Two Guns

HQ: Long Beach, CA
(myspace.com/twogunsmusic)
THE STORY SO FAR: Two Guns frontman Kevin Poush, keyboardist/bassist/pianist Aaron Bradford and percussionist Adam Ferry have been making music together since 2000 (twice playing SXSW as the band Fielding). "I ran into [guitarist/bassist/keyboardist Christopher] Fudurich at a bar in L.A., and when we stepped outside to have a smoke he said something like, "Hey, I heard you started a new band. I want in'," recalls Poush. "To which I replied something, 'Shit, yes! Let's do it.' That was the magical moment Two Guns shifted from an idea to a band."
WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW 'EM: Promising the "newest familiar sound you could ever hope to hear," these West Coast indie-rockers aren't looking to overcomplicate the process. "The formula hasn't changed a whole lot since the Beatles blasted the world with hook after hook, verse-chorus-verse," explains Poush. "A song need not be hard to figure out for it to be good."
YOU LIKE? YOU'LL LIKE: ARCADE FIRE / DEAR AND THE HEADLIGHTS / WILCO - AP Magazine

It’s taken Two Guns one year to play one show, but only a month or so for the band to slide together—from a Fielding set at Long Beach’s Space where LA producer and multi-instrumentalist Chris Fudurich met cheerfully skeptical guitarist Kevin Poush, who had to go home and check his records to verify that this earnest new Fielding fan actually did produce that just-released Nada Surf Let Go LP, and then to a meeting at an LA bar post-Jan-2007-Fielding fall-down where Fudurich and Poush reacquainted and decided they would pursue a new band together. Poush had the Fielding engine in tow—bassist Aaron Bradford and drummer Adam Ferry, who all looked at each other when Fielding songwriter Eric Balmer admitted he was done and said, “So we’re still playing, right?”

“God bless the guy, he was honest,” says Poush. “He just didn’t want to do the band anymore—the idea to him of going to band practice was just not appealing. But to the three of us there was nothing better—hang out, drink beer, talk and play music—why would I want to quit doing that?” Fudurich—whose credits grew from experimenting in a friend’s OC studio to working with Matthew Sweet, Susanna Hoffs and during a calmer time Britney Spears—carried a remake/remodel songwriting philosophy that matched new bandmates ready for a revised creative process detached from the usual pop formula, which traded sophistication for landspeed and locked Two Guns away for months to record and snip and swap the best parts of everything they would write. With only their second show set for tomorrow, that work comes now just as a special rough demo—so rough it comes with hopeful smiley faces on the CDR—with five Two Guns songs in about four different styles, carving circumference around bedrock band inspirations like Elliot Smith, Wilco and Radiohead (OK Computer is the first record safe for all members to share without disagreement, says Poush) and keeping space within for carefully plotted pop that wears a McCartney/Rhodes comparison snugly. Like: “Locomotives” (love song about two Chunnel trains passing in the night) or the other skiffle-shuffle number “I Live Alone” (existential ennui manifested in residential specifics) and unlike the slightly grim “Heavy Heads,” with subzero keys by Fudurich and down lyrics about trickle-down media hyperbole, and unlike hollowed-out acoustic song “Strangers,” where Poush comes through in a voice already ragged for a guy who never fronted a band before and sings, “Here’s to big ships sinking/alcoholic drinking/what was I thinking?/Strangers are dangerous, you’ll see/ . . . /choose happiness over their family . . . ”

“I don’t know what I’d do all the time if I didn’t play music—I don’t even know what I’d do with my life,” he says now. “My best friend and I started a band when we were 19 and took his truck on tour—a dual-cab truck with six of us cruising the country—the best days! We think back now when we hear certain albums—every now and then, hear a certain song and think, ‘That’s it! That’s Waffle House in Louisiana music!’ I remember we went in and the waitress was obviously pregnant, and we asked her, ‘Where’s the smoking section?’ And I’ll never forget—she said, ‘Baby, this whole restaurant is a smoking section!’” - The District Weekly

There’s a point about halfway through the first batch of songs to emerge from the Long Beach quartet Two Guns when a certain optimism surfaces. Everything’s gonna be all right. It’s the same vague sentience that set in after I heard Wilco’s “Summerteeth,” or, more recently, “Ghost Stories” by L.A.’s Everest: Just because your relationships suffer from faulty wiring doesn’t mean you’re powerless.

