True story. I happened to be in New York just before Christmas having decided to take the trip because I’d had heart surgery and died a couple of times so to celebrate being fixed we took in the big apple and on the day we flew home I read that EF was playing an instore in Bloomingdales so grabbed a cab and set off only to arrive at the wrong store so missed the show and had to head back home having not seen the band on their home turf and failed to pick up some shirts and a book as well so epic fail on my part. Anyway fast forward a few years and when RPM kicked off there were a bunch of bands I was looking forward to covering and Electric Frankenstein was one of them so when I read that Sal was looking for submissions for a brand new ‘Fistful Of Rock And Roll’ it seemed like the perfect time to reach out and grab a quick chat. Heres what went down…
Firstly you’ve got a whole bunch of great bands ready for the next compilation album. Why now for a new release? Was there a particular song or band you heard that made you want to put this together?
Well, why now is because suddenly it is 10 years already after volume 13 of “A Fistful of Rock & Roll” came out and I was seeing that there is a whole new generation of bands that are playing and recording now that were influenced by the bands on the first Fistful of Rock series. There were so many new bands and really great sounding bands, not only from the US and the UK , but from all over the world.
Actually, there was a group of 8 new bands that made me say, “Oh wow, I really need to document all the new bands since the first series!”. And those bands are Black Gremlin ( Italy ), Flash House (UK), Liberty Slaves (UK). Scum Bag Millionaire ( Sweden ), Bitch Queens ( Switzerland ), Detroit Sound ( Norway ), and Night Birds ( USA ). I didn’t want all these new bands to disappear without some cheerleading support that can go out worldwide. The first series sparked a global movement for High Energy / Punk Rock & Roll, which is also called Action Rock. For a few years things seemed quiet for Rock & Roll music, but then in the last year all the best of the original generation that moved the bar up for real Rock & Roll started doing reunion shows and at the same time all new bands started appearing. The new bands are really great bands that have moved the bar even further.
You’ve obviously been inundated with some fantastic responses too, any particular favourites?
Ha, so, so many bands, over 300 so far! Besides the 8 bands above, I have been listening to great bands like: King Mastino, Idol Lips, The Innocent, Temporal Sluts and others from Italy; Iron Lizards from France; Black Actress, Red Hot Rebellion, Hell’s Engine, Killer Hearts, Thee Perfect Gentlemen, Focke Wolves, Lovesores, Poison Boys, The Cops from USA; Dumbell, Black Sheriff, Christmas, Stacy Crowne from Germany; Stingray from Norway; Chuck Norris Experiment, from Sweden; Hard Action from Finland; Columbian Neckties from Denmark; Savage Beat, Dirty Denims from Netherlands;The Hip Priests, Motherfuckin Motherfuckers, Deathtraps from UK, Turbocoopers, Los Burros from Argentina, Deadvikings, Jet Boys from Japan, Tracy Lords from Hong Kong, The Sick Things from Montreal, Dead Furies from Estonia; Poison Heart from Poland; Aberration, East Coast Low from Australia, and so many more!
enough for a few compilations then?
More is always welcome, I want to document ALL the best of the new Rock & Roll bands. So far I am completing the first 6 volumes. I will put out the first 3, then 3 volumes at a time after that. Like the first series, which was 13 volumes, I aim to do another 13 volumes or more, as many as are necessary.
What About Electric Frankenstein? When can we hear some new music from your band?
I added an unreleased EF song on the comp, never fear, ha. We have written enough new songs for at least 3 albums work of music. Soon as we complete a batch so we can demo them for labels, we wish to get things rolling again.
There was an announcement that the band is going to tour in 2019 to celebrate twenty years of ‘How To Make A Monster’ wow where does the time go? it seems like only yesterday. It has been great to see Gluecifer back playing that would be a cool line up I’m sure you could make that happen. Anyway, where do these tour plans extend to? Can the UK expect any dates? you mentioned our good friends The Hip Priests who also have an album early next year that would be a superb match up.
Everything is in the early planning stages. EF is ready to tour, we were in Japan in October 2017 and toured with The Adolescents on the east coast this past June. We should be touring in Europe this coming July, hopefully. We are looking into the UK for August or so. Hip Priests are always our number one choice for the UK and now all our new band friends as well. Fingers crossed that it all happens.
The artwork is iconic and instantly recognizable with the band and seeing the pin badges and patches as well as the show posters it must be hugely satisfying to see people pick up on this all the time and the amount of bands who want to be a part of the Fistful comps is quite incredible there’s always been a lot of love and respect for you guys. We like to keep an ear to the ground but the response you get is amazing so much to keep up with you must be blown away?
Well, it’s the bands that impress me. About myself, I must have good taste, ha hah, because I always pick the best song by each band. I have always been a person that is personable and friendly and sincere, so in other words, I am not an asshole towards other people and other bands, so it is very satisfying that I can work with so many bands worldwide. I feel that I have done the right thing and stepped up to the plate to make this great accomplishment, not just with A Fistful of Rock & Roll but with Electric Frankenstein as well.
The bands back catalogue is impressive are there any plans for an anniversary Make a monster with bonus cuts or live shows etc? what about any more spare parts releases to bring us up to date? apart from the split with thee eviltones, the world needs EF.
There is a “More Spare Parts” album available digitally only on iTunes and elsewhere that is fairly recent. I am more concerned with recording all the new songs that we have archived to make as big a musical statement as we did with all our early albums.
So there you have it folks keep an eye out for some EF music and tour dates in 2019 both would be most welcome I’m sure you’ll agree and when the new compilation is released my advice would be to get right on it there are some fantastic bands that we know of and would highly recommend for your listening pleasure besides it would be our pleasure to keep you informed of any news from the Electric Frankenstein camp. Thanks to Sal for giving RPM the time of day and we look forward to the next time.
Buy Electric Frankenstein Here
Author : Dom Daley
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