Interview With 'Good Times & Company'
Firstly, introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about the band and how you came to be?
My name is Clint Kesinger, I sing and play guitar for Good Times & Company. I originally started the project as a solo acoustic act called Good Times in 2012 with the intention of eventually going full band. It was all experimental at that point. I was living in a small apartment in St. Louis with 2 other aspiring musicians and we were just playing on the street for beer money and sharpening our skills as musicians and songwriters. In 2013 I did the first acoustic self titled EP in the living room with my roommate Scott Neff, played gigs around the country as far as Los Angeles, CA and down to Texas, and eventually moved back to our native area of Springfield, IL. In July of 2014 I had written a lot of songs, recorded and released a second acoustic EP titled ‘And Cold Beer’, and decided it was time to take things up a notch. I recruited my best friend Shad Baldes on bass and mutual friend Kyle Wells on drums at which point the name changed to Good Times & Company, and we just went into practicing religiously. We released 2 records as a 3 piece before adding Keagan Cross to the group as a 2nd guitarist in 2017. Since then it has been a whirlwind of shows and recording and writing. We released our 3rd EP ‘Midwest Sun’ as a 4 piece and are approaching the final writing stages of our 4th EP, slated to release in summer 2019.
What were you all up too prior to the band, was this always the chosen path or did you have other dreams and aspirations?
This was always the path. Since age 15 me and Shad have been playing in bands (metal bands in our early days) nonstop. Some of us went to college or trade schools after High School, including myself. I think music has just had this grip on each one of us and wont let go. Speaking for me personally, I have no choice. I write every day and cannot stop, its very much a part of my soul and I wouldn’t see it any other way. I was originally in school for Secondary Education and Physics in 2009 but dropped out to tour with our old metal band and never looked back.
Tell us about your latest album and why our readers should check it out.
‘Midwest Sun’ is our latest album and I recommend listening because it’s the culmination of 4 passionate musicians in devoting themselves to song writing. We went into this album as 3 piece and exited a 4 piece which rounded out the album well and I feel it’s an honest representation of Rock music coming from midwestern artists. There is a song for EVERYBODY on this album, and I’m proud of each track.
Have you ever come face to face with someone within the music scene who has left you awestruck and why?
Yes, his name is Devin Williams. Look him up.
If we were to head out to one of your live shows what can ourselves and others expect?
Good Times & Company. Consisting of primarily 4 dudes pumping out solid riffs alongside the melody you’ll be humming for the next 2 weeks. Come hang out!
If you had one artist/band that you could go on tour with tomorrow who would it be and why?
The Strokes. But ONLY if they were down to party because there’s no way we are gonna tour with The Strokes and NOT party. I feel like that’s a given. But anyway yeah definitely if Mac Demarco is on the bill too we’re down to leave tomorrow.
You can spend an hour with a musical icon living or dead, who would you pick, why and what would you speak about?
Jim Morrison. Because he was a great innovative artist that had a grasp on his art. He also seemed to have a great idea of what the future of music would be, as he had mentioned in interviews that music would be played through machines in the future, which is what we have today with EDM and Pop. So my conversation would be filling him in on what we do today with production and the creative process of rock music and see where he would go with that information. I feel his impact would’ve been huge on modern music if he had lived a longer life.
And finally and most importantly is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?
I am not authorized to answer that question.
Website - goodtimesandco.com
