May 30, 2012, Las Vegas Weekly, The Weekly Q&A

Cowtown Guitars, the local store that draws musicians for good gear and great advice, recently moved to Main Street after more than a decade on Maryland Parkway. As owners Jesse and Roxie Amoroso say, “It was a natural fit.”

Why did you decide to move the store from Maryland Parkway to Main Street Downtown?

Jesse Amoroso: We were just trying to find the right spot to move the store. We looked on Fremont East and all kinds of stuff, just never found a place that felt right. Then, when we bought the store in June, we started looking again. The new spot was one of those things that as soon as we walked in we could tell this is where we needed to move the store. It was just right.

Do you consider yourself part of Downtown’s revitalization?

JA: We live Downtown. We’ve both lived in Vegas for a long time, and we’ve always kind of hung out down here. So it was a natural fit. I’m thrilled to see what’s going on down here; I think it’s one of the best things to happen to the city in a long time.

As a gear freak, I check your inventory on the website all the time. Do you think online sales are the future of the vintage gear business?

JA: At the old location, it was kind of going that way to where it was almost all online sales. Since we’ve moved, it’s a totally different story. We’re getting a lot more locals and we’re getting a lot more tourists buying stuff and taking it with them. I don’t know what the difference is between here and Maryland Parkway, but we’ve seen a 60 percent increase in in-store sales.

That’s surprising. I expected you to say the opposite.

JA: Actually, I get guitars and gear in that never even make it to the website. We’re doing a lot more local business, which I’m thrilled about.

Roxie Amoroso: For somebody to stay mom and pop and stay in a brick and mortar location, it helps to have a really great online presence because it carries you through the lean times. You can keep rolling your inventory over for your clientele—the actual bodies that come in the shop—and keep things interesting for them.

You’re both musicians. Do you change your setups constantly?

RA: My basses are ever-changing, but I always go back to my ’57 P-Bass reissue. I have maybe more basses than Jesse has guitars, and I always go back to the same one.

JA: My rig is very sturdy and the same every time. I was one of those guys that just constantly changed stuff out. My pedal board would sometimes have 10 pedals on it, or sometimes it would have two—it was always different. It was like drugs for a while, man.

RA: It’s great for the customers, too, because where else can you go and know you’re going to ask a question about a pedal that someone is intimately familiar with, that they’ve tried every which way on three different cabs and three different amps and different guitars and whatever? Here you really can, because Jesse is so obsessive he actually plays and takes apart and fiddles with every piece of gear we sell.

Is there a sleeper guitar and amp that you can’t believe plays so well and is really undervalued?

JA: The biggest sleepers to me in amplifiers are some of the old Silvertones. The 1482s, total sleeper amp. They sound great; you can push ’em; they’re all tube point-to-point wired American amplifiers and most of ’em sound great. Guitar-wise, a big sleeper for vintage stuff, I’m kind of partial to Gibson Melody Makers. I always dug ’em.

Do either of you have an “Eleanor” of guitars? The one that you’ve always wanted but could never get your hands on?

RA: I don’t have an Eleanor, because I’m spoiled rotten and my husband gets me everything I want. All I ever wanted was a bicentennial Thunderbird, and he got me that the year our baby was born. I wanted a Gold Top; he got me that. But I always go back to my same old ’80s P-Bass.

JA: A 1959 TV Les Paul Jr. I let Eleanor go in 1993 in Phoenix, Arizona. I had the chance to buy one for $300. I didn’t have sh*t for money. I was living in Phoenix, and I drove all the way across Phoenix to this guy’s house. This was before the Internet and Craigslist and cell phones. So I leave, and I’m like “Man, I should buy that guitar. I’m gonna have to eat ramen noodles for like three f*cking weeks; I should buy that guitar.” So I pull into a Circle K, and I call him back and say, “I’m gonna come get the guitar.” And he says, “Oh man, I just sold it.” And I’ve been looking for that guitar ever since.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2012/may/30/cowtown-guitars-owners-jesse-and-roxie-talk-new-di/

May 23, 2012, Las Vegas Weekly, Noise

Las Vegas will be packed with punk bands and punk fans this weekend, as the annual Punk Rock Bowling festival hits Downtown. The most punk-rock move of all, however, comes courtesy of the frontman for a band playing not on 6th and Fremont, but at the M Resort—Tom Gabel of Against Me! In the current issue of Rolling Stone, the 31-year-old singer and guitarist announced his plans to change his gender and begin living life as a woman named Laura Jane Grace.

