RILO KILEY, DAWES, DANIEL BRUMMEL & MORE + VIDEO PREMIERE: Inside QUAZAR & THE BAMBOOZLED’s ‘Burning Down The House’ Session
as seen on Substack
There’s no “right way” to deal with tragedy and trauma, but creating art can certainly be cathartic.
Almost a year after the Eaton Fire, I’m still processing the loss of our family home, our beloved foothills neighborhood, and much of the Altadena community. Not to mention the five drum sets and a carefully curated vinyl collection that went up in flames with the rest of our most precious personal possessions.
I turned to writing in the weeks after the Eaton and Palisades Fires—and later postcard collage—to process my grief and expend nervous energy. My old Silver Lake music friend and Altadena neighbor, Brandon Jay (aka Quazar), turned to music, first as a performer and soon after as the founder of Altadena Musicians, an organization helping to replace gear and vinyl for fire-impacted musicians and music-lovers.
“I lost my house and recording studio in the Eaton Canyon fire. Talking Heads’ ‘Burning Down the House’ started running through my head as soon as I got the news that our house was completely gone. I played the song for my kids while we were driving back to LA for the first time after evacuating and I told them this was going to be our family’s theme song,” Jay said.
“My band Quazar and the Bamboozled played in LA after the fire and we performed the song live with my kids joining in. It felt like my way of taking the power away from the horrible thing that just happened to us.”
Video of that Quazar and the Bamboozled performance reached the team at Gimme Shelter Collective who were curating Gimme Shelter: Songs For LA Fire Relief. The Shepard Fairey designed two-LP vinyl comp also features: Elliott Smith; Rilo Kiley; Dawes, Andrew Bird, and Alan Hampton; Flaming Lips; Norah Jones; Poolside and Satin Jackets, and Daniel Brummel & Rachel Haden, among many others. Proceeds go to nonprofit organizations supporting Altadena and Pacific Palisades.
And we can’t wait to see what arrives from the local community on the day of the Healing Force show. We’ll also be previewing tracks from Gimme Shelter: Songs For LA Fire Relief between acts. The compilation officially drops on Monday, Dec. 15.