I had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Fogal, the vocalist / guitarist for Denver Pop-Punk mainstays The Gamits. The Gamits have been singing their hearts out for 17 years and in my opinion are the unsung heroes for the entire pop-punk genre. Everyone should give this band a chance. From 2005 to 2009 they went on break and then in 2010, returned re-energized with their new album “Parts.”
In the interview we discuss the album, song-writing, overcoming tough times, music trends, achieving your dreams, the future of the band and plenty more! Check out our interview about all-things Gamits here. You won’t be disappointed.
DS: What was the recording / song-writing process for “Parts” like?
Fogal: For about 8 months it pretty much went like this. Get up in the morning. Put on a fresh pot of coffee. Grab the acoustic guitar, pencil, paper and ipod. When I came up with anything worth a shit I would record a quick demo on the ipod using an app called 4 track. It was actually really helpful at that point in the writing process just to be able to get something down and stay organized. I used to do all that on a micro cassette player or actually track it in the studio. Both were bigger hassles. Anyway, when something made the cut I would send the demo to Scott in California and we were using google wave to bounce ideas back and forth. Each demo was its own wave and we would update the waves as the songs developed. We even did some rehearsing over Skype! High tech huh!
DS: What track off that album stands out the most to you and what is it about?
Fogal: It’s hard to pick one but I guess today I’ll go with No One Cares, Why Should I? The main idea of the song was to explain how I felt after not eating meat for 13 years and then making the delicious decision to start eating it again. If you don’t know that’s what the song is about it can tell a different story though. It sounds more like a statement about losing your convictions as you grow up or even worse it could be interpreted as a political statement from a converted progressive. It says stuff like I was “bleeding from a dried up vein.” and “I have become what I was all along.” You get the idea.
DS: I have all of your albums and love them all. I’ve noticed that particularly the last two “Antidote” and “Parts” are a little bit more gloomy lyrically than the others. Do you write songs based on your point of view or try to write from someone else’s?
Fogal: Both. The gloomy ones are sometimes my point of view but other times I try and put myself in someone else’s shoes. I also like the combination of somewhat upbeat, poppy, happy sounding music combined with gloom and doom. It makes the pop more palatable I think.
DS: I think songs can get you through rough patches. Do you agree and how do you get out of a slump?
Fogal: For sure! Writing Antidote got me through some hard times and I think being able to get some feelings out and have something productive come out of those hard times is so cool.
DS: It seems very few punk singers can actually sing. There’s you, Zoli from Ignite, Dan Vapid of Noise by Numbers and a few more can sing. Who or what influences your vocal harmonies?
Fogal: I really started paying attention to melody and harmony when I discovered the Beatles just after high school. Up until that point I only cared about guitar riffs and rhythm and stuff like that. Then I got more into punk rock and there were punk bands then that were already doing cool harmonies. I think Fat Mike is a good example of a punk writer who has a good ear for harmony. I’m sure that he influenced some early Gamits stuff. Now days I just try to do what I think is tasteful and creative.
DS: I think a lot of bands fall into a trap of sounding exactly like their influences or bands around them. The Gamits have to be one of the most unique bands. The only band you sound like is you. How do you manage to keep your sound while at the same time evolving?
Fogal: That’s very nice of you to say. Thanks! I think it all depends on your filter when you are writing and your standards. I am painfully aware of what I don’t like or what sounds too much like something else so that stuff never gets past the first few tries. Then all that is left over is Gamits stuff I guess!
DS: This is an older song but I have to ask, “Last of the Mullets,” where did that song come from? It makes me smile every time I hear it.
Fogal: Yeah we still close most of our shows with that one. It’s a fun sing along for sure. I can’t tell you exactly what I was thinking at the time. It was a long time ago but I do remember sitting on a bench in the old basement and coming up with the riffs. I also remember that at the time we all thought that mullets were very entertaining and I just wanted to put that word in the title. It probably dates the song even more but people still love to hear it.
DS: Is the song “Curious Vanessa Black” based off someone you know?
Fogal: Yeah it’s based on Vanessa Black actually. She is an artist / photographer who used to live in Denver. We didn’t hang out that much but I thought she was really cool and inspiring. I haven’t seen her in a few years.
DS: There’s an awesome part of that song that features a female vocalist. Who is the vocalist and how did the idea to include her come about?
Fogal: That is my friend Maylyn Martinez. She used to play in a band called Le Boom and we used to get together and sing duets from time to time just for fun. She has a great ear and I really wanted a female voice to make that bridge pop. It worked out great. On a side note I was always bummed on the repetition (lyrically) in that song and I realized after the recording was done that I had a whole ‘nother verse written and I forgot to sing it! I just repeated the first verse!
DS: There’s the acoustic song “Bridges” and that acoustic version of “Why Should I” performed on one of your videos. Ever consider recording an acoustic album?
Fogal: I have thought about it. I did some solo acoustic songs when the Gamits broke up for a while but right now there is so much of that stuff going on that it makes me want to buy more amps and turn up even louder! It could happen though.
DS: You share labels with guest vocalist Joey Cape on P+P and Suburban Home. What’s it like working on those labels?