In a Punk Rock Bowling interview with the Weekly’s Chris Bitonti (see Page 56), Hot Water Music’s Chuck Ragan—who has toured frequently with Gabel over the years—talked about his friend’s big news.

What are your thoughts about [Gabel’s] announcement?

I thought it was really brave of him—to make that step and come to terms with who he feels he truly is. Laura Jane Grace is as much of a dear friend as Tom Gabel ever was. If anyone believes a certain way, I’m gonna back them up all the way. That’s just one of the duties of being a friend.

Do you think punk fans will react the same way?

They better, otherwise we’re coming after them! (laughs) In all seriousness, I felt really honored to be a part of a community that was so open-minded supporting people doing things out of the norm, because when I was a kid, that’s what punk was all about. It was a mind-set, about you being exactly who you wanted to be, no matter what your school or your parents or the church said.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2012/may/23/punk-rock-world-stands-gender-changing/

May 23, 2012, Las Vegas Weekly, Noise

Exister is your first studio album in eight years. Why did Hot Water Music decide to go on hiatus in the first place?

Well, at the time we were hitting it extremely hard. It was a combination of just being worn out, overworked, making a lot of sacrifices … I was definitely the one that kind of took a step back. We were singing songs about living free and being true to your friends, and all of a sudden all of these lyrics started ringing truer to me. I hit a point where I felt like if I were to continue on that path, eventually I would just be fooling myself as well as all the good folks who supported Hot Water Music. I just felt like it would become false.

It was too much to risk for me, I simply felt that I needed to re-evaluate my life and the reasons I was playing music to begin with. So I went back to my trade. I never stopped writing music—my own music became more of a priority than Hot Water Music. And then it was just a matter of timing. We knew we would play again at some point, but we had no idea when.

What was it about right now that made writing an album work?

We started playing gigs again around three years ago, and it was great—coming together, playing old songs and just living it up. Again, it was kind of a matter of timing. It finally took us getting tough on ourselves and literally putting a finger on the calendar. Once we put that on ourselves, it was go time.

Did making an album after that long apart feel different than it had before?

You gotta understand that in the course of that eight years, it wasn’t like we were completely out of each others lives. We were communicating; there was a togetherness. And we never stopped playing music … We’re songwriters, we’re musicians and over the years we’ve grown older, we’ve had more experiences. I think we’ve all progressed and grown as individuals and musicians. So coming together and pooling all of that, there was this whole new life breathed into the whole writing and recording process that set us on fire to go. Once we kind of opened those gates it just started flowing. If there was any challenge at all, it would be weeding through the massive amount of material that we had. There was no shortage of inspiration.

How was it working with producer Bill Stevenson [drummer for the Descendents] on the new album?

It was just a massive honor to work with someone of his caliber. He’s known for making fantastic records. We’ve all listened to his work since we were little skate rats. So that in itself was incredible. Aside from all of his known talents, he is just a good man. For us, it was such an honor to have that opportunity and have that experience—not only to work with a hero but to come out of it having a friend.

But I gotta, I feel really blessed and honored to say that about the majority of the people we surround ourselves with. You look up to these people and you grow as a musician, as an individual and you idolize these bands. It’s a testament to the fact that anything can happen as long as you believe in what you’re doing. If you stay stout in your beliefs and you stay strong and stay an individual and come together with all your buds, anything is possible. Sooner or later, if you stick to it long enough you’re going to be playing shows with the bands you went to see when you were a kid.

I know some of it’s timing, and some of it’s who you know, and some of it’s luck, but to me the majority of it is just if you’ve got the heart and the guts to keep pushing forward and not let anybody tell you different,

I’ve seen Hot Water Music and I’ve been to a couple of your Revival Tours, and those are two really different shows. The energy of HWM live versus the cooperative/organic nature of Revival. How differently do you approach the two?

It’s a completely different animal. To me, the Revival Tour is by far the most special way of touring that I’ve ever known in my life. It’s infectious, and there’s this really relaxed atmosphere and really strong feeling of unity and togetherness that’s completely consistent from the first day of the tour to the last.

