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| Al Gammie Lead Vocalist for Teargas Interview By Joanne (SugarBuzz Australian Correspondent) July 25, 2005 SugarBuzz Magazine Page 2 |
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| 10. I saw at a recent gig that you’re a guitar player, how old were you when you first learn to play? Do you remember the first song you learnt? I was 12 when I first started playing guitar. I never took lessons for the first 3 years I was playing; I learned to play by ear mostly - playing along with my favorite albums, trying to find the notes! My Dad played guitar so he showed me some stuff too. I can't remember the first song I learned, but it was probably something really typical and easy like "Smoke On The Water" - what a friggin’ great riff though! I still love the guitar and I try to play everyday! 11. Do you play any other instruments or aspire to learn anything new? Well as I said before I played bass for about 6 years, other than that I can also play a little piano but my skills are very limited. I aspire to one day go back and learn piano properly. I've always wanted to be able to play well. One day I'm sure I'll get around to it. I've also tinkered around on the clarinet, violin and drums when I was younger. |
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12. Al I must say you have some awesome songs are your songs based on personal experience? Many of them are. Most of my lyrics deal with issues surrounding relationships. I write about human feelings and emotions because it's what I know and what I feel. I know I have something to say and I can express myself best when I'm dealing with inward so I try stick to that. Even if what I'm writing about is not my experience directly it's usually inspired by a situation involving my friends or people around me. I don't ever write political lyrics or lyrics about external events because I don't feel like I have anything to say about those issues. I think a listener relates better to songs about feelings and |
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relationships because they can relate to them. If someone writes a political song protesting redevelopment in Mentone then the only people who can relate to it are ones who live there - nobody else gives a f$&k! I try to write lyrics that most people can relate to. 13. Who inspired you to want to be in a band? There was no particular person or band that inspired me, but I credit my earliest influences (Deep Purple, Bon Jovi etc) with getting me interested in music. I always listened to a lot of music and wanted to be in a band ever since I was a little kid, but I never had the concentration-span to learn an instrument until I got a bit older. My Dad was in a band in the 70's and I used to think he was the coolest when I was looking through his old photo albums, seeing him with long hair and massive amps behind him! Also I always noticed how girls seemed to go nuts over guys in bands, so there was an additional incentive! :-) 14. What is so special about him/them (refers to answer above)? Well my influences are special because they're talented artists and they'll always have a place in my heart. Dad is special because he turned me onto music in the first place - had I not grown up in a household surrounded by great music I probably would've turned out listening to hip-hop or something! Errghh! 15. And lastly Al, what is in your cd player right now? There are a few in the cd-changer in the car. "My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge" "HIM - Love Metal" "Journey - Frontiers" and "Bruce Springsteen - Born In The USA." Al, Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk us here at sugarbuzz. Good luck with the rest of the year and also for 2006. No worries! Thank-YOU! |
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