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Frdiay Night at The HivePhotos/Story by: Robert Franklin

Flagstaff isn’t exactly the first thing you think of when you hear punk music being played. Heck, it’s tough to find a good loud show to take in on any given night in Flagstaff, AZ. Becuase in the land of coffee shop acoustic shows and dance friendly jam bands the “loud” show has a hard time finding some love. But bands have a way of making shows hap-pen and for the past year or so, The Hive has become a safe haven for all things ‘loud’. Tonight’s offereing was touring band, The Miracle Dolls from L.A., The Blissins, Mandingo El Gua-po, Let The World Die, Less Than Zero, and No Other Option.

Loads of energy in a good size space, fun was had but The Hive has a ways to go to truly handle all the awesomeness.

One of the ‘big pulls’ for this show was Tuba City band The Blissins, their frontman Gabe is probably one of the hardest working dudes in the Northern AZ scene. I caught up with Gabe via e-mail and asked him a few questions about The Blissins var-ious upcoming plans and projects.

The last time we caught up with you guys, you’d just finished a tour through California and were prepping Punkabilly Strut for re-lease.Since then you’ve released an acoustic al-bum and have another full length on the way.

Where do you find the energy to keep going at full speed?

I just have so much to do in life and I want to make sure I get them done. My music is always on my mind. I don’t want to miss anything when the mu-sic builds inside my mind and heart. I have to write and get them out ASAP.

Can you tell us anything about the new al-bum?

The new album is about good times, good memories and where ever it may lead. I want the new music to take you back a few years and let it all ride on a perfect memory. That’s my goal.

When do you expect the new material to come out?

Hopefully during the summer of 2013. I’m looking at July.

I’ve heard you have a music video in the works.

I’m making a video to expose the first single off the new album. The song is called – City Lights. I’m go-ing to do the album old school – that is, release a single then the video.

Will you be touring in support of it?

I want to tour, but money is an issue. But we shall see.

We’ve seen you guys play live and your en-ergy always makes for a great show. What is it that makes you want to get up on stage, whether it’s a large club or a small corner venue and play your heart out?

To me, it’s all about a good show for the fans, friends, other bands, the venue, the club, and the promoter – to show all about respect in what you do. That is why I perform the way I do. It’s out of respect to make a good show for you.

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To hear/buy music from The Blissins check out their website at theblissins.com. Also follow them on Facebook for info on their upcoming shows.

Dani - I’m Dani Doll. Dez - I’m Dez.

Dez - We’re from the miracle dolls. Dani - I play bass; I’m dani, I play bass. Dez - She plays bass. Both - Hahaha!

So you’re touring right now?

Dani - Yeah.

This is your… what stop is this?

Dani - This is our second stop for the tour, we have two more dates. Our last dates are alburqurque. Near the gathering (gathering of nations).

You did this last year? Two years ago?

Dani - I think it’s been two years, cause we’ve been in the studio.we just came out with a new album, so we’re touring for this new album.

How’s the new album?

Dani - It’s awesome, it’s the best album in the world. Yeah, you’ll have to pick one up and check it out for yourself.You can judge.

Right on! So, how do you like Flagstaff so far?

Dani - It’s awesome, I like it here a lot, it’s really pretty, especially the sky we wen’t hiking at this park and it was so beautiful. We saw rabbits and dead deer legs. haha! It was beautiful.

So what’s your favorite part about touring?

Dani - The people! meeting different peo-ple, cool different people, artists who are around other artsist constantly.

The last time you were here you told us about how you went camping.

Both - Ohhhhh! Haha!

Dani - That was fun! That was different from all the stays we’ve ever had.

Dez - Well, it’s because if you hear howling, you think there’s coyotes out there, you’re not gonna sleep in a tent.

Dani - Ultimately, we ended up sleeping in the van, we didn’t want to be mauled by coyotes.

Oh, a very big thing, you also do charity work.

Dani - Well, me and Dez started a non-profit organization called Native American Youth Music Program and what we do is we get different people to donate guitars and we’ll take them and put them in different reser-vations and schools for native youth. Dez - The last one was Sherman indian high school in riverside California.Dani - It’s good cause they got a teacher to come out on the weekends to teach the kids.

At this point in the interview a drunk guy standing around where we are talking is approached by the venue owner and is told that he needs to leave. We move to a different location to continue the interview.

Dani - We got 6 guitars donated to the Sherman Indian School in Riverside and they have a teacher who donates times in exchange for a hand drum for a teacher at another school. Dez - So we got a teacher and six guitars for these students.Dani - The overall mission for me and Dez is getting musical instruments donated to every reservation in the US and Canada. And we’re gonna do it in the next two years. For sure!

