The Holidays. These guys were one of those great bands that came out back in the late 80’s and then too quickly disappeared. For me, as an avid fan of anything that Broken Records put out, The Holidays were one of my favorites. They were this great mix of post punk/indie pop – kind of like an edgier version of early Cure music. For me, there was just no one else like them. They released two albums: the first was Everything is Now and the follow up was Restless Heart. I was fortunate to find out that Herb Grimaud was friends with Mini and was happy that I was able to connect with him.
Mini is still making great music… actually, he never stopped. He played in a band with his brother Rich called The Reckless Ways after The Holidays (On a side note, Steve R. was also in The Reckless Ways – here is a link for him: www.monorocket.com). Now he is now in two bands: The Glimmer Stars and The Cinnamon Brothers. Mini is a busy man, husband, and father and I’m pleased he took some time out to rap with us. Definitely check out his new projects… and if you aren’t familiar with The Holidays, get to know them again. They were one of a kind in a time of music that was special and unique and they still hold up well today!
Who were the players in The Holidays?
The original line-up was Mark Schrock, Tony Snow, and myself. Rich Michaels (my brother, Rich Mendez) replaced Tony about a year or so in and played until the end of the band. Our last full year together (1990) saw our friend Tommy Dodd join when Mark called it a day.
How did the band come together, what is the history there?
The band formed when a friend of mine introduced me to Mark and Tony. I was looking for some guys that wanted to play Power Pop. They were perfect for the band that I wanted to form. Also, they were still in high school – which I thought was pretty cool. I was an old 19 year old (laughs). We did a handful of shows – all age’s gigs (because of our age) – around the L.A./Pomona Valley area for about a year or so. Although I was a fairly new Christian, I knew nothing about this burgeoning Christian music scene that was happening in Southern California. We basically “fell” into that scene. In late 1982, we performed at a local battle of the bands show and met an early version of Adam Again. They became friends to us and offered to help get us some shows at some of the churches that they played at.
How did you guys get signed to Broken Records?
The Broken thing came out of our friendship with Gene. Actually, we had first made a commitment to Blue Collar Records in 1986, again thanks to Gene. But a year later, when we were hoping to release our debut, the label was quietly going out of business. A bit discouraged, we banged on for a year and a half and then decided to record some demos. Gene was producing and took what we were doing to Joe Taylor, who ran the revamped Broken. Joe signed us and we recorded more tunes. The debut, Everything Is Now, was released in the July of 1988.
What were your musical influences on The Holidays?
We were fans of pop rock stuff like Cheap Trick, The Romantics, and The Ramones.
I know you have played in other bands post Holidays, can you tell me what bands you were in and is there any way to purchase the music?
After The Holidays I did a pop/roots thing in the mid to late 1990’s with Rich called The Reckless Ways. The past decade I’ve been rocking in a band with Mark Schrock and original drummer Tony Snow called The Glimmer Stars. I’m also doing an acoustic duo side trip with my buddy Joe Servia called The Cinnamon Brothers.
As far as purchasing The Holiday stuff, only the second release, Restless Heart, is available on iTunes. Maybe our debut – Everything Is Now – will find its way on there someday. My current bands, The Glimmer Stars, are also on iTunes. At the moment we are recording our 3rd release and we’re hoping to get that out sometime in the fall. We can be found on Facebook (of course) and on MySpace at www.myspace.com/theglimmerstarsmusic. My personal MySpace page is at www.myspace.com/minimendezsolo.
What are some of your memories playing in The Holidays? Are there shows that were memorable and what makes them stick out in your mind?
I think my personal favorite memories about those days are just meeting so many bands. It seemed that everybody was out to help one another with bill sharing, gear sharing, that kind of stuff. But mostly, the memories are of the many, many people that we met and became friends with, some of those friendships still going on. In the mid 80’s there was this scene happening that I believe was of God. It seemed that every other church had some kind of a concert series going on every weekend. There would be like 2 or 3 bands playing and it would sometimes be pretty packed. I also would get a kick out of some kid here or there, that would have a party in his back yard and there would be 3 or 4 bands playing; bands like CIA, Adam Again, The Pure Hearts, Glory Glory.
There are some memorable shows that do stick out. One of our first church shows was with the Altar Boys at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and I remember thinking, “Wow man, I’ve made it!” (laughs). All of the Reality Rock shows that we played were also very cool. John Smeby and Jason Dean were just two of the nicest guys, really first class people. Of course we did our share of tough gigs as well – an upscale Pasadena youth group that threw pennies (ouch) at us; a show in Long Beach were we played for a youth pastor and one kid (but we did rock!). But mostly, they were all just a lot of fun and we took them all with a positive attitude. We always thought of ourselves as entertainers who wanted to be real with all of the kids that we met.
They threw pennies at you!!??
Yeah, pennies. But really, to add a little more to that question, we rarely had those kinds of shows. We did a couple hundred gigs in all and they were all pretty much very enjoyable. We always felt pretty accessible to those who came to the shows and we always tried our best to carry a “There are no big shows” attitude. We could do a Knott’s Berry Farm Night for 500 one night and then do a small church in the High Desert for 50 the next night and still give it our all.
Were you friends with Gene Eugene? Any fond memories or stories to tell there?
The Holidays were pretty close to Gene; without meeting him we definitely would have never fell into the landscape. Like I said earlier, we met Gene at a local battle of the bands when he was in a band called Martus and he kind of took us under his wing by booking shows for us here and there. We never would have gotten a record deal, that’s for sure. In the studio or at the barber’s, we would burn a lot of time engaging in 70’s Top 40 trivia; he was one of the few guys that could give me a run for my money. Rich and Gene were even roomies for awhile in the early days. Gene even showed interest and wanted to work with the band I was in after The Holidays – The Reckless Ways – because he really liked the style of our guitarist, Steve R.
There are allot of memories for sure, but perhaps my fondest is on a very personal level. In 1985, my first child passed away in her sleep when she was 3 months old. Of course, it was devastating. After family, Gene was the first person that was contacted. It just worked that way. He quickly contacted (before cell phones) dozens of people, friends, to pray for us. It’s something that I will always be very grateful for.
What would you like to share and have people know about The Holidays or what you are involved in now?
I think The Holidays were a fun band that always did their best to rock. Sometimes we got teased, in fun, about a pretty solid teen following, but that’s the stuff that we had grown up with so we really enjoyed that. But I also think that we could play – Richie was a very hard-hitting drummer who stills bangs that way today; Marky was always a pretty original guitarist who was only shy off stage. If you get a minute, check out The Glimmer Stars. New EP comes this fall.
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