Speedealer
(Royalty)
An interview with bassist Hot Rod
by Scott Hefflon
You had a couple 7″s out before this full-length…
We had a couple. We had a full-length out before this one, but no one knows about it. It’s out of print.
What label was that on?
Spanish Fly. That was Lori from Babes in Toyland’s label, but she didn’t have anything to do with it. It was just her name on it. But that’s old hat.
I guess the main news is that you finally got issued a cease and desist because of your name (originally REO Speedealer).
It was a long time coming, I guess. They’ve known about us for two or three years…
But you weren’t considered a threat cuz not a lot of people knew who you were.
Right.
Now you’re making some money, and you’re starting to get some recognition… I figured you’d give some much-needed cred to those old-timers if they’d’ve just gone along with it.
Yeah, everybody says that. And it’s probably true. But I don’t think they thought it was amusing. I guess a couple of the guys did, but Kevin Cronin and one of the other guys [yeah, like you know their names?!?] were not happy at all. ‘Course he’s gonna be pissed when one of his kids shows up at the house with one of our t-shirts on. Which has happened.
That’s really happened?
Oh yeah. A guy we met at a show in L.A. bought a CD and a t-shirt specifically to give it to Kevin Cronin’s kid. People do that stuff. I think it’s funny.
Are you bitter about having to change your name?
We were probably going to change the name anyway. It was kind of a double-edged sword – people think you’re a joke or some kinda tribute band. As we started to write better songs and get some attention, we wanted people to look at us seriously, not as some fuckin’ gimmick. So really, we welcome the change.
All you really need the is “speed” part anyway…
A lot of people call us “Speedealer” anyway.
And it’s got a good, simple ring to it. Like Clutch.
People compare us to them, and I just don’t see it.
Maybe in the vocals, and you’re pretty dirty and rugged sounding. But you’re a fuckova lot faster than Clutch.
Yeah.
There’s been a rise in popularity in foot-to-the-floor, balls-out rock’n’roll recently. Some people might call it metal-based, but I see it as AC/DC cocked and loaded on Jack Daniel’s and amphetamines.
There’s a handful of bands in the country that are leading… I don’t want to say “leading the pack”… that’ve been doing this for a while, and there’s a whole bunch of bands that’ve jumped on the bandwagon. I can list the [main] bands without risk of leaving anyone out – it’s us, Zeke, Nashville Pussy, The Candy Snatchers, Electric Frankenstein…
Are you from a punk background or a rock background?
I’m more rock’n’roll. I’m 31. I grew up in… You know that show King of the Hill? That’s based on my home town. It’s based on two cities, actually – Garland and Arlington. Pantera’s from Arlington. I’m from Garland. It’s basically a suburb of Dallas. You grow up on Priest, Kiss, Mötley Crüe, AC/DC, and bands like that. You also had your Motörhead, Black Flag, Butthole Surfers, and all that goin’ on, too.
There’s also the whole violent speed punk scene based around G.G. Allin, The Mentors, and newer bands like Cocknoose. Scum punk, basically.
And bands like Jesus Lizard have their moments. One thing I’ve found is that we can’t go after a specific audience. Like, a lot of metal people like us. And that pisses off the liberty spike punk rockers. They don’t get it. A punk rock kid with liberty spikes is not going to have Too Fast For Love or Highway to Hell. So he won’t get it. But some of those people like us. And some of the rockers like us. So you can’t choose your audience. And if you try to write songs for a specific audience, you’re a moron.
You just got off tour with Reverend Horton Heat. Years ago, I coulda seen that, but he’s mellowed out a lot recently.
Yes and no. He has some new songs that rock. He’s newer stuff is more like his older stuff. His last record had more commercial success than his others, but die-hard fans dismissed it. But he’s definitely getting back to his roots.
One of your songs is called “Pig Fucker.” There’s a band here in Boston called Quintaine Americana who weren’t allowed by their label to call one of their songs “You Can’t Say Pig Fucker in Front of Jesus,” based on a line from South Park.
Our song was written before South Park was on. That song’s based on our first guitarist. He’s a midget. If El Duce was a midget, he’d look like this guy. He was at this party, all fucked up, with his pants down. Someone stuck a candle in his ass, lit it, then turned his truck over and wrote “Pig Fucker” all over it. So that’s where that story came from.
Where do other titles and lyrics come from?
Jeff (guitar & vocals) writes most of the lyrics, but they usually come from stories and experiences of people we know.
Where’d “Double Clutchin’ Finger Fuckin'” come from?
That was my first date. I took the chick out on the YZ-80… You know what a YZ-80 is?
A dirt bike?
Yeah. So I was riding around with this chick, I was pretty young, out in the woods, and we were doing inhalants cuz that’s what everyone did back then, and then you finger fuck.
You mentioned Pantera… Did you grow up with them or know them at all?
