Interview by Jason Schreurs
The name Mark Trombino probably rings a rather large bell for anyone who was following the underground music scene in the ‘90s and early ‘00s. As well as being the acclaimed producer for a list of amazing emo-rock bands that includes Jimmy Eat World (yes, Trombino produced Clarity), Three Mile Pilot, Knapsack and Boilermaker, he was also the drummer for one of San Diego, CA’s finest exports: the incomparable Drive Like Jehu, who recently got back together to play a one-off reunion show in San Diego’s Balbao Park.
But those who live in the Highland Park neighbourhood of Los Angeles might know Trombino for something a little different. Just over a year ago he opened a donut shop there called Donut Friend that has gained quite the reputation, not only for its made-to-order style of donuts with fresh ingredients, but also the band-themed names of the donuts.
Always wanted to eat a donut named after influential emo-hardcore band Rites of Spring? Well, there’s a donut called Rites of Sprinkles. You can only imagine the other possibilities.
Trombino recently told us about how he got into the donut business, and also graciously answered our rather direct questions about the potential for further Drive Like Jehu reunion action.
So, how was your day today at the donut shop?
It was a really weird day, actually. I don’t how this actually happened, but you know that TV show Storage Wars?
Yeah, I’ve heard of it.
I’d heard of it, too, but never seen it. Apparently, they go into storage units and they get weird things and they don’t know what these things are worth, so they bring them to an “expert.” So they shot an episode with me, and I’m the expert for this piece of donut equipment that they found under a pile of something. And I knew nothing about it and I don’t know how I was supposed to be an expert; I’ve only been making donuts for a year. How am I an expert? [Laughs] But, whatever, it was fun.
So did you figure out what it actually was, like some old donut machine?
Yeah, all it was… there are these machines that make donuts automatically; so they spit out batter and there’s this conveyer belt thing that pushes it down, then flips it. It was just this little donut robot thing.
But nothing that you could use in the shop?
No, and I had no idea what it was worth, or really how it worked. So they had to feed me a bunch of information because I knew very little about it.
So, tell me, have you always been into donuts since you were a kid, and how did you first come up with the idea to open a donut shop?
I’m an American, so I like donuts like everybody else, you know? [Laughs] It was never an obsession or anything, but I went down to Orange County see that band Steel Train with a friend of mine, and on the way back we stopped in this donut shop that was putting fresh strawberries in their donuts and I was like, “Holy shit!” We’re all familiar with the big donut shops that are everywhere, but they’re pretty shitty donuts and they’re pretty simple. But I’d never seen fresh fruit inside a donut before and it blew my mind. I started thinking, “Well, if you can put fresh fruit in a donut, why stop there? You could do fresh creams, or cheese or all kinds of different things.” This is around the time that Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt was blowing up, and Chipotle was blowing up, and this whole idea of customizable food was becoming a trend, and I started thinking that you could combine that idea with a donut shop. So that was the idea, and I talked about it forever to all of my friends, and joked about it, saying, “One of these days I’m just going to chuck it all and go and open up a donut shop.” I talked about it for years.
So you had to put the idea on hold for a while then? With your music and producing, there wasn’t really enough time to do it?
Right. I was still making records, so I couldn’t really do the donut thing, and I wasn’t really serious about throwing it all away. But then the music stuff slowed way down, and I wasn’t working as much, so I started thinking, “I’m going to have to find something else to do.” And I then I thought about the donut shop again, which I’d be talking about forever, and I thought, “Maybe I’ll do that!” I just decided, why not? I’d been talking about it forever; it was time to put up or shut up.
And the music-themed donuts must have been a pretty easy fit for you then?
Um, it was actually something I fought at first. I resisted it a little bit. I didn’t want me to be a big part of Donut Friend; I always envisioned it to be more of a chain-type place, not a boutique donut shop. So I wanted it to stand on its own. But a friend of mine and I were having drinks one night…
[Laughs] That’s where the good ideas come from!
…and we were just spit-balling these donut names, and some of them were terrible and some of them were hilarious. When I heard Rites of Sprinkles, I thought it was just perfect. And then it just started clicking and making sense. It was great to combine the music names and it’s given Donut Friend more of an identity than it had before.
When people come through your front door, they must have either a look of complete confusion, or they must be totally stoked, depending on whether they know those bands are not.
Well, the idea was that the names would be specific enough to each donut that they would still make sense if you didn’t know the bands. Rites of Sprinkles fits. Obviously, it’s a sprinkled donut, and maybe it’s a dumb name, but for someone that doesn’t know the band Rites of Spring, they’d still get it. It’s a sprinkled donut. So I don’t think the band names throw people, for the most part, but I think people get overwhelmed when they walk in because of the number of choices they have.
And you must get a lot of folks that just point at the donut names on the menu and they’re stoked? The music fans…
Yeah, totally. A lot of people will come in and order donuts based on the name, not what’s in the donut or anything, but just because they like the band. And that always makes me laugh a little bit.
So they pick the band name over what’s actually in the donut?
Yeah… “I don’t really like that flavour, but I like the band, so I need to get that donut” or whatever. [Laughs]
What are your thoughts on donuts as a trend? We did a story on Rice and Bread about the trend of cupcakes and how that went really fast, and now donuts seem like the next thing. Are donuts here to stay?
