I found myself at Hollywood Way Studios one weekend at an album wrap party for The Sly Digs. The band asked the party goers on the spot to record and sing the chorus of their track “6 Down 4 to Go.” It reminded of a drunken pirate song, but intrigued I wanted to know more. Based out of Long Beach, Calif. Josh Lopez, Thom Prevost, Greg Zuniga and David Clay came together in 2006 with common goal of playing music out. It was seven months before they agreed on a band name, as they found everything else was taken. They wanted something that encompassed the spirit of the group and “The Sly Digs,” did just that. They tracked their first album in two days, with most of the record being first takes. They had so much fun they wanted to do it all over again. They played their first show in 2007 and have played about 80 shows since then.
With families and day jobs that range from lumber sales, hotel management, swimming pool equipment sales, and managing rehearsal studios, this band’s message is to have a good time and never give up on your dream. They don’t take themselves seriously, but they do it with a passion, and make fun of everything. The Sly Digs have created their own genre, Sly Fi, combining influences of spaghetti western, punk rock, surf, rockabilly, garage, outlaw country, beef, cheese, and good old fashioned rock and roll. Their first album was called, “1000 Voices and a One Track Mind.” They have yet to determine a name with their sophomore album. Playing 2-4 gigs a month they work on music in their spare time, but say they don’t really have spare time, “It’s our job. We work as hard at this as what we earn our living and feed our families with.”
They still dream and put the work into turning their music into something bigger. Of the pay-to-play (also known as “pre-sale”) situation ever so popular in Los Angeles, they say “Sell your own tickets! I’m an artist not a promoter!” Thom Prevost, the guitar player, suffers from terrible insomnia and social anxiety. He has been a legal medical marijuana patient for the last 5 years, and a cannabis user for as long as he can remember, with indica being his preferred strains. He says, “Without the edge off the social anxiety it’s difficult to fit in and be the person I need to be, [especially in sales].”
“I used to use a mixture of both indica and sativa strains. Sativa during the day, and indica at night. But overtime, I found that indica satisfied all my needs whereas sativa strains did not. It sometimes made me more anxious,” Thom said. Thom admits that he is not a huge user of edibles mostly because of cost. He attempted growing his own medicine to be able to make his own edibles, but he has legitimate concerns with three small children in the house and the dangers of accidentally leaving edibles out. It goes to show that the responsibility is truly in the hands of the user.
In 5 years, Thom hopes that there is no distinction between medical and recreational marijuana. He believes that if he is paying taxes and paying additional marijuana and sales tax on the cannabis he’s buying, he should be able to use it for whatever he wants. The other patient in the band is David, who uses cannabis for releif of arthritis from a sports injury.
Visit TheSlyDigs.com for more information about the band. They have upcoming shows 5/28 DiPiazza’s in Long Beach, 6/3 at Copper Door in Santa Ana, and 6/18 at Diego’s in Santa Ana.