{"id":187734,"date":"2026-03-11T20:53:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T20:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/187734\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T20:53:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T20:53:09","slug":"west-coast-punks-militarie-gun-plan-to-incite-some-communal-rage-in-orlando","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/187734\/","title":{"rendered":"West Coast punks Militarie Gun plan to incite some communal rage in Orlando"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MilitarieMilitarie Gun Credit: Nolan Knight<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I sound distorted to you?\u201d Ian Shelton, lead vocalist and songwriter of punk band Militarie Gun, is in his home in Los Angeles. He\u2019s relishing the last few days before another tour, spending time with the people he\u2019ll miss while on the road and writing songs. This morning, he\u2019s hoping to finish a new Militarie Gun track. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always writing music, every interview starts almost identical to this,\u201d he tells Orlando Weekly. \u201cIf I\u2019m home, I am sitting in this exact position. This is the only thing I care about, really in the world, so this is what I do every day.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

The band \u2014 Shelton, guitarists William Acu\u00f1a and Kevin Kiley, bassist Waylon Trim and drummer David Stalsworth \u2014 are touring cross-country, this time supporting punk stalwarts Joyce Manor. Founded in 2020, Militarie Gun have two albums under their belts: Life Under the Gun from 2023, and last year\u2019s God Save the Gun. Both are standouts, with the band claiming their space in the hearts of fans across the world, captivating listeners with a blend of hardcore, punk and pop \u2014 not to mention raucous live shows and lyrics that blend sincerity and cynicism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shelton is, in his own words, a chronic oversharer. In using songwriting to dissect his life, he taps into universal truths that resonate with listeners of all walks of life. <\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t make impersonal songs. I\u2019ve tried,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m more cynical even about my own position in life and whether or not any of that actually matters, because your actions are really all that matters. At the time of making God Save the Gun, I feel like my actions were not great. \u2026 It\u2019s a tough balance of constantly trying to unpack why I feel something or why I did something, and then also just being like, \u2018Yeah, you\u2019re an idiot.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shelton has seemingly lived many lives, with gigs in screenprinting, truck-driving and delivery driving, to name a few. It\u2019s not been an easy journey, though he credits all these episodes to shaping the artist he is today: practicing by singing along to Strokes records while doing deliveries; having a friend shepherd him through the entire Beatles discography; growing up with his stepdad lovingly teaching him the backstory behind every one of his beloved 1980s hair metal bands. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe loves, like the worst shit,\u201d jokes Shelton. \u201cI\u2019m the product of so many people. I\u2019m just a sponge, and I\u2019m very influenceable. And I think about so many people in my life who showed me important bands that then I took and ran with.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that wide range of influence paired with a punk ethos that explains Militarie Gun\u2019s draw. They offer a compelling sound that is hard to define and an attitude fit for misfits of all stripes.<\/p>\n

For Shelton, music is just as much about how it makes you feel as how it sounds: \u201cIn high school, getting to go to Ceremony shows and scream, \u2018I\u2019ve got problems, I\u2019m a fucked-up kid,\u2019 is probably one of the most meaningful things that I\u2019ve ever experienced. That communal rage, that communal hurt, being channeled all together. That\u2019s what I think this is at its finest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On community-building, Shelton emphasizes the harms of divide-and-conquer tactics and the necessity for class solidarity. \u201cI try to approach the world open-heartedly,\u201d he says.
\u201cI think our biggest problem is that communication has been broken down between all normal people, and that is a tool of the rich. I think that it\u2019s about loving your neighbor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite his West Coast roots, the songwriter has more Florida stories than you would think.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy earliest memories \u2026 I lived outside of Tampa, and I know that I stepped in a pile of fire ants and they engulfed my entire body.\u201d Shelton laughs about one of the many things that almost maimed or killed him as a child in Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And then he introduces a new one. \u201cI really want to do \u2018B A D I D E A\u2019\u00a0 in a police station, and I feel like a Florida police station could be a great place to get an insane interaction \u2026 or a good way to get my ass beat on camera.\u201d <\/p>\n

Welcome (back) to Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joyce Manor, Militarie Gun, Teen Mortgage, Combat: 6 p.m. Monday, March 16, House of Blues, Disney Springs, Lake Buena Vista, orlando.houseofblues.com<\/a>, $47.<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s daily dose of what matters. Subscribe to The Daily Weekly.<\/p>\n

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This article appears in March 11-17, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Militarie Gun Credit: Nolan Knight \u201cDo I sound distorted to you?\u201d Ian Shelton, lead vocalist and songwriter of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[7771,88056,88057,139,3359,141,140],"class_list":["post-187734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-house-of-blues","tag-joyce-manor","tag-militarie-gun","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-concerts","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}