Please tell our readers who you are and what you do?
Ship of Fools is a four-piece band birthed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana although our members have origins that span from Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and even as far as Venezuela. The band consists of Ashley Monaghan on vocals, Michael Blount on acoustic guitar, Raudol Palacios on cello, and Eric Brown on drums.
How would you describe your style and genre?
Our music is an amalgamation of our origins in that it combines classically influenced melody and composition, on-top of finger-picked, folk-inspired, acoustic guitar to illustrate a uniqueness of style that is hard to pin to just one genre or label. The cello takes a lead role that engages in skillful interplay with the acoustic guitar, jazz-influenced percussion, and a powerful vocal styling that dynamically ties it all together as one unit.
Who are your biggest influences and idols … and why? Do you have any idols? Are you a super fan of anyone? (Dead or alive, musician or non-musician)
It’s hard to narrow it down to a list that wouldn’t take a month of Sundays to read but as a group we are all really into the musical giants of the world such as John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra), David Gilmore (Pink Floyd), Chris Thile (Punch Brothers), Dolly Parton, Gillian Welch, ect. Some of us also grew up listening to classical musicians such as Rostropovich, Tchaikovsky, Bach, and all the other endless and untouchable composers that permanently changed the form of music. Ashley also comes from a theater background and in her youth was heavily influenced by old Hollywood musicals particularly Judy Garland and Gene Kelly.
What´s new right now? What should our readers know about that is coming up from you?
We have a lot of new projects in the works that we are really excited about. We are currently in the early stages of recording a new, double-sided full length that will contain roughly 14 songs total with a B side of our own original instrumental compositions. We are shooting for early 2018 for the release and also hope to release a new music video to pair with the album. Those have been our two main focuses in addition to constantly writing new music and playing gigs along the way. We have a handful of smaller gigs before this but our next big gig is November 11th at One Eyed Jacks in New Orleans opening for the act Merci Raines.
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What was the biggest mistake you made when you started making music and what would be the number one tip you could give to a newcomer musician?
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How do you get gigs? Can you share any tips?
Honestly, we have been very fortunate with getting gigs. We have had a lot of success in our home town of Baton Rouge and more often than not we get approached by others for events and rarely have to search for them.
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What has been your biggest challenge right now? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
One of the biggest challenges is to keep the musical process fun and light-hearted. We are all very passionate about not only our music, but our other individual passions and pursuits, and being in band is a lot like having a second job. It requires a lot of dedication and commitment that is vital and necessary from all angles in order to have a productive, functional band. Moral of the story, it’s not as easy as you would think to be in a band and it has to be something that every member wants.
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How do you promote yourself? Do you have any specific promotion tips for other musicians?
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We meet again in one year. What has changed?
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https://www.facebook.com/shipoffoolsofficial/