Interview with Trashlight Vision
Posted on Jul 30, 2007 by DevotedToMusic
Trashlight Vision are a Trashrock band from the US fronted by the brilliant Acey Slade from the Murderdolls and former member of Dope.
They are a band who sure know how to rock and I Alexandra McLoughlin got the great opportunity of interviewing the brilliant Acey Slade at their first ever show in Redhill.
Trashlight Vision are a band that really stand out musically. How do you manage to pull that off with so many bands out nowdays?
Well I think that basically what we’re doing isn’t anything super original it’s just nobody happens to be doing it at this time. It seems like most of the bands up there are busy kinda ripping off the band that they just heard on the radio or saw on MTV and changing styles of music like really quickly. We’re very true to what we grew up on and the music that we still listen to now.
So..I know that your band are labelled as ‘Trashrock Music’. How would you describe Trashrock Music?
Sleazy Dirty Rock’N’Roll.
Have you always loved Trashrock Music?
Oh yeah! 3 Quarters of the crowd of us has always been my forte.
And is there any form of music you dislike as a band?
I’m not real hot on ‘EMO’ at the moment. I just think it’s actully kinda weird. The good part about it is that I love seeing band getting dressed up and looking great. Taking pride in their appearance and all that s**t. The bands look really good it’s just some of the self loathing type s**t I’m not real fond of. It just depends on the band too. It’s not so much the whole thing. It’s more the ambulance chasers. It’s like the people jumping on the f**king band wagon. So it’s not My Chemical Romance. It’s not Aiden. It’s not Avenged Sevenfold. It’s that third tier of bands.
Do you like Avenged Sevenfold, Aiden and My Chemical Romance?
I think they are good bands. Not nescessarily my thing.
Would you like to tour with any of them?
I would love to tour with them because I think it would be a good diverce package.
I know there are a lot of bands nowdays, say for example indie bands who think to themselves we’re not touring with a Punk or an EMO band because we’re so different and our fans are so different. What do you think about that?
I think that’s bulls**t because What do they do? They tour with bands that are just like them (laughs). You know what I mean? So they don’t prove their point. This festival thing I don’t even look to see who plays. I don’t really give a f**k. I’ll play with anybody and I’ll give anybody a run for their money. So I’m not afraid to play with anybody. I think that’s bands with their own insecuirty’s.
How do you describe your image? Your fashion image. How would you describe that? Because you look pretty darn cool.
(Laughs) I dunno man. Rock’N’Roll. It’s kinda weird it’s like second nature to me. I don’t give much thought to it. I get stopped in New York all the time and they’re like ‘Who are you?’ ‘I know your sombody famous!’
Is it because you look famous?
I guess so (Laughs).
So I’m going to talk to you a bit about The Nightmare before Christmas as I know you absolutly adore it.
Yeah
Danny Elfman must be an idol of yours because he writes the songs for the Nightmare before Christmas. Talk to me a bit about what you think of him.
I think they are amazing infact I was a little dissapointed because I had some meetings with some record companies about doing a Tribute to The Nightmare before Christmas and um..They all said the same thing. They were all like ‘we’ll line some bands up an get back to you’. I had AFI lined up. I had Good Charlotte lined up. I had a list of bands lined up ready to do it and I was real excited and they were like ‘well we don’t know because it’s a compliation’ and blablabla and I’m like It’ll be hot I’m telling ya! And then all of a sudden they did the one with Manson and the one with Fall out Boy.
What song did Fall out Boy do?
I don’t know because I was so disgusted that nobody f**king beileved in me and then sombody else went and did it and it because succesful. I can’t bring myself to listen to it. I was like ‘It could have been mine!’
And you know The Killers?
Yeah
Their video ‘Bones’ was directed by Tim Burton. Were you jelous?
Yeah. I know the one you’re talking about. Yeah. I was. I’ll admit it. I will openly admit. I was jelous.
You should try and get him to do one of your videos.
I would love to.
Good luck with that!
Yeah. No s**t right?!
You never know untill you try do you? You might aswell give it a go.
It’s kinda weird. I would imagine he must have been asked by several people.
I’m a massive fan of Aiden and I know they love the Misfits and that type of thing and I was just thinking to myself I would have thought they would have tried to get him to do a video of theirs. You know?!
