Tailgunner is making massive waves in the rock and metal community since forming about two years ago. The band has gained huge traction and we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. Here at CGCM Rock Radio/Website, we’ve been on board since quite early on in the journey. Our very own Rich “The Meister” Dillon from Toronto, Canada was at a festival in Belgium in May of 2022 when Justin from the UK introduced him to Tailgunner. That introduction came by way of a song snip or two played on a crappy cell phone speaker while they were at a pub drinking! But that’s all it took, the CGCM team was soon devouring Tailgunner‘s Crashdive EP. Since then Tailgunner founder and bassist Tomas Hewson appeared via phone call-in on an episode of the CGCM Podcast (CGCM Podcast EP#153-Tailgunner Interview). The band has also signed with FireFlash Records to issue their then-forthcoming debut record, Guns For Hire in 2023.
At Call Of The Wild Festival in Lincolnshire in March of this year, Rich took in his premiere Tailgunner live experience and he had this to say: “Ready in the photo pit for my first Tailgunner show, they came out hard, strong and fast with “Guns For Hire” and straight into my favourite “White Death“. Like the old Batman TV series with Adam West, it was “biff“, “pow“, and “kablam“! They slapped the crowd with a flurry of songs so tightly woven together that the photographers didn’t even know it was song 4 and they were still shooting away!” And he summed it all up with this statement: “As they exited the stage I stood there, speechless, attempting to comprehend what had just happened. I haven’t had that feeling for quite a while at a show. Blown away does not even come close to a valid description!” (TAILGUNNER – COTW 2023)
It’s not just CGCM Canada and the UK that’s caught on to Tailgunner! Upon the release of Guns For Hire, CGCM‘s resident Swedish contributor MetalMike71 was compelled to write a blog review of the album. In that review, he states: “All in all, this is one hell of a debut album and as they are all still young I really hope it goes down well with the metal community and the band will have a long and exciting career. This is the future hope for Heavy Metal.” (TAILGUNNER – Guns For Hire (Album Review))
Now just recently, Justin Cotchin from the UK who first brought Tailgunner to CGCM Rock Radio/Website was afforded the opportunity to sit down for a brief chat with the entire Tailgunner band for this update on what’s been happening since the podcast. You can stream the chat’s audio, including a couple of Tailgunner tracks in the mix, through the CGCM Rock Radio MixCloud page. Or just click below!
