Today we’re turning the spotlight onto Austin, Texas indie rockers Bottlecap Mountain led by Stewart Gersmann. In our featured interview, we chat about their most recent full length release Electric Love Spree, the growth and development of the band over the course of its now 7 albums and get a little info on what’s coming next.

CF: What’s the story behind your band name?

BM: My dad was in a band called The Bottle Cap Mountain Boys in the late 60’s. They had kind of a tragic existence in that they were booked to open for the band Steppenwolf in Corpus Christi, Texas, but the night before the show the leader who had become “born again” fired my dad and the bass player for being “sinners,” replaced them with two guys that didn’t know the songs, started their set with the Lord’s Prayer & got booed by a bunch of hippies. Consequently they broke up shortly after. I always thought the name sounded slightly mysterious, more like a place than a pile of bottle caps. It fits us I think cause it’s a bit ambiguous which I’d say our music is.

CF: Last June marked the arrival of your 7th studio album Electric Love Spree. Before we talk about the album, we’re curious what words of advice or tribulation you can share from the journey of creating 7 studio albums? What’s one piece of advice you might give a new artist embarking on their first studio album?

BM: The single piece of advice I’d give for making a record conveys to every aspect of art making in general: Good enough is rarely good enough. Make it the best you can make it, every time. If something bothers you now it is going to bother you forever. Obviously there are practical limits to this, and life is unfair and expensive, and very very short, so we have to make hard choices, but at least make them CHOICES. There are so many things you can’t control so you should never, ever, get lazy on the things you CAN control. Advice is much easier to give than to take, and we don’t always live up to these ideals, but I think as a band we try to follow this principle and are better off for it.

CF: Who was Bottlecap Mountain during the recording of the first album versus who Bottlecap Mountain is now? How have you grown or changed within that time?

BM: Bottlecap Mountain started off as a solo project. The first album was mostly performed by me (guitars, drums, bass), Jeffrey Simmons on keys, bells, backup vocals, etc. & the super talented Zak Loy (who plays with the 90’s band Live) played some great lead guitar stuff. Chris Stangland played bass on a couple songs, Doug Peña played bass on a couple songs but otherwise that was it. After the album was finished I needed a band to play the songs live so BCM the band was born. We’ve had a couple lineup changes over the years but mostly it’s been me on guitar & lead vocals, Chris on bass, Yvonne Love on keys and backing vocals, Ray Flynt on drums & Doug on “vice guitar” & backing vocals.

CF: What was the driving force that told you you needed to write and record Electric Love Spree?

BM: I didn’t necessarily set out to write a record like Electric Love Spree but I DID set out to write a different record from the one before it. Our previous record “O! Fantastik Melancholy” was essentially a playlist for the end of the world hahahaha, so I knew I wanted the next record to be lighter in theme. Once the songs were written it was clear that they were all love songs in one way or another with a very summery, late 60’s feel. We just went all-in on that, it’s our summer of love record I think.

CF: I feel like it’s safe to assume the music video for I Got Loving For You; a great, upbeat, fun-loving track that kicks off the record, was inspired by Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues; why did you choose to go this direction and more importantly, I think we all want to know, what are you reading in the background?

BM: Bob who? No yeah, we thought it was funny to shout out to Subterranean Homesick Blues with this song that has such light and repetitive lyrics. We did it guerrilla style in the alley behind a (sadly) shuttered brewery where we played many shows. One take, in and out in fifteen minutes, and thank goodness because what a hassle it would have been to get those cards back into the proper order! And I was reading the January ‘76 issue of Creem, the one with John Denver and the Bay City Rollers.

CF: I love the production on this record and how it seems to carry forward this unique hook-driven poppy-ness found in classic 60’s rock records in a way that doesn’t feel like it’s imitating the sound. What artists/sounds would you consider the biggest influence on this record?

BM: Thanks! That was certainly the intention so I’m glad it comes across! Because of the poppy, 60’s vibe to the songs, we wanted to capture that to the fullest so tracking to 2” analog tape was the only way to go frankly. We also limited how many mics and physical tracks we used so the 60’s was alive and well while recording. As far as specific influences, Face to Face by The Kinks, Hip Hug-Her by Booker T & The MG’s, Younger Than Yesterday by The Byrds & The Who Sell Out were probably the biggest ones. The Beatles are always an influence tho.

CF: If Electric Love Spree was inspired by a person, what qualities or characteristics does that person hold for you?

