schizophonics

Sensational San Diego trio The Schizophonics have announced two Australian dates in June.

They'll play Sydney's Marrickville Bowling Club on Thursday, June 6 (with Grinding Eyes) and Melbourne's The Tote on Friday, June 7 after a run of New Zealand dates. Tickets for both Austrralian shows are on sale here. 

The wild, gyrating, and down-right gymnastic, guitarist Pat Beers is joined by his wife Lety on drums and bass player Blake Lindquist...and yes, Beers is their real name. By day Pat teaches music but at night, once strapping on that guitar, he becomes a man possessed .

The Schizophonics are, in one word, EXPLOSIVE. Their frenzied live performances tap into the same unstoppable combination of rock ‘n’ roll energy and showmanship that fueled the MC5 in the heyday of the Grande Ballroom.

When they hit the stage, they grab your attention and don’t let go. They’ve built up a formidable reputation in their home base of San Diego and a fervent following among locals.

“One of my favorite live bands ever!” proclaims Tim Mays, who has run the Casbah for over 25 years and seen literally thousands of live bands come through his doors in that time.

KEITH CLARINGBOLD
Bassist - The Smart Folk, The Amazing Woolloomoolloosers
Inveterate live streamer of gigs
Sydney, Australia 

2020 Top Ten

1.) Sunnyboys warm up gig, The Pink Fits in support at the Factory Floor in Sydney 
A big thank you to Steve Teece for tipping me off about this one. That sound, those songs, up close! The Pink Fits were great too.

2.) Nunchuka Superfly/Bitchcraft/White Knuckle Fever/Baby Machine/Beijing Bikini – Marrickville Bowling Club
As someone said to me, ”so great to see so many women on and off stage”.

3.) PopBoomerang night- Ups and Downs/Halfway/ The Aerial Maps – Marrickville Bowling Club
|A full house at the Bowlo.  Halfway had one of the best live sounds I’ve ever encountered. Ups and Downs the icing on the cake.

4.) The Schizophonics/The Fangin' Felines/The Drop Offs- Marrickville Bowling Club.
Exciting garagey fun. The Drop Offs twin drum attack! The family that drums together. This was the last gig before the Covid-19 Sydney lockdown.

^{Tom Wilkinson photo.}

The Schizophonics
Grinding Eyes
Sk8tergrrrl
Marrickville Bowling Club
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Photos by Tom Wilkinson

This gig was a bit of a big deal for Sydney’s spluttering live rock and roll scene. There’s an online buzz on San Diego’s Schizophonics, driven by their livewire videos and their reputation for spectacular shows. The Harbour City, however, was absent from their original travel plans.

A tour through New Zealand was being followed by just one Australian show - at The Tote Hotel in Collingwood, Melbourne - until last-minute intervention by a drummer in one of Oz’s most prominent bands (Russell Hopkinson of You Am I knows who he is) and another party who shall remain nameless. 



So a side trip to Sydney was organised - for a Thursday night show at Marrickville Bowling Club. The night after a hurriedly organised, extra Melbourne show. 

Marrickville Bowlo has become a haunt for Sydney’s older rock and roll demographic. Lansdowne for the kids, Bowlo for the seniors. It’s a nice-sounding room with a great PA and friendly staff. The drinks are cheap.

_{Pat and Lety Beers.}

Combining elements of 60s garage, funk, soul and old time rock ‘n; roll showmanship, San Diego’s The Schizophonics are one of the "hardest working" bands you’ll see. And I mean "hard working"  in reference to when they hit the stage.

Singer/guitarist Pat Beers comes across like a mix between Jerry Lee Lewis and an eight-year-old kid on too much red cordial; the man never stops. While some singers take five to get a breath, Pat keeps the party going with some amazing onstage moves that would score high in any Olympic gymnastics competition.

While the bass often switches, Pat and drummer/wife Lety Beers are the core and soul of the group. The two of them, along with their beautiful dog Beanie, spoke to me via the zoom machine on the eve of their return to Oz.

_{Credit: Minivan Photography.}

They formed in 2009 but it's in the last few years that San Diego’s Schizophonics have convincingly cemented their reputation as one of the world’s hardest-working and most dynamic bands.

Gymnastically-inclined singer-guitarist Pat Beers, drummer (and his wife) Lety Beers, plus a series of bass players, have been wowing audiences around the world with their unique brand of explosive garage rock. They’re poised to pay Australia and New Zealand their second visit in a year in February and March, before hitting Japan for the first time.

The Schizophonics have been likened to a cross between James Brown and the MC5. Local bands have been lining up to join them on bills. Aussie all-female combo, The Fangin’ Felines, are lucky enough to be joining them for two support spots - in their own hometown Wollongong (Lalalas, March 12) and Sydney (Marrickville Bowlo, March 13).

Strong females are integral to both bands, so it made perfect sense for the I-94 Bar to host a pre-tour conversation between Lety Beers and Fangin’ Feline singer Carrie Phillis. The ladies spoke over Skype earlier this week. Pat Beers joined them and uber fan Russell Hopkinson (You Am I, ex-Radio Birdman) made the whole thing happen.

Explosive trio The Schizophonics are inflicting their unique rock and roll show on audiences in Australia and New Zeraland for a second time in 2020 as well as Japan.

