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| Photo: Wo. |
Interview by Wout de Natris
© WoNo Magazine 2017
Following the show Gunther Brown gave at the Q-Bus in Leiden this spring, Wo. reached out to Pete Dubuc, singer and principle songwriter of Gunther Brown to do an interview. You find the result here.
As not all readers may be familiar with
Gunther Brown, how would you like to introduce yourself?
-
Gunther Brown is a largely
unknown and equally unimportant americana/roots rock band from the
northeasternmost United States. I write songs and sing and passably play rhythm
guitar for the band. That’s my best sales pitch, right there.
Hearing about the band for the first time
I’d expected that someone called Gunther Brown put a record out. That wasn’t
the case. What is the inspiration or the idea behind the band’s name?
-
I stole the name from my wife,
actually. It’s her middle and last name. I always liked the sound of it, felt
it suited the music we play and so we used it. We tried to think of something
better but nothing ever came. It has resulted in a fair bit of confusion which
has been humorous.
All members are of a certain age. How did
you come together?
-
Quite randomly, really. Derek,
who plays drums, and I used to work together a long time ago along the way we
picked up Chris (guitarist), having seen him play with someone else and then he
was playing with Mark (bass) on another project and it all kind of came
together at various points. Our newest guy, Joe, who plays harp and can do a
bunch of other stuff, was known to us as well and we were glad he agreed to
join us.
Your ages also suggest that there is
musical past. What went on before Gunther Brown came about?
-
I’ve only ever done Gunther
Brown music. I came to playing pretty late, compared to most. I was 27 before
finding the nerve to play and sing in front of someone. From there, I just
started writing my own songs rather than learning to play popular songs. I
think, right now, if I had to, I could play less than 3 cover songs. That just
never interested me. I started right out trying to write. Derek has really just
been in this band, also. The other guys have years of playing with various
projects under their belts. Writing, playing … they’ve put in some work.
Your music finds itself somewhere between
rock, country and alternative. Is this
the music you like the best and in how far is it different from the music you
grew up with?
-
I think it’s the music I relate
to the most. I’m not sure if it’s the music I like the most or not .. but it
makes sense to me in terms of who I am and where I’m from. These were the
sounds around me, most certainly. I grew up in a very religious situation and
wasn’t allowed music outside of the religious realm until I was a teenager so I
missed a lot of music in those early years. Once I could explore a little, I
went with the popular rock stuff of the day that my peers were listening to.
Guns n’ Roses .. bands like that. But when I heard the Beach Boys, I felt like
there might be more out there I should be listening to. Living relatively close
to Canada, Canadian bands like Blue Rodeo and Tragically Hip became big favourites
as soon as I heard them. I think some of what we do in Gunther Brown is rooted
there.
Were there any albums or artists that
influenced the creative process of ‘North Wind’ especially?
-
When I’m writing music, I tend
not to be listening to much music. It sort of becomes a dry spell and I’m just
left with what’s in my head. I really don’t get locked in to listening to
something or feeling influenced by something. It’s almost like you have to shut
all the outside sounds off to let your inside voices do their work. In the year
before North Wind, I was probably listening mostly to Jason Isbell, James
McMurtry, Tragically Hip .. but a lot of other stuff, too. I listen to soul and
hip-hop. I listen to everything but modern country, really.
On the (back)cover of your album ‘North
Wind’ there is a monument. What is the band’s message as you are all standing
in front of it in a deliberate way?
-
That’s the monument that marks
the spot of where the Battle of Norridgewock took place and so it was important
to the album from that perspective. We went there to shoot for the Norridgewock
video and it was a pretty moving moment to stand there. I think in some way,
standing there with it was capturing that moment. That place is alive. Not
because of the monument, the monument just tells us where we’re standing, it’s
alive because of the memory of those who died there. It’s somber. But it’s also
powerful and important. I want my standing there to be interpreted as “I know
what happened here”. Prior to writing the song, I knew nothing of the story.
Had never been taught about it. Standing there is a bit of saying, “ah-ha! I
found you out. You didn’t pull one over on me.” The descendants of those murdered
there still face issues of discrimination and inequality, today. It’s
institutionalized. It permeates our culture. This story from so long ago was
far from the end. It goes on today and we need to do better.
