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Gentleman Caller: Not just a ‘side project’
by Steve Hammer May 3, 2006
Group to debut new CD with shows Friday Steve Hammer Gentleman Caller Gentleman Caller Friday, May 5, 7 p.m. at Luna Records 10 p.m. at Radio Radio with Mysteries of Life www.myspace.com/thegentlemancaller For a group that wasn’t even a group when it started, Gentleman Caller has come a long way. With a new album release and two shows scheduled for Friday, the band has grown considerably from its humble beginnings in 2000. Gentleman Caller was started by Mysteries of Life member Kenny Childers, who was looking for a little side project. After Brando frontman Derek Richey sent him a tape of material, Childers decided to record with his longtime friend. “I really expected his studio to be set up with all this vintage equipment, maybe a reel to reel, because his records sounded so wonderful,” Childers says. “I couldn’t believe it when I walked in there and he had a Peavey guitar, a karoake machine as an amp, a drum set mounted on concrete blocks, shoes for mic stands and a dusty old four-track with buttons missing. That night we recorded three songs and I think we knew it was a special collaboration right away. At least I did.” At first, Gentleman Caller was just Richey and Childers. The duo recorded an album together, Ice Water. “I decided that when we put the record out in early 2002 that we’d need to have a live band to play some shows to support it,” Childers says. Childers recruited his Mysteries of Life bandmate Freda Love and pal Jim Robinson to join the band. And although Gentleman Caller has its roots in other bands, through the years the group has taken on an identity of its own. “I like to think that Gentleman Caller sort of bridges the gap between Brando’s psychedelia/art rock and MOL’s quaint Midwestern innocence,” Childers says. “Obviously, there is a literal bridge as Derek is in Brando and Freda is in MOL, but I do think there is a combination of sensibilities. I think I have a foot in both styles. I always know that a song is special if both Jorma Whitaker AND Dale Lawrence like it, for example.” The band’s newest album, Until They Are Missing, was recorded at Russian Recording in Nashville, Ind., with Mike Bridavsky and partly at Queensize in Indy with Tony Whitlock. “My approach to actually recording this record was pretty simple,” Childers says. “Make sure that the bass drum boomed so loud that it made me sick. Once that was accomplished I tried to turn my brain off and just do what felt right. I tried to challenge myself with songwriting more than ever on this record. That’s what makes having great players you respect in your band. I really wanted to IMPRESS them. So I think the songs on this record are more purposely crafted.” One of the most provocative songs on the album is “Broad Ripple Nightclubs,” whose lyric begins, “Broad Ripple nightclubs don’t burn down by themselves.” Instead of being a call to arson, Childers explains that he took the inspiration from a flyer Dale Lawrence had made for his band, the Vulgar Boatmen. “Dale had made up a flyer for a show that the Boatmen were doing at Radio Radio and the headline read, ‘BROAD RIPPLE NIGHTCLUBS DON’T JUST BURN DOWN BY THEMSELVES. THEY NEED YOUR HELP.’ I had the flyer on my wall at home and I was writing a song that needed a refrain. Right there it was. In the context of the song, it has more to do with destroying your past and burning the landscape clean. It was written around the time Bush got re-elected and I just felt like the whole country could use a rebirth. But to be reborn, you first have to die.” Another standout song on the album is “Crossing Guard,” an ethereal tune that Childers describes this way: “It was partly inspired by the relationship in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but sort of filtered through my life, Derek’s life at the time and a dream. I think I managed to tie it all together so that it works on different levels. I also really forced myself out of my comfort zone arrangement and singing-wise with that song. Instead of a three-chord chorus, it’s got a lot of movement and I really go for it with the vocals and allow myself to risk sounding like I give a shit.” Gentleman Caller will play two shows locally on Friday. At 7 p.m., they’ll be at Luna Records, 5202 N. College. At 10 p.m., they’ll be headlining a show at Radio Radio that also includes the first Mysteries of Life performance in quite some time. Playing with MOL, Childers says, is like “finding your favorite old jean jacket in the back of the closet and putting it on. It makes you feel young.” His favorite Mysteries of Life memory, he says, came from the band’s travels along the highways of America while on tour. “We used to listen to old radio shows and talk about music in such wide-eyed ways that really felt special. I miss being around all four of those guys all the time. We had a really special camaraderie.” Asked whether he considers himself to be part of a larger musical family, Childers enthusiastically agrees. “A very, very fluid larger family,” he says, rattling off the names. “Sardina, MOL, Brando, Margot, Marmoset, Winechuggers, Musical Family Tree, Uvula, Vulgar Boatmen. Jesus, this could go on forever. I’ve been really lucky to be a part of such a wonderful community and have had the opportunity to play with some of the most interesting players in the universe. L.A., NYC, they got nothing on this community. I really, truly believe that.”
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