War Poets are Music Gorilla’s latest Featured Pro Artist Member.

After nearly a year of touring and releasing their first studio LP album, Dulce et Decorum Est, War Poets are back in the studio working on their new LP. This time, acclaimed Grammy-winning producer Joe Baldridge from Nashville has joined up with the band.

Music Gorilla: Like most artists you have noteworthy and cringeworthy material posted online. Here’s a chance to flaunt your best. Give them your top 2 links; no more, no less.
War Poets: www.facebook.com/warpoets   www.warpoets.net 

MG: What song are you certain should be played on the radio the day after the music industry reads your answer (pick one :))?
WP: Better Place

MG: Hypothetical: The industry wants your music, but they don’t want you or vice versa: How flexible are you in this imperfect, yet all too real-world scenario? Are you still listening or is it time for them to hang up?
WP: Very Flexible and I’m still listening.

MG: How long has your band been together? How many pieces? Are we talking “lifers” or “moonlighters”? If asked, do all critical components of your band have the ability to tour 300+ days per year, as of this question? Yes, that includes you solo songwriter people!
WP: 3 years, 6 piece, lifers, yes we can tour 300+ days a year

MG: For those of you not touring, what’s the real issue that stops you? Is it time? Finances? Family? A job?
WP: Touring requires financing and the obvious time commitment. Finances and job keeps us from touring more than 100 shows per year.

MG: What’s your greatest strength and your greatest weakness? Whether it’s time management, beer management, or tightening up your songwriting, or anything else that affects you, elaborate.
WP: Greatest strength is our commitment to writing songs about social issues we feels strongly about then recording and performing them as best as possible. Our weakness is some of us have jobs that prevent traveling as much as we want to. We still played coast to coast in 2014.

MG: A&R reps and established artists have attended the live showcases of Music Gorilla. We recall one where there were only a few people in attendance and we’re not sure the band knew exactly who was watching, because one of the 3 was a R&R Hall of Fame inductee. It was an interesting moment for us on this side of the fence, to see how it played out. Do you play the same for 3 people as you do for 300? Sure, it’s the energy from the audience that makes the gig more enjoyable, but it’s the energy on stage that creates the energy in the audience.
WP: We are committed to playing 110% all the time whether there’s no one in the audience or the venue is sold out. We’ve seen both. The greatest challenge sometimes is playing with a small crowd. We try very hard to generate enthusiasm no matter what the audience size.

MG: Look to the past, who’s your inspiration? What makes this question not boring? You can only name one. Warning: saying you can’t pick just one is entirely too hipster and unacceptable 🙂
WP: Bruce Springsteen. This is not boring because everyone has influences and ones they try to emulate.

MG: Give us your next year: Where are you? What are you doing?
WP: We want to tour coast to coast again, starting in late January, We’d like to start in Southern California and work our way to the east coast. We will release the third in our EP series of American issues, this one is called Searching for the American Dream.

MG: Here’s the real battle in this industry, everyone is so damn unique and many are so damn good and they’re making beautiful music, yet still you need to convince the masses or the few people who have the ability to get you to the masses, that you stand out even more. What is it that sets you apart? Why should they invest in you? What is it that you have that even the best of the others don’t? What is it that will make them demand an encore?
WP: We stand for principles that we believe should guide us in life. For example, we believe that too many people die as a result of gun violence. We believe there’s a serious income inequality problem in the USA and minimum wage should be closer to $22/hour. We believe that no one should be homeless in the USA and that true equality means financial security for everyone. We write, record, and play songs about these topics and more. Our music is very well written and we use the industry’s top producers and engineers to deliver the best product possible. We work with motivated PR people in NYC and LA. We have ideas, dreams, and visions and we’re not afraid to work hard to see them come true. What we have is purpose in our music and a reason to listen. We don’t do this to pontificate. We do this because we’re passionate about the music and the ideas of making the world a better place.

MG: Ok, so this wasn’t your run of the mill interview, anything you want to add? Add the stuff you wished we asked.
WP: We love interviews that give us the opportunity to talk about our mission. We will always be a band that believes that music matters and can influence people to reflect about their individual lives and how they’re doing. Thank you for this opportunity.