Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

What made you call the band "Tommy's Gun"?  Our lyricist and vocalist, Randy, had a dear family member who struggling with addictions and the rock n' roll lifestyle and the band was named in memory of his dear relative.

How was the band formed? Tommy's Gun was formed in Randy's basement. We started out with heavy influences from Blink-182, Green Day, and the 90's punk/grunge era. Randy and I go way back. I remember being in 8th grade and Randy saying, "Michael, you and I are going to make it big, I promise you." Sure enough, at the start of my senior year, Randy calls me up and says, "Michael, I want to go to the top to you, I have a band starting up and I want you in it." At the time, it was just Randy and his brother Jake, but I quickly said yes.

Can you tell about your band? We started out with 90's punk/grunge influences, but over the years of growing and maturing as musicians, we've all progressed and our style has evolved into more of an alternative rock sound.

Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band?

Randy Merriam is from San Bernardino, California and he is the lead singer/guitarist.

Jake Sunnerville is from Mountain Home, Arkansas and he is the guitarist/vocalist.

Wyatt Conner is from Tulsa, Oklahoma  and he is the bassist.

I, Michael Lee, am from Mountain Home, Arkansas and I am the drummer.

What was the ambitions of the band when you started? We started the band with no intent to get rich or to get girls or any of that. Our soul goal to this very day is to get our music out there and touch the hearts of anyone who listens. We don't care if we're selling out theaters for headlining shows or opening for much bigger bands, as long as we touch a couple hearts during our shows with the lyrics and melodies that mean so much to us, then we are more than happy; that's all we've ever wanted.

Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? We are an alternative rock band with influences from Brand New, Manchester Orchestra, and Green Day. Each song carries a story that holds a lot of meaning to us and we potray it through our lyrics and instrumentation.

Where was your first gig? We played at a small local venue in our hometown of Mountain Home, Arkansas called The Warehouse.

Where was the latest gig? Our latest show was at this old bar in Springfield, Missouri called Lindbergs.

Who writes your songs?/ who writes the music who writes lyrics? Randy comes to us with bare-bones acoustic, lyrics, and melody, and we take it and turn it into a full band arrangement. We all have a hand in writing songs though. We'll pitch lyrics revisions, different chord progressions, and so on, but it all starts with Randy and an acoustic guitar.

Who has the best since of humor in the band? Wow, that's a hard one. We can be in my kitchen after a long practice, eating Mac n' Cheese, busting out laughing, but if I had to pick the one with the best sense of humor, I'd have to pick Wyatt; that kid is hilarious.

What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? What I would consider good and bad is that we are very dedicated and at times that can be our downfall. As for genre, I would say that we are definitely alternative rock.

Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? I wouldn't necessarily say that we chose the style, I just feel like our music just slowly and gradually evolved into the alternative rock style it is today. Our songs are all written about things that have meaning to us as a band and Randy as an individual. Our song Mountain Homeless is written about when Randy lived in Mountain Home and he wasn't sure if he would be sleeping in a bed or in the streets. The song, in face value, appears to be about a girl, but metaphorically, the song is about a town.

Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We are completely original.

Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? Over the years, we've released a few EP's and singles. Our first EP was released in 2011. After recording with a series of producers, we decided to record everything in my home studio which is when we put out Burning at the Stake. Our newest release is our single Mountain Homeless.

Do you have any clips on YouTube? I believe that you can find a couple videos of us playing on YouTube!

How old are you?/What got you started in music? Randy is 20, Jake is 17, Wyatt is 16, and I am 19. Wyatt and I grew up on the same street and naturally played music together for most of our lives. We grew up in musical homes that inspired us to play. Randy and Jake are blood brothers and they grew up playing guitar and singing together.

At what age did you start playing? We've all been playing music as long as we can remember; we were born with a passion for music.

How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? Randy was 18, Jake was 14, and I was 17. Wyatt, being recently added to the band, had his first time on stage at 16.

What year was the band started? We formed in 2011.

Best/worst gig you've played? The best was The Battle of the Bands at Flippin Racetrack. Ten bands were competing to open for world-famous band, Molly Hatchet. It was that show that we got first place and opened for Molly Hatchet. My personal worst was at The Brickyard Bar in Mountain Home, Arkansas. It was before I understood the importance of a drummer having a drum rug. Any drummer knows what it's like to put a drum set, without a rug, on a hardwood floor. I had my toms mounted on my kick and every time I'd hit the bass drum, it would go moving with my toms. Overall, the worst would be at the same bar, when our bass broke, we broke a guitar string, the other guitar kept getting out of tune, and our lead guitar amp was inaudible.

What places will you be playing in in the imidate future? We are booking a short midwest tour for this summer, but right now we are working on recording a single.

Where have you played from then till now? A list of venues we've played is: The Warehouse, Studio 1, Two Kings, American Legion, Lindbergs, Flippin Speedway, and The Brickyard.

Witch band is the best you´ve seen? The best local band I've seen live would be this band called Plains. They broke up awhile ago, but they were sick!

Is it always the same songs live? We try to keep new material consistent, but we do want to keep some old songs that our fans really enjoyed.

What has been the best/most promising gig so far? Opening for such a big name like Molly Hatchet.

Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? Not yet, but we are playing a smaller tour this summer and then in summer 2015, we plan on booking a big tour.

How big crowds do you usually play for? We've played anywhere from 2 people in a bar to 1,000 people at a rally.

