For those looking to explore music with a darker tone, Gainesville band GAUL is worth a listen. The band, which describes its sound as “blackened doom” and is composed of Derek (guitar/vox), Chris Hencher (bass) and Chris Vigilante (drums), is playing at the Atlantic this weekend. I sat down with Hencher to talk about the band’s experience.
Kirsten Chuba: How did you guys get started?
Chris Hencher: Our drummer and bassist met through a mutual friend and were playing in another band back in 2010 when our guitarist/vocalist moved to town and placed an ad on Craigslist looking for people to start a band. Drummer answers add, starts jamming with guitarist, bassist joins in after a few months, other band breaks up and voila, there you have it!
KC: How would you describe your sound?
CH: Blackened doom; we have a lot of varied influences but everyone seems to agree on blackened doom.
KC: You’re playing at the Atlantic this weekend — what can people expect from the show?
CH: Our drummer will break a lot of sticks, people will be getting buck, you will need earplugs.
KC: What has your tour schedule been like?
CH: We have toured the East Coast of the U.S. twice in the past three years. This year, we have focused more on weekend dates around Florida. This summer we've played shows in Orlando, Tampa, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. This weekend we are playing in Georgia as well as our show at the Atlantic, and this fall we will be playing Rotten Fest in Tallahassee and Destroyer Fest in St. Pete. We also have a little surprise coming up around Halloween.
KC: Do you have any albums out?
CH: We have two albums available via our Bandcamp page (GAUL.bandcamp.com). We are currently out of physical copies.
KC: What do you think of Gainesville’s music scene, particularly for local bands?
CH: Gainesville has some super rad live music venues and a lot of cute bands of varying styles, and we love to give them all hugs as often as we can!
GAUL will play at the Atlantic on Saturday, alongside bands Cave of Swimmers and Ceremonial Hammer. Doors open at 9 p.m. for the show, and tickets are $6 at the door.
Thanks for following along this summer! Know of any more local musicians or artists I should check out this Fall? Send Kirsten an email at kchuba@alligator.org.
