Rock needs reinvention. It only moves forward when a band pushes it to do so. Enter GEARS. Finding a sweet spot between metal, R&B, hip-hop, and alternative, the Miami, FL group—Jimmy Wooten [drums] and Trip Six [vocals]—zigs and zags past all expectations and burns down one convention after another in the process. Racking up hundreds of thousands of streams and views, collaborating with everyone from members of Living Colour to Sevendust, they usher in a new era of rock with a series of singles and their forthcoming independent debut album.
GEARS initially began to grind back in 2014. New York native Trip wound up in Florida and met fellow Northeast transplant, Jimmy. Bonding over shared influences such as Prince, Alice In Chains, Deftones, and more, they carefully carved out a singular style. After playing countless shows and dropping the Pride Comes Before the Fall EP in 2015, the band teamed up with Sevendust vocalist Lajon Witherspoon on “Tango Yankee.” Meanwhile, Sevendust guitarist Clint Lowery contributed guitar to the latter as well as to the singles “Stronger Than Pain” and “King.” They also collaborated with the likes of Corey Lowery [Seether] and Troy McLawhorn [Evanescence] in addition to dueting with legendary Living Colour frontman Corey Glover on a cover of the classic “Cult of Personality.”
If you’ve been following us for a while, then you know we have been fans of this band since the start! They just dropped a monster of a new single and an equally as impressive music video entitled “Don’t Want to Say Goodbye (Nunca Me Digas Adiós).” As always, the guys push the sonic landscape again with this new single as it incorporates some Miami spice that you really haven’t heard from them before. We sat down with founding members Trip Sixx (lead vocalist) and drummer Jimmy Wooten minutes after their new song aired on Sirius XM’s Octane for the very first time. They were definitely on cloud nine! We talked to them about the song and much more.
Trip Sixx/GEARS: Hey Johnny, it’s Trip Sixx from Gears. How you doin?
I’m great man, how about you?
Trip: I’m doing well, super well now that our song just got played on Octane.
I was just about to ask you that my friend.
Trip: Yeah man it is pretty crazy. My phone has been blowing up with texts. It’s so surreal; you work for something so hard and then you see it come to fruition. The feeling is just so crazy.
No man, I get it. It does not sound crazy to me because I totally understand. I get where you’re coming from
Trip: You caught Jimmy and me on a high for sure.
Yeah man, it may sound corny to some but those are the ones you just don’t get it.
Trip: Yeah, that’s exactly what I said. I appreciate that. We’ve been trying to get on octane for the last five years.
Dude, get out of my head. I was just about to ask you if you guys had ever been on there.
Trip: I’m answering all your questions before you ask them.
I didn’t know you were psychic as well
Trip: I’m doing your job; you can take it easy now. Five years and it finally happened. We went hard into radio with “Wasteland” like we never had done before. We’ve tried getting all of our singles to Jose (Mangin). It’s a big nut to crack and it’s a hard nut to crack. The timing to get “Wasteland” in was tough because everybody seemed to be coming out with big singles then. They liked the song, but they couldn’t fit it in because so many big bands like Guns and Roses were putting out new music. They just couldn’t fit us into rotation then which was typical Gears luck as we say, but we did hit top 40 which was crazy! We put this one out to get ready for the next release which is coming soon and it just took off like wildfire.
Jimmy Wooten/GEARS: Hey buddy, it’s Jimmy. How are things?
I’m doing well and it looks like you guys are too. Congrats on getting on Octane.
Jimmy: Thanks a lot man; we appreciate that and all of your support.
You know I love you guys! Man, the first time I heard the new single, I knew that it was going to be something special. That intro really grabbed me and got my attention.
Jimmy: We’re getting so many compliments on that intro. I wanted to go on the record and say that fucking intro was my idea in the studio.
Trip: I don’t know, I thought it was mine (laughter)
Jimmy: I said Jimmy take this acoustic and can you do some Flamingo shit? He messed around for about five minutes. And he was like here. I said ‘Boom! Track it!
This is definitely one of my all-time favorites from you guys. It’s definitely in my personal Top Five.
Trip: Thanks man, we appreciate that.
I’m just real curious about the creation of the song. How did it originate and where was the Miami spice flavor originate from?
Trip: We always wanted to do something in relation to where we are from. I’m a New Yorker born and bred and Jimmy’s also East coast. The band was started and established here and we wanted to do something to honor the city. Plus, we always wanted to do something that had that flavor, that Miami flavor that Latin side to us. So, here’s our baby. The way we do music is Jimmy and I’ll go down to the studio and meet up with Dawson and get some stuff going. I’ll get the track and start with melodies which are our biggest thing and then the words. So that’s basically how we do things, it’s real simple.
Was it easy to incorporate that flavor into the Gears sound? Even though your sound is kind of diverse there is kind of a core center to the Gears sound
Trip: Not at all, they got it at first but it was a little bit too fast for me to lay it down. We just started hashing things out and we had our social media influencer friend there. We were going back and forth on how do we say this in Spanish and basically he just blurted it out. I knew it, that’s the hook right there. Mind you all of this was done within hours on the same day.
