Out of all the bands to come out of the 80s, Faster Pussycat has always been my favorite. Their dark and heavy signature sound has always made them stand out from the crowd. I am so glad to have gotten this opportunity to have a chat with multi-talented front man Taime Downe, while they were on the road with supporting band The Art. They are currently working on a new album, which is said to be just as good as the last. So if you wanna know the rest, just read on >>>>>>>>>>>
KCM- Hi Taime, how are you? TD- Good, how’s it going. KCM- Good thanks, awesome show last night. TD- Oh thanks, that was fun. KCM- Thank you again for taking part in the photo shoot. TD- Oh it was no problem. KCM- So are you ready to begin? TD- Yea KCM- So let’s start with introducing yourself and giving me a little back ground. TD- Oh no I don’t do that. I’m just Taime from Faster Pussycat. KCM- I hear that you guys are working on a new album, can you tell me about that? TD- Yea, we’ve actually been working on it for a couple of years, but we keep going out on the road, and it just keeps slowing shit down. We also had to change our pro-tools where we had all our tracks recorded and move them to a new computer. We have a bunch of songs that are not quite done yet. Hopefully we’ll be able to finish that up pretty soon. We’ll be going back home in May and start working on it so we can get some of them done. There’s a lot of work to do, but there’s some cool stuff. KCM- Great. You’re currently on tour now, so how’s that going so far?
TD- It’s going good, we’ve been out for over a month and we got a few more weeks left. We get back to LA on the 21st, and then we go to South America. Then we’re home for May and part of June, and then we go to Europe for six weeks. KCM- Awesome. I know you have a company called Face Down Leather Works and Pussy Power Clothing, so can you tell me a little bit about that. TD- Well Face Down started out as motorcycle bags and stuff for motorcycles. Then I had a couple of friends of mine who are girls and wanted me to make them a purse like that. So I did a couple of those and it started taking off. Its all hand made and I can only do it when I’m at home and actually have the time to do it. The Pussy Power clothing is just all the Faster stuff so you can get it online when we’re not on tour. KCM- I saw the work you do and the bags are awesome. TD- Oh thank you. Yea it’s fun, and when I do it its very therapeutic. KCM- I agree cause I sew also and experiment with designing and its very relaxing. It takes your mind away from reality. TD- Oh yea it clears stuff out, and its fun creating new stuff. What makes it original is how each thing I create is different from the rest. KCM- Oh yea that makes it unique. You’re into motorcycles right? TD- Yea
KCM- Awesome. I saw a video on YouTube along with pictures being posted up on Facebook about a club that you run called FUCKaraoke. TD- Yea it’s a club that Rikki and me started, but Rikki already closed it. We’ll probably reopen it when I get back or something. He just can’t do the club shit by himself. KCM- So you did own the club then, cause I wasn’t sure whether or not you owned it. TD- Yea it was me and Rikki’s club and it was fun, but when I am on the road he can’t handle doing it himself. KCM- Yea it looked like a lot of fun. TD- Yea it was. Wednesday was the last nigh before it got shut down. Hopefully we’ll do it again if not I’ll open another club, but I’m not going to worry about it. KCM- Even back in the day you had a history with owning clubs, and I believe that’s how things got started. Would you mind talking a bit about The Cathouse? TD- Yea that was cool; Rikki and me started that way back in the day when we were roommates. We did that for many years, then about 99’or 2000’ I started another club called The Pretty Ugly Club. That went for about 5 years and it was the best rock n roll club in LA for many years too. KCM- I never heard of that club. TD- Yea The Pretty Ugly Club was from 2000-2005, when the LA scene was kicking again before it started to slow down. KCM- And speaking of that, that’s all I hear is how clubs in LA are closing down. I believe they just closed down the Key club, how do you feel about all these changes? TD- Yea it sucks; the Key Club was a good venue. I am sure they will turn it into something else. Before it was the Key Club it was Billboard Live, so they will turn it into something else. I don’t think they will tear it down; it’s a good venue. KCM- I am sure someone will take it over, especially since its right on the strip. The Sunset Strip is still very musical unlike New York City. Most of all the cool clubs are gone, there’s not that much left here. TD- I know a lot of stuff is gone. Hopefully there will be more new stuff. KCM- Hopefully there’s people to build up the scene again. So looking at the legacy of Faster Pussycat as the years progressed there was a major transition with the third album, which I love. What influenced you to take on a darker side and then go into the industrial style of music?
TD- I just like what I like. I’ve always done that, I don’t try to do anything that’s different or try to change this and that. I just do what I like, so if that’s what I like then that’s what I do. I gotta like if first before I could expect anyone else to like it first. We’ve always been kind of a dark band, especially before we got signed. In the beginning they were trying to lighten us up, clean us up a little bit, and that’s just the way it kind of appeared, but when you saw us live we were always kind of dark. KCM- That is why Pussycat is my favorite band to come out of the 80s. Most the music was very poppy at that time, but your albums always had a heaviness to them and then turned to the darker side with Whipped. I’m a sucker for the “dark side”. TD- (laughing) Awesome. KCM- I am also a huge fan of The Newlydeads, could you talk a bit about that? TD- Well that started when I left Faster Pussycat. I need a change and to just clear shit out. So I went to Chicago and I already had been into Ministry, Skinny Puppy, and all stuff like that before I even had Faster because my roommate who’s like my brother was listening to all this stuff. I learned how to track and record with computers and stuff back when I was in Pussycat. Then I left and went to Chicago to play with this band called Pigface, it was people from Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Thrill Kill Cult, Nine Inch Nails, and a bunch of other bands. I did a tour with them, which was fun, then came back to LA and started The Newlydeads. That’s pretty much what Faster is now, and then we started to do a Faster tour. I got Gregg and Brent from the original Pussycat and the rest of us Danny, Chad, and Christian. Then, Gregg left half way into the tour and Brent stuck around for a little while til like 05’. KCM- I gotta say this current line up is fuckin amazing. A lot of bands that reform just could never be the same, but with Faster I feel it’s the total opposite. This line up is just as kick ass as the original. TD- Most of us have been playing together since fuckin 99’, that’s almost fourteen years. KCM- And the last album is one of my favorite Pussycat albums. I love how dark and sexy it is. TD- Thank you so much. I think it’s our best record yet, and the best record out there. KCM- I hope the next album has that same feel and style. TD- I am sure it will be pretty nuts. We have a whole bunch of songs, I don’t know which ones we’re gonna use yet. We are still working on that. KCM- I am really excited to hear it. How do you feel about the newer bands out there? TD- I am not really aware of a lot of them, but some stuff I’ll hear is good and I won’t even know who it is. It’s not like its MTV that you see the stuff and see who it is, now its satellite radio and they don’t even say who the hell it is half the time. (laughing)
KCM- It’s hard out there to find good music these days. TD- Yea I can’t even think of anything right now, I am so wiped out from last night (laughing). KCM- So you guys have been on the road non-stop, what do you guys all like to listen to together? TD- We listen to all kinds of shit, The Stones, The Super Suckers, Turbonegro; it’s really what ever we feel like. We like all types of shit so, its whatever we are in the mood for. KCM- So, what can we expect in the near future for Faster Pussycat? TD- Like I said, we are going to Europe, working on a new record, and just keep touring. I am sorry I am out of it a bit, I am still sick so I am trying to get better and ready for the show tonight. KCM- Oh no worries, thank you for taking the time out to do this. I’ll send the issue to you as soon as its out. TD- Awesome darling. KCM- Have a good show, feel better, and see you next time you come to New York. TD- Awesome take care. CHECK OUT THE LATEST INFORMATION, TOUR DATES, and NEW CD RELEASE DATE AT
WWW.FASTERPUSSYCAT.COM
Upon releasing his third solo album we wanted to catch up with Madrid’s underground iconic rocker Star Mafia Boy to find out what else he had going on beyond this new album. If you have never heard of him we urge you to give him a try, you will be hooked. We also decided to broaden the fan spectrum with the release the audio version of this interview in Spanish on our website. Pick whichever you want but do give it a read or a listen, this is one talented musician that you don’t want to miss out on.
KCM: Where do you get so much inspiration to put out one album per year as this is your 4th solo CD? SMB: “It is normal for me to produce albums every year like Kiss. Some bands take too much time to make an album today. I think, a painter does not paint one painting per year… he does more! I am use to getting inspiration from life and all the bands from the 50s that influenced me”. KCM: What makes this album different from all your other solo efforts? SMB: “This album Live in the Cave 77 is different than the others because it is “LIVE”. A concert that was something I wanted to do so bad after doing thirteen albums before, a “Live” album like other artists… like Kiss. I want to bring back that practice, because lately not a lot of bands want to do this”. It is a concert, one night… and what happened that night is what we have on that album”. KCM: So tell us, what will the next video be? SMB: “At this moment, I do not know. Right now I’m preparing to make a new album… I have the album Dynasty ready; so, I will make a video from one of the new songs. I already did eight video clips and that was great!. Is hard and very intense to do a video because I’m doing this by myself without any support. The Next video clip will be for a new song in 2014”. KCM: What’s your favorite song to perform live? SMB: “Well, the songs I choose every night are my favorites… I love different songs, all are my favorites… but, I think “Cyber Punker” is the one, because when I’m playing people always ask for it and I close my gigs with that song”. KCM: You parted ways with Javi Ramone, so who is this new bassist?
SMB: The changes with Javi and Luis are normal, everybody takes different paths. I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to play with them and have them close; I can get them to play with me just by making a phone call. Sebas, the new bassist, is a great instrumentalist he plays guitar, drums and bass. We played before: 6 years ago in the band “Ausentes”. He was playing in the band “Super Reef”; he is a great musician” KCM: What is the most memorable concert you’ve attended in the last two years, and what makes it memorable? SMB: “Michael’s Monroe concert, because he was in a great shape and he had a great band that night. He is one of my biggest influences”. KCM: If you were sitting next to Keith Richards what would you ask him? SMB: “He he … I think I would be speechless! He is so big! I think I will ask him if he wants to play a song with me. I would be more comfortable playing than talking”. Rapid round questions…. KCM: What’s in your pocket right now? SMB: “My house keys” KCM: First thing you thought of this morning when you woke up? SMB: “Of this interview with you guys, I didn’t want to be late for it”. KCM: What was the last movie you seen but it was so terrible that you wouldn’t admit you’ve seen it? SMB: “I do not remember any bad movie right now” KCM: If someone walked into a room unexpectedly, what would they catch you doing?
SMB: “They will find me playing my guitar” KCM: When was the last time you laughed so hard that you cried? SMB: “Every day with my wife, she makes me laugh a lot”. KCM: Who’s your celebrity crush? SMB: “Joan Jett” KCM: If you had super powers, who would you be and what super power would you have? SMB: “I would love to be Wolverine; he has a lot to do with me. I would love to be like him he has the superpower of healing himself… he is never sick!” “Thanks for this interview, sending you a big hug and a big hug for you my brother Brandon and Agnieszka”
It was a true Valentine’s Day massacre when The ‘Dark Roots of Thrash’ tour came to New York City and rocked the packed house at the Best Buy Theater on February 14th. The line-up included thrash icons, Testament and Overkill with support from Flotsam & Jetsam, and 4ARM. You could feel the energy in the air before the show, as it featured three of the founding fathers of metals most enduring genre whose dark roots date back to the early 80's! There was a mix of old and young in the audience, representing both the enduring loyalty of the fans, along with the recent re-emergence of thrash as a worldwide force in the never say die culture of heavy metal music. Along with the legions in attendance were That Metal Show’s host Eddie Trunk, Jose from Sirius XM, and guitar virtuoso, Mike Orlando from Adrenaline Mob. It was an energetic, tight set from Arizona rock vets Flotsam & Jetsom, who’s most famous member was bassist, Jason Newsted, before he left for Metallica in 1986. He not only played bass but wrote the majority of the lyrics for their first album Doomsday for the Deceiver. The set list included the first two tracks “Hammerhead’ and ‘Iron Tears’ from Flotsam’s signature masterpiece. East Coast natives, Overkill wasted no time in pulverizing their home crowd with a mix of early classics, combined with a few, more recent tracks. Front man, Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth’s force onstage was completely infectious as the band kicked off their set with ‘Come and Get It’ and ‘Rotten to the Core.’ They finished by detonating the NYC crowd with their raucous cover of ‘Fuck You,’ by the punk band, The Subhumans. It’s great to see that Overkill has undergone a strong resurgence of late, partly due to 2010’s absolutely monstrous album Ironbound and the equally impressive follow up, The Electric Age. It’s also great to see “Blitz” who has overcome cancer (1998) and a stroke (on stage during their European tour 2002), still leading the charge with the same unique screams as he did in the early 80’s. They didn’t play the epic anthem ‘In Union We Stand’, but the classics ‘Wrecking Crew’ and ‘Elimination’ more than made up for that small disappointment. It was the 30th anniversary tour (1983-2013) for Testament, who is often called the 5th band of the Big 4 (Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica). As the thrash legends hit the stage with ‘Rise Up,’ the whole venue turned into mass chaos! They played their trademark songs ‘Practice what you Preach’, and ‘More Than Meets the Eye,’ along with ‘Native Blood,’ a tribute to Chuck Billy's American Indian heritage. The real mayhem broke out on the floor when shred master, Alex Skolnick hit the first few notes from the 1988 classic ‘Into The Pit!’ Testament is without a doubt, one of America’s premier thrash metal acts. Always excellent, and technically flawless. Testament came back from a hiatus in 2008 when founding guitarist Skolnick rejoined original axe man Carl Peterson, and the super sized lead singer Chuck Billy. Largely recognized as one of metal’s best and most versatile guitarists. Skolnick also has his own jazz band (“The Alex Skolnick Trio.”) His return paved the way for the back-to-back albums-2008’s Formation of damnation and Dark Roots Of Earth from late last year. Testament plays with a vengeance now that vocalist Billy has recovered from a rare form of cancer, and the “Dark Roots of Thrash Tour” is the band’s first proper headlining tour of the U.S. in direct support of 2012’s Dark Roots Of Earth. A 90-minute DVD to be released later this year of “TESTAMENT'-The Dark Roots Of Thrash Tour” was filmed professionally at the February 15 concert at the Paramount Theatre in Huntington. It will be a must have for any head banger’s library of sound and fury. This is not the first time these two legends toured together, in fact Blitz & bassist DD Verni from Overkill introduced the then Bay Area teens from Testament to life on the road. All these decades later, the billing has been flipped, but both acts remain not only viable, but also lethal onstage!
Skid Row was fucking brilliant that night. Even though they didn’t have world renowned Sebastian Bach on lead vocals in the current line-up, they still kept the Glam metal torch going with their timeless rock n’ roll anthems and of course upcoming EP ‘United World Rebellion – Chapter one’ which is to be released in the US on April 16th and in the UK on May 27th. It was great to see a crowd go wild for them and still embrace having big hair and wearing the leather pants at the gig. I have yet to listen to ‘United World Rebellion’ but from what I heard last night it’s gonna be heavy and raw with songs such as ‘Kings of Demolition’ and ‘Let’s go’ which really got the crowd going at the start of the show. The sound quality was great. You could hear Johnny Solinger’s melodic vocals clearly and the energetic guitar parts by Snake Sabo and Scott Hill. What topped off this gig so well was the revisiting of some of the jewels from Skid Row’s song collection. Like the sensual ‘Big Guns’ and the classic ’18 and life’. They even performed their well-known power ballad ‘I remember you’. To finish the night off with a bang, they played my all time favourite song ‘Youth Gone Wild’ and at this point the audience went all crazy and surprisingly a mini but just as brutal mosh pit started to form. A great night for definite.
I can only begin by saying that in all my years of dealing with band managers there will never be anyone as special and genuine as Michael Sundèn, our journey begun when CrashDiet graced the New York City shores for the very first time. We’ve exchanged several e-mails prior to the show, just making sure that everything went off without a hitch. Michael greeted me and my staff with a smile and huge hugs making us all feel as though we were longtime friends. He appeared slightly stressed as he wanted the very best for his band that night and we managed to put his mind at ease by helping out to the best of our abilities. I got a chance to chat with him for a bit and that night he was funny and quick witted, two qualities that I like in people. We laughed our asses off just innocently flirting back and forth. That night KrashCity did an amazing interview and photo shoot with CrashDiet and Michael was thrilled with the finished product. Afterwards we kept up through e-mails discussing our future part with the promotion of CrashDiet and other Swedish bands in the U.S. Michael thought on a big scale and made grand things happen for a lot of people. His passion, drive and commitment were a big inspiration to me. Every time we talked I ended up smiling for days. There were no boundaries that couldn’t be crossed or rules that couldn’t be bent in his eyes. His ideas went beyond the traditional way of thinking and when do you ever talk to a manager who says “THANK YOU” for giving press to their band? Actually our last e-mail ended with him saying “Thank you”. I was moved to tears and heartbroken when I heard about his passing. May you rest in Peace Michael Sundèn, you have truly earned your angel wings in heaven and you will be sorely missed on earth.
Agnieszka Wilde, Brandon Rouge & the whole KrashCity Magazine family.
I would like to mention first that after numerous tries to get comments from the CrashDiet band members we still came up empty as no one returned our e-mails regarding this tribute. We were so proud and happy when Mr. Sundèn, asked us if we needed a management. He was a legend in the Swedish music industry, being the manager of Backyard Babies; he took them to great highs. Our music is similar to BB so I guess he saw the same potential in us. We're extremely proud of being in the same family as Backyard Babies, Crashdiet, Sister and so on, and that he believed in us and our music. We had a great relationship. Michael was friendly, down to earth guy who was always out to help you and answer you if you had any questions. He was a very positive guy, and he worked hard for his bands. He booked some shows for us in L.A. in March, and we were about to begin to plan a west coast-tour for September of this year. He also was about to get us signed with a major record label, and he planned to put us on a EU tour later this year with his other band Sister. We will try to finish his plans with us, to honor his name. He will truly be missed by so many, but our thoughts go to his dear kids and wife. May he rest in Peace. “Trouble Circus”
I knew Michael for a short time, but to me he was a class act. There were two sides of him; the music side and the family man and I’m glad to say he was my friend. Even when he went home he made a point to call once or twice a week just to see how everyone was doing. I left the tour early to take care of some family stuff and Mike called me to see how things were going and if there was anything he could do. We talked a lot the few weeks we were together on the road not just about music but about family and he loved talking to me about his and the same with me. I loved the guy; he talked to me and said I was family because he never met a driver like me. I was willing to do what I could to make his and the bands all 3 of them, their lives little easier. When we talked about me playing in a band he took interest and said good stuff you helped us, so I’ll help you guys anyway I can. Nothing else you’re a part of our family. Wow I thought cool and when I found out that he had passed, it made me sick because I just talked to him two or three days before. He did what he said he would do and shopped my band Altered around and put our name out there more than I could have imagined
I miss talking to him ... but for the short time I knew him he changed me.. He said there are people who talk and there are people, who do, and there’s only one thing in life that matters and you know what that is.???? He said you have to figure that out. He was dead on, so my band Altered is dedicating our album to him and we’re calling it” A new beginning”. He was by far one of the coolest people I got to meet in my life and sometimes that’s how it happens. People are there to change your life or you’re there to change theirs. “WADE DAKOTA ROBERTSON” Drummer "Altered"
I first met Michael Sundèn, back in 1997 or 98 when he was touring The States with the band Backyard Babies. A mutual friend referred him to me in order to get the band out of a jam. I did and we stayed in touch for a few years after, just sort of losing contact after a while as you do with people sometimes. We met up again in 2010 and formed an alliance of sorts, not only with CrashDiet but, Michael had come up with the idea for the two of us to bring a different Scandinavian band to the West Coast of the United States every half year or so. I, of course, told him he had lost his mind and then we started putting the wheels in motion. In January of 2012 we brought longstanding Swedes, The Quill over for a week long run and then in September the mighty Coldspell came over for about 10 days. I actually just got an email the other day from a Norwegian band who were supposed to be the next in line looking for some pointers ...A few times a week we would schedule Skype calls if we were both available and more often than not we would wind up giving one or the other of his young daughters “English lessons" for a few minutes. It would usually consist of the two of us trying our best to get the girls to open up about learning the language a little bit and they would just end up giggling with embarrassment for a few minutes ... what are ya gonna do, right?? We had pretty much opposite ways of approaching our work - he was more of the "Let's jump in with both feet and see what we can make happen" type while I had become the one that thought EVERYTHING to death before reacting on it. We didn't see eye to eye on everything and there were a time when things went drastically wrong but it was with the best of intentions and that’s part of the business. And hey, usually things went better than expected. If we had some disagreements during a call he wouldn't end the call until he was sure all was okay - "Are we cool??" "Yeah" "That doesn't sound too convincing. Anything else??" "Nah, we're good." "You’re sure?" "Yep
." "Just making sure. Talk to you (whenever our next scheduled talk was to be." That's how he was - he wanted everyone to "just get along." Funny enough - we had a Skype call scheduled for the Monday after he passed… RIP old friend - I'll be sure to have a couple of 7&7's and a Dr. Pepper (not together) for ya. “Dave Tedder” Headfirst Entertainment.
