This interview is dedicated to Ben Babar and Cody Patrick, two Rocklahomans who went missing and whose bodies were found this Monday, June 7th. Rest in peace.
Young Guns
Lead singer Gustav Wood
Rocklahoma has twice been blessed with the fervorous excitement and infectious enthusiasm of a Young Guns live performance. At Rocklahoma 2015, YG played with more vigor, vitality, and vivacity than ever before, stunning and enthralling the grumpy masses covered in mud, making them completely forget the horrific weather.
For those of you who have never experienced a Young Guns concert, you are truly missing out. Their pop-punk music works perfectly for the most upbeat and energetic performances, and each and every fabulous musician puts his all into their set.
Vocalist Gustav Wood sings angelically in such ballads as “You Are Not,” and takes on a punk edge when singing “Towers (On My Way).”
These songs I’ve mentioned, however, are from YG’s second album Bones, released in February of 2012. An excellent LP, this album is no match for Ones and Zeros, released TODAY, which can be purchased via their website and iTunes.
Ones and Zeros provides an evolved Young Guns sound, with aspects that represents their current musical interests and skills.
“We took a lot of time on them,” says guitarist John Taylor about the songs on Ones and Zeros. “We focused a lot more on the rhythms… [and] there’s a lot more electronic elements involved. Fundamentally, they’re just bigger, better songs.”
Their hit single, “Bones,” off their old album got serious radio playtime and was nominated for Best Single in the 2012 Kerrang! Awards.
Guitarist Fraser Taylor adds, “We’d already done “Bones.” We’d already done that style of writing. We started writing songs that were quite similar to “Bones” in the initial stages of the record. It wasn’t really exciting us at the time… We wanted to write songs we were loving.”
Instead of focusing on a specific subgenre of rock, they worked to try and consolidate all their influencing genres into one block, creating their trademark Young Guns sound.
Bassist Simon Mitchell says, “The songs are a lot more uptempo and a lot more upbeat than in Bones.”
Vocalist Gustav Wood sings angelically in such ballads as “You Are Not,” and takes on a punk edge when singing “Towers (On My Way).”
These songs I’ve mentioned, however, are from YG’s second album Bones, released in February of 2012. An excellent LP, this album is no match for Ones and Zeros, released TODAY, which can be purchased via their website and iTunes.
Ones and Zeros provides an evolved Young Guns sound, with aspects that represents their current musical interests and skills.
“We took a lot of time on them,” says guitarist John Taylor about the songs on Ones and Zeros. “We focused a lot more on the rhythms… [and] there’s a lot more electronic elements involved. Fundamentally, they’re just bigger, better songs.”
Their hit single, “Bones,” off their old album got serious radio playtime and was nominated for Best Single in the 2012 Kerrang! Awards.
Guitarist Fraser Taylor adds, “We’d already done “Bones.” We’d already done that style of writing. We started writing songs that were quite similar to “Bones” in the initial stages of the record. It wasn’t really exciting us at the time… We wanted to write songs we were loving.”
Instead of focusing on a specific subgenre of rock, they worked to try and consolidate all their influencing genres into one block, creating their trademark Young Guns sound.
Bassist Simon Mitchell says, “The songs are a lot more uptempo and a lot more upbeat than in Bones.”
The hype waiting for Ones and Zeros to come at has grown immensely from YG’s substantial quantity of singles released from the album, including the insanely catchy tunes “I Want Out” and “Speaking in Tongues.”
Fraser Taylor laughs, explaining, “We’re impatient. We want people to hear it.”
They hope that their fans have been downloading the singles as they’ve come out, and will simply purchase the rest today (or I suppose tomorrow, or maybe even Thursday).
Fraser Taylor laughs, explaining, “We’re impatient. We want people to hear it.”
They hope that their fans have been downloading the singles as they’ve come out, and will simply purchase the rest today (or I suppose tomorrow, or maybe even Thursday).
Bassist Simon Mitchell
The work put into Ones and Zeros extends across three years of collecting little ideas and working them into songs, tirelessly building an archive to choose from. When it came time to select the songs for the album, they had a number from which they could decide, and were able to pick the ones that they connect with the most, or which they believe will excite their fans.
This time around, they’ve shifted their songwriting process a bit. Although there is no formula to composing, they’ve allowed themselves to branch out and be more creative.
“We’ll write songs on piano,” explains John Taylor. “We’ll write songs purely on drums to start, and then we’re using all those soft synths, and that’s something we’ve never done before.”
Of course, at some point every artist experiences writer’s block, a horrific incident in which his/her ability to hone in on their creativity and produce music (or in other cases poetry and other sorts of writing) is gone, and his/her heads are blank.
Young Guns has dealing with writer’s block down to a science.
Fraser Taylor says all you do is, “cry for a little bit, and then say ‘WHY AM I DOING THIS?’”
However, Young Guns works extremely well under pressure, and when there’s a deadline to meet, they next to never have trouble accomplishing whatever magnitude of songwriting needs to be done.
“We’ll write songs on piano,” explains John Taylor. “We’ll write songs purely on drums to start, and then we’re using all those soft synths, and that’s something we’ve never done before.”
Of course, at some point every artist experiences writer’s block, a horrific incident in which his/her ability to hone in on their creativity and produce music (or in other cases poetry and other sorts of writing) is gone, and his/her heads are blank.
Young Guns has dealing with writer’s block down to a science.
Fraser Taylor says all you do is, “cry for a little bit, and then say ‘WHY AM I DOING THIS?’”
However, Young Guns works extremely well under pressure, and when there’s a deadline to meet, they next to never have trouble accomplishing whatever magnitude of songwriting needs to be done.
I highly suggested checking out Young Guns the next time they come by your hometown, which I guarantee will happen at some point because these men are touring machines. Ones and Zeros is now available for purchase, and I encourage you all to buy it if you can. Otherwise, check out their amazing music videos for the singles off the album.
John Fraser, Tyler Fraser, Simon Mitchell, and Me at the Media Tent
 | Zoe Adler is a music journalist from Long Beach, California. Besides her website, which is her pride and joy, she works with the GRAMMY Foundation and the Long Beach Independent. Additionally, Ms. Adler is a musician, spending half of her time playing the flute, piccolo, trombone, and marching baritone. She has been with TeenView Music since the very start and hopes to make something of it in the future. |
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