Miércoles, 09 de enero de 2008

Leaded Fuel

We have been in contact with Liz Lascivious of the Swedish Sleaze act LEADED FUEL and he had the kindness to talk for a while to us, we talked about their demo, how the band started and so on. He also explained to Queens of Steel that LEADED FUEL had signed with an Italian label and are currently working on their first album.

-Hello guys! First of all, thanks for aswering our questions. It's always a pleasure to have support from bands like yours.

Ah... my pleasure, really. It's always nice to be appreciated. Especially by a spanish zine, I love Spain.

- The first and necessary question is: How did you create the band?

Mine and Kongos old band suddenly split up after many years together in March 2006. Me and Kongo had been trying to pull it in a another direction than the guitar player, he wanted to sound more like Beatles while me and Kongo were more into bands and sounds like Aerosmith, Hanoi Rocks, Motörhead and Turbonegro. So we decided to continue playing toghther and form a new band - a hard, sleazy mean one. We putted out some ads at some communities but didn't find the right guys (unless a dude who played the bass at some rehearsals and later became a member of Leaded Fuel for a brief period under the name Charlie Snarl...) at all. Things were going pretty slow until John Priest showed signs of being intrested in cooperating with me. I got to know him the same week as the old band split up, funny enough. We had... let's say, a woman in common, haha. So he knew who I was and vice versa. Since we were hanging out at the same clubs and bars during the summer we came to talk about music and bands a lot. He played (well actually he still does, they're just not very active nowadays) in Salvation Star Brigade but didn't write the songs for that band. So when I was talking about this new band me and Kongo were putting together he got kind of interested since neither me or Kongo is much of a composer really. He wanted to start it off slow but I hesitated and fixed back mine and Kongos old bands rehearsal room close to Priest flat and then we started off rehearsing in October if I remember everything correctly. I found Andy through a tip from... I guess it was Michel in Foxey, it could also have been Joey, I'm not sure. Anyway, backstage after one show they did they talked about this guy they knew who played the bass after I'd been asking for such a guy. The next weekend at Crazy Nights they pointed him out and I said "Hey man, we need a bass player NOW!" Hahaha... something like that, I don't remember, I was drunk, hehe. Our lead guitarist at this point was Ollie Rickforce, a guy I also knew from some afterparty after Crazy Nights.

- Why the name "Leaded Fuel"?

Hehehe... I wanted something raw and politically incorrect. Some thing pretty old school as well, two words who both sounded cool. And original, it had to be original. Not to mention any names, but a lot of bands in this genre has such awful names, like if they were created by 11 year-olds who recently learnt english. So... I have this old car, an Opel Kadett Coupé from 1969, wich you shouldn't run on modern unleaded gasoline if you want the engine to run like it's supposed to. So you have to pour some lead substitute into the tank. Me and Kongo were out riding in it, filled her up with gas and read on the lead substitute bottle which said: "VERY POISONOUS! Don't inhale, don't get it on your skin, don't do this, watch out for that... MAY CAUSE POLLUTION AND DEATH OF ALL LIVING THINGS IN A RIVER OR LAKE" so we laughed immaturely and said "Shit, this is like what Lemmy drinks for breakfast" and there I got the idea... "Lead Substitute" or "Leaded Gasoline" didn't really sound good but "Leaded Fuel" fitted perfectly in the mouth. Even though I've later experienced that a lot of non-english speaking people tend to pronounce it wrong and say "Liiiided Fuel" like if "Lead" was the same word as "Lead" in "Lead guitar"... uhm... ah, you get what I mean... haha.

- What does the band means for you?

For me personally: Everything. It's my whole life, my blood, my soul and my child. A way of living, the only way actually. All those things you have to do that is not band or music-related are just secondary and pretty uninteresting. I can't speak for all five of us but I'm pretty sure most of them agree at most points.

- What do you think about the Sleaze/Glam Rock scene in your country and all over the world?

