LA based rockers talk about music and life
Southern Rockers Six Gun Sal have blessed us with their time to answer few questions about their band and themselves. Questions were prepared by yours truly – Andris Jansons, though, none of this would have happened without help of Stacie Rumenap. We can’t thank her enough. My personal favorite, is the bands answer for the last question – purely genuine! These guys and ladies are for real!
Q: Hello ladies and gentlemen! It is absolute pleasure speaking to you! Our first question would be very simple. How you would introduce yourself to the people who have never heard your music yet?
A: We’re a Southern rock band but not your average Southern rock band. We were in law enforcement and the military before forming the band. We sell copy paper. We set up guitars. We’re bankers. We counsel addicts and help them stay clean. We train dogs. We raise horses. And somehow we all found one another and now share this bond and live our lives through our music. We’re a family. Our music and our values are our way of life. What you see is what you get.
Q: Tell us about yourselves (band members)?
Anthony Appello (lead vocals): Dusty, Joey and I formed the band. For me, life is simple. If people are respectful, I’m respectful back. But fuck with someone I love and I’ll crush your existence. I’m loyal to a fault who will run toward gun fire without being asked.
Dusty Lang (rhythm guitar): I’m the resident cowboy who grew up in Texas and am happiest while I’m riding one of my horses. I’ve had a guitar in my hand for as long as I can remember.
Joey Durant (drums): I’m a New Hampshire native who’s played music for 30 years with some of the most famous musicians in the world. I’ve had amazing opportunities in this industry and also disappointing heartbreak. Music has always been my foundation and strength.
Ed Fierro (lead guitar): San Francisco native who grew up building guitars for some of the biggest names in the business.
Matt Geinitz (bassist): Moved to California from Ohio to try and land a music deal with DreamWorks. The deal fizzled but I stayed, and have been playing music since I was 13.
Gwendolyn Casella (backing vocals): All around badass who comes to the band with more energy than all of us combined.
Mia Dunn (backing vocals): Turned down an opera scholarship to college to pursue a career in rock, rap, and funk.
Derek Silverman AKA Silver Dawg (keyboard): Local to L.A. who has played keyboard for some of the biggest names in the music business.
Q: Southern Rock is such a history rich genre, where do you see yourself in it?
A: We’ve been told we sound like a new version of the Allman Brothers, which is a huge compliment. We’re solidly Southern rock but you hear hints of metal, rock, and even country in our music. We want to be seen as a band that connects people, a band that allows listeners to forget about whatever problems they have and think about something positive for a few minutes or hours. We want moms and CEOs and bikers and truck drivers and waitresses or whatever someone might do for a living to connect to our music. To not worry about where they come from but to think about what they love about their life, about living in the best damn country in the world.
Q: Your biggest influences?
A: Easy, biggest influences are classics like Greg Allman, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Guns N Roses, and ZZ Top. We’re big fans of more recent bands too like Black Crows and BlackBerry Smoke.
Q: Overall, are you rebels or traditionalists within your genre?
A: That’s up to the listener but we’re probably somewhere in-between. We embrace new rock sounds while still respecting those giants of Southern Rock that came before us. We think southern rock is such an important part of the musical landscape in the country, but don’t want to be pigeon-holed into one kind of sound. Ultimately, we’re rebels and outlaws in some people’s eyes but we believe strongly in truth, justice, and the American fucking way.
Q: Music and lifestyle always seems to go hand in hand. Tell us about your southern rock lifestyle and what it means to you?
A: Southern rock is a cult-like lifestyle of patriotism, pride, happiness, and freedom, and that’s how we all live our lives. We grew up from the east to west coasts and the south around country and blues music, surrounded by family, sometimes struggling and sometimes high on life, some of us just high…and those experiences resonates and creates Southern rock. They create our sound. We don’t care if we have a hit album on billboard charts (okay, that would be great!), we just want to play our music, be ourselves, and be happy in what we have and do every day.
Q: For the time you have been creating music, you seem to have gathered a strong fan base. Tell us about the relationship you have with your fans?
A: We love our fans, and wouldn’t be anywhere without them! We spend a lot of time every day connecting with fans, responding to them on social media, reaching out about shows and merch. It’s so cool to see the fan base grow and know so many of them have been with us from the beginning. We heard from a fan just last week that they heard our version of Hair of the Dog in Boston. DJ Corky Byer is a fan in Hawaii. A record store owner wants to sell our merch in the Netherlands. We’re growing our base in Las Vegas and in our home states like New Hampshire and New Jersey. There’s nothing better than hearing from fans, especially feeding off their energy during a live show.
Q: What drives your creative process, and how you see your sound evolve in the future?
A: There’s no better satisfaction than creating a song that starts out with nothing more than a rift and a few words and turns into an epic piece of music. We’re excited about the future! We’ll always stick to our Southern rock roots but we’ll also look to expand beyond one traditional form of music and try to incorporate other elements from other genres to create our own version of Southern rock.
Q: New music, are you working on it and when your fans can expect it?
A: We’re always working on new music! Our album Rebels & Rogues came out in November. We released the new song The Creek in February. And we’re in the studio now working on several new songs that should be released this summer.
Q: You find yourself headlining the national tour arena with a hundred thousand people there cheering you on. You enter the stage and grab the microphone. Your first words to them?
A: HOW THE FUCK DID WE GET HERE?