Some good old southern rock and roll will be returning to Tuscaloosa this weekend. The Dexateens, made up of members Brad Armstrong, Elliott McPherson, Matt Patton, Brian Gosdin and Taylor Hollingsworth will be returning to the Green Bar on Friday, Oct. 27 for their first show since June. We caught up with Brian Gosdin to see how the band feels about returning to Tuscaloosa.
When and how did you guys decide to form the band?
I am not an original member but Elliot, Matt, John Smith and Sweetdog were the ones that formed the band. They all met in and around the University of Alabama in 1998 when they were all in different bands. So, they peripherally knew each other and eventually started rocking out together. They continued doing this for 10 years before the band really started. I joined in 2007 when Sweetdog left the band. The band is like Lynyrd Skynyrd since they had about 25 people in the band over the years. Actually, Blood, Sweat and Tears is a more accurate description because they had something like 200 people in the band.
What was your background in music before the Dexateens?
I’ve played drums my whole life, and I’ve played in different types of bands. I’ve been in anything from soul bands and funk bands to rock bands. I played classical drums in high school and went to the Alabama School of Fine Arts. I’ve always played typically loud and bombastic drums, which is what I do now. Everybody in the band basically comes from southern and punk rock. Anything with Kiss, The Stooges and Lynyrd Skynyrd is what we think of when we think about our band. Basically anything loud and obnoxious we were drawn to.
How would you describe your music?
We like to think of it as The Stooges meets Lynyrd Skynyrd.
What do you use for inspiration when creating music?
Inspiration comes from our personal relationships with people and things we see from around the south. We all live in the south except for Brad, who lives in New York. The most ridiculous things we see are what we use to write songs, and we touch a lot on religion, a lot on race and people just getting along together. You know, just letting everyone do what they want to do and being OK with that.
How do you find time to practice, perform and create new music while working at your other occupations?
We really don’t find much time. This will be our first show since June or July. Since we are all doing other work we really have to align everything far ahead. Like when we record, we only record once or twice a year, and we have to get it done in three days. So we will just work for like 15 or 16 hours a day to get it all done. We try and make the best use of the little time we have. When we have a show, we’ll just get a van and pick up Brad from the airport. On the way there we’ll talk about if we’ve forgotten anything and discuss it in the van. It’s interesting because then you have two or three guitarists battling it out on stage and it makes the show a lot more fun. I mean it’s just a big rock and roll circus.
How influential has Tuscaloosa and Alabama been in making your music?
We touch a lot on religion and race, and we’ve got a few songs addressing both of those subjects. Within the band we’ve got such a diverse group of people and somehow we all get along. We’ve got Christians and atheists in the band, but we’re able to have the deepest conversations and still come out as friends on the other side. I think it boils down to we’re all good people. We want the best for our friends, families and world in general.
How does it feel to be returning to Tuscaloosa?
It is awesome. We always have a blast in Tuscaloosa. As we get older, less and less people know about us so hopefully we can get younger folks out and listening to rock and roll. It just doesn’t seem like people are interested in rock and roll anymore. It does get harder and harder to play to less and less people. When we are playing we have an absolute blast, and we’re probably the ones having the most fun in the room.
