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ROXIE 77 Ryan Roxie talks about lessons in Rock from Alice Cooper
Interviews with Fountains of Wayne, Ray Luzier DLR Band Firehouse, The Sparkling Bombs, Shari Black Velvet
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I said in the last editorial that 2004 could be a good year for rock music and for me personally it looks set to be 'extra' special! Why? - well my favourite band ever, of all time, perhaps the greatest rock band in history - The Mighty VAN HALEN are back, baby!! Apparently things are all smoothed out with one Mr. Hagar and they've have already recorded some new tunes and are all set to hit the road in the US later this summer - Oh Yes! So I'm happy as a pig in shit and can't wait to hear some new stuff yet to be honest, at this point I would have taken anything from the VH Camp right now (no pun intended there!) even an instrumental album would have been welcomed so this reunion of ‘Van Hagar’ is way cool. BUT, I do have a reservation. I loved Gary Cherone as the last frontman for the band even though not many other
people did! Okay the VH3 album wasn't a classic, far from it, but it was an album full of fresh ideas and a band once again with a fire up it's backside and I'm certain a follow up would have been awesome. The tour for one was spectacular and fans should have ate it up. The set contained songs not played in over a decade, you never knew what was next and Cherone commanded the stage alongside an Eddie Van Halen who looked like a big kid again. The previous Hagar tours had become predictable, you could almost guess the set list before the show and that is my main concern that VH may return to this format. I truly hope not and if I get lucky enough to travel to one of these shows I'll be the first to let you know, so for now I wish Eddie, Sammy, Alex & Mike a welcome and long overdue return, we've missed y'all very much!
• TRASHPIT Issue 4 - Summer 2004 • Editor - ROB LANE • All Articles, Reviews & Photographs by ROB LANE unless otherwise stated. © 2004 For What It’s Worth Promotions Roxie 77 Photos - Droid & Dianne Vega - Live Cover Pic by Bill Crowe • Alice Cooper Band - Ward Boult • Ray Luzier Promos - Neil Zlozower Fountains of Wayne Promos - Neal Casal, Joseph Cultice • Firehouse Promo courtesy Bill Leverty • Sparkling Bombs Promo - Rhonan@chaos Plan A Pic - Jamie Campbell • Steve Summers Pic - James Wright • Skid Row Pic - Alex Ruffini • Black Velvet Pic courtesy Shari Black Velvet
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w e v i D Re s B*Movie Heroes Anthems For The Underdog Spank Records
Okay, this album may have been out for a while but a copy finally came winging it's way to us and it deserves a shout out here for being such a honest, slab of powerful British hard rock. Following the demise of The Yo-Yo's saw the arrival of the B*Movie Heroes who have gone on to be one of the countries hardest working bands, always on tour and always delivering big guitars and big, fat choruses. 'Anthems For The Underdog is just that - a collection of sing along, fist punching powerhouse tunes that demand loyalty and respect. 'One Rung Up From Misery' shouts as a favourite, for being damn catchy and because for some reason it reminds me of a song from the Top Gun soundtrack! The B*Movie Heroes come over like The Wildhearts and Therapy? jamming out The Clash with a great knowledge of melody, balls to the wall power and the vision to go on to be something real special. The under dogs may very well soon have their day. 7/10
Bang The Union American Dream
Counting Crows Films About Ghosts Geffen Undoubtedly one of the finest bands of the last decade deliver an almighty collection of songs on this hits package. Here's a band that released a double live album after just their second studio offering and pulled it off with style so, two studio albums later a 'Best Of' is more than justified. The Crows magic comes from being able to deliver oceans of genuine feeling without dragging it down in false self pity which so many 'emotion' driven bands build whole careers upon. Without ever changing direction, Duritz and company have continued to sound fresh and timeless with songs 'Rain King' and 'Omaha' from their 1993 debut standing proudly alongside recent radio smashes such as 'American Girls' from the excellent 'Hard Candy' opus. The cover of 'Big Yellow Taxi' may be one of their biggest hits but it seems unnecessary on an album that is full of pure classic song writing and one that deserves to have their name alongside such musical legends as The Eagles, Tom Petty and REM. 9/10
Drama Queen Die Drama Queen Die TB Records
FastLane Records Direct from the old school of swing and strut, boogie rock and roll come Bang The Union. You just know for sure that if this Atlanta quintet had released this album ten or even twenty years ago it would have sounded exactly the same! It's raw, crunching bar room rock and roll which is untouched by grunge, never laid ears on nu-metal and sniggers in the face of pop punk. Walking hand in hand with Great White, The Black Crowes and vintage feel of the Stones, BTU serve up twelve tracks which never really stray from the same simple rock format. Not a bad thing as 'On My Side' and 'Tongue Tied' with it's AC/DC big chord intro, thunder from the speakers and take no prisoners. But being timeless also means we've heard it all before and other than the occasional beer drinkin', hard rockers who never gave bands like Nirvana and Green Day a chance, it's hard to say who this will appeal to. Saying that though, there's thousands of people out there like that so Bang The Union could be onto a good thing here - doh! 6/10
All I knew about this album was that it featured performances from Chip Z'Nuff and Ricky Parent so excitedly I was expecting another power pop masterpiece, boy was I wrong! Drama Queen Die turns out to be the solo project of musician Andrew Walker who wears his influences proud and loves his 80's hair metal - don't we all? So once you get over the initial shock of instant time travel you can begin enjoying an album that whilst sounding dated, stands proud for what it is. Like very early Bon Jovi and Poison, Walker's simple and effective songwriting is what will earn him his praises as there's no avoiding the lure and somewhat innocent charm of tracks like 'Where Are You Now' and the Slaughter-esque 'Little Girl' which features a cool Extreme guitar intro. The amount of bands which DQD 'borrow' from is endless and as a fan you will no doubt hear many more than I could mention here resulting in a debut which acts as a strong introduction to a guy with a lot of talent but one that is also a tribute to an era we all love so much. 6/10
Gemini Five Babylon Rockets
Bill Leverty Wanderlust
Wild Kingdom
leverty.com
Anyone who caught Gemini Five's support slot on the recent Hardcore Superstar tour would definitely have been impressed by the power delivered by these Swedish rock monsters! The sign of how good they were was cemented when hearing the album some weeks later I found most of the songs had already taken root in my head! This is epic hard rock with a huge guitar and keyboard foundation giving it a somewhat industrial Marilyn Manson feel at his most melodic and has huge crossover appeal for both the Glam and Goth markets. This hits it's most anthemic on 'Hardcore' and 'Chemicals Between Us', its most sleazy on 'Get It Off' and the bands excellent take on Dead Or Alive's 'You Spin Me Round' seems custom built for the trash overhaul Gemini 5 put it through. Babylon Rockets snatches elements of each Motley Crue era, from its raw beginnings through to the hard edged grunge phase, and bonds it with an attitude and modern day foot hold to create volume grabbing hard rock for the masses. 7/10
Jack Off Jill Humid Teenage Mediocrity Cargo / Livewire Direct from 'Fort Lauderhell, Florida, USA' comes this vast, rough and arrogant, angst ridden collection of twenty two songs recorded between 1992 and 1996. Walking proudly alongside Marilyn Manson and his Spooky Kids, the ragged girl force that made up Jack Off Jill never really managed to make the cross over into the dark American mainstream which Manson eventually courted towards the end of the decade. This time capsule though captures a wealth of creativity for the band led by Jessicka (now fronting new band Scarling) and may well see them earning praise many years after their demise. With Manson handling production duties on these early demos the sound quality never really delivers the relevant power that songs like 'Horrible', 'Spit and Rape' and fairy tale hell of 'Yellow Brick Road' need but the energy and attitude is ever present. It's obvious from his excellent liner notes that Manson held this band very close to his heart and perhaps now the time is right for others to take notice. 6/10
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CALLING ALL UNSIGNED / NEW BANDS TrashPit will be running a new column featuring unsigned and new bands in future issues. Send demos / CD's to the address at the front of the mag.