I’m not saying the Hot Water shows are a bummer. I’m saying that when we’re out touring every night, it could be a whole new set of opening bands. There’s positive things about that, too—it’s always changing, and that can be cool. But at the same time its always kind of a push/pull, start/stop kind of thing. There’s always a little more stress, compared to the Revival Tour, where when we hit the road everybody who’s on the tour is already on the bus. You get to know ’em, and it’s just a big family throughout the whole thing. Hot Water Music is just this extreme blast of 110 percent that is just “uh” right away and for a short period of time.

Hot Water Music has played Punk Rock Bowling before, and your Revival Tour has also been showcased in the festival. This year you’re doing a solo club show and a HWM set. What is it about Punk Rock Bowling that you’re so drawn to?

The Stern Brothers [Punk Rock Bowling’s organizers and promoters]. The Sterns and I have been friends for a long time, and Hot Water did some stuff on their record label. We’ve known them for years, either touring with them or doing records with them or doing Warped Tour, you name it. It’s another one of those connections with old friends that are doing something that we believe in.

Anyone that you are particularly excited to see or play with at PRB?

Man, I heard The Avengers are playing, and I can’t wait to see them. There’s a ton of great bands on that bill, but when I saw them it just blew me away, so I’m stoked.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2012/may/23/return-hot-water-music-chuck-ragans-band-goes-punk/

April 11, 2012, Las Vegas Weekly Noise

How was the show last night [Monday]?

I think it was pretty good for seven years off. Gonna take us a few shows to get into a super groove, but I think it was pretty cool.

Just like riding a bike?

Sort of, but it’s kind of a wobbly bike right now … Last night was the first official show with production and stuff. We did a show Friday where we, for the last rehearsal, instead of playing in our rehearsal space in North Hollywood, we went into a club and posted for a couple hundred fans to come watch. It was good to do it, because it’s different when you play in front of people. You can practice till you’re purple in the face in your rehearsal space, but it’s different when you walk onstage.

Why has the band reunited to tour and write a new record?

We never really broke up; we just went on hiatus because everybody needed to reclaim their own lives. It just seemed like the right time to get back together. We were off for almost six years by the time we started recording, and Shirley [Manson] was the one who got it going. She worked on a solo record that was rejected by her label because it was too left field. They kept trying to get her to write with these pop songwriters, who’d worked with, like, Rihanna and Katy Perry. She said, “You know who I want to write with? Butch, Duke [Erikson] and Steve [Marker].”

So she was the one who suggested it over a year ago, just get in and see what happened. And it was quite liberating to start writing and recording, because we were free agents. There was no label telling us what to do … we basically just had fun, and very quickly all these songs started falling into our laps.

How have you seen the industry change during the time away from Garbage?

Obviously, the old business model is rapidly depleting itself. For 95 to 99 percent of artists and bands out there, I don’t think they should be on a major label. If you really want to be a pop star, someone like Katy Perry, then to have that kind of swagger and marketing power with a major label is necessary. Most people don’t want to be that way, and they’re not going to be able to play that game. The main thing is we’ve just found the whole digital revolution has sort of empowered us, as it has a lot of other artists. We’re releasing the record on our own label, and we’re in control of the marketing, what we release, when we release it.

It’s a lot more work, but it’s also kind of fun, because that’s how we started out with the first Garbage record before we were bought and sold to several different corporations during our career. So it’s cool, because there’s no one to answer for anything except ourselves. And while I have no idea how many CDs or mp3s we’re even going to sell, at this point just getting the record done was a success for us. So we wanna have fun doing it.

Really, the only way to do that is to take control and do it on your own terms.

What are your expectations for the tour?

We’re gonna play a bunch of shows in the U.S. and a couple scattered shows in Europe and the U.K. in April and May. Then a bunch of festivals in the summer and probably some more festivals and shows in the fall.

It was our first show last night, so to me it’s daunting to look ahead like six months and look at all these dates. For one thing, personally, I don’t like the planes, trains and automobiles. I just don’t like traveling, which is what a lot of touring is about. It’s one thing to be onstage for a couple hours, but its getting from point A to point B that sucks.

