Hailing from Cesenatico, Italy here is a quartet that plays kick ass rock'n'roll in the vein of the Real Kids. "Almost Unbreakable Toys" is their debut full length released on vinyl by WANDA RECORDS in Germany.
The record contains 10 songs. Eight originals and the two cover versions (“Teenage News” originally by Sylvain Sylvain and “Do Anything You Wanna Do” originally by Eddie and his Hot Rods). This is highly recommanded.
1) For the viewers of this blog who would not know you, What would you tell about The Weirdolls to introduce yourselves? How long are you guys together as a band? Who is playing what instrument in the band nowadays?
The weirdolls are rock’n’roll garage power pop quartet from the Adriatic coast in Italy. The band is officially playing together since 2022 and the band members are: Pardo: lead vocals, guitar. tez: vocals,guitar. nico : bass guitar and rene: drums
2) What can you tell about the recording process of your album "Almost Unbreakable Toys"? Was this a "live" in the studio recording or a track by track recording with lots of overdubs?
We tried to take the best of both worlds, we recorded live the most of the material with all the effects , we just overdubbed the guitars solos and the background vocals
3) For the recording of that album did you use the modern digital recording technology or do you guys only work with analog machines in analog studios?
We prerecorded some of the tracks at my home studio in the the nowadays standard way: with metronome and separate tracks and we mixed with a friend of us (doansai check for him!), but we thought the sound needed a touch of the “good ol days warmness” so we searched for an analog studio and we liked this approach best. So we found “slack blue studio” a rotten-tape-filled studio runned by yuri pirini, a local guru of this things
4) Is there a main composer in the band or is everybody involved in one way or another?
All the material until now has been written by me (Pardo) and Tez, but of course everyone in the band is free to contribute and is irreplaceable for the sound,in fact this one is the third incarnation of the Weirdolls because the previous rythmic section wasn’t right for the genre.
5) What is your favorite topic/topic that comes easily when you write a new song?
Frustration, troubles, the sense of not fitting in any place, in the first place, but also the will to not care ‘bout this kind of things
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.
It’s hard to answer to this one! when me and Tez decided to form the band we were so into the hellacopters. The four of us came from very different listing from the bossa nova to the heavy metal and of course the classics of the 70’s. Our work today is very random influenced
7) Do you have a video on youtube featuring a track from the LP??
yep! we’ve got “Do anything you wanna do”, originally recorded by Eddie and The Hot-Rods and also and “waiter blues” released at the end of this summer.
8) What can concert goers expect at a gig of The Weirdolls? Are you playing any famous cover songs?
I hope them to expect to hear some loud rock and roll and to be molested and fooled around a little bit :-P . We play covers by : mc5, the real kids, sylvain sylvain, flamin’groovies
9) Are there any bands in Italy today you consider yourself close to?
We don’t know any band really who sound so close to us, but there a very interesting rock scene formed by this bands: The small jackets, Antares, Weirdbloom, Roozlalepres, the loyal cheaters, lu silver, the peawees, the hornets, the innocent
10) What are the plans for 2025 as far as The Weirdolls are concerned? Are you gonna tour Europe to promote the record?
If we find someone who can help us in this we are ready to jump on the van anytime! but at the moment appears as littlle bit out of hand opportunity.
11) Anything you wanna add?
support us! invite us to play at your local rotten pub! and stay tuned because new stuff is already on his way
Hailing from La Spezia, Italy, The PEAWEES have been playing rock'n'roll for nearly 30 years. Early September, WILD HONEY Records released their latest and best offering so far. And what an album it is. Not a single weak track in sight. Very few rock bands have have such an impeccable sense of groove. And then there is the soulful voice of frontman Hervé Peroncini.
Do yourself a favor and purchase this record.
1. For the viewers of this blog who may not know you, how would you introduce The Peawees? How long have you been together as a band? Who plays which instrument in the band nowadays? Have there been any new members in recent years?
Hey! I’d say we’re a rock ‘n’ roll band in the broadest sense of the term. The band was formed in 1995, and after several lineup changes, it’s now me, Tommy Gonzalez on drums, Fabio Clemente on bass, and Dario Persi on guitar. Fabio and Tommy have been in the band for 12 years, and Dario joined 3 years ago.
2. I read somewhere that your recent full-length record, One Ride, was mostly written on the Canary Islands. Is this true? Could you elaborate on that?
It’s absolutely true! During the pandemic, I got stuck on the island of Tenerife. What was supposed to be a one-month vacation turned into seven months because there were complications with returning to Italy with everything that was going on. I bought a classical guitar from an Indian guy selling it online for 30 euros, and I wrote most of the album's songs during that time.
3. The promo sheet mentions that it’s been "a long wait for this record, one that includes lineup changes, divorces, lost loved ones, and job troubles." Can you tell us more about this?
I think the promo sheet sounds a bit dramatic! (laughs) Honestly, we’ve faced challenges that most people in the world experience! Let’s just say that when things were supposed to restart after the pandemic, a lot of things happened all at once that disrupted and slowed down our plans. Carlo Landini, our former guitarist, moved to Berlin for work and had to leave the band, so Dario joined. We wanted to tour a bit with Dario to get the band warmed up before going into the studio. I went through a divorce, so I left Milan, where the band was based at the time, and moved back to my hometown, La Spezia. Then we lost loved ones and friends. At one point, it felt like we were in the middle of a storm, and everything seemed impossible. The day One Ride was released felt like a miracle (laughs).
4. What can you tell us about the recording process? Was it a live recording in the studio or a track-by-track process with lots of overdubs?
It was something in between. We generally record the guitar, bass, and drum tracks together, and then we add vocals, organ, and percussion afterward. I’d say there are very few overdubs—what you hear is what we are! We recorded this album in three different sessions and then mixed everything together.
5. For the recording of this album, did you use modern digital recording technology, or do you prefer working with analog machines in analog studios?