Fuelled by a passion for the road and never dying musical spirit, Firehouse guitarist Bill Leverty headed into his home studio to create this new musical side project. Wanderlust takes the commercial melodies of Firehouse but instead of layered sugary choruses it welds them to a cool southern Skynard vibe which adds a great blues feel and swing. The Firehouse trademark stamp is ever present with band mates Michael Foster and the late Bruce Waibel handling drum and bass duties alongside several co-writes with vocalist CJ Snare on 'You're Not Getting Over' and 'All My Life'. Taking over as lead singer, Leverty commands the songs well with his gravelly delivery on the title track and easily handles the touching Bryan Adams style of possible mega-hit ballad 'Anytime'. Wanderlust could certainly grab rock fans who enjoyed Tyketto's Strength In Numbers phase or maybe the 'mature' Kotzen Poison Native Tongue era yet it also can't fail to impress fans of great guitar fuelled deep south style rock. 6/10
Malibu Stacey On Heat Townsend Records / Universal Holy shit! Talk about grabbing you by the balls, slamming you against the wall, setting you on fire but somehow finding you like it is close to how you might feel by the time first track 'Invasion' from 'On Heat' comes to it's explosive end. Simply put - Malibu Stacey sound massive! For those unfamiliar, this is the new band from ex-Terrovision bassist Leigh Marklew and he's traded the pop rock quirk of the Bradford chart toppers in favour of big, brash modern day punk rock bolted to big ass metal riffs and he's all the better for it. There's still a great deal of humour with it's tongue placed firmly in cheek and it's made to rock all the more as 'On Heat' boasts a slick, fat production job from Apes, Pigs & Spacemen bass player Bart. The album has the feel of a power pop Sex Pistols complete with more than enough fire, attitude and passion to be huge. There seems something of a recurring theme which takes a dig at current music trends and fads on tracks like 'Init2winit', 'Grade A Feelini' and 'Rockstar' but it's all done in the most sleazy, cocky and thankfully British way! As loud mouth, hyper active vocalist Jonny Wilson spits 'Who the fuck are Malibu Stacey?', I'm sure it's only a matter of time before everyone around the country will know the answer. 8/10
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Mojo Rib Mojo Rib
The Quireboys Well Oiled
Nothing Sacred
SPV / Steamhammer
Everything points in the right direction when it comes to Mojo Rib. Big, brash no holds barred Californian Rock and Roll which mixes the dirty rock sounds of AC/DC with the party attitude of early Van Halen. It all sounds a little too good to be true in this day and age and the initial hype perhaps builds the band up too much. Whilst this debut contains some catchy old school rock riffage and some clever Jackyl style, tongue in cheek lyrical brashness, it struggles to really grab hold and live up to the hype it was so eager to promise. That aside, if you crank up the volume and grab a beer the sunshine begins to ooze slowly from 'Too Much Money' and 'Daddy Shapeshifter' which picks and chooses from those Roth-era Halen influences and uses the tried and tested 'power of good 'ol fashioned threechord rock n' roll' defining the band perfectly. I'm pretty sure Mojo Rib make much more sense in the live setting and are perfectly suited for hot and sweaty nights in a small rock club somewhere on the West coast with amps cranked to ten, free beer at the bar and lots of smiles. 6/10
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www.trashpit.co.uk Never Heard Of It 11 Days Unmotivated Records
Never Heard Of It (or NHOI) hit you right from the start with the massive chorus hook of 'Let's Go All The Way' and immediately stake their claim to the Good Charlotte crown. This trend continues with the huge smash 'Hard Headed' which Busted would literally kill for and deserves to be a huge chart smash if channelled to the right markets. For the most part 11 Days is a strong collection of tunes that whilst at times being a bit unremarkable like the bands name it's a feel good stomp through the textbook of modern day punk pop. Aside from fillers such as 'Last Letter Dead' and 'Situations' which come across as LIT leftovers, NHOI deliver a no nonsense sound and great understanding of how to nail a cool tune. What is refreshing though is how the band come without any of the big corporate crap and fake hype brought by record company money and are doing things the DIY way through touring and building a fanbase which is what 'punk' should be about right? 6/10
Much the same as AC/DC or The Wildhearts you pretty much always know what to expect from The Quireboys. Anything other than the gruff tones of Spike bouncing off endless blues infected rock and roll and you'd feel ripped off. So after years in the rock and roll wilderness the band are back and guess what, they still sound exactly the same! 'Good to See You' opens up the evenings festivities with it's cool and funky guitar lick which grows into another huge set opener, whilst 'The Finer Stuff' holds it's own with a smooth, catchy hookline similar to 'Seven o'clock' against an Angus Young style rock injection. Elsewhere, the hammond organ sway of 'Sweet as the Rain' is a smooth and smoky slice of soul which allows Spike to croon his way through one of the albums subtler moments. Like The Black Crowes, it seems that The Quireboys were lucky enough to discover their pot of gold a long time ago and have never really desired to try anything different and when it sounds as honest and raw as this, who's gonna argue? 6/10
Roxie 77 Peace, Love & Armageddon roxie77.com Not only did guitarist Ryan Roxie have enough talent to co-write most of last years 'Eyes of Alice Cooper' album, he's only gone and recorded one of this years finest hard rock albums as well! 'Peace, Love & Armageddon' is what fans of his last venture Dad's Porno Mag have long been waiting for and it's also a cause for celebration for anyone out there who loves the likes of Marvellous 3, the mighty Butch Walker and 40ft Ringo. It's a much stronger and cohesive collection of songs than DPM with 'My Girlfriend' working brilliantly as this album's 'Smell My Finger', Roxie's sly grin ever present and 'Second Chances' becomes more heart crunchingly brilliant on every listen. From here we're greeted by the power pop work out 'Control Freak' and the soulful vocal duel that is 'Beat 'Em'. The slower more quirky moments of 'On the Way Down' and 'Love is War' only serve to build pathways for the huge hooklines that smother 'Traci' and closer 'One More Day' which whilst being huge slabs of commercial hard rock they never become victim to sounding like anyone else. The lyric 'We're the second coming of Rock and Roll' may be much more appropriate than Roxie ever imagined! 9/10
Various Artists A Tribute to Enuff Z'Nuff
WASP The Neon God : Part 1 - The Rise
CD Smash
Sanctuary
Tribute albums can be Catch 22 situations, they're really just fan only purchases but they often leave you feeling let down by covers that can't touch the originals you love so much! Occasionally there's the exception when a band takes a song and re-works it into something new and fresh which is what it all should be about. So, with such an enormously impressive catalogue an EZN Tribute was sure to open up a treasure chest of creativity right? Well sort of...! We're served the big guns from the start with 'New Thing', 'Fly High Michelle' and 'Baby Loves You' all delivered with style by Dim, The Millions and Best of Seven, the latter featuring Z'Nuff vocalist Donnie Vie who also donates the track 'She Forgets' making this something of an 'official release'. We also get great custom made performances from Crash Kelly and the edgy Barely Pink, but there's also some less worthy ones too. Receiver's 'For Now' is Oasis on a 'very' bad day and Zion James' countryfied 'One Step Closer' is like a vinyl record on slow. It's a collection that's been put together with a lot of love and care but unfortunately the weaker tracks let it down allowing cracks to show which is a shame. 6/10
Various Artists Sick Twisted Individual Vol. 1 Pure Power Darkside / Nightbreed It seems the Gothic Underground scene is as rich and fruitful with as many different sounds and genres as Hard Rock and Metal these days. Whether it be 'Nu Age Electro', 'Black Industrial' or 'Nu Gothic Metal Groove' it is all well and truly displayed at great lengths on this debut release from Pure Power Darkside and showcases a whole wealth and dark and disturbing talent. Bands such as Killing Miranda layer keyboard samples and moods with almost Korn / SOD influences whilst hotly tipped undergrounders Pro Jekt blend pounding dance beats with hard edged metal guitars. Elsewhere, Uninvited Guest head for a more straight ahead, commercial rock sound which is a stark contrast to the jagged chants of Arkam Asylum. For the uninitiated (like myself) this compilation is a great start for anyone wanting to delve beyond the polished and prepackaged music passing as Goth which occasionally hits the charts these days and gives a great over view of a blossoming music scene. 6/10
