Listen to any song from The 4onthefloor's recently expanded discography - they just released their third studio album, "All In," in May - and you get the distinct impression that lead singer Gabriel Douglas and the rest of his band mates - Nate, John and Jake - are having one hell of a time stomping out their particular brand of straightforward blues rock - rock which is clear, if not clean, raw, if not ragged, honest without fear, steeped in simplistic beauty and free of pretention, devoid of suppositions about themselves and about the world.
Get the chance to talk to Douglas about his approach to life and music, and you get an even clearer picture of just why that is. The 4onthefloor website is rife with words like "immediacy," "soul," "merriment" and "humbleness" - if it were to be your first introduction to Douglas and Co. - as it was for those of us here at HNGN - you'd be hard-pressed not to form a certain opinion of the group and their intentions.
Douglas, speaking to HNGN recently via email, only served to further reinforce that opinion. He seems to be a man hell-bent on proving to the world that anything is possible - that hard work and a willingness to struggle and, perhaps even find a way to enjoy said struggle, is the only real path through which some kind of formless, abstract notion like "success" can be attained.
As Douglas himself intimates with blunt candor, if you want to write, write. If you want to sing, sing. If you want to dance, dance. And if you want to find yourself in a good place doing good things with good people, living your life the way you want to live it and enjoying all the ups and downs, ins and outs, highs and lows the world has to offer, well...I think you get the picture.
Is music a way of life, a job, a pastime? I'm sure the writing, the creating is fun, but the recording, the promotion, etc...does it start to feel like work at some point?
It is the hardest job I have ever shown up to every day. It is the only job and joy that I want to show up to every day.
Music is a way of life. It is a journey in life. It is a game changer constantly.
On "Workin' Man Zombie" you seem to pretty clearly be decrying the 9-5 existence - is that a lifestyle you felt you needed to distance yourself from in order to make music a reality?
If you want to play music for a living, you have to play music for a living.
WMZ is more about figuring out what your passionate about and then moving towards that. So many people think they have to show up to a dead-end, inanimate job every day to make their life "work out." It's the 21st Century, you can find a way to do what you love for a living, if you that's what you want to do.
DO IT.
Again, it seems like a big focus for you guys is being straightforward and accessible. Do you want your music to speak to anything in particular - "Don't Let The Darkness Eat You Up," "Exile" seem to point to deeper concerns of what I suppose you could term the human condition - or is it just about fun and enjoyment first, last and always?
Giving people a short burst of joy in the moments we share together is a hopeful engagement each night with the crowd. Music can be as primal or as intellectual as you want it to be. I write music that moves me, both musically and lyrically.
The human condition is a very real thing. It is beautiful. It is fleeting. I hope people feel alive when they see us play and when they spin our albums.
Having just released your third studio album, how has your sound evolved from "4x4" to "Spirit of Minneapolis" to "All In"?
We're not reinventing the wheel. But we're constantly circling the wagons, seeing visions in the campfires, and telling the traveling circus next door to turn it up or leave. And they usually leave. We'll steal some tricks from them, they'll take some unending love from us, and once a circus is with you, it doesn't really leave. You can take a bath, you can sleep well for 3 years, but that circus is gonna show up sometime or another. And every circus that we've had leave us, or we've left them, it's three rings of majestic beauty that you can attempt to bottle, bring into a studio, and get on tape. Evolving throughout all this three ring mayhem, we attempt to get that majesty on tape. All In is a fast and ferocious record for a reason. That's what we are feeling.
Do you feel your process of writing/creating changing? Is the band becoming more cohesive over time? Are the songs on "All In" more a reflection of your life now or do they still at times hearken back to an earlier iteration of the 4onthefloor?
You can't take back life. Every experience is in these cells you carry around. Writing/creating is constantly changing. I only know the English language though, there's only a certain number of chords I know about. Those finite writing tools do give you an anchor, but you can bring that ship to any shore. And every day I'm seeing new land on the horizon lines. I'm seeing new faces. I'm meeting new heart beats, I'm making new waves. And you have to realize the wake you leave as well. It's all part of living, it's all something to draw from and to curate into something you'll want to share every night with other people.
The 4onthefloor are based out of Minneapolis. They'll be at the Burning Cow Music Festival in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. this week and will be making an appearance at the World Food & Music Festival in Des Moines, Iowa in September.
You can find out more about The 4onthefloor at their website, 4otf.com, and you can check in with Douglas at his tumblr, GabrielDouglas.com.
