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All hail the new King of Rock & Roll! Interviews with American Hi-Fi, The Posies, Red Light Rippers Bowling For Soup’s Jaret Reddick talks Hair Metal, We Are Scientists Army of Freshmen - plus loads of CD & Live Reviews
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When this issue started to come together and I was arranging interviews a certain theme started to arise. A lot of the bands I was speaking to fell squarely into a certain category, one which I mention far too many times as I’m sure some will agree and that’s - Power Pop (or Nu Breed as it's sometimes known). Now I’m no authority on this genre, not by a long shot, but I am a sucker for a guitar driven hooky pop tune. So, late last year I decided that this issue of TrashPit would be deemed a ‘Power Pop Special’. Then in early January an email dropped into my Inbox telling me that a certain Butch Walker was flying into the UK for a special one off acoustic gig! Holy crap!! I’d been trying to get an interview with Butch since this magazine began and to be honest he’s probably one of the main reasons this magazine began in the first place. The Marvellous
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3 albums were one of the things that reignited my passion for music and have been a benchmark ever since. So, another change occurred - when I found out that an interview with Walker was possible it shaped a shift in the magazine’s theme once again. Not only would it be Power Pop orientated but it turns out several of the bands interviewed have been associated with Butch in the past and along with a CD and Live review to boot this has become something of a Butch Walker Special!! Finally, I want to thank Emma Watson for helping sort out most of the interviews in this edition of the mag as it would certainly have looked very different without her help - thank you! Power Pop - the soundtrack of your summer!!
• TRASHPIT Issue 9 - Spring/Summer 2006 • Editor - ROB LANE • All Articles, Reviews & Photographs by ROB LANE unless otherwise stated. © 2006 For What It’s Worth Promotions Butch Walker Promos courtesy of Crush Management • Butch Walker Abbey Road Photos - Martyn Lyon • BFS Crue Photos courtesy of Jaret Reddick • American Hi Fi Live Shot Brigitte Maenhout • We Are Scientists - Jamie Campbell • Army of Freshmen - Danielle Atkins • Ryan Roxie - Natalie Bennett • Red Light Rippers - Babak www.babak.ca • Tracii Guns - Jane Ushwell • Stacey Blades - Samantha Knight • Jim Rose - Steev Cowled • Jon Bon Jovi - Sam Gower • Danger Danger - Junko Kambara www.d2stationjapan.com
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w e v i D Re s Babylon Bombs Doin' You Nasty
Bowling For Soup Goes To The Movies
Smilodon
Jive / Zomba
Two albums in two years is one hell of a track record for most bands but hot on the heels of 2005's 'Cracked Wide Open and Bruised', Sweden's Babylon Bombs are back, kicking and screaming and with the sleaze level turned up to ten! Whilst their debut was a thorough blues rock infused workout, this release sees the band hitting their stride with more refined songwriting and newly found attitude injection. 'Jaded Heart' sets the standard from the start as the band rip, tear and kick through a whole series of adrenaline fuelled stadium rockers - 'Hometown Hero' and 'Drop The Bomb' both hold killer hooks in their own style and have a custom built live feel. Whilst still not breaking any major boundaries you get the feeling that's never the game plan, what is evident is the overall energy which the band have found this time around. Anyone who's been missing the long since faded hooks from bands such as Hanoi Rocks should be getting all set to grab a piece of Babylon Bombs!
Beautiful Creatures Deuce Perris Records
Opening an album with the 'Jimmy Neutron Theme' may be considered career suicide but Texan power pop kings Bowling For Soup have good reason as they deliver an album chock full of their contributions to Film and TV shows over the past few years. Unashamedly being products of the 80's Pop Culture generation, the Soup inject this love onto a fifteen tracks making it one big blast of energy. At times it's off the wall in its song choice but it's a definite buy for fans and a great fat slab of fun. The band effortlessly put their mark onto covers of tracks such as Britney's 'Baby One More Time' and The Vogues 'Five o’clock World' whilst originals such as 'Undertow', 'Star Song' and the awesome 'Sometimes' could easily fit on any 'proper' album by the band. Ending with a brand new recording of their version of Matthew Sweet's 'Sick Of Myself' it's a great stop gap until we see the next full studio album. Grab some popcorn, a super sized Coke and remember what going to the movies was all about in the first place....fun!!
Crystal Pistol Crystal Pistol Bad Reputation
Always a band to escape under my music radar, Joe Leste's Beautiful Creatures have certainly hit hard with their second album. Always being a fan of Motley Crue's album with John Corabi I'm shocked I let this band get away unnoticed as this was the first comparison that struck. 'Freedom' and 'Save Me' are awesome slabs of heavy, heavy melodic guitar rock with lashings of post grunge sensibilities and huge Cult-esque hook lines. And whilst 'Ton Of Led' lends itself a little too closely to the Grunge stereotype, 'I Still Miss You' is an epic LA power ballad without the cliches. Like the Crue did way back in 1994, Beautiful Creatures have taken a similar route combining the best elements of hard rock and the Seattle explosion to create a sound that walks a dangerously cool line of radio friendliness with a hard nosed attitude. Perhaps this didn't work for the masses a decade ago but today it's presented to a whole new generation of open eyed rock fans with a modern day sprinkling of fat industrial production and fine musicianship. Deuce is without a doubt a monster of an album.
Vancouver's Crystal Pistol managed to create a buzz amongst UK rock fans even prior to the release of their debut. Word spread about a band delivering the attitude of GnR but with a modern day take and an album set to explode. This collection of low strung gutter rock oozes the characteristics of LA sleaze and bridges a gap for anyone looking for a middle ground between the likes of The Murderdolls and Velvet Revolver. Opener 'Watch You Bleed' grasps heavily at the coat-tails of Slash's current musical venture and at times sounds a little too close for comfort but they blast back with a modern day anthem in the form of 'Rockstar' chanting ‘Everybody Hates You When Love Rock n Roll!'. Crystal Pistol keep things real simple as most fine rock bands do - all dirty guitars, big on the attitude and drop choruses you can land on squarely the second time round. It's unchallenging and nothing really new but at high volume in a sweaty rock club you wouldn't ask for anything more!
The Dangerfields Born To Rock
Ace Frehley Greatest Hits Live
Rock N Roll Records
Megaforce Records
These Irish guys work harder than any other band I've seen. In fact, in rock history, probably only Black Flag had a stronger work rate. And that's a close call. They embody all that is rock n roll - the blood, sweat, tears and of course, the pursuit of ‘the dream’ whatever that may be. It's bands and in fact records like this which inspire me to keep my own rock 'n roll dreams alive. This is their debut album and it's short, sharp and to the point like all good punk is. Fast as fucking fuck with a singing drummer no less! Filthy overdriven bass riffs and a great guitar sound. Lyrically, they're a horror-punk band, inspired by gore films past and present, but musically, it's more Motorhead, Zeke and even AC/DC that really seep through. It's impossible to pigeon hole and they evidently appeal to the new breed of hardcore kids, old rockers, punks and metalheads alike - Bruce Dickinson being a fan too I might add. Standout tracks include ‘Wolf Man’, ‘Rock Club’, ‘Mark Of The Beast’, ‘Rock The Road’ and’ Last House’. The sky is the limit for these boys and I stand by what I said in a recent interview; The Dangerfields are the best punk band the UK has produced in the last ten years! JAMIE DELERICT
Dog's Eye View Tomorrow Always Comes Vanguard Records
The original KISS line-up of the 70's was without a doubt one of the most powerful and recognisable forces in rock history. The band totally understood that it was not how musically talented you were or how fast you could play but how you put your personality across through the songs you wrote and performed. To this day Ace Frehely is still one of the most influential guitarists of all time and this brand new live album recorded over several gigs including London's Hammersmith Odeon on the Space Ace's solo tour shows why he holds such a crown - the songs! All the Frehely KISS-era anthems are present and correct... 'Cold Gin', 'Shock Me' and 'New York Groove' along the normally Simmons led 'Deuce'. The live recording quality is great throughout with a top guitar sound with the vocals really standing up well. A couple of bonus studio tracks are also tagged on including 'Give It To Me Anyway' featuring a stellar Skid Row guest list of Sebastian Bach, Rachel Bolan, Snake Sabo and even old KISS buddy Peter Criss lends a hand! The Space Ace may go AWOL every now and again but he's always a welcome return!
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Leon Uppers And Downers Freezer Recordings
Dog's Eye View has always been songwriter Peter Stuart. Releasing the fantastic 'Happy Nowhere' back in 1995 (is it really over ten years ago?) Stuart and his band rode the wave of other mid nineties bands such as Counting Crows and The Wallflowers. A follow up, 'Daisy', surfaced a few years later and a solo album 'Propeller' sometime afterwards. Stuart then took a break after becoming somewhat disillusioned by the industry and realised he needed to regain his enthusiasm for music and in particular performing. This he's done with 'Tomorrow Always Comes', which still holds the distinct Dog's Eye View sound but turns it around taking the 'standard' middle American songwriting styles and twisting them with R&B grooves and experimental arrangements. Don't be put off by this off the wall approach, it's still a strong album that fans of earlier work will enjoy, particularly tunes such as '7 Wonders', 'Be Here Now' and the great 'K.I.S.S'. Realising how much enthusiasm and creativity Stuart regained whilst recording this album brings you a new take on the songs and gives the listener a whole new perspective, something I'm sure Stuart himself intended.
Floating around the Derby music scene for several years, lo-fi pop quartet Leon finally rise to the surface with their debut album. Building their profile both in the UK and abroad following a well received European Tour as guests to The Bloodhound Gang and support from celebrity DJ's the likes of Jonathon Ross and Claire Sturgess, Leon deliver cheery and slick pop tunes that have an instant likeability yet demand a deeper listen. The influence of bands such as Eels is evident throughout and done well, avoiding the temptation to overdo the guitars instead letting the songs breathe and let the melodies carry themselves. It's hard not to take lead singles 'Be There' and 'Getting Into You' straight to your heart, with their incredibly sweet hooks and another possible crowd pleaser would be 'Giving It All Away' which reminds me of Fountains Of Wayne. Unfortunately it's hard to decide what market the Leon sound would appeal - at times it suggests chart success but has a distinctly safe adult vibe and is maybe too clever for it's own good! The next few months should prove interesting to how this band evolves.
