Longtime Reno psychobilly band Los Pistoleros recently returned from a big adventure—their first-ever shows in Brazil.
Together since 2010, the local band was in Brazil from Feb. 8-18, playing three shows, including a gig at the Psycho Carnival festival in Curitiba. The members of Los Pistoleros—Andy Hernandez on upright bass, Chris Chamberlain on guitar and vocals, and Lee Johnson on drums—played the country during its annual Carnival celebrations.
“Curitiba does more like an alternative version of it,” said Johnson about Carnival. “They do have the samba aspect that Rio and São Paulo do, but they do a lot of other ‘rocker’-themed stuff besides Psycho Carnival. Like, there was a zombie walk with like 35,000 people.”
Apart from the Psycho Carnival gig, Los Pistoleros also played in Ponta Grossa and Colombo, booking those shows with the help of the festival’s promoters, Hernandez said. Los Pistoleros ended up being the only U.S. band to take part in the festival.
The band played in front of about 1,000 people for their festival show and about 400-500 people at each of the other two club shows. The camaraderie among the bands, fans and people of Brazil left a lasting impression on Los Pistoleros.
“I was impressed with the way people treated each other,” said Hernandez. “That’s one of the main things for me—just how great human interaction is there. That, and the landscape. I mean, it’s just beautiful, right? It’s hard to put into words.”
The band said Psycho Carnival organizers want to re-book them for 2027—which should work for the band, as festival shows have become their main priority. In addition to a return visit in July to the Psychobilly Meeting festival in Spain, Los Pistoleros will be part of the annual Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend on April 9-12. They’ve also been confirmed for Muddy Roots in Cookeville, Tenn., on Sept. 4-6, with headliners such as Circle Jerks, Municipal Waste and Frankie and the Witch Fingers.
“We’ve been kind of pushing the bar toward festivals these days,” said Hernandez. “We went from being local to touring, and then from touring to playing festivals, and now we’re kind of just sticking to that. That’s just the progression.”
There is a Reno show coming up, though, at “Fairy Fair: A Mystical Market,” this Saturday, March 7, at The Potentialist Workshop, 836 E. Second St.
Also in the works: Los Pistoleros’ fourth album, called The Unholy Trinity. Hernandez said it will be their first on vinyl. It was mixed and mastered by Rene de la Muerte, leader of the Canadian psychobilly group The Brains, and should be out in about six months, Hernandez said. Hear what they’ve already recorded at their Bandcamp site.
Big changes for The Scattering
The Scattering is another Reno band with a distinctive sound, kind of like Nevada weather. Don’t like one of its noisier, time-change-heavy hardcore songs? Wait for the next one, maybe a more straightforward punk song, or a slower, doomy metal one.
Sudden change is also a part of its real band life as Rashidul Kader, bassist for the past nine years, is leaving The Scattering and moving to Detroit with his partner, Rachael Blizzard, in late March. He said he will continue to play music and work as a live sound engineer, which Kader did at Reno clubs such as Cargo, The Alpine and Holland Project.
“A lot of the reason we’re leaving is just a change in scenery, a change of pace,” Kader said. “We chose Detroit because there’s a lot of diversity there—way more than here—and it just seems like it’s becoming an exciting place to be, and we want to be a part of that revitalization.”
The rest of The Scattering—guitarist/vocalists Josh Ah Sam and Jason Jo, lead singer Jim Williams, and drummer Brian Boydstun—will continue. They have a new bassist, who they will introduce and play a few songs with during their final show with Kader, taking place at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 21, at 4th St. Brewery/Coffeebar, 1126 E. Fourth St.
Williams said the last set with Kader will feature songs the band—together since 2014—will never play again. “We’re going to retire most of it,” he said.
Instead, the band members will continue writing new material and start playing again when a new set is ready to go.
“To be all Spinal Tap-py about it, it’s like us to 11,” Williams said.
Added Boydstun: “We all have our different tastes, and we’re kind of like 10 bands in a trenchcoat. One guy’s collection of influences is leaving, and another one is entering. And, people’s tastes change, too, and our maturity as players develops. So, it’s a good opportunity to try something that we’ve never done before.”
Jo and Ah Sam are also writing together more; previously, it was mostly Jo who would come up with the foundational riffs for Scattering songs.
“Josh writes completely different than me,” Jo said. “So, already, the newest batch of songs after the EP (last year’s Now We All Burn) is naturally going to be a lot different, because it’s both of us writing it.”
A few of these newer songs will form the encore of the March 21 set, a show that’s also a benefit for Family Soup Mutual Aid, a charity chosen by Kader.
“To the point of it being a benefit, we decided to do that because it just felt morally wrong to profit off of saying goodbye to our friend,” Williams said. “So, we wanted this farewell to also do some good.”
Kader also picked the setlist, including several older songs the band had to re-learn. They all agreed it was a fitting way to close out their time spent with Kader.
“I think I can speak for everybody that the band didn’t feel complete until Rash joined,” Williams said. “Once he was on board, all the stars aligned, and everything just felt like this was the form we were supposed to be in the whole time. And to that end, he’s irreplaceable.”
Reintroducing: Cross Stitch
Another substantial change with a local band concerns the group formerly known as Worm Shot. Starting with their show opening for Los Angeles band Love Letter tonight, March 5, at Holland Project, they will be known as Cross Stitch.
Cierra Randall, bassist for Cross Stitch, said her band chose its previous name when they had lower expectations.
“We still play for fun, and are fun, silly people in our hearts, but we don’t want to be limited to being fun and silly,” Randall said. “We write music that is really emotionally important to us, and we want a name attached to it that won’t detract from that, even if it’s just an initial impression.”
The group includes the same four members as when they formed in 2022: Randall, Baylor Luckey on guitar and vocals, Olivia Rogers on lead guitar and vocals, and Gina Hoang on drums. They quickly became known for a sound that mixed modern indie rock with ’90s grunge and riot grrrl influences.
Even with its unchanged lineup, fans of the band should expect some progression in sound that matches Cross Stitch’s new name.
“Our process, inspirations and abilities are drastically different now than they were when we started Worm Shot,” Randall said. “We started playing shows as true beginners. Someone who saw our first show and most recent show wearing a blindfold would think they were hearing two completely different bands. The sound we’re aiming for now is much heavier and riffier.”
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