From the outside of the Che Cafe on a Tueseday night, the
venue looks inconspicuous. Located on the hill leading up to
only a handful of cars are parked outside. The sole source of light that
illuminates the scant parking lot comes from the inside through a few small
windows and one main door on the left of the shack-like building.
Inside the Cafe’s mural-covered walls, however, David Bowie
songs float through the venue while a few regulars wait for the show to start.
Some are having deep conversations, some are studying and in the back are
several guys leaning over the counter, chatting with the volunteers who are
cleaning up the kitchen.
But not everyone is there yet. At the large worktable,
scarred with graffiti and plastered with bumper stickers, sits Kira Roessler,
former bassist of punk band Black Flag. Roessler, along with her Dos bandmate
Mike Watt, are at the Che Cafe this Tuesday evening for a scheduled show with
Capillary Action and Joe Lally of Fugazi. The latter two, however, are running
late because they are stuck in Los Angeles traffic.
Though Roessler had never heard of Che Cafe before being
scheduled to play there, the mood she feels from simple tea-sipping and
Bowie-listening sums up the Che’s attitude.
“[It’s] not playing by the rules, but here it is: doing the
best we can, putting it together on your own. It has that kind of
anti-corporate feel to it — ‘I’m gonna do it the way I wanna do it and not
conform to what anyone else says,’” Roessler said.
Despite it being her first time playing at the Che,
Roessler’s assessment isn’t far from the truth. This independent,
volunteer-run, on-campus venue does not have a leadership hierarchy of any
kind, just a group of people — both students and nonstudents — who collectively
decide how to run operations. Anyone can take part in this decision-making
process by attending collective meetings on Thursdays at 8:30 p.m.
This democratic process has its benefits. Members can do
things the way they want and see the fruits of their labor. According to David
Diekmann, a nonstudent volunteer: “Shows depend on who goes to the meetings and
book the shows. Whoever listens to hardcore punk or indie pop will choose what
kind of shows they want to see.”
Che’s interior illustrate the legacy of previous bands that
have played there. Bumper stickers on the Che’s wooden panel walls advertise
for bands such as the Lisps, Rat City Robot and Claire de Lune. Even mainstream
bands such as Green Day and Cursive have graced the Che in the pas, according
to Dana Dahlstrom, who graduated from UCSD in 2007 and is currently a graduate
student.
Though Che members are proudabout its culture-rich past,
they still remain humble about its function. In the past, according to
Dahlstrom, the Che held firmly to a nonracist, nonsexist, nonhomophobic policy,
and refused to allow bands to play — even if they attract a crowd — if they had
these tendencies.
Though the store does not have formal core values, Dahlstrom
said Che members recognize the left-leaning philosophy drawn from the cafe’s
revolutionary namesake.
“It’s a trend that nobody can deny,” Dahlstrom said. “But
there’s too much of a perception on the UCSD campus that Che espouses some sort
of extreme viewpoint. People who have heard about the Che heard that they’re
communists or something. Whatever they say, it’s not true. There isn’t a single
Che dogma or anything everyone has to believe in. Every single question you ask
will be a different answer from someone.”
Though beliefs may vary from member to member, everything they
do is volunteer-oriented with a do-it-yourself approach — the core reason for
the cafe’s existence and inner workings.
In addition to hosting either a concert or a film series on
Tuesday nights, the Che holds all-you-can-eat dinners serving vegan food at
either $3 or $4 a plate, cooked completely by volunteers. That particular
night’s special was pesto pasta, with all its ingredients donated. Txus Zubia,
another nonstudent volunteer, came in at 3 p.m. that afternoon to help cook for
those who come to the Che for dinner.
Dahlstrom, Diekman and Zubia unanimously agreed that the
best donation the Che receives is not any piece of equipment or furniture, but
the time that volunteers contribute.
“Obviously, we can’t run without volunteers,” Dahlstrom
said.
In addition to being part of a collective effort,
volunteering at the Che is also a haven for those who are new to the area.
Thurgood Marshall College junior Taylor Hunter is a transfer student who has
volunteered at the Che for a quarter.
“I came from Long Beach and didn’t know anyone, so I came
[to the Che] to meet people,” Hunter said. “I have fun cooking and talking.
Even cleaning up is fun.”
Zubia moved to San Diego from Mexico and knew almost no one
in the area. The Che’s appeal drew him to San Diego, especially when Against
Me! played at the Che five years ago. He now volunteers there full-time.
Roessler admires that the Che acts as a kind of alternative
hideaway.
“Especially for kids out of town, they are looking for a
place,” Roessler said. “A lot of people don’t fit in a part of the school. I
went to UCLA and I was part of Black Flag. The sorority girls would always
stick their noses up at me. It gives people somewhere to go, especially in
college where things feel strange.”
