An additional project of Jezebel bassist Mike Croft, 300% Dynamite offers a more punk-rock appeal to its rock foundation. You may notice a bit of Clash-esque influence when listening to its more upbeat sound. Although an album is in the works, head online for updates and support in anticipation for the pending record.
The Daily Aztec: How long have you guys been playing together, and how did that come about?
Croft: JJ (drummer) and I have been playing for about two years together in various incarnations trying to get this band shaped. And he and our new bassist (Danny) grew up together in La Mesa/Spring Valley area and have been playing for about five plus years together. As a band, we’ve only been together about six to eight months. I didn’t know Danny, and I didn’t know he knew JJ, and he walked into my store (POP!) one day with my friend Michelle, and we started talking about music and I asked him to play bass in this new project I had going on. He was into it, and then we soon realized that he knew JJ, so it worked out pretty well.
DA: How has your sound developed over the years?
Croft: Our sound has developed a lot as I’ve grown more into the singer/guitarist role … and as we’ve grown more comfortable playing together. We write songs really fast, so that’s nice. JJ is a really upbeat drummer, so he kind of sets the tone a lot of times with his drumming. But he and I had played with three or four other people in various lineups trying to get this together, so it finally feels like a solid band. I had most of the songs and just kept playing them with him and whomever else we had. Then, since we’ve had Danny, we’ve written some with him as a band, which has been really nice. He’s got a lot of good ideas and both of them are super talented musicians. We’ve also crafted our direction and sound a lot more over the past six to 12 months. We sound cohesive now.
DA: What has kept you local as opposed to moving somewhere like LA?
Croft: Jezebel, my store and my girlfriend have mainly kept me local. Then, my Dad just moved out here from Connecticut, so that too now. I’m still not opposed to LA, but again the politics of the music scene are a bit of a turnoff. (I) love playing there though, when the shows are good.
DA: What’s your favorite venue to play locally?
Croft: We haven’t played a ton of shows yet, but so far it’s been The Casbah. Our first show was there, and that was our best. The Beauty Bar and The Office have been great, too. (I am) looking forward to a lot more and to seeing what the Soda Bar sounds like.
Check out 300% Dynamite on MySpace at www.myspace.com/300dynamite for details. Be sure to make your way to Beauty Bar at 8 p.m. on Dec. 16 to be musically blown away by a live performance by these local cats.
