Arts & Entertainment

Q&A: Robiee K and The Gentlemen to Co-Headline With CHAPPO

We talk the The Gents' lead singer Robel Ketema about a huge gig for the band out of Kirkwood High School.

, the band out of  that blends hip-hop, funk, jazz and indie rock, has played area gigs before but not as big as the one they have coming up Thursday.

The Gents are headlining a show at  with CHAPPO, a band that's making big waves in the indie scene. CHAPPO just got back from the country's biggest music festival, Bonnaroo, and their song "Come Home" was featured in an Apple commercial for the iPod Touch.

I caught up with The Gents' lead singer Robel Ketema to talk about the big gig and more.

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Patch: How did you hook up with CHAPPO and make co-headlining at Cicero's happen?

Robel: Cicero's booking manager set us up with CHAPPO since they are currently touring the states and would be intown the same day we were looking to perform. But since we're able to bring in a pretty solid crowd and already had the show planned out Cicero's booking manager thought it would be better if we co-headlined with CHAPPO instead of just opening for them. We agreed.

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Patch: What's the response been like to The Gents ?

Robel: The response to RKTG has been great! We distributed a few hundred hardcopies and downloads, and got a lot of love from our fans. So much love in fact an anonymous listener donated $10 for RKTG on our Bandcamp page. The EP also caught the eye of St. Louis music producer, Dylan Marshall Brady, who decided to remix our song "Flow" into a poppier radio friendly single. (Editor's Note: I listened to it. It's awesome.)

Patch: What's next for The Gents?

Robel: Since we're all headed separate ways for college this coming fall, we plan on enjoying summer together playing as many gigs as possible! We all still plan on keeping the band alive by playing shows and recording music together during breaks and vacations in the school year. 

Thursday's show at starts at 7:30 p.m. In addition to The Gents and CHAPPO, the show features C'est La Vie and Mail On Sunday. Purchase tickets through Cicero's website. The event is 17 and over. For the latest on The Gents, like Robiee K and The Gentlemen on Facebook

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