1. If I knew absolutely nothing about Gee Davey,
how would you describe the group’s music to me?
-- We are a hard rock band, not pop, not modern,
just hard. If you like the Foo Fighters or Stone Temple Pilots or Fuel,
or even Incubus, Monster Magnet or Soundgarden, then we’re your band.
2. If I were to buy your new album She Sells Smiles,
what songs should I pay particular attention to and why?
-- “Last Song” if you are looking
for a solid rock tune (and because it’s my favorite); “Beautiful
You” if you’re looking for something a bit lighter, and
LOLing if you are a gamer, or just a goof.
3. When and where did the band form, and where didthe
name come from? -- Gee Davey formed
officially in early 2002 out of the remnants of a few (relatively) big area
bands. We got together mainly to record some songs I had written while I
was going stir-crazy after the demise of my last band. The name “Gee
Davey” comes from a catch phrase on the 70’s classic animated
series Davey and Goliath, during which the dog, Goliath, would often caution
Davey with the typical “Gee, Davey, maybe you shouldn’t do that….”.
It was more of a goof than anything, but once we had the official logo (our
stick figure dog) and a few shows under our belt, the name sort of stuck.
It has served us well so far; we don’t get confused with other bands,
that’s for sure.
4.
What was your worst on stage experience? What was your
best?
-- I’d have to say we’ve been fortunate
in that area so far, but if I had to pick a “worst”, I’d
say it was a show at CBGBs, way early on in the band. We played a full
set to about 3 people, and just as we said “thank you & goodnight” the
front door opened and about 20-30 people walked in. The house music went
on and a band story was born. We think either the subway let out or a
bus pulled in, we never actually found out which, but it’s funnier
now than it was then.
We’ve had lots of “best” shows,
but I’m going to say our last one was the best, so far. We had
taken an early slot (8:30PM) just to play an easy show, close to home,
so that we could actually hang out with some friends after, but there
were major PA problems, as in, the PA wasn’t there. We ended up
hitting the stage just before 10, but since bands were so backed up,
the place was almost at capacity, so our nice easy show turned into big
gig. The upshot: they loved it! Best response in recent memory, and that’s
always the “best”!
5. Do you think that the Internet (whether it be Internet
radio, legal downloading, MySpace, streaming audio, etc.) is a good tool
for musicians or is it a bad thing because it hinders profits?
-- I’m not sure if there are even profits to
be hindered. Ten years ago, bands I knew that had record deals didn’t
make anything anyway because they were so indebted to the label for advances,
studio costs, etc. We get a couple of checks every year from iTunes and CDBaby,
and others, so I’m thinking we’re not being hindered too much.
And I think the flipside of that is just fantastic for the bands….
all those sites are such wonderful promotional tools for people/bands that
want you to hear their stuff. We have so many fans that have “found” us
on MySpace or Facebook, and especially Pandora (can I say how much I love
Pandora?).
And more than that, any time I’m interested in a band I
just Google them, or look for them on MySpace and poof: I can see who they
are, where they are playing, and most importantly hear their song, hell I
can usually buy the song right then and there too if I wanted. So it’s
great for me as a music fan, obviously, but that kind of exposure and visibility
is just the best for a band. Now, there are a LOT of bands out there competing
for that visibility, the trick is to stand out from the noise, and the ones
that can do that, will be the big winners.
