Untitled

INFOrmation on US

So many spectacular shows. Our staff finds exciting ways to describe

the GWENMARS LIVE EXPERIENCE.

An interesting look - we have gathered some pictures from various shows

With the help of our photographer Brent Peters, we have captured different looks and themes (so to speak). Take a look!

A quiet chance to catch up with the guys from Gwenmars. Although we did

hear Mike, Matt and John practicing before hand. Sounds great even in a living room.

Gwenmars
Band members are in White and Plug Media staff is in Black. We had a wonderful time. Hope you enjoy the reading!

Laura: I’ve read a lot of your interviews, press and bios, but just to start over, who inspires you and your music?

Mike: I don’t know, we pretty much inspire ourselves (laughs), I don’t know. It’s not any one person really. You know, I come up with the basic idea of the songs which can come from anything, whether it’s,… a trip to Magic Mountain or an art exhibit or anything. I can come home and feel a certain way. Anything can be an inspiration. Then we come to rehearsal here and we’d start to play around with it and it becomes a Gwenmars song.

Laura: Magnosheen and Driving a Million seem to have a different sound. What were the situations in your life during Magnosheen and Driving a Million?

John: Six years difference…

Mike: There was a lot of time, that’s obviously got a lot to do with it. We felt like, we’ve done that so now it’s time to do something else. I wouldn’t want to do the same thing over and over again. Our next record would probably be a lot different than Driving a Million.

Laura: The one thing that bothers me is when someone says, “That’s not like Nirvana,” or “That’s not like Metalllica,” you know, when they come out with a new song. Do you get that a lot from people? Such as, that doesn’t sound like your old stuff or that doesn’t sound like what I’m used to.

John: I’ve heard that a lot.

Mike: I think at first, sometimes, then usually a couple of weeks later their like, now I get what you’re doing and I like it.

Laura: I know people get hooked on that one sound that they happen to like and they want to keep hearing it over and over again…

Mike: And they’re expecting that…

Laura: Yeah, they expect that and it’s kind of limiting for them and it’s too bad they can’t appreciate everything, ‘cause personally I want to hear everything. I don’t want to hear just that same song over and over again.

Mike: That’s why we like doing so many new things ‘cause it’s always fresh. A lot of bands keep repeating the same record over and over again for that reason because… the fans expect that and I can relate to that, you know, when I was a kid and my favorite band went really way out off the wall with something. It would be really disappointing, but I don’t think Driving a Million is really that separated. The song writing style is a little the same, it’s just the sound kind of thing.

Laura: Do you know what we can expect from the next album, or are you still concentrating on Driving a Million?

Mike: Right now we’re concentrating on going to Europe, the record hasn’t even come out over there yet. Of course, there’s lots of new songs, you know, too many really, so we’re kind of sorting them out, but really right now we’re just focused on getting the record out over there.

Laura: Magnosheen was on Hollywood Records. Is it going to be re-released on See Thru Broadcasting or has it already been re-released?

Matt: Well right now, Hollywood still owns the album, so they can put it back out and See Thru would manage it.

Laura: It’s hard to find…

John: You have to go to like Ebay or something. (Small Laughter)

Mike: It is,… I think, kind of cool that it’s hard to find.

Matt: Actually, we could probably do something about that if we wanted, but we’re into Driving a Million right now. (All Laugh)

Laura: Matt, someone had said that you didn’t know how to play the bass before you had met these guys.

Matt: Well, I’d never played the bass before. I played guitar though, so I knew the notes and everything. Mike didn’t know I didn’t know how to play bass (All Laugh), he thought I played bass. John told him I did.

Laura: He had that much confidence in you.

Matt: Yeah, he just told Mike, “yeah, I got this bass player, you know, Matt.” We knew each other from the studio. I guess it turned out to be pretty good.

Laura: John, When did you first start playing the drums? Was it when you were
little?

John: Yeah. I started playing guitar. My parents wouldn’t get me an electric, so I kind of lost interest in it and I just wanted to play drums.

Matt: Your parents wouldn’t get you an electric guitar, but they’d get you drums? (All Laugh)

John: My mom said, “Over my dead body,” and she’s still alive you know.

Laura: Mike, did you always want to be the singer?

Mike: Well, what it was is I had all these songs and I could never find anybody who could sing them right, so I just thought, well you know, I need to start learning to do this. When we got together, it was really the first time I ever sang.

Matt: We were all kind of just new at it.

Laura: That’s cool how you guys came together.

Mike: It’s taking awhile, but we’re getting there. (All Laugh)

Laura: I love Depeche Mode and they’re one of my favorite bands and The Cure, who covered a Depeche Mode song...

Laura: Sam, which one was it?

Sam: ‘World in my Eyes’

Laura: Yeah, it just didn’t seem like Robert Smith’s style.

Matt: I could see maybe Depeche Mode doing a Cure song, but I can’t see The Cure doing a Depeche Mode song.