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Muscle Car Baby, Come On!
Patchwork Grace Zebra
Mondo Bizarro Records
BND Music
The constantly untapped and overlooked music hot bed that is Australia springs upon us another great export in the form of Adelaide's Muscle Car. The EP kicks into action with the title track 'Baby, Come On' and instantly reminds us of a fusing of Liam Lynch and The Offspring with an added sprinkling of The Doors hammond organ in the background! It's all no nonsense, three chord inspired rock and roll - fast and straight to the point and before you realise it we're already onto the band tackling 'Planet Girl' by Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction. Hopefully Muscle Car will be back with a full album of songs at some point but for now 'Baby' Come On!' is well worth tracking down for some great loud and dumb Aussie fun!
Numbers From The Beast An All Star Salute to Iron Maiden Restless Records / Rykodisc In a day and age when Tribute Bands and Reunions are big money business, then Tribute albums are a sure fire success. This tribute to the legends of heavy metal, Iron Maiden though certainly ranks as one of the best. With a stamp of approval from the band themselves, artwork from official Maiden ink spiller Derek Riggs, production from Bob Kulick and a fine cast of Rock and Metal superstars it's a more than valid release. None of the tracks fall past the mark and it was cool to hear these songs again after such a long time with a new but familiar sound. Notable metal work-outs worth checking out include Dee Snider belting out 'Wasted Years' and Mark Slaughter tackling 'Can I Play with Madness'. Elsewhere we find contributions from Lemmy, Chris Jericho and even original Maiden singer Paul Dianno returning to add vocals to 'Wrathchild' all backed by the cream of rock musicians such as Nuno Bettencourt, Richie Kotzen and Billy Sheehan. A tribute that lives up to it's name for sure.
The care free aggression of grunge in a car crash collision with Motley Crue attitude and Robin Black eyeliner provide the soundtrack for a love hate Daisy Chainsaw vocal and the world of Patchwork Grace. This exciting young band seem to have a no holds barred attitude to whatever musical influences they damn well want and they proceed to twist and mould it into a tragic melting pot of musical ideas and expression which far bellies their ages yet is the perfect result that only youthful energy can deliver. Title track 'Zebra' could easily tear apart daytime Radio 1 should the likes of Zane Lowe or even, cough, Jo Whiley get their influential hands onto it with it's quirkily infectious motif. Elsewhere tracks such as the brooding 'Kharrrrarrah' and the dual vocal trade off of 'Nancy' take a few more listens for them to work their spell but for a debut EP this is scarily exciting stuff and a full album of this calibre is an exciting prospect indeed.
Pay*Ola Try Everything 2wice Tomcat Records Hard working Belfast band Pay*Ola finally release their long overdue and anticipated debut album. The band boast a great old fashioned rock sound - solid drums, edgy guitar riffs and a crisp, clean powerful vocal courtesy of Philip McCarroll. Fans of bands such as Bad Company, Thin Lizzy and melodic rockers Tyketto should eat this album up but whilst it's a solid collection of radio friendly rock - it's the word 'friendly' that sums the whole thing up. The album from the start is very safe and well.... pleasant. Whilst 'I'd Rather Be Dreaming' and 'In Different Colours' have great hooks and are played with heaps of passion they would do little to offend your aunt and uncle at a family gathering! 'Try Everything Twice' is well produced and performed but it misses the vital ingredient of Rock and Roll which the band seem to try so hard to capture. Perhaps a little more grit, attitude and a little less polish may help the band put to record the sound they want and help lose the clean cut appeal this album boasts.
Pornovurt Pornovurt
Simple Plan MTV Hard Rock Live
Popcult Records
Lava
An eclectic mix of rock, punk and old school indie makes up the sound of London based band Pornovurt. What's evident about the band especially once they hit the second chorus of 'On A Train' is their very British sound - it's almost as if Pulp have gone all Hard Rock on us! It's unusual and at times maybe a little confusing when it's placed against the layers of keyboards and techno sounds which bounce against an industrial wall of guitars on the Placebo-esque 'Mind' and 'Cold. It's tracks like this that suit the bands identity much better than the student like 'Hermit' which takes another left turn and heads into almost Styx territory! What the band need is to walk their very own individual path which they could easily do rather than trying to shoe horn themselves into a scene which they don't comfortably belong. Although the biography likes to claim it, Guns n Roses they're not. Pornovurt are their own band maybe they just have to let the rest of the world realise it?
Sequel Back Sequelrocks.com Twenty three years between albums is a long time but listening to the new album from Portland Oregon's Sequel you'd never think they'd been away! After breaking up before their 1983 album 'Daylight Fright' was released (it eventually saw release a couple of years ago) the band took on numerous musical ventures before eventually reforming and inevitably new material began to surface. 'Back' picks up where the band left off with a great melodic rock sound that fans of classic bands such as Foreigner, Sammy Hagar and Survivor will eat up. Sequel make no excuses about their place or musical genre - they are classic feel good rock and roll, take it or leave it! 'Cherry Wine' and 'The Good Stuff' are slick and instantly recognisable tunes whilst 'Rock n Roll Girl' holds a smooth Tom Petty vibe. Sequel also deliver a great lighter fuelled ballad with 'The Best I Can' cleverly avoiding the standard ballad formula and is more Eagles then Bon Jovi. 'Back' also has a few more acoustic elements, than their earlier material but doesn't stray too far from the great rock formula the band had over twenty years ago!
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I've loved Simple Plan since the first time I heard them and saw them live. Sure, it's perhaps the sickliest, sweetest form of Punk Pop there is but these guys seem to have a bottomless pit to their songwriting talents and they make no apologies for just wanting to go out and play feel good pop rock tunes - and if it gets dropped into the boy band end of pop punk then so be it! This live set recorded at Orlando, Florida's Hard Rock Live outdoor arena is an equal split between the bands 2002 debut and last years more 'mature' record 'Still Not Getting Any'. There seems little evidence of overdubs or patching up throughout the CD which gives the album much more of a raw feel and almost all of the songs have added balls in the live environment particularly newer, harder edged tunes such as 'Me Against The World' and 'Crazy'. The between song banter often becomes a little tired and safe and how much longer the band can pull off songs such as 'God Must Hate Me' with their school kid lyrics remains to be seen but for now Simple Plan are kings of their genre - and if you don't like them, I don't care!
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Damn, am I a sucker for this kind of stuff or what?! Shouldn't I be raving about the latest Trivium or Bullet For My Valentine release to earn me credibility? Instead I'm here absolutely falling hook line and sinker for the awesome lyrical turnaround of 'Ticket Outta Loserville' and shouting along and itching to play air guitar to 'Murdered in the Mosh'! Sure it might be wafer thin in the eyes of many and the aim at a US market is pretty obvious with it's slick production job and faux American style vocal but ex Busted guitarist James Bourne has a damn fine knack for nailing a great chorus. Other than perhaps a little more guitar and a dose more attitude, Son Of Dork hardly try to push the boundaries of what Busted achieved but you never really get the impression that Bourne ever wanted that dream to end and this is just the next chapter in his pop punk adventure. Whether or not the great British public wants a part of it or if his fan base stays loyal we'll have to see but it's a damn site more fun that Fightstar!
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Spit Like This Scary Tales
St. Madness We Make Evil Fun
BUT Records
Nasty Prick Records
With a killer image of rock god frontman and the world's hottest bass player along with great marketing and super slick website I've often wondered why Spit Like This aren't much bigger than the persona they effortlessly ooze through their marketing. Well, the disappointing truth is that their songs just don't live up to the hype everything else promises. This retrospective of all their EP's is evidence enough and you have to wade through ten tracks of odd, sub standard Rocky Horror meets Marilyn Manson style Goth Rock before you get to anything resembling a riff on 'Rebel Lover'. Sure it's a collection of back catalogue material but surely it would have made more sense to run it in reverse order with the stronger songs up front. At best it's Pretty Boy Floyd style Glitter Rock but for the most part it's watered down Industrial Metal trying to be glam and not quite delivering the goods. Perhaps bringing on board some writers who share a similar enthusiasm to build on their weaknesses could help SLT become the monsters they perhaps think they already are?
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Stay Gold / Art Union Australia sure knows how to nurture slick hard rock. I think they maybe do it on purpose, people often say that no good music comes from Australia but they could well be the uncrowned kings of melodic rock and they just like to keep it all to themselves! Square One are yet another fine band to surface from down under with all the great untouched and unscarred credentials of top shelf power pop. This is the second 40ft Ringo album that never got released, this is the rock album Motor Ace forgot to do and it's probably the album that Matthew and Gunnar Nelson wrote on the back of their tour bus on their massive 1991 tour! Harmonies are the main order of the day, just check out opener 'Tonight' or the beautiful 'Free Flow Feeling' that has a warm, hazy summer night written all over it! Things rarely let up and hit their stride with 'Colour Me Blue' which holds a vocal ride out you want to go on forever! Anyone wanting a stomping aggressive rock album isn't gonna find it in Square One but if you want stomping, feel good power pop that has hooks for days then start right here.
Arizona metal kings St. Madness do exactly what their CD cover suggests. Heavy as hell but with a fun attitude - this is beer drinking, good time Metal. Does anyone actually do that stuff? Sure KISS were heavy but did anyone other than stuck up adults and clueless music press ever consider them Metal? St Madness' 'Sexual Abuse' could easily be a Simmons / Stanley composition gone XXX and crude as you like 'I don't mind if you get real wild while I'm cumin deep in your throat!' !!!!? These dudes really don't give a damn about being politically or 'lyrically' correct but it's a blast of fun in a dumb, bang your head, 'who gives a fuck?' kind of way. Members with names such as Dark Soul, Dr. Frankenshred and Randy Axe gives an idea of where the band are coming from (or maybe not!). Musically there's a definite Motorhead influence running wild alongside a few Maiden-isms so there's no reason why fans of old school metal wouldn't love St. Madness. It perhaps aint gonna set the world on fire though or even Hell but I'm sure St Madness would be happy if you're left with a smile and a slight cramp in your devil horns!
