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MM -
Would you like to give us a brief
history on the band, how it all came about, where you call home etc.?
DS - Dollar-Sent formed in 2004 for a bit of
a laugh really. We just went into with idea of having a bit of fun and
making a racket. It took us ages to get our act together before we
actually did a show. When we did we realised that we where actually on
to something good, so decided to stick with it.
Sadly we have got through more than our
fair share of members, I think that there would be enough to form two
more bands out of these days.
We’re based in Brighton, but none of
us actually come from here, I don’t think anyone comes from Brighton.
I’m originally from Royston (I know, I
know, not THAT Royston), Sparky’s from Northampton and Loz comes from
Slough.
MM - How would you describe your music and
who do you see as your target audience?
DS - We just play rock ’n’ roll. There’s
nothing big or clever about what we’re trying to do, it’s just good old
rock ’n’ roll. We have our roots quite firmly in blues and punk, an odd
combination I know, but I reckon that’s the best way to sum us up. We
have everything that a rock band should have, there’s no surprises with
us, what you see is what you get. We’re old school.
As for target audience, well, I would
say that anyone who like’s no bull rock ‘n’ roll. We have allsorts of
people buying our albums from kids to ageing rockers. So I would say
anyone who like’s old school, big riffy rock music.
MM - There are countless
numbers of rock bands trying to get their names out there. How do you
avoid being another band that someone listens to once and forgets? What
do you do to stay unique and remembered?
DS -
The thing that seems to
work well for us is the fact that we’re not trying to be anything, we
just play the tunes. Most bands you’ll go and see these days have a
“thing”, you know? They’ll be wild men, drinking themselves stupid and
starting fights, they’ll have a message that their entire show is meant
to get across, they have stage costumes or some concept. We just play
loud music and have fun doing it.
We don’t jump around like
loons or scream at you between songs either. We’re just three fellas who
love music and love playing it.
I think that a lot of
bands spend so much time and effort trying to be unique that they all
end up the same. A lot of bands do the wild man of rock act, it just
seems fake, the reason Motley Crue got away with it was because that was
who they where.
We don’t go against who
we are, so we appear more comfortable with ourselves, which we are, so
people remember the music and that fact that we love playing it.
MM - At what age did you become interested
in being a performer and what/who inspired you to join a band?
DS -
I come from a very musical family, I
can’t remember not having music around me, so I’ve always played
something. As for being inspired to become a rock musician, there’s
hundreds. The one thing I can remember that really changed me was seeing
the video for “Girls, Girls, Girls” by Motley Crue. I know it sounds a
bit naff, but I remember seeing it when it first came out and thinking
“That’s what I want to do!!” It looked like so much fun. I think I was
about 7 at the time.
Other than that, seeing Iron Maiden at
the NEC when I was a kid really made me want to get on stage, I remember
being blown away by the size of it all. I’ve loved music all my life, so
it just seemed like the natural thing to do. There’s such a massive list
of influences, I won’t bore you with them all.
MM - Who writes the lyrics and what inspired
the lyricist to write them in the first place?
DS -
I (Chris) write our lyrics, as the
singer I kind of have to. To be honest, I hate writing lyrics, I have to
think about it to much, I can just pick up a guitar and go BANG, there’s
a tune, I can’t do that with lyrics and I frustrates me.
I kind of got forced into being the
singer in this band, we couldn’t find a singer that we could get on with
so I stepped in to do it. I enjoy it now, but it was never my first
choice of job in a band.
I try not to over think our lyrics, I
don’t sit and think “oh, I must write a song about this”. I spend ages
just making sounds when we practice the song, this gives me a rhythm and
a structure that I can sing while playing at the same time. I them fit
the lyrics to the pattern that I came up with when I didn’t have to
worry about what I was saying. Quite often I’ll come up with a phrase
that I like in that first stage which will give me something to work the
rest of the lyrics around.
Probably not the best way of doing it,
but it works for me.
MM - Some people sit around
and wish for things but nothing happens; however, you guys are a
motivated band. What do you really think you will be doing in 5 years
time?
