The Holstered

THE HOLSTERED TURN UP THE AMPS FOR OUTER SPACE FROM THEIR FORTHCOMING RECORD - Sell Out Records

With a low key lo fi vibe The Holstered create a perfectly dreamy piece of classic rock on “Outer Space”. A sound akin to similar revivalists like Jacuzzi Boys what The Holstered does is pretty incredible. - Beach Sloth

I’m impressed mainly by the tone and ballsy approach Holstered took with their self-titled record, and would certainly recommend this album to my readers. - Tom Lohrmann Music

South Florida's Los Diablos On Live Gear

When he decided to start doing music again Los Diablos singer/guitarist Mark Dubin only had one piece of gear to his name.

"When I decided to come back into the ring, the only thing I had left equipment wise was an old beat up acoustic that was mine by default," he says "The dude who owned was in jail."

Los Diablos is a sort of punk-country, Steve Earle meets Orange County band based in South Florida. The members have been playing there, in various bands, for the past twenty years. Los Diablos had been around before and a few years back called it quits. Dubin brought out his guitar one night to play some new material for the band's drummer who was unimpressed.

"I think he said something like it sounded like I just picked up from where I left off," says Dubin. "That got me going a bit--so I played three or four tunes that were from the new batch of personal shit. I guess he dug it cause two weeks later I get a call from him saying that he put the band together and I needed to show up for rehearsal that night."

Gearwire's Patrick Ogle spoke to Dubin and guitarst Jorge Hernandez.

Patrick Ogle: You started doing music as hell raising punk rockers. Now you do music that is a tad more subtle. What are the not so obvious changes in your live set up? How about studio set up?

Mark Dubin: As far as gear goes I’m afraid I’m still in the dark ages. I’m very minimalistic. Some compression and a bit of reverb. I like the sound of my fingers sliding on the strings and too many effects mutes that out. I never really knew about guitars or sounds. I was all about loud and fast. I just kept plugging in guitars and amps till I found a combination that sounded good. Obviously that doesn’t work so well with acoustics.

Jorge Hernandez: I use a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue. My pedal board has a Little Lanei Reverb, Fulltone Full-Trem, Guyatone Delay, Keely Katana, Fulltone Fulldrive, Durham Crazy Horse and a Boss Tuner, Bullit cables, Fender White Heavy Picks. They have to be the white ones. I also use a Jet Slide. How many kids are gonna run out and buy all this stuff?

Have you been doing any recording? How you do try to capture your live sound in the studio?

Mark Dubin: Since we basically just got back together again after a few years of solo stuff we’re gearing up for a few weeks in the studio. We have a new bass player, Will Trev, and a great new guy on lap steel, Tom “Cat” Stanckus. Tom’s great--he plays anything with strings from acoustic all the way down to mandolin and banjo.

Jorge Hernandez: For recording we are going for a classic sound, Fender Champs, Blackface and Silverface era', Deluxe Reverb amps. You can't go wrong with these, they're warm and break up nicely when cranked up.

Mark Dubin: Getting the live sound is the most important thing. Maybe I’m partial to it since most of the bands I listened to growing up were too poor to afford separation in the studio.

Any surprising bit of gear that you use in your music? Something outside the "acoustic music" norm?

Jorge Hernandez: We use Durham Sexdrive pedals at our acoustic gigs. This is an amazing pedal that was designed for Bob Dylan's guitar player.

What piece of gear could you not live without that isn't a guitar? Why?

Jorge Hernandez: Little Lanelei Reverb, when used nicely it creates an aura of mystery. When you have songs of despair, anguish, despondency, reverb works.

Mark Dubin: Hey man--that’s why guys like me rely on engineers and lead guitar players. I have know idea what goes on in the background. I know they tell me that when I’m singing.I don’t eat the mike and when recording the back up vocals never pronounce the first letter of the first word of the phrase (Nashville is “Ashville).

What sort of guitar do you use. Why?

Jorge Hernandez: A Fender Telecaster, from Relic Master's. If it's good enough for "keef" (Keith Richards), it's good enough for me! I love the sound. For our type of music, it let's me capture tones which compliment the songs.

Mark Dubin: For awhile I was using those newer Fender top line acoustics… I switched up (under pressure) to Martins but they felt weak… I’m introducing myself to jumbo Gibsons and Guilds lately. Jorge and Tom (lap steel guitarist) have been turning me onto the standards.
- Gearwire.com

The Holstered Rock 'n' Roll comfort food—a satisfying sound that's like sitting down to meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

The group is in the studio recording songs for its full-length EP debut, which is due next spring.