This would not be Blackie Lawless' first foray into the difficult genre that is the concept album. 'The Crimson Idol' is now regarded as a benchmark recording for the PMRC-bating band, but are we really ready for another attempt? The notion is a familiar one: abused loner discovers amazing powers and becomes Dark Lord, and yes the usual pretentious drivel accompanies. The good news is that this is a record clearly made by WASP. All the trademarks are present and correct: mid-paced rockers, epic themes and delivery, and of course the sincerely awesome vocal talent of Lawless. However, it cannot be said that any of these tracks are in any way to be described as outstanding. There is no 'Wild Child' or 'Jonathon' here, and although none of them are as cringe worthy as say 'The Manimal', it is a frighteningly ordinary record by a band that once struck terror into the hearts of middle America. JAMES WRIGHT 5/10
The Wildhearts Coupled With GUT Records Becoming part of British Rock Royalty, The Wildhearts have developed a new lease of life in recent times. After last years 'Must Be Destroyed' return to form it seems there was enough leftovers to fill a whole new album (two in fact with twenty songs on here!). 'Coupled With' is surprisingly strong and flows well considering it's cut and pasted together with BSides and Rarities and at times shows another side to the usual full on rock showcase. Those who wondered where hit 'Stormy in The North' got to can rest assured as it's the lead track which kicks things into gear and backed with the vintage signature riff of 'Move On' building into a Weezer fuzz-fuelled verse before an unmistakeable Wildhearts chorus hits hard. The Cheers theme (with slick Taxi opening) could have seen the band with their biggest hit yet if the radio listening public had taken notice but instead it's here for us to savour and yes, it's rules big time! Here you've got an album that fans will savour but one that's also a worthy stand alone release that wont go unnoticed. 7/10
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If you would like to write a review for inclusion in future issues of TrashPit, please feel free to do so and send them to rob@trashpit.co.uk
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Ray Luzier Ray Luzier is one busy guy. Not only handling the drummers stool in the David Lee Roth Band for the last seven years he's managed to record an album with his awesome new band 'The Hideous Sun Demons' along with DLR Bandmates James LoMenzo and Toshi Hiketa to be officially released through Magna Carta this summer. That's not all (not even close) Ray is currently finishing up work on both Billy Sheehan's new album and yet another solo CD, putting together an instructional DVD and then he's going to be earing up for a series of drum clinics for Sabian Cymbals and Musicians Institute. Anyone would think this guy got bored easily or something! TrashPit was thrilled to spend time chatting to Ray when he visited the UK with the legend that is Diamond David Lee Roth and found out that he's just as big a Van Halen fan as the people in the audience and one who is truly living a dream come true playing in a band with one of his childhood idols! How did you start out your career on the drums? I'm from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania way out in the middle of nowhere. I moved from a hundred and ten acre farm to Hollywood boulevard - big shock! It was right after high school when I was eighteen. Right after I graduated I knew right away I wanted to go to music school PIT. A buddy of mine was going to GIT, and at the time bands like Racer X were exploding and Paul Gilbert actually lived ten minutes from me in Pittsburgh so I wanted to go out there too. That was kind of my excuse to go out there but then I started teaching at PIT and was there for nine years from 1992 to 2001. Was there anyone else who came from your class? Chad Smith from the Chilli Peppers was my lab mate. They do this orientation thing were everyone gets to know each other and the teacher tells you to stand up and say 'Hi' to the person next to you. So the guys next to me both turn the opposite way and I'm like 'Oh shit!' but I look over and Chad
was doing the same thing, so we ended up sharing lockers together. Three weeks into school he was just killing everybody, he would go to the funk class and just bury everyone! Next thing he asks me 'You ever heard of a band called the Chilli Peppers? I got an audition'. At this time Mother's Milk hadn't come out so I didn't know much about them but I wished him luck and the next thing I know the album comes out and it's like 'There's Chad man!' Your first album with Roth was on the DLR Band album.. That was a really quick record to do, just two weeks. It's a strange story, Mike Hartman who unfortunately passed away with Cystic Fibrosis, was the guy who got me into the band. He kept calling me up to tell me he was writing with David Lee Roth, and I'm like 'You're a twenty one year old kid, you're not writing with Dave, c'mon!' But he was like 'No, I was over at his house, Steve Vai hooked us up.' It turns out that The Make A Wish Foundation asked him what his last wish would be and it was to meet Steve Vai because he was his hero. So
Steve comes to his bedside, heard his guitar playing and thought it was awesome. He hooked him up with Dave who loved the stuff and they started writing! 'King of the Hill' and 'Slam Dunk' were the first songs we did and I just thought it was a one off session. I was high as a kite because I'd worked with one of my idols but then his manager calls up and tells me I'd passed my audition! I was like 'My audition! I'm glad you didn't tell me that or I would have been nervous!'
They're a great band but unfortunately a few 'business suits' were disagreeing. The bands loved each other, we all ate dinner together and Sammy was awesome. I think that could've gone on for another six months there was so much demand for it. It was so much fun while it lasted, trading off every night. It was the ultimate for a Van Halen fan who loved both singers. We'd go to different cities and some would favour Dave a lot more, then at others Sammy would be the dominant one - but not as much!!
Did you get to jam on any old VH stuff at that time? Oh man, me and John Lowery (John 5 - Marilyn Manson) were like little kids! We were over in the studio playing 'Unchained' and Dave would get all pissed and be like 'Play the new stuff!' We did a whole record together by ourselves, me and John, then me and Mike, and then me and Terry Kilgore all did tunes together.
Could you see yourself playing the 'Van Hagar' tunes? I like it for what it is but me playing it I don't think so. Dave's songs have more balls and it's more entertaining. For us to come out and open up with 'Hot For Teacher' is a dream come true. I remember sitting behind my drum kit in my underwear back in Pennsylvania when I was a kid trying to figure it out! I'd stumble through it back then but now we get to open with it every night! I'm a Dave freak, even after Van Halen I loved the solo stuff - I was the first in line to buy 'Your Filthy Little Mouth'.
What's it like to have David Lee Roth as your boss? Of course he's got his mood swings like any other rock star but he's so intelligent, he's a frickin genius! There's only a certain amount of legends still up there and out doing it. To me it's like going to school, everything that comes out of his mouth is just knowledge. He's sold so many records, been around the world so many times and he's been there and done it so many times over - it's awesome! This is my seventh year in June and it's been unbelievable. Does Dave have his good nights and bad nights on stage? Sometimes it's really magical, sometimes it's more hidden and laid back but it's always entertaining. It's really important to me that we get to go out on tour with someone like Kid Rock which will let the new kids get to see this band and someone like Dave because they don't know about it. As much as I like a lot of new bands, it's so flat surfaced - there's no depth or soul. When I watch a band I want to feel it and I don't get that with a lot of the newer bands. I don't think many of them are playing from the heart.
