Gearbox is one of those bands that just grows on you the more you listen to them. With vocalist Craig Hughes singing with the flair of Eddy Vedder and a little hint of Maynard from Tool or A Perfect Circle. These guys are the perfect blend of indie rock and radio ready alternative. They are not afraid to get heavy when it’s fitting, but they also have the ability to lay back and let the song slow down when necessity calls. Jim Lucas’ guitar work is reminiscent of some of the Cure’s stuff but with a much heavier edge to it. He is accompanied perfectly by Steve Matsko on the bass guitar. The CD they have released, entitled This Line has drummer Larry Kobulinsky, but he has been replaced in the line up by drummer Josh Loagn who fills and surpasses the quality of the drumming on this release. The live show that Gearbox produces is one of diversity. They run through a full set of original songs, peppered with some covers, such as songs by Tool and Rage Against The Machine among others. These guys have set them self up for the big break with some wonderful production and well structured songs. With the smooth and enigmatic vocals and masterful guitar parts these songs draw you into the music. They can not be ignored. Gearbox is truly a gem among the bands in this area’s music scene.
Several weeks ago, I got the chance to sit down with vocalist Craig Hughes and bassist Steve Matsko following a intense gig at Pittsburgh’s own, Nick’s Fat City. We threw a few questions at them and here is what the had to say.

First things first, tell us how you would describe your sound or style. Craig Hughes – It’s been a long hard road. We have played many places, you could call us musical sluts. Our name come from our sound. Where melody goes through to the heavy end. We have a lot of diversity. For instance tonight we just played

with heavy Slayer type band and a more alternative rock band. We kind of fit in the middle of them. We just love playing here or anywhere for that matter. So with a name like Gear box, I hope you remember it, unless your too drunk.

Steve Matsko – I think he hit the nail right on the head. I think we are pretty diverse. We can play to just about any audience out there. I hope we are a little different than other bands. I don’t really know what to say.
Craig - Our CD is great for Christmas time.

Give us some of your thoughts on the Pittsburgh area music scene. Craig – I love Pittsburgh, I have never seen a place that has so many different musicians. There are so many bands here that don’t get the recognition that they may deserve. There is a lot of music here. There are diamonds here. But of course to find a diamond you have to dig through the shit. I think if somebody would come up with a magazine to help out and expose the local musicians that would be great. Steve – There is a lot of great bands here, but not a lot of support. Local radio and DJs just don’t really care about the local stuff.

Craig – Pittsburgh seems to be a cover band town to, we do play our share of covers but we really try to push our original stuff.

Is there a band that you have heard that just made you stand up and take notice? Craig – We have heard tons of bands. There are so many guys working so hard. Working full time jobs and coming out and doing this, because they love it. Like Something Never, a very good band, very melodic. Then there is Ill Noise Inc. very heavy, balls in your face. We try to play with a lot of different bands, like we did some shows with Shonuff and the Buzz Poets. And it’s all cause we are hard up.

.You have a disc out now tell us all about that. Where did you record at etc.
Craig - We recorded in a place called Sewickley, I almost called the CD Sewickley. We are from the Monroeville area, so we drove an hour and a half four days a weak to record this CD. We searched and searched and found Audio Loft and it was great. We put a lot of gas into it. Buzzy, did really good work for us with all the mastering and got us onto the X too.
Steve – He is the only engineer that I ever worked with that was in touch with what’s going on right now. Seems like so many of those type guys are stuck in the 80’s.

What do you guys have planned or what do you hope happens in the next chapter of Gearbox? Craig – We really want to stick around here, we are working with Clear Channel. We are trying to do as much as possible. We also want to keep the connection to all the bands from around here, this area is a goldmine. Steve – And the city is peerdy too.

Well what else would you like to tell all our readers?
Craig – If you interested in us our CD it’s available at any CD Warehouse, and on the web, www.cornerband.com. We are working on the website right now, because we got our new drummer, Josh Logan, so we had to revamp the whole site which is www. Gearbox.vze.com