The Cutthroat Brothers Interview Exclusive

The Cutthroat Brothers Interview Exclusive

I just visited your website and there are Kiss levels of merch on there.  When can we see the cutthroat bobbleheads? and what merch would you love to see for the Cutthroat Brothers?

Jason: bobbleheads would be fantastic! Just looking for somebody that will make a two-headed monster version. We’ve talked about Cutthroat Brothers barber products, you know, pomades, shampoo…maybe it should all be blood-red liquid but not stick to the skin. Or maybe it should?

Donny: potato chips, you just can’t eat one. 

Some footage from the European tour is on youtube it looks insane, how good was the tour?

Donny: The most fun on tour ever, one night I tried to hug everyone in the place. 

Jason: The tour was fantastic! Really great crowds and venues. The welcome for our first time was overwhelming. People screaming and dancing and not letting us stop playing until we played every song we knew. Tours really are about connecting with people on a personal level and that happened a lot. I’d never been to any of the places we went so everything was really fresh and exciting. We were supposed to be on tour right now. Life is cancelled due to Covid, so we wait patiently to return to work and the road.

COVID-19  has derailed everyone are there plans for a return to Europe?  What about UK shows?

Jason: Absolutely, We will be coming back as soon as the dust settles. We can’t wait to play the UK! Punk is still alive more across the pond, so wherever people want us that’s where we will be.

The live album sounds amazing will it see a vinyl release?

Donny: I’m hoping Houndgawd will do the vinyl once life is somewhat back to normal. 

Jason: Definitely we will get it out on vinyl. We will hopefully everything on vinyl as soon as the pressing plants start up again. A run of white vinyl for ‘Live in Europe’ would be fun.

How do you approach songwriting as a pair or alone?

Jason: Generally I will sketch out the song to a point then we will arrange it and finish them when we see each other. The demos sound a lot different than the final version because i just sketch them on my iphone. We are hoping to release a collection of demos sometime soon for our hardcore fans. I always enjoy listening to ones from my favorite artists.

Donny: There’s a major component to our writing that I think, makes this work, no negativity, we are friends, we do this to have fun. 

What were the decisions you had about doing this whole thing as a pair and not heading for a more traditional band set up with bass or piano or two guitars?  Is it something you might look into in the future?

Donny: funny you should ask, we have a collaboration awaiting the record presses with the legend Mike Watt. He had offered to play on our next record (‘Taste for Evil’) in our very first interview for our Debut album on his radio show.  We took him up on it and sent him the tracks, somehow emails were in the spam folder and we missed having him on the record or so we thought. That said after ‘Taste for Evil’ was set to come out we found the Watt tracks, we have 4 collaborations from ‘Taste for Evil’ that we’ll release as soon as Houndgawd is back up and running full speed. 

Jason: It was an accident. We didn’t intend it to be just two people, but it felt right and we didn’t see the need for more. We make creative decisions really quickly this way and with Jack Endino to steer us we can get a lot done fast. We don’t want to risk the squeaky wheel too. You know, the other person who is always arguing or being late, wearing shorts to gigs, you know THAT one.

Have you recorded using a full set up or are you open to ideas?

Jason: We are open to whatever for sure! It just hasn’t happened yet and probably won’t soon as long as it feels good to us.

Tell us a bit about your background in music?  

Donny: Mudhoney, ELO, EODM, AC/DC, ZZ Top. My grandma was a classical pianist and the she taught piano and organ played at funerals and weddings. My dad was a keyboardist as well he had a band pretty much my whole life and then went into playing for church. My parents said I started playing at 2, I don’t remember but I also don’t remember not playing. 

Jason: My father is a preacher, so I started playing in our family country western gospel band touring around doing Carter Family songs and such around age 13 I think. Early country and rockabilly were my first loves, then my folks bought me a Louie Louie compilation that started with Kingsmen and ended with Black Flag. My parents accidentally introduced me to punk rock and it was downhill from there.

what plays on the stereo in the barbershop? maybe a short back and sides or sponsored ‘something for the weekend’ could be on the merch desk at future shows?

Donny: Punk, Metal, Garage, Rockabilly, rap, hip hop. 

