Artist:  Dragstrip 

Date: 22 September 2011   

MM - Hi Kevan, would you like to start by telling us how Dragstrip first came into being?
K - Well it all started with Gary (Taylor) the drummer who's also in Tank.  I'd been in a band with him years ago and he decided he just wanted to put together a band that basically played the sort of music we wanted to do.  He asked me if I'd like to come and sing for him and I said why not, then we called up my old guitarist Tommy Norton and asked if he'd like to join the band.  We just wanted to do music like 70's rock n' roll.

MM - Did the band have an idea of how you wanted your music to sound when you first started out.  Did you deliberately want to go for that fast and raw sound?
K - Well thankfully most of the reviews we've had have understood what sort of sound we were going for, I think there was only one that really didn't get it and said the production sounded terrible.  We deliberately did the production like that 70's, Led Zeppelin sound.  Basically it's just 70's British rock n' roll with us lads saying here we are, we're just doing what we want to do musically, we're doing this for ourselves and not for the music business or anything else.  It's just taken on a whole new life of it's own and that feels brilliant.

MM - Yes, it is a cracking album that is just straight up, no-nonsense rock n' roll.
K - Exactly and that's the vision that Gary our drummer came up with when he first decided to put the band together.   It was no-nonsense rock n' roll, heads down and see you at the other end.  

MM - How did you go about putting the album together, did you all get together to do it or was it more of a file sharing thing? K - The actual recording of the album we did in downtown Los Angeles in this huge warehouse.  Again that was something Gary really wanted, he wanted to have that huge drum sound on the record.  We got all the drums mic'd up and then twenty feet away we set up some more mic's, then again at sixty feet away, just to get that big drum sound and that natural echo.  MM - So you were wanting to bring in the sound of a live experience to the recording? K - Yes, pretty much, everything on the album, including my vocals, were all done in just one or two takes.  The album's all about the feel of rock n' roll, as long as we've captured the feel of it then that's all we ever wanted to do.

MM - How long did the album actually take to put together from beginning to end?
K - Probably from beginning to end the album only took us about four months.  We also had Jack Lancaster come in to do the mastering on the album for us.  He's a great guy and he's actually asked me to sing on his next album.  We've been very lucky because things have really come together for us with this band.   

MM - How's things going with the band then, is Gary still based in the US?
K - We're all based in the US.  Originally I'm from Leeds. We just let each other do what we want to do, there's no pressure to be like this or to be like that, we just let each other get on with it and to be who we are.  I think that's why the bands working so well, it's brilliant.  

MM - Do you mean you're all on the same level as each other?
K - Well I've known the guitarist for nigh on 15 years.  What usually happens with a song is Gary and Tommy get together and put the music together and then send it to me and I'll come up with the lyrics and the vocal melodies.  Then Tommy and I will fine tune it.

MM - Who do you see as your target audience, who are you aiming your music towards?
K - Anyone who wants to listen to it.  We really did just do this album for ourselves and it's been quite surprising to us just how good it's turned out.  We've done something we love and I think that comes across when you listen to the album.  When you're writing something, if it's real ... well I can only write songs about my life.  I won't change anything from he to she or whatever, this is my life, this is what I am about.  The reality of that hopefully comes across.

MM - It's like art reflecting life.
K - Absolutely and visa versa.  

MM - What first turned you on to rock music, who were your influences?
K - Oh that would be Marc Bolan and T-Rex without a doubt.  I grew up in a working class family just outside of Leeds, we were working class, very poor background, I used to watch Top of the Pops and I used to look at Marc Bolan and I'd say ... I want to be that guy.  I've got 3 Marc Bolan tattoos, two on my arms and one across my back.  The drummer is into Led Zeppelin / Thin Lizzy big time.  The other two guys with them being from America and more into Iggy Pop and the Stooges.  It's basically all these rock n' roll, no holds barred, no bullshit just heads down bands.

