At age 13, singer Eli was already cutting his teeth in songwriting, lyrics, and guitar. “For a while I did solo stuff, and then one day [Henry] messaged me to play drums. I didn’t know who he was at all, and we just started Gaffer together.” The duo chose the name after a street they would walk down after every practice to get McDonald’s.
About six months ago, two others joined those daily walks. Josiah came in on bass and William joined on second guitar. The two had been frequent attendees of Gaffer’s early shows, with their demo debut show being the moment that Josiah entered the sphere. “It was at that show that I realized I had to be a part of this,” he explains. Soon after joining the group, he sent a demo with what we now know to be “Jimmy Winters.”
“That was the first time we all wrote together,” Josiah goes on. “I remember that first rehearsal, we sat down and worked out a structure, worked out guitar parts,” adds William. The song eases into an airy and vague mist before slamming into a blitzing beat and heated vocals from Eli. “It’s kind of just about regret, not saying the things that you want to say in the moment and then regretting it once you don’t have the chance to.” He looks wistfully off at the VMFA lawn as he explains it all. “It’s kind of about a loved one that passed away, things I wished I had said, that and relationships.” He is wiser than anyone I knew at the age of 15.
His vocal on this track is undeniable. It is raw and pure, barked and ripped out of his chest. There are songs a singer sings, and there are songs that singers have to sing. This is the latter. There is a necessity and urgency to the delivery, an exhale of bottled-up feelings that have been carbonating until the cap could not contain it. He sings every line because he has to, there is no other option. The idea of letting it sit for another second is not even a possibility.
The song has a really incredible dialogue in it, switching between the want to keep going and the part of you that sinks into despair. There is a level of added guilt when you try to process something, the attention and unwanted eyes seeing you grieve. “I’m not trying to cause a scene but this bullshit hurts like hell to me/I say nothing, I hope you hear, I cannot speak, but I want you here,” Eli tears out, “Let Go/Missed it/Now I’m gone.” Whether it was intentional or not, all throughout the tune instruments swap the lead. I almost see it as each one sharing the burden of the others. They are taking the mantle for a moment to give a friend respite. A wordless gesture to show someone you are there.
As the song crescendos, Eli screams the words “Take a breath/Count to ten/Take a breath/Try again.” I find this moment so important in the story that is this song. It is the only time that the speaker tries to comfort himself. As the song ends, all the instruments are at their fullest and swelling together, and here he is able to breathe, he is able to slow down the rush of thoughts and the flashing images.
The group has had their fair share of roadblocks as they have journeyed to get to this point. Club owners have turned them away for not bringing enough of a “drinking crowd,” and other bands have passed them by and expected little of them, but the group keeps pushing and moving forward. The group is fueled by “the Gaffer mentality” (and a lot of post-rehearsal McDonald’s). “It’s not like we think that we’re the best ever. We know we’re not the best ever, but we know that we are getting better every single time,” Henry explains. “It’s about the personality and the mindset before it is about your playing.”
“I think also friendship comes before a lot of other things,” Eli adds. “Me and Henry have known each other for like two years, and he’s kinda like my brother.” There is a real sense of admiration felt when seeing this group talk, joke around, and compliment each other. “It’s all about the Gaffer mentality!”
“Jimmy Winters” is out now, and the group is following it up with a release show at the Camel on Tuesday April 14th. Give ’em a listen, give ’em a follow, get on board with Gaffer, because they have no plans to stop.
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