Creating music driving force for band as it releases album
The members of Gimmic, from left, are Matthew Perez, Willie Baltz, Port Nugent and Eric Holdhusen. (Chris Peterson/Hungry Horse News)
In a few weeks their first CD will be out, their album is already downloadable and later this month they’ll be the opening act for the Montana Music Event in Whitefish.
Gimmic was formed roughly a year ago by four guys who like writing, playing and performing together. The idea for a band began when drummer Willie Baltz met Port Nugent, who plays guitar. Trumpeter Eric Holdhusen came on board and then they invited Matthew Perez to join on bass.
They’ve been doing gigs all over the Flathead Valley since. Come July 25, they’ll play for their biggest audience as the opening act for Ocean Park Standoff at the O’Shaughnessy Center at the Montana Music Event fundraiser for North Valley Music School.
It’s pretty great, they agreed during an interview with the Pilot, but also bittersweet.
“It’s the pinnacle of the band,” Holdhusen said.
“Then we’re breaking up,” Perez adds with a laugh.
All four members of the band recently graduated from high school, Baltz at Columbia Falls, and the others from Whitefish. Starting next month each one is headed off to college — but don’t count them out yet as there’s still the possibility open for a few more performances in August and maybe even beyond.
“We will see what we can do next,” Holdhusen said.
Right now they’re working summer jobs while squeezing in jam sessions for Gimmic, and enjoying the product of their hard work on their album “The Good Nut.”
They have nine original songs they’ve collaborated to create. They’ll play some covers too for gigs, but creating their own music is the highlight.
“We’re based in elements of jazz, funk, and hard rock,” Nugent said. “It’s those three sounds with our own twist on it. It’s more technical. There’s a lot of music theory in there.”
Gimmic held a Kickstarter campaign raising almost $1,000 to record their album with music recording engineer Toby Scott. They enjoyed the creative process of recording, though say it wasn’t easy.
“When you do eight takes on one song and you still don’t have it right that’s hard,” Perez said. “But it’s fun going back in and making it better and looking at how the order of the songs affects it. That’s where our best ideas come.”
“I like working to achieve the sound you envision,” Nugent said.
They’ve already come a long way — going from performing together for the first time at open mic night at Casey’s last summer to at the end of the month opening for a band that had a song reach No. 13 on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart.
For more information on Gimmic, visit them on Facebook at
General admission tickets for the Montana Music Event are $20 in advance or $25 at the door, and can be purchased online at www.northvalleymusicschool.org or by calling 406-862-8074. Plan to arrive early, as seating will be limited to allow for an open dance floor. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.