Pistolero
By Kat Amano
Photo by Justin Sonfield

The men of Pistolero, an indie-rock quintet from Atlanta, are in the business of remembering and building anew.
"There is a real art in listening to good music and then taking in things from the music that really inspire and influence you," says vocalist Pallon Patrick, who has long been on a sonic diet of greats like Roy Orbison, The Traveling Wilburys and The Kinks. "Most anyone can pick up an instrument and just play something," he adds. "But I'm confident that Ray Davies could shit a great song."
It's all too trite for contemporary bands to claim 1960s Brit rock as an influence, but it's rare to hear that influence actually come alive on CD.
Pistolero has been a work-in-progress for over five years, but The Last Fior, the band's first full-length album, was not released until last July. With tracks drawing audible inspiration from The Kinks ("A Warrior's Feet") to The Velvet Underground ("This Means War"), The Last Fiore garnered praise for its unique blending of British-invasion consciousness and modern pop-rock sensibility.
It's a neo-classical rock philosophy of sorts, and it has led Pistolero to position itself as a band that both honors and builds on the past. Guitarist Tom Arthur Pollard, who spends his days as a carpenter, wanted a richer, more unique tone for his guitar - but instead of buying a new one, he decided to make it himself.
"The ones in stores now are made on an assembly line from cheap components," says Pollard. "All guitar amps go back to the Fender amps from the late '50s and early '60s - but ours are hand-built."
All the amps now used by Pistolero are Pollard's own "Arthur Amps," and he is currently working on a new one for bassist Mike Perkins. "This one is an experiment," he says carefully. "I'm using a new kind of tube that I haven't seen before in an amp, but I think it's gonna sound pretty awesome."
The Arthur Amps could be a side business for Pistolero some day, but for now, their focus is on growing the band and the music itself. They belong to an Atlanta-based music collective called Industrial Strength Promotions, which is a conglomerate of about 15 bands with a similar goal: to play good music at better venues than each band could get on its own. ISP has its own space in a rock-rich area of East Atlanta, just a few doors down from The EARL. Following the band's modus operandi of using the old to create something new, drummer Todd Morrison spent a couple weekends in the dusty old building to fix the plumbing, lay new floors and build a stage. It is now a functioning listening room, supported by contributions and donations jars in place of cover charges at the door.
Pistolero, who will be playing the ISP space on April 7, has big plans for 2007. Surrounding the upcoming release of an ambitious double-LP, The Pink Note, several weekend tours are scheduled for the Southeast and East Coast throughout the year.
"It feels a bit daunting a task for us," says Patrick, who has appropriately ruffled hair and speaks with an easy air. Pistolero has always worked hard on the business side of the band; the new album, like its predecessors, The Last Fiore and There Goes the Neighborhood EP, will be self-released by 3bullets. "But we're stepping it up this year," he says. "We're really shopping around for management and label support."
In the meantime, they have other jobs - Perkins has a video editing company; keys player John Ochoa is a mechanic and Patrick, Pollard and Morrison work as carpenters. It's no surprise, of course, that even all their day jobs require hands-on, constructive work.
"I treat the music and the amps like I treat woodworking," says Pollard, who is planning to build his first acoustic guitar this year. "It's a huge investment, in money and time." Judging from the sounds they get on their recordings, it's an investment well spent.

www.3bullets.com