New Swedish Models Video: Victoria Prescott

Victoria Prescott by The Swedish Models

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Videophiles Needed: Help The Swedish Models

The Swedish Models have been invited to submit live video, concert footage, etc. to MTV2.

From MTV:

MTV2 has noticed the tremendous fan support you have as a top band in San Diego and wants to give your band a chance to be featured on MTV2!

This is your chance to show San Diego what you’ve got! All you have to do is send us any footage that you have, including music videos, interview clips, fan shout outs, backstage moments, etc.

Anyway, Dustin and the boys need help. They're playing at the Beauty Bar tomorrow and are hoping some fans will step up who have experience with recording high-end live video (and have the equipment to do so) who can come to the show and record their set. You'd be on the list, get video credit and be doing a huge favor to our local guys. They're also looking for someone to shoot some interview and non-performance footage.

If you can help out, you can contact me at sddialedin AT gmail DOT com or contact Dustin directly at dustin DOT paul AT hotmail DOT com.

Friday Recap: Swedish Models, Blackout Party, Secret Apollo, Frantic Romantic

Driving my car in the rain is pretty rough. Despite having a day of from the d.j., I still managed to get to the Casbah later than expected. Actually, what happened was I got sucked into watching a show (research for my next CityBeat column) and by the time I realized it, I was late and headed for the Casbah. The show was already sold out which impressed me immensely. Unfortunately, I missed the debut of Hotel St. George. I heard they were great but only had a five song set, so its not really that surprising that I missed them.

The Casbah was cozy, with the music room packed to the gills and the Atari Lounge pretty full as well, as smokers huddled under the small awning over the entry way to the venue. I headed up front for the Swedish Models. It was kinda funny, these guys are my friends and I've seen them a ton, but I guess I normally spend so much time watching the spectacle of the band and Andrew jumping around from instrument to instrument that I never paid attention to the fact that this boy can really sing. It was nice to see something new in a band that is so familiar.





There was chatting and socializing to be done, but I made it in for part of The Blackout Party's set. I always love the use of unorthodox instruments, and The Blackout Party always sounds perfect for sippin on Makers with the lap steel and flute that accompany the guitar, bass and drums.



I lingered a little after Blackout Party, but since the rain settled a bit, I decided to head home before it started pouring again. My car's wipers don't do jack and I have to drive with my windows down to keep the windows from fogging up...safety first, ya know?

Anyway, from there is was off to the Ken Club, where I caught Secret Apollo. I love their quirky songs and this was my first time actually seeing them play in well over a year. The crowd was small but interactive. Plus, the free red vines the band gives out make great stars for slurping down an NFL vodka tonic (that's No Fucking Lime to you)



Then of course, I met the Frantic Romantic guys and we after partied at my house for a while. It was a great night and it was nice to not have anything to do or anywhere I had to be on Saturday. Love those nights and love those days.

Weekend Recap: Adams Avenue Street Fair 2007

Going to sleep early was a good call, because it made for a restful sleep to energize for the Adams Avenue Street Fair. Historically I've had two favorite San Diego weekends since high school. One used to be the Street Scene/ASR weekend combo at the beginning of September and the other has always been the Adams Avenue Street Fair, which is always the weekend right before or right after my birthday, and was a family tradition for us growing up, even when we were in Chula Vista. The Adams Street Fair is so engrained in me, in fact, that it might be why the County Fair is always such a dud for me. Adams is free, has better music, cheaper vendors, and for the eight years I've lived in Kensington, I can walk there.

My fam met at my house, I put on the Baby Bjorn and we were on our way. There is something so great about this event, but especially in the last couple years for me in local music 101 you really get the sense that everyone you know is in this one place. Because I had my hands full with an 8 week old, I really didn't take too many pics, but here were some of my favorite sights.


Free Spam sliders (right next to the free facials and free mentos)

This booth gets the award for best looking themed booth.

We strolled the entire length of the fair and back. The first band we really got to hang out and watch was Agua Dulce. They were in the park stage and with the small baby, we could get away from the stage and out of the sun for a bit, plus it's been a while since we've seen Giovanni (below), a friend of ours from Hilltop High.

Johanna was enjoying the day, too. Out of the few hours we were there, there really wasn't so much as a whimper. But definitely a lot of laughing and smiling.

After Agua Dulce, mi familia took off, so it was time to head off for the adult portion of the afternoon. I met up with friends at the beer garden until Mike Watt started, but my camera just couldn't capture and I could hear just as well in the beer garden, so I headed back there with friends after this shot. As I walked away, Mike kinda stumbled into his amp a couple times.

I chatted with Rodney for a bit and as Mike thanked him from the stage, we laughed that he called him a "tranny" as in "we're the engine but couldn't do it with out the tranny" er- transmission? Rodney said that they'd chatted earlier about him being a transplant from Detroit. Still, I thought it was a funny choice of words. As I got back to the garden, Mike Watt finished their set, though by all clocks, they still had a half hour for their set which made for a long gap before Tell Tale Hearts to enjoy some of the Oktoberfest beer from Karl Strauss.

