What have been your
musical epiphany moments?
I grew up in a very pop-friendly house. The Beatles reigned
supreme, but Elvis Costello and REM lurked around every corner. When I was
about 11, I found an old copy of Jimi Hendrix’ Smash Hits, and I was obsessed.
I specifically remember listening to Voodoo Child (Slight Return) over and over
and over, and thinking “I want to do that!” My life changed that day, but when
I found John Lee Hooker, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath later on, they were
similarly revelatory. Kyuss too.
Talk to us about the
song-writing process for you. What comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics?
How does it all fall into place?
Riffs come first, to be sure. We’ll play around on a riff I
discovered during the week together as a band during practice and decide if
it’s something we can really sink our teeth into. If we play it, and it seems
to really be grooving, we’ll sit down and work out the different parts
together. Our songs really are a collaborative effort in that respect. It
usually enters our practice rotation, and after a while a vocal melody starts
to form (don’t ask me how), and I’ll write words that have been on my mind. The
song lyrics end up being a manifestation of the headspace I happen to be in at
the time; things I’m feeling, thoughts I’m having. It’s all really personal. I
think a lot of the unique space our songs tend to occupy really does come from
the fact that they’re all just “jams” turned into songs. If we could, we’d
probably play each one of them for 20 minutes… but nobody wants to watch all
that!
Who has influenced
you the most?
For me, it has to be the blues greats like Elmore James and
Howlin’ Wolf. Their style, their attitude, the way they were able to emote
through song, to express themselves and comment on their times, the way they
played guitar, the way they sang, it all speaks to something inside me that
won’t go away. All I’ve ever wanted is to do what they did. But the band’s
influences are all over the place; we all listen to a lot of blues rock like
the Allman Brothers or ZZ Top and Psychedelia like Hendrix and Cream. I think
all those elements show through.
Where do you look for
continuing inspiration? New ideas, new motivation?
Musically, all three of us are music junkies. We’re
constantly buying new records, showing them to each other, going back further
and further to the roots of what we love, and I think every new discovery shows
up somewhere or another in our playing. I don’t know that we ever consciously
“look for inspiration” so much as we “look for new music” and end up inspired
by it. Also, a lot of the inspiration for the lyrics to the songs come from
this messed up world we live in right now. People hating each other, killing
each other... these are scary, desperate times, and that’s why some of the
lyrics to our songs are scary and desperate. Then again, the beauty of the
human condition (and this is a major motif of the blues) is the ability to find
love and good times despite that darkness, and so some of our songs reflect
that side of life as well.
We're all a product
of our environment. Tell us about the band's hometown and how that reflects in
the music?
Holy smokes, this is a great question. Auburn CA is
exactly the kind of place you’d expect Shotgun Sawyer to come from. It’s a
little town up in the hills, one of the sites where gold was discovered in
1848, and you can feel that history when you walk around there (the good and
the bad). It’s the kind of town that has 3 classic rock stations on the radio,
and all 3 of them play Creedence Clearwater Revival most of the time. In our
music, you can hear us playing guitars down at the river, you can hear the cops
coming to break up a backwoods house party we got hired to play, and you can
hear trucker hats, oak leaves, and weeds growin’ up to your chest out in the
pasture. They’re cow tippin’, moonshine sippin’, road trippin’ songs. We are Auburn.
Where'd the band name
come from?
We had a lot of trouble coming up with a name. When you try
to make up your own name, there’s way too much temptation to try to be “cool”
(and if there’s one thing I know, it’s that trying to be cool is the lamest
thing you can do). You end up with names like Lazer Death of the Blood Skull...
which sounds pretty rad now that I think about it. But we had a lot of trouble
coming up with something until Brett’s brother suggested “Thunderchief.” We
called ourselves that for a while until we found out there was a one-man doom band
out in the Carolinas calling himself that too.
So we asked Brett’s brother if he had any other ideas and Shotgun Sawyer was at
the top of his list. It sounded right, so we went with that.
You have one chance,
what movie are you going to write the soundtrack for?
Django Unchained, all day.
You now write for a
music publication (The Ripple Effect?).
You're going to write a 1,000 word essay on one song. Which would it be
and why?
One of ours, or any song out there? If I had to choose one
of ours, I’d write about Soldier Song from our first record. It’s about PTSD
and the experiences of veterans of war. I have a lot of friends who have
served, and have expressed how difficult it is to assimilate back into civilian
life after experiencing such violence. There isn’t enough awareness or support
for them, just a lot of empty talk. If I were to write about any song out
there, I would probably write an essay about “Hounddog On My Trail” by Robert
Johnson. The song is a metaphor for Johnson’s experience living through the era
of the resurgence of the KKK in the 1920s, and uses a lot of really interesting
lyrical strategies to describe something he didn’t feel safe expressing openly.
It’s about as close to “perfect” as a song gets, between Johnson’s playing,
expression, literary devices, themes of fear and hope… I could probably write
2000 words on that.
Come on, share with
us a couple of your great, Spinal Tap, rock and roll moments?
