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Paul Westerberg sings with resolve, Eyes like sparks and my heart like Gasoline. One brush with songwriter Louis Defabrizio will give you more than enough background to make the connection between this lyric and his new project, Gasoline Heart.
"At any moment, this band could blow up, either in other people's faces or our own. We have all been in enough bands to know that when you get five guys together who are passionate about making music that means something, it is naturally going to be a volatile thing. But rather than try to control that instability, that energy, we just embrace it. If music ceases to be unpredictable, it ceases to be real. Which is why we let our emotions guide our music more than any formula. If this means things get broken along the way, whether that's bones or bottles, than so be it. The most important virtue in this band is let whatever happens, happen without trying to change it or force it."
Though references to Ryan Adams, Lucero, or even Tom Petty may come to mind initially on You Know Who You Are, the unstoppable Gasoline Heart debut, Defabrizio and his cohorts have successfully concocted something that brushes with alt/country rock without being confined by it. The punk sensibility of the band lends an unpredictability that is oh-so-rare among the emo-pop, scene-core atmosphere today; their songs could just as easily explode into a screaming chorus as they could a hooky melody. And that's just the way they like it...somewhere between Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and Minor Threat but with the acrobatics of The Who.
"I grew up on 70’s rock, so I lean towards a more classic mentality. We have a healthy respect for our heroes, so their voices tend to light our paths. I love writing songs that stay with you, and playing music as an end in and of itself. It's also about having fun and doing what you feel, not what's expected. Why else would we rehearse in a trashy studio and spend our lives crammed into a disgusting van. We enjoy conveying a message that music is powerful even if you're not screaming and doing roundhouse spin kicks. If you're just up there with a guitar and a song you wrote, and it connects with someone, then that's the most powerful thing ever. The fact is, their aren't very many rock n' roll bands left today, but we would like to think we are one of them."
Though the band has only been in existence for nine months, the members as a collective have over a decade of experience with their former outfits--The Kick, Squad Five-0, Dear Ephesus, and Tenderfoot. After years of watching his former bands lose members, change members, and delete members, Defabrizio decided that he would be the band. In this, his debut as a songwriter, he proves that he is more than capable of the tasks at hand. Solid song structure is prevalent, though it doesn't sound contrived in the least. And it takes you somewhere; this soulful, guitar-driven, country-rock will carry you across late night avenues into smoky, back-alley destinations where cocktails and memories await.
"I love hotel rooms, free bar tabs, and driving late at night with a smoke. I like finding new places to eat, jumping back in the van, and putting on a Rolling Stones record while I watch the sun come up through the glass. Gasoline Heart is just about enjoying playing music, enjoying this life that we get to live. We tried not to force anything, either in the recording or the writing of the record. Steve Albini (Nirvana’s In Utero) recorded the album and he basically just took a snapshot of who we are live--nothing to poppy or perfect or overproduced. And the words are like twelve letters I wrote to talk to a close friend and get my thoughts out, but that friend just happens to be anyone who will listen."
On that note, there is only one rule when it comes to subject matter for songs: Defabrizio writes what he feels at the moment. It may be fleeting, it may be profound, but ultimately it is insightful. In the song "Redlight, Redlight (Hey Baby)", he speaks candidly in the form of a letter to his wife regarding trials in most intimate of relationships. Hey baby, do you love me? When you find out wont you tell me? Hey darling my head is spinning, my world is changing and your eyes are changing too. And in "Kiss Off", the subject matter is post 9-11 America, where kids began realizing that life is fragile, life passes so quickly. So where is your passion, so where is your soul? If you don't give up then I won’t let go. We will rest when we are free or dead or maybe it’s the same.
Defabrizio writes in a conversational style, which puts you in the place of his subject; his tone makes you feel as if you are inside the dialogue, as a part of it, drawing you closer and closer to the sound as well as the heart behind it. And if there is one central theme to all of it, it is “find yourself, be yourself, and enjoy yourself along the way”. You Know Who You Are is about the journey of discovery, with a few stops at watering holes along the way.
The band plans to tour without ceasing in the months to come, not just to market the record, but to do what is a natural extension of themselves: to create stories, to create memories, to live for what gives them life. And while most would say that success comes with the right marketing plan, the right manager, or the right tour, with Gasoline Heart the music itself is the success. To speak of a band that wants to play music until they die is rare, to say the least, in our waning musical economy. But economics is of no concern when you play for the right reasons.
"I think that music is kind of coming around full circle a little bit again, finally some bands are actually doing what they want to do, rather than just what works to sell records. I would love to see music be about good melodies again, not just clothes, hair, and guitar flips. We just want to be real focused on the song and paying homage to music history. The other bands we were in we pushed for something to happen, but in this band we play what we want because we love it. I think people will respond if bands are real honest and gimmick free. It's impossible not to respond to something if it is real."
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