Tommy Lee Tommyland: The Ride SPV It seems that pretty much the whole world hates this new solo album from MĂśtley CrĂźe drummer Tommy Lee. If I'm being honest I can see some of their point of view - bad boy rock and roller turns his back on his previous experimental, hip hop outings, sheds his dangerous persona and churns out an album of mid tempoed acoustic pop rock! But so fucking what??!! I just know that if you'd have given me this album under the name of someone else or some new band I would have crapped myself at some of the best Power Pop tunes I've heard in a long time! This album sees Tommy assemble one of the most impressive line ups of Special Guests seen in some time with the likes of Butch Walker, Good Charlotte's Joel Madden and even his good buddy Nick Carter from The Backstreet Boys! Perhaps the songs featuring each guest sound very much like their own band, 'Trying To Be Me' with Chad Kroeger sounds scarily like Nickelback but the quality of the songwriting is second to none. 'Good Times', 'Hello Again' and the brilliant 'Tired', an ode to Tommy's marriage to Pamela Anderson and other Star Couples, are awesome slices of radio rock and it makes for a great listen and lots of fun. Tommy might have sold out but he's done it in style!
Butch Walker This is Me... Justified and Stripped Sony / Epic Oh yes! An acoustic Butch Walker album is certainly worth it's weight in gold! The chance for the man's legions of loyal fans to grab their own piece of his near legendary solo shows (along with their bootleg DVD's obviously!). Originally released as a special pre-order bonus CD with Butch’s ‘Letters’ album, a copy of 'This is Me...' recently found it’s way to TrashPit so we thought it deserved a mention. The album perfectly captures the atmosphere of the gig and the crowds passion for the songs equally rivals that of the singer himself. Many will be familiar with the live versions of 'Mixtape' and 'Suburbia' and it's captured perfectly right here to be listened to time and time again. Over the past few years people have totally taken these songs to their hearts and the Atlanta crowd on the CD almost take over each song and hang onto Walker's every word between tracks. It's these short stories and clever humorous quips that Butch effortlessly delivers that really hold the magic and allow him to become one with the crowd. This is taken to it's literal climax as Butch joins the crowd to sing with them instead of to them on 'Take Tomorrow' - No PA, no microphones - just a voice and guitar with the beer bottles clinking in the background - timeless and perfect. Legend indeed!
Warrant Born Again MTM Music / SPV One our generations ultimate party bands return with a brand new album of melodic guitar rock and a new voice at the helm. Recruiting ex Black n Blue vocalist Jamie St. James to fill the vacant position left by singer Jani Lane, the rest of the original line up from the albums 'Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinkin Rich' and the legendary 'Cherry Pie' hope to bring back some of the tongue in cheek humour and attitude that has been missing for some time. Losing their main songwriter to some rock n roll acoustic, Reality TV wilderness could easily spell the end for most bands but on 'Born Again' Warrant just about manage to pull it off. Sure there's not quite as much sparkle and personality of albums past but this is still a good, solid rock work-out and St. James holds his own throughout. Tracks such as 'Bourbon County Line', 'Down In Diamonds' and the album’s highlight 'Hell CA' definitely have that familiar Warrant magic and keep things cranked up to ten. Despite a few 'rock by numbers' tracks Warrant can still pack a hefty punch when it comes to good time rock and roll and 'Born Again' is a solid return.
The Wonderstuff Suspended By Stars IRL I've mentioned it time and time before how I can't believe why The Wonderstuff and their main songwriter Miles Hunt aren't regarded as one of this countries finest songwriters. Celebrating a twenty year career and still going strong, The Wonderstuff have a back catalogue of quality material to put any other band to shame - I guess we just keep it our little secret until everyone else catches on right? As with each and every album, The Wonderstuff open all guns blazing with a solid opening track in the form of 'Tricks of the Trade'. Like their previous release 'Escape From Rubbish Island' this is a more thoughtful and perhaps mature release from the band who are more well known for 'pop' success in the late eighties and mid nineties but it's been a natural progression and one that pays it's rewards from numerous listens. 'We Hold Each Other Up' and 'Say It Ain't So' all hold solid hooks and Miles Hunt's razor tongue and catchy wit is still present on 'Long Time No See'. A truly British institution in a country that is totally unaware of what it's got!
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What the fuck is this all about!! Has the world gone insane or something?!! Zeeb? apparently arrived on Planet Earth back in 1864 but for the past year since coming out of hiding to form a band, woo females and mate, this masked trio have took root in Ipswich and have begun world domination with their debut album!! This back story is as nuts as the music itself - a combination of crunching guitars, powerful hook laden chants, and a cunning ability to make you want to move (even a harmonica crops up at one point!!) It's like Queens of the Stone Age suddenly got a personality implant and forced out a smile or two on tracks such as the infectious radio friendly 'Galactic Sulk' and hip hop fused 'ZEEB Amoeba'. It really is insane from start to finish and is a no holds barred intergalactic musical free for all! Zeeb? seem to hold some kind of secret though as a die hard rabid following of Zeeblings have surfaced and can't get enough of this chaos! Maybe we'll all soon be infected or as the band prefer probed?!!
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Five years is a long, long time in the music business these days and the public can easily forget about a band as if they never existed. Not in the case of American Hi-Fi. Since releasing their debut album back in 2001 the band were given a heroes reception from UK crowds on the recent Bowling For Soup Tour. A straight ahead no frills rock and roll band, these guys easily reinvent themselves on each album without selling out like many others seem to do. TrashPit spoke to bassist Drew Parsons about their long overdue return to UK shores, working with rock royalty and the ever so fickle music business. Were you impressed by the reaction the Bowling For Soup What's the situation with the new album? Are you putting it out fans gave the band on this tour? Did you think they'd forget yourselves at the moment? about you? The album came out first in Japan and that helped us to pay to We toured with Bowling For Soup for like four months in make this record. We shopped it around in the States and got the States and it's one of the best tours we've ever done, Maverick who are part of Warner to put it out and we said it was their fans are really similar to ours. There's no haters in the important for us to put this album out worldwide, especially to crowd and everyone's just there to have fun. These people places like France and the UK because these are places we've are just there to enjoy music and not be too cool and into done well and we need to make sure the fans are getting new just one scene so they're really accepting and it's great. We music. We had tonnes of people emailing us saying please put have a bunch of tapes from live shows we did over here out the record and the label kept saying that they wanted to wait and it's great listening back to the difference between the and build it up in the States. But after the first single they fans over here and the fans in the States. In the US when dropped us so it's still not out over here! So we said 'screw it' we we did 'Flavor of the Weak' it was just twelve year old girls have the masters which belong to us so we made like a bunch of singing back but on the tapes you can hear the voices copies and brought them over with us! We're gonna talk to some have dropped a lot lower and there's a lot of dudes singing smaller labels and it's great because everyone over here has the stuff back! been so helpful so we're ready to get it out properly.
What's your view on the music industry at the moment - do you think labels are still just signing what's popular? It's hard not to be jaded after you've been in this business for twelve years and it's always been the same story were they follow the newest trend and end up over saturating the market with that sound, then the new trend comes along and they do it all over again. You know, there's so much money wasted by larger companies. I was talking to someone last night about 'dining expenses' and you just know that money can be put to better use than taking bands out to four star restaurants, it just doesn't need to be done. I'd rather that money be put into promotion. I think a lot of the smaller labels are making a bit of a comeback, like in the nineties at one point when the indie rock scene really came around in the States, it was mostly the smaller labels that made that happen. The latest album has a real retro summer pop feel to it which works well with your sound. How much of an influence did Butch Walker have on the album? The sound and direction was already there. We'd demoed all the songs and done half the record before Butch came in. We had him work on like six songs which we felt were the strongest, maybe single orientated ones. We'd been friends with Butch for a long time and we wanted him to come in and fine tune some of the lyrics and be there for helping out with harmonies, kinda just the icing on the sounds because that's the stuff he's really good at. It worked out great because he loved the direction we were going in and we'd grown up with the same bands so it was really easy to work together. How did you find playing two sets on the Butch Walker Tour? You'd first do your set then you'd switch around and become Butch's backing band? It was fun to play somebody else's music with a totally different sound. We'd do our set and Jason our drummer would go off to the bar and Stacy would play drums. Jamie and I would play bass and guitar and back him up. I kinda liked doing the two sets because growing up I'd played in bars where you'd play three or four sets a night and I hadn't really done that in a couple of years so it was kinda nice to get back out there and do some endurance work! You say bands like Blur have always been a big influence in how they always re-invent themselves, something you seem to do on your own albums.... I think they do it a little more and a little better than we do but it's the same idea right?! I really like Blur and Oasis but we listen to so much different stuff from Elvis Costello and Squeeze through to Swervedriver, The Pixies and My Bloody Valentine. Of our albums I really like the newest one because I really feel we did it on our own. At the time our drummer Jason wasn't in the band and it was just the three of us working together and I felt more involved with the songwriting
and had more input with Jamie on the chord progressions because Stacy was way more open minded, willing and comfortable with that so it felt really good. I still really love the first album though and I'd love to go back and make another record with Bob Rock because that was such a great memory. What bands did you play in before American Hi-Fi? I played bass with Tracy Bonham back in the nineties who had a hit in the States around the time when Alanis Morrisette got big and all the labels went looking for another angry rock girl. She'd started a band and made some demos and I joined the band in the spring. I think it was like on our third show when Stacy was playing drums and helping out I remember a guy from Island Records showed up and was like 'I know you think I'm crazy, but I work for Island Records and I want to sign you!' Me and Stacy were sat there drinking a beer thinking this can't be really happening like this! But they were just looking to grab the next Alanis Morrisette you know?! It was fun, I got to do that for four years. I was nineteen and went to Australia, and all over Europe it was great. Then to go on and record with Bob Rock on your first album. That all seems pretty exciting and surreal? Rock is a legend! We'd all done the club thing before and tried to do showcases and get labels to come out to see us but because we all had a lot of friends and knew a bunch of people with Stacy playing in Veruca Salt, me playing with Tracy Bonham and our drummer at the time was in a band called Big Dish we thought it would be easier to spend the time making really good demos and we can call on all those people we know and they'd listen to us, so it was pretty easy to get someone to pick us up. We ended up getting a deal with Outpost Records who Veruca Salt were signed to. When we were putting the songs together Stacy went down to play drums and work on Nina Gordon's solo record which Bob Rock was producing and he finished up his tracks and was getting ready to head back to Boston and Bob was like 'You're in Mauri, you're gonna go back to Boston?! It's like January and freezing!' Stacy mentioned he had to go back and rehearse with his own band and Bob offered to set up a rehearsal studio and fly us down, get a cheap house which won't cost us much and on the days when Nina's not in the studio we could come in and record! So it was like a no brainer! Did we want to sit freezing in Boston or come and write and record in Mauri for like two and half months?! It was awesome, we went down for Christmas and January and wrote a bunch of songs, played our first shows and Bob came out to one of them with his wife and decided he wanted to work on our record! The album 'Hearts on Parade' is out now For more info visit www.americanhifi.com
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e m o c e b e ü r C y e l t ö M d i d n e h W “The song 'Crazy Train' from the album 'Blizzard of Oz' is the reason why I'm in a band today. My friend Greg Norman in the sixth grade played me that song on his walkman, the kind that wouldn't rewind, only fast forward, and I went out that day and my Mom brought me 'Blizzard of Oz' and 'Shout at the Devil' at the same time.” Everyone has life changing moments and for Bowling For Soup frontman Jaret Reddick this is certainly one of his! Anyone who has been to one of their concerts or seen their awesome take of Motley Crue in their ‘1985’ video will no doubt know of this bands fondness for Hard Rock and Glam. So, TrashPit thought it was high time we spoke to Jaret about growing up in the 80’s and early 90’s when Rock was King! What are some of your earliest memories about getting into Rock Music? I was about twelve at the time and Ozzy was really controversial back then. I remember the first time I saw he had an album called 'Speak of the Devil' and I thought that we were supposed to talk about Satan all the time until my friend Curtis Stafford said 'You're a Dumb Ass! Speak of the Devil just means when you're speaking about someone and they walk in the room.' I felt like a total idiot! Maybe Ozzy didn't like Satan as much as I thought he did! I remember reading about Ozzy when 'Speak of the Devil' was like the 'Worst Album of the Year' Nominee and Ozzy was there supposedly throwing up guts or something like that, scared the shit out me - but later on I guess I grew to 'appreciate' that stuff! I never got to see Ozzy live though and I was always really jealous of my friends that did.
