iNTERViEWED
BY BRiAN LUSH
The emo phenomenon’s passionless stance seemed to result
from a weariness from the chaos and instability that came to represent
the last
decade. Marked by a cold, electronic sound and jet black hair covering
up
generously applied eyeliner, emo ushered in new romantic era in music
for kids
too young to know who SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHESS were while others
simply could’ve
done without all of the whining. Towards the end of the decade, I
noticed a
group of bands who seemed to be reacting to the more passive emo sound
by
giving rock music a pair of balls again – and they were all from
New York.
One was the
band ZO2 who ended up with their own mockumentary series on the IFC
CHANNEL and
the band FIXER who brought a DAVID LEE ROTH swagger to the forefront on
their debut
release. Now, another band from the Big Apple called SONIC REBELLION
has
released their debut CD ‘HEADS WE WIN…TAILS YOU LOSE’ and like the
other two
acts I just mentioned are more interested in cranking it up and letting
audiences go nuts. Just when I thought that the only dependable good
time rock
n roll came from
Australia,
SONIC REBELLION has proved me wrong. With vocalist ANDY SMITH’s
whiskey-charred
growl, LEFTY’s meaty guitar riffs, and the thunderous rhythm section
comprised
of bassist DUSTIN SMITH and drummer SEAN POKRESS, ‘HEADS…’ is one of
those
moments where you cross your fingers and hope that a change is coming
to rock
music. The album kicks off with a bang and strut number called ‘AWAKE
NOW’
which is punctuated by AC/DC-styled riffs and ANDY SMITH’s bluesy
sounding war
whoop which doesn’t sound too dissimilar from BRIAN JOHNSON’s. Halfway
through
the track, things break down into a head banging celebration. The title
alone
seems to be signaling the end of the passivity that has invaded much of
what
folks have been dubbing “alternative” music. ‘SONG ABOUT REVENGE’ is a
high
octane rocker that would’ve served SAMMY HAGAR just as proudly though
the line
‘
I’m the baddest motherfucker you know!’
looks and sounds better on ANDY SMITH. ‘MAD AS HELL’ is just the sort
of
ballsy, blues-based call to arms that the US of A could use in these
desperate,
economically deprived times.
ROCKWIRED
spoke with bass player DUSTIN SMITH of SONIC
REBELLION over the phone. Here is how it went.
Now that the CD is
out there for people to hear and all the work that has gone into it is
behind
you, how do you feel about the finished work?
This CD was about a year in the making. We’re super-thrilled
with it and we think that it captures the essence of what we’re about.
We’re
just trying to bring back this old school hard rock vibe. The way I
look at the
musical landscape right now, we’ve got a lot of emo stuff and a lot of
very
poppy punk stuff and stuff like NICKELBACK where there is not a lot of
melody
or emotion behind it. It’s all very generic and vey bland and we’re
trying to
bring back that seventies hard rock vibe with a lot of riffs. I think
that all
twelve tracks on the CD really capture that.
Talk about the
genesis of the band. How did that begin?
Basically, LEFTY and ANDY got together through CRAIGSLIST in
New
York and
started writing songs together. LEFTY had a buddy of his on drums and
they went
through a few different bass players and then I joined the band and we
got in
touch with a new drummer who was a lot better than our old drummer. The
current
line up of the band is what you hear on the CD. We’ve had that lineup
for quite
a while now. We’ve really been stepping up our gigs and our
performances. We’re
four guys with the same goal – to bring back driving hard rock.
At the top of the
interview you said that the recording took well over a year. Talk a
little more
about the process of recording the album.
It was a learning experience. Me and the vocalist had
experiences with recording with other bands and the other members
hadn’t but
they quickly got what was going on and we were all on the same
wavelength of
recording. The main issue that we were having was that we constantly
had to
change drummers. We recorded pretty much the whole album with our old
drummer
and his drumming just wasn’t up to snuff. When we got our new drummer
SEAN, we
re-did all of the drum tracks. That was kind of trying to have to
replace the
drum tracks. Now that the whole album is tracked the way we wanted it
to be
we’re very happy with the finished product. We worked with a guy named
DON
MACHADO who is a pretty well-known guy up here in the New York
music scene. He engineered and
co-produced the album with us. He did a great job as well.
Describe working with
him.
It was a great experience. There is a school out in Long
Island about a half hour outside of the city called SOUNDCAST
COLLEGE.
It’s a college for performing arts and sound engineering. He teaches
kids who
want to be sound engineers and on the side he helps produce bands in
the New
York scene. He’s
total pro! He’s been doing this for about thirty years and working with
him was
a great experience.
What drew you
specifically to music?
I’m in my early thirties and I have much older brothers and
sisters who grew up in the seventies and when I had first discovered
music it
was through their old eight-tracks. All of my buddies were listening to
things
like DURAN DURAN and PRINCE and MADONNA and I was listening to BLACK
SABBATH
and LED ZEPPELIN eight-tracks. The power of that music and emotion of
it really
dragged me in. In junior high and on through college, I always played
in bands.
Talk about the other
members of the band and what you think each of them brings to the table
that
makes this whole thing worth it.
ANDY SMITH is the vocalist and he and I aren’t related
actually.
Really?
No. We’re not like the VAN HALEN brothers. ANDY is a great
vocalist and he’s also a great lyricist. Growing up, ANDY has had some
struggles in his life with addiction which he’s totally over with and
has been
for a few years now. I think his struggles and getting his life
together are
the inspiration behind a lot of the lyrics. A lot of lyricists will
carry
around a book of poems and try to turn them into songs. ANDY can
freestyle like
you can’t believe. LEFTY and I will come up with a riff and ANDY will
automatically have the vocal melodies and the words instantly. That’s
what ANDY
brings to the table. He’s a great showman as well. LEFTY looks like
SLASH and
acts like SLASH and he’s the heart and soul, rock n roll vibe of the
band. He
comes up with these great killer old school riffs and SEAN our drummer
is super
technical. There are two types of drummers. There are the drummers that
are
super technical and know all the tricks and then there are the guys
that have
these sick grooves and we’re fortunate to have both. It’s a hard
combination to
find in a drummer. I co-write a lot of the riffs with LEFTY and I try
to bring
this heavy bass line that helps to move things forward.
You kind of answered my
next question here but I’ll throw it out there anyway because I always
throw it
out there. How do songs get written in this band?
We practice about once or twice a week and when we do so,
half of the practice is devoted to our current set list and making sure
that we
know all of the songs backwards and forwards – especially if we have a
show
coming up – and then we spend the second half of the rehearsals on new
stuff.
We’ll start with a bass or guitar riff and we’ll turn that into a song.
We’ll
start ripping out the music and ANDY will come up with the vocal melody
and add
words to it. Probably after a practice or two we usually have a song.
In the recording of
the songs did any of them change from what you had originally planned
for them
to be?
Not really. I think everything stuck to how we wrote the
songs. There are few things though. When we recorded them we did change
a few
things. We would have moments where we would realize that maybe a
certain
section was taking too long or that another was too redundant. Other
than that,
what we came up with originally and spontaneously is what we tried to
capture
on CD.
From the album, what
songs resonate for you the most and why?
It’s funny! You’re probably going to think that I’m
psychotic but the song ‘SONG ABOUT REVENGE’ does so for me not because
I’m an
angry person. ‘SONG ABOUT REVENGE’ is one of those tunes where you can
turn it
up and get pumped after having a shitty day. The song just gives me
this rush
where I want to go out and kind of live. If you asked ANDY who wrote
the
lyrics, I think the lyrics are a little more personal for him given
what he’s
been through.
Who is releasing this
album in terms of a label?
We’re unsigned. The whole thing was self-financed and the
goal right now is to really get it out to as many people as possible
and hope
to get people interested in it whether it’s a small label or a
independent
label or a big label.
How have live shows
been going?
Great! When we first started out and had no fans and no
album, we were playing some of the worst places that you could play in
the New
York area. As he
earned a following and got our sound together, we have definitely
approached
the music with a lot more professionalism and we’ve really stepped up
our game
in terms of gigs. We play at THE BITTER END which is a pretty legendary
place
in New
York.
We play there like every two months. We also play at the IRIDIUM JAZZ
CLUB which
is where LES PAUL used to do his weekly gig until he died. Ever since
LES PAUL
died, every month, they have a rock guitar player come in and play with
his old
band. When ZAKK WYLDE got to play with LES PAUL’s old band, our band
got to
open. Our sound in stage is very similar to what you hear on the album.
It’s
very raw and passionate. ANDY is a great showman and SEAN and I try to
hold
down the rhythm. We’re all really into it and have a blast when we’re
up there.
How easy or difficult
is it to stand out in a music scene like the one in New York?
Believe it or not, a lot of people that listen to us always
point out that we’re trying to bring back this old hard rock vibe which
makes
it sound like you’re not being very original but there aren’t a lot of
bands
doing that right now. I mean you have us and you have ZO2 and FIXER but
ninety
percent of the rock scene in New York
is very mellow and acoustic driven and alternative sounding. It can
also be
very emo. There are a lot of subgenres in New York like
alt/country/punk music. There
is all of this real niche-y alternative stuff and we’re so not that so
it’s
pretty easy to stand out. A lot of times when we do gigs there will be
two or
three emo bands before us. These skinny guys with skinny jeans and
eyeliner and
then we come on and we blow them off stage. No offense to that kind of
music.
Talk about the good
things and the bad things that come along with doing this on your own.
The number one bad thing is money. The four of us have to
pool our money and pay for the recording and the mastering and the
packaging
which isn’t cheap. On the opposite side of the spectrum is the
independence
that we have. I think this CD completely represents what we are about
and what
we believe in. You always hear about young bands that do stuff with a
label and
the label has all of this influence over how it sounds. We’re of the
mindset that
we’d rather fail being ourselves than being somebody else. That’s how I
look at
it.
Since the founding of
the band up until now, what has been the biggest surprise?
I’m just surprised that there are a lot of people –
especially in New
York
– that just want to bang their heads. I thought the era of loud fucking
rock
music was dead. I know it’s not cool especially in New York
to be into that kind of music but
we get up there and blow these emo bands off the stage and the audience
just
goes nuts. This kind of music may just be a guilty pleasure for people
but it
was a surprise to know that people still want to hear straight ahead,
head-banging rock n roll.
What would you like a
person to come away with after they’ve heard this album?
I’d like them to come away with the hope that real hard rock
lives. If people come away with that and there are guys out there that
believe
in the almighty riff then we’re all happy.
APRiL 28,
2010
BRiAN
LUSH (FOUNDER,
EDiTOR-iN-CHiEF)
