STIKKY STUDIO, Sunland

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
(DAY THREE)
by: Sal Cochino

3:30pm - Don arrives.

3:45pm - XploStevo and Gizz arrive.

3:50pm - 4:15pm - Tracks are listened to with fresh ears and discussed.

4:24pm - 4:26pm - "Messages" (Re-take 1)

4:28pm - 4:29pm - "Messages" (Re-take 2)

*Don stops before song ends*

4:28pm - 4:30pm - "Messages" (Re-take 3)

4:31pm - 4:33pm - "Messages" (Re-take 4)

4:34pm - Gooz arrives.

4:37pm - 4:39pm - "Messages" (Re-take 5)

4:42pm - 4:45pm - "Messages" (Re-take 6)

4:50pm - 4:53pm - "Lazlo For Life" (Re-take 1)

4:54pm - 4:58pm - "Lazlo For Life" (Re-take 2)

4:59pm - 5:03pm - "Lazlo For Life" (Re-take 3)

5:07pm - 5:11pm - "I'll Throw You Away" (Re-take 1)

5:11pm - 5:15pm - "I'll Throw You Away" (Re-take 2)

5:22pm - 5:26pm - "I'll Throw You Away" (Re-take 3)

5:31pm - 5:33pm - "Growing Old Disgracefully" (Re-take 1)

5:35pm - 5:37pm - "Growing Old Disgracefully" (Re-take 2)

5:38pm - 5:40pm - "Growing Old Disgracefully" (Re-take 3)

5:41pm - Session Ends

5:45pm - 6:15pm - Tear down drums and pack up gear to be taken back to rehearsal studio

STIKKY STUDIO, Sunland

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
(DAY TWO)
by: Sal Cochino

3:15pm Gizz arrives.

3:30pm XploStevo arrives.

3:45pm Don arrives.

4:00pm XL arrives.

4:40pm - 4:47pm "I Don't Want to Know" (Take 1)

4:50pm - 4:57pm "I Don't Want to Know" (Take 2)

5:00pm - 5:07pm "I Don't Want to Know" (Take 3)

5:15pm - 5:22pm "I Don't Want to Know" (Take 4)

5:26pm - 5:30pm "I Don't Want to Know" (Take 5)

*on Take 5 Don played song through without any of us*

5:35pm Gooz arrives.

5:55pm - 6:00pm "These Walls" (Take 1)

6:02pm - 6:07pm "These Walls" (Take 2)

6:10pm - 6:15pm "These Walls" (Take 3)

6:26pm - 6:29pm "When You Fall" (Take 1)

6:30pm - 6:33pm "When You Fall" (Take 2)

6:35pm - 6:38pm "When You Fall" (Take 3)

6:40pm - 6:45pm "Lazlo For Life" (Take 1)

6:46pm - 6:51pm "Lazlo For Life" (Take 2)

6:55pm - 7:00pm "Lazlo For Life" (Take 3)

7:11pm - 7:13pm "Messages" (Take 1)

7:14pm - 7:16pm "Messages" (Take 2)

7:17pm - 7:19pm "Messages" (Take 3)

7:21pm - 7:22pm "Messages" (Take 4)

*on this take Pro-Tools crashed*

7:28pm - 7:30pm "Messages" (Take 5)

7:38pm - 7:40pm "Growing Old Disgracefully" (Take 1)

7:41pm - 7:48pm "Growing Old Disgracefully" (Take 2-4)

*Don stops before each take was done*

7:49pm - 7:51pm "Growing Old Disgracefully" (Take 5)

7:54pm - 7:57pm "I'll Throw You Away" (Take 1)

7:59pm - 8:02pm "I'll Throw You Away" (Take 2)

8:03pm - 8:06pm "I'll Throw You Away" (Take 3)

8:15pm Session Ends

STIKKY STUDIO, Sunland

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2009
(DAY ONE)
by: Sal Cochino

11:45am

XL and Don show up to Gizz's house ready to get to work but get the call from Paul that he's not ready for them yet. So we're pretty much forced to kick back and relax at the pad.

1:00pm

XL leaves since he has a prior family obligation.
1:35pm

We get the call from Paul that he's ready for our arrival.
1:50pm

Don, Gizz and Gizz arrive at the studio and immediately prepare the drum room for Don's kit.

3:25pm

All drums and mics are set up ready for soundcheck.
3:30pm

Soundcheck begins.