Was you into the image conscious thing of that era? I tried to grow my hair long but it never really grew and it wasn’t until later when I was into Death Metal that it actually got long. I think it was because I used to get a perm all the time! For some reason I think the curls used to kill my hair vibe! And also, I was the fat kid growing up so the Spandex never quite fit me!
Did you go to many live shows when you were a kid? We lived in Witchita Falls, and I was so young at the time and you couldn't just jump on a train and go somewhere like you guys can in the UK. All the concerts happened in either Dallas or Oklahoma City which was like a two and a half hour drive so convincing your parents who both work for a living to drive all that way for you to see a metal show wasn't quite the easiest thing back then! It wasn't until like the 'Girls, Girls, Girls' Tour for Mötley Crüe and Judas Priest on the 'Painkiller' Tour which were like the first big concerts I got to see. Once I turned sixteen there was a club where bands that were starting to get big would come to - I got to see Testament, The Killer Dwarves, LA Guns and a bunch more shows like that on the club level. Today something like this is really cool, I saw TNT and Hurricane play at a freekin nightclub, but back then I was like 'Man, I want to see Arena Shows!'
Did your brother introduce you to many bands? You know what, he did but probably didn't know it. There was five years between us and whatever he was into that's what I wanted! If he wore cowboy boots I did, if he was wearing Ralph Lauren then I did too! So if he liked REO Speedwagon, I liked REO Speedwagon and if he liked AC/DC, I liked AC/DC! He had a friend who lived down the street who was always right on top of things. He was always into the new cool shit, like Iron Maiden 'Piece of Mind' and Judas Priest stuff. Those are records I stole from my brother’s room and didn't realise how much it was sorta shaping what I was gonna do with my life. I was just being a sneaky little shit trying to get into my brother's business you know?! So, these were albums that my brother never really got into but he was buying 'cause his friend was into them. So I thank him a lot for getting me into things without really meaning to!
How did your parents react to you being a Metal Kid? My parents were really cool, especially my Mom who was really laid back. As long as I stayed out of trouble she would let me watch and listen to whatever I wanted so I think my folks kinda got it you know? They figured as long as I was staying outta trouble let's just kinda leave him alone. I'm glad they did too ‘cause it allowed me to sorta make my own mind up about a lot of things.
I only started to get into Rock Music around the late 80’s / early 90’s when it was both at it’s peak but getting ready to change - how do you remember that time? I remember them having a countdown on MTV and it would be like New Kids On The Block and Skid Row up there in the Top Five. To me that was a pretty influential time too, Hair Metal in the late eighties, early nineties was kinda like Pop Punk or like what my genre is right now. It was considered popular music, you saw Bon Jovi, Stryper and Def Leppard videos on TV followed by a Whitney Houston video and it was all kinda grouped in there together. Radio stations were playing 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' at the same time as 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' and I equate that to what's happening right now when we're on the radio and right afterwards they play a Justin Timberlake song - times haven't changed. Radio and video play what's popular and this is a big part of what's going on right now! To me the whole music movement goes in stages. Back then you had the Hair Hair bands and then the almost contrived put together bands who never really had the talent and didn't earn what a lot of the bands did. At this point I get ready for Jaret to name some of my favourite bands.....and he does! I was never a Warrant fan, I never 'got' Warrant - I just don't get it man! I was never really into Winger and bands like that. It's a fine line with me, I don't know why some bands I 'got' and others I didn't. You had bands like Ratt and WASP or Mötley Crüe and Dokken who had literally been in the trenches out there making this whole thing really go down you know? Then I feel bands like Anthrax and Metallica moved in and took it to that next level - still kinda hair bands and stuff but yet they made it cool to be 'ugly' yet still be able to play. That's another thing about Hair Bands, people make fun of that stuff all the time and I laugh because you think about how talented those guys were, how hard those guitar solos are to play and how intricate the arrangements are. The singers were hitting notes that like I could only hit on my very best day but could never do night after night like they did. Working and writing with Butch Walker, did he ever speak about his old band Southgang? Yeah, that's such a huge part of him as well. I don't think he runs away from it because it's part of who he is but when people make such a huge deal of it, it kinda rubs him the wrong way. He did the full on thing, he did what everybody wanted to do at that time - You grew up, got in a band and
moved to LA, humped rock chicks, drunk Jack Daniels and hung out promoting your band. He went out there from Atlanta and lived that life, promoted his band and they made it, got signed and got on MTV. I think that's a really cool aspect, anytime I see the pictures I think that's so crazy. Would you ever consider doing a whole show in the ‘1985’ video Mötley Crüe outfit? I would love to! It was so weird because I remember dressing the part anyway back in the day. Once a month my band would dress up to do our rehearsal and we'd take pictures just kid's shit. Of course I used to dress up as KISS as a kid so when we did that whole Mötley Crüe thing in the ‘1985’ video and to actually get professional make up - we just really fuckin nailed it! Erik looked amazing as Nikki Sixx and sometimes I see pictures of my Vince Neil and I'm like 'Wow!' It would be fun to do that on Hallowe'en sometime but I got really hammered on the set and left my outfit in the trailer so I'd have to dig up another one! Do you think you got a good deal once the whole Grunge movement moved in over Hair Metal because you were listening to more punk bands by that point? With me it was weird because as that whole thing was dying around 1989 and 1990 you had that whole Chilli Peppers movement which was happening huge and I was getting into Slayer and Obituary and a whole bunch of Death Metal stuff at that time so when the grunge thing happened I'd already been listening to Alice in Chains for like two years because I'd seen them on tour with Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. I was already listening to Nirvana back in 1990 after I graduated from High School because a friend we met on our senior trip got us into them so I wasn't so much a victim of that whole thing because I'd already started to 'evolve' and I was kinda ahead. The same is kinda true for the whole Punk Rock scene because by 1991 I was already catching up with The Descendants and listening to bootleg Green Day stuff - I was already hardcore into that and started a band in 1992 called 'coolfork!' which was sorta the start of Bowling For Soup. So I think I've kinda stayed ahead of everything and I never really felt the rug was pulled out from under me which I think is kinda luck more than anything, I just happened to be the right age all the time. For more of Jaret’s Hair Metal memories check out.... www.myspace.com/trashpit ‘Bowling For Soup Goes To The Movies ' is out now For more info visit www.bowlingforsoup.com
“I used to be a walking Hair Band Encyclopaedia but now it's all just kinda jumbled..... I drink a lot of beer!”
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Within Hard Rock circles the name Butch Walker has become synonymous with quality. Since emerging on the rock scene in the early nineties with Southgang, Butch managed to ride the wave of musical change and adapt whilst others fell by the wayside. Transforming Southgang into the now legendary Marvellous 3, a band that offered us hooks to hang your hat on over three storming albums, Butch become the new king of Power Pop! Over the past few years he’s released two very different solo albums yet both seem to capture his personality perfectly and he has also gone on to become one of the most sought after writers and producers in the chart topping Pop Rock scene with hit laden clients including Bowling For Soup, American Hi Fi, The Donnas and Avril Lavigne. Butch Walker has also been mentioned in the pages of TrashPit far too many times to mention so it was with great excitement when we headed to London earlier this year to catch his one off solo gig and chat with the man himself! Is England somewhere you've wanted to perform for sometime being a fan of English music? Absolutely, this is definitely one of those things where you take the notch in your belt and move it up one. I would have liked to have done it sooner but there's no better time than now! I grew up loving English bands and we always want what we don't have! I'd love to have a chance at being successful over here rather than in America to tell you the truth. I don't want to sound 'above it' and America's fine and all but, you know, there's lots of problems with it that I'm not happy about - especially with the music scene. I like when it can be more organic and word of mouth and not just 'Oh, this band is on the cover of Spin this month - the Brooklyn Bible!' I read your magazines a lot back in the States because at least they're more entertaining and music related than the ones in America. All magazines play on hype but at least yours are more about the music whereas in America it's becoming more about the Magazines, TV Shows and Video Networks - they’re becoming a quarter about music and everything else is about 'Celebrity'. At least over here they're writing about the musicians getting locked up and arrested rather than about Paris Hilton! It's often said that American fans aren't as loyal to their bands but you seem to have a really strong fan base back home. Apparently! It seems I've got a small, but loyal following here too. I didn't even know if anyone would come and see me if I played a show but it sold out in like two days so I was pretty pumped about it!
