Alicia Wagner Calzada | 210SA Jason Gerard (center) recently started playing with Diane Suzane and John Garza.

They are: Gerard

The sound: “If David Bowie and Iggy Pop had a son, and Nirvana was the uncle,” frontman Jason Gerard said.

The band: Singer, songwriter and guitarist Jason Gerard was working as a solo artist for the past four years but recently put together a backing band consisting of Diane Suzane on drums, John Garza on lead guitar and Phil Flood on bass. He dropped his first name from the act.

Albums: Lunar City (2003); Any Moment Now (2004); Tug of War (2004); Variety (2005); Instigator (2005); Enter My Domain (2005); Glass Asylum (2006); Shattered (2006); Somewhere to Go (June 2007)

Background: Gerard and Suzane played in the punk band Egoteric, which broke up in 2003.

Their words: “I want people to be haunted and moved by my music. I want to haunt them, to fascinate them, to (make them) think about the things that people don't face in their everyday lives. People have said I'm out of touch with reality, and I guess they consider that a character flaw, but I don't want to focus on the everyday, the mundane.” — Jason Gerard

Where to see them: At the La Tuna Summer Meltdown on Saturday, July 28, with Mani Sierra, Monkey Soop and IRD (led by Gerard lead guitarist Garza) at La Tuna, 100 Probandt.

The Web: myspace.com/jgerard

The 210 take: Anyone who has ever experienced a roller-coaster relationship can appreciate Gerard's lyrics. After a brief interlude of writing about UFOs, Jason Gerard met, married and divorced a woman who became the subject of nearly all of his songs. His later work “is sort of like a documentation of my relationship with my now-ex-wife,” he said; the albums alternate between “one song that's a love song and another that's an angry (cry) to a woman that caused me so much heartache or grief.” Now he's ready for the next stage of his life and his music. “In spite of my marriage ending and other difficulties, I'm a lot more hopeful about the future, so I'm hoping my songwriting will take a more positive direction,” he said.

Jessica Belasco | 210SA contributor