Artist description Billy's Gun raises sexual questions in an increasingly asexual world. Lean, mean, and full of adrinaline (most of the time), these guys can get down with the best of them. Born in the gutter, these guys quickly moved their way up to the top of the curb, threw up and kept on moving. They are known for over the top theatrics, verbal virtuosity (when it comes to talking about sex, at least) and driving rhythms. Emerging from a consortium of drummers (all with musical aspirations), Billy's Gun quickly became a haven for all that was wrong with music. And, by mere presence in this wrongness, made it somehow okay. Their punctuality and propensity toward long extended beer runs and backstage shenanegans endeared them to fans who weren't as interested in the music as they were worshipping the artists who played it. But this might mean we, as musical critics, should dismiss their output. This is totally erroneous. There is something in their style that endears them to the listener musically. Take a test drive on their long asphalt road to hell and you'll find something special. Maybe even something that you can call your own.

Music Style Blues-influenced Rock with a bit of funkyness

Musical Influences Dog's D'Amour, Guns N' Roses, Frank Zappa, Prince, Ratt, Tom Waits, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Similar Artists Dog's D'Amour, Guns N' Roses, Frank Zappa, Ratt, Prince, Tom Waits, hair metal hard rock

Artist History Founded when rock was already old and poopy, there have been at least 15 members of the band. Billy's Gun, the name, is an homage to one of the greatest playboys in New Mexico of the late 1800s. Billy the Kid, a.k.a. William H. Bonney, a.k.a. Henry McCarty, was renowned more for his numerous rendevous with the native women of that wild western place over a hundred years ago. And while many movies show his shooting pistols, his favorite weapon was a large elephant gun (because he was a bad shot for the most part and elephant guns tended to blow holes the size of a semi through anything). It is this gun, as well as the metaphorical one of love's past, that the band, Billy's Gun, takes its name. As far as the members of this legendary sex and sin band go, a few have died off in unusual circumstances (S.D., a guitarist, was run over by his ex-wife; Girl With Long Blonde Hair was (allegedly) shot by S.D. over paternity problems. Leader Matt Trix, who always had problems keeping away from the sweet sweet nectar of smack, has gone into hiding and is rarely seen in public. Many of the other band members are M.I.A., however Dave has said he's happy and surprised by all the newfound interest in his old band. Maynard wonders when his favorite song (F*** Some More) will be available on the site. We are still looking for the definitive copy of this classic tune, along with other recordings that, as of now, are still packed away in some unknown location. It has been said that greatness is only truly acknowledged after death, and if that's for real, then Billy's Gun is truly great. It was only through death that they could stay together and only through breaking up could they stay alive. These paradoxes are meant only to enlighten, not to cheapen or diminish. But where was I, oh yeah, the music. The good stuff. The all around glory of seeing a bunch of sweaty young men bellow sexual epithets to young girls with loose bras and tight thongs. Because back then, and even now, it's all about getting some. Getting laid. Getting just a little bit more of that good good gooey. But the music of Billy's Gun, and of course the message, holds up. "We were walking the thin line between stupid and surreal," one time Billy’s Gun instrumentalist Shawn Cool says, breaking his nearly 10 year silence about the band. "Heated rehearsal and composing sessions would start out with lots of work being done, and then everything would begin to break down. Usually in step with the amount of alcohol being consumed, who’s girlfriends were watching and if Zep’s parents were in town—which they were not most of the time." Zep, usually unmentioned in the chronicles of Billy’s Gun, resided in a large house near the Sandia Mountains. His parents, so the story goes, were drug runners, but upon their death in the early 90s (they were found dead on the side of the road, side by side, apparently of heart attacks), no evidence of nefarious doings were found and Zep inherited millions. The band, good friends with the rich young man, practiced, hung out and generally made his house their home. It has been said that Zep actually wrote some of the songs claimed to be the creation of other band members, but he has not come forward to straighten out the record. The best stories about the band are not of their musical creations (which were, themselves, chronicles of their crazy lifestyle of the usual sex, drugs and rock n roll), but of the strangeness and mania that surrounded the young men in the band. One particularly notorious bacchanalian night is when members of the band, friends and girlfriends (including "Joz" who is mentioned as the source of inspiration for "Sweet Poon Tang") partied at one of the "rock houses" in the Sandia foothills, half on mushrooms, a few were on speed and everyone was drunk. Races around the mountains (traveling in a circle that is about 60 miles long, Brady was the leader of this excursion, pushing his car its own speed limit), small orgies in backseats (Matt, Joz, the "girl with the long blonde hair" along with others who have anonymously admitted to pushing various appendages into the gooey melee) and puking out the windows of cars going in excess of 90 mph (Dave) have been reported about this night. Early in the night, Matt apparently made out with a friend’s girlfriend (not a member of the band) on top of the rock house, urinated off the side, threw up, began to climb down the house wall, fell about ten feet to the ground, got up and then asked said friend for a beer. No one, miraculously, was hurt on this night, as none of the band members had started carrying firearms at the time. "A forgone conclusion about the band was this: if you went out with any member of Billy’s Gun, you’d eventually sleep with Matt," says Cool. This statement has been confirmed by many members of the band as well as an overwhelming majority of their ex-girlfriends. Matt, who rarely claimed to have an actual "girlfriend", said that he was merely consoling (the girls) on a breakup or fight and "usually they started it. When a pretty girl puts her hand down your pants or her tongue down your throat, you do what’s natural, y’know. Who am I to say no?" Music, while a priority in the band’s life, was sometimes secondary to having a good time. Acid trips to White Sands (inspired by the Oliver Stone movie, "The Doors"), drug runs to Mexico (usually Juarez) and drunken orgies in the middle of rehearsals took their toll on the lives of these extraordinary young men. There are several half-songs, melodies without words and hundreds of pages of "song poetry" from the archives (in basements, boxes and storage units owned by members of the band) still being gathered. Because of Matt’s continuing decline into drug abuse (culminating in his "death" by heroin O.D. in the fall of 1996…he eventually recovered and has since stayed among the living) and escalating tensions between members about the direction of the band, the world is not privy to what could have been a treasure trove of amazing music. Eventually, when all band members have come out of hiding and/or rehab, more of this astounding legend will be discovered and disseminated to the waiting public. Until then, feel free (really free) to have a listen to the band that will, someday, become as big as its legend.

Group Members Matt W.S. Trix (vocals, harmonica, drums, percussion). Dave (drums, percussion, bass). Brady S.D. (drums, bass, vocals, percussion). Maynard (percussion, vocals, drums). Shawn Louder-than-hell (guitar, slide guitar). S.D. (guitar, bass). Girl With Long Blonde Hair (keyboards, percussion). Brad, Shawn C., Eric (backing vocals, beer runs). Angie (cheerleader)

Instruments All of them plus a few extras...

Albums Six Shots of Love, 1989 (out of print); Four on the Floor EP 1990 (out of print); Live Without Makeup 1991 (out of print video)

Press Reviews "What the hell is this and why did they send it to me?" the Albuquerque Tribune. "Visionary, illuminating, bloody, funny and deceased" Lies magazine. "There is something terribly wrong here. But maybe, in its innate wrongness, there is something right." Aiding & Abetting

Location Albuquerque, New Mexico - USA

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