What happens when this Nebraska Husker hooks up with the Oklahoma Sooner that fronts one of our favorite new groups, Love And A .38? Pretty much what you'd expect...nothing but mayhem! Check out the interview below and get the chance to better know Ryan Hudson of Love And A .38, as he gets down to Talkin' Trash with Glitter2Gutter!
G2G: Ryan, thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us...
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G2G: Ryan, thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us...
Ryan: No problem, Arttie! I appreciate you taking the time...
G2G: Okay, before we go any further, I have to ask about the name. Love And A .38 is one of the cooler band names I've heard in some time. What's the story there?
Ryan: (Laughing) Ahhh...man...I was hoping you wouldn't ask that! (Laughing) To be perfectly honest, there is no story. Just thought it sounded cool after some brainstorming. Seemed like as good of a name as anything else, so we just started using it. We've actually been tire of it the last few years, but all bands get that way. I'm not sure that there are any bands out there that really like the name of their own band. Just one of those weird things, I guess...
G2G: Man, you have to work on a cool back story there at some point...
Ryan: (Laughing) I actually used to just lie when people asked about the name. I'd make something up on the spot and see if it would get printed. It was a fun game for a while. If I looked hard enough, I could probably find a dozen different origin stories that I BS'd my way through.
G2G: Soooo, its an honor to actually get the truth? Is that what you're telling me? At least that's how I'll take it!
Ryan: Exactly! World exclusive, right here! Ryan Hudson finally drops the charade! (Laughing) I'll probably go back to making up stories though, and nobody will ever know if THIS one was true, either! It's a vicious cycle! Haha!
G2G: Dangit! (Laughing) Okay, so Nomads just dropped recently and from what I've seen and heard, pretty much nothing but positive words have been passed around. You have to be proud, I would think.
Ryan: We really are. It took a long time to get that album out there. Basically, everything that could have gone wrong did. Murphy's Law, you know. But, we knew we had some really good songs and we were confident in the vision that we had for the album and what t would sound like...what it
would FEEL like. So, we just kept plugging away. It was sort of surreal when we finally put that baby out in the world considering it had completely consumed my life for two years. But it sounds like people are picking up on what w were trying to covey, like people GET it. Which, as an artist, is about as great of a reaction as you can ever hope for. So, it was definitely worth the time.
would FEEL like. So, we just kept plugging away. It was sort of surreal when we finally put that baby out in the world considering it had completely consumed my life for two years. But it sounds like people are picking up on what w were trying to covey, like people GET it. Which, as an artist, is about as great of a reaction as you can ever hope for. So, it was definitely worth the time.
G2G: No Spinal Tap drummer implosions or bizarre gardening accidents, I hope...
Ryan: Nah,we keep our drummer chilled to 78 degrees Fahrenheit at all times to avoid such an instance.
G2G: As all smart bands should! Okay, so...Nomads...we love it here at Glitter2Gutter, and we truly feel like your simplistic approach to just good hard rock is something that has been sorely missing in music for a time now. Is Nomads who you've always been or was there something of an evolutionary process to the band's style and sound?
Ryan: I do think that this is what we've always been at the core. I just think that it took us a long time to figure out how to convey it. We're rockers, no two ways about it. But, as with anything, it takes a while to find your footing. Now, is that who we're gonna be six months or a year from now? Who knows? Bands always evolve. But, all I can promise is that whatever direction we head in, it will be honest and it will be rock.
G2G: Tell me a little bit about making the record. Are you a lyrics first band, a music first band, or something else altogether? And does everyone contribute to the songwriting?
Ryan: We're definitely a music-first band. Well, usually. My favorite way for a song to come out is to just organically start jamming. Maybe someone has a riff or a beat and we just all start playing it together. Once we've got a good groove going, I'll just start to sing on top of it. See what comes out. Once I have a good idea for how the song feels, that really informs me about what I'm going to write about. The lyrics have to work with the tone of the music, or at least it has to be a conscious decision to make it NOT work with that tone of the music if that's the way it goes. Every once in a while, I'll just cruise in with a mostly finished song that I wrote on my own, but I prefer to keep it all inclusive. Let everybody get their fingers in the pie. It's more interesting that way.