Mike: Robert Smith is always kind of funny about things like that, but now that we’re talking about it, I can totally hear him singing it. It’d be cool.

Laura: Yeah, it was just different. Maybe it’s ‘cause I’m so used to David Gahan’s voice singing it. To me it was just kind of weird although I respect it. Morrissey covered a Suede song &...

Sam: Yeah. ‘My Insatiable One.’ It’s a B-Side off of their first single, I believe.

Laura: That was cool.

Matt: I have that album.

Laura: It’s on Sci-Fi Lullabies.

Laura: Now that sounded really cool. If someone wanted to cover one of your songs, who would you wish it to be?

Mike: Ah man,…(Laughs).. I don’t know. I’d never even thought of that. Suede doing a Gwenmars song. I would like to hear Suede playing ‘Neon Tom.’ That would be cool.

Laura: Oh yeah, he could do it.

Matt: Yeah, I think he could pull that one off. (All Laugh)

Laura: He could try. It would be a little higher, but he could try.

Laura:Where do you guys want to be in like five years?

Mike: Just to keep traveling the world and playing to as many people as we can and put out our music to as many countries as we can. Right now, we’re trying to get this record out in Japan because we’ve toured over there and we’ve never had anything out over there. So right now, we’re kind of working on making that happen. So that’s really what our goals are. If we end up selling tons of records and become gazillionaires,(all laugh) that would be great too, but really the goal is to be playing for as many people as we can. (All Laugh) You know, have our music exposed to as many people as we can.

Laura: Can we be expecting a video soon?

Mike: Well actually, we’re working on one right now. It’s almost done for ‘Neon Tom.’ The European label wanted it for promotional things. It’s not like a video where we’re acting or anything. We don’t do those types of things really, but it’s more of a compilation of black footage.

Laura: Is it going to be released to the public?

Mike: Eventually, we’ll probably have it available on our website.

Matt: Just starting right now is our most formatted video to be played. Like MTV’s not really playing,… you know. I don’t get MTV 2, so I don’t know.

Laura: MTV’s so different. If I was a rock star and my video made MTV who would I be up against? The Backstreet Boys? (all laugh)

John: They play some weird stuff. Some off the wall things.

Laura: Yeah, they sound like everybody else.

Matt: It’s kind of bizarre. To put the money in a video and, you know, where is it going to be played. Well, we’ll just kind of use that money for other things, touring and stuff.

Laura: Speaking of touring, you guys have to fly a lot. Are any of you afraid of flying?

Mike: I am a little bit, (off the record).

Sam: I’m terrified of flying.

Sam: I’m terrified, yeah.

Laura: I used to not be, but now I am.

Matt: Yeah, I used to be too, but if it’s your time, it’s your time.

Mike: I’m kind of the same way, I used to like it, now I don’t like it.

John: Unless you’ve got a good airline. It makes a big difference.

Mike: When we went to Japan, we were on a Singapore and that was a whole new experience.

Matt: It was awesome, I mean the whole trip was cool.

Mike: Each seat had a screen behind it so everybody could watch videos and video games and all kinds of stuff. It was cool.

Laura: Well, that’s comfortable. I just flew to Florida and I was just stuck to the seat. I couldn’t move and then I drank beer and I was like, “uh oh,…”

John: You’ve got to get up..... (All Laugh)

Laura: So, how was the Gary Numan tour?

Mike: It was amazing.

Matt: It was great, yeah it was really, really fun.

Laura: Was it all three of you the whole time? ( referring to Grand Theft Audio, Gary Numan and Gwenmars)

Mike: You mean Grand Theft Audio?

Matt: They jumped on almost halfway through. Well there were sixteen shows. They must have been on more than that.

Mike: They were on a lot.

Matt: They didn’t get on until Detroit.

Mike: It was kind of good when it was just the two of us.

Laura: that was just an amazing show, I have to tell you guys.

Matt: Was that the Anaheim show?

Sam: Both House of Blues shows, we were there.

Matt: So you got to see it with the video and without the video.

Laura: Yeah, we did. It was just an amazing show. We were right in front and as soon as Grand Theft Audio came up, we were just stuck to the floor and then when you guys came up, I thought this was just the best experience ever and then we caught Gary Numan’s drumstick, so that was exciting. I think it's good feeling when you can feel it in your body for weeks after.

Mike: That’s awesome. That’s good to hear.

Laura: So who are your favorite artists?

Mike: Umm…, Matt?

Matt: Well, I’m a big Cure fan too and The Smiths.

Mike: We are all pretty much big fans of early eighties, new-wave, mod-type stuff and obviously a lot of British music.

Mike: Of course this Grand Daddy record.

Matt: Yeah, we love that.

Mike: We haven’t really listened to it much anymore, but I went through a faze when I would listen to pretty much that.

Laura: What about John?

John: I really like talk radio, I don’t know what to tell you. I like good drumming. I like some of the old stuff. I like the Who.

