Though the headliner for Thursday night’s show at The Where House (2510 Hemphill St.) is Skeleton Coast, don’t expect to hear a lot of Skeleton Coast tunes. For one thing, the bombastically dreamy Fort Worth group disbanded over a year ago, after frontman Bobby McCubbins relocated to Olympia, Wash. For another, the two other core members of the band, guitarist Ryan Torres-Reyes and drummer Brian Garcia, have also moved on, to up-and-coming groups Bummer Vacation and Son of Stan respectively. No, the set will mostly belong to Goldd, McCubbins’ solo project whose epic, wall-of-sound minimalism is heavily reminiscent of Skeleton Coast’s music but is slightly more melodic, simply structured, and vibrant. Along with Torres and Garcia, bassist Bryce Braden will back McCubbins at the Where for Goldd’s first public performance.
“I think I came here to do this music first live because this is where I played music first live,” McCubbins, 25, said. “What better place than here?”
And he doesn’t mean that rhetorically. (Well, not for the most part.) For proof, McCubbins quotes Son of Stan himself, Jordan Richardson. The Fort Worth native, who produced Skeleton Coast’s eponymous debut album (and lone recording), spent nearly half of his professional life in Los Angeles (and won a Grammy for his troubles last year) and recently returned home. “He said, ‘There’s more [creativity] here than on the West Coast right now,’ ” McCubbins said. “I’ve always talked about that, this town, this area. I’m such a proponent of … Fort Worth. It’s magic.”
Olympia couldn’t be any more different, he added: “Most of the youth in the town I live in are more into the street life, drugs and stuff, but if they grew up here, they’d be more into rock ’n’ roll and music. It’s just totally different. At first I was like, ‘It’s dead.’ I realized there it’s just not the same.”
In Olympia, he said, most underground shows don’t happen at venues but at houses. “In the Northwest there’s not really any money involved. … It’s just a different way of life up there.”
McCubbins still doesn’t plan to leave the Northwest soon. “This is the first time I’ve lived alone, and I had this really empowering feeling of being OK by myself,” he said. “Being isolated, I feel like I’ve learned a lot about who I am. Whenever I’m around a lot of people, in a bigger city, my focus level is a lot different.”
McCubbins has family in Washington, including his mother. Also, a friend from Oklahoma, Chris Harris, who co-founded Hook Echo Studio in Norman and fronts Depth & Current, will soon relocate to Seattle, about an hour north of Olympia.
McCubbins, who works as a server, thinks Goldd will be ready to make a record, either in North Texas with Richardson or in Seattle, by the end of next year. “I’m in no rush,” he said.
On Thursday, Goldd will be joined by Bummer Vacation, Blackstone Rangers, Tidals, SuperSonic Lips, and Yung Wave. Cover is $10.
Modern ’til Midnight
Ronnie Heart covering Prince and David Bowie? Pinkish Black and Sub Olso’s Frank Cervantez doing Flock of Seagulls? Jordan Richardson and Cleanup doing Herbie Hancock? Burning Hotels doing Madonna and Billy Idol?! “Once in a Lifetime,” indeed.
Local greats pumping out ’80s classics will rule Saturday night at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (3200 Darnell St., 817-738-9215) as part of the museum’s eighth annual Modern ’til Midnight. The ’80s theme is inspired by the Modern’s new exhibit, Urban Theater: New York Art in the 1980s, featuring work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Nan Goldin, Keith Haring, Jeff Koons, Robert Mapplethorpe, Julian Schnabel, Cindy Sherman, and Andy Warhol.
“Rather than have ’80s cover bands, I knew we had the local talent to do something unique and definitely memorable,” said Modern communications specialist Dustin Van Orne.
To help corral the musicians, including the house band –– White Denim guitarist Austin Jenkins, Quaker City Night Hawks drummer Matt Mabe, former Orbans keyboardist Justin Pate, and Telegraph Canyon bassist Chuck Brown –– Van Orne enlisted the help of Hotels co-frontman Chance Morgan.
“We have an abundance of amazing artists in the DFW area, so it was really hard to narrow it down to around 24 songs,” Morgan said. “I will say it was a major undertaking trying to wrangle 20-plus musicians to have a rehearsal and show up to a production of this magnitude. … Half the artists were on national tours and normal show schedules, so for them to take the time to be a part of this makes it really special.”
Admission to Modern ’til Midnight is $15-20 for non-members, free for members.
Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