All the preamps, compressors, and microphones were analog, with many vintage elements. All of this was captured using good converters.
6. Is there a main composer in the band, or is everyone involved in one way or another?
I write all the songs.
7. What’s your favorite topic, or what comes easiest to you when writing a new song?
It’s hard to say; it depends on what you’re experiencing at the time. Generally, I write about situations that I see and that affect me in some way. It could be a story I’ve experienced personally or something I’ve observed in other people’s lives.
8. What kind of music did you listen to as a teenager, and does it still influence your work today? What were your favorite bands as a teenager? Name three bands that still influence your work today.
I was lucky to have an older brother who brought records home and older friends who introduced me to the right stuff. My obsession with The Clash started very early, but when I was about 15, I was hanging out with friends who were really into bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd. Shortly after, I discovered punk—The Misfits, The Ramones, and everything that followed. I firmly believe that what you listen to as a teenager stays with you forever, and even if you don’t want it to, it will always influence your writing.
9. Do you have a video on YouTube featuring a track from the recent LP?
Of course, we have two music videos: "The Wolf" and "Drive."
10. What can concertgoers expect at a Peawees gig? Are you playing any famous cover songs?
When we’re on stage, we want to have fun and enjoy ourselves, and that’s what we hope to share with the audience. Right now, we’re playing "Don’t Look Back" by The Remains and "Leaving Here" by Eddie Holland.
11. Are there any bands in Italy today that you consider yourselves close to?
We’ve been around for 30 years, and as you can imagine, we’ve built strong friendships throughout the punk, rock ‘n’ roll, and garage scenes.
12. What are the plans for the rest of 2024 for The Peawees? Are you planning to tour Europe to promote the record?
We’re currently on tour in Spain, and as soon as we’re back, we’ll be playing a series of dates in Italy until December. We’re already working on 2025, which will be full of surprises we’ll announce soon!
SLOVENLY Records recently released the third full length of Th’ Losin Streaks. The album was recorded at Louder Studios in Grass Valley, California,
with Tim Green (Nation of Ulysses, Fucking Champs) behind the board and is definitely their best offering so far. The album has some brilliant songs on it like "Well I never" or "I Mean You". Not the mention the excellent instrumental "Dyer Lane".
INTERVIEW: Mike Farrell and Tim Foster
of Th’ Losin Streaks recorded in Sacramento, October 23, 2024
1. For the viewers of this blog who
would not know you, how would you tell about Th’ Losin Streaks to introduce
yourselves? How long are you guys together as a band? Who is playing what
instrument in the band nowadays?
MIKE FARRELL: I'm Mike Farrell, lead guitar player. We've been together since
2004, so it's 20 years… off and on - we had a small break. But, to describe us - I come from more of a
metal background, but became fascinated with the sixties early on. And I was, I
think, around 18 and went down that rabbit hole. And, Losin Streaks is one of
the results of that rabbit hole.
TIM FOSTER: And we, - this is Tim Foster, the rhythm
guitar player and occasional harmonica player - and, so me and Stan Tindall and
a guy named Matt K Shrugg started the band early on. We were thinking we were
gonna look for a lead guitar player, but we didn't really find anyone to fit at
first, so we played for maybe a month or so as a three piece. But we'd known Mike forever and, he had
been in bands in Sacramento that we really loved and knew that he was a fan of
sixties, you know, rock and roll, especially like the Rolling Stones, Velvet Underground,
and so on….
MF: And I
was a fan of The Trouble Makers.
TF: And
yeah. And he was a fan of our old band, The Trouble Makers. So he
ended up just coming by a practice… and suddenly it’s 20 years later.
MF: I was at
a Trouble Makers gig. And you offered me, I mean, I don't think you actually
offered a spot to me… You just, said “why don't you come by and see how it
works?” Yeah. So, so we all started playing together in 2004, I think.
TF: And it
was really natural. Me and Stan and Matt had already been playing together, and
then Mike just slotted right in.
MF:And two weeks later, we recorded a record.
TF: Two
weeks later, we recorded the first half of our first record. Yeah.
MF: And then
a month or two later, we were in Europe. I think it was a little longer than
that, but not much. Six months? I don't know. But I just remember it all moved
quickly.
TF: But we
all, you know, we're all big fans of sixties garage rock, especially me and
Stan and Matt. And so, you know, Mike dropped right into that. He had been
playing the heck out of the Nuggets comp right around then, so he fit right in.
So, and then as far as who plays what, Mike
plays the lead guitar, and I play the rhythm guitar. Stan plays the bass. And,
Matt actually retired from the band about 6 years ago. And we've had our
friend, Brian Machado, who is also in The Trouble Makers with us way back in
the day, has been playing drums now. And then we all sing.
2. About your latest full length record,
Last House, what can you tell me about the recording process? Was this a live
in the studio recording or track by track recording with lots of overdubs?
MF: Well,
there were lots of overdubs, but it was live in the studio…. It was all the
basic tracks… It was analog. It was all done to tape.
TF: Yeah. It
was all done to tape at Louder Studios with Tim Green, about an hour and a half
outside of Sacramento, all live to tape. I don't think there were really any
digital shenanigans on this record. We had a little bit on the last record, on
the T Minus album. We did a little bit of digital tweaking on that one
because it was just cheaper and easier. But, yeah, we've pretty much always
recorded to tape and pretty much mostly live. You know, we play as the full
band, and then we go back in and add vocals, but all of the basic tracks were
done live.
MF: We'd
sprinkle in, like, then we'll go back in with the vocals and with maracas and
tambourines.
TF:
Sometimes Mike will double guitars.
MF:
Just kinda normal studio stuff. Yeah.
TF: And then
our friend, Anton Barbeau, played organ on the latest record, and he came in
later. We just told him kind of what we were thinking and let him loose. My
favorite moment in that is, you know, on a song called “Cooler Heads,” andthere's sort of a part where the whole song
falls apart, and it's just kinda feedback and noise. And Anton was like, “well,
what do you want this to sound like?” And Mike said, “I want it to sound like
the Ice Cream Man after the apocalypse,” and that's exactly what it sounds
like. [laughter] Exactly.
