Podcast by Alec Fischer
Marquette Radio sat down for an interview with local band “The Bang Bang,” who plans to release a new album called “Bridges” this Friday. The band will be hosting a release party at Company Brewing alongside other bands “Ako” and “Tigernite.”
What genre do you categorize yourself as? Has this evolved over time or stayed the same?
I think it has definitely evolved. With the first album, a lot of the songs were written before we were a band. Now I think all the songs are written as a band. So we kind of come into the practice with a part of a song or a couple parts of a song and the group kind of makes the song. This album showed a bit more depth and uniqueness in what we can do than just in your standard blues rock song.
What other upcoming shows do you have besides the release party?
Well coming up we are actually doing another bill with our buddies Tigernite, making Jeff over here on the bass work double duty because he plays in both bands. And we are playing a show put on by FM 102.1 on the 24th at The Dugout 54 with Tigernite and Ian and The Dream which should be a stacked bill. It’s a free show, too. Our CD release show is also light on the wallet, as it’s a $5 show and you get a free CD with admission.
If you guys could play at any venue, where would you want to play the most?
I’ve always wanted to play Turner Hall, and I know Jeff has, too. Also, more realistically, there is a venue in Chicago called Thalia Hall, and it’s gorgeous and has great sound, and I would love to play there. It’s a dream but it’s realistic, y’know (sic). It’s this gorgeous old building with tile, and it’s not too big, it’s just the right size.
Do you guys feel that because you are a local band, you are more interested in listening to local bands?
For sure, y’know (sic), we are exposed to a lot of local bands just by playing with them and stuff like that, so when you hear a lot of local bands, you are gonna draw influence from them, and you’re gonna find bands you like and bands you don’t like. And you’ll be drawn more to the bands you like and hopefully try to play shows with them. The thing that is a little harder is that we don’t have a very specific genre, like we are not very niche, and so I feel like sometimes it’s harder to branch out to some of those other bands, because you wanna play with bands you sound similar to. So this is an open invitation to any bands that we haven’t played with, even if you think our sounds are different, I’d like to reach out and play with some new bands that are different.
What is one song that gets you pumped up either before a show or before anything?
Well in college mine was N’sync “Do Your Thing,” I think it was off their “No Strings Attached” album. It goes, “Are ya doin’ your thing and doin’ it well?” It’s a great song. And I was like, “Yeah I’m doin’ my thing, well I’m gonna ace this test.” And I don’t wanna lie, I still listen to it sometimes.
The band said that if there is one thing they want listeners to know, it is about their upcoming album, “Bridges,” which will be available Friday, the same day as the release party at Company Brewing. Stop by for food, drinks and an album release show from The Bang Bang.