Dez - We have a facebook page right now under Native American Youth Music Pro-gram and anyone can e-mail us if they feel they want to donate a guitar or any musi-cal instrument, we’ll get that to the kids to learn.

Dani - The next donation of guitars is going to go to the Pine Ridge Reservation, one of the schools out there.

On this short tour, what’s your favorite stop so far? Or is it still upcoming?

Dani - We haven’t finished the tour but ev-eryday has been awesome, meeting dif-

ferent people and eating different kind of foods. I ate lamb the other day? Mutton?

Dez - It was killed by the guy

Dani - It was goat that was suffocated and I ate it. Hahaha!Dez - But he did a prayer over it, you know how the natives have respect for the ani-mals.

Dani - It tasted good!

Dez - So we can eat good too!

If I remember correctly, the last time you were in town, you mentioned eating healthy?

Dani - We try to eat as healthy as we can. When we’re home and not touring cause it’s harder to eat.

Dez - We do eat meat though.

Oh yeah! you just ate a goat!

Both - HahahaDani - But we try to stay away from those kinds of foods… Turkey! We’ll eat tur-key burgers and turkey chili and soups… and tea! That’s it right there, all those rockstars talk about heroin and every-thing… wanna know what we have? Tea. That’ll send us over the edge!

Any future plans? Shows? Recordings?

Dani - Yeah, we plan to do a few.

we’re gonna be working with Mike Venezia who did Plain White T’s but our plan is to do ten videos for the ten songs on the re-cord. Kiss me Auras. The Songs are beautiful because we re-corded with John Avila from Oingo Boin-go, who’s a great producer, he did El Ma-riachi Bronx, which is a really good band. Los Lobos. He’s worked with a lot of peo-ple. Each song we put so much effort into, it took like a year and a month to finish this album and now we want to go out and tour. We’re probably going to do a US tour af-ter this tour and we definitely have to hit up Florida, so we’ll definitely come to you Florida! We also have something in the works, dis-cussing making a reality show, going to different reservations, that’s in the works right now as well.

And this will be your 2nd time working with Mike?

Dez - Yeah, he did the video for I Let You Go.

Dani - Yeah, Mike Venezia is a great vid-eo director, he did some Plain White T’s Videos, the good ones! He’s worked with a lot of good artists and he’s really good at what he does and that’s why we wanted to work with him.

So, needless to say, you’re pretty excited for the new album?

Dani - Yeah! This is our baby and we’re hatching it into the world. Haha!

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You can get the new Miracle Dolls album Kiss Me Auras on their Bancamp now at

miracledolls.bandcamp.com.

//Interview:

Jeffrey Veregge

Interview by Robert Franklin / Artwork by Jeffrey Veregge

Stuck at work I have a handful of time here and there to do some browsing via keyboard, mouse, and the interwebs. One morning my brows-er came across an image of Batman, but it was totally different than any other Batman I’d ever seen AND it was extremely cool. luckily the im-age had the artist credit attached and a few clicks later, i was introduced to Jeffrey Veregge. I con-tacted him and asked for an interview, I sent my e-mail and immediately figured, “oh well... at least i tried” BUT he replied and he was down!

Superheroes have been getting lots of love from the media today and now just about everyone knows who Batman, Hellboy, and Superman are but I guarantee you’ve probably never seen these characters they way Jeffrey Veregge sees them.

I noticed that on your website that you have a sec-tion called ‘Old School Jeffrey’, when and how did the crossover happen? Going from the traditional vibe to the comic book/pop culture vibe?

About a year and a half ago, I had what

some alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity. I had been doing this kind of expres-sionistic, surrealism style Native art for al-most 3 years. At first it was fun, but then after a couple of sales and shows I became obsessed with creating work that I thought people would buy or rave about as if it was deeply profound. (I once made a 6 Ft Totem pole out of beer cans thinking I was making an artistic statement.) The fucked up thing is that I have never been that deep to be-gin with and when I started worrying about what everyone else liked and expected from me, it sent me down a long dark path of cre-ative frustration.It was this realization: my moment of clari-

ty, my wife’s urging and the desire to be free that forced me to make the change. So from that point on I decided no more

bullshit, no more artsy fartsy or trying to be some deep Indian Picasso and just be Jef-frey Veregge.

