When you live in Portsmouth, you become accustomed to seeing The Guts around, hanging out at the Coat of Arms or walking by the Friendly Toast. It is sometimes easy to take for granted the fact that they are a growing force to be reckoned with in the music world. After almost a decade of playing together, a half dozen albums and a European tour under its belt, The Guts are on the cusp of monumental success. Recently, the band was invited to Wisconsin to record parts of its new album at Smart Studios, owned by Butch Vig, a member of Garbage and the producer behind such albums as The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Gish” and Nirvana’s “Nevermind.” The Wire had a chance to sit down with bassist/singer Nate Doyle, drummer Rick Orcutt and guitarist/singer Geoff Palmer upon their return and ask them about their trip and a few other matters.

    Tell us about your trip to Wisconsin.
ND: We went to Madison, Wisconsin, and we recorded at Smart Studios. It’s like, owned by Butch Vig. I don’t know if he opened it, but Nirvana recorded the demos for “Nevermind” there, and a bunch of cool bands have been in there, like the Smashing Pumpkins recorded there. So, Rally Records is putting this record out, and he (owner Johnny Rally) is trying to establish a relationship with the studio. The Leftovers, from Portland, Maine, put out their record on the label. It’s called “On the Move.” And they went out there to record and they had a good experience, so he sent us out there and paid for the whole thing. So, our new CD, which doesn’t have a name yet, will hopefully be out in the next couple months.
GP: Late January.

Did you have fun out there? You were out there for a week.
GP: Yeah, we recorded for five days, 12 hours a day.
ND: So it was fun but also ...

Lots of work?
ND: Well, you’re just in the studio from 11 until midnight, so you don’t really have a lot of time, and you’re trying to be, well, I tried to be good. I had to sing a lot, so I wasn’t drinking, even though it was homecoming weekend.
GP: He slept in the van.
ND: Yeah, I slept in the van like four nights.
GP: And got woken up by a marching band at 7 in the morning.
ND: Yeah, it’s right outside the football stadium, where the van was parked, and I was sleeping and the next thing I knew, it was like “BAH-BAH-BAAAH!”

Homecoming for college football?
ND: Yeah, Wisconsin Badgers. Badgers!

So, is anybody going to be playing with you on the new album, anybody exciting joining you?
GP: Ben Weasel from Screeching Weasel. He hung out a lot and he sang. We did a version of a song called “Love, Love, Love,” by The Queers, and Ben Weasel sang it, which is pretty good. And Kurt and Andrew from the Leftovers.
ND: Kurt and Andrew both sing on the new record. They did backups and stuff and they both did a good job.

How do you think 2007 has treated you?
ND: Pretty good, I think. We got to tour Europe. We got to go do the (Insubordination) Festival in Baltimore. It was tons of pop punk bands, and it was three days, and we got to play with Ben Weasel and do our own thing, a Guts set, and then we also had Wimpy from The Queers come up and we did a whole Queers set in front of 500 kids. And, we got to go to Madison and record our new record, and we’re supposed to go to Canada.
GP: Nate and I are actually leaving tomorrow morning to go down to New York. Our friend Hallie, from a band called the Unloveables, she’s got a really good role in a Broadway play called “Wicked,” and we’re going to go see it.
RO: Are you guys going to hold hands?
GP: No.
ND: I’ve never been to a Broadway play, so I don’t know how I feel about it.
GP: But it’s Hallie.
ND: It will be cool.
GP: And then Monday we’re going to a studio in New York to do vocals, a duet with Nate singing a part and Hallie singing the other part. Then we’re home for a couple days and then up in Canada with The Riptides.

Is there anything different about this new album? Like, you’ve added something or maybe gone in a different direction?
GP: I feel like we got to be in a really good studio for five days away from home, so we could focus on it more.

Do you feel more like musicians when you’re away from Portsmouth and less like the kids in town?
GP: Yes.
ND: I still feel like a musician here.
RO: It feels like we’re a little more on point when we’re out of town than when we’re here.
GP: I love Portsmouth and I love living here, but it just gets a little old sometimes. When we have to go somewhere else and play, it seems like it’s always a challenge. The way we interact, there is an achievement in ourselves and we all need to do well, and if we’re all willing to give up whatever we have—to give up at home to go somewhere else—it’s because it’s going to be a really good thing. And when we do it, it’s pretty successful and it leads to another step on the ladder. So, being away from home is pretty good for us.

Anything else exciting you want to tell us about, besides the new album?
ND: No, just that the new album is coming out and we’re going to Canada, and once the record is out, we’re expected to tour. We’ll probably go back to Europe. Wherever they tell me to go, I will go.