Some friends and I caught the Tell Tale Hearts set and it was fun to see their longtime fans decked out in their mod dresses like it was- when was that? 1987? I was still in elementary school or junior high in their heydey but they still rocked out and all their fans sang right along with all their songs. I have it under good authority that this wasn't the last reunion show for the band so fans should keep an eye out.

After the band, the festival was wrapping up and it was time to start the trek back home, but I had to take a pic of this little cutie who was entertaining a circle of people as he did the robot.

After the fair, I headed to the Ken Club to hang out and watch Vitro (I'll post those pics in a separate post) but when morning came around, I loaded up my stuff again and headed back to the street fair in order to make it in time for Silverbird. Something compelled me to lug my laptop, thinking I'd take advantage of all the wi-fi hotspots, but I also took my dog who really would've probably rather have stayed home, so she didn't let me take as many pics as I wanted and I never did bust out my laptop. Still here are my Sunday pictures.

T-Bone was on the drums filling in and I haven't heard the band sound better. Plus, ya gotta love when Bubba plays barefoot.

They were playing on the stage next to Rosie O'Grady's. Petro (Swim Party) lives above Rosie's, so he came down and we ended up hanging out throughout the day. After the set, we chatted with the band then headed down to catch Kite Flying Society.

They sounded great and played a lot of new material along with old favorites. The violin and handclaps and glockenspiel all add to the new songs and I look forward to the new album's release. Unfortunately, this was when Pascha decided to freak out, so we didn't stay for the whole set, and instead crossed to the other end of the fair to catch a short part of Roxy Monoxide. Did I mention I was still lugging my stupid backpack around with all my crap and it was hot, and their stage was by DiMille's so there was definitely a traffic jam and my dog was miserable, so after a couple songs, it was back to Rosie's where Petro asked the question that only has one answer, "wanna come up to my house for a beer?" Pascha and I joined Petro and Kris in his apartment to enjoy a cold IPA in the air conditioned room. Pascha made herself right at home.

We stayed up there for a while as we listened to Mex on the stage below. I also got a sneak peek of a couple unmixed Swim Party tracks and I cannot wait to get the new stuff in my hands. Petro was also kind enough to give me the Black Box compilation and we listened to Goblin Cock's cover of "Head Over Heels" which is awesome. A couple beers and a couple hours later, it was time to head back to the streets and we met up with our friends where the Swedish Models were the last set of the day.

We had such a great day, I had to take a final pic. (From left, Andrea, Petro, Kris)

The 2nd day of the street fair wrapped up and Andrea and I headed to Kensington for Dinner. Kevin joined us and we had an excellent meal at Bleu Boheme. (This time, I had the special which was halibut in a beurre blanc on a bed of broccoli and spinach, with a penne au gratin. Delicious.) We sat on the patio and unwound from the weekend. As tempting as it was to go out for more (a couple after parties were planned here and there), I had work to do, so after the three of us hanging at my place for a little while, I dropped Andrea at home and went off to do an interview. You can read the results of that interview in this week's CityBeat.

And even though, as I said, this is always my favorite weekend of the year, that doesn't mean it's all downhill because the coming weekend has some great Oktoberfest celebrations throughout the town. I think I'm going to attempt to go to the Karlfest on Saturday then make it to the German American Society's Oktoberfest in El Cajon. We shall see, though, best not to overplan.

Swedish Models "Man Of The Town" & Free Show Today

This is not an official video, per se, just some performance footage from the Swedish Models show at the Roxy synced with the recorded track. Still fun to watch in my opinion.

Swedish Models "Man of the Town"



Catch the Swedish Models at the OB Farmer's Market this afternoon. They play around 6 pm.

Thursday Recap: Chuck e Cheese's, TNT & Casbah

It's been a weird week and admittedly I had some web fatigue. I was a bit sick off and on throughout the week, and on a personal level, my family is tight but with the blow of missing my little sister who is in Alabama, looking for a new job, and finding out my brother is being sent to Iraq, among other personal stuff, I just haven't been as focused here as I might have otherwise been.

So I'm sorry it's taken me so long, but there were some cool things I attended this weekend and they all deserve proper attention.

First, it was to Chuck E Cheese's for Emma's birthday party. I love kids b-day parties and any opportunity to go psycho with Skee Ball. I got to 330, just 20 points away from the damn grand bonus of 250 tickets. boo.

Emma played some games, too, and let's just say be glad she's got 12 years to go before she can get on the road:



And she made sure everyone had a My Little Pony birthday hat:



I even got to see Bush's foreign policy on display:



After the party, I headed down to TNT to finally see Diablo Dimes and the Bloodhounds.

I somehow seem to have missed every other show he's played in town up to this point, and I was a little sad to see that the popularity of TNT seems to be waning. Maybe there was just too much happening in town, maybe it was that there was only one band booked along with DJ Claire. Not sure, but for most of the time in the patio, it was pretty empty. I was glad that by the time Diablo and his band played, more people had arrived.





