As a musician, there are stock “rock ’n’ roll dreams” you always share with your peers. One of those is to go out on tour, especially under the best of circumstances.
That just happened to two Reno bands—Grimedog and Cryptilians—who spent a hefty chunk of June touring around the West Coast with longtime skate punk band Guttermouth.
“We had good crowds for pretty much every show,” said Lucas Grimes, bassist and singer with Grimedog. “We were fortunate to have a built-in audience to see us. I feel like we were pretty lucky, pretty blessed, honestly. This is kind of a dream come true for us.”
Both bands were ready for the big break. Lucas Grimes and his brother, guitarist/singer Wolfman Grimes, formed Grimedog 10 years ago, while drummer Jesse Johnson joined the band just six weeks before the tour started.
Cryptilians started with guitarist and singer Lanny Carey in 2015. Carey was joined by bassist and background singer Greg Souviron in 2022 and drummer Patrick McNabb this past January.
Both bands were offered the touring spots by Brandon Deriso, who operates Club Underground and was a booking agent working on the Guttermouth tour.
“I think he also wants to promote Reno and Reno bands, so that was his intention behind putting us on there, and we’re all about that shit, obviously,” Lucas Grimes said.
The tour took place from June 11 to 20. It was nine shows in 10 days, including a Reno performance a few days into the tour. Other stops included California cities San Luis Obispo, Fresno, Roseville, Oakland and Chico, as well as Seattle and Oregon cities Eugene and Portland.
The two bands switched off playing directly before Guttermouth each night. Guttermouth’s members also used Cryptilians’ and Grimedog’s amps and other equipment for the tour.
“They sent a message the next day and thanked us for letting them use the equipment, and hopefully there’ll be something in the future between us,” said Souviron.
It was the first big trek for either group. Cryptilians had played as far as Tacoma, Wash., before the tour, while Grimedog had trekked as far as Sacramento. To prep, both bands practiced hard on what they felt would be the best 30-minute set of songs.
“We worked through the set pretty hard to get it pretty tight,” Souviron said. “But we definitely got bored after a couple of nights playing the same songs, so we threw in some different songs here and there, just to keep it interesting, to keep it fun for us.”
Grimedog had the extra challenge of a brand-new bandmate. Both Grimes brothers pointed out that Johnson did an amazing job learning the band’s songs.
“It’s been the most stressful two months in my life, like straight up,” Johnson said, with some chuckles from his bandmates. “Because I didn’t want to fail these guys, you know?”
Wolfman Grimes said that the band “picked what we could fit into 30 or 35 minutes and just kind of hammered those over and over. So we did the same set every night, with maybe some minor adjustments as we worked out stuff. We had it pretty well planned out from the get-go and just focused on grinding that out.”
The members of Grimedog said some shows went better than others. Oakland and Seattle crowds were “pretty uptight,” in Lucas Grimes’ words.
“But Eugene was great,” Wolfman Grimes said. “That was, like, a younger crowd, because it was all-ages. And Fresno loved us, too. They were all pretty good, honestly.”
Added Lucas Grimes: “Yeah, a lady in San Luis Obispo came up to the merch table after we were done playing and said, ‘You made my month. My daughter just turned 18, and we took her out to this. This is one of her first concerts.’”
Carey said all of the venues were receptive. Added McNabb: “Every time we were onstage, and I looked out, people were moving in the crowd.”
Added Souviron, to laughs all around: “They were drunk, though.”
The Cryptilians members described Guttermouth as “super-nice” to them during the tour.
“They were approachable the whole time, just regular dudes,” Souviron said. “Mark (Adkins, founding member and singer for Guttermouth) was a great guy, extremely respectful.”
The members of Grimedog said they talked to Guttermouth just a little bit, but they agreed they were all nice guys.
“I was just kind of nervous to talk to them, I guess,” Johnson said. “Honestly, I didn’t even listen to much Guttermouth until this tour, but I finally talked to Mark, and he was the nicest dude ever. Like a super cool guy.”
