All the way from Norway, we bring you a new heavy metal band for your music library! Shotgun Rodeo is everything you could ever want in a hard rock band; long hair, thrashing guitar solos, piercings, and damn good music! Drift N Die Press brings you an exclusive interview with guitarist Don Shrediablo.
DND: What’s the general concept & mission of Shotgun Rodeo?
Don: The concept is to make no-holds-barred heavy metal music and kick ass while doing it! We don’t go out of our way to have one specific sound or to be one specific genre. We just roll with the punches and write whatever we feel like. There are no rules for our music and we aim to keep it that way!
DND: Where’d the band name come from?
Don: I came up with it back in 2008 while I was looking to start a new project. Had two words lying around, clashed them together and came up with Shotgun Rodeo!
DND: What sets you apart from other bands? Is there a certain element of your act that catches people’s eyes?
Don: Well, I do think we stand out a bit in today’s metal scene. We intentionally bring in some elements that we feel are underutilized nowadays in metal. When coming up with riffs,
I try to think outside of the box all the time. Instead of the super complex stuff we have chosen the “less is more” approach lately and it has worked out very well. We are not reinventing the wheel by any stretch of the imagination, but we do feel we have something unique to offer in today’s metal scene. If we would have continued with the sound we had on the “Dead End Massacre” EP that would actually have been a dead end for us. As much as I like the songs on that EP, everybody does that sound nowadays. It’s like the McDonalds of metal now with the tough guy screamo vocals and the groovy technical thrashy riffs. I’m a fan of that stuff, but if you can’t be better than the others doing it then let’s aim to be different. I never wanted Shotgun Rodeo to be one of the crowd.
DND: How’d you guys all meet & get started as a band?
Don: I started the band back in 2008. The plan was to make the most kickass heavy metal band ever, of course, even though we failed miserably in that department, we are still refusing to give up! I used to play with Nino back in the day with another band. So it was a logical move to get him in the band. I’ve been playing / jamming with The Vegz since late 2010/2011, when Shotgun Rodeo was on hiatus. Sindre joined the fold in 2012 and around that time we decided to continue to use the sweet band name we have today.
DND: Who’s the band trouble maker? What’s the worst trouble he’s ever gotten himself or the rest of the band into?
Don: That would probably a tie between Nino and I. We don’t go around looking for trouble, but trouble usually finds us. I think that’s a line in our song “Riding the Bullet”, but I’m too lazy to look that up. The trouble we get into is better left untold!
DND: Your favorite venue or town to play?
Don: Sadly we have only played in Trondheim and places around Trondheim. There’s not that many options here for gigging. We will be looking to play other places in 2015 though!
DND: What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had as a band so far?
Don: There’s always going to be highs and lows in a band and I do think that our best days are still ahead of us! But for me I will say the release of the “Guilty” EP because that’s where we really found our sound. Even though we did every mistake in the book recording that EP, I’m still kinda proud of it. It was a ballsy move to change our sound that much from the previous releases, but we did and it paid off!
DND: Tell us about some of the music you have out already & the writing process of those songs?
Don: Well, we have done 3 singles in the last year. Those would be “Gargoyles”, “Firewalker” and “Wasting Away”. I usually come up with a riff, melody or something that we can work on and mold into a song. Nino might have some lyrics lying around that become a song and so on. Everyone can contribute to the songs and each of us brings something different to the table.
DND: Can you give a little insight towards what you’re working on at the moment?
Don: We are hitting the studio in November to start the work on what will become our debut album. We’ve got 13 songs and one intro ready to go and we can’t wait to get started! The studio we are going with is Skarp Studio in Trondheim which we have worked with on the last couple of Shotgun songs as well. We will announce more details on the release shortly, so stay tuned!
DND: What’s the goal going into this new album?
Don: The goal is to put out the best album possible. We really feel like we got something special brewing here! A lot of blood, sweat and beers have been put into the writing of these songs and we feel like it’s by far the best material from us yet. There’s also a lot of diversity in the new songs. We’ve got balls out thrashers, hooky groovers, 10 min epics, ballads…you name it! It’s something for everyone on there!
DND: When do you aim for this album to be released?
Don: It’s hard to say, but we hope to be done with the mixing and mastering by March. The only thing for sure about the release date is that it’s going to be sometime in 2015. We do hope for a late spring/summer release, but it’s not in our hands.
DND: Of all the songs you’ve written, past or present, which meant the most to you & why?
Don: Hmm, that’s a hard one. We’ve got a couple on the upcoming album that are pretty personal. We have our first ballads coming out with this new album too. Another song that is quite special for me at least is one that’s on the upcoming album which I consider to be the first great song that I ever wrote. It’s like 10 years old or something.
DND: Three albums you’d want to be buried with?
Don: It’s got to be like two kickass Judas Priest records, and one shitty record with some really mediocre band. That way I can appreciate the Priest records even more!
DND: What artists inspire you?
Don: There’s too many to mention. I’ve been listening to all kinds of stuff as of late, and it’s not all metal music. I’ve really been digging Richie Kotzen’s solo records for a while now. Hard to believe that someone who used to be in Poison could be such a good musician! That being said…what CC Deville lacks in musicianship he makes up for with his aura, because he is unmatched in that area!
DND: If you could tour with anyone in the world, who would it be?
Don: There’s a ton of good bands to choose from, but Machine Head is one that comes to mind. Of course the classic bands like Priest, Sabbath, Maiden, Metallica, and stuff would be sweet. Some newer bands like Havok, Revocation, Evile, Children Of Bodom, Lost Society and so on would be cool as well!
DND: As far as tours you’ve got planned so far, when & where can fans expect to see you in coming months?
Don: We are currently backed up with recording and the release of our debut album, so I don’t think we will play any shows before spring/summer in 2015. Fans can expect to see us in the local bars drinking, but not playing unfortunately!
DND: Other than the basics of equipment, what is one thing you cannot live without on tour?
Don: Well, I guess it’s different for each of us in the band. I wouldn’t mind to always have some booze on hand after we’re done playing! Some videogames and stuff would be a sweet addition on a tour bus. I wouldn’t mind having a Wii U hooked up with the new Smash Bros so I could falcon punch the fuck out of the rest of the guys!
DND: Tell us about the equipment you use? (Brands, models, ect.)
Don: For guitars I mainly use Jackson and BRJ guitars. Amplification would be a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier, but I’ve been checking out some different stuff recently so a change of amps might be on the horizon!
DND: Finally, what’s down the road for the band, and where would you like to be in your career by this time next year?
Don: We would like to make an impact with our debut album, and some wishful thinking would be that we have established a really solid following by that time. Hopefully a couple of music videos will be out and we have a couple of gigs lined up! A tour would be sweet too, but we shall see! Thanks for the interview! 🙂
Cheers, Don Shrediablo / Shotgun Rodeo
Information & Links:
- Twitter.com/Shotgun_Rodeo
- Facebook.com/ShotgunRodeo
- Instagram.com/ShotgunRodeo
- SoundCloud.com/ShotgunRodeo
Shotgun Rodeo – Wasting Away
Article by Drift N Die Press – Twitter.com/DriftNDie
Article written and interview conducted by Meryl DeWitt – Twitter.com/Martyrs_Cross
Article edited and reviewed by Jackie Cameron – Twitter.com/lhcam
All photos and artwork provided by artist
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