Why You Shouldn't Called Gone Is Gone A Supergroup

Gone Is Gone is a collaboration featuring members of illustrious pedigree, including instrumentalists from such luminaries of the heavy music scene as Mastodon, At The Drive-In and Queens Of The Stone Age. However, speaking to bass player, vocalist and Mastodon main man Troy Sanders, it becomes apparent that labelling this new project a 'supergroup' is not a good idea.

"I don't care for the term," he says plainly, "and I'll tell you why: my band, and many other bands, they're put together because we're friends with one another. It's not with the initial intent of being 'super'. I understand the tag, but if your first introduction to a group of guys in a band has the term 'supergroup' attached to it, it sets the bar of expectation extremely high and I don't think that's fair for the band or the listener.

"If your first introduction to a group of guys in a band has the term 'supergroup' attached to it, it sets the bar of expectation extremely high."

"We don't think we're 'super'," he adds, laughing.

The band's debut album is entitled Echolocation and, while not a million miles from the members' main projects stylistically, it definitely forges its own identity at the same time. Sanders has just a little difficulty in describing the band's sound for the uninitiated, but is justifiably proud of what they have accomplished. "It's a really good question," he opines, "I would hope that the avid music fan will have the opportunity to ingest it as a whole. I think it's a really accessible listen, but it has interesting flavour and interesting sounds to offer. Just the whole ride, from start to finish, I'm personally in love with it."

Echolocation comes a short six months after the band released its debut self-titled EP. It verges on a miracle that these four musicians, who are extremely busy in their own right, have formed the band and written, recorded and put out two full-blown releases in the space of just 12 months. Sanders feels it's all about making full use of the time they do have together outside their main projects.

"We recognise that we just have to focus and find what's meaningful to us," he says. "We want to keep this momentum rolling, each and every opportunity we have to get together to collaborate, write and record. We really look forward to each time we can get together; we really appreciate and respect each other's friendship. So it's just the right ingredients to have a healthy band!"

Although the band has two releases out and this is music that is begging to be played live, Gone Is Gone's status as a possible touring entity is up in the air at this point. "We live by the calendar, months in advance," he reveals. "We just try to find what we can, when we can and make it happen. We are definitely open to any opportunity that comes our way to play shows, but it's just a bit early to tell right now."