already burning away.

Carl and Edith Lykken and their daughter, Lykken followed the suggestion of the Jane (Hoff), originally lived in a little twoWhite sisters and joined them in Palm story house rented from Cornelia White, just Springs. He bought David Blanchard’s south of the store on Palm Canyon Drive. general store shortly after arriving in 1913 It had some pepper trees and a shady front and originally partnered with J.H. Bartlett. porch. A fence separated the yard from Palm Together, they moved the entire operation Canyon Drive, and Jane later mused that the across the street, now Palm Canyon Drive. fence was to keep her in, as well as to keep The partners originally called their store the horses and donkeys, wandering around Lykken and Bartlett, but it became known as town, out. She mentioned that her earliest the Palm Springs Department and Hardware memories included the thrill of seeing those Store. The store initially stocked groceries for horses and donkeys running through town. local hotels and homeowners; Lykken later In Frank Bogert’s book View From the Saddle, began to include hardware, housewares and Jane is quoted: “I remember one of my chores clothing. was to take a little pail over to our neighbor Lykken eventually took over the store by himself and even added ice to his inventory— Florilla White. They kept cows in the back yard. I had to milk the cows and bring home a although after purchasing 300-pound blocks pail of fresh milk.” in Colton, they would usually shrink to About the store, years later, Jane recalled: 100-pound blocks for his customers after “It was the primary gathering place for Palm travelling by rail and wagon across the desert.

Springs’ early residents. If you couldn’t get it In the early years, Palm Springs had spotty at Lykken’s, you didn’t get it here.” contact with those outside of the desert. Carl In 1929, the Lykken family hired local buildLykken was the one who helped change that. er Alvah Hicks to construct the town’s first His store provided the town with its initial home with central heating—a solid two-story post office and its only telegraph service. home still prominent in the Las Palmas area.

Lykken himself served as postmaster, and for Lykken continued to serve the community years was the agent for Western Union. He in many ways for almost 60 years. A founding had a dry-battery connection to the telegraph member of the Palm Springs Library Board, at the Southern Pacific Railroad agent’s office the Palm Springs Community Church, the in Garnet, thus establishing the village’s only Desert Museum and the Palm Springs Rotary, contact with the outside world. he was a charter member of the Polo Club To improve communications, in 1915, and the Desert Riders. He founded the Palm Lykken acquired and maintained the village’s first telephone. An extension of it went to the Springs police and fire protection districts and served as president of the Chamber of Desert Inn. He would answer the telephone Commerce and the local Community Chest. on behalf of the entire community. He either He was also a member of the Palm Springs delivered messages or posted them on the Historical Society’s board of directors. wall for locals to collect when they came to In the 1940s, Lykken sold the business at shop or pick up their mail. He later donated 180 N. Palm Canyon Drive to Tom Holland, the phone to the Palm Springs Historical who continued to run the Palm Springs Society, where it remains on display today in Department and Hardware Store; it continued the Cornelia White House downtown at the operating under several different owners until Village Green.

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Carl Lykken with Melba Bennett, founder of the Palm Springs Historical Society. Courtesy of the Palm Springs Historical Society

1979. Richard and Mary Beth Marek, who owned The Alley, then leased the location in 1979 before moving farther south on Palm Canyon Drive. The building with the familiar arches in front of the entrance still graces Palm Canyon Drive and has been the home of various businesses through the years, and is now home to a shoe store.

Near the end of a lifetime of dedicated civil service, a Carl Lykken Day was celebrated in 1970. More than 150 well-wishers gathered at the Oasis Hotel to honor the pioneer citizen.

In 1971, Lykken donated $10,000 for the construction of a new library, and a wing is named in his honor.

Carl Lykken died on Jan. 12, 1972, at the age of 87. Lykken loved to hike and explore the desert, so in his honor, on June 26, 1972, the old Skyline Trail behind the Desert Museum (now the Palm Springs Art Museum) was renamed the Lykken Trail. In May 1980, an expanded Lykken Trail opened following a dedication at the Desert Museum.

Carl’s wife, Edith, died in 1974. Jane Lykken Hoff became a village leader like her

father. By 1972, she was “round-up boss” of the prestigious local riding group, the Desert Riders, and went on to become its president.

Jane also belonged to Los Compadres and was its first woman president.

Jane served on numerous civic boards and committees, including the Palm Springs Historical Society’s board of directors. When I was introduced to her in March 2003, former Mayor Frank Bogert recognized Jane, then 83, as the surviving pioneer who had been in town the longest.

She extended that claim by more than two decades before passing away on Dec. 29, 2023—less than two months before what would have been her 104th birthday.

Sources for this article include View From the Saddle by Frank Bogert (ETC Publications, 2006); The Desert Sun (articles from Feb. 26, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2023, by Tracy Conrad); Palm Springs: The Landscape, The History, The Lore by Mary Jo Churchwell (Ironwood Editions, 2001); and Nellie’s Boardinghouse by Marjorie Belle Bright (ETC Publications, 1981).

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MARCH ASTRONOMY

Coming attractions include two Planets and Bright Stars in Evening Mid-Twilight eclipses—and the first appearance For March, 2024 of a particular comet in 71 years

This sky chart is drawn for latitude 34 degrees north, but may be used in southern U.S. and northern Mexico.

F

By Robert Victor

N March's evening sky

rom the morning of March 1 until the evening of April 10, we’ll follow the moon as it moves chart. eastward through the zodiac, passing the sun and all the other planets of our solar system— ROBERT D. MILLER Deneb plus five first-magnitude stars, some more than once, as our natural satellite makes more than 1 1/2 trips around its orbit. Many of the moon’s encounters with other bright objects will be quite close and pleasing to the eye.

There are also two eclipses within that period. The first occurs just after midnight on the night of March 24-25, when the moon is almost 180° from the sun and passes through the Earth’s slightly dusky outermost shadow, or penumbra, passing north (above the umbra), missing the dark shadow core. The second eclipse occurs on Monday, April 8, when the moon completely covers the sun in a narrow track across North America; here, we get moon will be just more than 17 hours after Arcturus to see a partial solar eclipse. new, perhaps the youngest moon you’ve ever On the morning of March 1, an hour before seen! Binoculars will help. sunup, we find the waning gibbous moon (70%) This young moon marks the start of 29 in the constellation Libra, about 4° from thirdRamadan. During evenings this time of year, Capella 22 magnitude star Zubenelgenubi, which marks the zodiacal pathway makes a steep angle with Regulus Mercury 15 Castor the southern claw of the older version of the the horizon, so the waxing moon climbs rapidly Pollux E W 29 Scorpion. As the morning sky brightens, look from one evening to the next. By March 13, the 22 15 for bright Venus very low in the east-southeast, moon is close to Jupiter; on the 14th, it’s near 8 Jupiter Aldebaran 1 with faint Mars within 4° to its upper right. the Pleiades cluster; and on the 15th, it’s widely Procyon Betelgeuse Each morning at the same stage of twilight, north of Aldebaran, eye of Taurus, the Bull.

Venus gets a little lower, and Mars a little On the 16th, the moon appears close to higher. Binoculars will help you see Mars. By 1.7-magnitude Elnath, the Bull’s northern Rigel March 31, they’ll be 18° apart. horn. On the 17th,, this month’s northernmost Sirius On the morning of March 2, the moon is just moon is near the feet of Gemini, a few degrees west of the Scorpion’s head, and on March 3, farther north than the sun ever gets. Notice the moon appears within 3° east of Antares, how high the moon is in the sky around sunset! the red supergiant star marking the heart of On the 18th, the moon passes unusually close the Scorpion. The moon is now at last quarter to Pollux, one of the Twin stars of Gemini. On phase, when it’s half full and 90° west of the March 19 at 8:06 p.m., spring begins as the sun, sun. You can tell where the sun is located, below crossing northward, passes directly above the the eastern horizon, by noting which side of equator. On the evening of the 21st, the moon Canopus the moon is illuminated. On March 4, the 40% passes north of Regulus, heart of Leo. The full crescent moon is at its southernmost position moon occurs on the night of March 24-25, with for this orbit, near the spout of the Teapot of deepest penumbral lunar eclipse at 12:15 a.m.

S Evening mid-twilight occurs Stereographic Projection Sagittarius, the Archer. On the next morning, on the 25th. Can you notice the slight shading It’s Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, inwhen its return column at CVIndependent.com. thesolar Sun issystem 9° below the horizon.

Map by D. Miller the moon is still pretty far south, near a second- on one edge of the moon? to the inner after nearly 71 years.

The Astronomical Society ofRobert the Desert Mar. 1: 39 minutes after sunset. magnitude star in the Teapot’s handle.

In the early evening on March 24, Mercury Comet P-B is 15: shifting position by 1.2° each day will host a star party on Saturday, March 9, 39 " " " On March 7, Venus appears 17° to the lower reaches its highest position in evening twilight in relation to 31: the40 background. at Sawmill Trailhead, a site in the Santa Rosa " " "On March 30 and left of the 12% crescent. Mars is within 7° to the for this entire year. Look 23° to the lower right 31, the comet will appear within one degree of Mountains at elevation 4,000 feet; and on upper right of Venus and 11° to the left of the of Jupiter. The innermost planet of our solar Hamal, and thereafter, to the star’s upper left, in Saturday, March 30, at the Santa Rosa and San moon. On March 8, the 5% old crescent moon is system lingers 21° to Jupiter’s lower right the same binocular field for perhaps three more Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor 5° to the lower right of Venus and 6° to the lower from March 26 through April 2, but fades to evenings.

Center. For dates and times of these and other left of the moon. Very low in bright twilight, the invisibility as it transitions into a backlighted Shifting your viewing time back to mornings, star parties, and maps and directions to the two old moon will be quite a challenge to find. crescent. one hour before sunrise, catch the moon near sites, visit astrorx.org.

The new moon occurs on Sunday morning,

By March 27, the moon rises well after Spica on March 25 and 26; near Antares on The Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar March 10, as daylight saving time begins. Just nightfall, and without the moon’s presence, March 30; and passing, in order, Mars, Saturn is available by subscription from www. a few hours earlier, the moon passes perigee, the sky is quite dark for a short while in the and Venus on the moon’s way to its rendezvous abramsplanetarium.org/skycalendar. For $12 the closest for the entire year. This makes the early evening. About 75 minutes after sunset, with the sun—a solar eclipse—on April 8. per year, subscribers receive quarterly mailings, moon climb quickly into the evening sky; it’s bright Jupiter is almost down to just 20° above As for that eclipse: It will be seen as a total each containing three monthly issues. possible, if you have an unobstructed horizon the western horizon. Note second-magnitude eclipse from within a track crossing Mexico, the and very clear skies, to catch a very thin 1% Hamal, the brightest star of Aries, just 14° to United States from Texas to Maine, and eastern Robert Victor originated the Abrams Planetarium crescent moon just above the western horizon, the lower right of Jupiter.

Canada. The event will be seen only as a partial monthly Sky Calendar in October 1968 and still within 2° to the lower left of Mercury. Start That evening, using binoculars, look for a solar eclipse from nearly all of the rest of North helps to produce an occasional issue. He enjoys 20-25 minutes after sunset, and look for fuzzy spot, perhaps of fifth-magnitude, in the America, including here. Learn more about the being outdoors sharing the beauty of the night sky Mercury 41° to the lower right of Jupiter. The same field, 4° to 5° to the lower right of Hamal. eclipse by reading the expanded version of this and other wonders of nature.

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Sean Penn and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine, during the filming of Superpower. Penn is scheduled to be at the Palm Springs Cultural Center for the AmDocs openingnight screening of the film.

There is a lot of local love for film festivals—but a documentary-focused fest taking place in March, now in its 13th year, took a while to catch on locally, despite its international renown.