3. So for the recording of this album,
did you use modern digital recording technology? Do you guys work only with
analog machines in the analog studios?
TF: I think
we already kinda answered that one.
4. Is there a main composer in the band,
or is everybody involved in one way or another?
MF: Well,
mainly Tim and I write the lion's share of the songs, and then, Brian has a
hand and has a couple of his own.
TF: And even
Stan has written a song too. Stan's first song we've ever recorded is on the
new record - it's an instrumental called “Dyer Lane.” But we all… even though
either Mike or I will write the songs generally…. I think everybody chimes in
with their parts.
MF: You
know, we do sometimes come in and say, like, “we should do this here,” but
yeah, it’s generally a democracy that way. But, Tim and I pretty much come to
the table with the lion's share. But, yeah, everybody does contribute.
TF: And then
we always have had covers in the band where we're doing songs from bands we
like too. That's been something we've done since day one.
5. what's your favorite topic or the topic that comes easily
when you write a new song?
MF: Self
destruction. Yeah. That's a pretty recurring theme.
TF: For me,
I think, the two most common themes are, obviously, you know, affairs of the
heart and romance and people you're smitten with or were smitten with or have
broken up with. And then also just sort of news and history and events that are
happening today.
MF: Yeah.
That's true. Some of it's topical that way. Yeah.
6. And to what kind of music did you
listen to as teenagers, and does it still influence your work today? What were
your favorite bands as a teenager name 3 bands you consider to still have an
influence on your own work today?
MF: Three bands in my teens… hmmm.I guess Iron Maiden would be one. I'd have to
say AC/DC would be another, and The Byrds. So for me, it was in the later teens I dove
heavy into the sixties, but not into the garage, but I was exploring all the
more well known stuff.
TF: You and
Stan and Brian were all big KISS freaks too.
MF: Yeah.
That's true. But that was when I was little kid. That was preteen. Yeah.
TF: And for
me, I was not really a big music guy in my teens, basically, because the things
I heard on the radio, I really didn't connect with at all. And so the stuff
that I was really into as a teenager was, like, I loved big band music, and I
liked the stuff my parents listened to, which was, you know, like Elvis and
Fats Domino and Hank Williams. And then at end of my teens, I did start to get
into sixties music, and I was you know, right off the bat, I was into Beatles
and Simon and Garfunkel. So that's more than three bands. [laughter]
But I would say, like, the Beatles and
Simon and Garfunkel, and Elvis, you know, all of those were kind of baked into
the cake for me and all, you know, all of them have continued to be very
influential for me. Mike, do you think those the three bands
you were into are still influencing you, like The Byrds and Maiden?
MF: Well,
I'm not so much Maiden. Maybe a little bit AC/DC, but definitely a lot of The
Byrds. Byrds still have a huge influence on me. But, there's other things I'm
listening to now, but, but in my teens, that's, like, the top three that I can
think of.
TF: What do
you think are the bands that kind of influence what you do in the group today
are?
MF: Oh god.
I mean… Well, just… it's a hard question.
TF: Well,
okay. Well, I'll answer for me first. For me, I think the bands that I really
am most influenced by are - there's not any one single band - It's basically
all of the Back From the Grave and the Pebbles records that I listened to
obsessively for many, many, many years. And when I hear those records, it's
just an immediate connection. And then there are The Sonics, obviously,
who, were a huge influence on everything I did. And then, going on the other
side of the ocean, The Downliners Sect were a huge influence. You know, Stan
actually found that collection of Downliners Sect songs many, many years ago,
and I'd never heard anything like that. And to this day, when I'm writing
songs, I will often think of them as being kind of in the style of Downliners
Sect. And, you know, I wrote a song today that,
to me, sounds like The Sonics. So I think those are the bands, and then
obviously, all of the Pebbles and Back From The Grave bands.
MF:Yeah. I guess, you know, my exploration with
garage music isn't as detailed and in-depth. But there are a lot of those
comps, though I'm still, you know, hearing new songs, learning…being exposed to. They all definitely have an
influence on me. Our last tour we were listening to, I think
it was Pebbles Volume 2 or 3. And, I noticed, there were some similarities in
the songwriting, and I can hear that having an influence on me down the line.
7. And then, do you have a video from
the new album on YouTube?
TF: Yeah.
Actually, we have quite a few videos. There's one for “I Mean You,” which was,
our version of a workout video. Stan, our bass player, did all the hard work
putting the video together after we had some friends shoot it. It was really
fun to do. I think it's a good representation for the song.
8. What can concert goers expect at a
gig of Losin Streaks? Are you playing any famous cover songs?
MF: Mayhem.
TF: Yeah.
Exactly.
MF: For
covers, well, we do, I don't know if we do anything that's famous… maybe, you
know, maybe in the in the garage circles, but yeah.
TF: We do
“Project Blue” by The Banshees. We do “Hate” by The Stoics.
MF: We do,
more obscure stuff. There's more local, like “I’ll Be the One” by Madd Inc. and
“Daddy Was” by The Knightsmen. Yeah.
TF: And then
The Weeds song, “It’s Your Time.” That one was a great one to turn over.
Probably the most famous cover that we did
on a consistent basis, we used to do “Leaving Here.” It's a Holland Dozier
Holland song, but we learned The Birds B-I-R-D-S version. And we used to do
that all the time. That was, like, one of Matt K’s showpieces.
MF: It was a
segue from, some other song that's in B. I can't remember. But yeah. We haven't
really done “famous” covers. I mean, they're famous to the garage world, famous
to us.
TF: “Blue
Girl.” But yeah, we've done a lot of covers, that's for sure, over the years.
“It's My Pride” by The Guess Who.
MF: We used
to do “She” by The Monkees.
TF: Yeah.