For the first time since I was in art school, I just decided I want to have fun and wanted to create work that I wanted to see.I wanted people to see me as I am, just a

Native Geek, who has never really grown up, a guy who loves all the things he has loved since he was old enough to hold an action figure. I hoped to get back to the kid who still finds magic in a blank piece of pa-per and play in the worlds that rotate inside this skull.

I came across your work on a blog, Fash-ionably Geek / Nerd Approved. Then later I saw your art pop up on Pinterest, iO9, Geek Tyrant and my mom’s facebook timeline. Have you noticed a spike in site traffic?

Oh hell yeah, I totally noticed a spike. I am still in the “holy shit” phase of shock of it all. It has been such an incredible experi-ence seeing my work pop up all over, get-ting emails, tweets from everywhere. Just

yesterday I did a search on Pintrest for Transformers and I came across one of my own images posted & repinned by people I have never met. That was such a cool trip. People and writers have been so generous with their support, it has truly been a won-derful, unforgettable moment that I shall al-ways hold close to my heart.

I think it’s very cool to see a native artist get some ‘mainstream’ love for the art they produce cause it’s cool! rather than a ‘native’ artist doing ‘native’ art… I mean, when I look at “The Bat”, I see Batman as done by an artist with that style/influence, not necessarily a ‘Native American Batman’. Having your work called ‘Native American Art’, is that something you take notice of?

It doesn’t bother me at all. My work is styl-ized Coastal Salish art. It follows the idea of Native art, but I am not bound by it. I also try and blend it with solid graphic design prin-ciples, a comic book flair. I want my pieces to say Native, but also Comic book, Sci-fi

and so on. The cool thing is that I am not tied down to this style, I am doing this now but since I am making art that I want to see, that can change. Right now I have a series in a different style

called “the living dead”, which is zombie in-spired art. My first piece was in reference to my favorite show: “The Walking Dead”, and I am working on a second art piece for an-other fav: Shaun of the Dead, to be seen in a couple months. I will always be Native American, so I will

never completely leave this art style, and as of right now it’s still a lot of fun and I have tons of ideas waiting to get out. Really I am just getting started and don’t see a real end in site.

Have you done / do you want to do comic book work?

I have never done any comic work. I would love, LOVE to do something with any of the big companies. That is the dream that never fades. Like a bad fart that never dies, only gets stronger with time, but in a good way.

What is the art scene like in the Northwest?

Well it depends although I am considered a Native artist, I sell primarily at Pop Gal-lery. But some of the work that hangs next to mine has been awesome and both really inspiring and motivating. One guy who has been ripping it up name is Bruce Yan. He re-cently did a couple of prints of Spiderman and Batman that made me green with envy. He is just one of the many that I could name. What is so great to me is seeing more pop

art based on what I like as a child, and still want to see as an adult. The level of talent that is generating the works we see on places like Deviant Art, Juxtapoz, etc. is numbing. I can’t think of a better time to be creating geek art.

What comics are reading right now? Are there any favorites you think we should be reading?

Well from my own pull list: Aquaman, Green Lantern, Nightwing, Mars Attacks, Transformer Regeneration One, Hellboy, Hawkeye, Ironman, Deadpool, and Guard-ians of the Galaxy. Some of the best stuff I have read recently:

Punk Rock Jesus, Hawkeye, and Aquaman. I know in the past Aquaman has been sort of a lame title, but Geoff Johns has done a great job with this book and made him to me, finally relevant in the DC universe. Also right now, I am really loving Guardians of the Galaxy, as since they announced the movie, I have been trying to play catch up on who they are. When they said they were doing this film I thought, “Who the frak are these guys?” Turns out it was a really good run a few years back, and from what I read so far, I am totally agreeing. This film could be a great film series entirely with Star Wars like potential. If you are looking for some real good

graphic novel some of my top picks have been: Kingdom Come, Marvels, The Dark Knight Returns, Superman Red Son, Bone, Fables, Hellboy and The Walking Dead.

Have you/do you want to participate in a Comi-con?

I was part of the art show this year at Com-ic con and sold some prints at the gallery. Next year I plan on having a booth. The Misses who is not only beautiful but also quite business savvy, is looking into new mediums for my art for the con. I am plan-ning on making my Con debut at the Jet City Comic show in Tacoma next November. Hopefully it will be the start of something good. Personally I just want to be there and don’t care what I’m selling, as it feels like the one place in universe where I feel like I really fit in.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume you’re a Star Wars fan. Are you excited for the Disney Star Wars? Do you think you’ll do some Star Wars type work?