Any plans yet for the new record - direction, style? I've just finished recording my new album called 'Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonites' and whilst I was here in London I went in Abbey Road Studios and did strings with The London Symphony which was pretty rockin! I wrote the new record all over the course of this last year and it wasn't a lot of songs, just a song here and a song there and instead of having a pile of songs I just wrote thirteen this time and that was the record. There's always elements of writers block too but when I do a song it just comes out and it's done, then I might not write another for a week, three months or just two days - it's just random. I can't just sit down when I've got time and try to write a song - it never happens. You admire artists who reinvent themselves without selling out do you see yourself like that? 'Letters' was quite a departure from 'Left of Self Centred'. I get bored putting out the same kind of record everytime and I think if fans overtime want to say stuff like 'Oh God, I can't believe he changed’ and 'I like the last one better!' It can't be totally true because my record sales go up each album! It seems like it takes people time and I like to make people think and open up a little bit to different things. What's more important to me is making people feel something different on each record so they don't go 'Oh there's that good old sound I'm used to!' I didn't grow up on one thing and I don't want to play the same thing all the time. It's not Rock, it's not Country and it's not Emo, it's not anything - it's just music. It may not be fashionable or fit the current mould but that's fine, I'll take that! Bob Dylan was one of my idols and he pissed a lot of people off! He came over here a long time ago, played electric and
everybody fucking booed him! Then they went out and bought a cover version of 'Tambourine Man' which was done electric! Whatever! It was the same with Bowie, it was always cool that he flipped on every record and I thought that was great and showed his talent - sometimes that's more important. Life's too short to be predictable. The Donnas album you produced - did you have much input in the sound and feel of that because it was quite a departure from the punkiness of 'Spend The Night' I’m a life long Donnas fan and honestly, in their defence that was their decision. It's not that I don't like bands like AC/DC, The Ramones and Cheap Trick who are very faithful every record and have their signature sound so when The Donnas came to me wanting to make a 'departure' record I was like 'Oh boy, I'm gonna get shit for this 'cause you're gonna make a record that sounds completely different to The Donnas and I'm gonna pay for it!' But I enjoyed it because it was maybe less boring to do rather than have them just rockin' out in 'A' like they did on their other records. It was interesting that they went into a more darker mode, the guitar playing and singing is the best ever and more adventurous. And the whole Seventies thing too - all Seventies man, they were obsessed with it at that time and I had the same record collection growing up so we totally related. Are there any differences between Butch Walker - the singer and Butch - the producer? I find it more humbling being a producer because you're helping someone else achieve their goal to be successful or famous so it's not just about you. It's very gratifying and almost like you're giving something back because this has always been a very selfish business of being all about 'Me'. Moving to LA with Southgang in the late 80’s -were you in awe of that whole LA scene? When we got out there we thought we'd taken a wrong turn somewhere because every band looked incredible and had it all except for songs - they couldn't sing and they couldn't really play. It was like nothing was coming out of the speakers but they looked amazing and we were like 'What the fuck?! This is so.... Hollywood!' We kinda likened it all to the
Hollywood Sign - it's all bold and beautiful but actually it's just held up by shitty two by fours and beercans on the other side! It just made us work harder and try harder to break that image of 'All Looks, No Hooks!' What do you remember most about the scene at that 'changing' time when Hard Rock’s popularity dropped? It was the late eighties when we moved out there. A year after we got signed we put out our record and during that era I was just burnt on that whole scene anyway. It was just me being a kid and going through the motions of what's popular and by the time that music was wiped out and a new kind was in I didn't care about any of it! I just wanted to run as far away as I could but still play music and I think that helped. It would have been insincere of us to try and conform our band that was known for one thing to sound like something cooler. A lot did and a lot are doing it today. A lot of Emo bands are trading in their White Belt for Cowboy Boots because they want to sound like fuckin' Kings of Leon! You gotta be honest! It's a very style conscious scene right now particularly in America. Marvellous 3 have gained a lot of respect over the past few years. Do you sometimes think 'Well hey, we were right all along!'? We kinda knew we were right! We always said we were five years too early and fifteen years too late! I never expected 'Ready, Sex, Go' to be big - it was more of a 'Fuck You' to our Record Company who said we'd never succeed making records that don't sound like Blink 182 or Eve 6. They were telling us that's the band we are, so be that band. So we were like 'We're not that kind of band so Fuck You have this! Have an Arena Rock Record whilst you're at it and drop us if you don't like it!' I think the only people that bought it were guys in bands and I'm convinced about that - they were either people starting bands or in a band and appreciated it. And that's cool, we got our respect and we're really proud of it. Sure we were a bit dumb and rebellious and running the other direction from potential fame but I guess in the end it's good because I'm still here. I didn't go anywhere and unfortunately because of the disposability within the media it's hard to be taken seriously after you've had huge success in another era. You become 'vintage' or 'old' - any rock band that made it big in the 90's can't even get arrested now even as other names or solo artists! So thank god we stayed under the radar because I still like doing this. To have success is sometimes a curse! I have friends in bands that sold 3 million records in 1998 calling and asking what I'm doing and how I'm doing it! I'm not doing anything different, I just didn't have a huge record, I'm just out playing and growing as an artist! For more info visit www.butchwalker.com or www.myspace.com/butchwalker
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ReD LiGht RiPPers Toronto Canada could well be the true home of Rock n Roll at the moment. Not only have they given us the delights of Robin Black and Crash Kelly but now yet another band gets set to hit UK shores in the form of the Red Light Rippers! Taking their cues from the likes of both Guns n Roses, today’s reinvention Velvet Revolver and adding in a sprinkling of Samantha 7 style trashy pop just for good measure you get the low strung guitar sleaze of their brand new debut album ‘Nobody Likes A Rat’. Whilst over in the UK last autumn helping out on bass duty for his good friends The Pariah’s, RLR guitarist Staci T. Rat chatted with TrashPit about what’s happening right now in the Canadian rock and roll scene and great trashy horror films! What's the musical climate like in Canada at the moment? Are there many bands from your genre doing the live scene? You know what there's a lot of really good and edgy rock and roll but unfortunately the work ethic is lost on most of them. They go and play a club with no one there and they get all bitchy and expect to be playing in front of thousands of people. They don't appreciate that this isn't the eighties anymore, this isn't a Mötley Crüe documentary, you're not gonna buy a bass and tomorrow be a rock and roll maniac! It's unfortunate because a lot of these young bands are really good but they've got no heart. Although I know when I was seventeen I was real pain in the ass to work with too so I guess I know how these younger bands think! There's lots of influences on the new album but it's very straight ahead rock - was that a conscious decision? Did you have a blueprint for the album? We're very obviously influenced by stuff from the eighties, I'm not gonna lie and say we're not. The first things I ever learnt to play was stuff like Guns n Roses and The Cult. Obviously the influences are there but I like to think our sound is relevant today and doesn't sound like we're trying to rehash something from twenty years ago. As far as actual sounds for the album I would bring like an AC/DC album into the studio and say that's how I want my rhythm guitar to sound, like Malcolm Young because it's awesome or the lead sound I wanted to sound like this or this. As far as the songs though we don't really think about it, we just play! There are some songs we have that are a little heavier and others that are lighter, I don't really wanna get stuck in a formula like a lot of bands do when from the first track through to the tenth it sounds like one long song with breaks!
You handle a lot of your own artwork and merchandising. Do you like being in control of the band? I've been playing music since I was six years old so for me I feel like I've been doing this a really fucking long time. I would never claim to be an authority on it or I know what I'm doing but I know a lot of what not to do and I don't want to repeat the same mistakes. The saying 'If you want something done, do it yourself' is true most of the time so that's why we make all our own merch. Our singer works at a Printing Firm so we get a bunch of stuff done there and I run my own Graphic Design Company Slugernaut Designs - so I make all our own Buttons and Key Chains so it's cheaper and you can be a lot more creative. You're a horror movie fan - what kind of films do you like? I really like the Troma Company and the films they make like The Toxic Avenger, Sgt. Kabooki Man, all those crazy bizzarro movies and also a company from Canada called Full Moon who have all these crazy movies about clowns and zombies. They take all the traditional stuff and fuck around with it! They had this one show called The Creeps about this mad scientist who brought to life all these midget monsters - Dracula, Frankenstein and The Wolfman but they're all two feet tall! It's so cool. It's so horrible it's good, you can't believe someone is doing this stuff - it's crazy. I love the Scream Queens too - gotta love topless chicks covered in blood! Do you think they still make good horror? Most films are great till the end then the whole thing falls apart! Yeah, there's even Hollywood endings in B Movies these days! I liked the way The Blair Witch Project ended but I was in a movie theatre and a lot of people were really pissed off but I was like 'That's just the best ending ever!!’ The album 'Nobody Likes a Rat' is out now on Fading Ways and is available from www.fwmusicstore.co.uk For more info visit www.redlightrippers.com
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All American Rejects Rock City, Nottingham
If you were to give the makers of Pop Idol or Fame Academy the job to create an obnoxious punk band then I reckon the result would be something very close to The Towers of London! It's not that there's anything particularly wrong with this band's brand of snotty hard nosed rock and roll but its bad boy streak and post Glam image seems so formulated at times with an underlying sniff of record company influence - a 'this would work well in today's scene' marketing strategy that it's hard to look beyond it. Maybe I'm reading way too deep but that's the opinion I got. Perhaps it's the 'jealous' band member in me that was never going to be impressed no matter how good they were - who knows? The All American Rejects on the other hand were another story. Yes, the sound for the first couple of tunes including what would have been a storming opener, 'Dirty Little Secret' was truly appalling and one of the worst I've heard at Rock City for some time but once things kicked in the band were on fire. Sure the Rejects may lack an image of sorts, they stick very rigidly to the jeans and retro t-shirt formula and could be straight from an Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue but you can't deny their songwriting and performance power. Both their debut and new album 'Move Along' both translate perfectly into the live setting with 'Paper Heart' sounding as fresh and powerful as it did several years ago and newer songs such as 'Night Drive' deliver an added punch with the young crowd responding accordingly and shaking the venue floor. They seem to have shed the need to depend so much on the programmed drum sound which in the past has been one of their trademarks - it’s still there but today they are much more of a solid rock and roll outfit. Although frontman Tyson Ritter and guitarist Nick Wheeler may be the 'heart throbs' of the band it's guitarist Mike Kennerty and drummer Chris Gaylor who shine in the live environment - Kennerty a whirlwind of bottled energy with Gaylor an absolute monster behind the drum kit! The band continue to end with appropriate 'Last Song' and I stand by what I've said before in that Ritter becomes much more animated and engrossing without having to be confined behind his bass once taking a solo lead frontman role - seriously, give it a shot for a whole set, the crowd would love it! AAR continue to prove they are a finely tuned, traditional rock band of the highest order - great songs and great performers. The whole package without having to read from a 'teach yourself punk rock manual'.
