Dying Scene sat down with Cody Kelly Williams, General Manager of Juggernaut Music to tell us about the venue in the Southwest where bands like Three Bad Jacks, The Dead End, and many more have shared their music in Gallup, New Mexico.
Dying Scene: Who are you and what is your role at Juggernaut Music.
Cody Kelly Williams: My name is Cody Kelly Williams. I am the general manager here at Juggernaut Music in Gallup, New Mexico, located at 308 East Route 66, across the street from the Gallup Train Station.
DS: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
CKW: I’m originally from Tennessee. I’ve been here in Gallup since 2019 and started working here at the Juggernaut Music the same year back in September of 2019 as an apprentice and have been a full-time employee since 2020.
DS: Tell me about the Juggernaut. When did the venue open? Why? What kinds of shows do you have?
CKW: So, Juggernaut started when my boss, Ernie Santiago was in a band called Sleep Tastes Pretty and wanted a place to play. He made connections with STP while traveling all over the country…he met a bunch of bands. He owned Juggernaut Hookah Lounge at the time, which used to be across town and then turned it into a venue. It blew up from there. Then he had to get this current space because the shows started getting too big.
DS: What kind of shows were they having back then?
CKW: It was mostly metal and hip-hop. Nowadays, punk, hip hop, metal, country, and acoustic. Country…very rarely, but we do do it. Punk, hip-hop, and metal are the three big draws for us.
DS: When was the first show?
CKW: The first show at this location I believe was in 2018 it was a 420 show. The first show that I worked on here was Three Bad Jacks in December of 2019.
DS: So do you have any Native American bands that play here?
CKW: Since we’re in the heart of the reservation, I would say 98 percent of the bands that play here are Native Americans. We’ve worked with bands like Death Mantra, Born of Winter, War Motor, Lo Cash Ninjas, Rei Gurren, and Drunk Town Zombies and Alchemy.
DS: How’s the music scene here in Gallup?
CKW: It’s mostly metal and hip hop but the punk scene has been strong these last couple years. When the punk shows first started, we could barely get anyone in here…legitimately, maybe 20 people at most. Now it’s grown to at least 100 people when we throw a punk show. We’ve even thrown a pop-up punk show and still had 80 people show up.
DS: That sounds like it has been a good response. How does that make you feel?
CKW: It’s been rewarding to me personally because I started trying to push us to do more punk shows because it was starting to grow. I have an annual show that I throw called Punktoberfest. It’s an all-day punk festival.
DS: When is it?
CKW: It’s usually the second or third Saturday of October. Last year, it fell on Friday the 13th. That was cool.
DS: Very cool. What has been your most memorable show?
CKW: My most memorable show? Probably Punktoberfest, honestly, just because I put it all together. I booked all the bands and then just to see it be a success. That’s probably the biggest standout that I’m proud of. The biggest show that we’ve had here, though, has been Shaggy 2 Dope (Insane Clown Posse). So, I guess it depends on how you want to phrase it.
DS: You’re also into music. Tell me about your own projects.
CKW: I have five projects available on all streaming services. I produced the majority of my songs which can be found on Spotify.
DS: There’s a skate shop right next door. Do you have any connection with the skate park across the street?
CKW: Yeah, those guys that run the skate shop next door, Enchantment Skate Shop, they throw skate jams there yearly. They work with the city to get the permits and then hire us to do the sound. So, we’ve actually done sound at the skate park. I’ve done it five times since I’ve been here.
DS: What advice do you have for touring bands coming through Gallup?
CKW: Be prepared. You’re going to see some craziness in Gallup. It is a great city to live in…a little wild at times. Just be open-minded and don’t be surprised at what you see.
DS: So, what could they expect to see?
CKW: There’s a huge homeless population around here, so you’ll see the normal homeless activities but occasionally we get people that just wander in here and are kind of hard to handle. So, you have to get them out. We didn’t get a lot of big shows in Gallup but we do now. Because this area was so secluded and we had to go to Albuquerque, Tucson, and Phoenix to watch big shows. Nowadays, whenever we get these bigger artists here, some people just don’t know how to act because they’re like, holy shit, I can’t believe Max Cavalera (Sepultura, Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy) is here in Gallup, New Mexico. So, yeah, that’s probably the one thing. If you’re a big band, be prepared. Some people are probably going to be star-struck.
DS: Gotcha. On that note, what famous musicians have been here?
CKW: Max Cavalera. Let’s see, who else have we had here? We just had Doyle of the Misfits here a few months ago. That was a really fun show. We’ve had ABK and Shaggy 2 Dope. Those are more in the hip-hop lane but they’re pretty famous. I got to work with Suicide Silence before. They’re pretty big. Yeah, a lot of people actually.
DS: That’s awesome.
CKW: Yeah.
DS: So, what bands are you listening to this week?
CKW: This week? TV Cop, I’m listening to them heavy. They are friends from Iowa. They just dropped a new album. I’ve been listening to Death Mantra a lot again. And then just my normal playlist, which kind of just goes around hip hop, a little bit of JID, J. Cole, Joyner Lucas, Nas…stuff like that. My main influences were hip hop and punk music growing up. So, I’m always listening to Dead Kennedys, Green Day, Iggy Pop, and stuff like that.
DS: How should bands get in touch with you if they want to play here?
CKW: They can hit us up on Facebook, our Instagram, or they can contact me directly at (505) 409-1041.
DS: Very cool. What else would you like to share with Dying Scene’s readers?
CKW: Welcome to Gallup and come join us.
DS: That’s great. Thank you so very much.
CKW: Thank you.
