SPEAKER_01: 0:46

Today we're diving into the world of modern rock and roll with a guitarist who's been lighting up stages from WrestleMania to the Florida Gulf Coast. He's a Daytona-born shredder, a music institute standout, and the creative engine behind one of the most exciting new rock bands out there. Hey everyone, it's Randy Holsey with Backstage Pass Radio. My guest is the founder, guitarist, and songwriter for Gunshine, the band bringing back big riffs, big hooks, and that unapologetic, turn it up loud attitude. Hang tight, and I will have Austin Ingerman join us right after this.

SPEAKER_00: 1:21

This is Backstage Pass Radio. Backstage Pass Radio, a podcast by an artist for the artist. Each week we take you behind the scenes of some of your favorite musicians and the music they created. From chart-topping hits to underground gems, we explore the sounds that move us and the people who make it all happen. Remember to please subscribe, rate, and leave reviews on your favorite podcast platform. So whether you're a casual listener or a die hard music fan, tune in and discover the magic behind the melodies. Here is your host of Backstage Pass Radio, Randy Holsey.

SPEAKER_01: 2:02

Austin, welcome, brother. Merry Christmas to you, man. Merry Christmas to you, Randy. Thanks so much for having me on. It's my pleasure. It's hard to believe that it's funny. I guess you being a Florida native, me being here in Texas, it's it's 80 degrees outside and it doesn't seem much like Christmas, man. What's going on with that?

SPEAKER_02: 2:21

Yeah, exactly. It's the same thing with like with fall time and Halloween. It's like you don't really uh you don't really notice the fall weather till after Halloween for the most part.

SPEAKER_01: 2:31

Exactly. And you think when you know the the kids and everybody starts putting on all the costumes, that's when you want it to be cool or kind of chilly outside so you don't burn to death, right? And that's kind of what we do here in the Houston area. It's just kind of burn up at Chris or uh at Halloween time, right? Because it always seems like it's 85, 90 degrees for some reason. Yeah, exactly. Well, it's great to have you here, man. Uh, what's shaking in your world these days? You guys staying busy? What's going on with you?

SPEAKER_02: 2:58

Yeah, man. We're just staying super busy. Um, we're gonna have a new record coming out at the top of the year, do a bunch of new uh new songs, sing uh singles and stuff like that off the record. So we got a lot of exciting stuff coming up. So just kind of I'm working behind the scenes right now to kind of get all the logistics and everything squared away with you know, finishing the artwork and getting all the little uh assets and everything like that sent in to the label and everything like that. So just uh staying busy, man. It's gonna be a super fun year.

SPEAKER_01: 3:28

Yep, all the all the intricacies that have to happen with a new record, right? You got to get them done. So that's great to hear, and we'll talk a little bit more about that uh here in just a minute. But you are a Daytona Beach native. Is this where you call home today, or you uh you call home somewhere else?

SPEAKER_02: 3:46

So I was born in Daytona Beach, but then I lived uh I went like in elementary school, I went to um we moved to Gainesville shortly after that, Gainesville, Florida. And then um in about 2011, we moved to Pensacola, Florida. So kind of been all over the state, you know, and um we had a uh my fiance and I, we lived in in LA and California from 2016 through about 2019. Um and we just about a year and a half ago uh moved to Atlanta, Georgia. But other than that, been a Florida boy.

SPEAKER_01: 4:20

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sure uh the the California lifestyle was a little bit different than the Florida lifestyle, right?

SPEAKER_02: 4:27

Just a little bit, yeah. But it had some similarities with the palm trees and the beaches and stuff like that. So it's funny because when I was picking uh like a music college, you know, where to go to school, it was between, you know, Berkeley out in Boston or um you know Hollywood. So it was like Hollywood was a little more appealing to me because it was a little more similar to Florida, and it was just uh yeah, the weather and the vibe out there was was just amazing.

SPEAKER_01: 4:52

So yeah, you don't really have to shovel snow in Hollywood, right?

SPEAKER_02: 4:56

Exactly.

unknown: 4:56

Not too often.

SPEAKER_01: 4:58

Well, if you I mean, if you could live anywhere, man, you know, like you you could just pick up and go anywhere. Have you ever given that much thought? Where where do you think you'd head to?

SPEAKER_02: 5:07

Man, I mean, I really like it where we're from because like I said, Pensacola, man, it's like a hidden gem. I mean, it's because we're right there by the beach, some of the the nicest beaches, you know, in the whole, the whole world, United States, you know, people travel all from around the country and stuff to come down. Uh, I think Taylor Swift even put a lyric in one of her new songs, like Destin, something about Destin, Florida or whatever. Yeah. It's it's definitely one of those like hidden hidden gems uh of the country. So it's it's pretty cool that we're from there.

SPEAKER_01: 5:35

Yeah. Well, my my son-in-law was drafted right out of high school by the uh Pittsburgh Pirates, and he spent time down in Bradenton, uh, right around the Tampa area at Pirate City um for quite a few years. So uh we we made quite a few trips down to to South Florida. Of course, you're up more northern Florida, but uh yeah, the great state of Florida, been there many times, man.

SPEAKER_02: 6:00

Yeah, it's Florida's one of those states where it's like every little, every part of Florida is like its own, its own thing.

SPEAKER_01: 6:06

You know, it's kind of like California in those respects. Of course it is. Well, thinking back to I guess your younger years a little bit, is there a uh kind of like a song or a group that you kind of remember falling in love with first that kind of I don't know, just kind of set it all off musically for you? Do you can you think back that far? I mean, you're a young guy compared to me, but I didn't know if there was a group or a song that just said, man, this is this is it. This is what I gotta do.

SPEAKER_02: 6:37

Yeah, I mean, I've always really loved music. Like my parents would always be playing, you know, CDs in the in the minivan or in in the car or whatever. And uh, you know, my sister and I, we would just listen to uh, you know, we're we're 90s kids, so at the time it was uh that's when like you know, Avra Levine was becoming a big deal and and all the all the boy bands and all that stuff. But then, you know, my dad would show me all like the rock and roll like Hendricks and Stevie Ray Vaughn and stuff would come on the radio and he'd be like, Oh, this is Boston, or this is you know, uh Van Halen or Ozzy. And um, you know, of course, yeah, I remember hearing Eruption come on, you know, Eruption, of course, uh come on and be like, oh my god, what is that, you know, and and that whole thing. But uh yeah, I mean my dad was he played bass and he was always you know around music and super into. He's also an audio guy as well. So um he he kind of bought me a little acoustic guitar just to kind of have around the house, even before I played, just in case one day I might pick it up. Um, and sure enough, I think I was about seven years old, and then I got lessons, and then the rest the rest was kind of history from there.

SPEAKER_01: 7:47

Sure. Do you find yourself playing? I mean, and I I really didn't well, I guess you know, we'll get into a little bit of guitar talk, but uh would would you consider do you have a love for the acoustic as well, or is it really just the electric? And I know you love both, right? Let me rephrase that, but do you find yourself playing mostly electric or do you play a lot on the acoustic guitar as well?

