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An 8-piece band including a horn section, hip-hop artist and vocals by Liz Girard, Shotgun Soul is bringing funky soul music back to Detroit.
Talk about the evolution of your band.
Liz: We started as a four-piece cover band four years ago. At the time, I was stuck in the mindset that we would be a pop-punk band like Paramore. As we have evolved, we’ve added more pieces, started writing our own music and now we’re an eight-piece band that has an old school soul sound with a modern kick.
Steven, how did you go from rapping to singing in a rock & roll/soul band?
Steven: The definition of rap has always weird-ed me out. I’ve never been a “rapper.” I’m more hip-hop, which has always been associated more with poetry and the expression of society railing against the government. I came out of listening to guys like Public Enemy, who used live bands. I took some vocal lessons and here I am.
There are a lot of Detroit bands with a somewhat similar sound to yours. Do you find yourself competing with them?
Liz: Not at all! We’re inspired by them.
Steven: If anything, we’re in competition with ourselves. Seeing anyone show “hard work and dedication,” it makes us want to work harder. We’re not the band that hears great music and stews, debating how to destroy the competition. We go, “Wow, they’re awesome! Where can we get their CD? Let’s book a gig with them!”
In your opinion, what’s the biggest hurdle to making it in this city?
Liz: There are so many bands in this city. A single music fan is getting 18-20 gig invites a day. You have to convince that fan to come to yours. But, there is a solution to that problem. We have to keep playing consistently, putting good music out, interacting with our fans on social media and somehow find our way into those niches with other bands. Specifically, we have to interact with bands who are doing better than us, have a good fan base and a similar sound.
What’s the coolest gig you’ve played so far?
Liz: We won a contest to play Hash Bash. There were well over 5,000 people there who had so much energy. That was pretty cool.
Steven: Chene Park was also really sweet. There were 5 great bands playing in the heart of Detroit. We had no anxiety and I felt us really identify with the crowd. That was one of those moments where we clicked as a band.
Liz: That day was really powerful because there was such a huge group of people in the middle of Detroit. We were all there, celebrating great music and having fun. It was just love and really symbolic of the heart of this city.
You all are very passionate about the city. Share some thoughts about what you’ve experienced in Detroit as a band and individually.
Liz: There’s a lot of really special people who are in their 20s and 30s doing awesome things in Detroit. There’s one photographer, Joe Gall, who went to Brush Park and brought all his friends. They cleaned it up and turned it into a BMX park. Now, instead of this crappy area where people are shooting up heroin, kids can go and ride their bikes.
Jason: We go to our studio downtown and nobody looks at us wondering, “Who are these white people?” Everyone treats us fine, which is not what the media portrays. There’s money to be made in dissonance but the people who are in the city aren’t like that.
What’s coming up next for Shotgun Soul?
Liz: We are releasing an LP in November. We also have a music video that is ready to go, but we’re waiting to release it until about three weeks before the LP goes out.
What’s the best part about being in this band?
Liz: One thing I’ve always said and try to remember is that I have music to go home to. We all have day jobs that we hate. I work in insurance. It’s stressful but at the end of the day, I can go home and jam with my band. That’s such a gift.
Steven: We just have this overflow of creativity. We have to do this, which I think is a good way to be. I’m a slave to the music. If it’s 3 a.m. and I come up with a tune, I have to write it down.
Liz: I spend most of my lunch hour in my car, writing lyrics and music. It never stops. We want to put on a show and entertain people. We are the kind of band that wants to make fun music for all people. We want you to dance, rock out, feel the music and have great energy. If we’re not sweating our asses off by the end of the show then we haven’t done our job.
Steven: When we’re performing, being in 3-D is a given but we want to take it to the next level and be in 4-D.
Check out Shotgun Soul Aug. 30 at Arts, Beats and Eats, 3:30 p.m. on the Budweiser Stage.
