Interview with Guardrail

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

I've always been on the artistic side ever since I was a kid. I always loved singing along to the songs in kids movies and whatnot. When I was about 10 years old I saw blink-182 on TRL and it was the first time I saw a band that seemed like regular dudes and not some sort of larger-than-life being. It made me realize that even the "rockstars" are real people. I dove into punk rock after that and never looked back. If I hadn't found punk rock and started playing music, I honestly have no idea what I'd be doing. Probably something in the arts, who knows.

 
What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

I am a huge stand-up comedy fan. I grew up watching Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, George Carlin, etc. and now I'm constantly watching stand-up specials & listening to comedy podcasts. Currently some of my favorites are Anthony Jeselnik, Mark Normand, Ian Fidance, Kyle Kinane, Steph Tolev, Joe List, Sarah Silverman, I could go on. Because stand-up is an art-form based around language and vocabulary, I'm always studying it. It's fascinating seeing how they build their sentences & choose the right words & phrases to make the joke the best it can be. That bleeds over into my song & lyric writing, really helping me find my cadence.

How long has your band been around? Also, please tell me about the dynamic of the band of what brought you all together.

Guardrail technically began in 2014. I'd been playing bass in bands for years and none of them were on the punk-side, which is my wheelhouse. I was trying to steer the band I was in then in that direction, it didn't take, so I posted on Facebook asking who wanted to start a punk rock band. Our guitarist Ken has been my buddy since 5th grade, he was actually also in that previous band & came over here. He went to Northern Illinois University, as did our bassist Alyssa & drummer Doug. We met both of them through our ex-guitarist Mike (who also went there). We met guitarist Xack through the music scene, as we'd played with his other band The Linden Method a few times. This lineup has been going strong since 2018.

Where are you based and how did that influence your music?

We were all born & raised in the Chicagoland area. Being from the midwest has definitely influenced our sound because it's not always sunshine & flowers here. In fact, most of the year is the opposite. Also growing up around bands like Rise Against, Alkaline Trio, Fall Out Boy, etc. really inspired us.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

When we were trying to come up with a name, the song "Guardrail" by Bayside popped onto my iPod. I thought it was a cool word, sounded like it could be a punk band, so I brought it to the table. It was better than anything else we came up with so we rolled with it.

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

We've gotten the chance to play with some great bands. A few of my favorites have been Jaret Reddick of Bowling For Soup, Enter Shikari, Masked Intruder, The Ataris, Hot Milk, Doll Skin, The Queers, The Bollweevils. One show that I always think about was back in 2018. We were opening up for WSTR at Beat Kitchen here in Chicago. Both Ken & Doug couldn't make the show, so I was going to play guitar & we had a fill-in drummer. About 3 days before the show, the fill-in dropped out. We ended up hiring Alyssa's friend Greg who is a session drummer to jump in. He learned our songs in 2-3 days (with punk rock not really even being his style), and we had one rehearsal the morning of the gig. Our bass amp broke so we were borrowing someone's. Xack's van broke down that morning so we got an Uber XL to haul our gear to the venue. But even though everything was going wrong, the set went great and we made some fans that night.

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

Our venues that have become our "home base" venues are Beat Kitchen and Bottom Lounge. We've played most of the venues in Chicago, and we've only really toured in the midwest. So we're really looking forward to getting out to the east and west coasts now that our album is out.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

That's a really difficult answer, I listen to and love so many bands. I think we would be perfect on a bill with any combination of the following bands: Bowling For Soup, Alkaline Trio, Less Than Jake, Bayside, Story Of The Year, Sum 41, & State Champs.

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

Don't try too hard to be "different" or "groundbreaking". If you're focusing more on standing out than doing what you love, it's going to be way more stressful. Like I mentioned earlier, I had never played in a punk-rock band until Guardrail and I'm having more fun playing this music than I ever have in my 15+ years as a musician. So just do what is genuine to you and you'll have way more fun.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

Damn, our songs are like our children so they all mean something to us. Our single "Jane" from 2019 was probably the most difficult to write because it's about losing someone too soon. When I wrote that, I had just lost 4 people in my life due to suicide, overdose, or health. I wanted to write a song to help me come to terms with it and hopefully help others who are going through the same shit. I've since lost several more friends and find myself coming back to that song in reflection.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

We finally just played all the songs on the new album live at our record release show. I think my favorite to play was "Here Again", people seemed to really vibe with that one. I also love playing "Guilt Trip" because my voice gets a break for a few minutes while Alyssa crushes it, and I can rip some bass.

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

We all have a hand in writing. Typically one of us will write some music, demo it out on Garage Band or Logic, then bring it to the band. We all then add our own flares to it, tweak things, rearrange the structure if needed, then write the lyrics (which is typically myself or Alyssa). I tend to write in the moment, so what I write about is based on what's going through my head. Some of the politically-driven songs were written after some crazy shit happens. I wrote the lyrics to "Silhouette" based on an episode of a TV show I saw where two people connect at a show. "Here Again" was me feeling stuck in my usual life routine and struggling to pull myself out, which was definitely harder during the pandemic. So really anything can strike inspiration for me.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

We're all in our early 30's so I try to write our songs about what our peers are dealing with. Getting older, reminiscing about when life wasn't as difficult to navigate, feeling hopeless when the world goes crazy. So we want listeners to think, "Damn, they feel me."

Do you have any new singles, videos, or albums out that you would like to tell me and your fans about?

Our new album 'Content' dropped on 7/7. The singles leading up to the release were "Down At The Bottom", "Joke's On Me", "Silhouette", & "Different Universe", all of which have videos on the Open Your Ears Records youtube channel.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

We've got some shows set in the Chicago area for now. We're looking to get out of the midwest in the fall and winter.

How can your fans best keep up to date with you, any socials you want people to check out?

We're @guardrailsucks on all the socials. Follow us there for everything we have coming up, whether it's show announcements. or other shenanigans.