False Witness

False Witness

By: Scott Garite


It’s been five years in the making but False Witness, a local band out of Downey finally has a set line-up led by vocalist Joe “the cool” Hernandez, a Cerritos College student.

On Thursday, Cerritos College students were given a chance to witness first hand, the music of False Witness when Hernandez’s stage building and live sound class called on him to have his band perform.

False Witness, with a sound that drummer David “Crash” Simpson defines as “Dopeness on Fire," will be performing again Thursday, giving Hernandez’s class to get another chance to work hands on with the band, giving students in the class a chance to put class knowledge into action.

“I don’t know what else to call us. We’re not straight-up metal, we’re dope and if something is dope, then it should definitely be on fire, therefore dopeness on fire,” Simpson stated.

“None of the members have the same taste in music. Our tastes range from jazz and blues, to metal bands differ with bands like Testament to Slipknot, but the one band everybody in the band can agree on is Red Hot Chili Peppers,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez, originally of the band Brown Stripes, says that he’s been on a mission to create great music with great people, and through a strange course of events False Witness has a group of guys that are ready to back up this mission.

Simpson said, “I was smoking at a gas station, and I guess Hernandez felt compelled by that fact that I would do such a thing, to randomly ask if I knew of any drummers.

“I told Hernandez I played and just like that I ended up in the band.”

Matt Griswold, the lead guitarist of the band, is the only other original band mate left from the starting line-up besides Hernandez. He went on to recruit Hernandez, bringing him to collaborate with other musicians.

I just knew that Hernandez was as passionate as I was about making music. I introduced him to some other musicians and that’s how we ended up together.

False Witness would go on to have three different drummers in the band, but according to Hernandez, each one eventually disappeared into the “Twilight Zone” before adding Simpson to the band.

The original bassist fell out due to personal issues giving an opening for Chris Griswold, Matt’s younger brother to fill the void. Second guitarist, Eddie Espinoza is the latest addition; joining the band last November.

“I work with Espinoza building guitars,” the older Griswold added, “and I knew that he played guitar and also like the same kind of music so I asked him to audition. There were other guitarist’s in the running but Espinoza blew them out of the water.”

Now that there is nothing stopping False Witness from focusing on its music. The band says that it is looking forward to writing new material, playing as many shows as possible and creating relationships with fans.

Visit False Witness on Myspace to find out more about them and their future

Spotlight: Shaun Barnes

Written by: Elieth Koulzons

After being diagnosed with bipolar disease at the age of 11, Shaun Barnes has learned to overcome many obstacles in his life in order to get to where he is now.

As a radio host of the Cerritos College’s WPMD show, “Afternoon Block Party” on Tuesdays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., he feels this disease has made him grow up too fast but also broaden his horizons.

“There were a lot of things I was forced to deal with and overcome,” he said. “Most of the time, I was just confused.”

Barnes confessed that as soon as he hit puberty, he began to gain a lot of weight and grew to be very unhealthy.

There were days where he woke up in an extremely happy mood and then there were days where he woke up sad and did not know what to do with himself.

He states, “It was obvious that I was different, that I was changing. The old Shaun was gone.”

However that did not stop him from pursuing his goals. After being released from the group home he lived in at the age of 14, he aspired to become a social worker.

His career interest completely changed when he moved to Texas and began listening to “a new and fresh style of radio.”

“Growing up, Big Boy from Power 106 was my idol,” he said. “But then in Texas, I started listening to all these different DJs that had such a different style of radio that was so new and fresh. I got inspired and compelled to see what I could do with music.”

Barnes believes he has a lot to offer to listeners and could bring a fresh new sound that has not been heard on the radio for a long time.

Because many of the radio stations now are corporate-owned and force the radio hosts to be too proper and are not allowed to say what is on their minds, he believes listeners deserve someone who is not afraid to speak about politics and controversial issues.

“I love politics and watching channels such as CNN and MSNBC. When controversial issues like Prop. 8 present themselves, I’m always the one that is more than willing to talk about them and allow listeners to tune in and express their opinions as well instead of just avoiding the issue,” he claims.

After receiving his Associate’s Degree in Radio Broadcasting, he hopes to become a host at a larger and more well-known radio station or better yet host a satellite radio show where he can “keep it as real as possible.”

Although he tries to incorporate everything he has learned throughout his life into his show, he believes he still has a lot more to learn.

“I am a really humble guy. There are a lot of people out there with worse diseases that are doing much more than I am,” he said. “A lot of people have helped me get to where I am and I just hope to one day be able to give listeners a new and fresh sound they will enjoy.”