Michael was a kind and caring friend and manager who always made time for us when we needed him. He will be very sadly missed and our hearts go out to his family. We are eternally grateful that his last days were spent getting us signed, our next album goes out to you Michael! “LoveBite” Michael Sundén was basically a fifth member from the very first record until we went separate ways. His visions and enthusiasm has inspired and helped the Backyard Babies in many ways. There´s no way we would have made it this far without Michael. He will be deeply missed and remembered for his incurable positivity. “Nicke Borg”
I met Michael in person only once when Backyard Babies visited Japan first time for their promotion, but I have a fond memory of him as a good manager. If that small memory helps in some way, I'll send a little quote. (I remembered when Michael Sunden introduced himself to others as Michael, members were saying in a low voice that "Mikke called himself Michael " , and I felt this showed the good relationship between them at that time) “Hatsumi Sakoda”
We did all three CrashDiet tours (west coast) got talking to Michael quite a bit about future touring route for CD's upcoming North American tour. I again worked with him later on that year with Cold Spell US. Michael's enthusiasm for bringing Swedish bands to America was awesome. We had high hopes that CD's North American Tour would open the door to other bands. Michael's influence is going to be missed all the way here in California. RIP Michael. “Evil & Aaron DelBono of the CrashDiet USA Support Team” Although, I didn't know Michael personally - we had been corresponding prior to Crashdiet's concert in St. Petersburg, Florida. He was gracious to give myself and some other foster parents free tickets to the show and an opportunity to meet the band, to support my cause for advocating for the neglected, abused children. They also donated and signed some merchandise for an upcoming silent auction/fundraiser. I will hopefully be working on with Freddy Stahmer from Frederick Entertainment for next spring, to help benefit the foster children from my local county. “Kelly Starman” Mr. Sunshine. Recently we've lost a person who can be an inspiration to all of us. No matter if you're a manager or if you're working in a music industry, it really doesn't matter who you are. Michael Sundén is a one of a kind inspiration as a human being. Through his faith, positive attitude and spirit, a true gift of believing and supporting people and music - his passion. Every time he's talked to me about music or bands he's managed, you could really feel the love and passion coming from his warm and soothing voice. It's been rough at times for him with all the hard work he needed to do, but he always had that impressive positive attitude, something I admired him for so much. Never giving up, always moving forward. I think his personal dictionary didn't include the word "impossible". Losing Michael, all of the sudden, is extremely devastating for me and I'll never get over it, because he was as precious and close to my heart as a member of my family. I'm still in a state of shock and words cannot really explain the deep feelings I have about this horrible and unbelievable situation. This is a huge loss for the music industry and the world, unexpected tragedy that affected a lot of people. He was not one in a million; we meet that kind of a person once in a lifetime. So it's even more painful when we think of it and his significance in our lives. I suppose that everyone who really knew him can say the same. Michael was my close friend, maybe even my best friend, someone I really looked up to, a role model, and influence.
One day I wanted to be like him, because he really believed in what he loved doing and being helpful was surely one of the rules he's followed. I remember when we've both agreed that making someone smile is the best reward you can get, it means more than anything else, more than money, success or fame. You don't meet those kinds of people nowadays, especially in the entertainment industry, full of greed and untruth. He was always honest and straightforward, believing in a cause, in music and artists. Michael wanted the best for everyone, spending all his busy days on the phone or on meetings, whatever it took to be the best person and manager he could possibly be. And well, he certainly was. Giving it all so his bands could be happy and satisfied reaching their goals and dreams, what wouldn't have been possible without Michael's dedication, vision and assistance. We all owe him so much; whether we're musicians he took care of or "just" his friends. He served as an inspiration and example, every day. Whenever I talked to him I felt like I can achieve everything, I can overcome any obstacles, he was almost like a therapist, he had so much faith in me, more than anyone else. It was absolutely impressive and sometimes even hard to understand! He was the only person who really believed in my dreams and supported my ideas and plans. Always full of positive energy that you could picture him smiling just by hearing his kind, friendly voice! I called Michael a "savior" for his faith, willingness to help and understanding. Getting to know him personally and becoming his friend was an honor and privilege for me. I'd like to once again thank him for everything he's been doing for me, because in a way he made me believe in life again. And we both thought of it only as a beginning of something bigger and better. Now, as an angel he's survived by his wife and two wonderful daughters he loved so much. I know that he would've wanted all of us to carry on and keep going, even though a world without Michael Sundén will never be the same anymore... Rest in peace my friend, you're loved and sorely missed by everyone and forever in our hearts. “Martin Krüsh” "Michael was a very special person; he seemed to live his life in the fast lane and was going at 200% when it came to work. That’s how we knew him; he was Sister's manager for about six months. Michael kept telling us about never looking back, just moving forward and seeing the positives in each situation. Most of the time that mentality works out great and Michael did some really amazing stuff! But.. sometimes it all just crashed. We are grateful to Michael for what he did for us and for getting to know him. We miss our meetings and phone calls about great future plans. RIP Michael, our thoughts go out to your family. Cari, Tim, Rikki and Jamie" Of “Sister”.
I can honestly say that there was only handful of artists that I’ve had fun speaking with and Olli is definitely one of them. He simply gets it and knows how to flawlessly combine the true essence of 80’s hair metal and make it sound good almost 30 years later. He is funny, witty, makes fun of himself and has a deep connection with Diamond Dave, not wanting to reveal too much in the first paragraph check out this interview and find out for yourselves.
KCM: I really wanted to talk to you before the new album comes out because once that happens I know you will not be accessible. Olli: Well yes we will be pretty busy. Touring different countries with different time zones. So I know now it’s the perfect time to talk. KCM: I’ve been hearing rumors flying from every direction that there’s a new album? Olli: Yes the new album is written and recorded but it’s in the mixing stage right now. We’re not in the studio anymore and we finished the recordings right after New Year’s Eve. I think January third was the last session and of course after that we’ve been working on new promo stuff with some surprises and of course the new video “Night on Fire” which is out already. We’ve been looking for the right guy to mix this album so now we are in the final stage. KCM: Can you reveal the name of the album or anything? Olli: Well you already know the name of the single since it’s been out already, but that’s all I can say for now (laughing). It’s a big mystery. KCM: So when do you anticipate the release of this album? Olli: The release, well that’s another thing I’m not supposed to be talking about (laughing). I’m being very secretive now… KCM: Well just keep them guessing (laughing) Olli: See this is the problem with being interviewed before the album release, we have some dates in mind but I can’t reveal anything just yet. One thing is certain in the music industry and that’s things being constantly delayed so we don’t wanna give empty promises. KCM: How different is this album from your last album? Olli: Well we’re not switching to Jazz, it’s still bonified Reckless Love and it’s still very metal.
KCM: So it’s still girls, love, sex, lust and all of the good stuff. Olli: There are certain things that hair bands keep singing about, and we’re not making an exception. (Laughing) Why reinvent the wheel you know.. It’s not like we’re repeating the same tricks. We got a lot of criticism on our second album “Animal Attraction” because that album had so many songs that were too poppy for some of our rock fans so they called us “The Kings of Finnish Cheese”(Laughing). That’s exactly true, that’s what we are; Finnish Kings of Cheese, so it’s gonna be cheesy but in a good way you know, in a Reckless Love kind of way. Let me just say this; people from our generation really like Motley Crue, so when you think of their songs they are extremely poppy song like “Girls, Girls, Girls” that’s like the most poppy tune there is so that’s the same philosophy with us. The same goes for us. We wanna do the catchiest, hookiest songs that there are, we don’t wanna write shitty songs that no one will listen to. Catchy songs get radio play and that’s how you get bigger and you make hair metal bigger and that’s how it should be because hair metal is the best kind of music there is. KCM: I don’t think this younger generation has a full understanding of what it was really like to grow up in the hair metal days. It’s not the same hearing it from your parents as it is experiencing it yourself. Olli: That’s why we’re doing it. We were too young; I was born in 1983 so I missed out. That’s why we had to recreate it again. KCM: You’re such a baby (laughing). Olli: Well I’m almost thirty now.. I was old enough to remember some of it. I remember all the good tunes. Actually the very first song I heard was David Lee Roth’s “Just like Paradise” so that’s the foundation of me that poppy, cheesy kind of metal. That’s the first song I remember hearing, but I remember every hair metal tune. When I first got Def Leppard’s “Hysteria” I remembered every tune but I didn’t know that it was this band and this record and I was like; So this is the tune that I’ve been hearing in my head for so long..
KCM: There were a lot of great bands back then and it’s awesome that you are able to transcend that to this generation. Olli: Well there were also a lot of crappy songs back then and things that you don’t want to remember but we just pick the best add our own stuff and make things work again. KCM: I remember listening to your first album and what I said was that you guys had phenomenal melodies. That’s what stuck in my head. Olli: That’s the thing about 80’s hair metal; it’s all about the melodies you know. It’s those sing along songs. KCM: You have a pretty nice fan base in the U.S. Olli: That’s good to hear. People ask us all the time when we’re going to be touring the States and the truth is that I have no idea, we hope it’s soon. We had a plan to come to the States during “Animal Attraction” all of the videos were shot in L.A. actually and it was in the works to get the record released in the States but for some reason we didn’t succeed. It got really hard to get the record released in the U.S. So we decided to wait for that and this time we have a new management, we’re negotiating new deals. We hope to get the third album released as the first album, released in the United States. That’s where true hair metal was born to so we need to get back to where it came from. (laughing). KCM: For the most part people just want to see you but they don’t understand the logistics of what it takes to pull off a tour and how many people have to be involved in order for it to happen. Olli: When we come to the States we want to give people a true experience, we wanna give them a show so we can’t just grab our guitars and come to New York and play the corner of 55th and Broadway. (laughing.)
KCM: You also need the right team of people who believe in you. Olli: For the first time in Reckless Love history I believe we’ve got the right people behind us right now. We have like really good machinery going on. KCM: I really hope that it happens for you guys and if you play New York KrashCity will cover the whole show. Olli: Yes let’s do that definitely! KCM: Fans love to create support pages like; let’s bring this or that band to the States, let’s bring Reckless Love to the States. Olli: Actually that would be great because I know that promoters are looking for it. If a promoter sees that then he will pick up the phone and call the management and that’s the first step you know. If there are enough calls made and there’s a high demand in the States eventually there has to be a tour created. They are not gonna do it if they don’t believe that there is going to be an audience there. If there’s demand then they’ll believe that maybe it’s worthwhile. KCM: Not only that but you need street teams to hand out flyers and promote just like in the 80’s. Olli: Yeah it’s like ground level 101 Rock’n’Roll kind of a thing. KCM: Are you a trained singer? Where did you get that big voice, which is incredible.. Olli: Thank you but I don’t consider myself a good singer. I’m a pretty singer but I’m not like Sebastian Bach who’s got some pipes. I’m a fairly good Rock’n’Roll singer but once I get on stage I make sure there’s personality. It’s the presence thing. I’m a performer, I’m not a singer. I’m just Olli. KCM: You can certainly carry a tune better than most singers. Olli: Yeah I’ve discovered it many times in many different areas of my life that I’m good at faking things. (laughing). KCM: AHA!!
Olli: So I’ve been faking being a good singer for years now. KCM: So if you can fake that I can only imagine what else you can fake.(Both laughing). Olli: Yeah keep that imagination rolling. It’s a part of the whole theatre aspect of the thing. Of course I know that I can sing but maybe I’m just being a bit modest. The ambition in me makes me wanna be a better singer; I don’t consider myself a good singer. I’m not necessarily the type of guy who goes and rehearses. I don’t take lessons. I do it voluntarily. I don’t pay attention to any vocal techniques, it’s all natural and it’s nothing that I consider myself being good at, it’s just something that I love to do. Did that answer your question? KCM: Yes it did and I’m pleasantly surprised and it’s very cool that you’re so modest. Olli: The thing is that I know exactly what I’m good at. The faking thing is a joke, it’s quite the opposite. What I don’t fake is the real joy of being on stage performing and singing at the same time. That’s the truest me that there is. That’s the thing that I most love to do and that goes for the guys in this band. Every one of us in the band are the same way. The thing that we love to do is being on stage and playing Rock’n’Roll. That’s the whole philosophy and the positive energy which some people call cheese metal but for us is merry metal, cause we just go in our own merry way. KCM: I find this whole cheese metal phrase funny when applied to you. I consider Steel Panther cheese metal and they are funny. Olli: They are funny and they are talented musicians. Michael Stars is a great guy and they are really good guys but what they are doing to us is horrible (laughing) because most people think that we are kind of like the little Steel Panther. The thing is that Steel Panther is kind of like a joke but Reckless Love is not. KCM: Who do you look up to? Who inspires you? Olli: David Lee Roth he’s like Elvis to me. I would never compare myself to him, but I feel him when I read his interviews. I don’t feel like a good singer and he’s like the greatest performer on earth and I would never compare myself to him performing because I’m not as good of a performer but the
thing that he lacks I might have. He has the type of personality that keeps you entertained from the first moment he steps on stage to the point where you read his interview when you haven’t heard from him in twenty years. I’ve read maybe like 90% of his interviews and I’ve heard every song that he has ever recorded, I read his books. He is a true idol to me, but then again there are also other people like Muhammad Ali. He’s the greatest boxer on earth and he’s a man of principal and he was an entertaining guy as well. So the thing that I love to do is entertain people so that’s the whole philosophy behind Reckless Love again. Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams I love standup comedy because I love to laugh, but if we’re talking just about singers then it has to be every blond 80’s hair metal singer.( laughing) Sebastian Bach, Vince Neil, Brett Michaels and it goes on. You know the stuff. KCM: What is the best concert that you attended in the last three years? Olli: That’s a tough one because I don’t really get to go to too many concerts because that usually when I’m playing my own shows. When we entered the studio in the beginning of December that was like the first time in two years that we’ve had a break from touring. Since we put out our first record we’ve been constantly on tour basically every weekend and when we recorded “Animal Attraction” we were on tour at the same time in Finland. We’ve had like 52 shows in Finland while we were recording an album so we ended up being on tour during weekends so during weekdays we were in the studio so we were completely going back and forth between the shows and the studio. It’s been pretty hectic so there’s been little time to attend any shows. The best entertaining concert I have seen in the last three years Lady Gaga might be one of them. KCM: She is entertaining.. Olli: I really hear the excitement in your voice.. (laughing). She is awesome, a true force of nature. There’s a great Swedish band called Hardcore Superstar those guys are great. I really like Jocke the singer his voice is awesome and he always delivers. Those guys put on a great show, I’ve seen them a couple of times in the last three years. I’ve seen plenty of shows where the audience and the artist don’t connect and the thing is that you notice that on the first song when you’re talking to the person next to you. You’re not supposed to do that at a Rock’n’Roll concert. When you see a great show then you wait till after the encore and then you turn to whomever you’re with and talk to them.
That’s what happened at the Lady Gaga show, I knew she was gonna be great and there is a reason why she is so big. I have to admit that it’s kind of annoying when her songs are played all the time and she is constantly everywhere. She’s like a toilet paper, a wall paper, like the air you breathe. KCM: That’s just it; she managed to sell out three nights at Madison Square Garden. Olli: That’s insane! That’s Led Zeppelin like. KCM: Yes exactly. She has that kind of a star power. She is a very powerful woman. She is just so creative that you don’t want to turn away from that stage for a second because you don’t want to miss anything. Olli: Well the best part of the show was when the first song started and the whole castle thing she had on the last tour that I saw, that really reminded me of Ozzy’s 1983 Bark at the Moon tour. I mean the Castle thing, you remember the big stairs; those were some amazing shows. The funny and most entertaining thing for me about Lady Gaga is that she steals so much from 80’s hair metal. KCM: She is a big fan of that era. Olli: She recycles them ingeniously. That was truly an awesome experience. KCM: The average Gaga fan does not know that what you just said (laughing) Olli: Well when they read this interview they will! KCM: She is just amazing in knowing how to hold someone’s attention for two and a half hours. Olli: That’s something that I would really like to be able to capture one day. KCM: Keep working at it and I’m sure you will.. Olli: We’re getting there, step by step! KCM: You’re half way there (laughing) Olli: All we need….well I don’t know what we need? Willpower.. When we find out what we need, you’ll notice, cause we’re gonna be the air you breathe.
