Incase

FYeahFest Productions & Incase Present “Save Our State Parks” Outdoor Music Festival
Saturday, Sept. 5th, 2009
LA Historic Park, Los Angeles, CA

Despite the ominous cloud of smoke and ash rising out of the Angeles National Forest just seven miles north; despite the sun’s punishing rays and dust bowl winds; despite the long waits at the ticket window and food court; despite an extremely limited advertising budget and few sponsors; and despite the naysayers and the haters, the FYF production duo of Sean Carlson and Phil Hoelting ONCE AGAIN pulled off the seemingly impossible. This past Saturday, Sept. 5th, our friends produced arguably one of the best independent music festivals of the summer. From 1PM to 1AM, with performances by more than 30 acts spread across three stages, FYF’s Save Our State Parks outdoor concert at LA Historic Park quickly turned into the event of the city’s Labor Day Weekend.

Though they’d long crossed their fingers and hoped for 6,000 attendees, by the end of the night the box office had doled out more than 10,000 tickets. Think about that for a second and then think about how much loot goes into advertising other music festivals and sub-cultural gatherings. 10,000 people at a homegrown, independent punk fest supporting state parks? Seriously. Given that most people learned of it via word of mouth, (and Sean wearing a sandwich board at local shows, I am not kidding) this was a major and most unexpected coup. From the bands to the fans to the stage crews to the bartenders and production volunteers, Save Our State Parks came together through true community effort. As a principle sponsor of FYF, we are very proud of our friends and our community. Thanks to everyone who volunteered, attended and spread the word. And thanks most of all to the California State Parks Department for having faith in FYF’s vision for the event. A day spent inside LA’s Chinatown to Downtown corridor never felt so good. See you next year.

We added a grip of photos from the Los Angeles Bicycle Film Festival to our BFF Flickr set.

Don’t look so serious Tracko!

Well, friends, if your bicycle event is gonna get upstaged, at least be glad its Mother Nature doing the upstaging and not some dude poppin’ wheelies on a lame sport bike, wearing one of them full-face helmets with a purple mohawk. What? Exactly. As some of you may be aware, in the last few days the raging Angeles National Forest fires have shrouded the entire northeastern portion of Los Angeles County in a haze of smoke.

From Incase’s distro center in Irwindale/Azusa to our homes in Echo Park and beyond, the air is ashen and the daytime sky has taken on an ominous orange tint. The State of California & City of Los Angeles have both issued public service announcements telling citizens to not to breathe when they’re outside. Good luck with that! No sports, no jogging, no dodge ball. It is SKETCHY out there.

Why are we telling you all of this? Keep reading, here’s why!

This past Wednesday, on the eve of the calamity, the Bicycle Film Fest held its much anticipated Bikes Rock event in the quaint little foothills neighborhood of Eagle Rock. [To give you some geographic context, this is less than 3-miles (as the crow flies) from the impending chaos]. Upon arrival I spied a mega-herd of bikes locked to the racks and railings of the Eagle Rock Center. Good sign! I even saw a few homemade bicycle/motorcycles and motorized scooters.

Live music sets were provided by experimental crooners Blank Blue, afro-poppers Extra Golden, and the deep dark garage drones of Deerhunter at its most lugubrious. Keith Morris of the Circle Jerks & Black Flag played intermission DJ sets while Sir David Scott Stone delivered ambient blips & bloops on his mighty Moog synth. It was by any measure a perfect show. The line up was rad, the venue was beautiful, the turnout was mighty and the assembled audience was excited. Nevertheless, it all had a really weird, subdued vibe. Like, a sleepy vibe. Even the photos say so.

The whole night just sort of felt calm. And not calm as in boring, but calm as in ‘calm before the storm’ calm. Despite being a nice summer night, few pedestrians walked the hood and even fewer cars cruised Colorado Blvd. The streets were dead, the air was humid and still. And then, as I departed the show, it hit me—I noticed a windshield in the Bank of America parking lot accumulating a thin film of greasy ash. Spooky. It was the sort of calm that comes before a 160,000 acre raging fire storm.

Thanks to the BFF for hosting the evening’s musical score for catastrophe! And remember, for the next several days if you’re gonna ride your bike—wear a mask or a bandana over your face. You do not wanna get this stuff down your lungs!

Be well.

We’ve got a real doozy of an announcement to make today. Being late summer, if you live in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles and…

1. love punk rock
2. enjoy stand-up comedy
3. just like lurking around community-based independent music festivals
4. or all of the above

…you’re probably thinking to yourself, “Hey, isn’t F Yeah Fest # 6 supposed to be happening soon?” Yes, you’d be right.

Indeed, if you’re in one of hundreds of bands from around the world that has played FYFest over the years, you’re probably wondering, “What has that wily Sean Carlson conjured up this time? And, will I be roped into playing it?” Yes, you probably will be.

