Hello friends,

You might recall that back in March I wrote about a time where I briefly stumbled across an epic jam/drum battle while out on a walk with Erin. As I was writing that blog I made initial contact with @john_mdrums a.k.a. John Martinez drummer extraordinaire on insta who was the reason the jam was put together (1). As things go, I kept up with John because I knew how impactful the 10 minutes I shared with his crew was to me personally and he was my connection to that scene. So I kept my ears to the street for an opportunity to spend more time together and the opportunity soon came.

About a month ago I saw John post about a jam that he was putting together at The Template, this insane art café (2) in OB that I absolutely love. I mentioned that I’d love to come by and shoot photos sometime which John seemed receptive to but this wouldn’t be able to materialize until a month later (3) so I don’t think he put much stock into my threat.  As luck would have it, the jams kept on and last Monday (4) I reached out to John to confirm as much.

“Yo man you guys jamming tonight?”

“Yes”

“Template?”

“Yes”

“Rad. I’ll see you there man.”

Now in hindsight I realize that I am a crazy person for thinking John would remember me saying I wanted to come take pictures of his jam a month ago but I showed up with my camera ready to shoot anyway. My month old intel had a 6pm start time and I strolled up at 6:15pm thinking I was late but as it turned out the jam was scheduled to start at 6:30pm and in reality it didn’t really get started until closer to 7pm. This was fine because it gave me time to meet some of the musicians that were hanging out waiting for things to get going.

I awkwardly wedge myself into some conversations and chatted up anyone who would have me which led to some great conversations and some …well pretty uncomfortable “Welp. See you later” moments. Luckily for me I’m able to see the humor in these situations and not take it as a slight against me. And for the record, there were only a couple of these hilariously awkward moments and most everyone I chatted with was super nice and welcoming even though I did show up as a complete outsider —with a camera no less.

After 30 minutes of schmoozing and occasionally flailing socially I sense things are getting close to starting so I start shooting a little. The musicians waste no time. After a collaborative effort to throw a massive rug over a support beam to help with the acoustics from the drum kit, they’re ready too. Their sound checks are not your typical snare hit, snare hit, snare hit, …symbol crash, symbol crash… No these guys just start playing —and fucking well. Really fucking well. I recognize some of them from the jam at the skatepark and I am immediately in that feeling again. The talent oozes from these players. It’s intoxicating. Surreal.

I don’t waste my time either (5). I jump in and start getting a feel for the various players and the space. After 10 minutes or so of this it is fully on!

Throughout the night there were a handful of drummers, a couple percussionists and bass players, a few key players, a flautist, a few horn players (two sax, one trumpet), one beatboxer, one singer who popped up near the end, and naturally a metric shit ton of guitarists. It is a “professional musician’s jam” and as such everyone absolutely rips it.

The house band leads the jam with John popping out from behind his kit to MC between songs. They play for two and a half hours straight taking only short breaks (6) between songs to occasionally shout out the players, and after a few songs to start cycling in other musicians who have been patiently waiting in the audience for their turn to shred. As much as I love music I’ve never been classically trained and therefore I’m not able to speak very intelligently about the genre of music being played, if any (7) but I’d say the music this night lived somewhere in the contemporary upbeat Jazz (8), funk, adult alternative, and rock world with plenty of room for anything and everything. To put it more simply you could classify it as great live music, with real life and soul.

To think that this is a FREE SHOW is almost unfathomable as it was truly one of the best live music experiences of my life, and not to suck my own dick here but I’ve been to a ton of incredible concerts, festivals, and shows but something about this jam... I mean the sheer talent, the improvised nature of it all, and the experimental vibe of The Template itself, it really just makes for something truly special. If you’re in San Diego or close by and you want to see some of the most talented musicians in the city put the plane together midflight as they rocket off the proverbial cliff, come through to The Template on Mondays 6:30pm – 9:30pm, get your face melted, and throw a $20 in the tip jar (9). If you are a LIVE music or jam band fan, this is for you. 

(1) It was a birthday shed! (sung in the style of the Monster Mash “it was a graveyard smash” refrain)

(2) Picture Burning Man if it was a coffee shop.

(3) As a parent it’s not always easy for me to get out on a weeknight and last month I was already pretty tapped out attending many events of a multi-week photo festival, and prepping and participating in my favorite art fair of the year —Look I was busy OK?!

(4) March 8, 2023

(5) I came to shoot music, maaaaaan.

(6) We’re talking maybe 30 seconds to a minute max.

(7) DON’T LIKE TRY TO PUT ME IN A BOX, MAAAAN!

(8) I’m just typing words. I have no idea what I’m talking about, but it feels right if that means anything.

(9) Or more!