Co-written by Tyler Burkett and Max Bryan
Last Friday, KC based band Strawbilly rolled on into the KJHK station to answer a few questions concerning musical influences, craigslist, and more! Check out the highlights down below and don’t you forget to keep it locked!
T: What kind of music do you make and who’s it for?
Jock: Well we make it for the people. We’re all musicians. Lifers. We got together to make some country music. That being said, the music we’re producing isn’t completely country. We have all kinds of influences. I come from a metal punk background.
Husky: I come from a hard punk hard core background.
Jock: We bring influences from all over but keep one foot in country.
Rich: The others are all in rock… punk… all over. We keep it traditional but still sound like ourselves.
Tyler: How did y’all get together?
Jock: We’ve been playing for a long time.
Husky: This particular iteration of the band has been going for 5 years. I saw an ad on craigslist, and it all kinda just happened from there. I came from a hard rock background and always wanted to play country so I was nervous when I auditioned, and I saw Jock at the audition and we knew each other.
KC: I’d played with Jock before. Us two go back aways.
Rich: Tell ‘em your history Bronco.
Bronco: Well I moved in from Nashville and put an ad on craigslist and it happened.
Jock: we formed right before shutdown. We got together, had a couple practices, and had two shows under our belt before shutdown. We took out songs up until that point, the covers, and retooled everything. We had who knows how long to hone things down, write songs, we wrote two albums worth of songs in that period. We brought it to the studio, put some stuff out, and now we’re back in the studio making more.
Tyler: You got a wide range of backgrounds, how does that come together for what y’all want to make?
Jock: It’s a collaborative effort. Bronco has a library of lyrics from his past band that we work with. I’m a drummer but I think of myself as a theory guy. I teach at School Of Rock and I like to think about what’s behind the music. We put thought behind it.
Rich: We all get along, we try things together, and we make really cool stuff.
Husky: I’m pretty sure one of the songs on this record was written while Scott was in the bathroom.
Bronco: Some of these songs came in 3-5 minutes and it was done.
Jock: There aren’t many country bands in Kansas City right now, mostly cover bands. The country scene ebbs and flows and goes in and out but right now it seems to be just us right now.
Tyler: Is that a lot of pressure?
Bronco: Nah, not really.
Jock: We’re old. There’s not really pressure in fitting into the scene anymore. Now, we’re just playing to have fun. If you have fun with us, sweet!
Get ready to rock out and rock on with Strawbilly and the other bands this Friday, April 26th at Liberty Hall! Doors are @7pm and music starts @8pm! Get there between 7pm and 8pm to receive a voting wristband. Stay the entire time to vote for your top 4 favorite acts to advance to the Finals, which are Saturday, April 27th!