At 23 years old, to already have six festivals under his belt is either a testament to Carlson’s vague genius and gargantuan will power or its an ode to our collective powers of mass amnesia. Every year he manages to add more bands, more venues, more comedians, more contests and more mayhem… and yet, he always pulls it off. Everyone goes away having had a great time and at least one transcendent musical moment— if not five—if not fifty.

So, after many months of planning, Incase Music & Events is very excited to announce we’ve come aboard as the main sponsor of this year’s F Yeah Fest. However, things are waaaay different this time around. Instead of simply throwing an indie music fest here in the hood, Sean and his cohort Phil Hoelting (tour manager/Crystal Antlers) have decided to make F Yeah Fest a celebration with a purpose. Namely, drawing attention to Govenor Schwarzenegger’s multi-million-dollar budget cut to the California State Parks Department. In a show of solidarity, FYFest is gonna spend the day outside!

Renamed Save Our State Parks, the fest happens Sept. 5th at the beautiful Los Angeles State Historic Park situated between Chinatown and Downtown LA. This all-day concert will feature more than 25 independent bands on two massive stages, loads of stand-up comedians, endless trailers of taco carts & other food vendors, and thousands of indie rockers & hipster lurk-logz all coming out to enjoy music and celebrate California’s beloved State Parks.

Bands not to miss: F*cked Up, Black Lips, Lightning Bolt, No Age, Glass Candy, and Cold Cave. More to be announced in coming days! Guaranteed to be a good time for a great cause. *And we haven’t even mentioned FYF’s upcoming Walk-a-thon for Charity (Sept 19th), the Annual LA Scavenger Hunt (Sept 26th!) or the Fall ‘09 FYF Tour across North America and Iceland. So much music & events, our heads are caving in.

FYF & Incase Present:
‘SAVE OUR STATE PARKS’
Outdoor Concert & FunFest
Los Angeles State Historic Park
Sept 5th, 2009

Attention all bike lovers/lurkers: This week, the internationally renown Bicycle Film Festival is hosting a huge variety of bicycle culture & community events all over the greater Los Angeles area.

On Wednesday, August 26th, we’re particularly excited about the Bikes Rock party at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts with Atlanta’s finest shoegazing garage band Deerhunter and LA’s own Blank Blue. As a primary sponsor of this touring festival, there’s a pretty good chance we’ll be on hand doling out a few Incase products, getting deeply weird and zoning out with everyone else. Bring your bike, your earplugs and your enthusiasm.

And while you’re in the Eagle Rock hood, ride on over to Auntie Em’s Kitchen or Senor Fish (both on Eagle Rock Blvd). If you need a coffee, go to Swork (corner of Eagle Rock Blvd x Colorado Blvd). To get this week’s rager started right, you’re gonna want a full gut and some pep in your pedals.

Keep an eye on our BFF Flickr set. We recently added some photos from BFF Chicago.

Sometimes a dude just has to get out of town and play motorcycle soccer for a few days. So last weekend we had our friend Baby Kelley, (a/k/a The Bubba) shoot photos for us at the Standard Hotel’s Swimming With Sharks rooftop pool party. If you don’t know The Bubba, here are a few qualifications worth noting:

1. She outfits hot lurkers & human babies with hand-drawn sloth bear t-shirts.
2. She recently recorded the rap track “Shake It Like a Single Mom”.
3. Via her legendary LA public access variety show, she wrecks minds with The Mystical & Magical Show Show
4. She plays boingy noise guitar in God’s Gang
5. And last but not least, she runs three super brilliant blogs:
   • BUTT BLOG
   • INSTANT CLASSIC
   • YE OLDE SLOTH BEAR BRROGGG

And her three favorite things are kitty paws, PBR and minimalist industrial design. Basically, Baby K is a one-woman exercise in takin’ it easy, gettin’ weird and havin’ the right ‘tude for the job. Asking her to shoot half-cocked, blurry event photos at the Swimming With Sharks pool party worked out great! It appears a fine lurk was again had by all— lots of splashin’ and spazzin’ out with Incase water guns and Slider Cases for iPod and iPhone. Thanks to the Standard Hotel and MFG Productions (JMZ Outlaw, Matt & Mahtab). Enjoy the photos! Thanks, Bubba.

Be on the lookout for future guest photog & brog-log from our heavy bro—The Shellzbot.

Last month’s Swimming With Sharks pool party—SURPRISE!!!—turned out to be a totally worthwhile lurk in the sun. Great tunes, good BBQ, harsh golden dudes, cold brews, and uber babes in the right shoes. See photos for proof.

