Shotguns happy to remain on the edge

"The Shotguns are about that thin line between blowing peoples' minds and pissing it all away"

Drunken antics, cocky arrogance, flying mic stands, blood-stained shirts and broken guitars all come together to make the Shotgun Faeries one of the most infamous bands in Preston. However, behind the smoky facade is a very tight-knit thoughtful group of musicians with a front man housing an obscene passion for music and as much drive as a fleet of Eddie Stobarts.

Sat in the bands' front room, just part of their home studio 'The Swamp', Listen Up chats to the band about a drumming merry-go-round, alcoholic desperation and 'a shit-hot demo.'

"Yeah,” continues lead singer Richie Lomax, “you don’t want to be just another mediocre band, you want to change peoples’ lives.”

The Shotgun Faeries can trace their history back to an exact start date, that being October 30th 2003 and, after a turbulent few months have finally found a line-up with which they are happy, as Bassist Richie Evans explains:

“We were made from the wastelands of other bands. Me, Paddy and Lomax were all in other bands, but as they separated we agreed to sort something.”

“No, that isn’t right,” Paddy interrupts, “I didn’t want to be in a band with Richie because he was shit.”

Long hard months

Eventually the band came together, Richie included and has survived eleven months, (all in agreement: “Long hard months, except March, nothing happened in March.”) recently drafting in a new skin-basher in the form of Chris Lees.

“We have been through a Spinal Tap amount of drummers,” says Lomax, “but when we were trying people out Chris just turned up on the door, sat behind the drums and wouldn’t leave, so he is still here.”

If you have been to see the unnerving, neurotic experience that is ‘The Shotguns Live’ you probably remember two things; the mayhem and ‘Vodka Stomach’. Without exaggerating, this is one of the best garage-rock tunes within the local music scene, prompting the band to regularly inform audiences that it is their own creation, and not a cover. Yet the Shotguns are adamant that the song writing has improved with the new line-up, Lomax elaborates:

“It’s become more of a team effort since Chris joined, me and Chris will write or me and Paddy, or we’ll write songs as a whole band.

Desperation

“There are new songs that we’ve got,” adds lead guitarist Paddy, “that we have had to hold back until we settled with a drummer. We have probably got more songs finished and ready to go than are already in the set.”

Lomax: “That’s where the anger onstage came from. When we were unsettled we would have a lot of anger about and just drink too much before going onstage, so it was part out of desperation I suppose, but if you go watch a rock and roll show, you want everything that goes with it.”

The Shotguns have steadily improved with every gig and are now beginning to shine as a live band and finally prove their worth. Last month they supported Asylum at The Mill with a storming set, in which they supplied everyone down the front with a free shot of tequila, Listen Up suggested this could be seen as trying to make or prove a point.

“That wasn’t it.” Lomax clarifies, “People have been loyal and come
to watch us and people used to buy us drinks and bring them to us
onstage, this was just a gesture, to give something back.”

The Shotgun Faeries have spent a long time recently mixing and preparing an EP which they would have liked to have completed within a few days, but are resolute that they are not far off recording a ‘shit-hot demo to hand out and blow people away.’

Only time will tell if the Faeries’ Shotgun is loaded with strong enough ammunition to carry out their threats, in the meantime, it’s about hard graft.

Written by Dan Jeoffroy

Photography: Dan Jeoffroy