I liked the retro-swingability to Diablo's music. And what else can you say but the dude rocks a kazoo? It seemed the sound mix was a bit off and the drums weren't as audible as they should've been, but the band was entertaining and as I previously mentioned, the bar sponsor was Absolut 100, a new 100 proof vodka that definitely sneaks up on you. It was great to catch up with old friends and just hang out in the open air in San Diego, finally in weather that required a hoodie.

From TNT, I headed to the Casbah and missed the opening band, but was there in time to see Archways. I didn't catch their whole set, but I really liked what I did catch. They borrow Cooper from Transfer on drums, so there was a good crowd of people out to support them.





Republic of Letters were on third in the evening and I was happy to see them again. Sometimes it seems like I see the same bands so frequently, but then I see them again and I remember why I love the guys so much. They played a full energetic set and I'm happy to see so many familiar faces out when they play. In all the new music I've been listening to when I'm at home, I still make sure to include their disc in the mix of music I listen to when I'm in a quiet space.









By the time Swedish Models came on, I was in full partying mode, chatting on the patio, in to see the bands, then back out on the patio. The Swedish Models did their thing, rocking out and bringing the crowd into party mode with them (and with me)







No worries, the night went late and I cooled it a bit before heading on my way. Such a good night, though, I have to say. Like I said, it was good to see so many friends and meet some new ones, too, catching some great local (and nearby) music along the way.

Thursday Recap Preview: Chuck E Cheese's, TNT, Swedish Models, Republic of Letters, Archways at the Casbah

I have a bunch of stuff to post from last night, but I'm gonna head over to San Diego Harley Davidson, then the Casbah, then the Ken Club so I won't be back online until the wee hours, so you'll have to check back this weekend for all the recaps.



I'll be writing about Emma's 4th Birthday Party (and how addicted I am to Skee Ball)



Diablo Dimes at TNT (and the premiere of Absolut 100- 100 proof vodka)

Then Archways, Republic of Letters and the Swedish Models at the Casbah. (I missed the first band)

Republic of Letters "Swept Away"

I'll write about all of it later, but for now, it's time to get this weekend started.

Wednesday Recap: Charissa Saverio, Swedish Models, Marc Ford

I spent my Wednesday sleeping in, meeting my sister and my niece and Sara at Ponce's (where I finally tried their cheeseburger. yum) then headed up with Natalie to the Belly Up for the last of the Belly Up's anniversary series. The funny thing was that The Swedish Models wanted me to take pics, but there were so many other photogs with such better cameras that I felt completely useless. We hung backstage for a while and then went out for Charissa Saviero, who admitted that she had just put a band together in two weeks. I was happy to see "Stinky"...Mr. Jeff Aafedt (sp?) the drummer of The Rugburns, doing his thing in this band. Charissa is a Brit singer songwriter who brings to mind 80 rock chicks while also keeping it fresh and new. This particular song, she said, was written by a friend. While I normally have issues with songs that use a common slang as their main chorus lines, I thought Charissa rocked well throughout her set... I just happened to capture the main ballad of their set.





Nat and I got there early in the night and the Swedish Models let us backstage to (probably in their poor interest) have a couple beers.



We just tried to absorb the minimal A/C air coming through the backstage room. This is their setlist, preplanned on the fridge.





The Swedish Models have so much talent between their five members, and with the bonus of the amazing sound at the Belly Up, I think there were people who were already fans of the band there eating them up, and new fans who wondered how they might not have heard of them before. They really are that good and make people wonder where they can hear more.












I caught this song midsong, but I wanted to post it anyway, because the big thing about the Swedish Models is that they have two drummers... Andrew McNally and Dustin Paul, and they share a kick drum. My video may suck, but the band does not, and hopefully it gives a good feel for why there is so much talk about this band.




So the Swedes only have 7 songs at this point, but if you count the three false endings of their "epic" song, then I would say they have 10. Clearly they have enough buzz in town because it seemed more people were there to see them than the headliner, but eventually people filtered back into the Belly Up to see Marc Ford.





It was apparent that Marc has his share of audience, being around for so many years, but it wasn't really my thing. He's an amazing guitarist, but there was so much "wah, wah, wah" with the pedals that I thought of it as something dudes appreciate but for me, not as much. Plus Nat has to work so we headed off after a couple songs.

After I left Nat's, I stopped by the Pink Elephant but there was nothing for me there, so I came back to Kensington then visited my friends at the Ken Club.

Now I'm home in the comfort of my home watching sleazy DreamGirlz commercials while I watch shit TV and I thought I'd mention one more thing. Apparently Kensington is getting a new sign.



There will be a vote among Kensington residents on the sign replacement. The new sign has more decorative posts to match the light posts of the neighborhood as well as the stone pillars that can be seen around town, in areas like Uni Heights and Hillcrest. So the vote will be between a Kensington sign that arcs and one that hangs straight. I'm particular to the straight one, based on the renderings I've seen, but in a way, it is a little sad to see the current sign go, even though when you look at it, it looks like shoestrings hold it in place. Eh. I look forward to getting my ballot nonetheless.