John: Yeah, yeah, I can get into that

Laura: What was the last concert you attended besides your own?

Mike: We saw the strokes play the Troubadour last week. It was a really good show.

Laura: Do you get recognized a lot when you go to other shows?

Mike: Some, yeah. Sometimes I’ll go to a show and the next day on the message board on our website, somebody will say, “ I saw Mike Thrasher,” (Laughs) Well, why didn’t you come say hello, you know? (Laughs), but not a whole lot. People will see us, but a lot of people know who we are around town because we’ve been around for a while.

Laura: Where do you guys like to go on your free time? When you’re not recording and you’re not performing?

John: I like Vegas.

Mike: I like going to New York because it’s nice. I like spending time out there.

Mike: I’ve been a lot this year.

Laura: I came from NY...What part?

Mike: Manhattan, Brooklyn. I’ve just gotten really familiar with the whole area this year.

Laura: New York is definitely nothing like L.A.

Mike: No, it isn’t.

John: Vegas has it too, “New York, New York.” (All Laugh)
You can go anywhere. They’ve got Mandalay Bay. If you want to go to Europe, they’ve got that too.

Laura: What’s your favorite hotel?

John: Well, I kind of go with the ones that kind of like give me some free stuff. I think Bally’s.

Mike: We’re going to play there I think on October 5th in Vegas. The Cooler, I think.

Laura: We’ll have to check that out.<

Laura: A lot of people know this, but how did you three get together? John's from here, Matt's from Tulsa, and Mike, you’re from Birmingham. So what brought you out here?

Mike: I don’t know. I used to teach guitar lessons and was writing songs in Birmingham and I wanted to do something in music and I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to do it in Birmingham so I moved down here.

Laura: By yourself?

Mike: Yeah, pretty much. There was some other friends that had moved out before, but once I got here I didn’t really mingle too much.
So we met at the studio. This guy, Richard Podolor who produced our first record and part of this one, saw me playing guitar and anyway, I ended up in the studio recording songs and John actually worked there and Matt was working there as an engineer. That’s how we actually met, because they were both working up there I didn’t have a band and,… there you go.

Matt: Well, Rich was always pushing Mike to go off on his own to do something by himself.

Laura: What do you prefer, the small town or the big town?

Mike: I don’t know, I didn’t live in Birmingham when I was old enough to actually do much when I was growing up.

John: L.A. is like so spread out. It’s not like you’re in a big city anyway.v
Mike: That’s true. It’s not like New York or Chicago.

Matt: It doesn’t seem a lot different to me.

Mike: I definitely prefer it…, you know I love my family and all that, but I like living out here a lot.

Laura: Do any of you have stage fright?

Matt: I did amazingly bad on the first couple of shows.

John: He had never performed. He had never played bass, but he played guitar, but never in front of an audience. After five shows, he was taking Zanex.

Matt: I broke a bass string. It was a nightmare because I was so nervous.

Laura: Before your shows, sometimes you guys hang out in the front. How do you prepare for your shows? Do you get sidetracked when people come up to you?

Matt: It takes my mind off of it, really. It’s like to drink a beer and just hang out, instead of sitting backstage waiting…

John: You know that feeling you know you’re going to be playing soon and you just want to relax a little bit.

Mike: That’s probably the hardest part is waiting in the dressing room for a long time when you play. Before any show, you’re going to get a little anxious, but that’s part of the excitement.

John: I think you feel something like a little anxiety, but the minute you start it just steers, once you begin. Hopefully. Or else you’re in real trouble. (Laughs)

Matt: Hopefully, it doesn’t come back.

Laura: You’re lucky because you’re behind the drums.

John: Oh yeah, it’s a lot easier. Exactly.

Laura: You mentioned that you were inspired by blueprints and drafting. Do you do any art yourself?

Mike: A little bit, not drafting, no. just a little painting here and there, but not a big deal. You know, what I meant by that was kind of what we were talking about earlier about it could be anything, and um…

Laura: Anything that gives you an emotion.

Mike: Yeah, anything.

Laura: (Motioning to Matt) How about you? Do you do any art yourself?

Matt: A little drawing and stuff. Not much. I want to do more though. It’s on the list.

Laura: Of things to do?

John: (Laughs) It’s on the list.

Matt: My mom draws. She’s an artist. I’ve got to get her out here to teach me.

Laura: What about you John?

John: I play chess if that can be considered some sort of art. I don’t know.

Sam: It’s strategic art.

John: Yeah, it’s something there. There’s some beauty in that game. I love it.

Laura: (hating to admit but)...That’s my last question.

We all get up and the guys were kind enough to take pictures and show us some interesting parts of their lives. Thanks Mike, Matt & John. Our time with you was much enjoyed.

For More Pics Go to pics page

Photos courtesy of Brent Peters. Copyright © 2001 Plug-Media. All rights reserved

Pictures Courtesy by Brent Peters. Copyright © 2001 Plug-Media. All rights reserved.