The 3rd Annual Phono Del Sol Music Festival

It was  picture perfect Saturday to catch some rays, see local bands and grub on fare from food trucks at the 3rd Annual Phono Del Sol Music and Food Festival. The festivities started at 12:00 noon and by the time Bay Area natives, Cool Ghouls hit The Potereo Stage at 12:50pm a small yet good sized crowd had gathered to catch their act. Though most people who went to watch Cool Ghouls enjoyed the set from a far atop one of the grassy knolls in Phono Del Sol Park  a handful of fans got right up front where the sound quality was way better. 

Their usual four piece ensemble had an additional three piece  horn section Saturday afternoon and after all the guys got situated bassist Pat Thomas, lead guitarist Ryan Wong and Pat McDonald each said hi to the crowd before opening with the track most likely to be found on a summertime playlist, "Natural Life".

Cool Ghouls

 

The guys of Cool Ghouls are young and they look it which is sort of surprising since their sound in is undeniably retro with a modern surf-rock twist. Within the first three songs of their set Pat Thomas, Pat McDonald and Ryan Wong each took over lead vocals while their sweet harmonies during every song highlighted their Phono Del Sol performance.

Cool Ghouls

Cool Ghouls filled the afternoon air with seven cool tracks off their self titled debut LP, including "Grace" and "Queen Sophie",  in their own youthful retro fashion. Their performance paired perfect with the unusual seasonally warm SF weather while their laidback inviting vibe created that sought after feel Fest goers appreciate at the beginning of any given Fest. Well played Cool Ghouls!

 

As if that isn't cool enough, I got a chance to shoot a few my quick questions to  with Cool Ghouls' bassist Pat Thomas before the show:

 

 

Q: I understand that the name Cool Ghouls is derived from George Clinton's funky banter, can you elaborate on why you chose the name Cool Ghouls and what the name means to you collectively as a band?

Well Pat McDonald came up with the idea. I dunno. We thought it had a nice ring to it. It rhymes. It's ghastly. I like ghosts. I wrote a song called Ghost Song. 

 

Q: Do you consider yourselves ghouls?

-Do you consider yourselves cool?

Yes and yes. 

 

Q: Are you fans of George Clinton? (His music? Fashion sense? What he stands for?)

I don't have a lot of George Clinton knowledge really. I like the whole far out vibe that Parliament had/has. Maggot Brain is a killer album. On every road trip we take, "Can You Get to That" gets bumped at least once.

 

Q: Congratulations on releasing your debut (self-titled) LP this past April. Some reviews that I've come across consider your sound as rather retro circa a 60's psychedelic sound. I personally picked up on a throw back to old school surf-rock with a modern-ish twist.  How would you say you perceive the sound of Cool Ghouls and why?

Well it's pretty much impossible to imagine what other people's ears are gonna hear when your music hits them. We just play the kind of music we've always played. When I'm writing or playing a Cool Ghouls song, I'm not thinking within a framework like "garage" or "60's" I'm just trying to channel the sounds and vibes in my brain. Certainly 60's type shit finds its way into what I do because all that shit is somewhere in there, in my brain. Especially with bass, Motown subconsciously finds its way into my fingers. 

 

Q: I dig the cover art-work of the LP: it looks part hand drawn/painted with a some photography up in there...who's the artist who did the work?

Thanks! I did the cover art myself! Yeah it's a canvas that I painted with watercolors. Then I taped all the other images on top. They're all found pieces, except the rooster, which I painted. Oh! And the picture of us up in the clouds was taken by my friend Matt at one of our shows. 

 

Q: Did all 3 of you grow up in San Francisco (If so what area of SF and how did you meet each other?)

Well there are 4 of us. None of us grew up in SF. Both Pats and Ryan grew up in Benicia which is in the East Bay, about 40 minutes outside the city. Alex is from Sacramento. We met Alex through SF State. The other Pat, Ryan, and Alex all went to SF State. 

 Q: Were your parents hippies?

Definitely not! My parents were born about 15 years too late to be a part of the proper baby-boomer hippy generation. They went to college in the 80s and were into Reagan. Suburban family folk. I don't think any of our parents were what you'd call hippies. Pat McDonald's dad probably comes the closest. He fought in Vietnam. But I don't think he was a long-hair or anything. He had and has a passion for rock n roll though.

 

Q: Do you consider yourself hippies?

 I don't think so. Although I could imagine someone might look at us and call us hippies. I like the Grateful Dead. But naw, I wouldn't call myself a hippy. I don't really use the word hippy at all actually.

Q: What is your favorite album of 2013 so far?

Cool Ghouls

Finding the Meaning in Deference by The Mallard!

Q: How stoked (on a scale from 1 -10) are you guys to be on a bill with the likes  YATCH, Thee Oh Sees, K-Flay and a bunch of other independent local acts at the 3rd Annual Phono Del Sol Music Festival this Saturday?

- Is this the first music festival Cool Ghouls has played?

10! Just to play a festival of this caliber... is was definitely a first for us. Tooootaaaally stoooked. We will have a lot of family and friends there to see.

Q: If you could play with one band/artist who would it be? 

Can I choose 4? Wyatt Blair, Meat Market, Corners, and Froth! And if I could play with them at Brick and Mortar, it would be a dream come true!

After enjoying cold beers and DJ Aaron Axelsen's sets during stage change-overs in the beer garden I made my way over to the Mission Stage to catch Standford Grad act, K-Flay. 

DJ Aaron Axelsen

K-FLAY

 
 

Her late afternoon hip-hop performance blended surprising well with the otherwise indie-rock filled festival bill because her original raps carry danceable beats. Between spitting lyrics on fun-amped tracks like, "No Duh", "So Fast So Maybe" and "Sunburn" K-Flay was very gracious, thanking fans for making it out to the festival and saying how it felt good to be (performing) back in the Bay.

K-FLAY

The Phono Del Sol Festival is small in comparison to others with only two stages and it's beer garden/food truck lot kept separate from the rest of the festivities so it was a piece of cake catching all of the acts.   
Next up: the Bay Area post-punks  Thee Oh Sees closing The Potrero stage.








As I made it over the grassy knoll all I could think was, "WHOA" as my gaze fell upon the packed park! 









Thee Oh Sees

Neighboring the Phono Del Sol Skate park only seemed appropriate as front-man, John Dwyer encouraged mosh-pits, crowd surfing and stage dives into and within the rowdy crowd. Having recently released their 7th album Floating Coffin Thee Oh Sees closing act consisted heavily of those tracks.




YACHT

Once everyone was thoroughly riled up it was time to get down with YACHT across the way.  How could one top that headlining act from Thee Oh Sees I thought to myself as I made my way to the Mission Stage but once the fun-loving and inducing YATCH kicked things off with "Paradise Engineering" it hit me: this danceable act was like the "after-party" show at Phono Del Sol!




YACHT



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Easily the hippest band at the hipster filled Phono Del Sol Music Fest this year, YACHT  casually strode on to The stage when Claire L Evans' sudden wide legged deep squat at the top of the first track riled fans into a dance frenzy.

YACHT

YACHT

Clearly the goal was to energetically engage everyone in attendance and it's safe to say YACHT met their match on Saturday. Fans danced as the band danced and visa versa creating an unequivocal summertime vibe.  As the party continued with the likes of, "I Walked Alone" and "Afterlife" Claire's theatrics cranked up energy levels and kept them up and as evening approached YATCH gave us our second wind and made it feel as if the day had just begun. Needless to say I had fun watching YACHT have fun performing. Their set was a great end to the small fest that packed in a whole lota fun through out the day!