SHOOTING STARR: Nicole struts her stuff in Guitar World magazine

By Metal Dave

Like a rainbow in the dark, Nicole Starr is something of an anomaly. Barely 20-something-years-old, Starr was born after the prime years of her favorite guitar heroes, yet she raves about 1980s shredders the way a Kardashian prattles on about shoes. Jake E. Lee? Loves him. George Lynch? Wants to marry him. Yngwie Malmsteen? Can spell it backwards.

As guitarist for Dallas-based glam-metal band, The Valentine Failures, Starr has been described as Joan Jett with Dave Mustaine’s sneer. OK, I’ll buy that. She also has made two 2012 appearances in Guitar World magazine (including the recent issue with Slipknot on the cover) and landed an endorsement deal with Kona Guitars. All this is fine and good, of course, but Starr’s proudest moment is right here and now as 2Fast2Die’s featured “Ask” rocker. Ain’t that right, Nicole? Hello? Hello?

ASK: What’s your all-time favorite album and why?

NICOLE STARR: Favorite album that changed my life? Kinda hard to pick seeing as there are soooo many great albums out there that have influenced me. When it comes to guitar playing and listening for godly tone, the album that changed my life is no doubt Judas Priest’s classic 1982 album, “Screaming for Vengeance.” I grew up on lots of Blue Oyster Cult, Ted Nugent and Black Sabbath, but there’s just no denying the first time I heard “Screaming for Vengeance” I craved any and everything Judas Priest.

I’m a huge guitar nerd, so hearing the guitar tone on songs like “Screaming for Vengeance” or “Riding on the Wind” was pretty much orgasmic. I also purchased my first Marshall halfstack and ‘67 Gibson Flying-V re-issue because of Priest. The guitar tone on “Screaming for Vengeance” is the classic heavy metal tone that nobody nowadays can seem to capture. All the lead work from Downing and Tipton was structured perfectly … every lick has its place and I dig that. Not to mention the in-your-face metal screams that Halford belts out on that album made me fall in love. Leather, studs and high-pitched screams … What more could you ask for in a heavy metal album?

2FAST2DIE Says: “Screaming for Vengeance” is not only my favorite Judas Priest album, but one of my favorite albums, period. The songs — “Electric Eye,” “Riding on the Wind,” “Devil’s Child,” etc. – along with the pacing, the album title and artwork make for a true metal masterpiece. “Bloodstone” and “Take These Chains,” are the kind of songs I can almost smell, because of how vividly they take me back to after-dark roaming during my high school years. A great choice, Nicole!

For more on The Valentine Failures, go here

MOMMY'S LITTLE MONSTER: His influences owe more to Johnny Cash than Johnny Rotten, yet Mike Ness has easily become one of the most iconic figures in punk rock.

By David Glessner
Special to the Austin American-Statesman
This article originally published 10-26-06

MAN IN BLACK: Ness cranks the Distortion

Jail, addiction and loss are the stories of Mike Ness’ life, but the 44-year-old punk rocker also is well-versed on sobriety, redemption and survival.

Reached at his New York hotel room, the California native is battling a cold while touring with his ever-enduring band, Social Distortion.

“I’m kind of prone to this respiratory thing,” says the singer and guitarist. “I always get this heavy-chested head and throat thing. I have to go get an antibiotic because I don’t have a week to sit around and let it go by.”

Indeed, Ness’ travels bring him to Stubb’s on Wednesday when he and guitarist Jonny Wickersham, drummer Charlie Quintana and bassist Brent Harding remind the youngsters that before punk rock was profitable and conveniently packaged (and then stamped with the kinds of tattoos Ness now laments having himself), it was the voice of wayward misfits such as Social Distortion and long-gone early ’80s peers such as Youth Brigade, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag and Minor Threat.

SOCIAL OUTCAST: The quiet side of rock-n-roll

“We had this big revolution and it was like a runaway train,” Ness recalls. “We set out to change things, but no one really had a finished product in mind. Today, alternative music is a major format. Just like anything, things get lost in the translation and misinterpreted. The true culprits are the people who sign bands that sound like bands that have been successful.”

No longer the flophouse vagabond featured in the low-budget 1984 documentary “Another State of Mind,” Ness has learned to count his blessings following marriage, fatherhood and the sudden death of longtime friend and co-guitarist Dennis Danell, who six years ago died from a brain aneurysm at age 38. The voice of defiance heard on early Social Distortion albums such as “Mommy’s Little Monster” and “Prison Bound” has grown more mature and contemplative through Ness’ solo records and the years leading up to the 2004 Social Distortion album, “Sex, Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

HOLD THE DRUGS: Social D's 2004 album, "Sex, Love and Rock-n-Roll."

“I think an element (of songwriting) that wasn’t there before is being able to get inspiration from positive stuff and not just writing about everything that’s wrong in the world,” Ness says. “Being a family man has obviously changed me. Most people think their purpose in life is their career and this and that, but once I had kids it was, like, ‘Wow, this is my purpose in life.’ I’ve got to prepare these two little guys to be men one day.”

Try as he might, father does not always know best. Last year, Ness’ better judgment went downhill in a hurry resulting in injury and a last-minute phone call to a fill-in guitarist to save the Social Distortion tour from being detoured.

“I was helping my son do an eighth-grade school project,” Ness says. “We went downhill skateboarding and I was filming him, and I just ate it going about 25 miles per hour. I broke my wrist in about four places.”

SICK BOY: Mike Ness ponders his next tattoo. Not really (photo courtesy George Kopp)

Skateboarding under the influence of good intentions is better than wiping out on drugs, which is what Ness was doing early in his career. With petty crime and jail time adding insult to injury, Ness was left to ponder his self-shackled ball and chain.

“I think drugs and alcohol are a luxury that some people can (literally and figuratively) afford,” he half-laughs. “I tried it and it was fun for a long time, but then it got not fun. It’s very important to remember what would happen if I had a glass of Chianti with dinner. It would be a crime wave soon to start. That’s still very clear in my mind.”

Sober for 21 years and credited with such A-plus Social Distortion albums as “Social Distortion,” “Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell” and “White Light, White Heat, White Trash,” Ness now dabbles in the rush of horsepower while writing new songs for the next Social Distortion album.

“I have about nine cars,” he says. “I have everything from old customs to low riders and a couple hot rods. Right now I’m building a ’32 Roadster. When I first got into it, we started a little car club, but finding 10 guys who all felt the same way about it was really hard. Now it’s really popular.”

Sounds like punk rock and tattoos.

YOU'RE SO VAIN: Despite a cover photo that made a bad first impression, Faster Pussycat's debut album became one of my favorite records alongside other Hollywood sleaze-metal classics such as Motley Crue's "Too Fast For Love" and Guns N' Roses' "Appetite for Destruction." Today, my original "Faster Pussycat" album cover hangs framed and autographed in my home office.

By Metal Dave

IT'S SO WHEEZY: Taime Downe's cat-scratch snarl was at the forefront of the Pussycat sound.

