We chat to Illinois rock outfit Good Times & Company about all things music.
Good Times & Company are a midwest rock n roll trio from in Springfield,IL with a conglomeration of sounds, varying from blues and rock ‘n roll, to alternative indie.
Earlier this year the band released their sophomore record with Midwest Sun, which serves as the stellar follow-up to 2017’s All American Grinder.
All sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? We wanted to get to know the band a bit more so we sat down and chatted to vocalist Clint Kesinger about all things music.
How did you get into music in the first place?
I always loved music as a child, but certainly when I got out my dad’s old electric guitar at the age of 14 I was immediately hooked. By 15 I was fully committed to being in a band and making music.
If you had to describe your sound in 3 words, what would they be?
Honest. Catchy. Sex.
When on tour, what’s the ONE thing you always need to have with you?
A camera. We are really into documenting everything we do and putting it on our Instagram. We love sharing our experiences with our fans.
What was your favorite ever on-stage moment?
Tough call, but closing our “All American Grinder” CD release show was amazing. We had such a big fun crowd and the response from them really gave me chills. It was a very fun night that boosted our confidence and we really used that momentum to carry us into writing ‘Midwest Sun’. It was a moment where we kinda looked at each other and realized ‘Wow, we are doing something right here’. I had never received such a huge applause.
How would you describe your songwriting process? Do you have any rituals?
There is no one way to write a song. The process can be wild and unpredictable. But the ‘go to’ process that always works for me is to sit down in a private room with a bottle of wine or several beers, some other substances on hand, and start playing guitar. Once I land on a riff or chord progression I really enjoy playing, the melody and lyric ideas will start pouring in next. When the main structure of the song begins taking shape, I’ll take a quick demo on my phone, finish the bottle of wine, do some more of whatever substance I have, and walk around my apartment listening to it in my headphones writing lyrics. This will continue for hours and hours until I hit a writer’s block or pass out, and from the outside I know it looks like insanity. I’ll just be talking and arguing with myself with the headphones jammed in my ears, singing stuff quietly. The next day I’ll play the demo and decide if it’s good enough to show the rest of the band or not. I’ll show it to them at practice and they start piecing their parts in as a group.
What would your dream festival line-up be, including yourselves playing?
The Strokes, Mac Demarco, The Growlers, Ceramic Animal, Sticky Fingers, Arctic Monkeys, SKEGGS, Cage the Elephant, Royal Blood, The 1975, and probably Kurt Vile
What has been your biggest challenge as musicians?
Exposure. We are based out of Springfield, IL, which has a population just over 100k people. So obviously we don’t have the music industry opportunities that a band in LA or NYC would have, and that is a bummer because so much of becoming successful as a musician is who you know and luck. But it is a double-edged sword, being that we don’t have the chance to play for potentially hundreds of people every weekend locally, but we are away from the influences of what’s ‘cool’ or ‘trendy’ around us during our creative process. Being in LA is nice, but the constant competition to get noticed I feel can pressure artists to choose what’s going to sell based on what is currently hip, rather than creating art that is from a place of truth. We reach out via our social media and make some great connections, but sometimes it doesn’t feel like enough.
Stories from the road – what’s what funniest thing that ever happened to you on tour?
There are many stories that I probably shouldn’t share, but a few years ago when we toured to Kansas we played at club inside a western themed hotel. Long story short, we took some very good acid and sassafras with the bartender after hours and proceeded to explore the hotel all night. After finally deciding to turn in for the night, I find myself laying in our room unable to sleep for obvious reasons. I hear some giggling coming from the bathroom, so I go in and pull back the shower curtain to find Shad and Kyle sitting in a bathtub full of beer cans talking about oral sex being a form of currency in the future. Two grown men sitting in a bathtub giggling at 5 am. Ill never forget it. Jokes on them, they had to drive the next day!
What was the first album you ever owned?
Taking Back Sunday- ‘Tell All Your Friends’
High Fives & Stage Dives 