It's true. That's a pretty famous one.And as far as what concert goers can expect, I mean, we try to bring as
much energy to those songs as they deserve.
You know, again, Stan and I grew up going
to see The Mummies back 30 years ago, and there was no phoning it in there. And
so we just learned, like, you wanna make it a really memorable experience for
people that are there, and you want them to see all the energy that's in that
music being demonstrated on stage. So, you may well see instruments getting
broken. Amplifiers getting broken. We've had… drums have, have been destroyed.
You know, I think we've lost equipment at many, many, many shows. I mean,
that's not the goal, but it does you know, in the chaos, some, like, things go
wrong.
MF: And,
sure, it's in the vein of The Who, you know, but it's done with, you know,
our own original energy.
TF: Well, we
don't have the money to replace this stuff, so it's gotta be fixed and put back
into play for the next show. [laughter] So, you know, I've been playing the
same Silvertone guitar since 1997, and I think the same Fender Deluxe amp since
about the same time. I mean, they're much… both of them are much, much worse
for wear, but, you know, they get dragged around.
9. Are there any bands in the USA you
consider yourself close to?
TF: Well,
I'd say, musically, I think we're very you know, we're kind of in line with,
again, like, The Mummies are old friends of ours, and The Woggles, The
Okmoniks. Yeah. But then, locally, there's fantastic band called The Snares who
are from Sacramento, who are younger. They're outstanding. And there's a a bunch of new bands that I
feel like are kind of on the same wavelength as us. Like, there's a band called
The Killing Floors out of Los Angeles. I love them. Also The Wyld Gooms…
MF: LA. Oh,
yeah all those Chicano kids are mod. Yeah.
TF: It's
very cool to see them. Those are the ones that come to mind. We just we were on
tour, and we played with, two great bands, Hans Predator and Pet Mosquito. We
played with them in Carbondale, Illinois, and they're all young kids, and they
were just killing it. They brought all the energy. Pet Mosquito randomly just busted out with
a cover of Bunker Hill’s “Girl Can't Dance,” which blew my mind. They just,
like they weren't even planning on doing it. They just kinda ran through it
during their warm up. So it's very cool to see…
MF:That band in Denver. What was that band?…
Thee Retcons, in Denver were doing some cool stuff.
TF: So it is
very cool to see people still playing garage music. There's a band, actually, I
would love to play with who I think is definitely on our wavelength, called The
Ar-Kaics. I think they're from back east. I think they're from
Virginia maybe? And then there's a band called The Knight
Shades who are from the East Coast also. Fantastic band. I would love to see them.
So, yeah, there's a lot of bands out there doing really cool stuff.
10. What are the plans for the rest of
2024, and the forthcoming year as far as Th’ Losin Streaks are concerned?
MF: We’ve
got a couple more shows.
TF: In a
couple of weeks we’re playing with The Jackets who are… speaking of bands we
love… The Jackets from Switzerland.
MF: We're
playing with The Woggles, aren't we? Yeah. And we're playing with the Woggles
in December. Yeah. So, I mean, very excited about those shows coming up. And I don't know how near future, but, plan
is to record an EP possibly? We're working on some new songs.
TF: We want
to go into the studio beginning of next year and do an EP or a single or, you
know, beginning of another album, something like that. So that's exciting to
work on.
11. Then anything you wanna add?
MF: Well, we
hope to make it back to Europe.
TF: Oh, and
that's the other thing we should mention….We are working on a Japanese tour, which would be our first time ever in
Japan. We're hoping that's gonna happen in 2025, so keep your fingers crossed
for us. And yeah, we would love to go back to
Europe. You know we had a whole tour scheduled in 2020 that got canceled and there
were a bunch of shows and festivals we weren't able to do. We've been invited
back several times, but we weren't able to make the schedules work out so we
would love to come back and play again.
MF: Oh, and
we've been doing a side project with Deke Dickerson. Yeah, you could call it
Real Bad News Better Good….
TF: We had
reached out to Deke Dickerson, who was in Untamed Youth and a bunch of other
bands… The Go Nuts, and stuff over the years. And when we did our record
release party here in Sacramento back in March, we asked him if he would come
up and and play with us. And we just told him, “You pick a dozen songs you
wanna do from your old garage rock and roll days, and we'll learn them, and
we'll back you up.” And he thought that sounded like fun, so he sent us up a
list of songs, we learned them, and it was one of the funniest shows I've ever
played. I mean ever.
MF: We’ve
done three of them so far.
TF: Yeah.
And so it worked out really well in March, so then we ended up doing the same
thing down in Los Angeles. Our friends, DJs Roger Mars and Rick Barzell, set
that up. That was super fun. And then we just did it last week in San Francisco
over at the Make Out Room.
MF: And,
yeah, it was fantastic… That was the first time I ever played that place that
packed.
TF: Yeah. A
lot of folks there.It was super, super
fun and great to see Deke cut loose a little bit, doing Sonics covers and, you
know, getting crazy. You know, in the old days, Untamed Youth shows were some
of the craziest shows - I mean, blood, full frontal nudity, shit going at the
audience constantly. You know, not exactly what you expect to see at a Deke
Dickerson show these days. But we wanted to bring Deke back to his roots.
[laughter]
Thanks a lot for asking to do the
interview, and and hopefully, we'll see you over on your side of the Atlantic
one of these days soon.
SMOOCH is a rock'n'roll four piece from Melbourne, Australia.
Their debut full length, the aptly titled "A Force To Be Rockin' With" was initialy released in Australia on Legless Records in 2022 but this was so damn hard to purchase in Europe. So the German label WANDA Records made everybody in Europe a very huge favor by releasing it here as well.
The band describes itself as a mix of Kiss and The Runaways. And this is actually what you get. They have the riffs and they have the groove. And most of all, they have a great female singer. What more do you want? Purchase this at all cost!
And one more thing: you will read below that they cover Slade “Gudbye T’ Jane”. I can only hope they will include this on their sophomore album. That'll be the icing on the cake!
