Guantanamo Baywatch: Never Too Late
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Guantanamo Baywatch: Never Too Late

Guantanamo Baywatch are an American band. That might seem like a broad term, but given their current geographical circumstances, it has to be. The band’s current line-up is comprised of four members – vocalist/guitarist Jason Powell, bassist Chevelle Wiseman, drummer Chris Scott and guitarist Jordan Owens; who was recruited as a touring member last year – and they’re currently all spread across three very different parts of the land.

“Chevelle still lives in Portland, Chris is moving to Los Angeles and Jordan and I both live near Phoenix,” Powell says. “To get from Portland to Phoenix is a two or three day drive, so it makes it all really hard to properly practice. Sometimes, when we’re playing shows, that’s the only time we actually see one another. We’ve taken to flying out to our dates a day early so we at least have a chance to go over what we’re going to play. It’s not easy – we’re all in our own world – but there are times where we just rock up and go for it; and sometimes it’s more fun that way. Obviously, I don’t get to see the rest of them as much as I used to, so it’s nice to all fly to the same place.”

May last year saw the release of Darling… It’s Too Late, the band’s second studio album. Since then, the band have hit the road extensively, both taking the van across their native land and flying out to select headlining dates. A constant companion in their touring of late has been The Gooch Palms, the Novocastrian garage rock duo that relocated to Los Angeles in 2015.

“We found out about those guys when we last came to Australia,” Powell says. “It’s funny, we came all the way to Australia, and they were over in L.A. at that point. All the people we were meeting in Australia were telling us that we needed to hook up with these guys. I mean, they were in our part of the world; it only made sense. When we got back, we ended up being on the same bill for a couple of shows. We immediately became friends. They’re super cool – and we asked them to come out on tour with us. I think that our two bands are a really good match. We’re not exactly the same musically, but we’re close enough that it makes sense. We’re both fun rock and roll bands, and when we get together we play fun rock and roll shows – it’s pretty simple.”

With touring in full swing since the release of Darling… It’s Too Late, it would’ve been understandable if the band were primarily focused on simply touring that record until the cycle ran its course. Instead, the band made plans to strike while the iron is hot, and Powell’s already hard at work on what will be album number three. “I’m actually working on new material right now,” he says.

“I’ve been at it for most of this year. I’ve been writing and recording demos, and hopefully we’ll be recording properly once we get back from Australia. We were just talking today, trying to figure out how we’re going to do it – we have to get together and learn the new songs and we want to play them live. We’re trying to work out where we want to record, so it’s all still coming together. It’s probably too early to say what it’s going to be like, but I’m already feeling really good about it. I think it’s going to be a cool album – I’m definitely sensing it’s going to be quite different from our other albums.”

This September will see the band return to Australia for a run of headlining dates, as well as an appearance at Sound of The Suburbs in Cronulla, where they’ll share the stage with the likes of DZ Deathrays, Alex Lahey and Big White. Given the overwhelmingly positive experience of their last tour, Powell and co are itching to return.

“Originally, we were hit up through Facebook to see if we might be keen. It was a no-brainer for us – we were like ‘of course.’ The thing is, we’ve always gotten messages from randoms wanting us to play in weird cities. We go along with it, but then realise it’s not happening. That’s what we thought was going to happen with Australia. Then the flight tickets came and before you knew it, we were in Australia. It was such a trip. The guys bringing us out ended up being super rad, and all the shows that we played were with such stoked audiences. They’re definitely the kind of crowds that I’d feel excited to share new songs with, so I hope we have some stuff ready for when we’re over there.”

Written by David James Young
Photo by Tony Accosta

When & Where: The Eastern, Ballarat – September 29 & The Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine – October 2