Westbound Train "Gutter" Digital Single + Screen Print Poster
"Before I tell you what "Gutter" is all about let me tell what it's not. "Gutter" is not about heartbreak, or failure to land "the one". It's not about getting the win. It's not about your cup being empty but rather in its own twisted way, it’s about the glass being half full. It's a mix of emotions ranging from self loathing to self realization. Sometimes in the valleys we need to dig even lower and deeper to overcome our envy and grass is greener mentality to actually stand tall, find hope and enough humility to listen to what your loved ones are trying to tell you. The answers are always there but depending on our perspective we're limited in what we see, hear and how we react.
I wrote this song as a reminder to myself that sometimes listening is more effective than speaking and to always love myself enough to pick myself and those around me up when I need to. The beauty of this song is that it's true, I never had a fighting chance. If you look at my story, I wasn't supposed to make it. But in my heart, God is gracious, the world is much more beautiful than it is cruel and it's far more rewarding to love one another through our struggles vs. keeping one another down."
In the mid 90's when the new wave of ska broke out of its underground confines, punk bands scrambled for thrift store suits while some ska bands snatched up a distortion pedal from the local pawn shop, other bands like WESTBOUND TRAIN just surfed the wave, never phased by swell or crash, content with who they were and how it defined them among the mad dash for radio airplay. WESTBOUND TRAIN dug in, honed the craft of playing live, listening to dusty grooves from crates, using the old and the new as influences. They kept on writing and kept on progressing as musicians, as a band, as parents, and as songwriters.
The history goes from New Jersey to Boston and back to New Jersey with stopovers along the way of countless tour stops. With the support from West Coast HELLCAT RECORDS it solidified the band among the 1990's punk and ska fans but never defined the creative path for WESTBOUND TRAIN. The time and the place only explaining the inspiration and not the opportunity.
There's no race to the finish line for great songs. The ingredients are as powerful as the outcome, in this case Motown, reggae and third wave ska bubble over while soul and the ghost of its forefathers and foremothers keep the vivid lyrics and stories floating on top of the pulsing backbeat.
The ideas get edited over time, performances get built up slowing from moments of inspiration, the push and pull happens naturally with WESTBOUND TRAIN songs. You can't rush the flow of how the melody from Obi Fernandez hits your ears over the shuffle of drums and upstroke guitars. Bass grooves and horn stabs occupy the space to accentuate the melodies and I'm happy to report that the world is a better and much cooler place with these songs being played. Happy to coexist with the old and the new, a blend of who the band was and is, and in the now it's best we just sit back and listen.