Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
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1. We’re super-excited to be speaking today with indie-pop band, Gamblers! Before we dive into the proverbial Q&A mosh-pit, could you say ‘hi’ and introduce yourselves to our ever-inquisitive readers?
Johnny: Hiiii I’m Johnny the drummer.
Jimmy: Jimmy here, I play guitar in Gamblers but I’m best known for my zesty kale and eggs breakfast dish. The “zest” is lemon.
2. Major congratulations on your foot-tapping and absolutely unforgettable new single “Pulverizer” which is set to drop everywhere in a few weeks!What inspired this rousing tune? It almost sounds like some of the very best shades of disco are baked into this gem of a ditty!
Johnny: Thanks for the kind words! Specifically for the drums I channeled one of my heroes Phil Collins. Definitely tried to make it something you can dance to/tap your feet so I’m happy with your generous description. The darkness in the lyrics is cloaked by a fun dance tune so it’s sort of like a wolf in sheep’s clothing vibe (which we toy around with a lot on this album).
Jimmy: If I remember right this one started with a drum loop. Michael Rufolo of the Brothers Nylon pulled out a drum machine from his stack of old cool shit and Nick found a bass line fairly quickly. Johnny’s live drums brought the dynamics and live feel. Once we found the chorus groove I realized I wanted to emulate The Cars for that part. “Just What I Needed” has this boxy, driven guitar on the chorus doing power chords, dancing with the vocals rhythmically.
Mike wrote the lyrics all about the feeling he and a lot of us were going through at the time… like life was just kinda crushing us all. And yet the song brings a party and finds time to celebrate even when shit’s hard. That’s what this record means for me.
3. Who was the producer on “Pulverizer” and what did the collaboration between band and producer look like in the studio while working on the new tune?
Jimmy: All these songs went through two rounds of real songwriting scrutiny before finding their final form in the studio.
We wrote and rewrote and demoed every song with the Brothers Nylon – Michael Rufolo on pre production engineering and Nick Rufolo writing and performing a small orchestra’s worth of instruments. When we tracked and edited enough that we felt like there was a solid album here, we brought the songs to Ray Marte and Anthony Lopardo, our pals at Westfall Recording Company. They provided us a fresh set of listening ears and we took a refining blade to every part of every song again before finally tracking the band.
These collaborations went really smoothly. In creative work you have to know that your team is giving you feedback you can trust. And when you have that support like we did with our producers, every minor challenge becomes a simple step to improving the project. Love all these freaks.
4. In your humble opinion what differentiates “Pulverizer” from the Distinguished Competition on the 2024 music scene?
Jimmy: Saxophones.
Johnny: What I love about Gamblers is I don’t really know any bands at our level who are making the kind of music we are. We are insanely genre-fluid and wear that badge proudly.
5. With the upcoming release of the new single, can fans look forward to catching Gamblers on the touring/performing circuit in the coming weeks and months?
Johnny: 100%. Already in the works. Can’t wait to hit the road and rock.
Jimmy: Yeah, we’ll be touring to support the album in the spring and hitting some festivals in summer. Good weather vibes only.
6. Who inspires you musically?
Jimmy: As a guitar player I swoon over everything Jim Campilongo does. The recent releases from The Smile have been fucking me up. The Police never leave rotation for me. I had a real strong run of listening to Purple Rain on repeat for about 4 months this year after finally seeing the movie. The other 8 months have been filled with Cocteau Twins, Stereolab, and Guided by Voices.
Johnny: My big three have to be The Strokes, The Beatles, and Phill Collins and or Genesis. However for the past few years I’ve been obsessed with 90s rock bands making comebacks such as Hum, Failure, and Shiner.
7. Was shooting the music video for “Pulverizer” as much fun for the band as it was for us at Vents watching it?
Johnny: You have no idea. Music video shoots are always my favorite “band” days and that one in particular was an absolute blast. I’ll let you in on a wrestling secret: those rings are BOUNCY. Not ideal for drums but still fun as hell.
Jimmy: Totally, shooting at the New York Wrestling Connection location was amazing. I’d never been in the ring like that- once we had a whole band playing it was like a bouncy castle, my core is still sore.
The wrestlers were super impressive, especially our hero Amity LeVay and villain Micheal Mistretta. Our pal and constant collaborator, video director James Morano was just calling out scenarios to them and they effortlessly pulled off these brutal moves, take after take.
8. How is “Pulverizer” similar to such past Gambler tunes as Preach Your Love? How is it different?
Jimmy: Preach Your Love was from an EP where we took some songs from our indie rock album and reimagined them for a dance party. Pulverizer meets in the middle with electronic drums and tuned vocals over garagey guitars and sax from all angles.
Johnny: I think the overall vibes are there – fun dancy tracks but with ominous lyrics and tones throughout.
9. Gamblers are based out of Long Island, NY. How do those roots inform the sound and energy of the band?
Johnny: We have a song called Agita, need I say more? That darkness runs rampant in Massapequa where me and Mike grew up. A lot of the houses in Massapequa appear very nice and tranquil on the outside but they were/are home to a few mob families. Also drugs were and still are a huge problem. We have the Long Island Serial Killer. We grew up very close to the Amityville Horror House. We definitely touch on those themes in our lyrics but we do our best to cover them up with catchy tunes just like the outside appearance of Massapequa.
10. With the release of the new single, will 2024 see even more releases from Gamblers, perhaps with an EP or LP?
Johnny: An LP would be tough to pull off, but I think there’s definitely a possibility for either a single or EP.
11. At the end of the day what do you hope music aficionados walk away with after giving many-a-spin to the infectious new Gamblers single Pulverizer?
Johnny: For music aficionados I hope they can pick up on the deliberate dichotomy of the lyrical content and style of music being presented. For the rest of the (maybe more casual?) listeners I hope it serves as a temporary distraction to the current state of the world. We’re all getting pulverized but there’s no way that’ll ever stop us from rocking.
Jimmy: Agreed.
You can follow Gamblers on socials here:
https://www.instagram.com/gamblersbaby
https://www.facebook.com/gamblersgamblersgamblers