With such a great catalogue of songs does the set list change much for the Dave tours? Not much, we change per season! We started this set last year and we've stuck with it. We've just started rehearsing 'Jamie's Cryin' and a bunch of other stuff too. I managed to talk Dave into a couple of songs. He didn't want to do 'Goin' Crazy' but I was like you've got to do it -that video and everything! I'm still a fan and I know what it'd be like if I was sitting out in the crowd and they started playing that! Visit Ray at www.rayluzier.com TrashPit has a copy of the 'Hideous Sun Demons' CD along with a signed drum stick to give away to the first person to tell us the name of David Lee Roth's last album. Email rob@trashpit.co.uk
How did the Hideous Sun Demons get together? Toshi moved from Osaka about five years ago and he's really great, he can play any style from Jazz, Latin to Rock and he's my neighbour! I have a small studio in my house in LA and he'd always come over and we'd write songs right off the cuff. The next thing we knew it sounded really good and we needed a bass player. James (LoMenzo) heard a CD and there's all this Latin and Jazz, real crazy stuff on there, but he loved it. So we all started writing, put twelve songs together and decided to do a record. The new band is totally instrumental. Yeah, totally. But Toshi's guitar playing becomes the 'singer' - he's just so melodic it makes it memorable, instead of like 'Okay you can play' then you turn it off! Most instrumental bands just see how fast they can play, how many notes they can get in and a million drum fills. There were a lot of press rumours about the Sammy and Dave tour. How do you feel it went? You know what, it was awesome.
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FIREHOUSE Prime Time for the UK
When Cobain and Vedder came along in the 90's and with one deep throated growl eliminated 99% of the bands in my record collection from the rock radar, it signalled the end for many other great rock bands as teenagers looked for something with more grit and anger to satisfy their musical tastes. Not that the 'Grunge Era' was a bad thing, it gave music a much needed kick in the ass and mainly it separated the good from the bad leaving only the real 'true' rock bands with something resembling a career. Meet Firehouse - one of rock music's truly great survivors. Having barely just tasted success with mega hit singles 'Don't Treat Me Bad' and 'Love of a Lifetime' from their self titled debut and following it up with a UK tour on the release of 'Hold Your Fire', they faded from the eye of the public. Don't be fooled though as original members CJ Snare, Bill Leverty and Michael Foster have continued to record and tour constantly for the last ten years all over the world. Now, finally it's time for them to return to the UK, along with bassist Allen McKenzie, in support of new album 'Prime Time' and guitarist Bill Leverty was more than eager to talk about the record, tour and his great new band Wanderlust. What are you most looking forward to about coming back over to the UK and what do you remember most fondly about your first trip? I like to talk to our fans, drink a beer with them, and just hang out. I really love playing our set, but afterwards, we do a meet and greet with everybody and I'm looking forward to shaking hands with the people who like our music. I have so many great memories of our first trip to the UK when we toured with Status Quo. We met so many cool people who really love music, and we also had the opportunity to see so many great historic landmarks. I also LOVE the beer over here! Can you believe it's ten years since you last came to the UK? Does it seem that long ago? It's actually been twelve years, we added it up the other day and we can't believe it, man! It seems like just the other day we were over here touring with the Quo guys. Everybody warned us that their audience was gonna throw stuff at us but actually they loved us. It was a great tour, Status Quo treated us better than any other band we've opened up for and we've opened up for a lot of them! They're the nicest bunch of guys and a great band.
A lot of bands changed direction or ‘updated’ their sound in the mid Nineties. Did Firehouse ever get tempted to do this? We were never guilty of that and we’ve always wrote whatever came from our hearts and not try to chase any trends or jump on the bandwagon that's hot. Hopefully if we make what we think's good and believe in it people will get to hear it and like it. You're very proud of the bands past but is there anything you'd change if you got the chance? Looking back if I could change anything it would have been the way the record company released our singles, I wish they would have released our harder stuff first and maintained our credibility with the rock stations. 'Don't Treat Me Bad' was really a pop rock song and they went hard at that to pop radio, and then they released 'Love of a Lifetime'. Those were the two lightest songs on the record! Is it hard to put together a set list these days to accommodate old and new material whilst keeping yourselves and the fans happy?
Not really. We love playing all of our songs every night, so it's not that difficult to balance the old with the new, and the hits with the deep tracks. We have a lot of hits, which is a good problem to have, but there's enough time to play songs from our newest album and a little bit from just about every other album we've put out. What can people expect from the new album 'Prime Time' and how does it sit next to earlier albums? I think that people can expect what the critics are all saying, that this is our best album ever, or at least since our first two. We've never been so happy about an album that we've recorded. I think that this album sits very well with our earlier albums and even has a little bit more of a harder edge. If you could put together the ultimate summer tour who would be on it? The Stones, AC/DC and Firehouse would work! I always want to get in front of the biggest audiences possible. We've always wanted to go out with Van Halen or Bon Jovi but we've never had the chance, that would be a great one to do. What was the last new band that really 'kicked your ass' and blew you away? New band? Hmm..... It's been a while since I was blown away by a 'new band'. What blows me away is amazing vocals, musicianship, song writing and emotion. All of those elements have to be there for me to be 'blown away'. I honestly haven't heard anything is years that had all of that. The last band that had a debut album that I thought was absolutely amazing was Dream Theater. You have a new band Wanderlust, when did you decide to put this project together? I never really made the conscious decision. I just wrote songs for many years and some of them fit my voice best, so I saved them for my solo album. After I had ten songs that I felt were strong enough to put out, I recorded them with the best musicians I knew, Michael Foster and Bruce Waibel. Do you approach the song writing and performance side differently to how you do with Firehouse? Not at all. I just let it flow from the heart. I wrote this album for myself, not for any market or any particular audience. I only wrote the songs with the idea that I would be proud of them and that these songs would be a direct reflection of myself as an artist. What has been the reaction from Firehouse fans who have heard Wanderlust? Everyone who has heard the album has said they love it. I have received nothing but overwhelmingly positive reactions from everyone, including critics, about the album. I'm very happy with the way it's been received. I only hope that more people will take the time to listen. Unfortunately, Wanderlust have never played live. If I ever get any time off from Firehouse, I would love to play a few gigs, but we haven't taken any time off in the last 12 years, so I doubt if that will happen any time soon! The album's 'Prime Time' and Bil Leverty's 'Wanderlust' are out now. For more info visit www.firehousemusic.com and www.leverty.com
TRaSH.
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ROXIE
77
Peace, Love & Guillotines! Guitarist Ryan Roxie will be the first to admit that he could never come close to stealing the lime light from the legendary Alice Cooper, the man he has shared the same stage with for close to ten years. But anyone who has been to one of the Alice Cooper Big Rock Shows in recent times will no doubt have been impressed by the flamboyant six stringer. Outside of his 'day job' Roxie has been a mainstay of the LA rock scene since the early nineties, once as a member of the Electric Angels and more recently as a member of Slash's Snakepit. Not one to shy from the spotlight though, Roxie took to the role of frontman with Dad's Porno Mag several years ago releasing just one criminally overlooked album and he's now resumed the role with his new project Roxie 77 releasing his new album 'Peace, Love & Armageddon'. Ryan spoke to TrashPit about his new band, the stunning 'Eyes of Alice Cooper' album and his role in the ongoing and eternal Cooper legacy. The new Alice record has been written and recorded almost totally by Alice, yourself and the rest of the band? Was there anything in particular that led to this did Alice simply want to get back to how things were in the beginning and go for a real band vibe? I think that this is the type of album that Alice has wanted to make for years, just a good ol’ rock record that has a varied spectrum of material but still all sounds like it came from the same band. Songs that make ya wanna drive fast, and songs that take ya to another place somewhere in the twisted mind of Alice Cooper. I'm very happy to be a part of 'The Eyes'. Alice kept saying for us to use 'Love it to Death' as a blueprint for this one, and hopefully we stayed true to his words and that this record treats the Alice Cooper fans right. Did you bring in any older songs of your own that you'd maybe planned to save for your own record? As a matter of fact, the song 'Between High School & Ol School' started out as a Roxie 77 song, but then I thought the title so perfectly described Alice, the band, the fans and pretty much everyone that is still carrying the torch of rock! So I played Alice the demo (which I recorded in my living room) and he liked the title and proceeded to put his Alice touch onto the entire track. I love playing that one live and hearing the crowd sing a lyric that was originally inspired whilst going to the bathroom!