Thanks to James Outlaw & his cohorts at MFG Productions, we’ve decided to do it again this Saturday, August 15th. Free Incase squirt-guns battles, Free Slider Cases for iPhone 3G & iPod touch. This time around, Baby Kelley from the Butt Blog & Professor Von Slothheim is gonna be our guest events photographer, so watch out. She’s all about it. To MAKE IT HAPPEN RSVP.

Swimming With Sharks Pool Party
Standard Hotel Rooftop Pool
This Saturday!
August 15th

Only 72-hours after saying goodbye in Chicago to the Bresnitz brothers (from Brooklyn’s Finger On The Pulse Productions), I found myself yet again in their sonic grasp at Saturday’s Swimming With Sharks rooftop pool party in Downtown Los Angeles. From New York to Chicago to Los Angeles in less than a week, these twins get around. Both always rocking that classic identical glasses, beards, tank tops, no shoes vibe… It’s like constantly seeing a variation of the same guy in two places at once. Trippy. How they have time to throw their Incase-sponsored Summer BBQ Blowout Series at Brooklyn’s Hope Lounge while also djing their asses off around the globe and producing Dinner With The Band on the IFC Network, I will never understand.

As a general rule, hipster hotel pool parties can be a real crapshoot, especially when promoters are looking to attract that Chrome Hearts crowd, (you know what I mean), but fortunately Matt & James of MFG Productions were handling the hysterics. Creators of the long-running Dance Right events, day or night these two lurkers know how to make a party feel like you’re relaxing in your own living room, albeit with 400 screaming, wet, spastic teenagers-for-life running around wearing little to no clothing.

This installment of LA’s now legendary pool party was about 85% more bonkers than I figured it would be. Between the rooftop pool’s panoramic city views and the Incase-branded squirt-gun wars; to the blazing bikini situations and random muscle dudes with bad tattoos; to the deeply mind blowing Goth chicks with vampire teeth (wearing black knit swimsuits, velvet capes and platform boots); to the exceptional DJ skills of Mr. James Pants *[that was for you Apple & Rachel]; to the creepy/funny contests dreamed up by James Outlaw, (of course); to the free BBQ; to Totally Tammy’s crushing yellow outfit and Baby Kelley indiscreetly shooting photos for her burgeoning “Butt Blog”… — the party was total chaos. Wonderful, barely contained chaos.

Winners of the gummy worm/make-out/whipped cream/balloon contests went spazztastic for their Incase gift packages (nylon backpacks, neoprene sleeves and Slider Cases for iPhone & iPod). Like, you’ve never seen dudes without shirts so stoked in their lives. Check the photos, you’ll see what I’m saying. So much happy.

Now that the June gloom is gone, it’s summer here in Los Angeles; people are finally out of their shells and enjoying themselves. Thanks to MFG & Finger On The Pulse for throwing such a quality poolside lurk.

Enjoy the photos!

This Thursday, April 16th, artist Steven Harrington will be spinning a mix of early Jamaican dancehall, dub and roots reggae jams at Verdugo Bar in the Glassell Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Joining him will be Incase’s own Dreamweapon (a/ka/ Damon Way) and a banana hammock’s worth of other notable bros from the LA arts & underground scene, including Justin Krietemeyer, John Carlos Harrington, Andrew Miller, Florencio Zavala and Kristian Henson.

And head’s up, every two weeks from here on out Steven will be hosting Bang-Ga-Wrong on Thursday nights at Verdugo Bar. Please come, and then come again and again. Tropical attire optional… but of course, always encouraged.

Sooooooo… last Friday night, despite being really tired and having just devoured a half chicken, broccoli, mashed potatoes and four Trader Joe’s choco-mint sandwich cookies, I rallied (after a nap & quadruple espresso!) to attend the Incase-sponsored ‘Toys 4 Tots & Blanket Drive’ here in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Produced by the laid-back, forward-thinking folks at L.A. Record, FYeahFest and Eagle Rock Music Fest, this charity Christmas party took place inside the beautiful, cavernous Eagle Rock Center for the Arts, an olde worldy stucco box featuring 20-ft. high cathedral ceilings and exposed beam construction. Can you imagine? Picture ornately adorned X-Mas trees & lights galore, booze, glitter (?), more booze, hundreds of girls in heels & hairy dudes in denim & hoodies dancing their asses off, Incase product giveaways, and photos with a skinny indie rocker in an ill-fitting Santa suit (think: brown goatee under a fake white beard, waa waa waa).

In addition to its charitable efforts and twinkling vibes, the night also delivered blazing live sets by Blank Blue, Entrance, and Underground Railroad To Candyland, as well as DJ sets by Dennis Owens from Goodfoot and the legendary Keith Morris of Circle Jerks & Black Flag (yes, you read that right). All in all, it was a great, loose night for a worthy cause. Thanks for coming out, and enjoy your Incase goodies. Happy Holidayz!