Jesse Smith has been playing on the Atlanta punk scene for quite some time now. I met him over 10 years ago when he was playing in a band called Some Soviet Station. They later evolved into Paper Lions. Both were great bands. These days Jesse juggles his time playing bass in The Carbonas and singing some great pop tunes under the name Gentleman Jesse. I caught up with him at a tiki party in East Atlanta on a hot June afternoon. He was wearing tight jeans and a fedora. We drank pineapple-soaked vodka, threw horseshoes and talked music. Here we go…

Dry Ink: How are you? You have had a pretty busy year. Can you talk about it?

Jesse: I am good, yes I have and yes I can talk about it.

DI: Hit me, let’s hear it.

Jesse: Well, my old band Some Soviet Station reunited and got to play with Mission of Burma. I’ve been playing bass with The Carbonas. That is a lot of fun. I also have my own new group called Gentleman Jesse and His Men. We have also been very busy.

DI: How was The Mission of Burma show?

Jesse: That was great. We just reunited for that one night. It felt great to play with those guys and those songs again. It was at The EARL. The Mission of Burma guys were really nice too.

DI: And how long have you been playing with The Carbonas now?

Jesse: Oh, it’s been a while. I’ve done several tours with them. It is a blast.

DI: Tell me about Gentleman Jesse and His Men. You guys are my new favorite band in Atlanta.

Jesse: Thank you. We are having so much fun with this group. They are just power pop songs that I’ve written. Dave from The Carbonas plays drums. My friend Craig plays rhythm guitar and provides backing vocals. Dustan Negro plays bass. Good guys.

DI: And you have hit the road with these guys?

Jesse: Gentleman Jesse played South by Southwest and some festivals in New York.

DI: “I Don’t Wanna Know” is the Atlanta single of the year. I love that song.

Jesse: Yea, that record has done really well.

DI: Who put it out and how many have you sold?

Jesse: The 7 inch was put out by Douchemaster Records and we’ve sold out of the 1,000 we pressed. Douchemaster is a local independent record label run by Bryan Racklee and Greg King from The Carbonas. They are both good friends of mine. I help them with the label, too. I will be getting more involved with it this year trying to help them find bands and put out records.

DI: Will Douchemaster be putting out your full length?

Jesse: Yes they will.

DI: When will it be out?

Jesse: We hope to have it out by the end of the year.

DI: What will the title of the record be?

Jesse: It will either be “Ladies and Gentleman” or “Gentleman Jesse Cuts Like a Knife.” It will have 12 original songs and two covers.

DI: I’m very excited about it. Please save one for me because they will probably sell quickly, too.

Jesse: Will do, will do.

DI: What other plans do you have?

Jesse: I’ll continue playing with The Carbonas, I’ll write and record songs with Gentleman Jesse, and I hope to help make Douchemaster Records a bigger label.

DI: Any parting words?

Jesse: Yes, it’s OK to listen to Nick Lowe, and thanks for listening.

Tom Cheshire is the publisher of Dry Ink. Write to him at tom@dryinkmag.com