It must be rewarding to read all the positive reviews and fan response the new Alice CD has received knowing that you've had a big influence on the tunes? Trust me, no one appreciates the accolades more then us. It's hard to compare ourselves to all of the great line ups (especially the original band) that Alice has had over the years. By making this record as a band, and having it be supported by the fans the way it has, it gives us a small place in the Alice Cooper legacy, and that is a cool place to be however large or small! Almost every song on the album could translate to the live setting - has it been hard to pick new songs for the set? The good news is we have a rotating roster of the new songs in the live set so that on any given night you are likely to hear one or two different new ones.....the bad news is that ya gotta spring for tix to more then just one show to hear 'em all! What are some of your favourite songs on the new album? 'Between High School and 'Ol School' is sort of my mantra these days, ya know, just trying to keep the dream of the big rock show alive and kickin'. 'The Song that didn't Rhyme' always brings a smile to my face 'cause we had such a good time writing that one, just sitting around bouncing corny
phrases and cliche rock moments around each other....the story actually wrote itself! Also, 'Backyard Brawl' is one of my favourites, cause it wasn't going to make the album....then it came in at Lucky 13 I believe. Have you learnt much about being a frontman whilst playing in the Alice Cooper band, or is it different as you play guitar and sing? The Coop has taught me so much about the business of rock n' roll and I'll always be grateful and thankful for the lessons. It's like I'm getting a 'School of Rock' education, the only difference being that Alice Cooper is my teacher, not Jack Black! The new Roxie 77 album is currently only available through your website - do you have plans to officially release it worldwide? We are hoping to have the official release out in time to coincide with this years Alice Cooper Tour. We're playing a bunch of places that I haven't played yet with the Coop so it gives me a great opportunity to spread the Roxie 77 word out there amongst all the Alice Cooper faithful. Plus I'm looking forward to hand delivering a bunch of R77 CD's out to the good people that have supported Alice and myself over the past tours. We welcome anyone that would like to find out more about Roxie 77 to come out to the website at www.roxie77.com It's a family vibe and you're all invited!
The song 'Traci' has the sub title of 'The Unbelievable Truth' which was the name of one of your early bands. Any connection or am I just reading too deep into things!? At least I know you listened deep into the album! ha!....Good detective work my friend! As a matter of fact, ‘Traci’ was a song that was actually born in the band The Unbelievable Truth! The original concept of the song was based on Traci Lords and it's up to you the listener to figure out the story line.....any guesses? The band name 'The Unbelievable Truth' came from a Hal Hartley film by that title....great movie! Hopefully the band held it's own...... What plans do you have to take this band out live in the near future? I would LOVE to take the Roxie 77 band out soon...the hardest part about it though are the costs involved. It's a lot different touring with Alice playing festivals and theatres in buses, planes and all those nice things and then switch to touring clubs in vans, rent-a-cars, and flea-bag motels! But.....if the opportunity presents itself, I think it's worth the shot. The more I promote this while I'm touring with Alice, the better shot I have at making a run of it myself. And I really appreciate the fact that Alice supports us doing our own things as well....like I said before, if you're gonna have to have a boss, it's cool to have one named Alice Cooper!
If you're gonna have a boss, it's cool to have one named Alice Cooper! We're familiar with Mike Fasano (DPM, Warrant) and Teddy Zig Zag from your band but could you tell us about the other guys on the album, Jeff Morose and Dan Myers, and who's doing the duet on 'Beat 'Em' with you? She has real smoky Sass Jordan feel to her voice. Jeff and I have been friends for 20 years now, and he really stepped up to the plate and laid down some great work on the Roxie 77 CD. Jeff also plays guitar in a cool German band called 7-9-7 (the seven's seem to be a running coincidence, no?) and like myself, Jeff has been in the trenches of Rock n Roll just trying to make a name for himself. He's doing a great job. Dan Myers is this decades Bob Mayo! A very accomplished musician, he has a great feel for his keyboard and for his facial hair! The girl that sang on 'Beat 'em' is named Julie. I actually ran into her (literally, we almost crashed cars into each other!) and I said I'd been trying to track her down to sing on the song since I had seen her perform at the Cat Club (the club in Hollywood that we jam at every Thursday when we're home)......She said "Well, why don't I just come down to the studio now?!.....She came in and blew through the song 3 straight times and that was it....amazing!! Gilby (Clarke) and I cut it all together and the end result is one of the most exciting vocal performances I've heard in a while! All the best to her and I hope to track her down again to sing in the live show!!
Roxie 77 is a great companion to Dad's Porno Mag. Was that a one off project due to people's commitments or will the mighty DPM resurface one day? I think that Roxie77 is the condom wearing, rogain using, and ultimately wiser big brother to DPM! The songs on both records have the same heavy-pop influences and mentality so don't be surprised to come to a Roxie77 show and hear a few Dad's Porno Mag classics..... One of the things that set DPM and Roxie77 apart from other bands are the tongue in cheek, left field tracks like DPM's 'Smell My Finger', and 'Control Freak' and 'My Girlfriend' off the new CD. Who are some of your favourite songwriters who you draw influences from?
TRaSH.PIT
Roxie 77 is the condom wearing, rogain using, and ultimately wiser big brother to Dad's Porno Mag! Do you remember the first album you ever brought? First Album was the Osmand Brothers and my first concert was the Jackson 5.....I guess I was early on the boy-band phenomena! The first two albums though that changed my world were Peter Frampton Comes Alive! and Cheap Trick-At Budokan Most embarrassing album? I grew up in the 70's so there were many records that may be considered 'embarrassing'! But probably my worn out copy of Debi Boones 'You Light up my Life' or the Leo Sayer record with him straddled spread eagle in mid air rank as some of the more dubious albums in my adolescent record collection.
Alice Cooper for one has always had a good wit when it came to his lyrics....infact, I felt that his wit made a huge comeback with 'The Eyes' CD.....I also think that early AC/DC with Bon Scott had a great sense of tongue and cheekiness without ever sacrificing the rock! Cheap Trick as well...."Mommie's alright, Daddie's alright, they just seem a little bit weird" Classic!!! You're a big fan of the Oakland Raiders football team. American Football, whilst getting more popular, has never really hit it big in the UK. How would you sell it to the English people? If you watch American Football, you get to see Janet Jackson's Boob!?! Hmmmm....maybe that wouldn't be the best selling point....I'm well aware that American football will never take the place of proper football in the UK, the one thing I can say though is that there seems to be a lot more set plays in American football, both offensive and defensive, so that means more breaks in the game. And more breaks in the game means more chances to run to the refrigerator for more beer! How's that for a selling point...? What's currently happening in the world of Ryan Roxie? I've been keeping myself busy writing with just about anybody that has a pen and paper! Working on riffs for the new Alice Record.....did I say Alice record?!?.....yikes, you've got the scoop....and also we are gonna do a show for charity playing with Billy Bob Thorton. He's got some records out and he's a really cool guy as well. We've been going down to the Children's Hospital in Hollywood playing for the kids, which is a really rewarding thing to do. That's with the organization The Art of Elysium www.theartofelysium.org They're a great charity organization and I really support what they do. All that and still changing diapers in record time! Lennon is growing so fast that he's already asking to borrow the guitar for a night out at the Cat Club....just kidding!
