Prolific San Diego punk guitar great brings new band to the Ivy Room in Albany
Busy punk guitar hero "Swami" John Reis comes to the Bay Area Friday night when he plays the Ivy Room with his latest band the Bed of Nails.
Developing an interest in playing guitar at a young age, San Diego product Reis was in his first punk band -- Conservative Itch -- when he was only 15. A couple of years later in 1986, he founded noisy, post-hardcore group Pitchfork with friend and longtime collaborator Rich Froberg. After the band dissolved in 1990, the prolific Reis would start two new projects that would both make a mark during the decade.
The corrosive noise-rock juggernaut Drive Like Jehu -- which also featured Froberg -- explored a more dissonant and complex approach to experimental post-punk, while Rocket From the Crypt was a more straightforward take on punk rock. Both bands released their debut albums in 1991, but after the unique addition of saxophone player Paul "Apollo 9" O'Beirne, RFTC quickly built a wider audience thanks to the success of their sophomore effort Circa: Now! and their relentless touring schedule.
Eventually, both bands would be signed to Interscope Records, with Drive Like Jehu putting out their landmark album Yank Crime in 1994. Despite the acclaim the effort received, the following year Drive Like Jehu would disband, leaving Reis time to focus on the increasingly popular Rocket From the Crypt, which put out two full-lengths and an EP in 1995 alone.
After the band was dropped by Interscope late in the decade, Reis would turn his attention to other projects, producing bands and founding the powerhouse post-punk band Hot Snakes with Froberg in 1999. Hot Snakes took a more primal approach with Delta 72 drummer Jason Kourkunis behind the kit.
The band's 2000 debut Automatic Midnight would be the first release on Reis' Swami Records. Insistent and propulsive, the raging, straight-ahead punk tunes streamlined the complex structures the players had explored with Drive Like Jehu without sacrificing any of the intensity. When Kourkunis left the group to play with rising alt-rock trio Burning Brides in 2003, Reis invited RFTC drummer Mario Rubalcaba (the Black Heart Procession and later a member of Earthless and Off!) for the recording of the third Hot Snakes album Audit In Progress in 2004 that returned to their earlier, more explosive sound.
Reis dissolved both Hot Snakes and Rocket From the Crypt by mid-decade, focusing his attention on running Swami Records as well as new bands the Sultans and the Night Marchers. Reis has released other collaborations with the Blind Shake and Canadian noise-punk trio METZ. He also reunited and toured with all three of his main bands, playing festivals with RFTC and Drive Like Jehu and recording the first new Hot Snakes album in 14 years entitled Jericho Sirens that proved the group remains as vital and incendiary as ever.
In 2021, word surfaced of yet another collaborative all-star band called Plosivs that paired Reis with equally prolific San Diego guitarist and songwriter Rob Crow (Thingy, Pinback, and a dozen other groups) along with former RFTC drummer Atom Willard (who also plays with punk band Against Me!) and bassist Jordan Clark (Hot Like a Robot, Mrs. Magician). Recorded in October of 2020 at San Diego's Singing Serpent Studio as the musicians struggled in the face of COVID restrictions that had curtailed in-person collaboration and halted touring completely, the quartet churned out a taut, melodic collection of bracing punk that echoes the best work of both Reis and Crow.
That group went on its first tour last year, playing to packed clubs including an intense gig at the Bottom of the Hill. The busy and prolific Reis already had the music for his next project recorded, having released the title single for his first-ever proper solo album "Right the Wild Night" in 2020. That record takes a different approach with Reis writing the tunes on acoustic guitar for the stripped-down recordings backed by piano-playing friend Joey Guevara and Hot Snakes drummer Kourkunis. Citing the Kinks and the Flamin' Groovies as inspirations, Reis spotlights his pop-punk songcraft without sacrificing any of the punk energy usually associated with his music.
Reis and the entire underground punk community were dealt a blow this past summer when Froberg, his frequent collaborator and frontman for both Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes died suddenly at age 55, likely ending the possibility of new music from either beloved band. The guitarist has soldiered on, mounting a second tour with Plosivs as well as launching yet another new project called Swami and the Bed of Nails. The band that also includes regular collaborators Guevara and Kourkunis recorded its first album for release later this year recently embarked on its first tour. The touring line-up features Guevara, San Diego session player Richard Larson filling on drums, Night Marchers bassist Tommy Kitsos and second guitarist Mark Murino (Radio Wendy, Dirty Sweet). Oakland garage-punk band Smokers (which features members of Drunk Horse, Nuisance, Black Fork and the Pattern) open this show at the Ivy Room Friday night.
Swami and the Bed of Nails with Smokers
Friday, March 22, 7 p.m. $21-$25
The Bottom of the Hill
