White Minorities are:
Kyle Landsberger / Guitar, Vocals
Brett Davis / Lead Guitar
T-BoNe Jones / Bass Guitar
Jeremiah Landsberger / Drums / Vocals
Brett Davis / Lead Guitar
T-BoNe Jones / Bass Guitar
Jeremiah Landsberger / Drums / Vocals
I just came back from a vacation to Sacramento, California last week, and I got to see my buddies, White Minorities play at Mandango's in Roseville. I've blogged about them before but I'm going to blog about them again because I think anyone into music should know about this band, and I'm always more than happy to give them a plug.
"Prodigal Son"- The latest music video which debuted at their show this past Saturday July 27th at Mandango's in Roseville, CA.
I recently interviewed Bass player and best friend Troy "T-Bone" Jones. Here's what he had to say about the band, their name, their sound, the state of metal in California and some of the big things they have planned in the future:
Guitardedblog.com:
You were originally the manager of the band. How did you end up playing bass?
Tbone:
I was doing a local radio show with my cousin Cameron
and we had our drummer, Jeremiah "Big Red" come on to our show to
promote White Minorities. The band was in it's infancy but already had a
garage recorded demo we played on the air. I was immediately hooked on
what I heard that I decided to go to a jam practice! They said they needed
someone to do sound for them and help out and I volunteered! After a while they asked if I would be their manager
as well and I agreed. Taking over booking and running promotions and
social media.
We had another bass player who wasn't really working
out for the band. He joined as a replacement for the original bass
player who just stopped coming to jam practice because of personal
issues. Everyone in the band at that time jokingly said it would be cool
if I played bass. I had a little previous classical guitar playing in
high school, so I was already a plucker and knew my way around handling a
stringed instrument, so it wasn't completely foreign to start messing
with the bass.
Guitardedblog.com:
how long then before you were playing with the band?
how long then before you were playing with the band?
T-Bone:
It wasn't very long. To be honest I bought my Dime bag Darrell Razorback bass guitar as manager after we started getting fed up with the old bass player. After agreeing I'd learn the songs and be ready in case we let him go. As crude as that sounds, we never had a real intent on firing him until he dumped half our equipment on Winding Road and took off leaving it behind. I had to fire him on the spot and keep Kyle from killing him. Not only was much of our equipment tarnished, but a poor cat was run over by him when he was fleeing!
It wasn't very long. To be honest I bought my Dime bag Darrell Razorback bass guitar as manager after we started getting fed up with the old bass player. After agreeing I'd learn the songs and be ready in case we let him go. As crude as that sounds, we never had a real intent on firing him until he dumped half our equipment on Winding Road and took off leaving it behind. I had to fire him on the spot and keep Kyle from killing him. Not only was much of our equipment tarnished, but a poor cat was run over by him when he was fleeing!
Guitardedblog.com:
How did you learn to play so quickly?
How did you learn to play so quickly?
T-Bone:
Kyle and I spend a lot of time together going over the songs we had at the time and the rhythm of everything. Like I said, having a little classical guitar experience paid off. In fact bass was even more comfortable for me then guitar because it fits me better. I'm a big guy as you know. *note: Troy is 6ft 8 inches tall*
Kyle and I spend a lot of time together going over the songs we had at the time and the rhythm of everything. Like I said, having a little classical guitar experience paid off. In fact bass was even more comfortable for me then guitar because it fits me better. I'm a big guy as you know. *note: Troy is 6ft 8 inches tall*
Guitardedblog.com:
Tell us about your gear and setup on stage
T-Bone:
We all run some serious setups. I got a Peavey 3620
bass cab. 2 18" Black Widow subs combined with 2 10" Scorpions all in
one cab. Powered by a Peavey Pro 500 bass amp, Compressor/Limiter/Gate
rack, Line 6 bass bod pro rack a sound maximizer. I play mostly my Queen
Bee, a restored 1985 Japanese Fender Precision Bass with active pickups
and my Double scale Dimebag Darrel Razorback bass.