KCM: Nice! That was very poetic.. KCM: I have a fan question for you…For someone who’s visiting Finland what would you recommend to visit or do something that only the locals know about? Olli: Being that this is a fan question I assume that he or she is a Rock’n’Roll fan. Helsinki is like the Sunset Strip in the 80’s except that is cold as fuck in here so the exception is that everything is indoors. There are plenty of good and legendary clubs in Helsinki, especially in the center of the city. You can find them by Googling it. There are more bands in Finland then there are musicians, cause every musician plays in seven bands. (laughing) KCM: Well that’s good to know.. Olli: If you’re not a signed band or if you are but you’re not that big, you’re bound to be in like seven bands because everyone wants to do their thing. Club called Tavasitia is legendary and I especially recommend that. There are some really good shows there even though it’s not that big of a venue. KCM: So what makes it so legendary? Just the people who played there? Olli: One of the most legendary things is that when Guns’n’Roses were at their height during 1991 or something like that they played there and The Black Crows played there as well. There are plenty of other good clubs in Helsinki as well but they are small and usually very empty. One thing about Finland that people should remember when they come here is that usually shows in the States, shows in the U.K
in Europe they start somewhere around eight or nine-ish or maybe if it’s a late show it will start at ten, but in Finland most of the shows start either at eleven or midnight. We don’t know why and every musician in Finland is wondering about that too. KCM: Because they wanna stay true to the saying “Party all night”. Olli: (laughing) Could be! Tavastia is an exception. They will start a show at ten so afterwards you can go to another club for another show. KCM: Have you thought about putting out a DVD with all of the insanities that go on tour? Olli: Oh Yeah, we thought about it but we would need someone really good to hold the camera (laughing) Usually the best stuff comes out when you’re being yourself but I’ve tried filming however as soon as you take out your camera people start posing so it gets awkward. It’s not necessarily posing; it’s that you’re not taking a part in it because you’re concentrating on filming. So you end up missing one piece of the puzzle so it gets weird. KCM: You need someone to do that for you. Olli: We’ve got plenty of stuff that was pro shot at shows and we’ve got some live material as well. KCM: So you’ll have one gigantic DVD come out one day! Olli: I would hope so. One day we’ll have The Best of DVD come out with different footage from all the tours combined and behind the scenes stuff. KCM: Name one thing that you do better than your band mates.
Olli: I stay sober the best (laughing) That’s one thing I had to learn how to do the hard way. If we’re touring intensely and we have twenty shows lined up in a row and if you start losing it with alcohol you’re gonna end up canceling some of the shows. My body is my instrument and I learned the hard way that I need to take care of it. Of course every time we play a show there’s the best party in the world, and if we have a lot of shows in a row then it’s my duty to go to bed and stay sober. I wanna be in the best possible condition but there’s a time and a place for a party as well. KCM: Everything in moderation no? Olli: No, too much is never enough! (laughing) but there is a time and a place for everything, let’s put it that way. KCM: So no moderation.. Olli: Yeah that sucks! KCM: Well you’re not 19 anymore, cause when you’re at that age you think you can do it all but things change once you hit 30. Olli: As I said I’ve learned things the hard way. When I was 19 and I was not doing that, well we didn’t cancel any shows but we were quite horrible, we sucked back then. (laughing). KCM: What makes a true musician is that you can admit stuff like that. Olli: Well you know we were young back then, and you have to try these things out. If I hadn’t done that I wouldn’t know so I would be a bad musician and I wouldn’t be a good entertainer at all. KCM: I’m looking forward to the new album. Olli: Yeah me too.
Olli: This is like music business 101 again. First there is a single, then a video which is a teaser for the whole album and the whole album is coming out later. Nowadays even more so since record sales and single sales are down so everything focuses on the album release so this is kind of like a little taste of what the album is gonna sound like. KCM: Can you tell me how many songs will there be on the album? Olli: Actually I can’t tell you exactly but it’s going to be somewhere between ten and sixteen songs. KCM: Ok I’ll take that, at least now we have a somewhat of an idea. You’re like James Bond, you’re so tough to crack. Olli: Well the thing is I’m a huge Van Halen fan and they don’t reveal too much and I love when there is a little bit of a mystery behind it all. KCM: You know I’m also teasing you a little bit too, because I would never want you to reveal the whole thing. That would kill everything. Olli: I could tell you everything that I know but in the end it wouldn’t even end up that way. KCM: But no don’t because that would kill it for me too. KCM: Thank you very much, this is a wonderful interview. Olli: You’re welcome, it was my pleasure. KCM: I don’t get up this early for anybody you know (laughing). Olli: Oh yeah it’s quite early there right? Like 9am?
KCM: Yes we started at 8! I’m totally joking and I’m glad that I got to talk to you before the new album and tour begin. Olli: It’s very unreal at the moment and I’m also very excited about things and I’m anticipating about what people are gonna say. KCM: Once again, thanks so much this was fun a real pleasure to talk to you. Olli: Thank you for waking up early! And we’ll speak soon.
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SUGAR SUGAAR “The Sweet Taste of Rock'n'Roll” BY: Rita Fabozzi I am extremely impressed with this sweet new three-piece band from France. The Stones meets punk with a bit of poppy disco are all the ingredients that make up this band and 5 song EP. Most the songs have great harmonicas played by ex Johnny Thunders band member Mickey Blow, which adds a blues feel to the songs. The highlight of the EP for me is the opening track “Stoned” which attacked me for so many reasons, what can I say my head is always in the clouds. I am disappointed with the song “Rock Disco” it’s the only song I don’t like off the EP, but it didn’t ruin it for me. If you like classy blues-rock with a twist of punk mixed in, then you’ll defiantly be turned on to this band. Rated
DE LA CRUZ “Street Level” BY: KEIRA Kentworthy De La Cruz has achieved its aim at being an album of 80’s arena rock feel with its catchy guitar riffs, hard hitting grooves and the Sleaze ridden lyrics. The titled song grabs you at the start with a powerful guitar riff and melodic lyrics which you can sing-along to with no mistake. The sound of the record has been perfectly mixed in order to achieve that retro appeal to the songs. It sounds like it wasn’t even done in the year it was made, it sounds much older than that. One of my favourite songs has got to be ‘Girls Go Wild’ with its raunchy guitar solo, vigorous drums and the decadent lyrics. There are songs that are Power ballads and more personal than just being about partying and girls which occur later in the album.
Songs like ‘Dreaming’ and ‘Gimmie love’ about that clichéd scenario of falling for someone, and there’s ‘Shine’ featuring acoustic guitar and lower emotional lyrics used to set the tone of the ballad. Although being a great listen and capturing that essence of 1980s hard rock, it lacks distinction from the genre. I am a great fan of Glam metal and hard rock, but what would make this album stand out from albums that feature this over done idea of the catchy rock n’ roll anthems and of course the sentimental power ballads, would be to add something new in order to appeal to this sort of era. Rated
SPILL SIXTEEN “Let It All Hang Out” By; Keira Kenworthy
The famous saying goes “you can’ judge a book by its cover”, but in this case the awkward vibes I got just from looking at this album cover were also the same vibes I felt while listening to the album. It was no shock to me that I wouldn’t like this album at all. A combination of Foreigner and Europe this band couldn’t be more irritating to listen to, it’s a total turn off when a band rips off a has been 80s bands,. To me this album is totally unoriginal and there is not one thing I like about it, especially the disturbing album cover. So just a friendly piece of advice to all you bands and musicians out in the world, stop ripping off has been 80s bands and never create an album cover that is disturbing to the eyes and mind in a very bad way. But don’t take my word for it, maybe you’ll find something in this album that I didn’t……….. Rated
SCARY CHERRY and The BANG BANGS “Girl“ By; Keira Kenworthy
‘Girl’ was an absolute pleasure to listen to. This is an album which has catchy songs and loads of attitude. All these cool anthems are brilliantly sung by “Glitterpunk” princess Scary Cherry, whose vocal range varies from femininely high to brutally low. Listening to ‘Crazy Jane’ where she uses a lower pitch, it sounds so much like Wendy o Williams from the Plasmatics. The song also shares a weird riff similarity to ‘Superstar’ from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Scary Cherry also tries to portray a Helen Kane sort of parody with ‘Cut off your head’ using a high girly voice accompanied by guitar, which is quite humorous to listen to. The self titled song was a killer, a favourite of mine which features sensual guitar riffs and a hard rock feel. Then we have ‘Glitter’ a sort of tribute to glam rock, characterised as a pretty woman in the lyrics. I think overall ‘Girl’ is a brilliant album and that there’s something quite liberating about a female vocalist who sings songs which aren’t about falling in love and sensitive stuff instead partying and being outrageous. It mixes those elements of both Punk rock of the Plasmatics and the Misfits with the hard rock of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Betty Blowtorch. I recommend it definitely. Rated
BUCKCHERRY “Confessions” By Keira Kentworthy The Californian hard rock outfit are back with a new album ‘Confessions’ which explores their take on the 7 deadly sins and personal experiences. Being world renowned for good time hits such as ‘Crazy Bitch’ and ‘Too drunk’ from their previous work. This album has a much serious turn and tells the emotional stories of Buckcherry themselves. It is great to know that a band who embraces the hedonistic lifestyle of that of the 80s glam metal era, does have a sensitive side to song writing too, but then again we could use more of that at this day and age. However having sorrowful and dark subject matter in the album doesn’t affect how well structured and energetic this music is. The first song and of course my favourite is ‘Gluttony’, which nails you straight away with its hard hitting guitar and Josh Todd’s charismatic vocals. The title tells all with the song being about indulging in drugs, sex and booze. Then we have ‘Wrath’ which is all about control, there’s emphasis to this with the use of screams and heavy drums. ‘Envy’ is about having discontentment for somebody who has the person you dream of wanting and in my opinion it is one of those sins that a load of people have. Musically I think the bass line in the song is brilliant, at the beginning it has such a bluesy feel and isn’t just plain and simple. ‘Confessions’ is an album definitely worth listening to. There is a lot of power and aggression to the music which helps accompany the emotional lyrics of Josh Todd. It could be argued that this is a concept album,
with its continuous theme of Buckcherry’s own personal version of the 7 deadly sins. However it isn’t presented in an orderly fashion, where there is an introduction and a conflict which resolves itself in the end or climax. Either way it’s a very informative guide to reflecting the decadent lifestyle of the band.
” but for me that’s not a deal breaker. Every album of every band has a few filler songs and I feel like those two songs are just that. The true essence of CrashDiet has not been lost because you still have the impeccable backing vocals of Martin Sweet, Peter London and Eric Young and their souls pour out throughout this album with impossibly memorable, riffs, hooks and melodies that have taken over my world and if you give it a chance they will unexpectedly pull you into its Savage Playground.
Rated
Rated CRASHDIET - The Devils Play ground By: Agnieszka Wilde
BAI BANG - All Around The World By; Andy Thunders Bai Bang is a solid melodic glam band that have anthem like uplifting songs and killer riffs. The whole album start to finish is full of powerful chorus’s that makes you put up your fist and say 'yeah!' They sound like a mix between Reckless Love and Crashdiet with a hint of early Bon Jovi. My favorites are 'Everybody Everywhere' and 'Raise Your Hands.' This band shows that real Rock-n-Roll isn't dead. Rated
To hell with everything Savage Playground has arrived and its diverse sound is leaving a lot of people undoubtedly amazed that this album is not what a lot of you expected, frankly said “the same song and dance”. I have been reading mixed reviews from around the world and here’s what I have to say: I have been a huge supporter of CrashDiet since the hazy days of Dave Leppard and to me this album signifies that CrashDiet is finally moving forward with its sound as they should in order to experience musical growth. Nowhere was it written in stone that CrashDiet could not expand musically and I whole heartedly applaud them for it. Savage Playground is not an album where the tracks are paved with sleaze because I believe the band has deservingly so graduated from that level. Instead it consists of a mature metal sound of all the juicy bands I grew up on. The opening track “Change the World” is a great song and I can’t say enough good things about Simon Cruz’s vocal techniques on this CD. The opening guitar riff and bass line in “Cocaine Cowboys” awakens the devil in me even before the song kicks into a full metal bliss, and listening carefully to “Anarchy” I have to say that it’s one of the best songs on this album. The bottom line here is that “Savage Playground” has a balls grabbing, feet stumping, heart pumping sound full of that metal adrenaline that I so crave. In my opinion taking risks in music and exploring different sounds as CrashDiet did on this album is what it’s all about. I could have done without songs such as “Snakes in Paradise” or “Garden of Babylon
Hardcore Superstar—“C’mon On take on me” By: Agnieszka Wilde I am never disappointed by Hardcore Superstar and this is another album which I happen to adore and I don’t say that to blow smoke up anyone’s ass. The album opener “Cutting the Slack” is a whimsical, murderous like song which easily pulls you into a Trans of absolute musical abandon. It’s no secret that this band has talent to spew out anthems and melodic songs that go on for miles in my brain and this album is no different. “One More Minute” and “Won’t Take the Blame” part 1 and 2 are definitely in the anthem category. There are also quite a few songs in which Jocke displays his amazing voice and I always say; If the singer can sing then that’s half the battle. These boys know how to flawlessly combine sleaze, ballsy Rock’n’Roll and in your face lyrics
Rhapsody on Fire “Live from Chaos to Eternity” By; Agnieszka Wilde.
and in my opinion that’s what makes them stand out. For me the two album stunners are “Above the Law” and “Because of You” the musical esthetics of these songs blows me away when I hear different sounds and instruments which make up both of these songs which happen to be my favorite. Rated
Modern Superstar “Under my Skin” By; Agnieszka Wilde
Hessler “Comes with the Ter ritory” By: Agnieszka Wilde It’s totally amazing to me that Hessler has the ability to preserve and carry out the true metal sound well into the 21st Century. Their music is infused with traces of bands like Dio, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, everything that true metal stands for and Lariyah Daniels knows exactly how to step it up a notch in every song with her incredible voice. These guys simply speaking have got their shit together; from the songs to their looks and the incredible connection to their fans. I like this album a lot as it brings me back to the metal days of glory, something that’s completely missing in today’s music world. My favorite songs on this album are; “Waste Away”, ”Rising Sign”, “ Confessions”, “Wicked World”, “Taste the Lips” and “Hate me, Leave me”. In order to understand the beauty of true metal you need to get yourself a copy of Hessler’s “Comes with the Territory” no metal band in today’s world has anything on Hessler. Rated
Modern Superstar has got the “Hollywood sleaze, tongue and cheek Rock’n’Roll” sound down. These guys are seasoned musicians as it comes off in their songs. To me the whole Hollywood Sleaze was all about the lyrics back then and if you listen closely these guys come packin’ with some great lines and to top it all off great melodies. There’s nothing better than melodic hooks backed up by memorable choruses. This brings me back to the sunny days of early Poison and L.A. Guns and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. My favorites on this CD are; “Hollywood Dirty”, “She likes Girls”, “Love Hate”, “Devils Playground” and “Generation Star”. You can spoon feed me this stuff every morning and I wouldn’t complain, so if you are into the days of Hollywood sleaze check out “Under my Skin” from Modern Superstar.
I don’t even know how to properly asses this CD and express my frustration with this band without offending anyone. I absolutely despise “Symphonic Metal” as it’s called by the music industry. This album has more instrumental music backed up by quire-like hums and melodies then I have heard in a church of gospel. Their big arena like sound belongs on a movie sound track instead of a regular CD. I envision them doing music for films like Lord of the Rings and I feel like what there are going for has been misplaced musically. There is a lot of cult like wizardry going on in the songs that do have actual lyrics, well more of them are spoken. For me listening to this album is like listening to a bad fairytale that has been misplaced in time. Of course the musicianship is good, I will never take that away from anyone however I don’t like this Italian band simply because I don’t like this genre of music. I can’t believe that something like this exists in this day and age. Rated
Rated
The Gravity Guild “The Great Divide” By: Agnieszka Wilde We have reviewed this band in the past and we have given them kudos for their progressive sound. This album has thrown me for a loop a little bit because although I am a music lover I don’t enjoy the sort of speak “dragging your ass on the train tracks” type of a sound.
Don’t get me wrong; the musicianship is outstanding here, no doubt these guys are talented I just don’t dig music that has the ability to plummet my emotions into a hole of depression within the first five minutes. I love the bluesy sound on this CD and I think these guys should stick to that because the slide work is fantastic and ironically there’s a song on here that’s a bit upbeat called “It’s not the end of the world” which I absolutely love but sadly none of the other tunes have left a lasting impression.
There’s no doubt that this is pure Hollywood Rock’n’Roll which will give the girls a good time and the guys a hard on. There’s no way that you can possibly stand still to these high octane songs and totally cheeky lyrics, something most of us marveled in, in the 80’s. My only complaint about this EP is that I wish it was longer, I wanna hear more. I feel like what you’re presenting me here with is just a tease. You managed to stir up my appetite now don’t leave me drooling as its impolite. Rated
Rated
Pretty Maids “Motherland” By; Agnieszka Wilde Danish veteran rockers Pretty Maids have not impressed me with their latest creation “Motherland”. They remind me a lot of bands like EdGuy and NightWish, a lot of NightWish. Their 80’s heavily infused keyboard sound bores me to death as all the songs start to sound the same after a while and I can’t remember any titles of the tracks despite the spiraling melodies of the songs. I know this band has a sort of cult following so I don’t want to offend anyone. I do like the 80’s hard rock bands but I also need a little bit more diversity then what this album offers. So despite not being a fan of this band I do respect them as musicians and I know that the typical Pretty Maids fan will love this album however this just isn’t my cup of tea. Rated
Vajra “Pieroma” By; Agnieszka Wilde I have immense respect for women fronted bands because it’s that much harder for them to gain recognition but I have to say that this band is a total let down for me even though AnnaMaria Pinna has an amazing voice. This band is definitely in the category of progressive rock but I can’t stand the doom and gloom and the dreariness. It gets me depressed instantly and I think that if you feel the need to fill your album with two instrumental tracks like “India” and “Akkord Pleromy” you simply lack creativity and don’t have that much to say. The only song on this album that I remotely like is “The Apple” because it somewhat manages to stand out musically because of its diversity in sound. Rated
The Beautifully Demolished By; Agnieszka Wilde Typically we don’t review three song EP’s but I decided to make an exception this time since this band is fronted by the awesome D.K. Revelle.
Sleekstain “Hard” By; Agnieszka Wilde Never thought I would dig a band like Sleekstain but surprisingly I do and I think that their CD “Hard” is pretty diverse musically. I hear a combination of sounds ranging from the late 70’s to the early 90’s and everything else in between and that’s why I think these French boys have a little bit of uniqueness going on. It’s not easy to combine all three eras and make it sound good, but they managed to just do that. This is the type of a CD that I would recommend popping in your card if you’re going on a long road trip. They will keep you entertained for hours bangin’ your head and pumpin’ your fist in the air. I hear more hard rock then sleaze and my favorites on this album are; “Dead till u Live”, “Hard Rain”, “DrugStar”, “My friend Jack” and “Gold, Girls’n’Guns”. Rated
A great listen because you get a different musical experience with each song. Rated
SYNICAL—Quit While Your Be-
hind
BY: KEIRA Kentworthy
The Hollywood based trio release their debut album ‘Quit while you’re behind’ on French record label Deadlight entertainment. This album mixes together the elements of Pop to make it something you can boogie to and the elements of Hard rock and Industrial to make it a hard and heavy album. I’m no stranger to Synical because I’ve actually heard some of their stuff before they even put out their album, for example contributing to Industrial tribute albums of bands such as Smashing Pumpkins and Motley Crue. It’s such a thrill to know that they’ve finally released the long awaited album. The album explores the horrific manifestations of Hollywood like getting your ambitions destroyed and prostituted by the entertainment industry presented by Brian Haught’s unique vocal style and Eric Griffin’s hell born guitar riffs. ‘Learn to Love it’ is the heaviest song on the album featuring a deep bass riff and extremely heavy drumbeat. We get a grooving vibe from ‘Low Quality Guy’ which has a funk related feel to it which makes you wanna move your hips to the music. Then we get more serious songs like ‘True Hollywood story’ which tells of how the city of angels is a place where people who seek fame and fortune are chewed up and spat out. ‘Quit while you’re behind’ has an experimental mixture of rock songs with inspiration from other forms of popular music such as pop and Dance music, with a raw heavy metal drive. The album also says a lot about the evils of superstardom.