1) For the viewers of this blog who would not know you, What would you tell about your musical background to introduce Smooch? Can you also introduce all the members of the band.
Hi! Adam here, I play guitar and do backup Vocals. Ciarn my partner in life and crime is the lead vocalist & bassist, Steve whacks the tubs & and Mitch wails on 2nd guitar. Other bands we’ve played or play in include, Drunk Mums, Reaper, Red Red Krovvy, Rubber Room, Meat, Mesa Cosa, Dumb Punts. All of which don’t sound anything like SMOOCH, the purpose of this band was to get out of our comfort zone to push ourselves creatively and physically.
2) About your debut full length album "A Force To Be Rockin' With", 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 Drums, Bass & Rhythm Guitars all together on a 70’s Neve Console, the same used for Australian greats AC/DC & Cold Chisel, we then added double-tracked guitar solos, Vocals and a few little percussion things afterwards. We like to keep it live as possible to honour the 70’s feel of our predecessors.
3) Do you use the nowadays digital recording technology or do you only work with analog machines in analog studios? Have you recorded all your records in the same way or are there any changes in the recording process lately?
Our first 7” was done by me in the lounge room of the house we all lived in at the time. I used to record alot of bands but only really using Pro Tools & we worked on the songs for almost a year before recording so just wanted to smash something out and release it on cassette dubbed by ourselves as more of a PROMO copy which seemed to be a common thing in the past.
For the LP we wanted to use analogue but the cost of doing so wasn’t in our budget, thankfully the Neve console we used was from the ’70s and was one of the first solid-state consoles so it still had a super warm sound.
4) How would you describe the music you are playing?
Hard Rock, Proto-Metal & Early Glam
5) What is your favorite topic/topic that comes easily when you write the lyrics to a new song?
I think that the main thing for me personally is for the sounds of the words to be important before the message. For example, our song Glitter Thugs instantly paints a picture of a gang covered in sequins. Ciarn is the main writer of lyrics in the band though so I can’t speak for her. Alot of our topics include Gender Equality, Politics & others are more about rockin & havin a good time. Its important to have that balance.
6) Do you have a new video on youtube featuring a track from the newly released LP??
We have a video for Feminine Touch which is the first track off the album. Wild Rose did an amazing job of capturing the look we are going for and understanding what we wanted in general.
7) What can concert goers expect at a Smooch gig? Are you playin' any famous cover songs during the concert?
Heads boppin, boots stompin, butts boogin, wailin solos, thunderous drums and powerful vocals. We have covered Hector “Bye Bye Bad Days” & , we’ve worked on doing a priest and angels cover and plan to do some more but haven’t gotten round to it.
8) Are there any bands in Australia today you consider yourself close to, musically speaking?
The short answer is ROT TV & STREET SWEEPER. I think what we do is so specific that it’s hard to lump us in with other bands. People see the image and think GLAM, oh yeah! But Hair Metal sucks and hate it when we are referred to that side of the genre.
9) To what kind of music did you listen to as teenagers? What were your favorite bands as a teenagers? Name 3 bands that you consider still have an influence on your own work today.
I grew up listening to punk, grindcore & and death metal. Couldn't tear me away from bands like Ramones, Death or Black Flag so I can’t really say that any of that has influenced Smooch. The 3 main bands I think that Influence us are Kiss, The Runaways & Judas Priest, The Sweet, Girlschool. I know thats 5 ya lucky I stopped there.
10) What are the plans for for 2024 as far as Smooch is concerned? Do you guys plan to come over to Europe to promote the record?
What we plan to do is finish writing and eventually record our next album and I’m sorry to say but I don’t think we’ll be touring overseas until that comes out. We all play in other bands so we need to focus on those outputs. We take our time with Smooch cos we want it to be the best it can be.
Hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia, Autogramm is a quartet featuring Jiffy Marx - vocals, synths, guitars; The Silo - vocals, drums, synths, guitars; CC Voltage - vocals, bass, guitars and Lars Von Seattle - guitars and vocals
The band is playing some very catchy early 80's music in the vein of The Cars, Devo, Gary Numan and a bit of David Bowie's Berlin era Stuff."Hey Allie" is catchy as hell and will stay in your head for days and days.
Their latest album, Music That Humans Can Play, is released in Europe on BELUGA records and comes in 2 different colors (blue or pink) with lyrics and liner notes.
1) For the viewers of this blog who would not know you, What would you tell about your musical background to introduce Autogramm? Can you also introduce all the members of the band who participated in the recordings?
Jiffy Marx: I currently play synth and sing in Autogramm and play bass and sing in a band called Night Court. I’ve also played guitar in a bunch of bands and used to also play guitar in Autogramm but doing three things at once proved to be a challenge so we recruited our friend Lars to take over which seems to have been a totally worthwhile decision!
The Silo: I play the drums, sing a bit and put effects on everything! I operate a little recording studio called The Mango Pit in Chicago, when I’m not playing with Autogramm or some of the other bands I play with.
Lars Von Seattle: I do the guitaring in Autogramm & have played in some Seattle rock groups over the years.
CC Voltage: I play bass in the band, and I’ve also played in Berlin’s Dysnea Boys, London’s Loyalties, and Vancouver’s Black Halos and Spitfires.
2) About your latest full length album "Music That Humans Can Play", 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 Silo: Both! We tracked the basics live at a big studio called Rain City Recorders in Vancouver, then afterward we overdubbed extra vocals and synths and guitars and tambourines and bleeps and bloops at little studios: The Balloon Factory in Vancouver and The Mango Pit in Chicago.
3) Do you use the nowadays digital recording technology or do you only work with analog machines in analog studios? Have you recorded all your records in the same way or are there any changes in the recording process lately?
