It’s become a common saying among the volunteers and “regulars” at Codfish Hollow that you should come out to a show, even if you aren’t familiar with the band. Last year, when The Gear Daddies made the debut at the barn, I was in that exact situation, attending a sold-out show with a band that was new to me, although they are veterans of a Minneapolis scene full of heavy-hitters. I mean, they don’t just put your name on a star outside First Avenue if you haven’t proven yourself as a musician. When I heard they were returning this season, the name was no longer new to me, and I knew it was again going to be a show with a packed-in crowd, boisterous in the best sense of the word. It’s impressive to see a band with 4 decades of experience where all 4 original members are still sharing the stage together. Sitting down with all four members made for an enjoyable interview, in spite of it being conducted in a rather ridiculous location backstage. Unfortunately, the interview was conducted while opening band, Box 10, was already on stage, and since there wasn’t a good space to fully escape the sound of them performing, the audio isn’t top notch, but I have chosen to include it, at least for now. It was difficult and time-consuming simply transcribing the interview below from the recording, and I originally was going to leave it off of this, but after listening back, while it could seem too raw, I believe it captures the energy of Codfish, so I’m going to lean into it.
Matthew: Okay, so just with an introduction for people that aren't familiar. Who are you guys? How long have you been playing together? And where do you call home?
Martin: Well, we're The Gear Daddies. Been playing for 40 years
Nick: With the same four guys.
Matthew: That's impressive.
Martin: And Nick and I have been playing together for 47 years.
Matthew: And you guys are from the Minneapolis area?
Martin: We're all from Austin, Minnesota, but we all settled in the Twin Cities.
Nick: Martin lives in Mexico now.
Randy: I’ve been to Mexico!
Billy: I’ve been to Martin’s House!
Matthew: Oh, nice. What originally got you guys into music? Like was there any other option?
Nick: Chicks!
Martin: We all came to it different ways
Billy: I just listened to music and wanted to play the drums.
Martin: And Randy basically still isn't a musician. He just kind of hangs out. So I was just listening to this podcast called The History of Rock in 500 songs, and the guy was talking about the phenomenon that it was well known that if you interviewed any of the Beatles individually, you got a really great, thoughtful interview. And anytime you put all the Beatles together, you got the worst, like shit, so this is the exact same thing. We kind of speak a different language.
Matthew: With my photography, I've done a lot of stuff in Minneapolis and in that area, like more something than Iowa, so I think it's a kind of a slept on area, as far as, like, art and what inspires you about that area, what motivated you about that area growing up
Nick It was progressive.
Billy: It was like the closest big city,
Martin: We all landed there in Minneapolis. It was about the best time you could have been in the Twin Cities. Late 80s, early 90s. The music scene was just crazy, and we kind of rode the coattails of a really cool scene.
Matthew: There's actually a lot of Minnesota bands that come through Codfish. Are there any Minnesota bands that really stand out for you guys, maybe that you grew up playing with?
Nick: Jayhawks.
Matthew: Yeah they were just here recently
Nick: Bob Mould was just here
Martin: Bob Mould was here???
Matthew: Yeah that was an amazing show.
Martin: So we toured with Bob.
Billy: And of course love Huker Du
Martin: The Replacements. Soul Asylum
Billy: Run, Rusty, Run I think they should be named. Even though they weren’t as big as those other bands.
Martin: They were my favorite band of that era, and they are still great
Randy: The Suburbs
Matthew: Okay, this is kind of a dumb question, but one of your guys' most popular songs appeared in a couple movies that I grew up watching. After that song did you guys get requests to ride on Zambonis?
Nick: All the time.
Martin: I've got many, many requests, and I have yet to do it. I have no interest in doing it. I It’s just a song. God, I don't know, but I think I wrote it as one of our inside jokes. Like these guys would think it was funny… they didn't. It just kind of caught on as a little inside joke with our fans, and it was never meant to be on an album.
Randy: I remember you just brought that song in and we recorded it right away. And then we slapped it on the end of the album without naming it.
Martin: Yeah, well, that was because Bob, Polygram wanted it on the album, album. And I was like, No, it's not gonna be on the album, album. So that was kind of the compromise that it was a hidden track.
