RANDELLS is a pop punkin’ trio hailing from Blekinge County, Sweden.
Their sophomore full length, aptly titled "Kicks", has just been released on CD by Japanese label WATERSLIDE. And in this blog's opinion this is probably one of the best releases of this label. Kicks is filled to the rafters with catchy and powerful tunes that will keep you humming this the sun goes down. A MUST BUY!
1) For the viewers of this blog who would not know you, What would you tell about Randells to introduce yourselves? How long are you guys together as a band? Who is playing what instrument in the band nowadays?
Obba (Vocal, guitar) and Daniel (bass) started the band in 2014. Raz (drums) joined the band in 2020. A lot of the songs on the first album ”At the beach” go all the way back to mid 90’s.
2) About the latest released full length record "Kicks", what can you tell about the recording process? Was this a "live" in the studio recording or a track by track recording with lots of overdubs?
The album was recorded in 2 different studios. The drums where recorded in NLP Studio and the rest in TWIC Studios.
3) Do you use the nowadays recording technology or do you guys only work with analog machines in analog studios?
We use modern stuff when We record.
4) Is there a main composer in the band or is everybody involved in one way or another?
Obba has been the main composer but everyone is involved building the songs. Daniel is a graphic designer so he handels all the Photos, videos and stuff like that. A very good combination to have in a band 🙂
5) What is your favorite topic/topic that comes easily when you write a new song?
Love is always a low hanging fruit. I think We managed to mix the topics in a good way on the new album.
6) To what kind of music did you listen to as teenagers and does it still influence your today work? What were your favorite bands as a teenager? Name 3 bands that you consider still have a influence on your own work today.
We all listen to a lot of different artists, genres and bands, not only punk rock. We all love punk rock in the band but very often We don’t like the same bands or songs. We all have different influences, from Belle and Sebastian to Youth of today.
7) Do you have a new video on youtube featuring a track from the full length??
We have a couple of videos on Youtube. Daniel has made them all. You can find them under the user name Randells the band on YT.
8) What can concert goers expect at a Randells gig? Are you playing any famous cover songs during the gig?
We actually haven’t done alot of gigs since We started the band in 2014. You can expect it to be around 30 min long. No talking, just music 😉
9) Are there any bands in the Sweden today you consider yourself close to, musically speaking?
No not really.
10) What are the plans for the rest of 2021 as far as Randells is concerned?
Promote the new album and hopefully get some gigs. We are working on new songs and the plan is to release another album in 2022.
Hailing from Los Angeles, The CLAWS are described by their record label as running the gamut from swanky, driving Rock 'N Roll to down ‘n dirty Blues Stabbers to country-fused Desperado Rockers that perfectly straddle the line between Saturday night excess and Sunday morning regret. How could you not LOVE such a band?
1) For the viewers of this blog who would not know you, What would you tell about The Claws to introduce yourselves? How long are you guys together as a band? Who is playing what instrument nowadays?
The Claws formed in 2017 in Los Angeles, California. We released our debut EP (out of print) later that year. In early 2020, our debut LP 'No Connection' was released. After a few lineup changes, we have finally landed on the right mix. Chad Cherry : Singer; Gary Martin : Guitar & Vocals; Terry Love : Bass; Mike Gavigan : Guitar; Tony Pacheco : Drums
2) About the full length record 'No Connection', what can you tell about the recording process? Was this a "live" in the studio recording or a track by track recording with lots of overdubs?
We recorded No Connection live in the studio, then added vocal and guitar overdubs as the process went along. Also, we added the organs, piano, harmonica, and percussion later in the process as overdubs.
3) Do you use the nowadays recording technology or do you guys only work with analog machines in analog studios?
It's a healthy mix of analog and digital in our process. We use digital, modern recording software, while using analog, vintage processors and effects. Our gear is all vintage, and we "live-mic" almost everything.
4) Is there a main composer in the band or is everybody involved in one way or another?
I (Gary) am the main composer, but everyone has had their voices heard in the writing department.
