The Schizophonics

The future of rock 'n' roll? If it's not Schizophonics, than it should be. Appearing at Bar Pink July 30, this trio is incendiary. True, they have made several worthy recordings, including their new ace single, "Put Your Weight On It," a terrific slab of Detroit-style rock 'n' roll. But, if ever there was a group you need to see live, it's this one. The band is rock solid, anchored by Lety Beers pounding drums, however it's Pat Beers that will make you a believer. A manic player in constant motion, Beers doesn't so much play the guitar as exorcise it. There's a touch of Jimi, the crossroads and a more than hint of soul in his fretboard, but even with all that it's his explosive performing style that will impress. Beers is easily one of the best frontmen to emerge from the area's music community in decades.

- Bart Mendoza, North Park News, San Diego, CA - North Park News

It’s around 11 p.m. on a Thursday in July and there are nine people in the band room at Eleven, the City Heights nightclub, as Schitzophonics start their set. They’re playing a simple blues-rock tune carried by a four-chord riff when, all of a sudden, frontman Pat Beers launches into the wildest guitar solo I’ve ever seen.

Beers thrashes around the stage, his guitar flailing as it lets out a flow of fuzzed-out moans. Soon Beers’ strap flies off and it gets tangled up with the mic stand, but he doesn’t bother to put it back on when he swings the guitar back into his hands to resume the song’s driving riff.

For the rest of the hour-long set, the local trio gives the small crowd all it’s got. Bassist James Accardi stalks across his corner of the stage. Lety Mora pounds on the drums. Beers barks into the microphone and whips his guitar around, somehow managing to hit all the right notes. Well, most of them, anyway.

Channeling the spirit of Jimi Hendrix and Iggy Pop—the “yin and yang of music,” as Beers calls them— Schitzophonics offer up some of the most fun psych-rock in San Diego. They might not be the best musicians— their riffs are simple, Beers says his lyrics are “gibberish” and his solos mostly consist of gnarled string bends. But their raw energy is downright narcotic.

“It’s all about the freak-out. That’s all it is. I don’t even care about the songs, necessarily,” Beers says. “The rhythm guitar is all meant to be, like, played while on your back or doing a somersault.”

Beers, 27, has an easy smile, a delightful name (“A lot of people think it’s a stage name,” Accardi says) and a really cool guitar—a well-worn, custom-built Fender Stratocaster with a dinosaur’s open jaws carved into the headstock. Some people think Beers is just doing a shtick when he’s on stage. Others think he’s on drugs. But Mora, his wife-to-be—the wedding is on Sept. 3—says he’s just being his crazy self.

When Beers and Mora did the Coronado Bay Bridge Run together in May, she notes, he took off and left her in the dust.

“He did a four-mile run over the bridge in 29 minutes, without even training for it,” she says.

On stage, Accardi and Mora make it a point to keep up.

“When we play, we do maybe a 45-minute, maybe an hour set at the most,” Accardi says. “We don’t stop most of the time because we have to. We stop because we’re all about to have a heart attack.”

The band started playing together in 2009; Mora, who knows Beers from high school in Arizona, joined the band when their old drummer quit—she didn’t know how to play, so she had to teach herself.

At the time, their biggest goal was to play at Bar Pink, the North Park bar co-owned by John Reis, one of their musical heroes. But they’ve far surpassed that goal, partly with the help of FM 94/9’s Tim Pyles, the band’s biggest champion. They’ve played at The Casbah, they’ve hired a manager and they recently recorded a self-titled debut album that’s solid even without the visual aid of Beers’ onstage antics.

But it’s still all about the live show. They used to get wasted before they played, but now they play sober— they can get crazier that way.

“I mean, if you drank a few beers before running, like, a few miles, it’d be disastrous. You’d just die,” Beers says. “So, I just want to put more and more energy into it. Because most of the time, I don’t feel like I have enough. I just want to be able to put as much energy as I can.”

Apparently, it’s become something of a necessity.

“You know when we haven’t played a show in a while, because he acts funny,” Mora says. “He has to unleash it.”


Schitzophonics will celebrate the release of their new CD with The New Kinetics, Legz and JJCnV at Eleven on Friday, Aug. 12. - San Diego City Beat

“Pat Beers has managed to turn his Stratocaster into a Jimi Hendrix ouija board. Once the possession begins, the guitar throws itself into a frenzy, which Pat can hardly control. Like a large cat being strangled, it fights back and bites. Pat holds on for dear life, tossing Pat about like a rag doll, while managing to pull off some notes and chords. It’s obvious the guitar is playing itself. The excellent rhythm sections keeps the supernatural exhibition together, as the shock therapy session continues. Powerful. I love these guys and their energy.” - The LA Beat

“I’m sorry sometimes our shows are like this…” mumbled laughing frontman, Pat Beers.

“AWESOME?!?!?!?” answered an enthusiastic audience member last Wednesday night at The Soda Bar.

