May 15, 2009

Trigger Happy is right on target with all-original rock fusion

By Amanda Nalley
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

"We ain't your mama's cover band!" guitarist "Bodega" Bob Homme said, referring to Trigger Happy, a three-person Americana/rock 'n' roll ensemble. "We book on all original music."

Members include "Rev. Hollywood" Archie Hinton on guitar and Naomi "Sugar" Harris on bass. All three sing. Homme and Hinton have been rocking [together] for five years, and Harris [has been with the band] for three. Here is what they had to say about the band:

Q: Why did your band choose the style of music you play and what do you like about it?

Bodega: We write what we write. Not to sound too esoteric or to come off like some adolescent folk musician affecting spiritual depth, but the muse really defines the end result. We really didn't choose a style. Our music is the result of the fusion of our varied styles and experience. Our songs range from funny to gritty.

Sugar: We didn't choose a style; the style chose us. We all brought our own styles to the band and combined them to make a style of our own. We're countryfolkyjazzapoparockish!

Q: Who/what has inspired your music?

Bodega: James Llewellyn Leyda, his sister Lorraine and a lifetime blessed with the company of good musicians.

Rev. Hollywood: As a child, I was always immersed in music. My mother was a concert pianist, so we always had a piano in the house. Then I discovered the Beatles!

Sugar: I am inspired by the mutual respect and appreciation the three of us have toward making "our" music.

Q: Who writes your songs and what inspires them?

Bodega: Well, I'd say good whiskey, bad women and the timelessness of the human condition.

Rev. Hollywood: Normal experiences, falling in love, falling out of love, being abducted by aliens. Bob and I both write from personal experiences, good and bad. Ex-wives make for great material!

Q: What is your favorite original song and why?

Bodega: "Turn Up Your Radio and Dance." The philosophy that song contains was a gift from my mom. No matter how bad things got, she would always find the energy to smile and dance. The gift was circular. I wrote that song for her when she was dying of cancer. There's something cosmically perfect about that — a completeness that doesn't occur often in life. It is certainly not the most intricate or complex of our songs but it's straight-ahead and pure. Just like Lorraine was.

Q: How'd you come up with your band name?

Bodega: Perseverance? Drugs? Got smacked by Thor's hammer? Squeezed between Athena's thighs? Can somebody else field this one? Maybe my dog came up with it?

Rev. Hollywood: We were tossing names back and forth, and since we have both an aggressive side and spiritual side, Trigger Happy just seemed to fit.

A: Groupies — hook up or just hang out?

Bodega: Either way it goes, you'll have to buy me a drink first and promise to respect me in the morning!

Q: What's your favorite Tallahassee venue to play and why?

Bodega: K&K Fish Camp, for sure! It's an outdoor gig right on the lake. Don & Mary, the club owners, and their staff are great. The crowds are colorful, enthusiastic and engaged in the show.