Fogal: Paper and Plastick seems to be working out great so far. We really like Vinnie and hope to have more sweet hangs with him in the future. There are also lots of good bands on P&P so we are stoked as hell.
DS: You’ve got a wicked box set called “Golden Sometimes” it features four discs of albums and extras. Why did you decide to put that together?
Fogal: Thanks! That was actually not my idea. It was Virgil from Suburban Home’s idea. I felt kind of reluctant about it because I didn’t think we had the catalog or history to warrant a box set but when it was finished I thought it was pretty cool. It’s handy for people who just got into the Gamits too. Some of the stuff in the box set is out of print so it is an easy way to own everything up to Antidote and our “last” show is on there too. We did take 5 years off and I thought that was going to be our last show. It wasn’t.
DS: The lyrics of the song “Born and Raised Afraid” seems like a perfect description of the daily grind for many people. How do you think people will be able to move past that to achieve their dreams?
Fogal: Wow, that’s a tough one. I think it’s getting harder and harder for the working class in America. We know that the American dream is bull shit for a lot of us but the thing that most people don’t realize is that you can break free of your daily grind and live some version of YOUR dream. I get to do what I want for living but it is a very modest living.I have to sacrifice some and so does my wife Melissa. Society tells us all these things that we are supposed to do when we “grow up” and as long as we follow their rules we will be successful humans, happy and fulfilled. Horse shit I say!
Why then is America so depressed and fat and addicted to pills and everything else? I think it has a lot to do with fear. People are afraid to do what’s in their heart because they were raised that way. I know I was raised to be afraid of lots of things and I still battle it every day. Melissa and I got to the point recently, after seeing friends get sick and people dying, that we are trying our damdest to live right now because we could totally be dead tomorrow. Seriously! Think about it! When you are on your death bed what are you going to remember? What are you going to regret? Figure out what fulfills you and do it. As long as you are not starving you’re good. Was that too heavy?
DS: Is the song “Delusional” directed at someone in particular?
Fogal: It was originally going to be about the American Idol culture and how delusional those people are but then it ended up poking fun at not only myself but at a portion of the indie rock scene that I find annoying.
DS: What do think of the current crop of bands?
Fogal: I think in a way it has gotten better. When the Gamits called it quits in 2004 it was all screamo and terrible pop punk. We didn’t even want to be a part of that scene because it had gotten so lame. Now most of those bands are gone, thank god, and I think some of the new bands are doing it for the right reasons again. Most kids don’t want to start punk bands these days and I think that is good news. Pop punk was good music and still is. It just got dragged through the mud for a while.
DS: I’m a bit geographically challenged being from Florida. When I think of Colorado I instantly think of the Blasting Room and all of those rad bands that recorded there. Can you give me an idea about what it’s like in Colorado and the music scene there in particular?
Fogal: Sure. We love it here but we don’t want anyone else to move here so, please, no one move here! Denver’s music scene is unique because the size of the city is big enough to offer plenty of venues and music fans but also small enough that everybody knows everybody else. You don’t get too many attitudes although there is always a few. Lots of guys I know play in more than one band and it’s not strange at all to see a show where the headliner could be someone like Nathanial Ratcliff or Ian Cooke ( mellow indie stuff ) and have a super heavy band on there like Kingdom of Magic or Il Cattivo. Independent music fans here are pretty open minded and only somewhat snobbish.
DS: What are the benefits and downsides of being in a band for 10+ years?
Fogal: Well I can only speak for my band but it is nice to have that history there. Some sort of comfort and confidence is developed over time. Kind of like a marriage. You know what to expect and you keep on trying to do better. The downside is that we are getting older and it gets a little tougher to party all time. These days a hangover lasts 2 days if I really get my drink on but you learn to pace yourself and you work smarter and play smarter.
DS: Do you think that music trends come in waves or that the separate scenes have always been there and that we pay attention to some more than others?
Fogal: I am probably the worst person to ask. I have no idea really. All I know is that the trends or waves seem to be accelerating and the recycling of music is happening faster and faster. Kids are imitating 90’s rock and shit that was on Pitchfork last week is not cool to the hipsters anymore. It’s a weird world to me.
DS: Recently your bass player Scott parted from the band. Do you think him leaving will change the dynamic or music direction of the band?
Fogal: It’s hard to say. I think that the live show will change a bit. Scott was great at getting in people’s faces and really engaging the crowd. He was fun to watch. Dave Barker is our new guy and Forrest and I are confident he will do a great job too. We have played some really heavy shit together so maybe the band will get heavier. Who knows.
DS: Are The Gamits planning new music soon or tours? What’s next?
Fogal: Yes, we are planning a European tour for September and hopefully back to Russia shortly after that. We also plan to get around the USA a little more too as soon as we get the new guy dialed in. As far as new music we are planning another album I just haven’t started on it yet.
DS: If you could plan the most epic tour ever..who would it be with and where would you go?
Fogal: Having just played with them in Colorado I would say Less Than Jake headlining and Dillinger Four main support and we would open. We would go to Japan, Europe and Russia, all in like 3 weeks. Then we would die. I know that may not seem like the most epic, like I could say Metallica and we could go to the moon or something that could never happen in real life but this imaginary tour is not too far away from reality so to me it is more epic.