This exchange occurred after The Schitzophonics, in between songs riffed, joked around and ‘prolly created another smash- in front the fans that stuck it out to be swept up in the tsunami of sound the band is well-known and ardently loved for.

If you haven’t seen The Schitzophonics you’re in luck – they’re playing Art Around Adams (8PM Blindspot Records Stage) this Saturday, June 7.

Frontman and guitarist, Pat Beers, plays as if his very life depends on the quality of each note that he either rips out or gently cajoles from his guitar. To watch Beers and his guitar is something akin to a storm and a war between the two of them yet the outcome is just about the most impassioned guitar playing you’ll ever hear not to mention the man has the moves. If Beers musical mayhem can be simulated to war and he the General then he has the best two Lieutenant Generals at his side and the other side had better surrender -and quick. Tom Lord provides high energy and swift bass lines that never fail to compliment nor compete with Beers intense showmanship. Furthermore adding Lord as backing vocals was a strategic move worthy of Gen. Patton himself. The backbone of the Schitzophonics is the rock-steady, flawless and fearless Lety Beers. Mrs. Beers has to have one of the toughest gigs in San Diego or in music alone with the high-flying improvisational solos her guitarist keeps coming her way- and she kills it every show! - Sounds In San Diego

Founded in 2009, the Schizophonics plays fuzzy, psychedelic rock mixed with nasty funk, played with energy, passion, and freakiness.

Singer/guitarist Pat Beers has been known to play a custom dinosaur-head Strat. Beers was later joined by his future wife Lety Mora (the Rosalyns), who attended high school with him in Arizona.

They released a debut self-titled album in August 2011. The following year, the Beers' (now married) co-founded Ship Records alongside members of the New Kinetics and musician Spencer Gallop. The first of the label’s quarterly digital compilations, Against the Current, Volume 1, showcases Ship’s roster of local and out-of-town acts, including Shake Before Us and Gloomsday.

The label provided management, booking, video/audio production, graphic design, and PR/media campaigns, and is interested in bands playing rock n roll, punk, soul, prog rock, metal, and Americana. New bassist/singer Tom Lord joined the Clairemont-based band in March 2013, and they won Best Hard Rock that October at the San Diego Music Awards.

The band often plays with former Zero Robert Lopez, aka El Vez: The Mexican Elvis, serving as the back up band for his Punk Rock Review, along with Diana Death as second guitarist. Pat Beers is frequently the touring guitarist for El Vez shows.

"One of our favorite shows was our first time opening for El Vez and the Creepy Creeps," recalls Lety Beers. "This was also one of our first weekend shows playing at the Casbah too so we were super excited! The energy that night was awesome, that's the main maker or breaker with us. We play full speed every time we hit a stage, but the vibe in the room is the main factor of a great night versus a bad one. This was one of those nights where everyone was there to get down and dance up a storm. The Creepy Creeps were insane and then El Vez closed the night with his high kicks, splits, and multi-costumed spectacular. I remember EVERYONE dancing and laughing, it was perfect."

As for their worst gig, "We were having a jam BBQ at our house with a bunch of local musicians and I remember everyone was really grooving. At the time we were playing at Bar 11 all the time, so Pat got the idea to do a big show there with everyone headlining as Super Group Jam Jam. Two drum sets, four guitars, bass, just a cluster of us like we would in the garage. It ended up sounding like what you imagine hell sounds like. It was so chaotic."

Side projects include Bowiephonics, which is Schizophonics plus Diana Death getting glammed out for a fully-costumed David Bowie tribute. The Little Richards sport an all-star lineup of polka-dot studded
Robert Lopez (El Vez, The Zeros), Diana Death (Chinese Rocks), Joshua Kmak (Nformals), and Schitzophonics, doing an all-Little Richard set.

The Schizophonics kicked off 2014 with a new single, "Can't Take It," on the Munster label. "It's a three song 7-inch," says Lety Beers. "Pat did the cover art himself, and the photo is a cell phone shot by our friend and fellow musician Angie Walton from Duping the Public at a Tin Can show. These songs were inspired from our summer [2013] tour with El Vez. We did a Spain and Italy tour where we had loads of people asking if we had any vinyl. Along the trip, Inigo from Munster Records was there, and we just got to talking about how much the people there were sill such avid record collectors, and he offered to put out a single for us."

Mike Stax from the Loons also helped with some of the music production. "You can hear his harmonies, hand claps and tambourine on two of the tracks," says Lety.

In September 2014, the band was named Best Hard Rock at the San Diego Music Awards. - San Diego Reader

1st off…Love the Band name, how cool is that, The Schizophonics. The music pounds you , heavy garage rock fuzzed out jams. Let’s hope we get a Meet the Band soon with The Schizophonics, awesome way to start off a new week of Records of the day…..A++++ - 50THIRDAND3RD