The American Documentary and Animation Film Festival, aka AmDocs, will feature films made across the globe, from Thursday, March 21, through Monday, March 25, at the Palm Springs Cultural Center. It will feature more than 200 films, divided into 55 different programs including shorts and feature-length movies, with topics ranging from love to immigration, sports, humanity and more.

Ted Grouya, the founder and director of AmDocs, explained why he launched the festival back in 2012.

“I started out as a filmmaker, and I traveled to any number of festivals around the world with my own work, and the people who own the Camelot Theatres were very good friends,” Grouya said. “They established … the Palm Springs Cultural Center, and they said to me, ‘Isn’t there something we can do to help build more visibility? Because of both your travels and experiences being local, maybe you could come up with an idea.’ … I did a little bit of research, and I realized that there were, at the time, no documentary film festivals on the West Coast—nothing to speak of within a 100-mile radius of Los Angeles. I said, ‘Boom, there’s the opportunity—there’s a niche.’”

Not only did Grouya want to make AmDocs the “biggest and or the best event possible,” in his words; he wanted to make sure it CVIndependent.com

supported the filmmakers themselves—so he set up the American Documentary Film Fund. Film-industry professionals review submissions from filmmakers for funding consideration each year, and per the website, “An amount up to $50,000 may be awarded or distributed in any given year.”

“The U.S. is the richest country in the world, but we don’t do a lot to support the arts, so we thought this is our little way to help,” Grouya said. “We’ve done that basically from our own funds, tickets and submissions, and we’ve given back to the filmmakers with that film fund. Any number of films have made it to HBO, Showtime, PBS and MTV; a few have

been shortlisted for the Oscars, and others have won Emmys. We’re really proud of what we’ve been able to do in such a short period of time.”

Grouya said the festival slowly attracted an international fan base—and that local recognition was even harder to come by.

“We slowly built our reputation internationally, even though we weren’t known so well by the locals, being in the shadow of the Palm Springs International Film Festival,” Grouya said. “We worked on our reputation to the point where, after six years … the American Society of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recommended us (to

A scene from Show Her the Money.

be a qualifying festival) for certain categories for Oscars consideration. Our reputation was good enough that we got that after the minimum six years. … Each year, we build that reputation, and there’s sort of a Yelp amongst industry and filmmakers, which I was unaware of until recently, where they rate the festivals, and we’re consistently in the Top 100 out of the whole world of over 12,000 festivals. We don’t really care so much about status, but it’s nice to know that you’re getting these fivestar reviews, because our mission is really to bring the best to our audiences here, as well as to have a great experience for our industry guests.”

AmDocs started with a focus on documentaries, adding animation in the festival’s second year.

“We first kind of did it as an aside, and then we realized the importance of it in the industry … not just as cartoons, but there are some very mature themes that are done documentary-style, but in animation,” Grouya said. “We really push that now, and because a lot of these artists are so talented with drawing in 3-D or 2-D, they have opportunities outside of these arts, and they can become graphic artists, or they can actually become gamers. The gaming industry just itself equaled both film and music revenues combined.”

There are more connections between documentary and animation than one may think. “(Documentary) is a very popular genre on the streamers; I think it really all began in many ways with Making a Murderer on Netflix, because everyone tried to copy that formula,” Grouya said. “Those docuseries now are uber-popular, but in a lot of them, they don’t have archival footage. Errol Morris,

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 15

MARCH 2024

who was a famous documentary filmmaker, engaged, you have to evolve, so I’m seeing particularly in the ’80s, loved doing remore of that evolution.” creations. … We love it when we see archival Grouya said he’s proud of how the festival (footage), but there are plenty of instances in has grown, from 59 films in the first year to history where there’s no footage to be able to more than 200 in 2024. cut back to, so what you’re seeing more and “There were always great films … but we more is this combination of animation and went out to find some of these more storydocumentary, and it’s very, very effective.” driven documentaries, whereas now, they Thanks to AmDocs’ come to us,” Grouya said. variety of films every “I still go to festivals and year, Grouya has different places in the watched the genre world, but the films really change over the last have to knock me on my 12 years. butt in order for us to “It is said that invite them. … I would say the very first things that of our programming, shot on film were 95% is based on direct documentaries,” he submissions, so that’s said. “The North really a compliment to the American formula filmmakers and the films, that’s still kind of because we don’t have to prevalent today is go necessarily to Sundance the interview. You or Berlin or Cannes, even might have a film of though we’ve had some of 90 minutes, and it’s those films. They still come mostly interviews. to us, because they know … In Central and that our programming Eastern Europe, reputation is solid.” (documentaries Grouya said he’s worked are) much more to make sure AmDocs has — Ted Grouya observational, and alliances with festivals AmDocs founder a little more storyin different parts of the and director driven. I’m seeing world—and that has more and more of been helpful to American that now across the spectrum, which I think is filmmakers. good. It’s healthy for the filmmakers; it pushes “One of the things that we’ve observed them a little more, and they’re going to have when I go to these events is there’s a big to work more than just setting up lights in the antipathy towards Hollywood—and that, static situation and interviewing someone. unfortunately, will include anyone from the I don’t want to knock them—that’s their U.S.,” Grouya said. “That’s not fair, because business, and they can do whatever they want. most of the (American documentary) However, if you want to keep your audience filmmakers are independent, but there’s

“

(Documentary) is a very popular genre on the streamers; I think it really all began in many ways with Making a Murderer on Netflix, because everyone tried to copy that formula.

”

this thing about Hollywood encroaching on cultural identity, and I understand that, but they leave out a lot of great films that are made by filmmakers here. There are 340 million Americans, so there have got to be a few good films.

“I would say, on average, half of our programming comes from North America. With our alliances, we are able to curate a selection of U.S.-based films at our partner festivals, and they, in turn, get (to curate the) program from Latin America or the Baltics, wherever that festival was, at our festival. It gives exposure that our filmmakers wouldn’t normally have internationally, and it really doesn’t cost much—but it’s one of the unique things that we do at AmDocs.”

In lieu of proclaiming a yearly theme, AmDocs opts for more of a watch-and-see attitude.

“We obviously have themes, and if you sit in the theater, you’ll see how complex the programming is, but we’re not didactic,” Grouya said. “We don’t force it down your throat. You either get it, or you don’t, and I think they do.”

Grouya shared his thoughts on some highlights of this year’s festival.

Superpower, Thursday, March 21: This film was directed by Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman; Penn will make an appearance at

A scene from The Test. the screening, which is the festival’s Opening Night Event. “With what’s going on with Ukraine now and still going on at the national level with legislators (and funding decisions), that should be a pretty robust discussion after we see his film,” Grouya said.

Show Her the Money, Friday, March 22: “Watching these films is like continuing education every day at a university. For example, (this film is about) entrepreneurship, focused on women. Women, of course, are treated as unequal in many ways in our society, but when they’re up there pitching in the Silicon Valley for some new product or content that they’re trying to sell, they’re only apt to get about 3% of the money that’s available. This particular film shows that there are women who are supporting one another in order to break that glass ceiling.”

Shura, Sunday, March 24: “We have films about seniors who do things to help others.

(This is) a great film that was shortlisted for the Oscars, and it follows people who are on the border. Because things are so tough ... they go out there, and they find ways to bring food and clothing and water to these immigrants, whether they’re going to get into the U.S. or not. These are stories that most people don’t know about.”

The Test, Sunday, March 24: “It’s about seniors helping this man from Nigeria. He’s here legally, but he has to prepare for his naturalization exam, so the seniors work with him (to teach him) about history and everything related to understanding what you need to know before you take the test to become a naturalized American. It’s beautiful.”

The American Documentary and Animation Film Festival takes place from Thursday, March 21, through Monday, March 25, at the Palm Springs Cultural Center, 2300 E. Baristo Road, in Palm Springs. Tickets start at $10. For tickets or more information, visit amdocfilmfest.com.

A scene from Shura.

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16 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

THURSDAY MAY 9, 2024

MARCH 2024

www.HarveyMilk.us

HARVEY MILK C OA C H E L L A VALLEY DIVER S ITY BR EAKFAS T 8:3O am |Coffee Welcome & Breakfast 9:3O -11 am |Program PALM SPRINGS CONVENTION CENTER The Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast Coalition invites you to join us.

This event brings together all who support equality and social justice in celebration of this influential civil rights activist.

HONOR ING

STUART MILK

Co-Founder and Executive Chair of the Harvey Milk Foundation

Stuart Milk, a global LGBT rights advocate, has worked on the ground supporting struggling and emerging LGBT communities in over 60 nations on six continents.

The nephew of Harvey Milk, Stuart has expanded his uncle’s example of visibility and courage leading historic global campaigns including major addresses and speaking - US State Departevents before the United Nations, the Munich Security Conference, the ment, the European Union, the US Department of Defense, the British Parliament, the Congress of Peru, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, and Parlamento Italiano.

SPONSORSHIP & TABLE SALES NOW OPEN | harveymilk.us 501c(3) nonprofit program of Greater Palm Springs Pride

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COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 17

MARCH 2024

DO-GOODER LENDING A HELPING HAND T

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The L-Fund, holding its annual gala on March 9, expands its mission of ‘empowering lesbians through philanthropy’

By Haleemon Anderson

he L-Fund—a group that, as its motto says, empowers lesbians through philanthropy— will hold its annual gala fundraiser on Saturday, March 9, at the Margaritaville Resort.

The event is a crowd-pleaser, drawing celebrants from across the Coachella Valley and beyond to gather and party for a worthy cause. This year’s gala, with the theme “Luck Be a Lady,” culminates a banner year for the women-led nonprofit.

The L-Fund has been expanding its reach since 2012, when the five founders, initially just Judy Dlugacz, the co-founder of Olivia gathering socially, would chip in $20 each Records and Olivia Travel, is this year’s without a set plan or recipient in mind. What recipient. The vacation program charters they knew was they wanted to help other entire cruise ships, resorts, riverboats and lesbians. The L-Fund has grown considerably land tours exclusively for lesbian and LGBTQ+ since; the 501(c)(3) has hit funding peaks women. It boasts a huge repeat customer unimaginable a decade ago. base and will celebrate 35 years in business “Last year, we gave out almost $100,000 in in 2025. Gala attendees will get to bid on an grants to queer women in emergency financial Olivia cruise for two during a live auction. crises,” said board co-chair Mei Ling Tom. Dinner for six at Alice B. restaurant is another This year’s gala is going big, too, with live-auction item, and there will be several dinner and dancing in a casino-style setting, silent auction items as well. and live entertainment featuring a pop and Palm Springs City Councilmember Grace soul revue. A focal point of the evening will Garner will present The L-Fund Visionary be The L-Fund’s annual awards, which honor local luminaries for outstanding service to the Award to Shann Carr and Sweet Baby J’ai.

A local community stalwart, comedian LGBTQ+ community.

Shann Carr has logged countless local Local comedian Mina Hartong has been volunteer hours. She is being honored tapped as emcee, and special guest Imani for “lend(ing) a helping hand to so many Rupert-Gordon, executive director of the organizations in Palm Springs, always with National Center for Lesbian Rights, will presthe goal of connecting people through ent the night’s most prestigious honor—the positive experiences full of love,” Tom said in Bobreta Franklin Community Service Award.

The L-Fund Visionary Award honoree Shann Carr.

The L-Fund Visionary Award honoree Sweet Baby J’ai.

a text statement.

Sweet Baby J’ai is being honored for her commitment to elevating jazz and musicianship throughout the region. J’ai is an accomplished contemporary-jazz singer, songwriter, producer, arranger and playwright, known throughout the Coachella Valley for stellar entertainment events and a focus on philanthropy. She’s a co-founder of the Palm Springs Women’s Jazz Festival, and executive director of production company Sweet Baby J’ai Presents.

