Mixing avant-garde with post-metal, New York-based quartet GUHTS (pronounced ‘guts’) are cementing themselves as ones to watch with their debut album Regeneration. We caught up with lead vocalist Amber Burns to discuss the band’s formation, influences, ambitions and more.
Firstly, tell us a bit about yourself and your band.
Hi I’m Amber, the lead vocalist of GUHTS, an avant-garde, alternative rock/metal something or other band based in Hudson Valley, New York, and Brooklyn, New York. I was born in Hudson Valley, New York and lived there till my late teens. I moved to New York City to attend college at the Fashion Institute of Technology for Fine Arts and Art History. Then I moved back to the Hudson Valley to raise a family and later met Scott. While pursuing my path in art, I decided to live my dream as a drummer. Scott and I created our first band Witckiss in 2017, where I was playing drums and singing, and I have since transformed into the lead person for GUHTS.
How did the band form and how long have you been together?
It was during lockdown in 2020 and we were home. Fortunately, we were able to transform our formal living room into a home studio, where Scott began working on a solo project. He’s the guitarist, creator and principle songwriter of GUHTS. The home studio wasn’t soundproof haha, and I kept hearing him work on his music. I started hearing ideas from the other room and asked him repeatedly if we could just try out vocals on some of his creations. I persisted until he gave in. Immediately things started to click and we started experimenting with adding layers of vocals and building a few song ideas.
It was after that a good friend of ours introduced us to Dan Shaneyfelt, who was also a guitarist and songwriter. Scott and Dan immediately hit it off and started sharing ideas via the internet, eventually leading to writing complete songs by sharing Logic Pro projects through Dropbox. We never thought we would actually play these songs live, we never intended to, especially with us living in NY and Dan living in North Carolina. After releasing our EP Blood Feather in August 2021 and the world opening back up, we decided we had to figure out how to do this live, because the songs were just too good not to be playing them for people. Now we needed a bassist and a drummer, because all of the bass on Blood Feather was played by Dan and the drums were programmed by Scott. At this time, our old band Witchkiss was still active and we had just played a show with this band SleapingDreaming in December 2021 and we met there drummer Brian Clemens. We didn’t even give it a thought on that night, but a couple months or so later it clicked: “What about Brian from that band SleapingDreaming?” He was really awesome and super nice!
We contacted him, he was immediately into it and he knew a bassist, his cousin Daniel Martinez from Nefariant. After couple weeks of consideration and properly vetting us to make sure we were as serious about music as he was, Daniel was all in too. We swiftly got to rehearsing in March 2022, minus Dan Shaneyfelt because he was in North Carolina, and got a tour and festival appearances booked for that June, then another festival and recording sessions for Regeneration booked for August.
Can you remember the first time you realized you wanted to make music?
During my childhood, I often pretended to be the lead vocalist of various all-girl bands, pretending to be Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry, Belinda Carlisle and Gina Schock. I also loved watching Josie and the Pussycats, another all-girl band in a cartoon. I spent most of my time in my small town dressing up like these musicians, dancing on my bed, and singing in the mirror.
And then, my love of music was nurtured in my home. Listening to Rod Stewart, The Cars, and Yoko Ono, I would obsess over album covers. We had an organ, and then my father had won a small Lotto and bought us a piano. I never had any formal training, but we had books to teach us how to play and I spent a lot of time pretending to be a music teacher, singing and making up songs for my siblings on the piano while they pretended to be my students.
Then, I discovered VKR college radio and skateboarding, leading me into the punk and hardcore scene. I started going to club Anthrax in Connecticut and being exposed to everything from Ramones, PJ Harvey, Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, GBH, Sick of It All, The Cure, Fugazi, Nirvana, and Sex Pistols and my love of music has never stopped.
My grade school band teacher didn’t let girls play drums, so I had to play the flute, and every time I showed my lyrics to the teenage boys that I was hanging out with, who were in bands, they always made fun of them and never let me try out.
Then I met Scott, and he encouraged me to try playing the drums because I always had wanted to and never made time to do it. On my birthday Scott brought me to an hourly rehearsal studio, where I got to play drums for the first time and he played guitar along with me, our first jam session haha, There’s probably a recording of this somewhere.
So technically, I didn’t start my career in music until I was in my 40s, and I don’t regret it at all because I don’t think I could’ve planned it better than how it’s turning out. I have always been an artist and a writer, which is a layer that supports my music career today. So, short answer: I’ve been practicing being a musician for a long time, but I’m finally getting to be one!
Who and what are the band’s main influences?
There’s so many, because we are all into so many different styles, but I guess in a primary songwriting sense I would have to say; Julie Christmas, Gojira, Cult of Luna, Deftness, Tool, PJ Harvey, Bjork.
What do you aim to achieve as a band?
Our passion for music drives us to embark on a world tour, sharing our creations with music lovers everywhere. We aspire to inspire others to express themselves through music and create passionately.
For those who are yet to see you live, what can they expect from a GUHTS show?
If you haven’t caught our live show yet, prepare for a thrilling experience. We bring a powerful combination of high energy and emotional intensity to every performance, accented by dynamic lighting effects. We aim to push ourselves to exceed the last show and to leave our audience spellbound with a performance they’ll remember for a long time.
What’s next for GUHTS?
Our first full-length album Regeneration was released on 26th January 2024. We played a release show that day in Middletown, NY, at Quinnz Pinz. After that, we’ll have another show in Brooklyn, NY, at Lucky 13 on 24th February, as well as some touring in April and June, and we’re going to have a new video coming out for our song Generate in February as well.
GUHTS‘ debut album Regeneration is out now via New Heavy Sounds/Seeing Red Records (North America), available to stream or purchase HERE.
