Gringo Star are insouciant explorers, tossing the paddles overboard and drifting on the currents of their lackadaisical curiosity across a rippling sonic ocean, out to the far edges of rock & roll. Shots pulsing from a vintage Leslie speaker, their guitars, keys and vocals create the psychoactive ingredients of their echo-slathered, doo-wop-indebted indie gems; psychedelic garage bangers, gritty R&B shuffles and spaghettiwestern weirdness. Taking cues from Santo & Johnny, The Stooges, Ritchie Valens, Marc Bolan, Percy Faith, Sam Cooke, the men working on the chain gang—uh! ah!—they’re all here, their electric ghosts reaching across time, tapping Gringo Star on the shoulder like the crossroads devil to
Robert Johnson, bestowing secrets, passing torches.
In this interview spotlight, we have a virtual pow wow with Gringo Star to discuss music, influences, the new project and more.
Full Q&A, links, and streams available below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
Just living life and being music fans for the majority our lives. Being brothers, we began writing together in our early teens. We grew up with access to a great oldies station and just always enjoyed older music but also got into the 90 grunge stuff and some punk. This is our fourth album and it’s our favorite yet. We recorded it in our studio and really had a great time experimenting with some new equipment we were able to get last year when I dropped twenty bucks into a slot machine on tour and somehow hit the jack pot.
What led you into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?
We took an interest in music and rock-n-roll from an early age and got cheap guitars and started figuring out how to play as best we could. I picked up a lot of the stuff I still base my guitar playing on from my good friend John who was an incredible guitarist when we were like 10. In our early teens we played in a bluesy rocking band that we pretty much fulfilled the backing band role behind this guy on drums and bass and really gained some progress on our instruments. Eventually we started writing our own songs and then got into recording.We’ve been working on writing, recording and playing shows as much possible ever since.
Who or what influences your creativity? Have your tastes in music changed over time?
Considering I used to listen to MC Hammer when I was young and first got a tape player makes me think they have a changed a little. I have however always been into older music. Twenties, thirties and on up to the sixties and seventies. And some newer stuff. I have been listening to crooners a lot like lately, Gene Austin in particular.
[ed note: the first cassette i ever bought for myself was MC Hammer. i was 6.]
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
We were really just aiming to make something that was true to us. It’s easy to fall prey to this pressure to record music that fits people’s expectations but we just set out to do what we wanted and that’s all. And I think as a result ended up with our favorite recording to date.
What was the last song you listened to?
Marty Robbins, Stairway of Love
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Vinyl
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
I actually think spotify is cool. I Haven’t had it long but I enjoy it despite all the outrage about it.
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with or find new fans?
Progressing our songwriting and recording. Our biggest challenge is always to push our writing on up and come up with something new and fresh.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more music?
gringostar.net or Facebook, Twitter etc..
Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?
thanks!
US Summer Tour Dates
- 08.10 – Charlotte, NC @ Double Door Inn
- 08.11 – Durham, NC @ The Pinhook
- 08.12 – Winston-Salem, NC @The Garage
- 8.14 – Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern
- 08.15 – Washington, DC @ DC9
- 08.16 – Annapolis, MD @ Metropolitan Kitchen & Lounge
- 08.17 – Baltimore, MD @ The Crown
- 08.18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
- 08.19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Shea Stadium
- 08.21 – New Haven, CT @ Cafe Nine
- 08.23 – Rochester, NY @ The Bug Jar
- 08.24 – Boston, MA @ Great Scott
- 08.25 – Providence, RI @ Fete Music Hall
- 08.28 – Buffalo, NY @ Waiting Room (The Studio)
- 08.29 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom and Tavern
- 08.30 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
- 08.31 – Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub
- 09.01 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme
- 09.02 – Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
- 09.03 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Cactus Club
- 09.04 – Madison, WI @ The Frequency
- 09.06 – Omaha, NE @ O’Leaver’s
- 09.07 – Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room
- 09.14 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
- 09.15 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux
- 09.16 – Seattle, WA @ The Vera Project
- 09.20 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
- 09.22 – San Francisco, CA @ The Rickshaw Stop
- 09.29 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Satellite
- 09.30 – San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
- 10.01 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
- 10.05 – El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace
- 10.06 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
- 10.07 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
- 10.08 – Dallas, TX @ Doublewide