Album that made you want to play in a band? I'm not so sure if it were the albums or the TV show....but The Partridge Family made me wanna play in a band. They had it all.....the hot chick keyboardist, the rebel outcast red haired bass player, the 5 year old drummer and tamb. player, plus their own MOTHER in the band! And of course the coolest rockstar on the planet...Keith Partridge...errrrrr..David Cassidy! They bickered constantly, toured in a multicoloured broken down school bus, were managed by a bumbling fool, played shows at rec-rooms and veteran halls, and never really seemed to make any money......Could anything be more real to life than that!! And that's the business we chose, God bless us....god bless us all! Catch Roxie and the Alice Cooper show at London's Hammersmith Apollo on Sunday 27th June. For more information on Ryan and Roxie 77 visit www.roxie77.com
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Electric Eel Shock & AntiProduct The Charlotte, Leicester
It's not very often you can go out on a Monday night to a small club and catch an 'Arena Sized Rock Show' for less than a tenner, let alone two of the damn things! This is what the ever reliable AntiProduct and Japan's notorious Electric Eel Shock are giving the people of the UK the opportunity to do on one of the most exciting double header tours this year. AntiProduct may have chosen to take the opening slot but just four words sum this up - Support Band My Arse! TrashPit's favourite technicolour rock explosion treat this gig as they do every other show like it's the last night on earth so let's have one hell of a party! Opening with the monstrous double riff salvo of 'Thank God I'm Right' and 'Turnin' Me On', the band stick rigidly to a set that has become rock solid over the past year and a half with just the slight addition of a brief thrash version of 'Stairway To Heaven'! Tonight's show sees the band on fire (don't be surprised if AntiProduct one day take this literally!) particularly frontman Kane's sidekick axe grinder Clare pproduct who tonight demands equally as much attention as the larger than life vocalist. The anthem 'Bungee Jumping People Die' is tonight delivered in such a way that it encompasses everything that is AntiProduct -
rash
band and crowd becoming one before the most almighty of choruses attempts to tear the tiny venue apart - sorry to kiss ass, but it did sound that good! Finally closing with the punk blast of 'Blitzkrieg Bop', The Charlotte is left completely floored by a band at the top of their game who will no doubt attempt to push things even further once new material creeps into the set - you have been suitably warned! Electric Eel Shock no doubt realise they have their work cut out for them but it's been an ongoing and healthy challenge throughout this tour for each band to try and blow each other off stage leaving everyone a winner particularly the audience. Taking the stage to the metal riffage of Sabbath's 'Iron Man', the Tokyo based three piece and one strategically placed drummers sock (you don't need too many clues I doubt) demand devil horns are raised and everyone be prepared to rock like never before. Where Andrew WK has a habit of putting the word 'Party' into almost every song, Akihito, Kazuto and Tomoharu prefer the universally accepted and rousing choice of 'Rock n' Roll' and they use it to good effect on 'Suicide Rock n' Roll' and 'Rock n' Roll Can Rescue The World' for starters. Add to this a more than healthy dose of ridiculously simple blues metal riffs that a ten year old could play but only a genius could write, borrow the occasional Van Halen and KISS idea and I came to the simple conclusion see Electric Eel Shock once and you'll be either amused or intrigued - see them twice and you'll be addicted!
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Plan A
Junktion 7, Nottingham
Plan A were formed back in 1998 by ex-Wildheart Jef Streatfield. The line-up now consists of Jef on guitar and lead vocals, Nick Peckham on bass and Gary Mills on drums. So touring the UK at the moment, on March 11th they landed at Junktion7 in Nottingham. With 3 support acts, all displaying a welcomed variety in punk and rock, Plan A were built up completely. The first of 3 supports were local boys The Rockitts. A very 80's rock sound in all areas, with the keyboards not being overused, it was a pleasant experience. Second to stage were touring partners to Plan A, Closer. They produced a nice array of sounds and you couldn't help but compare a large amount of their music to Placebo. Following the two different sounds, we were then exposed to Hinterland. An obvious local following, the pub seemed to double in attendance at this point. A passionate set of punk rock; this band can only be described as True British Rowdiness. A definite anticipation in the air followed in the wait for headliners Plan A. And boy was it worth the wait. This was the loudest band I've heard in a long time and they caused me a time of earache that carried on through to the weekend. A very animated performance and playing what I'd have to put up there with the best of British punk today; you could tell these guys were experienced. And with a standard issue drum-kit trash at the end, it provided a cheesy, but worthwhile ending to a tremendous night. Keep an eye out for these lads. But always remember, listening to loud music on a regular basis may prove to be harmful to your hearing; but if Plan A damaged your hearing and were therefore the last thing you ever heard, you wouldn't be too disappointed. DAN LACEY
MEST
Rock City, Nottingham Strange one this. I really enjoyed MEST's recent self titled album as reviewed in the last issue of TrashPit. Yeah, it was maybe pop punk by numbers in places but it had somewhat of a hard edge to it that gave it some real spark and made the thought of catching the band live something of an exciting prospect. So following well received support sets from The God Awfuls and the full on, highly entertaining Fallout Boy I was ready for the place to explode once MEST hit the stage but unfortunately, it didn't and not by a long shot! Considering this was the last show on the recent UK tour most bands would be fired up and have the crowd in their hands delivering every trick in the book honed from show after show. Granted the sound on opener 'Until I Met You' was very rough and obviously caused several problems but even once this was smoothed out things rarely improved. MEST never actually did anything wrong, the songs sounded powerful, the band looked cool with their tattoos and did all the right jumps as expected but maybe that was it, everything seemed too safe and chanting 'Don't wanna take it because I fucking hate you' hardly makes you cutting edge these days. Even with infectiously catchy tunes such as 'Rooftops' and hit single 'Jaded' things never really left the starting blocks. Some bands have the ability to simply stand on stage and leave you floored by their sheer power and presence, MEST just didn't have that tonight no matter how hard they tried. At one point my friend turned to me and summed everything up by asking 'Are you bored?', I think you know the answer....
