Gideon Smith is a North Carolina based musician who began singing in
rock bands in 1989.Growing up Smith spent parts of his youth in Japan,
Indonesia, France and Quebec. In 1996, he formed Gideon Smith & The
Dixie Damned with former members of Los Angeles based group Animal Bag
and recorded a self-titled ep distributed by doom metal label Game Two
Records.
Gideon Smith's music has been featured on such hit television series as The Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Dudesons in America, Nitro Circus and more. Gideon’s underground cult icon status has grown to such proportions that in 2010 a tribute album was released entitled “F.T.W.”(F*ck The World) that has seventeen artists from around the world covering his musical works. Classic Rock Magazine featured Gideon as one of the best newcomers in their “150 Greatest Debut Albums” issue and included a song on the magazine's cd.
Gideon Smith :
Music has always been a huge part of my life when I was growing up I’d hear the music of the 60’s or 70’s my family members loved like rock, blues, old classic country, bands like Zep, Queen, The Dead, Doors, Allmans and Skynyrd, Carole King and David Bowie. I grew up pretty much a forest running hippie child. I was fortunate to spend time in Japan, Indonesia, France and Quebec all of which will always hold much love in my heart. I loved my roots in Asian and Native American cultures, the French and British. All that being taken into account, my view of southern America is kind of deeper than the surface of how most people see this area of the country. The south is a mysterious, beautiful and mystical place. I loved archery, forests, animals, the ocean and mountains. Music to me was something I loved to listen to and fun to do, so when I got serious about it my perception of being in a band and the experience was very different from your typical bar nightlife type pursuits. All that was just part of the scenery. I was immersed in ancient history, pagan religions and had stood at Napoleon’s tomb, at Mount Fuji and places like Sumatra and Jakarta before I ever went to a nightclub in the USA to see a band. When I picked up the mic it was just the start of another adventure. I saw the magic in music, so it was magic that opened the doors. I’m not sure I ever fit into music scenes. I just stepped inside them and kept clearing a path like the poem ‘Road Less Travelled’. If I didn’t fit in, I didn’t even try. I just carved my own path.
Love Music : We been hearing a lot about you, and your music has been featured on television shows like The Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy and more, so we notice your starting to gain a lot of attention how does it feel?
Gideon Smith :
Being part of those series on television over the years is a great gift to my music and story and I am really thankful for those. It definitely turned many people on to my music that had not previously heard of me or would not have known about my music. Much respect to everyone involved in those programs for helping me be a part of their great work. It’s a great feeling to be connected as an artist with such high quality programs and be a part of their history.
Love Music : At what point did you decided to become a singer ?
Gideon Smith :
I went to Jim Morrison’s grave in Paris. I always loved the Doors, bluesy type baritone singers, so that was what inspired me. It came easily to me, where as some of the other styles people follow in metal or rock, weren’t as natural at the time. Over the years my abilities got sharper so now I sing in different styles but I guess I will always be a blues based singer, it just came naturally. I was never a singer in a choir church type stuff, never took vocal lessons, I just say sing from your heart and be real. To many people strain to be something they’re not. Anyone can be in a band or sing, just do what comes naturally and the style will appear, be it classical violin or rap or metal, whatever comes from your heart you’ll take to it naturally.
Love Music : What are you working on now and where do you feel your music is headed?
Gideon Smith :
I have been recording when I can but not playing live shows in recent years. I have a side band which is slow heavy doom metal inspired by bands like Black Sabbath and seventies rock, it’s called Cemetery Crows. It’s very heavy, doom/gothic/death metal. I have been collaborating with my friend Kim Karnes on vocals and will be recording with some guests as we move along. It’s a fun style because it’s very raw and minimalistic in ways but by the time it grows it’s pretty psychedelic and trance like, so it’s multi layered levels of heaviness, all about the riff and atmosphere. C.Crows is definitely the heaviest music I have done stylistically. I also have a few other side bands in the works and time will tell about those too. Like any big music fan, I listen to all kinds of music so I approach my music the same way, I play whatever makes me happy and just keep being true to my creativity.
Love Music : Who are your musical inspirations?
Gideon Smith :
My favorites are Led Zeppelin, The Doors, The Cult, Beatles, Stones, Elvis, Sisters of Mercy, Sabbath, mostly what people today call classic rock bands. I listen to all kinds of music. Lately I listen to mostly reggae, old original founding fathers of rap, blues like Robert Johnson, gothic rock, some death and black metal. I listen to Buddhist and Hindu chants, Japanese music pretty much every day. Music is like painting with different colors, I enjoy whatever appeals to me from an artistic and emotional point of view. Music should be primal and tribal, ethereal and beautiful. Power and passion come in many forms.