ROB ZOMBIE “VENEMOUS Rat Regeneration Vendor BY: KEIRA Kentworthy
The master of shock rock is back with his biggest, baddest and scariest album to date. There is absolutely no doubt ‘Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor’ is a fucking brilliant album through and through, with its hard hitting grooves and energetic power. Rob Zombie has managed to conquer both the world of music, cartoon and horror film by storm and keeping that strong momentum for nearly three decades is an absolute achievement. I was already loaded with anticipation to listen to the first track ‘Teenage Nosferatu pussy’ starting with the suspenseful introduction and straight into that heavy industrial rhythm, the way Zombie presents his vocals is so hypnotising along with John 5’s monstrous guitar licks. It gives the album a powerful beginning just as ‘Jesus Frankenstein’ had from his last album Hellbilly Deluxe 2. Then we get straight into something catchier and moves your feet straight away. ‘Dead City Radio’, just made me wanna move so much, the funky organ and constant capacity of that bass drum was phenomenal. Zombie definitely knows how to put the “boo” into boogie so well. If there was a term I could use to describe the subject matter of his lyrics
it would be ‘Horror Hedonism’, indulging in pleasures and sleaze with a spooky twist. What Zombie also does so well is mixing the elements of not only hard rock and heavy metal but also infuse electro into the tracks. ‘Rock n’ Roll (In a Black hole)’ presents this very well, by using a sensual sounding synthesizer as the main melody in the song. There is also a taste of the psychedelic with ‘Theme for the rat vendor’, with its haunting sitar and Dejembe (A type of Indian drum). Finally we get treated to an amazing cover of ‘We’re an American band’ by Grand Funk Railroad. I have nothing bad to say about it, it was just great to listen to throughout its entirety. I love Rob Zombie’s music, because what it has which I think is important to any rock track, is a groove which gets people off their arse and start dancing. Being world renowned for being the face of monsters and madmen, but also having music which just makes people want to have a good all ghoulish time is an accomplishment. You just can’t write this guy off. Rated
Black Veil Brides “Wretched and Divine” By; Agnieszka Wilde These young California rockers know how to capture the attention of millions by creating an album that sounds like a wellproduced Broadway play which consists of a lot of positive messages and encouragement towards the younger generation.
If you listen closely to the lyrics it’s hard to miss the continuous story of the wild ones. The songs have a big open airy sound and are backed up by perfected vocals and very melodic choruses as well as guitars and that big arena-like drum sound that I like so much. The CD is packed with 19 tracks and my favorites on this album are; “New Year’s Day”, “Wretched and Divine”, “Devils Choir”, “Shadows Die “and “In the End”. This album has solid substance and great production, everything that a band should have these days. You will not be disappointed by this CD and I highly recommend it. Rated
AEROSMITH “Music From Another Dimension” By: Rita Fabozzi Along with making me mad, this album gave me many mixed emotions. I was looking really forward for the release of this album especially after hearing all the hype about the band going back to its 70s roots, even though I knew it was too go to be true. Sure enough that was all a tease and turned out to be the total opposite of what was expected of this album. Since Aerosmith has been stuck in a poppy ballad phase for so long, it would have been good to hear them break away from that style, but no such luck. All I can say is that if it weren’t for Joe Perry’s incredible riffs this album would have been a total flop in my opinion. The album starts on a real strong note with “Luv XXX” that has a kickass intro, and a classic Joe Perry guitar riff that pulled me into the groove. It continues to go on high from there with “Oh Yeah” which also has that typical
Aero groove, and kept me going until “Tell Me”. I wasn’t pleased to hear yet again another typical 90s Aerosmith ballad, especially this one turning out to be my least favorite. But just when I’m about to give up, the album pulls me back in with “Out Go The Lights” which again has the Aero groove. I am not that pleased with the recorded version of “Legendary Child” (which sounds like a total do over of “Get a Grip), it’s the type of song that totally kicks ass live but sucks on the album. The album pretty much goes downhill for me after that, with “What Could Have Been Love” being the worst song on the album and my opinion the worst Aerosmith song including “Can’t Stop Lovin’ You.” This album wasn’t a total loss and does have some cool songs like “Luv XXX”, “Oh Yeah” “Out Go the Lights”, and “Closer”. I do also really like the closing song “Another Last Goodbye,” it’s a ballad that I could have pictured them writing back in the good ol’ 70s. As for the rest of the album I can totally do without it. I think most hard-core old school Aerosmith fans will agree with my disappointment of this album. Even though I know we will never get another album as great as “Get Your Wings”, “Toys In The Attack”, etc I truly thought that we would have gotten something close to it, or at least the break away from the whole pop thing. Well I guess the saying is true, nothing last forever and you most certainly cannot recapture the past. Rated
Sister Hyde “Sex Change.” By; Agnieszka Wilde. The album cover is esthetically pleasing to the eye and the CD is orgasmically pleasing to the ear, I simply can’t escape the sinful sounds of Sister Hyde. They sing about what most of us are thinking but are afraid to say, and their bold, upbeat Rock’n’Roll songs are like snorting Colombian cocaine, you get a highly addictive instant high. I appreciate the fact that they serve comedy mixed with unfiltered truth making it sound pretty when it’s served on a silver platter. My absolute favorites on this album are; “I’m not your Canine”, “Wanna have Sex with you”, “Sex Change” and “High Maintenance Bitch”. Just because they come from a wintery country it doesn’t mean that they can’t make you hot and bothered as they do with absolute ease. Rated
I’ve listened to before, but its mystical textures and catchiness of the songs makes it very pleasant to listen to. It’s also has an artistic appeal by using Technology to create surreal accompaniments in the songs like other artists such as Kraftwerk and Gary Numan had done in the past. So it will appeal to those who are into their Electronica or art punk. Rated
Black Sugar Transmission”The
Mike Tramp “Cobblestone Street” By; Agnieszka Wilde
glamour pantomime “ By; Keira Kenworthy
Black Sugar Transmission is the Electro Dance solo project of former Acey Slade and the Dark party guitarist Andee Blacksugar. His second album ‘The Glamour Pantomime’ explores Dance music with the rawness of Punk rock. Each song is experimental in style which gives the album various types of atmosphere. The synthesizer, pop-style guitar and sound effects help to paint a picture with the songs. At the start of the album I was already hooked by the catchiness and over- driven beat of ‘obedience’. The song ‘Synthesizer license’ features a guitar and synthesizer battling it out in the solo section which is quite compelling to listen to. Further into the album we get ‘Scandal in Apt #3’ which is the heaviest and darkest song in the album, featuring eerie sound effects from the synthetic chimes and a low creepy vocoder. The album also has its fair share of Pop/Disco related styles of songs for example ‘Love Is Theatre’ and ‘Galaxies of Neon’ which remind me of Madonna’s ‘Confessions on a Dance Floor’ or Lady Gaga’s ‘Fame’. A style of music I don’t really listen to that much. However to break away from that so “mainstream” appeal, both songs feature a shredding guitar from Blacksugar and ‘Galaxies of Neon’ has a clanky bass guitar riff. ‘The Glamour Pantomime’ is very different from what
D.A.D. ‘Dic.Nii.Lan.Daft.Erd.Ark Deluxe Edition” By; Agnieszka Wilde These Danes know how to withstand longevity by writing great songs and knowing how to rock like fuck live. This album has been released in Europe in 2011 and re-released as a Deluxe Edition in 2013. For a band who has been around for 30 years this is the best possible CD which consists of regular studio tracks to acoustic songs to live tunes. In my opinion they have never been more entertaining, sounded better and tighter then on this album. What makes D-A-D sound so good is simply that they are being themselves and not trying to be like anyone else. I get excited when I hear “Sleeping my Day Away”, “I want what she’s got” or “We all Fall Down”. Just like fine wine this band gets better with age and I hope they never stop because experience has made them truly a great band which deserves much more attention and respect in the United States. Rated
The former front man of White Lion has released a solo album that sounds more like a country, folky effort then a rock album. If that’s the sound that he was going for then he managed to capture it well. Most of the tracks are whiny and slow and I doubt that they will get the attention of a rock fan. Mike does have a great raspy voice which would have sounded awesome had he put out a blues based record. To me this CD is filled with pain and anguish the two things I dislike most in music today however I do like the only two upbeat track that give a glimmer of hope called “ New Day” and “Revolution”. I’m not a fan, I hope other people feel differently because Mike Tramp is talented but I don’t think he has taken his talent in the right direction. Rated
Lipstick “Anthems for life…and Death”. By; Agnieszka Wilde Barcelona’s own Lipstick has got it going on with their brand new album “Anthems for life..and Death”. The album kicks in with the fiery “Breath” and it continues with just as good “Love’s like Crack” and the political “Reaction”. My personal favorite happens to be “If you Fall” but to be honest I love this whole album, there isn’t one song that I can’t sing back and to me that’s everything in music. This CD is filled with rock, punk, hard rock as well as melodic hooks and riffs, every rock fans dream. I say keep on rocking boys and keep the hits coming…they look good on you. I highly recommend this album because it’s one of those CD’s that I just can’t put down. Rated
New Generation Superstars. “Rock’n’Roll or Die”. By; Agnieszka Wilde Nottingham’s New Generation Superstars will infect you with their bitter pill of Punk ‘n’Roll. Nothing is sugar coated and delivered
in a pretty package, just a simple raw, unapologetic, tell you like it is songs, just the way I like them and just the way they were meant to be. This CD has captured my attention within the first five seconds of listening to it. I love the raw guitars, the rhythmic bass, loud drums and in your face lyrics. I like it playful and dirty and this album has it all. Once again these boys come out on top and my definite favorites on this album are; “Rock’n’Roll or Die”, “Bastards”, “Black Heart” and “The Price” but that just to name a few. I secretly dig this whole album and I’m sure if you give it a listen, so will you. Rated
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Singing my day away‌. By Agnieszka Wilde
It’s been one of my goals to chat with D.A.D. if they ever returned to the States, simply because I grew up on this band and they were one of the very few bands who inspired this magazine. I jumped at the chance to interview brothers Jesper and Jacob Binzer when the band rocked the hell out of New York City. Some things get better with age like a fine aged wine, and that is the case with D.A.D. I would also like to mention that for the few hours that I got to hang out with them, they are one of the best people I have ever dealt with in the music business and the same sentiment goes to their management.
Special thanks to: Miriam Hansel and Troels Bjorn.
KCM: So I hear that you’ve had some legal issues with using the name Disneyland after Dark? You had to change the name right? Jesper: Well it’s a big thing trying to earn money on someone else’s brand name but we started out as a punk band so we didn’t think we’d go anywhere. Of course when we signed with Warner Brothers around 89, everything had to change since it was going to be straight forward business. So we changed it to D.A.D. KCM: How long has it been since your last tour in America? Jesper: I think it’s been twenty years. Jacob: Actually it’s been twenty two. KCM: The last time you came to the U.S. where did you tour? Jesper: We toured on our own a little bit and then we went as a support act with a band called Bad Things and we did seven weeks coast to coast with them. When we played in New York we played at the Cat Club. Jacob: Then we played L’amours in Brooklyn. KCM: So you played some really cool clubs here. Jacob: Yeah, Yeah. KCM: In your opinion how would you say things changed in the music business from then till now? Jesper: There’s still a great rock tradition but things go up and down and I think that to be honest the whole hair middle thing got to be a little too much on the outside and then a band like Nirvana came along and showed everyone that you need something from the inside as well. There was a need to get a little bit more creative and a little bit bluesy and it all became main stream at one point. I think it’s healthy that things change but if you jump on a bandwagon too much then it’s gonna be hard for you. Jacob: The whole thing has changed completely, its two different worlds. Back then it was still the old tradition back from the 50’s but I think the whole technology has changed it completely. The social media is the change that happened in the last five years but the technology has changed a lot since then. KCM: So this is your 11th album and everyone in the U.S. perceives it as a new album but in Europe it’s been out since 2011 right? Jesper: Yes that’s right. This German record company AFM has seen an opportunity and proposed that we release this album outside of Europe. We agreed of course and it became a Deluxe Edition. It’s a great opportunity for us to give it a go in the U.K. and the U.S.
KCM: Were there years that you guys took a break from playing music? Jesper: No. Jacob: No. Jesper: I don’t think we’ve had that much time off since we started. We’ve been going on and on. Some years we only sold records in Scandinavia and some years we just toured Scandinavia but we just kept on and on. KCM: Did you think that things would pick up again where it would allow you to play the U.S.? Jesper: No, but we hoped and we knew that we put on great shows. At one point you don’t care and you just want to enjoy what you are doing. We didn’t want to chase after someone who didn’t want us we just sat around doing our thing waiting for someone to call us and they did. KCM: I looked at your tour schedule for 2013 and you’re playing a lot of shows in Texas? Jesper: That’s because of this South by South West thing that’s going on down there. Jacob: Actually when we toured the U.S. in the Midwest it was Minnesota and Texas where we would feel the most response. KCM: For you video “I want what she’s got” what made you go that route that you took? Jesper: It was very important to come up with an idea before things got off track. Even the record company was excited that they were finally going to get bunch of sexy women in a video, objectifying the other gender so it felt good to be proactive in that sense. We agreed that we wanted to do it ourselves. I think it’s a great Rock’n’Roll tradition, The Stones, New York Dolls and even the Foo Fighters did it. I think the androgynous culture is a bit tradition in Rock’n’Roll. Jacob: We had talked about it many times, how we would dress up as girls but we needed an occasion to do it. Then the occasion presented itself and everyone was involved. KCM: I seen the behind the scenes footage and it looked like a lot of fun.
Jesper: it was a lot of fun and it took a long time to get made up and I mean with those shoes on. Jacob: The guys who did the makeup and the clothes, they had a good time. KCM: How did it feel to be dressed as a woman playing your instruments? Jesper: To be wearing a dress and makeup and those shoes, I mean I understand women now much more than I did before. I understand why they want you to hold the door for them and treat them with respect, because you can’t move or do anything. (All of us laughing). You can’t carry anything and you can’t sit down and everything hurts in five minutes. My heels were so high that I could only do two takes and then I had to lie down with my feet up. So it changed my world, shooting that video. KCM: Where did you shoot it? Jacob: We shot it in a studio in Copenhagen. KCM: What do you wish that you knew then that you know now, when you first came out with the band? Jacob: Very good question. Form how I seen things, we didn’t know what was happening to us. We didn’t know how big a change this was and I think we were being bratty. Maybe they didn’t have the complete conception of us but I think we were working too much against what was happening to us back then.
Jesper: It was the punk ethic that we grew up with so it was a part of us at that point, but on the other hand whenever you tend to be a little negative then maybe it's because you are not as confident in what you are doing. We were very good at times and not so good other times. Whereas now we can deliver a 110% show each time because we know what we are doing. So that confidence eliminates the use of record companies, the use of press, the use of anything because we feel that we can stand strong on our own. Confidence is very important because it lets us move everywhere and we’re still being ourselves. KCM: What was the best advice that someone has given you that you have actually listened to? Jesper: There was one advice from my voice Doctor when I lost my voice, she said; People are not coming to hear you sing perfectly, they are coming to hear you sing. That took a stone off my shoulder, I was grateful. KCM: What advice would you give to an up and coming band? Jesper: I think you should do something that’s not out there already and I think you should try to be into your own thing as much as possible so you can gain that confidence, but most importantly do something that’s not out there already. Jacob: Don’t take the easy road and do the writing for yourself. Jesper: Don’t get inspired from mainstream only, dig a little deeper and explore. KCM: What do you think the key to success is? Jesper: Success in our terms is that you hang on to the same guys , try to be respectful, try to mature within the group so you can actually build on instead of moving on to the next one. That whole keep on keeping on thing is extremely important. KCM: So the whole band with the exception of the drummer has been together 27 years? Jesper: 29!
KCM: Wow 29, how do you not kill each other? Jacob: We don’t take in conflicts, that is the secret… Jesper: That’s the opposite of what a girl band would be doing. We feel blessed in the sense that we are very big mainstream band in Denmark and Scandinavia. Jacob: We’ve managed to earn a living doing what we love, to pay the rent, take care of our kids and all that. Even though we have not been to Japan or Australia in years, we’ve always had this career keeping us on the go. KCM: Now that things have picked up for you, what’s next? Jacob: Back then we were chasing it but now we do our thing and whatever comes up we play. It’s not such a big deal, we’re not awe struck. So now with the experience that we have we are comfortable going with the flow sort of speak and not freaking out. KCM: Do you have any down time in New York or do you keep moving on? Jesper: We use whatever off time we have as down time and so we’re leaving tomorrow afternoon. It’s always been like that, you have your three hours and you make the best of them. KCM: In the summer will you be playing any festivals in Europe? Jesper: Yes there are a few festivals lined up already, and there will be things going on with Portugal, Hungary and even China. Next year we’ll do the 30 year thing where we do 30 gigs in 30 days and 30 videos and 30 drinks and 30 whatever. The subtitle will say “but we’re still young” Jacob: We started young, we started in kindergarten… (Laughing) Jesper: 30 years Jubilee but we’re not old at all… KCM: None of us are! It’s been a pleasure, thank you guys! Jesper: Thank you; it was a lot of fun!
Height: 5’6.5’’ Weight: 125 Lbs Waist: 37 Hips: 41 Hair: Brown Eyes: Brown Breast: 37 Shoe Size: 9 Tattoos: 0 Piercings: Nose , Belly, Stretching ear, 2 piercings ear Current Occupation: Nurse What people don’t know about me: That I m shy sometimes but I have a very strong will My Ambitions: To become a well-known and successful model and to meet famous people from the global fashion world My Turn-on’s: Fashion metal music shopping dance My Turnoffs: LIES, LIES, LIES Current Crush’s: I m in a relationship with a rock singer for four years and I feel complete My Fetishes: Latex clothes and high heels shoes My Favorite 5 Bands: W.A.S.P, Skid Row, Immortal, Darkhrone, Nargaroth My Favorite 5 Movies: 1 Missed Call, From Hell, Insidious, Sinister, The Ring Last Read Book: Anatomy If I was the U.S. President I would: Actually I could never imagine myself being the U.S president coz it would be a very big responsibility for me such a full of obligations demanding thing My Headstone Should Read: On my headstone I would like something that could reflect my free spirit and the passion I had for life itself something simple but with a powerful meaning
LK: Honesty to be themselves without pretending something else from what they really are, secondly their dress style is something that usually draws my attention from the very beginning and third I get impressed by that kind of guys who are not afraid to come and show me with confidence their interest on me. KCM: Name something that turns you off in men? LK:
The rude and vulgar behaviours and the absolute lack of respect to me and to others.
KCM: What are your favourite bands and what is the coolest concert you attended? LK: My all-time favourite bands are Skid Row, Wasp and Kiss ... on the 25 of July in 2011 I went to the magical concert of Wasp in the live stage of Mylos in the city of Thessaloniki. It was just an amazing show, the energy was so high and I returned home very excited with a towel of Blackie Lawless which he dropped towards me while he was on stage, and that is a priceless gift for me that I still keep with all the great memories of the concert... KCM: Who do you want to be when you grow up? (Haha) LK: Haha, well since I’ve already grown up enough ,I can say that there are dreams that already came true and something’s that did not yet including my biggest dream of all to become a well-know and successful professional in the world of modelling. That of course demands a lot of hard work, patience, strong will and some dose of luck haha. I just hope that in the immediate future my dream finally come true. KCM: Name something you can't live without? LK:
I definitely can't live without listening to my favourite music.
