My username is a nickname of mine. I received the title of Switchblade Sanchez due to my "actions" one night while on tour with my previous band in Eugene, Oregon, Spring 2012.
It involved:
-A poorly lit suburban street at night, akin to Iron Maiden's 'Killers' album artwork.
-A small house serving as the venue
-Three underground thrash metal bands on a two week, West Coast tour together. (My touring/bunk mates in Monolith (L.A.) actually gave me the nickname)**
-A mentally disturbed homeless man stalking us all night in an ominous manner after the gig, his intentions unknown. [Our collective spidey senses though told us he probably was not there to sell us Girl Scout Cookies or magazine subscriptions]
+A bassist (moi) of Hispanic descent (hence Sanchez) with a flair for the dramatic and also a healthy respect for the term "Defensive Posturing"
[see below]
-Said bassists' decent size personal collection of switch blades, butterfly knives, and mechanical assist pocket knives of varying lengths and legality that he brought on tour in "secret"
•••
ACTIONS:
The "watcher" continued to harass us, not heeding to our calls for him to leave us alone. Fearing that a physical altercation may ensue, I decided to 'act'. So, with my suitcase in hand, I opened wide the doors to our gypsy wagon (our touring van) so as to provide our silent, creepy, mentally unbalanced, transient spectator an unobstructed view of me removing each of my knifes, inspecting each blade under the orange glow of the street lamps, and then distributing my pocketknives to my fellow tour mates. I made sure he could see everything that I was doing, and he did. I wanted to send him a simple message through my actions:
"Do not screw with me and my friends; we will stab you."
(I saw it as the equivalent of somebody field stripping, re-assembling, sighting and loading multiple firearms as they sit on their front porch in a show of (supposed) strength towards any n'er do-wells who might be in the vicinity.)
Whether or not this had a deterrent effect on him I will never know. But, after my metaphorical unfurling of the Gadsden flag the stranger no longer approached us or our vehicle for the rest of the night. He soon made himself scarce, disappearing into the darkness.
And so, the legend of Switchblade Sanchez was born.
** I always think of the Gilligans Island theme song when I reminisce about the tour:
"...a three ba-and tour,
a three ba-and tour..."
