San Antonio’s Powdered Wig Machine isn’t about rock ’n’ roll conventions.
Does the trio play art-rock or noisy punk? Exactly what bizarro subgenre is it aiming for? And what’s up with the crossdressing singer-guitarist who insists on playing a character named Patricia?
Given that proclivity for coloring outside the lines, it kinda makes sense the band would book not one, but two, release parties for its new album Place Your Bets.
To that end, Powdered Wig Machine is taking over Crazy Rhythms Records on Thursday, July 23, for an all-ages show then performing at 502 Bar on Friday, July 24.
If you didn’t immediately clear your schedule, message your friends and book your tickets, then you have fallen behind on keeping up with the lunatic fringe of the San Antonio music scene.
Let’s get you caught up.
Powdered Wig Machine is the brainchild of Brandon Pittman, the crossdressing singer and guitarist. Yes, the same one who performs as a character named Patricia.
The role originated as part of a performance group Pittman was in. Through the evolution of the role, Patricia has morphed from being a cooking show host who moonlights as a serial killer into her current job as a rock star.
Drummer Daniel Raigoza has known Pittman since Patricia’s inception and joined the band in 2022. The two have been in musical lockstep since.
Powdered Wig Machine has been in a perpetual search of a bass player, and most are rumored to have met a gruesome fate at the hands of Patricia. (At least that’s how the mythology goes.)
Patricia’s latest treasure, Derek Penrod, has turned out to be the perfect fit, apparently making him safe from termination.
Continued adventures
Place Your Bets chronicles the continued adventures of Patricia introduced in It’s What I’ve Always Wanted, the band’s debut. While sticking with the exploits of the same character, the songs musically venture into new directions, exploring elements of jazz and metal while sticking with the abstraction at the band’s core.
Defining Powdered Wig Machine’s sound isn’t exactly easy. It can make drastic stylistic jumps, not just tune-to-tune but within songs themselves.
Penrod, who has a jazz background, credits the bassists who came before him with laying a foundation for him to build on. Meanwhile, Raigoza, who admits jazz isn’t a genre he’s played before, acknowledged the new blood had him rethinking his approach.
Penrod’s background “brings out more of a jazzy side to my drumming,” Raigoza added.
Place Your Bets is a semi-concept album about emotional gambling and its consequences told from both fictional and personal perspectives. The references to gambling initially emerged from Pittman’s relationship with his father, an unsuccessful gambler who died in 2022.
Still struggling with the loss, Pittman discovered multiple songs he’d written had gambling references, and he finally leaned into it as a central theme. To illustrate just how dark that theme can go, he pointed to the scene in Martin Scorsese’s Casino where the central character smashes a thief’s hand.
“It’s about overplaying your hand,” Pittman said.
Between releases, Powdered Wig Machine found a home as the house band for Clown Church, a live variety show featuring comedians, magicians, fire hoopersand other present-day vaudeville acts. During that time, the band has cultivated additional followers while continuing to hone its sound in front of a fresh audience.
Trial by fire
Just four years removed from its genesis, Powdered Wig Machine — however unconventional its approach — now finds itself at the epicenter of the local music scene.
The recording of Place Your Bets features a Who’s Who of San Antonio-based musicians, including Benjamin Lopez of Bitter Critter, Chesca Umeno of Mypilots, Chris Malacara of Bexar Brass, Kyle Kunkel of Schreins, Mikey Vibes of Deer Vibes, Natalie Vargas of Stillbefriends and Valerie Champion of Cosmic Crush.
To differentiate between its back-to-back album release shows, Powdered Wig Machine will try to make each stand apart. While it will perform tracks from the new album both nights, each gig will have a different setlist that also draws on new and older material.
For Pittman, playing new songs before they are recorded “helps them in a trial-by-fire sort of way.” While far from being a jam band, Powdered Wig Machine has been known to alter compositions’ dynamics based on audience reaction.
Thursday night’s all-ages show will feature Clovers as opening act, while Friday’s 21-and-up event will feature Attic Ted and Clown Church on the bill.
Free, 7 p.m. Thursday, July 23, Crazy Rhythms Records, 3617 Broadway, Suite 402, (210) 998-2700, instagram.com/crazyrhythmsrecords.
$10, 8 p.m. Friday, July 24, 502 Bar, 502 Embassy Road, Suite 138, (210) 257-8125, 502bar.com.
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