Interview with Finneus Gauge

Finneus Gauge is Scott McGill on Guitars and Micro Jammer, John Buzby on Drums and Backing Vocals, Chris Eike on Basses, Laura Martin on Lead Vocals and Chris Buzby on Keyboards.

Finneus Gauge recently released their debut album 'More Once More' and are currently working on a follow up.

How would you classify your music ?

Scott : I would say it's progressive rock mixed with some fusion. I guess that's the closest I could get to describing it accurately, but it's still not the whole picture.

Jonn : hmmmm.... best way I could describe it is to say that it's intelligent, original,and refreshing........ complex yet accessible music that challenges the listener to take a chance and open their minds to a whole new musical experience. More than anything, I'd like to be able to think of our music as timeless - that it would be just as revolutionary 20 years from now as it might be today.

Laura : I don't, really!! Music is music. When people ask me to tell them what kind of music it is, I tell them that it's a blend of several influences, including jazz, fusion, and progressive rock. It doesn't really seem to fit well into any existing category.

Chris Eike : I would have to call it Jazz/Fusion with a bit of funk

Do you all have day jobs and if so what do you do ?

Scott : I teach music at a few colleges and high schools as an adjunct professor,teach music privately, and play freelance gigs(weddings,jazz gigs,theatre pit work,etc).

Jonn : I myself work as a Publishing Production Coordinator at Merck, a pharmaceuticals company known recently for products such as Pepcid AC, Propecia, and Crixivan.

Laura : I work full time in a retail music store.

Chris Eike : Yes. I currently work at Subaru of America (the car company). I train some of our Subaru dealers in Warranty policy and procedures. Lots O'fun!!

How did the band get together ?

Scott : I joined the band as a result of Chris Buzby hearing a rough demo of some of my Hand Farm material. We hit it off over the phone,and Chris Eike brought over a rough demo of Finneus Gauge material. We wrote a tune and played at our first rehearsal together, and that was it.

Jonn : In terms of my association with the band, I was actually still in college when my brother (Chris) called me up and asked if I would be interested in helping him record a couple of early demos over spring break. So I came home, learned two tunes and recorded them over one weekend's time.... but the chemistry that existed between my brother, Chris Eike and I was strong enough that we decided that we might want to make this a full-time band rather than just a project. I graduated school and came home, we were able to find both Scott and Laura, and the rest as they say is history.

Laura : I knew Chriz Buzby from the store; he was one of my customers. One day he came in to chat about some new gear he wanted to buy, and he mentioned that he was interested in working on a new project. I told him that I would possibly be interested in working with him if he needed someone to sing, and I gave him a tape. We kept in touch. A few months later, he had gotten the rest of the members together, and things were heating up, so he called and invited me out to a rehearsal. Everything clicked, and we haven't looked back since.

Chris Eike : To make a long story short, I had gotten together with Chris Buzby once or twice after he left his old band and we started working on some songs. Chris' brother Jonn came along after he finished up College and then we hooked up with Scott. Finally we got Laura and the rest is history.

What are your musical backgrounds ?

Scott : I have a B.M. in jazz performance/composition and a strong backround in rock as well. I also write what might be described as "modern classical music".I still take lessons for guitar and composition from Dennis Sandole(taught John Coltrane, Pat Martino, Randy Brecker among others).I like pretty much done well.

Jonn : as far as I can remember, I've always been involved with music, from the earliest days of music class as a preschooler, to my days in the Philadelphia Boys Choir from age 7-13, to being heavily involved in various groups and compositional classes in high school and college, up until today.

Laura : I come from a musical family and have been involved in creating and performing music all of my life. I have little formal training.

Chris Eike : I have been playing for about 14 years. I have played in many types of bands ranging from straight ahead rock to progessive metal and a bunch of other stuff in between. Within these past 5 years I have really started to take my music career more seriously. In '93 I started taking lessons from Dave Larue (Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse fame) and when he moved to Florida (mid 94) I had jumped teacher to teacher until finally hooking up with Scott McGill. Scott has really given me a solid direction in my music and a more complete concept of what I want to be as a player.

What kind of music do you like to listen to when your not playing ?

Scott : Lots of stuff. James Brown,Elliot Carter, Rage Against The Machine,and Pantera to name a few. I don't listen to music at home-always in the car.

Jonn : All types of different music.... no one particular style.... examples include King's X, Living Colour, Fishbone, Jeff Buckley, Gentle Giant, Seal, Jellyfish, XTC, Foo Fighters, Thin Lizard Dawn, Radiohead, Dada, Mr. Bungle, Faith No More, Pat Metheny, Bruce Hornsby, Phish, The Verve Pipe, and 311.

