Bands like AFI, Linkin Park, and Bad Religion got their roots and gained fast popularity from the California Bay area; The Skinny Guns could be next. After forming in 2008 under the name Somori and the Skinny Guns and after going through a few line up changes, The Skinny Guns used their influences from The Doors and began writing songs and playing shows around San Francisco. All of their music is available to download for free at https://soundcloud.com/the-skinny-guns. Our writer Eric Walden emailed The Skinny Guns to ask about their upcoming live KDVS 90.3 FM web performance and to find out a little more about how the band came to be.
Soundcheck411: The Skinny Guns are doing an upcoming live radio concert. How and where can our readers hear that?
Somori: So our full one hour set will air on Saturday Feb. 8th 2014 at 11pm PST on KDVS 90.3 FM in the Sacramento / Davis area. It will be streaming online at http://kdvs.org/listen from 11 to midnight that Saturday. It should be available on their youtube channel as well, after a week or so.
Soundcheck411: Do you have any plans for a full length album?
Eric: Yes we do. We’re looking for the right producer to help us record our first LP. We hope to start recording early this spring and target a release in early summer. We’re really looking forward to it. We play a fair amount of shows and it’d be nice actually have a product that people can take away and, hopefully, enjoy.
Soundcheck411: How did you guys settle on calling your band “The Skinny Guns”?
Somori: Well originally we were Somori Pointer & The Skinny Guns, which was a name I had played around with in my head for a while. I also expected to be the main song writer for the band because we had just met and you never really know how long you’ll be playing together. I was skinny, my arms are skinny, makes perfect sense at the time. We played under that name for a year, give or take, and over that period of time the writing became more collaborative and the songs were coming from us. So we dropped the first part and became simply The Skinny Guns, which is good because it sucked saying that long ass name.
Soundcheck411: What brought you guys together to start a band?
Conor: I was eating lunch in San Rafael with my friend Lillie Clay at my favorite Hawaiian BBQ spot called Mauna Loa, when all of a sudden she lept up out of her seat and ran outside and yelled out to this leather jacket wearing, guitar toting rocker across the street and was all, “Hey Somori come over here” She knew we were both musicians and thought we should meet. We started talking more when he came in to Bananas at Large, a music store where I worked in that same town. Somori ran into his old friend Eric on the bus one day, and remembered that he played guitar. We got together to Jam and wrote like 4 songs in that first session. We then proceeded to go through like 4 bassists until we finally convinced Brian (Eric’s Brother) to switch over from guitar to bass. It was the best move we could have made. . .
Soundcheck411: Where is your biggest fan base?
Brian: Our biggest fan base is in the San Francisco Bay Area, and mainly in the north and east bay.
Soundcheck411: If you could do a show with three of your favorite current bands who would they be?
Brian: Band of Horses or My Morning Jacket
Eric & Conor: Queens of the Stone Age
Eric: I’d want this just to see THEM play live again.
Conor: Queens of the Stone Age Completely killed it. Best live Rock band right now. Actually, I was introduced to Soundcheck411 at this show because AFI was playing and I took an Instagram flick and Nicole Lemberg liked it.
Somori: We respect and listen to so many bands but I would have to say Black Rebel Motorcycle Club I love dirty bluesy wet leather rock & roll, but for me that list changes daily.
Soundcheck411: If you could play anywhere in the world where would it be and why?
Brian: At this point I’d love to play Main stage at the music festival Coachella. My experience at Coachella was a life changer and Id like to be a part of that story in anyone’s life.
Eric: Japan… Because Japan.
Conor: The Øya festival in Norway! This concert completely reinvigorated my love for music, and the people in Norway are so friendly and actually still buy music on CD’s ?!?!?
Soundcheck411: Who was the first band you ever saw in concert, and when was it?
Brian: I saw Bloc Party at the Warfield. 2006. Incredible show.
Eric: New Kids on the Block. ’89. No joke.
Conor: My first show was Nine Inch Nails at MadisonSquareGarden. Completely blew my mind. They recorded the Music Video for the song “Hurt” at the show I was at.
Soundcheck411: What is the best thing to eat before a show?
The Skinny Guns: I think we can all agree, a FREE burger from Hotel Utah!
Soundcheck411: On the bands Facebook it says you guys were most influenced by The Doors. Which of their songs is your favorite, and why?
Somori & Eric: The Doors are definitely one of our influences. I wouldn’t say we were the most influenced by them. I think as a band we draw influence from a wide range of other artists across all genres; everywhere from 50’s rock to stoner metal, and thrashy punk. It’s hard to identify which bands or artists specifically influence our sound. It’s sounds, riffs, moods, colors, weed, whiskey, and beer. You’ll definitely hear bits of Jim Morrison in there. You’ll hear Glen Danzig. You might think you hear Eddie Vedder. Maybe even Sam Cooke, Johnny Cash, Pointer Sisters, or Joy Division. We are definitely a band with multiple personality disorder. But we like it that way.
Soundcheck411: Now that The Skinny Guns have been a band for almost six years, what is your favorite band memory?
Eric: The Vitus show is probably my favorite band memory. It was Brian’s first show. He held it down. It was the beginning, really. Once he came in on the bass for us we were a solid unit. From then on the song writing and collaborative dynamic was kinda set in motion.
Soundcheck411: What record company are you guys setting your sites for in the bands future if any?
Somori: I don’t know, we are having a lot of fun now. It is nice to be independent and grow artistically with these guys.
