Interview: The Gufs

I think these guys are awesome, they're from Milwaukee, and I'm hoping they make it big again. Here's the interview I did with Goran while he was at some outdoor cafe in Chicago. Originally ran in the Watertown Daily Times:

Milwaukee may be best known for its many historical sites, and its affinity for brats and breweries, but it should also be remembered the city is home to accomplished rock act the Gufs. The band has six studio albums under its belt, with a seventh coming out this fall, but the only true way to experience the group is to see a live show.

“We’re a pop/rock band that tends to rock,” lead singer and guitarist Goran Kralj explained. “We’re a really good live band, we’ve got something to offer with respect to melody and content of lyric. It’s the kind of music that you listen to once and you like it.”

The Gufs sound is made distinctive by Kralj’s passionate vocals and the band’s lush yet hard-hitting instrumentation. A combination of ‘90s era rock and pop sensibility, the band has a sound that’s distinctly its own.

Outside of the BoDeans and the Violent Femmes, the Gufs are probably Milwaukee’s most renowned rock band. It is also lucky to have a devoted following - just witness the activity on the band’s MySpace page following its recent Summerfest performance.

“When we walked off the stage that night, we didn’t know how special the performance was until we started to receive all these e-mails over the past few days,” Kralj said. “Sometimes you’re up there during shows and it’s work, in the sense that you have to play well, sing well and then you don’t realize how special a performance it is. When I went onto MySpace the other day, I was blown away by the amount of comments and e-mails we received.”

The band may be best known for its 1999 Atlantic Records recording “The Holiday From You,” which hit 33 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart as well as the song “Give Back Yourself” which featured matchbox 20’s Rob Thomas on guest vocals. The album also featured the up-tempo rocker “Last Goodbye.” Two of the bands best-known hits, “Smile” and “Crash (Into Me)” came from their 1996 eponymous album.

The Gufs appearance in Watertown couldn’t have come at a better time. Coming off a seven year hiatus which saw frontman Kralj record a solo project, the band has reunited and is recording a new album scheduled to appear sometime this October.

The new album promises to combine the Gufs trademark sound with a more upbeat vibe.

“It’s more uplifting and positive, but still rocking,” Kralj said. “It’s not going to sound like a Radiohead album, we’re still a pop/rock band, but it will be interesting.”

Fans can expect to hear two of the new cuts at Riverfest, as the band has been battle-testing “Beautiful Disaster” and “Stars” at its latest live shows, both of which have received very favorable crowd responses, according to Kralj.

The Gufs plan to stick to its strength of playing shows in and around the Midwest following the release of the new album, which was always the plan anyway. In fact, Kralj started the group at UW-Milwaukee when he and fellow soccer teammate Scott Schwebel, now the band’s drummer, found they had similar tastes in music. He said the band was just about having fun, and somewhere along the line, people began to take them more seriously which ultimately led to their first record deal.

As far as getting signed to a major label and doing a full-length jaunt around the country now, the band has a “been there, done that” feeling. The members are more interested in enjoying themselves and seeing where it takes them. And this time out, the pressure’s off.

“There’s no plans to do a full-length tour, we’re going to keep playing to markets that we’re strong in,” Kralj said. “Touring behind our two Atlantic Records albums, we did shows left and right on tour in towns we’d never heard of. The last thing you want to do is play in front of a crowd of five people that don’t know you.”

“We got back into this because it felt right,” Kralj continued. “When you’re a new band the first thing you want is people to like you and come to shows. You want to get popular and once the record comes out, you want to be the next matchbox 20 or Third Eye Blind. It doesn’t always work out that way. Now we’re just playing for the love of being together, and just having fun.”

Playing and having fun seems to be working out, as the bands resurgence on the music scene has crowds across the state buzzing about the band.

“The great thing about Wisconsin and Milwaukee is they embrace their own, they embraced us, and we’re very proud to represent them,” Kralj said. “Milwaukee is proud to call something their own. It’s been awesome for us.”

“Smile” and a collection of other hits can be heard on the Gufs MySpace page at www.myspace.com/thegufs .

The Gufs take the Riverfest stage on Friday, Aug. 4 at 6:30 p.m.