KCM: If you were rich and famous what is the one thing you would do for people as a gesture of kindness? LK: If I had the money and the power I would make as many donations as possible to many charitable institutions all over the world! All human beings deserve a respectful and prosperous life.
KCM: Do you do modelling professionally or is it just a hobby? LK: Initially I saw it as a hobby but after having gained experience from various photo shoots and fashion shows and my love for the world of modelling, I decided to take it up professionally. KCM: What do you do? LK: I m studying nursing at the university for two years, yet I always find time for photo shoots and fashion shows. ..I know that it has nothing in common with nursing, but I just love them both KCM: Do you have any special talents? LK: Well, except my innate comfort towards the public, I am a big fan of metal music and I always try to combine as many elements of metal music and fashion with modelling as I can because after all the rock and metal music for me is a way of life. KCM: Where do you currently live and where would be your dream place to visit? LK: My current residence is in Greece. I live in the second biggest city which is the beautiful Thessaloniki. I live, study and develop all of my activities, including modelling of course. About the city which I dream to visit, I have to admit that there are many, but the most favourite and my first on the list is Los Angeles for many reasons such as its lifestyle, the city's unique beauty and energy and also because I think there are a lot of interesting people to meet in L.A. KCM: Name 3 things that impress you in men?
Summer 2012: I’m calling a NEW YORK DOLL, the extremely talented and insanely tight rhythm guitarist and founding member of the legendary band, the New York Dolls, SYLVAIN SYLVAIN [born Ronald Mizrahi]. I’m calling a NEW YORK DOLL!! I say that over in my mind as I sit at my desk, staring at my phone, wondering if it would be OK to call early or if that would seem inappropriate. So at exactly the scheduled time I press the numbers. Syl picks up the phone after two rings and thanks me for being right on time, and then asks me to tell him a little about myself, not a trace of attitude or insincerity in his voice. Even though this is the first conversation we have ever had, we could be long lost pals catching up after not speaking for a while. SYLVAIN: So tell me a little about yourself. You live in NYC or what? KCM: I do. I live on Broadway and Tenth Street, your old stomping ground. SYLVAIN: Broadway and Tenth Street, huh!?! That’s right around the corner from where the Mercer Arts Center used to be. The Broadway Central Hotel housed The Mercer Arts Center on the back side. The New York Dolls, the whole scene – everything started right there! KCM: That’s right in the middle of NYU land now. SYLVAIN: Exactly. That’s a brand new building there because the old one just collapsed. They were fixing the basement. What happened was that they had some beams down and the subway came rushing by at an unusual speed for some reason and the whole building collapsed. KCM: Oh my… SYLVAIN: Oh, it was a heavy tragedy. If you Google it, you’ll find it. The Broadway Central Hotel was the Waldorf Astoria of its day when it was built in the late 1800s. KCM: I guess it should have been taken down before it fell down. SYLVAIN: Well, it was sort of a wealthy hotel [that had seen its better day] when the Mercer Arts Center was there. And the only reason that the Mercer Arts center got it was that it was government funded for artists. They had different kinds of rooms for different art. They weren’t looking for it to make a huge profit. The entrance to the Mercer Arts Center used to be the ballroom of the hotel. Then they closed it down. Then they subdivided it into little rooms. KCM: You guys played the Oscar Wilde Room. SYLVAIN: Well the first time we played there was The Kitchen. KCM: A room CALLED The Kitchen, not the actual kitchen…. SYLVAIN: Well it could have been the actual kitchen. Laughs. Yeah, I was playing while eating my falafel and feta cheese sandwich that my mother made me. Well if you Google The Kitchen you’ll find it. They moved around from place to place but they were like a video workshop in NYC. And video was brand, brand, BRAND, new at the time. We opened ….we had this gig with The Magic Tramps which was Eric Emerson’s band. Who was in that band was Chris Stein to become Blondie in about a year or two. And, so, that was the scene. They got the gig and they said, “hey, you guys want to open for us?” They heard that they were playing around besides we were living with their ex-girlfriends. (laughs) KCM: I read that you guys really broke through on the second show at the Mercer Arts Center because Ozzie, Johnny’s ‘business partner’ was hauled off in a cop car from the Chrystie Street Loft while you and Arthur watched from across the street. “The word went out on the street that the Dolls had been busted, but….who were the New York Dolls and why did they get busted? They were only rumors but they made for great organic underground word-of-mouth promo. ..Kids must have wondered what all the fuss was and …if the Dolls were going to appear at all. ... It was the New York Dolls’ first-ever barriersmashing breakthrough”. [Arthur Kane, I –Doll, Life and Death with The New York Dolls]
SYLVAIN: It could have been, because us being kids from the streets and all that, and coming from Queens. The original band was all the guys who came from Queens. Johnny Thunders, myself and Billy Murcia at the nucleus to play together as the New York Dolls. You had us three going to the same high school which was Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens. It was first me and Billy Murcia, working out of Billy’s mother’s basement out in Jamaica, Queens. Hillside Avenue, three blocks away from South Jamaica. Me and Billy had a gig with a real estate company where they would pay us five bucks a day to hand out these little cards to sell your house. So Billy’s mom gave us the spot and we put in the amps and stuff, and we would bring kids home from school to play with and jam with, especially anybody who could teach us anything about the blues, ‘cause that was where we were at. And who was living next to us was none other than Jerry Nolan. And he was going out with Bette Midler. KCM: Really!?! SYLVAIN: Yeah. Jerry Nolan! KCM: I didn’t know that. SYLVAIN: Fuck, no one knows spills the fucking beans. That’s all about sex, and trying to turn art gallery. It was so hard to see hard to be creative and break a self-made star.
that. I’m giving you the inside shit here. Sylvain the name of our conversation. And they were yourself into an art gallery. A walking talking us, in the words of John Lennon. It was so through the mold of being anonymous. …to be
KCM: You have a fashion made those fabulous sweaters
background. You make a line of hats. Plus you for Truth and Soul, your fashion company.
SYLVAIN: I do that because I ate. You know what I mean?
have to. Because I can’t breathe if I don’t cre-
KCM: Right. You create music.
You create fashion. You create. Period.
SYLVAIN: My whole life… I had call it so they just called you a 60s. So, I dedicated myself to ing cool. I had talent. I didn’t ing sign.
learning disabilities. They didn’t know what to fucking idiot and kicked your ass…. back in the my art. I knew I was groovy. I knew I was fuckneed anybody to give me the fucking welcom-
KCM:
your own reality.
Right. You just made
SYLVAIN: And they weren’t [handing me the welcoming sign] so it just made me a rebel. So before they even knew what you were [all about] and they looked at you and you were maybe sexy, they called you a fucking faggot. Ya know? KCM: That was a dangerous time to walk around with nail polish and lipstick…the early 70s. SYLVAIN: Well exactly, but that’s why you had to do it. I mean I had a reason. I can’t speak for David Johansen, or anyone else. But I had a reason. And I think that there is a struggle. Where ever you think that a lifestyle is being suppressed and oppressed, you gotta kick ass and you gotta make a difference. Hence the reason why I wrote the song Frankenstein. Where it dares you to have sex with a fucking monster. And that monster is your lover, by the way. KCM: Right. It might seem like a monster but it’s what you need to do. SYLVAIN: It’s also the one that you’re sleeping with. KCM: Yeah… SYLVAIN: And that could be across the board. Some people find it with their dealer. Waiting for the man, which the Velvet Underground came up with. And some people find it, well, ya know….my girlfriend, her name is Frankenstein. [laughs]. KCM: Ha. I doubt that. Yeah, it’s a love hate relationship. You just have to decide what you are going to do when it comes to a breaking point.
SYLVAIN: Exactly. But you know, the most important thing is, I wanted to make it. I also wanted to be financially secure, which unfortunately never came to pass. But that never distracted me from my true calling which is art. Sometimes art is just telling it like it is. You might be the trail-blazer but not be a success in a traditional way, yet everyone claims that you are number one and you are famous. You really can’t take that to the bank, though. KCM: Or you can fight to get your due. “Because of the Dolls’ original contract, Leber & Krebs ended up owning the band’s publishing rights. Not only that, they owned the band’s name. They owned everything that you can own. They even owned the royalty rights.” “…the Dolls signed everything that was put before them, little realizing that ‘in perpetuity’ meant forever. SYLVAIN: “They signed us on individually, plus as a band, plus our publishing, plus our individual songwriting. They signed us everywhere they could.” Nina Antonia, Too Much, Too Soon:. The Makeup and Breakup of The New York Dolls [ note: The Dolls did not have their own lawyer.] KCM: The New York Dolls planted the idea for the Aerosmith’s and the Kisses of the music industry. You had to walk the streets and trail-blaze this new idea when nobody knew where to put you guys. SYLVAIN: When it comes to the name Aerosmith, we taught them how to walk this way. Then they made it with our girlfriends at the time, who became our wives, and actually took them away and had babies with them.[The reference is to Cyrinda Fox] But it’s OK. And I think that some of us in some corners might have even sold them some dope. But I’m not here to point any fingers. But I’ve seen a lot of things happen that I think a lot of people don’t want me to say I’ve seen. ….actually confront them about this. And I’m not waiting for anyone to die so I can tell my story, my true story. I do have what is called an elephant’s memory and I never really forgot much of what happened. As I mentioned I might not have been very good at reading and writing because of my learning disabilities but I developed other things. I can play the guitar like rings around your fuckin’ neck. KCM: Well that’s a sort of math right there. That’s a language. SYLVAIN: Well exactly, but that does not get you a high school diploma. KCM: Well that and $2.50 will get you a ride on the subway. SYLVAIN: Well that’s alright. That’s in their eyes. I chose the artist’s life. That’s what I chose and that’s what I stuck with. KCM: Dancing Backwards In High Heels has a retro R&B well produced sound to it; much more melodic and not as untamed as the works that preceded it. Currently there are more releases by The Dolls post reunion than there were in the 70s. How does that make you feel? SYLVAIN: Since The Meltdown Festival reunion with Morrissey, thank his bloody English tush, (laughs) which was 2004 when we had great, great, great success. It all started off really, really good. We recorded three albums but none of them was successful, especially the first one which everybody was banking on. What we recorded what not what we got signed for. We got signed to produce and deliver…the key word here, a New York Dolls album. And really what we did is we delivered a David Johansen solo album. KCM: Yeah, I wanted to bring that up. SYLVAIN: And I would say on the third album, which was the least successful of the three we came the closest, with our producer Jason Hill from Louie the XIV, a California band, by the way. He did the best job of all of the producers we had including Todd Rundgren and Jack Douglas. He did the best to get us the closest to what we are all about. But really hitting the nail on the head….the one who ran the whole show…who gave everyone a ‘deal’…he would yes you, but he ran it…I have to say was David Johansen. He ran the show. He decided what songs would be recorded. For example, you had to give him the songs… he chose the songs out of all of the writers. And the songs of mine that he chose were not always the rock and roll ones. He chose the ones that he felt was more his thing and what he wants to project. And so the end result was that none of the releases were successful. Our salaries went down. We were paid less for gigs. We got less offers year after year. The first album came out in 2006. By 2007 our original manager left us because he said that we’ve had our best times and basically we were over. KCM: I love Dancing Backward In High Heels. I see that as a rebound album where the reformed Dolls finally ‘got the plot’. SYLVAIN: Yeah, but it wasn’t a massive hit. Yes we had lots of friends who loved the record but in total ‘One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This’ only sold 25,000 copies. The record company spent more than half a million dollars to put that baby out. It did not make it. Even when it was available free for download there wasn’t a huge demand. [The album charted at number 129 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart.] We got the greatest press. Rolling Stones Magazine gave us a great review. It was critic Robert Christgau's choice for album of the year http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/one-dayit-will-please-us-to-remember-even-this-20060811 It was a really good album. We tried our best but it was not accepted by the audience.
After that, we’re not selling out Irving Plaza three nights in a row. We’re only selling out one night. And then the next year they didn’t even invite us. So as far as gigs were concerned, they were going down and down and down. I truly have to say that there are a couple of cuts on One Day It Will Please Us that I could not perform. I told David that these are songs that are personally related to you; that are all about you. But he could not see that. KCM: Well that was one of the factors that split up The Dolls the first time; that David was the last one to be invited to join The Dolls, but he kind of took over the show and self-appointed himself the leader. That’s kind of an old story. SYLVAIN: It’s a VERY old story. I hate to say it happened to me AGAIN. I was a SCHMUCK TWICE. And the thing is the first time it was our original managers where they took him on the side…and somehow he and his gorgeous, gorgeous woman at the time, Cyrinda Foxe were living in a duplex penthouse at The Albert Hotel on 10 th Street [23 East 10th Street] right off of Broadway. The rest of us, we were lucky to be living on Avenue A at the time which was really, really bad. KCM: I know. SYLVAIN: We are talking about 1971, 72. KCM: You took your life in your hands walking around there….especially a guy in make-up. SYLVAIN: Exactly. And we were dealing drugs on the side just to get by. (pause) I’m not talking about heavy drugs; just a couple of joints here and there. KCM: Of course. SYLVAIN: And he [David Johansen] was living in that penthouse. KCM: Didn’t you guys operate as equal participants or did David control the purse strings? SYLVAIN: We were all supposedly equal members of the band, but [the favoritism] started right there. It started right there. The rest of us were saying, “hey, come on. What’s going on? Then after that, they started taking care of Johnny. He got a nice apartment on 24th Street and 9th Avenue. Then after that….they started to take care of us, wherever we were, with our girlfriends; wherever we were living at the time. At the time I was living with Elda Gentile [who was in the Stillettos along with Debbie Harry], who used to be Eric Emerson’s wife, and their kid, Branch, we were living all together in her apartment. It was an incredible place. But the point is that they were helping us pay for our apartments wherever we were with our girlfriends at the time, which did not make the situation [regarding expenses] good. Of course this was when Billy Murcia was still alive. So, what we did was we got a big loft down at 119 Chrystie Street. KCM: Yes, I heard it was huge; big enough to ride a Cadillac around inside. SYLVAIN: Nah. It was on the second floor, we couldn’t get a Cadillac up there. (laughs) Yeah, at the time there were all of these lofts being rented for $300 bucks a month. I had this other loft on the corner of Wooster and Grand. These lofts were big enough to ride your bicycle around in, but they didn’t have anything inside. Not your Cadillac, but your bicycle. SYLVAIN: What happens, Karena, is that you give someone a kiss and all of sudden the story is that you had three kids with them, you know what I mean? (laughs) Over the years the story changes as it is handed down. But this is the goddamn honest truth, ya know. And so we used to go to these junk yards, in the Bronx; in Jersey. We used to rent these vans, from people like Hilly [Kristal]. Hilly, before he started CBGB’s he has a truck rental place, right across the street from where CBGB’s used to be by the way. KCM: No kidding? SYLVAIN: I am not fucking you around, in fact once Malcolm came back in my life, I told him to go there to for the Red Patent Leather Show to rent a van, cause we needed a van to get our equipment. [Malcolm McLaren staged a DOLLS ‘comeback’ after taking over the management role post, Leiber, Krebs, Thau. It was Malcolm in his pre Sex Pistols days who had a brilliant idea to stage a RED PARTY with all the trimmings, dressing THE DOLLS in red vinyl, leather and rubber…..AND…hanging a communist hammer and sickle flag (sewn by Cyrinda Foxe) as a backdrop. NEISHT GIT!] http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1530830&style=music&fulldesc=T Hilly used to have a van rental place in a parking lot on the Bowery up the block and across the street from where CBGB’s was. Back in the day, 1970, 1971, 2, 3. By 1975 he definitely had that van rental place. You ought to search that. Maybe no one wants that to be known. I don’t know. Everybody gets started some way. Source: http://hillykristal.com/about-hilly/
“It’s a VERY old story. I hate to
KCM: Ha! What people did before they did what they were known for….
say it happened to me AGAIN. I was a SCHMUCK TWICE”.
SYLVAIN: Everyone gets started some way. For me it was all the clothing business. KCM: That’s right.
SYLVAIN: And I never knew how much money I could make! In fact I worked for Monsanto, which was part of the company I signed with. That was sort of like getting a record deal, and that happened with us, me and Billy Marcia, after we had the shop up in Woodstock. It was called Satcha Knits. We actually sold our knitted sweaters at the Woodstock festival, then we closed down and moved back down to Manhattan. That’s when we signed with this company out in Brooklyn…and they were part of Monsanto…the Nusbaum Knitting Mills. They were right on Broadway, by the way; right across the street from the Broadway Central Hotel. It’s so weird. Everything happened in a circle of, like, 25 miles. KCM: Well, Manhattan is a small island and they are not making any more of it. Everything is centered around it. Right now I live right up the street from the Mercer Arts Center, the scene of it all. SYLVAIN: Yeah, the reason why it was called the Mercer Arts Center is that the entrance is on Mercer Street. It was really a cool fucking place. When you walked into the joint and the first thing that greeted you was this cabaret called The Blue Room. As you walked in from there, on either side there were the big rooms as you moved to the back there were smaller theaters. And the one that was the furthest of ALL of them in the very very back was the Oscar Wild Room. (laughs) KCM: And that’s where you guy played. When the play ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’ had a run there, there was sort of an odd mix of uptown folks who came to see the play and downtown folks who came to see the DOLLS as well as other most downtown bands. As soon as Marty Rev and Alan Vega duo, Suicide, hit the stage …”Together they made chaos using microphone feedback and a fifty-dollar electronic keyboard. Vega, dressed in studded leather, stalked the stage like a combination of animal trainer and animal, swinging a motorcycle chain like a whip, cutting his face with a switchblade just to freak people out”[ www.mcldaz.org ], the uptown crowd pretty much ran for the door! SYLVAIN: It’s funny that you bring up Marty Rev cause the first time we got asked to play The Oscar Wild Room after we played The Kitchen, the guy who was running the place – I forget his name – he was always wearing a bow tie – he said, “you guys really excited the crowd and you brought in a lot of kids. Do you guys want to play here again?” So we said, “Yeah!” Then we got paid for playing The Kitchen and it was only $15. I remember we all went home with two dollars. [laughs] The first time we played [Mercer, in The Kitchen] we played with Magic Tramps. We knew their act. So the next time we played there in the Oscar Wild Room, we showed up for sound-check and who was rehearsing to play that evening but SUICIDE. KCM: …and they have their whips and chains…. SYLVAIN: Ya know honey, even though they were only doing the sound-check…you know how Marty Rev wore those radiator glasses? Well, their music basically irradiated everyone. You would have to get detoxed after you heard that stuff. And Alan Vega would go so wild and stuff that I remember that me and Johnny were walking through the room, and we said, “Holy shit! How do we get back home to Queens?” Cause that stuff was fuckin’ scary!” [laughs]. KCM: That’s crazy. SYLVAIN: Yeah, it scared the shit out of us. Of course as musician you long to make it to Manhattan. Although you are living out in Queens and it’s only a few subway stops away. But it takes a lifetime of experience to get to Manhattan. It was like taking a trip to Mars…seeing those guys. We were, like….”OHhhhhh my GOD!”. KCM: Yeah, it’s only a train ride away but Queens and Manhattan are worlds away as far as culture goes. Did you ever get to meet those guys? SYLVAIN: Oh yeah. We became best friends. Cause Marty Rev he was a fuckin’ genius. He came up with taking part of a Vox organ…really vintage….like what The Doors used to play on ‘Light My Fire’. And you had this guy taking that instrument and making his own synthesizer, ya know? I mean, before synthesizers were invented, hooking it up to all kinds of electrics to create all kind of effects; to take a simple organ and make it sound like the destruction of the world. KCM: And it’s just a two guy band.