Her expertise will be on full display at the gala: J’ai is curating the live show, with help from L-Fund co-chair Christine Hunter. The “Soulful Sirens” revue will feature The Voice contestant Marisa Corvo and an all-women’s sextet replete with brass and reeds. Spokenword artist Be Steadwell rounds out the bill.

As co-directors of The L-Fund, Hunter and Tom said they take pride in the fact that their seven-member board of directors works on a fully volunteer-basis. No one gets a salary, although Tom said they may need to hire staff in the future.

The L-Fund has been able to fund new programs and expand the base of women it can help, with three new grant programs developed over the past six years. In addition to the original Lesbians in Need (LIN) grant, women can now submit applications for education needs, medical emergencies and

artistic endeavors. Grants were once confined to Coachella Valley residents, but in recent years, queer women from Yucca Valley, Idyllwild and Hemet have been recipients.

Applications for all four grants are accepted on a rolling basis. After screening for eligibility criteria, they are considered on a case-by-case basis by the board.

After the gala, The L-Fund’s next event will be the Women’s Health and Wellness Expo, in partnership with Eisenhower Health. The health fair is a first for The L-Fund and will take place in May at the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences on the Eisenhower campus in Rancho Mirage. (Eisenhower Health is also the gala’s lead sponsor.) The L-Fund also sponsors an annual golf tournament in November.

Tom said more sponsors are coming on all the time, and every donation or ticket sold helps the organization stay committed to its goal of helping women when an emergency knocks them off their feet.

“Something happens in your life, and now you need some help,” said Tom. “And once we help you, if it’s approved, then you’re back on your feet, living life.”

The L-Fund’s “Luck Be a Lady” Gala takes place from 5 to 10 p.m., Saturday, March 9, at the Margaritaville Resort, 1600 N. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs. Tickets start at $225.

For tickets or more information, visit l-fund.org.

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MARCH 2024

ARTS & CULTURE

LOCAL LAUGHS T

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Coachella Valley Brewery Comedy Fest organizers hope to boost the desert comedy scene

By MATT KING

he comedy scene has been growing in the Coachella Valley—and Coachella Valley Brewing Co. in Thousand Palms has played a big role in that growth.

While CVB is a brewery first and a performance venue second, it’s been a key part of the area’s entertainment scene. During the COVID-19 shutdowns, CVB was one of the first venues to start hosting socially distanced entertainment; today, comedy shows and live music pack the place.

One event in particular shows how CVB has enhanced the local comedy scene: the yearly Comedy Fest, which highlights the talent of desert comics while featuring a number of great “Thanks in large part to Wes and the team out-of-town acts. The third annual fest takes here at Coachella Valley Brewery, I’ve been place Friday, March 22, through Sunday, able to experiment with different types of March 24. shows, and do street-comedy shows—but “I’ve been booking comedy shows at also, we’ve done some variety shows as well.

Coachella Valley Brewing Co. since about Wes has been very gracious to allow it to late 2018,” said comedian and Comedy morph and change in terms of the setup Fest organizer Dacoda Miracle. “After the of the comedy. We started doing it in the pandemic, I talked to Wes (Gainey, taproom taproom back in 2018, and all the lights were manager at CVB) about how it’d be really on, there were just high-top chairs; there was cool to get a bunch of comics who have done no stage or anything. Then we moved it to the shows here who I’ve worked with in the past, back, where they brew the beer. We started and have an all-day hangout with a bunch of turning off the lights and having tables, and comedians. I started talking to some friends now the setup is just rows of chairs, and and all these comics who I’ve come across, we have stages and proper lighting—and it and they all seemed really interested—so it actually feels and looks like a comedy show.” just kind of turned into a comedy festival.

The consistency of CVB’s Saturday comedy “The response from the local community nights has helped empower local performers. was immense and a lot more than I expected “How any comic gets better is just for the first year. … It was very rewarding having enough stage time, and getting up to see how happy it made everyone and how there constantly,” Miracle said. “The more excited everyone got for it. It just snowballed opportunities there are for comedians, to where I’m like, ‘Well, I guess I’ve got to do the better they can get. With the comedy this every year now.’” community growing, that means there are Miracle has been pivotal in the growth more comedians who run their own shows, of the local comedy scene, and his work at and more open mics pop up, which means CVB has helped inspire locals to pick up a everyone gets more stage time and can grow microphone and get onstage. their own act. Being able to produce shows “When I first moved here in 2018 … I at the brewery here and across the valley has hadn’t really met too many other local comics personally given me more stage time, and has at that point,” Miracle said. “The consistency allowed me to sharpen my skills. In turn, that of the open mics at the brewery, and a few benefits everyone as well.” other pop-up open mics that have sprung up At this year’s Comedy Fest, comics from the across the valley, have generated close to 20 desert will share a bill with performers from local comics from 2018 until now. It’s been Las Vegas, Reno, Los Angeles and San Francisan amazing growth, in large part due to the co. Dakota Ray Hebert, from Canada, will be comedy shows at the brewery.” performing a non-traditional comedy show.

Miracle explained why CVB remains a “She’s a pretty prominent feature in the staple of the local comic world.

Canadian comedy scene,” Miracle said. “We’re “When I first started doing open mics here, bringing her and some of her close friends in everyone was so supportive,” Miracle said. “I comedy out for the fest, and they are going think because there was already this support for local acts, local artists and local everything to be doing a show called Red White and You. They’re writers on shows in Canada, and with the Coachella Valley … it just made me that’s one of the shows that they’re pitching, feel at home and made me feel like I can so they’re going to be performing it live here experiment and kind of take risks onstage. at the Comedy Fest.”

That’s kind of what Coachella Valley Brewery The festival also includes a non-traditional has been all about from the beginning.

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Dacoda Miracle: “This is a really big networking opportunity for all the comedians, just to be together on one day. It’s definitely a very natural way to meet other people in the industry and form those connections.

show hosted by Indio comedian Los Digits.

“We’re doing a one-liner joke-off competition, and we’re doing the ‘No Llores Roast Battles,’” Miracle said. “He grew up in Indio and moved out to L.A. a few years back, and he’s made a name for himself on the roast-battle scene at the Comedy Store, and he’s created his own style of roast battle that he takes around to different comedy clubs.”

Miracle said he wants the Comedy Fest at CVB to both entertain and help local comedians make big connections.

“This is a really big networking opportunity

for all the comedians, just to be together on one day,” Miracle said. “It’s definitely a very natural way to meet other people in the industry and form those connections, and I think that’s very important for everyone in the industry.”

The Coachella Valley Brewery Comedy Fest takes place from Friday, March 22, through Sunday, March 24, at Coachella Valley Brewing Co., 30640 Gunther St., in Thousand Palms.

Tickets start at $29.99. For tickets and more information, search for the fest on Eventbrite.

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Events 2023 DATE

EVENT

Sept 10

Riverside’s Inland Empire Pride Festival 2023

Sept 20

2023 Business Expo & Taste of Palm Springs

Sept 20–24

Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend

Sept 22-24

Gay Days Anaheim

Sept 23

8th Annual Aging Positively 68510 EastConference Palm Canyon Dr

Oct 5-8

JoshuaTree Fall Music Festival 760-296-2966 ext 101

Oct 6

Singing with the Desert Stars

Oct 7

Pride Under the Pines

Oct 11

National Coming Out Day

Oct 13–14

Pride On the Page

Oct 19–22

Modernism Week - October

Oct 20

LGBTQ Center Gala, Center Stage 2023

Sept 21-24/28-Oct 1

Cinema Diverse

Oct 26–29

PS Leather Pride

Oct 28

DAP Health Equity Walk 2023

Oct 29

Palm Springs Halloween on Arenas

Nov 3–5

Palm Springs Pride

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MARCH 2024

ARTS & CULTURE

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MELDING MAN AND NATURE I

By CAT MAKINO

n the world of modern architecture, a few names stand out—including Le Corbusier, the professional name of Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, the Swiss-French architect.

Less well-known internationally—but rather well-known locally—is one of Le Corbusier’s pupils and co-workers, Albert Frey.

Frey’s life and work are celebrated in a new exhibition, Albert Frey: Inventive Modernist, on display at the Palm Springs Art Museum’s Architecture and Design Center through June 3. The exhibition, presented by the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation, features architectural models, drawings, films, photographs and furniture—and took 2 1/2 years to assemble and complete.

Valley Station, the North Shore Beach and The exhibition’s creator, Brad Dunning, Yacht Club (overlooking the Salton Sea) and explains that Frey (1903-1998) was born in the iconic Tramway Gas Station, now the Palm Europe, and started his career there, but he Springs Visitor Information Center. He also was always fascinated by America, moving to co-designed the Aluminaire House, an all-metal New York and then Palm Springs. home designed in 1931 in New York that now “He felt America represented the future, and has a permanent home in Palm Springs. would welcome more new ideas than Europe.

Frey differed from Le Corbusier in his Everything about Albert was modern— approach to the relationship between modernism,” Dunning said. architecture and its surroundings.

Frey’s local work included hundreds of “He was a one-of-a-kind architect in designs, including projects from custom homes the desert,” said Melissa Riche, founder of to landmark buildings, including Palm Springs Preservation Mirage and author of Mod City Hall, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway’s

The Palm Springs Art Museum celebrates the work of renowned local architect Albert Frey

Mirage, a book on mid-century architecture in the area. “He came from Europe and had a new, international, pared-down approach to modernism, using durable materials that changed over time because of the environment.”

One example of Frey’s belief in the relationship between the man-made and the natural is the house designed for the industrial designer Raymond Loewy between 1946 and 1947. Dunning points out that “the swimming pool creeps under a sliding glass door into the living room. It’s whimsical and fascinating, blurring the lines between outside and inside.”

In the hillside house overlooking Palm Springs that Frey designed for himself in 1964, the materials are high tech—including glass walls and a corrugated metal roof—but the natural world intrudes, literally, in the form of a boulder that forces its way into the living space through an aperture in the wall, precisely cut to accommodate it. In Frey’s own words: “The contrast between the natural rock and tech materials is rather exciting.” He added: “I’m excited to see every day the varied spectacle of nature that is part of the house, changing with light and color, wind, rain, calm

and the sun.” The house is now owned by the Palm Springs Art Museum as the result of a bequest by Frey.

Dunning, who knew Frey, described him as “quiet and soft spoken, yet animated when he talked about his passion—designing. He was always impeccably dressed, retaining his continental manners his whole life.”

His business partners did most of the socializing and getting accounts, so Frey could focus on design, Dunning said. “It was a good combination. Albert wasn’t an aggressive seller.”

Janice Synder, an ambassador for the exhibition, said of Frey: “He lived like he believed— man and nature, they complemented each other.”

Albert Frey: Inventive Modernist will be on display through Monday, June 3, at the Palm Springs Art Museum’s Architecture and Design Center, 300 S. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs. The center is open from noon to 8 p.m., Thursday; and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday through Monday. Admission is $10, with free admission every Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. For more information, visit www.psmuseum.org/visit/ psam-a-and-d-center.

Albert Frey incorporated a large boulder into the design of his hillside home, called Frey House II. Photo courtesy of the Palm Springs Art Museum

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MARCH 2024

UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS Brad Williams Tue, March 5, 7pm

Legends in Concert

Tributes to Carpenters, Rod Stewart, Elton John & Lionel Richie Thu, March 7, 7pm Fri, March 8, 2pm & 8pm

Presented through the generosity of Josie & Bill Hall – March 8, 8pm

ALL NEW SHOW!

City of Rancho Mirage presents

The 66th Edition of

It’s Magic!

