01.15.06 - Fishtank Ensemble completes successful first tour!

el douje has just wrapped up performing with Fishtank Ensemble on their first US tour to promote their album ‘Super Raoul’. Up and down the west coast of the United States, Fishtank Ensemble delighted audiences and wowed critics. On the success of this first tour the band is already making plans for the next tour in the fall of 2006. The tour was capped off with a rousing performce at the legendary Freight & Salvage in Berkeley,California. Video footage from that performance will serve as the bulk of the material on their upcoming DVD, due out in summer 2006. This video will capture the dynamic, energetic and unpredicable nature of a Fishtank Ensemble performance. Thank you to everyone who has supported us and we anxiuosly look forward to returning in fall 2006. Information can be found at the website fishtankensemble.com

08.10.05 - el douje artist feature and interview posted at international music ’zine XtremeMusic.

Xtreme Music: When did you begin learning Flamenco guitar and start performing under the pseudonym El Douje?

El Douje: Shortly after completing the Don Salsa record Koolaide Moustache In Jonestown, I had what would turn out to be long separation from the other guys in the band. Up until that point, I had been a drummer for the last six years, always noodling on the guitar, and always closely watching our excellent guitarist Jason Schimmel. Soon after finishing the album, I was left bandless when Tim and Jason started playing with John Whooley and Dave Murray, and went on to form Estradasphere. So I didn’t quite know what to do with myself, but I knew I really loved playing guitar. At that time, I happened to check out, and not return, a 3 CD Flamenco compilation from the UCLA library, where I was going the school. Suffice it to say that this was the best thing I did while there. I had heard Flamenco before this and loved it, but the way I heard it now, I just knew instantly that my life was changed forever. It was a difficult decision at first to completely reroute my life’s direction, but ultimately I feel I didn’t really have a choice. This music grabbed me by the heart and pulled me into it's world. So from then on, I played, practiced, and listened to as much Flamenco as I could. Gradually I absorbed the styles, techniques, and even emotions of the gypsies who made this music. More than a style of music, dance, or singing, Flamenco is more accurately, a way of feeling and experiencing life more than anything. The profound depth of the existential essence of life is reflected most passionately in Flamenco. Several years into the journey, in a moment of inspiration, I realized in an instant, that I was to be, El Douje. You can’t be a Flamenco guitartist with the name Doug, it just doesn’t work, and the Spanish can't pronounce it anyway. It wasn’t until several years later that this revelation would bear its fruit in the album “Worlds Collide”.

Read more at XtremeMusic…

05.09.05 - Foxycock's Debut Album Complete! "Black Music for White People" will be available in June.

Foxycock (n) – Truly extreme pop/rock satire/political bossa nova, filtered through unicorn-influenced space rainbow jazz.

If you've ever wondered what it would sound like if an atomic bomb the size of a black hole exploded backwards inside the bowels of the universe... well get ready to find out with the smooth sounds of Foxycock. On their debut album - 'Black Music For White People', released in summer 2005 - Foxycock embarks on a trans-galactic musical journey of comedic catharsis to bring the lost power chord back to earth, destroy the powers that be through peaceful means and score some space weed.
The music of Foxycock projects the listener through a one-hour sonic wormhole of infinite awkward possibilities into a universe on the brink of destruction. Both juvenile and sophisticated, inspiring and offending, the New York Times says, "Foxycock answers the ultimate question of life." Taking on such timely and controversial subjects as trans-racial eroticism, 9/11 nostalgia, 80s music obsession, internet porn addiction, gay children's songs and reptilian/ humanoid government leaders, Foxycock's music, though not for the weak of heart, is sure to provoke, offend and/or entertain you. More information is available at Foxycock.com.

Worlds Collide Album Review – 4.5 Stars
By Maurice Edwards, Evolution of Media Entertainment

Flamenco guitarist el douje has released a fascinating debut album entitled Worlds Collide which is an unique and captivating mixture of traditional Flamenco and modern styles such as Fusion, Drum and Bass, and Techno. As el douje states truthfully on the back of his cd, and I quote, "Worlds Collide is where new music styles meet in experimental combination of exotic sounds."

El douje playing is very passionate and rhytmic which adds a certain edge to his compositions. Some might think that el douje is musically intense because it so experimental, but one cannot deny the masterful skill el douje has as a guitarist, just take a listen to his traditional Flamenco guitar playing on "Estatua De Ansia", the cord changes are amazing. "Infusia" is a exceptionally sensual and mystical composition with John Whooley on saxophone, whose playing adds sophisticated touch to the music, like what Branford Marsalis playing did for Sting's first two solo albums Dream Of The Blue Turtle and Nothing Like The Sun.

While el douje wrote and produced the album, he recruited the assistance of two veteran musicians, drummer Dave Weckl who lends a hand on "La Jinete Final" (a pulsating Jazz/Fusion composition) and "Estatua De Ansia", which also has the legendary Jazz/Fusion bassist Tom Kennedy playing a 200 year old standup bass.

Don't be taken aback by the experimental aspects of el douje's Worlds Collide, because underneath it all lies a very beautiful and rich recording that is so passionate that it could make the sun peek through the clouds on a rainy day and reveal a rainbow.

4.5 Stars - Full article at www.eomentertainment.com/artists/El_Douje/Worlds_Collide.shtml

Fishtank - at Cayuga Vault on Dec 5, 8:00 pm

The music is an eclectic mixture of eastern European gypsy music, gypsy jazz, flamenco, klemzer and other folk styles. Led by the charismatic violin virtuoso Fabrice Martinez, the band plays exciting and inspiring mixture of Roma music styles from Romania to Spain. Award-winning saw player and vocalist Ursula Knudson lends her exceptional talent and beautiful interpretation to the mix along with Kevin Kmetz on shamisen, Aaron Seeman on accordian, el douje (Doug Smolens) on guitar, Tim Smolens (of Estradasphere fame) on bass and Adam Stacey on percussion. Tickets will be available at the door for $10, by calling 334-2099, or contact the band by email at eldouje@lycos.com. Cayuga Vault - 1100 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA.

Fishtank - Sat. Dec 4 @ the Fishtank in Oakland. $5-10 at the door

Directions:
The FISHTANK is located at 3405 Piedmont Ave in Oakland, near Broadway, behind the Saw Mill, near MacArthur BART and the Broadway/Auto Row offramp off of 580.

How to get to the FISHTANK from San Francisco:
Take Bay Bridge, get into 2nd lane from the right. STAY IN THAT LANE UNTIL OUR EXIT! This will bring you onto 580, past a bunch of freeway connection ramps (80, 24, 980). Ignore them all! Take the Broadway Auto Row/Webster exit (first street level exit off of 580). Stay to the left (DON'T take the Webster part of the exit.) This will force you to turn right onto Broadway. Immediately get into the left lane, take the first, very sharp left (almost a U-Turn) onto Piedmont. Look for the the 2nd or 3rd house on the left (depending on how you count them). There is a brick facade, looks like a dentist office or perhaps a bike shop.

How to get there from Hayward/Livermore/South Oakland:
Take 580 to the Harrison/MacArthur Exit. Go straight till Piedmont, (There's a Shell station on your right) then turn left. The FISHTANK is a couple of blocks down on the right.

Fishtank - Fri. Dec 3 at Bistro Europa in San Francisco (free but dinner reservations suggested)

Bistro Europa, 4901 Mission, San Francisco, CA.
415-469-5637 www.bistroe.com

Fishtank - Thurs. Dec 2 at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz, 9:00 (only $2)

November 2004 - 'Worlds Collide' Record Release