MM - What do you think are some of the best and worst things about playing music for a living?
K - At the moment in my life I'd say there are no ups and downs.  I've got to the stage in my life where I'm proud we've created a beautiful album that I'm proud of.  We did it for ourselves and not for a record label and people love it.  If I can get across to just one person with my lyrics then I've achieved what I wanted to achieve.  

MM - Are you surprised with the response the album is getting at the moment?
K - Yes, pleasantly surprised.  We didn't set off to get signed, we just wanted to play music and do what we want to do.  This is probably the most successful thing I've ever done actually.  So yes I've been pleasantly surprised.

MM - What would you say was the best career decision you've ever made, join this band?
K - The best career decision I ever made was I left England twenty years ago and followed my dream.  I can't live without music as it's my whole life.  I'm just doing what I've always wanted to do and following my dreams, living my life and making my music.

MM - What do you think of the current state of the music business today, I know a lot of bands are finding it hard.
K - Well there are ups and downs.  It's all about the internet now isn't it.  I actually think that's great because it's given something back to bands.  You have more control over your music.  You can put it out there where people can listen to it.  It used to be that you had to get signed and sell a million records, but the best thing about making music for yourself is that there is no one telling you what to do. In the old days it was all about the record labels, they were pumping money into you then you'd have to pay it all back, it's not like that now, you don't get the same pay-back unless you're making masses of money.  But a lot more bands are able to get their music out there via the internet which is what's so beautiful.  

MM - The internet can be a double edged sword and there's good things and bad things about it from a band's point of view.  What is great about it now is that bands don't have to peddle their songs around the labels any more to get it out there, they can do it on their own if they want to.
K - I've been in band's for many years now and you get sick of being asked to write a song like this or to write a song like that, it's all just fucking-bullshit.  When you're a young guy in a band you feel the need to do that.  I do think there's a lot more freedom now for people to just do whatever they want to do and to put it out there.  People will either like it or not.  

MM - I do feel sorry for some of the younger bands that get picked up and you see them just come and go, they don't always deserve all the feedback that they get, but it's the bands that go out and are touring nearly 365 days a year, touring around in the back of a van and playing in front of anything from 5 to 50 people each night, just trying to break even and not getting the breaks they deserve.
K - Well to be honest I don't feel sorry for them because if they are playing music for the right reasons, then that's the sort of thing you have to do.  If they're doing it for the love of their music and the love of expressing themselves, then that's what they're doing it for.  It's not about the money, or the recognition, or having a big label behind them, it's about doing the music.  Anything else after that is just the icing on the cake, a plus.  I've struggled all my life for my music, but I've got to a point in my life that I've finally done an album that I'm proud of.  We're all proud of it and that's enough, but it's gone beyond that.  To any young guys out there asking the question I'd say just do your music, just do what you love and trust it and believe in it.  

MM - So are you saying you'd not sell your soul to the devil if the price was right?
K - What if a big label came and made me an offer?  Absolutely fucking right I'd take it! I love my music and I'd love to be able to just live off my music, that would be the ultimate of course, it's not so much selling my soul to the devil.  Selling my soul to the devil would be writing songs that I don't believe in, which I can't  and won't do anyway.  If you listen to the songs, they are all about my life and when I'm on stage and performing, that's how I'm reliving those moments of my life.  No way could I write a song that I don't believe in and I definitely couldn't sing it.  I just couldn't do it.

MM - Do you think great musicians are born or made?
K - I think you're just born that way.  Whether you're a musician or an entertainer, I think it goes back to something that happened in your childhood.  It's a way of getting all the shit out, for me it's about showing how I saved myself.  My music is my life, I couldn't live without it.  I can't go a day without singing or listening to music.  If I could make enough money to just be able to do that, then fucking hell yeh I'd do that, but I couldn't write songs that I didn't believe in.  It's about life and about who you are.  

MM - I think if the passions not there and you don't believe in what you're doing then there's no point in making music. 
K - Well there are some people who can do that, but for me that's not a musician.  You might be technically brilliant, but for me you're only a musician if your music comes from your soul.  It really is your spirit that's talking.