BM: My wife Beth is certainly my biggest inspiration, she’s my everything. But I wrote Peace of Cake for my grandparents & my dog was always a beacon of light in my life, he sadly passed away after the record came out but he’ll always be in my heart and my songs.

CF: Admittedly I don’t have a ton of questions pertaining to the songwriting on this record, it’s just great pop with killer groove that you can’t help but want to get up and dance to. I feel like this sound is noticeably missing from the current wave of modern pop/rock and for that I’m glad you made the record. Who are today’s pop titans that have caught your attention as doing something particularly different or interesting?

BM: Thank you so much! It really was meant to be a feel good album so that means a lot! As far as current artists go, we really like The War On Drugs a lot & that last Kacey Musgraves record is tops.

CF: We’re a little late getting to chat with you about this album and you’re already in the progress of your next release. What can you tell us about the direction of that record, has it been shaped yet?

BM: The next record is almost done! It still has a 60’s vibe but this time it’s more anarchistic than flower-powered. Musically it’s a little tougher, lyrically it’s less rose-tinted, more cautiously optimistic. There are rock songs & ballads. Epics & poppier things. Fragments & sound collages & Musique concrète things too. The freak-flag is on full display! I think people are gonna be surprised by it but I think the songs are strong enough to make it go over.

CF: You’re a band that’s no stranger to touring and before this album came off a pretty extensive tour. This is an area I feel a lot of newer artists are struggling to break into with a lot of factors, notably political as well as financial. How is Bottlecap Mountain breaking through these barriers and what would you say is the most important consideration for emerging artists to consider when putting together their first tours?

BM: The practicalities of scheduling it all seems just impossible, and WOULD be impossible without Beth, my wife helping to wrangle the whole thing. And as hard as getting it all set up is, contacting venues, lining up other bands and places to stay is, once that part is done the actual day-to-day grind of touring itself is extremely challenging. When you’re in hour 8 of a 10 hour drive and the van smells like Cheetos and the bass player’s feet, and you’re hungover and underslept and sore and even homesick, it doesn’t seem worth it. But when you play a show at a cool place you’ve never heard of in a cool city you’ve never been to, you got the high score on Mandalorian Pinball after soundcheck, and now the band is heated up and firing on all cylinders, and a crowded room full of people you’ve never met is fully with you, in that moment, singing along to a song they’ve never heard before tonight, right now, well, it certainly IS worth it. You’ll make friends and form bonds with people you meet (and the people you came with) that will last forever. Go into it with grace, patience, and good humor, and do your best to extend that grace to the people you are with, and if you are extremely lucky you might break even.

CF: You find yourself in a situation where your band can’t make the gig and now it’s just you and an acoustic guitar set to win over an anxious and perhaps irritable crowd. What song do you play first? It can be a cover or an original.

BM: That’s a good question and something that HAS happened! I/we have songs for pretty much any occasion but also a stable of covers that can be pulled out at any time. I’d probably start with Free Falling or something like that if it was a cover tho.

CF: We first were introduced to each other through the internet, specifically Twitter back before we removed ourselves from the platform. I’m curious from your perspective how you see the relationship changing as far as indie musicians finding new audiences as we have through these types of platforms. From our end, we do feel a shift even if it’s self-imposed at this stage, but I’m curious about where you see yourself and Bottlecap Mountain focusing your time and and attention going forward? Will you spend more or less time marketing yourselves through social media, be more selective of those platforms, and why or why not?

BM: Another good question! My wife Beth primarily ran the Twitter account & we made a lot of great friends and contacts there! One thing the pandemic was good for was building up some of those social media platforms like that. We’ve sadly also removed ourselves from Twitter as well but are still on the gram and threads and Bluesky which has been a positive spot so far. Not sure what the future holds for all that but we’re always interested in reaching out to people and making friends. Shows are still the best way to do that tho, looking into people’s eyes.

CF: Can you turn our attention to a couple acts local to you that might not be on our radar yet?

BM: Totally! Batty Jr., Some Say Leland, Space Tan, Carson McHone, even tho she’s on Merge and lives in Canada now haha.

CF: Anything else coming up that you’d like to add?

BM: Just shows and finishing this next record. We will also have a non-album 7” coming out this year, hopefully haha.

Thanks very much for your time today Bottlecap Mountain!

Keep up with Bottlecap Mountain by visiting their website and social media channels. 

• Link
• Instagram
• Bandcamp
• Threads

---

Looking for a little more? Here are some recommendations based on the interview.