| Bart Mendoza | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 5, 1962 |
| Origin | San Diego, CA, United States |
| Genres | Mod, Power Pop, Garage, Blues, Rock |
| Instruments | guitars (electric, acoustic, bass) piano |
| Years active | 1976 - present |
| Labels | none |
| Associated acts | Manual Scan The Shambles Wendy Bailey & True Stories Boys About Town Mission: To Mars* The Rarities The Riot Act The Spring Collection Static Halo Anna Troy |
| Website | The Shambles official site |
Bart Mendoza (born September 5, 1962) is an American journalist, musician[1] and songwriter.[2]
From 1981 to 1990, he was frontman and chief songwriter for mod-influenced group Manual Scan.[3][4] Since 1991 he has performed with power-pop group The Shambles.[5][6] In 2009 he also joined Wendy Bailey & True Stories fulltime as guitarist. [7]
From 1985 to 1991 Mendoza co-produced a series of music festivals in San Diego, New Sounds,[8] featuring Mod and sixties oriented groups from the U.S. and Europe. In 1986, Mendoza performed with a one-off band, Boys About Town, at the festival. The band's lineup included Mendoza and British musicians Edward Ball of The Times and Television Personalities, Paul Bevoir of The Jetset and Small Town Parade, as well as Simon Smith of the Merton Parkas and Mood Six.[9] The festival ran until 1991, with a final edition in 1999. He also published a fanzine, Sound Affects,[10] which ran to nine issues and wrote for several modzines, including England’s, In the Crowd.[11]
As a San Diego, California-based journalist he has written for numerous publications, beginning in 1993 with Axcess Magazine and including the local editions of The Reader[12] and San Diego CityBeat,[13] as well as The San Diego Union and its weekly arts insert Night & Day. National publications include the second series of Crawdaddy!,[14] while international publications include British Time Out Guides for Southern California and Spanish rock magazine Ansia De Color. He has also penned liner notes for artists including Phil Angeloff, Ray Brandes, Ryan Ferguson and The Lolas and music compilations such as This is Mod Volume 6, from Cherry Red Records.
Meanwhile, Mendoza has had numerous songs he's written or co-written, covered by artists including: Canada's The Kingpins, "Plan of Action,",[15] Germany's Daniel Hall, "Survive", Spain's Happy Losers, "Blurs Somewhere" and Los Angeles based band, The Andersons "Rain or Shine.",[16][17]
Mendoza co-founded the indie label Blindspot Records in 1991, with more than two dozen albums to date including releases from Skelpin, Mark Decerbo & Four Eyes, Skid Roper and others.[18][19] Mendoza is producer of the compilation series, Staring at the Sun, with eight volumes to date.[20] A member of the San Diego Music Foundation Board,[21] Mendoza also co-produced a series of compilations for the organization.