MM - Are there any plans to take Dragstrip out on the road either later this year or next year?
K - We've got a lot of stuff lined up, we're not doing the usual fucking band stuff actually.  We've played in this theatre in Hollywood that's called The Theatre Of No Name and the guy who's been running it for the past 5 years is busy writing some scripts right now and wants to use our music on the play.  Plus we've played a strip club and the number one pole-dancer in America was on stage with us.  There's talk of doing a fund-raiser and doing a tour of America if we can get enough people behind us, so we will be touring with them.  I don't know of any other rock bands that have toured with a theatrical company, but once again that's what the band is all about, we're doing what we want to do, because we want to do it.  I hope this thing comes off because I think it would be so cool to do and it seems to be doing really well right now.  Can you imagine a theatrical performance with a real rock n' roll band playing?  That's kind of where we're at right at this moment in time.  We're not like some school kids rushing into doing just anything, we're doing it because we want to do it and it feels right.  It's something different and it's from the heart.  

MM - You've done what you wanted to do with this album and it's causing quite a stir at the moment, have you had a chance to consider whether you'd like to do a follow up album?
K - We're actually in the process of writing the follow-up album right now.  Tommy the guitarist and I have been writing together for 15 years and we have a back-catalogue of maybe 200 or 300 songs.  Not all are right for this band and Gary the drummer is the driving force behind this band, which is unusual for a band, for the drummer to be the driving force behind it.  He has this idea, this vision, and we follow that.  It's nice as the front man to have that because usually I'm the guy who's having to do everything.  I'm just the icing on the cake now, I'm the diva.  I love that.  Gary's our driving force and he just let's us be whoever we want to be, there's no ego's between us and we just do whatever we want to do.  Gary's got the vision and we're all just loving it.  If you're allowed to just be yourself in a band then that's when you're going to shine. 

MM - Both Bob the lad who reviewed the album and myself are both old school, we don't like to hear albums that are too polished. 
K - Right from the start we always wanted this album to sound like the feeling you have when it's a live performance.  We wanted to capture that feeling.  It's not about multi-layered fucking guitars and vocals, it's about capturing the moment.  For me as a singer, I want people to hear how I've captured my life in the songs, I want people to feel that in my voice.  

There's no nonsense in the songs, we're a real band, we're raw and that's what we want to capture.  This is the first band that I've ever been in where I've just been allowed to be myself and just write what I want to write and not change anything.  That comes across in my performance as I'm not singing fake lyrics, I'm not singing fake songs, these are my lines, my soul and my spirit with my guys around me.

The third song on the album it sounds like a love song, it's called '(You're My) Main Man'.  The first verse is about Gary the drummer, the second one is about Tommy the guitarist and I'm saying that these guys have given me the this by allowing me to be who I am, you guys have given me this love and you're my main man.  I can sing about those guys because they have given me this freedom. 

MM - Well Kevan it's been great to talk to you tonight mate, it makes a real treat to chat to someone who is genuinely so passionate and honest about their music, and who, pardon the cliché, really is doing it for the love of their music. 
K - We're just four guys who love what we're doing and there's no bull-shit here, it's real, we're doing it because we love what we're doing and love each other.  It's just heads down, no-nonsense rock and we'll see you at the end.  

MM - It's kick-ass rock n' roll and that's exactly the way it should be.
K - It is kick-ass rock n' roll and thank you for recognizing that.  The first song on the album is about my mother.  I lost my mum three years ago and the first song on the album, 'Thanks For The Memories', is about her.  Some of the songs are about my boyfriend.  I don't push the fact that I'm gay because that's not an issue, but equally I'll not change he to she either.  There's also songs about my little sister ... all the songs are about things that are important to me and my life.  I am truly thankful to my band, to my guys, that they give me this freedom, and because I have this freedom I am able to perform at my optimum, because this is the real me.  

MM - Thanks again Kevan for taking the time out to chat with us this evening and I wish you all the best with the album.
K - Cheers mate, I really appreciate that.

We'd like to thank Kevan for taking the time out to chat with us this evening and wish him and the band every success with the album.  Fingers crossed that theatrical production will come off too for the band.

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