Art & Life with Justin Weir

Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Weir.

Justin, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
Celebration Guns began when myself (vocals and guitar, Justin Weir) and drummer Timothy O’Brien were playing in a Craigslist band in 2013 and had a member suddenly quit. Rather than throw in the towel, we decided to take a selection of Garageband demos that I had put together over the previous years and release it as an EP called “Quitter.” My friend from high school, Ryan Miller joined the band on bass guitar and we returned to Craigslist to find guitarist Christopher Blanco.

The band started working with local record label Rubber Brother Records (run by Robbie Pfeffer, frontman of Playboy Manbaby) and through them, we released cassettes including the Quitter EP and split releases with other local artists Twin Ponies and B. O. T. S. We eventually released a self-recorded EP called “Bright Enough” that was ultimately disappointing in quality and has become a sort of “lost” EP. In 2015, The band recorded with Bob Hoag of Flying Blanket Studios and the result was “The Me that Used to Be” EP, released on President Gator (Jeremiah Gratza of Stateside Presents) on vinyl, CD and cassette.

Next, we went on a small tour and shortly after Tim left to pursue his solo project. From there, Peter Coleman joined the band and production began for what would become “(Probably) Worth it,” the latest release. (Probably) Worth it saw the introduction of Chris Blanco’s style of “finger tapping” guitar riffs on half of the songs, which strongly influenced the album stylistically. We have had the opportunity to play with some of our favorites – Explosions in the Sky, Owen, The Velvet Teen, Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place – and we hope to continue to bring our energy to the stage and will be returning to the studio to record more songs in October, with plans for more touring in Spring of 2019.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
Celebration Guns makes music that can be described as indie, emo, progressive, shoegaze, pop, alternative, rock, math rock, and the list go on. Our style evolved from our very first EP “Quitter” which was a collection of songs that were influenced by shoegaze (dreamy sounding guitars, a lot of effects like delay and reverb) with an underlying rhythm that is slightly reminiscent of funk or dance at times to always keep the song moving. Although our style has changed over time, the basic principle has stayed the same: we hardly ever play guitar chords, 90% of our songs are based around constant guitar leads that dance around a catchy bass line and progressive and percussive drums to give a feeling of movement through the melody. Often our guitar riffs are made to harmonize to or complement each other in some way, sometimes they come together as 2 separate voices attempting to accomplish the same thing in different ways.

Our writing process has historically involved myself introducing a full demo that is pre-written with 2 guitar parts, bass guitar, and either a drum loop from Garageband or percussion provided by banging on a cajon or an electronic drumkit. This demo is introduced to the band, and they will learn parts but ultimately make them into something that is their own. The drums are especially always different than what is presented on the demo, as I am not a drummer. With our latest album, I wrote some songs by using some “finger tapping” guitar riffs sent to me by Chris Blanco and then writing a second guitar part, bass part, and percussion or drum ideas based on those riffs. On our new album, we have a few songs that were conceptualized from the whole band jamming and improving parts together, which is a departure from how we’ve done things for the previous 5 years.

The messages of our songs generally range from loss, resentment, politics, and nostalgia. We are transitioning to a place where our lyrics are more personal to my own life experiences and feelings, but traditionally, the music is the primary way that we communicate and the lyrics have been secondary to the music. We hope people take away an inspiration to create something or experience certain feelings or emotions as a result of listening to our songs.

The artwork on our latest album (Probably) worth it includes photos taken on our tour up to Portland and back from 2016. The song is about whether being in a band is worth it and was something I was thinking about when I realized how much money and effort it would take to be a full-time touring band with a potentially disappointing outcome. While we were on the road, we were all incredibly happy and it almost felt like a dream to be able to spend your days with your friends doing what you love. I hoped to capture that feeling through the artwork, which includes a picture I took on the bridge driving into San Francisco and a picture of a venue called “Oakland Secret” that we played at in California.

What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
Being in a band has an automatic network of potential friends or co-conspirators that may help avoid some of the loneliness that a solo artist may face. Even then, the assumption that you will always get along with your band mates or have them to rely on as friends can lead to disappointment. Some of the toughest breakups I have had over the years have been through bands breaking up. I would recommend having artist or musician friends outside of your own band, possibly people that you haven’t met through playing in your band.

It is helpful to have the perspective of other people’s experience with creating art and being able to connect with someone who knows you other than “that guy from that band” in a scene. Also, become interested in other types of art besides the kind that you spend all of your time making. I feel like I am giving advice to myself at this point!

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
We are nearing the end of our project to create or commission a music video for all 10 songs from our album (Probably) Worth it. By the end of this year, all 10 videos will be complete. We would recommend searching for us on YouTube for more info. You can see us play live on October 31st at The Trunk Space in Phoenix, November 17th at the Phoenix Pizza Festival or November 18th at the Canal Convergence in Scottsdale.

You can support our work by buying our merch. We keep it pretty stocked with vinyl, CDs, cassettes, and shirts. Also, you can help out a lot by sharing our music with a friend. You can also find our merch at our Bandcamp site.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://celebrationguns.bandcamp.com/
• Email: celebrationgunsband@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/celebrationgunsband
• Facebook: facebook.com/celebrationguns
• Twitter: twitter.com/celebrationgunz

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