INTERVIEW WITH...
JUST GUYS BEING DUDES
JUST GUYS BEING DUDES
Dude! Today we’re lucky enough to speak with both members of the Detroit based Psycho-Delic Punk duo Just Guys Being Dudes, Guitarist/Vocalist Michael “Nips” Kolesky and Drummer/Violinist Jordan Teets. These guys are prolific dudes, they released their last record The Sound You Want, The Noise You Don’t in December of last year and already have another project recorded, soon to be released. They also host epic house shows/parties.
Nips: I front the two piece experimental garage band Just Guys Being Dudes. My name was given to me freshman year of high school by a guy I wouldn’t become friends with until a few months later. I was wearing a James Dean t-shirt. And it was a little small for me. And then there was Nips. I started doing solo mixtapes in high school. And performed solo for a little bit until Jordan offered if I wanted drums sometime he could back me on djembe. We played a couple gigs like that before Jordan impulsively bought a full kit and taught himself to play. We dubbed it psycho-delic music. It’s messy. It’s primitive. But still rooted in psychedelia and early punk.
Jordan: So it was my dream since I was probably 6 to play drums. The movie, “That Thing You Do” was a huge influence. My parents said drums were too big, too loud, and too expensive. They weren’t really wrong. I played violin growing up, private lessons then school orchestra. Fast forward to almost two years ago, I was going to Nips’s solo shows at The Ritz, he was amazing up on stage, jamming with just his electric guitar and electric lyrics. I had previously acquired a djembe just to jam on, and I knew he needed a drummer. I figured why not and he invited me up on stage for the next couple shows, kind of an odd duo. I then bought my first drum set with my tax return and it took off from there. We started practicing At least once a week. Recorded our first album within a couple months. I’ll never forget after our first show, my brother said, “So Jordan, how are you instantly good at drums?” All credit goes to Nips. He’s the foundation, he rhythmically holds the beat, and I just hit shit. We kept playing shows, practicing, recording more. Literally living a fantasy. I could play to an empty room at every show and have a blast. Nips is the best band leader. He does everything. The songs are his brain children, he invents the actual music, does all the networking, sets up all the shows/recording/merchandising. I just show up and hit shit and it’s a blast. Often times it seriously does feel surreal, and I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to do all this.What are some of your musical influences? And what are some non-musical influences?
Nips: The artist that really did it for me was Daniel Johnston. Hence the psycho element. The music is all about expression. It’s a release. Sound wise we spent a lot of early practices listening to Half Japanese. Playing style and tone that’s where a lot of it came from. I remember in high school learning about the Fluxus movement. And it was all about impulse art. Lyrically, my influences go back to my start with writing poetry and stories. Stylistically I was always into the sporadicness of Hunter S. Thompson and William S. Burroughs. But Charles Bukowski probably had the most influence with the dirty realism. I don’t like masking things in metaphors. I try to stay up front and real with all the grime. Somewhere on Youtube there’s a playlist of our top influences. It doesn’t matter what you make as long as you’re putting your all into it. All our album titles are quotes from lyrics or interviews too.
Jordan: 70’s rock, from Lyrnard to Crosby stills Nash young to Rod Stewart to yea, just all of it haha. Indie/alternative/punk rock. Mindless self indulgence. Something corporate/jack’s mannequin. Grizzly Bear. Radiohead. All of Nips’s music, like SWMRS. Also I like techno and edm and funk. From dubfire, to griz, to zeds dead, to the floozies. I already mentioned the movie “that thing you do.” Jimmy Hendrix and his drummer Mitch Mitchell May be my favorite’s ever.
What are your favorite venues?
Nips: Outer Limits or the Old Miami would have to be mine. Their lowkey. Kinda dingy. All the eclectic decorations. It just feels very homey when you’re sitting there. Good vibes.