SPEAKER_02: 8:10

A little bit of both. I think um acoustic could be really good for for songwriting and stuff like that. So I try to, you know, keep one nearby just to sort of um, you know, a lot of a lot of songwriters will say, like, if it sounds good on acoustic, you know, when you strip away all the production and stuff like that, it's uh, you know, if it sounds good like that, then it's gonna sound good when you add all the production and stuff like that. So yeah, I mean I love playing acoustic as well, but I definitely enjoy uh you know putting the distortion on and cranking up through an amp and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01: 8:41

Or you know. Well, you know what they you know what they say about uh the guitar, right? If you can play it on an acoustic, you can play it on anything, right? Because the the acoustics, heavier gauge strings, right, as you well know, a little bit more difficult to play, especially if you're a lead guitarist. Of course it can be done, but yeah, the the the I guess the electric guitar, lighter gauge strings, kind of lends a little bit easier playability for for the person playing it, right? Yeah, it's like uh it's like swinging with a wooden bat a little bit, you know. Absolutely. Well, I uh I guess I stumbled across you guys, I'm trying to remember if it was Spotify, and I remember, you know, I I remember saying to myself, what a badass, you know, straight driving rock and roll band. And I I guess it must have been a couple of years back when you guys uh let Swing Away go as a single. And I think if my memory serves me correct, it was around 2023 that came out, right?

SPEAKER_02: 9:43

Yeah, was it 2023 or 22? One of those, yeah. I think it was uh it was like March of Yeah, you might be right. I think it might have been 23. Um and yeah, it's just uh that that's one of my favorite ones as well. You know, just uh I love songs that are simple but also have have their moments, you know, from a technical aspect. But I just love like catchy choruses and I'm a melody guy myself, so I love writing vocal melodies and you know big pop style hooks and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01: 10:13

So well, you have to have those hooks, man, because I think that that's what especially in the streaming age, you know. We I I think we have this um it's not like back when you listen to albums, you know. I'm a vinyl collector and you you it was a whole experience to put on a piece of vinyl. You listen differently than you do with digital music, right? You you put that record on and you and you kind of were stuck just listening to that record. I I think we get the ADD mindset with things like Spotify when you know I cue up a gunshine record, and if it doesn't catch me like that, what happens, man? I'm on to the next song, I'm on to the next whatever, right? Totally. So it's almost it almost it's it's quintessential to have a great hook in the song. And I think every artist looks for that in the songwriting process, would you agree?

SPEAKER_02: 11:04

Oh, definitely. And and you hit the nail on the head, and I think that's the the pros and cons of being in the the state of the industry we're in with the streaming and all the social media reels, and it's like, yeah, you gotta hook people within within five seconds and stuff like that. But uh, you know, me, I still love like you know, long intros if if it fits a song and stuff like that. So, you know, sometimes you have to just not think about that, and yeah, you know, it is what it is, but uh, but yeah, you're totally right. It's uh it's such a fast moving society nowadays.

SPEAKER_01: 11:35

Sure. Well, I mean, you have to first love the hook, right? And if it happens to be hooky to everybody, if that's even a word, hook hooky, hooky to everybody, then it is. But as long as it's palatable to the band and that's what you guys guys love, you you just you kind of go with that. I mean, you don't sit around, you know. I I guess the songwriting process is kind of interesting because you you're not always gonna have a hit hook, right? But uh that that's what catches everybody, and you you gotta have one. Talk to me a little bit, just real quick, about the forming of the band, Gunshine. Did you guys all know one another? Are you all from the Florida area? So, for the listeners of Backstage Pest Radio who may not have heard of Gunshine, uh, talk talk to them a little bit about where where you guys hell from.

SPEAKER_02: 12:26

Yeah, so um the band was uh based out of Pensacola, Florida, uh, where we're from. It this was just sort of something I wanted to do for a really long time. You know, I've been writing songs. Uh I used to have a neighbor when I was a teenager going through middle school, and we would write songs together. And I kind of realized early on that that was sort of my favorite part about playing music, is I just loved creating stuff. I've always felt kind of creative in in those aspects. And um, over the years I've really learned to um figure out like what excites me the most when it comes to writing music and stuff like that. So, you know, it's funny because some people will, you know, talk about the guitar playing or technicality and all that stuff. And I do love all that, and I really appreciate you know that side of it as well. But it's uh for me, it's nothing compared to the feeling when I write a vocal melody or a chorus or you know, that the song just comes first in my opinion, and and the technical aspect it can be nice as well, but that's to me that just adds a little a little extra to something, you know, to the song or whatever.

SPEAKER_01: 13:28

So are you uh would you consider yourself a structured writer though? I you know, I've I've had some people on my show, and and one namely that I can I can think of, uh Michael Sweet, the singer for the band Striper, right? He uh, you know, I was talking to Michael about um songwriting in general, and he's like, you know, I'm I'm the structured guy. I like I I I write at 10 o'clock every day, or you know, I set aside that time to just sit and think and write. Are you that kind of writer or are you uh whenever the the idea hits you kind of writer?

SPEAKER_02: 14:04

I kind of go through the world and keep my phone on me, and and if if I have a little uh lightning in the bottle, you know, spark of inspiration, I try to save those ideas so that whenever I do sit down to write, I already have a bunch of starts that I can pull from and stuff like that. That tends to be my process. Um but in terms of starting the band, so like I said, I it's always just been a big passion, um, you know, songwriting and stuff like that. So it was always my goal. But then, you know, as you go through your career and you and you start doing different things, you realize how hard it is to start a band and meet different band members and and stuff like that. So I graduated from Musicians Institute in in Hollywood in I think it was 2018, and then I immediately got the opportunity to go on tour with a band called New Year's Day, like shortly after that. And I was more of a hired gun in that band. So uh, but at the same time, I was getting to go on tour with Hailstorm and Godsmack, and it was all arenas, and we got to travel to Europe twice, and I've been to Australia, and so it was an amazing experience, and I got to um it helped me be able to form Gunshine, it gave me experience uh on the you know the touring side of things and everything like that. But throughout that whole process, this was always my goal, this was always my dream. Um, and then you know, everything I guess sort of happens the way it happens, and the the COVID thing happened. And uh me and our original drummer, uh, his name's uh James Renshaw. So we were we had been friends, played in different bands and stuff together for you know over 10 years or something like that. So him and I were kind of starting to work on some things behind the scenes, and then when the COVID thing happened, I couldn't tour with with New Year's Day. So then it set the whole touring world on halt, came back home where I'm from, you know, Pensacola, and um someone said, Hey, you gotta try this guy. Um they someone that knew I was trying to start this this band or whatever, they said, Hey, you gotta try this singer. He plays uh in the dueling piano bar, and uh I think he would sound good for what you're trying to do. So sure enough, uh I get Jordan over. And at this point, we had tried so many different singers. We had had we had driven across the country. Um I had tried people when I lived in LA, sort of in between tours and stuff like that, and just you know, I was setting a real high standard for what I was hearing in my head, and it just it had to be right. So um, but once we got Jordan over, because the thing I was looking for, I was trying to find that X Factor type voice, you know, someone that you could you could love or hate their voice, but it was gonna get your attention. So I didn't want to just be middle of the road, you know. I wanted it to be like, hey, even if you don't like it, you're gonna know that it's us kind of thing. You know what I mean? So when Jordan first came over, um, we wrote the song while said to call together, because I had started putting together a lot of the music because I was getting really impatient with starting the band. Like I said, it took us forever to find the right pieces. So I didn't really sit around and waste time. I went ahead and started me and the drummer, we started recording what would become the first record. We just were doing it instrumentally. I was recording some rough melodies and stuff like that down so that when we met the singer, you know, a lot would be in place already. So so yeah, when Jordan came over, it was like instant chemistry with with him and I, and we wrote the song uh while said to call together in a few hours, and then I thought best case scenario, he would just sing on a few demos and that would be it. But uh, he was like, All right, man, when are we going on tour?