What are the plans for the rest of the year? We are planning on booking a small tour and a couple out of town shows here and there, and in between that, we are recording our single.

Where do you usually play? Prior, we would play primarily in the North Central Arkansas area, but frrom now on, we are going to base our shows in the Springfield/Branson area.

How do you get psyched up for a gig? We drink energy drinks, go for jogs, jump around, and listen to Brand New.

What are your goals with your music? Our goals are to reach as many people as possible with the music we write.

When did you decide to go all in for the music? We've always been very dedicated to music from the start.

Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? We could listen to modern bands like Brand New and they can influence us, but my drumming influences can come from old jazz, gospel, or blues drumming to modern rock drumming.

What are your sources of inspiration? Bands that we enjoy and then things that occur in life.

What's the first step when making a new song? When Randy writes a new song, he usually goes to Jake's house the day before practice and Jake and Randy fine tune them before bringing them to Wyatt and me.

How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? We offer all of our music online for free because we care more about getting our music on some kids' iPods than to put a couple bucks in our pockets.

What would be your dreams for the band? I dream that one day I can walk out on stage as a career and see thousands of fans who appreciate all the work we do and are touched by our music.

Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? I try to appreciate all forms of music. I love artists ranging from Brand New, to Lupe Fiasco, Bruno Mars, AC/DC, Beartooth, August Burns Red, and so on. A band that we are all very into is The Reign of Kindo. If you haven't heard of them, I really suggest checking them out because they are fantastic.

What do you hold most dear? We hold our music most dear. It's something that we will take with us till the day we die.

What would be your greatest fears for the future? Never spreading our wings and going to greater depths with our music.

When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Anything that would interfere with the connection between our fans and us.

What songs and what years were they released? 2011 on our Galaxies EP - Let Me In, Desertion, Galaxies, Sink or Sail 2012 on our We've Crash Landed Single - We've Crash Landed 2013 on our Fought the Fight Single - Fought the Fight 2013 on our self-produced Burning at the Stake EP - Sink or Sail, Cor et Anima, Let's Go Crash a Car, We've Crash Landed, Runaway, Godspeed, Fought the Fight.

2014 on our self-produced Mountain Homeless Single - Mountain Homeless

You can find all of these releases on our Bandcamp at: http://tommysgunofficial.bandcamp.com/

Have you been part of any other projects? I am actually part of several studio projects right now ranging from several genres. Jake and I are in a just-for-fun project that I write the songs for called "Tommy's Fun."

Have you been in any other bands? I play drums for Tommy's Gun, but I am also the bassist for a local pop punk band called Day In, Day Out. https://www.facebook.com/DayInDayOut870

What do you work with outside of the band and the music? Randy is a technician at Wyndham Worldwide, I work in the medical field, and Jake works part-time with trimming trees. Wyatt is head of defense in the Mountain Home High School football team.

What would you do if there was no music? I'm sure that we would all have jobs, but we would not have much of a purpose, we would not have much enjoyment; we are music.

How important are your fans? We love our fans and we appreciate everyone who buys our shirts, downloads our albums, and makes it out to our shows. Hearing all these people sing out our songs to us means more to us than they will ever know.

What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? I've seen fans fighting like it was Sparta for a drum stick.

How often do you rehearse? We rehearse on a weekly schedule, usually every Friday and Saturday.

Where do you rehearse? I have a decent sized basement that my parents and brother so graciously let us use for hours of loud drums, guitar, bass, and vocals.

Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? My two favorite Tommy's Gun songs at the moment would be Mountain Homeless and Cor et Anima.

What do you feel is the best live band you've seen? When I saw AC/DC perform live, it was the most insane thing I've seen. It was truly inspiring.

What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? It's honestly all about passion. You need to have a passion for what your doing and you need to accept that there will be shows where people will walk out and you will face a lot of rejection, but you don't need to let that alter you or discourage you. You need to have a passion for music and that alone is the fuel that keeps the engine running.

Do you have any webpages?

You can find us at: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/tommysgun Bandcamp - http://tommysgunofficial.bandcamp.com/

Or EPK - http://artistecard.com/tommysgun

Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? If you are passionate about music, don't give up on it. Take something that you enjoy, work your asses off, and make something out of yourself. Music is such a powerful thing and if you are dedicated to it, then we have so much respect for you and we hope to see you on stage one day.

Describe your show, visually and musically No two shows are alike. We try to connect with the fans and try to not be "just some band on stage," and try to be that band on stage you go home and tell your friends and family about.

What are the biggest obstacles for a band? Working hard for the equipment we have and the gas we use to play shows.

What is best/worst with playing the clubs? Clubs have always been either a hit or a miss. The people that go can be very diverse. Some of the worst crowds we've played have been in clubs, but then again, so have some of the best crowds.

Tell us about upcomming gigs and why we should be at them? We are going to be booking a small tour this summer and we promise that we will be bringing new material that is the most well-written that I've heard and the energy will be insane.

How would you describe your sound in one sentence? Tommy's Gun's programmatic writing style really touches its listeners' hearts with haunting lyrics, unforgettable melodies, driving rhythms, and moving guitar solos.

What was one of the most quarrelsome times for you in the band? Going months without a show and being neck-deep in recording an EP.

Whats your Pre-show ritual? We stay together before a show and stretch and take a breather before hitting the stage. We just mentally prepare ourselves.