Mmmm.... well, there's no question that it's growing wich of course is a good thing. As we all know, there's a lot of bands in Sweden, almost too many, hahaha. The competition is hard. But it still bothers me a bit that it doesn't get more attention from mainstream media. Swedish journalists are all a bunch of intellectual faggots who rather listen to arty-farty synth shit. But I guess nothing has changed very much since the 70s or 80s, hard rock (I guess you can file Sleaze as that, in this case) has always been the music of the working class and not for those trendy cunts at the universities. But the important thing is the kids, the youth that shall go wild, it would be a great thing if sleaze could get as big for them as it was back in the 80s of course. I mean, we all know that it's a lot more cool than fucking Hip-Hop or even other kinds of shitty rock like EMO, right? Hahaha.
About the rest of the world... I seriously think the scene might grow even faster and that the fans should be even more excited than here, because we might be a bit spoiled considering how many pretty good bands there are around. But of course, as the scene grows... I'm pretty sure we will soon hear about a Hardcore Superstar or Crashdiet from Spain or Italy. I hope so. The very best thing would of course be if the genre could have a major breakthrough in the US again, because we all know that's where the money is... hahaha...

- We all know that you have shared stage with Blackrain...how does it feel to play with them?

Amazing!!! Really. That was a great experience. It was the first time we played with a foreign band and, for me, the first time I met and shared stage with a band I truly admired. I'd been listening to them the whole spring and summer at Myspace so yeah... that felt really cool. I'd been talking pretty much with Swan at Myspace and MSN as well so it was cool to meet him and realise he was just as cool in real life, hehehe. They were all great guys actually, we had lots of fun! I even went for a really short trip to France some weeks ago for attending at his birthday surprise-party, haha. That was nice... I'll see him in Stockholm again for christmas actually!

- Nowadays it's very difficult to get into the music industry, how do you survive?

Uhm... who says we're surviving? Hahaha. Nah, seriously though... we haven't made any real money yet so we still have to get some cash for rent, food and beer in other, pretty boring, ways. But we actually have a pretty good offer from an italian label now and hopefully that means that we will get at least some cash from record sales and will be able to tour so much that we don't have time for working and spending money at home, hah! Well... everything is still to be confirmed but the record will probably come out in February and when it does, don't download it, buy the shit so I don't have to sell my body to rich old ladies, hahahaha....

- We all know that girl rock bands have never been more important than boy rock bands, what do you think about that?

Hmmm... as a Swede I'm not pretty sure that I agree. At least that's not the situation here today, or at least it doens't feel like that, really. In the papers, female artists usually gets pretty hyped. Crucified Barbara and Sahara Hotnights for example got a lot of attention - pretty much just for being girls - wich I know that they didn't like very much either. So I guess that it's hard however you do and that we still have a pretty long way to travel before no one cares about your sex at all, just the music. For me, well I have been sharing rehearsal room with Crucified Barbara for many years (with my old band as well as Leaded Fuel) and know that they are as professional and cool as any male rock musicians.

- Now tell us about your demo... How long did you take to create the songs? What kind of ideas did you have in your mind for the songs?

Actually... those three songs that are currently available on MySpace are the first ones we ever wrote... Seriously! Priest pretty much had the riffs and chords all made up when we started rehearsing. We tried them out and after a while I knew them well enough to add some vocals. We started rehearsing in October, as I mentioned earlier, and then it took some months to get tight as a band, then we booked the studio and recorded in February - March. But then songs were pretty much finished in Decemeber, I guess. Nowadays we write songs a lot faster, we have a lot of pressure these days, haha. For the lyrics, it's a pretty wide spectrum of love, hate and pure arrogant happiness, hahaha. I'm still very satisfied with both them and the music. I know some of the guys don't like the mixes and the sound but I'm not that bothered, even though the vocals was recorded VERY fast. Probably I'm so damned happy with that so many people likes them that I don't hear the bad things... haha.

- Do you have future projects? Could you tell us more about them?

Oh yes, we are in a very crucial period now, since we're about to sign with this italian label and record our debut album now in December. The time is very tight and we are stressed as hell to have everything ready and going for the recordings. Then we are waiting for the final contract and so on... there's both excitement and pressure right now. Then we have this italian tour in February, five gigs in different cities and if everything works out the way it should, we'll have the records and a lot of merch for sale there by then! I'm really, really excited about this I tell you, I've heard so many good things about italian fans and audiences... And oh, recently I got a pretty interesting mail from Brazil that said that a girl there is trying to fix us a gig at a festival over there... hehehe, oh my god THAT would be something, but I'll try to keep cool until that's confirmed.