Starring Juliana Chen, Rudy Coby, Jody Baran & Kathleen, Victor & Diamond and Jason Bishop & Company

Sun, March 24, 3pm

Trailblazing Women of Country Tue, March 26, 7pm

Photo: Laura Domela

Storm Large

Presented through the generosity of Barbara Arnstein

Sat, March 9, 8pm

Presented through the generosity of Janet Grove & Carol Greer Gigli

Palm Springs Legends Starring

Frank Ferrante as Groucho Andy DiMino as Dean Martin Raymond Michael as Elvis Daryl Wagner as Liberace Bill Johnson as Bob Hope Vanessa Stewart as Keely Smith The Les Brown Band Alumni

Clint Holmes

Between the Moon & New York City The Songs of Peter Allen Fri, April 5, 8pm

The Four Phantoms Sat, April 6, 8pm

Presented though the generosity of Cary Lowe & Allan Ames

Wed, March 20, 7pm

VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR EVEN MORE EVENTS! Order online ONLY at

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MARCH 2024

FOOD & DRINK

VINE SOCIAL JASON DAVID

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Want to discover a new wine you may like? A clue can be found on the back label

HAIR STUDIO

W

By KatieLOVE finn YOUR HAIR

ith season in full swing here in our beautiful desert paradise, I have been busier than ever with private wine tastings.

While I enjoy the fun and lively weekly tastings we have in my little shop, I don’t have the ability at those to get nerdy and in-depth about the wines we’re pouring. For some Country Club and Cook Street people, I’m sure that’s a bonus—stop your yapping, and just pour me some wine, lady!—but I’ve sert grapes and regions, discovered that more and more, folks are genuinely curiousPalm aboutDe different and want to know more.

I recently presented wines to a small when760-340-5959 you taste the wine, decide if you like it or group of friends at a house in La Quinta. not. If you do, look for another wine from that www.jasondavidhairstudio.net We decided to focus on Spanish wines, and same importer. If you find that you like that they gave me carte blanche to choose the bottle, too, then you and the person selecting selections. When I’m given the option, my the wines to bring into this country have simiselections will include grapes you’ve never lar palates. I have found this is single-handedly heard of, from places you didn’t know existed. the most important piece of information to For this particular group, we tasted a Spanish have if you want to get out of your comfort sparkling wine from Raventos, the oldest zone—without flying totally blind. family-owned and -operated winery in the Most importers I know decide what to world. It was followed by a unique white import based partly on what they like to wine made from a grape called godello; a clay drink. Now, before anyone gets their panties amphora-fermented tempranillo from Rioja; in a bunch and decides to email me, please and, lastly, a beast of a red wine from the note I said partly. Of course there are other region of Jumilla made from the monastrell deciding factors, but if someone is passionate grape, which is known as mourvedre in about German riesling, they’re probably not France. seeking out traditional Australian shiraz for As we worked our way through each wine, their portfolio. Most importers stay in their the conversations and questions led us down wheelhouse. various tangents where we dove into hot I first discovered this little-known rule topics like wine scores, corks vs. screw caps, of thumb with the wines of Kermit Lynch. and whether there are any good Temecula This man is an icon in the wine industry. He wines. But above all that, there was one not only imports the best French and Italian particular question that got me thinking: wines that have ever touched my lips; he is a “These wines are wonderful, but I never champion of small producers, shining a light would have thought to buy them myself. If on family growers and winemakers that would we don’t have a sommelier on speed dial, how have remained largely undiscovered if not for would we ever know to purchase these wines him. Lynch is a retailer, distributor, importer, in a shop?” writer and musician; in my mind, this man Being in the wine business for as long as can do no wrong.

I have, I know certain insider tips, tricks After sipping a glorious Champagne called and hacks. Sure, there are a ton of books J. Lassalle, I noticed the very distinct Kermit out there that discuss the nuts and bolts of Lynch trademark on the back of the label. winemaking, grapes and places—which is Sometime after that, a friend shared a bottle all useful stuff when beginning your wineof Champalou Vouvray with me; right then education journey—but the average wineand there, not only did I discover my love drinker doesn’t necessarily want or need to for chenin blanc, but I also realized it, too, know all of this information. was a Kermit Lynch import. As my career So this leads us back to the question of continued, I was introduced to the wines of what to buy if you don’t want to drink the Chateau Ducasse, Marcel Lapierre, Chateau same wine you’ve been drinking for 10 Thivin and Giuseppe Quintarelli, just to years. How do you explore and take a leap name a few. These wines had two things in with something new—with a little bit of common: I loved them, and they were all confidence? imported by Kermit Lynch.

Here’s one big insider tip: When it comes Through this simple concept, I’ve learned to selecting wine from outside of the United to lean on the rieslings of Terry Theise, the States, look at the back label, and find the South African wines brought in by Vineyard name of the importer. Make a note of it, and Brands, the Champagnes and sparkling wines

Our wine scribe has discovered numerous wines she loves by looking for the name Kermit Lynch (pictured here) on the label. Gail Skoff

from Skurnik, white Burgundies imported by H. Mercer, Italian gems from Oliver McCrum, and the rosés supplied by Jeff Welburn. In my experience, Vino del Sol has always been the go-to for wines from Argentina, and Eric Solomon is known for bringing in crowdpleasing and luscious Spanish selections.

Of course, there are hundreds of companies that import wine from all over the world—

but don’t let that be a daunting thought.

Instead, think of these suppliers as “wine counselors,” and it’s their job is to guide you to your next favorite discovery.

Katie Finn is a certified sommelier and certified specialist of wine with two decades in the wine industry. She can be reached at katiefinnwine@ gmail.com.

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MARCH 2024

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 25

MARCH 2024

FOOD & DRINK

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CAESAR CERVISIA JASON DAVID

A tribute to the pilsner style, one of the truest tests of a brewer’s skill

HAIR STUDIO

D

By brett newton

LOVE YOUR HAIR

id you know that the creation of most popular beer style in the world began with a protest?

At the beginning of the 19th century, European beer was in a sorry state. Standards were all over the place, and the results varied wildly. In the Bohemian town of Pilsen (now in the Czech Republic), the citizens were so exasperated by the quality of their local beer that they Country Club and Cook Street gathered in front of City Hall and dumped 36 kegs of beer in the street. (If you read last month’s sert column, you would know that I understand the sentiment ofPalm thoseDe protestors.)

This act of civil disobedience led to the recruitment of two men from neighboring Bavaria 760-340-5959 in Germany, which was a place where many resulted in a strikingly golden and extremely brewers of quality beer resided (and still do drinkable beer with a soft, malty body and a today). Architect Martin Stelzer was a brewery www.jasondavidhairstudio.net clean finish. designer of some repute, having studied Not only had the beer-loving citizens of breweries throughout Europe to familiarize Pilsen been saved; the beer that was produced himself with the latest brewing technologies. there became a big hit across Europe and, Stelzer took everything into account when eventually, the entire world. he built the brewery in Pilsen—from the This pilsner beer’s notoriety spread with sandstone rock it was built upon, to the access the development of railways and refrigeration to soft-water aquifers. to neighboring Germany, where it was made Then they recruited Josef Groll. Groll had similarly, but with harder water (with high learned much from his father and had been sulfate levels). This made the German versions brewing lagers from a young age. He also less malty and more hop-forward. (Mind you, studied techniques and beers in England to this is relative to the Czech pilsner, so this round out his knowledge. What Groll did when distinction is somewhat subtle.) Thus, the he got the job made history: He used very pilsner began its eventual world conquest. lightly kilned pale malt, generous amounts With German emigration to the New World, of the spicy Saaz hop, and the incredibly the pilsner came along for the ride—but not soft water of the area. He then used bottomall of the ingredients could join them. What fermenting yeast and lagered it underneath these brewing emigres found in the New World the brewery in the cool sandstone caves. This was six-row barley, and native hop strains

The Pilsner Urquell, created by Josef Groll in the Bohemian town of Pilsen, is the beer that started it all. Monticellllo/ stock.adobe.com

like Cluster. The higher protein levels in the six-row barley variant were supplemented by corn to lighten the body of the beer in order to reproduce the pilsners from the old country.

Then, of course, Prohibition happened, all but killing this form of the style, outside of homebrewing.

Why are pilsners so well-regarded by brewers and beer nerds the world over? With a style that relies on subtleties, there’s a corresponding necessity to create as clean of a canvas as possible to allow those subtleties to come to life. What this means is that your skill as a brewer is exposed as completely as it can be with a pilsner. Tons of hops and/or adjuncts can do a lot to cover up sins in some beers, but there is no such refuge for brewers when it comes to the pilsner.

After the folly (to put it very lightly) of Prohibition, a pale lager similar to the pilsner was brewed with ever-increasing consistency between batches—creating beer brands that had more differences in marketing than in flavor. This was exported to the rest of the world, and breweries worldwide began making their own versions of what is now known as international pale lager in the Beer Judge Certification program style guidelines (along with its lighter version, of course). Like many things, these beers have become points of pride for the people from the countries where they’re brewed—Heineken for the Dutch,

Molson for Canada, Moretti for Italy, Sapporo for Japan etc. (Good luck being able to tell the differences between them if you tasted them blindly, but you know how people get about these things.)

The recent trend in lagers toward pilsners has been welcome, because it makes it so much easier to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to breweries. So many breweries I mention in this column’s confines deftly brew delicate styles like the pilsner. Many also use the pilsner’s subtleties to act as a springboard for other ingredients, especially hops. Hoppy pilsners are one of my favorite versions of the style, like Burgeon Beer Company’s Clever Kiwi (which is one of my picks for a trapped-on-adesert-island beer), as well as the Green Cheek Brewing versions that I’ve experienced, like their recent pilsner with the most intense and fruity expression of the Riwaka hop I’ve ever had in a beer. The style allows a beer with a delicate malt backbone to really push an added ingredient to the forefront to shine.

That said, finding a nice, crisp, traditional pilsner remains one of the great pleasures in beer-drinking—and I will continue to seek out the best examples.

Brett Newton is a certified cicerone (like a sommelier for beer) and homebrewer who has mostly lived in the Coachella Valley since 1988. He can be reached at caesarcervisia@gmail.com.

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FOOD & DRINK INDY ENDORSEMENT This month, we savor seafood at two different Palm Desert restaurants

By Jimmy Boegle

WHAT Seafood stew WHERE Pacifica Seafood Restaurant, 73505 El Paseo, Palm Desert HOW MUCH $48 CONTACT 760-674-8666; www. pacificaseafoodrestaurant.com WHY All the subtle flavors.

El Paseo is lined with multiple high-end seafood joints. How does a discerning seafood-lover choose among them?

I don’t know the answer to that question.

I do know we (somewhat randomly) selected Pacifica Seafood Restaurant when we last faced this decision, on a cold, rainy day after a matinee at the McCallum Theatre— and we were quite glad we did.

Located on the upper floor of The Gardens on El Paseo, Pacifica offers both indoor and (mostly) covered patio seating. The décor was nice, and the service was efficient and friendly. The Manhattan I ordered hit the spot. And the food? It was impressive.

The hubby ordered the shrimp pasta in a garlic/cream/white wine sauce ($39), and our friend Bryan got the grilled swordfish ($42 for full size). I went with the seafood stew— the weather made me want something soupy and warm—and, to repeat myself, I’m very glad I did.

The broth was fantastic—flavorful, but not so much so that it overpowered the variety of fresh-tasting seafood. The stew included salmon, prawns, scallops, mussels, white fish and half of a lobster tail, as well as jasmine rice, and every bite was wonderful. Dealing with all of the shells was messy, of course, but I finished all of it and wanted more.

Bryan would also like me to tell you that his grilled swordfish (accompanied by jasmine rice, an avocado puree and tomatoes) was top-notch. The menu notes that the item is “new!”—a great addition.