It looks like there’s already quite a few sold-out shows. Did you expect that?

Honestly, it’s pretty thrilling for us to be gone for so long and to see we still have a fanbase out there. We kind of made the record in a void. We had no expectations, and then to see this kind of response from our fans is pretty cool and overwhelming in a way. The fans at the show yesterday were great, and you can tell they’re hardcore fans because they know all the songs. it was quite a momentous occasion.

Your Facebook page is full of fans’ excited posts. Were you ever worried everyone might have forgotten about Garbage?

Well, that’s kind of what we thought, that nobody would care. We were a band that never really fit into any genre, and we have all these styles of music that we incorporate: electronic and fuzzy guitars with pop melodies and a beat … When we made this record we decided that we didn’t want to reinvent ourselves; we just wanted to do what we do, be who we are, and it sounds fresh again. At least, I think it sounds fresh.

Part of it is the looseness in the playing and the approach we took to the recording, but a lot of people have said that the new record sounds vibe-wise like the first album. And I guess I can hear that. I mean, it sounds like it was recorded in 2012, but there’s an energy or a spirit there that does remind me of the first record. And I think that’s a good thing.

When you’re in the studio with Garbage, how do you balance the roles of musician and producer?

When working with the Foo Fighters or Green Day or Muse, it’s their music, and it’s my job to channel that into their vision of the album they’re trying to make. In Garbage, I am a musician and a songwriter first. I am one of the producers, [but] all four of us make production decisions equally. There’s something satisfying about working on your own music, to be able to get up and write a riff or chord or lyric and go show the band and later in the day we record it. That’s how the title song, “Not Your Kind of People,” came about. I was driving around in my car, and I started singing that line with no chords or music or any other licks beneath it, and I called Shirley and said, “I think I got a cool title for a song.” We got together that afternoon and wrote the song in, like, 30 minutes. That’s something I can’t do producing Green Day or the Foo Fighters.

Are you ever tempted to look at your bandmates and say, “Hey, I’m Butch Vig.”?

(Laughs) No, they would laugh at me if I did. I’m really close to all three of them, like a family. There’s no egos involved. We fight a lot and argue a lot about what the mix should sound like, and at the end of the day I think that healthy tension is part of what makes us sound like who we are. A lot of bands are run with an iron fist by the main member or main songwriter. Very few bands are democracies. Garbage is a dysfunctional democracy—everybody has an equal say; I guess it just depends on who shouts the loudest. I think it’s healthy to have that kind of discourse among band members.

What do you look for in taking on a band as a producer? Is it a demo or meeting them?

Usually it starts with someone telling me about them, either a manager or a friend. The great thing about the Internet now is you can usually go on YouTube and see a video of them live and hear a song. First, I need to feel some sort of connection to the music, and then usually it goes way beyond that, because I want to sit down and talk to them and meet them and sort of see what they’re like and what their vision is like and see if I can bring something to the table. There has to be some sort of a spark or some sort of connection that makes sense for me and for them also.

You’ve been playing in Garbage for 15-plus years and producing since the early ’80s. How do you still get excited about what you’re doing?

I have been so immersed in music my whole life that I guess I still have a fire burning. I still love making records, I still love writing songs. It’s exciting. It’s the best f*cking job in the world.

I’m so lucky—I’ve spent my whole adult life doing this, and I don’t take it lightly. In some ways, when I start a record, it could be the last record I make. Because if it sucks, no one’s ever going to want to work with me again. To have that planted in the back of your head, makes you work hard. At least it makes me work hard every time.

It doesn’t matter if I work with someone big like the Foo Fighters or if I work with a young band like Against Me! who I absolutely love. Once we have a connection, we just have to make a great body of music. I’m a studio rat. I prefer being in the studio to going on tour, because to me that’s kind of the ultimate creative tool. To get in with your bandmates or with another band—I love it.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2012/apr/11/chatting-garbage-drummer-butch-vig/

March 7, 2012, Las Vegas Weekly, Entertainment

This is the second time in three years 311 will play 311 Day in Las Vegas. Why Vegas? Vegas is a perfect fit. There are tons of hotels, big venues and a reason for our fans to enjoy the city. The West Coast gets a holiday for 311 day. This year, we decided to stretch it out over two days to play even more songs. It’s an experiment for us, and we’re still testing the waters.

