First the Garage, Then the World

Number One Gun has been able to do what kids have fantasized about ever since the air guitar was first invented: make a living playing rock ‘n roll. They broke out of a town known more for its almonds than its rock music, and they did it by making their own connections and touring their little bottoms off. They are currently signed to massive indie rock label Tooth and Nail, and they have a new album coming out called Promises for the Imperfect that is going to receive widespread national promotion and distribution. This is only the beginning.
I arrived at the house of bassist Trevor Sellers and was greeted by the smell of a barbecue firing up and Huey Lewis and the News bumping full blast in the background. Singer/lead guitarist Jeff Schneeweis and Sellers sat me down in the living room and summarized Number One Gun’s humble beginnings.
After snagging Trevor from his previous band, Isabell, the band started touring together and playing shows around town. During one fateful show at the sadly defunct venue the Catacombs, they met John Dunn, who worked mail order over at the Tooth and Nail head office. “I was sitting out front and John and I started talking. He said he really wanted to help us out. Basically, how the Tooth and Nail deal came about is we know John Dunn,” explained Trevor.
Trevor’s extremely optimistic about the deal with Tooth and Nail. “They have put so much into us without them making anything for their label yet. It is just really comfortable,” he said.
Trevor and Jeff started to get really excited as we began to delve into the final product of the new album and working with producer/rock guru Aaron Sprinkle (Underoath, Anberlin, Pedro the Lion). “Aaron’s touch here or there just made a world of difference,” Jeff said. “He didn’t tell us what to play, but he would send us into the studio by ourselves and say ‘figure out another chord.’ Then we would go figure it out and he would say ‘Oh, that’s perfect!’ He was really respectful with us.” Trevor added that while the core of the songs didn’t change that much, Sprinkle brought out the best in the band by challenging them and by using his skills as an engineer to give them a clean and bombastic sound that is sure to annoy even the hippest parents at high decibel levels.
Great sounding tunes are definitely a good thing, but an album without strong and genuine lyrical elements that people can relate to is going to evoke about as much emotion as a Britney Spears track. Thankfully, Jeff Schneeweis and Co. have created an album that is poised to move your body and your soul with a message that anyone can relate to. “Promises for the Imperfect is for imperfect people. Not perfect people,” Jeff said. The band wanted to write an album that would force people to judge the band based on their music and individual character, rather than automatically writing them off as a “Christian” band.
“We are all Christians and everything in the band, but we are a rock band and that is what we want to be known as,” he said. “Not that we are ashamed of Christianity. It’s more like we would rather people see us for who we really are instead of just this tag or this label.”
Number One Gun has come a long way. They have traded in their constant concert dates at Moxie’s for full-blown national tours, and they have achieved this success while still remaining true to the ideals and ethics that they believed in when the band was first created. Number One Gun have given the Chico music community a whole lot more than just some kick ass music, and that is the hope that four regular dudes can break free from the confines of their home town with just a few instruments and the drive to do what they have always loved (cue emotional music).

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