3:50pm

Tone and levels of recorded drum tracks discussed.
4:10pm

Tone and levels of recordings listened to and approved by Don.
4:30pm

Don is done for today and leaves the studio.
4:45pm

Paul and Gizz work on tones from Don's recorded tracks.

6:00pm

Paul and Gizz are okay with the sounds they're working with. We leave for our dinner break but at the restaurant they decide that today's session is done.
7:00pm

We all leave the restaurant. Today's session has officially ended.

LAZLO SOUNDS, North Hollywood

MONDAY-THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16-19, 2009

The guys spent the past four days preparing to record 7 songs with their old friend and producer, Paul Luke at STIKKY STUDIO in Sunland, CA. I got to the chance to sit down to watch them prepare by playing their chosen songs over and over and they kept sounding better and better each time through. XL and Gizz even said that, "this is the most prepared we've ever been in 20 years of recording together." They boys also said, "for the first time everyone is on the same page and we've never been more ready for a session."

1. WHEN YOU FALL (XL & Gizz Lazlo / XL & DLP)
2. LAZLO FOR LIFE (XL & Gizz Lazlo / XL & DLP)
3. I DON'T WANT TO KNOW (Gizz Lazlo / XL & DLP)
4. GROWING OLD DISGRACEFULLY (XL & Gizz Lazlo / XL & DLP)
5. THESE WALLS (Gizz Lazlo & Seedy Spitz / Seedy Spitz & DLP)
6. I'LL THROW YOU AWAY (XL & Gizz Lazlo / XL & DLP)
7. MESSAGES (Ultraman)

WHISKY A GO GO, Hollywood

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2009

Tonight's show was done as a favor to our friends, THE BOURBON SAINTS. It's their CD Release Party and they asked us help them celebrate the release of their debut CD. A few week's earlier we were told we needed to sell tickets so we agreed with no intention of sell any tickets. We ended up selling a few to some friends who showed up late but none of us made an effort to sell tickets for this "infamous" Hollywood sham of a club.

When we got to the venue we loaded in our gear and then I went to Mikey's Tattoo Shop to hang out before the doors opened. XL, Xplo, and Don met me over there so we just smoked and talked while we waited... and waited... and waited.

Our old friends JAKEYL was up first and did their Hollywood-by-way-of-Ireland Rock 'n' Roll. They sound a lot like an American Iron Maiden, which isn't a bad thing.

Next up were THE HELLIONS who are part of the TURBOJUGEND Palm Desert Chapter. Nice guys who play some kick-ass Rock 'n' Roll. Some of their fans and members remembered us from the old days when we played in Riverside with SDI and Das Klown. Now that's some history!!

We were up next and played for a healthy crowd that became larger as we played. Tonight's set was the first time we decided to open with a different song. We began our set with what will be the first song on THIS BLOOD'S FOR YOU titled "ALWAYS BROKEN" and it came out without a hitch. We actually ended up playing about 70% new songs with some older ones thrown in. It was a great show for us.

After we finished our set THE BOURBON SAINTS went up and did their thing. To be quite honest it had been a couple years since I've seen them and their line-up has definitely changed. The core remains but it seems to have taken its toll on Arturo's voice. What used to be a great Hollywood sounding voice has changed into a screech and breaking voice, half of what I heard when I played with them in 2006. I wasn't disappointed but I expected more. Chuck and Noel did their thing flawlessly, which made me smile and happy that they were still doing it! At the end of their set our mutual friend Lightnin' Bill Woodcock went up as a guest to play some harp on their last song and did a phenomenal job!!

Next up was THE HOWLERS but by this time I was drinking with a whole slew of new fans and some friends who came out to support like my bandmate Dave Diamond of SOUL TRASH and Paddy Mack of DUANE PETERS GUNFIGHT.

Thanks to everyone who came out and to Alexa and Molly for driving me home. Oh... and FUCK THE WHISKY AND HOLLYWOOD!!!!

RELAX BAR, Hollywood

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2009

Another Friday night in Hollywood. My friend Scott and I stop to get some beer and the head over the hill into Hollywood. We get to the parking lot and see my Canadian friends THE BRIXTON ROBBERS already partyin' it up so I join them to keep my buzz in full check.

After a while the rest of the Lazlo boys arrive and we really start drinkin'! A lot of old friends show up so it's a reunion of sorts.

First up was ARE YOU A COP. I didn't get a chance to see them since I was in the parking lot drinking for FREE! Fuck Hollywood prices!!!