“That is kind of a constant theme through the 11 songs, certainly lyrically anyway — you’re torn down, you regroup then you move on,” says Kevin Poush, the principal architect of the songs he flushed out with bandmates Chris Fudurich, Aaron Bradford and Adam Ferry.

If those names sound familiar, it’s because Poush, Bradford and Ferry were members of the indie rock quintet Fielding. Fudurich is the producer who made Fielding’s 2005 album (along with many other credits). Fielding’s frontman Eric Balmer is continuing to make music under the quintet’s name, with his former bandmates’ blessing, Poush says.

But the band’s split and “a lot of other relationship questions” inspired Poush to begin sketching out songs in mid-2007. “It’s kind of an overall picture of the last few years, when the band broke up, I witnessed my parents’ long marriage dissolve … a lot of things,” Poush says. “There are a couple things that made my girlfriend say, ‘Is that about me?’ But it wasn’t, necessarily. Damien Jurado is married but I heard him say once that when he writes he thinks about his previous girlfriends.”

The album — which the band hopes to release in November — ranges from gauzy California pop to shoegazey Americana and benefits from a host of contributors, including Letters to Cleo singer Kay Hanley. “Chris had sent some of our early stuff out, and Kay wanted to be a part of it,” Poush says. The harmonies on three songs from Hanley (and one apiece from Sarah Ellquist and Maggie Kim) add to the album’s upbeat tenor.

“When these songs started, they were a lot more simplified, a lot more alt-country,” Poush says, “but then it ended up where it is. We’re happy with it.”

||| Live: Two Guns perform Sunday at the Knitting Factory’s Alterknit Lounge, Oct. 23 at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa and Nov. 11 at Spaceland. - BuzzBands

Better Than: Sitting home listening to raindrops hitting the pavement outside your bedroom window while watching reruns of I Love New York 2.

The Bird and the Bee's Inara George rocks a granny dress like no one's business.

But we'll get to that later.

First, we must wax on about Kevin Poush's new band Two Guns. As the former guitarist for Fielding, we already knew to expect big time greatness, and Kevin didn't leave us hanging. Like a dusty desert highway, [Two] Guns' first ever show made us thirsty for more of their melodic, good-tempered, solid songwriting. - OC Weekly

Two Guns – Pick to Click

I haven’t done one of my picks to click in awhile. One of my former favorite Indie bands were Fielding, a Coldplayesque type band with more musical talent. They’ve since disbanded & the general malaise has been filled by old stand-bys with a few new bands rising above the fray to catch my attention.

Fret not, though, because Kevin, Aaron and Adam are former members of Fielding & Chris Fudurich was Fielding’s producer and is an accomplished Los Angeles based muliti-instrumentalist, producer and engineer. They are now members of Two Guns.

Unlike Fielding, there is no distinct comparison that comes to mind. They are their own entity. Which incredibly rare in this day & age when everyone sounds like everybody else. With shoegazing sounds that make you feel like your floating on a mushroom trip (definitely not speaking from experience) Two Guns go miles beyond where Fielding ever could. Kevin Poush is the lead singer now & makes the most of the opportunity with a voice suited for this style. The vocals are subdued, never overpowering, never trying to outdo the music & lyrics that are beautifully arranged to the melodies.

Two Guns are not merely a band that plays to make it. They play with the passion & love for the music that propels bands into that stratosphere. A lot of people could’ve packed in when the rising star that was Fielding was folded by songwriter Eric Balmer, but they didn’t nor did they rush into the next project & put out a sub par album. They took over a year to put out their next album as Two Guns & focused on making it the unsurpassable achievement that it is.Check out their Eponymous album on iTunes .

Kevin will be playing an acoustic thing at the Prospector on August 24 (My birthday). Two Guns will be at Spaceland, October 18. There will be more between those two, possibly Aug 27 @ Silver Factory Studios in Downtown LA. - The De Mello Theory

American made music is not a thing of the past nor the future. It exist right here, and right now. It will always remain in present time. There will always be a need for good honest American tunes. Not to say music from other countries are not good, or are not honest, it just takes a special band to give you that proud to be an American feeling. Two Guns is that band. I had a chance to talk to Vocalist and Guitarist Kevin Poush. This is what he had to say.

Turtle: How are you doing today?

Kevin Poush: I’m doing well. Thanks for asking.

T:How would you describe your sound to a first time listener?

KP:I like American music. I think we sound like an American band. Nothing flashy. Simple, honest songs.

T:What can a fan expect from a live show by Two Guns?

KP:I hope they can expect some enjoyment and a good time.


T:What are your non-musical influences?

KP:Baseball. The Dodgers. Vin Scully. Winning. Losing. Life in general. Friends. Family. Loyalty. Love. Heartbreak. Uncertainty. Sunshine. Cold weather. A good film. A cup of black coffee.

T:Do you feel that the people around affect the way you write music?

KP:I think songwriting can find inspiration from almost anything. Certainly one of the main sources (for me, at least) is other people.

T:What is the best road food?

KP:You really can’t beat the all you can eat soup and salad at the Olive Garden. It’s healthy and it’s cheap. And you get those breadsticks too.

T:If I were to visit your home town, what 3 places should I visit?

KP:1) The Prospector is a great bar with great food and a cheap stiff drink. They also get some of the best local and touring bands to stop off.
2) Fingerprints (record shop on 2nd St.)
3) Hop on a bicycle and just get lost around town after you’ve had your breakfast at The Potholder.

T:Summertime is coming up, do you have any plans to stay cool in the heat?

KP:I’m going to try to get in better shape by joining our drummer and keyboard player in the Pacific Ocean. They like to surf a lot.

T:You just finished a record, what was it like recording it?

KP:It was painstaking. It’s our debut album and we wanted to make it the very best it could be. If you listen, I think you can hear the time that we spent on it. Not that it’s overly polished or anything but it certainly doesn’t sound like it was recorded in few days on pro-tools in my living room (not that there’s anything wrong with that, by the way). It took us one year to complete. We did it ourselves between two studios that we work out of; our rehearsal space in Signal Hill and Chris Fudurich’s space in downtown Los Angeles. It was fun but it was a lot of work. I’m extremely pleased with the results and I think it’s certainly the best project that I’ve ever been a part of. The time and effort certainly came with the satisfaction we all felt upon completion.


T:Do you prefer studio sessions or live shows?

KP:I like both. In the studio you can take the time to make something exactly right. Live, you never really know exactly what’s going to happen. There are unforeseen variables that may hinder or enhance the show. I love playing live and wouldn’t trade it for anything. Similarly, I love recording new music and don’t ever want to stop doing it. My goal is to record a new Two Guns full-length album each year. We’re currently on pace with a little more than half of the new songs nearly finished for the 2010 album.

T:While on the road, what do you do to pass the time?

KP:Check out the city we’re in, read at a coffee shop, see whatever historical sites may be around, find a cool bar with shuffleboard.

T:What has been your favorite venue to play so far?

KP:We just opened a show at the Art Theater on 4th and Cherry in Long Beach for Jessica Dobson’s EP release show with her band, Deep Sea Diver. She is a Long Beacher like us who recently became Beck’s guitar player; however, she’s a fabulous songwriter in her own right. The show was put on by an organization called We Love Long Beach. Those folks are doing great things in our town and we’re looking forward to playing their next event on May 23.

T:If you could play with anyone (past and present) who would it be and why?

KP:Perhaps the most cliché response of all time but how could I not choose The Beatles? There has to be some guy out there right now who gets to tell his grandkids a pretty cool story about the time his band opened for them in the 60s. At least I hope that guy is out there somewhere.


T:Do you have any pre-show rituals?

KP:I rarely eat dinner the night of a show. I suppose that’s a bit ritualistic.

T:If you weren’t playing music, what do you think you would be doing?

KP:Well, music unfortunately doesn’t pay the bills so I have a real job too.

T:Who are you listening to these days?

KP:I can’t stop listening to the new M. Ward album; it is wonderful. I’m always listening to Richard Swift, Wilco, Harry Nilson, The Beatles, Spoon, Squeeze, Jon Brion and Aimee Mann. A buddy recently introduced me to White Rabbits and I’ve liked that Fort Nightly record of theirs quite a bit.

Thanks to Kevin and the rest of the band.

You can find out more about Two Guns via their Myspace Page.

Purchase Two Guns Self Title Album Here. - The Last Broadcast