Kyle has a great Marshall stack setup he also plays a kick ass Flying V guitar and uses a Boss effect pedal for his guitar effects. Believe it or not, Kyle has no vocal effects, all those screams are natural
Jeremiah runs a Voice effects pedal and plays a Pearl drum setup. That's how we get all those devil voices and crazy whale song
Brett has a 5152 guitar amp which is sweet and a guitar effects rack and a few pedals, including his new favorite whammy pedal
Brett has a 5152 guitar amp which is sweet and a guitar effects rack and a few pedals, including his new favorite whammy pedal
"8th Floor" - official music video
Guitardedblog.com:
What is "Ghetto Metal?"
T-Bone:
Ghetto Metal isn't a term we coined really but it
seems to fit in describing our style of music. If we want to throw some rap lyrics in our songs we do. If we want to keep it pure thrash, we
do! If we want to play a ballad, we do. Plus the lyrics are always raw
and have a parental advisory quality to them. That's Ghetto Metal!
Guitardedblog.com:
Are there any racist connotations to the band name? Talk about that, how the name came about and what it means.
Are there any racist connotations to the band name? Talk about that, how the name came about and what it means.
T-Bone:
We are not racists. Jeremiah came up with the name of the band because he grew up in a neighborhood in Sacramento in Oak Park where amongst his friends he was the only white guy. So he thought of the name White Minorities. There was talk early on of changing it, but we all agree it's a name people never forget and hasn't really negatively affected the band so far.
We are not racists. Jeremiah came up with the name of the band because he grew up in a neighborhood in Sacramento in Oak Park where amongst his friends he was the only white guy. So he thought of the name White Minorities. There was talk early on of changing it, but we all agree it's a name people never forget and hasn't really negatively affected the band so far.
Guitardedblog.com:
I've never heard of a band that had a sign language interpreter. Tell us how you came to have a deaf following.
I've never heard of a band that had a sign language interpreter. Tell us how you came to have a deaf following.
T-Bone:
Well that is an aspect that I contributed. I have a career as a Sign Language Interpreter. I have many friends who are Deaf and as an Interpreter I feel obligated to offer our band to the Deaf world as well as the hearing. Early on my friend and co worker, Heidi, volunteered and was really into it. After she left I got my long time friend, Spanky (Carrie Britton) to jump on board. She has been doing at least every local show since
Well that is an aspect that I contributed. I have a career as a Sign Language Interpreter. I have many friends who are Deaf and as an Interpreter I feel obligated to offer our band to the Deaf world as well as the hearing. Early on my friend and co worker, Heidi, volunteered and was really into it. After she left I got my long time friend, Spanky (Carrie Britton) to jump on board. She has been doing at least every local show since
Guitardedblog.com:
For a metal band, you have a large female following. Why do you think that is?
For a metal band, you have a large female following. Why do you think that is?
T-Bone:
I have found that girls love to go out and rock!
HAHA! We have a lot of fans of both genders, girls just seem to have fun
at our shows and plus Kyle takes his shirt off most of the time during
the set, so that seems to help!
Guitardedblog.com:
Is metal thriving in California these days?
Is metal thriving in California these days?
T-Bone:
Metal seems to always thrive! Of course there are
several different sub genres of metal now and everyone seems to have
their favorite. What I like about our band is that we play music that
reaches a wider audience and doesn't limit ourselves to fans of one sub
genre. I think it depends on promotion too! Bands who promote or get good promotion seem to thrive.
"Torment My Soul" - official music video
Guitardedblog.com:
Tell us about you're album and how and where it was recorded and produced
Tell us about you're album and how and where it was recorded and produced
T-Bone:
Our album was produced in Southern California by the Great Rich Mouser! He is an experience producer and engineer of over 30 yrs experience. The lead singer of Oleander (another famous Sacramento Band), contacted us on Myspace after hearing our garage record tracks. He dug our music and suggested we get our songs recorded by Rich. We wholeheartedly agreed and went down and recorded our first 3 song demo. The production quality is outstanding! He is a genius! And he has quite an impressive studio and priceless equipment to boot!