SPEAKER_01: 17:41

So well, that's cool that it that it stuck like that. And you know, it's what was interesting for me, I think, is um I I would have to say it was the whole package that kind of hooked me into number one, listening to the whole song, but then saying, Well, what the hell is this, right? You know, let me check this out. But but I will say that his voice did stick out to me. I do, I do recall that. So great pick with Jordan. Um, I I I think that his his voice is very unique, right? And uh it it it lends itself really nice to the rock and roll genre, of course.

SPEAKER_02: 18:19

Definitely, definitely. Yeah, it's just uh his his uh something about the tonality, his voice, and my guitar tone just kind of mesh well together.

SPEAKER_01: 18:27

Sure, yeah, it all sounds great. How do you feel the band's identity has changed since you guys first got together to the current day?

SPEAKER_02: 18:40

Uh it's a good question because uh a lot of what we do is sort of based on, you know, I think every band uh has a different approach. Like you take an ACDC, for example, right? It's like every record with them, they're gonna do what they do, and they do it very well, you know, and it's gonna be, but it's like record after record, you kind of know what to expect from from a band like AC DC. Whereas I think gunshine, you know, my philosophy, the way we do things uh songwriting-wise, is to really just write whatever comes out. So, you know, this next record, there's gonna be some curveballs, there's gonna be some things that some territories that are gonna be a little different, you know, and but to me that just it makes it fun. But there's always an element of gunshine in there. There's, you know, there's that um we call it, we're from Florida's, we call it the swampiness, you know. There's always that uh the edgy guitars and and uh yeah, the melodies and stuff like that, you know, the catchy melodies, the you know, that there's things like that. There's there's tendencies in there, but at the same time, we always we could we can go off in left field and go a completely different direction um and experiment as we go. And like I said, uh a lot of the first record was, I mean, this those ideas were uh some of those ideas go back like 10 years at this point, so long before the band was ever even formed. So there's things, you know, now moving forward with our identity that uh can take on a new character but still hold true to uh some things that we do.

SPEAKER_01: 20:12

Sure, that makes perfect sense. And and when you were talking to me, you said the the name of the band again, and and I didn't even I didn't write it into my notes or anything, but since you know we've mentioned the name Gunshine a couple of times, talk to the listeners a little bit about the band name. Can you share that where it came from? What where was the idea for for the band?

SPEAKER_02: 20:33

So yeah, absolutely. So when we were starting the band, um, we had just finished the first record. Uh me, me, Jordan, and our drummer James, we flew out to Vegas and we we just finished the first album, and I was sitting there. We're going, we because we didn't even have a name yet. And so everybody's throwing in their ideas, you know, everybody's texting the group chat, different names. And that's the hardest part about starting a band, by the way, is the band name. Sure. Because everything just sounds stupid in the beginning. It's like you until you get used to it, it's like it all it all just uh sounds dumb, right? Exactly. Yeah. But what it was was I'm you know, I was trying to think of different Florida terms to to kind of represent where we're from. So I'm trying to think of everybody's like street where everybody lives, like their street names, um, any locations that are maybe nearby where we're from. I was just trying to rack my brain and think of all kinds of different things that represented where we're from. And uh I Googled like different Florida terms, and it said sometimes Florida is known as the gunshine state because it's shaped like a gun, and obviously Florida is called the Sunshine State.

SPEAKER_01: 21:37

Of course.

SPEAKER_02: 21:38

So uh that was kind of cool to me. So I was like, okay, you know, gunshine, and uh it kind of made me think of the South a little bit, and uh, you know, but it was really just a Florida term. Uh has nothing to do with guns and roses, even though they are an influence, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 21:55

Um that makes perfect sense because I never even thought about Florida uh and and you know the shape of a gun until you just mentioned it. So yeah, that's what it's like thanks for jogging the old memory there.

SPEAKER_02: 22:07

Yeah, geography lesson, right? Exactly. Because I mean, sometimes we'll get compared online to like sunset strip bands and stuff like that, but there's a different thing about gunshine. There's a more swampy element. You know, we are from the south. There's it's a little different than the whole LA thing, a little bit. So we wanted to kind of reflect that.

SPEAKER_01: 22:26

Yep. Well, you mentioned a couple of the guys already, but talk to me about the members of the band, you know, that their names and and what their role is in the band for the listeners that may not be aware of Gunshine.

SPEAKER_02: 22:39

Yeah, so we just got um a couple. So our new drummer Tommy Salzberg, he he plays in a bunch of bands around North Carolina. He just joined back in October, and then our bass player Jake Tripp, he he joined about two years ago. So um our original drummer that I've been mentioning, he he kind of he wanted to kind of start a family and kind of do the whole kid life and stuff like that. So, you know, him and I are still still buds and we still talk, but he just he wasn't able to tour anymore. So um, and then our producer Chris Collier, who who mixed and mastered all of our material so far, he actually played bass on the first record. So when it was time to find a live band, you know, we had to get some some extra members and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01: 23:24

So but um well the production stuff Austin is is great. I mean, every everything just sounds so good, you know. Um I got some really nice um you can't see them, but really nice monitors uh here in the studio, and man, you you you crank those things up halfway and it's like this stuff just sounds good, man. And it's and it's so nice that there's bands out there that are that are trying to bring back rock and roll, you know. I mean, you know, that's all my my old ass, you know, back in the day it was Sunset Strip, Hair Metal, you know, the Guns N' Roses, the White Snakes, the Poisons. We all grew up on that. And then I think myself, I got married in '89, and around '90 is when the grunge things, you know, the grunge genre came in. And I always, it's tongue in cheek, um, because I really didn't do this, but I the joke has always been, you know, I 89 rolled around and I turned the radio off and I I went dormant for what seemed like 30 years, you know, while my kids were growing. And then I turn it back on and I I miss genres, and now it's like it seems like it's rap, rap, rap, rap. And there's nothing wrong with that. I there's certain parts of that music that I like. I've had rap artists on my shows, but I'm a rock pig, man. Like that's that's my world, that's where I came from. And when I hear young guys like yourself going out and and turning it up to 11, and it's just straight driving rock and roll, that's exciting for me. So I appreciate that. Yeah, I just wanted to share that with you.

