Make Mine Yours

September 25 @ 1933--Arkphonic Local Launch

October 21 @ Temblor--Doc Samson, Contranistas, Make Mine Yours

October 29 @ The Monte Carlo--Rosko Album Release Party

December 10 @ 2nd Phase Brewing

If you haven't heard Indigo Hush, let's change that! Their music was a source of sustenance and marvel to us during lockdown. We've had some of our best shows at 2nd Phase Brewing, and we have a few gadgets and gismos we're breaking in at the show. This is gonna be a good one! April 22, 7pm, 1004 19th St, Bakersfield--all ages, no cover.

Bitchin' flyer by Raul Gallardo. Thanks Nash West Productions for what's sure to be another night to remember. 

Killer Kern Records second 3 Days in Space festival was wonderful, washed in psychedelic luster with powerful, eclectic performances by artists from near and a little bit far. We were so thrilled to get to return, and the sense of community was unmatched by anything we've experienced since before lockdown. Massive thanks to Killer Kern Records, The Empty Space, Phantom Stranger, Mellow Doses, Emile Antonelle, Erwin Ledford, The Bakersfield Californian, and everyone who came out. Pretty humbling to get to play alongside so many gifted performers and unique voices. . . Mostly, I wanna know when the next The Ccircle performance is or if I can just watch them weekly, in proper ritualistic fashion. 

--Geoffrey 

Our second album, You Are King Sunshine is out on Apple Music, Spotify, and a host of other streaming platforms today. Killer Kern Records is pre-selling the vinyl, which is to be pressed in the not-too-distant future at  Burlington Record Plant, who do great work. Carl Saff did an amazing job of mastering the record.

After we handed over the mixes, we missed the comforting routine of working on the album. We took quarantine extremely seriously, and as we personally grew more physically distanced from the world, this record was a lifeline to the people who collaborated on it and helped make it better. The songs started taking shape in late spring of 2020. I (Geoffrey) would send little video clips of riffs to friends. My friend Brad complimented the riff that would become "I'm Going Home," and that made me decide it was a keeper. When Cesareo Garasa came over to lay his drum tracks, it was the first time we'd let anyone outside of our immediate family into the house. We sanitized everything first. He did the session in his mask, as far as possible from me in our little home studio, and made a beeline for the door without the usual visiting with the kids and chatting. After that, Cesareo would sometimes Zoom with us to give input on tracks and to co-produce "Pretty Pretty." Joey Romley did his piano and keyboard tracks in much the same fashion, a little later, and Paul Jacob Cartwright made his gorgeous contributions to "It Goes" remotely, from his own digs.

During the summer of 2020, Robyn and I worked on the record almost every day. Even if we were on a road trip to the woods, desert, or a park, we would listen to the mixes and develop parts. The home studio was our own little space station, decked out with gizmos to help us keep making stuff. Robyn wrote all the bass lines, some vocal lines, and played synth on "I'm Going Home." Sometimes we'd argue about mix decisions. It was good therapy. Sometimes the kids would jam too. Our daughter got pretty good at using parametric EQs to tremendous effect. The title (and cover) are our daughter's work. It's a costume she made for me in a game she invented where she's Princess Nightshade and I am King Sunshine. That kid has the best ideas. (FWIW, she also chose the band's name).

When Killer Kern approached us about helping to put out the second record, we thought it was almost done. Dylan Geurtsen proved to be a patient listener, a good friend, and a creative influence on the record. Poor guy listened to hundreds of mixes, gave honest feedback, and made great suggestions about the songs on the record.

The album is a little anachronistic at this point, as the perspectives and experiences of last summer already feel foreign and like a different life. We're already working on new songs. Thanks for checking it out. --Geoffrey

Pretty Pretty is the third single off the our forthcoming You Are King Sunshine. Co-produced by Cesareo Garasa, this psychedelic two-step was written and recorded in summer of 2020 and features Joey Romley on upright piano. Stream on April 16. 

"I'm Going Home" hits streaming services November 12.

Big news! We're on a label, one we really like that puts out bands we're super into. Killer Kern Records will be putting out Make Mine Yours' next record on vinyl. We're  humbled to be in the company of Contranistas, Niner Niner, If It Kills You, Imaginary Persons, Squatcho, the Binges, and Kevin. We're so excited that Killer Kern has taken us under their wing and grateful for the work they're doing to support so much great music. 

Wild Horse out September 25. It's a sittin' on the front porch, remembering all the cool stuff we were allowed to do in pre-COVID summers but can't do now song, with bowed, upright bass, slide guitar, and banjo. We're excited to share it with you and hope you dig it.

As much of the time as we weren't freaking out, telling our kids not to freak out, doing our part to support our shift to our students' online learning (we are teachers), and baking sourdough, we've been working on a new batch of songs. We are lucky to have a small home studio. The songs so far address desire, joy, shame, alcohol, using Instacart, and the anxiety of venturing into the world beyond home. We're thinking of calling this project Songs about Leaving the House and Not Leaving the House. Robyn has played some upright bass, and Geoffrey broke out the banjo and pedal steel for a couple tunes. Cesareo has gotten to work coming up with some really great beats for these. A few of the new songs are rockers, and a few of them are acoustic. One is a bop. We hope that they slap.

Make Mine Yours' first release, Sunshock, dropped on February 23, 2020. For the band, being able to share their new music has been exhilarating and rewarding. Just three weeks later, the world as we knew it began to spin into chaos as the coronavirus pandemic became an undeniable reality. Make Mine Yours, a band which created itself in the studio with the goal of playing live venues, album in hand, sincerely hopes for the opportunity to perform safely in person in the future, as do so many musicians who are suffering now. It's likely that whenever that opportunity arises, Sunshock will be old news. Still, we are grateful for our friends and supporters who follow us on Spotify and Apple Music.

Cesareo Garasa, who performed on the album, shared his impressions with his readers in The Bakersfield Californian shortly after its release, early during the shelter in place. On May 10, just days before the shelter in place order in California, Emile Antonell sat down and talked with us for his Bakersfield Sounds: The Listening Party podcast. You can hear a preview for the record by clicking on the preview at the bottom of this page or just check it out on your favorite streaming platform.

Album release party is TBD. Stay safe friends. xo