I remember seeing an ad for Faster Pussycat’s 1987 debut album and thinking, “There aren’t enough kegs in St. Louis to make me like this band.” Guitarist Brent Muscat was so pretty and pouty I just wanted to punch him. And because I’d never heard of breast-obsessed filmmaker Russ Meyer, I thought the band name was way too wussy and weak.

As far as late-’80s sleaze bands were concerned, I was sold on the switchblade machismo of scuzz-glam L.A. hooligans like Motley Crue, Guns N’ Roses and WASP. But Faster Pussycat? Sorry. These low-dollar floozies looked like a bunch of scarf-tangled she-hags. No thanks!

At some point thereafter, I was riding shotgun in my girlfriend’s car when she whipped out a brand-new “Faster Pussycat” cassette and proclaimed it as cool as Guns N’ Roses. “You’ve got to be kidding!” I protested. No way in Satan’s red-hot hell is this pack of puckered Pussies gonna kick my ass! Ain’t gonna happen!

Despite my objections, she jammed the cassette into the car stereo and drowned my complaining under a wave of volume. Her told-ya-so smile added insult to injury as opening track, “Don’t Change That Song,” tore through the speakers like a runaway chainsaw. Whooaa!!

LIPSTICK JUNKIES AND RUNAWAYS: Eric Stacy, Greg Steele, Taime Downe, Mark Michals and Brent Muscat. Michals was later busted for Fed-Exing heroin to himself while the band was on tour.

This was some of the dirtiest, raunchiest, most debauched sounding music I’d ever heard.

Boozy and crackling with punk-slop distortion, Faster Pussycat had all the ragtime grooves of Aerosmith and the Faces mixed with the snarl of an alleyway knife fight. In other words, I LOVED it!

AL E. CAT?: Faster Pussycat's debauched mascot.

And that voice! Grating, sneering and dripping with disease, singer Taime Downe slurred like he’d been swilling whiskey from an ashtray without stopping to spit out the butts. When he pushed his wheeze to a yelp, it sounded like the tongue-flapping scream you hear when a cartoon character gets an anvil dropped on his foot. Blood-curdling. Electrocuted. Perfect!

I already felt dirty just for listening, but the depravity continued with “Cathouse,” “Bathroom Wall,” “Ship Comes In” and “City Has No Heart.” I liked the lurid lyrics of “Smash Alley” so much it became the nickname of my future apartment (and for good reason). Even the goofy “Babylon” was garage-y and fun enough in the days before rap-rock could drive you to suicide.

CAT SHIRT: My prized T-shirt, courtesy of Dangerous Toys singer Jason McMaster

As for the album-cover image that initially turned me off? I came to appreciate it for its wholly intended perverted decadence – kinda like the bastard stepchildren of the New York Dolls, but with an overdose of LA’s sinfully soiled glamor. In fact, I was so smitten with Faster Pussycat that I spent years searching far and wide (unsuccessfully) for a T-shirt bearing that very image as a tribute to my love of the album. Two decades later, my friend Jason McMaster gifted me with a well-worn, original tour shirt he copped from the Pussycats when his band, Dangerous Toys, toured as their opening act. Score!

Subsequent Faster Pussycat albums weren’t nearly as good as the debut. The follow-up, “Wake Me When It’s Over,” was half-good, but scrubbed fairly clean of the decadent haze that left the debut so beautifully scarred and imperfect. Every album afterward was, well, goth-awful (although I do like their dead-on cover of Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” and admit to liking the written-for-radio-attempt-at-a-hit song “Nonstop to Nowhere” when the beer is cold and the sun’s just right).

Song-for-song, “Faster Pussycat” isn’t as bulletproof as Guns N’ Roses’ “Appetite for Destruction” or Motley Crue’s “Too Fast for Love,” but it definitely slithers through the gutter alongside the very best and still stands as one of my favorite albums. So much for judging a band by its cover!

BELL-BOTTOM BLUES: On the brink of international superstardom following an arena tour with Ozzy Osbourne and the blockbuster-build of Metallica's "Master of Puppets," bassist Cliff Burton was killed in a tour bus crash at age 24. His influence remains immeasurable.

IRON FISTS: Ross Halfin's classic Cliff photo adorns the cover of McIver's book. The foreword was written by Cliff's fellow San Fransican band mate, guitarist Kirk Hammett, who lost the bet to sleep in the bunk that became Cliff's deathbed.

By Metal Dave

Anyone who thinks Cliff Burton has been turning in his grave since “Master of Puppets” may have to reconsider after reading Joel McIver’s 2009 biography, “To Live is to Die: The Life and Death of Metallica’s Cliff Burton.”

According to the author’s interviews with band mates, friends, family and peers, Cliff was actually Metallica’s most sensitive, musically sophisticated and intellectually open-minded member until his tragic death in a 1986 tour bus crash.

While it’s hard to imagine Cliff cutting his hair and trading his Misfits shirt for crushed-velvet pimp suits during Meh-tallica’s late-’90s “Load” and “Re-Load” era (a point even McIver doubts), “To Live is to Die” nonetheless invites a world of possibilities as it reveals Cliff to have been well-versed in Bach, Stanley Clarke and such non-metal bands as R.E.M., Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Velvet Underground (“Lulu,” anyone?).

Metallica purists (myself included) like to romanticize the notion that their beloved whiplash thrasher would loathe the ambitious musical avenues taken by his surviving band mates. After reading McIver’s book, however, we learn that Cliff was so much more than just a walking middle finger. We also come to realize he may indeed be resting in peace.

WHIPLASH: Cliff in action. Believe it or not, this man loved R.E.M.

CLIFF BITS
Other points of interest from “To Live is to Die”:

On Cliff’s signature bass solo, “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)”
McIver writes, “which other player could convince James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich to hand over four minutes of precious vinyl for a bass solo?” Good point!

On Cliff’s early inspiration
In a cruel twist of fate, Cliff took up bass guitar as a tribute and distraction of sorts following the childhood death of his older brother (Sadly, Cliff would be the second child buried by Mr. and Mrs. Burton).

MISFIT: Cliff brought the punk-rock influence to Metallica's otherwise British-metal background.

On Cliff in general
He drove a beat-up VW Beetle nicknamed “The Grasshopper;” he used Finesse shampoo because it came in an easy-to-pack, flat bottle; he hated the Metallica song “Escape,” because he deemed it to be a blatant stab at radio airplay (it was); and he smoked pot and drank beer, but refrained from the obnoxiously destructive shenanigans of Metallica founders, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.

On Cliff’s death
While it’s widely accepted the tour bus crash that killed Cliff in Sweden was caused by black ice, McIver relays a number of eyewitness and weather expert accounts that dispute the presence and plausibility of ice. This coupled with a lack of evidence pointing to mechanical failure, suggests the blame for the crash falls at the feet of the still-unidentified bus driver. We may never know.

FADE TO BLACK: Although memorial stones exist in Cliff's honor, he was actually cremated and had his ashes scattered near his hometown of Castro Valley.

On the aftermath of Cliff’s death
Barely out of their teens, the surviving members of Metallica were still too young to have lost a parent, let alone a friend and band mate, when their eldest comrade was violently killed at the zit-pocked age of 24. As McIver points out, the rushing flood of fame (mixed with alcohol) only worsened Metallica’s collective anxiety and confusion.
Disclaimer
Despite McIver’s tendency to dissect each Metallica album and song in lingo only a musician could appreciate (triplets, etc.), the author offers enough layman’s language to keep the book plenty interesting and insightful for both the casual fan and hardcore enthusiast. Plus, McIver gets loads of extra credit for passionately spotlighting one of metal’s most mysterious, yet influential figures. A Burton book was long overdue and is greatly appreciated.

Overall Grade: B+

For video of the unveiling of Cliff’s memorial stone, go here.

On a personal note, I was shocked to receive a handwritten letter (right) from Mrs. Jan Burton following the passing of her son, Cliff. It remains one of my most prized possessions and is hanging on my office wall in front of me as I type this. For the full story, go here.

WOLF CHILD: In an hour-long interview from his home in Los Angeles, Cult singer Ian Astbury talks new album, old times, the Doors and three G's - Guns N' Roses, Gathering of the Tribes and (Lady) Gaga (photo by Michael Lavine).

NOTE: The Cult performs three times during SXSW in Austin this week. Two of the three shows are free to the public. Info below. The band is promoting its upcoming new album, “Choice of Weapon,” due May 22.

By Metal Dave

If there’s common ground between an intellectual and a rock star, the stereotype would tell you it’s lost in the cracks of an earthquake. Bob Geldof is an intellectual. Tommy Lee is a rock star. See the gap? Watch your step!

And then there’s Cult singer, Ian Astbury. Known for being deeply philosophical, earthy and highly spiritual, Ian seems to have all the outward qualities of an esoteric interview. At best, he could be agenda-driven and intimidating. At worst, he could be humorless, boring and “cosmic.” Uh-oh …

UNMASKED: The Cult will preview tracks from upcoming new album 'Choice of Weapon' at SXSW

Reached at his Los Angeles home, Ian turns out to be a fantastic conversationalist. He’s astutely aware and worldly, but he’s also gracious and funny (his Ray Manzarek impersonation is fall-down deadly). Interesting, cool and much more grounded than expected, Ian is nothing if not intriguing.

With my official interview assignment allowing only 500 words, the cutting-room floor could trip you with diamonds.

What follows, then, is not so much a proper interview as it is a compilation of conversation. It also is not intended (by any stretch) to be a career retrospective. Yes, I’m aware of the Cult’s “Sonic Temple.” No, we did not discuss it.

Instead, I share the following free-flowing glimpses into the mind and soul of Ian Astbury. The standard soundbites are available elsewhere. This one is for Ian’s fanatics.

On SXSW
It’s gone from being a village to being a metropolis. It’s unbelievable. Everybody and their dog is trying to get in there. The great thing is finding out what other bands are playing. There’s a band called the Black Ryder performing that are great friends of ours that we’ve toured with. They’re doing three shows. I’ll be out watching Black Ryder. I’ve heard Bonaparte are playing from Berlin …

HOWLIN' FOR YOU: Ian belts it out

At what point does an experience inspire your lyrics?
Probably when there’s an emotional response and an emotional connection to an observation or feeling. It’s more that than an intellectual (response). One thing about being a musician is we travel a LOT. I’ve spent a good chunk of my life moving whether it’s on a plane or a train or whatever. You live a very nomadic lifestyle and through that — because you’re not consistently in the same environment — that also affects your perspective and the way you relate to experiences and situations. Again, I go back to the emotional connection. It’s pretty much a visceral connection to an event or an observation. That’s the point when the pen hits the paper. Or more likely, the fingers hit the keyboard.

How do you convey your lyrical intent to Billy so that you get the proper music to accompany your message?
I have the advantage of being able to pick through his musical ideas and marry them to lyrical ideas or lyrical sentiments. Sometimes a piece of music will evoke a lyric. Sometimes I may just have a title. I work a lot with working titles where you kind of have a feeling, but you don’t quite know what you want to say yet. We don’t know where the songs gonna go, but he comes about and the music and the lyrics develop at the same time. That’s when you get excited, because you don’t know what the end result is going to be. You have a feeling it’s going to go somewhere, then you take it on a journey and then you end up in a place you never expected to arrive at.

CULT LEADERS: Astbury and longtime guitarist Billy Duffy

One thing about this record (“Choice of Weapon”) is we worked very thoroughly through the songs to the brink of nearly destroying them and then bringing them back. Some of the songs came instantaneously and some songs had to evolve. I think we went back to a place of instinct. There were no predetermined agendas. We’ve had periods of stagnation and being stale and repeating ourselves, but I think that’s common. With ‘Choice of Weapon,’ we just said, ‘Fuck it! We’re going to grab every jewel we can find. We’re going to play the ace and go as deep as we can.’ There’s definitely hard rock moments on this record, but then again, there’s moments that are kind of pastoral. We worked completely on what we were feeling in that moment. We weren’t trying to recreate any other period. We were just going for what was authentic, natural

THE LEATHER KING: Ian's Jim Morrison fixation would later serve him well

Is it unfair to call the Cult a hard rock band?
It’s a double-edge sword in some ways. The hard rock community I find to be very salt of the earth. The hard rock community and the hip-hop community have got so much in common in the sense that it’s really the music of the working class people. The post-modern crowd? Slightly more erudite, slightly more self-conscious, slightly more concerned with putting something over a little more elevated, a little more considered. Great rock’n’roll and great hip-hop comes out of an environment that forces you to be more driving and aggressive. You’re not really sitting around with acoustic guitars and crying about your girlfriend. This is music about survival and the realities of the environment you come out of. There’s an authenticity in that.

ROSE-TINTED GLASSES: A young, post-modern Cult

On the Cult’s evolution from post-modern to hard rock and beyond
We came to the United States in 1984 with the “Dreamtime” record and … The band was very much entrenched in the genesis of the American post-modern scene … and then we came back and did another tour with the “Love” album. The CMJ Awards gave us Single of the Year for “She Sells Sanctuary.” We were on “Saturday Night Live.” We were very much an independent, post-modern band. But as soon as people started putting that tag or that stigma on us, we very naturally gravitated toward something else, because we’d done that, we’d said that.

(For “Electric”) We were at Electricladyland Studios in New York City with Rick Rubin in 1986 and we were surrounded by the Def Jam family. Our sound became very direct. New York City was a very direct city. There’s no room for ambiguity in New York City (laughs). You were either straight-up or you were thrown out with the trash. We were only 25-years-old when we made that record.

AC/DC?: Breakthrough album, "Electric" had a harder rocking undercurrent thanks to the gritty influence of New York City.

We did the rock’n’roll with “Electric” and then we were on to the next thing, because for me … the Rolling Stones did it better than anybody, the New York Dolls did it better than anybody, so why would we want to go in that space? We were trying so much to find our own voice, to become better as musicians, to become better crafted and create our own vision. Here we are now making “Choice of Weapon,” and we’re still growing and still developing, we’re still students, we’re still inquisitive, we’re still passionate. I still think that what we’re doing is relevant. We still have an awareness of what’s going on around us. It’s not like I live in a cave.

BLOOD BROTHERS: Through thick and thin, Astbury and Duffy have always managed to reconcile

So, what exactly is a Love Removal Machine?
At the time it was a metaphor for (long pause) the music industry, corporate mentality, material mindsets. I think when you live in the modality of taking … We started off as punk rock kids. We literally came out of the late 70s punk rock scene in our teens. By the time we were 23 years old, we’d already been around this stuff for eight or nine years. Everybody was, like, “Why’d you change your sound, man?” We evolved. We wanted something else. We’d done that and we’d said everything we wanted to say in that moment. The music became more aggressive and, then through touring, the rose-tinted glasses of youth and the optimism got torn away and we found ourselves in the depths of an industry and a brutal touring schedule and we were certainly surrounded by individuals and energies that were pretty much all about serving themselves and taking. Love removal machine, prostitution. The two oldest professions in the world are being a mercenary and being a prostitute. Ultimately, it’s about material…

Was Guns N’Roses a corrupting influence on the “Electric” tour?
Actually, the opposite is true. They were the understudies. We’d already been at it for six or seven years. We cut our teeth through post-industrial punk rock Britain, we’d gone through Europe, we’d already been through several United States tours with bands that had junkie tour managers (pulling) revolvers after midnight. On that tour, I was the guy getting chased by the cops.

CULTS N' ROSES: Backstage on the pivotal "Electric" tour (photo by Dana Frank)

Are you telling me the Cult was a bad influence on GN’R?!
I wouldn’t say we were a bad influence, because they were already locked and loaded. They were already bad boys. The difference is, with the Cult, we never bragged about it. The braggadocio of, like, “Hey, I’m a badass …” It wasn’t really in our lexicon, because for me, I didn’t really want to be perceived as just … that was it … that was all I had. That tour was one of the most amazing tours to be a part of.

I have great respect and admiration and love for those guys. We came up through the same time and they went through the roof! “Sweet Child O’ Mine” went through the roof and I think I completely understand Axl’s desire to have been reclusive and perhaps act out the way he’s acted out in the past. I have a lot of empathy for them. You put any young man in a situation where all of a sudden you come from a volatile upbringing and you’re the lowest thing on the totem pole, and then all of a sudden everybody’s putting you out there and going, “Now you’re No.1 and we love you!” You’re, like, “What?” Your head spins too much.

FIRST SHOT: Axl Rose sports a Cult T-shirt in honor of the band that pulled the trigger on GN'R's upcoming stardom.

GUN FREAK: As an early champion of Guns N' Roses, Ian helped launch the band to fame

I saw Guns N’ Roses at the Marquee in London in, like, March of ’87 and I said to my manager, “We have to play with this band. They’re amazing.” I just felt such a kinship with them and where they were going. And also our ages, our passions, our interests … they were unabashedly, unabashedly embracing hard rock, glam rock, punk rock. They were right in the same psychic space as we were.

As it evolved, they were the opening act because I picked them and I pushed for them. I had to push for this band! I had to fight for this band! People were telling me, “Are you f**king kidding me?” I’d be doing radio interviews and (the deejays) would say, (in perfect stoner-dude cadence) “Hey, great to have you here. So, what are you listening to?” I’d be, like, “Uh, Guns N’Roses, they’re performing with us.” And they’d be like, “Oh, wow, we don’t play them here.” And I’d be, like, “Why not?” Of course, in hindsight, everyone’s got rose-tinted glasses. There’s been several books … Slash’s book came out and there was a book on Guns N’ Roses where they talk about the Cult and the tour … and I’ve heard things, like, we tried to screw with their sound at one show. Are you kidding? Are you kidding me? I would go out and champion this band at every single opportunity I got. There’s a camaraderie that we’ll have that nobody else will ever experience. My girlfriend at the time straightened Axl Rose’s hair and put one of my bandanas on his head and that became his look. That was my look!

YOUNG BUCK: Ian in his late teens/early 20s.

What was it like touring the world in your early 20s?
We were kids, man. You give the kids the keys to the liquor cabinet when the parents leave the house, what do you expect is gonna happen? Especially, dysfunctional kids! I was 19-years-old when I started this. I grew up on the road. I grew up on tour buses. I grew up in airports and hotels. There’s a point when you’re out there for so long that you realize your family’s gone. Your family becomes your family on the road, but everybody on the road is as insane, introverted, extroverted, narcissistic as everybody else so there’s no real ground. You’re just responding to 22 hours of sitting around every day waiting for that two hours of performance. It’s not that hard being on stage. The hard part is dealing with the life.

MR. MOJO RISING: Ian with the Doors circa 2001.

Singing for the Doors must’ve been a dream gig for you. Yes or no?
Absolutely. Ray and Robbie are my mentors, my heroes, my benefactors. They gave so much. It was such an incredible experience performing with Ray and Robbie. I felt very grateful to be in that environment. It was nothing short of magical. Here I am being a fan from the outside and all of a sudden, I’m on the inside. Initially, I approached it with so much reverence that I was almost not able to connect. That was about the eighth or ninth show and I think it was (music critic) Jon Pareles from the New York Times who butchered our eighth performance. I looked at that and went, “The gloves are off!” Ray and Robbie were very cool about it. They knew it would take some time for the chemistry to click and when it did, we went on to do 150 shows. The demand was there.

When I was touring with Ray and Robbie, we’d go to Europe and Ray would say, (adapting a perfect Manzarek impersonation), “Yeah, man I remember the last European tour we did …” And I’d go, “How long was your European tour?” And he’d go, “I don’t know. Six or seven shows?” Are you kidding me? That’s one of the things about the Doors. Nobody really realizes that they didn’t play that often. They actually went out on weekends. They’d jump on a plane, do a string of dates and come home. I think the most they went out for was a couple of weeks. Every show they’ve done has been documented and, not only has it been documented, but there’s been like a college thesis written about it.

SOUL SHAKER: Ian's 1990 Gathering of the Tribes festival was the precursor to Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza gets all the credit for merging youth culture and eclectic music, but your Gathering of the Tribes festival actually set the template
It’s kind of like you start a party and the next thing you know, you’re getting thrown out of your own party. Again, there’s a certain … hmmm, how can I say this diplomatically? If you behave, you’re allowed to play. If you don’t behave, you get blacklisted. You become the black sheep, the outsider. That’s one of the things about me as an individual … nobody’s got my number, nobody owns me. Once the business and the industry things started to kick in, I railed against that. I was, like, “I’m not going to do what you tell me to do.” And I wasn’t being reactionary, it was really about looking at something and saying, “I’m not a slave to this. This is my life, this is what I like, this is what I’ve chosen to do, I’m a creative person …” Once the door closes, then you’re out in the cold and you have to create your own situation.

CHILLIN': Ice-T and a villainous-looking Ian at the 1990 Gathering of the Tribes festival in San Francisco (photo by Neal Preston/CORBIS)

Gathering of the Tribes came out of a moment, of a feeling of altruistic intention. Tickets for Gathering of the Tribes were $10. It was put together by like-minded people. Bill Graham was the real catalyst. Once Bill Graham said he loved the idea and wanted to make it happen … We’re talking about Bill Graham! Everyone else can just go and fuck right off! His thing was, “MTV has created this situation where everybody is becoming so caught up in the narcissism of performance and commercialism…” I was looking at hip-hop culture, which I was a big fan of as well, and these guys weren’t getting a look. NWA wasn’t getting looked at. Public Enemy. They weren’t getting the kind of respect and airplay that they deserved in the late ’80s ‘cause it was still all Phil Collins, Bruce Springsteen and Sting. My idea was to get the rock camp to go over to the hip-hop community and say, “You know what? This is where we’re going. We want to showcase our generation.” And, of course, (I also wanted to include) all the post-modern bands. We approached everybody from Red Hot Chili Peppers to Stone Roses, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds … I had a list of maybe 200 artists. And the social and environmental groups came along as well, because the idea was to showcase our generation.

BLACKLISTED: Ever feel like you've been cheated?

Public Enemy came on board and the Orange County Police Department basically said, “If they play, we’ll make it very difficult.” The community was terrified! You think back to the hip-hop shows of the late ’8os and people were terrified! NWA and Public Enemy were considered very dangerous bands that attracted a very dangerous audience. We ended up with Ice-T, Queen Latifah, Public Enemy … who didn’t actually get to perform, because of the pressure from the community. We had the Cramps, Soundgarden, Iggy Pop, Steve Jones, Mission UK, the Indigo Girls, Michelle Shocked. The amazing thing was that when we performed in San Francisco, Joan Baez came out and performed. She was astute enough to know that this is where the energy was and this is where we are moving forward. So, in many ways, it became an architectural cornerstone of where we find ourselves today.

WARRIOR SOUL: Astbury's Gathering of the Tribes music festival was inspired by a visit to a Sioux reservation while on tour with Metallica.

But you were there first
I was there first, because I was on tour with Metallica and we were in Pine Ridge, South Dakota and I ran into a Native American … an aboriginal American gentleman who invited me to his home to sit down and just hang out. I looked at the conditions he was living in and I looked at the life he was living in America in the late 20^th Century. He was living impoverished. He didn’t have running water in his home. He had black mold in his house and it was affecting his children’s respiratory systems. He was studying in college to learn how to purify his tribe’s water supply. His goals and his aspirations and the integrity of this young man just destroyed me. He broke my heart. He didn’t even have a quarter to give to his daughter so she could buy an ice cream from the ice cream truck that came by. He had one can of Coca-Cola in the house and he split it with me. He invited me into his home, he broke bread with me. What he had, he shared with me. He didn’t know me from shit. He didn’t know I was a musician or anything. He was just interested in me because I was walking through Pine Ridge and he thought I was a native kid ‘cause I had long hair. I explained to him that I was just an English kid with long hair who was into Native American culture. He said, “Come back to my house and we’ll talk.” That night there was about 14 Lakota Sioux on our bus hanging out. I invited everybody. I went away (from that experience) and I thought I gotta do something. This is ripping me to pieces. That festival came out of those socio and economic, spiritual experiences.

GENRE-BENDERS: In look, sound and vision, the Cult was one of the original alternative bands in more ways than one

But of course, we did our festival and it was observed by other Love Removal Machine aficionados who thought that it could be profitable so they said, “We’re going to go create one.” And, of course, it became a commercial event. Initially, I was very excited because I thought, “Wow, this is amazing, we’re going somewhere, we’re all moving, this is exciting.” Then three, four or five years later, it becomes very commercial and you look at it and go, “Wow, here comes the new boss, same as the old boss.”

The only reason Gathering of the Tribes didn’t continue is because Bill Graham died in a helicopter crash. We lost our main benefactor. Unfortunately. Sadly. He was a mentor to me. The Cult played the Filmore in 1985 when they reopened it. We played with the Morlocks. Bill Graham took me aside and goes, “Hey man, you remind me of Jimi and Janis.” He wanted me to take care of myself, because he could tell I was a hellion. I mean, none other than Bill Graham! Most kids today go, “Who’s Bill Graham?”

CEREMONY: Ian conjures the call of the wild.

Without Bill Graham, we probably wouldn’t have the cultural diversity we have now. We wouldn’t have a Lady Gaga without Bill Graham. You know one thing I will say about her? She gets it. She understands the position she’s in as a performer, an entertainer. She’s an intelligent, brilliant, exciting, dynamic performer. She’s giving us the spectacle and she’s also giving us the music. She loves Queen, she loves Springsteen, she loves Elton John, etc. She loves Madonna. She talks about these things with passion and I really respect and admire her for that. In many ways, she’s radical. And I don’t mean radical in the sense that she wears exotic costumes. She’s radical in the sense that she’s pure of heart.
********************************************
To read my condensed March 2012 interview with Ian Astbury, go here. To read my 2001 interview with Cult guitarist Billy Duffy, go here. To hear bonus track, “Until the Light Takes Us,” from the upcoming new album, “Choice of Weapon,” click the video below

SXSW: The Cult plays three gigs during SXSW: March 16 at Waterloo Records (6 p.m./free to the public); March 16 at Klub Krucial (midnight/badges only); and March 17 at Auditorium Shores (8 p.m./free to the public).

NO FALCON SLOUCH: The Cult guitarist Billy Duffy surrounded by his prized Gretsch Falcon guitars (photo by Michael Schulz)

NOTE: The Cult makes its 2012 concert debut at SXSW in Austin next week. Two of the three shows are free to the public. Info below. The band is promoting its upcoming new album, “Choice of Weapon,” due May 22.

By Metal Dave

For a band that rose to prominence in the heyday of poodle-boy glam, the Cult escaped the ’80s with only a hint of hairspray. More importantly (by a longshot), the Cult left behind decade-defying songs that still sound vital and fresh despite their bubblegum birthdates.

While the Cult seemed better poised than, say, Poison to survive the dressed-down drizzle of the 1990s, the band couldn’t muster another string of albums to match the success of the previous decade’s “Love,” “Electric” and million-selling “Sonic Temple.” Creative tension and personality clashes didn’t offer much help.

By 2001, the Cult was reconciled, re-energized and ready to release what should have been a massive comeback album called “Beyond Good and Evil.” The band’s label failed to promote it, allowing what is arguably the Cult’s best album to slip through the cracks.

Before the fumble, I interviewed guitarist Billy Duffy on behalf of KNAC.com. Following are excerpts from our 2001 chat.

THROUGH THE CRACKS: The criminally underrated "Beyond Good and Evil."

On the Cult’s unique sound
Yeah, a lot of the new bands are talking a different language. I think their frame of reference is different than what we grew up listening to. I think that’s reflected in their music and I think that’s natural. Our album (“Beyond Good and Evil”) delivers what I think we do best, but I do want to say that it doesn’t sound dated. It doesn’t sound like the ’80s. If the best we could do was make an album that sounds like (the ’80s), then we’re wasting our time. (“Beyond Good and Evil”) is real rock music played by people who are aware of what’s going on around them, musically. I think that’s one of the things that makes the Cult unique. We have the ability on the one hand to play gigs with Lenny Kravitz or Aerosmith or on the other hand Blink-182, Staind or Green Day. We’re a punk band that learned how to play.

Diversity has always been a key component to the Cult’s sound
Yeah. To use the simplest analogy, we play rock music with a punk sensibility. My punk credibility goes back to the ’70s and it’s as good as anybody else’s. I know what I’m talking about. I was there. I saw the Sex Pistols before Sid Vicious joined. I saw them in ’76 when I was 15, so … I’m dating myself (laughs).

OPENING ACT: Axl Rose sports a Cult "Electric" shirt in support of the band that gave Guns N' Roses an early break.

In many ways, the Cult introduced the world to an unknown Guns N’ Roses when you picked them as your opening act for the 1987 “Electric” tour. How much hell-raising ensued?
Great question! I remember (a gig in) San Antonio because Ian nearly got arrested for swearing on stage. He had to climb out of the dressing room window with a baseball cap on. He climbed down a drainpipe, got on the GN’R bus and pretended to be one of their road crew. The tour was great. Ian spots bands early. He said to me, “There’s this band, they’re really great and we should take them out as an opening act ’cause they’re amazing. They’re a real rock’n’roll band from America called Guns N’Roses. They were playing the Marquee club in London and it was sold out. I couldn’t get in. I thought, “Oh, there must be a little bit of a buzz on this band, ya know?” So we took them out on the road in America and it was great. We partied a lot. We had somewhat of a reputation at that time for, uh, shenanigans. We had a good couple of months on the road and, basically, the friendships are still there.

ICONIC: Duffy on the cover of the Cult's million-selling "Sonic Temple" album.

The image of you on the cover of “Sonic Temple” just screams rock’n’roll. How did that come about and how did you get top billing over Ian on the album cover?
Ahh…OK, that’s a really good question. The whole intention once we’d done the album was to find an icon. We were looking at images of Pete Townshend on some of the Who artwork. We just wanted a shape or a silhouette that said, “Rock!” And what’s more symbolic of rock music than the guitar? You look at the Who and Zeppelin and Purple and all those bands from the ’70s and it’s all about the guitar riff. To me, that’s the essence of rock. It really wasn’t an ego thing for me. On the contrary, if you knew me, it was the last thing I wanted to do, but it just ended up looking really good. I guess it’s defiant. I guess it’s proud. We actually tried taking some shots of Ian and there was always the typical record company compromise, like, “Well, why don’t we put both of you on the front?” We ended up with Ian in the background.

Well it’s a great album cover. It screams, “Rock’N’Roll!”
Yeah, well, we’re still screaming! (laughs)

To read my recent March 2012 interview with Cult singer Ian Astbury, go here
SXSW: The Cult plays three gigs during SXSW: March 16 at Waterloo Records (6 p.m./free to the public); March 16 at Klub Krucial (midnight/badges only); and March 17 at Auditorium Shores (8 p.m./free to the public.).
To hear one of the best Cult songs you may have never heard,
click below for “Rise” from the “Beyond Good and Evil” album

WILD HEARTED SONS: The Cult, from left, guitarist Billy Duffy, bassist Chris Wyse, singer Ian Astbury and drummer John Tempesta make their 2012 concert debut at SXSW (photo by Michael Lavine)

NOTE: This article originally published in the Austin American-Statesman, March 6, 2012

SXSW PREVIEW: THE CULT RETURNS WITH NEW RECORD, ‘STILL INQUISITIVE, STILL PASSIONATE’

By David Glessner
Special to the American-Statesman

CHOICE OF WEAPON: The Cult's latest album is a mix of hard rockers and more 'pastoral' moments, according to singer Ian Astbury.

When you run with wolves and jackals, you get wise to the ways of survival. Just ask Ian Astbury, singer for the Cult. Reached at his Los Angeles home, Astbury obliges a question about taking an unknown Guns N’ Roses on tour as the Cult’s opening act in 1987.

“They were the understudies,” Astbury says. “We’d already been through several tours with bands that had junkie tour managers (pulling) revolvers after midnight. On that tour, I was the guy getting chased by the cops.”

Back on the run and armed with the new “Choice of Weapon” album due May 22, the Cult makes its 2012 performance debut with South by Southwest gigs March 16 at Waterloo Records at 6 p.m. and March 17 at Auditorium Shores at 8 p.m. Both shows are free and open to the public. A third show, midnight on March 16 at Klub Krucial, admits SXSW badge holders only.

“I think we went back to a place of instinct,” Astbury says of the new album. “There were no predetermined agendas. We’ve had periods of stagnation and being stale and repeating ourselves, but I think that’s common. With ‘Choice of Weapon,’ we just said, ‘(Screw) it! We’re going to grab every jewel we can find. We’re going to play the ace and go as deep as we can.’ There’s definitely hard rock moments on this record, but then again, there’s moments that are kind of pastoral.”

Formed by Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy in Britain’s late-1970s punk scene, the Cult made its first real ripple with the 1985 album, “Love,” and its post-modern singles “Rain” and “She Sells Sanctuary.” By 1986, the group was recording in New York City with emerging hip-hop producer Rick Rubin. The resulting “Electric” album hit bigger and harder with tracks like “Love Removal Machine,” “Wildflower” and “Lil Devil.”

ELECTRIC: The album that broke the Cult in America was a harder-rocking effort that was heavily influenced by the grit of New York City.

“Our sound became very direct,” Astbury says. “There’s no room for ambiguity in New York City. You were either straight-up or you were thrown out with the trash. We were only 25 years old when we made that record.”

Young and hungry, Astbury handpicked Guns N’ Roses as the Cult’s opening act on the “Electric” tour. The pairing proved pivotal for both bands as they began building bigger audiences.

“There’s a camaraderie that we’ll have (with GNR) that nobody else will ever experience,” Astbury says. “My girlfriend at the time straightened (GNR singer) Axl Rose’s hair, put one of my bandanas on his head, and that became his look. That was my look!”

SONIC TEMPLE: The Cult's million-selling commercial breakthrough garnered heavy airplay and MTV rotation with the hits 'Fire Woman,' 'Sun King,' 'Sweet Soul Sister' and 'Edie (Ciao Baby).'

In 1989, the Cult soared to greater heights with the million-selling “Sonic Temple” album and its radio mainstays, “Fire Woman,” “Sweet Soul Sister,” “Sun King” and “Edie (Ciao Baby).” The following decade was far less kind because of uneven albums and infighting.

By 2001, frustration reached a new high when the comeback album, “Beyond Good and Evil,” fell victim to record company neglect. Disenchanted, Astbury and Duffy parted ways leaving the singer free to replace the late Jim Morrison in a reprised version of the Doors.

“Initially, I approached it with so much reverence that I was almost not able to connect” with the audience, Astbury says. “I think it was (music critic) Jon Pareles from The New York Times who butchered our eighth performance. I looked at that and went, ‘The gloves are off.’ We went on to do 150 shows. The demand was there.”

Reconciled with Duffy since 2007′s “Born Into This” album, Astbury is hopeful “Choice of Weapon” will start the Cult’s mojo rising again.

“We’re still growing and still developing,” he says. “We’re still students; we’re still inquisitive; we’re still passionate. I still think what we’re doing is relevant. We still have an awareness of what’s going on around us. It’s not like I live in a cave.”
***
Interested in an expanded version of this interview with Ian Astbury? Let us know!
Post comments below by clicking the red numeral in the upper right corner
To hear the Cult’s latest single, “Lucifer,” click below. For more Cult info, including tour dates, go here
To see the original Austin American-Statesman article, go here

STAIRWAY TO ELEVEN: The loudest band in the world -- drummer Mikkey Dee, bassist/vocalist Lemmy Kilmister and guitarist Phil Campbell -- recently issued the pummeling DVD/CD combo, “The Wörld Is Ours-Vol 1 - Everywhere Further Than Everyplace Else.”

NO SLEEP 'TIL NEVER: Motorhead's latest DVD celebrates 35 years on the road (and counting).

Motorhead plays Austin this Saturday March 3 with Megadeth, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil. Ticket info here.

By Metal Dave

At an age when most 66-year-olds retire to the fishing pier, Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister is still mainlining cigs and booze while detonating worldwide concert venues with band mates Mikkey Dee and Phil Campbell. It goes without saying that trying to keep up will undoubtedly wreck your health.

While Motorhead wasted no time cursing the cost of a recently released box set (way overpriced at $600 and woefully under-approved, to put it politely), you won’t catch any lip from Snaggletooth for picking up the band’s new, fully endorsed CD/DVD combo, “The Wörld Is Ours-Vol 1 – Everywhere Further Than Everyplace Else.”

A celebration of 35 years on the road, “The Wörld Is Ours … ,” captures the finest moments from Motorhead’s last tour, including a rabid full-length performance from Chile’s Teatro Caupolican. Shot and filmed in classic black and white by Banger Films and Sam Dunn (“Iron Maiden Flight 666,” “Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage”), the DVD practically spews sweat and smoke as it pounds through such Motorhead classics as “Overkill,” “Ace Of Spades,” “Killed By Death” (featuring Doro and Todd Youth) and “Born to Raise Hell” (featuring Michael Monroe) along with fan favorites (“Over The Top,” “I Got Mine”) and newer tunes (“I Know How To Die, “Get Back in Line”).

Along with the Santiago beat-down are bonus tracks recorded at shows in Manchester and New York. Overall, the triple-disc set is rounded out with a series of band interviews, a double-live CD that mirrors the DVD track listing and an always-welcome photo booklet (because Motorhead is nothing if not photogenic!).

SNAGGLETOOTH: Rock-n-roll's mark of quality

Diehard Motorheadbangers no doubt already own the previously released and highly recommended DVDs, “25 & Alive: Boneshaker” and “Stagefright.” Congratulations! You truly are a glutton for punishment.

The fact that this latest DVD installment is dubbed “Vol.1” suggests another punch is on the way. To that we say, “Go ahead, Lemmy, make my day!” The $600 we saved on the box set will afford us a lifetime of earplugs.

Overall Grade: A+

For more Motorhead info, go here.
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BRITISH INVASION: Rob Halford reveals the drunken secrets behind the classic track, 'Breaking the Law,' which was recorded at Ringo Starr's house and helped push Judas Priest to stardom in the United States.

BEATLES STEEL?: A heavy metal classic with Fab Four connections

By Metal Dave Glessner
(originally published 7/24/2009 in
the San Antonio Express-News)

Reached at a Cleveland hotel room, Judas Priest singer Rob Halford is juggling interviews and having a laugh at the trappings of heavy metal celebrity.

“People have no idea, do they?” he asks in mock amazement. “I had two phones going at the same time. People think it’s all Priest, all the time, in all our onstage glory (laughs).”

With his humor as sharp as his multi-octave vocals, Halford – along with bassist Ian Hill, drummer Scott Travis and guitarists Glenn Tipton and KK Downing – will deliver the goods Saturday when the legendary British metal maniacs hammer the AT&T Center.

DRAINED GLASS: In the days before sampled special effects, Judas Priest singer Rob Halford and guitarist Glenn Tipton literally (and figuratively) smashed empty beer bottles in Ringo Starr's house to capture the sound of breaking glass heard in the song, 'Breaking the Law.'

Celebrating the (almost) 30th anniversary of 1980′s “British Steel,” Priest will perform the pivotal album in its entirety along with other hellbent-for-leather classics. Reinventing “British Steel” prompted Priest to sharpen the blade on the album’s deep cuts.

“For me, the two belters are ‘Rapid Fire’ and ‘Steeler,’” Halford said. “I like the attitude of those two songs. (The ‘Rapid Fire’ lyrics) ‘Pounding the world like a battering ram’ is pure Judas Priest. Both of those songs have an intense, ferocious feeling about them.”

GRINDER: Throughout the 1970s, Judas Priest kept a punishing pace of recording albums and non-stop touring

“British Steel” was famously recorded at England’s Tittenhurst Park in the former home of Beatles John Lennon and, later, Ringo Starr. The making of the album was rife with kid-in-a-candy-store moments. Was Halford tempted to sneak a souvenir?

“I think Ringo nailed everything down,” he said with a laugh. “To walk into that house and be in the room where Lennon did the world-famous ‘Imagine’ was a bit like being a hard-core Elvis fan and recording a record at Graceland. That’s a fairly spontaneous thought, and I don’t believe I’ve ever said that before, but that’s what it felt like. You can’t escape the fact that the Beatles were, and still are, a revolution that changed popular music.”

Done on the fly but here forever are the timeless “British Steel” tracks “Breaking the Law” and “Living After Midnight.”

HELLBENT FOR LYCRA: Halford circa 1980

“I just remember coming home from the pub, drunk, and needing some special effects,” he said. “We set up some mics against the wall in Ringo’s kitchen and went about smashing some beer bottles. They were empty, of course! In those days, you didn’t have sampled effects, so you had to do it yourself. The marching sound in ‘Metal Gods’ is Ringo’s knives and forks being shaken up and down and multitracked. Fun things like that are how we made all those special effects.”

Halford is asked which album he would like to hear in its entirety if he were in the audience.

METAL GOD: The jet-engine screamer of heavy metal

“Um, that’s a very good question,” he said. “There are so many great ones. We’re out with David (Coverdale) from Whitesnake and ‘Slide it In’ is a great record. Scorpions’ ‘Blackout’ is a great record. I would love for Sabbath to do all of their first album. Tool’s ’10,000 Days’ is a great record. There’s something special about seeing your (favorite) band playing one of your favorite records in its entirety.”

BELOW: Fortunately the story behind the song is much better than the video. Listen for the drunken bottle-smash at 1:44 and thank Ringo Starr for letting it slide.

