Since then, Suedehead has released three EP’s: (So) Frantic in May 2011, The Constant in October 2011 and In Motion
in March 2012. Recently, they released the single “Lying in Bed” b/w a
cover of Fugazi’s “Waiting Room”. The band returned to Martini Ranch in
Old Town Scottsdale on Friday, August 9th. Also playing were locals The 2
Tone Lizard Kings, a seven piece ska band, and garage rockers, The Dead
Eyes of London.
When
I arrived at Martini Ranch, there was some new band added to the lineup
that was playing and wrapping up their set. While they were playing, I
checked out the space, mostly from a technical angle since it was my
first Martini Ranch show. The space was on the small side but that isn’t
necessarily bad. They also have a decent lighting set up and the sound
was pretty good. As the opener loaded out, I noticed the nice dock
system they use there including a roll-up door behind the stage, set-up
area and a ramp for gear. The Dead Eyes of London already had some of
their equipment ready to go. The Dead Eyes of London had a rockin’ set,
including the occasional cover for the Scottsdale crowd. I definitely
felt an AC/DC influence, which is kinda surprising for a garage rock
band but not really. They also had a guest guitarist, Meliza from Zero
Zero, which might’ve been why the guitar parts stood out so much during
their set.
Suedehead
put on a killer set. I remember Kory’s (Hepcat, The Aggrolites)
drumming at the opening of a song having a very R & B feel to it.
The crowd really got into it, too, with some dancing and kicking in the
air. There were points when I was driven to skank to their soul-power
rhythms. Even Greg’s (TSOL, Berlin) attack on keys held such prominence
to where it could almost overpower the rest of the rhythm section.
Regardless of what was catching the crowd’s interest, everyone on the
dancefloor was tearing it up. After their set, I ran into Cameron
(Warsaw) from the Sara McAllister band who plays with The 2tone Lizard
Kings from time to time. Eventually, I floated around to say my goodbyes
to get out of Scottsdale well before the police would be hovering
around it. As I spoke with some friends and some of Suedehead, The 2tone
Lizard Kings kicked off their tunes to get the crowd skanking again.
For Suedehead media, go to Suedeheadband.com. Now, on to my interview
with Suedehead:
How have your individual musical roots (punk, new wave, ska, etc…) influenced your band and the direction it has taken?
DAVEY:
Suedehead pretty much started as a vehicle for the songs I was writing
that had a 'Northern Soul' edge/influence. I tend to write the majority
of the music, so I don't think our band is a total blend of everyone's
personal tastes because we've all listened to so many styles and artists
over the years, it might get messy. But I think all of us as players do
put our own musical characteristics on the songs.
Who would you all consider to have been your influences?
DAVEY:
The older I get, the more I realize how broad my influences were when I
was a kid. the two main things that made we want to be in a band
weren't even bands themselves, they were films - Marty McFly in Back To
The Future made me wanna play guitar. Then The Commitments was probably
my main introduction to soul music. After that, I've had all kinds of
musical loves growing up….Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy, Nirvana, The Clash,
UK indie and Britpop, Elvis Costello and the pub rock/new wave era, 80s
American hardcore and 90s skate punk etc etc.
Now,
I understand that this band started out as a side project that was
pushed in the right direction by Mike Ness (if it weren’t for Nessy, we
may not have even become a real band). When I read that, it reminded me
of another project that took a similar path that Korey can identify with
(the Aggrolites started out as a backing band for Jamaican artists that
was pushed in the right direction by Prince Buster, from what I hear).
What’s it like to have someone like that push you into becoming
something more?
MIKE:
Naturally it was very important to us, on a number of levels. Having
someone with Mike Ness's credibility championing us from the get-go lent
us a degree of credibility that is very difficult for most bands to
achieve right when they're starting out, like we were at the time. We've
been fortunate to hear from other highly successful acts that have let
us know that they're fans of our band. It's very satisfying to know that
musicians and songwriters that you admire are into what you're doing.
Obviously,
I could imagine that when punk and roots are such a stronghold in your
life, that having Mike Ness asking your band to play with his is
exhilarating. What are some other punk bands that you have played
with/want to play with?
DAVEY:
We played with Stiff Little Fingers, that was pretty special. And got
to meet Squeeze when we played Coachella last year - I guess that counts
since we played on the same bill. Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford are
some of my all-time favorite song writers.
I
know that there are a bunch of bands that blend soul with punk and/or
ska. Have you all had the opportunity to play with bands like that and
do you have any favorites?
MIKE:
We've all opened for very cool bands in all genres over the courses of
our individual careers. As Suedehead, opening for English Beat is a
pretty big thrill. I know they're a different thing now, but those songs
were groundbreaking and it was cool to see their very passionate crowd
accept us, and not slag us off as just another opening act for their
heroes. We get to play with them again in September in LA.
I
understand that Greg used to play in TSOL and Berlin (among other
various projects). How did you go from playing punk to new wave to soul?
GREG:
It's all about making and playing music with good people. We still do
some TSOL shows, and that's a lot of fun. Suedehead is just a great
band, and I love doing it. Everyone in the band has a distinct musical
personality, and that makes for great chemistry when we play.
Did you (get to) enjoy being a part of punk history in the movie Suburbia?
GREG: Yes, that was fun. I think I was 19!
So Korey, you have toured with Hepcat. What was that like and how did you go from playing ska to joining Suedehead?
KOREY:
Playing with Hepcat was awesome. I am actually a big fan of Hepcat. My
wife and I had our first date at a Hepcat show. So I was so stoked when I
got the call. They are all a great bunch of guys and some of the best
ska/ reggae musicians I have ever had the pleasure of working with.
A
lot of people know me only as a ska/ reggae drummer. But I have
actually always played all kinds of music. My first professional gig was
with a country western artist. But I went on to play with Suedehead
because my old band (the Aggrolites) and Davey's old band (Beat Union)
were on Warped Tour together in '08. We became friends and had mutual
respect for each other's band. Right before I was about to start touring
with Hepcat, I saw Davey at Hurley and he told me about this soul thing
he wanted to do. With out even hearing it I told him I was 100% down.
About a year later we were called Suedehead.
Did you have fun appearing on Yo Gabba Gabba?
KOREY:
Yo Gabba Gabba was awesome. Christian Jacobs [The Aquabats] is so cool,
so talented. And hilarious! All those smiles and laughs you see on that
video from us are 100% real. Christian was yelling all kinds of funny
stuff at us through a bullhorn the whole time. That was prob the most
"real deal" video shoot I have ever done though. I had no idea what the
show was and how big of a deal it would be. I still have little 3 year
old kids recognize me from that. So stoked to have been a part of it.
This
one is more for Davey. Now, you started off in the UK before coming to
the states. How did the region influence you (outside of, of course,
Northern Soul)?
DAVEY:
I've learned so much about who I am from living in a foreign country. I
would recommend it to anyone. I really don't think I knew much about my
culture and what things had been ingrained into me through my
upbringing and just living there, until I stepped really far away from
it and looked back. The region I lived in for about 25 years had a
massive impact on me, although I've no idea if any of that really
influences Suedehead's music specifically? I guess it does in terms of
the British bands that inspired me to play. I probably wouldn't be here
in the USA now, with this band, playing these songs y'know. And maybe if
there weren't such shit and uninspiring career opportunities where I
grew up I wouldn't have picked up a guitar and started dreaming? Who
knows. The Midlands area in the UK isn't very glamorous or exciting
really and I sometimes feel that's kinda ingrained in me. I often think I
don't have enough of a 'rock star' ego to be a front man, compared to
someone that's grown up around the showbiz life of London, or LA or
something! But then again, the 80s and 90s days of rock n roll excess
have passed and I don't think there's much place for that stereotypical
rock star bullshit anymore. It seems the public are far more enamored by
the music industry good guys like Dave Grohl or Chris Martin for
example.
What’s your impression of the states by comparison?
DAVEY:
Everything you have and do is bigger and to the extreme, ha ha. Big
Gulps are bigger. food portions are bigger. Roads are wider. Curbs are
higher. Cars and trucks are bigger. If you're depressed, the doctors are
handing out pills and cures. If you wanna get drunk, you turn into an
alcoholic and join AA. Skinny people are skinnier, fat people are
fatter, the poor are poorer, the rich are richer. Obviously I'm making
fun here, but on a surface level thats kinda how it seems. Maybe that's
just my view on Southern California. Joking aside, the greatest thing
is, I feel the American dream is for real - if you want something, in
general, you can work hard and achieve it.
So,
International Soul Rebel Society is an independent label that y’all
started for your music. How has your experience with the music business
impacted you all on creating it?
DAVEY:
I think releasing your music yourself is just a way of life for most
bands today. An old band of mine had a brief stint with a record label
and whole team around us to push our career. This led me through some
amazing experiences and some bad ones - nothing I would ever change, but
these experiences definitely made me want to be more 'hands on' in the
future.
Do you enjoy the creative freedom and responsibilities that come with being in charge of your own recordings?
DAVEY:
I do enjoy it. I pretty much make my living via the music industry
(outside of Suedehead) so I realize I'm probably dissing on myself and
coming off as a fraud when I say this, but the older I get, the more
grossed out I'm becoming with the way people want to 'market' and 'sell'
music. The art should stand up for itself - and granted, more times
than not, this alone won't catapult the band onto the front page of
Rolling Stone or get them a million followers on Instagram or
whatever.... but I would rather keep our music honest than have someone
telling us what we need to sound like, look like, or which bands we need
to kiss ass and hang around or Tweet with in order to get noticed more!
And I know some of this sounds extreme, but once you start doing
business with (some) labels (or anyone for that matter), and they start
giving you money - they will begin controlling and shaping the art, bit
by bit. I still wouldn't rule out a record deal with another label -
just as long as it suits us and we get to control what we want to
control.
Where do you see yourselves in the future, immediate and beyond?
DAVEY:
We just want the wheels to keep moving - none of us are 21 any more and
we all work jobs, so we're not a full-time band at the moment. But we
tour as much as we can and try to make it all work. We're looking
towards releasing a full-length early next year and play more shows. I
actually have a power-pop side project called Newest York, so I'm gonna
release a 7" for that on I.S.R.S soon. We want our label to be about our
band as a collective and release anything we feel like putting out
there. so there's plenty more to come for sure!
~ Garyn Klasek