I knew who they were way back when they were for real a hair band. I have those records. I don’t know them personally, but they know who we are and they like us, but we don’t hang out or anything.
There’s always been a dirty, shit-kickin’ aggression to them, no matter how much they gloss it over, diddle around with guitar solos, or hang out with Skid Row.
I tell you what I like about them. They’re not that popular in Dallas. Dallas is a pretty shitty scene, to be honest. There are places they don’t even get recognized, and we’re talking about a band that sells millions of records around the world. And while they don’t get much respect in certain circles here, they don’t give a shit. To me, that’s cool. They know what the real deal is – you go out, you tour, you bust balls, and the people that gravitate to you are not necessarily from your home town. That’s why we feel more at home on the road. We don’t give a fuck about Dallas.
It’s funny… You’re the third band in the last few months I’ve interviewed from the Dallas area: there’s you, Hagfish, and Darlington.
Oh yeah, we know all those guys. There are a lot of bands here that sell records, but not a lot of them are any good. I mean, look at Deep Blue Something. Or The Nixons. I mean, what kinda shit is that? Both those bands have sold over a million records.
Man, that’s frightening…
Sure it is. Then you have bands like The Toadies, who worked really hard and deserve it. And Brutal Juice, bands that slipped through the cracks.
They were awesome…
Yeah, they were. We did some shows with them.
Did members of that band ever do anything else?
Yeah, two of the guys homo-ed out and were playing in this really gay band called Tomorrow People. They got signed to Geffen or some shit. I mean, they were seriously stupid. They walked around in gold lamé… It was all a business thing to them. That’s what happens when you put together an all-star band and your progress is gauged by what your other bands did, yet you aren’t willing to put in the hard work it takes with your current band. It’s bullshit. It’s a bunch of name-droppin’, guest-listin’ crap. The bands that I’m talkin’ about know who they are.
Hell, you’re talkin’ about half the bands in the country (not to mention the writers, artists, and anyone else in “the arts” who’s more into the perks and “glamour” than the thrill of creating something interesting and worthwhile).
Yeah, but ya know what? If they bust ass and they write good songs, fine. I tell you this, that band, The Neurotic Outsiders, that was the all-time all-star band, but I saw them play to about a hundred people and they played hard. You gotta respect that. Those guys – Steve Jones, Duff McCagan, Matt Sorum, and that guy from Duran Duran – collectively, just imagine how many people those guys have played to.
Do you have a “band leader?”
We just do our own thing. Jeff and I’ve been together for eight years. We have the routine down. We’ve done over a thousand shows, and we know what’s going on. We’ve played every kinda room, and we do it as a unit.
In your travels, what bands have you stumbled upon and said, “Man, these guys fuckin’ smoke!”
About three years ago, it was Zeke. When those guys are on, they’re one of the best rock’n’roll bands in the world.
That’s why they stepped up from Scooch Pooch to Epitaph. Same with Nashville Pussy moving from AmRep to Mercury. And Electric Frankenstein to Victory.
There’s an emo band from El Paso that’s good called At The Drive-In.
Yeah, they just put out a record on Fearless.
Yeah, they’re younger and they’re vegan, and that’s not at all what we’re about, but they tour a lot, they bust ass and they play hard. It’s apples and oranges – they sound nothing like us, but we did a handful of shows with them and they kinda grow on you.
I wouldn’t’ve pegged you as an emo fan.
I’m not. At all. But those guys are just really good at what they do.
Do you mostly play shows with metal bands or punk bands?
99 out of 100 are punk bands. But a lot of punk bands, especially at the local level, are just really bad. When you play every night and you have fuckin’ horrible bands opening for you, by the end of the tour, you hate music. It’s pretty obvious a lot of these bands have never been out of their home town cuz they get done playing, you’re waiting to get onstage, and they’re drinkin’ pitchers of beer talkin’ to some chick. It’s not so much the style of music as the presentation. A lot of these bands just can’t play. It all comes down to writing good songs. I mean, we’ve all done the body paint thing, and we’ve done the Vietnam movies, and we’ve all tried to take people somewhere else, but you can’t put that on the record. Yeah, a good live show is important, and doing all sorts of crazy stuff is great, and while that may bring you a bigger audience, that doesn’t mean you write good songs. And that’s the bottom line: good songs.
People only get to see you live every few months, or once a year, but they have to live with the CD.
People always talk about bands blowing shit up, setting fire to things, kissing each other, or getting pierced onstage – everything but the music.
There’s stuff on your record that made me wanna hook up my guitar and play along. I mean, it’s got mean riffs that are fun to play.
That’s probably the best compliment we can get. We actually used to have a front man, so we used to get a little weirder and Butthole Surferish. But when we became a four-piece, Jeff had to pare down the writing to more rock-oriented stuff. Which I was more into anyway. When we wrote this record, I was excited to get out and play these songs.
(www.facebook.com/Speedealerband)
