Hi everybody. My name is Anthony Powers and I’m the General Manager at Gorilla Music. Ipeabodys2 started here at Gorilla with John and Dan in the fall of 2011. Got hired on as John’s booking assistant and quickly worked my way up to booking agent, then graphic designer, office manager, and eventually GM and head of the graphic design department. Basically, I’m the jack-of-all-trades around here. If something’s broke, I fix it. If something’s wrong, I take care of it. I’d go so far as to say I’m pretty much THE go-to guy in office for, well… anything and everything.

 

But my relationship with Dan and John doesn’t start with my job here. I’ve been a musician for something like 12 or 13 years now (which is insane and makes me feel super old). When I was about 14 or 15 years old, I started a band with my two best fiends. We were not very good. At all. But then from a technical standpoint, I suppose it’s safe to say that very few pubescent punk bands are. Anyways, long story short, the first show I ever played was a Peabody’s Battle of the Bands with Dan. We would come in second place behind the band that would late become Driver Side Impact (if my memory serves me correctly), and Peabody’s would go on to book our band to open for bands like The Jackknife Powerbombs, Pepper, and a bunch more.

anthonyIf you want a full musical background, I’ve been in and out of bands ever since. I did the solo acoustic thing (and still do from time to time), written hundreds of songs, played music fests and concert venues and dive bars around Ohio, and so on and so on, and just recently, I’ve started playing in a band again. I’m playing bass this time around and I’m not the front man, so the whole thing’s different from what I’m used to, but it’s a lot of fun and I love the guys and it’s great.

 

But anyways, I’m rambling. The point here is that I’m nothing all that special. I’m a musician. I’m usually broke, totally blue-collar, sometimes I drink too much, and I should really quit smoking cigarettes before I end up with throat cancer like my grandpa had. I like hockey and comic books and bacon cheeseburgers. I have a total soft spot for rescued dogs and would spend every cent I had adopting them if that was a viable life option (but like I said, I’m not exactly Mr. Moneybags, plus I live in a double and I think my downstairs neighbors would kill me).

gorilla-music-logoMy point here is that I’m just like any one of you, and believe me when I say I care about local bands – we all do. I live paycheck to paycheck most months so I can stay here in this office, making sure the bands always come first. I’ve seen both Dan and John get so passionate about helping local bands, I wouldn’t even know how to begin putting it into words.

 

And that’s what it comes down to. We’re here to help you. We want to help you. If you don’t want the help, that’s fine – good luck and have a cool summer. But don’t think for one second that we don’t put our hearts and souls into Gorilla Music every single day, because we do. I do. I f*cking love my job, and sometimes that means I go through the wringer on a regular basis for it.

 

So all I have to say is this: please read the stuff on this website, and just give it some thought. I can promise you that it comes from a place of love and support. And while we’re at it, I can promise you that as long as Gorilla Music is around, then John, Dan, and I will always do everything within our power to fulfill our commitments to every band we work with and to educate and help local bands across the country in whatever way we can. And lastly, I can promise you this: Gorilla Music isn’t going anywhere.