Interview with the Band Trick Shooter Social Club
By Mick Michaels
The Cosmick View: Hello, and welcome to The Cosmick View/MBM Ten
Pounder! Thanks for taking some time to chat with us!
Trick Shooter Social Club: Thanks so much – we are fans -- thrilled to talk to you.
CV: Describe your definition of the band’s sound and style and how does
that definition uniquely describe the music?
Trick Shooter Social Club: This is a tough one – not trying to be coy or precious, but it is tricky because our music genuinely/organically crosses and mixes a lot of genres. We are a gumbo of Rock, dirty blues, punk, garage, country, and Roots. We come by it honestly…none of this was contrived or planned – we just naturally have influences coming from these places and they find their way into the music. We love Johnny Cash and Cheap Trick…if that makes any sense. It is who we are – even if we don’t always fit into a tidy “genre” box on the playlist submission form. End of the day, it’s our sound embraces and chases all the sounds of rock-n-roll about – the stuff that rock is made of (blues, country, folk, punk, etc.) To us, it is all fair game. And we love story…to tell a great story in 180 seconds.
We like to think of our music as an oddly literate, completely eclectic approach to fuzzy, tweedy, garage-y, country-tinged, stomp and clap American rock-n-roll. Sometimes singer/songwriter, sometimes loud and unapologetic – our songs are a little whiskey soaked and world weary – but always leave a little room for redemption.
CV: Today, everyone talks about artist and audience connection. Is such a
level of connection actually achievable for an artist and if so, how have you
made the connection to your fans?
Trick Shooter Social Club: I think some of the audience connection stuff you hear artists talk about is contrived, sophomoric bullshit. The connection has to come through the songs. That is it. And that is enough. A good song can make you feel happy, it can make you feel angry, it can make you feel the good kind of sad, and most of all – it can make you feel a little less alone in the world. And that connection, in and of itself, is a powerful thing. For example - I deeply connect to the music of Nick Drake. I don’t need any more connection to him than that – nor does Nick Drake owe me any more connection than that. He was born in Burma, studied at Cambridge, died at 26, in 1974, from an overdose of anti-depressants. I don’t know him. I don’t connect to his life, or his experience. But Pink Moon has changed my world and sits deep in my heart. And because of that – I will always be connected to Nick Drake. And that is the sheer, awesome, human power of music.
CV: Is fan interaction an important part of the band’s inner culture?
Trick Shooter Social Club: It does – but not in the way you might think. It’s not about call-and-response from the stage…although sometimes we do that. And it’s not about running into the crowd and sweating and touching the folks who have assembled in the dark - although sometimes we do that too. What it is really about is that we are in a conversation with the people who like, relate to, and/or listen to our music. Our primary interaction with them is that we share our stories and our vulnerabilities and our observations in order to try and make some sense of being alive. And we hope our fans receive this information and use it to make their own observations and tell their own stories. We are in this together as a community of survivors. No one has more agency than the other. We are in conversation…in balance…community.
CV: Can a band truly interact with its fans and still maintain a level of
personal privacy without crossing the line and giving up their “personal
space” in your opinion?
Trick Shooter Social Club: I do. You put yourself in your music. But your music isn’t the entirety of yourself. Like any relationship – there needs to be boundaries. And I am not egomaniacal enough to think people even care that much. What we do is very blue collar. We serve our audience. We make things for them. If they happen to like or even love something we’ve made – that is so gratifying. But the thing is what is important. Not the maker. We never forget that.
CV: Is music, and its value, viewed differently around the world in your
opinion? If so, what do you see as the biggest difference in such multiple
views among various cultures?
Trick Shooter Social Club: I truly believe that music is the most primitive, human, innate art form of all. It hits us right in our heart and our hips. Music, at least rock-n-roll is not cerebral. It is not cognitive. It is irrational…emotional. And in a lot of ways, it really does cut through all the trappings and differentiation and labels we contrive -- and becomes something universal and human. Now that said, certain groups of people, I believe, are more in touch, and in tune, with music than other. And I don’t think it has to do with geography as much as socio-economics. In my experience, the people who get, and need music most, the people who sing the loudest and dance the freest – are the folks with less things…less financial trophies. People that live closer to the earth and closer to the bone hear music better than people who live in towers.
CV: Do you feel that a band that has an international appeal, will tend to
connect more so to American audiences? Would they be more enticed or
intrigued to see the band over indigenous acts because of the foreign flavor?
Trick Shooter Social Club: I think America is more open than ever to more music from more places. And that is a very good thing for international bands.
