A fire truck roars by singer/guitarist J.P. Gilbert as he stands outside a Driggs Avenue building in northwest Brooklyn, N.Y. He’s waiting for rehearsals to begin in the structure’s basement.
Gilbert, 27, and the four bands he shares the space with have christened it the Rad Pad, and its interior is littered with old amps, Tibetan and Moroccan instruments, a metal-bodied bass and Fender Squire replica strung entirely with E strings. Gilbert calls this latter axe “the death guitar.”
“I did that for this noise-metal thing I used to do,” he says.
These days, Gilbert’s solo material is closer to an Americana vibe, including meadow flatpicking (“Dandelion”), Marin County murder ballads (“Dull Cleaver”) and hipster hillbilly-isms (“A Woman Is Real”). He says these tunes were cut six months ago, at a time when his diet consisted primarily of Old Fashioneds and Marlboro Reds. “There’s a bar down the street one of my band mates work at, so I get taken care of at that bar.”
Gilbert and his band, The Gilberts, just finished recording a EP in just two hours at the Rad Pad, where they also host monthly shows. He’s not even sure what his favorite cut is yet. “I’ve listened to it only once;, we literally did it two days ago,” Gilbert says. “Our bass player Trevor (Williams), he engineers and produces it all, so he’s going through it and mixing it all. Then I’ll get a better idea of what’s good. And what’s not so good. That’s what we’re going to be bringing out on tour with us.”
Your Greenville show is at Horizon Records. Where do you get most of your music in Brooklyn?
There’s Academy Records, which is cool. Sound Fix I go to. There was one that was called Eat Records, which was my favorite, but it just closed.
What was the genesis for your song “Dull Cleaver?”
Basically getting f---ed over by a woman—a lot of the songs are about that. I imagine getting hacked up with a not-so-sharp cleaver would hurt extra bad. I really like a lot of the British folkies, a lot of that was rooted in Renaissance music, which I thought was interesting. A deep, deep tradition, maybe a thousand years old, and songs that came from places nobody knew and reinterpreting that. I love Bert Jansch, A.P. Lloyd and Anne Briggs.
Anne Briggs was somewhat of a babe, right?
Yeah, back in the day she was. She has a gorgeous voice.
You guys are playing an upcoming show called “Go Folk Yourself.” Of all the venues you play, which have the best names?
Probably Spike Hill or Bar… (Cell phone static muffles Gilbert’s second answer.)
Did you say Bar Bachelor?
Bar Matchless. Which is right down the street where I live. It used to be a biker bar…and it’s a pretty cool place and they let us play there often.
You also play in a metal band called J.A.C.K. What separates a good metal band from one that sucks?
The drummer. The singer. Brutal riffs. It’s hard to say. I think it would depend on the genre of metal you’re looking at. I guess probably the most important thing to have is the riffs. My metal band happens to have a fabulous singer.
What’s your guiltiest metal pleasure?
Mercyful Fate. Or anything by King Diamond.
Wow. Does King Diamond still wear the face paint?
He got sued for the face paint. I don’t know if he changed it or stopped doing the face paint altogether. Gene Simmons sued him.
Gene Simmons motivated by money? That’s odd.
Yeah, right.
J.P. & The Gilberts play a free show at Horizon Records (with Trevor Williams) at 8 p.m. July 26. For more information, call 864-235-7922 or visit jpandthegilberts.com.