Next up was my buddy EDDIE SOLIS' band IT'S CASUAL. I've seen them a lot this year and since my Maple-Core friends wanted to continue drinking by their van I decided to join stay and drink with them.

Instead of going up and playing our set THE BRIXTON ROBBERS went up and did a short but sweet drunken set of punk rock songs Canadian-style! I really enjoyed them. They friggin' rocked it. They toured with UK SUBS up north so NICKY GARRATT asked me to take care of them while in California as a favor to him. Every club I wanted to book was already booked so I decided to just take this venue so The Robber's could make a few bucks. (More on that later.)

When my pals finished their set it was our turn to take the stage. We hadn't played here since April this year and now I remember why I didn't want to play this place again. It's too small and the PA rarely works. Tonight both PA speakers worked so I was a little happier than last time. Anyway, we went up there and did our thing and really had a good time. We didn't write up a setlist since we wanted to keep it loose and play songs we've never played live. We did our cover of ULTRAMAN's "Messages" for the first time and nailed it. Some of the older guys in the crown recognized it so that made me happy. All in all we tore it up, drank it up, and then packed it up!!

After the show I went up to Eddie to get The Robber's their promised cash but instead got a handful of excuses that I didn't not expect... okay, maybe I did. This is LA and promoter's always have an excuse not to pay us. But a ripping off a touring band is a shitty thing to do, I don't care where you're from! I felt bad for the boys and didn't have a dime to my name so they left LA with $0, which bummed me out. Fuck the Relax Bar!!!!

PUKA BAR, Long Beach

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2009

I headed down to Long Beach with Xplo and Kristi with some beers in hand. We got to the venue early so we could catch Xplo's friends CHAINDRIVEN's set since we put them on this show.

We hung out for about an hour before any of the other boys showed up. I hung out and smoked cigarettes with tonight's promoter, TONY LEPRE of ALL YOU CAN EAT MUSIC. So far every show we've played for Tony has been fun so we were expecting the same here in the LBC... not so much.

As soon as CHAINDRIVEN finished playing their metal-inspired set they left WITH their crowd back to the Santa Clartia valley, which was kind of a fucked thing to do in my book.

Next up was CLOSE TO BROKE who we played with last month in Vegas and they sucked just as much tonight as they did that night. They were very arrogant and left when we started setting up. This is why I'm tired of supporting bands I don't know nowadays.

So now it was time for us to go up there and do our thing. Tonight's show is once again being recorded by our friend Steve of CHROME OXIDE RECORDERS. This evening's performance included a lot of newer songs we're recording so we need to rehearse them and we want to let our fans and friends hear our new stuff. In the crowd tonight was some old-school friends/fans like; Willy Gump and Mikey Beer Thief who got me pretty tanked with his friends.
After our set COMPREHEND went up but by this time I was drinkin' mode and a'drinkin' is what I did!! We hung out a while after the show to drink with our old friends and some new ones also. Kristi drove us home so I stayed awake the whole drive home talking with her as Xplo slept like baby. A great night for us is all that matters!!!

COZY'S, Sherman Oaks

SUNDAY AUGUST 30, 2009

Sherman Oaks + a well-known blues bar + 3 rock 'n' roll bands + a lot of beer = one hell of a great evening!

DLP ad by Sal Cochino (photo by: Lisa Houston)

We kicked off the evening since DISASTER US (from New Jersey) decided to cut their West Coast Tour short due to financial problems from their van repeatedly breaking down.

DLP hits the stage at Cozy's (photo by: Irene Ti)

To a pretty packed crowd of family, friends and fans we ripped through 5-songs back to back to back to back to back. It had been a long time since we tried this method and it really worked. After we finished that portion of our set we had to take a little breather while I did my usual talk to the crowd thing. A lot of people couldn't make it since most of our hometown crowd were busy back at home keeping a close eye on the Sunland-Tujunga fires. We dedicated our set to those who lost their homes and to those who were busy trying to save theirs.

Gizz Lazlo screams at Sherman Oaks (photo by: Jay Lepito)

After our set, SOUL TRASH took the stage in typical rock 'n' roll style with lighting on their mic-stands and a drum kit almost too big for Madison Square Garden. DAVE DIAMOND and company tore through their 30-minute set with ease. They were a lot tighter than when we played with them in Vegas last month. JAMES KROSSBONES kicked ass as well. They were very entertaining and their crowd were eatin' it up! Dave's and my pal JAY LEPITO was on hand making the night even better as he rocked like he hadn't ever rocked out before.

