Young Guns: Interview

 2  years ago I got my first opportunity to shoot a show. That show was Bullet For My Valentine, with Young Guns. Young Guns got me into that show by having me gather email addresses before the concert. That show, has led me to where I am today. I am extremely happy that not only did I get to interview the band that helped me get my start, but that they are a great group of people through and through. I hung out with Gus and helped fans get their photos taken with him up until the next band hit the stage, and I can honestly say that Gus truly cares about his fans. Thank you my friends, and I hope you all enjoy this interview along with the images captured from their Burnsville show. 

First of all I want to say that when I saw you interacting with fans and people after your set, you were incredibly polite and personable. More so than I have ever seen any other artist. You don’t just shake their hand, you truly try to connect with them so they know you’re not bullshitting them. Where does that come from?
Gus: Well thank you that’s very kind of you to say, but it’s not something I focus on or make it a point to do, you know what I mean? My parents raised me to be polite & respectful, and I think that a lot of bands forget that these people have given their time and money to come see you. I think that with all things in life, when someone is willing to put the effort into going out of their way to see you or visit with you, it would be wrong not to give them an equal opportunity to do the same back.

I do deeply appreciate these people, truly. So it’s not a big deal for me to give them 2 minutes of my time when they came and watched not just us but the entire show.

What do you think about playing the smaller venues, like The Garage in Burnsville?
Gus: I actually enjoy the smaller venues, mostly for the reasons we were just talking about. Being able to really connect with people, I really enjoy that experience and being able to be right at ground level with fans. I try to connect as much with people during our set, as I do with them afterwards. We want them to be in the moment right there with us, and maybe it sounds like a bunch of hippie crap, but it’s what I feel. I know how amazing those shows were to me when I was young, so I hope that we can do that for our fans as well.

Now I noticed you guys were still selling copies of ‘Bones’ at your merch table, which made me wonder if your new record will have the same obstacles that Bones did with it’s U.S release dates?
Gus: No! We are very excited that this will be our first record that get’s a full World Wide release date. We still don’t have a specific release day, but February is the goal.

The reason for all that is a pretty simple one, we just didn’t have a record deal in America. Our record deal in America is separate from our deal everywhere else in the world. I guess it’s a little confusing because we’ve also just changed our English record deal, which was an independent record company. The campaign/ tour for ‘Bones’ just about over and we’re ready to start work on our 3rd record and that is when we signed with Wind-Up.

So we were supposed to have started recording almost 2 years ago but had to start from scratch due to the new deal.

What do you think of the Metalcore scene being able to gain such huge momentum and popularity, without the use of radio?
Gus: I think it’s a very interesting point there, popularity without radio. It’s fascinating that radio is not the solve all end all anymore. It’s also part of the reason we were discussing earlier, that I try and connect with fans because you literally build an audience, human by human. So the only way to do that is to get out there, play shows, get your feet on the ground and mobilize. That connection is everything man.

As far as the Metalcore scene itself goes, there seems to be a lot of bands doing the same thing. Which you of course find in any genre, and then there are those who are doing something really great and interesting too. Like Bring Me The Horizon. They have made leaps and bounds to make something unique and interesting. Other than that though I’m not exactly a big fan of the scene, I’m more of a traditional Metal fan. There just seems to be highly sexualized, ‘Cock Rocky’ element to these bands and I’m not really into that.

We’ve talked about that before too, with other artists. This kind of misogynistic, ignorant resurgence.
Gus: Well and another thing is that they are trying to be like the old Metal stars back in the 80’s, but their audience is the ‘Warped Tour’ generation. In other words, a bunch of 16 year old girls. When you realize that your audience is basically all kids, you have a responsibility to not be a piece of shit.

I completely agree. Well back to Young Guns! We’re thinking February some time for the album, when do you think you’ll be coming back to the U.S for a tour?
Gus: Early 2015, we will definitely be back with our new record!

 Stayed tuned music lovers, we promise great things from these guys!