Lars Savage - Road Dog Esq

One of our biggest shows so far, and we were stoked to Play with Earthless, Dirty Power, and Carlton Melton for this years Parkerzalooza festival to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  Lars (pictured above), per our request, came armed and equipped like the salty live-sound road-dog that he is, because we needed our best man on this one.  We came armed and equipped with multiple fog machines and some fucking high tech lasers for this bad-boy, and It was sweet.  I think our only disappointment is that now,we just want more fog and lasers.

ABC = Always Be Closing

This was our record release party, and we had our gorgeous new vinyl on hand and even sold some, which was nice, indeed.  Remember that you can order on right here at Hotfog.net/music, but I digress. For once we actually hung out by the merch booth and it turns out that people actually go over there and look at shit and

occasionally buy shit – who fucking knew? You can even see Nut Meat getting in on the action and getting real with the merch… although, we have suspicions that he was taking care of some of his “other” business that night, but that’s just how Nut Meat do.

Nut Meat, TCB

We have a variety of photos up on our Flickr site, and we hope to have some killer photos of the band drenched in smoke and fucking lasers — we’ll let you know for sure.

All of the bands were killer that night and it was maybe the heaviest ‘Zalooza ever. Things got a bit fuzzy towards the end of the night, but it appears that perhaps we won some kind of award from Bob Reed?

We have a special purpose

Our friends at the unparalleled bastion of radness that is Aquarius Records have featured “Wyvern and Children First” on the New Arrivals newsletter, which can be seen here: http://www.aquariusrecords.org/cat/newest.html. Here’s the review:

HOT FOG: Limited colored RED vinyl 12″ debut from this kick ass new  local metal band, who are all about D&D and Iron Maiden, so you know  we’d love ‘em!

HOT FOG Wyvern And Children First (self-released) 12″ 9.98

The ranks of the Bay Area’s true metallions continues to expand, kick ass band by kick ass band. Old timers like Brocas Helm and Stone Vengeance are finally seeing a whole new generation take up the ’80s metal torch, like Saviours and Space Vacation. Locals HOT FOG now join the cause, making their debut with this limited edition, vinyl-only five-song 12″ release – of which we’ve got the SUPER LIMITED (100 copies) red colored vinyl, while they last (there’s 400 more on black vinyl). It’s 180 gram, 45 rpm, with cover art by psychedelic San Francisco poster artist Alan Forbes. Nice. One side of the insert bears the lyrics, the other is decorated with a dungeon map appropriated from an old D&D module! (And there’s a picture of an owlbear from D&D as well, gotta love that!)
We also can’t help but love the punning title. As with any true metal band in this day and age, it may be that their tongues aren’t entirely removed from their cheeks. Without being utterly ironic, you can still have a sense of humor about this brand of D&D metal (you maybe have to). Doesn’t stop it from ruling though. And they’re definitely SERIOUS about loving medieval metal and kicking ass. Having fun, drinking beer, all that, but not taking the piss to the extent of a band like Boyjazz (who, we gotta say, were pretty killer, silly though they were).
What it comes down to it though, all you need to know about Hot Fog is, do they rock? And more to the point, do they slay? We’d say yea, and verily. Like a fist in the air, the vocals scream and soar. The galloping guitars storm to attack. It’s 1983 all over again, and in your face! The riffs are all instant headbangers, dished out with practically punk energy. It’s hard for us to decide which song is the most catchy, maybe the Cat Scratch Feverish “Blood Wedding”, which reminds us of another local act, Night After Night (RIP).
Their biggest influence is probably (or, should we say, obviously) Iron Maiden, a fact confirmed by their singer/guitarist, who also told us that early Metallica has been sneaking into their songwriting as well… but he’s adamant that they shouldn’t ever get too thrashy. As he says, you’ve got have choruses “for the ladies”. He also gave us some insight into the band’s creative, artistic process: they got drunk and made a long list of cool if nonsensical names for songs (like “Dwarf King Of The Sovereign”, “To The Helm”, “Blood Wedding”, “Death Killers”, and “Gloved Vengeance”, which happen to be the tracks here). Then, later, whenever someone would come up with good riff, they’d get to pick which song title to use. And the singer then had to write lyrics to fit! Something of a challenge, but he managed to do it, and with flair. Hey if it works for them… maybe that’s what 3 Inches Of Blood do too?
If you want to check ‘em out in person (we haven’t yet had the pleasure, but are looking forward to it), they’re playing tomorrow night (that’s Saturday, June 19th, 2010 as we write this) opening the “Parkerzalooza VI” at the Bottom Of The Hill, with Earthless, Carlton Melton, and Dirty Power. All those bands are cool, but Hot Fog will definitely be the most METAL of ‘em!
MPEG Stream: “Dwarf King Of The Sovereign”
MPEG Stream: “To The Helm”

Front Cover of our fresh vinyl...

... and the back - Kill You in the face is right!

