Under the radar: Downtown Fresno's punk rock clubhouse
Plus the return of Sick Little Monkeys and Stone Foxes drop a new single.
Franco V. became a promoter somewhat out of necessity.
It was 2005 and his band The Velisha was gigging a lot and making connections and Franco noticed a certain lack of honesty among promoters.
“So, I just started booking to help out other bands and artist,” he says.
“It took off.”
Since then, Franco, now operating under the moniker Destructive Productions, has hosted hundreds of bands — mostly punk, but also goth, rockabilly, psycho, trap, metal, hardcore and whatever else came through.
A quick list includes Exploited, The Casualties, Conflict, JFA, The Meteors, Black Flag and Defiance. Upcoming gigs include the likes of the Dead Boys, DRI, Richie Ramone, The Queers and Urethane, the punk band from pro skate legend Steve Cabellero.
Frank and his wife also started the annual Fresno Punk Invasion (the weekend-long festival that will have its 6th installment in November) and a monthly PunkRock SwapMeet.
And earlier this year they took on a new project, opening their own venue and creative hangout space in an old warehouse on M Street downtown.
“I was offered the warehouse cuz of my positive influences with music, art and skateboarding,” Franco says.
“It just felt natural to make something special for the community as a safe place for that type of subculture. Our mission is to have a safe place for the community to express their talents.”
The Destructive Warehouse does have gig space and serves as the headquarters for Franco’s promotion works, though it also hosts other local promoters and provides opportunity for newer bands or those who might not normally get a shot to play (here’s a recent set Fresno’s Poxx).
Franco also has a foot in at Fulton 55, Full Circle and Strummer’s and will continue to book those venues, too.
But this is also a kind of DIY clubhouse, Franco says. It’s a place where people can teach (or learn) skills like screen printing and skateboarding; give music lessons or crank out affordable band merch and clothes for the youth.
“There are so many ideas that would help out the community,” Franco says.
“If anything, I want everyone to be successful. Fresno is an amazing place where music and art is growing and we need to support and help events as much as we can. It’s give a little, get a little, you can say.”
Destructive Warehouse is 160 M Street. You can follow Destructive Productions on social media @destructiveproductions.
Sick Little Monkeys reunion @Fulton 55
Sick Little Monkeys is the unauthorized story of the original alt-cartoon “Ren & Stimpy.”
It’s also the name of Kelley Nelson’s hard-edged alt-rock band, which reunites Aug. 20 for a show at Fulton 55. The show starts at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.
It’s been nearly 30 years.
“A couple of the guys in the band were at an open mic night and ran into our second singer (our original singer on the recordings is up in the Pacific North West and can’t be located),” Nelson says.
“They got to talking and decided to ask everyone else if they’d be interested. We all agreed and the rest is history.”
These days, the members are split between Fresno, LA and the Bay Area, but they’ve been getting together in town for rehearsals about once a month.
“I never stopped playing and I remember all the songs, so it was pretty easy for me. Some of the other guys struggled at first, but now it’s sounding great,” Nelson says.
“It’s going to be a fun night.”
According to a feature story in the Rampage newspaper in 1995, the group was influenced by the likes of Primus, Radiohead, U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tool and sold out the Cadillac Club more than once.
It was also chosen for the soundtrack for a CD-Rom video game, which seems like peak 1995.
“Man’s Red Fire,” The Stone Foxes
The Stone Foxes are technically a San Francisco band, but they’ve earned their inclusion in this blog. After all, the group “originated in the sleepy foothills of California’s Central Valley” (according to Wikipedia and also people who know) and released an EP titled “Visalia.”
Though the band is now mostly the Koehler brothers — Shannon and Spence Koehler — past members include Brian Bakalian (who plays in Sum Umbra, Brim, etc.).
This week, the band released a new single “Man’s Red Fire” along with the announcement a sixth album, “On The Other Side.”
It will be the band’s first new full-length since 2015.
The song takes its name from a moment in “the Jungle Book,” Shannon Koehler said in a release.
“Louis Prima is King Louis, and he asks Mowgli to tell him the secret to getting man’s red fire. I’ve always loved that song and that phrase, and living in California surrounded by wildfires every summer for the past four years, it was stuck in my head.”
“Man’s Red Fire,” is available on streaming platforms and Youtube.
That’s it for this week. Remember you can now hear me on the Homegrown Show Sundays at 8 p.m. on New Rock 104.1 FM. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com