Covergeist-Interview
by Tim Wenger
“Part of the reason it took me so long to do this, is because I put my feet in too many ponds,” says Justin Covergeist, charismatic front man and bearer of the name which his band is known by. He just moved his music and his life to Denver from Nashville, TN, and has gone right to work trying to find his niche here in our music scene. “I’ve been going balls to the wall out here trying to contact people (in Denver). In Nashville, it’s easy, because everybody worked in the music business or they were a songwriter on the side.” We met up for some drinks at the Candlelight Tavern and talked about the music scene, why working at a ski resort is a sick job, and his undying affection for Taylor Swift.
Covergeist is considering moving up to Winter Park to work for the ski resort, and save money to use towards his music. He has lived all over the place in recent years, including but not limited to, Arizona, Tennessee, and Colorado. He studied at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Tempe, AZ, and has put in his time in the studio as well as on stage.
Covergeist, his band, has a new album out, Zombies, Vampires, and Taylor Swift Oh My! “I thought (the name) was kind of catchy, and it sums up three of the songs on there in a unique way,” Covergeist says. “I’m somewhat of a topical songwriter. I’ll choose a theme, like zombies. The zombie story explains the first song on the album. I wrote it for my Grandpa, actually. When (he) dies, he’s gonna be so in love with my Grandma, that he is going to come up from the dead and kill her, so they can be dead together.”
Justin is also no stranger to writing love songs, but one song on the album stands out from the rest. “Taylor Swift” is a song about how he met his celebrity crush. “I met her as the intern on her first album, so that’s the first verse,” Covergeist says. “The second verse is about me and Ducky (Slagle, bassist) playing music; we used to play guitar at this coffee shop outside on the patio. “Taylor walked in with Hayley Williams from Paramore. They are smoking hot. I was too nervous to talk to her, like I’ve always had this celebrity crush on her. Ducky goes up to Hayley and is like ‘High five for playing with Max Bemis (Say Anything). Then he goes to Taylor and flips her off. I was mad, cuz I love that girl!”
Luckily, Covergeist got another shot a few moments later. “I took my dog out onto the lawn, and as my dog was taking a piss out in the grass, she turns the corner, and I was like ‘Oh shit, she’s walking right toward me.’ She had this skirt on, and he pulled out of my hand and went up Taylor Swift’s dress.” The song is meant to ask Swift out on a date, at which time; perhaps, he will apologize for his dog’s crass behavior.
Sounding like the bastard child of the Misfits and the Ramones, born in the mid ’90s after a swift kick in the ass from the pop-punk boom, Covergeist’s music is much smoother than his mating prowess. The album was recorded at a variety of locations, including Quad Studios in Nashville, the Art Institute in Nashville, and his own home. “I mixed about half the songs,” Covergeist says. “Two songs were mixed by Daniel Abrusci,” (former drummer in the band).
Covergeist has gone through a couple incarnations over the last two years. “The band (as it was before) broke up about three months before I left Nashville,” Covergeist says. “Right now, it’s a Black Keys thing, just guitar and a drummer,” Whether or not Covergeist and [Jackson] Aldern (current drummer), add additional members, Covergeist’s eccentric personality will definitely lend itself to an entertaining stage performance. Look for Covergeist to be performing around town!
Pick up the album on iTunes or SoundCloud.com/Covergeist
Category: What's Up?
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