- South Florida's Metromix

WHY THIS NAME...?

The name just sorta fit the band members... being outcasts and rebel rousers from the scene down in Miami... The Devils just kinda fit. We liked the idea behind it but it sounded a bit too... too bland... so we spiced it up a bit.

DO YOU PLAY LIVE...?

Playing live is the best thing about being in this band... the musicianship... the friendship... it's something that you don't find too often in a lot of bands.

We're also able to be a little more aggressive in our live shows... the juices are flowing and the sweats coming down... you know... your just into it.

Recording is different... the lights are low... the creativity is high... so the vibe is totally tight... and intense.

HOW, DO YOU THINK, DOES THE INTERNET (mp3) CHANGE THE MUSIC INDUSTRY...?

The internet is the best thing to happen to music since they discovered how to put a groove in vinyl. Music is freedom... and you shouldn't have to pay for freedom.

I mean... bands make money on t-shirt and sticker sales... the record companies make money on the c.d.'s and mp3 sales. Being an unsigned band... I'd rather let anyone download our stuff for free and keep their money to buy a ticket and a shirt when we come to their town.

WOULD YOU SIGN A RECORD CONTRACT WITH A MAJOR LABEL...?

Sure... the one thing a major label gives you that you can't get anywhere else is exposure and distribution. As a songwriter... it would be a lie to say that I don't want any exposure for my songs... our songs.

The majors can get your physical product in physical stores where real people can hold it... rather than the virtual world you need to rely on as an unsigned artist.

THE BAND HISTORY...?

We all have known each other for years... we all have been through similar struggles and close calls in the music scene. Divo, Jorge, and I (Mark) decided a few years back to start something different... you know... a departure from the loud and brash sh*** that we were used to playing. The songs just started to formulate on their own.

We didn't stop anything during this process... we just let it go. Some of the stuff early on was really bad... sappy and meloncholy.... we had to work hard at forming the sound that we're at now.

We wanted to get a nice mixture of loud guitars and acoustic harmony... take the best parts of stuff like The Stooges and Cheap Trick and the best parts of The White Stripes and The Black Keys. and throw it all together... and so far it's been working well.


YOUR INFLUENCES...?

We all come from the underground of rock music... no one really is from the bubble gum pop industry. We all cut our teeth in loud, fast punk rock bands and heavier alternative bands. Love of music brought us to where we are now... more emphasis on songwriting than on beating the hell out of ourselves.

So... we really have our own unique and individual influences.

We all agree on stuff like the Stones... Beatles...Iggy... just good rock -n- roll.

FAVORITE SPOT...?

Chicago and Nashville... Atlanta is cool too.

EQUIPMENT USED...?

Gibsons, Ampeg, Fender, Rogers, ... lot of vintage stuff... - Sound Click

The Diablo Inside... Mark Dubin sold his soul for rock ’n’ roll. Here’s how he’s getting it back.


by Jake Cline

Sometimes, the memories arrive unexpectedly, with a jolt as powerful as a shot of adrenaline to a stopped heart. It might take a moment for the pieces to fall into place and the particulars (names, places, abuses) to sort themselves out, but after they do, resignation sets in and Mark Dubin has to assure himself that that was him then; that’s not him now. Most often, though, he has to be reminded of the things he’s done — things he blacked out of his memory with good reason. Even then, he usually doesn’t remember doing these things, though he’s sure the stories people tell him are true.


Some of these tales are even stupidly funny, in an Old School/Fast Times at Ridgemont High way. Like, he has no recollection of entering a convenience store in Fort Lauderdale, striding over to a freezer in the back, grabbing a case of beer and walking right past the clerk without paying and out the door to his cheering friends.

Yet most of Dubin’s stories about that time in his life go more like this:

“There was a party at a band’s warehouse in Miami. I was out of my mind and I lost my shit and I started smashing people’s cars with rocks and bricks. The next day, I woke up and I didn’t remember a thing. That’s when the phone calls started coming in. My friends said, ‘Dude, you’re out of your mind. Do you know what you did?’ ”

Or this:

“Somebody drew us a flier. I’ll never forget it. It was a caricature of me. This was when I was doped out of my mind. Flies were around my head. There were beer cans and needles all over the place. It was me playing this guitar and my gut was hanging over. I remember getting it in my hand and laughing about it. But I thought, ‘Holy shit — that’s me!’ ”

Or this:

“My cocaine dealer was a heroin addict and he used to give me pills every time I bought cocaine. One night, he said, ‘I don’t have any pills to give you, but here’s this little bag of heroin.’ And I knew right then and there that it was over, that the game was on. I did it and fell in love immediately.”

