Getting to Know Gunning for Allie
Australian duo Gunning for Allie have just revealed their glowing new single, Stay. We asked them to tell us about themselves:
We are… two best mates from Brisbane that love to write music together. Gunning for Allie is the creative outlet for myself (Josh) and James, who both have other day jobs. James is a music producer and writer for other artists, and I’m a professional musical theatre actor. We’ve been writing songs together since high school, and despite rarely living in the same state for extended amounts of time, we still manage to create music together. The band is a testament to our continued friendship and the passion we share in music.
Stay is… a new chapter for us. It’s the first single of our upcoming second EP. A little bit of musical growth for us since the Everyday War EP, but it’s been great to see how far we’ve come with our writing. For me, the song was the beginning of what ended up being a year of breakups. Funnily, having written the song almost three years ago now, the song has become practically nostalgic to me as it looks back at a much younger and perhaps naïve Josh. It’s a song about holding onto hope for a relationship that is maybe a little too doomed. But that’s the thing about all good love stories; even if it doesn’t end up the way you thought it would, you learn so much along the way. So I can say in the journey of record to releasing this song, I have learnt so much about myself.
Home is… wherever the suitcase is. Even while writing this, I’m in a theatre in Perth! And sadly, when Stay is released, James and I will be in different states. But who hasn’t gotten used to a skype drinks session? Luckily last year during Covid, James and I were living together and had the opportunity to write in the same room together for the first time in a long time. Many of the tracks on the upcoming Sleeping Alone EP were written in James’s bedroom or sung at each other down the hallway. As a theatre actor, I’m constantly travelling and living in different cities. So, it’s hard to call one single place home. I have so many friends and family that I only get to see once a year, sometimes not even that. It’s cliché, but I agree with the statement that “home is where the heart is”. You’ve got to make the most of the time you get to spend with people and make home the moment you’re in, rather than the place you are.
I spend too much time… binging Netflix. I’ve watched Squid Game twice now. I’m also somewhat of a serial procrastinator with an addictive personality, a dangerous combo. I will admit to being that person who does all their assignments the night before. So not only do I spend too much time on Netflix but also definitely YouTube. I’ve been down some rabbit holes before. But also, there’s just a lot of really decent content that people are creating these days. And especially over the last two years, not going outside so much, I’m sure I’m not the only one.
I’ve never… gotten the chance to play our songs live! Unfortunately, because James and I haven’t been in the same state a lot, we’ve never gotten to play a live Gunning for Allie show. And then the pandemic closed down music venues for the last good while. But I can say we have intentions to play some live shows in 2022. I know so many great artists that are releasing great songs at the moment. And with people itching to get out and see shows again, it’s going to be a massive year for Australian music, I think. Gunning for Allie will be playing a ton of shows around the country to show off the new songs.
It might surprise people to learn that… Allie Gunning was a real person! I came up with the name just after leaving high school with the intention to use it for a future band. Back then, James and I played in a band called Dakota Calling, YouTube them for sure, and we went to school with Allie. I believe James went on one date with her, and it never happened, but I loved the joke about gunning for Allie. She’s happily married now with kids and knows we’ve named the band after her. But I like the idea knowing that I kept the idea even though it took us five years to start the band officially.
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Keep up to date with the duo on Insta.