Jordan: Hamtramck: outer limits, corner bar, various others we play at. Detroit: old Miami. The majestic/magic stick. Masonic temple. Hart plaza during movement. I don’t know if this counts, but Electric Forest is just incredible.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out in music/ art?
Nips: I received this advice from the band Carjack. when we played with them at Cadieux Cafe. Put out whatever comes to you. Don’t worry about if people are gonna like. Don’t try to modify it to make it more appealing. Create what comes. The people that will dig it will find it.
Jordan: Have fun. If you’re in it to try and make money, it won’t be fun and won’t work and you should probably just stop. You honestly have to accept that you’re not going to make it big. That mindset, for me at least, gives it all a lighter feel, and makes it a fucking blast. It’s all about just following your passion and having a good time. You don’t need a big crowd to have fun. The whole experience is fun, and it’s cool to have your name on real CD’s and stickers and tapes and pins. Don’t stop pursuing the dream and making a name, but don’t put too much pressure on yourself.
What messages or themes are you trying to convey through your music/art?
Nips: So the band name is our ideology. It came from a Vine. The guy says “guys being dudes. What’s better than this?” And that’s all we’re trying to do. Just hang out and have a real cool time ya know? Enjoy this shit while we can. And that’s what I explore a lot in the lyrics. Life can be a drag. But in spite of the constant shit show, just cut loose and do what feels right. Don’t get so hung up on what it all means that you never take the time to enjoy yourself. FIDLAR man. Fuck it dad, life’s a risk.
Jordan: Though Nips writes all the guitar parts and lyrics, I feel as though he’s somehow extracted a lot of what I feel through a tube to my brain. I deal with bi-polar disorder, and a lot of the mental anguish he talks about in his songs I feel. It’s actually kind of weird, he can describe my depressed or anxious thoughts better than I can, and he’s not even trying to describe me. Also the songs still have a light, darkly comical feel to a lot of them. I also like the simplicity of a lot of the “poems with a wrif and beat” type songs, (smoke like a poet, I am the blues). All in all, it’s like a, life can really suck but we’re gunna live it up the best we can, type vibe.
What are you working on next?
Nips: We just recorded a ten song album with a buddy of ours at Wayne State. Waiting for him to mix and master them. We’re calling it One More for Dessert. Hoping to get it out before summer.
Jordan: Lol ask Nips. No but seriously. We have more shows and house shows/parties coming up, almost 3 a month now. New T-shirt’s might be cool. We have an ep recorded, our friend just needs to mix it. I’m always trying to get Nips to let us revamp some more of his old solo stuff. I also wouldn’t mind completely re-recording No More Sucka Music, as I feel I was pretty bad back then, and those songs deserve better than what I was able to produce.
How do you feel about the future of music/art?
Nips: I think right now is really fucking great time for music and art. For better or for worse, with sites like Bandcamp, Instagram, and what not it’s so much easier to be heard and get a voice. It’s so much easier to record, produce, release, and spread work now and people are realizing they can take advantage of that. Anybody can have their music on Apple and Spotify now too. The means to show your work are so accesible and think that means a lotta people are going to be able to be heard. Regardless how that might affect the quality of work, it’s helping bring people together and spread people’s work.Jordan: The possibilities really are endless. It changes so much and so fast nowadays, with evermore genres. I really do like it all, from rap to country, just depends on my mood. So I like where it’s been, it’s so cool that we have the different decades of music, but also really cool that it’s expanding so much. It’s also kind of cool/strange that the “popular mainstream” stuff is widely considered bad to people who actually appreciate music, (which is totally different than music 80’s and prior). So it’s a completely different world, with everyone easily able to find what they like, and everything being free, and edm, and just everything. Who knows man. It’s probably just going to keep expanding and pushing limits, getting more creative. The same sort of goes for all art. Pushing boundaries. Getting weird. Yet new crazy breathtaking things like giant hanging glass sculptures and incorporating lights. I’m also very into woodworking. Art is what makes us human.