When Eric “Rikky” Gage isn’t being the front man for the stoner kings of White Fang, carefree pop group The Memories, or his own solo project Free Weed, he runs the sweet record label Gnar Tapes. He took a moment away from providing the world with cool tunes to answer some questions about the Gnar label, his fashion sense, and touring.
Boston Hassle: You were quoted in the recent article about Burger Records saying how important the Burger label is to you – what do you feel is so important about independent record labels?
Rikky Gage: I think the easiest answer is that it’s real. Real in that it’s there and people can access it and enjoy it as well as participate in it in a lot of different ways and on a lot of different levels. It creates an atmosphere.
BH: What inspired you to personally start up Gnar Tapes?
RG: Excitement. I just wanted to get involved! I was 18; I’m 25 now. I’m not sure what my exact motivations were but they changed and I evolved. Gnar evolved when more people got involved. It’s a thing bigger now than I could have understood at that point. I just wanted to make cool tapes.
BH: Are The Memories and your other projects inspired at all by the music scene in Portland? Are there ways that scene is unique from the places you have toured?
RG: Portland had a good scene when we started but we were just as inspired by touring. We were inspired by Marriage Records (RIP?) back in high school. But they did a lot of bands who came to hang in Portland and not live there. I was always really fascinated by that. Once I started traveling and seeing other cities and their scenes I was able to put Portland in a larger context. From that point Portland only inspired me in an auxiliary way. After 2009/2010 things changed and now it’s nothing like it used to be. It’s a tourist town now. There isn’t a solid scene anymore. We still have our house with the office upstairs but I don’t live in Portland anymore. I moved to LA but I’ve been on the road all year. I don’t even have an LA address. Our Portland house Gnarnia will probably get the RIP treatment sooner than later I think. The neighborhood is getting condos now. The famous food cart pod just got told they are tearing up the lot for more apartments. C’est la vie.
BH: What is the strangest, most bonkers tour story you have from recent tours?
RG: In New Orleans with White Fang last month I blacked out and spray painted some Gnar shit on the sidewalk and long story short we were being too loud and she punched her own window out and attacked us. I was passed out inside the van for most of it.
BH: White Fang is kind of a more hard rocking grungier band, whereas The Memories have a breezier pop sound going on – is that intentional and do you approach the songwriting for each band differently keeping these two sounds in mind?
RG: They are two different bands. White Fang is about partying and being wild and free. The Memories is about girls, love, and weed. We pull from different influences when writing but we choose where we put the songs after we wrote them.
BH: Who writes what in the The Memories and your other projects – who handles lyrics and who does instrumentation?
RG: I write the lyrics for The Memories and 80% of the time for White Fang. I also play guitar in a The Memories. Kyle plays guitar in both bands. Izak is on bass for The Memories and he also plays in BOOM! with Chris from Guantanamo Baywatch. The other guys in White Fang are Jerry Rogers and Unkle Funkle who also put out solo stuff under those names. I also do solo stuff as Free Weed. Kyle is solo as Fuzz Puddle. Me and Funkle have done vinyl and have more on the way this year. We team up a lot and have done joint solo albums. I do a lot of solo shit. Some people collect that shit. I’ve bought weed from Discogs sales quite a few times. We all are songwriters but I like lyrics the most.
BH: Is there any particular place that the music comes from or is inspired by?
RG: Fun and good times. The more sentimental of The Memories stuff is still playful.
BH: What is the songwriting process like, any notable song writing habits or rituals?
RG: Marijuana. Extreme comfort with recording setups and self explorations as an artist. And booze. Naw but seriously it just comes out. I spend a lot of time absorbing things and then I just use that stuff as fuel. The motor just runs and things come out.
BH: Are there any bands or artists, new or old, that you feel directly influence the music you make?
RG: That’s a tough one. In terms of approach and creating a world for people to enter; Ween. Ween and The Beatles.
BH: How do you pick the bands whose music you put out on Gnar tapes, is there a certain aesthetic or vibe that you aim for?
RG: You can just feel it. There’s a human element that we look for.
BH: There is a lot of interconnectivity with the bands on Gnar, a lot of bands are in each other bands, how does that affect the music being made?
Just as much as the food we eat and the water we drink. I can personally say that I just do what I do and the fact that everyone does their thing they like that is unique to them helps us all encourage each other to create our art truthfully in a way they represents what is cool about each individual. All of our bands are full of songwriters who have their own skills to bring to the adventure. I compare it to D&D a lot.
BH: Finally what advice can you give to someone looking to mimic your exotic and predominately puppy and hotdog printed wardrobe?
RG: Don’t be afraid to check the clothing aisles at Walmart. Fashion is sacrifice. *
Don’t miss The Memories when they come to Boston on the 31st (this Saturday!) for a stacked show with Gnar label buddies The Lemons, Boston faves Fat Creeps, and Miami Doritos.
