Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Trickshooter Social Club

What is your earliest memory connected to music?

Listening to The Clash Combat Rock. It was musical and approachable, but it was still feisty and pissed off – I was hooked.

How did your passion for creating music begin?

I think music is the first artform – the most elemental artform, – it is rhythm and story – two things that are hardwired into the fabric of our being. I don’t know fi music can change the world – but it changed my world — and i wanted to somehow be a part humble tiny part of this great tradition. So I started writing songs.

What’s the story behind your current music project?

Our current EP is called Porchlight Pie. These are songs you would play when you sneak out onto the porch late at night, eat a cold piece of pie, and need some company. 

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?

We area a rock band. But we are eclectic. We started this band as an homage to the great (now gone) rock club in New York, CBGB’s. The name stood for Country Bluegrass and Blues – which is DNA of rock music – so our band has elements of Country Bluegrass and Blues in it.

What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?

I’ve spent a lot of time studying songwriting – Tom Petty is my songwriting spirit animal — there is a huge different between a good idea or a good riff and a good song. Songs need surpises, they need to evolve and unfold, linke any good narrative they need to keep you interested and involved. So I am big in crafting songs that live and breathe and dont settle for easy redundancy.  

What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?

My phone. Lots of memos, lyrics and voice memos. I demo on Logic and have gotten good enough on it to get demos and sketches down that I can send and share with collaborators.

Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?

I love Eleni Mandell. Her songs a sweet and salty. He voice is timeless. She’s cool without trying to be.

How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?

Life pulses through your art – always. I don’t write literal autobiographical songs – but eveything I’m thinking, feeling, and wrestling with finds its way into my songs. My dad passing away was a big life event – that has most definitley colored the music I am writing. 

What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?

I think the role of all art is to make us feel… something… anything. I think good art makes us feel less alone in the world… more connected to the other human beings we share teh plante with. I don’t want to prescribe how people should feel when they hear my music – but I do hope the feel a bit more connected to themselves and to the world around them. 

 What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?

Writing music is hard – at least it is for me becuase I have so much respect for it. I put an irrational importnace on it. But the thing it has taught me over and over again – is the importance of making something – or creating something that has never excisted – the beauty of that act of  creation is pretty awesome – and the idea that the it doens’t have to be perfect to be worthy. My favorite music is fanstatically flawed – perfectly imperfect and that is okay.  

What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?

Carnegie Hall. It is in the heart of New York City. It’s a venue that is beigger than any act that has played there – it goes way beyond the rock idiom and has good ghosts.

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?

Steve Earle. He is a songwriter’s songwriter. A wise old soul. He does not suffer fools. And he’s just a complete badass. 

Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)

https://trickshootersocialclub.com/home

Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?

We’d love to continue to grow our audience. Write and record music we feel good about and play shows all over the world.   

What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?

That our music tell strories.