Interview by: Xochitl Hansen
At the 2015 Vans Warped Tour this summer, I was lucky enough to talk to 1/5th of the touring veterans better known as Handguns. Currently signed to Pure Noise Records with two wonderful albums – Angst and Life Lessons- these guys are always on the move. Having toured with names such as The Wonder Years, Senses Fail, and even All Time Low, they have drawn a large amount of attention to themselves in a short amount of time. With a third album underway and the remainder of the Vans Warped Tour left, these guys prove that if you work hard enough, being a musician can be a success!
Can you tell me your name and what you do in the band?
My names Brandon Pagano and I play guitar and do backup vocals.
How’s Warped Tour going so far?
Awesome! I love this tour; I’m surrounded by mostly like-minded people who are very dedicated to working hard and showing that this can be your job. This can be what you want to do, I mean look there are people of all ages on this tour. You can reach a certain level of success if you work hard, that’s awesome. Its super inspiring to be on this tour, to be surrounded by people like that.
Do you have any tour stories that stick out?
There is never one in my head that sticks out when people ask me this question, but we've done some crazy stuff. Anything from being locked inside our van in Paris to being surrounded by the sketchiest things around the van, anything like that. There’s just stuff that happens every day it’s hard to keep up, I should start keeping notes in my phone when things happen, then I’ll have notes for interviews. I just get crazy; I guess that’s all you need to really know.
Pros and Cons of touring?
Pros: touring is great, you get to see the world. I think it’s the most important part of what made me who I am today. I've seen so many different things touring and different countries perspectives on people. Another pro is the food you get to eat; you get to try a lot of new food. I love food, so I think that’s awesome! You meet a lot of friends. Then, you know, the cons are you don’t see your family as much if you’re tight with your family, your dog if you have a dog, relationships are hard to keep on the road and stuff like that, but at the end of the day I think the pros always outweigh the cons. The cons are always there, but there are ways you can just deal with them.
You have a good amount of tattoos, is there any one that’s your favorite or hold significant meaning?
I have this little guy on my leg that my dad used to do in graffiti when I was younger and it’s the guys he used to draw. It’s one I like a lot.
When you guys are in the studio, is there a certain process you go through when writing? Any rituals?
Not particularly. Actually, all of our recording processes have been very different from each other. This is good, because we like to try new things, so we always just mix it up. For example, instead of writing a vocal part first, well base it off a guitar part instead. It’s always good to try new stuff.
What’s the story behind Handguns’ album art?
Life Lessons was an extension of the angst album artworks and the angst album art work shows a young kid on a house searching for stuff or an adventure. Life Lessons art work shows the house the kid grew up in is now torn down and he’s struggling to deal with it. It kind of shows the jump between child hood to the semi 20’s adult hood.
I know you guys are recording a new album, any ideas for the album artwork?
We actually finished tracking our new record about twelve hours before production day of Warped Tour, so we got out of the studio, slept for about a few hours, and drove straight to start Warped. Though, we've been talking a lot in the van about where we’ll take the art work, we honestly don’t really know yet. Hopefully some inspiration comes to us on this tour.
You guys have done a lot of touring, sometimes back to back, any bands you've enjoyed sharing the road with?
Definitely The Wonder Years. Touring with The Wonder Years taught me a lot about touring, being in a band, and how to do it smart and the right way. We've toured with bands like Set It Off (SIO), this was back in 2012, us and SIO were small bands and we were playing to maybe twenty kids a night. Us just doing that tour together, our music was so different but it didn't matter. Both in the same situation, both just doing it right together. We came out of that tour as brothers.
You've done a large amount of touring, what are some of your favorite places you've played?
I like playing overseas a lot, I mean I like playing in the states but we've toured the states who knows how many times, so I've been to quite a few states. I mean my favorite venue in the United States would have to be The Wave in Milwaukee, Wisconsin which is a super cool haunted venue. Its right across from the hotel where Jeffrey Dahmer committed his second murder. Its super crazy and fun, they have an abandoned pool in the basement that’s haunted. It’s just super fun to play, but overseas I really like playing in the UK. Anywhere in the UK, like the people there are great, we've met and made so many friends there and hopefully we’ll be going back soon.
Since you got signed to Warped Tour this year, were there any bands you were excited to see?
Yeah for sure, '68 is one of my favorite bands on tour, it’s a rock duo. If you’re looking for something different throughout your day, '68 would probably be your best bet. Mod Sun, I saw Mod Sun for the very first time, literally for the very first time day one or day two of warped. I had no idea what he was about or what he sounded like. All I heard was the coolest thing; he killed it, that’s the best way to respond. Riff Raff, I love watching Riff Raff that stuff's awesome.
What’s coming up next for Handguns?
We are going to be on the road, we're going to have a new record out hopefully in the fall time, we’ll be touring on that and promoting. Staying on the grind as we always do.
What does music mean to you?
Music is everything, it’s what I do. It’s taught me how to act, its taught me how to express myself, its taught me how to build a relationship with other people. Music has been literally there for me since I graduated high school and took on this life doing this kind of stuff. If it wasn't for music, I would be totally different person; I wouldn't even want to know. Music is great, music is everything.
Make sure you catch them on the Journeys Right Foot Stage all summer! Thanks again to Brandon for taking time out of his day to do the interview!
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