In Norridgewock you tell about a massacre
to an Indian tribe that happened in the 1720s. An all but forgotten crime. What
makes it so important to you to sing and tell about it now in the 20 tens?
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Well, it’s important to tell
the story today because we still haven’t fixed it. Things aren’t magically
better for Native Peoples. It doesn’t just go away. The more years we put
between us and this event, the more willing we are to let it slide from memory.
As the saying goes, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat
it.” I could really go on forever about Norridgewock. I’m thankful the song
came my way, and I have no idea why it did, but it has meant a lot to me and
I’ve talked with people who’ve expressed their appreciation for it. That means
so much to me.
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| Photo: Wo. |
The song ‘Jesus Ain’t Listening Tonight’ is
set to a country tune. Somehow I get the feeling that you are giving off a
message here. Am I right?
-
For a simple country song with
sarcastic lyrics, I’d like to think there’s some good substance there. With the
religious upbringing I had, the song really puts it all together. There’s this
thing, when you’re an unwitting child participant of religion, where you’re
half in and half out. You don’t really believe it, but if you get in a rough
spot, you think well, it couldn’t hurt, let’s say a prayer! Like a get out of
jail free card. Then, when it doesn’t come out the way you want, you can tell
yourself that Jesus ain’t listenin’. And then to carry it all the way to today,
as an atheist, the refrain is just what I believe. I really did want to add the
choir and the gospel feel at the end, not out of disrespect or mocking but as a
juxtaposition between the arrangement and the lyrics.
There is another side to ‘Jesus’. The song,
together with ‘Old Man’, comes across as extremely personal to me as well. Both
hold a story about breaking free from the (religious) past. It seems
intentional that they are placed back to back on ‘North Wind’. How do I have to look at the lyrics? More as
settling the score or as making an inventory of where you are now?
- The sequencing is definitely
intentional. Jesus/Old Man is the most autobiographical section of the album.
Old Man is entirely making an inventory of the current situation. I don’t
usually agonize over lyrics all that much … what comes out, I usually feel, is
what I was intended to say. On this one, I was far more deliberate about
phrasing. I wanted to be very careful. I believe I ended up with a factual,
unbiased picture of the relationship I have with my father. The song doesn’t
place blame. There’s nothing about you messed this up or I messed this up ..
it’s just, regardless of the blame, here’s where we are. I do believe it comes
from us having differing religious views as I indicate in there lyrically but
whose fault is that? There’s no blame pinned here. It’s just where we are.
We discussed politics after the show in
Leiden for a while. A song like ‘Jesus
Ain’t Listening Tonight’ could cause your career harm in the polarised world
the U.S. has become. What makes you tell this story, this somewhat mocking
tale, despite of this possibility?
-
My cynical answer is - there are still more of us than there are
of them! I’m joking, of course … (but it’s true) … no, I don’t like the us/them
thing. I think you have to be honest in your work. If you lose some people, so
be it. But I have to say, people give you some creative freedom and even if
they don’t agree with you, they can often get past it. I think delivery is
everything. The song isn’t mean spirited, it’s very tongue in cheek. Lots of
people can see that. So, first, I try to give the listener credit to be able to
accept it as art and not as something they have to agree with. We had a show in
Doetinchem where there was a very disapproving older lady in the crowd at the
beginning of that song. By the end, everyone was clapping and singing along,
and she couldn’t help herself from joining in. She didn’t lose her faith … she
didn’t renounce her god in that moment, she accepted it for what it was and
we’re all better for it. I loved that moment. I want her to have her faith if
that works for her. That’s great. But I want her to have fun with us, too!
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| Photo: Wo. |
In the interesting times that we live in
many artists seem to just stay in a safe mode with no critique or anger being shown
about what is going on around them. Do you have an explanation for this
aloofness?
-
Man, everyone is so different.