What can fans expect? Songs no one has ever heard live. I was just looking at the setlist from 2010, and we’re playing twice as many rare songs right now. That number could always get cut down; we’re still rehearsing. On 311 Day, the people coming have heard the hits, so we’re using these shows as the world premier of many songs. We are practicing some B-sides that were never released, but our fans know the songs and we’ve never thought of playing them. It’s going to be very exciting.

After more than 10 albums and 20 years, how do you guys keep it fresh? Do we? I don’t know. I don’t think we have. I think we’ve fallen into a format as a band that has stifled our creativity, and we’re gonna stab it in the chest and let it bleed in the corner. We’re not afraid of going into dark places and pushing it, saying, “We’re not trying hard enough.”

It was different back when we were all living together and finishing each other’s sentences and playing four or five hours a day. We just can’t do that anymore. I guess we could get a communal house for all our families, which we have talked about. It would make a great VH1 special (laughs).

Do you have a favorite song to perform live? Hard to say. It’s a different song every time the question is asked. I get to play so many different styles and tones and emulate my heroes, it’s always a different song.

Who are some of those heroes? Oh, anyone playing bass, especially Steve Harris of Iron Maiden and Cliff Burton, the original bassist of Metallica. I went through a metal phase when I was 14 or 15.

You have such a devoted following and are so well known for your live performances. Do you feel pressure as a band to continuously up the ante with your live shows? No, I think the door is open to us. We seem to be supported as long as we don’t jump the shark. Enjoying live music is an ancient tradition, and I think we are an anomaly, in that we are wanting to solve conflicts. We don’t just want to rail against a problem, we are looking for solutions to it.

But lately we’ve been writing songs about how much we love our fans. Mostly because our world really ends with them. There’s our family and our fans and really nothing beyond that.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2012/mar/07/six-questions-311-bassist-p-nut/

December 28, 2011, Las Vegas Weekly, Entertainment

You’ve played all kinds of venues here: lounges, arenas, clubs. What do you prefer? I just got off a summer tour with Sade, and it’s fun playing to a huge crowd of people. Preference? I love playing music, so as long as it’s a packed crowd.

You play Vegas pretty frequently. Any must-dos for you here? Good food, [and] my girlfriend’s family lives here, so we’re gonna spend some time with them.

When you were working as a management consultant, what was it like living the double, suit-by-day, musician-by-night life? I didn’t get much sleep. It was a weird juxtaposition of working in an office during the day and then going out onstage with Alicia [Keys] and Kanye [West] at night. But those were the dues I was paying at the time.

The Smithsonian Institute named you to its “Black List” of the 50 most influential African Americans. Do you feel pressure to be a role model after something like that?

I don’t think it makes me behave any differently. I’m just being myself. Getting an award is not going to change my behavior; I hold myself to a higher standard.

Are you making any resolutions for 2012? I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions, but I want to make sure my new record is my best yet. It should be out in the first months of the year, and I want it to be something I can be proud of.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2011/dec/28/five-questions-john-legend/

August 31, 2011, Las Vegas Weekly, Noise

What are your expectations of your first Las Vegas show?

I’m excited. It’s a free show and it’s outdoors, so I hope it’s gonna be a great show. I always have this picture in my mind of how a show is going to turn out and I’m always wrong, so I really don’t know what to expect.

Since you guys tour so much, which city/state/country has the best road food?

In the past we’ve done more fast food, but we’ve been trying to stay away from that [lately]. We prefer local restaurants and hidden gems. There’s this one place in Boise, Idaho, called Merritt’s Country Cafe that calls itself the “Home of the Scones”—the scone is basically deep-fried dough slathered in gravy. It’s the most decadent, unhealthy and delicious meal.

The band has said that its most recent songs have a reoccurring theme of “obsolete technological devices and their implied emotional baggage.” What does that mean?

(Laughs) I think we’re going through a ’90s nostalgia kick—large TV remotes, big portable phones with big antennas, those sorts of things—because they stack up and gather the same way memories do. In the past our songs have generally been about growing up in Metro Detroit, and I think these songs have been more focused on our individual lives and memories.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2011/aug/31/chatting-frontier-ruckus-banjoist-david-jones/