The Silo: We use the digital stuff as the recording medium because that’s what we can afford — we’ve made all of our records ourselves. No outside producers or mixers. I have some nice preamps and a summing mixer to add analog tone to the proceedings. No tape though. Would love that but we also don’t have the money! The only real change between this album and the last two: this is the first time we recorded anything in a big studio, and we had an assistant engineer to help with the bedtracks in that studio. The first two were done completely in my own small project studios.
4) How would you describe the music you are playing? If I were to call it "new wave" (as it was called between 1977 and 1983), would you agree with this label? Are you proud of it or do you consider there is way more than that?
Jiffy Marx: Definitely not against calling it new wave but also proud that there is more than that. I think we each bring something a bit different to the band- CC is the Rock’n’roll guy, I’m the power pop / punk guy, The Silo brings the pop and Lars has also brought some jangle into the mix. I think the result, although we all still worship The Ramones, is a unique amalgamation of all of our different tastes.
Lars Von Seattle: I think new wave is a fine term, even though it was later used by more hardcore punks to describe trend-chasers or poseurs. I like most bands that are described as new wave, so I’m fine with it.
CC Voltage: I think you hit the nail on the head. We’re huge fans of that era of music, so it’s a big compliment to hear people say we’ve succeeded in making something sound authentic.
5) What is your favorite topic/topic that comes easily when you write the lyrics to a new song?
Jiffy Marx: Unfortunately I would have to say anxiety and depression but I try to put a positive spin on it by normalizing mental health issues.
The Silo: I’m not a prolific lyric writer, but judging from what I’ve written so far, it seems that it’s mostly about dancing!
CC Voltage: I generally just say things until they fit along with the music. Then I go back and try to make those words actually sound like they have some kind of meaning. It’s kind of like creating a stream of consciousness story. There’s rarely any significant meaning to mine unfortunately.
6) Do you have a new video on youtube featuring a track from the newly released LP??
CC Voltage: We have 3 videos from the new LP. I would encourage you to check out “Born Losers”, seeing as we went on a skiing trip and partied with a sasquatch!
7) What can concert goers expect at an Autogramm gig? Are you playin' any famous cover songs during the concert?
Jiffy Marx: We do like to throw a cover in as an encore if the vibe is right!
The Silo: Hopefully we’ll make you dance — without a doubt we’ll put you in a very good mood. We have a few covers that we’ve tried to make our own. Some possibly unrecognizable. Come to a show and find out!
Lars Von Seattle: I like it when shows are called concerts. Like it’s at a huge venue or there’s classical recital involved somehow!
CC Voltage: I’d say you can expect to have fun and hopefully dance the night away!
8) Are there any bands today you consider yourself close to, musically speaking?
Jiffy Marx: There are lots of punk bands with synths, ones like The Spits who dig skateboarding and The Ramones and other ones like Uranium Club who seem to have some Devo worship going on, and there’s lots of post punk bands these days but even tho we love all those things i wouldn’t say we sound like any of them.
The Silo: We probably have more in common with old US bands and current Australian ones…lots to like in all parts of the world currently tho. I’d say we share more of a spirit than a sound with bands like The Rubs, The Reflectors, The Dumpies, The Whiffs, Sextile etc all of which I like.
Lars Von Seattle: I think we probably like plenty of US bands doing punk, new wave, or power pop styles, but I can’t think of any that feel similar to Autogramm.
CC Voltage: Obviously we consider ourselves musically close to a lot of classic new wave and power pop bands, but there’s not too many current bands doing what we do. I like the Mind Spiders, they’re very cool.
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.
The Silo: The Cure, XTC, The Police
Lars Von Seattle: When I was a kid, I listened to rap cassettes my friends gave me and told me about. Growing up in Seattle, the “grunge” phenomenon just took over everything, regardless of how one felt about it— it was inescapable but bands like Nirvana, Mudhoney, 7 Year Bitch, and Bikini Kill led me to older punk bands like Black Flag, X-Ray Spex, Devo, the Stooges, etc.
CC Voltage: My teens went from liking contemporary pop music like Aha and Howard Jones, to getting into punk like The Circle Jerks, Death Sentence and Spermbirds, then to liking stuff like Mudhoney and Nirvana when that was just starting. I think I still write music from a punk/rock perspective though, and bands like the Ramones, AC/DC and The Sex Pistols probably influence how I actually create music. Then it gets run through the Autogramm blender and somehow comes out sounding new wave! Haha.
10) What are the plans for 2024 as far as Autogramm is concerned? Do you guys plan to come over to Europe to promote the new record?
The Silo: Europe in March 2024, Eastern US and Canada in Summer 2024!
Lars Von Seattle: Yes, Europe!
CC Voltage: Can’t wait to be in Europe!
11) Anything you wanna add?
The Silo: Thank you for listening to and supporting independent, diy music! Go to shows, not just ours! Buy your favorite bands’ records so that they keep doing it! We’re all teetering on the edge of being able to actually do anything at all as broke ass musicians, so never forget that fans make all the difference!
More than 20 years after their break-up, The VICE BARONS are back with 12 new tracks produced by the legendary Detroit producer JIM DIAMOND (White stripes, The Sonics, The Dirtbombs,...)
The album is influenced by the 60's fuzzy and psychedelic sounds of Italian movies.
It is featuring 10 original tunes penned by guitar player Eric St John and 2 covers.
Physical copies are finally available on ‘Blood’ Red vinyl here:
Fun fact: Exactly 30 years today The Vice Barons were supposed to open for the Boston legends THE LYRES in Paris but guitar player Eric St John got stuck at the hospital because his daughter KIMBERLEY was born. Happy Birthday, Kimberley! :-)
Hailing from Leipzig, Germany, The Melmacs give you top notch PowerPop-Punk, combining sharp guitars with an out of space keyboard, pounding drums and a groovy bass that will keep you begging for more.
1) For the viewers of this blog who would not know you, What would you tell to introduce the different members of The Melmacs and their musical background? How long are you together as a band? How did you guys meet? Were you in other bands before?