SPEAKER_02: 25:00

Yeah, man, absolutely. You know, like in when we did the first record, I was just uh, you know, like I said, it was coming off the heels of COVID. There was a lot of dark stuff going on at the time, and that's why a lot of the lyrics on the first album, too, are uh a little bit lighthearted because we were like, hey man, we're trying to trying to get back to like, you know, we were thinking about like Van Halen and Jump and songs like that where you just have fun when you listen to it, you know. And we we we wanted to kind of bring that back, a little bit of the swagginess, you know, that made you want to kind of, you know, go to the bar and and hang with people, and especially at that time, man. So that a lot of the that was a lot of the the influence on that first record.

SPEAKER_01: 25:38

Sure, yeah. I I agree with that 100%. Well, we talked we touched on it just kind of briefly earlier about the songwriting aspect of Gunshine, and I was curious if if everyone in the band is it kind of a democracy when it comes to songwriting, or are there one or two guys in the band that are the primary songwriters? The others I'm sure contribute, but talk to me a little bit about how how the contributions for songwriting work inside of the nucleus of gunshoting.

SPEAKER_02: 26:15

Yeah, uh, yeah, whoever's in the room, you know, we always keep it a democracy. Uh most of the writing is is myself and Jordan. You know, I'm I'm kind of like the the melody guy and the the musical kind of guy. So I'll a lot of the times I'll take my phone, my voice memos, and I'm I'm humming melodies out, like you know, the verse and the chorus or whatever. I'll I'll try to get like a meat and potatoes or whatever, and then um it kind of gives us a basis to sort of work off. And then Jordan and I'll sit together and and write lyrics and stuff like that. And that's it, it's always a little different every time. Um sometimes he'll present an idea or whatever, but because he's a musician as well. He plays piano, um, plays harmonica. He he can, you know, he he knows a few chords on guitar and stuff like that too. So, but I'm kind of the one in the band that has, you know, uh logic, you know, I use the uh Logic Pro and I've got my my whole setup here. I'm actually sitting in my home studio right now, and so I I tend to I like to demo stuff out and kind of um I'll program the drums and everything like that on the demo at least just to get you know get the rough ideas down. Yep. And then um, but I'm super into production and stuff like that, and my demos are usually like 95% um to how we actually do it. But um I come from more like the the rock and pop background where it's like melody kind of comes first, and then Jordan comes from more of the Nashville lyric writing kind of school of thinking. So he thinks about lyrics first, so it ends up being a really good collaboration.

SPEAKER_01: 27:48

Um so yeah, you must you you must be a mind reader because I that that was what I was gonna ask you next. Are you guys normally a melody first kind of writing band? Are you generally a lyric? And then the the melody or the music follows that, and it and it sounds like it comes from all different angles, right? With Gunshine.

SPEAKER_02: 28:09

Yeah, I mean, um, because of the way, like I said, um because of the way I do things a lot of times, you know, we'll usually start with melody and and the music, and then some, you know, Jordan will kind of listen to like the vows that I might be singing. So like swing away, it's like give it away, give it away, dunno no. Like if I'm just humming that out, it's like swing away. We're listening to like some vows. So if you say like the word away, then it's like you know, we're just we're kind of listening to like what words could be close to what I'm like kind of mumbling out or whatever and stuff like that. So we do it like that a lot of the times, but there's never a perfect um uh you know, we don't we're not stuck into like doing it a certain way necessarily, like we're it can be a little different um each time.

SPEAKER_01: 28:55

How how personal are the stories in in the band's songs? Do you do you guys write from personal experience or are they more um imaginative ideas and thoughts? Can you speak to that at all?

SPEAKER_02: 29:13

Yeah, I mean, um, so some of them were trying were trying to just kind of paint pictures of certain vibes and stuff like that. Others are personal experience. Um, what's done is done was kind of a personal thing, and then um, you know, Jordan swing away. He's he's told the story about that song with uh with with his grandma and stuff like that. So that was a kind of a personal story and all that. Um so it's a little bit different every time, but it really depends you know what the what the song title is and what we're what we're trying to, you know, like Tom Petty, for example, he would write in in kind of third person, or he'd be like talking about someone else sometimes, but it would make it sound like it's a personal story. So but um but we don't we don't do a whole lot of that. It's usually like sometimes, you know, Jordan will come in with whatever's kind of been on his mind at that time, or um, you know, like I said, uh if if something if something come came into his life like a week ago or something, it could be something totally random that might be like on his mind, and then we'll kind of go from there. But it's a little bit different every time.

SPEAKER_01: 30:18

Yeah. What bands would you say Gunshine takes? If you had to pick a band or two, you know, I don't want you to go down a you know a whole rabbit hole of 50 bands, but if there were two bands, right, that you guys pull influence from, who which which two pop into your mind right away for Gunshine?

SPEAKER_02: 30:38

Um in the rock world for me, uh, you know, Boston and Def Leopard are two really big influences for me. Um uh the earlier stuff, you know, Guns N' Roses is always uh like Slash in general is a big is a big one for me as well. Uh Jordan is a huge ACDC fan. He loves uh sticks and journey and uh like Crosby Stills and Nash, and um he's got a lot of country influences and stuff as well. Like I said, he's he's um he's he's really like a country boy and lives out in the woods, and he's he spent a lot of time in Nashville. So um he's got a lot of influences in that side of thing too. I know like um there's some rock like modern rock stuff that he's uh like it could be like really popular artists or whatever, but he he didn't uh necessarily come from that world growing up, so it's like um a lot of his influences are are different than maybe what some people think of us online and stuff like that, too. Of course, of course.

SPEAKER_01: 31:37

Well, I wanted to share the latest single with the listeners, and this is a song called Bay You. And if you don't mind, let's cue that up and uh share that with the listeners, and then we'll come back and chat a little bit about the song. Fair enough. Sure. All right. And you know, Austin, that's that's uh a cool song because I went to school in Louisiana, and you know, Louisiana's all about the Bayou, right? So great song, man. The mix and everything you guys uh really on everything that you've done is has sounded nothing short of awesome. So congrats to you and and the guys for that. But this song sounds great. Tell me a little bit about the song and where you guys pulled inspiration from on that this particular one.