“And Alan Vega would go so wild and stuff that I remember that me and Johnny were walking through the room, and we said, “Holy shit! How do we get back home to Queens? ” Cause that stuff was fuckin’
SYLVAIN: Yeah, it scared the shit out of us. Of course as musician you long to make it to Manhattan. Although you are living out in Queens and it’s only a few subway stops away. But it takes a lifetime of experience to get to Manhattan. It was like taking a trip to Mars…seeing those guys. We were, like….”OHhhhhh my GOD!”. KCM: Yeah, it’s only a train ride away but Queens and Manhattan are worlds away as far as culture goes. Did you ever get to meet those guys? SYLVAIN: Oh yeah. We became best friends. Cause Marty Rev he was a fuckin’ genius. He came up with taking part of a Vox organ…really vintage….like what The Doors used to play on ‘Light My Fire’. And you had this guy taking that instrument and making his own synthesizer, ya know? I mean, before synthesizers were invented, hooking it up to all kinds of electrics to create all kind of effects; to take a simple organ and make it sound like the destruction of the world. KCM: And it’s just a two guy band. SYLVAIN: Yeah. It was beautiful. There was another band that was unknown. They were doing the Suicide thing first. They were called The Silver Apples. I had seen them do almost the same thing except with drums and keyboards in 1968 in The Brill Building. I had gone there as a kid and they were having a performance in the first floor ballroom. The Silver Apples were opening up for Rick Derringer who was in the McCoys. [They had a hit with Hang On Sloopy.] They were just an experimental sound type of thing. KCM: Interesting. SYLVAIN: There are a lot of real dedicated followers of The Silver Apples. You know, it was that time…the 60s were over and we didn’t want to see a fucking Led Zeppelin. KCM: Yeah….get the energy going again. Make it dangerous, again. Make it sexy. SYLVAIN: Yeah, well Plant. He was sexy as shit and all the girls wanted to play with his pee pee. KCM: right!
[laughs]…yeah, I guess you are
“Although you are living out in Queens and it’s only a few subway stops away. But it takes a lifetime of experience to get to Manhattan.”
SYLVAIN: But it’s different. It’s a different thing. You know. Like, music that really crossed the line. Like…this is magic. This become part of my life. And it was sexy. It was very sexy, but it wasn’t the type of sexy where someone was going into a 30 minute solo on their own. KCM: You definitely made an impression. Your reputation preceded you. Where ever you went, your fans showed up before you. They followed you around the country. SYLVAIN: Even before we made our first record, our songs were hits. Everyone knew them and were singing them. Don’t forget, the New York Dolls, our true success was that we were ground zero for that whole sound. There was nobody, I mean nobody… maybe you had Iggy Pop and the MC5 but they were late 60’s bands. And believe it or not, in 1972 they had gone up and down already. They were back to playing small clubs. Iggy Pop was in Greenwich Village, ya know, trying to…get laid. KCM: [Laughs] SYLVAIN: And they hung around us cause, hey, wow, we were getting laid. End of story. And everyone around wanted to be with us cause we were the IT kids. KCM: Yeah, you had this magnetism. You had the people. You had the crowd. You ruled the scene back then. [Even at the top of their popularity and success – with the likes of David Bowie and other luminaries included in their entourage - the Dolls never made more than $200 per week each.] SYLVAIN: Most of all we had the songs….the songs that change your life. You know, we were talking about, you know Frankenstein….about daring you to have sex with a monster. I mean even as close as Alice Cooper and I were…. KCM: Well, he was hanging around the scene the same time as the Dolls. You must have run into each other a lot. SYLVAIN: Of course. We did. We went to his house. He would invite us over for Christmas and give us presents. KCM: Cool. Who else did you hang out with at Max’s. You would be there every night. It was a ritual. You would sleep late, get up in the afternoon, get all dolled up, so to speak, get over to Max’s at about midnight, hand out till 4. Then do it all over again the next day. You practically lived there. SYLVAIN: Well, yeah. We all got dressed up. Some of us were living in a penthouse. Excuse me, ONE OF US was living in a penthouse…. and the rest of us had to go eat those chick peas that Max’s had because we were starving. KCM: That’s what I heard, that Mickey took care of you guys. He never made you pay the check… SYLVAIN: No, no, no, that’s not true. He made us work. We were in debt. KCM: Oh… SYLVAIN: In fact me and Billy Murcia were caught smoking a joint in the bathroom, or something like that, and we had to play upstairs six nights in a row. Two shows a night. But we were 86’d from the club after our sets. We were chased out of the club. We were walked to the third floor, the dressing room. Then we would come down – I don’t know if you remember – the back of the stage had this fire escape that would go to the third floor and all the way downstairs in case there was a fire. So they would bring us in from the third floor down the staircase through the back door onto the stage. We would perform and leave that way. KCM: That’s crazy. How long did they enforce that? SYLVAIN: Well, it didn’t work out to have them enforce it permanently, cause, The New York Dolls were selling out 12 shows in a row, and The Velvet Underground were only selling three nights in a row. So they needed us so eventually they cut us some slack. They needed us there cause everybody came there to hang out with us. But they kept the bill rolling so that we were always in debt, so we would have to come back there and perform. KCM: Everyone has got a scam going
“The New York Dolls, our true success was that we were ground zero
SYLVAIN: You gotta understand this is show business. People are fucking tripping if they think that, Oh, back then it was great. It was so groovy. They are dicking themselves up the butt!!
KCM: Yeah, even Woodstock, with all of its love and peace was initially a business deal. Though it ultimately did not work out very well.
SYLVAIN: It’s all business. It’s always been nothing but business. And don’t forget back then, if you think it’s bad now, we never had any independent deals or the internet where you can project yourself before someone tells you, ‘you suck’ and that you had no business to be in show business. Back then it was a lot harder. We did not have a place to play. We had to steal it from people like The Velvet Underground. We went up to the Hotel Diplomat and rented it out. KCM: They had that room where it was always Christmas… SYLVAIN: Oh. They had The Christmas Bar. That was outside. In the same building, but that was next door. When you hear about The Hotel Diplomat, there were two rooms. There was The Grand Ballroom and there was The Ballroom. The Grand Ballroom was a place from the 60s! I played there with my band The Pox in 1968 with Billy Murcia and this guy named Mike Turby. We opened up for this band called The Group Image. And The Group Image, their lead singer was Barbara Kane who married Arthur Kane. I met Arthur in 1971. So yeah, we opened for Barbara’s band in 1968. We went out there, in those days I was really in love with Cream and Jimi Hendrix. And I was riffing like this and like that and the crowd really went nuts. And then they shut the electricity off on us! [laughs]. They never told us why, but we just kept on playing. Especially Billy Murcia cause he had drums and he could be heard. The kids were all tripping, or whatever, and they really dug what we did cause we were playing the blues, when it really came down to it. KCM: Rick Rivets was the second guitarist in the Dolls before you joined. Or was he? Clarify the sequence of events regarding that. SYLVAIN: The true story was that he was never a founding member of The Dolls. What happened was, and this is sort of a long story so bear with me, we used to hang out in this place on Bleecker Street called Nobody’s. KCM: Right. Everybody who was ‘anybody’ hung out at Nobody’s. SYLVAIN: Exactly, there were people there like Mark Bell, who became Mark Ramone after that. And Kenny Aaronson. They were in this band called Dust. And we were hanging out there, me Johnny Thunders and our girlfriends, all the kids from Queens and Brooklyn, Dust was from Brooklyn, we were from Queens. So me, Johnny Thunders and Billy Murcia were already playing together in Billy’s mother’s basement. And then we met Arthur Kane and he said that he was having problems with his father. He was out in Long Island and he had to move out of there. So Billy said, my mother, she rents rooms. Why don’t you go talk to her? And he did. He was best friends with George at the time… KCM: Now Rick. SYLVAIN: Right, Rick Rivets. They both made a deal with Billy’s mother and they both moved into the first room upstairs in the house out in Queens. And of course we had the place downstairs to rehearse and we had all of our equipment, our Marshall amps and our Les Paul Jr’s.
And Johnny would come down and we’d all start drinking and smoking and stuff like that. I remember that Arthur Kane had the greatest record collection with stuff as weird as Suicide and the first Thirteenth Floor Elevators. So we were all jamming together down in the basement, having our girlfriends over and taking the subway out to Nobody’s in Manhattan. So what happened was summer was coming and I was going to work with Truth and Soul, my clothing company that was signed to Monsanto, with Billy Murcia. I would work all winter and make all this money. And we would go to England every summer and hang out in Kensington Market and buy the boots and go see all of the bands, like Rod Stewart. I introduced all of my English friends to Alice Cooper. And we became friends with The Pink Fairies, which was a huge band at the time playing this club called Ronnie Scott’s. And so I would go there every summer, actually. That summer, Billy didn’t go with me. I went with my girlfriend at the time. And the whole deal was, and this is the point, that they knew I wanted to have a band called the New York Dolls [when I got back. The first version of the New York Dolls formed when Syl was in England.] The place where I worked before I had Truth and Soul was this place called The Different Drummer on Lexington Avenue. Peter Max made posters for The Different Drummer. One day Billy Murcia was working at The Different Drummer. I was there and Johnny came in to buy some pants. Then, after work, the three of us were walking up towards Alexander’s near Bloomingdales where the subway station is to go back home to Queens on 59 th Street and Lexington Avenue. And I showed them, “look”, I said, “you see that sign across the street, man? That’s going to be the name of my next band.” Then they said, “What?” Across the street from The Different Drummer was THE NEW YORK DOLL’S HOSPITAL which was a toy repair shop. Everyone…and I mean everyone…Jackie O and others, used to go up there and have their damaged dolls repaired. So I said, “wouldn’t that be a great name for a band?” And they said, “What??? THE NEW YORK DOLL’S HOSPITAL?” And I said, “NOoooo, just THE NEW YORK DOLLS.” How’s this, Karena? Going back about five years ago, the old man who owned THE NEW YORK DOLL’S HOSPITAL, he passed away. And I get a call from Bob Gruen. Gruen calls me up and he says, SYLVAIN, the old man from THE NEW YORK DOLL’S HOSPITAL died and they want to award you with the neon sign. And I have it down here in my basement! When I was awarded with that, I mean, if you wanted to see a grown man cry….. KCM: What a story! That is GREAT! So let me ask you something before we close. Is there going to be another DOLLS CD? SYLVAIN: After what happed with our three unsuccessful records, or very marginally successful records, I doubt it very much. I mean I don’t think there are even going to be any more gigs unless someone calls us up as they did for the Motley Crue show last year. We are not getting too much lately. But you know what? I tried my best and I tried to keep it as close to the old New York Dolls as I could and, you know, I’ll take that to the bank. KCM: Well you formed so many side projects…The Criminals, Teenage News, The Teardrops, It’s seems as though you just create music no matter what. SYLVAIN: Well, that’s the only thing I really do well and I do a lot of things, but music is something I have to do every day. And you have to do a lot of things to call yourself a musician and just keep on working. As long as I can perform and record…. As a matter of fact I just recorded some really cool stuff and I’ll tell you about it. I made some really cool records up in Nashville. And one of them was this… You remember the old country star Eddie Arnold and Cheetah Chrome of all people… KCM: That’s right, you and Cheetah…The Batusis. SYLVAIN: Yeah, well Eddie got me this gig. He became this A&R man for APlive Warner Records, Eddie’s grandson’s label and they did this compilation, which Bebe Buel was on, too. So I just did that which I feel really proud of. I mean, the musicians I played with…. the drummer from Wilco. And I had a guy who used to play with Johnny Cash, Dave Roe, the bass player. I mean the band was just incredible. Jason and The Scorchers guitar player, Warner E. Hodges. It’s going to come out next year. Plus I’m writing a book. I have a couple of agents that are helping me out. I don’t want to spill the beans, but…. KCM: I can’t wait to read it! SYLVAIN: I’ve got two writers and I’m going to do lots and lots of interviews from people from back then. I’m really looking forward to that. KCM: Me too! I’m REALLY looking forward to that. You must have a lot of stories to tell! SYLVAIN: I do. And it’s about time. I’m just going to talk the same way I’m talking to you. Exactly what I saw, what I lived. It’s my story. If someone wants to debate what they saw and what they felt, that’s cool. Without any biased or ego…..I’m not trying to become rich or anything…. I just feel that I’m the only person who will be able to tell what I saw and what I experienced.
KCM: Right, besides David Jo, [the only other original Doll still alive]. SYLVAIN: I wish him the best and I hope that he will find happiness. I hope one day down the road he will want to play with The New York Dolls as opposed to just HIM being The New York Dolls. ….playing with a BAND again. And we HAD a band. I didn’t put Steve Conte in the band but I DID put Sammy Yaffa in the band. I thought after Arthur Kane passed away….we tried out seven different bass players…and he left it up to me. He said Sylvain, I want to make you happy. That was the only time he ever said that to me. I said, “well OK, I’m going to call Sammy and tell him he is in the band.” The only reason those guys left… Well, you know a musician can’t call himself a musician if he does not have a home, can’t support his family and can’t put food on the table. He just can’t call himself a musician. And this is what happened. We went down and down and down under one leadership…[David Johansen] with his honey. He and his honey were controlling and running the whole show. As far a titles. As far as what songs are going to be on the record. As far as what songs we are going to sing. Everything. What happened was….it took us both down. I had to sign that I was going to deliver a New York Dolls record, and all I delivered was a David Johansen record. And it was good. I’m not saying that that music was bad. I’m saying that all the songs that David wrote with Steve Conte and David wrote with Sammy Yaffa and he took some of my songs…. they weren’t the most rocking songs. I went to David and said, that’s not a New York Dolls song, and he said, “Well, what IS a New York Dolls Song?” And I said if you have to ask, you don’t belong here. You shouldn’t have signed your name saying that you are going to deliver a New York Dolls record unless you know what the New York Dolls is!” KCM: Well said. SYLVAIN: I mean you don’t sign that you are going to deliver New York Dolls when you don’t know what that is. I mean, it started like that in 1973. By 74 when we did our ‘Too Much Too Soon’ album we were doing ‘Stranded In The Jungle’. But the way it came out on record…..OK….it had New York Dolls musicians. But all the things that they added with the girl background singers…it became a Buster Poindexter first record. KCM: I agree SYLVAIN: Did you ever see the Don Kirshner show…the TV show of the New York Dolls? KCM: No… SYLVAIN: I want you to go see that. What happened was he did not want Johnny to sing his own song. When Johnny started singing, he protested. We wanted to be a band. We didn’t want it to be a David Johansen band. We wanted it to be a New York Dolls band, where we are all involved. Johnny wanted to do Chatterbox. Chatter box came out on the second New York Dolls Album. And I’m telling you right there….it started to get really, really bad. I could just hear David saying to me, “Well what am I going to do when he is singing?” Do anything! Play the tambour rine! KCM: Dance. SYLVAIN: Or even, ya know, jerk off! Cause that’s what the public really wants! That would be a big hit, but as Daffy Duck would say, you could only do it once. Well, sweetheart, I gotta go baby. KCM: Thank you so much. I really enjoyed our conversation.
"I went to David an d said, tha t’s not a New Y or Dolls so k ng and he s , aid, “Well, w h a New Y at IS ork Dolls So ng And I sa ?” id if you ha ve to ask, you d belong h on’t ere."
My love for Aerosmith goes as far back as the days I spent in my mother’s womb. I remember when I was five years old I used to take all my mother’s scarves drape them all over me, and stand in front of the mirror singing along to Aerosmith. As I hit my teen years I got into a “GOTH” phase and forgot a lot about the classics, until I started going on “mind trips” as I like to call it. The first album I rediscovered was “Get Your Wings” and it had a major impact on me, which never went away. I was stung out in my room sitting on the floor with my shoebox that was filled with CDS on my lap (which I never left the house without). I opened the box and gazed into it, starring at this one unopened CD. I still til this day have no clue how this CD got there, but all I could say is that it was a gift from god! So I opened the CD, popped it in my beat up radio, pushed play, and the opening riff to “Same Old Song And Dance” ran through my speakers and into my veins. The riffs on the album blew my mind and Steven stolen my heart, I was in pure ecstasy and nothing fit the mood better than the song “Spaced”. I remember actually being in tears when I heard “Seasons of Wither” for the first time. The song struck me in so many ways, and every time I hear that song it’s as if I am listening to it for the first time. I still to this day have never heard a song that can compare to it. “Get Your Wings” truly opened up my mind to a whole another world of music, and gave me that hunger and desire to create and write music. It’s one of those albums that I listen to almost daily and turn to it when I need inspiration, or a good trip away from reality. I feel that the reason why music in this generation is so horrible is due to the fact that kids are not being exposed to music such as 70s Aerosmith. So a word of advice for new musicians out there, listen to this album along with the other Aerosmith albums from the 70s and learn from them.
‘There
has not been that much good music coming out of Germany in recent years but this trio is an exception. They fall somewhere between feel good Rock’n’Roll, Punk and everything else in between. Read more about what Sven Spacebrain had to say in this interview but you can also check out the band right here ‘ www.Torpedohead.de Photos By: Kayadaek
KCM: What made you get into music with this big competitive market out there? Sven: That had a lot do to with picking up the guitar….I wanted to play along to the ACDC records, but actually I had wanted to play drums because of Tommy Lee however that would have been too loud back in the day and so I picked up the guitar and one thing led to another and the next thing I knew I was standing on stage. When we started out we didn’t really think about the competition. It kind of leads from one thing to another. In the beginning you start playing music because you’re like; covering songs and playing you’re favorite tunes. Then you start to write your own songs and suddenly you’re playing gigs in your area and you’re recording demos and years later you put out your first CD and it goes on and on. KCM: So it started as fun and it snowballed.. Sven: It’s still fun. (laughing) we started out only having fun and now it’s only competition. KCM: Not too many people know about your first CD “Love sick Avenue”, what year was that released? Sven: That was in 2009. KCM: Did you do any touring for that album in Europe anywhere? Sven: We did a lot of gigs, but mostly the main gigs here in Germany that year. We did a lot of support shows and we played with the New York Dolls and Dan Baird from the Georgia Satellites…We didn’t do a whole tour but a lot of support gigs and things like that.