Laura : It depends on my mood. I don't listen to music that often, because for me it requires my full attention. I'm a big fan of David Sylvian, but don't listen to his music every day, because I need to be in a highly introspective mood in order to appreciate much of it. I love Joni Mitchell's Hejira album. I love Pat Metheney's Quartet. Steeley Dan; Aja. Sometimes in the evening I listen to Mozart; I especially enjoy his string quartets. It really just depends on how I'm feeling. Sometimes I'll just let it all go to the Rolling Stones or the MIGHTY Led Zeppelin when I want to ROCK! The other night we pulled out the Zep box set and listened to a bunch of it.
During the week I'm in a very loud, chaotic environment where people are playing musical instruments, often poorly, all day long, so many times when I get home I really don't want to hear anything at all!

Chris Eike : Just about anything. I love to listen to just about anything like Thelonious Monk, Miles, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Mingus,Tribal Tech, Weather Report, Jaco, Rage Against the Machine, Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse Band, etc.

What do you do to relax ?

Scott : Relax-what's that! I do a little yoga, go to a good bookstore, have a good meal with my mates and a pint of Guinness, and study the Irish language.

Jonn: Just hang out with good friends and drink even better beer....

Laura : Drink vodka. Spend an evening at home with my husband. Meditate. Play around online. I'm also really interested in my family history, and I spend much of my free time working on that. I have my own website devoted to nothing but family genealogy.

Chris Eike : I hang out with my wife (I have been married for 6 years), play with my dog (Maggie the Mastiff), golf, Mt. Bike, etc.

If you had the chance to jam with any band, who would that be ?

Scott : I'd like to jam with James Brown and his band. It would be fun to play with Rage or Pantera too, or sit in with McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, and Vinnie Coliauta.
I would also like to perform with a symphony orchestra.

Jonn : well, it probably would have been Gentle Giant, Frank Zappa, or Mr. Bungle.....

Laura : Boy, there's a tough question and I really don't have a good answer for it! I honestly don't know. I think I'd have liked the opportunity to sing with one of the great Big Bands of the swing era, you know? THAT would be cool.

Chris Eike : That's a tough one....hmmm...I couldn't pick one.

Whats the best thing that has ever happened to you ?

Scott : Playing in front of 800,000 people opening for The Beach Boys and Jimmy Page.

Jonn : I was born. Otherwise, none of the other fun stuff would have ever happened to me.

Laura : Being born.

Chris Eike : Well I couldn't just name one so here are my top 3 in no special order :
1. Getting married to my wife
2. Hooking up with Dave LaRue (that was a big turning point in my life, musically).
3. Hooking up with finneus (yet another turning point in my musical career and one that keeps growing).

Whats the worst thing that has ever happened to you ?

Scott : Running in with the police when I was a kid. Got put on probation for a while.

Jonn : hmmmm.... whatever is was, it couldn't have been all THAT bad...

Laura : Being born.

Chris Eike : Too many to put on this list.

Who writes the songs ?

Scott : It's group effort that revolves around everyone's specialty. Chris Buzby and I handle the chord stuff, Chris Eike and Jonn Buzby handle the rhythm section, and Laura Martin handles most of the lyrics and vocal melodies. The arrangements are a group effort as well.

Jonn : - Why, Barry Manilow, of course.

Laura : We all do, working together. The others typically will come up with something, a phrase or a progression, and then it unfolds from there. I try to find spaces (and there sometimes aren't many!) between the cracks to hang a melody on to. Sometimes I bring tapes home and work out harmony parts for Chris and Jonn to sing, but on the next album most of the harmonies so far have been written by the person singing them. I write most of the words as we go, at the same time the music is being written.

Chris Eike : WE ALL DO!!!!!

Where do you get your Inspiration from ?

Scott : It's not deliberate for me. I don't see a sunset and get inspired to write a few bars. I think I am just inspired by music itself.

Jonn : I guess I get my inspiration from the daily events in life..... there's always some kind of music running through my head, and just being alive means that I have a chance to utilize that internal metronome.

Laura : Life stuff, mostly. Things that happen which either effect me strongly emotionally or that I find absurd or humorous.

Chris Eike : Our mood at the time, each other stuff like that (well that's how it is for me, it will be different for everyone else I am sure)

Who thought of the bands name and how did you choose it ?

