Boulder Band Gen3 Showcases Eclectic Sound on Debut Album

Longtime local musicians David Cremin and Jace Allen may not be complete Swifties, as fanatics of pop princess Taylor Swift affectionately call themselves, but the co-founders of the new Boulder rock band Gen3 aren’t afraid to admit that Swift’s catchy, chart-topping compositions inspired their debut album, Not Coming Home.

As a fan of such bands as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, Gen3 guitarist/vocalist Cremin laughs at the small sway Swift has had on Gen3, while crediting younger bandmates Blair Simpson and Forrest Raup for bringing surprising, more contemporary influences to the table.

“We’re sitting there trying to think about why Taylor Swift put that sound on her record. I’m going, ‘We’re going to sound like Taylor Swift? That’s cool,’” he explains of the songwriting process. “Or why Billie Eilish does this with her vocal track and why we should try it with ours.”

Such influences are more philosophical, as the final result doesn’t sound like anything that either of those megastars put out. At its core, Gen3 is a four-piece classic rock band, with jam, funk and country elements — all of which are on full display across the new record’s nine original songs.

Cremin points to album opener “Bad Light” as a prime example of “everything that we try to do” by showcasing a varied sound that each member sprinkles their own flavor into. “We opened up the album with what I thought to be a risky song, simply because it’s so driving and so guitar-forward,” he says, adding that it was also one of the last songs Gen3 wrote in the studio together.

“It’s almost a strange and eerie synth song. It’s got all this sequencing style of keyboard throughout the song, giving it the rhythm on top of this simple drum part. I love that,” he continues.

Allen, who handles primary songwriting duties with Cremin, adds that “Bad Light” is also “a summary of the rest of the tracks” lyrically.

“The songs are about escaping and rebirth,” he says, pointing to challenges and transformations he and Cremin have endured in their personal lives as their primary muses.

Gen3 also shared a music video for its single “Kiss It Goodbye” on August 29 to promote Not Coming Home. The band will play a record-release show on Friday, September 8, at Boulder's Velvet Elk Lounge. Local singer-songwriter Hunter Stone is also on the bill.

Cremin and Allen previously played together in cover bands before the idea of starting their current project came up in 2020. “Jason and I had been collaborating on music before, playing covers. We were sitting there during the pandemic, going, ‘Well, nobody’s playing, but couldn’t we write some music together?’” Cremin recalls. “We’ve never done that. We’ve always played other people's music.”

As a professional drummer and accomplished session player, Allen was keen on the proposal, but he had one request: He didn’t want to man the kit.

“I can’t freaking do it. It’s too hard,” he jokes. “But I still play drums professionally with some other artists and whatnot.” Allen, who is also an experienced music producer, currently co-owns Good Noise Studios locations in Boulder and Palm Springs, California, with Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum.

Still, he preferred to play bass and sing in Gen3, which he’s done before. So, after recruiting drummer Raup and keyboardist/guitarist Simpson, Gen3 was officially born. The moniker is a nod to the band’s “diversity of age, genre and styles,” Allen explains.

Armed with a trio of new songs that would eventually end up on Not Coming Home and covers to round out a twelve-song set list, the Boulder quartet played its first gig — a socially distanced show on the Dairy Arts Center’s loading dock in June 2021 — to a warm reception.

“Toes were tapping and people were clapping,” Allen says. “And we were like, ‘Hey, maybe we've actually got something here.’”

More important, the audience “liked the originals,” Cremin adds, which “gave us the courage to write six more.”

Once in the studio, Simpson and Raup, both session players themselves, were more like producers in making suggestions and tweaks to material Allen and Cremin brought forth, according to Allen.

“They’re the muse of bringing something different in,” he says. “It could be as simple as, ‘Hey, great song — put it in a minor key.’”

“The really best thing is, we’ll bring in an idea, and they’ll be like, ‘That’s just not cool,’” Cremin explains with a laugh. “And they’ll add in the cool factor.”

Given the fusion of genres on Not Coming Home, Gen3 isn’t too worried about staying in a specific musical lane, which is something Allen is proud of.

“The first comment I got back from a friend of mine was, ‘You know, you always say that you can’t be defined by genres. I now truly believe that. I’ve heard nine of your things, and I don’t get it, but I like them all,’” he recalls. “That was fun to hear.”

For Cremin, it’s “all about stretching the muscles, because we can.”

“It must keep evolving,” he says. “It’s no different than a Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin.”

Gen3, 9 p.m. Friday, September 8, Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th Street. Tickets are $14.