Interview With…
Keith White from STACK
Most people will remember Keith White from his days in Subtrain, Jesus Freaks, and most notably, Thousandfold. These days he’s the guitarist of the brand spankin’ new group, STACK. Keith was nice enough to step into the Smoke Shack, take a toke or two, and tell us what he’s up to. 1. First, tell us all about STACK; who’s in the band, where you all came from, and who decided on STACK for a band name?
Garrison vocals, Bob Watkins Guitar, Me guitar, Steve Burgess Bass and T Square Drums. Garrison is from Ohio, I’m from North Carolina, Bob is from Nashville, Steve is from West Virginia and T Square is from Kentucky. How we got the name was kinda funny and unexpected. We had been thinking and trying to come up with a name and it was just a mess from the get go. Pages and pages of band names swarmed that studio. Then, when we least expected it, our manager, “THE” Rose McGaffney, came to Nashville for a visit and all of us sitting there listening to what we had recorded at the time and Steve’s wife suggested STACK…just out of nowhere and we were like…YEAH, That’s it!!!!! The name STACK was born.
STACK
2. Why did your singer settle on the name Garrison rather than ‘The Singer Formerly Known as
When Gary and I were in Thousandfold, I used to call him Garrison for fun. Like a nickname. Once we started jamming with these guys, they would hear me call him Garrison and then they started calling him that and it kinda stuck. Mind you, we don’t call him that all the time. You should hear what he calls us.
3. I see you guys are intertwined with Thundershack Studio. Tell us a little about that and how that partnership came to be.
We got involved with Thundershack through our bud Neil Logdahl. He knew Bob from the Wheelie days. Bob was building a studio and by the time we were ready to record, Neil had suggested we give Bob a call. So we started recording the Thousandfold CD at Thundershack. That’s how this whole thing really got started.
Brodie Hutcheson (on right)
4. What’s it like working with Brodie Hutcheson and would he be considered the ‘Yoko’ that tore Thousandfold apart?
Working with Broadie is awesome. The guy is so focused on tone, drum sounds, just everything. He’s just a really focused individual. When he’s in the zone, and you can tell when he is, you just be quiet and let him do his thing. He doesn’t roll his eyes if you’re taking a long time to get a part done. He just let’s you know “we’re rollin’”. I mean, this guy has been there, done that, and with a guy like that at the controls, you can’t lose. Top notch guy and we wouldn’t be sounding the way we do without him. Broadie’s the Shit!!! Not Yoko. He had nothing to do with Thousandfold breaking up.
That’s a whole other story.
5. Our readers are very familiar with Gary, oops Garrison, and yourself. Tell us a bit about Terry, Bob, and Steve.
Terry, Bob, and Steve played with Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies back in the day. Real hard working and very dedicated to whatever they’re into. It has been an awesome experience to play with these guys and record a CD with them. Terry really knows his craft. I’ve NEVER played with a drummer who didn’t mind playing in the pocket and make it sound like he’s not. Of course, when he’s not in the pocket, all I can say is WOW, that’s bad ass. Solid all the way around and a pleasure to play with. Steve is the only bass player that I haven’t had to suggest a part to or anything. Everything he does is perfect. Tone for days and a real class act. Funny as hell too. King of the one liners. Bob, well, what can I say? The guy produced the CD, he’s a hell of a guitar player and just a real likable guy. He has the most unique way of coming up with guitar solo’s and his tone makes me sick…nah, just kidding, he’s so fun to be with and work with and that goes for all three. Just a real pleasure and they’re encouraging as hell. I couldn’t ask for better bandmates.
6. It seems as though Nashville is starting to really get noticed on a national level for rock music. What do you think is the cause of this and what could be done to further the cause?
Someone likes what they hear, I guess. I think that there are a lot of good bands in Nashville. It’s inevitable that someone gets noticed. If you got good songs and get out there and play your ass off, I believe a lot more bands will get noticed. But then again, it’s a game and we’re all wanting the same thing. To further the cause means hard work.
If one is dedicated to it and willing to go the extra step, there will be more bands getting recognized by the industry.
7. You’re playing on February 10th at The Rutledge. Will this be STACK’s first show and what can fans expect from your live gig?
This will be our first gig and I don’t even know what to expect but good Rock N Roll. Fans can expect some real rockers and a couple of slower tunes. Maybe a cover or two for fun, but that’s just it, we’re a fun band. Not poppy, flavor of the month type jive, just straight up Rock N Roll. It’s that simple. Another thing people can expect is we’ll have our debut CD available THAT night. Our first gig and we have CD’s. Pretty cool huh?
8. Okay, word association time. I throw out a name/word and you tell me the first thing that comes to your mind:
a. Brodie Hutcheson
Focusedb. Creeping Cruds
Real punk rockc. Andy Aquino
Super cool and gets us gigs.d. Pantera
Powere. Ligion
Getting noticedf. Aljon/102.9 The Buzz
Supports local musicg. Gibson Guitars
The best guitarsh. Marshall Amps
The best ampsi. NashvilleRock.net (Please, be gentle)
A good source for local music and the occasional drama on the message board. Gotta love it. I do.j. Thousandfold
Good while it lasted. A few things that should’ve been different but that’s the past.9. Please tell us your biggest ‘Disaster Gig’ story.
Thousandfold played a skate park once and I thought I had died and gone to hell. There was no sound, other than the little P.A. we brought with us. I can’t remember a lot of it because I didn’t want to relive that night. I do remember the only people that were there were the girlfriends from the other bands and the guy who was running the “bar”. Thankfully I had some beer in the car so at least I had something to do.
10. What is the most memorable gig that you’ve played.
That would with Jesus Freaks when we played the Cornerstone Fest. There was about 1500 people crammed in this huge tent and standing outside of it just going crazy. That gig, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. A real awesome show to say the least.
11. When you put out your second cd will you change your name to Double Stack with Cheese or do you think Dave Thomas will hunt you down with a spatula?
It will always be STACK no matter what. After all the names we went through, I don’t want to go through that again. And Dave’s dead.
12. Where do you see yourself and this band in 10 years?
I would hope that this band would explode and was able to keep it going 10 years down the road. I’ll definitely be making music and I think I can speak for everyone on that one. This band has musicians that live, eat, breath, shit music. So if STACK isn’t around in 10 years, we’ll all be making music on some level.
13. Last question, what’s your biggest gripe about
Really…nothing. I love it here. My wife and I toyed with the idea of moving back to North Carolina, but that didn’t last long. We love it here. She has a wonderful job and she’s doing well with that and I have something that I like to do too. There are a lot of good reasons why I love it here. I don’t see that changing at all. Besides, we just bought a house, so I’m here for at least another 5 years. It’ll go beyond that, I’m sure.
To check out more info on Keith & STACK, visit the following links:
www.myspace.com/keithwhite
www.myspace.com/stackband
To check out STACK live, make sure you attend their upcoming gig at The Rutledge on 2/10/07.
That’ll do it for this time.
Until Next Time, I’m out like logic in Georgia government.
Chris ‘Uncle Daddy Longlegs’ Czynszak
To reach Chris Czynszak e-mail at:
cczynszak@nashvillerock.net
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