SPEAKER_02: 32:55

Yeah, I appreciate that, man. Yeah, this one was a little um different than the process I mentioned earlier, where um, you know, this was a case where this was an old tune that Jordan actually had um a long time ago, even before Gunshine, but it was totally different when he when he showed me the demo in terms of the production and how I mean he was just kind of strumming on like an acoustic guitar and very um yeah, again, like kind of country more. And then um the chorus was was very different melody-wise. It was more of like a stomping, stomp and clap, like take me to church almost uh kind of feeling like a melody. And then the chorus was was a bit longer. So I had this one's was like a really fun project for me because it was like an old thing that Jordan had, but then I completely sort of um kind of I guess I I put my production on it, my my spin on it, and kind of pulled it in more of like a rock direction, like a modern rock direction, kind of changed the the melody of the chorus where it ramps up and stuff like that, added a bunch of layers and stuff to really make it um you know pop and just kind of pull it more of like a rock direction and stuff like that. But he had already had the lyrics and everything like that. All that was already pretty much in place. So for me, it was going in there, producing it, um, like I said, changing some of the chorus melody and stuff like that. And then Chris Collier mix and mastered it, like I said before. He he's a multi-instrumentalist, he uh played bass on the first record, and um he actually played drums on our on our newest record as well. So he he's kind of a jack of all trades and is an amazing uh mixing engineer and stuff. So uh this was the first song that was completely tracked off of my uh like my my setup or whatever. We actually did all the uh everything except for the drums, but we did all the rest of the production. I did it all off out of my home studio and sent Chris the files and he mixed and mastered it. So this mic right here I'm talking into, this is this is what Jordan sang that on.

SPEAKER_01: 34:56

Really? Wow. It's a it's amazing, you know. It's funny is I had uh a guy named Nibbs Carter, uh, who was the bass player for the band Saxon uh on my show and the Carpe Diem album that they did, he said we were in five different countries when we recorded that. You know, we were we were passing files all over the freaking cut, you know, different countries, and it was all getting mastered. And you know, it's it's amazing because I'm a uh a local artist here in um Cyprus, Texas, which is kind of northwest Houston, if you will. And I'm not writing my own music, you know, we're going out and doing covers and stuff like that, but it it never ceases to amaze me the artistic prowess of you guys that have the vision to see these songs and bring them to life. And, you know, you like I've had some other A-list producers out of Hollywood that have produced for Rick Springfield, you know, Z Z Top, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's like you guys are really special with what you do and how you can you can take something, it's almost like a guy that uh molds clay, right? It's just uh it's clay until your hands do something with it. And it's you that art is is simply amazing. And being a musician and a lover of music, you know, I admire guys like you that are able to have that vision where I don't think I would have the vision to do that. So I don't know if you learn that, if it's if if it's an acquired thing. Can you speak to that a little bit? Did you do you feel like you always had that ability, or did going to school help you to become that?

SPEAKER_02: 36:43

Um I yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01: 36:45

Or maybe a little bit of both, right? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02: 36:48

Yeah, I mean, some of the school stuff is is cool to kind of keep in the back of your mind if you, you know, but for the most part, a lot of the creativity is sort of just like um spontaneous, just things that uh you'll hear in your head. Like I said, you might um it might be like a melody, it might be something you see like on a billboard and you go write it down, or like guitar riffs and stuff like that. But I guess almost picture it as the same place as like if you're reading a good book or something like that, and you uh sort of imagine like the place that it takes you, or you're imagining the story like as you're reading it. So it's sort of the same kind of thing. Um, that my personal uh I guess the way I like to do it is um I really just like to imagine. Like I'll even play games with my mind, like like imagine that we're on stage and I'm like I picture myself standing in the crowd and like what would sound cool coming through the speakers next? You know, like so say I start with a guitar riff, I'll take a little break and I'll zone out and be like, okay, you know, if I heard this riff coming at me through through some speakers, like what would what melody would sound good over this riff? So I'm like trying to play little games with myself like that, and that's kind of that's that's sort of how I like to do it.

SPEAKER_01: 38:03

Do you feel so and maybe I say that, maybe I say I'm not creative and I and maybe I do have some creativity, but for me, I've always worked a full-time job in corporate America and then just play shows, right, and podcast on the side. That's you know, outside hobbies. Um and so I've never had eight, nine, ten, twelve hours a day to sit around and think about all of this stuff. Do you think you to be good at it, you really have to have your days dedicated? Like you can't go work a construction job during the day. And I don't know your work life if you're full band or if you work and it doesn't even matter. But do you think that that plays a part in it at all? Just the time that you have to spend on it to develop that craft?

SPEAKER_02: 38:53

Well, um, I guess for me, a lot of it happens when I'm not sitting down at the at the computer or with a guitar and stuff like that. So I think you can totally uh if you have whatever job you have, like, you know, as you're like uh say you're just like de well, depending on how distracting I guess your job is or how much noise is going on or whatever, I guess that could that could definitely factor into it. But you know, if you're doing dishes or you get a break or you take a walk, you know, a walk somewhere or whatever, and you could and you uh can it imagine like a cool riff in your head or something like that. So you can totally do a lot of writing away from um anything, and then as long as you have your phone on you, you can just record it, and all it takes is like a um a little start of a song, and then once you have the start, um, you know, it's almost like stacking just stacking things on on top of it.

SPEAKER_01: 39:46

Sure. That makes sense. So you're basically just layering ideas, right? Is is really what it amounts to, right? Yeah, like that initial inspiration, like once you have that, you know, it's a big thing that you can work off of. Of course. Well, I wanted to switch gears on you for just a minute, if you don't mind, and and talk a little bit about the guitar. When you when did the love of the guitar develop? I think you mentioned something earlier about seven years old, and I don't remember if that was just music in general or if that was actual guitar, but is was it seven when you actually picked up the guitar for the first time?

SPEAKER_02: 40:21

Yeah, I started um kind of going through. I had a a teacher that was taking me through like the book and showing me how to, you know, uh just little like songs, like you know, Mary Had a Little Lamb and all that, you know, all the like the the book kind of songs or whatever, but you know, he was taking me through and showing me how to read music and stuff like that. And um yeah, it was it was but it wasn't until about I think I was like 17. Team, when I started playing in bars, I got an opportunity. I was actually applying for a bunch of like fast food jobs, but I got the opportunity to start playing uh guitar like in in a cover band, you know, in bars where I'm from in Pensacola. And at the time, you know, that paid way more than than any kind of fast food job would. So and I got to play my guitar, so I was stoked, you know. And this was these were probably like my first real shows at that point too. And um, so when it when I started getting paid to play like you know, out in in clubs and stuff like that, that's when I really took guitar more seriously. And then um, you know, I think it was uh Ozzy Bark at the Moon, you know, that solo was one of the big ones that that got me to just like sit down and really practice, not just like learn songs and stuff like that. Because before that, I would just learn like uh whatever whatever I was into and um whatever songs I want to learn, but I didn't do a whole lot of like technique practice or like shredding and stuff. So the Bark at the Moon solo like got me to I was like, okay, that's something I I can't do at this point, you know, back then. So I was like, I gotta figure out how to do that. So I would just sit down and play the ending uh run of that main guitar solo. And then um from that point, I was probably about 19 or 20 at that point, and then like I said, I went to MI out in California when I was 22, and just so many amazing teachers out there, so many amazing players. So I just tried to take in all the information I could, and that was sort of like my main, my real guitar era where I was really just focused on the technique aspect and music theory and learning all that stuff.