Matthew: When it comes to songwriting. Do you guys spend, I mean, obviously, with that one, it seems like it kind of just came together. Do you spend a lot of time sitting down and coming up with songs, or does it kind of come organically?
Nick: The writers write them on their own and just kind of bring them to the band, and we work through them a little bit, but for the most part, they have it figured out. That’s Martin and Billy
Martin: I don’t know about you some of my songs happen in under an hour. And some, like one of the songs off the last album, goes back to high school. A big piece of what ended up being a song was something I wrote in high school and brought back and resurrected
Billy: I have something similar when I do solo stuff. I had a song that I finished in 2015, and the chorus was from like 1989 and it had just been sitting around and I didn’t know what to do with it.
Martin: Yeah, it's like, for me, some songs end up being almost forensic, like I go through old lyrics and I'm like, Hey, that one's not bad. I forgot about that one, and then build it out and build out a song.
Billy: I have like 200 notes on my phone, musical notes and maybe 3 have become songs.
Martin: Yeah, mine are all still on well, my lyrics are all on paper. Stacks of paper. I used to carry the dictaphone, but I had to keep it on my bedstand, because I get an idea that I'm sure was brilliant and had to be right there, and had to get it. And I'd love to put out a compilation of some of those ideas that I thought were like, brilliant in the middle of the night and jumped up and got it on there. It's like, Oh, Jesus!
Matthew: Since I've never spoken to an artist that has gotten a star on the wall, and what's it like getting that honor to have a star at First Avenue?
Billy: It’s awesome.
Martin: It’s really cool.
Matthew: How far into your career did that happen?
Nick: 1992…91. We were on it in the first making of it, and it’s been there ever since.
Matthew: That’s really cool. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received from another musician or that you would give to an up and coming musician?
Billy: As a drummer? I actually had, it was specific to me, but it would be good advice, I guess, for any drummer. Let the singer sing. I used to be wailing on the drums when I was young. I was given that advice and it really changed things
Nick: My advice is play a simple part well, rather than play a hard part not well.
Matthew: That’s good advice for art in general
Randy: And from my perspective, with pedal steel especially, it's just to enhance the vocalist. You try not to step on the toes
Martin: For me, I’d just say stay away from this god-forsaken business
Nick: It’s a disease!
Martin: Feed your family!
Matthew: Are there any bands or musicians, you’ve been listening to that might be surprising to people, that that's what you're into?
Martin: I don't know about you guys, but if you put my iPhone on shuffle, people would be like, What the fuck? It's confusing. Because I seriously love bubble gum. I love Taylor Swift. I love Miley Cyrus. I love Jason Isbell and Leonard Cohen. I love I mean, honestly it’s so all over the place.
Billy: Honestly Randy and Renee just got in my car and I had Sade on. And they said they didn’t picture me as a Sade guy. She is great.
Randy: I made Billy play the song twice. (Mimics “Smooth Operator”)
Martin: Oh No! I always say there's no good or bad music. It’s music you like, or music you don’t like. Period. That's music I don't like.
Randy: You don’t like that song? This swore I heard you humming it.
Matthew: The last one, there's a reason that so many returning artists come back to codfish. What was your first impression of it, and makes it stand out so much from other venues?
Nick: I mean look at it…well I mean I know people listening can’t see it.
Billy: It’s surprising how far out in the sticks it is. You’re in all these corn fields, and then there’s just this amazing concert venue.
Martin: It’s just a different energy here. The people are so fantastic.
Billy: It’s really a labor of love.
Martin: They treat the artists so respectfully.
Billy: It kind of goes back to the old hippy days.
Martin: It’s a gem. It really is. A secret little gem…well not so secret anymore. It’s getting out there. Even last year, when we tell people we’re doing it and they were like, What is that? And between last year and this year, a lot more people were aware of it.
Billy: Yeah I tell people about it all the time.
Martin: Well we played here, and then all of the sudden it just exploded. Everyone wanted to play here
Nick: Yeah, it’s because of us.
Matthew: Oh Yeah, that’s what I’ve been hearing from all the bands
Martin: We put this place on the map. They owe us.
Nick: Kidding by the way.
Matthew: That's all my questions. So I appreciate you guys doing this. It means a lot.
All: Thank you
