Gustaf Gets You In The Gut
Brooklyn-based Gustaf have only released two singles on Spotify, and both within the last two months, but have been steadily forming a secret club of dedicated fans since 2018, playing sold-out shows all over the US based solely on gig-reputation. One of the senior members of this club is the king himself, Beck who had them open up for him at a secret loft party and has since called them his ‘favourite band’.
If Beck says it, you better believe it.
“Our scene is pretty much a part of the music’s DNA at this point — New York is the marinade and we are the meat. ”
The five-piece were recently included in NME’s prestigious annual artist round-up and I can confidently say that 2021 is going to be the year of Gustaf.
Somewhere between art-punk and post-punk, Gustaf’s music flawlessly balances humour and sincerity. Their spiky, energetic hooks and jagged ‘spoken songs’ make you wish your stomach was pressed against a cold metal barrier in the front row of a dimly lit venue, bouncing off the walls. As if it couldn’t get any better, the band’s lipstick-smeared, dramatically-dressed, brilliantly theatrical music videos are the perfect visual cherry-on-top.
We caught up with the supremely talented front-woman, Lydia Gammill to discuss the band’s history and the influence that The Big Apple has had on their sound.
LB: It’s an age-old question but the band name…where does it come from?
LG: Before I get into the name, there's a little back story. The band started in 2018 as a way to get Tarra (who plays percussion, sings, and is our unofficial hype man) and her van down to SXSW for a tour she and Tine (our bassist) were scheduled to start after SXSW with their old band Ex-Girlfriends.
Tarra, who plays in a bunch of bands (primarily she fronts the incredibly excellent Sharkmuffin), originally planned to drive down w/Kino Kimino as their guitarist but when that tour fell through she asked me if I wanted to help her drive instead. I agreed but asked if I could play some shows on our way down so she was able to book us on a show in Nashville that Kino Kimino had to cancel. I didn’t actually have a band so we recruited the rhythm section from Ex-Girlfriends, Tarra’s boyfriend Vram mixed with some rough demos I’d been working on and the rest is history. Our drummer Mel joined us a year later.
…Long story short, we needed a name before we actually knew what the band would become. I wanted a name that was less than five syllables, looked good on a t-shirt, and was somewhat ambiguous. My friend Jacob and I were in my apartment racking our brains when suddenly I looked up and the answer had been staring at us the whole time.
Here's some screenshots of the moment I texted Tarra when it all came together:
Is New York really as much of a dream-world as it seems to us Londoners? What's your favourite & least favourite thing about the city?
The best part of (pre-pandemic) New York is that the bars stay open till 4am, the subway runs all night, and you can eat almost any type of food at any point of the day. There’s nothing like having noodle soup as the sun rises. My least favorite thing is how expensive the city is and how the cost of living makes it hard for a lot of wonderful creatives to live here.
How's mid-pandemic USA? How are you guys doing?
We have been very fortunate. We got signed to our label Royal Mountain Records just as everything was shutting down so it’s been such a blessing to have music to focus on while everything else remains uncertain. Otherwise the States are a bit of mess. I'm hopeful about the new administration but it’s been really frustrating to see how little care has been taken providing for the most vulnerable during the pandemic. Our government has failed the people by not making staying at home a viable option for those who rely on in-person work for their income. Also because of misinformation we have parts of the population acting like the pandemic doesn’t exist and jeopardizing the safety of everyone else. It’s a lot but I'm rooting for common sense and a better tomorrow.
Do you think NYC has shaped your sound?
100%!! We’ve been playing live shows relentlessly in New York for the past couple of years with no formal recordings to our name. We’ve developed almost all of our songs in a live environment and our sets are very fluid and constantly changing. Everyone in the band is really in tune with one another so we’ve gotten good at altering and extending songs depending on our audience which then gets reflected in the recorded material. Our scene is pretty much a part of the music’s DNA at this point — New York is the marinade and we are the meat.
Your official mascot and symbol seems to be an orange. What’s up with that?
Because the band was started in such a hurry, we ended up taking band photos before we had our first official practice. Our friend Mei was the photographer and the photoshoot was in Tarra’s kitchen. She had an orange on the table and we were all feeling a little awkward since it was the first time all of us were together as the ‘band’ so one of the things we did to break the ice was touch this orange. This was also when I was figuring out our instagram account so we just kind of ran with it. The more we referenced it, the more it made sense. Sensitive and occasionally messy segments confined within a thick skin…
The outward persona of Gustaf is aggressive but behind that there’s an emotional truth (albeit a sometimes ugly one) that can be shared with everyone. When I think of oranges I think of what you eat at half time at a youth soccer game. A moment of reflection and feast in the middle of a fight. We’re pausing our battles with the outside world to gorge on the sweet guts of the untamed insides beneath our skin.
If an orange wasn't called an orange what would it be called?
That sweet refreshing sphere I like to share with my friends.
Your two songs on Spotify are Mine and Design. Will the next single end in -INE? If the answer is no we WILL be upset.
Uh oh … I think we tapped out on our -INE deliverables but will do our best to pack our second album with some INEs just for you.
If your collective stage performance was a character what would they be called?
As our friend Ben from BODEGA would call us, ‘the Gu’.
Growing up, who were your musical heroes & why?
Growing up my Dad introduced me to a lot of jazz (Stan Getz, Thelonious Monk, Roland Kirk, Louis Armstrong) plus lots of Al Green and Patsy Cline. I have a flair for melodrama so songs about loving and longing have always spoken to me. I enjoy the different ways in which each genre tackles the pang of searching for happiness or (if you’re lucky) being overwhelmed by the presence of it.
L-R : Vram Kherlopian - guitar/vocals, Tine Hill - bass, Melissa Lucciola - drums, Tarra Thiessen - percussion/vocals, Lydia Gammill - lead vocalist.
Your tag-line is 'audio drag for ego slobs' - can you explain this?
Our tag-line mimics the titles of old generic compilation albums like ‘relaxing tunes for an enchanting evening’ or ‘popular melodies that will live forever’ and in my opinion it most succinctly describes what we’re doing. ‘Audio drag’ is a term invented by Laurie Anderson to describe the pitched down vocal effect she uses for her male alter ego, Fenway Bergamot. Tarra uses a similar pitch shifting pedal in our band. ‘Ego slob’ is a phrase I made up to describe someone who is a mess when it comes to contextualizing the outside world within the context of themself (the definition of ego + slob). Put it all together and you get the founding philosophy of Gustaf - an exaggerated performance of the mildly unhinged and emotionally out of touch.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
It’s a little cheesy but being alone during quarantine has got me indulging in what I call ‘bachelor music’ aka songs where the narrator remembers the pleasure of another’s company or reflects on their chosen life of loneliness. Songs like ‘Hello Walls’ by Willie Nelson, ‘Lonely in My Heart’ by Dionne Warwick or—if you’re really looking to ham it up —‘Being Alive’ by Stephen Sondheim. I think my Mom would appreciate it if I incorporated some cheerier material into the rotation.
Finally, what do you listen to on the Last Bus home?
For us, our Last Bus home equivalent is the drive after a gig on tour. A couple moments come to mind - we played the Ace of Cups in Columbus, OH the same night Cardi B released ‘Press’ and had a great time blasting that on repeat the way back (thanks Tarra!). Then there was a night when we decided to drive to D.C. overnight from Raleigh, NC. After laughing our way through a McDonalds drive through, we listened to Neil Young’s ‘Harvest Moon’ as the actual moon shined down on us through the car windows. Pure magic.