Brides Of Destruction JB's Dudley
Red Star Rebels started 'The Night of Destruction' Hardworking, image conscious, trying to impress, 'trying' being the apt word because for all their enthusiasm some of the members simply lacked musical talent and I had a 'Bad News' flash back. Brides Of Destruction I don't know how to begin... Just landed in the UK, two hours sleep and the bassist refused entry into the UK! Oh, and very pissed! Another flashback, seen it all before only this time it wasn't cool. Red Star Rebel's bass player stood in along with Tracii's son Jeremy as they attempted a few tracks off the first album, went into a Tracii Blues solo giving London LeGrand time to get completely wasted, threw in a few LA Guns tracks then desperately had the support jam with them some Led Zep songs which painfully squeezed into just an hour. Tracii offered to explain 'what went wrong' after the show, no need, the empties on stage did that! So, let me sum up how to make a cake BOD style: Take a traditional recipe, add a dysfunctional Guitarist, a tasty Singer, stir in a Drummer, but you then realise you lost the main ingredient the Bass Player! Add a substitute, attempt a pinch of 'Ginger' but that curdles. By now the ovens going cold, try and jazz it up with some Jack Daniels, but when it's taken out it sinks in the middle! Why do you always manage to ruin a good recipe Tracii? JANE USHWELL
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Bon Jovi
Los Angeles Staples Center Bringing some east coast muscle to Los Angeles, Bon Jovi continue the second leg of their Stateside ‘Have A Nice Day’ tour. The sold out crowd rise from their seats as the headliners kick into ‘Last Man Standing’ from their current ‘Have A Nice Day’ release. Frontman Jon Bon Jovi is missing from the stage, instead he's situated on a platform towards the back of the arena. As the song comes to an end he heads back to join his band members as they launch into the classic ‘You Give Love A Bad Name’. Taking us through an assortment of golden oldies including ‘Born To Be My Baby’, ‘Runaway’ and ‘Bad Medicine’, the band are on fire. A large chunk of the set is from the latest album - uptempo rockers ‘Complicated’, ‘Story Of My Life’ and the fist thumping title track are already firm favourites with the fans. Jon, who effortlessly has the crowd in the palm of his hands, introduces guitarist Richie Sambora to sing a gutsy rendition of ‘I’ll Be There For You’, sending a shiver down the spine shortly to be followed by the brilliant anthem ‘It’s My Life’ which keeps the adrenaline pumping. Closing their main set with the classic ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ it leaves us eager for more and never ones to leave fans disappointed we're given an encore of ‘In These Arms’, ‘Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night’ and the band’s very own anthem ‘Wanted Dead Or Alive’ for which Jon and Richie perform a dazzling duet. Many agree this current tour is one of Bon Jovi’s greatest, lucky for us they are heading our way as it rolls into the UK this summer. PENNY GOWER
Alice Cooper & Twisted Sister Nottingham Arena, Nottingham
A double bill of Alice Cooper and Twisted Sister is one of the most exciting hard rock nostalgia trips ever assembled in recent years and many could question if it's anything other
than that or if these iconic superstars have anything new to offer in the twenty first century. Twisted Sister are a full on explosion of neon colour, big hair and eighties rock cliche! Many people felt they were the show stealers of this tour but whilst great fun they are simply a one trick pony. Perhaps frontman Dee Snider would agree, perhaps he'd want to kick my ass for saying that but after an hour of Twisted Sister you're feeling both satisfied but also a little glad they've finished! Alice Cooper is a whole different storyline. Sure, maybe in recent years Alice has displayed less communication with the crowd and holds little to Snider's Heavy Metal rallying calls with him often seeming detached from his thousands of loyal fanatics but on his performance, choice of songs and as usual his phenomenal band he is simply top class! Cooper has never been shy in ignoring any part of his back catalogue and alongside his genre shaping hits such as 'No More Mr Guy' and 'Billion Dollar Babies' his band of LA's finest including Ryan Roxie and KISS' Eric Singer they crank out fine slabs of pop metal in the form of 'Lost in America' and 'High School and Ol School'. Brand new tracks from latest opus 'Dirty Diamonds' also sound equally at home in the set with their great garage rock feel but as with most legendary acts these days, newer songs seem somewhat lost on a crowd begging for the old school anthems. Once again, Alice Cooper showed that he is indeed one of the true Kings of Shock Rock and is still a force to reckoned with today both on a performance and song writing level. School may be out but the headmaster is still holding class and writing the rules!
Billy Idol
Brixton Academy, London
Danger Danger Firefest, Rock City, Nottingham Melodic Rock bands tend to take themselves far too seriously. Seems they always have done which is surprising as a lot of their music falls into the feelgood category. That's why it's so refreshing to have a set from Danger Danger slotted right in the middle of this years FireFest! Always a band to simply go out and have a good time, Danger Danger were without doubt the highlight of the day and could have comfortably headlined on their own terms rather than being third on the bill behind a technically brilliant but dull Harem Scarem and an awesome sounding but frightfully dated House Of Lords. With original vocalist Ted Poley now permanently back in the D2 camp the band churn out a marathon set of cock rock hits that would make Cheap Trick drool at the mouth. Sure D2 have been far from the tightest band on the planet in recent years due to members being based miles apart and today is no exception with songs at times being dreadfully sloppy but you can't help but enjoy one of the world's finest Party Rock bands as they unleash top drawer anthems such as 'Shot of Love', 'Monkey Business' and the inevitable 'Naughty Naughty'. Whether or not this line up can actually come to work on new material is yet to be seen as there is still obvious tension on stage between bassist Bruno Ravel and the forever smiling frontman Poley but it's interesting to watch to see how far emotions will run on as Ted continually interrupts Bruno's fun chats with the crowd often playing the part of frontman more than Poley himself between songs. Chants of 'Bruno!, Bruno!' offer enough weight to the argument that this jam packed crowd certainly have no objections. Danger Danger walked away champions of the day simply by doing what they do best going out and having a good time.
Mmmm Billy Idol playing his home town after an absence of over a decade, he was stunning at Download so this gig is just the excuse needed for a weekend in London! A windy, wet evening waiting in a queue which circled the venue, a sell out gig with a crowd from all over the country. The Academy is an impressive building made for musical extravaganzas and tonight Billy didn't disappoint. At times it could have been the 'Steve Stevens Show' but hey, if you could play guitar like him you'd want to show off too. The solo's were short and plentiful, just right and the sound and lighting very professional, possibly too good because sometimes it can lose it's gritty edge and Billy is great raw. Just day's from his 50th birthday he was in top form - he was home, playing to a grateful crowd including all his family and he was loud and proud! Plenty of material from his latest album 'Devils Playground' was aired along with a variety of material from his back catalogue, including Generation X hits. All the favourites you love him for and some you'd even forgot! Two and a quarter hours of solid and professional music, no support because he didn't need it and Billy was home, sounding great and looking fabulous proving that there's life in the old dog yet! JANE USHWELL
LA Guns Junktion 7, Nottingham Sunday night, not the best of nights to go gigging but hey you only live once and with three great bands lined up it's got to be done. First up, Teenage Casket Co. and what a blast! The guys were banging, going from strength to strength and the more they gig the better they get. The room was now heaving
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and everyone were well and truly warmed up. New Generation Superstars just managed to maintain the tempo and now it was feeling like a Friday night. Time for LA Guns, up front we trotted to be treated to hits from the past and more importantly lots of new tracks from their excellent new album 'Tales from the Strip'. It was good to see a band confident enough in their new material to gig it and not hang on to old material, which is what a lot of these bands tend to do. Phil Lewis is looking good and sounding better and he's finally given up the ghost of Tracii Guns and moved on with a great new guitarist Stacey Blades. The guys really enjoyed themselves and so did we. Exhausted, sweaty and an opportunity to chat with the bands, we left the gig feeling like we'd done a Friday and Saturday night together! Then reality kicked in, ears ringing, a drive back to Leicester and work in a few hours! JANE USHWELL
Miser
Firewater Bar & Grill, Dallas, Texas The members of Miser are no strangers to performing live, in previous bands they have shared stages with talent such as Jimmy Eat World, Hoobastank, Bowling For Soup, Weezer and Seether to name but a few. Although still in the early stages of their career Miser are quickly building up a large fan base. The Firewater houses it's stage out in the open with people seated round the tables on the decking, drinking and eating. After performances from Bascom Hill and Anagen, Miser come out and blow everyone away. The blistering ‘Zen’ gets things underway and all eyes are focused on them. Frontman Coach sings ‘Everyday’ and ‘Stars’ with so much passion, both are slower songs but they are dripping with melody and have great power behind them - simply jaw dropping. Throwing in ‘Promises’ from their old band Supercell is a pleasant surprise and another striking tune is hard rocker ‘The Wheel’ - damn these guys have great songs
to offer! The mighty ‘Impossible’ signals the end of the set. Miser are a blinding live band, they have all the essential ingredients including great songs, energy and stage presence. They certainly have a very promising career ahead of them and not just inside the state of Texas! PENNY GOWER
Jim Rose Circus Sideshow
Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne, Australia
When I used to stick objects up my nose I was called 'sick' and 'demented' but it appears that people can go places doing these things. Take Jim Rose - an ingenious if not eccentric man who has made a life travelling the world offending the very natures of people with his bunch of human oddballs. Jim approached the stage in a bright orange top suitably labelled FREAK and after swallowing and regurgitating razor blades on a string he introduced the line up for the night... First was long time member Lifto, who did precisely what his name suggests, lifting numerous objects including a cement block attached to a car battery with his nipples! Next was Jim’s wife Bebe the Circus Queen who gladly had herself vacuum sealed in plastic wrap before lighting Lifto’s cigarette with grinder sparks off her steel plated crotch! New to the 'family' is Rupert - snapping his tongue in a mouse trap was nothing to where he used the raccoon trap think mid-waist! Big Mac the world’s fattest contortionist arrived wearing the world’s largest straight-jacket before making his way over to a plate of assorted foods and assisted the rest of the show by pulling random objects from his folds of what would be best described as human dough. Last up was ex-porn star Amber Pie, manoeuvring her body through two unstrung badminton racquets. After throwing darts and stapling money to each other, the show launched into the battle of the sexes, Amber and Lifto took turns to see who
