Emerging Talent Month: 8 Questions With Gentlemen Hall

Emerging Talent Month is officially underway! This month, we here at Buzznet are committed to bringing you the best in new music, fashion, pop culture and everything in between.

When I heard about Emerging Talent Month, I was ecstatic! I immediately went into action and snagged a few interviews with bands that you’ll be buzzing about within the coming year. There’s something about fresh new talent that I can identify with. We all start somewhere, and with the right people behind us we can do amazing things.

This week we get to hang out with the six gentlemen that make up Gentlemen Hall!

Gentlemen Hall is a sextet synth rock band from Boston, MA consisting of Gavin Merlot (lead vocals, guitar), Cobi Mike (lead vocals, lead guitar), Ro Richard (bass guitar), Bradford Alderman (synthesizers), Phil Boucher (drums), and Seth Hachen (flute, piccolo). I discovered them while watching the 2011 Billboard Music Awards. They won Battle of the Bands that year and got to perform at the show. The rest has been smooth sailing…into the sun. Their current single, “Sail Into The Sun,” has been featured in Target and Samsung commercials, along with various television shows, and it seems to be growing like wildfire.

I had the privilege of interviewing Gentlemen Hall exclusively for Buzznet on various topics such as what we can expect from them in the future, what it is to be a “gentlemen” in this day and age (listen up, boys), and how they came up with their band name (greatest story, ever!)

How did Gentlemen Hall come to be? Describe the momentum between the six of you and how you decided on the name of Gentlemen Hall.

Gentlemen Hall came to be around 5 years ago. We all met from going to basement shows and being around the Boston music scene. Once the six of us started writing music together it became an obsession. There was obvious chemistry between the six of us and it has spiraled from there.

The band name is a funny story. We were at a diner in the North End and Mark Wahlberg walked in. His girlfriend had just broken up with him and he was a mess. We consoled him for about an hour after which he was nice enough to pay for our lunch. As he left he said “you guys are gentlemen, all” and we misheard him.

I first discovered you guys on the 2011 Billboard Music Awards, as you were that year’s pick for Battle Of The Bands. Describe what that experience was like.

That was a really awesome experience. We were there with a lot of great bands. Lightning Love and AJ Raphael to name a few. We were really honored to be chosen out of so many amazing groups. It was one of those stories you see on TV. We literally went from a local Boston band to being in the national spotlight in a day. The Billboard Music Awards were a dream come true. Being backstage with U2 and Snoop Dogg, artists we’ve admired our whole lives was pretty unreal.

You’re a very interactive band on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, which nowadays is crucial to how artists form a following. How has that platform allowed you to grow your fan base? Has the support exceeded your expectations when starting the band?

Social media has allowed us to get our music out to people in ways that were never possible before. It’s been a steady build, literally one person at a time. It is THE most important piece for a band these days. Interacting with people that love the music is amazing and we’re so humbled by the amount of support we’ve gotten from our online community and the Boston community.

Let’s talk about the big one: Your new hit, “Sail Into The Sun,” is featured in Target and Samsung commercials. The number of ‘likes’ seem to be growing on your Facebook page. When writing/recording the song, did you ever imagine it would come to this?

It’s just amazing to us. We never imagined this would happen for “Sail Into The Sun” but we are so happy that the song has found wings and is resonating with so many people. It means the world to us to have a growing fanbase and we are excited to bring all of them on the journey.

When will your full length debut be out and what can fans expect?

We are expecting to release our full length album this spring. We are really excited to see how people react to all the work we’ve done. Fans can expect to be taken on a musical journey. The album is full of lush flutes, big drums, trippy synths, orgasmic guitars, sing along vocals, and tons of other ear candy. We really feel like you can hear every band member and what everyone contributed in a way that can only be Gentlemen Hall.

Being an emerging artist is a very distinctive time in a band’s life. What are some pros and cons of being at this stage in your careers? What have you learned since the band’s formation?

Wow thats deep. It’s all about the journey. We just feel lucky that we can keep being a band and make the music we want to make. One of the biggest lessons we’ve learnt is being in the moment and appreciating what’s happening whether it’s good or bad. All journeys have their ups and downs, that’s what it’s all about.

Tell us what you’re listening to at the moment! Any emerging artists we should look out for?

SO MUCH NEW MUSIC. New Phoenix track “Entertainment”, Jim James, Atlas Genius, Youth Lagoon, Civil Twilight, Toro Y Moi, Tame Impala, Magic Man, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Alt-J, The xx, f y f e, Postal Service, Junip, James Blake, Here We Go Magic, Kendrick Lamar, Miike Snow, Dale Earnhart Jr. Jr., Phil Beaudreau, Beirut, Rubble Bucket, Santigold, the list goes on……

Enlighten us a little. Tell us what it means to be a gentleman in this day and age.

We think Charlie Chapman said it best “A tramp, a gentleman, a poet, a dreamer, a lonely fellow, always hopeful of romance and adventure.”

“Sail Into The Sun” is available on iTunes here.

Check out last week’s interview with The New Division here.

Stay tuned next week for more interviews!

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