written by Veronica
|
|
| |
 |
|
photo: aubreyedwards.com
|
Freddy Castro - Guitar
Ian - Guitar
Mike Wiebe - Vocals
Mr. Lillard - Bass
Mark Barker - Drums
Once upon a time there was a band with punk in their heart and flowers in their hair. Oh wait, that's now. And we're talking about Denton's punk rockers also known as the Riverboat Gamblers. Volcom Entertainment's most noteworthy band and Spin Magazine's 15 of their 25 best live bands. These dudes don't fuck around, apparently.
I got Ian to let you in on a little bit of the Riverboat Gambler's intimate side, and also a little of his insight on their upcoming tour with Dead to Me. You ain't gonna find that shit here though. Just so you'll lurk our site a little longer, you can find that in our current Tour to See spot. But for now, take some time to rot your brain with a little bit of these guys. After all, they have a song called "Unicorn Shake Your Horn"... www.theriverboatgamblers.com
myspace.com/theriverboatgamblers
www.purevolume.com/theriverboatgamblers
Ian of Riverboat and I exchange words:
Veronica: What do you have to say about your band to those who have yet to check you out?
Ian: Come see us live, I think that's where the band really gets to kinda express what were all about, and if you dig it buy a record or 5!
Veronica: There's is a lot more to a band that can pull you in live prior to hearing their record. I think it is much more true to form, and far more legit on a musical level. How did this all start?
|
|
| |
 |
|
photo: lisa johnson
|
Ian: Well, back in the late nineties there was a really close-knit house party scene in north Texas, in a college town called Denton. All the guys were playing around in a lot of bands at the time, and there were a lot of really cool things happening. A lot of crazy house shows, touring bands would come through from all over the country and world, sometimes making Denton only 1 of like 3 spots they would hit in the US. At the time, it being a college town and all, there was a lot of kind of emo and experimental music being played by bands, so as kind of an answer to that, the idea was to start like this reckless rock and roll band akin to the Dictators or like the Candy Snatchers. You can definitely get a feel for the band at the time on the first record on Beatville. At first it was kind of a side band that wasn't too serious, but eventually it became more. And here we are! The band has been around for close to 7 years and the line up right now is myself (Ian, on guitar), Pat on bass, Fadi on guitar, Mike on vocals, and we are going through drummers right now.
Veronica: Ha ha, awesome. Tell me about your band mates. What do you think makes each one of them a valuable commodity to your music?
Ian: Whoa! That is a good one. We all throw in our 2 cents about a lot of things musically, so when all of our ideas come together, it usually ends up being pretty interesting. I think you can hear that on the last record we did. There's no frills to Pat's bass playing, which makes it really solid and tough. Mike comes up with really cool vocal parts, and his lyrics are great in my mind. Fadi can write the catchiest shit you've heard. I just kinda throw shit in here and there when I can. There's definitely 'a sound' there, and I think if one of us wasn't there, it wouldn't be the same.
Veronica: What are some of your influences? and with that, what are some of the tunes we should expect to hear if we were riding in your van on the road with you?
Ian: It varies, I mean we all share the same tastes basically when it comes to classic punk rock, but we all listen to different shit. There is A LOT of rap played in the van, mostly Texas 3rd coast shit, a lot of our friend's bands. It's really cool because the majority of all of our favorite bands going right now are friends of ours. The Bronx, The Marked Men, Dillinger Four, Dead to Me, the list goes on. There's a lot of cool stuff coming out right now if you look for it. Oh, and as far as influences go, well... The Ramones, Dictators, Rocket from the Crypt, Wu-tang, Ghetto Boys, the typical shit. Ha ha.
Veronica: Wu-Tang Forever!
Ian: Cash rules everything around me. C.R.E.A.M.
Veronica: Hahahahahaha!
Veronica: You guys are stoked on your upcoming tour with Dead to Me. We've featured your tour as the "Tour to See," and I know I will definitely be there.
Ian: Yeah, we were super fucking stoked. Like I said, we got their record and played the hell out of it in the van, and after going back and forth through myspace with 'em, we got this tour in October set up. It was really cool to be like "we love your band come with us", and then have it happen.
Veronica: If you could choose any band to play with, who would it be?
Ian: A show with any band?! Dead to Me!!
Veronica: What's your favorite venue to play?
Ian: Our favorite venue would have to be either a toss up between Emos in Austin and Rubbergloves in Denton. Both are hometown places, but sadly we aren't hitting Texas on this tour. Sad face.
Veronica: How do you feel about your latest release 'To The Confusion of our Enemies'? What are your plans for the future?
Ian: I like it a lot, we spent a lot of time on it and it was a lot of fun to make. We went to LA and worked this guy named Andrew Murdock, who was nothing but great to us. Andrew had really cool ideas, but let us basically do what we wanted. I think the content is pretty easy to latch onto for a lot of people. Being depressed, having no money, prescription medication, and unicorns. Our plans for right now is just tour, tour, tour, keep busy, and keep working. We're doing this tour with Dead to Me in October, then we go out in November with Joan Jett and The Eagles of Death Metal for a week or two, then hopefully Europe next year.
Veronica: Right on!
Veronica: What makes you guys unique... worth listening to... better than the average bear?
Ian: Well we're better than everyone else and our record is the best thing to come in the past two decades - it surprises us even - and we don't wear rubbers
Veronica: I can't help but mention the sheer coincidence of this unicorn shit. Some of the godsgirls have this infatuation with unicorns. What is with the unicorns?!
Ian: They're majestic creatures! Did you ever see that movie Legend with Tom Cruise and Tim Curry was the devil? I used to think that movie was the shit. I'm pretty sure it's recorded from TNT on some tape around my mom's house somewhere.
Veronica: I've heard of it. I think I remember it having a really weird cover. Maybe your unicorns and our unicorns can be good friends... hahahaha. Wow.
Veronica: Ask me anything.
Ian: How can I finagle a godsgirls account? AHAHAHAH!!
Veronica: You'll get one.
Ian: Hmmmm... I'm late for my recording sesh with my synth techno pop dance band. Keep that Hush Hush, hahahaha.
Veronica: Whoops.
Big thanks to these guys. We are stoked to have them as a part of our community. Check out these upcoming shows and show some support for two awesome bands! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
"sfvegan415 (4:29:22 PM): "We are pretty much peeing ourselves with excitement about this tour. We get to watch the best live band around night after night for a month, it doesn't get much better than that. They are the nicest dudes ever and are seriously one of a handful of bands around these days that are doing it for all the right reasons. They don't wear costumes or makeup, and they don't have trihawks with bullet belts. They are fucked up kids playing punk the way it is supposed to be played; with desperation and heart. I am honored they asked us to do the tour with them. Shit is gonna rule hard." -Chicken of Dead to Me, on touring with the Riverboat Gamblers. See more about this in our Tour to See Section!
