I first started going to shows and playing music in the late 90's and caught the tail end of a vibrant SJ/South Bay scene. The early/mid 2000s were conversely dull and fractured, and the few bands that were hustling out there rarely reached out to each other in any meaningful sense. I moved away from SJ in 2008 with things still feeling this way. When I returned a year later in 2009, a whole new generation of enthusiastic kids had started going to, setting up, and playing shows. Before this, Shinobu typically played shows to nobody, but our first show back in 2009 brought out 100 kids! I remember meeting Brandon Holder and selling him a Shinobu LP in Dan Vo's living room after a particularly fun show. Brandon added me on facebook, and when I saw him post something about being excited for freshman year, I assumed that he meant college not high school, because I didn't know he was so young! Soon enough, Brandon and Dan were in a band with Elijah, Drew and Francisco (who I thought was the young clone of my friend JJ), and they nonchalantly dropped a killer EP on bandcamp that blew my mind. Leer took parts of their favorite SJ bands, like Matsuri and Hard Girls, and fused them with major-key, Japanese-style math rock elements, resulting in an exhilarating and, to this day, completely unique sound. I'm super happy to have been able to be a part of Leer's existence, from rapping with them on stage, to putting out their record, to even just seeing them perform a bunch. Most of Leer are about the same age now as I was when I first met them, and it's super cool to imagine that the up and coming kids in SJ now look at Leer as their generation's local legends. I'm excited to see them play one last time this weekend and jazzed to see what the future holds for all of them!
