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Once upon a time, the city of San Francisco gave birth to a diminutive three-headed beast named Tommy Guerrero. From a very young age, the kid could skateboard up walls and down hills like no one else. He played in punk rock bands well before he could even get into the clubs legally. And he displayed an artistry in life that few folks ever achieve.
At 41, the guy's resume reads like a dream-- Bones Brigade skate team in the '80s, movie appearances, co-founder of Real Skateboards and 40s Clothing, art director for Krooked Skateboarding, and prolific recording artist, from the Fat Jazzy Grooves and Another Late Night compilations, to albums for Mo'Wax, Galaxia, Function 8, Rush [Japan] and Quannum. Then there's the collaborations with Lyrics Born, Jack Johnson, and Prefuse 73, and the remixes for Money Mark/Nigo, Poets of Rhythm and Sean Lee. His band Jet Black Crayon has toured with Isotope 217 and Tortoise. He's scored tunes for Thomas Campbell's surf film Sprout, the EA video game Skate and had the honor of being the sole provider of music for Todd Oldham's show Hand Made Modern on HGTV. He's packed houses from the Fujirock Festival to Cafe DuNord in S.F. and Knitting Factory in N.Y.C.
Tommy's music, like his graphic design, is beguilingly simple. He sounds like a guy fucking around on his front stoop--and maybe that's exactly accurates--but the results touch you down to your toes. His melodies dance lightly around your head while the rhythms build under your feet. His is soul music, made by a street kid raised on Santana and Bill Withers, with more than a little nod to The Clash and Public Enemy in there, too. |
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