Korn‘s Jonathan Davis was so excited by ORGY that he created his own record label …
The world may be burning to the ground, but Gutterfire! will have you dancing on its ashes with their rockin new single, I’ll Be Along.
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It’s lifted from their upcoming album Chill, set to drop on September 10th. We caught up with frontman Photon Jon to chat about both the track and what to expect from the LP.
Hysteria: Let’s get the band introduced.
Photon Jon: We’re Gutterfire! We’ve been around for coming on four years, but one of those years was 2020, so it never happened. It’s been a ride. Personally, I’ve never been in a band that’s enjoyed this fast progression, so that’s been cool. We’re hardworking, and while we’re not conservatorium jazz musicians, we consider ourselves to be real students. We get into the details of everything that we do. We study genres a lot, and we’ll spend half an hour on a riff if we have to. We want our music to come out sounding fun and tight. But at the end of the day, it’s all about enjoyment for us.
What’s the story behind the new single, I’ll Be Along?
It came together easily. I used to self-sacrifice a lot, which is a good trait in the right circumstances, but in this case, it was because I didn’t think I was worth as much as others. I’m autistic and a bisexual man, and I grew up in a rather redneck area. I had those feelings previously, but I’ve grown past them. I now know I’m worth more, but it was a good lyrical theme, and it painted a nice picture. It also made the words come together quite easily. Then Az (Stonely, guitarist) came in with a riff, and we went from there.
What exactly made this track so easy?
So when Az came in with that riff, we didn’t warm to it straight away, but thankfully, he was persistent. There was definitely something there. We come from different musical backgrounds and walks of life, but all of our styles mesh together well. Once we knuckled down and worked on the track, it clicked structurally. I’ll Be Along was one of the earlier ones from our upcoming album, and it was a big part of us figuring out how to be on that same wavelength.
Originally, we wanted to be a particular kind of band, but we discovered our strength was in how diverse we can be.
[ Photon Jon, Gutterfire! ]
So how’d you get on that same wavelength?
Az brought the band together, and he spent a good year or two just finding the right people. So in that sense, we were all on the same wavelength. There is lots that unites us, we all love Queens Of The Stone Age and Black Sabbath, but we’re all from different backgrounds. Myself, I listen to anything from Faith No More to Cannibal Corpse to Kylie Minogue. Others in the band are more into stoner rock, or metal, or hardcore. But there was enough we all liked to bring us together. But then, in terms of the Gutterfire! wavelength, I’ll Be Along really helped us figure out what that was and how that works. It also helped us figure out who we are as a band and what songs are worth pursuing.
Let’s move onto its music video. What was that experience like?
So good! We worked with Clint Lewis from Red Tape Pictures on the music video for our last single, Eight. The idea for that one was crazy, it involved puppets, hiring venues, getting people in and having a show, but he made it so painless. After that experience, we took our hands-off. We trusted him. Our bassist essentially has a venue in his basement with a stage and everything, so we filmed all the performance parts there in one day. Then Clint went away and filmed the separate parts with Scarlett, the very talented young lady who I hear is very happy and well-adjusted despite what the music video might tell you (laughs). When he brought it back to us, I think we had one minor tweak. He gets us, and not everyone does, so when we find the right person, we stick with them.
How would you describe the band’s sound?
Someone once called us upbeat doom, and that stuck. Someone else said rock/metal. We’re not metal, but there are definitely those influences in the band. We can get pretty heavy, but then also do something jumpy and upbeat.
What can we expect to see on your upcoming album Chill?
Originally, we wanted to be a particular kind of band, but we discovered our strength was in how diverse we can be. Our strength is in the stoner/doom realm, but it’s different. We’re kind of like the stoner Faith No More. The album is cohesive, but it does jump all over. You can expect the unexpected. It kicks off with a doomy heavy track, but don’t think that’s what you’re going to get for the next hour. There are lyrical themes throughout too. I wrote it pre-pandemic, we already had an apocalyptic sensibility then, and it turned out to be pretty prophetic (laughs).
On top of the album, what else can we expect to see from the band this year?
Chill will come out on September 10th. We are playing a show at King Lear’s Throne in Brisbane that day with Shed Boys and SixFtHick. It’ll be interesting. The capacity will be 90 people, and tickets will only be at the door. But, it’ll be a fun party. Unfortunately, we were set to play Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Lismore in August, but that’s been postponed till October- December.
All in all, touring will be our focus this year, but then we’ll also get to work writing the next album. We already figured out a lot because of the pandemic. It’s interesting. We seem to be going more extreme in every direction. Our sound is getting more diverse.
