Concert Schedule

For their 3rd album- Rucaz N Rolaz- Los Stellarians (comprised of SA from 311 and Ryan Siegel of Party Pupils) decided to veer where they left off with their last album- The Mas Chingon- and instead go down a path that felt grittier than their previous two releases.  Martinez says, “With the music that shapes lowrider culture there are so many flavors- you’ve got classic soul ballads of course but there’s also electronic-freestyle elements, and harder funk in general, that have been present in Chicano rap since the 80’s and beyond.  Taking those elements and messing with tempos you can create a lot of layered textures over the course of an album.  I think with Rucaz N Rolaz we’ve achieved that.”
 
“Man, top to bottom Rucaz N Rolaz just feels right.  Like when you have sex for the first time you’re just like- when can I do that again?  That new LS jam is that right there. 
Know what I’m saying?”
~ Sancho Campos - singer of East LA band Troublemaking Greaserz
 
10 songs deep Rucaz N Rolaz is a nighttime walk through Chicano neighborhoods that once and yet still exist - the Westside’s of San Antonio and Denver, Barelas in Albuquerque, Rose Hill in LA and the Southside of Omaha.  Old ‘hoods with patina and that are friendly with Jesus.  Where in Summer men walk in wife-beaters that show off faded tattoos, wearing dark glasses and downing beer after beer.  Where vintage Monte Carlo’s and LTD’s are customized.. Rucaz N Rolaz evokes a time and place of uniquely Chicano stories and lives lived.
 
“Aye, Los Stellarians are that band who play and sing their songs which, of course, you end up falling in love with and can’t say no to.  You feel like a damn fool for following and loving them because in the end they will leave you like all suave charmers do.  But goddamn, you will spend your last dime on those pendejos!”
~ Fermina Fierro - leader of girl gang Las Ferminas
 
“Yo when I first discovered Los Stellarians it was like stumbling across the most bomb-ass lolo parked on a side street with the drivers window down and the keys left in the ignition.. BOMB!! ~ Brian Ling - Hollywood impresario, club owner and manager of bands Ed Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros/ Bad Suns
 
Working class obsessions, vices - smoking, drinking - dreaming of money, mixing semen with bad chicas.. it’s all there in this album.  Says Siegel - “When I really got into the zone of crafting the building blocks to this record I got scared.  I was afraid that at any minute Kid Frost or Cypress Hill would storm the studio and jack these beats.  That’s only happened one other time which was last album and so I knew that we had something that was straight fire again.”
 
Combined with the tracks the album cover also encapsulates a subculture that is unique to Southern California.  Chicano legend John Valadez painted a scene only he could imagine having been immersed in the culture from its inception.  Says Martinez - “It was an honor to have a visual from John.  I’ve been a fan of his art for awhile now and his vision took this record to another level.”
 
From the opening tracks of TrippN and Zodiac (the latter coming across as Chronic era Dr. Dre) to the closing cuts of Want This and The Ballad of Benny Beltran (a poignant saga that could be told in any southern bordertown USA) Rucaz N Rolaz is a fitting piece to the catalog Los Stellarians is crafting together.

Randy Davis- Lead Vocals and Guitar

 Randy was born in Sacramento, California. As a child, The Beatles were the first major influence that started his love for music. He would hang out after school at a little the music shop called The Music Box. Mr. Childs, the owner, took Randy under his wing, knowing that his father had just passed away from a heart attack, and his mom and older sister, Cheri, had pretty much lost everything. Mr. Childs gave Randy his first guitar, and that’s how it all began. Music was wide open at that time, Jimmy Hendrix, Bob Dylan, The Allman Brothers, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison, The Grateful Dead and The Woodstock Movie fueled Randy's passion for song writing. He had his first gig at a 3rd grade school function where played his first original song ”Spring Fever”. Randy’s High School years saw him put bands aside, where he excelled as a wrestling champion. Right out of High School he started racing motorcycle professionally, and also won state and national championships in racquetball. Rock Climbing and surfing pretty much rounded things out. Randy moved to Huntington Beach in 1977 where he recorded his first demo tape which landed him a publishing deal. He only wanted to be a songwriter, but was persuaded to perform one of his songs for a sound track. That set things in motion for a band. With his neighbor introducing him to Rick Weller (Randy’s only lead guitarist, until he passed away), they soon found bass player Greg Boyer. These three formed the core of lousy little gods. Various drummers filled in, with the most notable being, Jon Schwatrz of Weird Al’s band. The boys had opening slots with 38 Special, The Doobie Brothers, Dave Mason, Eric Burdon and others. The band played all the LA venues, The Troubadour, House Of Blues, China Club, The Coconut Teaser and Orange County clubs, The Coach House, The Galaxy, and more. Warner Bros, Geffen Records, Interscope Hollywood and MCA were all in looking at the band. Music started going through some changes and the window to sign a deal, closed. Marriage, kids and 20 something years later, here we are.  The timing seemed right, while still doing long distance recordings with Greg Boyer (who moved back to Kansas); a live band was a must for Randy. He says that it’s fate that brought Ken and Darren in to his life. Always grateful for Rick and Greg, he’s ready to step out in uncharted territory with Ken and Darren and start the rebirth of lousy little gods. Let’s rock!

