Mika, courtesy. British singer-songwriter Mika was traumatized when his sister Paloma, one of four siblings in a close-knit family, fell 50 feet from a window and was critically injured. Paloma, who designed the covers to Mika’s first two albums, was expected to die. The accident took place in 2010,…

Imagine Dragons perform at the Great American Music Hall on March 16, 2013. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. Saturday’s show at the Warfield in San Francisco featured an interesting juxtaposition of bands: A Las Vegas band that used to open for a Los Angeles band found itself the headliner, with their roles…

Richie Follin and Guards, courtesy. Richie Follin – founder of punk rock band the Willowz, former member of Cults, and now singer in New York ‘60s and ‘70s revivalists Guards – lived near Cow Hollow in San Francisco for six years, up through the sixth grade, and attended St.…

Leonard Cohen performs at Paramount Theatre in Oakland on March 3, 2013. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. At the beginning of his show at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre on March 3, the second of two sold-out nights, legendary septuagenarian crooner Leonard Cohen offered no promises of the distant future. Leonard Cohen performs at…

Maserati, courtesy. It was the last element added to the new album by Maserati. The record was tracked and ready to go, but bassist Chris McNeal of the Athens, Georgia-based instrumental psych/post-rock band had one last idea. Maserati, Minot, Silian Rail 9 p.m., March 4 Brick & Mortar Music Hall…

A Silent Film performs at Slim’s in San Francisco on Feb. 27, 2013. Romann Gokhman/STAFF. This year I’m trying to keep a thorough list of all the shows I see, so that at the end I can have an accurate list of my favorites. This put the Wednesday performance…

Thao and the Get Down Stay Down performs at Phono del Sol in San Francisco on July 12, 2014. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. San Francisco resident Thao Nguyen of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down does community work in addition to writing and performing with her band. Thao & The…

Free Energy, courtesy. It would be fair for some artists to hold a grudge or be at least a little bitter after being dropped from two record labels following their debut album. But for Free Energy, whose partnerships with James Murphy’s DFA Records, as well as EMI, disintigrated, that’s not…

The Vaccines perform at Slim’s in San Francisco on Oct. 2, 2018. Gary Chancer/STAFF. The Vaccines’ Justin Young didn’t take care of his health as much as he should have, and the English garage rock band’s singer-guitarist paid for it. After mounting an aggressive campaign with buzzy 2011 debut…

Oscar Nunez as Oscar Martinez on “The Office.” Courtesy: Photo: Mitchell Haaseth/NBC. Oscar Nunez plays an accountant on NBC’s “The Office,” but in real life, he almost ended up a dentist technician. He was unemployed, and a cousin owned a dental laboratory. His mother, a retired dentist, pushed him…