Artist: Samantha 7  

Date:  23 February 2001 

We caught up with C.C. Deville and Krys Baratto from Samantha 7, backstage after their gig on 19 February 2001 at Trillians Rockbar @ Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. This is what the lads to say to us:

MM - Who have we seen in the band tonight. Who have we seen on stage, can you introduce the members to us?
CC - Yes, the only real members of the band are me and him (CC and Krys), the other two are just temporary guys that we could get in. But Francis I am sure will be back in.

We had a problem with the Great White situation. But Francis will be in the band and I don't know who we will get as a guitar player. But the main thing is that the 3 people that are on the album are the same 3 people, it's just been a nightmare.

MM - Right, so who were the other two members tonight?
CC - Tonight was Ty Babylonia and Derek St Holmes.

MM - This is your first UK tour, how has it been so far and how has the fans reacted?
KB - Great, we've been having a fun time.
CC - Shopping! Look he's been getting those pants today!
(Krys is wearing a fine pair of denim patchwork trousers which he bought earlier today and is really pleased with his find.)
KB - Yes, I bought these pants today, are they hot or what?
(These pants are VERY HOTT indeed, so much so I just had to have a feel of them).

MM - Are you looking forward to playing some gigs with Great White?
CC - Yes

MM - Have you played with them before?
CC - Yes, I've played with Great White with Poison and Samantha 7.
KB - It's going to be fun, we're going to have a good time. We've been having a blast over here.

MM - You're about half way through the tour is that right?
KB - Yeh we're about half way through the tour. We've done 5 shows and we have 5 more, so it's going to be fun.

MM - Do you always perform the same songs at all the gigs, or do you change them around?
CC - We change them, sometimes we do 'Bonnie Bradley', sometimes we do 'Not having a good day', and sometimes we don't do 3 poison songs. But sometimes the audience is a very Poison type audience and so we give them if they want it.

We've become good at telling who's a great singer by the bandana. If you go in and you're playing and you see maybe 3 or 4 kids with bandana's on, you know that 1 or 2 knows every word. So far it's been great, now at some of the shows where's there's been no bandana's in the audience, we've just played 'Talk dirty to me' and hoped for the best. It's called the bandana rule.

MM - Now that your debut album has been released outside the US what's been the overall response to it?
CC - Oh everybody hates it!
MM - Hates it? lol.
CC - Yeh, everyone's complaining about how it f*cking sucks, I can't believe it. Everyone says that Samantha 7's album is sh*t.
MM - Really I've never heard anyone say that before about it.
CC - Oh everyone that I speak to says that its a f*cking joke. They say I have some nerve to go away and expect them to relate to this and think people are going to buy it. I know it's crazy right? No, the response has been very good.
KB - People love it.

MM - What do you plan to do after this tour in the UK, are you going back home?
KB - Yeh we're going back home and we're going to start demoing for the next record. CC's got a whole batch of songs that we've been kind of piecing together on the last US tour and there's some really good stuff. We're very excited about all this. We'll start recording when we get back.

MM - Do you have a release date or month for the new album to be out yet?
KB - No.

MM - Any ideas on the title or anything?
KB - No, we're just got a batch of songs that usually the way we do it is that we record a whole bunch of songs and then we pick what we feel are the strong ones. He'll (CC) go out with Poison this summer and when he gets back we will have already demoed everything and picked what we wanted. So when he (CC) gets back we'll start recording our next record. Hopefully for a late fall release.

MM - Will you be doing a tour again?
KB - Yes.
MM - A full UK tour including Trillians?
KB - Yes.

MM - What do you feel has been the bands biggest accomplishment so far?
KB - Well it's been kind of tough because our first show together as a band was at Woodstock in front of 250,000 people. But the whole thing has just been about getting the music out there and that's really been the whole idea behind it. That's why we are out here and that's why we've been touring the states. So actually getting out there has probably been the biggest accomplishment so far.

Having people see us, because we are not getting a whole lot of record company support so we start by doing the grunt work and getting out there.

MM - Do you think this tour's going to be the success to break you over here?
KB - I hope so, because when me and CC put the band together we both felt that it was more of a UK kind of vibe. It has it's punk influences, much like the early Poison stuff. So far the response has been great and I think the album gets released here next week. We're all having such a blast over here and we're over here for another 5 days.

MM - And you're coming back.
KB - Yeh and we're coming back! Yeh I'm coming back on vacation, damn right I'll be back here.

MM - How do you prepare for a show?
KB - Not much, not much preparation. We just hang out and we like to be alone a lot of the time. We don't like getting bothered. We just like getting all the gears together and get up there and play. Some places are tough too as you don't have dressing rooms. CC and I have been together for a long time so we have our own little thing going on.
MM - So you just enjoy it for what it's worth.
KB - Yeh exactly. There's nothing that's been a disappointment yet and we've been in the sh*ttiest of places, but we always make the best of it. People come in and pay to see the band regardless of what kind promotion is going on, we just try to prepare to do the best for them.

MM - What goes through your mind when you're onstage?
KB - That's a tough question. It's actually kind of fun as there's actually not a whole lot that goes on, well for me personally, I can't speak for the rest of the guys. I just kinda like looking out and seeing the reaction of people and watching them. Over here it's quite interesting watching because people have got the stuff, the record on import and MP3, and so a lot of people know the words to the songs.