DS -
Totally, I know that
every band says this but I honestly think that we will. We’ve barely
even started, in five years time we’ll really be going strong, it’s not
really that long, not if you believe in what you’re doing. If you’re
unhappy it’s a life time.
MM - Your sound, image and
lyrics have a strong identity to them. Is this something you've strived
to achieve or something more organic?
DS -
What you see is what you
get with us. The way we dress on stage is the way we dress all the time,
that’s us. The sound is just a mix of all the millions of different
bands we all love, it’s just what comes out. I think the sound comes
from each member just relaxing and playing to their strengths, none of
us are trying to force ourselves to play in a certain way so that we can
fit with a specific scene, so as a result the personalities shine
through the instruments. It helps that there is only three of us, so we
can give each other room to play, that’s a big part of what we do,
letting each other play.
The image, the sound,
everything is just stuff that we like. So the band is what it is, a
collection of three like minded people having a laugh and doing what
they love.
MM - Where did the bands name come from and
what does it represent to you? Can you remember any of the other names
that were considered at the time?
DS -
This is going to sound bad. Dollar-Sent
was the first thing that popped into my head when a promoter asked me
what my band was called. Seriously. That’s it. We where offered our
first show before we got our name sorted, so when the fella asked for a
name that’s what I came out with.
I had been playing around with names
for a while. One of the first I came up with was Gun-Nut, as in someone
who loves guns, but when I wrote it down, no matter what I did it looked
like a STD, or some kind of sea bird. So that got scraped pretty quick.
I have grown to like the name, I was
toying with changing it for a long time, but now it just seems to work.
I have been known to come out with all
sorts of bollocks about the political meanings of the name and how it
represents the current state of the music industry. But that’s bollocks,
so lucky for you I’m do this sober, otherwise you’d have all sorts of
jibberish in answer to this question.
MM - How does the song writing process work
within the band? Is it down to one particular person or do you all get
involved?
DS -
It pretty much varies from song to
song. There are songs that are jammed out and there are songs that I’ve
sat and written and so on. Everyone gets involved when it comes to
getting the song put together in a musical sense, a band is the sum of
it’s parts. I might have an idea for a drum part, but I’m not a drummer
so Sparky does it how he thinks is going to work, Loz might have an idea
for a guitar part but I’ll play in my way, you can’t force anyone to
play something in a particular way, not if you want an organic sound,
you have to leave room for the other guys. Even with songs that a fairly
fully formed when the get put to the rest of the band we still jam them
out for a while, it’s rare that a song will make it from the studio to
the stage unchanged.
When it comes to lyrics, the guys just
leave me to it. At the end of the day I’m the one who’s got to sing
them.
MM - Dollar
Sent have a great stage show, but who was the first band you saw in
concert?
DS -
The first
band I ever saw was Iron Maiden at the NEC, technically I think it was
Saxon, they where supporting. But the first band I made a point of going
to see was Iron Maiden.
The bands
who had some of the biggest impact on me live where Fields of The
Nephilim and The Sisters of Mercy. The sound they kicked out was
incredible, and the lights where amazing. I loved the fact that there
was no big stage props or flashy set pieces, Just shite loads of smoke
and lights. It was very powerful.
MM - Who, in your opinion, is the greatest
genius of all time in the music business and why?
DS -
Bugger me, that’s a hard one. There
have been so many great musicians and producers over the years that have
done great things in their own way. I don’t think you could compare Joe
Meek and Mic Ronson, both stunningly good, but very, very different. I
think that there are to many people all doing very different things that
I don’t think I can answer that.
MM - Name your favourite 5 albums of all
time and what they have meant to you personally.
DS -
These will be in no particular order, I
would be here for weeks trying to do that.
Let There Be Rock - AC/DC - It’s all about the guitar tone on this
album. The guitars just bite like no-ones business. The song writing is
amazing and the whole album just drips attitude, this is about a classic
as you can get.