KCM: So then you released your EP? Sven: Yes that was later in 2010 and we got a bit of lineup change. At the end of 2009 our drummer quit the band and we got a new drummer. Then couple of months later we went into a studio and recorded the EP “Let’s go for a ride” and it was released in October of 2010. KCM: That’s when I first heard about the band and it seems like the EP was well received around the world because you got some great reviews. Sven: Yeah, the EP was designed to be a promotional tool and to create bit more of a buzz for a full album. KCM: I was excited to finally hear of a good band coming out of Germany, because even though you have a huge music market, there are not that many good bands that we get to hear about. Sven: The thing about bands from here is that they don’t think about the whole world, they focus mainly on Germany. We don’t think that way, we put out our music for everyone. KCM: So here you are with the release of your second full length album “Greetings from a Heartbreak Key” When I heard the title the Florida Keys came to mind immediately but I was thinking that it couldn’t be because not too many people from outside of the U.S. know about the Florida Key Islands. Sven: That’s exactly what it is… You guessed right, it’s the heartbreak key. I’ve had the idea from a book I was reading a book by Tim Dorsey. He writes these crazy comic novels which are based in the Florida area. He always talks about going to this key and that key and since we were writing
a lot of songs on love and heartbreak and suddenly it came to us. Our bass player Hardy had the idea to call it “Greetings from a Heartbreak Key”.
Sven: We’ve actually did two videos.. First the acoustic “Red City Lights” and we’re also doing another video called “Love is a Dog” it’s a faster tune.
We had this old house where we stayed in for one week and we set up a mobile studio there and recorded the whole album. It evolved from there. We didn’t really know which direction it was gonna go. It’s little bit different then the new CD but it’s also cool. We also used to be a four piece band and then we became a three piece band so it’s not easy to capture that sound but it’s what works for us the best and what defines the new album.
KCM: Tell me a little bit about the videos..
KCM: Would you consider adding one more person to the band?
Sven: “Red City Lights” it’s something totally different because it’s a track with one guitar and a little bit of harmonica which was recorded in the kitchen, just really simple. We are working once again with Christoph Wick who did our videos in the past and we shot this video in a barn….It’s basically playing in a barn and sitting around talking about music, things like that. The premise for this song is that you have a fun side to music and also a downhill side where you’re pushing a rock up a cliff but it always comes down, but who cares…”Red City Lights they won’t drive me out of town”. The next song is going to be totally different and I’m not going to reveal too much of that. ”Love is a Dog” is a bit more forward and Rock’n’Roll.
Sven: We thought about it for some time, but we don’t think about it anymore because we mastered the sound playing with three people. The great thing about being a trio is that it drives you to do more and more. I’m singing playing lead and rhythm guitars all in one person so you really have to drive yourself and make it sounds like it’s five people even though it’s only three.
KCM: So you’ve also just filmed a video not too long ago?
KCM: What was the process like for you in writing this album as oppose to your other CD’s? Sven: The main difference is that we did the first album before we started the band. We had a band before that but it didn’t work out and we’ve had a lot of songs. We changed singers and then suddenly I was singing the songs. We recorded them all by ourselves.
KCM: But that’s a good thing because you develop your skills as a musician, no? Sven: That’s what it is. It’s not easy being a singer and playing guitar. Maybe it’s easier if you just play three chords but we really play diverse stuff so you really have to work on that and it’s getting a really good live reaction because people always ask us how do we get this sound with only one guitar. KCM: Who are your personal idols? Sven: Well ACDC and Motley Crue got me into playing guitar and a lot of the 80’s stuff but I grew up on stuff like Elton John and The Beatles things like that. Also some punk like The Wildhearts and The Clash those are bands that all of us still really love.
KCM: You played in Italy not too long ago right? Sven: Yes we played in February and it went great. KCM: Where else will you be playing? Sven: We’re doing some German gigs now but we are working on doing some gigs in the U.K. and also we’re working on doing some more shows in Italy. We’re also planning on going to a studio over the summer to record new stuff, so there’s a lot going on. KCM: If you weren’t in Torpedohead, what would your ideal profession be? Sven: I would have turned out to be a writer. KCM: So do you have favorite authors? Sven: As I mentioned before Tim Dorsey and also Henry Miller, Charles Bukowski, things like that. KCM: If you had a chance to be a support act for a band, which band would you choose? Sven: It would be cool to open for the Michael Monroe band because we would fit really well.
These guys might be the new kids on the block but they sure have a rapidly growing fan base. They dominated over six other bands with a huge amount of votes and won our competition hands down. They may not have that many accomplishments at the moment, but from what these boys are saying, they seem to have a few things lined up. The band hails from the Czech Republic and it consists of: Harry Black - lead guitar and vocals, Roman Crash – Bass guitar and vocals, Jake Widow - rhythm guitar and vocals, Rikki Wild – drums and vocals. Get to know Nasty Ratz in the interview below where clearly neither Jake nor Rikki had a problem with speaking their minds.
KCM: Tell us a little about Nasty Ratz? Jake: It’s a group of four suckers who play glam rock. Who love melodies, wild riffs and stage shows. The band has been founded in 2012. Unfortunately, the lineup is different every half a year and I hope to stay with these guys as long as possible. Rikki: That’s my dream band; it gave me a CHANCE to be somebody. I just wanna make my dream come true with them :) KCM: Is this your first band or did you play with someone else before? Jake: I’ve been never a member but I used to play in a few bands for single performance. When I started thinking about my own band, I couldn’t play at all. Long time before NASTY RATZ, the songs were composed but I wasn’t able to play them correctly.
Rikki: I used to play in punk rock band Antropoid. It was a total mess and I wanted something more. KCM: Do you have management interest? Jake: If you’re in the band, there are lots of people who promise the moon but just a few of them are real managers. We have one lady who founded her promotion agency and she’s the manager of Malice in Wonderland and Amber & Ashes. She seems to be ideal for our band. I hope it won’t fuck it up. Rikki: We used to have a “manager” from the CZ. She promised us and didn’t do anything. I’d love to put the biggest dildo in her ass and blow her away. KCM: What are your plans for the rest of this year? Jake: Tour. We have actually some gigs in Germany, Italy in progress. Depends on money but we’d love to play in Greece and Slovakia until next year. Rikki: Play, play, play till death. KCM: Are you recording a CD? Jake: Not yet, but we have booked studio for a first single. You can call it three tracks EP, if you want. All money is earned from gigs and playing in the streets. Actually, our album has to be well distributed and simply perfect. We don’t wanna pay for our album and then just wait to the deadline when the engineer shows us the door. I think, that’s the biggest mistake of bands, nowadays. They release album which nobody cares about. Rikki: its long stretch, but we are trying to do our best. KCM: Are you going to be playing anywhere in Europe or just around Prague?
Jake: We’re gonna start a small tour around Europe pretty soon. Hope we’ll fuckin’ make it. Plus, we have an offer to play as a support for Crazy Lixx in Paunchy cats. There are some details we need to talk about with our management, sponsors etc. I’d love to play there, because I totally love that club in Lichtenfels, Germany. Rikki: I need to play all around the world! KCM: Who are your influences? Jake: There are so many. I like KISS the most. I love glam scene from 60’s till now. It’s pretty easy for me to become someone’s fan. I just need to hear a good riff, strong melody and in case of ballads, good lyrics. Rikki: KISS, AC/DC, Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister ... KCM: How would you describe the music of Nasty Ratz? Jake: You can hear there many influences. There is something from sleaze, back vocals should sound like from the 80s. We try to be a bit different from current glam bands. Rikki: It’s just kickass Rock’n’Roll! KCM: Do you have big American band influence in the Czech Republic? Jake: Everyone loves KISS here. It’s perhaps the most inspiring band ever, I guess. Rikki: Eric Singer, Phill Rudd. KCM: What do you want to be with this band in five years? Jake: To be stars. It’s just the only one reason why I’m doing that. Rikki: On top of fame!
KCM: Do you have a lot of small club bands in the Czech Republic? Jake: Unfortunately yes. To be honest, I don’t like Czech scene at all. There are a few exceptions like Sweet Leopard for example. Sometimes we are forced to play with a band we don’t like. I can’t say they are bad...They are just different from my taste. Rikki: They try to play, a lot. But they don’t get the business side of music. KCM: What do you do when you don’t play music? Jake: I do my girlfriend. Rikki: I do girls! KCM: What are your favorite movies? Jake: Braveheart, Naked Gun, Hot Shots, Green Mile, Detroit Rock City, Creepshows. I have to watch movies every night before getting outta this world. Rikki: Tenacious D, Rocker, Detroit Rock City.
KCM: What is something important that you have to have when you start a band? Jake: Contacts and image. It’s kind of sad, isn’t it? But I think that music isn’t enough. You have to make people to listen to you somehow. Rikki: Right people. KCM: What do you think is important to be successful? Jake: Ideas, not to be boring, contacts, show, good stuff. I don’t know. Look at us, we exist about a year and we won your competition (thanks to our fans), starting touring etc. I need to go to bed with that feeling that I did something for my band that day. Rikki: Cigarettes, hits, motivation and again, be with the right people. KCM: Where can people find out more about the band? Jake: Google loves us, but probably the best is Facebook. www.facebook.com/NastyRatz
Calling All Pinup Girls, Alt Models, Ink Diva’s & Rock’n’Roll Sexpots.
This is a Rock’n’Roll Pinup girl competition We have an open submission all year long. Being that KRASHCITY Magazine is a quarterly subscription We leave submission lines open all the time. You can submit your pictures at anytime to:
krashcitykitty@gmail RULES OF ENGAGEMENT You must be 18 years of age to enter Your pictures must be High Resolution NO NUTITY Required You will be emailed a Data Sheet which MUST BE Completed to finalize ALL submissions We prep your photo’s for international voting. The Voting time is one full week The kitty with the most votes wins!
WHAT YOU WILL WIN The WINNER of the competition will be the next centerfold pinup. You will given a featured interview and a 2 page Pictorial spread and FREE PR Spot.
REMEMBER ONE THING This is for fun, So have fun with it. For Further information please contact us at
krashcitykitty@gmail.com
It was very interesting to speak with Ashley Purdy from Black Veil Brides and to be honest I was secretly impressed that there’s so much more to him then what appears on the surface. He is very wise for someone who is still so young and in my opinion he is a great role model for our generation. Though you should always march to the beat of your own drum, trust me it’s worth reading what Ash had to say. Special thanks go out to: Jaime Simone, Kevin Chiaramonte and Paul Cybulski.
KCM: Tell everyone about your new album “Wretched and Divine” being that it’s a concept album, how different was it working on it then on your previous album? ASH: Going into it we didn’t want it to be just another ten to twelve track record that sort of follows up “Set the World on Fire”. “Set the World on Fire” was a success for us but at the same time we were like “how do we separate ourselves and still push boundaries for us as musicians and individuals?” I guess the approach we went to was to have that rock opera sort of a story. We’re a very conceptual band anyhow we had a concept for “Set the World on Fire” as well but going into this we wanted to carry the story even farther as far as being rebels and where we grew up and where we came from. This sort of has a parallel story of us as kids growing up and just being rebels. It’s kind of fictional as well but the approach to writing the music was to encapsulate a story first that we wanted to tell and so it creates a journey through the record from track one through track nineteen. We used to do stuff where we had a lot of instrumental stuff first, like the guitars, something else would happen first and then we’d do lyrics, melodies and so forth, but this approach is different because we started with a story first which lead us to have a lot of the lyrics and say what you wanna say first and then take out the feeling for the journey for each track and then write that way. So a lot of the melodies and lyrics were done before any instrumentation was even thought about. It was kind of more like scoring a movie I guess. It was more like a screen play because we already had the story and now how do we play it where it takes you through this musical journey and emotes your emotions and feelings through what’s happening through the story of The Wild Ones. KCM: I’ve noticed that in the past and even a few current bands I spoke to they usually put out their concept albums in threes, will you do the same? It seems to be a theme with people where the story continues.
ASH: We’re thinking about that for the follow up to this. I mean we’re already thinking ahead of ourselves and we know that other bands have done that with reason. The way we talked about it is if we were to do something like that it’s because; I guess as musicians and people we have so many diverse influences that it would allow us to explore different types of musical sounds for example; one track may sound heavy metal and the next more folky. It’s hard to be so sporadic on a record that has ten or twelve tracks, but I think that if we were to do three records that had five or six tracks that allows you the freedom, so it looks like a complete thing. I mean that’s just my interpretation. We had talked about that being that we have so many different influences.
We could have a straight up Rock’n’Roll record and then the next we could do where it’s more folky and more lyric based so it would be diverse but it wouldn’t seem to sporadic. KCM: How much involvement do you have yourself in the writing process? ASH: A lot, I think I’m one of the main song writers as a whole. Andy and I are the only ones who write any lyrics. KCM: So you’re like THE DUO. ASH: A lot of times it’s been said that Andy and I are kind of like the Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. KCM: Or the Jagger and Richards… ASH: (Laughing) Yeah the Jagger, the Richards because we literally write all the vocal melodies and all the harmonies, the lyrics, but as far as the rest of the guys in the band; they do instrumentation and stuff like that. KCM: So pretty much everyone’s involved? ASH: Yeah pretty much and everyone’s involved on this record too. C.C. wrote drum parts, Jake and Jinxx do all the guitars and all the harmonies with guitars and Jinxx did all the instrumentation as far as all the orchestral stuff, so yeah when it comes to all the lyrics that’s me and Andy. It’s always been like that, that’s always been our dynamic. KCM: Where are you touring right now and where will you be over the summer? ASH: We started touring in January because the record “Wretched and Divine” just came out in January. We did all the States, went to the U.K. , we went to Mexico for a couple of dates. KCM: How was that? ASH: It was wild, but each time we go to Mexico City we always get sick. So each time we leave Mexico it’s like travelers sickness. We’re very careful about what we eat and drink when we’re there it happens all the time but anyhow but the fan base there is I don’t know, because our fan base
in general is passionate and ecstatic, but there there’s something about South of the States like in Mexico and South America where they have this intense passion that comes with that culture. They will come running down the street and chase you in whatever we’re traveling. They’re in our hotel, they find out where we are at the airport. We have a video, we filmed a lot of it where it’s us running down the street and we have footage of when they were rocking our van at the venue. We had to have extra security and stuff. I mean it’s harmless, they mean well but we needed extra security for our own purpose so we could do what needed to be done. KCM: That’s a nice Beatles moment…. ASH: It feels exactly like that. So getting back to the tour, we go home for two and a half weeks and then we re-group and we do this tour all over Europe and then we come back and play some U.S. festivals and do radio stuff and then we’re headlining a summer tour. KCM: So you’ll be on the road constantly. ASH: Yeah till 2014 right now. We’re booked in the fall as well but I can’t say what that is just yet. KCM: If you had a chance to meet a world’s leader who would it be and what would you ask them? ASH: I would meet with our President first and fore most. I always say this too; I wonder why we are so concerned about what other people are doing in other countries and trying to feed the children and save the lives of people in other countries when there’s so much going on in our country where like we don’t care about. Even for us our fans come to us all the time about what they’re dealing with in school to bullying to just being suicidal and self-harming. I would be more concerned about what we are doing in our home land first, be concerned with our children and their education I think first what my major concern would be about. I firmly believe that knowledge is power and education is everything and I think a lot of it is lacking right now. I recently had a talk with a Mom who was concerned that her daughter was always semi popular but even with that she had to drop out of school and be home schooled because she can’t even go
into a class room and learn anymore because there are just so many distractions with peers and just what goes on in general. There’s something wrong with our educational system just from my knowledge with what I know per here say. I know our President is very big into education but there’s still something else that’s going on. KCM: I tend to agree with you, take care of your homeland before you take care of anybody else.. ASH: Yeah… KCM: How do you think you ended up with such a huge fan base around the world? What is the “IT” thing that you have which appeals to the masses? ASH: I actually think it’s pretty easy. First of all just social media in today’s culture helps out tremendously. We’re a big advocate of that, and we hit the ground running with that. Over all as far as the band goes it was pretty easy even before we started this project. I was always looking for a way to start a band that had something that entertained me, that I felt a part of and that not only was the music good but that I attached myself lyrically. Because that’s another thing, lyrics for me come first and then I get a feeling from that, something I’m feeling attached to and can identify with, but also something that’s esthetically pleasing too where I want to feel entertained and stuff. There was such a void in music that happened for a long time that it’s just kind of got stale and boring I guess and there was nothing that you felt like it was a community and you can feel a part of and I thought that it was a pretty easy thing that kids today especially with what we were just talking about education and feeling alone they can have something that they can feel a part of. It was this band. Not only are we great musicians that write good songs but we also look cool doing it at the same time. So at the heart of things I think that’s what kids attach themselves too and then social media takes you around the world. I think when you’re a kid you attached yourself to music especially in middle school and high school and you know which bands you like and you love that band for the rest of your life. I’m still like that with Guns’n’Roses and Motley Crue. (Laughing) I think I found out about them when I was in like the fourth or fifth grade and I still love them to this day. I guess it’s just a certain appeal, something that you identify with.
KCM: To me you guys just seems relatable with the hair and the make-up to the younger generation. ASH: It’s a heightened sense of being yourself. We always tell our fans to be themselves and do what they want in life, because life is short and you never know when your day will be up. Don’t worry what other people say or think about you, you don’t need to seek anyone else’s approval or acceptance. We have a positive message in our lyrics because that’s what we sing about. We don’t curse we don’t even say “damn” in our lyrics. We try to write intelligent lyrics and then people can attach themselves to that positive spin. KCM: Just wanted to mention that some of the questions are from your fans, we like to get them involved in interviews. ASH: I like to do that as well. When we’re on the road it’s tough but when I’m at home I would do an “Ask Ashley” on Facebook. Ask me whatever you want and I would go and select like ten questions at a time and answer my fans about anything and everything that they want to know. KCM: What’s the one thing you would be embarrassed about if you were caught off guard doing? ASH: I think in private I’m really silly. I like to dance and make up songs on my own (laughing)If you know me you know that I’m ridiculously silly and spontaneous. I’m just a dork, a nerd and I think a lot of people are scared to show that side of them. You’d be surprised to see how nerdy and dorky the rest of us can get. KCM: Well You’re being yourself. ASH: Yeah that’s the heart of it just being silly because life is not that serious. KCM: What’s the one goal outside of music that’s important to you and you have yet to achieve? ASH: I’ve always been a designer. I have a bachelor degree in design, marketing and advertising. Before this band, I was working as a graphic designer and I did a lot of marketing and stuff, so I think in the art world there’s still a lot that I haven’t touched and I still want to do. Even now, when I go home for a couple of weeks before we start our next tour I’m a launching a clothing line. That will be out sometime mid to late March I’ll have an online store which will sell my merchandise internationally www.ashleypurdy.com and I’ll have a store on Melrose in Los Angeles as well. The store on Melrose will have trendy fashions and stuff and it’s called “Forgotten Saints L.A.” at 7569 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046 phone: 323.655.0589 or www.forgottensaintsla.com Another thing is that I want to manage bands because I have so much knowledge of what it takes to have a band and run a band. I think the sky is the limit as far as art in general. KCM: That’s great, I had no idea you had a degree in design. That’s why it’s important to stay in school kids. ASH: I always say; Use protection, don’t get pregnant, don’t get married, get an education first. KCM: What’s the weirdest gift a fan has given you? ASH: There are so many, so it’s hard to pick one. We’re a band that gets so many gifts. I was just going through them because I’m in my hotel now. After a day or two I always go through my stuff and weed out everything. I know people have some crazy tattoos of me and stuff and they always create their own dolls. I think the funny ones are the ones where I look nothing like what I really look like, those are always cute. I like a lot of the stuff that they are creative about. I get a lot of handmade jewelry that says Purdy or Outlaw or something like that. It’s pretty neat and our fans are great about that. It’s like Christmas every day when we’re on tour. KCM: Do you collect anything.
