Fatso Jetson

Fatso Jetson is a desert rock band from the Palm Desert, California area in the United States, formed in 1994 by Mario and Larry Lalli and Tony Tornay. The Lalli cousin's are often credited as the fathers of the desert strain of stoner rock made most famous by their slightly younger bands Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age. While musically similar to some of their stoner brethren, Fatso Jetson incorporate a broader variety of musical influences that includes punk and surf.

Biography

Fatso Jetson hail from the Palm Desert area, California. Living in the desert, secluded away from the trendy "scenes" in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, the only places for original music to be played have been pool halls, Mexican restaurants (after hours) and the occasional struggling bar looking to make some fast cash. On many occasions, the only place for a band to play has been in secluded desert canyons powered by a generator. Then in 1994, Mario and Larry Lalli opened the desert's first "rock club". It was at this club that drummer Tony Tornay, bassist Larry Lalli and guitarist/singer Mario Lalli decided to start a band.

Fatso Jetson formed after Tony, Mario and Larry spent way too much time together playing pool, drinking beer and watching TV after hours at Mario and Larry's nightclub, "Rhythm & Brews". They decided that since they already played the appropriate instruments, that their time would be better spent playing music.

They played their first show in September 1994, opening for former Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn. On the basis of this show, Greg decided he wanted to release an album with the band on his record label SST. The band then went on to play as many shows as possible including a small 6 show tour with fellow desert dwellers Kyuss.

Then, in August of 1995, Fatso Jetson's first record, "Stinky Little Gods" was released. Just over 2 years later in November 1997, the band released their second full length opus, "Power Of Three", again on SST. It was around this time that the band hooked up with Brant Bjork (ex-Kyuss, ex-Fu Manchu skinsman) who played rhythm guitar. Brant stayed in this capacity until touring with Fu Manchu forced him to leave the band, though he did appear on two 7" releases. One a split with The Bloodshot, and the other a split with Fu Manchu.

In late 1997 Fatso Jetson started to look for another record label and found themselves in the company of Bongload Custom Records. In April of 1998, Tony, Mario and Larry entered Monkey Studios in Palm Springs to record their 3rd full length offering for Bongload, "Toasted", produced by Chris Goss (Masters of Reality). Then in August of 1998, Gary Arce joined the band as a rhythm guitarist for a tour up the coast with Queens of the Stone Age and continued in this role for a while playing on the 'Flames For All' record and toured with the band for a European tour and an appearance at the Dynamo festival in 1999 until he finally departed in April 2000.

In 2001, Fatso Jetson headed back in the studios to record their 5th album 'Cruel & Delicious.' It was recorded by Schneebie of Earthlings? and released on Josh Homme's record label 'Rekords Rekords'. It features 13 songs including a cover of Devo's 'Ton O' Love'.

The band continues today as a 4 piece, adding Vince Meghrouni on the saxophone and harmonica. They still write new material and play as many shows as possible.

In addition to playing shows in and around Los Angeles, Mario and Larry own and operate a small restaurant and club in Sierra Madré, California called "Café 322," located at 322 West Sierra Madre Boulevard. They often have jazz and blues artists, as well as occasionally performing themselves.

Line Up

Current lineup

* Mario Lalli: Vocals & Guitar(father of Olive Lalli).
* Larry Lalli: Bass.
* Tony Tornay: Drums.
* Vince Meghrouni: Sax & Harmonica.
* Olive Zoe Lalli: Vocals (addition live gigs)

Past members

* Brant Bjork - Guitar (1997-1998) - (Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Brant Bjork and the Bros)
* Gary Arce - Guitar (1998-2000) - (Yawning Man, The Perfect Rat)

Discography

Full Albums

* 1995 - "Stinky Little Gods" - SST Records
* 1997 - "Power of Three" - SST Records
* 1999 - "Flames for All" - Man's Ruin Records
* 2001 - "Toasted" - Bongload Custom Records
* 2002 - "Cruel and Delicious" - Rekords Rekords
* 2007 - "Fatso Jetson Live (LP)" - Cobraside

ingle and EPs

* 1998 - "Split 7inch w/ Fu Manchu" - Sessions Records
* 1998 - "Split 7inch w/ The Bloodshot" - Miracle Records
* 1999 - "Split 7inch w/ Fireball Ministry" - Cattle Prod Records

Compilations

* 1998 - "Welcome to Meteor City" - Meteor City
* 1999 - "Graven Images" - A Tribute to the Misfits - Firebird Records
* 2000 - "Stoned Again" - Bongload Custom Records

Related Bands

* Yawning Man
* Sort of Quartet
* Solarfeast
* The Chuck Dukowski Sextet
* Kyuss
* Queens of the Stone Age

External links

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hvfqxq8gld0e~T1 Fatso Jetson] at Allmusic
* [http://www.myspace.com/fatsojetson Fatso Jetson] at MySpace
* [http://cafe322.com/ Cafe 322] Lalli's Restaurant
* [http://fatsojetson.com/ New Homepage] (under construction)