The next time I’m faced with the El Paseo seafood restaurant choice, it’ll be hard to say no to Pacifica—despite the abundance of other options nearby.

WHAT Oceana tostada WHERE Oceana Restaurant, 77932 Country Club Drive, Palm Desert HOW MUCH $18 CONTACT 760-610-2517; www. oceanapalmdesert.com WHY The freshness.

It was a Saturday night. We had just left a function in the northern portion of Palm Desert, and we wanted dinner—so we decided to head to a place I’ve wanted to try for a while, Oceana Restaurant.

We didn’t have a reservation— and as a result, we didn’t get a table. It turns out that Oceana is very, very popular on Saturday nights in February. Fortunately, there were seats at the bar, and we grabbed ’em.

We soon learned why Oceana is so popular: The food at this Mexican-influenced seafood is quite good.

We ordered the Oceana tostada (with shrimp and octopus) as a starter; the hubby selected the chipotle shrimp ($25) as his entrée, while I went with the whole red snapper ($36). Although the snapper stayed in the fryer for a minute or two too long, everything we had was quite enjoyable—but it’s that tostada that makes my mouth water every time I think about it.

The shrimp and the octopus, of course, are at the center of the dish, and they’re complemented by fresh fruits and veggies like avocado, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, onions and pineapple. The one word that comes to mind (other than delicious) when I think about this dish is fresh. It was a pleasure to eat in every way.

Oceana’s menu is packed with seafood delights, ranging from branzino to scallops to ahi and more. If you prefer land-based proteins, no worries; steaks, chicken and an intriguing mole poblano pork shank are also on offer.

I highly recommend Oceana, and I also highly recommend reservations. We were lucky enough to get those great bar seats—but one’s luck can always run out, after all.

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Restaurant NEWS BITES By charles drabkin NEW PLACES TO SHOP FOR FOOD! At least three new Coachella Valley markets are now open or in the works.

First up: Haines Packing Company opened in December at 79775 Highway 111, Suite F103, in La Quinta; this independently owned, Alaska-based company focuses on sustainable seafood, with everything purchased directly from fisherfolks and artisan seafood producers. Learn more about them at hainespacking.com—or go into the store to see what they have.

Spice Rack, an Indian grocery store, has opened in Cathedral City at 67555 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Suite E101-102, with a wide variety of Indian pickles, frozen foods, spices and snacks. This is a fun shop and well worth checking out. The website spicerackcv.com doesn’t have a lot of information, so go in and get inspired.

Finally, Sprouts Farmers Market is coming to Palm Springs, in the former Bed Bath and Beyond space, at 5200 E. Ramon Road, just a couple of doors down from Aldi. Scheduled to open by the end of 2024, this grocery store is known for offering organic, gluten-free, plant-based, non-GMO products at affordable prices. Learn more at sprouts.com.

Reservations recommended. Call 760-779-5000 Open Thursday through Tuesday 71680 Highway 111 #F, Rancho Mirage (Next to Hilton Garden Inn)

MARCH MEANS IT’S TIME FOR TWO ICONIC FOOD FESTS Taste of Tennis is back at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort and Spa, 44600 Indian Wells Lane, in Indian Wells, from 6 to 9 p.m., Monday, March 4. Top Chef alum Angelo Sosa will debut two new restaurants at the resort, Tia Carmen and Carmocha, during the event. Taste of Tennis celebrates both cuisine and tennis (most notably the BNP Paribas Open, which starts the same week); guests, including current players and tennis legends, will enjoy music and savor delicious bites and signature cocktails. Learn more at get tickets, which are $250, at tasteoftennis.com/indian-wells.

Palm Desert Food and Wine returns to The Gardens on El Paseo from Thursday, March 21, through Sunday, March 24, with some impressive celebrity chefs, including the Food Network’s Tyler Florence, and Dominique Crenn, of three-Michelin-star restaurant Atelier Crenn in San Francisco. Tickets to individual events range from $40 to $250; get them, along with more information, at palmdesertfoodandwine.com.

BECOME A BETTER COOK If you have always wanted to make pasta at home, but don’t know how—or you want to improve— executive chef Jeremy Loomis at Trio, 707 N. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs, can help. He has launched a series of two-hour classes, during which he shares his passion for pasta-making.

The classes, which range in price from $95 to $125, include wine, a two-course lunch, hands-on instruction, recipe cards and a bag of pasta to take home. Reservations may be made by calling 760-864-8746. Learn more at triopalmsprings.com/special-events IN BRIEF The space formally occupied by Shame On the Moon, at 69950 Frank Sinatra Drive, in Rancho Mirage, will soon reopen as Foxy’s Kitchen and Bar. The team is planning on an April 15 opening.

In the meantime, they have started a wine club with all sorts of interesting benefits. See the full menu and learn more at foxyskitchenandbar.com … New to La Quinta: Ms. Boba, at 79485 Highway 111, serves a variety of milk tea, smoothies and slushies. Learn more by searching for Ms. Boba on Facebook. … Shorebird Coastal Kitchen, with locations in Newport Beach and Sedona, Ariz., has opened a third location at 73061 El Paseo, Suite 8, in Palm Desert. The restaurant offers a wide range of seafood as well as land-based proteins; this looks like a great addition to the valley’s dining scene. Learn more at shorebirdrestaurant.com. … The Pantry at Holiday House, at 200 W. Arenas Road, in Palm Springs, has started brunch service on its patio—with a South-of-France flair.

The sweet and savory menu pairs perfectly with rosé wines and champagnes. Highlights include the “shellfish plateau” for sharing, Dutch baby pancakes, and fried chicken and waffles. Check out all the deliciousness at holidayhouseps.com/dine. Tony’s Burgers is opening a second location at the former location of Pete’s Hideaway, at 665 S. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs. It’ll be called Tony’s Grill and Bar, and I am told they are trying to open by the end of March. Watch tonysgrillandbar.com for updates. Finally, a farewell, of sorts: Rick’s Restaurant and Bakery, at 1973 N. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs—an institution for nearly 30 years (and my favorite breakfast spot)—is closing its doors due to the end of its lease. Thankfully, the owner’s other restaurant, Rick’s Desert Grill, close by at 1596 N. Palm Canyon Drive, will begin offering breakfast.

See the full menu at ricksrestaurant.biz.

Have hot tip or news to share? Reach out: foodnews@cvindependent.com.

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Mario Lalli and other local legends join together for the Rubber Snake Charmers’ debut LP 33 Jayce Levi is getting ready to reopen Sunny Sounds Recording Studio and Repairland in Indio 35 The members of Domestic Stars, about to release their debut EP, mix fun with dark lyrics 35 The Venue Report: Madonna, Melissa Etheridge, Reverend horton Heat—and More!

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DESERT ROCK JAMMERS A

By matt king

nother supergroup of local desert-rock pioneers has assembled and created a new album— and, of course, it’s a desert-centric musical experience.

The group is called Mario Lalli and the Rubber Snake Charmers, and the band’s debut record features Lalli (Fatso Jetson, Yawning Man) on bass; Brant Bjork (Kyuss, Fu Manchu) on guitar; Ryan Güt (Brant Bjork, Stoner) on drums; and Sean Wheeler (Throw Rag) on vocals. The Ryan Güt). band has featured various other musicians at “One of the guys in Yawning Man got ill, and times, as the group is heavy on improvisation we couldn’t do the tour, so instead of finding and jams—but the record, Folklore From the Other Desert Cities, is a live recording of a show another support band, Brant was like, ‘Dude, why don’t we just do an old-school desert jam in Gold Coast, Australia. The album is due out session before the Stoner set?’ And I was like, March 29.

‘Well, I’ve got a thing that I do, and have done “The idea for this band started back in, over the years, and it has a name.’ We did it on like, 2011,” Lalli said during a recent phone that tour, and it was very successful in the way interview. “I was living in Los Angeles, and my that we had an instant chemistry.” regular bands, Fatso Jetson and Yawning Man, On Folklore From the Other Desert Cities, were a bit spread out. There was a member vocalist Sean Wheeler complements the improfrom each of those bands living here in the visation by reading from his book Dry Heat, a desert, and then vice versa—where now I’m collection of poems and words all about the desliving in the desert, and half of Fatso Jetson ert. Wheeler was performing in a similar fashion is in L.A. We’ve always had a challenge to get under the name Dry Heat, reading his poetry together regularly, rehearse and write, and act while desert musicians (sometimes including as a normal working band. We’ve managed Lalli) jammed—and put on a puppet show. to do it … but with that downtime, I always “Fast forward, we got another opportunity love to keep playing in some respect, and I’ve to open shows for the band Stoner, and this always been a jammer.

“Early on, back in the ’80s, we started to enjoy time, it was a tour in Australia, and we basically drew from the Dry Heat experience with the improvisation, but not any kind of schooled poems and stories from that book,” Lalli said. improvisation with some sort of musical theory “… That would become the content for the perbehind it like jazz improvisation. This is just formance that was recorded in the Gold Coast, really a bunch of friends getting in the garage which is this album that we’re releasing. It and making noise, and sometimes … it would was really cool the way it came out; it was very start to take the form of something rather musiorganic. … There was zero planning, which is cal. We did this a lot, and I did it for years with great, because when we perform the music, I all my brothers—Alfredo Hernandez, Gary Arce, think the only planning is who’s going to play. my cousin Larry Lalli, Tony Tornay and then, later, with Jerrod Elliott, who still performs with I have a huddle before the show, and I say, ‘OK guys, less is more. Let’s all listen; don’t start off the Rubber Snake Charmers. … With that pracat 11 volume; let’s start off really sparse and tice and that comfort level, after years, it started mellow. Just let it build, and watch Sean.’ He’s to make more musical sense, and we developed got the hardest job; he has to put words to all these pathways that we would travel musically, this cacophony. Sean and myself, we kind of and a chemistry started to build.” both share the role as the conductor.”

The Rubber Snake Charmers performed Lalli admitted the difference between the one of their first shows at Cobraside DistriDry Heat band and the Rubber Snake Charmbution, a vinyl distributor based in Glendale, ers is somewhat nebulous. around 2013.

“Dry Heat is basically specific to the material “The idea started to take form that it was in the book, that group of poems, and that is a almost like a club, and the club was guys who primary source for Sean in the Snake Charmer enjoy improvising, are willing to get up in performances, but it’s not exclusive to that, front of people and do it with zero rehearsal, and in the future, if Sean is part of a Snake and who have something to say when they do Charmers performance, he’ll be doing stuff that,” Lalli said. different from Dry Heat,” Lalli said. “Both projLalli said about 20 different performers ects came together in a confusing way, because have been part of this club, but things began we were doing both at the same time, but there to change course when Yawning Man went on tour with Stoner (Brant Bjork, Nick Oliveri and are Snake Charmer performances that Sean CVIndependent.com

Mario Lalli and other local legends join together in improvisation for the Rubber Snake Charmers’ debut LP

Mario Lalli.

may not be able to attend, or Brant may not be able to attend or Ryan, and I will pull together a different group of guys. … I don’t even have to be there. Let’s say I’m off playing bass for Brant and me, and Brant and Ryan, the rhythm section for the record, we’re not available, but somebody says, ‘Hey, we’d like to have the Rubber Snake Charmers play at The Hood.’ I’d call my son and say, ‘Hey Dino, do you want to host and, for lack of a better term, be the musical director for a Snake Charmers performance?’ Knowing him, he’d say yeah, and he would get on the phone and find a bass player and a drummer and a sax player or a keyboard player, and the Snake Charmers would perform. It’s not exclusive to any one person.”

Lalli said the spontaneous nature of the Rubber Snake Charmers has opened the eyes of some participating musicians.

