Daily Inspiration: Meet Rob Carty and Guy Nunnellee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rob Carty and Guy Nunnellee, also known as The Semitones.

Hi Rob and Guy, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Guy Nunnellee: Hello Austin, we’re The Semitones, the band that Satchel from Steel Panther considers “the second-greatest band in the history of rock ‘n’ roll.”

Rob Carty: That’s actually true. 

Guy: Our story spans four decades. Rob and I met in high school. I played piano, he played guitar. Rob taught me a few things on the six-string. I’d already had ten-plus years of piano training, so I picked it right up.

Rob: I was amazed, actually. He’d bought a Peavey T-60—basically a guitar-shaped piece of furniture—and within a couple of months, he was as every bit as good as I was. But I wasn’t that good.

Guy: In 1981, we started a band called Blue Gypsii. Yes, that’s the correct spelling, don’t ask.

Rob: We played it all. If it was on KLOL FM, it was in our setlist.

Guy: We also formed a one-gig side group called The Trevor Collingsworth Band.

Rob: Here it comes (laughs).

Guy: Yeah, so the Trevor C. band had one simple job: Play the class song at the Class of ’82 Senior Awards Assembly. And then sit down. When we finished, Rob decided it’d be a good idea to call another tune while the rest of us were walking away. We scrambled back, did the tune, and then sat down. The students loved it, but the principal was far less amused. We got in mild trouble. Well, everyone except Rob.

Rob: He respected my leadership.

Guy: Then college happened. We went to different schools that I won’t name, but we both transferred to UT Austin. And in 1985, The Interns were born.

Rob: Yes. A three-piece. It was Guy, myself, and a hard-hitting drummer from Anton, Texas named Kurt Copeland. Guy had become so good with vocals and guitar that I switched to bass and mostly did backing vocals.

Guy: Half of our songs were original tunes. The other half was a random heap of songs by the Police, U2, the Clash—even Rush and the Stones.

Rob: We played a lot at the Beach Cabaret just north of the UT campus. Spin Magazine’s Michael Corcoran recently called it part of the “Angel’s Triangle of ‘80s indie rock bands,” along with Liberty Lunch and the Continental (https://is.gd/MCArticle). It’s now known as the Crown & Anchor Pub.

We also played at the South Bank down on Barton Springs Road, which later became Zax and recently closed. And of course, there were the parties.

Guy: Yes, the parties. The Interns lived in a house near Cameron and 290, and let’s just say that many a keg party ensued.

Rob: Everyone was of legal drinking age. Be sure to put that in the article.

Guy: As it turned out, one of our next-door neighbors was Hugh Jones, a.k.a Hugh Contrast, the bassist in a hot-ticket Austin party band called Jam Scam.

Rob: Great band, lots of fun. They put out an EP in the mid-80s. It’s up on YouTube.

Guy: True, true. So after college, our jobs took us to different places. But we never lost touch, and we never stopped playing. Fast-forward about three decades. Rob moved to Canyon Lake, and I was in Cedar Park. We got together one weekend and brought out the guitars. After a few beers, The Semitones came to life.

Rob: Effortless.

Guy: Unlike a lot of bands, we’ve managed to get some really good gigs throughout COVID. We’ve done outdoor block parties, graduation parties, and wedding events. We even did a gig on a sailboat last summer.

Rob: Yeah, the boat had a power system, so we brought a PA for everyone on the lake to enjoy. We had to tie the speakers to the deck. Our hosts live-streamed that one. So cool.

Guy: Just before COVID hit, we played a really fun gig at the Jailhouse Saloon in Spring, Texas, near our high school. Lots of fellow classmates came out to share the love. So much fun.

Rob: We had another pre-COVID gig at a giant car show on top of Canyon Lake Dam. That was like heaven for lots of reasons.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Rob: Life has its twists and turns, but I think we’ve had a pretty easy time of it. We’ve been around long enough to just roll with things.

Guy: We formed the Semitones before anyone had heard of COVID. But soon after our repertoire got really developed, “tha COV” shut everything down. We made the best of it and just kept rehearsing.

Rob: I guess we should tell them about the COVID song. One day, my friend Matt tells me that he’s penned some lyrics. Now you’ve got to understand, when people approach bands with song ideas, it’s—

Guy: Awkward?

Rob: Right. It’s usually awkward because songwriting can be a touchy thing. But this was an exception. When I saw what Matt had written, I approved. It was really clever. So Guy and I wrote some music for the lyrics. Our first-ever country tune. We recorded it, published it, and did a video.

Guy: It’s called “Case of Corona.” It’s on Spotify and YouTube (is.gd/semitonesCofCVid) and all the other streaming platforms. A fine example of turning COVID’s lemons into whiskey sours.

Even without COVID, we have mild logistical challenges because we live about 90 minutes away from each other. So if we want to rehearse, we have to plan it out. We usually make a weekend of it. But honestly, it hasn’t been that hard. And let’s just say our wives are tolerant people.

Rob: Another challenge is our roadies, Guy and Rob. They’re the worst. They’re old, they tire easily, and they have bad attitudes.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Guy: You can get a sense of our style and song list on YouTube. As for what we’re most proud of? Let’s see. I know that we’ve written some pretty toe-tapping tunes over the years. I’m proud of those.

Rob: Yeah, most of those songs emerged in the 80s, when studios were expensive, so there’s little or no record of them. Sadly, most of that stuff has evaporated from my mind.

Guy: But every now and then, we’ll find some dilapidated tape and put it online for fun.

Rob: I’ll also say that Guy and I have been working together for so long that our vocal harmonies are pretty locked in. That’s always a nice dimension to have.

Guy: We’re a two-piece now, and that drives our song choices. It also drives how we arrange things. On all but a few songs, we’re playing differing parts that are harmonically rich.

Rob: Yes, that’s cool. Lots of folks just all play the same basic chords, which is fine. But when there’s only two of you, you’ve gotta try harder to fill the musical canvas. So whenever possible, we try to find chords or lines that aren’t the same but sound good together. Maybe Guy will play a chord, and I’ll play the fourth of that chord. We play a few standards that don’t really lend themselves to that, but we try when possible.

Guy: We also like to bury “Easter eggs” in songs. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve hidden part of a Pink Floyd song within another song.

Rob: Yeah. We call it “a surprise for the attentive listener.” (Both laugh.)

Guy: And every once in a while, a 12-string makes everything sound good.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
Guy: Even though we grew up in Houston, Austin became our nucleus once we started college at UT. I’ve moved away a few times, but I always seem to end back up here. I’m in Cedar Park, a great suburb for raising kids.

I’m not thrilled with the homeless problem in Austin. It’s awful to see homeless camps set up all around Lady Bird/Town Lake and under overpasses everywhere. I guess our great weather makes this possible for anyone who can handle a few days of 100-plus temps in the summer.

And speaking of Austin’s weather, I love it. I don’t mind the occasional heat, and you can golf year-round. You can also play music outside most of the year, so outdoor parties are plentiful for The Semitones.

Rob: My likes? I like it when the locals don’t recognize me in public, so I can go about my day without having to sign autographs.

I really like how tall the curbs are downtown. What a great way to discern the pro drunks from the hobbyists.

I also like how we old-timers pronounce words like Pedernales and Manchaca. But I detest the fact that someone changed the spelling of Manchaca Road to Menchaca Road. I mean, why? Was that some kind of campaign promise? It’s bad enough that I have to load my own equipment, but please don’t change addresses like that. I’m easily confused and I may wind up unloading at the wrong gig.

Contact Info:

• Email: semitonestexas@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/semitonestexas/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SemitonesTexas/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCZTat2U7qSTLK9rsIXtqEQ/videos
• Other: is.gd/semitonesCofC

Image Credits
“Personal Photo”: Chuck Schirber “Additional Photos”: 1: Chuck Schirber 2: Chuck Schirber 3: The Semitones 4: Alex Nunnellee 5. Yvonna White 6: Chuck Schirber 7: Mike Vaughan 8. Lynne Skinner The last two photos come from our time in The Interns back in the mid-80s. We talk about that in the interview.