The Rich Hands

     San Antonio’s The Rich Hands sound like early Rolling Stones covering Buddy Holly with a bit more dirt and fuzz collected around the edges, which serves in adding warmth and charisma to the music. What separates these three lads from the rest of the hungry pack is the genuine, hearts on their sleeves style approach to their music. At first listen to their dazzling LP, Dreamers, on Fountain Records, you can tell they take their craft seriously. With all the overproduced electro pop rubbish floating around youth culture lately and things getting worse with each passing year, knowing there are bands forming out there like The Rich Hands help me sleep soundly at night. The future of Rock N’ Roll rests safely in Rich Hands!   

Interview by Jay Castro

Please introduce yourselves and how you give to The Rich Hands.

NICK: I'm Nick and I play drums. 

MATT: My name is Matthew and I play bass for The Rich Hands. 

CODY: I'm Cody Mauser. I play guitar and do the main vocals.

Where are you all from originally and how did you all meet and decide to play music together?
CODY: Nick, and I are from San Antonio and we met when we were in high school through our mutual friends. We decided to play music together after we found out we all play an instrument and liked the same things.

Where did the band name come from?

MATT: Cody's heart. 

NICK: Cody's dome. 

CODY: No crazy awesome background just wanted something that sounded good and The Rich Hands stuck. 

I detect in your music traces of fellow Texans 13th Floor Elevators as well as Buddy Holly. Are these in fact influences in your music or am I totally off the mark?
MATT/CODY: No you're pretty close too it because we love Roky and who doesn't like Buddy? Although, our dynamic has changed since the first album so expect something a little bit heavier but in a good way!

NICK: We like a lot of music so influences change on a daily basis for us. That also means our sound changes a bit too! It's pretty sweet.

In 2012 you guys told The San Antonio Current that Austin was more welcoming to the band than San Antonio was. Is this still the case or has the San Antonio crowd warmed up to you guys more lately? 

ALL: The crowd here has definitely become more solid and I think more and more people want to hear what we have to offer. It's definitely warming up. We try to bring as much as we can to San Antonio to give more diversity to the city. Whether it's from bringing touring acts or friends from out of town to putting on mini festivals, we like to keep things fun and different. We have to remember that Austin is still a great place to be heard because a lot of people in Austin are willing to listen to it once. I think it's hard to be a band in San Antonio that isn't "metal" or anything along the lines of that genre. 

In that same article, The San Antonio Current called you guys “Mature and Unified”. These are pretty rare adjectives used to describe young Rock N’ Roll bucks like yourselves. I’ve never seen you guys live, but just listening to your music that description doesn’t sound too far fetched.  Do you agree with that depiction?  

MATT: Yea sure. I mean we're pretty stupid and immature when we're by ourselves. You should see our text chain, but we know how to be mature when we should be until we drink too much. 

CODY: Definitely we take ourselves serious but not too serious to where we don't have fun.

NICK: We like to have fun. That's why we do this. Then there's the business side where we have to be serious for a bit. 

I don’t like using the term “guilty pleasure” just because I don’t think people should be ashamed by anything they really like. With that being said, do you guys listen to anything that some of your fans would be surprised by?

MATT: I still throw on Taking Back Sunday or Brand New. Not ashamed. 

CODY: I like ELO, but I'm ashamed

NICK: I like Ja Rule and old Fifty Cent. Not a biggie.

What’s been the most unforgettable show you’ve played, good or bad and what made it so memorable?
MATT/CODY: The first time we ever made it up to Caldwell, Idaho was one of the coolest things we done ever did. Look up "The Rich Hands Caldwell, Idaho" on YouTube and you'll see how crazy and fun it was. 

NICK: Boise/Caldwell is always a blast but I will always remember any and all our Atlanta shows. Those guys know how to party.

When you guys aren’t causing a ruckus in the San Antonio area, what kinds of things do you enjoy doing, any hobbies or interests outside music?

MATT/CODY: That's pretty funny actually because we don't do anything else but work. We work 5 days a week and pay bills. 

NICK: Yup, we just work all the time. I play in another band but that's about all we do.

Where are the best places for people to hear or buy your music?
ALL: The best place would to be from us personally or through Michael Monte at Fountain records. We have tons of merch on us so just ask and we'll hook you up with what you need.

What does the band have in store for us in the near or not so near future?
ALL: We'll be putting our single out hopefully in a few weeks and our new record "Out of My Head" will be released on May 6th! After that we'll just keep writing and touring and trying to get the music out there to those who haven't heard us yet.