G2G: How long have you been together? How did Love And A .38 come together?
Ryan: It's been kind of a long and winding road. Domo, Justin, and myself have been playing together for probably about four years now. There were a couple of other lineups before that, dating all the way back to 2009 or 2010. I'm actually the last remaining guy from the lineup that played the first show as Love And A .38. But, it takes awhile to figure out the right group of guys. And renaming a band is a pain, so we just stuck with this. (Laughing)
G2G: Or at least that's your current version of the story, right?
Ryan: Exactly. I can't let everyone know that all my current band mates are cyborgs. At least, not yet. The world isn't ready.
G2G: So, tell me about Nomads. Is there a meaning to the name of the album...an HONEST meaning, that is? (Laughing)
Ryan: (Laughs) Right. Well, there absolutely is. We've got Domo to thank for the name. We were kind of beating our heads against the wall, trying to decide what to call the record...we even set aside a full night to sort it out together. I remember I came in with a full page worth of notes...probably 40 different possible album titles. And Domo had, I think...2? (Laughing) But, as soon as we heard Nomads, we all pretty much knew that was the one. Making the kind of music that we make, and doing it the way we do, we really don't have a "home" in the musical world. There are so many little scenes that have splintered off from the great tree of rock-n-roll now. But, we don't really fit into any of those scenes. We're not heavy enough for the metal crowd, but TOO heavy for the current folk-rock revival crowd that has somehow found it's way to mainstream radio now. And, really, those are about the only two viable branches in the rock spectrum right now. Not to mention how marginalized even those are in the grand scheme of things. Which is...just a travesty, I think. There may be no stopping the course that the world has set on in regards to turning music over to machines, effectively robbing it of the humanity and the need for a soul to express itself that made our species invent music in the first place. But, we play music with instruments and we do it honestly...warts and all. That music just happens to come out as stripped down rock and roll, which in this world, makes us Nomads. And we're okay with that...
G2G: Alright, lets talk songs for a minute. Every artist yells at me for asking them to pick favorites, so I have earplugs in right now. Soooo...if you had to...gun to your head HAD to...what would you say is your favorite song on Nomads and why? What's that song's story?
Ryan: I'd have to say my favorite song on the album is "Just Like Regret". I just think it really does some cool things musically that a lot of our other songs don't. I really love the campy nature of the verse and the push-pull that it creates with the heavier sounding chorus. And, it is a TON of fun to play live! It's actually one of our darker songs, lyrically. It is essentially about a girl who is at the end of her rope, in a really dark place. And it is sort of narrating what is going through her head...but in a story-telling fashion. Something we'd never tried before. I really like how it turned out.
G2G: Tell me about "Oh My God"...
Ryan: That's actually the first song we wrote for the record. I still remember very vividly when the chorus first came to me. I was in the shower of all places! (Laughing) I jumped out, grabbed my guitar, and hammered out the rest of the skeleton of the song in like 20 minutes. We decided to put it out as our lead single for the record because it sort of represents a good mix of where we've been and where we're going. And, its a call to arms. We figured that a good way to get back on the scene after taking so long making the album was with a solid kick to the teeth...and "Oh My God" felt like that.
G2G: Did you get dressed before grabbing the guitar? I know people are gonna wonder, so I'll just ask and get that out of the way...
Ryan: Well, it was cold out, so I put on socks...
G2G: (Laughing) My personal favorite track is "Born To Make Me Die". I just love the feel of the song and it gets stuck with me every time I hear it.
Ryan: That one was a lot of fun to record. We got to break out all the cool percussion stuff on that one. Shakers and bells and all sorts of neat little toys. And I got to learn what it is like to multi-track whistling! (Laughs) I actually played half of the rhythms on the record, and that one was a song that I didn't write any of the music for, so I learned it like an hour before I laid my part down!
G2G: Now, I've done some research and I have three words for you followed by a question mark. "Sunglasses At Night"?
