Angelo Celli has been a member of long-running pop-punk act Bracket since 1998. He is also a member of Guilty Party, a new band comprised of musicians who got together to jam during the pandemic. Now, moving forward, Guilty Party has a lot of things on the horizon, and TGEFM got in touch with Angelo to chat about them. We rolled a NINE.
1) How are you doing Angelo? Wait, don’t answer that! It would count as a question! (laughter) Seriously, we’re not here to talk about Bracket, but since we have enough questions, and people will obviously be curious, let’s use the first question for that before moving along. Bracket’s last studio LP, Too Old to Die Young, came out in 2019, and the anthology album Best of the Würst was released in 2020. What’s new with Bracket?
Bracket is taking a little time to give some attention to other projects we’re working on. Zack is playing in a band called Here Comes the Comet. Bracket has been a band for 30 (!!!) years and really only recorded 9 studio albums, so we’re not that far behind schedule. We actually have an album pretty much fully written and plan to work on it later this year.
2) OK, we’re here to chat about your other band, Guilty Party. Tell us a bit about Guilty Party. Who else is in it? How’d you get together?
It probably sounds like a very typical band-forming story, but it’s special to us, so here it is: In February 2020 Bracket played two shows, our first in 5 years. ToyGuitar played one of those shows. About a year later, pandemic-weary and creatively stifled, Rosie (toyGuitar’s drummer) and I started casually talking about trading song ideas for fun. We shared ideas, lyrics, demos, and later that year, we got together with Rosie’s friend Rob, who has played in several bands (Long Knives, City Mouse, Middle College). We had never played a note of music together, but I brought some song ideas and we all hit it off, personally and musically. That was the summer of 2021. We started working on some more songs together, and played our first show in November.
3) What kind of music would you say Guilty Party is, and how does it differ from the respective bands that yourself, or other members, are in?
Melodic, poppy/punky rock, but not pop-punk I guess? You could draw similarities to the other bands we’re in. We’re a three piece, just guitar, bass and drums, and Rosie and I both sing. I don’t know how she can sing and play drums, but I’m really glad she can. Someone told us at our last show that we sound like Bad Astronaut and Weakerthans had a baby. I think we play better than a baby, but whatever, it’s still a compliment.
4) Guilty Party is still fairly new. Would you officially classify it as a “pandemic band” in that you formed it for a myriad of pandemic-related reasons, such as the inability to get together with your other band, boredom, etc.?
That’s exactly where it started, but miraculously it became more than that. Now we all just have one more band to juggle in the (hopefully) post-pandemic future.
5) IIRC, you don’t have any officially released material under your belt, and the rare footage we have is from live performances. Is there any news on the release front your willing or able to share?
Just so you know Jeff, I had to Google IIRC. But, yeah! We’re recording an EP in late March. We have a bunch of songs, but we’re picking a handful of them to record now. We somehow lucked into working with Paper Street Cuts, a San Diego label owned and operated by some great musicians.
6) You’ve played a few gigs recently. Any more gigs or touring on the horizon?
Yes. No major tours but we are cautiously getting into booking shows, after our early 2021 dates were cancelled. For now just Bay Area stuff. Our shows and other info will always be repetitively announced on Instagram.
7) If you could put a gig together with one of your bands (any of them) and three other bands past or present, which would they be, and why?
All of our bands on one bill, and it would be a battle of the bands. We would be so tired at the end of the night though. toyGuitar, Bracket, Guilty Party, Long Knives.
8) Gimme some bands that TGEFM readers may not be listening to, but should be.
Se Vende, M section, Hammerbombs, Hey Chels, Lightweight, Slow Draw, Preschool.
9) What’s next for Angelo Celli and his bands?
A Guilty Party record, more shows, a new Bracket record, and more gray hairs.
Guilty Party can be followed on Facebook or Instagram. They don’t have any music officially streaming yet, but you can check out the members’ other acts at their respective Bandcamp sites: Bracket, Long Knives, Middle College, toyGuitar
Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A Pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed.
the white drew carey (aka – Jeff Sorley) is the founder and head editor of TGEFM. He’s lived (outside of) Chicago, Madison WI, (ugh) Penn State, Lyon FR, Oxford UK, central New Jersey, and now within earshot of SFO in the Bay Area. When not scouring the web for more great bands and labels to post about, he also spends time drawing (mostly) silly sci-fi and anime stuff under the name Asplenia Studios.
