THE PRETTY BLUE GUNS
PHOTO BY: Mark Reitz  l  WEBSITE: www.facebook.com/prettyblueguns

Interview answered by singer and guitarist Andre Leo.

DID YOU FIRST FALL IN LOVE WITH THE SOUND OR IMAGE OF ROCK AND HOW DID THAT MOTIVATE YOU TO BECOME A MUSICIAN AND JOIN A BAND?

The music came first. But the image appealed a lot to me, especially at that age. I was 13 when I first heard the Stones and it changed everything. Suddenly there’s this whole world to exist in, that you never knew of before. And the way these cats dressed, the amazing album art, it all made me realise that this is what I gotta do.

HAS A STRONG FEELING OF “BROTHERHOOD” DEVELOPED BETWEEN YOU GUYS OVER THE YEARS, AND DOES THE FACT THAT YOU KNOW EACH OTHER’S STYLE OF PLAYING SO WELL MAKE THE MUSIC YOU WRITE A LOT BETTER IN THE END?

Definitely. We’ve never had any serious fall-outs and wouldn’t really wanna play with anyone else so often. I’ve seen strong friendships shatter over band-politics. It ain’t pretty. But we love playing together and have come to know each other’s style well. But we still push each other and ourselves to not get too comfortable. The new album we’re working on is the most collaborative thing we’ve done so far.

WHAT IS NEXT FOR THE BAND MUSICALLY; THERE MUST ALREADY BE SOME NEW SONG IDEAS FLOATING AROUND?

New album. That’s the main focus. We’re rehearsing often, throwing ideas around and trying to get as many basic ones done as possible before we start with pre-production and all the rest.

WOULD YOU SAY YOUR SOUND HAS MATURED A LOT AND IS IT IMPORTANT TO ALWAYS PUSH YOURSELF TO BECOME A BETTER SONGWRITER AND NOT FALL INTO A CERTAIN HABIT OF DOING THINGS?

It’s definitely important to not get too confident or sure of your way of doing things. Moving forward is the most important thing. I’m proud of the youth and spontaneity of some of our first recordings because they are a reflection of those times in our lives. But you grow quite a lot between the ages of 17-20, so topics change, music matures, hangovers get worse…

DOES PLAYING THE SAME SONGS ON A REGULAR BASIS LIVE INCREASE THE DRIVE TO GET TOGETHER AND CREATE SOME NEW SONGS AFTER A WHILE?

Yeah, it definitely does. This time we’re only going to play 1 or 2 songs off the new album live before we launch it. That’s always hard because you’re so excited to play these new songs for everyone!

WHAT PART OF PLAYING A CERTAIN SONG LIVE IN FRONT OF A GOOD AUDIENCE STILL GIVES YOU THE BIGGEST RUSH?

It varies quite a bit. Sometimes the audience reacts best to the faster, more garage-punk type stuff and some love the heavier, mid-tempo blues stuff. But if the audience is responsive and loud, it’s great no matter what. People digging your music is all you can ask for, really.

WHAT MADE “PILLS” THE FINAL CHOICE FOR A VIDEO AND IT LOOKS LIKE YOU HAD A GOOD TIME MAKING IT AS WELL WHICH S ALWAYS A BONUS?

It was between that and another one, but the concept that Adriaan, Luca and myself came up with for Pills just seemed like it would work well and look great. We also asked a few other muso friends, and they all said Pills should be the one. Glad we chose that one. We’re all real proud of it. And yeah, it was fun making it. A bit too much fun actually. But it was also really hard work, especially on Luca and Adriaan’s side, because we shot over one day/night and had to get a lot done.

PILLS AND SELF MEDICATION IS A SUBJECT THAT HAS BEEN COVERED BY MANY ARTISTS IN SONGS BEFORE. WHAT MAKES THE STORY OR MEANING BEHIND “PILLS” UNIQUE FOR YOU?

I wrote it when I was feeling real bad, emotionally and physically, and got these little pills prescribed to me. At first they were great, I felt better. But after a while you just kinda feel nothing. You can’t even taste food, if you know what I mean? ‘These pills are making me numb…’ So I got off the things and I came out alright. Just gotta get thru the shit…

IF MUSIC DID NOT PLAY SUCH A HUGE ROLE IN YOUR LIFE WHAT OTHER PASSION OF YOURS WOULD PROBABLY TAKE ITS PLACE?

I’d probably own a small business. I’d like to do that one day anyway. A great live venue would be a first choice. I’d maybe do photography as well.

ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR ANYTHING ELSE FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR?

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INTERVIEW BY NEIL VAN ZYL