SPEAKER_01: 42:27

Sure. Uh Jakey Lee was quite the player, or is quite the player, right? The guy can play. Oh, definitely for sure. Well, what why was it the guitar for you and not the piano? Was it just because dad had given the guitar to you? Uh or talk talk to me a little bit about that. Was that that kind of it? Like he just said, here's the guitar, Austin, and there wasn't there just didn't happen to be a piano in the house at the time. That's why you gravitated to the guitar.

SPEAKER_02: 42:56

Yeah, there was a guitar, yeah, around the house. I remember him saying, Girls like guitar players.

SPEAKER_01: 43:01

You know what my funny story is about that is I I was brought up as a classical pianist, right? So I learned the theory and how to play the piano at a young age. And then you get to that age, right? You're in high school and you're like, wait a minute, man, chicks aren't digging Bach and Beethoven and Brahms. I've got to learn some sticks and some rush and like all of this stuff. And hey, wait a minute, the piano's not cool. I can't carry a pe carry a piano to a party. I've got to learn the guitar. I can take the guitar to the party, right? So this this whole mindset starts kind of developing in your head that I've got to get away from this instrument or or take a different direction in the music, right? It's funny how that kind of works out.

SPEAKER_02: 43:44

Yeah, but you know what? I actually I would love to like take up piano at this point. You know, I've I've actually um you know, Jordan is a really good piano player, so I might have to get him to give me some lessons or something like that. But uh do you still play?

SPEAKER_01: 43:57

Do you still play? You know, I've I you can't see it in my my studio's really big. I've got piano over here and I've got drums down here, but um I I don't, you know, like I'm I'm more acoustic guitar these days. It's like the whole taste just kind of changed for me, being the the heavy, you know, I loved all the Judas Priest, A C D C all like all of that stuff, right? And I still love it dearly. But when I became I became a solo artist just playing out acoustic live shows by myself back in 2016, and I said, you know, if you're gonna play like go out and play cover songs and be background noise to people that are having conversations in bars or restaurants, you're gonna have to do something more than just rock. You're gonna have to get into the Americana genre, you're gonna have to dig into country a little bit, and that's and so the long story short is I just I fell in love with the Americana genre. Like I just it's a melting pot of everything, and I I I think some of the best songwriters live in that, you know, a lot of muscle sh muscle shoals guys, a lot of Florida guys, you know. I've had a lot of guys from your area that that are in that Americana genre on my show, and I just I love it. And I I don't even pick up an electric guitar anymore. I'm strictly acoustic, and and I'll say the same, I really don't sit on the piano like I would love to. But the the thought, my my uh I I guess the intentions are good. I want to sit down and rekindle and replay and all of that, but it's just it's a time thing, man. Like the days just evaporate, and next time you got four grandkids, and it it's just everything. Life kind of just kind of happens, you know how that goes, right?

SPEAKER_02: 45:49

Oh yeah, it's interesting now, you know, and um, you know, and especially like with Gunshine, you know, I handle a lot of the, you know, it's like you don't realize if because if you're the one that starts the band, uh it's like you you you better be prepared to like do all the other stuff and handle all the business emails and handle all the, you know, and um even if you have a manager and all these different things. So it's it's funny because like you said, man, these days are short and it's like with music, you almost have to pick like one thing to kind of work on in a day, or or one thing you want to do it, like because you can't be the video editor and like and you and you can't write a new song and all this stuff in one day. So it's like you gotta you gotta say, okay, today I'm just gonna work on uh this new song idea or this, and that's why I don't really sit and do all these guitar exercises anymore, because I'm I'm more just worried about creating new songs, and I'd I'd rather do that and then you know I'll pick up my guitar, record something, and then I'll set it down, and then pick up the mic and record a melody and set it down or whatever. And then uh, but when I was 21, I was that's when I was like worried about the guitar exercises and stuff. But it's like you can only do so much in one day.

SPEAKER_01: 47:00

And and that's there, there's a lot of truth in that, and it's you know, I I think it stands for a lot when you can say, I I know how to do all of these things. I I know how to video edit, I know how to produce, I know how to play the guitar, I know how to do all of these things, right? But the thing is, that's great, but you you can spread yourself so thin that you're no good to nobody, right? And so you have to hyper focus on this is my swim lane, and this is the lane that I'm gonna stay in. Jack of all trades, there's nothing wrong with that. But if you really want to go to the next level, you can't be all things to everybody. You have to be you have to bring your specialty, but you have to rely on your guys to bring their specialties, and then that makes a cohesive unit, right? That's my belief. And I could be, I'm not a theorist, right? But I I mean, logic is, you know, not that hard to really imagine that that's logical. And um so you you you have to you have to pick a lane, right? Otherwise, you're just half baked at kind of everything, and nobody needs you at that point in time, right? Exactly.

SPEAKER_02: 48:10

And and the state of the industry now with social media and everything like that, you're it kind of makes you like sort of all over the place. You're like, oh, did I post on social media? Did I uh oh let me work on this new song idea? Oh, someone uh someone sent me the oh, I need to edit this video.

SPEAKER_01: 48:24

So it's like you really Squirrel, squirrel.

SPEAKER_02: 48:27

Exactly. You really can be all over the place. So it's like some some days you gotta be like, all right, I'm just doing this today, you know, and otherwise you're just all over the place.

SPEAKER_01: 48:36

No, I hear you. And you know, it's funny, I I've seen some videos of the band, and I was gonna point out you play guitar with the wrong hand, you know that, right? Feels right to me. Exactly. And and and it's funny because I'm a left-handed guy, but I don't play the guitar left-handed. So it's it's interesting. You don't see too many left-handed players. And I had a a uh singer-songwriter uh writer out of Houston who has written hit songs for Clint Black and Wayland uh Jennings, and he's been a singer-songwriter for 50 years here. And it's interesting when he played here in my studio, he basically plays left-handed, but he just plays with the right-handed guitar flipped upside down. And I'll never forget, if you imagine this in the mind's eye, the first time I ever saw him play, I'm like, man, I I really like this guy, and I'm watching him on the guitar, and I'm like, what the hell chords is he playing, right? Because I'm not it doesn't even dawn on me that he has the guitar flipped upside down. So a a D shape is is not the D shape, right? It's something totally different. And it wasn't until later on, it's like, wait a minute, he's like the pick guard is on the top side and not on the bottom side. So it's really interesting. But you actually play guitar left-handed and you play it the right way, correct?

SPEAKER_02: 49:57

Yeah, I just played, I just play normal guitar, but I'm but I'm left-handed or whatever. So yeah, I don't know how those guys uh I feel like it's a lot of the blues guys that do it that way. Like Eric Gales, for example, he's an amazing player, but yeah, he he plays upside down as well, so it's it's crazy. But yeah, because your chords are upside down.

SPEAKER_01: 50:16

But I think you know what, Austin, like when we first, you know, you and I can think back to when we first started learning the guitar, and you could say it was foreign as hell even doing it the right way, right? Like your fingers didn't want to go in certain directions and everything. Well, I mean, if they're not going in the right direction with the right way, you might as well learn it the wrong way, and that's gonna be just as hard to learn it, right? It's kind of the the mindset. Now I know that that's why, you know, Sheikh Russell, uh, the guy that I'm talking about, he didn't do it that way. I think his story was that's just the only guitar that I had. So I just made it feel right in my own way. But, you know, sometimes people can't afford the right guitar, so they just improvise or do the best with what they were given, right?

