All things come to an end....sigh. I've had such a great time bringing these tour diaries to you with American Fangs. Now that its over, I'm kinda sad, but look forward to coverage of AF and all their happenings on WANLS. They're good people who make good music and that's what WANLS is all about! Until then, I urge you to visit www.americanfangs.com to purchase their EP. When you go to the site, you can also find links to add them on all of their other homes on the web. AF, you guys rock and WANLS is rolling with ya...keep it up...your fans (including me!) are behind you all the way! Special thanks to Gabe for taking time out of the uber busy tour schedule to answer these questions each week. You guys do Houston proud! Now enough of the mushy stuff...happy reading:) 
WANLS: What's the first thing each of you will do when you get back to Texas?
Gabe: In no particular order, but in some sort of sequence: Sleep. Eat. Love. Get back to work.
WANLS: Tell me about the connections AF has made during this tour.
Gabe: We connected with a lot of new friends, fans, beat makers, bands, club owners, promoters, you name it, we met em. I would get specific on a few but i'm pretty superstitious...so don't yell at me for not giving you the deets. :)
WANLS: How does AF plan to optimize the benefits of this experience through those connections?
Gabe: The same way we would optimize NOT having these new and wonderful connections...keep the wheels rolling by keeping our work ethic tip top.
WANLS: Was it weird having me in the green room before you guys went on, knowing my inner journalist was observing and plotting on things to write about? (Lol)
Gabe: Not at all! You're a very nice wallflower to our green room.
WANLS: Why is AF so prone to spitting giant loogies(not sure how to spell that) on each other on stage?
Gabe: That's probably my fault...I salivate...I'm slanging words at a high rate and movement on stage doesnt stop. I don't usually have the time to swallow it, so I spit it. I don't really need it anyway...but sometimes it lands on the fellas...so they return the favor.
WANLS: What else happens on stage that fans may not notice unless you guys point it out?
Gabe: Extended moments of levitation and mind reading.
WANLS: What are you thinking about when you're performing?
Gabe: Between the songs point, the music being drilled through my soul and the onlookers looks....if I remembered to leave more than 3 days of food for my cat back home.
WANLS: What's happening with AF emotionally as the tour approaches its end?
Gabe: The desire to keep the tour going. The stack of bills that wait at home that won't be paid but used for arts and crafts.
WANLS: AF is hitting the ground running with a show shortly after arriving back in Houston. What's it going to feel like to play for a hometown audience after being in all these other cities?
Gabe: Like a family reunion with games such as Jack Apples...where we bob for apples in a bucket of Jack Daniels (sharma) ... some Texas shit.
WANLS: I hear that you and Justin are the ones awake in the van while everyone else is sleeping most times....any sleep prank stories?
Gabe: Justin must have told you that. Justin actually rides in the trailer, so he doesn't know what goes on.
WANLS: Best meal you guys have had on the road?
Gabe: There are some dope sandwich shops around America and Canada...but every meal is the best even if it's made of dog meat.
WANLS: City with the best hospitality?
Gabe: Don't mean to be too neutral, but all the cities were cha cha cha. The venues were rad. Aren't we so easy to please?
WANLS: Favorite show?
Gabe: We're grateful for every opportunity we have to play...but ATL gets down. Chicago gets down. Toronto and Vancouver get down. Cali Gets down. Highly memorable shows.
WANLS: From what I observed, you guys are really well behaved, as in no crazy groupie chicks, no broken bottles in the green room, that type of thing. How does AF stay so focused with free booze, beautiful women and all other distractions constantly present?
Gabe: We don't forget why we're there. And we don't get caught.
WANLS: You guys seem so genuinely nice. Some artists feel the need to create crazy personas or have monstrous egos. What lessons have u learned as a performer about being yourself?
Gabe: At some point or another you will realize you can't be anybody else but you.
WANLS: Worst meal you've had on tour?
Gabe: See question 11.
WANLS: Worst sleeping situation on the road so far?
Gabe: Can I email you the audio i recorded of Jerry snoring every night?
WANLS: Have you guys been writing any new music while you've been on the road?
Gabe: Everyone's got their ideas, but all that takes shape once we get home.
WANLS: Saul Williams is phenomenal....biggest lesson you've soaked up from your interaction with him?
Gabe: "Patience over anxiety.
"
WANLS: If you guys could play in any city you wanted for the final show of the tour, where would that be and how would you envision an amazing finale performance?
Gabe: The tour itself covered soooo much ground. New big city and state every day if not every other day. I recall the guys wanting to go to Miami, we've never been...and as an amazing finale performance, everyone including the audience would be butt naked, of course.
WANLS: What have you guys been listening to on the road?
Gabe: The Bronx...before Justin left that shit in Portland...., Telefon Tel Aviv, Nirvana, Beck, Glassjaw, Silverchair, alot of the tunes we've been gettin ready to perform after this tour.
WANLS: You guys work your merch table yourselves which allows you to come face to face with fans. Any cool/crazy/interesting fan interactions?
Gabe: Lots of intelligent folks. Someone offered me LSD too. Kenyon got a few gals pregnant just by looking at them.
SIERRA SAYS: This is an actual note left for AF by a fan at one of the shows...I'm not making this stuff up...these guys really do rock!
And that's Kenyon below....look at those impregnating eyes! lol:)
WANLS: You guys perform songs that aren't on your EP. Where can fans get that music?
Gabe: AT shows and online.
WANLS: In an earlier post, you told us about Keith and his description of the tour as "EPIC." Would you change or add to that at this point?
Gabe: Bananas.
WANLS: What does the Afro-Punk movement mean to you?
Gabe: It means "Come one, Come all." No division. It being such a unique tour, unique people gravitated towards it.
WANLS: What would you say to those bands that are just starting out and dream of releasing an album and touring like American Fangs?
Gabe: Be ready to work and do it yourself. If you want to wait for anyone else but you to get the ball rollin for your music, you might as well not even pack your bags.
WANLS: Other bands have reached out to me expressing their love for American Fangs. Why is this sense of community present in the Afro-Punk movement lacking in so many other scenes and replaced with every band for themselves style of competition?
Gabe: Competition isn't unhealthy. But maybe Matthew Morgan and his peoples know how to create an atmosphere where a lot of art, not just music, can take place and still have that friendly competition. who knows..it's just plain ol' fun.
WANLS: Any thank you's or shout outs that you guys want to give to ppl who have been instrumental to your success thus far, or who've made this tour what it was?
Gabe: Thanks to Afro-Punk for letting us travel the states nationally and internationally and all the people out there who opened their doors and ears.
Sierra Says: THANKS AGAIN, GUYS!!!!
