Buffalo Killers on Musical Authenticity and Fraternity
By Anthony Cammalleri
We recently sat down with Buffalo Killers’ Andrew Gabbard to talk about the band’s new LP, self-producing and BK’s creative process.
(photos by Erin Gabbard)
At a barn out in Howler Hills Farm, south of Dayton, Ohio, two brothers, Andrew and Zachary Gabbard, have a jam session with their longtime friends Sven Kahns and Joseph Sebaali. They plug in, turn on, and start howling psychedelic tunes into the night as they have done for years – just a group of lads laughing and making music together. The rock band Buffalo Killers recorded their eighth album Alive and Well in Ohio with mellow and harmonious vibes over the course of a year. No stress, no rules, and most importantly, no “faking it.”
Released this fall on Alive Naturalsound, the Gabbard brothers produced their new record with the sole intention of creating an authentic sound that stays true to their roots. According to Buffalo Killers guitarist and vocalist Andrew Gabbard, the band is more committed to playing with energy and passion than to engineering their sound professionally.
“I am not much of a gearhead. We’re not learned scholars of recording. That’s what we were excited about, to be able to have our hands on it [the album] and break the rules, because you can’t just do what you want when you’re paying to record at a studio,” Gabbard says.
Keeping their hearts and souls embedded in each track, the band, rather than layering their album drum-first, recorded songs on Alive and Well in Ohio with first a live track comprising all of the skeleton instruments, later on adding tracks for vocals or extra guitar spice. [CLICK HERE TO READ MORE]