Before we go any further, we probably should set a few things straight. First of all, this is not a story about drugs, though as you might have figured out by now, drugs are a big part of it. This is also not going to be one of those stories of hope the daily newspapers are so fond of trotting out, ostensibly heart-rending tales about people who overcame great adversity and now want to inspire others through their example. Not that there isn’t a great deal of hope involved here (because there is) and not that Dubin doesn’t want others to learn from his mistakes (because he does), but to approach his story that way would be to trivialize it. And Dubin’s done enough in his 30 years to trivialize his life without anyone else’s help.

What this is, above all else, is a story about rock ’n’ roll, how it cannot only save a person’s life but also destroy it. “You know that Wilco song ‘Sunken Treasure,’ ” Dubin asks between cigarettes, one vice he’s yet to kick, “where Jeff Tweedy sings, ‘I was maimed by rock ’n’ roll/I was tamed by rock ’n’ roll’? ” The question is its own answer.

The mid-’90s were a great time to be in an alternative-rock band in South Florida: Musicians had their pick of clubs at which to perform (among them Squeeze, The Plus 5 and The Reunion Room in Broward; Rose’s on the Beach, Washington Square, Churchill’s and Tobacco Road in Miami). Major-label scouts could often be seen sniffing around bands such as The Holy Terrors and I Don’t Know, looking for the next Marilyn Manson or perhaps the next Mavericks. Most important, though, a good band could build a sizable following, as apathy and mediocrity had yet to become the dominant traits of the local music scene.

At this time, Dubin was leading a band called The Johnsons, a greasy, punk-rock quartet that was less notable for its unabashedly Replacements-influenced songs than it was for its predictably unpredictable performances, fueled largely by Dubin’s razor-tongued audience-baiting, much chemical encouragement and the high-octane musicianship of guitarist Dan Ceritelli, bassist Mark Binko and drummer Jimmy Hamilton. Together from 1994 to ’97, The Johnsons were easily one of the most recklessly entertaining bands on the scene. “We’re not trying to change anything. We’re not taking a stance anywhere,” an attitudinal Dubin told this magazine in 1995. “We’re just playing music. We’re not really trying to change the world and raise consciousness.”

Off-stage, Dubin acted as The Johnsons’ de-facto representative, frequenting shows by other bands, hanging out at clubs till closing time, generally making his presence known in one way or another. “I’ve always been the funny, over-the-top, outrageous guy. Dancing on the table with my pants down. The party guy,” he admits.

And after a while, The Johnsons not only found themselve - City Link Magazine

There's nothing like seeing the "Download" links enabled for the tunes on a band's MySpace site. Wellll, doggy — free shit! Yessir, Mark Dubin of Fort Lauderdale's Los Diablos ain't no cheapskate. "We believe that if people are gonna take time to check out our shows, pay for the cover, and buy T-shirts and stickers," he says, "the least we can do is give 'em some music for free."

And, cynics, this free shit (visit www.myspace.com/losdiablosmusic) isn't badly produced or poorly written either — picture John Cougar coming of age in the era of alt-rock ennui. Or don't. "A lot of people these days use 'Americana' or 'alt-country' to tag us," Dubin says. "We wanted to get a nice mixture of loud guitars and acoustic harmony, like take the best parts of stuff like Buck Owens and Gram Parsons, and the best parts of the Replacements and Dinosaur Jr., and throw it all together. So far it's been working well."

The bandmates are finishing up their first self-released album, which will include a few live recordings, some recorded at Tobacco Road, where they play Thursday. "The Road is one of our favorite places to play," Dubin says. "One of the things that makes the place so great is the crowd, and the intent of the crowd to actually listen to the music. Coming from the backgrounds we all come from — punk and underground — we feel comfortable playing in places that are hot, smoky, and smelly, with one toilet and holes in the walls. It's nice when you can set up in a place that respects the music more than the show." - Miami Dade New Times