Right on the heels of our live review of Gringo Star, we take a more in depth look behind the band through a conversation I had with founding member Nick Furgiuele. Here he gives us a rather comprehensive rundown of what’s hot in the music scene of Atlanta right now, with a tour of sorts of what kind of musical diversity the city has to offer, as well as some really interesting history his entire family has with being in the music scene, and also a bit about what the band has coming up with their new record due out this year.
Kelly Knapp: You just started touring this past month…
Nick Furgiuele: Yeah, it’s not even a tour. I mean, it’s like 14 something shows. It’s just kind of the east coast – we’re going to Toronto the first time, and then it’s Chicago, and just hitting some of the cities that we do better in and stuff…keep the ball rollin’ for the new album later in the summer.
KK: Yeah! Ok I was going to ask about that – so you just released this 7 inch…
NF: Yeah, we did the limited edition 7 inch; those are two songs that will be on the record. We were just antsy to start getting the motions going.
KK: So those will also be on the album coming out.
NF: Yeah, those will be on the album. We’re going to get back January 28th I guess, and plan to crank out the last two songs – we’re almost done with the album.
KK: You just need to record them?
NF: Yeah, we’ve got it all – we’ve got about eight songs down, we’ve got some parts of other stuff that’s not finished, and some of it’s not mixed completely. So just wrapping it up, getting it going, fight over the artwork.
KK: Do you guys do the art too?
NF: Not personally. The art on the newest 7 inch was a painting of a friend’s, and also a photograph of my brother’s, in the band – he took a photo of this sculpting in Italy. Then the other two, Count Yer Lucky Stars was an artist in Chicago named Rachel Borchers, who we’re friends with. We used to go play her art shows in Chicago like, the first time we ever toured, eight years ago. The other guy was also sort of part of her art collective up there – Mariano. He did the All Y’all album artwork that we have. We like to get friend painters and just take their stuff and do something with it.
KK: Eight years ago – so you guys have been at it a good while.
NFL Yeah well, that was before we were called Gringo Star; it was kind of an early incarnation of the band. Two of the same members – me and my brother – and a couple guys who aren’t in it anymore. Gringo Star, All Y’all, was the debut album we did – that was like, ’08. Well, ’08 we self-released it, and then in 2010 Cargo Records released it in Europe, and did a vinyl pressing.
KK: So you guys have gone through some different lineup changes.
NF: Yeah, it’s mostly been me and my brother the whole time, and then one other guy, Chris, has been with us since before Cargo. Around when we were touring on All Y’all he joined the band, because another guy quit to do his own thing. So, me and my brother and Chris have been playing and touring for three or four years, and then recently one of our guys who had been with us since the beginning…he kinda had some health issues, like couldn’t deal with being on the road and touring, and all that.
KK: It’s not for everyone.
NF: Yeah, so he bid farewell earlier this year, which is cool. Cameron (Gardner)’s our drummer right now; he’s recording on the album with us. He lives in Atlanta, he’s a buddy of ours, he plays in Washed Out as his main time thing. They’re getting ready to do another big push on their next album, so he’s doing this and March stuff – we’re doing some festival stuff in SXSW, and some other stuff in the South, and then we’re going to try to figure out how…we’ve played with a few other drummers, but he’s definitely our favorite.
KK: What’s the community like in Atlanta – is it like a really close-knit scene?
NF: Dude it’s great, man. There’s a bunch of bands from Atlanta that we’re friends with that are doing awesome stuff right now. Washed Out’s not from Atlanta but they’re based out of there, Dog Bite are from there, Mood Rings just signed to Mexican Summer there – they played our 7 inch release the other night in Atlanta. Black Lips, we toured with a good bit; Deerhunter, Atlas Sound…all those bands, we’ve all known each other and been around each other since the early 2000s. Yeah, I’d say it’s definitely a pretty cool music community going on for sure. A lot of people doing a lot of different things. You’ve got Mastodon and stuff like that, too. Then you’ve got some terrible shit, like Zac Brown band, who’s like the biggest country artist in the world. It’s fucking awful. And Janelle Monae, she’s from Atlanta, she’s kind of like, Big Boi stuff. So it’s pretty diverse. Obviously there’s a ton of hip hop and rap – Gucci Mane, Outkast, Usher and stuff, but there’s a pretty cool rock scene going on too.
KK: I would assume that suits you pretty well then, since your sound is kind of eclectic. Do you kind of pride yourselves on that, as having all these different influences?
NF: I mean… no, we just kind of do whatever we do, and it turns out like that I guess. Me and my brother pretty much just split – half the set will be his songs, half the set will be my songs, although we write songs together too.
KK: What were you guys listening to growing up that really influenced you?
NF: Pretty much just our parents’ record collection. We went to high school up in North Carolina – Appalachian redneck Baptist whatever. Christian bible belt. Like Sam Cooke, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens. My mom’s dad, who died before we ever met him – our granddad – he managed and he had a record label. He was like a DJ in Atlanta in the 50s, kind of pioneering black music and soul music and stuff. He was putting it out and he started promoting shows, and he put on Soulsters and Sam Cooke, and Aretha Franklin – pretty much everybody from that era, he was putting on around Atlanta and Columbus. Unfortunately we never got to hang out with him, and hear anything from him, but we’ve heard tons of stories from my mom. She had a couple record shops in Columbus, GA, and was a DJ, and started managing some bands later, like this R&B duo, Peggy Scott & Jo Jo Benson. They were kind of obscure, but they had a gold record that somehow ended up hanging in our practice space. I think it was his copy or something – Lover’s Holiday.
KK: Is that what made you want to start making your own music?
NF: I think our parents encouraged it all from the beginning. My brother started playing when he was like, four, playing violin in the school orchestra and shit like that. He doesn’t really play that kind of music anymore, but he plays a lot of piano, guitar, and drums. I just play guitar and yell in the microphone. But definitely hearing all those stories growing up, and seeing pictures like Jackie Wilson hanging out, and pictures of him backstage with my grandma and my granddad, just kickin’ it. Actually Aretha Franklin sued him because she was wasted and fell off the stage when she was playing a show that he was putting on one time, and broke her arm or something, so I hate Aretha. I hate her voice too.
KK: What’s your favorite way to kill time, when you have downtime on the road?
NF: We just get into places and kind of go around. We have a lot of friends we’ve made over the course of touring the last five or so years, and pretty much just go, show up, hang out with people we’re friends with…
KK: So you kind of go to the same places, and know what’s there already.
NF: Yeah, Totally. Hit the same spots, like always go to L.A. Burrito when we come to Glasslands. That and sit in the van, smoke pot, play guitar. We have an acoustic and we do sing-alongs, sit around, pass the time.
KK: Do you guy write on the road?
NF: Kind of, I mean you kind of get ideas, and stuff gets saved in the back of your head for later. All of a sudden, you come home, you’re sitting around, and it’s like, alright, I’ll put some stuff together.
KK: So when can we expect this new album?
NF: We’re releasing it in the summer.
KK: What’s the biggest thing you hope to accomplish in 2013?
NF: We just love touring. I want to tour Europe again, tour U.S. again, play to thousands of millions of people when possible…nah, I don’t know. We just like making songs, recording and releasing music. Biggest goal, that’s just huge, I don’t know. It’s scary, I can’t even think about that right now. Just want to keep it going.