Back in Reno, both bands are making plans to continue this momentum, but in different ways. Grimedog will host its 10th anniversary show on Aug. 8 at The Greenhouse, followed by an opening slot with national bands Dwarves and Total Chaos on Sept. 19 at Club Underground. They also want to record with their new drummer.
“We’ve still got to teach Jesse a couple new songs and then get in the studio and record them, and hopefully have our second album out sooner rather than later,” Wolfman Grimes said. “We don’t really have a deadline or anything, but I think next summer would be cool.”
Cryptilians also have recording on their mind, which is why the band is taking a break after the tour, although they may try to play again sometime in the fall.
“As soon as we came back, we started working on nothing but new material, so we can release an album later on this year,” Carey said, “We consciously decided not to pursue shows right now so that we could develop the songs.”
Both bands agreed that the touring experience was more positive than negative—and it made them want to go back out on the road in the future.
“I thought, ‘By the end of this, we’re going to be broken up, or we’re going to be a better band,’” said Carey. “And we’re definitely a better band. We’ve improved the way we play and how we are communicating since we got back.”
Keep Tahoe Punk makes its mark in the scene
South Lake Tahoe’s punk and DIY scene has been rather erratic. Some years, there are tons of punk shows. Other years, it’s a drought.
One new organization that is hoping to bring more consistent underground punk shows to the area is Keep Tahoe Punk. They’ve been around for less than a year but already have put together quality shows for fans of the fast and heavy stuff.
The group was started by Julian Silva, who also is the leader of an offshoot called Underdogs Productions, a promotion and show-managing company.
“My long-term vision is for Keep Tahoe Punk to be a platform that supports and promotes the entire local punk scene—not just our own events, but also other promoters and bands that want to keep the scene alive,” Silva said.
Silva moved to South Lake Tahoe from Chile about three years ago, and he said that many of the punk or hardcore shows he attended after he moved to the lake didn’t have much of an audience.
“Almost every punk show was for (age) 21 and up, and the kids are the future of punk, you know?” he said. “That was the main reason for (KTP), to create a place where younger generations could discover punk, meet people and start bands. If we don’t make room for young people, the scene eventually disappears.”
Even though he’s only been in South Lake Tahoe a short while, Silva knows there is a history of punk in that city, especially in the ’90s and ’00s.
“What we’re trying to do is bring new energy to it, with a strong focus on street punk and all-ages shows,” he said.
All of the KTP shows so far have been at the American Legion, which has occasionally hosted punk and metal shows for years.
“It’s one of the few venues that allows all-ages events,” Silva said. “We’d love to work with others in the future, but our priority right now is building a scene where younger people have a place to belong.”
Silva wanted to make it clear that he’s not the sole proprietor of Keep Tahoe Punk or Underdogs Productions. “A small group of friends (are) organizing these events, with help from volunteers, sound engineers and many people who donate their time simply because they believe in what we’re trying to build,” he said.
The first KTP show was on Nov. 8. Silva described it as successful but chaotic.
“Several bands had to cancel just days before the event, so we had to reorganize everything at the last minute,” Silva said. “Thanks to the support of other bands and the friends we had made along the way, we pulled it off.”
One interesting realization Silva had: A chunk of his audience is made up of punk fans in other parts of Northern California, either traveling with the bands or visiting Tahoe for the weekend.
“That has allowed us to build new connections between bands, fans and the local community,” he said. “It already feels like we’ve built a small family around Keep Tahoe Punk.”
So far, KTP rosters have included Tahoe bands such as F.O. and Dirté. Both of them will be playing at the next show, on Saturday, July 18, at the American Legion, at 2748 Lake Tahoe Blvd., with California bands Xtra and Outpatient X and Portland group Fox Medicine. There are also plans for an August show and a larger festival sometime in September.
“There are still a lot of stories left to write,” Silva said of his group’s future plans. “We’ve only put on four shows, so this is really just the beginning. We still have a lot to learn, a lot of goals to accomplish—and a long road ahead of us.”
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I love to hear about new bands, older bands’ new recordings, interesting festival shows or anything that might be related to the Reno-area music scene. Send tips my way to markearnestwriter@gmail.com or follow my Instagram page.