I don’t think donuts are going away. I mean, cupcakes definitely had their day, or their moment or whatever, but donuts have always been around, or at least for 100 years, and they will continue to be around. I’ve only been open a year, so I’m riding the trend a little. I didn’t start it because of the trend, but I started at the same time as a lot of other people who had the similar idea that donuts are rad. I think they’ll peak and people will get bored of donuts at some point, but I’m hoping that Donut Friend has a little bit more to offer than just a typical donut shop.
What was it like for you to go from being so immersed in the music industry, with all of your production work, and probably spending most of your time in a studio, to now being on the floor of a donut shop and working in the food industry? Is it a different speed?
It’s so different, and so outside of my comfort zone. People that have worked with me know that I’m super meticulous, and kind of a control freak. No, I am a control freak. [Laughs] And I do everything myself, because I have to do everything myself, and I’m not great with people. I’m not an ego-boosting, cheerleader type of producer. And I’m also kind of a hermit. The best part about making records for me is you just get together with a few people and make something awesome. Having to work with a lot of people, like I am now, and having to direct people, and delegate, and actually be a manager or a boss, it’s way uncomfortable for me. And it’s been hard. It’s been good, too, because I’m growing as a person, but definitely a huge change, for sure.
When you go back to producing records, do you think you will have changed after doing this donut shop for the past year?
Well, you know, I actually haven’t made any records for three years now, and I definitely want to make another record. And I will be different; I’ll be totally different. You kind of get set in your ways and get used to doing things in a certain way, and I think that I’ve developed a little bit better people skills, so I will be different, for sure.
What kind of scenario could you see that would get you back into music work again?
I would love to be mixing records again. I loved that so much; I love mixing. I don’t see myself being able to spend the time in the studio to make a record, 12 hours a day. But mixing I could see myself doing.
Well, not unless you find a really kick-ass assistant manager who can take over the donut shop for a few weeks while you produce.
Yeah, that would be awesome. When Drive Like Jehu played recently, for a week before that show I got get away from Donut Friend. And I gotta tell you man, it was awesome! Just for one week, just to let Donut Friend go and do something music-related 100 percent; it just felt so good! It felt really, really good to have some time.
Drive Like Jehu’s recent reunion show (photo: Chris Valle)
You’ll have to tell us about that Drive Like Jehu show in the park. What was it like playing that show? It was such a weird venue, and so many people showed up. How was the experience?
I don’t know. Words, for me, just don’t do it justice. Everything about it was perfect. I was a little skeptical of it in the beginning. I was like, “Yeah, I would love to play with Drive Like Jehu again. For sure.” But I knew it was outdoors, and I don’t like playing outdoors. And I knew we were only going to get a few rehearsals. We were only playing the slower songs… There were a lot of reasons why I was like, “I don’t know about this. But I’m going along with this, and I’m just going to say to yes to everything.” But it was perfect night. It was probably one of the best nights of my life, to be honest. The venue was amazing; it was beautiful. And the time of day that we started playing, it was dusk and it turned to night, and it was so gorgeous, and it was a perfect night. The sound was pretty good, I think, and the crowd turnout! I had no idea that many people would come; it was like 5,000 people showing up for this thing. I would have never had guessed that. Even in our heyday, it was maybe a couple hundred people. But 5,000 is nuts. It was like a huge family reunion, too, because I got to see all of my old friends again. It was just such an incredible, amazing night.
It was interesting to see what kind of a following Drive Like Jehu still has. People have paid attention to all of the bands you guys have been in over the years, especially with John [Reis] and Rick [Froberg], who have been pretty prolific, but just to see how much interest is still there. We talked to Adam from Jawbreaker recently and he was saying their fanbase has just kept growing since they’ve been away from it for 20 years. But it must have been a weird feeling to look out and see all of those faces out there?
Yeah, it was. We did an event for Donut Friend about a month before that show and people were coming up to me, just so stoked about the show. And I’m looking at them, and these were kids that were not even born yet when we were around. And that was awesome. I was like, “You’re kidding me? You weren’t even born when we were playing, but you’re super excited about this show?” That was incredible. It’s amazing.
And being back on stage again with those guys; how did that feel?
It felt great. It felt good even at rehearsal. The first one was a little rough, but by the second rehearsal I knew, as soon as we were in the room, that this was going to be great. And, if anything, I felt like we played really well. I wasn’t in better shape as a drummer, but in better shape mentally than I was back then. And I just played things better; just more relaxed. Back then if I didn’t hurt, I wasn’t playing fast enough or hard enough. So I always played things way too fast. And I was much better at this show.
So, given how good of an experience it was, do you think it planted a seed for you guys to do more stuff together as Drive Like Jehu? Have you talked about that at all?
Yeah, we’ve talked about it, and I think everybody’s into it, so I wouldn’t be surprised if something else happened. I don’t know what, but we’re all into it. Everyone has their things that they are doing, so it might be hard, but I know that everybody enjoyed playing together, so I wouldn’t be surprised.
Donut Friend is located at 5107 York Blvd. in Los Angeles, California.
Drive Like Jehu’s Facebook page can be found here.
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