- Which are your influences and your favourite bands?

Well... I guess I don't even have to mention Guns n Roses and Mötley Crüe, ey? Haha. But of course, they ARE the best in my opinion. Then everybody has some favorites of their own. As earlier mentioned, me and Kongo is pretty fond of Motörhead. Kongo also likes a lot of harder metal but pretty much bluesy 70s stuff as well, like Rory Gallagher and Led Zeppelin. The same goes for me, who also is a huge fan of The Rolling Stones, Thin Lizzy, David Bowie and Iggy Pop. Priest is pretty much into punk and is always talking about Misfits and Sex Pistols as well as Dogs D'Amour. But he likes a lot of metal as well, even Black, hehe. Dallas is even more punk and have Johnny Thunders as his greatest hero He and I alsp share a love for Iggy and The Stooges and Hanoi Rocks. Andys taste is more into advanced stuff like Extreme, Mr Big and Yngwie Malmsteen but also love Bowie and Aerosmith. In muy opinion, our different influences is strength as long as we focus on what we have in common instead of what we disagree on... yesterday we had an argument about Stryper on our way home from rehearsal, hahahaha... no further details on that.

- We can clearly see that you have a lot of support on your myspace website. What do the fans mean for you?

Hmmmm... is there any band who hasn't replied "Everything"...? Hehe. But seriously, they really do. I mean, to get the fantastic feedback that we actually do on the profile everyday really encourage you to go on, gives you the spirit, set you in the mood. I mean, after we released the songs and sent out some bulletins for the friends we already had, we immediatly had people from all over the world adding the songs for their profiles - from Taiwan to Chile! That really rocked my world... And getting fan pages and requests from web radio stations to play our music... oh my god, it was such a blast, really. We really felt we had something that worked out. The only thing that troubles me these days is that... it's too much in a way - I don't have time to reply to everything anymore. Keeping up with the adds and writing a "Thank you" to everyone also takes some time. Me and Kongo are splitting up that work...

- Do all the "Leaded Fuel" members get on well? Have you ever had problems or thoughts about spliting up?

Well... as an old producer I once worked with said "Band psychology... you can write a whole book about that". Of course there are some issues every now and then, but we get along pretty well and have lots of fun most of the time. Me and Kongo are old friends and hang out every weekend, mostly we meet one or two of the others out in the nightlife too. Last saturday I had a big party in my flat and four out of five members where there.
Since the start we had one member, our first lead guitar player Ollie, leaving. But that was mostly for musical differences, he had two other bands and not enough time for all of them. We were the one suiting his musical taste the least. His replacement Charlie... well, in a way he got fired, but that wasn't for being an idiot or anything like that. Dallas just felt so much more perfect when he offered his services after Starlet Suicide called it a quit.

- Showtime... how do you feel on stage?

Like Rocco Siffredi, hahahaha.... Or well... really, really excited and speeded. It's a drug, seriously, high on adrenaline.

- Glam/Sleaze/Rock bands are also known for their "look", do you think that it's an important part of the band?

Yeah, of course. This is a 100% entertainment experience, that includes the visual part. For me it's like a war painting I need for going into battle. Without I would feel powerless. And I wish for the war to go on forever, hehehe...

- Last question for you... When will we have the pleasure to see you in Spain?

As soon as possible! I really hope we can make it there next year. As I said I love Spain, or well I've only been to Barcelona, so maybe I should say Catalonia, hehe. Performing at Apolo would be really cool, or Magic, nice place too. You have some nice bands as well that would be nice to perform with like Guitar Mafia or Lipstick.

- Thanks guys once again for your time and support. We hope you had a good time aswering our questions. We wish you the best with your band Leaded Fuel and don't forget that you'll always have our support.

Muchas Gracias amiga!





For more info about LEADED FUEL check: www.myspace.com/leadedfuel

Written by MrsCoverdale

Por: T a n i a* | Entrevistas | Comentarios (0) | Referencias (0)