Meet Vince Gutierrez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Vince Gutierrez.

Vince, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My story begins in a little north Bay Area town called Calistoga, CA. I was born and raised there through high school where I taught myself how to play the bass, drums, and guitar by ear. Bass guitar quickly became my instrument of choice early on, and soon enough my friends and I had started our first band at 13 years old.

After high school, I moved to San Francisco and attended SFSU for one year before dropping out and moving to West Oakland to pursue music full-time with my first serious project, Tear It Down (or T.i.D.). During that time (2005-2009), we toured and wrote and recorded a lot of music until our singer Alex Ruiz was tragically killed by a drunk driver after a late night show in Sonoma County, CA.

After taking a year off of music to heal, and later filling in on bass with LA band The Delta Mirror On their first tour across the country in late 2010, the North Bay Area heavy psychedelic rock troupe SAMVEGA asked me to join their band of merry pranksters after losing their bassist to a move.

From 2012-2014, we made several trips across the country in their converted ’04 Homeland Security prisoner transporter shuttle bus. Some of the best times of my life happened on those trips that I’ll never forget, and I will forever be grateful to Samvega for getting me back on the musical saddle and asking me to take the ride.

In 2013, I got a phone call from an old friend, the late Josh Fischel, singer of the Long Beach group Bargain Music and director of some Sublime music videos, such as ‘Wrong Way.’ He had some ideas about starting some local Long Beach rock theatre situation where we’d cover classic rock albums with a theatrical twist. It was called RIOTstage, made up of over 20+ local musicians, me being the only out-of-towner.

We did several performances from 2013-present. Soon after joining RIOTstage he had me booking monthly concerts all over Long Beach all while still living in the Bay Area. Then one day in 2015, Josh has let me know that he got financial approval for an idea he’s had to throw a full-on 3-day music festival in downtown Long Beach and that we had one full year to plan the inaugural event, but I had to move to Long Beach full time.

As much as I didn’t want to leave my merry pranksters in Samvega, I had a real opportunity to start a career in the music industry and had to take it. Then after pulling together the best little team we could, the Music Tastes Good Festival was born, billed as equal parts a food and a music fest, featuring bands and chefs from all over the world.

My move to Long Beach left me band-less. But two of my lifelong musical partners from back home had made the move to LA prior to me; singer/songwriter/programmer Angelica Tavella, and pianist/singer-songwriter/queer activist Daniel Crook.

So, when I arrived, we all immediately created our current musical endeavors; TV Heads (experimental,/electronic/rock and roll) with Angelica and Sean Galloway (tvheadsmusic.com), and Crook (emotional cinematic pop) with Daniel and guitarist Burak Yerebakan from Istanbul, Turkey, (crookmusic.com).

Currently, I have been working as an event producer/booker around Long Beach and Los Angeles, and have since started a monthly Queer event with my partner Cara Dolim called Queer Mondays LBC in Long Beach (@queermondaysLBC on IG) which is held every 2nd Monday of each month at Que Sera in the LBC, featuring visual artists, performance art, drag, music, and more.

Has it been a smooth road?
It’s definitely been a bumpy road. As I’ve mentioned before, my best friend and bandmate in my first group Tear It Down, had been struck and killed by a drunk driver in 2009 when we were just 22 years old. I went into a deep depression and wasn’t able to play any music for almost a full year until being asked to get back on with my next group, Samvega, (samvega.com).

The next toughest choice I had to face was leaving Samvega and Northern California to pursue my event production/festival career in Southern California. One of the toughest decisions I’ve ever had to make.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
Here I am going to talk about the Music Tastes Good Festival. It is a food and music festival held on the downtown Long Beach Marina featuring international bands and performers, as well as world-renowned chefs in the culinary industry.

There are two stages, the main stage being a rotating stage, meaning bands will be performing at all times with no stopping. There is also a Taste Tent activation that features live podcasts and interviews with the featured chefs, as well as specialty items featured by each chef’s restaurant/establishment.

I am one of the co-founders/producers, and I am the Festival Coordinator, overseeing each department and their progress leading up to the event. I’m really proud of this team and our event for becoming a real contender in this sea of music festivals in Southern California, as well as standing out as being one of the most eclectic and unique boutique festivals in the country.

We also feature a lot of local smaller bands and performers from the LA/Long Beach areas, helping them share the stage with international acts such as New Order, Janelle Monáe, Ween, The Specials, and more.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love Los Angeles, and it’s surrounding areas. From Long Beach to Pasadena, I’ve got my foot in the door in so many areas; it’s helped me see what they all have to offer.

Both my bands TV Heads and Crook had warehouse spaces in DTLA when we first moved to town, but soon found our current situations in Highland Park and Echo Park, which have both become my homes away from home.

The best thing about LA is that there is always something happening. If you can’t find something, you’re not looking hard enough.

The worst thing has probably always been the traffic, especially commuting. I’m constantly driving from rehearsal to rehearsal to gig to event, and if you don’t time it out right, count on being late.

Contact Info:

• Website: MusicTastesGood.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @vinceyprincey
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=11704569
• Twitter: @V_A_Gutierrez
• Other: Crookmusic.com

Image Credit:
Zachary Benge Photography

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