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For some musicians, being part of a band is satisfaction enough. Other performers, though, have to lead the group and put their music out front for the public to hear. Thanks to his band, Big Hoke, having just released TOP, a new eleven cut disc, Lakewood keyboardist Justin Gorski is in the process of being part of the equation to calling the shots. Not long ago, OhioOnline music correspondent Peanuts swapped some thoughts with Gorski on how the transition from the back of the bus to the driver's seat feels. |
| OO: |
Let's start with your interest in music. |
| DM: |
"I was five years old and a woman who was my father's boss at the time was moving and had no place for her piano. She asked my family to take it and, at the ripe age of five, I was taking lessons and hating it. That lasted seven years until I started playing 1960's music, my favorite style at the time. I was also influenced by my music teachers and The Who."
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| OO: |
You've previously been with a couple name bands in the state. |
| DM: |
"The first was Tap The Bow, an Irish band that played traditional and non-traditional music. I was in that band while I was at St. Ignatius High in Cleveland and on and off through college in Dayton. Next was Gulliver's Traveling Medicine Show, a band down in Dayton, who won the Canal Street Battle of The Bands competition, plus opened for the Jerry Garcia Band. Next, I was with Michael Jantz and then Madison Crawl. All of these were great groups and I learned how to perform and maintain a band."
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| OO: |
Covers a lot of ground. So where are your musical influences? |
| DM: |
"Motown and great American songwriters like Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Tom Waits, plus people like Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Costello and the Beatles."
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| OO: |
With that in mind, what does TOP sound like? |
| DM: |
"I had two solo discs before this. First was very ethereal and low key. Next one had fiddles, banjo, horn arrangements, a roots rock sound. TOP is an amalgamation of the two and a little heavier on the rock end."
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| OO: |
Who would Big Hoke match up with in concert?
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| DM: |
"Anyone I mentioned as an influence, plus Wilco, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones. We can do a ragtime tune and punk song in the same set."
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| OO: |
Let's digress for a second. Where was TOP recorded? |
| DM: |
"Absolute Music Productions in Lakewood. It's about two years old and they put out some great commercial recordings. The band got together a couple times a week and took our time. When you are in the studio, you really don't know how an idea will turn out until you actually hear it."
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| OO: |
Prefer playing live or just recording? |
| DM: |
"We like the studio and getting things down on tape, but we would rather play live for an audience. Studio work is cool to capture an idea, but I could spend way too much time in one and completely lose the feel for the song."
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| OO: |
Favorite Ohio venue? |
| DM: |
"The Barking Spider at Case Western Reserve University."
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| OO: |
Where did the band name come from? |
| DM: |
"I was sitting around listening to my early recordings and thinking 'this is the hokiest stuff I have ever heard in my entire life.' Needless to say, the light bulb went off in my head and the name Big Hoke came out of it. I used BIG HOKE for the title of my second solo disc and then dubbed the band that name for TOP."
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| OO: |
Long term plans? |
| DM: |
"I'd like to find a cure for the women's chest hair epidemic. After a couple good releases, I'd like to return to being a gentleman farmer like my grandfather. I hope people will buy my releases and come to the shows, but I am not going to stop caring because they do. Music is a career, a love, a lifetime. Now can I stop being a cheese?"
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| OO: |
Consider yourself stopped.
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