Bringing the Rock to Gainesville
Out of the many number of bands playing at The FEST every year, a good amount of them come trickling down to our neck of the woods from other areas for the growing music festival. One of these bands, Thunderlip from Wilmington, North Carolina, were kind enough to answer some questions about their experiences in Gainesville and what brought them to The FEST in the first place.
Hey guys. It’s been a while since I last spoke to any of you. How’s the band and everything up in Wilmington?
Things are going well. We are currently taking a break from touring. We spent most of the summer on the road to support our new album, The Prophecy. It’s our second full length, and we’re super stoked to finally have it done.
Now I know you all played at last year’s Fest. Have you guys played in Gainesville before then or was that the first time here?
We’ve played Gainesville a few times. It’s always great to hang with our bro’s from Young Livers and Building the State!
I’m not familiar with Young Livers, but I do know Building the State. How’d you meet them?
We met those jerks in Wilmington. They had a show booked at a local dive here in town and we were booked as the local support for those lads.
It’s really great to know you all are supporting one another out there in your respective local scenes. Speaking of local music, how would you compare Gainesville’s music scene to the one in Wilmington?
The two towns actually share a lot of the same things.What did you all expect coming to Gainesville and how did it compare to your first impressions?
Well, I have been a fan of Gainesville for some time now. My old band, Fire Parade, came through a few times and I always had a blast playing here. I am always stoked too when I find out we have a show booked in Gainesville.
What brought you all to The FEST in the first place, and what made you decide to come back again for this year?
The FEST is a killer time. We have all been fans of No Idea for some time, so we wanted to be part of The FEST. Those guys put together a killer group of bands for every show. It’s an awesome time and three days to party!!
Speaking of partying, any fond memories made while in Gainesville?
A memorable moment was July Fourth, 2005! We partied hard at the old BTS house. It was their last week at the house, so the whole house was completely trashed by the end of the day! Roman candles were set off in the house, fixtures were ripped off the wall; tour support was born!
It really isn’t a party until Roman candles are thrown into the mix. So what’s tour support?
Tour support was Chris and Matt from Young Livers. They created this idea that they would follow us the rest of our tour in their van with a keg of beer for every show.
Very good thinking.
It lasted for three shows. Matt got so drunk that he got ran over by Kyle in the BTS van. Once we got him all cleaned up, we went to a McDonald’s to eat. When we went outside to get in our van, we found that our van had been broken into, and all of our cash was stolen.
Wow. That sucks hard. I’m sorry to hear that. What did you do?
Tour support and BTS went on a bounty hunt while we stayed around to talk to the cops. I know this is a little weird, but it just came to my mind while thinking of good times in Gainesville.
Will you guys be back for next year’s Fest?
If there’s room on the bill, we will be there!
Hopefully they’ll invite you guys back for many Fests to come.
Well, thanks again for the interview and I’ll see you at The FEST!
You can check out Thunderlip atmyspace.com/thunderlip for songs and more info.