sandiegopunk.com

Tailgunner

SDP: Who's in the band and what do they do? Chris Brown: Vocals TJ Royer: Guitar Christian Cummings: Drums, Vocals Max Cook: Bass, Vocals

SDP: Briefly describe your music.
Chris: Shit ... now I know why I don't like interviews...tough questions. I think our music is what we want to hear. Our goal from the beginning was to write good songs. It didn't matter how catchy they were, or how hard of soft... We just wanted to play what we thought was good.
Christian: We don't necessarily sound like our influences, but you can tell we were inspired by them.

SDP: Why should people listen to your band?
Chris: Because I am scared to death that rock is pretty close to being dead...it's all recycled trash. With Tailgunner, we have tried to forget the rules and just rock.
TJ: And because we don't suck, completely.

SDP: How long has Tailgunner been a band for?
TJ: About four months. Our first show together was at the Casbah about two months ago. We all came from other bands and it just clicked.
Christian: Collectively, in other projects we've been writing, recording, and touring for years.

SDP: Where did you get your name from?
Christian: We battled over like 40 names...this one sucked the least.
Max: Do you know why it sucked the least, Christian? 'Cause I made it up... that's why.

SDP: What makes Tailgunner different from every other band out there?
Chris: Because we wear our hearts on our sleeves. We wanted our music this way. Every song that we have is about something that happened recently...so it's a lot closer to us.
Christian: It's honest. We don't try and write specific types of songs like some bands might do. We don't try and write songs for the radio... We just try and write "good songs."

SDP: Is there any message you try to get across through your music?
Chris: That there are others out there that have the exact same problems. Good or bad. I have dealt with a lot of shitty things by writing about them.
TJ: Relationships suck.

SDP: What bands, people, books, etc. have had the biggest influence on your band?
Max: I remember the first time I ever heard Quicksand...blew me away. I look back on it now and see just how ahead of their time they were. Guns and Roses was the first tape that I ever bought...in fourth grade. I remember listening to it in the car with my mom when Axl said, "why don't you just...FUCK OFF!!!" Changed my life forever.
Chris: Blake Schwarzenbach, the lead singer of Jawbreaker and Jets to Brazil. His lyrics are so inspiring...they paint a picture in my mind like nothing ever has before.
TJ: Kurt Vonnegut, Randy Rhodes, and more recently, bands like Billy Talent and Trail of Dead.
Christian: Mine have all been said already.

SDP: What about Tailgunner are you most proud of?
TJ: We all believe in it, more than anything we have ever done.
Chris: I am proud of the fact that we have done everything that we said we would do. I have never been with a band that had this much passion about music or the desire to succeed.
Christian: Yeah, we clicked from the start.

SDP: What is the biggest thing about Tailgunner you want to improve?
TJ: Get more done in a shorter amount of time.
Chris: Record more material. Basically to get in the studio more.

SDP: What CDs are currently in your stereo?
Chris: Fallow by The Weakerthans, Glassjaw, basically a mixture between hate music and sad music.
TJ: Billy Talent, The Distillers, The Bronx, The Constantines.
Max: Oh....hmmmm. Who's Bronx CD is that, TJ?
TJ: Mine now douchebag!!!
Max: F you!! What was the question...oh, the Bronx if I had it, Quicksand - Slip, The Feds - From Hell to Breakfast, and At The Drive-In.
Christian: Hot Like (A) Robot - Hurry up and Die....oh who cares...I listen to the same shit as these guys, that's why I'm in a band with them.

Official Website: http://www.tailgunnermusic.com/

Back to Band of the Month