could lift the most wait with their nipples, followed by a tug-owar of the genitals! Finally came the nauseating Human stomach pump - a mixture of Gatorade, liquid chocolate, tomato sauce and ginseng were pumped into Rupert’s stomach via a tube through his nose then sucked back out and drank by the child faced fiend! STEEV COWLED
crowd, still singing, we all were, sat down, school assembly style, singing and playing got quieter and quieter, until… the end. An amazing night, an amazing man, a mixture of old favourites and oh my that’s quite the album on the way with the promise that next time he’s bringing his band! Soon please! LUNAR
We Are Scientists
Flapper & Firkin, Birmingham
Butch Walker
Camden Barfly, London Armed with only an acoustic guitar, a piano, those sugarlicious tones and beautiful songs, our boy hit Blighty with not a stitch of ego on him, but a whole world of talent. Tonight was such a breathtaking gig with such a spontaneous feel and that as an audience we were important to it. Song titles sprang forth from the crowd and more often than not prompted the next number. My favourite ‘Straight Line’ got a shiver inducing rendition and even a scream of ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ got him at the piano running through a verse and a chorus. Undoubtedly, the stars of the show were the new songs - ‘Rich People Die Unhappy’, not only a succinct lyrical attack on those with more money than sense, but also a nudge and a wink that Butch still has his feet wonderfully ground on terra firma. ‘The Lets Go Out Tonight’s’ and it’s ‘la la’ chorus got the crowd singing as if an old favourite, not to mention the wahey that went up when ‘Marie who has sex for free’ got herself another mention. ‘Dominos’ was by far my favourite and a very personal song judging by Butch’s reactions on stage - utterly spine tingling and the crowd hung off every emotive word. Things ended with Butch sitting on the bar playing ‘One Day At A Time’, unplugged, unmic-ed with the audience singing every word. He then moved into the
Blasting off with ‘The Scene is Dead’, the Scientists are playing a packed out pub basement to a bunch of very pleased sweaty youngsters. Birmingham is host to the final date of the UK leg of the European Introduction Tour and the guys seem tired, but totally wired after viewing the support acts of The Cinematics and Roland Shanks. With a wise choice of leading Tapper’s pounding drums straight from 'Can’t Lose' into 'Callbacks' as per the album the audience go crazy and the pogoing starts. Murrey by this point is beginning to resemble a demented squirrel, his guitar is practically swinging around his neck and the crescendo leaves the crowd breathless before the insane applause. There’s obvious audience recognition of the rocking renditions of 'Nobody Move, Nobody Gets Hurt' but the surprise hit of the set is 'Lousy Reputation', sounding far stronger than the album and a hell of a lot better for it. By the time 'It’s A Hit' comes around the constant touring of the last year seems to be showing and instead of Textbook’s gentle vocal melodies, Murrey and Cain are screaming to the detriment of their vocals. 'The Great Escape' comes around for the natural choice of the finishing song and an amazing thing happens, the floor is dancing, especially the guys?? I mean this is post punk indie rock and the crowd is dancing; it’s testament to the guys’ ability to mix kinetic guitars with a steady bass line and danceable drums leaving sweat running down the walls in a freezing early December evening. Cain’s science goggles are steamed and there isn’t a dry brow in the house. KELLY HOLMES
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Power Pop - Or Not??
In a day when reunions are common things it’s great to see a band getting back together for the right reasons - the music! The Posies emerged into the public eye during the Seattle explosion of the early 90’s but the songwriting partnership of Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer began years earlier with their debut homemade release ‘Failure’. The 1993 album ‘Frosting on the Beater’ is now considered an all time classic but despite always being championed by the press and having a loyal underground following the band went separate ways after the release of ‘Success’ in 1998. Jon and Ken continued to write and perform both solo and together so the great hook laden songs have never been far away and eventually last year saw a brand new Posies album and UK Tour. But is it Power Pop? TrashPit went to find out from Ken and Jon themselves. Since the bands break up in 1998, there’s been numerous releases, best-ofs, acoustic collaborations, etc – does it feel like The Posies or at least The Posies songs ever really went away? K: It's kind of a hard one to say because these things kind of trickle back you know? I think we played a four piece live show in like January or February of 2001. On the last record 'Success' we didn't play in the UK for that record, we just did a couple of tours of Europe and that was about it. Even the year before that we didn't do anything really other than a handful of shows. When the touring for Amazing Disgrace wrapped up which was in October of 1996 it was pretty clear at that point
that there wasn't gonna be much more happening. We eventually came up with what we thought was a graceful way to end things on as good a note as possible. J: You could say we sort of ended things before we stopped playing together because we had this plan that the 'Success' record was made as 'the last' record and we had 'the last' tours planned. But going our separate ways didn't last too long because here we are supporting a new record and really we've still been working together again since 2000. I guess official is whenever you make it official, so you could say we were back in February of 2001. It's seems a lot more organic than deeming it 'official'.
Do you still like the hands on approach of doing things yourself when it comes to recording and new product? K: I think to be honest we started out that way and we made our first record on a very homemade basis, quite literally and ended up working with a very big label and I suppose we trusted them to take care of us and do their part and we'll do ours. So coming to this situation which is different again, it's neither the smallest label in the world or the biggest one and we basically found that in this day and age we have to do nearly everything except for physically putting the CD's in the stores. They set up press but it takes an incredible amount of guidance and perhaps it's because a band like us aren't easily applicable to any specific genre or style so it's hard to even compare us to other bands. I'm not saying this out of pride, I'm saying this out of experience, it appears that what we do is fairly idiosyncratic so we kinda have to invent a way of promotion that will work for us and tell that to the label. Do you see yourself having a target audience? K: I do but I also see us being broader than that in potential. I think we could appeal to all different sorts of folks and by being something unusual, again it's not just my estimation it's my experience when I say this, I'm not trying to sound to be pretentious though I may be succeeding, I think because we're not tied to a certain genre it's hard to have a preconceived notion about us. J: That being said there's a certain genre we get lumped into a lot and that is the Power Pop genre which although applicable in many instances I think we've always created things and put them on our record that go against that grain. My definition or perceived version of what Power Pop is, is usually a three and half minute song that's really catchy, has good chord progression and is played with a lot of passion and melody which certainly we have a lot of those but we've never been that content to just do one thing on our record so we end up kind of fitting into one place but not quite well enough to actually ever be fully pushed into that category. K: I suppose the ultimate band for me in that category is Cheap Trick who are obviously much more mainstream and have more of a fun element to what they do. Whilst our general demeanour and subject matter is maybe sometimes a little more introspective than that. J: It's like Singer / Songwriter songs being done in maybe a Power Pop fashion. Can you tell us about how you originally met and what struck the chord to begin a band and songwriting partnership? K: I was in band I'd formed with some school mates and Jon had moved to the same town that we lived in. Because it was a very small town word got around fast if anybody was doing anything interesting and Jon was reputed as being a very good guitar player and I ran into him at a music store one day and asked him to join our band. We went on to doing other musical things in High School but kept in touch and doing stuff from there. J: We always played in bands with other people but kind of always ended up gravitating towards each other. Very rarely were we the front men or lead positions in our other bands. K: When you think about the people we were playing with in High School, they were looking at is as this sort of a fantasy thing of wanting to be something that had more to do with fame but we had this idea that maybe music was the reason to do music rather than to become famous. There's no choice
that we've ever made in our lives that was in the direction of seeking fame. It sounds so weird to talk about because for us it's not something we think about but it is something that goes into other people's heads for choosing something to do in the Arts. For those people if they don't get what they want, they're probably gonna quit pretty fast. J: We started The Posies as a songwriting project. It wasn't a band because it was just the two of us. I had a studio in my house because my Dad was a musician and back in the late eighties that wasn't a common thing and I'd stay home over the weekends and be in the studio all night, eventually Ken would come over and we'd just record and record until eventually we'd gone through every phase imaginable and kinda stumbled upon what we really liked the most. At that time, the way we wanted to dress them up was kinda more routed in your classic sixties Beatles and Zombies records which was how we started off. It was really all just a song writing experiment to start off with. Was there much of a music scene around at that time? K: There were like two bands in Bellingham and in Seattle it was starting to build into what became the famous Seattle thing we all know. Many of those bands were just forming but that scene wasn't really accessible to us because it was a bar scene and we weren't twenty one so we couldn't go. We could play in a bar but had to just show up right before and play, there's plenty of stories about us doing the soundcheck then leave and put our guitar strings on in the street. You couldn't even be in the dressing room. J: That was like the first two or three years of our live existence. What approach do you take to the live Posies shows these days? J: It's always been a rock show but I think we've scaled the heights of rockdom even more these days. It's kind of become what I describe as being close to a KISS show but without the make-up and fireworks! It's certainly a very visceral experience and I urge anybody whose just heard the records to come and check us out because it's just all notched up. Maybe before it was notched up three or four degrees, now it's notched up ten degrees! What’s your take on the current music industry – how important is DIY today? J: There's just so much more stuff out there now. It's bizarre and it kinda dates me but when we made our first record we did it in our own studio and back then that wasn't the common thing. Now anybody who has a computer can make a record and most people do which is a good thing but it means there is so much more out there and everybody is competing for that airspace or that time on the radio or internet so it's certainly more of a challenge these days. I think bands have a lot more potential outlets these days but really in the end I think it's hopefully a proof of the content? So you think the cream always rises to the top? J: One would think but that's not always the case! K: Actually, shit floats!!
