Few bands can explode your ear holes with psychedelic garage-rock quite like Pancho and the Wizards. Based in San Luis Obispo, these high-energy sonic warriors have been crafting breakneck rock jams for nearly a decade. Check out “Melting, Pt. 1” for frenzied, reverb-soaked punk, “Buzzard (Melted)” for sweaty garage rock, and “The Rift” for the Wizards’ take on electric blues. For more, visit www.instagram.com/panchoandthewizards. The band heads to Pappy and Harriet’s on Saturday, Nov. 16, to open for Black Lips. For tickets and more information, visit pappyandharriets.com. Tristan Cole Wildey is Pancho and the Wizards’ frontman and guitarist.
What was the first concert you attended?
James Taylor when I was 2 with my mom. After that, probably a Christian rock band like Relient K or Switchfoot when I was around 12 or so.
What was the first album you owned?
Also probably something Christian. I wasn’t really allowed to listen to secular music growing up. I got into torrenting albums off The Pirate Bay in high school. Some big ones for me around then were Is This It by The Strokes, Doolittle by Pixies, Whatever People Say … by Arctic Monkeys, The Moon and Antarctica by Modest Mouse, and stuff like that.
What bands are you listening to right now?
Sonic Youth, Meat Puppets, Neil Young, and Wire. Lots of great new albums this year too: Mannequin Pussy, High on Fire, Chat Pile, The Smile, and MJ Lenderman.
What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?
I can’t really think of anything! I have certain bands that I’m not crazy about, but nothing that seems super out of the ordinary.
What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?
Nirvana for sure.
What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?
Black Eyed Peas, Third Eye Blind, Pitbull, and that one Sam Smith and Disclosure song.
What’s your favorite music venue?
The Garden Street SLO Brew, which died about 10 years ago, but maybe that’s just nostalgia. Teragram Ballroom, Troubadour, The Chapel, and the Henry Miller Memorial Library.
What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?
“I’ve got a houseboat docked at the Himbo Dome!” MJ Lenderman, “Wristwatch.”
What band or artist changed your life? How?
Ovlov! One of the only bands I can think of in the last 20 years that I feel conveys emotion in a way that isn’t cringe while still being heavy and maintaining pop sensibility.
You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?
I work in live music and have spent a lot of time with a bunch of amazing artists. I’ve hardly had any bad experiences. But with that being said, sometimes I think it’s better for your faves to maintain the mystique.
What song would you like played at your funeral?
“Imma Be,” Black Eyed Peas.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
Probably The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd. I’ve listened to that album more than any other album at this point.
What song should everyone listen to right now?
I’m currently on tour with my buddies in Meatbodies. Since I’m listening to the same songs every day for three weeks in a row, I’m going to say “They Came Down” off their album Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom.