All Forces ready for action!

Hey everyone!  Hope you're enjoying the weekend. I think Spring has finally sprung in New York City, and I'm totally ready to go on a long walk as soon as I get this post up. All Forces (formerly Gold Streets) is playing the Hearts Bleed Radio showcase on 5/8/13 at Cake Shop, along with LUFF, Big Quiet, and Corita. The band consists of Norman Vino (guitar/vox), T Almy (drums/vox), Gizella Otterson (bass), and Johnnie Wang (guitar/vox). I sat down with Norm via Facebook chat.  Here's the transcript:


Hearts Bleed Radio: I think Gold Streets was one of the first really good small bands I saw when I moved to NYC in like, 2007. You guys were a three-piece for years. When did the band start?

Norm: About 8 years ago... I hadnt been in a band since college and was desperately looking for some kind of creative outlet... And started replying to a bunch of different Craigslist ads. Everything from singer songwriter stuff to metal, to whatever... Really just to see how I measured up... Met some really crazy people and found myself physically scared a couple of times...

HBR: Haha, yeah... There are some weirdos on the olde CL. But eventually you ended up meeting T and Gizella?

Norm: Yep. Just listed a bunch of stuff I was into.... Everything from The Pixies to Apex Twin and met a couple of great musicians. Then Gizella answered and it turned out that she worked around the corner from me in Manhattan... We wound up jamming for a couple of months once a week and new right away that we were creatively compatible. We're both self taught musicians and right of the bat were coming up with some really fun stuff.

HBR: So fast forward to the near present, you added Johnnie Wang on guitar... What led to his addition?

Norm: We've been friends for years upstate... Fell out of touch for a while, then linked up for a few shows in New Paltz. He wound up moving to Brooklyn and we decided to have him jam with us, then guest with us for a few live shows. And then one thing led to another. We started writing together. He has an amazing ear and is a fantastic guitar player. Way more technically fluent then Gizella and I.

All Forces prepare for the photo shoot...

BROOKLYN

last night rocked! we always have decent turnout and a good time playing at bruar falls, and last night was the best yet. we were worried that the true jacqueline might not make it down in time from massachusetts, but they made it ok. most of justice of the unicorns was stuck upstate due to hurricane irene damage, so russ played a solo set to start off the night. he was good given the circumstances, but i was really looking forward to hearing the whole band. hopefully i'll be able to catch them sometime soon.

tru-jac played a really good set as the crowd grew a little bigger, and by the time gold streets went on, the place was really hopping. gold streets were one of the first bands i saw when i moved to brooklyn 4 years ago and they are super nice and always put on a good show. they've been working on a new recording and we can't wait to give it a listen.

we played a pretty good set, i think the philly set was the best we've ever played (and there was no one there to see it!), but thursday in noho, and last night at BF were really solid. gavin had a little guitar trouble, which lead to me attempting to play (and f'ing butchering) the solo in "red car", and we played "love is a losing game" without him, which meant we skipped the guitar solo, which sucks, cause i thought it was awesome. honestly, i didn't know how it would work covering that song, i think we really kinda made it our own.

setlist:

helen of troy
holy bones
omg
red car
sleeping contest
secret show
love is a losing game
sea + enemy
meditation
free love

we had a blast on this little mini tour, but sadly, our days of playing together as a real working band are coming to an end. we are going to put out a 5 song ep over the next couple of months and play a release show for that. jeff and i will keep the planes going, but we're going to need a new bassist and guitarist, as sacha and gavin need time to pursue other endeavors. the four of us have had a wonderful time playing together, thanks in no small part to the mountains of support that we've gotten from all of our friends and fans out there.

people ask me why i still play music after years and years of work with no real commercial success. the answer is that i do it for all the other bands out there who put up countless hours of work for fleeting moments of glory, and for all the people who come out and spend their time and hard earned money supporting unknown acts in tiny bars because they understand that a community is a machine and even the smallest part is necessary to the function of the whole.

if you're a musician out there, on hard times, and someone out there asks you why you still do it, tell them you do it for me. i'll meet you at a show in the stratosphere. i'll buy the first round.

-steve