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Ridin' The Wire |
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“Some people look for God in a church. I’m looking in a three minute pop song that could’ve been on Ace Frehley’s first solo album. You pray your way, I’ll pray mine.”
Sean Kelly, the Bolan-esque melody maker with the corkscrew hair and magic guitar, doesn’t think so. The flashy, rootsy, bubblegum rock n’ roll of his band, Crash Kelly, is exactly all of that, redemption revelry to the core – 70s glam rock, 80s flash metal, and memorable song writing all in one. Crash Kelly’s two albums, debut Penny Pills and, most recently, Electric Satisfaction, are like treasure chests of gems and nuggets that could’ve easily been inherited from T Rex, Cheap Trick, and Thin Lizzy. And, if anything, Sean Kelly is proof positive that in the cold, harsh wilds of Canada, glam and flash was and is alive and well, and whether enjoying a long weekend in cottage country or sharing a stage with Alice Cooper, it’s all about the stardust. Ceaseless vainglory indeed, brothers and sisters. _____________________________________________________________________________________ How does a glitter rock n’ roll star spend a long weekend? Buckets of champagne? Hot tub parties? While I am certainly not averse to indulging in hot tub parties, champagne nights, and any other party favors that might be available, my inner-Canuck comes screaming out on the Canadian long weekend. It's all about a two-four of Labatt's Blue, a 40 ouncer of Crown Royal, a deck of smokes, and a ghetto blaster cranking out Triumph, Streetheart, and April Wine by the fire at my cottage. That's how you give'r! Ah, yes, listening to some of Canada's finer old time rock n' roll. A lot of people don’t know that Canada had a strong Flash Metal contingent – bands like Triumph, Streetheart, April Wine, Helix, Honeymoon Suite, Sweeney Todd, Pretty Boy Floyd, Slash Puppet, Slik Toxic, and Sven Gali. Where do these bands fit into the grand scheme of things in the world of Flash Metal? I mean, they aren’t exactly referenced as often as Hanoi or the Crue.
You just scored points for knowing that Canada housed the ORIGINAL Pretty
Boy Floyd, fronted by none other than Vancouver's Tommy Floyd. Nice one!
Canadian Flash Metal rules, if by no other measure than the fact that
these bands served as a soundtrack for many juvenile Canadians to
experience the joy of thick, distorted guitars and screaming vocals with
lyrics about chicks and how to score 'em. The fact is, by not necessarily
being concerned with coming across as “dangerous” or “influential,” Canuck
metal is free to exist simply as a catalyst for drinking beer and doing
drugs purchased from biker gangs from Quebec. |
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Is that what got you hooked as a kid growing up in North Bay? I can't imagine there was much else to do there other than listen to music and drink beer. Absolutely. Rock n’ roll was a way for a skinny kid with glasses to feel like he was ten feet tall and bullet proof. I used to throw on Shout at the Devil and make up these elaborate fantasies in my head while drawing diagrams of what my stage production would look like while I was headlining arenas, ha ha! That's the fantasy side of it, but rock n’ roll was also the soundtrack to a lot of really great, Fast Times at Ridgemont High type of moments too. Sometimes you just have to crank some April Wine and drink beer in a park in the dead of winter, ya know? So is that the kind of feeling you hope your records evoke? When you sit down to write music, do you have the skinny kid in mind that’s just getting into rock n’ roll for the first time?
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I think the best thing I could ever hope to achieve would be to inspire that feeling in a kid. It's not my mandate per se, but I can't think of any thing else that would make me happier. I would say that there is definitely a part of me that is trying to reinstate the ritualistic elements of being a rock fan, elements that I feel are lost today. Ya know, saving your allowance so that you can go buy a record crammed with lyrics, cool artwork, photos, and liner notes, memorizing every single detail, etc. In order to achieve all that with your new album, Electric Satisfaction, you enlisted the help of Gilby Clarke. Why him, and how did you two hook up? From day one, I had Gilby in mind to produce a Crash Kelly record. I've been a fan since Pawnshop Guitars and I loved the production work on his records. I dropped him an e-mail when Penny Pills first came out in 2003 and asked him to check out the website. I got a response back saying that he was into the band and to contact his manager. It was around this time that I was talking with Liquor and Poker about doing a deal and the funny thing is that they had actually thought about Gilby producing the next CK record when we signed. A weird coincidence, but one that proved that we were all on the same page. What was your time like in LA? Did Gilby take you to any swank parties? Was Axl ever hanging around? (laughs) No parties, but he did have me up to the house for dinner a few times. And no, Axl was nowhere to be seen. I do have to say that we made good use of the Rainbow. It might be a cliché, but I spent so much time dreaming of hanging out in that place when I was a kid. I've yet to have a bad time there. You seem to be quite the dreamer – elaborate stage productions, hanging out at the Rainbow. Do these dreams ever diminish when you’re slugging it out in clubs across Canada?
