Gomez is:
Tom Gray -- vocals, guitar, keyboards
Ian Ball -- vocals, guitar, harmonica
Ben Ottewell -- vocals, guitar
Paul Blackburn -- bass, guitars, vocals
Olly Peacock -- drums, percussion
Gomez |
It has been almost six years since Gomez's first single "78 Stone Wobble" was released in the UK, and somehow they are still relatively unheard of in the US. Their music seems to be without barriers, as they have no easily definable sound; yet it's so easily recognizable partly due to their three-vocalist style with Ben Ottewell, Ian Ball, and Tom Gray each taking the lead on different songs. "We're a big melting pot," responds drummer/percussionist Olly Peacock when asked to describe Gomez's sound.
Their debut album Bring It On, essentially compromised of the band's original demo tapes, was voted the 1998 Album of The Year in Britain. Their second album Liquid Skin was released in 1999. Not in keeping with the "sophomore slump syndrome," Liquid Skin debuted at Number Two and received nominations for two BRIT awards--Best British Act and Best Album. A third album, Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline, was released in 2000 along with a second disc, Machismo EP, a special package made for America. Then in 2002 came the release of the critically acclaimed In Our Gun. With over two million records sold worldwide, that album, their fifth, has Gomez poised to continue their considerable success.
Gomez just wrapped up a US tour--hopefully you were lucky enough to catch them this time around. On their return to the UK, Gomez will release their new single, "Catch Me Up," due out on March first. It's the first track to be taken from their forthcoming album (expected late spring). They will be back to the States this summer, do yourself a favor and check them out!
Jen Katz: Can you give me a little background on Gomez?
Olly: Ian and I grew up together near Liverpool and then met Paul and Tom in our teens. Ian and Ben met at university and started playing together. We just started playing music together so we decided to record some tunes. Our music got passed on to a fellow (Steve, who's now our manager) who then passed it on to a few record companies. And, luckily we got signed and got a deal. That's the basic history behind us.
Jen Katz: I've read a lot of comparisons of your music to The Beatles, Pearl Jam, Primal Scream, and Metallica. What do you think of these comparisons? How would you describe your sound?
Olly Peacock from www.gomez.co.uk |
Olly: They're pretty interesting comparisons. I am not sure about the Metallica one, although it's pretty cool. It's really hard to define our sound because our albums consist of so many different styles and genres of music. It's basically a bunch of people who are into music. We've never held back and thought we can't play a certain style of guitar or we can't play rhythms like this or can't sing like this. Also, our sound on an album and our live sound are pretty different.
How so?
Our live sound is a bit rockier and heavier.
In the UK, you headline festivals and sell out consecutive nights in large arenas. You've also won the prestigious Mercury Music Prize, and yet you are still relatively new to listeners in the US. What do you think accounts for this difference?
Olly Peacock from www.gomez.co.uk |
The first thing that comes to mind is simply the size difference between the UK and US. Individually, the states are also so different. We haven't received much radio play here at all. It's like how we started in England, by word of mouth. People recommended us and brought their friends to gigs. Then they would tell their friends and so on. It's really a good way of building and getting known because a recommendation from a friend is really the best thing.
What states have you had the most success in?
New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles... On this tour, we played the 9:30 Club in Washington and it was jam-packed. It was a great response.
What's your impression of the US music scene versus the UK music scene?
Gomez by Robb Cohen |
The main thing we like about playing in the US is the ability to put on a live show and be able to do everything and anything we want to do. We can wig out on a tune a lot easier and everyone's totally accepting of that sort of thing. It's totally natural. We can go off for like five minutes in the middle of a tune and people are into it. People at home are not as willing to hear that. Plus, the music scene over here is so well established. I also think people here are just generally more into music.
By some, you might be referred to as a jam band. How do you feel about having this label?
I don't know. It's a strange one. We've been hearing it for a while and we don't really exactly know what a jam band is. Is it bands that just wig out and play long songs?
Amongst other things, some might say that's a fair description...
Gomez from www.gomez.co.uk |
I don't think we fully fit the mold of being a jam band. We do play differently every night and perform the songs in different ways. We also play long songs. I do like the people that are into jam bands.
What kind of people are those?
We supported the String Cheese Incident last holiday in San Francisco and you could tell who the people were that were there to see String Cheese Incident. There were people walking around the hotels with dogs and hula-hoops. I think the cool thing about those fans is that they will travel around hundreds of miles to see a band. We have experienced that a little bit and it's so strange to us to travel 500 miles to see a band--that's like the entirety of England. If you are playing a half hour away at home, people are like, "I'm not sure if I'm going to go."
You have a new album coming out this May. Tell me about it.
It's more focused.
What do you mean by that?
Olly Peacock by Robb Cohen |
It's more digestible. It's generally a more faster and rockier sound as opposed to our last album, which had styles from all over--dance tracks, rock tracks, slower stuff. It sounds more like Bring It On. I think we sound more like a proper band.
Will you be back to the states to support your new album?
Yes. We will do some touring in France and then an English tour. Then we are back here in June. We will be doing our own dates and hopefully some festivals. We are doing Bonnaroo. Maybe we should talk again after Bonnaroo... I keep hearing all sorts of things about it. Loads of jam bands... It will be great.
What are you listening to right now?
Rufus Wainwright, a Manchester band called I Am Kloot, a lot of Johnny Cash, and Outkast.
Jen Katz
JamBase | San Francisco
Go See Live Music!
|
