Photo by Devin Lunsford.
Birmingham-based band \GT// display their Southern heritage with psychedelic yet raw guitar riffs that float over the steady rumble of bass and drums. It is a sound that is sometimes anchored to the ground yet offering movement, like a train gathering momentum. Other times the anchor is pulled, and the sound floats up and away.
“There is something spiritual in these songs. Not religious. Something natural and definitely southern and spacey,” explained Scotty Lee, the band’s guitarist and singer.
Byron Sonnier, the band’s bass player, says there is a sense of movement throughout the band’s songs — and that movement is not by accident. It is the sound the three-piece is known for, the sound they found early on in their first days of practice, and it is the sound they carved out in detail during weekly practices. It is also the sound that has made them a mainstay in Birmingham’s local music scene.
“I feel like our songs are influenced by travel,” Sonnier said. “Not just visiting places but the physical movement.”
The trio have been writing songs and playing shows for three years. They have two EPs and they have toured twice. Currently, \GT// is preparing for their third tour this summer, which will be between two of Birmingham’s summer festivals: Happenin’ Fest on June 20 and Secret Stages, July 30–August 1. They are playing at both festivals.
\GT// started as an idea between Lee and Sonnier. Lee spent two years on tour with Birmingham bands such as Man or Astro Man?, Banditos and Marie Taylor. During that time he was writing songs for this project without knowing how it would come together.
“Byron and I were in [band] Giant Magic together, and I asked him to play bass with me,” Lee said. “I tried to start a band but it was way too big at first.”
The first attempt at creating the band, Lee says, had the potential to have at least seven people, and it was hard to get the project off the ground.
“I was trying to jump in too heavy, and then Mark [Beasley]’s name kept floating around because he was a drummer,” Lee said. “It became \GT// after we jammed the first time with Mark. That made the band. It was perfect.”
“Within the first few practices I knew that something good was about to happen,” added Beasley.
Just as their sound came together among the three members, the band’s dynamics as a whole helped maintain consistency through the years. Lee jokes that they are like a family.
“I guess Mark is the dad, Byron is the uncle and I am the kid,” he said.
The three coexist as friends, but one can tell there is a sense of brotherhood among them.
“We all learned to modify our styles to fit with each other,” explained Beasley. “It is really about us getting a feel for each other. We anticipate each other a lot more now.”
Band members confess there is always room for improvement. However all of them have a long history of playing music in punk and rock bands.
Beasley played in punk bands years ago and opened for performers such as Goo Goo Dolls, Dinosaur Jr. and Danzig. He quit playing when he started graduate school. However, he was convinced to start playing, again, 10 years ago and hasn’t stopped since. Now he balances his time as a musician and a professor at UAB.
Lee and Sonnier both started playing guitar when they were 14 years old. Sonnier transitioned to play bass for \GT//.
“I definitely approach playing bass from a guitar player’s perspective, but since we use tuning I’ve never used before, it’s almost like playing a new instrument altogether,” Sonnier said.
Just as the three members evolved musically, so have their goals as a band, which become more advanced with each barrier they crossed: from the first show, to getting on a record label.
Now the three-piece is preparing to tour and record for the third time. Sonnier explained that none of this seemed possible at the beginning, but all agreed it was a natural process.
“Of course our goals have evolved,” Beasley said. “When you get a band together you don’t even know if it’s going to happen. Then you start playing shows and you see it’s happening so you have to take the next step.”
The band’s goals have evolved yet again and are reaching out beyond the city of Birmingham. Sonnier said they are ‘transitioning from being known as a local band to just a band.”
This means they will be on the road more, playing out-of-town shows and stretching their fanbase outside of the city. This ties together the underlying sound of traveling and movement for the band as well.
“I want to stay on the road, and I hope people get the same thing out of it that we get out of it,” Lee said. “It’s real to us and hopefully it’s real to other people and it can sustain for as long we want to do it, which is forever.”
\GT// is on the record label Communicating Vessels, which Lee feels is just one positive aspect that is pushing their band as well as Birmingham’s music scene.
“There’s other hopes with our ventures coming up, and it makes it that much more valuable because it’s like we are working towards something,” Lee said. “We feel like there are more possibilities to make this a real thing, like we’ve got a small army behind us.”
“You got to have places to work that allow you to leave to tour, and Birmingham has that now,” Sonnier added. “Two record labels that are really pushing bands outside of Birmingham.”
\GT// will start playing fewer shows in town, but will represent Birmingham on the road.
“When you go on tour you see bands representing their cities and it’s lackluster,” Lee said. “It’s just stuff we’ve all heard before. It’s nothing new. Birmingham’s got this struggle vibe to it. Like we want to play our music because it’s coming from our souls.”
\GT// will be playing with Melt Banana and Droves at Saturn on June 2nd. Tickets are $12 and $14 day of show.