Jimmy: Working on these new tracks was the first time that we worked with Chris (Dawson) and Jimmy (Beattie). The first two tracks that we did from the session were pretty much done the first day. We were only there for three days. Those two songs hit really quick, we kind of hit a block with “Wasteland.” Then, on the third day hours before Tripp and I were flying out, lightning hit all of us. We all had our phones out and were writing lyrics and shit. I was getting nervous because I didn’t think we were going to finish the third song. This song, by comparison, was done and ready to go. Tripp pretty much knocked it out of the park with the vocals within the first couple of hours we were there. This song is the one that came together most naturally.
You guys worked so much with Corey Lowery as a Producer. On “Wasteland,” you switch to using Chris Dawson as the producer. Why the change?
Jimmy: It was nothing negative or anything. We worked with Corey for so long that we wanted to explore other avenues. We’re very much connected to Corey and he’s still one of my best friends in the world. I love that dude and he still involved with us. What it comes down to it, he was joining Seether and that was a big deal. I’m his biggest fan on this world other than maybe his family and his kid, but I didn’t want to put unnecessary pressure on him. We leaned on him so much that he needed to do his thing and focus on that because it’s a great opportunity for him. At the same time, we wanted to explore and see if someone could bring something different out of us. That’s what it was all about. It wasn’t a negative falling-out or anything like that.
That guy’s plate constantly runs over, I think he needs a bigger plate.
Jimmy: That guy is one of the hardest working guys in show business, without a doubt. That guy does not stop!
The video for this song is also something pretty special. It is absolutely amazing and a thing of beauty. It’s like a mini movie. Do you explain your vision to someone and they come back with a storyline?
Trip: JT (Ibanez) is amazing to work with! He’s very underrated and so easy to work with him. I love making music videos now. Before it was tragic but with him it’s so amazing. He’s so easy to work with in the way that he translates your ideas into fruition. He just did a video with Orianthi and one with Smile Empty Soul. He’s done stuff with all sorts of and he’s doing shorts now. His turnaround so fast! Before we hop on a plane and before Jimmy gets home, he already has a rough draft. That’s how quick the guy is. You saw “Wasteland” right? Now you see this one. His work is top-notch and we have him on our team right now before he charges millions to do one (laughter).
Jimmy: What was the guy that did all the Marilyn Manson videos? Dean Carr, he’s going to be that guy. He’s going to be that legendary. I think that he’s probably already there but he is just so humble. He doesn’t walk in and say ‘alright guys I know how to fucking do this shit. You go here you go there. No, it’s actually a very collaborative effort. I feel one hundred percent comfortable being in his hand. There’s definitely a connection there. I’ve never seen anyone in a band connect with the video director the way we are with him right now.
I know we’re so early into this single, but you mentioned you had been doing some recording. Are you guys just looking at doing the singles market or maybe doing an EP?
Jimmy. Singles for now; we are a DIY band so we have to be smart, actually smarter than we’ve been in the past. I think the singles market works best for us now. Even major artists are doing that before they release a new record. I think that gives us a little more time to focus on the music. If we are doing singles, it allows us to number one, focus on one single at a time and number two, it allows us to bring new music to the people more frequently. I think that’s more important in today’s marketplace.
I get where you’re coming from because it seems like that way you are constantly in people’s eyes and ears with what you’re doing.
Trip: Exactly; thank you.
This pandemic really made the world hit its brakes and come to a stop and that includes touring. I know you guys have to be itching to get back out there.
Trip: Man, you asked all the right questions! This is the most fun I’ve had on an interview in quite a while. It has to make sense for us to do it. Enough for pizza and $100 at the door, which is what Jimmy used to say, just doesn’t work anymore. We’re grown ass men and we have people to take care of back home. We have some things in the hopper but we just can’t say much right now.
I didn’t get to ask this in our other interviews, but since I have you both here this time I will. How did the two of you guys meet since you did start this baby together?
Jimmy: The original lineup was a different band with this bass player. I reconnected with a guitar player from another band that I had toured with in the early 2000s. He was kind of putting together his band with a couple of different guys. That just didn’t last so at the same time that wasn’t lasting was the same time that I was leaving the situation that I was in. He was actually responsible for putting Trip and I in the same room together. For everything negative that was involved in that version of the band, that was one of the most positive things that happened. I felt like I met my musical soulmate in him. I don’t want to make music with anyone else but him or if I did it’s because I know I can go work with another client and be ‘if Trip was here it would be so much easier.’ We were on the road a lot and they either didn’t want to do it or couldn’t do it. It was very early on and eight years later here we are.
Trip: The whole thing moved pretty quickly. I’ll never forget the day we met on February 14thbecause my wife thought I was crazy for being in the studio on February 14th with a bunch of men. Shout out to my wife Stephanie for being such a strong woman. Shout out for sure.
Jimmy: The CD release party was May 28th and the record came out on May 29th. We did a couple of bar shows and then we started up the East coast. I believe that year we did 82 shows between May and October.
Trip: Man, we hit it hard.
Jimmy: Actually it was November; we were home right before Thanksgiving.