The San Diego band - essentailly singer-guitarist Pat Beers and drummer wife Lety - have both a new album, "People in The Sky",and a new bass player, Kiwi Takumi McIntyre (formerly of the Cavemen), in tow and made a huge impression on their 2019 tour of Australia and New Zealand. .

Antipodean audiences had seldom (if at all) witnessed the likes of levitational front man Pat  , whose sweaty splits , 720 degree spins (all before completion of the first song!) had local audiences gagging!!  The Schizophonics combine the swagger of James Brown breakdancing to the Stooges, with the sonic attack of  Hendrix and the MC5 in their hooky garage pop. 

I-94 Bar will co-present the Sydney gig at Marrickville Bowling Club (shifted from the Hideaway Bar) on March 12. The Facebook event is here and tickets for that show are on sale here.

The Schizophonics
NZ-Australia-Japan Tour
FEB
NZ
21 - Leigh at Leigh Saw Mill
22 - Tauranga at Woodcock (Not) - ask Austin
24 - Wellington at Valhalla
25 - Takaka at Mussell Inn
26 - Blenheim at The Plant
27 - Christchurch at Space Academy
28 - Dunedin at The Cook
29 - Raglan at The Yot Club
MAR
1 - Whangarei at The Whangarei Club
4-- Auckland at Neck Of The Woods
6 - Napier at Paisley Stage
7 - Upper Hutt at Obey The Spliff
AUS
8 - Hobart @ The Brisbane
10 - Brisbane @ Netherworld Arcade - FREE SHOW
11 - Newcastle @ The Badger's Lair
12 - Sydney @ Hideaway Bar
13- Wolllongong @ La La La's
14 -Melbourne @ The Tote
15th - Melbourne @ TBA
JPN
19 -Shimokitazawa Three, Tokyo
20 - Namba Mele, Osaka
21 - Higashikoenji UFOclub, Tokyo
22 - Club Heavysick, Tokyo

San Diego's dynamite Schizophonics are throwing a special farewell to Oz show in Melbourne on Labour Day, Monday. 13 March . Venue is the John Curtin Hotel in Carlton.

Cementing themselves as "one of the best bands to see live, ever!" with their performance at Tentpole Festival, this will be your last chance to catch them before they head home.

Local garage-punk faves Blowers are special guests, tix are just $20 + bf and you can get them here.

That Sydney gig by explosive trio The Schizophonics in March has moved to Friday night to accomodate a bigger crowd. I-94 Bar will co-present the Sydney gig at Marrickville Bowling Club on March 12. The Facebook event is here and tickets are here.

Supports in Sydney will be Fangin' Felines and Grinding Eyes.

San Diego's dynamite trio The Schizophonics is returning to Australia and New Zealand after pre-COVID visits in 2019 and ’20.

Returning on the back of their latest LP, "Hoof It", The Schizophonics are husband and wife duo, singer/guitarist Pat Beers and drummer Lety Beers, and have built a formidable reputation around the world as an explosive live act.

Tapping the same wellspring that fuelled The MC5, James Brown, Iggy Pop, Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix and The Sonics,this electrifying outfit has released three albums since 2009.

Joining the Schizophonics for most Australian shows are The Unknowns,who hail from South East Queensland and share members and a record label with The Chats.

The Unknowns are set to release their second album "East Coast Low" on Bargain Bin Records around the time of this tour. Combining '70s style punk and power pop in a manner not dissimilar to the classic first three Ramones albums, The Unknowns' music is timelessly exciting and fun for all ages! 

Schizophonics
Australian-NZ Tour
MAR
Australia
1 – La La La’s, Wollongong, NSW
+ The Unknowns
2 – Crowbar, Sydney, NSW
+ The Unknowns
3 – Drifters Wharf, Gosford, NSW
4 - Tent Pole Festival, Mt Duneed, VIC
8 – Northcote Social Club, VIC
+ The Unknowns
9 – Hotel Westwood, VIC
+ The Unknowns
11 – King Lear’s, Brisbane, QLD
+ The Unknowns
12 – Vinnie’s Dive Bar, Gold Coast
+ The Unknowns
Tickets here
New Zealand
15 - Space Academy, Christchurch
16 - Valhalla, Wellington
19- - ONEONESIX, Whangarei
+ Neon Serpent
22 - Whammy Backroom, Auckland
+ Ratso
23 - The Green Room, Thames
+ Neon Serpent
25 - Piha Bowling Club, Piha
+ Neon Serpent
Tickets here

Top Ten in no particular order

1. Iggy Pop – Every Loser
After the WTF-was-that-all-about of 2019’s “Free”, Iggy is back doing what Iggy does best – fronting a small combo and letting it rip.

We get a taste of most of Iggy’s personas, including the punk god to the dodgy philosopher to the Sinatra-influenced sleazebag. Standout tracks, well, pretty much all of them, but “Strung Out Johnny” turned into an earworm that went for weeks.

At 76, he still shows that he’s got plenty to offer and plenty to say and this would be a fitting record for him to go out on. Compare it to the doggerel the Stones put out recently. Sir Michael sounds like he’s singing through a vocoder FFS.