Local, out-of-state talent to participate in 'biggest gig in Winterhaven'

The music scene is dying down and Stephen Clark says he plans to start up a venue in Yuma where local talent can showcase their music. But first, he is going to prove that rock band shows can be profitable in the county by organizing the biggest gig ever in Winterhaven on Saturday.

"The local music scene is dying, it's basically dead, there's no diversity really and that's killing Yuma," said Clark, a guitarist of Versus the Sea. "If it weren't for the touring bands that come down, the kids would have no one to look up to, like musically you know, and it leaves them to MTV and that music sucks."

Nine bands will be showcasing their music at an open-aired concert at 2103 Winterhaven Drive. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and cover charge is $9. Tickets will only be sold at the door. The band line-up for the show is Aerospace Hero, Arms like Yours, Versus the Sea, The Ivy, Armorial, Soren, Demise of Hollywood, Beg for Life and Hammerfist.

The Ivy, a band coming from Tempe, will grow on you, says Joe Strelsky, the band's bass guitarist. The band first got together in the summer of 2007. Strelsky said the band's inspiration for making music is each other.

"We're all jerks, we're pretty sarcastic guys like. We just fit really well together," Strelsky said. "We all have the same concept of thinking and we all want the same result ... be on tour, have a good time and to make a career out of this and not just do it for the spotlight. Because we all have crappy day jobs and were like 'God I can't wait to quit this job and be on the road doing something we all love doing.' ”

James Rodriguez, drummer for the Demise of Hollywood, a local band, consider themselves as punk and happy core. The band has been together for about three years.

"It's just a completely different style on what everybody is used to. We're like the mainstream band of the underground," he said. "We're radio friendly. We're kiddie friendly, we're event friendly, we're a lot of the underground themes across the country that are not. ... a good way to put it is like Green Day or Blink 182, you can put us in those type of categories."

Soren, a band coming in from Mesa, randomly got their name from a word printed on the back of a book, says James Hall, the band's vocalist. The band has been together since 2006, Hall said, and they have been everywhere in Arizona. Their biggest influences include Thrice and Norma Jeane.

Hall said their band doesn't play any covers and the band's music has evolved a lot from when they first started.

"When we first started playing it was definitely a lot different. It sounded more along the lines of ... from first to last ... a lot of screamo-type music. Image and everything was really different back then, really cliche," Hall said. "And then we just sorta matured with the sound, image and everything."

The ultimate direction for the band is touring, Hall said. He also advises people who are interested in forming their own band to pick their band members wisely.

"Don't just rely on having friends as your band mates, so many people do that," Hall said. "Oh, might as well have my friend who plays the guitar ... and get him instead of searching for someone who can do the job better.

"I have seen tons of bands that do that and they don't actually go anywhere."

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Meet the Bands:
Soren
www.myspace.com/sorenrock
Arms like Yours
www.myspace.com/armslikeyours
The Ivy
www.myspace/theivy
Versus the Sea
www.myspace.com/againstthewind777
Aerospace Hero
www.myspace.com/theaerospaceheromusic
Demise of Hollywood
www.myspace.com/demiseofhollywood
Armorial
www.myspace.com/armorial
Beg for Life
www.myspace.combegforlifehardcore
Hammerfist
www.myspace.com/hammerfist

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Stephanie Sanchez can be reached at ssanchez@yumasun.com or 539-6847.