Hello Hello, we are a bunch of friends who decided to form a band in 2017. The band consists of Sunnyboy Remo is our handknitted wool sock wearing powerhouse on the four strings. With his bouncing basslines he gives our songs the groovy swing-swing. His sweet backingvocals sprinkle the sweetest sugar over our songs and his meticulous way helps us in the rehearsal room to get the songs on their toes. He's an overthinker with a critical mind, always up for Aperol Spritz and experimenting when it comes to songs. He's very into details to give our songs the perfect fine tuning. He also always entertains our tour group with old bread rolls which he pulls out of his backpack after 3 days on tour and the same old jokes and stories over and over again till noone knows if we laugh out of fun or desesperation. That cheeky fella is a true collectible! And beware if there's a kicker table in your venue! He's not gonna leave till 7am.
When he is not on the road with us he is known as a Singer songwriter „Remo Devago“ and nestles velvety into the auditory canals of his listeners.
Max is our dreamer, but making dreams come true. He is the guy on the six string razor with the golden ears and the recording brain of every Melmacs tune at his studio.
He's also the Alf and video geek in our band, producing and cutting nearly every music video - never tired of trying out new stuff, experimenting with sounds and playing around with techniques.
He is our resting place when everybody else in the band is pushing each other up and probably the most introvert one of us, who's soul is as deep as the Mariana Trench.
He is the calm before and after the storm always looking for new vegan places to eat when we're on tour and never tired of putting on new strings before every single weekender just because he's rocking his guitar as hard as he can.
Connie is our drummer and the person in our band that has an unmistakable and infectional laugher, the biggest vinyl collection, the most concert visits and the perfect hairstyle in every situation.
He owns and takes along everything that could be handy to have someday and at least because of that he's the king of repairing and building things with a pleasant hands on mentality - especially interested in everything he hasn't built himself yet. He's the one that always craves for pizza and on top of that we wouldn't be organized at all without him. He brings every financial flow to an excel format and is the most focused brain of our shipping office.
Bimmi is our high inflammable singer, the most impatient one of us and always up for weird and dreamy ideas. She rarely thinks twice. Just doing her straight forward thing, sometimes in a curvy way, but always with a lovely-weird and electric attitude. Sometimes she's sort of a personal motivational coach - a true believer, but nevertheless overthinking and questioning everything in life to keep on changing our weird society.
She's our coffee loving, communicational, chaotic, clumsy and creative leader of the pack with golden hands when it comes to artsy things, new melmacian ideas and all that social media stuff. And we probably would have played 5 shows since 2018 without her booking skills. She loves to rock out on her Roland Jazzorgan she got when she was 7 years and and will never let it go! Apart from the loyality to this wild instrument she's in love with furry beings. She will cuddle every cat that might cross our way and pet every doggo who likes to get cuddled.
We all met many, many moons ago in a small town called Bautzen in eastern Germany. Bimmi, Remo and Connie knew each other from the same school, and Max got to know them through the same local concerts. Remo, Max and Connie were playing together in a horror punk band at the time. Remo also plays guitar in the band „StrgZ".
2) About your full length album "Good Advice", 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 track by track in several sessions from winter 2020 to winter 2021. First we recorded the drums, overdubbed the bass guitar, added electric guitars and rounded it all out with vocals. Once that was all done, Max went back into the songs to add/change some guitars, guitar effects, etc. to spice up the arrangements beyond what was possible live. We certainly didn't push the overdubbing quite that far, although we could have. But we wanted to keep some realism. So most of the overdubs are extra effects guitars, Nashville style guitars to boost the chorus, etc., always with the thought in mind that the songs have to work with just one guitar in a live context.
3) Do you use the nowadays digital recording technology or do you only work with analog machines in analog studios?
For the recordings we used a lot of old microphones from the 60s/70s, which we upgraded with some fancy analog preamps, but for tracking we went exclusively digital. To be honest, we're not super pros and we're glad we can digitally edit some of our takes. We don't know, but we could imagine that our mixing engineer Dan Dixon and our mastering engineer Magnus Lindberg used analog equipment when mixing/mastering our songs. But we're not sure, because we couldn't care less. We are not looking for that "oldschool" sound and think that the result is a perfect mix that represents us well, a bit vintage but still something fresh. But it would be interesting to do a live recording on tape one day, but we probably need to practice a lot for that. Haha. It's puzzling when you listen to records from days gone by and analyze the perfection that bands like Toto, Queen or the Beatles were able to capture on tape. They were true wizards at their craft.
4) Is it correct that the album was released a while ago in Europe but is now finally also released in America? How did all this happen and why took it so long to get an American release?
Yes, that's true. When we first approached labels to release our first album in January 2022, we received some positive responses. It was Bakraufarfita Records and Wanda Records who gave us the first pressing. When the album sold out, we thought about re-releasing it, and Spaghetty Town Records and Beluga Records came to mind because they liked our album when we first sent it to them, but they were too busy in 2022 and couldn't add another release to their schedule. So we asked them to be part of our repressing gang, and here we are, releasing on Beluga and Spaghetty Town as well! Also, we were able to get Queen Mum Records to join our label family and they have released a special limited edition with different artwork.
5) How would you describe the music you are playing? If I were to call it PowerPop-Punk, would you agree with this label? Are you proud of it or do you consider there is way more than that?
In the last few months we've gotten a lot of reviews for our album and it's funny to see what people describe our music as. Some call it 80s wave (which amused us the most), 77s punk, 2000s skate punk, Distillers punk rock, Interrupters punk, PowerPop. The list could go on and on and we think it's cool because it shows that we're doing something that can't be easily pigeonholed. We think you can call it whatever you want - what matters to us is whether you like it or not - but wait.... naaaah - even if you don't like our music, we don't care Hihi. We just want to do what we enjoy, regardless of any genre, although we understand the idea of putting a genre over a band. So yeah, if you call it PowerPop-Punk - cool! :)
6) What is your favorite topic/topic that comes easily when you write the lyrics to a new song?