Yeah
But Fall out Boy, Pete Wentz. He’s a massive NBC fan and AFI too. You’ve all got the tattoos of Jack Scellengton.
I don’t yet.
What about the Pumpkin? (I point at his Punpkin tattoo on his upper arm).
That’s not Nightmare before Christmas stuff.
Are you going to get any Nightmare before Christmas Tattoos?
Yeah. That’s what this whole area is for (he points at some bare skin of his arm).
Do you know what you are getting yet?
Probally my favorite Jack. My favorite Jack is the Pumpkin Jack. Where he’s the scarecrow type character. I love that.
And theres a new 3D version of the Nightmare before Christmas coming out. Is it out in America yet?
Yeah. I saw it last year. (Laughs) Twice actully.
It’s coming out in October over here. So talk to me a bit about your tattoos. Which one is your favorite?
Actully the one your pointed out over here (he points at the Pumpkin head on his upper arm). The Vodoo doll with the Pumpkin head. I like that one a lot. This voodoo doll too (points at another Voodoo doll).
Why suffer all the pain for a tattoo? How do you manage to cope with it?
I don’t really mind it. I guess it’s all the adrenelin rush or whatever you get out of it. It doesn’t bother me hardly at all.
What would your advice be to anyone wanting to get their first tattoo?
Make sure you’ve seen the artists work, Number 1. Number 2, get it where you want it. Don’t worry about where it’s gonna hurt because guess what?! It’s all gonna f**king hurt. So get it where you want it more then anything.
Have you ever had a tattoo that you regretted afterwards?
Not that I regretted but this tribal stuff I have on my back (shows me his tribal tattoo on his upper back) the guy did a real s**t Job which of course was to his advantage it was on my back because I couldn’t see him do it (laughs).
You couldn’t get angry and give him a punch.
Yeah but I don’t regret it but I’m not very happy with the job he did.
Now talking a bit about this new tour that you are doing here in the UK. Are you excited to do this tour because I know today is the first day.
Yeah we’re really excited! Very Excited! It’s been almost a year since we’ve been over the UK.
Who did you tour with last time you came to the UK?
We were here with Backyard Babies.
Have you ever toured with any UK bands before?
On this tour we’ve got ‘Patchwork Grace’ and we’ve also got ‘Showdown City’ on select dates and before that we had a band called ‘Plan A’ with us. We’ve toured with the Buzzcocks. Everytime we tour here we always pick UK groups.
I thought you were touring with Reuben on this tour.
Nahh we’re not taking them out with us.
Are you looking forward to seeing them on stage?
I don’t know anything about them. I just hear they are hot s**t right now so I’ll probally hear more of them.
Now I’m going to talk to you a bit about the Murderdolls now. So whats happening with the Murderdolls right now? I know that from what I read they are on a hiatus. Talk to me a bit about this.
Well Joey’s doing Slipknot. So while Joey’s doing Slipknot I’m doing this and Wednesday’s doing his own thing but the news is that Wednesday and I are touring in the states. That’s gonna be Phenominal.
Are you going to bring that to the UK?
There’s no talk of it right now. I’d love to but I don’t think that’s gonna happen.
What’s Joey like as a person? Because we see him in Slipknot with his mask on and quite a scary mask so people look and think ‘Oh my God! Help me!’ So what’s he like as a person?
He’s a good guy man! He’s infact probally more then all of them the one I keep in touch with the most throughout the hiatus. He comes and goes like Wednesday and I are involved a lot right now because we’re going to do the tour together. When Joey’s in town he always asks me to come out for dinner and s**t.
Did you ever think of bringing him on this tour for the fun of it?
He’s always so busy. He’s always busy doing his s**t.
I’m going to talk to you a bit more about Trashlight Vision’s music. I’m curious as to where you get the inspiration for your lyrics that you write?
Ahh well ya know? I like a lot of Quentin Tarantino movies. I like a lot of the Horror Movies but I didn’t wanna get into the horror thing so it’s a lot of stuff from like ‘Russ Meyer Movies like ‘Faster Pussycat! , Kill Kill’ stuff like that. We’ve got this new single called Whiskey we’ve been playing and it’s just about going on a Killing spree and robbing a liquer store. It’s all in fun but sometimes at the end of the month you get your pay chque and you think ‘this is f**king wrong’! ‘I’ve put my life into this!’ wouldn’t it be easier to steal a f**king car, buy a gun and just f**king go?! Course I wouldn’t necessarily do that.
