Aural Reports

Between his two bands Street Trash and the Shadowmen, weekly DJ sets, and booking bands, Josh “DJ joshR” Grelock is busy giving you something to do.

Street Trash has been around awhile now, even though you've broken up several times.

We stick around for some reason. It's like an ex-girlfriend you never get rid of because the sex is super-good, but she's really crazy. You don't want to talk to her, but when you fuck, it's awesome, so you still come around. We might be playing the last Street Trash show, but how many times have we said that before? It's hard to describe how we stuck around for so long. We had a lot of really good opportunities, but we weren't really able to take advantage of them.

Street Trash always seemed like a band that could implode at any minute.

It's true. I don't know how many last shows we've had. “Last show ever,” and then we're playing five or six months later. Our record took almost two years to finally get out. I don't want to say we're lazy, but it's really difficult to get things going. Even setting up practice before a show is so difficult. But Street Trash has always been about the live show. It's about breaking shit and having a good time.

So you may or may not be playing the last Street Trash show, but you don't want to call it that?

Yeah. We don't want to make an announcement because even when we say it and mean it, there's always something that comes up. It's really fun when we get together and play these songs. It's been a million times where we're like, “Fuck this! We're never playing again.” Then we do.

Your newer band is the Shadowmen?

The Shadowmen kind of happened with a band whose original singer up and left them for Texas. They hit me up. When I joined the band in July, we became the Shadowmen. The direction it's going now is really good and something we're all into.

Do people have expectations about the Shadowmen given your time in Street Trash?

Yeah, actually we played a warehouse in Long Beach for our second show. I had kids recognize me from Street Trash and say, “Your new band is cool, but I like Street Trash way better.” It's the kids with the leather jackets on, or the kids with the denim jackets with patches. Street Trash is high energy, thrash and whatever happens. The Shadowmen is more like have fun, dance and get into the groove of it. It's not so much break shit and jump off whatever's next to you. But it's still punk rock.

And you DJ as well?

Yeah, I've got two nights at Bart's Pub. There are kids that have stumbled across me playing punk rock at their local bar. They spread the word through their friends. Then, some nights, I show up and it's locals, dudes coming up to ask me where my Sublime records are. The area I live in near Bart's . . . I live in Buena Park, and there ain't shit going on around there. I go there and play rock N roll, '50s rockabilly, garage, surf, '70s punk, post-punk, new wave. I'll mix in a little rap. I'm trying to bring something new to where I live. There's no one that really cares about music. It's in an industrial area, which is actually cool because the owner's letting me have some bands play. The shows are free, and I'm spinning between the bands. I can only offer the bands beer. I'm just trying to create a place for other people around here who are into good music but have to go out of town to find a place to hang. It's slowly catching on.

Is the regular crowd ever resistant to the stuff you play?

The vibe at Bart's is way cool. There are old dudes, and I'll put on an old Agent Orange or TSOL song, and they'll be like, “No way! You're playing old punk rock!” Then you'll see them again a week later, and they'll be psyched. But a lot of people just want to hear what they play on KROQ. It can really bum me out sometimes. I grew up here and have a lot of friends here, but the majority of people around here . . . I hate to say people are right when they rip on OC bros—Hurley hats to the side, race trucks—but for the most part, it's pretty true.

Josh Grelock DJs at Bart's Pub, 7052 Orangewood Ave., Garden Grove, (714) 891-1719. Every Mon. N Sat. Call for times; Mr. California and Tea Shades play at Bart's with Josh spinning between bands, Nov. 24. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/thefakejoshr; www.myspace.com/streettrash; www.myspace.com/theshadowmenmusic.