Pretty Boy Floyd Rock City, Nottingham Only one year since their last foray to Britain, veteran glammies Pretty Boy Floyd returned to our shores complete with a new album, the cerebrally titled 'Size Really Does Matter'. Support was provided tonight by the rather lamely titled Paul Stanley tribute band 'Being Paul Stanley'. Whilst the band could play and vocals were suitably gruff there was an overriding suspicion that as 'Paul' ruffled his hair the talent of someone else was being stolen to realise the dreams of a group of wannabes. Dressed in spangley cowboy hat, suit jacket and ubiquitous scarves Steve 'Sex' Summers provided a total antidote to this, and in reference to the band playing the main hall he questioned the crowd 'Shall we play louder than Monster Magnet ?' An ecstatic and highly charged crowd roared their approval and sang along to every word of classics such as 'Leather Boys With Electric Toys', 'Only The Young', '48 Hours' and 'Rock'n'Roll (Is Gonna Set The Night On Fire). The latest batch of songs such as 'Dead' and 'Fuck The Rock' sat ably with the established material and went down extremely well, a fact that will hopefully encourage the band to piece together further records. Summers made great use of the lighting rig to swing way out into the crowd and
made sure that everyone on the first three or four rows got the opportunity to howl into the mic. This coupled with more hi-five's than is strictly necessary outside of a basketball game ensured that the crowd left feeling thoroughly rocked. JAMES WRIGHT
David Lee Roth
Apollo Theatre, Manchester
Skid Row
Mean Fiddler, London A sold out Mean Fiddler gave a more than appreciative reception to support band New Disease. With a sound reminiscent of Moist or Pearl Jam, this was a solid performance full of passion and soaring melody. The pedigree is good too featuring former members of Underdogg and The Mission. Since reforming way back in 2000 Skid Row have received an incredibly varied response. This was the last night of their second European tour in six months and the band were as ever determined to prove their metal. Sporting his regulation battered cowboy hat and shades Johnny Solinger has more than settled as frontman, bursting into opener 'Slave To The Grind' ... and then the classics just kept coming. The mosh pit seemed to take over the entire ground floor as the band blasted through 'Get The Fuck Out', 'Piece of Me', 'Monkey Business', and 'Thickskin' opener 'New Generation'. Even ballads such as '18 & Life' came across with a vital urgency. As usual Rachel Bolan took over vocal duties for 'Psycho Therapy', and Scotti Hill filled the stage with his rockstar gurning! Forthcoming single 'Ghost' received a tremendous applause and certainly proved the hostile critics of 'Thickskin' more than wrong. During a philosophical break Dave 'Snake' Sabo pointed out the band shirts in the crowd such as Iron Maiden, Guns 'n' Roses and The Ramones, and how the band felt honoured to be considered in the same league. Any lingering doubts about the truth of this were shot away by a stunning encore of the perennial rock classic that is 'Youth Gone Wild'. Awesome. JAMES WRIGHT
As much as I hate to admit it I did approach this gig with caution! Diamond Dave is without a doubt one of my all time heroes and consider if you will that it's been ten whole years since he last performed in the UK who knew what to expect? But once drummer Ray Luzier thunders into 'Hot For Teacher', Dave hits the stage and before even singing a note he stops the show and asks 'How we doin' so far!?' - the crowd cheers and we know everything is going to be great! Dave is looking pretty cool after shedding his trademark blonde locks in favour of the stylish cut from the Filthy Little Mouth days. He's even managing to squeeze into those leather suits AND he didn't have to use the immortal line 'I forgot the fuckin' words!' cause he nailed them all! Even though the high jumps aren't quite there the smile is firmly in place and it hits everyone in the crowd. You can't fault a set that encompasses almost every album from the early Van Halen years alongside 'Just a Gigolo', 'Yankee Rose' through 'Just Like Paradise' and, holy shit, even 'Goin Crazy' is back in the set! It's performed immaculately with respect and energy by without a doubt one of the finest band line ups Roth has ever assembled and okay it's not Van Halen but face facts people we're not going to ever see that line up again! What you do get are the finest hard rock tunes ever written, performed in style and sung by the greatest rock showmen ever, regardless of what year it is! At the end of the day it's David Lee Roth people - I should be ashamed for thinking I wasn't gonna have a good time!
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Glitter Revolution
France has never been well known for it's rock bands. Come to think of it I can't think of any bands from across the channel that have really set the world on fire, let alone a Glam Rock band! (Answers on a postcard if you know any different!) But back in 2001 the wheels were set in motion for all that to change. Producing what they call 'a decadent and genuine kind of rock 'n' roll with trashy elegance', The Sparkling Bombs have exploded from the East of France and aim to literally smear themselves all over the glam rock map! Resembling a colourful version of Marilyn Manson's backing band, The Sparkling Bombs boast all the quality glitter rock influences from Hanoi Rocks and The New York Dolls alongside more punky and alternative acts such as Placebo and The Sex Pistols. Everything comes together on their new album 'Dead Dreams from the Silver Gutter' - a combination of trashy glitter punk anthems and rousing choruses resembling a European take on the mighty Robin Black. Drummer Laur and vocalist Alyss take up the story... When the band formed back in 2001did you have any preconceived vision about what kind of band you wanted to be? Laur: We didn't have any preconceived vision at the very beginning ‘cause we had a hard time to complete the line-up but, once we found the right people, we realized quite quickly that our music and image would be on the glam trash side... Did you suffer any kind of backlash because of your musical style and image? Alyss: Yeah, but we don’t care anymore, it’s part of the glam rock history... L: We still do! But, I guess it could be worse. Most of the time people are just surprised when they see us because they're not used to seeing bands that look like us or they just think that we're a metal or Goth band because that's the image they get from the media. Was there any band or album in particular that inspired you to put together The Sparkling Bombs? L: Hmm.. not really, I just remember that at the time I used to listen to a lot of David Bowie’s 'Ziggy Stardust' Backyard Babies and I really enjoyed the Sugar Shock (Sweden) demos. But, I guess that all of our favourite albums inspired us in a way. A: The New York Dolls, Backyard Babies, Sex Pistols... Is there any one member of the band who leads 'the vision' of the band or is it a combination of everyone's ideas? A: I’d say that there’s no real "leadership" in Sparkling Bombs but Laur often has good taste, he knows how to compose good songs ... I’m not that bad as well, hehe... L: In the end, it's a combination of everyone's ideas because of each member's personal touch. There seems a lot of influences showing through your music. I can hear a lot of early eighties indie influences like The Cure - where do these stem from? L: Well, I grew up in the eighties and I still like some of these bands as do the other members so, I guess that it’s logical to find traces of 80's/wave-ish bands in The Sparkling Bombs. No stupid eighties revival though! It seems to be fashionable to grow a mullet and wear bad-taste clothes these days ...open your eyes it’s fucking 2004! A: I always thought that The Cure were more of a glam band than this stupid "gothic" image they got. By the way I love them, as well as Joy Division, Nine Inch Nails - it’s all part of our influences too. Who have been some of your favourite bands to perform with?
L: I really enjoyed playing with the Trashcan Darlings from Norway and American Heartbreak ‘cause I love these bands and they’re really cool people to hang out with. Touring with the (new) Lords Of The New Church was great too even though I sometimes felt bad for them since they’re definitely not what they used to be. Rock music and particularly Glam is becoming more popular - have you noticed any change in your audiences over the past couple of years? L: Yes, it seems like younger people come to the shows now. That’s a good thing but I just hope that it’s not only because of The Darkness / Manson trend or else they’ll probably jump into the next one soon! On the other hand, it’s always nice to see that some kids go and look for more bands playing this style of music by themselves after seeing us live. A: It’s interesting, because all this glamour "punk" fashion and the success of bands like The Darkness and Placebo gives us quite a lot of credibility, but it’s disgusting to see how much people are influenced by fashion dictatorship. Glitter never died and will always shine in our eyes. Laurent, you're very involved in the Veglam website www.veglam.com L: I started Veglam webzine back in 1999 because I was already writing for paper fanzines and realized that independent glam bands (whether they were glam punk, glam metal, industrial glam or whatever...) didn’t have enough exposure. I didn’t know anything about creating a website at the time (and still don’t know a lot about it!) but I just learned a bit by myself the DIY way! I’m glad to see that many bands and people enjoy this site nowadays. If you could play on any glam rock line up of your dreams - which other bands would be on there? L: The New York Dolls, T-Rex and Mötley Crüe (Too Fast For Love Era)! Sounds like a Dead Dream!!! A: We should have played with The Darkness but at the last moment the promoter decided not to take us as an opening act, I hope we’ll get the chance to share the stage with them another time. What's next for The Sparkling Bombs? A: Record deals, world tours, groupies, money, Glitter Revolution!!