Love Music : What motivates you to do your best work as a Singer ?
Gideon Smith :
Lyrically probably powerful emotional situations. I sing from my heart and write about universal themes, my songs are about things all people know and experience in their own way. I’m always inspired by passion and other forms of emotion. My favorite songs are passion and love songs. Angry songs can be very cool and serve a purpose for a healthy release as all songs do in their own way for the singer and the listener, but I like ones about the fire of the heart best. Music shouldn’t be one dimensional, so really songs should be about all kinds of things and they mean whatever they mean to the listener.Even deeply personal songs may take a different meaning on to a music fan, so I think the story behind any song should be the one you feel when you hear it.
Love Music : If you could perform anywhere, in the world, where would it have to be?
Gideon Smith :
I would tour anywhere in the world that would welcome me really. I hope one day to play all over the world where people would want to see me or hear what I do. I’m a very multicultural person, so as I honor many cultures, I would like to play music for all of them too. Music belongs to all of us without boundaries, so as a musician and a man all I see is adventure, love and magic, as music is a ritual we all celebrate and partake in.
Love Music : What are your future plans to singing ? Your vision for the coming years.
Gideon Smith :
I hope to return to playing many live shows and record as much music as possible. I have a lot to give so I need to make sure I can give at least a good bit of it to people out there who want new music. I never talk too much about future plans, I have learned it’s best to let time unfold and tell the story.
Love Music : Everybody needs time out. What do you do in your free time?
Gideon Smith :
I enjoy spending time with my loved ones, communing with nature and my eccentric spirituality. I love yoga, martial arts, skateboarding, archery and animals. In quiet down time I like to meditate, learn, read, study. I spend a lot of time alone these days and learn from solitude. I believe if you’re going to spend time with people it should only be with people who enrich your life. I don’t waste my time, I don’t waste my love and I don’t waste my music. Hold all the sacred things in your life high and follow your heart like a tiger.
Love Music : How can people find you and follow you online?
Gideon Smith :
I have a website which is gideonsmith.net. You can keep up with me there for news and check out some of my history and material from over the years. Thank you very much for the interview and I send you much respect and appreciation. Be brave and give your love. Peace, G
Gideon Smith's music has been featured on such hit television series as The Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Dudesons in America, Nitro Circus and more. Gideon’s underground cult icon status has grown to such proportions that in 2010 a tribute album was released entitled “F.T.W.”(F*ck The World) that has seventeen artists from around the world covering his musical works. Classic Rock Magazine featured Gideon as one of the best newcomers in their “150 Greatest Debut Albums” issue and included a song on the magazine's cd.
Check out the interview :
Love Music : Tell us a little bit about yourself. Your background, education etc. ??
Gideon Smith :
Music has always been a huge part of my life when I was growing up I’d hear the music of the 60’s or 70’s my family members loved like rock, blues, old classic country, bands like Zep, Queen, The Dead, Doors, Allmans and Skynyrd, Carole King and David Bowie. I grew up pretty much a forest running hippie child. I was fortunate to spend time in Japan, Indonesia, France and Quebec all of which will always hold much love in my heart. I loved my roots in Asian and Native American cultures, the French and British. All that being taken into account, my view of southern America is kind of deeper than the surface of how most people see this area of the country. The south is a mysterious, beautiful and mystical place. I loved archery, forests, animals, the ocean and mountains. Music to me was something I loved to listen to and fun to do, so when I got serious about it my perception of being in a band and the experience was very different from your typical bar nightlife type pursuits. All that was just part of the scenery. I was immersed in ancient history, pagan religions and had stood at Napoleon’s tomb, at Mount Fuji and places like Sumatra and Jakarta before I ever went to a nightclub in the USA to see a band. When I picked up the mic it was just the start of another adventure. I saw the magic in music, so it was magic that opened the doors. I’m not sure I ever fit into music scenes. I just stepped inside them and kept clearing a path like the poem ‘Road Less Travelled’. If I didn’t fit in, I didn’t even try. I just carved my own path.
Love Music : We been hearing a lot about you, and your music has been featured on television shows like The Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy and more, so we notice your starting to gain a lot of attention how does it feel?
