Featured Artist Friday: The Smoking Revolvers
This week on our Friday Feature we’d like to look at The Smoking Revolver’s. The band’s front man Virgilio Gamero sat down with us to answer a few questions about the direction of the band and current projects. The Smoking Revolver’s chemistry stems from the guys being comfortable with each other, they lock in and balance each other, in and out of music.
“We do bicker quite a bit," said Gamero. "We’ve been playing in the same band and have had members who quit, been let go or have just mysteriously disappeared since we were kids, so we’ve grown up to be brothers.” What siblings go on without a fight every once in a while?
When asked where their musical influences came from, Gamero responded with a wide list of artists and groups, including but not limited too; Katy Perry, Bullet for my Valentine, The Beatles, Johnny Cash, Slowdive and Radiohead.
“We’ve always had a hard time describing our sound," said Gamero. "But it’s just because we’re influenced by a wide variety of music. Growing up, we torrented (I know, shame on us) a load of music and we grabbed as much as we could before we weren’t able to anymore. Mot being able to make their minds up contributed to a unique sound that we’ve never heard before."
The Smoking Revolver’s writing process consists of a lot of self-loathing according to Gamero “I throw away more than half of the songs I write, because we want to put out stuff we’re proud of. I’m really picky.”
Gamero doesn’t want to sound too much like someone else and sound too much like something we’ve already put out. They’re trying to stay away from a simplistic formula that may have worked for some bands in the past.
The band’s main goal is to put out quality music and that their fans can relate to and enjoy. Music is important to this trio of rockers, and they channel this into every song the band records.
“We want to make people feel the way said Gamero. "Lord knows I’ve been saved once or twice”
Make sure to check out the Smoking Revolver’s overdue EP, “Rubicon” which will coming out soon. You can catch The Smoking Revolvers live at their next show at The Mutiny in Chicago, IL on October 13th.
Next up on our Featured Artist Friday will be Chicago band Roger This. Make sure to subscribe to the ODMG YouTube channel for all of our newest videos and follow our Facebook and Instagram for even more content.
Guitarist and lead vocalist Virgilio Gamero at the Elbo Room on August 25th, 2017. photo by Anthony Matozzi.
Bassist Andy Evers at the Elbo Room on August 25th, 2017. photo by Anthony Matozzi
Drummer Jonathan Lyons points at his bandmates during their performance at the Elbo Room. photo by Anthony Matozzi.
Recap video of The Smoking Revolvers' performance at The Wire in Berwyn.