The album 'Dead Dreams form the Silver Gutter' is out now from Zone 51 / Coexistence Obscure For more info visit www.sparklingbombs.com
TRaSH.PIT
I remember the very first time I ever heard Fountains Of Wayne. It was around March 1997 at the old Bar 101 club in Derby. My new band had just finished sound checking for our very first live gig when this awesome sound came from the loud speakers. The track was 'Radiation Vibe' from the Fountains Of Wayne debut album and I remember thinking it was perhaps the most perfect pop song ever - a simple melody line which spawned the most unbelievable chorus! It was a few months later until I found out who the band were and was lucky enough to catch them on a small club tour towards the end of the year when vocalist Chris Collingwood played the show on crutches! Seven years later Fountains Of Wayne are finally in the spotlight and back in the UK with a massive hit single in the form of 'Stacy's Mom', yet another near perfect pop song! TrashPit spoke to a very tired vocalist songwriter Chris Collingwood and guitarist Jody Porter soon after they'd arrived direct from Belfast to perform at Manchester's Student Union Bar back in February. When the single started to pick up speed did you start to notice a difference in your audience? Was it very quickly or did it happen gradually? C: When the single hit the Top Ten we were out with Matchbox Twenty. It was weird because we'd be playing our set and getting a nice response because it was a lot of Dad's bringing their kids and they'd spot a lot of the influences like The Byrds and stuff like that but then when we'd get to the single everyone's like 'Oh, it's those guys!' Was it radio or video that started the ball rolling? J: It sought of happened at the same time. C: KROCK started playing it then everyone kinda followed suit. J: That's the way it works in America. KROCK in LA kinda dictates what everyone else in America plays because it's the biggest radio station in the country. You get added to KROCK and you get added to pretty much everywhere else! Have you approached your live set any differently than before, following the songs success? J: Not really, I think we have such a core of songs we can just keep it revolving. C: It helps when you've got three albums because you have more to choose from. I spoke to a guy who saw us back in San Francisco when we toured the first album and he said we played the album in order with one cover, and I think he's probably right! Our first album had ten songs on it and then we had to think of another song to do. Back then we were doing 'The Only Living Boy in New York' by Paul Simon, we used to play a lot of covers but not so much anymore.
fountains of wayne
Do I see a 'Hot For Teacher' influence in the Stacy's Mom video? C: Yeah, there's a lot of things in there. I don't know if it was a hit over here but there's a classic 80's American movie called 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High', that's were a lot of the stuff comes from. It starred Phoebe Cates, who Rachel Hunter plays in the video. We had a 'Phoebe Cates Film Festival' at Adam's (Schlesinger - bass) pool, were we had all her 'great' films playing - she's one hot broad that's for sure! J: She's currently residing in the ''Where Are They Now?' files'! 'Stacy's Mom' earned you a Grammy Nomination and you got to attend the awards ceremony, how was that? C: The weirdest thing about it that actually surprised me was that you couldn't get any food, there wasn't even a candy bar machine! It's held in this giant arena with all these food vending places but they're all closed down, and one of the events sponsors is 'Mothers Against Drunk Driving' so you couldn't get alcohol either. So during one of the intermissions we just went running out and we made friends with this dude and ended up in his skybox which was privately catered so I just sat eating sandwiches. J: To be honest it was kinda boring. It was like four hours long of no smoking and I'm a smoker, so it was hard! Your songs are very character driven. Have any been about members of the band - and did they realise it? J: There's a reference in 'Bought For A Song'. C: Yeah, that's a song about touring which refers to our old Tour Manager Tom. J: I think the German hotel in the song was something that happened to me. We'd just done a show for this record company thing and we'd all got trashed. C: Yeah, on green drinks, this frozen green shit. J: The Backstreet Boys were staying in our hotel and they had like two hundred teenagers waiting outside front for their heroes to show up. So we roll up in our van and they're like 'Is that them, is that them?' Our van door opens, and I remember Brian (Young - drums) was like carrying me by the neck and I cleared a path through all these people by vomiting all over the place!
C: This was after you'd vomited in the urinal and passed out on the floor puking green everywhere! That inspired the line 'Walking through a German hotel, not walking very well' in 'Bought For A Song' Have any of your songs featured recurring characters? C: No, but that's a good idea actually. J: Like Joe Ray Part II! You've recently completed a tour of America with Matchbox Twenty which is kind of an unusual pairing. Who would you really like to tour with? C: We actually just did it. We did an outdoor thing last month in America with Cheap Trick and that was really cool. Rick Neilson had this wireless rig and whilst me and Jody were watching from the side of the stage he'd come over whilst playing a solo and be having a conversation with us while he was playing! He was like 'Chris, do you like this guitar?' and I'm like 'Yeah man, but you're supposed to be over there!' The audience was like twelve feet the other way and he just didn't give a shit! The album "Welcome Interstate Managers" is out now on S-Curve Records / Virgin. See Issue 2 of TrashPit for a review. For more information visit www.fountainsofwayne.com
TRaSH.
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Black Velvet 10
Years of Rock & Roll
Most music fanzines very rarely last more than a few issues so the fact that one can last ten years is something of a major achievement. More than that though it's a true testament to someone's love and devotion to something they truly care about and that is very much the case with Black Velvet Magazine and it's editor Shari. Originally being known for it's support of bands such as Bon Jovi and The Manic Street Preachers, Black Velvet has gone on to be much more and is now one of the countries most definitive sources for the cream of Rock, Punk and Glam bands. TrashPit felt it was time to talk to a 'proper' zine editor and tracked Shari down to see what has kept Black Velvet so strong for a whole decade. When you started the magazine ten years ago, did you ever think it would last this long? When I started Black Velvet all I had in mind was the present – to write about the shows that I went to, the bands I’d discovered, and just promote what I loved. I never thought about how long I wanted to do it for. Do you plan to celebrate in any way? Probably not. Maybe I should have a big party or organise a gig, but I don’t really know how to do that. I know a lot of zine editors put out CDs or promote gigs but I’ve never really had the urge to do that - I just like writing. When you started out what did you want the magazine to achieve? I wanted people to take notice of the bands I discovered and fell in love with. Ten years ago I was really into the unsigned LA scene. It seemed like there were loads of great bands that didn’t have record deals but were really talented and put on great shows. I wanted to introduce them to the masses. BV was just an outlet for the passion I had for rock music. Was there any particular band, magazine or person that inspired you to start the magazine originally? I produced a fanzine for an unsigned glam band called Alleycat Scratch. They were the band that first got me into zine editing. I saw them at the Troubadour in Hollywood the first time I went there in 1992 and was blown away. I just thought maybe I should do a fanzine for them over this side of the pond. I did that for a year until they split up unfortunately, at which point I’d gotten it into my head that I wanted to do an all-round rock zine. Who has been the best person/band to interview? It's hard because every person I’ve interviewed has been interesting in their own way but if I really had to choose then I’ll say my interview with Tyler Rann of Midtown which was about animal rights which I'm really into. It was my first animal rights based interview and he was very inspiring to talk to. I’ve also enjoyed interviewing people like Marko 72 of Sugarcult and Keri Kelli because they’re really down to earth, fun and chatty. But everyone’s been really cool. I feel bad for not naming everyone. What's the nicest compliment you've received? I received an email from a journalist who’s written for some well known publications who said it was the best read he’s
come across in a long time. I totally appreciate anyone who says anything nice, but for someone who actually writes for a living to say that is a huge compliment. Then there are others, which aren’t so much spoken compliments, but more active ones, like having BV on sale in shops. Also when Marko 72 of Sugarcult offered to write for BV and when I see him mention that in his own Sugarcult interviews that’s a big compliment. Who has been the hardest band to track down for an interview and who do you still want to speak with? I want to interview Eve6 but they seem to concentrate on the USA. I also want to interview John Feldmann of Goldfinger about animal rights because he does so much for PETA and other organisations. I’d like to interview Mark Owen and one day I’ll interview Jon Bon Jovi too! Ha ha. What's the best thing about being the editor of your own magazine? Just having a magazine that has all of my favourite bands in it. To write what I want, about who I want and to lay it out as I want. To know that this is this is my own product, born from my own time and effort. Issue 40 of Black Velvet is OUT NOW visit www.blackvelvetmagazine.com for more info
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