SPEAKER_02: 51:00

Yeah, and I think that's that's actually why a lot of uh right-handed people tell, like uh a lot of right-handed guitar teachers or guitar teachers in general will tell left-handed guitar players early on, like, hey, just play right-handed, because either way it's hard in the beginning. But honestly, my my thing with that is like, and uh my first guitar teacher actually tried to get me to play right-handed as well. But the problem was I kept turning my dad's guitars upside down even before I played. So it was like that's what was natural, you know, to me. So I and for me, I'm a true lefty. I I write left-handed, I bat, you know, uh left, I played baseball in high school and stuff. So I bat left-handed, throw left-handed, everything's left-handed. So for me, it just felt more natural that way. But I could see why in the beginning stages, it's like, hey, like you said, it's all awkward at that point.

SPEAKER_01: 51:49

So, you know, make you make do, right? You make do. You talked a little bit earlier about MI or for the listeners, Musicians Institute. And this is a school that it's like going to college, right? But it's hyper-focused on on music. And you studied a lot of music theory there. So you you kind of get it as a musician, right? You understand the theory. And I think if you ask 10 players, right, I I bet you nine of them can't read, right? Would would you agree with that?

SPEAKER_02: 52:22

Uh, probably so, yeah. And even to this day, I probably can't read very well either because it's uh, you know, reading music is kind of like speaking a language. Like if you don't do it every, you know, all the time, you kind of lose it, you know. And and when you're playing rock and roll, there you don't really, you're not reading music a whole lot. But I will say learning a lot of the theory at MI was really beneficial. And there was a lot of things about it that was just really cool to learn and stuff that you can um it it may not always be, you know, if you're trying to have like a creative mindset, you don't want to think too like mathematical, but at the same time, it's it's really cool when you can have all that in the back of your mind to kind of pull from if you need it.

SPEAKER_01: 53:02

Sure. Did do you do you find yourself with um like in in your daily stuff with Gunshine, are you thinking about things like mixolydian mode and stuff like that, or does that never even cross your mind anymore from a theory perspective?

SPEAKER_02: 53:19

Oh well, it is funny because we have a new song coming out in January, actually, that uh, you know, it it dawned on me after the fact when I was writing it, I was like, oh yeah, this is this is like a Mixolydian riff or whatever. So it is funny when you know it and then you can call it, you know, you can kind of call it out. But uh, but like I said, when you're creating, you try not to think too much about it because you don't want it to be a hindrance to sure the other side of your brain, which is the just let it flow kind of thing, you know. So so so you still geek out a little bit, right? Yeah, like I said, it's it's cool, it's cool. Yeah, yeah. It's like I spent a lot of time learning all that stuff. So, but no, it is cool like knowing some of those concepts and and how how they work, or like if you're trying to pull uh like tension and resolution, you know, if you're trying to pull a chord into another chord, sometimes it can be cool to have that knowledge to know a little bit better how to how to modulate into something or whatever, this and that.

SPEAKER_01: 54:14

Sure. Do you think that you'd be as versed of a player if you didn't have the MI background? Do you think that you'd still be contributing what you do to Gunshine? How do I phrase that? Do you think there would be the same contributions if you didn't have the MI background? Or would you think you'd be contributing less to the band?

SPEAKER_02: 54:40

Um, I mean, well, creatively, maybe the same, but like I would say uh I I don't know because there's certain things like from a technicality standpoint, probably not as much. Like, because I just at the time I was going to MI, I was I was surrounded by so many amazing players and practicing, you know, all the time. And um, but the the weird stuff like hearing melodies in your head and stuff, it's hard to say because that can kind of come from you know thin air sometimes or whatever. So uh, but certainly from a technical standpoint on guitar and just from being around just the energy of living in LA and going to MI and being around all those amazing, like I said, world-class uh teachers and stuff like that, definitely um I I was definitely able to take a lot of those pieces into into gunshine.

SPEAKER_01: 55:33

You had mentioned uh a minute ago, you know, that uh your lead singer, you know, has a really good piano background. Or or is he or any of the other guys technically do they have the same depth as you technically, or are they just really good players creatively in their own right? Do do they come from technical backgrounds too? Are you kind of the only one in the band that brings that that technical, that deep technical theory aspect to the group?

SPEAKER_02: 56:11

Um so our our uh so Jordan, our singer, you know, he's able to call out like uh he definitely knows because like the system in Nashville a lot, you know, they call out they call I guess the Nashville number system, they call out like uh and I mean that's how they did it MI too. Like you want to know, like, you know, the four chord or the six or so that's how Jordan talks. You know, he'll say like, I'm going to the four or the six or whatever and stuff like that. So again, it's good I went to MI because I can sort of translate that and stuff. So um I don't think he's as like he's he's not gonna get into like the super nerdy like theory stuff, but he definitely knows knows some theory and knows how to again call out the intervals or the the cores and stuff like that. Um and then like I said, uh Jake and Tommy are relatively newer. Tommy, our new drummer, just joined back in October, but he's him and I bonded over Avenge Sevenfold. So we both love Avenged, and he you know, he can play a lot of like intricate stuff on on drums and a lot of you know technical stuff as well. So, you know, in Gunshine, everybody's gotta have a like level of technicality. Um our our bass player Jake kind of comes from more of like a Metallica corn um kind of background, and so um a little bit different style, like more um, well, I'm left-handed, but for him, it's more like right-hand heavy kind of stuff, whereas Gunshine has a lot of you know, like riffs and stuff like that sometimes. So a little bit different, but he like it's still it just still all like goes together kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01: 57:42

So that makes sense. Would you would you recommend a school like MI to just anyone, or why would somebody even entertain the thought of going to like a GIT or an MI, right?

SPEAKER_02: 57:55

Yeah, I mean, honestly, just for even if it was just the networking alone, it would be worth it. But just the fact that you can um, you know, live in LA where the weather's amazing, there's just so much going on. I mean, I would I lived right on Hollywood Boulevard, and we would go, you know, there was a place called Lucky Strike. It was it was his bowling alley, but live bands would play there and stuff, and they'd have jam nights. And on a Monday night, you know, Steve Vai would be in there uh just like jamming on stage. So you you'd walk in on a Monday night, it'd be uh Steve Vai, Tom Morello, Richie Kotson, just on all these amazing players. And from where I'm from in Pensacola, like that would never happen in a million years. So of course, and you could just walk there and then you know walk home or whatever. So things like that happen all the time in LA. So it's exciting. Uh MI is open 24 hours. You can go there, which I'm a morning person, so I didn't really do this a whole lot, but if you wanted to, you could go there at two in the morning and and jam. That's cool. Uh it just again, it's an exciting place. There's tons of uh just like I said, the the teachers are all so good and they have these open counselings, so you can walk in and go to all these like different clinics and stuff like that, and there'll be random guest speakers like uh Tony Iomie came and spoke at the the school one time, and yeah, it's I I definitely can't uh recommend it enough because it was it was that that two-year program just felt like uh felt like it went by in a blur because it's so much going on.

