Dying Scene Interview: Catching up with Chicago’s Ganser!

Dying Scene sat down with Ganser at the Empty Bottle ahead of their first show of 2024. Openers included Martin Atkins DJ Set, Plum, and Patter. Ganser consists of Brian Cundiff (drums), Alicia Gaines (bass, backing vocals, and effects), Sophie Sputnik (lead vocals, synth, and guitar), and Charlie Landsman (guitar). 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Dying Scene: Happy New Year. Thank you all for taking the time to sit with me. I appreciate it. Tell me who is in the band. 

Ganser: Brian. Alicia. Sophie. Charlie.

DS: How’s the new year treating you so far?

AG: I feel like we’re just collecting ourselves. We’re working on a new record and so things kind of drop off during the holidays, but now we’re coming in and picking it up again. We’re playing some of the new songs tonight actually.

DS: Oh, exciting! 

SS: Three!

AG: Four, I think. 

BC: Four that aren’t on a record. 

AG: Something. Three or four.

DS: So will you guys be touring in 2024?

AG: Yes.

BC: Yeah. We have some things coming up that aren’t announced yet but we’re looking forward to it. Some bigger venues and we’re going to be swooping from the north, south, and then east, so it’ll be a nice little trip for us.

DS: Very cool. So, how was 2023 for you guys?

CL: It was full of a lot of ups and downs, as I’m sure a lot of people’s years were. But, yeah, it was an exciting year.

AG: Well, we have Sophie, now.

BC: The first full year of Sophie.

CL: Oh yeah, I guess that’s the first full year. A year of Sophie.

BC: Yeah, a couple tours. So, that was cool. One early in the year and one down to Austin in October.

CL: We haven’t killed each other. Not once. 

SS: Not even a little bit. 

CL: Yeah, not once.

DS: So, I first saw you guys at the Bikini Kill show (April 22, 2023 at The Salt Shed in Chicago). I saw you playing and I was like, oh my gosh, I would love to interview this band. So, I am really happy to be here.

SS: That was such a fun show.

DS: Yes, it was. So, what was that like for you guys?

AG: Well, it was kind of crazy because Sophie joining us has kind of aligned with some of these bigger opportunities that we’ve had. And so, correct me if I’m wrong, Sophie, but I think that was the third show you were playing with us?

SS: Yeah, I want to say it was the second, right? Well, the first one was Sleeping Village.

AG: Sleeping Village. Otoboke Beaver.

SS: Right.

AG: Bikini Kill. Yeah, three.

SS: Yeah. So, I was like shitting myself. 

AG: You jumped in with both feet. It was great.

SS: Yeah, I just personally had never played a venue that big either, ever. So, it was really cool.

BC: And the venue was great. We had…a lot of the staff from here [Empty Bottle] works there, too. Or they moved there when that venue opened. So, we knew a lot of people. So, it was sort of like a bigger version of this in some ways.

DS: That’s awesome. Yeah, it was a great show. You guys were awesome, awesome, awesome. (Sophie) you came from another band. What band was it? 

SS: I have another project called Waltzer that I still do for the most part but this is my focus now.

DS: Who would you guys most like to work with? This could be collaborators, record labels, producers, or remixers.

AG: This is going to sound strange. There are definitely musicians that we’d want to work with and we’ve worked with Angus Andrew in the past from Liars, which felt like a dream come true. There’s certainly more like that but I think something that we all kind of share is that we all love comedy and every once in a while we hear that a comedian likes us. I personally would love to do something with Eric Andre. That would be very cool. Like Adult Swim…that kind of stuff.

CL: Or Sarah Sherman. 

AG: Sarah Sherman.

SS: Yeah.

CL: From Chicago. Or started doing comedy in Chicago. 

BC: Yeah, that’d be cool. 

DS: So, who are your biggest influences?

CL: I think as a band, we all have different biggest influences. For me it’s like a lot of noise rock and The Birthday Party. A lot of classical composers.

SS: It’s so strange. I feel like when I was thinking about wanting to do music, I was listening to stuff that’s completely different than what I was listening to now. I was really inspired by Natalie Cole and jazz and Bonnie Raitt, gospel, and shit like that. But then…like now it’s, I don’t know…lyrically I really like Fiona Apple.

AG: Nobody likes Fiona Apple anymore. 

CL: I like Fiona Apple. 

SS: I still really like Fiona Apple and I really like Karen O. Her stage presence and stuff like that.

AG: Yeah Yeah Yeahs are dope.

SS: Yeah, for sure. 

AG: I think stuff like that. Jesus Lizard is probably a big one for this band. 

CL: Gorillaz. 

AG: Gorillaz. Brian and I probably share Peter Gabriel.

BC: Some of the older stuff. 

DS: There are a lot of amazing bands here in Chicago. You don’t have to travel very far at all for good bands. So, who should we look out for?

AG: I mean, immediately we’re going to say, “ONO.”

CL: Yeah. For sure.

AG: ONO. They are legendary. They are everything. Two guys who had a band in the eighties and then they retired for a while and then they came back and recruited some of the younger musicians to be with them. But it’s kind of post punk avant garde industrial gospel. It’s crazy. If you ever see them on a bill, you have to go.

CL: Yeah. It’s the advice we give to everybody that just moved to Chicago is you literally have to see ONO.

BC: I haven’t seen them playing around too much.

SS: I’ve never seen them. 

AG: Oh, they’re so good. If you see their name on a bill, you have to go.

CL: It’s non-negotiable.

BC: Cancel your plans.

DS: So, how about outside of Chicago? 

AG: I’m thinking about people that we’ve played with. Gilla Band from Ireland.

CL: Geese is great. Lifeguard is great.

AG: Death Valley Girls.

CL: Death Valley Girls.

AG: Death Valley Girls from California is great.

CL: There’s just literally so many incredible bands now. Just really, really good bands. It’s everywhere. It’s like a dime a dozen. It’s great. It also sucks.

AG: Should all fight to the death.

SS: There’s also a really cool band called Pelvis Wrestley from Austin. 

AG: That’s a good name.

SS: But I really like their stuff. I could see them doing pretty well. 

DS: So what five bands are you guys listening to this week? 

AG: I think I can do one. Mandy, Indiana.

CL: They’re sick. 

SS: It has to be a band…

BC: I’ve been listening to a lot of Herbie Hancock.

SS: There’s this movie called Fire of Love.

AG: The documentary?

SS: Yeah, it’s crazy. It’s about these two people who fell in love and they were scientists of volcanoes. I forget what that is called. But the soundtrack is so good. It’s insane. So, the soundtrack of the Fire of Love.

BC: I always hate being put on the spot like this because I can never think of…

SS: You see, Brian, you know it’s Rush. You know it’s Rush.

BC: No. It’s a new song (Just Another Rainbow) that came out with Liam Gallagher from Oasis and John Squire from The Stone Roses came out with a song and I was checking that out.

DS: So do you guys have anything else you’d like to share with the Dying Scene’s readers?

AG: I think we’re going to try to get on the road a good amount this year as much as our schedules will allow. So, I would say just keep an eye on us because we always love to meet new people and go to new places. So, I think we’re going to do some of that this year.

Be sure to catch them here next.