ASH: Lots of stuff but it’s hard to keep everything. I have a storage unit back in Los Angeles where I keep a lot of stuff. I keep things that were done with a lot of thought or things that mean something to me. KCM: What generally impresses you about people and what turns you off? ASH: Right away what turns me off is ignorance just in general, small minded people. That happens a lot where people don’t know you but they’re pre-judging you and I don’t know why they use this derogatory term but call you “Gay” in general. My question is; why? Are you homophobic because now you’re not only being derogatory to me but a whole group of people. That’s the biggest turn off, just negativity. The thing I admire most in people is when someone is doing something for themselves. When they’re not whining and complaining and have an actual ambition and goals. I think that’s what I pride myself in so much. I’m a kid from a town that consists of two hundred people in Missouri so if I can do what I’m doing now anyone else can do it too. Where I come from there is nothing there. I only watched TV and had an ambition and a dream. So when other people come from a situation and they don’t become a product of their environment the best thing is just to get out of that situation. A lot of kids think that their Mom or Dad or whoever they look up to an adult that they know everything, well they don’t know everything we learn things every day. Learn stuff for yourself and do stuff for yourself. KCM: When you hit it big with the band what’s the first thing that you splurged on? ASH: I don’t know, we’re not that materialistic of people. A lot of the other guys went out and bought cars, but me personally I already had a car (laughing) so I was just saving my money for when I got off tour and maybe get a house or something. Right now we have not spent any money because we have been so busy. Just go buy Starbucks every day and splurge (laughing) it’s the little conveniences I guess. KCM: Name one musician outside of your band mates that you would like to be involved with musically. ASH: Taylor Swift. I would love to do a duet with her. I think that my appeal to music is different than what you would think. I really love country music and a lot of people that I like in Country music are older now so I wouldn’t wanna write with them. Some of my other favorites are Jason Aldean he’s really cool. I also like Nikki Minaj and Lady Gaga so to do a duet with any of those girls I’d be stoked. KCM: If there was a movie made about you, what would it be called? ASH: “Little bit country, little bit Rock’n’Roll” as the Dolly Parton song goes. KCM: If you had a chance to play a character in a movie, who would it be? ASH: My all-time favorite movie is “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and Johnny Depp played Hunter S. Thompson, that’s my all-time favorite. KCM: Who’s the one person that’s given you good advice that you have actually listened to? ASH: Probably my uncle Dennis who passed away, but he was someone while I was growing up in my town showed me a lot of the outside world that I didn’t know about. He traveled a lot for work so he put a lot of perspective when I was a young formidable kid growing up. He taught me how to treat people and taught me how to live life in not such a serious way. KCM: What is your best tip for a band to breakout from being underground? ASH: A lot of people think it’s songs, but I think it’s the whole package. If you actually want to be successful you have to look at it as a business and have the songs, the look, and a package. Everything is in a name, so you have to have a great look, a great name, great stage presence. Maybe it’s a little daunting to have all those things but first just start with that.
KCM: Do you believe that it takes a village that you have to have good people behind you? ASH: I think first if you have a good product the people behind you will come. When we first started we didn’t have people behind us yet, but we had a good product and we had something that spoke volumes for our talent and so then the industry listened. I don’t think that you can go to the industry and knock on their doors if you don’t have something. KCM: I agree that you have to have the talent and the whole package first, and know what you want. ASH: But the major ingredient is just passion and ambition, and if you believe in yourself then other people will believe in you too. If you don’t believe in yourself, who’s gonna believe in you? KCM: That’s great advice. Well thanks so much for this awesome interview. ASH: I’d also like to mention that I have my own signature guitars at Dean guitars and those are on sale now, just go to www.deanguitars.com and my signature basses are on sale there. This was fun, thank you!
The Rules Of Engagement: 1 Band or Artist MUST be LOCAL NYC / Tri-State Area. 2 Band or Artist MUST NOT be signed to any label or management. 3 Band or Artist MUST submit a complete and professional PRESS KIT. (Complete Press Kit Band or Artist Bio, Photo and at least a 5 song demo) 4 Band members or Artist MUST BE 16 years of age. Please submit ALL Press kits MUST BE submitted no later then July 25 2013 to kcmchoppingblock@gmail.com
The international voting will begin AUGUST 1 2013 The Winner Takes ALL: The winner will receive a FULL FEATURE Interview in KRASHCITY Magazine, Krashcity T-Shirts, Your music featured on KRASHCITY RADIO, A FREE 3 hour Photo Shoot with FAMOUS NY, Local NYC show Booking through Heather Black Bookings NYC. GOOD LUCK TO ALL
STACEY-Hi Rita KCM- Hey how are you? STACEY- I am good how are you doing? KCM- Good thanks for taking the time out and doing this. STACEY - Sure. KCM- So you ready? STACEY - Fire away. KCM- So you recently made a major change in your career by leaving LA Guns after tens years, so what happened and why the change of heart? STACEY- Last year I just started getting a little burned out. My guitar playing was kind of go in a different direction, a little more in a progressive direction, and I think they were kind of wanting to go the opposite way into a more linear 70s kind of style. It was that and also the non stop touring year after year, and I have a little bit of a leg gingery something called sciatica, which is nerve damage that affects your back and legs. The way we were touring was becoming very grueling, I wasn’t enjoying it anymore and I just felt like my heart wasn’t quit in it. So out of respect for the band and myself I just felt it was time to move on. KCM- So what’s the next step that you will be taking?
STACEY - Well I got quit a few different things that I am doing right now. I am working with a company called Soundtrack Loops, which are all these recording stems for music downloads and interfaced with music mixes. I have already done one full guitar pack that you can check out at www.soundtrackloops.com and I am in the process of working on a new package to be put on the market as well with those guys. I am also doing a lot of session stuff and also playing with Hard Rock All Stars, which is combined with Ratt, Jamie St. James and the people of Black And Blue, and also doing some acoustic shows with Robert Mason of Warrant. So I’ve been pretty busy the last 4 or 5 months since I left the band. I am just kind of like a free agent right now and I got my hands in a lot of different cookie jars. I am kind of just taking what’s coming across my desk and its nice not to be on a real hectic schedule right now. I am just exploring other avenues right now, and its all good. Well I got quit a few different things that I am doing right now. I am working with a company called Soundtrack Loops, which are all these recording stems for music downloads and interfaced with music mixes. I have already done one full guitar pack that you can check out at www.soundtrackloops.com and I am in the process of working on a new package to be put on the market as well with those guys. I am also doing a lot of session stuff and also playing with Hard Rock All Stars, which is combined with Ratt, Jamie St. James and the people of Black And Blue, and also doing some acoustic shows with Robert Mason of Warrant. So I’ve been pretty busy the last 4 or 5 months since I left the band. I am just kind of like a free agent right now and I got my hands in a lot of different cookie jars. I am kind of just taking what’s coming across my desk and its nice not to be on a real hectic schedule right now. I am just exploring other avenues right now, and its all good. KCM- Cool. You know after a while of touring its good to just take a break from that life style and putting your musical talents to use in other ways. STACEY - Yeah I just needed to stop for a while and I just needed a break physically and mentally from that whole thing. That’s a band that just never stops touring and I didn’t expect them to stop, and I just felt like it was time to move on. I am very grateful for the gig it was a great ten years, and we made some great albums and did some great tours. I am very thankful I was given that opportunity. KCM- Are you working on some solo stuff? STACEY - Yeah I’ve got some offers that I am going over. A few times there was talk over a new band situation that was steaming out of certain sessions that I was doing with Andy Johns god rest his soul, that didn’t quit pan out. I am not rushing into anything I am doing what’s right for me right now. You know it’s a big step, its like getting out of a ten-year marriage and now being single. (laughing) KCM- That’s very true and its good that you have chose this path. I know how hard it is dealing with nerve damage so you have that to think about, and with these tracks that you are creating you never know I might hear them in movies or something like that. So I feel you definitely made a good choose. STACEY - Yeah, you know there’s that whole another avenue and that whole another world that is just so massive and I wasn’t really that aware about. So I am really excited to be doing this and its very creative. I am not just relegated to one style of guitar playing, there is so many different things that we do. The first pack that we did I emulated every kind of player from Brian Setzer, to Richie Blackmore, to George Lynch, to Randy Rhoads, to Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was really fun creatively to try and emulate not only that style of playing but also the sound and things like that. I am real excited to be doing all this different type of stuff guitar wise, which is really show casing my talent and my playing. KCM- Yeah its sound like a lot of fun because you aren’t just stuck on doing one type of style. I know that you have many styles of guitar playing, which we will talk about later on. You have a very long history your first popular band was Roxx Gang, and you never stopped after that. So, how was that experience? STACEY - It’s started off cool and then kind of became a drag. It was kind of a weird situation were everything evolved around the singer, and I don’t do well in those situations. I am a band guy and I like it when it’s a team between four or five guys and its not just one person dictating everything. That gets old after a while and that was the situation
, and it wasn’t good. I ended up actually staying with that band for eight years. Again I am grateful for it and it got me on my path, of course I was a fan of the bands so to move from Toronto down to Florida with those guys was really cool. We did a couple of cool albums and there were some cool shows, for the most part I look back and there was a lot of bad memories too. It was a very colorful path. KCM- It sucks when you are stuck in a band and it’s like a one-man show. I always say that it’s a four or five man show, its not just about one person or member. STACEY - And it was a very weird time too. It was the early 90s and the whole Grunge and Alternative thing started to happen, which was just a tough period for any musician in that genera. KCM- Yes that’s true, it was an extremely hard time for any musician doing the style that you guys were doing. A lot of the bands in the 80s fell apart or changed their style and it was a really rough year for music, and it was hard for a band to stick to their roots back in the 90s. STACEY - Exactly. KCM- You are also hooked up with a company called Six String that is an app for guitarist how is that working out, do you find it beneficial? Stacey- It’s a really cool app; I am the featured artist of the month. It’s a cool site I argue all guitar players to sign up to it, and it’s a way to kind of share your stuff, your gear, and all your thoughts about guitars and amp related topics. You can network with people and put little sound bites of stuff that you are working on, so yeah it is a really cool app. I’ve just been so busy recording and starting to get back into playing live again, but I do think all guitarist should check out that app. KCM- Yeah it sounds really cool and sounds much better than Facebook (laughing). At least it’s all about music, and it’s hard these days to find communities only dedicated to music and musicians. So I am going to check that out even though I am not a guitarist (laughing). STACEY - Absolutely. KCM- So you took a very different approach with your first solo album you released “Symphonic Slam
” How was the experience like of taking classical pieces and recreating them in your own style? That was very brilliant by the way. STACEY - That was a lot of fun to record. That started out as a session with Cleopatra Records who released the last LA Guns album. The first song that we actually did was Green sleeves, and Adam Hamilton who used to be in LA Guns produced it. It turned out so well that Brian Perera the owner of Cleopatra Records said that we should do a whole album like this. It was great because of how challenging it was you have to look at it as your voice being your guitar. So you have to approach each track and we were doing the original tracks from the composers Bach, Beethoven, Strauss, etc and we had to rock it out, but we kept the classical touches by using an orchestration. Adam did an amazing job producing it and he also played bass and drums on it along with all the orchestration. So a lot of thought went into the process of it, and using your guitar as your voice. There were a lot of times that we would repeat the same melody, so that was kind of unique to go into something like that which I have never really done. It was exciting to really put some thought into the arrangements and how I would attach certain songs like Moonlight Sonata. So there were certain tracks or pieces that I wanted to have like a voicing or a certain kind of melody to it. That was a cool experience. KCM - It had a very unique sound and it takes talent to pull something like that off, it came out really cool. STACEY - Like I said Adam really did an amazing job, we spent about two months doing that record. The guy is like a machine he would just have all this orchestration down for three tracks in just one day, so it saved a lot of time. Then we would go in and mess around with guitar phrasing and stuff like that. I would spend hours and hours coming up with all these different guitar parts to certain songs that we were doing. I think the album came out pretty amazing, and it’s hard to believe that it was four years ago. KCM - Yeah its crazy how the years fly by. So what is your favorite tour that you have been on through out your whole career? STACEY - The first few years with LA Guns we did a lot of tours that we would take out buses and stuff. The first year I was in the band was an amazing year, we went to Europe twice, we did a full Canadian tour, and we toured with Dokken for our US summer tour. That tour always brings back a lot of good memories it was an amazing tour. Then once gas prices when up a lot of bands had to change their way of touring because it was just so expensive, a lot of the bands start to just fly. They would fly into Pittsburg and play 2 or 3 cities in a 250-mile radius and then fly back home. A weeks later they would go out and do the same thing in a different area, so we started doing that and a lot of bands are still doing that so its not a tour were you constantly are touring. After six years of just flying and flying and taking 100 flights a year, and sitting in a cramped air craft it started taking its toll on my back and then I developed sciatica. Last year it was just grueling for me, looking back I think that Dokken tour was one of the best it was a lot of fun. KCM - Yeah and its crazy how in not even 2 years you played Long Island at least 3 or 4 times, and I would have never thought that you were in so much pain with your back. STACEY - Well I would have good days and bad days. The show is the most important thing that’s why a lot of guys in bands drink (laughing) to take the edge off, or to travel, or if they have back pain, or an injury. Talking about that, when I was touring last year in the summer time I just wasn’t having a fun and it wasn’t fair to myself and it wasn’t fair to the other guys. If you keep doing that what’s going to happen is your band mates are going to start resenting you and you are going to start resenting yourself or everybody else that you are working with. It could go down an ugly path and it was kind of going in that point, and I didn’t want it to get in that point.
KCM- And I can’t blame you for getting tired of doing that same thing for ten years, that’s a lot of years and its time to move on. I think you are already on a great start and I think you made the right choice to just move on. STACEY - Thank you, and life is a journey and filled with different roads. I just felt that I had reached that peek with the band, and as great as LA Guns are they are an awesome and always will, I just wanted to see what else was out there and I wanted to experiment more with different things. KCM- So you grew up in Canada and being major into music did you find it hard to connect with people while growing? STACEY - No not really. Growing up in the 80s Toronto had a great music scene and in the late 80s early 90s it was like LA. There was a ton of clubs that were great to play and there were lots of cool musicians, and there was a total scene there like in many other cities because there actually was a music industry. The one thing I always thought was wrong was the record industry there; the labels out there are really safe they would have never signed a band like Guns n Roses or LA Guns or any kind of band like that. It was always very radio oriented safe rock, and I just kind of saw that as a dead end. I knew that if I wanted to have some kind of music career I was going to have to move to the US. Even the bands that were getting signed to major labels like Capital or CBS they really didn’t get pushed that much in the US, and that was frustrating to see. Looking back again at the Roxx Gang era I was very fortunate that I was able to join that band, move to the US, and got my start. But there was a great scene there, towards 92’ when I moved to Florida it was starting to crumble but that was kind of happening nation wide. KCM- The 90s was just rough all over. Well I guess that is why musicians complain about it out in Candia because record companies don’t sign bands that aren’t safe. I was curious to know why people were complaining about the industry out there, because I don’t really know much about the scene out there. STACEY - Well its just the music industry period that is a whole different ball game in these days. Its tough and I feel bad for up and coming musicians, its just a different approach, and you have to look at the social media as a way to get yourself out there and make your success through YouTube, Facebook, and stuff like that. There’s no really set scene anyway were label people are hanging out at clubs looking to sign bands, it doesn’t happen any more. KCM- Its unfair as well because no one is really checking out what’s going on out there. Even in New York City there is not that many rock bands that are good, but the ones that are really good are just staying underground because no one is discovering them. STACEY - Yeah and its Unfortunate, and it’s the same in LA there is not really much out there. The last time there was a good scene was like 2001-2004 and after that it just kind of died and never came back (laughing). KCM- You would never think that would happen in LA, and so many clubs are closing out there. I know the Key club just closed and I was in shock when I heard. I give all the bands from the 80s that are still standing a lot of credit. So, do you have a favorite guitar or favorite kind of guitar that you find yourself always coming back to? STACEY - I have a nice little guitar collection, I had about 20 guitars but I sold a few that I just didn’t play anymore. Now I have a nice little collection of about 15 or 16 guitars. I certainly do have my go to guitars; I’ve got some nice Les Paul's. There’s a guy out in Palm Desert that makes guitars for me and they are like Charvel guitars.
He has made some nice guitars for me, and I am endorsed by BC Rich. I have quite a few Gunslinger that I use time to time. It depends on my mood; right now I am playing a lot with my Fender Stratocaster. I kind of go in stages were I get fixated on one guitar for a couple of months, then I put that one in the closet and I’ll grab another one. I bounce between all my guitars and try to show them all as much love as I can. (laughing) KCM- (laughing) It also depends what kind of sound you are looking for too. STACEY - Exactly KCM- If you are looking for a certain sound there are certain instruments that you just have to use. Stacey- Exactly, like with the Hard Rock All Stars its all 80s so I tend to use my 80s type guitars which is my BC Rich Gunslingers. The last thing I was doing with Andy Johns was going to turn into a new band and it was very different, it was like The Cult meets Stone Temple Pilots so I used my Les Paul's for that. It really does depend on the style and certain styles are for certain guitars. KCM- Yeah I feel that way even with bass and drums. So what was one of the most unexpected things or events that has happened to you? STACEY - Unexpected? KCM- Yeah something that you never thought would happen to you. STACEY - Probably having my book published, or writing it for that matter. I never thought I would end up doing that, and it being released in 2009, it’s been out for quite a while. That was a nice accomplishment, getting that published, and getting really great reviews. It was something that I never expected to do. KCM- Speaking of your book, how was the experience of going back in time and re thinking all those moments? STACEY - It was therapeutic (laughing). I’ll tell you it was a lot of work, I didn’t have a ghost writer so it was a lot of work. It was a lot of long nights and I am so thankful that I had people helping me. There were a lot of great people in my concern helping me out with that. I have spoken about re-releasing my book, which I want to focus on this year and add another six to seven chapters to it. So much has happened in these past few years, so the first addition can be the collections additions. There is just so much that goes into it, and its very time consuming, you wear your heart on your sleeve when you talk about your life. You are gonna piss a few people off and crack some eggs, but it was a cool experience and I don’t regret any of it. KCM- Cool I look forward to the re-issue of that. So to conclude, what is up a head for you? STACEY - Right now I am just focusing on the things that I got on my plate right now. There’s a couple offers that I am waiting for now to play with bands, and I am just keeping my name out there and focusing on my guitar playing and myself right now. If I end up doing a solo record great, if I join another band that’s great too. I feel like a new free agent in the baseball world right now, I want to do what’s right for me and with what’s best for me. We’ll see what happens, the sky is the limit. KCM- Cool, well I look forward to seeing what’s up ahead for you, and I hope to see you play alive again soon. Hopefully I’ll hear some of those tracks you are creating on television or in films. STACEY - Yes for sure! KCM- Thank you so much for taking the time out and chatting with me. Stacey- Thank you take care.
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