Ryan: Ha! Yeah, man! We started covering that song for fun in the EARLY days of the band! And it always went over like gangbusters at gigs. And, for a minute, we were really pumped on the idea of just recording and releasing a bunch of singles back-to-back. Eventually it got to a point where we wanted to lay something down, but we didn't have an original that was ready enough. So...we decided, "What the hell?". I still trip out when I hear the original because we changed the entire structure of the song and in my head THAT is how the song goes now! (Laughs)
G2G: So, are "Never Surrender" or "Boy In The Box" going to get the Corey Hart-meets-Love And A .38 treatment?
Ryan: We'll have our people call his people!
G2G: You have people?
Ryan: Sure. You don't?
G2G: I have no people, no... Anyway, in all seriousness, at least for this interview what passes for seriousness, you seem to have embraced the idea of using technology to your advantage, like you said, pumping out several singles ahead of anything else...
Ryan: I think you have to these days. The music world has changed...A LOT...and nobody has really figured it out yet. And by the time someone DOES figure it out, it will have probably already changed again. So you can't be afraid to think outside the box a little. Try some new things. Sometimes you hit, sometimes you miss. Just gotta keep trying.
G2G: I see that you also have an EP out there, with a killer cover, by the way. Is that all digital, or can people find hard copies?
Ryan: Thanks, man! There are still some hard copies floating around. I think Amazon has some still, and we've got 'em on the website, too.
G2G: Wanna play our Trash Talker's Speed Round? I'll just spout off some random things and you go with your first answer...
Ryan: Let's do it!
G2G: Alright...here we go... Paul Stanley or Gene Simmons?
Ryan: Paul
G2G: Is rock n roll dead, like Gene says?
Ryan: Not in a million fucking years!
G2G: Baseball, hockey, or golf...pick a sport with a stick!
Ryan: Hockey! We;re all big LA Kings fans, actually.
G2G: I'm a baseball guy...Royals fan from the 70's...but I respect hockey. Fun to watch, especially live. Alright...Pearl Jam or Nirvana?
Ryan: Oh, man...Nirvana. But its close...
G2G: Suddenly, you're transformed into Blake Shelton. Miranda Lambert or Gwen Stefani?
Ryan: Miranda Lambert! I'm from Oklahoma.
G2G: (Laughing) So, if I say Sooners or Huskers, you obviously say...
Ryan: BOOMER SOONERS!!
G2G: You're losing the speed round in a game with no score! (Laughing)
Ryan: Where there's a will there's a way! Haha!
G2G: Prince is...?
Ryan: A musical genius!
G2G: The next Super Bowl halftime show should be...?
Ryan: Cancelled
G2G: Lip-synchers can...?
Ryan: Piss off!
G2G: Fritos, Doritos, or Cheetos...which gives you your "Oh Face"?
Ryan: None of the above! Flamin' Hot Munchies has Cheetos AND Doritos!
G2G: Rock star you'd stand in line to meet?
Ryan: Steven Tyler
G2G: Rock star you'd stand in line to hit with a pipe wrench?
Ryan: Oh, man...uhhhhh....Axl Rose...IF he ends up getting the AC/DC gig and then pulls an Axl and shows up four hours late...
G2G: Fat Elvis or Fat Axl?
Ryan: Fat Elvis is the alpha and omega...
G2G: Is Metallica even relevant now?
Ryan: I like to think so, but they're skirting the edge...
G2G: Best concert you ever saw live?
Ryan: Cheap Trick/Aerosmith...2004...Bossier City, Louisiana. Floor seats. It was as much the experience as the performance.
G2G: Wow, nice! I saw Aerosmith with Seven Mary Three opening...I was on the rail at the front of the stage. Pretty sure Steven Tyler spit on me, and it may have been intentional!
Ryan: He's the reason I started singing, so I'll always forgive him for his weird career decisions.
G2G: Heard his country stuff?
Ryan: I heard the single. It's not bad, but I prefer my country to be Outlaw country.
G2G: Amen....Huskers and Sooners agree, folks! I've actually met Waylon, Willie, and Johnny Cash...
Ryan: Johnny's old house isn't far from here. I went and checked it out a couple of years ago. They have a "guard horse" at the gate. Its like a guard dog...but bigger! He looked serious, so we left!
G2G: Haha! Band that must reunite for one more record?
Ryan: Curveball...My Chemical Romance...
G2G: Band that should NEVER record again?
Ryan: Van Halen. The last record made me sad.
