There’s something in the water at The Template on Mondays (and it sounds a lot like GREAT FUCKING LIVE MUSIC)
Richard shares his experience shooting a professional musicians’ jam at The Template in Ocean Beach, CA.
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!
The Return of the Music Project
While out on a leisurely feral cat/bird watching outing I unexpectedly stumbled upon a birthday jam session that blew me away.
This past Saturday, our foster daughter, Wolfy (1) had a sleepover and so Erin and I had a little more “us time” than usual. As we like to do we went on a nice long walk around our neighborhood in Ocean Beach. We were walking toward the jetty to go visit the feral cat colony and do some light birding (#alwaysbebirding) as per the usual. As we approached the skate park (which is on the way) we could hear some loud music being played (mostly drums). We weren’t sure if it was a drum circle or what but it did sound a little more complex than your run of the mill OB drum circle (no offense), and those usually take place about a mile or so away over by Newport so I was a little confused, but either way the rhythm had me hooked.
As we got to the outside of the skate park we could tell there was what seemed like some kind of a jam going on inside. Erin could tell she’d be a little overwhelmed/uncomfortable if we went in together and offered to chill outside the skate park for a little while I went into the park and checked out the scene and shot a little. (2) So I confirmed she was cool (3), set a timer for 10 minutes, and went inside to check out the scene.
Walking up I saw there were two drummers both rocking full kits, a bass player keeping it funky, and a young dude getting jiggy wit it on the keyboard as another dude tickled the keys a little over his shoulder. There were some balloons and a handmade sign showing that it was someone’s birthday but I didn’t focus on that too much because my time was too tight and the music was too intoxicating. It was a rad scene to pull up into and I wanted to maximize on the experience.
Because I was on a time crunch I didn’t have much time to hesitate so after my quick assessment I started working the scene. I started wide shooting the whole scene and pretty quickly some of the musicians noticed me. I started locking in on them as they played and it became a clear give and take where the musician I was focused on would start what can only be described as: “fuckin’ playin’ that thang.” I shifted my way around the circle going from musician to musician as they took turns ripping it up. I felt like a director as I tried my best to make some quick portraits in my short window. I was using a compact camera which allowed me to really be able to get close and play with my compositions. The musicians “going off” really was an incredible energy exchange and a fun impromptu collaboration that made the photos. I could not have had more fun in that moment.
My time ran up much quicker than I would have liked but I was happy to have had that experience. I left my card [and no money](SORRY!) in a tip jar looking thing in the hopes that someone would reach out and eventually I connected with the birthday boy himself on insta. After connecting with him online I learned this was a jam/drum battle a.k.a. a “drum shed” that was organized for his birthday. After seeing some of the videos on his insta I realized I didn’t get ANY shots of him because he was not playing while I was there shooting (D’oh!). At any rate I had a blast and am just so thankful that all the musicians were so generous with their talent and their space. It also makes me super thankful to live in an area where there is real ass art and creativity all the time. I hope my pictures do “the shed” some justice and please go check the birthday boy (@john_mdrums) out on insta and his band Sweet Myths also on insta. They have an upcoming show on April 27th at The Holding Company in OB so check that if you can and aside from all that ummmm… remember to always keep it funky I guess.
I dunno.
I love you.
Bye.
-Richard :)
(1) Not her real name but also if you want to keep up with me subscribe to my newsletter.
(2) How fucking awesome is she?
(3) She was.