PATRON SAINTS OF ROCK-N-ROLL: A classic shot of Metal Dave, Pat Idle, Patti Botox (River City Rebels) and Gentlemen's Social Club bassist Billy Chainsaw at Austin's Room 710 (RIP)

WANTED: Your attendance at Pat Idle's farewell party

By Metal Dave Glessner

When Pat Idle started calling me “The Patron Saint of Rock-N-Roll,” I admit I was a tad intimidated. Sure, it’s a grand-slam nickname from a dearly beloved friend, but it also sounds like a formal title that has the ring of responsibility. Who? Me? Patron Saint?

Making it sound even more like a call to duty is the fact that Pat not only can school you on Johnny Thunders and The Dictators, but also can name the drummers for the J. Geils Band and Billy Joel! When a guy with that much passion dubs you “The Patron Saint of Rock-N-Roll,” you can’t help but feel deployed. Thanks for the burden of confidence, Pat! I hope I’ve done ya proud.

BIG SHOT: In a Hanoi state of mind (Photo by Jay West)

For this and many other reasons — including his “Dice” Clay mannerisms, his love of street culture and his ever-ready willingness to toast brown-bagged beers — I’m saddened and honored to host Pat Idle’s last stand (stumble?) as frontman for The Gentlemen’s Social Club before he moves to St. Louis in a few weeks.

BORN TO RUN: An American Idle

As much a farewell as it is a fair warning, Pat will be joined by some of the best bad company in the Lone Star State when Metal Dave Productions and 2Fast2Die.com proudly present The Gentlemen’s Social Club, The Valentine Failures, StrangeGun and The Jensen Eyes Friday Feb. 10 at the Red Eyed Fly in Austin, TX. Thanks for the friendship, music and misadventures, my friend.

Now, take a bow, buddy …

SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Listening to the Gentlemen's Social Club will lead you into temptation and make you jones for the Dead Boys, early Aerosmith, Hanoi Rocks, Cheap Trick and other doomed-to-hell bands.

Plug your most recent project
I’d like to first start out by saying it’s a pleasure to sit down with 2Fast2Die. And, as always Metal Dave, you are the Patron Saint of Rock’n’Roll. At the moment, the only project I have my hand in is The Gentlemen’s Social Club. What can I say? I keep coming back for more! I’m lucky to be surrounded by those guys. Hopefully 2012 will see some new music out of us. We have enough material to make a second record and I think it’s important that we get some type of new record out of the past six years. Our first album was really just the first songs we came up with. I think we’ve grown musically and it would be nice to play something new for my parents so they don’t think I’ve completely wasted my life!

UNDER THE INFLUENCE: Exile on Main Street

What album changed your life and why?
Good Gawd, Dave! There have been so many different records that have been important to me. When I was 13, “Nevermind the Bollocks” by The Sex Pistols was everything to me. There’s also “London Calling” by the Clash and “The White Album” by The Beatles. If I had to nail one down, it would probably be The Rolling Stones’ “Exile on Main Street.” It’s the perfect rock record. The mutherfucker has hips! “Tumbling Dice” is what you’re supposed to hear in the background while you’re making apologetic phone calls on Sunday morning for all the bullshit you caused the night before. It’s what I was listening to when I starting playing in bands and reminds me of the freedom of my early twenties. I worked in a deli and played in a band. I didn’t have a driver’s license or a car, and I practiced three times a week.

ROCK-N-ROLL KAMIKAZES: Pat and guitarist Erik Larson don't live by moderation.

Name your first concert and share your memories of it
I can’t say I have a first concert memory, but I do remember living in Washington D.C. when I was in the fifth grade. That’s when I started going to see shows. I was lucky my mother had a really cool boyfriend who dug the hell out of me. He took me to see The Stones on the “Steel Wheels” tour and Aerosmith on the “Pump” tour with the Black Crowes opening. I saw Neil Young with freakin’ Social D opening up, and he took me to see The Who when they reformed. I will say my favorite concert memory was when the New York Dolls reformed and played at SXSW. It was during the day at Stubb’s Barbecue. It was just one of those moments when the rock’n’ roll stars aligned. Or maybe that was just the free Miller Light they were giving away. Bye the way, I believe you were at the show, Dave! [Editor’s note: Indeed, I was! If I recall, we were both in a SPIN magazine audience photo taken at that gig]

DEMOLITION MAN: Paying tribute to Michael Monroe (Photo by Jay West).

Any touring “horror stories” or Spinal Tap moments?
I don’t really have many. Usually I’m on my worst behavior because I’m not in my own city. I will say it really sucks when you play a five-band bill in San Antonio and every band on the bill before you sounds like a cross between Korn and Drowning Pool.

Your best and worst tattoo?
I happen to like all my tattoos. They remind me of where the hell I am today.

What was the name of your very first band and what were some other rejected band names?
Santa Cunt and the Dolphin Dicks. Now that is original!!! I keep telling my roommate, Johnny Venom, he should call his new project Pork Knuckle, but he’s having none of that!

BLITZKRIEG BOP: Pat with one of his favorites, River City Rebels singer, "Bopper."

What musical accomplishment are you most proud of?
I didn’t realize I had any musical accomplishments, Dave! Sorry, self deprecation seems to flow out of me any time I have to sit down and be serious. I recently threw on that EP I did with The American Idles and it actually blew me away. I seemed to hate it for years. In fact, I don’t even have a copy of it. I found a copy looking through Johnny Venom’s massive collection of old-school rap. It took a lot of years, but now I realize that dirty little recording reminds me of some of the most wild, but fun times in my life. Another moment that I’m proud of centers around the GSC cover of “Drunk Like Me” by The Dogs D’Amour. When I had the idea of putting this band together, the Dogs were a huge influence on me. I would spend many drunken nights fighting with other rock’n’ roll dorks like myself on Ebay for any Dogs album I could get my sweaty hands on. About a year after we started playing live, Tyla from the Dogs came to town and played a show with us. It was just him and a guitar, and he called me up on stage to sing “Drunk Like Me” with him. That was a kick-ass moment. It’s still up on YouTube. I’d also like to say it’s always an accomplishment to share the stage with the locals here in town like The Flash Boys, Sons of Hercules, New Disaster and Broken Teeth. There is still a rock scene in this town full of white-belt, bearded hipster douchebags – you just gotta look for it. Ha! Did I just cut my fan base down even more?

DRUNK LIKE ME: Drinking like a big Dog with Billy Chainsaw

Share a secret. What is your hidden talent? Guilty pleasure? Unexpected hobby?
Well Dave, I don’t want to give away all of my secrets, however, I am a master at catfish noodling. I trained on the Mississippi River from the early age of 5. Ya know Dave, I’m just a red-blooded, all-American guy who likes Bruce Springsteen, Budweiser and cheeseburgers.

DANGEROUS BOYS: Sharing a song with Jason McMaster

Name a rock star you’ve met who left a lasting impression and then name one who was a jackass
I’m not gonna say who the jackasses are, but living in Austin and getting to know guys like Jason McMaster and Chris Gates – and hearing all the stories guys like that have – is a crash course at the Rock’n’Roll University.

To see GSC honor Metal Dave on his birthday, click the top video below and listen to “Moderation.” For a slam-bang version of “I Get Around,” click the bottom video. See both and more in person Feb. 10 at Red Eyed Fly.