Hmm, I think the most Spinal Tap thing I’ve ever done is
throw my guitar. It actually happens pretty often too; when I’m on stage,
something happens and I lose most of my control and judgement, and if my guitar
won’t stay in tune or a string breaks mid-song, I completely lose it. I’ve
actually broken 2 or 3 guitars just since we started playing in this band,
which means that Brett and I have gotten pretty good at puttin’em together
again! Besides that, our amps only go to “10,” I’ve never shoved a cucumber in
my leather pants (I don’t wear leather pants), and I’ve thankfully never been
accidentally locked inside a translucent egg-sack stage prop.
Tell us about playing
live and the live experience for you and for your fans?
Playing live is the only reason we play; comparatively,
recording is like the homework we need to do in order to justify playing out. I
feel safe saying that its the favorite experience of every member of the band.
We love dropping into heavy riffs and feeling everyone in the room join us in
moving to it almost as much as we enjoy taking off on some speedfreak
double-time rampage while folks headbang. I’ve personally felt very blessed
because our fans enjoy the music and lyrics enough to learn them (more than I
usually remember) and sing them with me (better than I do). We make every show
unique, never play the songs the same way twice, and bring as much energy to
every performance as is physically possible. It’s equal parts violent and
sacred; like being in a fistfight at church, then having sex after... but a
little better.
What makes a great
song?
I have a pretty strong opinion on what a great song is, and
especially what it isn’t. A song isn’t time signature changes, complicated
techniques, perfect tones, the “right” instruments, or even
verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge. Lots of songs have those things, but that’s
not what a song is. A song is connection; a pure expression of the human
condition, like all “art.” As such, a great song is one that speaks to me (or
you, anyone). It might make you laugh, it might make you cry. It can make you
smile, make you feel, make you think, make you reflect, make you change. Catchy
songs, innovative songs, and songs which pioneer new styles can still be “bad”
songs if they don’t engage with your experience; and because your experience is
so unique to you, a song you think is awful, might be great to me. Can I have a
2000 word essay on this topic, too?
Tell us about the
first song you ever wrote?
I’m sure the “first song I ever wrote” was some awful,
predictable, sappy bullshit about a girl when I was 15, I honestly don’t
remember. But, the first song Brett and I ever wrote (a long time before
Shotgun Sawyer) was the song “Lawman,” which, after several iterations, ended
up on our first record. I remember that I had a heavy riff, and Brett had this
excellent acoustic part, and we just looked at eachother like, “well, what if
we just decided to throw those together?” It really wasn’t any more complicated
than that. We still play it live every now and then.
What piece of your
music are particularly proud of?
I think I’m most proud of the song “Son Of The Morning” from
the upcoming record. I don’t want to talk too much about what it means
specifically because I’d like folks to decide what it means for themselves. But
in terms of exposing myself in song and opening up to express some very
personal emotions, it’s the most vulnerable I’ve ever let myself be, and that
was a real challenge.
Who today, writes
great songs? Who just kicks your ass? Why?
There’s a Portland transplant
blues duo that lives in Reno
for the moment called “Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil.” Jack writes blues
for today, best shit I’ve ever heard or seen. I feel lucky being able to say
he’s my friend, or maybe more like my older brother. Now that I think about it,
I feel like I’m friends with the best songwriters I know about. Garage-soul
band Failure Machine, Stoner-punk trio Joan And The Rivers, Ripple’s own Salem’s Bend and
Mothership, Slow Season down in Visalia.
Someday documentaries are going to be made about all of these groups, and I’m
gonna be able to tell my kids I knew them.
Vinyl, CD, or
digital? What's your format of choice?
Gotta be vinyl. It’s the ritual, the reverence, the art, the
collecting, the audio, the pops and scratches, everything.
Whiskey or beer? And defend your choice
Whiskey, I’m not in junior high anymore
We, at the Ripple
Effect, are constantly looking for new music. What's your hometown, and when we
get there, what's the best record store to lose ourselves in?
See, that’s a complicated question. In Auburn proper, you’ve got Cherry Records. Al
(the owner) is a real stickler for quality records only. That’s where I bought
my mint, original Song Remains The Same along with many others but, he charges
a lot for his quality. Shop at your own risk, and don’t come cryin’ to me when
you go broke. A little ways up the hill, you got Clocktower in Grass Valley.
They’ve got the best blues section in the area (so that’s where I hang out a
lot). We play there for Record Store Day as tradition. You’ve also got Ron’s
Real Records, and Ron’s got a lot of the cool stuff. I bought Captain Beyond,
Aphrodite’s Child, and Lord Sutch And Heavy Friends up there, and cheap. The
condition of Ron’s records can be hit and miss though (but don’t tell him I
said that; just make sure you play it there in store before you buy). So I
guess it all depends on what you’re lookin’ for.
What's next for the
band?
Well, we’ve got a European tour lined up this Summer (2018).
We’ll be hanging out in Belgium
for a fair piece, but we’ll also be in the Netherlands,
Germany, France, Poland, etc. After that, we’ll
probably try our first real set of full-blooded American tours and get into the
UK
eventually. Like I say, we’re just tryin’ to play live, and there’ll probably
be another couple records in between all these shows, but all we really care
about is hitting a bar we haven’t passed out in yet.
Any final comments or
thoughts you'd like to share with our readers, the waveriders?
We’d all just like to say thanks for keeping Rock n’ Roll
alive; folks talk about “music back in the day” like it was the only time cool
bands were around. Not so! There are great bands everywhere you look, and the
Waveriders are the ones keeping them on the road. Keep on keepin’ on, and buy
us a drink when we come through!
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