Scott : I believe Jonn Buzby came up with it. It was there when I came aboard.

Jonn : The name was actually originally my idea, after taking an Intro to Psychology course during college which introduced me to the actual Phineas Gage. Gage was a construction foreman who had a tamping iron blast through his skull due to an unfortunate explosion. Gage survived the accident, but the brain injury radically altered his personality. He became indifferent to others, impulsive, at times grossly profane and lost his short-term memory. The idea is that our music has somewhat of a multiple personality and that it takes multiple listens to actually grasp the idea behind what we're doing.

Laura : I have no idea.

Chris Eike : Jonn suggested it and it sounded cool.

Which are your personal favorite songs and why ?

Scott : I like "More Once More", "Doogins", and "Finding the Strength" from the first c.d., and "One Inch Of The Fall", "Golden Pretzel", and "Open Up The Fog Lines" from the upcoming c.d.. I like all of them, but these have a special kind of energy for me.

Jonn : Basically, each new tune we write becomes my new favorite. Still haven't found one tune that we've written that I don't like, and we keep getting better with each one.

Laura : Don't know if I have any personal favorites. Each song has a particular meaning for me. I guess if I had to pick one, lyrically it might be "One Inch of the Fall", which will be on the next album. I wrote some of those lyrics as my father was dying and some after he passed away. He meant a lot to me, and I tried to express some of his ideas, and some of my feelings about his passing, in those lyrics.

Chris Eike : I don't have anyone favorite...I like playing them all!!!!!

Do you play many gigs and if so where ?

Scott : Not too many lately, but this will change upon the release of "One Inch Of The Fall". We try to make every show a special event.

Jonn : We haven't played nearly enough gigs yet to satisfy my desires, but we expect to play out much more often once the 2nd CD is released.... mostly, we've played in Pennsylvania, Baltimore, and New Jersey, but we expect to branch out a bit further in the near future and try to reach a larger audience.

Laura : No, we don't play as often as we would like, because we are all so busy.

Chris Eike : Not many, there dosn't seem to be much of a scene out here (in NJ/PA area).
We play in Maryland sometimes and every so often in PA.

What is your view of the music scene in (whereever you live) ?

Scott : It's pretty dismal. Mostly bad alternative rock and metal, and rehashed bebop.

Jonn : Unfortunately, there is not much of a music scene in Philadelphia, at least not in the original music sense.... this seems to be the case in most locales, since there is always a bit of resistance to hear something new and unfamiliar. However, this type of indifference to originality just makes all of us have to push a little bit harder in order to succeed and be heard.

Laura : It's funny. I'm in the thick of it, because I work in a music store and I meet so many musicians. But I'm totally divorced from it. This music is not Philadelphia music.

Chris Eike : I don't have much of a view since I don't get out enough to really comment (I stay home alot and try and practice as much as I can).

What bands would you say have had most influence on you ?

Scott : Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Allan Holdsworth, and Thin Lizzy.

Jonn : Honestly, that's almost impossible for me to answer.... I'm sure that every song, album, and/or band that I've ever heard has helped to shape my musical ideas in one way or another - whether it be positive or negative, everything musical still has had an effect upon me.

Laura : I'd say most of the classic progressive bands, as well as some of the rock, folk and country flavored artists who were oddly lumped in with them in the seventies. You can learn a lot about harmony from listening to Yes, but also from Pure Prairie League. Plus, my dad was a big band and a Louis Armstrong fan, so I heard a lot of those records when I was growing up. Louis Armstrong is one of my heros, and I heard so much of him when I was growing up that I guess I owe a lot of my style to his very casual but perfectly delivered vocal demeanor.

Chris Eike : See the question "What kind of music do you like to listen to when your not playing ?"

What are your plans for the future ?

Scott : We plan to reach more people with our music with the new release and keep developing as a unit. I also plan to release a second Hand Farm solo album called "Ripe" on The Laser's Edge Label at the end of 1998. It will feature Sean Malone(Cynic,Ever,Gordian Knot)on bass and Stick, and Vic Stevens(Bon Lozaga,Mistaken Identities)on drums. I plan to keep on practicing and studying to become a better player and writer as well.

Laura : To get out of debt.

Chris Eike : To play/make music.

Any last words or remarks ?

Scott : Thanks to everyone who has supported us, and many thanks to you Derek for this forum. We appreciate it!!!!

Laura : Just want to say thank you for asking me to participate in this interview.

Chris Eike : Thanks for everything!!!

You can listen to some clips by going to their website. http://ghostland.com/finneus.html