SPEAKER_01: 59:27

I bet it did. Well, you mentioned you dropped the name Richie Kotson earlier, and I I I thought about when you said that, I said, Well, I'm excited because I'm gonna have um Billy Sheehan on my show coming up, uh, who played who plays bass guitar in the Winery Dogs, which is Kotson's band, right? And then I had Richie's wife, uh Julia Lajie on my show. Um, she uh is the bass player for the all-female band Vixen, right, from the 80s. Oh, right. So yeah, yeah. So uh super astute musicians, like love all of their stuff. Um and you know, kind of kind of segueing into great musicians, top top three guitarist for Austin Ingerman. Who who would you call out as top three influences for you from a guitar perspective?

SPEAKER_02: 1:00:15

From a guitar perspective, top three. Um I would say slash, uh Sinister Gates from Avenge Sevenfold and um probably for the third one. It's gotta be a toss up maybe between Randy Rhodes. Eddie, you know, Eddie Van Halen's in there too, but um, we'll go with Randy Rhodes.

SPEAKER_01: 1:00:40

Yeah, yeah. It's kind of tough. Like that's that's like saying, What's your favorite song, Austin? Like That's a great question, but it's kind of a dumb question. How do you narrow a song down to be your favorite song of all time? I guess some people could do that, but they're all so different in their in their own right. So it's a it's a tough question. Tell me what the listeners, and you mentioned a little something about this earlier, but tell me what backstage past radio listeners can expect as it relates to new music from the band in 2026 that you can talk about or that you can speak of.

SPEAKER_02: 1:01:18

Yeah, no, we're super, super stoked because we got uh it's gonna be a 13-song record. Um, the title of the album is called Grand Rising, and uh the first single is gonna come out uh January 23rd. So here really, really soon, we're gonna start a pre-sale for the new record, and uh it's gonna be awesome. There's gonna be it's gonna be a jam-packed year. We got a lot of fun, really cool songs. We did uh two songs in Canada. We me and Jordan we flew all the way to Vancouver and we worked with the producer Brian Howes on on a couple songs, and uh you know he did the whole first Hinder record with like Lips of an Angel and a lot of the early 2000s, like Daughtry, um tons of killer stuff, a bunch of the skillet uh stuff. And uh, so that was an amazing experience working with him. And uh then, of course, we did the rest of the record with Chris, and Chris uh who we talked about earlier, Chris Collier. Uh we did that in Vegas and he mixed and mastered everything. But yeah, the new record, there's it's I would say it's I don't want to use the word like uh well I would say eclectic. It's a lot more eclectic. There's there's uh there's some piano, there's more piano stuff, there's more, there's heavier moments. I used uh I actually used this one a little bit on this record. This is my uh seven string that I I played in my time with New Year's Day. So I incorporated that along with my Les Paul and stuff like that. So I would, but I would use it in little subtle ways just to make things sound heavy in the chorus and stuff like that. I would say there's definitely more flavors, there's more um more things going on, but it's it's still got the the melodies and um yeah, so we're super stuck. We're gonna we're gonna be posting everything on our social media and we'll keep everybody in the loop about about what's what's to come.

SPEAKER_01: 1:03:10

Sounds exciting. And then what about from a uh a tour schedule for 2026? Anything to support the new record uh that you can speak of?

SPEAKER_02: 1:03:20

Yeah, we're getting things lined up right now, and um again, same as the same as the record. We're gonna try to tour as much as we can everywhere that we can. You know, we're gonna try to we just did our first real tour probably last summer, our longest one in Gunshine. We went out about a month and a half and we had a really successful, amazing summer tour. We played the whiskey, played Sturgis, you know, played uh you said you're in Texas, right? Houston? Yeah, we played Houston at Wildcatter. I remember we did that. Right up the road. Yeah, I wish I would have known that. Yeah. So it was an amazing tour. And so this next year we just that, you know, that just scratched the surface. So this next year we want to go and hit all the areas that we can. More northeast stuff, more all around the country.

SPEAKER_01: 1:04:04

So super cool. And do you have somebody that that books that for you? Are you kind of the guy, or is it the guys in the band booking that? Like who who books for you guys?

SPEAKER_02: 1:04:15

Uh so right now, because we're we're actually transitioning to a new booking agency. So in the meantime, it's it's yeah, it's myself and our and our manager um gotcha who who kind of helps out with that. So we're kind of uh we're doing that for now, and then um we're gonna get on like a new agency and stuff next year. Awesome, awesome.

SPEAKER_01: 1:04:34

Where can the listeners find uh you personally and the band on social media?

SPEAKER_02: 1:04:41

Yeah, so the band is uh gunshimeband.com. It's uh gunshine band on Instagram, and then if you just search Gunshine, you'll find us on Facebook and TikTok and everything like that as well. Um my name, Austin Ingerman. Uh it's at Austin Ingerman on Instagram, Facebook, same kind of thing. So um, yeah, just keep up with us, and we're we always try to um stay current on social media and um as soon as we have any more updates, we'll be keeping everybody in the loop.

SPEAKER_01: 1:05:12

Yeah, that sounds great. Well, Austin, this has been badass, man, getting to sit down and chat with you. I I look forward to seeing where time takes you and the boys, and I wish you guys nothing but uh great things and and much success. I'm uh I'm a big fan, and that's uh that's real talk. So thanks for uh doing what you guys do and uh and and thanks for putting rock and roll back in on the mainstream map. I think that's in that's important, man, and and and Merry Christmas to you as well.

SPEAKER_02: 1:05:43

Absolutely. Thank you so much, Randy, and I appreciate all the kind words and yeah, Merry Christmas to you and and everybody, and I can't wait uh can't wait for the next step. So we're we're super stoked, like I said.

SPEAKER_01: 1:05:54

So that's awesome, man. Well, you guys make sure to follow Austin on his and the band's social media platforms, as well as on the website at www.gunshineband.com. I also ask the listeners to like, share, and subscribe to the podcast on Facebook at BackstagePass Radio Podcast, on Instagram at Backstage Pass Radio, and on the website at BackstagePassradio.com. You guys remember to take care of yourselves and each other, and we'll see you right back here on the next episode of Backstage Pass Radio.

SPEAKER_00: 1:06:27

Thank you for tuning into this episode of Backstage Pass Radio. Backstage Pass Radio. We hope you enjoyed this episode and gained some new insights into the world of music. Backstage Pass Radio is heard in over 80 countries, and the streams continue to grow each week. If you loved what you heard, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave reviews on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback means the world to us and helps us bring you even more amazing content. So join us next time for another deep dive into the stories and sounds that shape our musical landscape. Until then, keep listening, keep exploring, and keep the passion of music alive.