Our album was produced in Southern California by the Great Rich Mouser! He is an experience producer and engineer of over 30 yrs experience. The lead singer of Oleander (another famous Sacramento Band), contacted us on Myspace after hearing our garage record tracks. He dug our music and suggested we get our songs recorded by Rich. We wholeheartedly agreed and went down and recorded our first 3 song demo. The production quality is outstanding! He is a genius! And he has quite an impressive studio and priceless equipment to boot!
Guitardedblog:
The White Minorities are practically local celebrities in the Sacramento area. I've seen you get recognized at Walmarts and local restaurants, and fans even get White Minorities tattoos. How does social media play a part in building such a loyal fanbase.
The White Minorities are practically local celebrities in the Sacramento area. I've seen you get recognized at Walmarts and local restaurants, and fans even get White Minorities tattoos. How does social media play a part in building such a loyal fanbase.
a loyal fan gets a White Minorities logo tattoo
T-Bone:
Well Social media only helps for ones who use it correctly. Just posting on the event page walls doesn't cut it. Personal connections and messages here are still more effective than mass posts that people may disregard or scroll past and not even see. In the Myspace days we had more than 86,000 friends and dozens of regional Myspace pages. we added people who lived in those towns to those pages so when we had shows in that region, the local fans would know about it! We have burned probably over 10,000 demos and have hit the streets like no other too! Personal connection and physical street promoting is still the most effective! The old ways are still the best ways!
Well Social media only helps for ones who use it correctly. Just posting on the event page walls doesn't cut it. Personal connections and messages here are still more effective than mass posts that people may disregard or scroll past and not even see. In the Myspace days we had more than 86,000 friends and dozens of regional Myspace pages. we added people who lived in those towns to those pages so when we had shows in that region, the local fans would know about it! We have burned probably over 10,000 demos and have hit the streets like no other too! Personal connection and physical street promoting is still the most effective! The old ways are still the best ways!
Guitardedblog:
I heard you played a gig in Sacramento that was so successful the bar literally ran out of all its liquor! I've never heard of that happening EVER. Is that true?
I heard you played a gig in Sacramento that was so successful the bar literally ran out of all its liquor! I've never heard of that happening EVER. Is that true?
T-Bone:
Yes actually it was the last day the bar was open. So yeah we emptied out what was left in the bar and the owner had to go buy some more from a liquor store haha! We actually broke the record for sales during a night in over 30 yrs of operation
Yes actually it was the last day the bar was open. So yeah we emptied out what was left in the bar and the owner had to go buy some more from a liquor store haha! We actually broke the record for sales during a night in over 30 yrs of operation
It was also a free show haha, that helps
"Muzzle" - official music video
Guitardedblog:
You guys just recently made a new music video. How important are music video's in the post MTV era?
You guys just recently made a new music video. How important are music video's in the post MTV era?
T-Bone:
I want to hit them from all angles! There are several reasons why videos are still thriving. Recent technology in Canon camera technology is one thing. These new video cameras can do 1080 HD video quality that is almost equal to what professionals can put out. Also the video editing software is something you can do from home now. Plus the popularity of Youtube and the advent of Smart phones makes music videos accessible from anywhere. Don't need MTV anymore!
I want to hit them from all angles! There are several reasons why videos are still thriving. Recent technology in Canon camera technology is one thing. These new video cameras can do 1080 HD video quality that is almost equal to what professionals can put out. Also the video editing software is something you can do from home now. Plus the popularity of Youtube and the advent of Smart phones makes music videos accessible from anywhere. Don't need MTV anymore!
Guitardedblog:
Tell us about some of the exciting new projects you're guys are working on
Tell us about some of the exciting new projects you're guys are working on
T-Bone:
A couple I can't really say exactly at the moment,
I'll just say we are trying to get our music on some movie soundtracks
and video game soundtracks and also working on getting a European Tour
and Distribution deal. In that regard, we are making a video press kit
about ourselves and making new physical press kits to distribute to
sponsors, labels, etc. We also plan on doing more videos and recording
an E.P. in the near future
You can download White Minorities music from I-Tunes, amazon or CD Baby
Links
White Minorities on Youtube Here
White Minorities on Facebook Here
White Minorities on Reverbnation Here
White Minorities on Reverbnation Here
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