When a mutual friend of Fishboy founder Eric Michener and writer, actress, comedian and musician Charlyne Yi (Paper Heart, Knocked Up) said Yi was looking for DIY spaces for a tour, Michener knew just the place.
The Old Dirty Basement of J&J’s Pizza on the downtown Denton Square.
So Los Angeles band Sacred Destinies — the duo Yi shares with Jet Elfman — will play the creaky (and occasionally leaky) space at the local pizzeria at 9 p.m. Monday. Fishboy opens for the duo.
Michener was quick to explain that he’s not met or talked with the actress yet. He just hooked her up with a place that met her description.
“She preferred a DIY space and not a club,” Michener said.
In Michener’s estimation, the basement fit the bill. The musician has played solo sets in the basement, and his band, Fishboy, has played there too.
“I like that it’s an intimate setting and I like that it’s fairly easy to set up,” he said. “And the shows are generally donation, so there’s not as much pressure to make the club money, I suppose. Not a lot of pressure to bring the people out.”
One of the first shows Michener saw in Denton was at J&J’s about 15 years ago. He learned about one of the best perks of the space when he played there.
“They give you free pizza if you play, and it’s delicious,” he said.
Fishboy opens for Sacred Destinies with its newest lineup — Scarlett Wright, Grahm Robinson and Samuel Escalante. The band will play some songs from its upcoming album, An Elephant, and from the band’s earlier records.
An Elephant is an album and a comic about the ghost of a perturbed pachyderm electrocuted in 1903. The album imagines that the elephant, Topsy, gets to avenge her death. Thomas Edison used 6,600 volts of electricity to kill the elephant in a publicity stunt meant to scare the public away from using alternating currents.
An Elephant will be released in November, but it’s available for streaming online now.
Michener talked about his approach to music, which is often includes drawing comics that riff on the songs or elaborate on them. Fishboy often makes happy music about serious things.
“I'm really aware of songwriting cliches,” Michener said. “And so I am aware of what a perfect song, for me, is. It’s usually a combination of things. I don’t really want to write in first person about myself unless it’s a character’s point of view.
“I love songs that make you so happy you cry. I like having that challenge. I like creating emotion in something that wouldn’t maybe have a story.”
Michener is Fishboy’s lead vocalist, and he has a knack for wordplay — which the artist said doesn’t necessarily come naturally.
“It’s hard for me to write lyrics unless I’m sitting there, working at it for a while,” Michener said. “Trying to set limits for myself in that way is what I need to be able to write lyrics. We have a new song on the new album called ‘Totes.’ There is a word in every line that has a long ‘oh’ sound. That’s the kind of thing I try to do.”
Michener said the full band will play on Monday. Sacred Destinies has just one song posted on its Bandcamp.com page, but “Storks and Mosquitos” implies that the two bands are a good match.
“I think it’s cool that she’s going on this super-duper DIY tour,” Michener said. “We’ll stop at around 11. J&J’s closes at midnight, and it’s going to be a Monday, but it should be a fun show.”
