Shannon wearing our Traveling Companion
Q : Tell us a bit about your history and what brought you to the music you play now with Gazebos?
TV : Popular Shapes, Holy Ghost Revival, TV Coahran [solo], Charles Leo Gebhardt IV, Spurm, Prohibituary, R. Stevie Moore’s live band
Shannon : Every band that I’ve been in has been dramatically different. I think my sound in Gazebos is a product of a combination of just doing what came naturally against TV’s demos, and reaching an age where I’ve become more comfortable with theatrics and showmanship.
Shane : I started playing music when I was 14. Some of the bands I’ve played in around Seattle were the Knast, Virgin, First Times, Great Spiders, and now I’m also in Bread & Butter. I ended up playing in Gazebos when TV played me some demos and asked if I wanted to play Squeeze-type music. I said HELL YEAH.
TV Coahran – Guitarist & Vocals, wearing our Heated Suit
Q : Are you from the PNW, if so what has kept you here and if not what brought you here?
TV : I’m from California but I’ve been in Seattle for almost 17 years. went to High School in Eastern WA and came here cuz I knew a couple people wanting me to join their band and i needed to leave small-town immediately. Seattle’s a good size/fit. NY’s too busy, LA’s too sprawling, Portland no thanks (no offense)
Shannon : I am from the Seattle area, and have lived in Seattle proper since I was 16. I’ve thought about leaving a couple times because of the weather and small-town nature of things, but I think I get roped back in by the community, a general standard of liberal politics and the gorgeous water/wildlife/geography. I might be stuck here.
Shane : I was born in Tacoma and moved to Maple Valley, but I was sort of an army brat, moved all over, went to ten different schools growing up, and moved back to Seattle in 2000. I moved away to Guadalajara a few years ago but came back to play music and enjoy the green.
Shane Herrel – Bassist, wearing our Touring Trouser
Jordan T. Adams – Drummer, wearing our RZ Cigarette Pant
Q : What is the philosophy behind the songs in “DIE ALONE”? Can you talk about a couple of them and the ideas that they explore?
TV : I sometimes write hook lines when the instrumentals are coming together (“I don’t like the boys who like me”, “I don’t wanna be here”). At first they mean something real literal and simple to me, but tend to become something different once Shannon interprets and creates all the meaty real lyrics. I write catch phrases and Shannon gives them meaning
Shannon: “DIE ALONE” as a phrase is something I’ve been toying around with for years. I was single for a long time and I guess at some point I figured I’d better get more-than-used-to the idea of being alone perpetually. I wanted to attack the fear of being alone and make fun of it until I found a way to be not only comfortable with it, but perhaps even happy. I think I got to a place where I was feeling really good alone, ironically just in time to fall in love with someone. Regardless, I think it was more about being happy and OK within yourself, and for me that took over 30 years. Not that it’s a battle that ends. It takes maintenance.
I think in Gazebos, “DIE ALONE” is more me trying to shake everyone else up in a way. Or wake them up. It’s like a question. I don’t want to answer the question for them, I’d just hope that it might make them think. “Die alone” sounds sad as a phrase, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s inevitable. I think I’m preaching against fear. Or maybe I’m trying to normalize something that seems scary? It means a lot of things to me personally, but I’m open to however anyone wants to interpret it for themselves.
Q : How would you describe your personal style? What are your apparel inspirations?
Shane: 60’s and 70’s stoner vibe.
TV: I want kids on the street to look at me and know that i’m a real wizard like in their books
Shannon: I think my apparel style isn’t too dissimilar to my artistic impetus in my drawings for tattoos. I like to clash things like classiness and punk, or make a joke out of things that are serious, or have a straight face about something funny. I like to dress a lot of different ways, but I am happiest in dresses. I like to dress like a secretary from the 70s/80s pretty frequently, or a doll, or a madame… so long as there’s a wink in there somewhere so the public understands I’ve got a sense of humor. I’d say I look like a cartoon character sometimes.
“so long as there’s a wink in there somewhere so the public understands I’ve got a sense of humor.”
Shannon wearing the RZ Trip Tunic
Q : How does your experience of recording vs. performance vary?
Shannon: Performance is like really feeling the spirit at church. Recording is like a still life painting.
Q : What genre do you feel Gazebo‘s exists within or bands that you relate to in regards to your own music?
Shannon: Jordan and TV keep calling us “Whoa-Pop”, a term I feel iffy about. I am worse at musical genre classification than I am at keeping my mouth shut in tense political conversations.
Shane: Squeeze, Sparks, CAN
Q : Tell us a bit about the Frank Correa collaboration for the inside of the album as well as your music videos – what is your connection with the creative community around you and how do you approach these collaborations?
Shannon : I feel pretty involved in the artistic community, but I think I could do a lot more. I just like tattoos so much that I don’t often do much else besides commissions and show fliers. But like I said, this is a small city, and the community is pretty close-knit, so I feel like I’ve always got a hand in something.
Frank is a magical person that we are blessed to have in our community! That photo was all him. He shot us very quickly, and then just did what he felt like. We didn’t give input, just told him to be free with it, and he was.
Jordan : Frank was one of the first people I met when I moved to Seattle. In New York I was exposed to a massive amount of emerging contemporary art through my work, but Frank’s eye for color contrast, composition and refined imagery is among the best I’ve ever seen. We asked him to create a photo for us and gave him free reign on design, after a few poses together he ended up shooting us individually and creating an amazing scene. We all loved it and decided to include it as a poster insert in all the Die Alone LPs and CDs.
TV: Frank has been a friend for years. Love his bold ideas and bright saturated images.
Daisy heroin (Colin Dawson) has been doing great collage animations for a while and we knew he would make a great video for “just get high”. and he did.
Carlos Lopez is one of my longest-running friends in seattle and has made so many rad vids and films. very resourceful. he can take lemons and make OJ.
“Performance is like really feeling the spirit at church. Recording is like a still life painting.”
Q : Who are your favorite bands currently?
TV : Older stuff I’m into at the moment: YMO, Can, Kevin Ayers, Cher, Os Mutantes, Smashing Pumpkins
Newer stuff: Boyfriends, Bowie-Blackstar, Death Grips, King Krule, Clams, La Luz, Cheveu, D’Angelo, Full Toilet, Tame Impala
Shannon : Right now I can’t stop listening to Rihanna’s new album. My favorite new Seattle band is Boyfriends. Other than that, I’m kind of in a Beatles rut lately.
Jordan : We are touring with Shannon and the Clams right now, they are a favorite and their new record is so powerful. Definitely recommend it for anyone falling in or falling out of love.
Q : What would really benefit Seattle’s music scene and community?
TV: More venues.
Shannon: The current obliteration of Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood caused by the exponentially increasing influx of tech workers could probably be slowed if our city would prioritize for preservation of creative communities/rent control instead of bulldozing entire neighborhoods to build expensive condominiums. The demographic shift is scattering our punk, artistic and creative communities.
I’d also like more music venues! We’ve lost more than we’ve gained in recent years.
Jordan: More collaboration between aesthetics. Art, music, fashion, technology, any field that deals with creation…they’re all so integral to each other’s development. I wish designers, musicians, visual artists, developers, tech heads and really everyone in a creative mindset would try to work together on interdisciplinary projects more often.
People are producing such good work here and I think all artists stand to benefit from learning about and working on something new, especially when it is outside of their field.