“The guys who grew up playing more traditionally in live bands, who write songs and rehearse and then perform those songs, always voice real gratitude for the experience,” Lalli said. “They’re like, ‘Wow, it’s a really cool exercise in being spontaneous and creative, and also being vulnerable.’ It just depends on your ego. Like, ‘Do I want to look like some guy up here just making noise?’ And, ‘If I clear out the bar right now, is that going to be a bummer for me?’ It’s a selfish, self-indulgent action, but therein lies the art. There have been a couple

(of shows) that were hard, and it’s especially, again, hard for Sean. When you’re playing an instrument, you can go on and on and on and on, and if it gets weird, it gets weird, whatever—you make some noise, and you regroup and get back on a groove, but with Sean, he can’t do that. He’s saying words, and the words have to be placed. He’s the focus of attention in the eyes of the audience, and if the music isn’t delivering something he is inspired by, it can be a very uncomfortable, even frustrating position to be in … but it’s only been a couple times out of many, many, many performances.”

Since the Rubber Snake Charmers excel in the realm of improvisational jamming, it’s only right that their first album is ripped straight from a live show.

“We’ve recorded some stuff with us four— me, Sean, Brant and Ryan at a studio—and it’s cool, and when I listen back to it now, there are some really amazing moments, but it’s very different,” Lalli said. “Your mindset in the studio is just so different than when there are people watching and listening. The Snake Charmers will not always be live recordings, but it certainly made sense for this one, because it was actually an inspired performance—and captured really well.”

For more information, visit heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com.

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Jayce Levi is getting ready to reopen Sunny Sounds Recording Studio and Repairland in Indio

By matt king

very great music community needs both a quality instrument-repair shop and a good recording studio.

Fortunately, the Coachella Valley has Jayce Levi. The owner of Sunny Sounds Recording Studio and Repairland is moving his businesses from Palm Springs to Indio, with a scheduled April 5 reopening. He offers studio sessions with top-notch gear and a comfy recording environmy skills and getting certified from different ment under the Sunny Sounds name, and is a vendors and stuff to do repairs for them,” wizard instrument tech under the Repairland moniker. Since he closed his Palm Springs loca- said Levi. “I was working out of my garage, and then I started doing the mobile service, tion in January, Levi has been doing pickups, and then as the mobile service grew, I had too deliveries and pop-ups for Repairland. many guitars in my house, so I opened my During a recent phone interview, the New shop.”

York native talked about his music history.

Repairland was born—and Sunny Sounds “I started playing drums and percussion was close behind, as Levi began offering when I was in elementary school, and I was recording and production services. Considerin the all-state jazz band when I lived in New ing he’s responsible for more than 55 million York,” Levi said. “When I was about a junior in streams across music platforms, and more than high school, I had a really bad accident—I fell a decade of musical output, Levi felt he “had a and shattered my hand, and I couldn’t play the lot to offer.” drums anymore, which was kind of terrible. I “As I opened my shop, and people were like, was basing my whole life off my ability to play ‘We want to record,’ I wanted to bring my skills the drums, so I had to really rethink.”

As he endured several reconstructive surger- back,” Levi said. “… So I kind of focused my ies, he started playing other instruments—and efforts on that. I was in Palm Springs for about a year. I saw the writing on the wall that everyrecording music. one who was coming to my shop and my studio “I still have a metal plate in my knuckle,” he was coming from the east side of the valley … said. “Now I’m all healed up, but back then, so when my lease was up, and I didn’t really I was like, ‘Oh, my life’s over; I’ve got to do want to be in Palm Springs anymore, I started something.’ I started recording myself, and to make the move to Indio, and started to talk started getting into MySpace and promoting to the city about renting a spot out there.” myself on MySpace—and that led me to get a Levi said he really enjoys doing repairs. record deal with Drive-Thru Records.”

“A lot of crazy stuff has walked in the door That was with a band called Secret Secret of my shop,” Levi said. “… It’s really a blessing, Dino Club, whose first release on Drive-Thru and it’s kind of crazy how many instruments Records was a split EP with Allstar Weekend. are really out in this valley, and how many After a few tours and the 2009 album Look special instruments are out here from old rock Cat Meow, Levi moved on to other endeavors, stars. I’ve worked on a guitar played by Jerry founding the band Astro Safari USA, and writGarcia, and one played by Jimi Hendrix—so ing much of Allstar Weekend’s album All the Way on Hollywood Records (owned by Disney). I’ve seen pretty much everything I could imagine, and more, out here in the desert.”

He even was in a kids’ band, Poop Emoji.

Levi said he allows owners to watch what “I started writing for other people and starthe’s doing with each instrument. ed writing music for TV shows—and I was “I think I’m the only repair guy I’ve ever kind of all over the place,” Levi said. “It was met who fixes stuff in front of people, or does really fast-paced, and I wasn’t into it after a little while; I got pretty burnt out. I wanted to do pop-ups, and will fix guitars live in person,” something that was a little different that didn’t Levi said. “I’ve never seen anyone else do that, and that always kind of boggled my mind. necessarily depend on getting involved in the Why can’t people watch? Why can’t people be industry. … I did about 700 kids’ gigs, and that involved in their repairs on their instruments? got me pretty burnt out, too, so I had to really Being out here, I hear all kinds of horror re-evaluate what I wanted to do.” stories (about) other repair men and people In search for a career move, Levi focused on who’ve had really bad experiences getting their a longtime love of fixing guitars. guitars fixed, or they pay $100, and they have “I’d always fix all my bands’ instruments no idea what the person did. I hear that pretty on the road and other bands’ instruments, so much every day, so I’ve been trying to really I really focused on that and started honing

Jayce Levi: “I think I’m the only repair guy I’ve ever met who fixes stuff in front of people, or does pop-ups, and will fix guitars live in person. I’ve never seen anyone else do that, and that always kind of boggled my mind. Why can’t people watch?”

change how the business is done, and trying to get more honesty and integrity into it. It’s like getting your car fixed: If you don’t know a lot about cars, you bring it in, and you put yourself in a place to be taken advantage of. I was seeing a lot of people out here being taken advantage of, and I thought that was wrong, and I wanted to kind of reinvent the model of how guitars are being fixed.”

Levi’s move to Indio is coming at a time of revitalization for the city’s downtown.

“I really feel the energy is shifting to Indio, especially with the kind of people who I want to work with and be involved with—people who are hungry to get better and take their careers further, or they want to work really hard,” Levi said. “… There’s a young scene here that’s growing really fast.”

On the recording side, Levi said he’s working to make sure customers get timely, cost-effective and worthwhile recording sessions.

“I know that people are tired of paying to have to set up their stuff, so my plan is to have everything already set up—you just plug it in, and everything’s ready to record,” Levi said. “It

keeps prices down. … I’ve tried to use technology to automate the process a lot more so you can get a lot more done in a lot shorter time than you can with other people. That might not be something everybody’s interested in, but there are a lot of people who just want to come in and record a song.

Sunny Sounds in Palm Springs featured open-mic nights where Levi would record people’s performances—and give the recordings to them.

“I think that’s really important for people, when they do performances, to be able to hear what they sound like—and not just on an iPhone recording, but what it would sound like if someone really took time and recorded you and made you sound their best,” he said. … “That was something that was important to me when I was in my last space, and I’m hoping to continue that energy into Indio.”

Sunny Sounds Recording Studio and Repairland is slated to open April 5 at 45250 Smurr St., in Indio. For more information, visit www.instagram. com/sunny__sounds.

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MUSIC

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

FOCUS ON THE PARTY T

By matt king

DJ trio Dry Heat offers underground music events for the queer community

Dry Heat’s performance at the Amigo Room on Thursday, March 28, will be the final show of their “Last Thursdays” residency there.

“We played our first one in January, and we packed the Amigo Room on a Thursday night until closing,” he said. “People were dancing, and it was a great mix of our local friends and some hotel guests and people who just read about it online and showed up and wanted to see something different. We actually played there once before in November; we did a takeover of the Amigo Room on Friday night and then played poolside Saturday. … We’ve been getting good responses, and every time they’ve been different but good crowds. Every time I play the Amigo Room, it’s really good fun.”

Aldorisio said he and his fellow DJs are dedicated to providing great events for musiclovers, the queer community and beyond.

“As we get older as queer men, and more people we know become the age where they want to move to Palm Springs, we want to be there for people of our generation who grew up going to warehouse parties and queer raves and things of that nature,” Aldorisio said.

“Also, I know there are a lot of young people in the valley who are actually straight, or queer, or what have you, who are interested in that kind of music, and there are not a lot of spaces for them to get it. We’re always going to be community-focused, and we wouldn’t ever continue Dry Heat if it wasn’t rooted here in the Coachella Valley. That’s one of our

he Coachella Valley is rich with both music events and LGBTQ+ events—but local DJs Dr. Time, AA and E.Feld noticed there was nothing resembling an underground party for queer folks.

So they started one.

Dr. Time (Justin Lenzi), AA (Aaron Aldorisio) and E.Feld (Erik Grosfeld) created Dry Heat, trans folks and more feminine folks, who a music collective dedicated to providing are coming for the music. At the same time, inclusive spaces for the local queer some of the regular customers, the older community—in other words, music-focused leather guys, they’re saying how excited they alternatives to mainstream gay culture and are to hear house music or dance music being club events. You can catch the group at played, and have their space kind of turned the Barracks on Friday, March 15, with DJ into a dance party for the night.”

Prosumer, and at the Amigo Room at the Ace One of Dry Heat’s highlights thus far: Hotel on Thursday, March 28. playing at a Splash House afterparty.

During a recent phone interview with “That happened about five or six months Aldorisio, he explained why Dry Heat began. into us just kind of starting this thing,” “I came from Los Angeles; they both came Aldorisio said. “We got a great reception from San Francisco, and we saw a lack of for that, and we’ve been booked for a lot of the sort of queer music-focused parties we stuff because of that, like outside gigs that like to go to in the cities we came from, so aren’t our own party. (At the Splash House we started throwing a little party ourselves,” afterparty), we got to play to a few thousand Aldorisio said. “Just over a year ago, the last people at the Palm Springs Air Museum, and Thursday of January 2023, we did the first we opened for Purple Disco Machine, who my one. We call it Dry Heat, just because the stepdaughter—who is 21 and listens to more name made sense with the desert. We were mainstream EDM—was very excited about. doing it the last Thursday of the month in We kind of have these fairy godmothers, the back room of Wendy’s Hideout (aka Pete’s Heidi Lawden and Masha Mar, who are big Hideaway), which is now out of business. …

DJs in L.A. and old friends of mine, who We started getting asked to play outside gigs, played on that bill, too, and they made it like we played at Splash House last year, and comfortable for us. It was a very surreal we’ve played at big warehouse parties in L.A. experience, but the feedback’s been great.”

At Dry Heat events, the DJs focus on diverse music—and a diversity of attendees.

“Palm Springs has obviously a huge gay population, and there are lots of circuit-type events where (the music) is more mainstream EDM, but they’re not really as focused on playing diverse music, and they’re more focused on a night out for gay men,” Aldorisio said. “We wanted to do something more queer and inclusive that was all about the music and not necessarily about the sexual or flirting element of it. It’s definitely social, but it’s a queer party, and all are welcome. We’re focused on playing underground house music and techno that we didn’t really hear coming from any of the other gay parties in town.”

Aldorisio said Dry Heat events have “grown and grown” over the last year.

“Luckily, between the three of us and the amount of out-of-town friends we have coming through all the time, we’ve been able to build a good following,” he said. “As we expanded, we’ve started doing it at places like the Tool Shed, a traditional old-school leather bar—and we’re bringing in women, Dr. Time (Justin Lenzi), AA (Aaron Aldorisio) and E.Feld (Erik Grosfeld).

