The Pistoleros were part of the Tempe Arizona music scene that spawned the likes of Gin Blossoms and The Peacemakers. Signed to Hollywood Records in 1996, the Pistoleros followed up their independent release 'Mistaken For Granted' (as the Chimeras) with their major label debut 'Hang onto Nothing' in 1997. Despite critical acclaim, the record failed to sell and the Pistoleros retreated back to Tempe to begin work on a new independently released self-titled CD, released in March 2001. Guitarist Mark Zubia takes some time out to chat about the band’s past, present and future.

Hi Mark. Congratulations on the new album. Firstly, how was the South by Southwest Festival you have just played at?

Hi Andrew, Thanks for the interest in the band. South by Southwest was great. We got a new manager while we were there. He also manages the bastard sons of Johnny Cash. We also got to see some people we knew from Hollywood Records.

As a band you have certainly had an interesting career. You gained initial notoriety for hooking up with ex Gin Blossom, the late Doug Hopkins, when you formed the Chimeras. How did you guys get together, and how was the experience of working with Doug?

We knew Doug from playing around town. Our band prior to the chimeras (Live Nudes) opened up for the Gin Blossoms a few times so we got to know all the guys pretty well. As far as working with Doug, it was good. At the time we were all really excited about the new band.

You recorded 'Mistaken For Granted', but then had to change the band's name to became the Pistoleros and soon you were signed to Hollywood Records. What was the background to your signing, and how do you look back at your time with that label?

We got signed through one of those deals where somebody told us they knew somebody at Hollywood and would we be interested in sending them a tape. Well we sent the tape and Julian Raymond (producer) heard it first but didn't have time to come and see the band so Rob Seidenberg (A&R guy) came out to see us. This was about March of '96. Over the course of the next couple months Julian and Rob came back out then we went to L.A. to record a demo for the president of the label, we eventually signed in Sept of '96. As for the experience on the label it was weird. Nobody at the label really knew what was going on in upper management so nobody made any decision for fear that they might lose their jobs if it was the wrong decision. Rob was always very straight with us though and treated the band very fairly - no bullshit. I am glad we did have that experience though.

'Hang Onto Nothing' was a solid record, but Hollywood Records never gave you the chance to make a follow up. Was there a point where the band nearly broke up around this difficult time?

The band was never in jeopardy of breaking up but the morale was very low for a while after losing the deal.

Having played the major label game, is the act of releasing this new record by yourselves as a way of saying 'Fuck you' to people within the industry that didn't believe in you?

It wasn't quite a ‘fuck you’ but it was a personal goal to release another record that we had total control over.

As a band, would you do things differently if approached by a major label as a result of this new record? Has there been interest?

We would approach another deal differently. Mainly in what to expect and an understanding of how difficult it is to break through. Next time we would have a better understanding of the politics and bullshit that comes along with a record deal. As far as interest, there has been some but nothing too serious.

Onto the new record itself. Why did you decide to self-produce the record?

Money was the reason we decided to produce ourselves. We didn't have any to pay a producer with!

The album is brilliantly varied, although still sounds like a Pistoleros record throughout. Do you feel it reflects the essence of the band more than 'Hang Onto Nothing'?

This record definitely reflects the band more accurately than 'Hang On To Nothing'. We chose these songs for their varied feels. It was a conscious effort to be more diverse on this record.

What are your favourites from the album to play live? Have you done much touring off the record?

My favorites to play live are 'Echo Park', 'Same Old Girl', '’Walkin’ Through Fire', '1000 Miles'…almost all of them.

How did you come to hook up with Marti Fredericksen and Jesse Venezuela respectively to co-write 'Everybody Wins' and 'Walkin' Through Fire'?

We hooked up with Marti through our publisher, Steve Backer at EMI. Jesse we've known for a long time as he was in Gin Blossoms and we just got together at my place a wrote a couple songs.

You write most of the material yourself as a duo. Is there many creative tensions between you as brothers when writing, or do you find you are on the same wavelength all the time?

We are usually on the same wavelength. We got all the fighting out of our systems a few years ago! We get along pretty well.

The track 'My Guardian Angel' from 'Hang Onto Nothing' demonstrates the tremendous Mariachi influences you guys have, but they are not really evident on the new album. Was it a conscious decision not to include any songs in that style on 'Pistoleros' or just the way the songs came out?

Not really, it was more that those types of songs just didn't make the cut when we were picking songs for the record.

Having been around the music scene for a few years, how has your perception of 'success' and the industry in general changed over the past few years?

As far as success goes I feel we are successful. Just the fact that the band is still standing after so many years (nine - ED) and that losing the deal didn't cause us to break up and that we still enjoy playing together is great. On top of all that we are still writing good songs and are still having fun doing it. I feel very fortunate as far as the industry goes. It is what it is and was before we came along.