G2G: Guilty pleasure band...besides Corey Hart?
Ryan: Does Kelly Clarkson count as a band?
G2G: Sure, why not? If Pink fights Kei$ha, who wins?
Ryan: Oh, dude...Pink. All day, every day...
G2G: Have you ever actually called 867-5309? And with what area code?
Ryan: Yes, I did! I was living in Oklahoma at the time, so it must have been a 405 area code. I was young...don't remember who answered, but it was a business. Poor bastards.
G2G: (Laughing) Ever call a number off the bathroom wall...you know, since Faster Pussycat did so well with it?
Ryan: Never have...maybe later tonight!
G2G: Ryan, it's been awesome! I've had fun, and I hope you have as well. How do fans get in touch with you, get your gear, and find out where to hear Love And A .38 live?
Ryan: Thanks, man! Great interview questions! We've got everything that links to EVERYTHING on our website, www.loveanda38music.com Thanks again, Arttie! It's been a pleasure!
Ryan: I'd have to say my favorite song on the album is "Just Like Regret". I just think it really does some cool things musically that a lot of our other songs don't. I really love the campy nature of the verse and the push-pull that it creates with the heavier sounding chorus. And, it is a TON of fun to play live! It's actually one of our darker songs, lyrically. It is essentially about a girl who is at the end of her rope, in a really dark place. And it is sort of narrating what is going through her head...but in a story-telling fashion. Something we'd never tried before. I really like how it turned out.
G2G: Tell me about "Oh My God"...
Ryan: That's actually the first song we wrote for the record. I still remember very vividly when the chorus first came to me. I was in the shower of all places! (Laughing) I jumped out, grabbed my guitar, and hammered out the rest of the skeleton of the song in like 20 minutes. We decided to put it out as our lead single for the record because it sort of represents a good mix of where we've been and where we're going. And, its a call to arms. We figured that a good way to get back on the scene after taking so long making the album was with a solid kick to the teeth...and "Oh My God" felt like that.
 |
| (Still from the "Oh My God" video) |
G2G: Did you get dressed before grabbing the guitar? I know people are gonna wonder, so I'll just ask and get that out of the way...
Ryan: Well, it was cold out, so I put on socks...
G2G: (Laughing) My personal favorite track is "Born To Make Me Die". I just love the feel of the song and it gets stuck with me every time I hear it.
Ryan: That one was a lot of fun to record. We got to break out all the cool percussion stuff on that one. Shakers and bells and all sorts of neat little toys. And I got to learn what it is like to multi-track whistling! (Laughs) I actually played half of the rhythms on the record, and that one was a song that I didn't write any of the music for, so I learned it like an hour before I laid my part down!
G2G: Now, I've done some research and I have three words for you followed by a question mark. "Sunglasses At Night"?
Ryan: Ha! Yeah, man! We started covering that song for fun in the EARLY days of the band! And it always went over like gangbusters at gigs. And, for a minute, we were really pumped on the idea of just recording and releasing a bunch of singles back-to-back. Eventually it got to a point where we wanted to lay something down, but we didn't have an original that was ready enough. So...we decided, "What the hell?". I still trip out when I hear the original because we changed the entire structure of the song and in my head THAT is how the song goes now! (Laughs)
G2G: So, are "Never Surrender" or "Boy In The Box" going to get the Corey Hart-meets-Love And A .38 treatment?
Ryan: We'll have our people call his people!
G2G: You have people?
Ryan: Sure. You don't?
G2G: I have no people, no... Anyway, in all seriousness, at least for this interview what passes for seriousness, you seem to have embraced the idea of using technology to your advantage, like you said, pumping out several singles ahead of anything else...
Ryan: I think you have to these days. The music world has changed...A LOT...and nobody has really figured it out yet. And by the time someone DOES figure it out, it will have probably already changed again. So you can't be afraid to think outside the box a little. Try some new things. Sometimes you hit, sometimes you miss. Just gotta keep trying.
G2G: I see that you also have an EP out there, with a killer cover, by the way. Is that all digital, or can people find hard copies?
Ryan: Thanks, man! There are still some hard copies floating around. I think Amazon has some still, and we've got 'em on the website, too.
