Kevin Gastonguay, the accomplished funk chairman from Cory Wong’s high-powered outfit, discussed his three-night run on keys with The Big Wu in March, and the conversation veered to his earlier days as a resident musician at storied Minneapolis live music venue Bunkers.
The Big Wu’s Mark Joseph recalled the March guest spot last week (click here), which sparked this conversation, and it veered in a few directions, including a busy touring schedule with Wong through Japan, Europe, and U.S. dates that include an appearance at the Minnesota Yacht Club festival and a dozen shows with acclaimed saxophonist Joshua Redman at the legendary Blue Note Jazz Club in New York in November.
He’s actually played about 10 times with The Big Wu over the last five years or so, he and Joseph recalled.
Gastonguay, who came out of the Minnesota music scene, has been around the band for years, seeing them at festivals at places such as Harmony Park. But preparing to play with the long-time jam band for three shows in a row, with no repeats, required more homework.
“Whenever I play with a band, I dig in,” he said. “You have to. It’s been really fun. And I’ve become a big fan of their music and their vision. I like what they do, which is a new set every time. They are down for the journey. It doesn’t have to be the same. They want It to be different. … I like the flexibility and the improvisational nature of it. It checks a lot of boxes for me and the songs have road maps where we know where we are going. It’s going to get crazy and it might be long. … They take the risks, which is fuckin’ great.”
Gastonguay, second from right, with The Big Wu at their Steamboat Springs, Colo., run this past March.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARK JOSEPH
He was already familiar with about 30 Big Wu songs but had to more than double that number. That’s where his jazz-level skills kicked in.
“I put a shitload of time into it,” he said. “Basically, I memorize everything. … I was listening, had my MIDI piano. I just play along to the songs for days, over and over again.”
Joseph said this about Gastonguay:
“He is an absolute monster. He is just so talented. He is a good study. He does his homework. … He really does the music justice. He is a natural fit for us when needed.”
Joseph noted that Oikari was planning on playing all of the shows the band has booked this summer, but Gastonguay is a great option.
“Al is incredible,” Gastonguay said.
“You are digging from years and years of writing,” he said. “From my perspective, learning a band, they absolutely have an identity, a sound. And I can hear a thing and be like, yeah, that sounds like the Wu. I’ve kind of gotten into like, who wrote what? Like, he wrote that, or that’s a Chris tune. … It’s fun being that guy coming into a band that’s been a band for a super long time — knowing that you’re kind of the curve ball.”
I asked if there were any songs, in particular, that he got excited about, and he mentioned my two favorites to see live: “Southern Energy,” and “Red Sky.”
“The ones that are long and complicated and have a lot of parts,” he said. “A producer could come in and be like, ‘Yo, guys, this is like five tunes.’ But you can also have it be one song, and that is totally cool.”
Gastonguay, who is now based in Nashville, said he has other gigs in the works around town — he’s mentioned a gig with JT Bates, with whom he played before in Pizza Coupon and Grain Trio, and with another gig in the works with Mikel Wright and the Wrongs, another band he played with back in his Bunkers days.
He’s probably played more shows at Bunkers than anywhere, he thought.
“I was playing there three times a week for like three years,” he said. “And then two times a week for another four years or something.”
He was in Dr. Mambo’s Combo (one of the longest-standing residencies in the country) starting around 2015, and played with Alex Rossi and Wright. He played alongside bassist Sonny T (New Power Generation) and drummer Michael Bland (New Power Generation) with the Combo.
“I was just like at Bunkers,” he said. “But it was cool because it was Bunkers. It is a place for musicians, and the owners are just like the coolest.”
At times, he just stored a bunch of keyboards in the basement.
When he’s touring around the world, he frequently runs into musicians that know the room.
“If you go to Bunkers, you are probably going to see some good shit,” he said.