Music ‘through our filter’
Black Pistol Fire operates on a majority wins plan to make decisions
Sometimes eight-hour travel days are extended unexpectedly. Say, to 27-hour ones. Despite being tired, Eric Owen is in good spirits because he’s using his day off to decompress from the unexpected drama.
“I’m actually going to get a run in,” he says during a recent phone interview from Austin, Texas. “This will help get my stress level back down before heading back out on tour.”
Owen is one-half of the rock duo Black Pistol Fire. Kevin McKeown rounds out the pair, who have been friends since grade school in north Toronto, Canada.
The duo formed in 2010 and has since released five fulllength albums and one EP.
The duo draws inspiration from blues, R&B and rock greats, such as Led Zeppelin, Chuck Berry, Nirvana, Buddy Holly and Muddy Waters.
Black Pistol Fire will perform at Meow Wolf in Santa Fe tonight, which also marks the duo’s New Mexico debut.
“It’s our first New Mexico gig and we’re stoked about it,” he says. “It’s a beautiful state and we’ve driven through it many times. We’ve also looked at the venue and it seems pretty awesome.”
Black Pistol Fire’s most recent album is 2017’s “Deadbeat Graffiti.”
But the duo has been working on a new album within the recent weeks.
“We stockpiled a whole bunch of songs and we’re keeping it going,” he says. “(The songs) are like a gumbo of genres and a lot of little things peppered in. There are some songs that are garage rock. Some that are more soulful. It’s all over the place, but through our filter.”
McKeown and Owen had a few days off in Austin before heading out on the next leg of the tour.
In that time, Owen says McKeown was writing new music.
“Kev is the hardest working person that I know,” he says. “I don’t know where he finds the time. He’s the main songwriter.”
With there being only two members, when it comes to making a decision, it’s a majority wins type of plan.
“We both have to like it,” he admits. “Kev is steering the ship, of course. He’s the captain and I’m the co-pilot, and it’s all in or nothing at all for us.”
Black Pistol Fire has already released six new tracks this year from the upcoming album.
“Instead of waiting until an album is done, we want our fans to have access to new music often,” he says. “There are a couple of songs we recorded more than a year ago and we have to release them so they still feel fresh to us.”