Gideon Smith :
Being part of those series on television over the years is a great gift to my music and story and I am really thankful for those. It definitely turned many people on to my music that had not previously heard of me or would not have known about my music. Much respect to everyone involved in those programs for helping me be a part of their great work. It’s a great feeling to be connected as an artist with such high quality programs and be a part of their history.
Love Music : At what point did you decided to become a singer ?
Gideon Smith :
I went to Jim Morrison’s grave in Paris. I always loved the Doors, bluesy type baritone singers, so that was what inspired me. It came easily to me, where as some of the other styles people follow in metal or rock, weren’t as natural at the time. Over the years my abilities got sharper so now I sing in different styles but I guess I will always be a blues based singer, it just came naturally. I was never a singer in a choir church type stuff, never took vocal lessons, I just say sing from your heart and be real. To many people strain to be something they’re not. Anyone can be in a band or sing, just do what comes naturally and the style will appear, be it classical violin or rap or metal, whatever comes from your heart you’ll take to it naturally.
Love Music : What are you working on now and where do you feel your music is headed?
Gideon Smith :
I have been recording when I can but not playing live shows in recent years. I have a side band which is slow heavy doom metal inspired by bands like Black Sabbath and seventies rock, it’s called Cemetery Crows. It’s very heavy, doom/gothic/death metal. I have been collaborating with my friend Kim Karnes on vocals and will be recording with some guests as we move along. It’s a fun style because it’s very raw and minimalistic in ways but by the time it grows it’s pretty psychedelic and trance like, so it’s multi layered levels of heaviness, all about the riff and atmosphere. C.Crows is definitely the heaviest music I have done stylistically. I also have a few other side bands in the works and time will tell about those too. Like any big music fan, I listen to all kinds of music so I approach my music the same way, I play whatever makes me happy and just keep being true to my creativity.
Love Music : Who are your musical inspirations?
Gideon Smith :
My favorites are Led Zeppelin, The Doors, The Cult, Beatles, Stones, Elvis, Sisters of Mercy, Sabbath, mostly what people today call classic rock bands. I listen to all kinds of music. Lately I listen to mostly reggae, old original founding fathers of rap, blues like Robert Johnson, gothic rock, some death and black metal. I listen to Buddhist and Hindu chants, Japanese music pretty much every day. Music is like painting with different colors, I enjoy whatever appeals to me from an artistic and emotional point of view. Music should be primal and tribal, ethereal and beautiful. Power and passion come in many forms.
Love Music : What motivates you to do your best work as a Singer ?
Gideon Smith :
Lyrically probably powerful emotional situations. I sing from my heart and write about universal themes, my songs are about things all people know and experience in their own way. I’m always inspired by passion and other forms of emotion. My favorite songs are passion and love songs. Angry songs can be very cool and serve a purpose for a healthy release as all songs do in their own way for the singer and the listener, but I like ones about the fire of the heart best. Music shouldn’t be one dimensional, so really songs should be about all kinds of things and they mean whatever they mean to the listener.Even deeply personal songs may take a different meaning on to a music fan, so I think the story behind any song should be the one you feel when you hear it.
Love Music : If you could perform anywhere, in the world, where would it have to be?
Gideon Smith :
I would tour anywhere in the world that would welcome me really. I hope one day to play all over the world where people would want to see me or hear what I do. I’m a very multicultural person, so as I honor many cultures, I would like to play music for all of them too. Music belongs to all of us without boundaries, so as a musician and a man all I see is adventure, love and magic, as music is a ritual we all celebrate and partake in.
Love Music : What are your future plans to singing ? Your vision for the coming years.
Gideon Smith :
I hope to return to playing many live shows and record as much music as possible. I have a lot to give so I need to make sure I can give at least a good bit of it to people out there who want new music. I never talk too much about future plans, I have learned it’s best to let time unfold and tell the story.
Love Music : Everybody needs time out. What do you do in your free time?
Gideon Smith :
I enjoy spending time with my loved ones, communing with nature and my eccentric spirituality. I love yoga, martial arts, skateboarding, archery and animals. In quiet down time I like to meditate, learn, read, study. I spend a lot of time alone these days and learn from solitude. I believe if you’re going to spend time with people it should only be with people who enrich your life. I don’t waste my time, I don’t waste my love and I don’t waste my music. Hold all the sacred things in your life high and follow your heart like a tiger.
Love Music : How can people find you and follow you online?
Gideon Smith :
I have a website which is gideonsmith.net. You can keep up with me there for news and check out some of my history and material from over the years. Thank you very much for the interview and I send you much respect and appreciation. Be brave and give your love. Peace, G
