The Growlers Have a Shot at the Big Time, but It Makes Them Feel a Bit Uneasy

Through several lineup changes, the current group assembled. Guitarist and keyboard player Kyle Straka came in after a "stony Humboldt stage," Montoya when he tricked the band into thinking he knew how to play drums. Bassist Anthony Perry is rawboned and birdlike, with long, dark hair. He's the newest addition, having played with the band for only three months.

In summer 2011 Auerbach invited the Growlers to come record with him in Nashville. "[It] definitely wasn't a dream come true," Nielsen says. "We knew of him, but we didn't listen to him."

PHOTO BY BARRY FONTENOT

Growlers

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• Dan Auerbach
• Brooks Nielsen
• The Black Keys
• Costa Mesa
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

That's not to say they weren't grateful or didn't have a good experience working with Auerbach; they've just been dissatisfied with the pace of post-production.

"Dan's a great guy, supersweet, but he's also a very busy guy," Nielsen says. "We're a band that likes to put out an insane amount of music. We had people telling us maybe this record should just be 13 [songs] so it's something that can be reviewed. Like I give a shit if someone gets bored of my 20-song record."

If the Nashville record is ever released, the band will stand behind it. But in the meantime they've returned to making songs in their weird little complex. The band plans a massive output in the coming months, and isn't really concerned who puts it out. They'd rather have more control than work with someone famous. "It's, like, how good of a baby sitter can you get?" Nielsen asks. "Even with the best baby sitter, it's still your kid. We want to raise that kid ourselves."

It's clear the Growlers are more concerned with pushing forward — self-sovereign and brazenly autonomous. "We're taking the reins of this shit," Nielsen declares.

That the Black Keys are headlining the festival they're playing at this weekend seems to be a piece of irony that is lost on them. Or maybe they just don't care.