Earth VS - The Wildhearts - Again the song writing is incredible on
this album. I love the fact that the songs go all over the place but
never let up. It rocks from start to finish. It’s old school rock ‘n’
roll but in a completely new way, and that doesn’t happen often.
First, Last And Always - The Sisters Of
Mercy - This has got to be one of the first
albums I ever really fell in love with. I love The Sisters, a genuinely
great band. I love the 12 string guitars, it’s such a massive but really
sweet sound. They’ve had a lot of imitators, but The Sisters will always
be the original and the best, the title of the album says it all.
Motorhead - Ace Of Spades - Nuff said.
Songs The Lord Taught Us - The Cramps -
Such a filthy band, such a filthy
album. I have a Cramps tattoo, in fact my entire left forearm is one big
Cramps tattoo. I love just how low - fi their sound is. It’s just total
cool, but also really creepy. I sounds like the album Elvis would have
put out if he was in the Munster family.
Motherfucker Be Trippin - Supersuckers - This album is great from start to
finish, but what takes it to legendary status is the fact it has “Pretty
Fucked Up” on it. I wish I’d written that song. I got this album when I
was going through a horrible break up and just belted that song out so
loud. It’s fucking awesome, proper rock ‘n’ roll.
MM - How has
the internet helped spread the word about the band and do you feel
downloading is harming the scene, or helping to keep it alive?
DS -
The
internet is amazing for bands. I can’t imagine getting as far as we have
without the internet. You no longer need to rely on the scatter gun
approach to promoting your band.
I honestly
think that the way the internet has gone is what has help revive the
live music scene. It was getting to the point where it just wasn’t worth
bothering any more. There was no chance of getting a record out unless
you got very lucky or you fitted in with the current industry trends.
Now you can do things on your own, and if it’s good enough you can go
somewhere with it. I think it’s one of the best things to happen for
bands since home recording became affordable. I also think it is one of
the worst things that could happen to the old school industry.
MM - If you
were doing a gig on a desert island and could only bring one instrument
with you for the whole band, what would it be and why?
DS -
It would
have to be a guitar, not just because I’m a guitarist, but because
Sparky could hit coconuts or something and Loz could dance with the
monkeys, I know he would love that. Besides we can all play guitar, so
we could all have a go.
MM - Being in a rock band you’re bound to
like a drink or two, so who is the party animal of the band?
DS - Well, we don’t go round trashing hotel
rooms, there’s far better things you can do in a hotel room. We also
don’t drive car’s into swimming pools.
I guess that we don’t feel we have to
prove our rock credentials, so you’ll see us out drinking and more often
than not we’ll be the last to leave the party, but we’re just happy
drinking and chatting and just having fun. Sounds boring, I know, but
puking on your shoes and having a fight doesn’t me you have a big dick.
MM - Tell us something that most people
don't know, never have known, and probably never would know about you if
they don't read this.
DS - I’m scared of Owls, seriously. Not like
a jibbering, screaming wreck kind of scared, I just really fucking hate
the things. They really creep me out, they make my skin crawl.
There’s hundreds of reasons for it, but
I won’t go into it here.
MM - For you, what were the 3 high points of
2006?
DS - Playing The Bulldog Bash has got to be
number one. That was an awesome weekend, absolutely loved it and would
love to do it again. That show led on to us doing all sort of things,
including more bike rallies, which are always good.
Getting the CD out was a high point, it
was such a relief to get it out after the amount of stress we had with
it, The response it’s got it’s fantastic, we couldn’t hope for more.
Just getting the ball rolling, and
pushing forward. That was the best part of 2006, just getting out and
getting such a great response.
MM - What do you hope 2007 will hold for
Dollar-Sent?
DS - Some money would be nice. We’re heading
to the US in May for a tour, which will be great. Hopefully we can just
keep going up. We’re planning on recording some new materiel fairly soon,
so that should be out before to long.
More than anything, gigs. We love to
gig.
MM - Finally are there any messages you’d
like to pass to all our readers out there?
DS - Eat your greens.
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