Two-man child band HERCULES MULLIGAN has kindly asked that you dance to their music! With that, they have released a handful of songs, with many more single's set for release soon enough. The band goes on to say much more, about their formation, music style and furthering plans.
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
We (Ben Gaston & Trent Tyler) have been playing music together since we were 15 years old since we were kids in Eastern Washington state, and Hercules Mulligan is our most recent and certainly most complete musical creation together. We recently looked up and realized we've somehow become 31 year olds.
2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?
We’d been kicking around some band names for a while but none of them really felt right. Then, this past fall, we took our significant others to Hamilton in San Francisco, and the moment that the chorus belted out “Hercules Mulligan” we looked at each other and laughed cause we simultaneously said, “that’s a great band name.” We’d never heard of Hercules Mulligan (he’s a side character in the musical Hamilton), and when we went home and did more research on the actual historical figure, we liked it even more. He’s this relatively unknown, but surprisingly influential historical character that had his fingerprints on the early stages of the development of American democracy, the movement to abolish slavery, and supposedly saved George Washington’s life a couple of times with the intelligence he gathered as a spy. Interesting character, strong band name.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
We’re based out of San Francisco and Oakland. It’s a surprisingly small, but very cool local music scene with cool venues and great people. We’re big fans of our friend Sami Freeman’s music - she’s an awesome singer/songwriter/composer and we were lucky enough to get to feature her vocals on our first single, Blocking The Door.
4. How would you describe your style?
We’d like to think we’d get a roster spot for playing in front of a side door at a three-ring circus housed within Coachella. Our inspirations are all over the map, but I think if you made a salad with early 2010's indie pop like MGMT, STRFKR, and LCD Soundsystem, mixed it together with some Tears For Fears, Tom Petty, and Neil Young, then topped it off with a little bit of Chic and Hall & Oates, you're probably pretty close to what we're going for.
5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
In order of release, we’ve released six songs to date (Blocking The Door, Kinda Man, Dad Man, I’ll Find You, My California, Hermosa Henry). Our most recent release, Hermosa Henry is the track we feel best sums up
6. Do you have any new music in the works?
Yes, we’re releasing our next single, Hold On To Me, on September 2. We have three more singles that will be released by the end of the year, culminating in the release of our debut album.
7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, we had a slate of shows scheduled in the San Francisco Bay Area and a planned West Coast tour. That has all been put on hold, but we’ve been taking the opportunity to start working on new material and honing our very rough DIY video production skills. :)
8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
We hope to get to the point we can start playing the musical festival circuit within the next year or two, but regardless of how that pans out, we plan to create music together for the rest of our lives. This band is a vehicle for our shared vision of writing fun music and throwing a rocking dance party for anyone who wants to join.
9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
You can listen to us on Spotify, YouTube or any other online streaming service. We don’t have any official merch for sale yet, but if you want some, send us a message on Instagram and we’ll figure out a way to get something to you. :)
10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
Hopefully nothing - we’d prefer they are too busy grooving to be taking notes.
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