Pimpin’ Joy Ain’t Easy…

You know when you’re looking forward to something so much that you tend to overlook things along the way? That’s how the last couple of weeks have been around these parts. We’ve had tunnel vision towards the start of festival season and our return to SXSW. Can you blame us?

There however was still work to be done, and by work what I am referring to is pulling up in parking lots and meeting musicians in a van…

The parking lot in question on this excursion was the one at The Satellite in Silver Lake, CA. It’s ground we’ve trampled before, but they haven’t told us to stop trampling yet, so we contiue on. The musicians for the day were Miner, The Pimps of Joytime, and Rod Melancon. A light day by our standards, but we’re about to film thirty bands in five days, we could stand for an easy shift.

The day began on a bright note with us getting to check out some of the new gear our sponsors sent along in preparation for SXSW. While we are contractually obligated to say that we enjoy Osprey Packs, Lagunitas Beer, and MXL Microphones, it is not said with any strain or finger crossing, these really are rad companies doing and making rad things.

Spud might have gotten a bit caught up in the excitement of getting a new backpack, because he forgot to put gas in the van before he pulled up. So he had to head back onto the streets and fill’er’up. He returned going the wrong way into the parking lot to which he blamed us and said “I ain’t listening to y’all no more.” I can’t remember if any of us told him to pull the wrong way into the lot, but my instinct would be to lean towards no we did not. However, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Spud is a professional and I will not question him. I take full responsibility for his parking mishap and we move on.

Somewhere between the intern exposing his crack while putting ice in the beer coolers and Spud telling me his cousin manages the Wu Tang Clan, Miner showed up. They’re one of those indie hipster folk bands from Los Angeles. I know that seems like a sentence with a few oxymorons in it, but sometimes that just works. This was one of those times, as the music was quite good and the band quite charming. After all, Bob Dylan was most certainly a hipster, so don’t judge an anything by an anything, unless it’s a certainty, then judge away. If that makes sense go with it, regardless, the band was solid.

Pimps of Joytime were next up, and like any reliable pimp they were fashionably late. We wouldn’t want our pimps to be unfashionable, so that was ok by us. It gave us a few extra minutes to eat the tacos that our intern had fetched for our lunch. Yes, our intern fetches tacos, does yours do that?  Probably huh?  Seems pretty standard.

The Pimps of Joytime first stepped into The Van at High Sierra Music Festival in 2013 and due to their extreme levels of funkyness they quickly became one of Spudnik’s favorite bands, not just to Jam in the Van, but in the world, ever. Thus you can imagine his joy upon seeing them again. There was a lot of hugging and reintroducing and then came the funky and the dancing and the hollering Spudnik, and afterwards the “Jake, if you go to the show tonight I want you to give the light skinned girl my number, cool?” I didn’t go to the show, so, light skinned girl in The Pimps of Joytime, if you want Spud’s number email Jake@jaminthevan.com and I will see to it that it gets to you safely.

While it was a dream of Spud’s to have the Pimps of Joytime take a seat with him in Cuz’s Corner alas, that day will have to wait. Their soundcheck ran extra long and we were told (several times by an overzealous valet) that we had to clear the parking lot. Here’s to taking one’s job extra seriously. We need more of that in the world, maybe just not from valets or guys working behind bars in clubs that aren’t open for business yet. Those dudes can chill the fugh out.

So before we scooted on with our bad selves we took a flash back to a time when folks slicked their coifs up with pomade (folks might actually still do that) and met up with Rod Melancon for some rock and roll. White t-shirt, slim blue-jeans, rock and roll. That took us to the finish line right before 8PM, which was when we were supposed to be out of the lot.  So we done good ma!

I cruised back home with Spud and Jack the intern and we loaded up the beast up for her next Journey. Austin, TX we’re coming. We have lots of beer and water, and a drone, and a Spud and an intern, and a dog with a mohawk, and his littler doggie friend who doesn’t always play nice, and a couple bicycles, a lot of cameras and microphones, a puppet named clyde, a cactus thingy named Raw Clyde, a Freddie the Fish that’s low on batteries, and a Perfect Hippie. Again, Austin, TX, we’re coming.