Never…that is the dream! I actually get a rush out of doing those
gigs where there are five people in the bar; I love the challenge of
making that night a worthwhile experience. Frankly, the aggregate
experience of all those situations make the moments where you do get to
play in arenas and nice theatres that much more special. Good music is
good music whether you are playing the Enormodome or Joe's Bar and Grill. |
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Speaking of dreams, you just toured with Alice Cooper, right? How was it opening for one of your idols? The Alice dates were great. The fact that I was up there on the same stage as one of my heroes was not lost on me. I really enjoyed every second of it. The fact that Alice still goes out there and delivers the best rock show in the biz, night after night, made it even sweeter. What’s his stage show like these days? What kind of spooky things is he up to now? Did you hang out with him at all? Has he ever heard “Love Me Electric”? If so, what does he think about it? Tell me all about Alice, Sean! Alice still has the full-on stage show from hell – the guillotine, the actors, his super talented daughter, Calico, dancing – the whole 70s trip. What really makes the show though is the fact that Alice never slips out of character; when he hits that stage, he is the scariest motherfucker alive! I believe he has heard “Love Me Electric”. We chatted for a while after one of the shows, and he said that he listened to our whole set via the speakers in the dressing room. He had some great comments, which made me believe he might have actually been listening!
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Staying with the aging rocker theme, you’ve been doing some work recently with Nick Walsh of Slik Toxic fame. How did that come about? I met Nick a few years ago, when we were both asked to perform at a function at the El Mocambo. We were asked to perform some old glam rock covers, and when we got together to rehearse them (“I Want You to Want Me” and “Hot Child in the City”), we really clicked. He's an amazing singer and a very talented songwriter. I later joined Revolver (Nick’s band), and played on their first record, Turbulence. I'm not playing with them anymore due to my CK commitments, but Nick and I are very tight. We just finished working together on a project with these young kids from Hamilton I'm producing called High Voltage. Nick owns a studio and is a kick-ass producer in his own right. Yeah, High Voltage. Those little fuckers rock. What are they, like, fifteen years old? I gotta say, it’s inspiring to see some of today’s young ruffians traveling the righteous path of good time rock n’ roll. I'll tell ya, those kids mean it! Working with those guys was amazing. We made a really great, raw, rock n’ roll EP. I can't wait to watch those guys take it to the next level. And to think, they'll have Sean Kelly to thank! It all comes full circle, doesn't it? Hey man, I just gave ‘em a little nudge in the right direction in terms of arranging and crafting their songs – they've got the goods. Nick Walsh and his studio partner Sean Bailey deserve a lot of credit, as does Ky Anto, who came in to help out in the studio. They had a lot of experience behind their first recording! I do like the full circle analogy though. That's what it's all about man, being cool to each other and sharing a passion for rock n’ roll! You got it. Ok, lighting round time… Who puts the shock in your rock n’ roll? Fortunately, the true answer is also the safe answer here – my wife Erin, my little ultra-fox! If you ran into the girl who once broke your sixteen-year-old heart and walked away with your rare Hanoi Rocks 12” yellow vinyl single, what would you say to her? I think I'd say, “Where would you like me to sign your CD?” At least that's how it plays out in my head! Cod piece or no cod piece? No need for a cod piece. I think God bestows a sizeable pair of balls on those gents who choose to prance around in make-up and corkscrew curls in the seediest parts of strange towns. And finally, Sean…Joan Jett or Lita Ford? Hmmm, I'll go with Joan Jett, 'cause I used to wait for “I Love Rock N’ Roll” to come on my little AM radio at my cottage when I was a kid. Still, I have a better shot with Lita, so I'll change my mind and go with her. -FIN-_____________________________________________________________________________________ -Jeff Warren |
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Actually,
Mr. Kelly, your way sounds just fine, thank you. In fact, I’d like to
invite all my friends to pray with us too. I mean, if anything is gonna
save us, it’s the sweet, syrupy sounds of sleazy power pop, isn’t it? You
know, it’s a cigarette that masks the pain when we remember, with
unflinching admiration, shooting stars like Ant and Nikki Sudden and
Cranford Nix and Andrew Wood, and the way purple and gold feel when it’s
poured over our hazy memories like a fifth of something dark and slick –
it’s love and childhood and first kisses and last dances and big, shiny
dreams. That’s what we need. If not for twenty-four hours a day, at least
for forty minutes when we throw on a rock n’ roll record. Is that too much
to ask?