by Garrick Rawlings
When lead vocalist/guitarist Nick Oreskovich’s previous punk band (Part of the Problem) was breaking up, he formed Hard Rooster with bassist/vocalist Bryan Stone and some country began seeping into their repertoire, which they punked up a bit. The inaugural Punks & Hillbillies show concept, coming to Tower 12 in Hermosa Beach on Wednesday, July 19 at 9 pm, was a organic development according to Oreskovich, “I always wanted to blend the two, there is such a cross-pollination of punk and outlaw country in the South Bay now, I came up with the idea about a year ago. My parents listened to Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, and I used to hate all that stuff. Then I got older and now I like it, we’re the Hillbilly part of it. We have a new album coming out later this year, recorded at the legendary Sunset Sound studios with the great Steve Genewick engineering”
The retooled and thriving native Hermosa Beach band, One Square Mile (1SM) will bring the punk. It’s led by founder/guitarist/writer John McCree, a long-time Hermosa Beach resident. His affection for it runs deep as he raises the next generation of his family within this approximate one square mile of a city. McCree gives credit to his musical journey to mentor Karl Grossman, “he’s a major force in the HB Music Community that shaped my young self and someone I value and respect for years of lessons and recording my first real album War Called Peace Yuppie Ghetto. He is a phenomenal guitarist and teacher who has given lessons for 30 some odd years at his company, Music Focus in HB, without him, I would never have turned a corner in my early years as a teenager.”
“When we were trying to come up with a name, the band I was in before was Capitol Vices LTD with Roby [Rogers] from Too Rude. The bass player, Gunnar Engstrand, came up with it, and Roby, who I previously played with in the band War Called Peace back in ‘95 Roby didn’t like it, so I used it when I started this band.”
McCree explains 1SM history.
“The old bass player and drummer [Mark Vidal, Rob Holzman, respectively] and me went to see OFF! [hardcore punk supergroup led by Circle Jerks/Black Flag singer Chris Morris and Burning Brides front man Dimitri Coats] at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach. As we watched that band and started talking we decided to do that ourselves. I was in other bands but 1SM started there. We started the band by learning how to play together, making up easy parts and just playing them, and none of them ever ended up being songs – for a month. Finally, we got some rhythms together and started to gel and we were off and running. We made an EP within four months [Kicking Rocks] (“Damn good EP at that!” interjects current bassist Todd King) then a full record a year later, almost back to back [The System – see artwork for full effect of the title] and did a bunch of gigs, and it was fun. Then there was inner turmoil – this, that, and the other like so many bands. I had to do everything then, it’s a lot easier for me now.”
Lead singer/writer, Vanessa Kaylor Phillips is a truly motivated and massively talented renaissance woman, along with her 1SM duties, she employs dancing skills in The Hollywood It Girls, a flapper-clad, roaring twenties dance troupe who perform the classic old-school swing like the Charleston, the Lindy Hop, and the Jitterbug all over the southland. She’s also an in-demand hair stylist at Long Beach’s Sophisticuts Salon and is co-owner of San Pedro-based Kaylor Industries, “Specializing in all aspects of live sound, studio engineering, talent management/booking and artist styling.”
Phillips joined the band about a year and a half ago.
“Terry Davidson [drums] and me are the new additions. I used to manage the bands Albatross Overdrive and Seven Dirty Words out of Huntington Beach, and I was looking for more bands to put on a show and found 1SM. We became friends on facebook. Later John posted that he was looking for a songwriter for an acoustic thing, and at the time I was doing some blues stuff with my husband and looking for more creative outlets over the COVID. I looked them up and thought oh, I don’t think I could do that because their old singer [Noel Neville] is phenomenal. I did punk when I was younger and I had stepped away for a very long time. It didn’t hit right away, it took some time for us to get in sync with one another, I needed to know more of what they needed, and then when we got Terry it really took off, his dynamic added another layer that helped us build with one another.”
Bassist King said of the band’s personnel dynamics, “One thing I’ve never had in a band is everyone doing their part. In other bands it was like herding cats. Not this band, which is what is so great about it. Vanessa tried harder in the beginning than anyone. Phillips said, upon her first exposure to 1SM’s music, “When I first heard it, it was hard for me to get used to because, to me, it’s complicated. I really had to work at it. But now when he sends me something I get it.. They helped me a lot, they gave me a lot of direction.”
McCree interjected, “She weathered the storm, she deserved every part of this.”
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was a little kid,” Phillips said. For a great peek into what you’re in for at a 1SM show, check out their video, produced at Redondo Beach’s Blue Beach Studio Session. ER