CV: Has modern-day digital technology made everyone an artist on some
level in your opinion? Have the actual lines of what really is an artist been
blurred?
Trick Shooter Social Club: I’m not one of those people who rails against technology or new ways to make things. I think it is ultimately a good thing. Look at rap. There are some amazing new artists out there doing some amazing things. They are using technology and often other people’s stuff (beats. hooks, etc.) to create new sound collages and new art. The fact that the process and output is different from say a rock band in the 70’s doesn’t make these peoples any less of an artist. They have different tools and different rules, and that is okay. But access does not equal artist. Technology enables more people to try – but you still have to have something to say – that is where the art happens. Or doesn’t.
CV: How would you describe the difference between an artist who follows
trends and one who sets them?
Trick Shooter Social Club: When you finally stop listening to everyone else – including the critic in your head – you transform from an artist who follows trends to one who sets them. This is the hardest thing to do…a thing I am still learning to do.
CV: Has music overall been splintered into too many sub-genres in an effort
to appease fan tastes in your opinion? And has such fan appeasements, in
actuality, weakened music’s impact as a whole by dividing audiences?
Trick Shooter Social Club: I think categories – in music and in life – are never great things. They may be convenient and they can be profitable, but the very best artists transcend classification – the titan like – Prince, Bowie, Queen – what fucking sub-genre are you going to put them in? They were just artists who made amazing things on their own terms. The rest of us mortals will never come close to their rarefied air – but we should learn from them and fight against being pigeon-holed into tidy sub-genres.
CV: What can fans except to see coming next from you?
Trick Shooter Social Club: We try to keep it simple. We really just want our music heard, so we are very focused on putting more material out into the world and working hard to get it heard – that is our main focus. We hope to have a new EP out by the end of the year. We also love to play live and we are string to play shows again in the Winter. First Chicago, then a few short tours through the Fall. Over the last year we’ve gotten deeper into video and the visual design of the band and that has been fun – we will continue on that path.
CV: Thanks again for taking some time and talking. It is greatly appreciated.
Pounder! Thanks for taking some time to chat with us!
Trick Shooter Social Club: Thanks so much – we are fans -- thrilled to talk to you.
CV: Describe your definition of the band’s sound and style and how does
that definition uniquely describe the music?
Trick Shooter Social Club: This is a tough one – not trying to be coy or precious, but it is tricky because our music genuinely/organically crosses and mixes a lot of genres. We are a gumbo of Rock, dirty blues, punk, garage, country, and Roots. We come by it honestly…none of this was contrived or planned – we just naturally have influences coming from these places and they find their way into the music. We love Johnny Cash and Cheap Trick…if that makes any sense. It is who we are – even if we don’t always fit into a tidy “genre” box on the playlist submission form. End of the day, it’s our sound embraces and chases all the sounds of rock-n-roll about – the stuff that rock is made of (blues, country, folk, punk, etc.) To us, it is all fair game. And we love story…to tell a great story in 180 seconds.
We like to think of our music as an oddly literate, completely eclectic approach to fuzzy, tweedy, garage-y, country-tinged, stomp and clap American rock-n-roll. Sometimes singer/songwriter, sometimes loud and unapologetic – our songs are a little whiskey soaked and world weary – but always leave a little room for redemption.
CV: Today, everyone talks about artist and audience connection. Is such a
level of connection actually achievable for an artist and if so, how have you
made the connection to your fans?
Trick Shooter Social Club: I think some of the audience connection stuff you hear artists talk about is contrived, sophomoric bullshit. The connection has to come through the songs. That is it. And that is enough. A good song can make you feel happy, it can make you feel angry, it can make you feel the good kind of sad, and most of all – it can make you feel a little less alone in the world. And that connection, in and of itself, is a powerful thing. For example - I deeply connect to the music of Nick Drake. I don’t need any more connection to him than that – nor does Nick Drake owe me any more connection than that. He was born in Burma, studied at Cambridge, died at 26, in 1974, from an overdose of anti-depressants. I don’t know him. I don’t connect to his life, or his experience. But Pink Moon has changed my world and sits deep in my heart. And because of that – I will always be connected to Nick Drake. And that is the sheer, awesome, human power of music.
CV: Is fan interaction an important part of the band’s inner culture?
Trick Shooter Social Club: It does – but not in the way you might think. It’s not about call-and-response from the stage…although sometimes we do that. And it’s not about running into the crowd and sweating and touching the folks who have assembled in the dark - although sometimes we do that too. What it is really about is that we are in a conversation with the people who like, relate to, and/or listen to our music. Our primary interaction with them is that we share our stories and our vulnerabilities and our observations in order to try and make some sense of being alive. And we hope our fans receive this information and use it to make their own observations and tell their own stories. We are in this together as a community of survivors. No one has more agency than the other. We are in conversation…in balance…community.
