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I was probably, well, a third generation factory worker the moment I took that job. My mother worked in a factory for 40-years, my grandfather worked in the same factory for 35-years, and then I worked in that crappy factory. -Wayne Gottstine |
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Photo by Manny Moss
"That song was pretty much inspired by my youthful indulgence in role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons and fantasy novels and being a super gamer nerd in high school. And I still like that kind of stuff. So, I've written several songs about that era for me. It's basically just a tongue-in-cheek kind of something I personally thought was funny," he says. "I don't know how much other people get it, but that was basically an argument that pursuing necromancy as a career is really a fool's errand. A necromancer is not very powerful; they deal with raising the dead and with curses on farmers and minor witchy stuff like that. But you have a lot of bad side effects like, cosmetic side effects. They are not very popular with the ladies [laughs]."
 Split Lip Rayfield |
These new tunes show both that hardnosed realism and welcome lunacy that has always snaked through the band's work. But the final, subdued track of the album, underscored by Mardis' acoustic guitar, "I'll Be Around," provides a moving, quieter moment as it draws on the emotions of the past couple years.
"That song kind of took off on its own while I was writing it," says Mardis. "I came up with the chord progression and it was kind of sad, and when the lyrics started to come out, which I finished in the studio, I didn't quite know what it was about until I went back and read it. I wasn't really setting out to write a specific song that encapsulated how I felt about losing Kirk, but that's what happened. There was a couple verses that I axed out of it, that [pauses]... I don't know, it's kind of an emotional one. That one kind of chokes me up sometimes when we play it live, kind of depending on the room that we're in and stuff. I usually write songs that are completely ludicrous like murder ballads or non-personal stuff, and that one's definitely personal. I miss him a lot. We all do."
When The Rayfields Conquer the World
"For me, I love playing with these guys," Gottstine says. "I loved playing with Kirk and I miss him, but I couldn't not play with my two favorite people. You know, no one else can play fast [like them]. I have lots of other projects but they are not as satisfying [Pauses], well maybe The Sluggos, that is one of the sexiest bands you'll ever see [everyone starts laughing]."
Split Lip is hoping to make serious tour tracks in 2009, and looking more generally towards the future, they are keeping the plans nice and simple.
 Split Lip Rayfield by Ryan Hendrix |
"I want to make the banjo fucking cool," Mardis laughs, as he scrawls out the setlist for the show tonight. "Write more music, make more records, conquer the world. Bring banjo to the masses. I guess I just want this to be our job. No other goal, other than that I don't want a day job. So, I don't know if it's about getting on MTV or whatever the goal is."
"If we were on MTV, we'd have to be on a show," Gottstine interjects. "Roommates or something like that. You'd only see the band and how we live together, not the music."
Until Split Lip Roommates conquers the basic cable airwaves, the blistering live shows will have to suffice as they continue to draw in a diverse fan base, a fold that will hopefully continue to grow. When asked if they think they've carved out a niche, Gottstine says flatly, "I think so."
"It's hard to say what that [niche] is though," Mardis interjects, "because you've got like the green haired punk rocker and the blue haired old lady, and they don't really fit into the same [category], you know depending on where we are and whose listening. It depends on what region you are in. In Colorado it's the sort of hippified people and you know..."
"...In L.A. it's all rockabilly," Gottstine throws out.
"It's good to have that sort of cross appeal but I don't know if it leaves us much like, these [specific groups] are our people," Mardis finishes the thought. "It's hard to say who that is."
But it's surely a sign of quality when you create an open environment. It means you are reaching towards that elusive originality most bands strive in vain for.
"We're just combining a couple of styles of music, playing what pleases us," Gottstine says. "I don't know how it stacks up to the rest of what's going on out there. I'm kind of in my own little world I guess. I think we're doing something different. We're just an aggressive acoustic band, playing our tunes."
The unrepentantly rough and rowdy band from Wichita are gonna keep it that straightforward. Amen.
You can keep up to date with the latest developments of SLR and pick up the new album, as well as share photos of Kirk and donate to his memorial cancer fund, at their website. The band is on tour now a few shows through mid-December, dates available here.
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