Our vinyl is here, and we are super stoked. Artwork by the incredible Alan Forbes, and layout by Mike. We did 180 gram vinyl @ 45 rpm for the absolute highest in sound quality that can be achieved with this archaic technology. This is a limited run, and we only have 500 total copies… 400 in black vinyl, and 100 in cool-ass red vinyl.  Go to http://www.hotfog.net/music to send us an email to pre-order a copy. We will also have them at our Show this saturday at Bottom of the Hill.

Here that iTunes? No way!

Man – all kinds of stuff is happening on the Hot Fog front these days… not ONLY are we releasing a record and playing a HUGE show this week, but our first interview was recently published on sfappeal.com. Not only is it a great interview, but it may hold the record for the most typos every published.  I don’t know what “half oil” is, but i guess i said it, so it means something… anyway, it doesn’t make my bold statement any less true. Anyway, thanks to Corey for sitting there and listening to us, and thanks to the Latin American club for making the last 12 yeas of my life much less productive than they could have been. We look forward to sitting down with whomever else dares to interview us and let’s see THEM match that typo count!

One of Parker Gibbs’ famous emails promoting this years Parkerzalooza Show… Hot Fog get’s a typically gross mention:

San Francisco’s newest metal sensations, HOT FOG will then keep the train-a-rollin as they perform songs off of their debut EP (with cover art by Alan Forbes!) Wyvern and Children First. These veterans of the Bay Area rock have honed an intricate sound of twin guitar, relentless riffs and melodic harmonies built around Tim Mitchells soaring vocals (his highs often remind me of a 12 year old asian girl who has collected a rare Pokemon card) and D&D imagery. Add in the pummeling beats of one of rocks greatest rhythm sections and you have a band to be reckoned with. Covers and originals alike, Hot Fog fucking rules and you will probably shit yourself with glee. Or just shit yourself anyway, because thats what happens when you hit a certain age. Like me. But I digress…

Here’s the entirety of the email, in case you are curious.

People. After a one year hiatus PARKERZALOOZA is back, bigger, better, and drunker than ever featuring a TWO DAY line-up that makes Cal Jam look like a county fair. This is my SIXTH year, so come on out and help me celebrate!

To witness: DAY ONE: Saturday June 19th at 9pm, The Bottom of the Hill. $12. The Rawwwk show…

HEAVY Sf Psych rockers Carlton Melton will open the set with a blistering set of instrumental psych-prog rock that will make you wish you had never left the safety of the Shire. Minds will be blown and boners will be popped as Rich, Andy and Clint make waves of music that pummel their audience into quivering piles of flesh. Huge in europe and on the peninsula, Carlton Melton will melt your face. Also, do not forget Rich Millman is a guitar god and on a night with many great players, that is saying something. Get there at 9 sharp cuz you do not want to miss them!

San Francisco’s newest metal sensations, HOT FOG will then keep the train-a-rollin as they perform songs off of their debut EP (with cover art by Alan Forbes!) Wyvern and Children First. These veterans of the Bay Area rock have honed an intricate sound of twin guitar, relentless riffs and melodic harmonies built around Tim Mitchells soaring vocals (his highs often remind me of a 12 year old asian girl who has collected a rare Pokemon card) and D&D imagery. Add in the pummeling beats of one of rocks greatest rhythm sections and you have a band to be reckoned with. Covers and originals alike, Hot Fog fucking rules and you will probably shit yourself with glee. Or just shit yourself anyway, because thats what happens when you hit a certain age. Like me. But I digress…

SF’ local faves Dirty Power will be doing a rare reunion show that has me all confused and excited at once in my naughty parts. With a sound infleunced by Dianetics, Ronnie James Dio, the bathrooms of The Eagle Tavern and Satans taint, Dirty Power forge a mix of anthemic choruses, dueling leads, and the driving cowbell from days of yore that will have you pumping your fists like people used to do when they were excited about something, or when making a drunken point at someone who refuses to listen. This is smart metal for smart asses and you are in for a wonderful, metal, treat. You are all welcome for this selfless gift.

Closing out the show are PARKERZALOOZA veterans Earthless. By their own admission, EARTHLESS play instrumental, partially improvised and grooved out LOUD rock-n-roll with nods to Hendrix, Amon Duul II, Hawkwind, and eyeballs floating in space. All I know is everytime I hear Isaiah soloing, Mike holding it down, and Mario pounding out fills like the twin headed baby of John Bonham and Billy Cobham, I get a huge smile on my face, my brain leaves my body, my boner runs to the front of the stage, and all is good in the world for the next hour. EARTHLESS is the best of all worlds, and I am stoked and honored that they will be rocking yours.

The great and legendary DJ Sasquatch Boracho will be dropping the rawwk knowledge on you all throughout the night. DJ FOODCOURT is still in jail in Ibiza.

Thats DAY ONE and I am already exhausted and hung over. But ya know what? DAY TWO is only a few short hours away so I need to get home, put on my jambos, eat an ambien, do a shot, yell at my neighbors then slide into my race car bed and get some shut eye. Shit is very much on…