TWIS Asks: Natural Child

This Thursday, Nashville, Tenn.-based garage rockers Natural Child will make their Sarasota debut as part of their spring tour. Joining them on the bill are fellow Nashvillians Faux Ferocious and Sarasota's own Hail Dale.

We caught up with bassist Wes Traylor and drummer Zack Martin to talk about saving rock 'n' roll, spirit animals and how to perform your way out of a German traffic ticket.

You guys have been described as the last rock 'n' roll band. How do we save the genre?

Traylor— I think just through listening and appreciation. It's tough, because music, and especially rock music, has really come a long way and changed a lot. We just play. Maybe the way to save it is to just ... be good at it.

What's the best live show you've seen?

Traylor — Probably a better question to ask is, 'At what age in your life are you most capable of being excited by a rock show?' (laughs)

The best live show I've ever seen was probably Blink 182 at the Starwood Amphitheater when I was like, 11. It's all been downhill from there.

Martin — I saw Hank Jr. when I was 2, and I fell asleep. Does that count?

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You can only listen to one album for the rest of your life. What is it?

Traylor – Man, that’s tough. I guess you probably want to pick a long one, right? What's the longest album I can listen to? Maybe classical music. I think you'd get tired of a country record or a blues record. The sounds alone would drive you nuts.

I guess classical guys didn’t do albums — they did symphonies. How about "Get Up With It," by Miles Davis? That's sort of halfway in between. I could listen to it every day. There are a lot of moods on it, and it's really long.

What's your band's collective spirit animal?

Martin — A jellyfish. No spine. Go where the currents take you. But we'll shock you.

What's been your strangest touring experience?

Traylor — The strangest probably had to be in Germany. We were randomly pulled over. Well, you don’t even really get pulled over there. You get led over. The car doesn't even look like cop car; there's just a sign that says "Pull over" in German and then in English. "I am police. Follow me."

So, we followed them for a good five minutes to a gas station, and they searched the car for long time. Then they made us sing them a song while they smoked cigarettes. I guess they thought it was funny. They let us go, and we went and ate Burger King.

What's your favorite guilty pleasure music?

Traylor — I don’t think any of us feel guilty about anything. We all like the crappy music we like to listen to. You should never feel shame about anything. I've listened to Jackson Browne's "Stay" about five times today. I really enjoyed listening to "Enema of the State." Seth likes Madonna. We definitely listen to stuff that isn’t coolest, but doesn’t stop me from listening to it.

You asked how to save rock 'n' roll? Stop being so guilty!

Any last words of wisdom?

Traylor — I don't know, I think it's all been pretty wise. Listen to us! Our wisdom is in the music.

IF YOU GO

+ Natural Child, Faux Ferocious and Hail Dale— takes place at 9 p.m. at Growler’s Pub, 2831 N. Tamiami Trail. $8 or $10 at the door. 

— All photos courtesy of Natural Child.