1997 New Times Music Awards Showcase

Modern Rock

Rusty Jones
Note: Jazz-informed beatnik rock, with a monster sax player, deep bass grooves and intensely poetic lyrics via front man G. DeVoe.

Quote: "We love to fly, and it shows."--Garrett DeVoe
BTW: Rusty Jones goes through drummers like Spinal Tap, and the resulting long gaps between live shows have made this band one of the Valley scene's best-kept secrets.

The Sport Model
Note: Big, fast, brash guitar rock with just enough sheen to skid the Sport Model shy of the punk category. Think the Stooges mated with Blur.

Quote: "We're definitely not a shorts-and-baseball-hat kind of band."--Jason Garcia, rhythm guitarist

BTW: This band's members dress like Oasis, but there's no doubt they could take the Gallagher brothers in an alley fight.

Honeybucket
Note: Beck. Primus. Beastie Boys. LSD. Honeybucket. The Music Awards selection committee mentally tossed a coin to decide whether to put this band's acid-laced jam rock in modern rock or funked-up. Honeybucket is competitive in either lineup.

Quote: "Teachers were yelling at me to stop using profanities, and the vice principal jumped in to break up the pit. He got nailed."--lead singer Justin Palicki on Honeybucket's first gig, a lunchtime show at Dobson High, where the band formed

Releases: Blue Lite Specialists (1996)
BTW: Honeybucket took its name from a Seattle Port-a-Potty company.

Chronic Future
Note: Aggressive, frequently political guitar rock with iridescent tinges of suburban skater punk and white-boy hip-hop. A highly marketable sound. This band is poised to go national.

Quote: "I bought a pair of Sheriff Joe's [Arpaio] pink boxers just so I could rub my ass on his name."--Ben Collins, guitarist

Releases: Chronic Future (1996)
BTW: This band's average age was 14.5 when its single "Scottsdale" strafed the airwaves last winter with 56 spins a week on The Edge (KEDJ-FM 106.3).

Jesus Chrysler Supercar
Note: Hard-edged, guitar riff rock with pretty, grunge/pop vocal stylings.
Quote: "Everywhere we go, people think we're a Christian band. But the real savior is Lee Iacocca, who rescued Chrysler from a fiery corporate death."--Mitch Steele, lead singer

Releases: Latterday Speedwagon (1997); Supercar EP (1995)
BTW: This band helped a mob dismantle a Plymouth Reliant station wagon with sledgehammers at the Latterday Speedwagon release party this winter.

Club DJs

Markus Schulz
Note: Resident DJ at the Works in Scottsdale. Co-founder of Plastik Productions. High-demand remix wizard with several dance-chart hits to his credit. Spins progressive house.

Quote: "This whole DJ-as-artist thing doesn't get as much respect as it should. When most people think of DJs, they think of some guy with a drink in his hand, spinning records at a bar mitzvah."--Markus Schulz

BTW: Schulz's most recent success story (co-written w/Plastik's C.L. McSpadden) is a reshaping of the Madonna single "Love Don't Live Here Anymore."

Peter "Supermix" Salaz
Note: Resident DJ at the Red Monkey (Saturday nights at the Riverbottom Lounge). Co-founder of the legendary Valley underground club Chupa. Spins house music in all its flavors.

Quote: "I come from the days of dodging bullets in the backyard. It was like, 'Drive-by, get down!' You don't have that problem at raves."--Pete Salaz

BTW: Salaz is also one half of the DJ team "Direct Force," with fellow Chupa founder Eddie Amador.

Kevin Brown
Note: Resident DJ at the Cage in Scottsdale. His sets are heavy with trance, but Brown spins all over the electronic landscape.

BTW: Brown is formerly of People Forever.

R.C. Lair
Note: Resident DJ at Utopia. New Times Best of Phoenix '96 pick for "Best Rave DJ."

Quote: "Phat enough for ya?"--R.C. Lair
Releases: Velociraptronic (1997)
BTW: Lair's a Canadian transplant who runs his own rave-card graphic design company.

Z-Trip
Note: Resident DJ at Jetz. Recently picked by URB magazine as one of America's top 100 rising-star turntable artists. Spins primarily hip-hop and breakbeat.

Quote: We'll let Rolling Stone speak for him. From the April 3, 1997, review of a recent DJ compilation album: "Every DJ battle must have its winner, and on Return of the DJ, Vol. II, it's Z-Trip's "Rock Star." By mixing Public Enemy and Run-D.M.C. with Black Sabbath, AC/DC and Van Halen, Z-Trip hands rock its own head on a vinyl platter. And--like any good DJ--conjures a brave new sound out of the remains."

Releases: Several local releases on Swell and Bomb labels. Major-release debut on Moonshine Records forthcoming.

BTW: One of Z-Trip's new tricks is to beat mix without a mixer--just by laying hands (well, fingertips) on the actual records in an incredible demonstration of dexterity.

Blues

Hans Olson
Note: Olson's an O.B.--Original Bluesman. He first came to Phoenix in 1969 and is now an icon in the Valley blues scene. Olson plays ominous, witchy folk blues stirred by his strong, gravelly voice and eerie, vibrato harmonica technique.

Quote: "If you just play the blues, it's like you're a priest and you live in poverty. You're respected for keeping the tradition alive, but you never get ahead."--Hans Olson

Releases: Arizona (1997) is the most recent among many.
BTW: Hans used to hang out with Tom Waits in L.A., back in the day.