So where do you write your lyrics then? Do you sit on your tour bus with a notepad and lyrics come into your head?
Anywhere. I write a lot on the subway back in New York. I do get a lot of inspiration when we are on tour. My inspiration level is like huge so it just depends. Anywhere, anytime I always have a notepad with me.
Have you ever been here in Redhill before?
I never have.
What were your expectations of this place before you came?
I was expecting a hill that would be red however I have not seen it yet (Laughs).
Have you looked around yet? Have you been to town yet?
No. Not yet. Are there any good stores?
There are loads of good shops. There is Presence where there is a lot of Kinky stuff.
Ok…Wow! We know about you Alex now! (Laughs).
It’s got an over 18’s section sort of like a shop here called ‘Ann Summers’. Have you heard of it?
I was thinking more Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
It’s half a sex store. It’s got that sort of clothing and stuff.
Do you think I’d look good in it? (Laughs)
Probally. It has that sort of stuff in there. I’ve been kicked out of it.
Kicked out?!
Yeah. Just for standing there look at the stuff.
Come on you didn’t do anything to get kicked out?!
No. I was just looking at the stuff there…Jelly Willies that sort of thing.
(Laughs)
…I got some for my friend for her Birthday once.
Jelly Boobs?
Yeah and Juggling Balls. ..Which I bought. Just for the fun of it. I should have brought them today. You’ve got me started now! You shouldn’t have.
Oh Ohh
Penis Pasta is another thing they sell there.
Did you have some?
No. I can show you the place if you like?! It’s in the shopping mall Yeah. ..There are nice shops here. Sports shops..a nice Milkshake place…
That’s a thing I don’t like about the UK. Everything closes at 3 or 5.
Yeah. In America the shops close laster don’t they?
Yeah like 8 normally. New York is usually 10.
Tell us a bit about New York as you live there. What is it like?
I f**king love it! I think it’s not quite like anything else in the world. You have to remember New York is the only City in America (Cougths) People moved to Boston for Religious freedem. Virginia aswell but New York was specifically set up as an international trading post. It’s got a lot of international History. It’s basically like a little bit of England,a little bit of China. A bit of everything.
What would you say to somone who wants to know where the first place they should go to in New York is?
St. Marks place. That’s where all the cool shops are. I like shopping in case you didn’t notice (Laughs).
Same. It’s nice to have someone to go shopping with.
Yeah exactly.
What would you say to people who don’t like to shop but who like to walk around and see the sites?
There’s a lot of people watching there. Wheres a good place to spot people watch? (Thinks). Millenium Square is a good place to see people watch.
Is there a big music scene in New York?
There is. I don’t really like it a lot though. It’s a lot of this like We call it like the William Burg Hipster. It’s kind of indie rock but I don’t know how indie it ca be when everybody’s copying eachother.
Do you not like indie music very much?
I don’t feel one way or the other about it. I think it’s hipocritical.
Are there any UK indie bands you like?
I dunno. Who would you consider Indie rock?
Bloc Party, Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Kaiser Chiefs …
Kaiser Chiefs are alright!
You like the Kaisers?
They’re alright. They kinda remind me of The Jam and they remind me of the Buzzcocks a little bit.
How about The Horrors? Have you heard of The Horrors?
The Horrors are f**cking Great! They are Great although I prefer the ‘80s Matchbox b-line disaster’ a little more. I see the similarities. The Horrors..wow! they look f**king great! They sound like Metalcore to me.
I can imagine you both touring together. I can picture the show. The Horrors, You guys and perhaps a bit of The Automatic if you’re into those Welsh guys.
You know what?! I haven’t heard them yet but I really want to. That’s one of those things I like about coming over here. Stocking up on CD’s. There’s a lot of good music here that we don’t get in America.
Finally. Is there anything else you would like to say about Trashlight Vision?
Buy our Record! See us live! Buy our Merch! So we can eat (Laughs).
Thank you very much for letting me interview you.
No problem.
Interview Information
Taken At:
Harlequin Theatre, Redhill, UK
Taken On:
July 27th, 2007
Interviewees:
Acey Slade
Related Links:
| Viewed: | 554 times |
|---|