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founding principles: We’re a local based party.

We’re not coming in from San Francisco or some other city trying to just throw a party here and make money. We’re trying to do something for the place we live in, and fill a gap in the culture we didn’t see when we all landed here.”

If you’ve read this, and you’re on the fence about Dry Heat, Aldorisio personally invites you to come experience it firsthand.

“It’s a very casual environment where if you’re coming to hear good music and dance and be around people who are in the same boat, that’s what it is,” he said. “You can come dressed however you want, with whatever orientation or attitude or mood or anything you’re in. The party is there, and it’s about the music and dancing, and we’re trying to just play underground dance music for people out here. If they want to hear it, they should feel welcome at our party.”

Dry Heat will perform at 9 p.m., Friday, March 15, with DJ Prosumer at the Barracks, 67625 E. Palm Canyon Drive, in Cathedral City. Advance tickets are $10. For more information, visit barracksps.com. Dry Heat will perform at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 28, at the Amigo Room, 701 E. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs. The event is free, but attendees must be 21+. For more information, visit acehotel.com/palm-springs.

Learn more about Dry Heat at www.instagram. com/dryheat_ps.

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MUSIC GOOFY YET GOTHIC

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The members of Domestic Stars, about to release their debut EP, mix fun with dark lyrics

The Venue REPORT March 2024 By matt king Laura Domela

O

By matt king

ne of the valley’s newest bands is being welcomed with open arms by desert creatives.

Indie-rock group Domestic Stars features Jeff Aquino (guitar and vocals), Lauren Brennan (guitar and vocals), Riley Baker (bass and vocals) and Alex Renteria (drums).

They mix light-hearted and fun group dynamics with emotional lyrics—crafting a unique musical mix, which they intend to put on full display on their debut EP, coming as soon as March. in since I used to work with Jeff, and Lauren During a recent phone interview with and I have known each other for years.”

Aquino, Baker, and Brennan, they explained Domestic Stars has experienced a lot of love how Domestic Stars was formed thanks to since the band started performing, they said.

Gré Records and Coffee.

“It’s been such a cool experience, being able “We all pretty much met here,” Aquino to perform in a lot of different settings in said. “…. Lauren had been frequenting open the valley,” Brennan said. “We had backyard mics, and how it happened was really strange, shows … and then a great gig at Bart Lounge. because it was just Alex and I for a minute.”

It seems to me that there’s a great group of Added Brennan: “You texted me and you people, and no matter where we go in the were like, ‘Hey, I just started the band; do you valley, they’re very welcoming and just very want to come in and see if you like the vibe? supportive of new artists. After almost every We need a bassist. I came in one day and I got gig, people are coming up to us like, ‘You guys this $50 bass, and I started playing bass for are great! Where can we find you?’” the band.”

Aquino gave some shoutouts to members of Baker explained that Brennan moved to the local music scene who helped the band. guitar when he returned to the area from “Danza De Luna from Bart Lounge, he Northern California. “Bass is actually my worked with us, and he’s doing really cool main instrument, so I was very happy to step things at Bart Lounge, like helping out local acts,” Aquino said. “… We did our last gig in Sky Valley, and we had people from Town Troubles there. Grease Trap was there, Lazuli Bones—and everyone was helping. Even Madi (Ebersole, frontwoman of Lazuli Bones), she was helping us out during our set, fixing the lights and stuff.”

They said they were surprised to see how crazy some of the crowds can get.

“I have a jazz and orchestra background when it comes to bass, so getting to be in an environment where people are actually dancing and stuff is wild, and it’s so fun,” Baker said.

“I’m having the time of my life actually seeing people enthusiastic and moshing. It’s very fulfilling to see people actively enjoying the music instead of just sitting there staring at you in an auditorium playing some classical shit.”

The band recently performed at Bart Lounge for a special Scott Pilgrim theme night. Domestic Stars performed songs from the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and invited people to cosplay as characters from the movie. Aquino said the band has been influenced by the film.

“There’s so much stuff in there that is teeming with pop culture that it’s hard not to be influenced by something in Scott Pilgrim,” he said. “… Another cool thing about that is it did so well that it was able to, a billion years later, bring a whole bunch of people from the Domestic Stars.

valley together and really have a moment with each other.”

Baker said the event featured some impressive cosplay.

“We had this one person dress up as Envy Adams (played in the film by Brie Larson), and during the second or third set of the night, when we played ‘Black Sheep,’ she was standing up there with a fake microphone lip-syncing.

We pulled her up to the front, and everyone made a circle around this random person. It was totally like acting in a shadow cast.”

While the band can be goofy, their original music often explores darker, more serious themes.

“Jeff wrote this great song called ‘Drown’ about Hurricane Hilary,” Brennan said. “We were supposed to practice right as it was rolling in, and I was going through it, as I always am. I sent a text in the group chat, and I was like, ‘Let the flood take me; let the flood wash me away. I am so done.’ Jeff was like, ‘This is a great idea for song.’ He wrote ‘Drown,’ and it’s this really cool, oddly beautiful song.”

Aquino explained: “I went to practice, and I drove through the hurricane, and the thing is, I really felt like I could have died. I told myself, ‘If I get home, I’m just going to do this song.’”

Another song, “Inverted World,” is about regrets and missing out on things, while another, “i am (dead),” is about hands reaching out from the ground. Aquino went so far as to describe the band’s subject material as “all bummer shit.”

Baker explained: “I think lots of us in the band gravitate toward really grotesque imagery, and we all are a little bit unstable.

We all are kind of poetic, in a sense, so I think we just turn that into whatever we can. We pull inspiration for our sound from the’80s gothic stuff, and I’m really into gothic literature, 1800s type stuff, so I think we kind of all just draw from that for our vibe s.”

Domestic Stars plans to release their debut EP in March, although they said that could change, because they want to make sure they put out a quality first recording, with the help of a sound engineer/producer.

“We want to make it the best we can,” Brennan said. “We want to put out real good quality, and if we’re not happy with the way that it shows up, we’re going to try our best to be as good as we can.”

For more information, visit www.instagram.com/ domesticstars.

Storm Large

Happy March! Here’s what you can expect from the valley’s vast entertainment scene this month.

Acrisure Arena is offering a fascinating variety of shows. At 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 2, pro wrestling returns to Palm Desert for WWE Road to Wrestlemania. Catch the high-flying action from some of the best in sports entertainment! Tickets start at $26.

The legendary Madonna celebrates four decades of hits on “The Celebration Tour,” at 8:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 13. Resale tickets started at $225 as of this writing. Enjoy the return of bona fide rodeo with the PBR: Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour, spending two evenings at Acrisure, at 8 p.m., Friday, March 15; and 7 p.m., Saturday, March 16.

Tickets start at $26, or $71.50 for a two-day pass. At 7 p.m., Friday, March 22, country star and longtime coach on The Voice Blake Shelton brings some twangy jams to the desert. Resale tickets started at $161 as of this writing. At 8 p.m., Friday, March 29, Puerto Rican rapper and “King of Reggaeton” Don Omar heads to the valley. Tickets start at $107. Acrisure Arena, 75702 Varner Road, Palm Desert; 888-695-8778; www.acrisurearena.com.

The McCallum Theatre features a number of engaging stage shows. Historic Broadway smash Chicago will run for five performances, from Friday, March 1, through Sunday, March 3. Tickets range from $65 to $145. At 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 5, funnyman Brad Williams brings high-energy standup to town.

Tickets range from $35 to $85. At 8 p.m., Saturday, March 9, musician, actor, author, playwright and sheer talent Storm Large will share an evening of songs from her solo career and work with Pink Martini, Michael Feinstein and her own band, Le Bonheur. Tickets range from $45 to $85. McCallum favorite and genreshifters Pink Martini will give the locals the music they love during six straight shows.

Performances run from Wednesday, March continued on NEXT PAGE CVIndependent.com

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The Venue REPORT continued from page 35 13, through Sunday, March 17. Tickets range from $55 to $95. At 3 p.m., Sunday, March 24, the revue show composed of all-star magicians heads to Palm Desert as It’s Magic! celebrates its 66th edition. Tickets range from $25 to $55. McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert; 760-340-2787; www. mccallumtheatre.com.

Fantasy Springs has a busy March; here are some highlights. At 8 p.m., Friday, March 1, 1990s hitmakers Gin Blossoms head to Indio.

Tickets range from $39 to $89. Comedian and podcast host Tim Dillon is set to bring the laughs at 8 p.m., Saturday, March 9.

Tickets range from $39 to $99. At 8 p.m., Saturday, March 16, enjoy an ’00s R&B party with your host, Diamond selling, Grammy Award-winning rap sensation Nelly. Tickets range from $59 to $139. Rock star, superstar and activist Melissa Etheridge will perform a mix of easy and blues rock gems at 8 p.m., Saturday, March 30. Tickets range from $49 to $79. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio; 760-342-5000; www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

Spotlight 29 is all about tribute acts this month! At 3 p.m., Thursday, March 7, the “Ultimate Elvis,” Justin Shandor, pays respects to The King. The show is free. The Beatles never had the chance to perform their hits in a live orchestral setting, but Classical Mystery Tour pays tribute to The Fab Four with a live string section, at 8 p.m., Saturday, March 9. Tickets start at $15. At 8 p.m., Friday, March 15, experience musicaltribute royalty with Killer Queen, honoring the energy and sounds of the rock-anthem legends. Tickets start at $20. Spotlight 29 Casino, 46200 Harrison Place, Coachella; 760775-5566; www.spotlight29.com.

Morongo tickets are moving fast! Here’s what was left as of our print deadline. At 9 p.m., Friday, March 15, ’80s funkateers Cameo will bring a nonstop groove to Cabazon. Tickets start at $49. At 6 p.m., Sunday, March 24, country-pop star Russell

Dickerson will perform an intimate show.

Tickets start at $20. Morongo Casino Resort Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon; 800-2524499; www.morongocasinoresort.com.

Agua Caliente in Rancho Mirage boasts a stacked lineup; here are some highlights.

At 8 p.m., Friday, March 1, the extremely recognizable voice of legendary soul singer Smokey Robinson comes to Rancho Mirage.

Tickets range from $85 to $225. Three ’80s bands are teaming up for 80’s Fest, happening at 6 p.m., Saturday, March 2, and featuring Berlin, The Hooters and The Smithereens. Tickets range from $35 to $75.

America’s Got Talent’s Daniel Emmet and American Idol’s Pia Toscano are teaming up for an evening of song at 8 p.m., Wednesday, March 6—and they’ll be backed by The Desert Symphony. Tickets range from $45 to $75.

At 8 p.m., Saturday, March 16, Joey Fatone (*NSYNC) and AJ McLean (Backstreet Boys) will take the stage for a night of boy-band hits.

Tickets range from $50 to $150. Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage, 32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage; 888-999-1995; www.aguacalientecasinos.com.

Three events at Agua Caliente in Cathedral City are not to be missed! At 9 p.m., Friday, March 1, catch a free show by the high energy, genre-mixing Los Garza’z. Cathedral City celebrates LGBT Days with a performance from comedian River Butcher at 8 p.m., Saturday, March 9. Tickets are $30. At 8 p.m., Saturday, March 16, the rockers behind hits like “Godzilla” and “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper,” Blue Öyster Cult, will grace the Agave Caliente Terraza stage. Tickets are $50. Agua Caliente Cathedral City, 68960 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Cathedral City; 888-999-1995; www. aguacalientecasinos.com/cc.

