Who was your favorite local band?
Los Olvidados. Hands down. They to me were more rock ‘n’ roll than bands that were coming through that had records out. They just blew me away. Mike on vocals. At the time the eye liner and the hair, he kind of had an Iggy vibe, but he was totally dangerous and scary. Mike Fox on guitar. Nobody could compete with the sound that guy got. His guitar tone was insane. I never heard a Marshal sound like that. He fucking rocked. Matt on drums. Then you had Ray Stevens on bass. Like a real musician. When I watched Ray Stevens play, I could tell there’s something about this guy that the rest of us don’t really have. Then on top of it they’re all skaters. They were rock stars in the sense that they were bigger than life to me. But the band that I admired the most, and the band that I wanted to be hands down was the Faction. That was on a different level, cause they inspired me on the level of, they booked their own tours, they put out their own records, they played CBGB’s, they had a van. I was so inspired. I knew I had to do that.
What was your favorite place to get a drink?
Pizza-a-go-go on Santa Clara Street. I knew a chick that worked there and she would give me free pitchers.
Where did you used to get your clothes?
There was a thrift Village somewhere in downtown San Jose. I didn’t have a style like some of my older friends did. I was more of a skater, like a pair of Levi’s, a flannel, and a pair of Vans and I was set.
Where did you like to eat?
For me, it was Super Taqueria. Mandatory. Togo’s downtown. Eric’s Deli in Los Gatos. I was a sandwich master. I loved sandwiches. And after a night of drinking: Taco Bravo. It’s just—go there and put so much food in your body. Every time I go to San Jose, I have to hit Taco Bravo. The best thing about it is everyone’s like, “It taste so different.” I’m like, “Yeah the reason it tastes so different is because they make the food with the same unwashed hands taking the money all day long. And they are smoking, making you a burrito.
What did you like most about San Jose?
At the time I didn’t know it, but I totally know it now. I just thought at that time, growing up in San Jose, I thought that everyone was in a band. I thought that everyone had a pro skateboarder that lived in their hometown. I thought everyone was a guy that wrote a fanzine. I thought that everyone was a photographer. I thought everyone built a ramp. I thought everyone put out 7-inchess. I thought everyone wanted to play bass in a band.
What I realized was that wasn’t the case and I was so fortunate that I was in the right place at the right time. I remember putting on a skateboarding contest and I rented a generator on my dad’s credit card without asking cause we needed power. We ran a generator seriously for eight hours. Those were the types of things we would do. I grew up with guys that brought bands to my home town. The first time I saw Social Distortion, my friend brought them from LA here. I just thought that’s what people did. Being in San Jose in the 80s, and if you were into punk rock and skating you were in heaven because we had Steve Caballero, arguably one of the best skateboarders of our time. It was music and skateboarding colliding daily.
Where did you like to go to relax?
Santa Cruz. Standard. My friend Matt would call me up at 9a he would pick me up, we would go pick up a sixer and go down to the beach and skimboard all day long and we would call it burning it off. At the time I had acne. We declared that if you let your face sunburn it would go away. He would say to me, “You ready to burn it off?” I would say, “Standard, we got to burn it off.”
Where was the best place to see a show?
Cactus Club was a great place. Marsugi’s was great. Nirvana played Marsugi’s. Everyone played Marsugi’s. If you want to go by the venue that was straight up nerve of rock and roll, no smoke and mirrors at all, just set up and play and you better do well, I would say Marsugi’s. Other than that there was One Step Beyond. That was the first place you were seeing national acts on a regular basis in front of 1000 people. It was pretty sweet to see those types of bands in that kind of atmosphere. The owner was a cool guy. He would let local band open those shows.
What is San Jose’s best kept secret?
Nikki Sixx was born there. When Gaslight Anthem Played San Jose and we were talking, they were like, “Is there any local trivia?” I told them that. They just laughed.
.Joe Sib Revisits San Jose Past
