When Los Angeles punks Militarie Gun penned 2023 rager, ‘Do It Faster’, it turned out to be a statement of intent. Ditching the harsh vocals and introspective riffs of their first two EPs, ‘Do It Faster’ channelled their frenzied punk energy into a bouncy, radio-ready banger, packaging a chorus so huge that it launched Militarie Gun out of hardcore circles and into the mainstream. Suddenly, Militarie Gun were punk’s new ‘It’ band. Their 2023 debut album ‘Life Under The Gun’ became a breakout success, kicking off a crazy 12 months that propelled the five piece out of sweaty basements and into arenas, seeing Militarie Gun open for massive bands in the US and tear up a slew of European festival stages.
Not bad for a band that vocalist Ian Shelton started in his bedroom during the pandemic. “We just finished up our US run with A Day to Remember, “ a clearly fried Ian Shelton tells me, via Zoom “And we’re heading to Australia tomorrow evening. So, we have one brief day at home.”
Luckily for Ian, he’s never been particularly good at sitting still. Watching him bounce across a massive outdoor stage at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound festival, the enigmatic frontman is a man possessed, leaping into the crowd for the final one two punch of ‘Do it Faster’ and ‘Very High’. Throughout our chat, Shelton sports a freshly purple black eye, a prize he earned during a particularly riotous secret set at the same festival“ Yeah…I went too crazy during that show, I tackled our drummer through the drum set.” Shelton laughs, “This is what happens when we play at 2 AM.”
Given the line snaking around the hill to get into the packed late night stage, the fans’ response to Militarie Gun has been just as crazy. Yet after a relentless year out on the road, Shelton reveals that their newfound success has barely had a chance to sink in. “On the inside, it doesn’t really feel any different.” he reflects, “ We’re just doing the same thing that we’ve always done – just to different crowds. We’ve always wanted to play these festivals… and I think that it’d be easy to try to let it go to your head, but at the end of the day, we just end up pissing off as many people as we end up winning over.”
Yet it’s not just roaring arena and festival crowds who are now discovering Militarie Gun, but weirdly, millions of unsuspecting wrestling fans. In a statement that would likely make 2020 Shelton’s head spin, a Militarie Gun track can now be found in wrestling game WWE2K4 as the entrance music for one of WE2K24’s most unlikely downloadable wrestlers – Post Malone. Shelton explains that when it came to composing a suitably badass theme for the pop star’s in-game avatar, Malone only wanted one band for the job.
“It was very nerve-wracking,” Shelton reflects, “writing for such a big pop star, you have no clue if he’ll hate it or not… and I only had a day to do it! I debated writing three different songs for him… but in the end only sent one, and he liked what I sent. So, I lucked out.”
You may be wondering how Shelton’s bedroom punk project ended up collaborating with one of the biggest stars on the planet. Discovering Militarie Gun out on the road via a mutual touring photographer, the hardcore-loving celebrity instantly became a fan, resulting in a wonderfully wholesome video of Post Malone popping off to ‘Do It Faster’ backstage, alongside a visibly stunned Militarie Gun.
“It was wild, “ Shelton says, “I’d just gotten a text saying, Oh, [Posty’s] been singing ‘Do It Faster’ probably within a month of when it came out – and I was just like ‘Whoa! That’s a crazy text to receive’, but I never really thought that it would ever equate to anything.Then he invited us to one of his shows in Amsterdam, and that’s where that video was captured. We just couldn’t believe that he connected with what we’re doing. ”
Cutting his teeth playing guitar in metalcore bands, and recently caught throwing down to Australian hardcore mob, Speed, Post Malone was keen to hang out with his latest mosh-worthy musical obsession.
“He actually just came and saw us for the first time,” reveals Shelton, “We went to see his show at the Louvre, and then he came to our show at Petite Bond the next day. It was very, very weird to be playing a show on a boat in Paris and looking at the side stage and seeing Post Malone.”
Shelton reveals that they’ve slowly struck up a friendship. Introducing Malone to hardcore legends Weekend Nachos and regularly swapping music recommendations, a hectic schedule saw the megastar swiftly recruit Shelton to pen his WWE2K24 entrance track. Somewhat ironically, Post Malone inspired the heaviest track that Militarie Gun has penned to date.
“He really wanted his own wrestling intro in the vein of Triple H’s intro, the Motorhead song…This wrestling track was not a far cry from my other band Regional Justice Center and It’s been really fun to be able mess around and muddy the waters. With MG getting a lot more melodic over time, to go in the opposite direction so rapidly was very fun.. We’ll play it live at least once to see what happens.”
Unlike the angular punk-imbued singalongs of Life Under The Gun, Malone’s bruising ‘MFG track is pure down-tuned chuggery, which of course, features Militarie Gun’s vocal calling card – a guttural bark.
“To me, that’s just a traditional part of the genre, “ reflects Shelton, “I feel like I don’t own that in any way. You could listen to anything from the Beatles to the Stooges and hear aggressive grunting. It’s just an accent, something to fill space and add aggression, or something kind of disconcerting. That was all I meant with it, and now it’s something of a trademark.”
From chilling with Post Malone to appearing in a multi-million selling video game, it’s been a wild year for this once niche hardcore group. Yet despite everything that Militarie Gun has achieved, for Ian, life feels largely the same.
“We feel very privileged to be here” Shelton reflects, “I’ve played in a lot of bands that just didn’t really have the sound to achieve a big audience, but the way that our songwriting has opened itself up to that has just happened naturally. It feels great…and we’re so grateful that anyone cares at all.”
Thanks to the huge success of Baltimore’s Turnstile and Kentucky’s equally bark-happy Knocked Loose, hardcore is currently having a bit of a moment. For Shelton, he’s happy for the newfound fans, seeing Militarie Gun’s catchy hooks as a trojan horse to deliver more serious messages.
“MG’s mission statement is really just putting the most intense lyrical content in a sugary package and attempting to make it fun, “ Shelton reflects, “… but not making the lyrical content the part that’s easy to digest. The goal is that over time, you’re like, ‘Oh, wait! That’s actually kind of depressing’.”
What’s next then for Militarie Gun, following this monumental 12 months?
“We’re just trying to write the best songs we can, and perform them the best we can. “ says Shelton, “ At the end of the day, we’re still playing to a lot of people who are unfamiliar with us, and trying our best to win them over in the small amount of time that we have.Even though we are achieving a larger audience, our sound isn’t the most mainstream,it’s still very aggressive and raw – And that doesn’t sit right with everyone, which is great because we don’t want it to sit right with everyone.”
What then, is Shelton’s Militarie Gun elevator pitch to newcomers who are just discovering his band? “Listen to Militarie Gun – because we’re good. If you like bad music, you might not like us, and if you like good music, you might like us.”
Militarie Gun’s new single ‘Thought you were waving’ is out now