Uh, interesting question. Well, it's actually pretty easy to text empowering songs, cause that's what keeps us focused on the good and our power and gives us the energy we need to stand tall in this cruel and wicked world full of racists, capitalists, sexists, warmongers, climate change deniers and other manmade crap.
7) you have a new video on youtube featuring a track from the newly released LP??
We didn't make another video for the album, which just got its second pressing, because we already made 6 videos for the album. We just released two new singles and videos called "Alive" and "Balls", so there is a lot of material on YouTube for every new Melmacian ! :-)
8) What can concert goers expect at a Melmacs gig are you playin' any famous cover songs during the concert?
We really enjoy playing live, the excitement before the show, the lights and the volume all contribute to us getting carried away on stage, so our live shows are always a little faster and harder than our recordings. Although we have to admit we still learn a lot from each show, and compared to some hard touring bands we are still a bit wonky around the edges. We have a cover in our set that has been around since our first shows, and it's called "Baseball Bat" by the band "Voice of a generation" - we also recorded it a while back if you want to listen to it on Bandcamp or Spotify, etc.
9) Are there any bands in Germany today you consider yourself close to, musically speaking?
Actually we cannot really stand this "sounds like..." question, cause it just depends on your indivual taste in music and noone else can probably relate to this. For example Bimmi was told she reminds someone of Brody Dalle. She just laughed, cause she cannot relate at all. BUT: We highly recommend to check out these great, different and unique german bands:
STRGZ - great band that released the best German song since Nena's "99 rote Luftballons". https://youtu.be/Bjyr3A3yICk
10) To what kind of music did you listen to as teenagers? What were your favorite bands as teenagers? Name 3 bands that you consider still have an influence on your own work today.
Remo: I got my first punk rock record at the age of 7, it was a single by The Offspring. I knew the band from MTV but I had no idea what this music was called and had no other connections to such music at that time. In the following years I listened to very different kinds of music, some hip-hop, some 60s folk stuff etc. As young teenager I came to german punkrock (Die Ärzte and so on...). After this, a band I listened to "excessively" was Tocotronic. The whole thing was German-language 90s indie rock stuff. We called it Hamburger Schule. This band influenced me a lot. I didn't listen to any other music than that band for about two years. That was the time when I started to play the first chords on my guitar and to sing my first self-written "I'm against everything out there" songs. At some point I got into classic indie rock and from there it wasn't far to US skatepunk. I also had my first band projects at that time and from then on it went straight downhill into the swamp of various subgenres of punk, metal and rock music.
Bimmi: As a teenager I was pretty much into Indie music. While all my other punkrock friends were listening to german punkrock bands, the only Band with german Iyrics I was listening to were Die Ärzte, wich is a huge funpunk band in Germany. After my exchange year in the US I was pretty much into NOFX, The Bouncing Souls, Millencollin, Sublime, Voodoo Glow Skulls and all that kind of stuff. Hugs & kisses to Luke Jones, who showed me all these bands and even sent me CDs to Germany when I was back. Noone else of my friends was listening to that kind of punkrock after I was back, but there was one person having a similar taste in music. I saw him nearly every morning when I was cycling to school and he had that NOFX shirt on noone else had in my hometown. I was too shy to chat him up, but a couple of years later it turned out it was Remo hahaha. Bands: The Kooks, The Bouncing Souls, Die Ärzte
Max: Music was always a big thing in my family. My father was into rock music since the 70s, although it wasn't so easy for him to get all the rock records because my parents were born in the GDR. My mother was into disco of the 70s and pop of the 80s, so my first steps into music came through my parents' record collection. I still remember the time in the 90's when I was a primary school kid staring at the covers of Iron Maiden LP's or listening to ABBA in the summer. So my path seemed clear. And although I briefly lost my way listening to Eminem (to my father's displeasure, hehe), I was back on track when Slipknot, Korn and so on crossed my horizon. My father and I attended many rock and metal shows together and still try to find time to go to shows together. At the end of my teenage years (does being a teenager ever stop?!) I was infected with traditional 80's glam rock and heavy metal, I was completely blown away by these styles of music and it was Bimmi who opened up the whole "punk rock" thing to me. When we first met I was an idiot snob who made fun of punk for its simple 3 chord formula, but luckily she managed to show me what I didn't get myself: It‘s not about how many different chords your able to squeeze into 20 seconds, not about the style its about the power and spirit. Bands: ABBA, Praying Mantis and Protex.
Connie: To be honest, I had relatively little access to "alternative music" at the very beginning. My parents weren't really heavy music consumers either. So I listened to the radio a lot. At that time there was a relatively large amount of NDW "new German wave" on the radio. Bands like Die Ärzte, but also EMINEN, came along relatively early. However, when I was about 15, bands like Nirvana or Queens of the stone age completely cast a spell over me. Backyard Babies and the 69eyes also came very soon and still have a big influence on my musical preferences. A short time later there was also a lot of Metal/Emo-Core music followed by Heavy Metal, but that's another story. Bands: Die Ärzte, Backyard Babies, 69 Eyes
11) What are the plans for the rest of 2023 as far as The Melmacs are concerned? Do you guys plan to play some festivals in Europe or only smaller venues?
We are currently rehearsing and writing songs for our second album. We're excited that it's moving forward piece by piece and we can't wait to release it! We've certainly changed a bit since recording the last album and we're looking forward to playing the songs live. We're playing a few festivals this summer. If you want to keep up with us and our shows, you can always find our tour dates on our Instagram, Bandcamp and Facebook page. We have our first "tour" coming up in the fall with 7 stops in Austria and Switzerland, and we'll be doing some weekend tours in 2023 as well. We have also started working with "Muttis Booking" and are looking forward to what this cooperation has in store for us.
12) Anything you wanna add?
Thank you for the interview! Stay interested, stay nice, stay clean, pet all the animals that want to be petted by you and bang your head and don’t forget No Life ‚Til Leather! (LOL) x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
