It’s a dark alley, when turning the corner a dark silhouette is spotted with a metal object in his hand. Before you have a chance to say anything you find yourself facing a shiny Gunbarrel. What should you do? Brace for impact!! Then I see its Tomcat from this most awesome band. He agreed to meet with us to help find an answer to our list of questions. The result of the interview can be found below!
First, congratulations with your new album. it sounds really good.
Thank you. Good to hear that you like it.
So, your album is called 'Brace for impact'. should we brace?
You should definetly brace! This album is to be meant to crash out of your stereo directly into your brain. It will leave a deep impact.
The songs deal with alot of violence and hard subjects. Is there a message behind it?
Gun Barrel is a band without a message. We’re entertainers. The lyrics back up the music. They go hand in hand. When we write a song like “Brace for impact” we don’t think about “rose petals falling down on us” or “stroking our pets”. The music is agressive and so the lyrics find their way out of our heads by listening to what we are playing right now.
This is the first album after the tragic death of Xaver Drexler. How did the band cope with this loss? did it affect the album?
There were some people that gave us a hard time after he passed away. These guys wanted to make some profit of their own out of his death. We didn’t agree with that and they fucked us up. We payed our last respects to Xaver, carried his cascet at his funeral and said farewell to our buddy. Some of the feelings we went through in that time found their way on the album.
The new bandmember Patrick Sühl had a very difficult, challenging task. Did he live up to your expectations?
More than that. He does a really great job and real quick he was a member of the Gun Barrel Gang! When he walked in and rehearsal started, we knew at once that he was the one we were waiting for. It was magic from the start. Great singer, great guy. Sounds like I want to marry him, ha! But sorry Patrick, you know I’m already married., haha!
Did you recieve a lot of support from your fans during this difficult period?
Our fans are like some kind of family. There is a circle that I call family and friends. No matter how difficult things went in the past, these guys stuck to us. That is such a good feeling, knowing you have some people you can rely on, people that believe in what we are doing. Even when the sun doesn’t shine that bright.
On to another subject. where did the inspiration for 'gun barrel' came from?
You speak of the band name? That was Rolf’s idea. He came up and asked the guys: “What about Gun Barrel? It sounds cool, powerful, straight, right into your face, just like the music we play.” Answer: “Accepted!”
Did you know there is a US town called gunbarrel?
No. I heard about Gun Barrel Highway down under and I heard about a steak restaurant called Gun Barrel. It seems Rolf was not the first one who liked the sound of these words.
Having such a name invokes many questions. for instance, whats your stance on weapons?
Some people think we are guys that like guns and shooting and all that stuff. I tell you the truth: Noone of us has been in the army. Noone ever used a shotgun, instead of shooting a rose the fair. We love powerful music and we love powerful words that get along with that. That’s it.
One last question, when are you coming to belgium?
The bags are packed. All we need is a place to play. We are thinking of more dates in autumn / winter this year. So check out our website www.gunbarrel.de and maybe we hit you at your hometown. If you have the chance to meet us on the road, get your ass off your couch and show up at the venue to enjoy a real R ‘n’ R show. And don’t forget to BRACE FOR IMPACT!
Thanx for supporting us.
Cheers
Tomcat