(above): Soul Trash

(below): Gizz on-stage kissing James Krossbones

After the S/T set was their friend's band KAMIKAZE who weren't bad but at that point I'd had enough and spent the rest of my evening at the bar getting free drinks from anyone ordering their own drinks.

Another great night in The Valley thanks to The Trashy Girls, Lisa, Lori, Irene, Gloria, Leo, Anne, David and especially my mom and dad for coming out to have a great time!!!

Gizz and the TRASHY GIRLS (photo by: Jay Lepito)

Gizz and Soul Trash's Dave Diamond (photo by: Lisa Houston)

Gizz Lazlo with Jay Lepito - DLP's #2 fan (photo by: Lori Cartier)

CASA DE NAVARRO, Sunland

SATURDAY AUGUST 8, 2009

A Saturday afternoon in Sunland started off with shopping for a keg of Budweiser and tons of beer to celebrate nothing in particular.

We began the festivites with a barbeque of carne asada, beans, rice, tortillias, and the hottest salsa this side of Hades. With tons of people eating and drinking we decided to take center stage around 6pm.

(above): Gizz, Don and Gooz tearin' it up

(below): Xplo and XL keepin' up

We played a bunch of old favorites acoustic-style. Everything was stripped down to all acoustic guitars and a few drums with some percussion thrown in for some good ol' times. We also threw in a bunch of newer songs from our upcoming releases to get some reaction from our closest friends, fans and of course family. Everyone really enjoyed themselves as we played for over an hour. There was some footage put up on YouTube for those of you who couldn't make it out.

(above): Gizz Lazlo on vocals & tambourine

(below): "Dirty " Don on the drums

Around 10pm the Mariachi band finally made it and we partied like Mexicans for the remainder of the night. It was a great time had by all!!

Thanks to everyone who came out especially DAVE & JENNIFER DIAMOND, TUESDAY O., DAVID WAYNE JONES, and the many other people who made tonight a great night!

all photos/video by: KRISTEN BEHRENDT

VIPER ROOM, Hollywood

MONDAY AUGUST 3, 2009

A Monday night in Hollywood began with a day full of sleeping off the Vegas weekend. We got back yesterday morning but I'm still feeling the effects of those two shows. I woke up at the crack of noon and began getting ready for tonight's show. My friend Scotty showed up around 8pm and drove me to the Sunset Strip for our show with some really cool bands... or so I thought.

I showed up around 9pm and the first band hadn't even hit the stage yet. All the boys were there so I just dropped off my gear and started my 12-ounce curls in preparation for our show. Tonight's promoter, Eddie Solis (Club My War / IT'S CASUAL) bought me a couple of beers and I indulged immensely.

Gizz Lazlo wooing the crowd

The first band called BUFFALO EYE went up but I didn't get to see them as I was outside hangin' out with a lot of old friends including some of the guys from SOUL TRASH, KRASH KARMA and CAST OF KINGS. Then CHINGALERA went up and did their thing, which I didn't even bother watching since there was a lot of Hollywood attitude around the joint.

XploStevo bassin' it up

Next up was Eddie's band calling themselves DALE DIXON ARMY, which is really IT'S CASUAL playing under another name as not to piss off other local promoters since they were already playing another show later in the week. As usual they did their thing as only they do and I really liked them but not as much as I enjoyed them at the RAZORCAKE benefit a few months ago. Maybe it was because of everything going on outside.

The Gooz rockin' the Vipe

We were scheduled to hit the stage next but "rock star" slash skater TONY ALVA's band GFP cried that they wanted to go up before their set time and Eddie let them, which really pissed me off since as soon as their band finshed playing their funkified-ska-rock shite their crowd left. Fuck them!!!

XL rockin' it large

We finally got up right before midnight to a nice crowd and did our thing for our allowed time plus a few minutes since I was pissed! The crowd really seemed to like us and we did make a few new fans so that was cool. I think we're over playing the Strip for a while. I don't see the big deal. High bar prices, parking and attitude isn't worth all this trouble especially for a Monday night.

Gizz and MLB hangin' at the bar

My drunken ass got a ride home from DAVE "Soul Trash" DIAMOND and their drummer, NED GREY. Thanks to Michelle Baker for her undying support!!! You rock!!!