Occhi Interview: Pop Rock band Radio Drive’s Kevin Gullickson

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Radio Drive, the Alternative Pop Rock band fronted by the talented Kevin Gullickson, has earned numerous accolades for its exceptional music. Through this powerhouse project, Kevin has garnered international recognition for his outstanding musical creations. Radio Drive’s songs have been played on radio stations worldwide, alongside major artists, and have topped indie charts. Moreover, the band has received rave reviews and has been featured in webzines, podcasts, and radio shows. The versatility of Kevin’s music has resulted in its use in popular television shows, such as those aired on NBC, Animal Planet, National Geographic, Comedy Central, Fox Channels, History Channel, Spike TV, and Discovery Channel in the USA, as well as in TV programs worldwide. Over the years, Radio Drive has collaborated with a plethora of extraordinary producers and mixing engineers who have garnered awards and nominations that run from the Academy Awards to the Grammys. Among them, Chris Garcia, Stuart Epps, Robert L. Smith, Brendan Dekora, and Steve “Mr. Mig” Migliore. Radio Drive’s latest single, “Cast Out Your Light,” released in February 2023 via 12 Story Records, is yet another testament to Kevin’s musical and performance prowess, as well as the production quality of his releases.

Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. For readers unfamiliar with you and your background, what drew you to a career in the arts?

Thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to share my story with your readers.

A little background about me: I started in music at a very early age. I was about 7 years old when I started playing drums. I was in and out of bands all through my junior high and high school years. During my teens, I was constantly listening to music and writing songs. I began writing songs at age 7 and have been writing ever since. During my later teen years, I began learning to play guitar, piano, and singing. I wanted to do that to improve my songwriting. I found it difficult to write songs as a drummer, not knowing how to read music, chords, and all of that. I took some college courses on music theory and jazz improvisation, which was really helpful. Not that my style of music is jazz, but I love all types of music and found this course to be so much fun. I also studied music theory and took on a greater appreciation for classical music.

After graduating high school, I would squirrel away in the basement and write and record songs. I sent some music around to some record labels and was contacted by Capitol Records expressing an interest. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the foundation to leverage that opportunity. Later in my early twenties, I moved to Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota, and put a band together. We played original songs that I wrote and had great success playing all the major clubs. We even won the monthly battle of the bands at First Avenue and played on the main stage. From there I moved to New York City and continued working on music. This time as a solo artist. I made some amazing connections which opened a dialog with some major record labels and management agencies. Long story, but due to a family emergency, I moved back to Minnesota. These are just a few of the highlights over the years and here I am now, still making music.

What drew me to a career in music was my love for music. When I was young, I would listen to the Monkees and Beatles all the time. I would sing along to their records and dream about writing songs and performing. All these years later, that desire hasn’t subsided. It’s something I’m meant to do and absolutely love doing it.

Who were your early influences and how did they impact your career?

As I mentioned, I started listening to music at the early age of 7. Back then, I listened to the Monkees and Beatles mostly. Fun and innocent pop music. That played a huge part in my influences, as I love to write pop songs with a catchy riff or melody hook line. When I was a little older, I started listening to heavier music, like Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple. That introduced a heavier sound to my influences, bringing in a classic rock flavor to my writing and recording. I love the big drums sound of John Bonham of Led Zeppelin and the heavier guitar sounds.

I later fell in love with the British Invasion and new wave music, such as The Cure, REM, U2, and more. More recently, bands like One Republic, Coldplay, and the Foo Fighters (even though they’ve been around for a while, I didn’t start listening until more recently). I consider my music to be “Alternative Pop Rock” which combines all these influences.

To share a little bit about collaborations and guidance from others working in the industry: When I was in my 20s, living in New York City, I joined a songwriting guild that met once a week. We would share our songs and critique them. I learned a lot from that. They would have major songwriters come in and share their tips and experience. For years, I studied how to write songs. In later years, I’ve realized that it’s good to learn all the rules, but the main rule is this: There are no rules. It seems there is always a song that does not fit the general rules of Alt Pop Rock songwriting. This of some of the biggest most influential songs, like “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Stairway to Heaven” and “Hey Jude”. Each of these songs broke the rules.

Which three traits define you?

You may get a different answer asking someone who knows me, but if I may, I’d like to say the three traits that I would like to be defined by: excellence, character, and love. I’ve always tried to maintain a quality of excellence in all that I do, whether with music, helping someone, working my day job, or anything. I believe that what you do with the small stuff will show up in the big stuff. By Character, I mean a good reputation. Someone that a person can count on who is dependable and strives to do the right thing. I try to walk in Love, in all that I do. It can be difficult sometimes. My goal is to treat people with love, honor, and respect. I know full well, that if everyone did the same, there would be no crime, no wars, no poverty. We could change this world in a day if everyone treated each other with love, honor, and respect. I’m certainly not perfect in these traits, but it’s the goal that I shoot for.

Please tell us about your latest project “Cast Out Your Light”.

I recorded it at my home studio and it was released on 12 Story Records. It’s a song I wrote several years ago, but never officially released. I play all the parts on the song, using Midi for the drums and keyboard, and string sounds. It was mastered in a studio in Australia, Cefe Flynn Mastering. The song is about spreading love and light into a broken and hurting world. Which is something I believe we desperately need right now. The song has been out for a few weeks now, and I’m pleased it’s been receiving lots of indie radio play and fantastic reviews. I’m so pleased the song is resonating with so many people.

What other projects are in the pipeline?

I’ve got quite a few song ideas that I’ve started. One thought is to begin working on those. I have wanted to get the band back together for a while now and start playing live gigs again. There are a few ideas for videos that I would like to see happen. Quite a few ideas at the moment. Not sure which one I’m going to move toward.

Where can our readers find out more about you?

I’d love to connect with your readers and can be found at: