Arm The Pit - The McGunks

ATP

For the record, who's answering the interview, what is your band's name? How did you come up with that name?

THE MCGUNKS

Bobby McGunk-Drummer. Other guys may chime in later. We are The McGunks.

ATP

So who's in the band and what's everyone's life story in 100 words more or less?

THE MCGUNKS

Bob McGunk-Vocals/Guitar Pete McGunk-Bassist/Vocals Bobby McGunk-Drums/Vocals Chris McGunk-Guitar/Vocals

ATP

In a nutshell, please describe your sound.

THE MCGUNKS

The Ramones and Social Distortion in a knife fight with the Rolling Stones providing play by play commentary.

ATP

Why did you each of you start playing music and was there a turning point from becoming the dream child that every mother and father hopes their child will become before discovering music? Why did music become a career choice for you?

THE MCGUNKS

I started playing drums because I liked to bang on things. Music is not a career choice for us, but more of an expensive hobby and release from stresses of the real world. We love playing and would love to play every night if we could, but life always seems to get in the way of that.

ATP

What instruments do you each play? How did you learn to play, self-taught or school?

THE MCGUNKS

The artist did not answer.

ATP

What bands have influenced each of you?

THE MCGUNKS

All sorts of bands. I personally learned how to play faster by playing along to No Use for a Name and Louis Bellson. I try to learn a little something from every song I hear, no matter how terrible it may be.

ATP

What makes your band unique?

THE MCGUNKS

The fact that we know that most bands aren't unique. We know there's 24 letters in the alphabet and only so many notes to play. We put our spin on what others have crafted long before us.

ATP

Do you write your own music? If not, who writes the music?

THE MCGUNKS

Bob writes most the skeletons of our songs. We'll then arrange it and work on it constantly to make it better. We cover Motorhead, Judas Priest, Kenny Rogers, Jim Carroll, The Clash and the Supersuckers, among others.

ATP

What inspires the songs you write?

THE MCGUNKS

Bob.

ATP

How long does it take you to write a song that�s ready to record?

THE MCGUNKS

Its hard to say because we're always making little tweaks to make it better.

ATP

How would you describe your local music scene? Likes, Dislikes. What would you change?

THE MCGUNKS

The scene is decent. The bands and fans are all friendly and like to have fun. Rhode Island is very charity based, mostly due to Punks for a Princess. Not many people go to shows anymore, but that comes with age.

ATP

What is your favorite local venue? Why?

THE MCGUNKS

I like everywhere we play because I love playing. We often play Broad St Tap, KCs Tap, PVD Social Club, Firehouse 13. We played Fete once, which was pretty awesome.

ATP

What's the biggest problem you find when working with other bands, booking agents, promoters and venues when settting up a show or a tour?

THE MCGUNKS

Pete does most of the show booking. The few shows I've done have gone eerily smooth.

ATP

How experienced are you on the stage, a virgin or whore?

THE MCGUNKS

We played 65 shows in 2011 and 30 something in 2012. We took February 2013 off to record, but played seven shows in January and are still booking for March-December.