The album 'Every Kind of Light’ is out now on Rykodisc For more info visit www.theposies.net
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INTERVIEW BY KELLY HOLMES
We Are Scientists The recent success of We Are Scientists has literally been thanks to the UK. After Steve Lamaq saw them at the South by Southwest festival they got plays on Radio 1 and Zane Lowe made their single’s Records of the Week. UK tours landed a Virgin contract, but what’s more interesting is the fact that the threesome have been self-financing albums since 2002 in New York. On their last UK tour date of 2005, Trash Pit sat down to dinner with Keith, Chris and Michael, and some dodgy looking lasagnes to discuss cat squeezing and napping through songs… Was it true that whilst making Safety, Fun and Learning, you were going to be a Sci-Fi themed band? K: By the time that album came out we were thinking more like western, adventure, sorta cowboy kinda thing. It never really took off, I don’t think, nobody picked up on it. C: Our lyrics were too vague. K: Too vague and sciency. Did you always want to do a theme? K: There should be a theme to any endeavour. C: I think we were under the misunderstanding that a band has to have a theme, probably largely our fault for not paying much attention. We thought bands all had themes! Did you come to the UK before you had been signed? K: It was because of the UK. We mailed out demos before we came over and everyone said ‘these are rubbish, we won’t have it’, then we came to the UK, sent around a photocopy of our passports with British stamps and were signed! Was your album cover really that last minute? C: We had a guy designing out album artwork and he fell behind and at the last minute told us he wasn’t going to be able to turn it in on time so we had to come up with something fast. We had that kitten photo shoot we’d done like six months prior. So it was between one of us drawing something or using that photo shoot, so we decided to go for that. Chris, was your kitten a little feisty? C: I handled him with gloves and don’t think he liked it! K: Cats don’t enjoy being gripped in leather. I don’t think cats like being gripped at all. K: Oh no, I was squeezing the hell out of mine. It relaxed him; when we finished I laid him down and he just kept sleeping. Was the mother of the kittens a stray cat or something? K: Yeah. You could tell by how ugly those kittens were? They clearly weren’t pure bred.
K: Yeah, it was a stray cat that we took in and lived in Michael’s room and then we discovered it was pregnant when it delivered kittens everywhere. Who delivered the kittens? K: Michael did with pincers, his pincers. He gripped the cat just under the head of the neck and pushed down. Like a tube of toothpaste? K: Like toothpaste, exactly. He didn’t roll her back up, like you’re supposed to do though. Was ‘Can’t Lose’ one of your more recent songs? It’s not on any of the earlier stuff. K: Yeah, it’s newer than anything on the EPs we put out. It was one of the first songs we wrote after The Wolf Hour. A lot of the newer stuff that we’ve been doing is a little less amped, a little lazier…I’m trying to find ways of not spitting out the truth. M: We’ve gotten tired. C: As we get older we lose energy. K: By album three we’ll be performing in reclining chairs. Like lazy chairs? K: Exactly! As an encore we’ll flip the lever and fall asleep. Well you could have a massage at the same time. K: Ohh that’s true, those would be the energetic songs. M: You know I could hire someone to play my drum parts and I’ll just sit next to the drums in a massaging Lazy Boy. I’ll hit the cymbal crashes, that’ll be my contribution. That sounds nice actually. Or I’ll write a song that has no cymbal crashes and I can just nap all the way through that one. C: You can tell everyone to be fucking quiet. K: You can put on those like airline directors headphones. M: Yeah, so I can just feel the vibrations of the amps. K: You’ll have the vibrate on so you won’t notice, you’ll be fine. M: Jesus, that sounds wonderful actually. Visit www.wearescientists.com for more antics and cats
Army of Freshmen’s six man, dual keyboard driven pop punk hit the UK back in the autumn of last year and took crowds by storm! The Ventura, CA band are one of the most hard working and DIY bands you’re likely to find anywhere. With a storming EP ‘End of The Day’ out now and a brand new album ‘Beg, Borrow, Steal’ soon set to explode we caught up with drummer Mike Milligan to speak about plain and simple hard work and if you want something done - do it yourself! How has this visit to the UK compared to your last visit? It doesn't! There's just no comparison. It's like getting a cold for Christmas or getting a Rolls Royce - that's the difference! This tour has been amazing and a serious gift to us. We weren't sure what to expect and how the crowds were going to react but every night it's been out of control - more than we could ever wish for. Where does your work ethic come from? A lot of bands today 'expect' people to do stuff for them but you're different, you really make things work for yourselves and really appreciate anything that comes back to you. It must make the pay-offs that much more rewarding? We pretty much have a dream and a goal and that's to be headlining our own tour like this one. We want to get to this point ourselves and to be this big so we just work our asses off all the time. On the road we have to have crew guys with us or we'd just run ourselves into the ground but we work all day right from when we get up from arranging stuff, loading our own gear - it's just how we do it. We do this because we love it, not because we want to make a bunch of money. Sure it would be nice but there's no greater point in the day than being on stage and that's what drives us to do all that work. The biggest struggle for is getting labels to understand our music. I know there's a lot of bands out there that use keyboards in their sound but our music is keyboard driven and that's what runs the show. And I think it's that along with the big choruses and Chris' raps - they just don't understand it. That's been the biggest struggle, we're like seven different types of music put together cause we all come from different backgrounds.
and for the most part it's true. A lot of the big managers and movie producers live there but there's like nine million bands trying to make it so if you're starting a band today you might as well give up! Is this your first serious band or have you done stuff before? I've only been with the band for about a year and this is like my fourth 'serious' band. I met them in Chicago and used to promote a bunch of shows for them. They'd call me up and say they needed a show and I'd book one with my band and they'd stay over at my house. We've been touring and doing the whole 'business' thing for like five years now. How was it working with BFS’ Jaret on the new EP/LP? He's a serious song writing genius! You sometimes know what you want a song to do but just can't put it across but Jaret can just listen to something and be like 'You know what, we should do this' and it's exactly what you wish you'd said. He just knows song structure, melody and hooks so well that he can come up with an idea for anything. It's just so great that he's helping us with the songwriting, we all produce ourselves and other bands and we work so hard it's just great to have someone like him come in and make it the best it can be. For more info visit www.armyoffreshmen.com
Chris, your singer, drove from New Jersey cross country to form the band. Did he have any contacts out there or was it a real go for broke mission and hope for the best? He was eighteen years old, got in his car and drove all the way across the country with no contacts just living the dream! He just started doing a bunch of coffee house acoustic gigs and that's where he met a bunch of the other guys in the band. They started playing shows as this ska band wearing stupid outfits! Eventually they stripped it right down, and swapped the horn lines to the keyboards and it's been seven years since. Why California? The East Coast must have a good scene to build something? In America it's still all LA and Hollywood. Everyone thinks that's were all the stars live
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No! We're not gonna be litterally 'trashin' other Fanzines! It was just way overdue that we tell you about some of the other great Zines out there that continually put TrashPit to shame in their hard work and passion. Drop them a line and pick up a copy! Any other Zine Editors out there who want a review in a future issue please send a copy to the address at the front of the mag and we can set up a trade. Sorry if you sent in an issue and it’s not featured, I’ll try and get it in next time! Black Velvet #47 Contact: Shari, 336 Birchfield Road Webheath, Redditch, Worcs B97 4NG £2.00 & 75p SAE A new printer and new glossy feel accompany the latest issue of BV which highlights editor Shari’s great live photography. Interviews with The Starting Line, BFS and cool new band Bandcamp make up this issue. Blackpool Rox II #8 Contact: PO Box 1025, Blackpool FY3 0FA or www.jsntgm.com No price listed Quite obviously does what it says, highlighting music talent in Blackpool along with added Book Reviews. Very basic layout with no photos but comes with a slick 27 Track Compilation CD titled ‘The Ugly Truth About Blackpool’. Bubblegum Slut #21 Contact: AlisonB, 27 Stores Lane, Tiptree, Essex, CO5 0LH £1 & 35p SAE Quite how BS Editor AlisonB manages to get so much stuff into each issue always blows my mind and the writing is always brilliantly done. This issue is a Glam / Sleaze dream with Robin Black, Wednesday 13 and Zan Clan. Burnout #11 Contact: Kerry McGregor, 37 Kirby Road, Blackburn BB2 4HW 50p & SAE Old style cut and paste, photocopied zine with loads of energy and passion. Loads of handwritten columns on the Blackburn Punk and Rock scene plus a pretty definitive gig guide to boot. Interviews with Spit and Sawdust.
Devolution #6 Contact: Nickie & Phoenix, 137a Brasenose Rd, Didcot, Oxon OX11 7BP £2.50 + SAE Another quality zine reaches a landmark birthday. Devolution hits 2 years old and comes with a great 17 track compilation CD to celebrate. Also we get cool interviews with Wednesday 13 and popular artist Mark Ryden. Razorcake #27 Contact: PO Box 42129, LA CA 90042 $4 Put aside an entire week to delve through the pages and pages of cool stuff in Razorcake! Including Record, Zine, Book and Video reviews there’s probably too much to digest in just the one sitting. Fans of Fracture and the US underground punk scene will love it. Saggy Pants #6 Contact: www.saggy-pants.com FREE Just one part of the Nottingham based Saggy Pants empire which is constantly growing in size. A well layed out and enthusiastic zine including interviews with Illuminatus and New Generation Superstars. Plus gig guide, CD Reviews and info for bands. Unsigned #1 Contact: Evelyn Nguyen, 6 Boxwood Place, Staffs ST5 7BH £2.86 inc P&P Impressive debut issue for new Staffordshire fanzine promoting bands in and around the area. Comes with a free Compilation CD plus interviews with Razorwire and 80s Matchbox B-Line Disaster. Strange price tag though!
TRASHPIT MAGA ZINE PR ESENTS AN INTERNATIONAL P RESENTATION
THE BRAWL FOR IT ALL TO2UR6 00