After a song is brought into the band, everyone gets a say on their parts etc. Once everyone has stamped their personalities onto a new composition, the song is officially considered "property of The Claws".
5) What is your favorite topic/topic that comes easily when you write a new song?
Probably isolation. I am a private, quiet type who doesn't expose much publicly. This often results in lyrics that can be ambiguous at times.
6) The Claws are sometimes described as a 70's influenced band. Do you agree with this? Are you proud of it or do you consider there is way more than that?
I don't mind that at all, since the 70's were my favorite era of rock n roll. However, I don't want a potential younger who may be unfamiliar with that era to assume we're dated & boring. I do feel that there's more to our influences than just 70's rock. We're all fans of music. Not just one particular era, and not just one genre.
7) Do you have a new video on youtube featuring a track from the latest LP??
We have official videos for 'No Connection' and 'Stumbling Around'. They are from 2020's 'No Connection' LP and you can watch them here.
We will be doing a few videos from the upcoming LP, once it's ready to go.
8) What can concert goers expect at a The Claws gig? Are you playing any famous cover songs during the gig?
Expect to have a great time with The Claws at our gigs. The vibe is always great, plenty of dancing, smiling, boozing (if that's your thing) etc. We haven't done a cover tune at this point. We've discussed it, but we just cannot agree on something to cover.
9) Are there any bands in the USA today you consider yourself close to, musically speaking?
There are bands throughout the USA that we all dig, and we admire for their creativity and efforts. However, I don't think that any of them are very similar to The Claws. We're kinda doing our own thing. We're not trying to resurrect the sound of any monolithic bands of the past; we're just trying to write cool rock n roll songs that represent our lives & experiences in the 21st century.
10) To what kind of music did you listen to as a teenager? What were your favorite bands as a teenager? Name 3 bands that you consider still have an influence on your own work today.
As a teenager, I was a total 80's hard rock/metal guy. Loved it. Still dig some of it for sure. Van Halen comes to mind - their first 6 LPs are still fantastic. Pre-'84 Aerosmith also. My songwriting influence comes from people like Tom Petty, David Bowie, Mick & Keith, Elvis Costello. The bands of my teenage years were mostly badass, but didn't really influence my writing.
11) What are the plans for 2021 as far as The Claws are concerned?
First and foremost, we want to finish our 2nd LP. It's 90% recorded. We've recorded 14 songs; 10 will make the LP. The remaining 4 tracks will either be saved for LP #3, or we'll release them as an EP. Also, getting to play in Europe has been a goal for the band since it's inception. Due to the state of things globally, this may have to wait until 2022, but we'll see. It looks as if gigs will be starting up again around LA this summer. Hopefully we can do a west coast US run sometime this year. And we keep writing..the new material is stacking up!
12) Anything you wanna add?
Yes, please visit www.theclawsrock.com. You can watch the videos, buy the music, read about the band etc.. The new LP is gonna be fantastic - it's a little deeper than the debut; I think you'll dig the progression of the material. Stay tuned! Thanks Eric.
Hailing from Los Angeles and swiping their name from the Iggy and the Stooges classic “Search & Destroy”, The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs are back and released their first album in 20 years. And the good news is that those guys have lost nothing of their bite and energy.
The record kicks major ass!
If you're either a MC5 fan or a Cheap Trick fan (or both, like yours truly) this record is gonna be right up your alley. Time for this blog to talk to Frank Meyer about spending years touring in a van and a sparkling return.
1)For the sake of the argument, let's say that a very young viewer stumbles upon this blog for the first time and doesn't know who The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs are, what would tell to introduce yourselves? How long are you guys together as a band? Who is playing what instrument nowadays? Why did the band break up in 2002?
The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs are a high energy rock ‘n’ roll band in the spirit of the Stooges and MC5, but with a hard rock power-pop twist à la Cheap Trick. We started in 1995, made a bunch of albums, EPs and singles, and toured the world before breaking up in early 2000s. No real drama around the breakup, we just got sick of working our asses off, living in a van, and not making any real money after years and years of doing it. A decade later we got back together for a one-off tour with our pal Cheetah Chrome of the Dead Boys and have been going strong ever since. The current lineup is original members Dino Everett on bass, Mike Sessa on drums, and me, Frank Meyer, on guitars and lead vocals, plus newer members Bruce Duff on guitar and sax player Geoff Yeaton. We released a 7” single in 2015, and just put out a brand-new album called “One More Drink,” our first full-length in nearly 20 years!
2)About the latest released full length record 'One More Drink', what can you tell about the recording process? Was this a "live" in the studio recording or a track by track recording with lots of overdubs?
We went into a studio called Kitten Robot in Silver Lake, CA and recorded the basic tracks live over a few weekends with Paul Roessler (The Screamers, 45 Grave) engineering. Then we went to our guitarist Bruce’s Duff studio, ToneDuff, and did all the vocals, leads and overdubs. We rehearsed quite a bit beforehand and had demo’d all the songs, so we were pretty prepared to knock it all out live with minimal punch-ins. We produced it ourselves with Paul’s help.
3)Do you use the nowadays recording technology or do you guys only work with analog machines in analog studios?
I like both for different reasons. I have a home studio and record digitally all the time, as it’s quick and easy and allows me to get my ideas down fast. But if it’s something I’m gonna release to the public I either go into a real studio with a live drummer and re-record it entirely or re-recorded elements of it. There’s nothing quite like a live drum kit in a nice sounding room, or a great sounding amp properly mic’d, and the rich sound of tape. So that’s always preferred, but I embraced digital a long time ago. The ideal situation is to be able to do it all and just use what works best for any given situation.
4)Is there a main composer in the band or is everybody involved in one way or another?
We all write. I probably write the most these days because I’m in a ton of different projects that I’m contributing to (the Cheetahs, James Williamson, Warrior Soul, Blind House, The Anti-Virals, Thor, my solo stuff, my new band with Eddie Spaghetti of the Supersuckers, and more). Plus, I’m always just writing songs anyways, even if it’s not for any specific project. I’ll write it, record it, then figure out what to do with it later. On “One More Drink” everyone contributed. A few tunes like “Warzone” and “Rumblin’ Train” were written out of rehearsal jams, Dino brought the ideas for “The Rejected” and “Scorpio Rising,” Bruce had the ideas for “Bad vacation” and “Switchblade Knights,” and I came up with the rest. It really was a group effort.
5)What is your favorite topic/topic that comes easily when you write a new song?
These days I’ve been writing more personal stuff than I used to. All the songs used to be about car crashes, girls, fist fights, shootouts, sex, drugs and so on. Fun, hedonistic stuff. But lately I’ve been writing material that is more personal. On the new album there’s a song called “We Are The Ones (We’ve Been Waiting For)” that is about my ex-girlfriend, the record store her late aunt and uncle owned where I met her, and her cat Master Minou (“master of the cats,” you can hear me calling him at the end of the song). “Scorpio Rising” is one Dino and I wrote about his divorce. “Bad Vacation” is about an annoying co-worker at my old job. Most of these newer songs are based on real life and not just crazy stories and wild antics.
6)Do you think it was easier to be in a rock'n'roll band way back 25 years ago, when "Heart Full Of Napalm" was released on Alive Records, than it is now??
It’s tougher than ever to play rock ‘n’ roll now At the moment, live music has been down for a year due to COVID and when it gets back up and running, it’s gonna be at less attendance (i.e. – less money for the performer), so much tougher to profit from being on tour. And before COVID it was already rough. Rock music ain’t exactly the voice of the kids anyways these days. Playing rock now is kinda of like being a jazz player in a way. There’s always an audience, but it gets smaller and more selective as time goes on, and the kids move into other genres. And on top of all that, you make like a penny a stream, which is the main way people listen to music these days, so it’s really difficult to make money off digital distribution. You really have to hustle your art on Bandcamp or platforms like that, and try to get a record deal if you can, and play live, and sell merch, and rock your social media. It’s a lot and it’s not easy, but we do it because we love it. I’ll never stop.