Trip: That first tour was crazy because we were in a major accident. We fucking wrecked our van. We were doing shows with bruised ribs and my sciatic nerve was gone forever. Jimmy and all the guys were banged up and we just couldn’t let it go. Looking back at it now, I think we were crazy. They had to dope me up because I was in so much pain but would I change any of it? Fuck no.
Jimmy: We did every date on that tour too. We were coming out of Florida and we had a couple of days off. We rented a box truck and a Prius. There were two guys in the box truck and the rest of us were in the Prius. We would take turns driving to stay awake. Talk about an already stressful situation. It’s your first tour and your first time around some of these guys. Tripp and I had already toured with the bass player. I had not seen the original guitarist in ten years. So, we were still kind of feeling each other out. We were all in pain. What is hurting who tonight? Who can carry what? I had a torn labrum. I remember Tripp looked like a raccoon because he had two black eyes.
Trip: It’s like the rock gods looked at us and asked ‘do you really want this?’ It was really grueling but I would not change it because it makes me really appreciate these moments like now even more. Man we have so many stories; we can be here all night!
Jimmy: So, yeah all of a sudden the guitar player wants to quit. Sure, no problem; we’ve already been to hell and back so you’re not going to steal our shine. Luckily the group of guys that we have right now are really cool and they really understand the assignment as the kids on Tik-Tok say. So, the future is really looking bright.
We like to end these things with something called Three For The Road. They are three kind of fun questions more about the personality of who we’re talking to. The last time we called it “Inside Jimmy’s Head.”
Jimmy: This is how we got started on our wrestling talk last time. You asked if I could be any wrestler who I would be.
Yeah, you said you would be Jake the Snake Roberts’ son. Here we go, first question: who is your first celebrity crush?
Tripp That’s a good one dude. Romantically right? I will have to say Janet, Janet Jackson. I was like holy shit bro. I had a big crush on Janet
Jimmy I would say Mia Sara from Ferris Buller’s Day Off.
Trip: Yeah she was hot too.
What’s the moment that you knew music was going to be your life?
Trip: I’ve always known that I wanted to do music because I’ve been doing it for such a long time. I got a phone call from the guitarist Eli. I remember because I was drunk it was two or three in the morning and he said he was putting a band together and asked if I was interested. I said fuck yeah.The first time we started working on ideas together. That point in time cemented it. . This is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I never have that much fun it as I did recording that first record.
Jimmy: Although there wasn’t like a specific moment, I knew from when I was really little. My grandfather was always saying that I was tapping on something, annoying the hell out of him. He said he knew that I was a drummer when I came out of the womb. He told me he was going to shove that pencil up my ass if I wouldn’t stop tapping on the shit. My first show may have been it for me. I remember the songs that we played but I don’t remember the band’s name or even if we had one at that point. I remember we were playing Nirvana covers and recording them. I remember the first time I flipped that tape over and listened to it and I thought it sounded fucking amazing although it was probably horrible. I started playing with bands and touring and stuff when I was pretty young so it’s pretty much been all of my life.
Last question, do either of you have any useless talents?
Jimmy: Playing drums (laughter). They have machines that do all that now. I’m only needed if you want a live person in the background.
Trip: Even now they’re doing holograms and shit.
Jimmy I know a lot of dumb shit. Movie quotes and information from CD and album liner notes. Even back in 10th grade chemistry class we had a teacher Mr. Herman who would ask trivia questions every day. Who performed the song “San Francisco Wear Flowers in Your Hair” and it was Scott McKenzie. Now back then there was no Google, so the next day I brought my Forrest Gump soundtrack CD and I showed him so I got 10 points added to my extra credit grade. Then when I was in bands and other people would be talking about things and I would superficially over hear their discussion. I would say well blah blah blah played drums on that record and they were like ‘how do you know that?’ Well, I just do.
Trip: Mine is that I can tell when something is off level (laughter). I’m always looking at shit and trying to figure out if it’s square or if it’s level and I just have an eye for that. I have a construction background. It’s been embedded with me; I’ve always had that in my brain. That’s the most stupidest talent that I’ve ever had but it made me a lot of money though (laughter).
Jimmy: I also have a thing with memorizing numbers. I know our tag numbers; I know all the numbers are all the credit cards that we have. The wife can be shopping and she’s like ‘oh I have to get the credit card’ and I’m like ‘no which one do you want?’ I guess that means I spend way too much time shopping (laughter).
Trip: I’m a numbers guy as well. I like to look at license plates and add them up when I’m on the road. I see them and I just have to add them up.
Well gentlemen, I hate to say it but our time is up. It’s been fun guys and Tripp, it was a pleasure finally getting to talk to you.
Trip: This has been mad cool Johnny. It was great to meet you. Thank you for all of your support.
Jimmy: Yeah man, it’s like I said before. This was less of an interview and more like friends catching up.
Trip: I can’t wait to do it again and it may be soon. We have another new song on the way.
To be continued………………………
I’m Music Magazine Owner/Editor Johnny Price
GEARS:
Trip Sixx – Vocals
Josh Routt – Bass
Chris Black – Guitar
Max Carrillo – Guitar
Jimmy Wooten – Drums
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