7:00am | Buskerfest, taking place tomorrow, is the culmination of this year’s free Summer And Music concert series, which included Funk Fest, Battle of the Tribute Bands, Future Legends, Roots and Blues, and Classical Beats.  Buskerfest will feature music on 6 (SIX) stages, each with staggared performances by three bands.  Ground Zero for all this is smack dab in the middle of Linden Avenue and 1st Street. 

Starting at 5 PM, 21 local bands will perform.  A complete list of bands, including where and when they’ll perform, can be found on the SAM site.  Headlining the show are the Pawn Shop Kings, winners of last year’s busking competition, Delta Spirit, and Crystal Antlers. 

The Antlers came up in the Long Beach music scene, and their unique blend of rock, psychedelic, and prog influences thrilled audiences far and wide.  In a conversation with singer/songwriter/bassist Johnny Bell, I asked him about their insane touring schedule.

Johnny: We did 4 European tours and one trip to Iceland in about a 14 month period. This was the first time that any of us had ever traveled abroad, so it was very intense having so many new experiences in such a short amount of time.  The shows over there are amazing, though. They treated us like royalty!

Sander: Did you have any memorable ‘culture shock’ moments?

Johnny: So many. One of our first shows in the UK was in Belfast, in Northern Ireland, and I was so excited about being on the island that I mentioned on the mic that this was our first show in “Ireland.”  I was chased out of the bar by angry football hooligans who were insulted that I didn’t distinguish them from the Catholics to the South. Someone told me later that I was lucky they didn’t kill me.  Also, our bongo player, Damian, started speaking with any accent that he heard during the whole tour, without realizing it.

Sander: Why did you go to Iceland, of all places?

Johnny: We were asked to play a festival there called Iceland Airwaves. It was one of the most beautiful places I think we’ve ever been. We played two shows that were incredible, and then they bused the whole festival out to these volcanic natural hot springs called the Blue Lagoon for a huge party. Look it up! It’s crazy. We’re supposed to go back at some point and do a tour of the whole country with some bands from there.

Sander: Did they fly you over?

Johnny: Yea, they covered everything. The fest is sponsored by Iceland Air. It was actually kind of an interesting trip. The nearest place that the airline flies from [in the US] is Seatle, so we flew there and did a show, then flew to Iceland for the fest, then flew to Halifax Nova Scotia for another fest, then to New York for CMJ.

Sander: So, this is sort of a strange question but, with all this touring, and and album that’s been widely praised, and being invited to festivals all over the place, do you see a time when you can let go of your day job and be a full time musician?

Johnny: Well, the music industry is constantly changing and it seems to be harder and harder all the time to earn enough money to survive off of making music. Money is still being made off the music, but it’s not going to the artist anymore.

People have a choice now: If they like a record, buy it, or to download it for free. If they buy it, chances are the various middle men (labels, itunes, etc.) are going to squeeze, to try and get every little bit they can from that purchase. But money is still being made buy the people that sell ads on “bit torrent” sites, and Google, and the internet providers.

As an artist, they expect you to give your art away for free. We spent two years of our lives on tour, and sacrificed almost everything supporting the records we made, and no one in this band can afford an apartment. That’s what you’re up against if you want to play music now.

None of us were ever in this to make money, obviously, or we would have stopped a long time ago, but it does bother me that companies are making money off of advertising on sites that steal our music.  Working day jobs is fine. We’re all used to that. The hard part is trying to keep a decent paying job when you have to be gone all the time on tour.

Sander: How did you get involved in Buskerfest?

Johnny: Our friend Rand, who [with Justin Hectus] sets the whole thing up, asked us to play this year. We’ve missed the last of couple summers at home, so it’s nice to see that Long Beach is having all of these interesting events. It seems like a great lineup, and we’re really looking forward to seeing how all the different bands “busker.”

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Crystal Antlers will be performing on the Main Stage at 8 PM.