G2G: Wanna play our Trash Talker's Speed Round? I'll just spout off some random things and you go with your first answer...
Ryan: Let's do it!
G2G: Alright...here we go... Paul Stanley or Gene Simmons?
Ryan: Paul
G2G: Is rock n roll dead, like Gene says?
Ryan: Not in a million fucking years!
G2G: Baseball, hockey, or golf...pick a sport with a stick!
Ryan: Hockey! We;re all big LA Kings fans, actually.
G2G: I'm a baseball guy...Royals fan from the 70's...but I respect hockey. Fun to watch, especially live. Alright...Pearl Jam or Nirvana?
Ryan: Oh, man...Nirvana. But its close...
G2G: Suddenly, you're transformed into Blake Shelton. Miranda Lambert or Gwen Stefani?
Ryan: Miranda Lambert! I'm from Oklahoma.
G2G: (Laughing) So, if I say Sooners or Huskers, you obviously say...Ryan: BOOMER SOONERS!!
G2G: You're losing the speed round in a game with no score! (Laughing)
Ryan: Where there's a will there's a way! Haha!
G2G: Prince is...?
Ryan: A musical genius!
G2G: The next Super Bowl halftime show should be...?
Ryan: Cancelled
G2G: Lip-synchers can...?
Ryan: Piss off!
G2G: Fritos, Doritos, or Cheetos...which gives you your "Oh Face"?
Ryan: None of the above! Flamin' Hot Munchies has Cheetos AND Doritos!
G2G: Rock star you'd stand in line to meet?
Ryan: Steven Tyler
G2G: Rock star you'd stand in line to hit with a pipe wrench?
Ryan: Oh, man...uhhhhh....Axl Rose...IF he ends up getting the AC/DC gig and then pulls an Axl and shows up four hours late...
G2G: Fat Elvis or Fat Axl?
Ryan: Fat Elvis is the alpha and omega...
G2G: Is Metallica even relevant now?
Ryan: I like to think so, but they're skirting the edge...
G2G: Best concert you ever saw live?
Ryan: Cheap Trick/Aerosmith...2004...Bossier City, Louisiana. Floor seats. It was as much the experience as the performance.
G2G: Wow, nice! I saw Aerosmith with Seven Mary Three opening...I was on the rail at the front of the stage. Pretty sure Steven Tyler spit on me, and it may have been intentional!
Ryan: He's the reason I started singing, so I'll always forgive him for his weird career decisions.
G2G: Heard his country stuff?
Ryan: I heard the single. It's not bad, but I prefer my country to be Outlaw country.
G2G: Amen....Huskers and Sooners agree, folks! I've actually met Waylon, Willie, and Johnny Cash...
Ryan: Johnny's old house isn't far from here. I went and checked it out a couple of years ago. They have a "guard horse" at the gate. Its like a guard dog...but bigger! He looked serious, so we left!
G2G: Haha! Band that must reunite for one more record?
Ryan: Curveball...My Chemical Romance...
G2G: Band that should NEVER record again?
Ryan: Van Halen. The last record made me sad.
Ryan: Does Kelly Clarkson count as a band?
G2G: Sure, why not? If Pink fights Kei$ha, who wins?
Ryan: Oh, dude...Pink. All day, every day...
G2G: Have you ever actually called 867-5309? And with what area code?
Ryan: Yes, I did! I was living in Oklahoma at the time, so it must have been a 405 area code. I was young...don't remember who answered, but it was a business. Poor bastards.
G2G: (Laughing) Ever call a number off the bathroom wall...you know, since Faster Pussycat did so well with it?
Ryan: Never have...maybe later tonight!
G2G: Ryan, it's been awesome! I've had fun, and I hope you have as well. How do fans get in touch with you, get your gear, and find out where to hear Love And A .38 live?
Ryan: Thanks, man! Great interview questions! We've got everything that links to EVERYTHING on our website, www.loveanda38music.com Thanks again, Arttie! It's been a pleasure!
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So there you go, folks. A really fun interview to do...assuming any of what Ryan told me was true! Be sure to head over to their website, grab Nomads and even their earlier EP, and let them know you love what you hear. I truly hope we hear more from these guys because I love what they are doing and wish for nothing other than a long future for the guys.
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