Over in the states a lot of people have had it all along and so over here it's been almost like a tree because I know it's not released here, but there are people that know the music. So it's nice just to get an empty space and just watch what happens, it's great.

MM - Has the band had any crazy fan experiences yet on tour?
KB - Well yes there always is, there's always some kind of crazy fan experience. Not over here so much as it is in the states. In the states there's just about everything that you hear about, people trying to break down the doors of the bus and doing crazy things, we couldn't even get into it, I don't even know if you could print any of it!

It's been fun though and it's nice to see that people get it, because we've tried to get away from the Poison thing. There's no totally getting away from it as he (CC) is with Poison, it is tough, but people get it. So to have a lot of fans, and for them to do what they do to try and meet the band, then I think that's wonderful.

MM - Do you find the fans over in Europe and the UK a bit more restrained, a bit shy?
KB - They are. It's funny you should mention the shy thing because over in the states people are like crazy and they are like jumping on the stage. Over here our first show, and it was a great show, was really something because people over here they can love it, but they aren't going to do cartwheels for it.
CC - They don't react!
KB - Yeh, and it's like the same people that you think hate the show that come up to you and say 'I love it, will you sign this, can you do a photo', and it's the same person who's been standing with their arms folded in front of the stage the whole night. But tonight the crowd have been great, the audiences just get better and better.

MM - I think at one time you had most of them on the stage didn't you? I don't think you could have got any more on.
KB - Yeh.

MM - Do you consider the band as a fan orientated and accessible band?
KB - Oh extremely, yes. We're always out there, we're always happy after the shows to take a little time to relax and then we go out and mingle with everybody.

MM - What's the worst and best thing about being out on the road?
CC - Groupies, yeh they're the worst!
KB - What is it Cecil help me with what this is.

CC - Well you can fall in love with some. You know you love them and you don't want to let someone else f*ck them, you're possessive so you want this thing to happen, but you don't want to have to say to them I want to marry you. So it's the best and the worst thing if you like your sucking and f*cking, but you don't like the commitment.
KB - I'll second that!
CC - I'm married now, so is he, so how sad is that. I mean if you had met us two months ago then maybe, but now that we are married that doesn't apply.
KB - Now we have to be good whether we like it or not.

MM - When did you realise that the band was going to work?
KB - We're still trying to figure that out.
CC - The jury is still out in the rest of the world, I swear to god.
KB - You got to remember that the two of us have been together for many years and we are still trying to get this.
CC - Yes, we are still trying to get through the proverbial business door. You know this is not something that I am trying to get out of my system, it's a real band and it's just so difficult, but we're going to be fine.

MM - What part of the show do you really look forward to?
CC - I love the fan songs. I love 'Framed' , 'I wanna be famous' and 'Slave Laura'. That's my favourite part of the show because it's fast. I really love the punk aspect of our band, it's really my favourite part. When we're kicking ass I love it and when we're playing fast I'm at home.

MM - What's the first thing that you do after a show?
KB - The first thing we do after a show is look for something to eat.
MM - Sweeties! (The table in front of us is scattered with sweet papers that the band have scoffed).
KB - Yeh.
CC - The first thing that I usually do is that I usually stick a finger between my cheeks and make sure that I didn't sh*t myself, because I get lost in the moment and I might be fluctuating when I'm out there, and I'm always scared that I may have left a little residue. I'm always like ... get me to a toilet! I have some paper work to do!

MM - Ok, a bit of a funny question here, if one day you woke up as a woman what would you do?
KB - If I had one day as a woman?
MM - Yeh
KB - Well that's kind of tough because I already get my nails done anyhow so I can't say I'd get a manicure. I'd go shopping.
MM - You like shopping? - (We're back on to those wonderful trousers of his that really are absolutely gorgeous, just like the man himself).
KB - I love shopping, I'd go shopping for myself. I usually go shopping for somebody else so yeh I would go shopping for myself. That's would be a really good question, I'll have to ask that of somebody.

MM - Clothes shopping, shoe shopping, both?
KB - Everything! Accessories, everything because I spend so much time buying for everybody else and you know these are the first pair of pants that I've bought since 1989. I swear to god, and usually everything is given to me and so as a woman I would go shopping.

Is that a sexist thing to say, that women shop a lot? I don't know.
MM - No it's true.
KB - It is true, well ok then that's not so bad then. So yeh if that's the case then yes I would go shopping.

MM - Finally, is there anything you would like to share with your fans out there?
KB - Oh I would say go home! No, I'm just kidding. I think it's just great that all the fans love the band and support the band, and I'm so happy to meet with all those on the internet.
You know about that because we've talked on the internet. Everybody can feel they can talk to everybody and can contact them.

I am thankful that everybody has been so supportive of the band because we are struggling. We don't have a lot of label support and so for the fans that truly do love the band I think it's great. I'd like to thank each of them individually and most of them I talk to on the internet or through the phone. We are a people band and I'd like to thank each and everyone of them.

MM - Thank you for taking part in this interview and we look forward to seeing you again.
KB - You're welcome!

This interview is the second in a series of live interviews done for The Mayfair Mall - The Ultimate Rock Directory! We will be bringing you more live interviews over the coming months.

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