RawArtist Interview

MUSIC: GORGEOUS GOT A GUN

All of us have been in bands playing music and performing since we were very young.  I’ve always had a passion for performance and wanted to be an actress.  When I was in high school, I started getting into guitar and had written about 100 songs by the time I graduated.  I turned my passion for performing into singing-songwriting and started playing acoustic shows all over Los Angeles.  In 2005, I sold out The Roxy with just me and an acoustic guitar playing to hundreds of people.  From that point forward, I knew this was something I wanted to do.  In 2008, I met guitarist Chris Evans, who had been in dub/reggae bands, and we started jamming and realized we could do something huge with our collaboration.  We decided to start a full on rock band, Gorgeous Got a Gun.  Enter bass player Jimi Blaze, who I attended Loyola Marymount University with a friend of a friend, Jason Baksh, who plays on the drums and … finally, we have GGG.

A lot of my writing is drawn from personal experience.  However, I also incorporate the stories and feelings I hear and see in other people’s lives and try to write from different points of view.

I am very inspired by all kinds of art.  Getting out to art shows and seeing other artists’ work has always inspired my writing.  A picture tells a thousand words and I can’t help but be moved by something I see.  It makes me want to express my feelings towards the subject and invokes something inside of me.  Our guitarist Chris is an avid photographer and graphic designer and is very much inspired by art.  Jimi is a history major and has a lot of knowledge in different art/music movements which inspire him and inspires all of us when he shares his knowledge.

We start with an idea—whether that’s a guitar/bass riff that Chris, Jimi or I have written, a chorus melody I have in my head, a poem I have written, or just the four of us in a rehearsal space with nothing.  We get into a room and just start jamming.  That’s when the magic really happens.  We all mesh together really well and I start making up melodies there on the spot as we jam.   Before we know it, we have a basic song structure.  From there we shape it and clean it and pour feeling and lyrics into it.

We all come from different styles and musical backgrounds.  Jimi is a classically trained musician, Chris has played in reggae bands his whole life, I come from a pop/rock style of writing and Jason has played in everything from pop to hard rock bands.  This collaboration is what makes GGG unique.  I think overall, we are all trying to utilize all of these elements and make good, raw rock music with more interesting arrangements and parts.

I know we all have a wide range of influences.  Right now we are all really inspired by the whole indie scene that is flourishing in this changing music industry.  These bands are really paving the way for bands like us who want to shake up the industry and change how things work for the better. We are all also really inspired by music from the 60s and 70s and the rawness and soul of that time period.  I asked all the guys who inspires them the most: Chris: Jimi Hendrix; Jimi:The Beatles; Jason: Morgan Rose, drummer of Sevendust. I’m really inspired by strong front women like Grace Slick, Janis Joplin and Stevie Nicks.

I would say that self-empowerment is a huge theme we explore.  How can you make yourself better for the world?

We recorded our debut album and that was a huge accomplishment for us.  At the time, it was Chris and I writing the record with a producer.  It was one of the coolest experiences ever to record in a major studio where anyone from Weezer to Iron Maiden was in the room next door.  However, I think the biggest thing I am proud of is bringing this record to life with the amazing band we have in place now.

I think these guys may already be pretty big but I am currently obsessed with the Crash Kings.