Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

The Saratoga bedroom of youthful concert promoter Eric Fanali doubles as his office.

Local promoter targets young music lovers

By Shari Kaplan

Unlike the grand finale, which signals the end of a performance, if it weren't for Grand Fanali Presents, many local performances wouldn't even have had beginnings. The organization was founded in 1996, by Eric Fanali, then a 16-year-old Saratoga High School student. He bills Grand Fanali Presents as a small, independent pseudo-company that's run from a bedroom--his!

Now 21 and a public relations major/business minor at San Jose State University, the Saratogan is already known to some on the entertainment circuit as "the valley's young Bill Graham," which he says is one of the nicest compliments an up-and-coming promoter could get.

"Bill Graham was friends with bands when he started out; he was very band-oriented. He was the bands' promoter, not the big corporations' promoter. He did some outstanding things when he was young and his heart was really into it," Fanali says.

What Fanali puts his heart into is booking and promoting local bands, especially ska and rock. His emphasis is on venues that fans of all ages can attend, because, he said, he feels there are not as many places for minors to enjoy a good show.

One of his recent projects is a party for his 22nd birthday at the Los Gatos Teen Center, also known as The Outhouse and located behind Los Gatos High School. It's reminiscent of the other venues with which he often works, including community centers and small clubs.

Set for April 13, at 7 p.m., the event features several bands, including Mall Security of Seattle, Wash., The Huxtables of Santa Cruz and Xiu Xiu of San Jose. Other "super-secret" performers and surprises are also in the works, he hints. As with most of the concerts he organizes, this is not a profit-making endeavor. Its $3 admission basically lets him break even.

"It's sort of like a showcase. People will be forced to watch and listen to the bands that I enjoy," Fanali says, chuckling. "Hopefully, people will get to know some cool bands they haven't seen before."

The event is a prelude to a summer concert series he has arranged for The Outhouse, sponsored by the Southwest YMCA. The concerts will take place every Friday night, beginning June 23 and running through the summer.

Fanali hopes this will become as successful as the tradition he and friend Patrick Larkin started at "The Fishbowl." That's the name the Le Boulanger bakery cafe at 305 N. Matilda Ave. in Sunnyvale goes by on Saturday nights, when it turns into a small concert venue for the under-21 crowd. The Fishbowl is now in its third season.

As if attending college and constantly talking with, booking and meeting bands weren't enough, Fanali has his own website. He also spends time at Santa Clara University's KSCU 103.3 FM, where he hosts a weekly radio program of movie soundtracks called The Movie Hop.

It all harkens back to the time a 16-year-old Fanali wanted to make a home video documentary on what it's like to be a teenager. It so happens the film industry is another love of his, and one he plans to pursue, down the road.

For one part of the video, Fanali needed to film a concert, so he recruited a local ska band called Monkey, put up flyers and surprised himself with a well-attended show at the Saratoga Community Center.

"I forgot entirely what we had filmed, I was so caught up in the live performance and promotion aspects of it. People were just so happy to come to this!" he says, still with an incredulous note to his voice.

"Now I'm so totally caught up in this business that I can't get out--but that's OK! You just have to have a heart and passion for it," he adds. "Some people get into it for the wrong reasons, thinking it's a cash cow. You can't make money off of people's dreams."

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For more information about Fanali's party or any of his other upcoming events, call 408.868.0115, or visit www.bayareaska.com/gfp/index.html on the Internet.

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