How did you guys get your start as a band?
Ryan, Brendan, and I (Dave), met in 2004 and have played together ever since. We got the opportunity to go on a national tour pretty early on that really pushed us out of the nest in terms of touring. It was an awesome experience and we learned a lot. We put out Come Alive in Feb. 2011 and then Ben joined the band this past fall (2011), while he was attending Berklee in Boston.
I understand that a few months ago your guitarist Shea took a leave from the band, if you don't mind me asking how has this effected you and how has your new guitarist Ben been holding up?
It was tough to lose Shea who we had been playing with since 2007. He is our friend and a great guitarist, and he just felt he needed to leave this past summer, so there's no hard feelings at all.
We had played with Ben only a few times when he decided to move/tour with us to LA. He's been a welcome addition to the group. With a new member comes new influences and tendencies. Ben's are all right in the direction we've wanted to go for a while. He's bluesy and rocky, so we're having a blast writing and playing together.
Has everyone in the band wanted a career in music from their youth or were their other plans in store?
We've all played music since we were young, and if you keep at that sort of thing, it tends to become something you want to do. We realized it was possible to make a career out of music right before we embarked on, and during, that first national tour. Although we were hardly out of the red. We were attending college right up until that tour, creating a "safety net" for ourselves, but once we got a taste of touring and recording full-time, we haven't looked back.
You've worked with Warren Huart in the past; was this a learning experience for the band?
We learned a ton working with Warren on Come Alive. He had great insights that taught us a lot in the process. The entire recording experience was different than any we had had in the past, so it took us to a new step as a band.
If you search "The Gallery" on any search engine of choice you will receive a variety of "Galleries" other than your group. How would you guys make sure that your "The Gallery" is the one that everyone is looking for?
In hindsight, maybe we could have been more specific [laughs]. No, we like it. We hope our songs speak louder than we do. Just remember: Google a song name, along with our band name, for best results.
Building on the topic of your name, how did everyone agree on "The Gallery"? Is there a meaning behind it?
There were several things that influenced what became our band name, but none were terribly personal reasons or connections. We eventually came to "The Gallery" from some other ideas, and everyone agreed, so we kept it.
You have a Facebook, Twitter, your own page, etc. How else do you interact with your fans and what would you like to say to them right now?
Other than coming to a show, those are the most readily available places to connect with us. We hope one day to actually play for all the people we've connected with on various social networks, but in the meantime, hit us up on any of them, we'll respond.
In your travels have you met any bands or artists that you would like to collaborate and/or tour with? Give them a shout out.
We've met so many awesome bands since we started this thing, made great friends that we'd love to tour with. We were recently at SXSW in Austin, TX, and we met up with some friends from home that now have a band:
Mercies (https://www.facebook.com/merciesmusic). They're awesome guys. We'd love to tour with them and many others. Just to name a few:
Our amazing friends in Asper Kourt (https://www.facebook.com/asper.kourt).
We saw States (https://www.facebook.com/statesmusic) played SXSW this year too, and thought it would be a lot of fun to tour with them as well.
We also played with a great band a few years ago, The Canvas Waiting (https://www.facebook.com/thecanvaswaiting) who are great guys.
In terms of collaborating, we haven't given that much thought to be honest. It would be a lot of fun to do some collab projects with the bands I just mentioned as a matter of fact.
Now, say each member of The Gallery were to switch instruments and vocals with the other members of the band, how do you think would work out musically?
Funny you ask that. We were practicing the other week, took a quick water break, and as we individually walked back into the practice room, Ry (drummer) had picked up Bren's guitar, so our friend Zack hopped on the drums, and Bren stood out front just to sing. Not a full mixup, but it actually worked out alright, and proved to be helpful, in a way, to hear the song from a different perspective like that.
To date, what would you say your greatest accomplishments as band has been?
I would say each song is an accomplishment in itself. We can't do anything without the songs.
Does song-writing come naturally to you guys?
Songwriting is definitely a learned and honed skill. Everyone has tendencies as well, so it's the combination of what's already inside, as well as what you choose to practice and learn.
Would The Gallery like to share any plans they may have for future tours, albums, or anything of the sort?
We're writing songs right now to be recorded in a few months. We plan on releasing those couple songs for free and making a few west coast tour loops to promote them. We're playing in the LA area as much as we can as well in the meantime (4/6 - On The Rox, 5/10 - Viper Room).
Who do you think would win in a fight, Batman or James Bond? If there's any disagreement,well, what's your reasoning?
Batman has a lot of cool gear, a "suit of armor," and a mask, but James has a gun. There's an old saying about this sort of thing...
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