You teamed up with German label Hound Gawd Records (which you mentioned)  they’ve released some great records how did that pairing come about?

Jason: Oliver from Hound Gawd! Got a copy of ‘Taste for Evil’ when we just finished it. It was mentioned to him by our shared publicist, Ilka. He dug it and the rest is history. We love Hound Gawd! All the bands are great.

Donny: I can’t say enough about if you’re putting out your art do it with someone who loves what you do or even more than you, this is why we are with Houndgawd. 

What plans have you got in the future?  Recording?  touring? I heard you were ready to record album three in March.  Did that happen? is Jack Endino involved again?  What can we expect on the next record?  Is Mike Watt playing on it at all?  If you could get a bunch of guest musicians to join on the next record who would you love to ask?  

Jason: Jack is definitely involved with everything we do. He really is the third Cutthroat Brother. Mr. Watt has offered to play on stuff again, yes, but we don’t know any specifics. We have another album planned out. We had to push it to a safer time because of Covid but we will be at it ASAP. I’ve asked Jesse Hughes from Eagles of Death Metal, he said he would be on it but we will see. I would love to get him and Jennie Vee on the next one. Cross your fingers.

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RPM Live In Europe Review Here

Towers Of London – Cardiff, Tramshed – 6th May 2019

Towers Of London – Cardiff, Tramshed – 6th May 2019

20th March 2007 was the last time I saw the “classic” line up of Towers of London live, in of all places London. It was also to be one of their last headline gigs together. Fast forward 12 years and the prospect of seeing Donny, Dirk, Rev, Snell and Tommy back together on stage really is getting me all nervous. Not least because I’m due to meet up with the guys beforehand to hand over some much sought-after film footage that has been in possession all these years that the guys now need for an upcoming documentary. A film, as I was soon to find out, they want to be a true reflection of their time together back in the mid-noughties, not some cheap expose piece only looking to create headlines.  

That reckless sense of irresponsibility that drove the band first time around has very much been replaced by a more focussed and mature set of heads all looking to finally set the record straight both off and on stage, and what better way to start than by heading off on an eight date UK tour supporting The Wildhearts with Massive Wagons also along for this rock ‘n’ roll rollercoaster ride too.

Unfortunately tonight I can only stick around to witness the return of  Towers Of London so I’ll leave the full gig reviews to my RPM colleagues to pick up at subsequent dates, but this is a very well-attended tour that’s for sure, with two dates sold out in advance and quite a few of the others close to capacity . This, in turn, means Towers of London get to play to full rooms and most importantly to a largely new audience, so come 7:30 sharp I’m stood a couple of rows from the barrier waiting for that infamous air raid siren intro tape to go up, before the 5 black boiler-suited Towers guys open fire with ‘I’m A Rat’ and suddenly all the years they’ve been away just seem…well….insignificant.   This is the band who I thought could be the UK’s answer to Guns N’ Roses and save for a few, ahem, “misplaced” career decisions along the way what this line up did leave us with was one of the finest debut albums of the last 40 years.

Tonight then their nine-song set is split 60/40 in favour of that ‘Blood Sweat and Towers’ album and along with the likes of ‘Beaujolais’ and ‘Air Guitar’ the newer tracks (all set to be included on their as yet untitled third album) like the stadium rocker ‘Shot In The Dark’ complete with Snell thumping the kit and Rev adding the guitar chops now come over as with much more sneer and a lot less veneer, and the more polished sound that had been creeping into the band’s musical direction really has been toughened up with the return of the old guard. ‘Kill The Popscene’ indeed, but sadly that anthem is nowhere to be seen tonight.

Finishing their 30-minute set with Donny face to face with the front rows for a stinging ‘Fuck It Up’, it’s his comment “we’ve all fucked something up” just as he lets the microphone fall to the floor that perhaps best sums up this new/old version of Towers Of London. It’s that old Drink Fight Fuck spirit but without any of that “baggage” getting in the way of you finally realising that Towers of London were never really a guilty pleasure they were always a fucking great rock ‘n’ roll band. 

Now, let’s have album number three and the highly anticipated documentary and perhaps finally we’ll get see Towers of London make it big. Who’s with me?

Author: Johnny Hayward