The residences at Agua Caliente Palm Springs roll on in March. Desert Blues Revival Wednesdays feature the blues/Americana mix of Allison August (March 6); a Blues Brothers tribute led by local luminaries The Gand Band (March 13); radio host, comedian

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and local musician Brad Mercer and his band The Profile (March 20); and the local fiery guitar of Laurie Morvan Band (March 27). Shows are at 7 p.m., and tickets start at $15 to $19, available at eventspalmsprings. com. Jazzville Thursdays bring a tribute to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass from Marty Lush and His Latin Livers for Jazzville’s sixth anniversary (March 7); legendary saxman Bob Sheppard and his quintet, featuring vocalist Maria Puga Lareo (March 14); the jazzy sound combination of Austin-based vocalist Christian Wiggs, firebrand trumpeter Danny Jonokuchi and the Kevin van den Elzen Quintet (March 21), and the eight-piece timecapsule pop sound of Jerry Costanzo and His Gotham City Swingers (March 28). Shows take place at 7 p.m., and tickets start at $15, available at jazzvillepalmsprings.com. Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs, 401 E. Amado Road, Palm Springs; 888-999-1995; www. sparesortcasino.com.

Pappy and Harriet’s has the live-music goods! At 8 p.m., Tuesday, March 5, psychobilly surf-rock heavyweights Reverend Horton Heat will return to Pappy’s. Tickets are $35. Longtime Ty Segall collaborator Charles Moothart brings his own garage-rock gems to town at 10:30 p.m., Friday, March 15. Tickets are $18. At 6:30 p.m., Sunday, March 24, the folk sounds of Dawes meet the indie-pop jams of Lucius when the two bands perform as one band. Tickets start at $45. The neo-psychedelic project of country icon Willie Nelson’s son Micah Nelson, Particle Kid, visits the high desert at 9 p.m., Sunday, March 24. Tickets are $20. At 9:30 p.m., Saturday, March 30, ska sensation Save Ferris returns to the desert after a previous sold-out show.

Tickets are $39.50. Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown; 760-228-2222; www. pappyandharriets.com.

Oscar’s in Palm Springs is bringing in some surprises. At 7 p.m., Saturday, March 23, experience an intimate evening with Latin

Chadwick Johnson

hip-hop and freestyle diva Lisa Lisa. Tickets start at $29.95. At 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 27, David Marino, the multilingual jazz crooner and finalist of Canada’s The Voice, heads to town. Tickets start at $40. Tickets are moving fast to see Palm Springs favorites Branden and James with special guest Effie Passero as they perform songs from their joint album. Tickets start at $39.95. At 7 and 9:30 p.m., Friday, March 29, comedian Willie Barcena is set to bring the laughs.

Tickets start at $39.95. Oscar’s shows usually include 5:30 dinner reservations and a food/ drink minimum. Oscar’s Palm Springs, 125 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs; 760-3251188; oscarspalmsprings.com/events.

Tickets are moving fast over at the Purple Room. At 8 p.m., Friday, March 8, and Saturday, March 9, Andrea McArdle, the original Annie on Broadway, brings tales and tunes from a lifetime onstage. Tickets start at $45. At 8 p.m., Saturday, March 23, Chadwick Johnson performs songs from Michael Bolton, Michael McDonald and the legendary George Michael. Tickets are $40. At 8 p.m., Friday, March 29, and Saturday, March 30, Broadway star and television performer Karen Mason pays tribute to songwriters John Kander and Fred Ebb. Tickets start at $45. Michael Holmes’ Purple Room, 1900 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs; 760-322-4422; www. purpleroompalmsprings.com.

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MUSIC

the

LUCKY 13

Get to better know a legendary drummer, and the bassist for a great local band by matt king What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?

The Mahavishnu Orchestra.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

1980s Brit/power pop: Squeeze, Crowded House/Split Enz, Rockpile, etc.

What’s your favorite music venue?

The Hollywood Bowl.

What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?

“It’s a small world, after all …”

NAME Jimmy Chamberlin GROUP Smashing Pumpkins, Jimmy Chamberlin Complex MORE INFO There’s no denying the massive impact the Smashing Pumpkins have had on music—and there’s a reason why the band’s very first single, “I Am One,” started off with a rolling drum intro. Frontman Billy Corgan’s distinct vocal sneer and powerful guitar helped create hits like “Bullet With Butterfly Wings,” “Zero” and “1979,” but drummer Jimmy Chamberlin’s creatively tight percussion work turned the songs into unforgettable works of art. His jazz fusion project, Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, is set to perform at Pappy and Harriet’s on Sunday, March 10. Tickets start at $35. For more info, visit pappyandharriets. com. Don’t miss a chance to see a rock legend in such an intimate venue!

What was the first concert you attended?

The Oscar Peterson Trio, featuring Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald. I was 12 or 13. It was here, this night, that I decided I wanted to be a professional musician.

What was the first album you owned?

Deep Purple, Who Do We Think We Are. What bands are you listening to right now?

Mostly classic jazz with some scatterings of video game soundtracks like Guilty Gear -Strive-.

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?

Pop. CVIndependent.com

What band or artist changed your life?

Miles Davis/Tony Williams. I learned that a singular musical ideology, if it’s right, can transcend all genres.

You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?

Carly Simon: Who is “You’re So Vain” really about?

What song would you like played at your funeral?

Fela Kuti, “Water No Get Enemy.”

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

Shoot me, because I don’t have just one.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

John Lennon, “Imagine.”

NAME Billy Gargan GROUP Tourists MORE INFO Local band Tourists have only released a few songs so far—but those songs have proven to be quite popular. At a recent performance, I saw the crowd singing and dancing along to their mash of groovy, anthemic pop rock; the vibes being expressed by the members of Tourists revolve around positivity and fun.

The band is set to perform on Thursday, March 21, at Plan B in Thousand Palms. For more information, visit touristscv.bandcamp.com.

Bassist Billy Gargan handles the low end of the poppy jams with his beautiful five-string bass.

What was the first concert you attended?

A Van Halen concert in 2013 when they went on their “Different Kind of Truth” tour. I saw Eddie Van Halen perform “Eruption” live, and it was definitely one of the best experiences I’ve had in music, aside from becoming a musician myself. Rest in peace, one of the great ones.

What was the first album you owned?

The first physical album I’ve ever owned was Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly on vinyl.

It is truly a masterpiece in the world of hiphop, is considered one of the greatest albums conceptually in its respective genre, and is toptier in my book.

What bands are you listening to right now?

I’m currently all over the board right now.

Some of my major influences in my writing and bass-playing style are classic and modern funk groups, such as CHIC and Vulfpeck, while artists in J-Rock, alternative and punk influence our writing for Tourists material.

I’ve really been listening to indie, nu-jazz and sample-heavy hip-hop such as Men I Trust, Domi and JD Beck, MF DOOM, the Alchemist, Nujabes, KNOWER and Casiopea. Ultimately, I have been appreciating the music scene out here, and bands such as Destroy Nothing (formerly Analog Lab), TV Screams, Lazuli Bones, Caña, Town Troubles and the Divines have been on rotation for me.

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?

I try not to discriminate based on any music genre, because it’s all subjective; however, I don’t understand the obsession behind Taylor Swift. I know I will probably receive much backlash for this, especially if my students read it. (I’m sorry.) The obsession is something I just don’t understand. Her concerts are also crazy expensive, especially during her Eras Tour. Four figures for some nosebleeds is not really a rational thought to Me. What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?

One of my favorite artists of all time is Prince, so being able to see him (or the Revolution) would definitely be on the top of my list.

Michael Jackson, Nirvana, Jaco Pastorius (bass influence) and Mac Miller would also be acts I would kill to see live. I’ve seen Mac Miller once before, but I would have appreciated it more if I knew we would not have him for much longer after I saw him.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

One is Dua Lipa, as her music is catchy and extremely fun to play on bass. Her songs were some of the first I learned on bass, and it also made me look more into funk and disco acts such as CHIC and Vulfpeck because of the influences I see in her music.

What’s your favorite music venue?

One of my favorite venues in Los Angeles is the Wiltern, as it has large neon signs and a beautiful interior that feels like an old theater.

Locally, I really love Little Street Music Hall in downtown Indio. What Avenida Music is doing is truly amazing, giving local artists in the Coachella Valley, including Tourists, an opportunity to perform and a platform to grow.

What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?

I can’t really give a specific lyric, but I always have melodies that are ingrained in there. Songs like “Diamond Eyes” by Deftones or “Big Man, Little Dignity” by Paramore are both songs that are stuck in my head for some reason.

What band or artist changed your life?

Gorillaz. This band was one of the first bands I got into, and I got into them really young (probably when I was 5 or 6 years old). Their impact on my perception of music is also one of our primary inspirations for Tourists, and it’s everlasting. The music video era is an era I miss in music, because it gave the listener an opportunity to see music in the artist’s perception. With their releases of Song Machine, Season One and Cracker Island, they always kill it in their animation, visuals, character design and plot/stories. They were and still are groundbreaking to me.

You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?

To Thundercat: Why are you so damn good at the bass? You inspire me to play more and get better, but other times, you inspire me to quit.

Thank you, Stephen.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

“El Mañana,” Gorillaz.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

My brains would be blown out by now, because this changes all the time. For now, I will say Metaphorical Music by Nujabes. However, MAGIC! by Tourists is going to be an absolute banger (spring 2024). Stay tuned for that.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“Rent Free” off the Tourists EP. It will prepare you for the album. Be ready!

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 39

MARCH 2024

OPINION COMICS & JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

“Strong Suits”—dealing with another puzzle.

By Matt Jones Across 1. As of yet 6. Judge’s seat, in law 10. Ray Donovan actor Schreiber 14. Jumper cable terminal 15. As well 16. Give the creepy eye to 17. Remove all the dirt and grime from 19. Server operating system 20. Release 21. Three-part vacuum tube in old TVs 23. “___ Little Tenderness” 24. Becomes enraged 25. Double sextet 28. Borrower 29. 2001 high-tech debut 30. Apt answer for this clue 32. It had a hub at JFK 35. Keanu’s Matrix role 36. What you may need

to do to understand 2. “Falling Slowly” University the four sets of musical 34. James Patterson circled letters 3. Ticonderoga, e.g. detective Cross 37. Talking computer in 4. Took on grown-up 36. Hobbits’ homeland 2001: A Space Odyssey errands, so to speak 40. Available to rent 38. Slippery tree 5. Like a phoenix 42. Tennis shot 39. Inquisition target 6. Lightweight modeling 43. Role for Keaton and 40. Clock feature wood Kilmer 41. Kicks out 7. Out of the breeze, to 44. Animals, collectively 43. Injection also used a sailor 45. Disney World to treat migraines 8. Hush-hush govt. acronym 44. Gangsters’ group 46. I Only ___ the Ones headwear, in old 9. In a satisfied way I Love (Jeffrey Ross movies 10. Thelma’s cohort, book) 46. Tiger sound in film 47. Airport code for 48. Cider fodder 11. “Disregard what you O’Hare 49. England-Scandinavia just saw ...”

49. Great British Bakeseparator 12. Avoid some syllables Off co-host Fielding 53. Golden State sch.

13. Bewildered 50. Make out in 54. They’re unbiased 18. Slyly shy Manchester and accepting, and 22. Change color again 51. ___ Mode of The not short-sighted 24. Peasants of yore Incredibles 56. Wine bouquet 25. Feast 52. “O ___ Oscar” 57. Expert pilots 26. European car 55. “His Master’s Voice” 58. Rice-___ (“The San manufacturer company Francisco Treat”) 27. Went by quickly 59. Lawyer, for short 28. “One of ___ great © 2024 Matt Jones 60. Put a stop to mysteries ...”

61. The Walking Dead 30. Locale in a Clash Find the answers in villain title the “About” section at 31. “Everybody ___” CVIndependent.com!

Down (REM song) 1. Rude response 33. Home of Baylor

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MARCH 2024