Ken Kowalski - Drums and Percussion

Ken grew up Burlington, Ontario just outside of Toronto in Canada. Around age 8, he found his Uncle's drums in his Grandparents attic and was immediately hooked. His influences came from many of the big name ‘60’s & ‘70’s Rock drummers and 80’s Rock and Punk Rock drummers. But, he also had the unique influences from Canadian musicians that were huge inside Canada but never broke outside the border. As his drumming progressed he started forming basement bands and playing shows at high schools and backyard parties. During this time, he also joined the drum section of the Burlington Teen Tour Band where he honed his rudimental skills and got to tour many parts of North America. Before leaving Toronto in 1986 to attend the Musicians Institute (MI) in Hollywood, Ken studied with Paul DeLong (Kim Mitchell and others), and credits him with the push that got him into the Percussion Institute of Technology (PIT) at MI. At PIT he studied under the likes of Joe Porcaro (yes Jeff’s Father!) Ralph Humphery  (Frank Zappa, Wayne Shorter, Al Jarreau and many others), Casey Schuerell (Gino Vannelli, Jean-Luc Ponty among others), Chuck Flores (Woody Herman), Maria Martinez (Barry White, Rita Coolidge, Johnny Paycheck, Nancy Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds) and Steve Houghton (Woody Herman, Rufus Reid and others). While at MI, Ken met Scott Oliver, Raym Barrett and Lee Brian (now with Fat Daddy Special); the musicians that ended up forming Charlemagne who had a great run from ‘87-’93.  They opened for Helix and Heaven’s Edge and played The Whiskey, The Troubadour, The Coconut Teaser, Red Light District and all the major clubs in the SoCal ‘80’s Rock scene.  After just missing out on signing a major record deal with WEA and then MCA, the band signed with Eonian Records. As Grunge emerged and the ‘80’s Hard Rock era ended,  it was time to raise a family, so Charlemagne came to an end. After a 23 year break from playing, Ken jumped right back in after meeting Randy and hearing his music.

Darren Smith-Bass and Backing Vocals 

Darren Smith grew up in Colorado, he began playing guitar at a young age, and formed a punk rock band with his high school friends. Heading to the University of Northern Colorado the band evolved  to include some college buddies and they played throughout the Denver area at college parties and the few clubs that featured punk rock. In the late 80’s Darren and 2 band mates moved to Southern California and began playing a hybrid punk rock in an environment dominated by hard rock and hair metal. The scene wasn’t inviting to a 3 piece band from Colorado playing punk influenced music and looking more like a precursor to grunge more than anything going on in LA at the time. Darren decided to move to San Clemente where he got involved in the martial arts business and dedicated his time to surfing and skating, only playing music for fun. In the late 90’s he discovered the new technology of non linear editing and enrolled in school at Video Symphony in Burbank California and got certified as a Pro-Tools engineer as well as learning video editing, Photoshop and web design.  Darren set up a recording studio and began playing and producing music for various artist and forming a band The Step Kids with childhood friend James Neff.  Darren and James wrote and produced an album entitled: AKA The Step Kids with Darren writing, engineering, and playing guitar, slide, keys and bass. It was at this time Darren’s focus shifted to the bass guitar and he began to dedicated most of his time to it. After playing bass with some other local musicians over the years, Darren was itching to find two things: a good singer and a good drummer. At the urging of his wife he placed an ad in Craigslist with a short video clip. As luck would have it the ad was answered by Randy Davis and he won an audition with lousy little gods.