Some people may have business things in mind, wanting to toe the line and not
turn away listeners. Others maybe don’t think it’s their place or might even be
afraid to be challenged on their opinions. I think the biggest reason is
probably because it’s difficult. It’s difficult to write about current events
and have it be able to be timeless at the same time. You could write some songs
and have them be outdated by the time the record comes out. It’s a fine balance
and it is really hard to do. To keep your art intact and stay true to the
quality you demand from your music while also speaking literally about current
events is an extremely challenging proposition. I think I have the nerve to
try. I’m not too worried about what people think. I’ve got a few songs in the
works that speak to where we are today. I hope I can finish them in a way that
makes it good music in addition to an important statement. It might not happen,
but I’ll be making an attempt.
In the chorus of the opening song ‘What’s
Left’ you present someone with a(n ethical) choice: either run or do the right
thing and make it whole. What or who are you addressing here?
-
Talking to myself for sure. I
like to do that. Some of the songs I write are just me beating up myself. It’s
really about not quitting. We’re given so many opportunities to either quit or
to move forward. Maybe daily, we have to make that decision internally. The verses
here are set up as the excuses and the chorus is the admonition. The song
(Don’t Forget To) Don’t Go is really from the same genre. Chiding myself for
not really giving it everything I’ve got. Trying to teach myself how to ditch
the excuses.
There are several distinct moods and
musical styles between the songs. Do the lyrics determine this or is the music
there first?
-
It’s always music first. The
music dictates the mood and the mood dictates the lyrics. A lot of times I’ll
have the melody and just play with that over and over until lyrics start
coming. On North Wind, Mark brought some musical pieces which became For A
Night and Swampland, and that was the first time I’ve done any co-writes. It
was a whole new way of getting into it but it worked out okay because I’m
always music first anyway. It felt very natural.
When it comes to songwriting and arranging,
what are the roles within Gunther Brown and is the end result sometimes
surprising to what was started off with?
-
Things have been changing a bit
here. Typically, I would bring a finished song to the rest of the guys ..
finished as in lyrics and melody .. and then everyone would start to develop
their parts. At that point it’s very collaborative. Now, with other guys
starting to bring in some bits of music, unfinished ideas, the collaboration
starts earlier in the process. It’s still the same general idea though,
everyone spends time with it and we work it out in a group setting and get
parts locked in. It’s a true band, nobody tells anyone else what to play. You
parts are your own. That’s important to me. That’s what gives a group its
“sound”.
The band is from Portland, Maine. In what
way, if at all, does your environment influence your music?
-
I’m not sure how environment
influences work. It’s impossible to isolate that, I think. Harsh winters take
their toll on you in a number of ways. The drudgery of them, the promise of
spring, the rush to do the work or recreation you need to do before winter’s
return. Winter has been my arch nemesis. Seasonal depression is a real thing.
Other than climate, Maine is a very blue collar place, lots of fishing and
working in the woods. I think everything is just subconsciously influenced by
these things.
On stage you were with five on record with
four. What is the story here?
-
We bumped up to five players
for some added versatility. The New Guy, Joe, can do a lot of different things
and gives us the ability to diversify sounds from song to song. Have a little
more going on and fill out the sound. Joe has been with us for a year or so
now. He’s a writer, singer, player and energetic performer. Has been a great
fit. After our return from The Netherlands, our guitarist Chris retired from
the band and we’re currently working as a four piece.
You toured The Netherlands for the first
time this spring. How did the country agree with you?
-
We had a great time on stage
and off and other than one or two of the shows, they were well attended, we met
a lot of nice folks and were well received. The cost and logistics of bringing
a full band overseas to play small shows are big challenges, but if those
things can be worked out, we would love to return. We were in love with the
polite, listening audiences. Sometimes over here you get used to being
background music or a side note to alcohol consumption. It’s always wonderful
to play and be heard. I’m really hopeful to return.
What are Gunther Brown’s plans for the
coming period?
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We’ll be spending some time
working on new material. We’ve got some ideas to start hammering out. It has
been a while since we’ve been able to hunker down on that creative side of
things so it will be exciting to see what comes out of that. From there, we’re
likely to start on making a new record. A band of our stature never really
knows if there will be another opportunity to make another record so when you
start heading in that direction again it feels pretty good. It’s both exciting
and terrifying. Like life.
