by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor/Contributing Writer
Gringo Star, will be slingin’ that nitty gritty, ‘60s beach-y dirty rock ‘n’ roll your mama warned you about this Thursday, October 30, during a homecoming pit-stop on their whirlwind of a Fall tour, at DASHBOARD CO-OP, presented by Atlanta’s own WRAS-Album 88! And if that wasn’t enough, they’ll be hawkin’ their hot-off-the-presses, 7”- debuting two new edgy singles, “Long Time Gone” and “World of Spin” released by dizzybird records, which can also be purchased here. So, rock out, clear your calendar, and shake on down for a night of psychedelic shenanigans with Gringo Star and their pals, the psych-rock outfit, the Mood Rings at DASHBOARD CO-OP this Thursday!
Atlanta’s Gringo Star is a long-running collaboration of brothers Nick and Pete Furgiuele, catching the ears of the nation and the itch reaped from the godfathers of R&B, rock and soul. Their tantalizing and tainted tunes pay homage to The Kinks, Richie Valens, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds, Sam Cooke and a helluva lot of old-school rockers and purveyors of doo-wop and soul. Their love of music sprung from a childhood chock full of the wonderment spilling over from their radio dj’ing granddad and his tales of the past. With three full-length albums under their gritty garage rockin’ belts [2008’s “All Y’All”, 2011’s “Count Yer Lucky Stars”, 2013’s “Floating Out to See”], their new 7” and nods from national outlets [December 2011, Rolling Stone mention here, Consequence of Sound articles here and more recently, a review in The New York Times here ], they are well on their way to the psychedelic garage rockin’ celestial cloud of Gringo Star-dom!
ATLRetro caught up with Nick Furgiuele for a quick interview about Gringo Star’s rock ‘n’ roll roots, their new singles “Long Time Gone/World of Spin”, why Aretha Franklin rubs them the wrong way and their upcoming show at DASHBOARD CO-OP!
And while you’re takin’ a gander at our little Q&A with Furgiuele, take a peek at Gringo Star’s new “World of Spin” video, reminiscent of “an old Polaroid coming to life”, here, directed, shot and edited by Megan Gamez.
ATLRetro: Your Fall 2014 tour has been a non-stop rockin’ trek across the U.S. What’s it like getting to come home and put on a show for your local fans?
Nick Furgiuele: It’s always great to play in Atlanta, getting to come back to a bunch of familiar faces and friends after being gone awhile.
You have a show nearly every day so far on this tour; what’s a day on the road like for Gringo Star?
Well, there are nights we don’t get to bed until 4:30 am, and then we’re up at 9 am. to start driving to the next spot. So first, we have to find coffee. Seventy-five percent of touring, we’re driving down the highway, so we have a little acoustic guitar and we just have sing-alongs in the van. The radio sucks and our CD player doesn’t work, either, so that helps pass the time on the drives. That and apples. Then we get to the place—load in, sound check, hurry up and wait. Play the set, load out. Repeat.
How did you get involved in Atlanta’s rockin’ indie music scene?
We’re all from Atlanta or the surrounding area.
Gringo Star has been described as being the purveyors of retro-infused rock, stepping in and out of genres, while keeping your fans on their toes anticipating what’s coming next. How would you describe your sound?
#underground
Can you tell folks a little bit about your new 7-inch featuring “Long Time Gone” and “World of Spin?”
This is the first record we’ve recorded that was just Pete and me on all the instruments, vocals and recording. We did it at his home studio in Atlanta earlier this spring. “Long time Gone” is my song and “World of Spin” is Pete’s.
Having experienced releasing albums that were both produced in studio with an engineer [2008’s All Y’all and 2011’s Count Yer Lucky Stars] and home recorded, mixed and produced [2013’s Floating Out to See and your new 7-inch], which would you say fits your band’s persona more and why?
We like doing things both ways. Lately we’ve been more into doing it ourselves. It’s just nice to have more time to experiment with the songs, arrangements and sounds. Sometimes when you’re in a studio with a producer, you feel more pressure to finish things up or hurry because of time constraints. Plus, although it’s great to have some other ears besides ours involved, in a way, it’s also kind of nice that we don’t have any other outside perspectives—it’s as much us as it can be.
You guys draw much of your sound from a wide spectrum of musical acts of the past [Sam Cooke; Ritchie Valens; The Stooges; CCR, to name a few], fusing their genius with your own. If you could pick one musician/band from the past that influenced you the most, who would it be and why?
It’s hard to pick only one. The Kinks are way up there. Buddy Holly was one of the first guys I was really into, but there are so many great bands and singers out there.
Music definitely runs in your family with your grandfather’s involvement in ‘40s and ‘50s radio and his induction into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Can you tell our readers any interesting tales about what it was like growing up with his stories and how they influenced your own musical upbringing?
That all definitely played a big part in us playing music growing up. Our mom used to always tell us stories about her childhood, being around the early rock & roll scene, hanging out with Sam Cooke, who was granddad’s favorite, working at the record shop and going to shows. Our granddad started off as a radio DJ and then got into promoting shows and opened several record shops in Columbus, Ga. He used to put on shows by Sam Cooke, The Soul Stirrers, James Brown, Otis Redding, Little Stevie Wonder, Jackie Wilson, Martha and the Vandellas and on and on. We always used to look through my grandma’s scrapbook at all the photos she took of the shows, and we’d listen to her retell the stories. I guess one of the go-to stories we used to hear was how our granddad was putting on a show with Aretha Franklin coming through town, and she got completely wasted on whiskey and then fell off the stage that night and broke her arm. My grandma took her to the ER. She said she was swearing at her the whole way. And then she sued my granddad for the medical bill. So, yeah, never been much of an Aretha fan. Can’t stand her voice.
If you could put together a dream lineup of bands to play with [still around or not], who would it be and why?
I would have loved to have played with Ritchie Valens. I love his guitar playing so much.
Anything special planned for your 7” release party at Dashboard Co-Op this Thursday?
We couldn’t be more excited to have this show at the Dashboard Co-Op space over on North Ave. We’ve been friends with them for years and love that we’re getting to do the show somewhere a little different from the normal clubs in town. Plus, Dashboard has a major rad exhibit currently installed over there that folks can check out. We have the WRAS DJs spinning tunes between bands and afterward for the dance party! And our pals Mood Rings are playing with us, too! And it’s ALL AGES!! And if you’re old enough, there’s free beer!!!
What’s next for Gringo Star?
We’re going down to Florida for a final week of shows after the Atlanta release show, and then we’ll be back to start working on the new album, which we hope to finish before the end of the year.
What question do you wish somebody would ask you and what’s the answer?
The question is, “How do I do shots with Gringo Star at one of their upcoming shows?” Answer: Tweet at us. #shotswithgringo
I take Lorazepam by https://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ativan before I go to work. Within 30 minutes I feel more relaxed and calm that helps me to communicate better.
All photos courtesy of Gringo Star and used with permission.
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