The Acme Rocket Quintet returns to the Davis music scene, 30 years later
By AMRA ABID — features@theaggie.org
On Friday, Oct. 24, Delta of Venus hummed with the vibrant sounds of the Acme Rocket Quintet, as their instrumental, jazz-inflected music filled the intimate space.
The Acme Rocket Quintet, starring Roger Kunkel, Rusi Gustafson, Dave Thompson, John Killebrew and Adam Hancock, is a living representation of one of the most unique things about Davis: its music scene. Formed over 30 years ago as the Acme Rocket Quartet, the band’s story is a testament to how the small college town has long been a magnetic hub for creative communities.
To understand the Acme Rocket Quintet is to know Davis in the early 1990s, when KDVS90.3FM wasn’t just a college radio station but rather, the lifeblood of a vibrant music ecosystem.
Kunkel, the band’s lead guitarist, shared how college radio has historically celebrated alternative music.
“The alternative music scene was really focused on college towns that had radio stations, because commercial stations weren’t playing the stuff and there was no internet for streaming,” Kunkel said. “Most people who were into indie or alternative music of some variety would listen to college radio stations. And so, Davis was on the map.”
For Kunkel, a Sacramento native, the influence of Davis’ unique music scene had an effect on him long before he ever picked up an instrument.
“I started listening to KDVS when I was like 10 or 11,” Kunkel said. “I had an older brother who was listening already, so I was hearing stuff from real early that was […] all across the board, because KDVS had all these different shows and different DJs and you choose your favorite DJs […] and listen in. I wasn’t even really a musician yet, but I was just absorbing all this stuff, you know?”
Gustafson, the band’s current drummer, shared that the importance of the radio station went beyond music, offering a gateway into the world of making art.
“KDVS was so open that you could go down there as a teenager and hang out and look through the records and listen to the DJs and talk with [them],” Gustafson said. “Sometimes they’d play stuff for you that you wanted.”
To Gustafson, the openness of the community alone was enough to translate into real opportunities for a young musician like himself.
“The very first night that I played drums with them in [a friend’s] garage, we recorded what we were doing on a cassette boom box,” Gustafson said. “We knew who the DJ was that night at KDVS. We rode our bikes over — because none of us were even driving yet — with a cassette that we had just recorded and said, ‘Listen to this; this is our band,’ and the guy said, ‘Really?’ And they just played our band on the radio station. I was just 16 years old, and to just have that opportunity was so cool.”
Gustafson also shared how the community contributed to the formulation of their group dynamic.
“This community was really just supportive […] and there was an opportunity for young people to do [collaborate],” Gustafson said. “I think […] a huge part of what influenced us, besides the radio station and the amount of music that we could hear, is that it was something fun that you could do with your friends — put a band together, [find] something to do.”
For Gustafson and his peers, that sense of creative possibility was especially meaningful.
“In the early 80s, Davis was kind of boring, and you kind of had to make your own fun,” Gustafson said. “It was small and boring but we had the radio station, we could hear music and we could get our stuff on the radio — that was really really [influential].”
Although the artists originated from a vibrant punk rock scene, Kunkel wanted to shift gears with the sound of the Acme Rocket Quartet.
“We both sort of come out of rock and punk more than jazz,” Kunkel said. “But I sort of had some amount of interest in jazz my whole life. I wasn’t really attempting to play it that much until Acme Rocket Quartet.”
He describes their sound as “jazz-esque:” instrumental explorations that blend jazz with blues and other influences, ultimately creating music that resists easy categorization.
In the group’s early days, venues were simply wherever the artists could find space.
“We’d occasionally have fundraising shows at the [Veterans] Memorial Theater,” Kunkel said. “We played on the side of the stage. We were the intermission band or the transition band. Like between bands, we’d play weird music on the side of the stage.”
It was a thriving time for indie bands, a scene built on house parties, basement shows and the constant circulation of ideas through KDVS’ airwaves. Nonetheless, it didn’t stop them from going on to release multiple records and play shows wherever they could. As the years passed, families and growing careers gradually pulled the members in different directions, causing the group to eventually go on hiatus. Then, Roger decided to reach out to see if that flame was still there.
“I sent an email to everybody saying, ‘Do you have any interest in reforming a band that at least is something like Acme Rocket?’” Kunkel said. “And, to my surprise, everyone said yes.”
The band officially reunited in 2022, with Hancock as an additional member — transforming the Acme Rocket Quartet into a Quintet.
While the passing years have changed both the band and the City of Davis itself, Kunkel found that the essence of the scene he was once a part of had endured. A few years ago, Kunkel says he went to a basement show next to campus and was struck by the continuity.
“I was amazed because it was so much like it was,” Kunkel said.
What he discovered upon his return was a familiar energy that seemed to transcend generations.
“You have to be careful not to assume that you’re not gonna like stuff, because like ‘It’s not from my world, like things were different 30 years ago’ — and they were different,” Kunkel said. “I feel like then, we were all enmeshed in this [certain] community, but that still goes on.”
Although many aspects of the scene remain the same, Kunkel reflected on the ways in which it is different.
“All that we were exposed to […] was on the radio all the time — you know there was really no other way we would have found it,” Kunkel said. “I mean, I don’t know how you could have found it without hearing it on the radio.”
Still, the musicians’ primary motive never changed.
“None of us have really made it,” Kunkel said. “And it hasn’t been the reason that we’ve done it, forever, you know? [As a band], you don’t really make any money, or even break even. But, like I said, we’ve never been in it for the money. It’s more because we’re really into the music itself and pushing ourselves as musicians. And the social aspect, the fun part.”
Gustafson shared that what has kept the band going for all these years was primarily the social aspect of the group.
“It’s just fun to get together with your friends and form a band,” Gustafson said. “You know, you gotta get together and socialize around something. So for us, music is that thing.”
Ultimately, Kunkel wants today’s aspiring artists to know that, regardless of what city they are in, they should not let anything get in the way of continuing to make art.
“You don’t need commercial success to justify the endeavor,” Kunkel said. “You just need a space to play, friends to play with and a community willing to listen.”
Written by: Amra Abid — features@theaggie.org