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Sonnyskyes

Can weathermen inspire a longtime musician to break out on his own and start his own labor of love project? Well, yes and no. “I felt a kinship to [weathermen] because they perform alone.” Even though the LP The Imaginary Friend Ship was record entirely by himself, Sonnyskyes has enlisted some friends to help him perform his brand of stripped down lo-fi garage pop that ranges from 13^th Floor Elevators psych to early 60’s fuzzed out pop live. The debut LP The Imaginary Friend Ship from Sonnyskyes took three years to complete, but has very quickly gathered attention in LA Record, led to shows with Lovely Bad Things and Burger Records agreeing to release the cassette version of the LP.

Interview by Ed Stuart

Who’s answering the questions?

Mike Smith

Where is the band from?

Long Beach, CA

Who is in the band and what instrument do they play?

Sonnyskyes is my personal recording project.

When I do play out, I have a great backing band: Jonny (guitar) and Kevin (drums) from the Crystal Antlers and Josh Teague (bass).

How did the band start?

I have been recording music since high school. My sketches would be handed over to one of the bands I played in and reinterpreted. I am no longer in a band. So, I decided to really get into the recording process and the concept of Sonnyskyes was born.

Originally the band was called Sonnyskyes & The Telepathics. Why did you decide to drop the Telepathics part?

Sonnyskyes is my weatherman name! I felt a kinship to them because they perform alone. I love the idea that weathermen “predict” the weather. So, the Telepathics was what I called my imaginary band.

Since you have played in bands before, was going solo and recording every instrument yourself liberating musically or far more pressure or both?

Liberating yes! But I had to be disciplined which meant I put a lot of pressure on myself. I had to get in the mindset of each instrument and member of The Telepathics. For example, I would define what the Sonnyskyes bass player would do on a given track.  Then I would pretend I was that bass player, lean against the wall, pretend I had a cig hanging out of my mouth and lay down the bass line. I guess every instrument that was not vocals or guitar I had to define parameters for that member of and stick to the script.

What made the final decision to just go ahead, record everything and self-finance the LP yourself? That’s a big decision and commitment? What was the timeframe of the entire process for the LP from the start of the writing to the first press of the LP?

The project took almost 3 years to wrap up.  I worked so hard for so long I felt just a digital release did not do it justice. It became my baby and I only wanted the best for it!

It is a piece of art to me.

At any time during the writing process, did you miss the collaboration that does happen with a band?

Actually no! However once I started rehearsing the songs with friends to play a few shows… I realized how much I missed it! Collaboration through music is kind of unique as opposed to other art forms… not many people get together and abstract paint.

I was reading on the Let’s Die Friends blog, that you were recording bass and drum tracks at lunch? If this is true, how did you not get in trouble? Also that’s pretty cool that there is an available room at your job to lay down tracks.

While recording the “The Imaginary Friend Ship”, I had a band room at work. I would come in early and mic the drums, lay the tracks down at lunch and then eat at my desk.  Sometimes I would record after hours or on weekends too. I also would record vocals there. It was much better than singing in my spare room at home for all my neighbors to listen!

Currently on Bandcamp, Sonnyskyes LP is available in entirety for free. Is there a reason for this? Is a limited time deal?

I actually paid $20 so I have 1000’s of free downloads.

I love this record and I want people who want it to have it.

LA Record wrote, “Sonnyskyes revels in a fresh presentation that eschews predictable and traditionally packaged rock music for a more untutored, irreverent palate. The album wears its lo-fi sensibilities proudly on its sleeve.” Now that the LP is out, how do you feel reading that first batch of reviews that is coming in?

Awesome! I have played in a few bands and feel like I really have not received this level of positive feedback before. My heart went into these songs and I feel that people can hear it!

Sonnyskyes has received some positive praise rather quickly. This has got to be rewarding. KCRW posted on their site about an early show with Lovely Bad Things, good review in LA Record and isn’t Burger Records putting out the cassette version of the LP? Not to mention the LP itself was showcased on the Pirates Press blog. This has got to be great after all the work?

Burger IS going to release a cassette! I pulled the Best Coast cover off the Burger version and replaced it appropriately with my Colleen Green cover. The response has been quite amazing! Pretty awesome considering it is just I recording tracks in my bedroom.

Sonnyskyes have a played a few live shows so far. At this point is this the direction the band is heading?

I am back to writing and recording new songs. This time around I plan on stepping up the production a bit… Maybe recording final drums and vocals at Jonny’s Cathouse Studio. I think it would be cool to record 4 songs and maybe 2 from the “Imaginary Friend ship” with the live band of pals.  All the while see about lining up some great shows.

Where can people hear the band?

Download album(s) on my bandcamp for free!

http://sonnyskyes1.bandcamp.com/

My soundcloud where I post more ideas and demos.

https://soundcloud.com/sonny-skyes

What’s next for Sonnyskyes?

I plan to just keep at it… for whoever cares to listen!

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