San Francisco Best Musician Wed Rather Didnt Quit His Day Job - JBOT/Jay Vance - Best Of San Francisco

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JBOT/Jay Vance

By night, Jay Vance is JBOT, the captive of a multicyborg band that humiliates its human member, forcing him to produce heavy-metal-influenced jokes and grinding rock 'n' roll. By day, Vance repairs amplifiers, microphones, and other music-related equipment at the Haight Ashbury Music Center. By night, JBOT is celebrated in publications such as The New Yorker, SF Weekly, and Wired for his bizarre, hilarious shows. By day, Vance takes orders by phone from the music store's basement as he works through a pile of old, broken equipment with a soldering iron.

Though JBOT is no doubt "devilish fun" as a performer (to cite The New Yorker), it's his day job where we've seen him really shine. Old electronics have gained cachet during the past decade or so as musicians have rediscovered the aural benefits of tube amplifiers, dynamic microphones, and 1960s electric guitars. A lot of this old stuff was delicate in the first place, and an informal guild of repair gurus has emerged to offer its members up as soldering Stradivarii. Vance isn't like that; he's just the friendly, patient guy who repairs stuff in the Haight Ashbury Music Center basement. He's fast, good, and doesn't charge much, and the shop stands behind his work. We really hope Vance doesn't quit his day job, no matter how well the band does.

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