7)Do you have a new video on youtube featuring a track from the latest LP??
Since we haven’t been able to tour this past year, we’ve been really embracing making music videos. My job away from music is as a director (award-winning documentary film “Risen: The Story of Chron ‘Hell Razah’ Smith”) and writer (“On The Road With The Ramones,” “From Dude To Dad”, etc), so I just started doing it a lot more for the band this past year. We made a video for “Warzone” off the new album that is kinda political and topical, plus an insane video for “We Are The Ones” with puppets, animation, videogames, drugs, toys, and all around batshit crazy madness. We just shot a new one for the title track that John Easdale from Dramarama (who sings on the song) appears in that will be out by the time you read this.
8)What can concert goers expect at a gig of The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs? Are you playing any famous cover songs during the gig?
We do a mix of older material from the first 6 or so albums, a rare track or two, some songs off the new album, and usually at least one cover. We often close with “Funhouse” by the Stooges or one of our own freakout jam songs that we can get into the crowd and get rowdy to. Our shows have always been very high energy, in-your-face, sweaty, and physical. Not sure how all that will work in this post-COVID world, but we shall see!
9) Are there any bands in the USA today you consider yourself close to, musically speaking?
The Supersuckers are probably the band we are closest with and most aligned with. Eddie Spaghetti and I started a band last year and have our debut album, Spaghetti & Frank, will be out this summer and we’ve toured with them many times since the ‘90s. Next would be Nashville Pussy, another band we’ve toured with many times and are very close friends with. And Fishbone. Those guys are legends, and we are hugely influenced by them in many ways, but have also been longtime friends and I love them as people.
9)To what kind of music did you listen to as a teenager? What were your favorite bands as a teenager? Name 3 bands that you consider still have an influence on your own work today.
Just like now, I listened to everything when I was a teen. I was a metalhead, a punk, a glam rocker and a classic rock aficionado all at the same time. I generally just liked my music to be loud, fast and hard, sleazy yet catchy. Still do. So when I was a little kid in the ‘80s it was Devo, Go-Gos and Joan Jett. Then Van Halen made me wanna play guitar, so I got into hard rock and metal. Then I heard The Ramones and Fear and that shit changed everything. And the Stones and Tom Petty were always big for me, and big songwriting influences. Then I had my Detroit phase of being obsessed with The Stooges, MC5 and Funkadelic. And I’ve always loved a lot of blues and jazz, so my musical taste is diverse, and I like to think (or hope) that my songwriting is diverse. Certainly, this new Cheetahs album is pretty damn diverse for a punk rock ‘n’ roll band.
As far as three main influences, I guess it would be the Stooges, Cheap Trick and Van Halen. An unlikely trio but, hey, here we are.
10)What are the plans for 2021 as far as The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs are concerned?
In 2021 we hope to get back to live shows, that’s for sure! In the meantime, we have a new music video out any day now for the song “One More Drink,” a beachy video for “Ain’t It Summer” coming soon, and I’m planning an epic video for the song “Let Me Out” that will be inspired by my favorite ‘80s sci-fi movie, “Trancers.” And we had so much fun making this new album, and have so many other songs written, we’ll likely start on another album by the end of the year. Other than that, keep a lookout for my album with Eddie Spaghetti, Spaghetti and Frank. There’s also a new single by The Dogs called “Under the Coast” that I co-wrote and perform on. You can score our album “One More Drink” on Dead Beat Records on vinyl and CD, or get it directly through us via our Bandcamp page
Hailing from Hull, UK, The Gold Needles are -in their own words- hard to pigeonhole because they wear their eclecticism on their sleeves, fusing powerpop with psych and prog. And they appreciate being compared with The Church, Be Bop Deluxe and The Byrds all rolled in one. It was time for this blog to have a nice chat with keyboards man Mark English.
1) For the viewers of this blog who would not know you, What would you tell about The Gold Needles to introduce yourselves? How long are you guys together as a band? Who is playing what instrument nowadays?
We’ve been together since 2015 but we’ve known each other for many years. Simon (vocals) and Mark (keyboards) we’re actually in a band together way back in 1985!The line up is: Simon Dowson - Vocals and rhythm guitar Dave Burbage - Lead and rhythm guitars Mark English - Keyboards Carl Slaughter- Bass and harmony vocals. For the last album we used Will Jones as our drummer. However, our live drummer is Justin Davidson
2) About the latest released full length record 'What's Tomorrow Ever Done for You', what can you tell about the recording process? Was this a "live" in the studio recording or a track by track recording with lots of overdubs?
We started recording in late 2019 and we had the beginnings of quite a few tracks. We managed to finish BILLY LIAR and HAVE YOU EVER LOVED SOMEBODY? before the pandemic hit. At that point we had to put everything on hold. As things began to ‘open up’ later in the year we were able to meet outdoors so we finished the tracks by recording in the open air, socially distanced. We also managed to record two tracks for the album JEM RECORDS CELEBRATES JOHN LENNON in this manner and actually created three new tracks from scratch. Because we recorded to click track we were able to use a drummer we know, who has his own studio, to put the drums in afterwards. It was a challenge but we managed it and we were really pleased with the results. We even have a track left over for our next album.
3) Do you use the nowadays recording technology or do you guys only work with analog machines in analog studios?
We utilise technology the best way we can. We had to given the pandemic! Fortunately we have our own equipment so we record and mix ourselves before having the final mixes mastered in the USA.
4) Is there a main composer in the band or is everybody involved in one way or another?
We all compose. Mark writes a lot of the lyrics but we all contribute in different ways. Simon tends to write fully completed songs and Dave is great at producing riffs and licks. We always seem to have ideas floating round.
5) What is your favorite topic/topic that comes easily when you write a new song?
There’s nothing in particular although the last album has a theme if time running through it. This was coincidental though. We didn’t realize this until the album was nearing completion and we were sequencing the tracks.
6) The Gold Needles are sometimes described as a 60's influenced band. Do you agree with this? Are you proud of it or do you consider there is way more than that?
We understand this but it’s not something we consciously do. We all listen to different stuff and we have eclectic tastes. I think this is evident in the tracks. We all love 60s music so it’s inevitable that this will find its way into tracks. You can hear lots of other influences as well, from glam to electronic to New wave.
7) Do you have a new video on youtube featuring a track from the latest LP??
This is the title track featuring dancing skeletons, falling robots and flying clocks. What’s there not to like?
8) What can concert goers expect at a The Gold Needles gig? Are you playing any famous cover songs during the gig?
When we can get back together properly we are going to overhaul our live set. We haven’t actually gigged any of the new songs yet so it’ll be fun rehearsing them for live shows. As for covers, we’ve tended only to play our own stuff live but we wouldn’t rule it out. Our covers of HEY BULLDOG/COLD TURKEY and NO REPLY may make the cut but until we all get in the same room again and start playing them it’s difficult to say for certain.
9) Are there any bands in the UK today you consider yourself close to, musically speaking?
There are bands that we’ve gigged with like Candy Opera and Spygenius that we are good friends with and our music complements each other without us particularly sounding alike.
10) To what kind of music did you listen to as a teenager? What were your favorite bands as a teenager? Name 3 bands that you consider still have an influence on your own work today.
As a band we are fans of The Beatles, David Bowie, The Cars, Cheap Trick and Tom Petty as well as a host of other stuff. We still listen to all this.
11) What are the plans for 2021 as far as The Gold Needles are concerned?
As soon as we can we’re going to start rehearsing our live show and hopefully get some gigs in later in the year. We all love writing and recording and I’m sure we’ll be working on new songs and ideas as well. We just recorded a track for our label but we are sworn to secrecy as to what the project is. Hopefully, all will be revealed later in the year.
12) Anything you wanna add?
On the new album the track I GET THE PRESSURE was remixed by synth maestro Larry Fast. Larry played synth on the first four Peter Gabriel albums and also played in tracks by Kate Bush, Hall and Oates and Bonnie Tyler’s epic smash hit. We were thrilled that he wanted to work on this track.