CV: Can a band truly interact with its fans and still maintain a level of
personal privacy without crossing the line and giving up their “personal
space” in your opinion?
Trick Shooter Social Club: I do. You put yourself in your music. But your music isn’t the entirety of yourself. Like any relationship – there needs to be boundaries. And I am not egomaniacal enough to think people even care that much. What we do is very blue collar. We serve our audience. We make things for them. If they happen to like or even love something we’ve made – that is so gratifying. But the thing is what is important. Not the maker. We never forget that.
CV: Is music, and its value, viewed differently around the world in your
opinion? If so, what do you see as the biggest difference in such multiple
views among various cultures?
Trick Shooter Social Club: I truly believe that music is the most primitive, human, innate art form of all. It hits us right in our heart and our hips. Music, at least rock-n-roll is not cerebral. It is not cognitive. It is irrational…emotional. And in a lot of ways, it really does cut through all the trappings and differentiation and labels we contrive -- and becomes something universal and human. Now that said, certain groups of people, I believe, are more in touch, and in tune, with music than other. And I don’t think it has to do with geography as much as socio-economics. In my experience, the people who get, and need music most, the people who sing the loudest and dance the freest – are the folks with less things…less financial trophies. People that live closer to the earth and closer to the bone hear music better than people who live in towers.
CV: Do you feel that a band that has an international appeal, will tend to
connect more so to American audiences? Would they be more enticed or
intrigued to see the band over indigenous acts because of the foreign flavor?
Trick Shooter Social Club: I think America is more open than ever to more music from more places. And that is a very good thing for international bands.
CV: Has modern-day digital technology made everyone an artist on some
level in your opinion? Have the actual lines of what really is an artist been
blurred?
Trick Shooter Social Club: I’m not one of those people who rails against technology or new ways to make things. I think it is ultimately a good thing. Look at rap. There are some amazing new artists out there doing some amazing things. They are using technology and often other people’s stuff (beats. hooks, etc.) to create new sound collages and new art. The fact that the process and output is different from say a rock band in the 70’s doesn’t make these peoples any less of an artist. They have different tools and different rules, and that is okay. But access does not equal artist. Technology enables more people to try – but you still have to have something to say – that is where the art happens. Or doesn’t.
CV: How would you describe the difference between an artist who follows
trends and one who sets them?
Trick Shooter Social Club: When you finally stop listening to everyone else – including the critic in your head – you transform from an artist who follows trends to one who sets them. This is the hardest thing to do…a thing I am still learning to do.
CV: Has music overall been splintered into too many sub-genres in an effort
to appease fan tastes in your opinion? And has such fan appeasements, in
actuality, weakened music’s impact as a whole by dividing audiences?
Trick Shooter Social Club: I think categories – in music and in life – are never great things. They may be convenient and they can be profitable, but the very best artists transcend classification – the titan like – Prince, Bowie, Queen – what fucking sub-genre are you going to put them in? They were just artists who made amazing things on their own terms. The rest of us mortals will never come close to their rarefied air – but we should learn from them and fight against being pigeon-holed into tidy sub-genres.
CV: What can fans except to see coming next from you?
Trick Shooter Social Club: We try to keep it simple. We really just want our music heard, so we are very focused on putting more material out into the world and working hard to get it heard – that is our main focus. We hope to have a new EP out by the end of the year. We also love to play live and we are string to play shows again in the Winter. First Chicago, then a few short tours through the Fall. Over the last year we’ve gotten deeper into video and the visual design of the band and that has been fun – we will continue on that path.
CV: Thanks again for taking some time and talking. It is greatly appreciated.
Check out Trick Shooter Social Club at:
Official: http://trickshootersocialclub.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrickShooterSocialClub/
Like The Cosmick View on Facebook at:
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My name is Mick Michaels...I'm an artist, music fan, songwriter, producer, show host, dreamer and guitarist for the traditional Heavy Metal band Corners of Sanctuary. Writing has always been a creative outlet for me; what I couldn't say in speech, I was able to do with the written word. Writing has given me a voice and a way for me to create on a multitude of platforms including music and song, articles, independent screenplays, books and now, artist interviews. The Cosmick View is an opportunity to raise the bar and showcase artists in a positive and inspirational light. For me, it's another out-of-this-world adventure.
Spiritual Counseling and Sessions Available
www.pamelaaloia.com
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