Interview with Good Times Gone

This is pop punk promotions with an interview featuring Good Times Gone.
Interviewed by: Branden Whitehead

  Good times gone is a Rock n' Roll band from Mokena Illinois, you can check out their music here!  http://www.smarturl.it/Battlelines

TIPPP- How long has Good times gone been a band? And where are you guys from?

GTG- We've been a band for a little over 5 months. But we're not unfamiliar with the local scene as both of us have come from pre-established bands around here. So with that we were able to gain 1,500+ fans in such little time.

TIPPP- How did the members of GTG come together to form the band?

GTG- Well I was from a band called Jaded for 5 years and when we kind of went 'inactive' for lack of a better word, I wanted to start a new project. Steve had been doing the solo thing for a while so I came to him and asked if he'd like to be a part of my new band idea. He quickly said yes because he always wanted to work with me at that point so I only found it fitting!

TIPPP- What type of music would you say you play? And what makes it different and sets you aside as unique from other bands?

GTG- We've decided to just call us Rock n' Roll. But if you wanted to be technical, I think Garage Punk Rock works too. It's like if you took the 90's greats Green Day and Foo Fighters, and threw in some old school rock like Chuck Berry and The Kinks. It's a sound that really isn't too popular around local Chicago which is why I love it. We still technically fit into the pop punk category, but it's not like all the other pop punk. Everyone (in my opinion) seems to want to sound like The Wonder Years, or The Story So Far or something like that where to me, it's really all starting to blend together locally. If anything we take you back to 90's pop punk.

TIPPP- How has the release been going for your new EP Battlelines?

GTG- It's been awesome. Everything we've heard so far has been positive reviews. I think 7/10 has been the lowest it's gotten. Digitally it's doing really well and as far as physical copies, we ordered about 50 of them to sell and by the time our CD release-ish show happened 3 days later, we already sold 20 of them. Small numbers compared to professional bands but for us that's a huge honor to be able to have people enjoy our music on CD especially in the age of pirating and digital downloads.

TIPPP- What are your plans for the future as a band?

GTG- I want this band to be one of the biggest bands on the planet.

TIPPP- What has GTG been up to in the past few months? (Shows,tour,recording)?

GTG- Well we've really played shows and wrote/recorded 'Battlelines'. We've played I think 9 shows since April and that will continue on further. Most of the shows we've played actually have been bigger shows. Nothing less than 50 people it's pretty awesome. We've also had the honor of playing with New Found Glory, Cartel, You Me and Everyone We Know, as well as some other kick ass local bands. It's really been a great way to start off the new band.

TIPPP- What can we expect to see from GTG in the future? (Shows,tour,recording)?

GTG- We actually just are focusing on live shows at the moment. If you're into pure rock and roll you should really come out to see us one day. Pay close attention to our facebook page @ facebook.com/goodtimesgoneil to find out when we'll be playing around you. But our next BIG show is in Milwaukee at the Rave November 1st with Mayday Parade, Man Overboard and Cartel. It's really going to be a kick ass show.

TIPPP- When the band plays live do you have live members or is it just the two of you?

GTG- Me and Steve are the only 2 official members at the moment. We've gone through a few drummers including my old bands drummer for the summer Mike, who has played the majority of the shows with us and did the drums on the EP. He recently went back to school so we're kinda in the search of a permanent drummer but we have a few in mind!

TIPPP- What has been your favorite show that you guys have played?

GTG- Our favorite would probably have to be one of our show at Centennial Lanes in Tinley Park, IL. It was probably in front of 80-100 people and just everything was awesome. We had a circle slow dance pit, where we got fans to open a pit but instead of moshing, we had them slow dance with a partner. It was during one of the Stanley Cup games, so we played a snippet of Chelsea Dagger. What was fun about that is then 10 minutes later I asked if there was a score yet, I was told no. So I then shouted "well go hawks!". Right after I said that they scored the first goal so we played Dagger again and the fans went nuts. People screamed back the words to Green Day's Basket Case to us when we covered it. It was just a great atmosphere.

TIPPP- Your least favorite show?

GTG- I really don't think we have a least favorite show yet. All of the shows we've played have gone really well and not many bad things have happened. Not to sound like I'm tooting my own horn, because all bands have that one bad day, but luckily we haven't had ours yet!

TIPPP- What's the bands favorite thing to do outside of music?

GTG- More than likely we'll be eating pizza. From Nonnas. Or Beggars.

TIPPP- Is there anything else you would like to mention or say?

GTG- Be sure to check out Battlelines if you haven't already! It's got a little bit of everything! From pop punk, to rock and roll, to a piano ballad and a bit of doo-whop! You can get it online at Itunes, Amazon, Spotify, really any of the big digital retailers for just $5! Also be sure to come check us out in Milwaukee with Mayday Parade November 1st, 2013! We won't disappoint you!