Gatorface's Inspired Pop-Punk
By Jordan ShroyerThursday, May 21, 2009
It's not the uninspiring, mall-driven, rehashed pop with loud guitars currently infiltrating the airwaves. We're talking about the kind of music that comes from a real place, written by characters who likely exist in your every day life. Characters who do what they do for the most honest reasons: to send a message, and to play music, simply for the love of playing it. (For those confused, please see before proceeding: Descendants, Jawbreaker, and Dillinger Four.)
Combined with the colorfully wacky, disturbing and often uniquely Central Florida-stamped illustrations by drummer (and renowned artist) Richard "Horsebites" Minino for album art and merchandise, Gatorface is a force to be reckoned with. They have the sound, the attitude and the visual imagery - not to mention the chops and an extremely tight live set. It's no wonder they were one of the first signings to former Fueled by Ramen owner Vinnie Fiorello's new record label, Paper and Plastic, who recently released the band's debut EP, "Sick and Stupid." The EP has generated rave reviews around the board and earned the guys a spot in Alternative Press's "100 Bands to Watch in 2009." These guys are what Orlando has been in desperate need of.
OTownStyle.com music writer Jordan Shroyer sat down with Mr. "Horsebites" himself, who not only handles drumming duties for Orlando's Gatorface and No Friends, but also Philadelphia's None More Black (yes, he flies to Philly for band practice). Read on as we talk with the multi-talented man about the future of Gatorface and challenge of living simultaneously as a professional artist and a touring musician.
OTownStyle.com: How would you describe Gatorface to someone whose knowledge of punk rock is limited to Green Day and Blink-182?
Richard Minino: Gatorface isn't too far off in that it's a pop-punk band. It's not as mainstream, and we derive more of our influences from earlier bands like Descendents and the Ramones, where those bands also did. But they kind of branched out to more of a progressive modern style of rock/punk.
OTS: The lyrical content of the first EP shows a discouraging view of the world we live in. Songs reference the state of the homeless, how we struggle to practice what we preach, and the average American's selfishness and unwillingness to plan for the future. What can we expect from the content of the Gatorface songs in progress?
RM: The new record's going to have some of that and more personal stuff, dealing with people in the scene or just how we feel. A lot of it can be negative, but it's just because we're old and bitchy. We're all getting close to 30 and are forced to realize things like Social Security and how backwards the country can become.
OTS: Are there any plans for future recordings?
RM: We are recording in late May in Gainesville, where my former band [New Mexican Disaster Squad] and also a new band called No Friends, recorded. We have about 12 to 14 songs written.
OTS: What are the band's future touring plans?
RM: Once the record comes out, we want to go to Europe and tour the East Coast, because that's easy for us. We all have full-time jobs, and we've done the whole touring thing before. For the most part, we just want to do weekend stuff here and there and play shows we actually want to play instead of being forced into ones that we feel like other people want us to play.
OTS: So you approach Gatorface as more of a hobby than a career?
RM: Definitely. That was our first intention with Gatorface. Our serious band [New Mexican] was over with and we were like, "Let's do something where we play only where we want to, only with the bands we want to -- and if it ever starts to stress us out, stop."
OTS: How do you plan to juggle your career as an artist with Horsebites and as a musician with a constantly revolving tour schedule?
RM: When I joined None More Black [this past January], I thought, "Okay, things are going to get a little hectic now," because I just started another band, No Friends, and I didn't know how it was going to be. I went through a little bit of a rough patch where I was trying to figure out how to manage all of my time. But luckily, I got iCalendar on the iPhone and I started writing everything down. Now any time anyone says anything to me, I write it in there. Sometimes I wish I didn't have as many ties as I do, but I can't turn down some of those things because they're just so awesome. I don't even care if I suck at them. At least I can say I did it for a little while.
Check out Gatorface at MySpace.com/GatorFaceFL
For a short film documenting the work of Richard Minino, visit Minino @ Current.com