Connie and Jeff Veregge may have given me birth, but I was raised by George Lu-cas and the Force. My mom has my baby book with space drawings from star wars back in 78, 79. I have read a couple bios on George, I knew he was fan of Disney, so when he sold it I was surprised by the sale but not by the transition. Disney un-derstands the power of the brand, and will do a fantastic job taking this to the next level. It’s safe to assume my boys & I will be camping for tickets for these films. As far as art goes, my very first attempt

at this style of art was a Star Wars piece. My contact at the gallery sent it to Lucas-film for licensing a year ago, they passed but it got me started. I have another one with them right now of my favorite Mandal-

orian bounty hunter… keeping my fingers crossed. So to answer your question while channel-

ing the midi-chlorian echo of master Yoda: “Agenda Good…Star Wars will be…future foreseen.”

Any new projects going on that we’ll be seeing soon?

Right now I am working on a Mars attack series, a Star Trek print, a Shaun of the Dead piece, some T-shirt designs and a couple of comic heroes that I want to keep a surprise.My hope is to go into more 3D, as my de-

gree is in Industrial Design. I really want to explore more mediums trying to give more life and “play” ability to my work.

What’s a regular ‘day off’ for you? Movies?

I just watched Django Unchained. Holy shit that was awesome. Tarantino has al-

ways been a favorite but this time he real-ly out did himself. Looking forward to this summer with so many good movies out: Iron Man 3, Star Trek 2, Man of Steel, Pacific Rim, World War Z and Monsters University. Going to be fun and expensive.

TV Shows?

I love the walking dead. Watched seasons 1 & 2 a few times each now. With season 3 just ending, it has left a hole in my schedule that I am still trying to fill. I also like Fringe, Doctor Who, the Venture Bros., Boardwalk Empire, The Regular Show, Big Bang Theo-ry, Parks and Rec and Modern Family

Music?

Right now, Macklemore. Love his sound, it brings me back to when I was a young teenager first discovering rap. Also like me some Johnny Cash, Muse, AC/DC and Pink. Yeah, Pink, my wife got me hooked on her a few years ago. I would say my favorite music by far is

soundtracks. I love them and have many, many albums ranging from Last of the Mo-hicans to Nightmare Before Christmas to Tron Legacy; the sounds always feel time-less and inspiring whenever I am working.

THANK YOU for taking the time to answer some questions!

Thank you for having me. I have been hav-ing such a blast creating this art, so when I get people like yourself wanting to give me their time to listen to what I have to say or to visit my website it gives me such a great feeling of love and support. My fans, if I can call them that have made this all truly unfor-gettable. For all you out there Thank you and stay tuned I am just warming up…

You can see / purchase more Jeffrey Veregge art at JeffreyVeregge.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffreyVeregge.

Free comic book dAy

AndMAy THe

FourTh Be WiTH you

The month of May seems to be a pretty exciting month for comic book fans. Free Comic Book Day, May The Fourth Be With You, and soon… The Phoenix Comicon!

Each year, the first Saturday in May is Free Comic Book Day.This year the first Saturday in May just so hap-pened to be May 4th. A day that’s become known as ‘Star Wars’ day or May The Fourth Be With You.

Ya’ll also had a block party to celebrate each of the days, how was the combined FCBD/Mt4BWY event?

It was awesome! We were able to do a block party thanks to all the restaurants in the area; Louie’s chicken Shack, Hot Wok, Hickory’s and us Cab Comics. We all worked together to get the radio station Q102.9 to come out, along with Northern Arizona Food Bank!

We saw that everyone was super excited to have

the Dune Sea Garrison in attendance.

A group of the Dune Sea Garrison mem-bers are from flagstaff and I was able to get in touch with them early on to help with the food drive. They’ve helped out a lot and were super awesome!

Memorial Day weekend, Phoenix Comicon!Are you doing anything special for the big week-end?

I will be there all weekend, this year I’m on two panels. The first panel is: “So you want to open a comic book store?” I sat in on this panel 4 years ago. It’s a great panel for those looking into opening a com-ic book store. It helped me out a lot before I decided to open my own store. The Second Panel is: “Comic Stores Vs Card Stores” This is a new panel and I look forward to attending this.

For people on the fence about getting into com-ics…What big stories are going on right now or upcom-ing that people can jump into?

Right now from DC, Batman Zero Year will be great to get into with Batman. It’s Bat-man’s origin ‘new 52’ style. For Marvel, this summer, there’s Infinity, things have yet to be revealed but Thanos is part of it, Nuff said.

How cool is it to work at a comic book store?

It’s the hardest thing I have ever done in my life but it’s also one of the coolest things I have ever done. It’s an amazing job!

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