Lee Austin Hoffman is a machine.
When people recognize him on the street, they often say “Hey, Solar Man!” Lee is the brains behind Solar Van Saturdays; a completely solar powered, FREE, outdoor, all ages punk music show, usually featuring 5 - 7 bands including Lee’s band Elegant Trash. Lee produces these shows at his own expense, twice a month, all over the San Francisco Bay Area.
But that’s just one of Lee’s pet projects.
Lee is a long time, passionate musician & lead singer of his band Elegant Trash. Always energetic & driven, Lee established Elegant Trash in 2003 after moving from Florida where he grew up to Georgia, but he quickly got tired of the limited music scene where he lived. In 2011, he decided to leave his lucrative job as a hair stylist and move to California, specifically the Bay Area. “When I left home, I didn’t know where I was going to live or what I was going to do but I knew I wanted to play more shows & bigger venues, not 1 show every 3 months at one of the 2 clubs in town” says Lee. After years of performing in small venues in & around Florida & Georgia, Elegant Trash’s first performance after moving to California was at Burning Man in front of thousands of people. Lee has also performed in a variety of venues besides Burning Man. Among them, Downtown Oakland’s Art Murmur, the Whisky in Los Angeles, Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, numerous clubs & open mic nights, and various guerilla performances on the streets of California & Europe. Since the inception of Elegant Trash, Lee has written, co-written, produced & sang on over 60 albums of original music. He has never recorded a cover song.
Lee remains an accomplished hairstylist & owner of Hella Rad hair salon, which he designed & built, in El Cerrito, CA. Lee specializes in Punk and Rock & Roll haircuts & enjoys seeing his work on stages all over the Bay Area. Lee says he “loves making people look beautiful”. He has established a solid clientele of artists & musicians coming to him for his creative cuts & colors. His flexible schedule leaves him plenty of time for his band, his family and other pet projects. But Lee cannot deny his desire to play music as often as he can and says “I’ve been cutting hair since I was 12. I’ve already reached all my hair dreams”.
In 2013, Lee started Bang Magazine, which came out once a year and featured his photography as well as the local art & music scenes. Lee edited & helped produce 2000 copies of each of his very popular 24 page issues on an offset printing press with a Master Pressman. It took him 8 months to complete each issue and was a true labor of love. Bang Magazine is currently on temporary hiatus due to the pandemic.
In 2020 with the pandemic in full swing, people sick & unemployed, local clubs closing down & punks having nowhere to go, the music scene was very limited. Lee missed playing live and going to shows. He heard about an old van that had been sitting in someone’s yard for 17 years and bought it for $100.00. Then he sunk thousands of dollars into it & helped design & refurbish it. With the help of Injun Ron, they installed enough solar panels on it to run a PA and a complete set up of a band’s equipment. This signaled the birth of Solar Van Saturdays, which Lee has produced in various locations throughout the Bay Area for the last year & a half. Although it should be a much bigger & more popular event by now, Lee says “I didn’t focus on promotion, I just focused on doing what I wanted to do”. He presently keeps an email list and sends out reminders before every show. Solar Van Saturdays are a perfect fit for current times. It is during the day so it’s comfortable for all age groups, outdoors so it's safer than a club, supports punk music, and it’s free! Lee supplies all the equipment so the bands just have to show up and play. “Everyone wants to play Solar Van Saturdays. You’re staring out into the ocean while you play” says Lee. And he gets some of his favorite bands to play too. “I’m living my fucking dreams. All the bands I grew up listening to, I’m playing with now” he says. Besides being a passionate musician, Lee is a true fan. He photographs every show and estimates he takes 1,000 shots of the 5-7 bands who perform at each event. Lee is a dynamic performer in his own right, working his way through the crowd with a wireless mic, singing to each and every person present. Solar Van Saturdays are truly a family affair. Lee’s wife Nathalie designs all his merch, their twin baby boys are often present at the shows and the participating bands are invited to sell their music & merch also. Lee maintains the van and all the equipment and easily devotes over 8 hours to prepare each event. A donation jar is set up at the merch table to help cover Lee’s expenses at these non profit events and he makes one brief announcement at each show; “I spend several thousand dollars of my own money to put on these free shows but if you would like to show your support, please feel free to donate”. I encourage you to put a few dollars in the donation jar at every Solar Van Saturday or to donate using the link on Lee’s website www.bangthebay.com to help him keep the local music scene thriving. Lee Austin Hoffman is a punk hero who puts his ass (and his money) on the line supporting our community & punk music tirelessly.
Information on the next Solar Van Saturday on October 15th, 2022 as well as links to Elegant Trash’s music and Lee’s Hella Rad hair salon are below.
Lee’s Next Solar Van Saturday
Oct. 15, 2022 - Noon til 4pm
featuring:
- Elegant Trash & Friends
- Jesus & the Dinosaurs
- Aloha Screwdriver
- The Quirks
At Barkley Beach in Berkeley
(.4 miles north of Point Emery, on Frontage Road)
Lots of parking
Lee’s Links
- Home base Bang The Bay
- Elegant Trash Music https://eleganttrash.bandcamp.com/
- Hair https://www.facebook.com/hellaradhairsalon/
- Solar Van Saturdays https://www.facebook.com/events/
- Donations: Venmo - ElegantTrash (one word)
