Mar 3, 2009
Artist Interview - Gunsmoke
I first saw and met Gunsmoke at the Railway club in Vancouver BC, about 6 months back. It was for a homecoming Deadcats tour show that
HitEmHi sponsored. A few weeks before the show, I had checked Gunsmoke out previously on Myspace. I liked what I heard-not too shabby at all. I had a feeling they’d be better live.
So I went to the show and I have to say, honestly, the bands' MP3's as posted on their MySpace, didn’t do them justice.
They put on a good show, and had a tiiiiiight sound. I was stoked! I decided later down the road, I’d like to interview them and well, here we are!!
Gunsmoke will be on tour around April-May of 2009 to support a new cd they’re putting out-if you get a chance to go see them-do it! I can’t wait to hear their new cd...
For more on Gunsmoke go to www.myspace.com/thegunsmoke
or gunsmoke.ca
Who are you, and what band do you do play in?
My name is Sam, I play guitar and sing in Ottawa’s Gunsmoke.
How long have you been playing music for? What other bands have you played in? Did you have the same role as you do in your current band now ? Or play a different instrument?
I’ve never been in another band before actually. The idea to start a band only hit me when I was around 18, Gunsmoke is what eventually came from it. Adam, my brother, and slap bassist in Gunsmoke-played with psychobilly band, The Meathookers. Ben, lead guitarist, is the real musician in the group. He’s been playing since he was a kid with bands like- the Fortunate Sons and Crankenstein. Phil, who just joined us on drums a few months ago, is also a really good musician. He played with-Bruce Boris and Tungda Browne to mention a few.
Have you been involved in other way with music? Promotion etc.?
I have a recording studio set up at home. I do some stuff with friends and local bands. It’s a small place but pretty cool. It’s not like it’s my job or anything, just something I do for fun, and to help out some bands by getting some decent recordings out there. We’ll book and promote the odd show in Ottawa for a touring band, but that’s about it.
Why/how did you get involved in music? What made you pick up an instrument? Or start singing? Why?
I’ve always liked listening to music and going to shows when I was younger. I was really into punk, hardcore and 50’s rock n roll throughout high school. Playing music wasn’t really on my mind until I starting getting into the European psychobilly stuff. Adam and I had actually taken a 4 month trip to Europe. Soon after we got into it, and we got to see tons of our favorite bands, and even travelled with some while they played shows. I guess the lifestyle appealed to us because during that trip, we decided that when we got home, we would buy instruments and start up a band.
How do you book your band for shows? Do you book yourself or label/booking assist?
Adam does the booking for Gunsmoke. He’s booked two cross country tours for us the past 6 months and is working on another cross Canada tour for Spring ’09. We haven’t had any interest from labels and we don’t feel we need the help from an agent or anything like that. With the internet, it’s not very hard to contact bands, venues or promoters ourselves.
It’s a lot easier to be a “hard working” band nowadays, than it was 20 years ago!
What is the worst show you’ve ever played? Horror stories please...
Hmm, worst show…hard to say. The worst ones are when you’re playing for only the bar staff and bouncers. But that’s gonna happen being a new, touring band. When that happens, getting as drunk as possible tends to make the show more fun.
What are the best shows you’ve ever played? What made them so special?
The best shows for us tend to be the all ages shows. We played a sold out show here in Ottawa with The Creepshow when we got back from our second tour and that was pretty memorable. Our sound had changed quite a bit over the past 6 months…I guess touring does that to a band…and it was great to see people digging our newer stuff.
The kids like to dance and have fun, and that energy transfers to us while we play…if it was up to us, every show would be all ages.
In your opinion, what does a good promo package include? What has got promoters’ attention for your band in the past?
Well I guess that depends on why you’re sending the promo packs out. If you wanna get signed to a label, you need to prove that you’re willing to devote time and energy to touring and selling your albums they release for you. Why would someone invest money into your band, if you’re not willing to invest something back?
What advice can you give bands in regards to getting shows, and getting people to come to your shows?
Getting shows usually depends on finding the right people in your city. There are always good, dedicated promoters out there who are willing to help out bands. Go to shows, meet people…the shows will come.
The best way to get people to your shows is to play a lot and for as many different people as you can. You can’t expect people to find your music. You have to show it to them. Especially with the fact that there are so many bands these days.
What’s the best concert you’ve ever been too? Why?
A few stick out in my memory…the first has to be Dayglo Abortions here in Ottawa. It was the first show I had ever seen! It was pretty crazy.
In Europe, I went to a Kings of Psychobilly festival in Speyer, Germany. I got to see Nekromantix, Mad Sin, Klingonz and Frantic Flintstones all in one night. Those bands and some pretty serious parking lot drinking made that one hell of a show.
Lastly would probably be seeing Gorilla Biscuits in Montreal during their reunion tour. They have always been one of my favorite bands and to see them live was pretty cool.
Oh, and Danzig playing a Misfits set with Doyle….can’t leave that one out!
What are some of the bands you feel influenced you in the past?
I’ve been influenced by so many bands in so many different styles of music, it’s hard to narrow it down to a few. In terms of the psychobilly and rockabilly scene, I’ve always respected bands like the Quakes, The Peacocks and The Caravans. They add something new into the scene instead of just replicating an old formula. They sing about what they want, and they aren’t afraid to mix up styles of music. I definitely think Gunsmoke takes the same kind of approach.
What are you listening to right now?
Usually whatever records I have recently bought!
CCR, Good Riddance, Mad Sin, Street Dogs and Johnny Horton to name a few.
What are your future plans for music? New side project? Or?
We plan on releasing a 6 song 10” called Western Hardcore. This is a very limited release and kind of a sneak preview of our second album coming out later in 09. We’ll have it on tour with us cross Canada in April/May. Other then writing for the album, were gonna take it easy. We played over 50 shows in 2008 so were all a little tired. We’ll take the winter off from shows and get going again come spring time.