Spreading the Sleaze

Jack Viper/Dan "The Ferlanger" Telander interview with Nix

The sleaze train keeps rolling it seems. Certainly for Jack Viper. Since the two years they’ve been together they’ve wracked up a very healthy CV. Two Perris record compilations, half a million copies of a track on a Creative MP3 player, support slots aplenty (Slunt, Dirty Rig, House Of Lords, Robin Black, LA Guns, Vixen, Vains of Jenna) and a couple of metaphorical bombs about to drop that we were informed of off-record - there is a lot going for them.

After a rather eventful few months for the London sleaze outfit, drummer "The Ferlanger" sits down with a beer and talks to Nix after their LA Guns tour date at Nottingham Rock City. Stuff that pops up are what’s been going on through the recent LA Guns tour (and the temporary abscence of frontman Jay R) and their latest tracks.

N: Why are you in Jack Viper?
TF: I’m in Jack Viper because we’re representing sleazy motherf***ing rock n’ roll which I love and I grew up on.
N: Where did it start?
TF: Hmm, when I started liking sleaze rock? It started when all the kids of my age got into it - with GN’R (Guns N Roses). I was too young to come across ‘Appetite (for Destruction)’ first time round so I’d have to say it started around the time with ‘Use Your Illusion’ and that kind of stuff.
N: So you started making it? Why?
TF: Because we loved it, why else? (Laughs) We wrote one song and thought ‘Hey, this sounds quite sleazy’, we carried on from there and added more sleaze and now its like ‘hey!’. Yeah, just keep digging it! Lets keep going on and see how it goes, and here we are!

N: Touching on stuff that’s happened recently, with Jay (R, lead vocalist) not being here and the temporary replacement being Dave “The Dominator” Domminney - how have you found having a change of front man for this LA Guns tour?
TF: Its been different. I wouldn’t say its been like better or worse or anything. In its own way, its just ‘worked’. Its just worked really well for us.
N: What about your first practice? It wasn’t too long before the first ever gig with Dave Domminney was it?
TF: The first practice was nerve-wracking. There we were, going up there - and it was like the Saturday and then touring on the Tuesday! We’re s**ting ourselves thinking, if this doesn’t work - if today’s rehearsal c**ks up - we’re f**ked! We turned up on Saturday and rehearsed with the ‘Dominator’ -
N: Why have you dubbed him the ‘Dominator’?
TF: Hmm, that name came about through Eddie Shredder. He came up with it, don’t know where it came from but it just worked. Anyway, rehearsal with the ‘Dominator’ - our first try, our first song with him was ‘Go F*** Yourself’ and it just sounded great. We’d worked with him before and heard him sing before. He jumped right in and he sounded great! He hadn’t learnt all the lyrics but he only had about two days to rehearse. For the next four hours, we just kept playing the set over and over and over. We were really confident. Even on the first night (London Camden Underworld) we had it in our minds that this was going to work whatever. By the end of it, the crowd were loving it - they were absolutely awesome. There were even cheers for the ‘Dominator’. When we went back on stage afterwards to get our gear they f***ing loved it! We made the right move. We didn’t let the fans down, didn’t let the promoters or anyone else down or more so LA Guns. We made the right choice, got the right guy in to step in for Jay R. Its been good.

N: Obviously when Jay comes back, its going to be business as usual. But with the ‘Dominator’ stepping in, who is a guitarist - there have been riff trade offs with Ed Shredder. Do you reckon there will be any sign of getting a rhythm guy in?
TF: No, not at all at the moment. As far as we can see, Jack Viper is your basic, simple and down to earth sleaze rock band. Simple, keeping it basic - four piece band. You’ve got your guitar, bass, drums and front man - I don’t think there is any kind of other s*** that you need for this kind of stuff. Some may argue, ‘oh what about a keyboard’ -
N: You’d be a ‘progressive sleaze’ band then ...
TF: Exactly. (Laughs) We’re not saying that we’re lazy and we’re not going to think about it but its just one of those extra things where if it works alright without it, why change. Ok, on the EP’s there is more than one guitar track recorded but I think live - mixed with the attitude and the aggression, it doesn’t matter. You just got to love Jay R’s hardcore sleazy rock vocals, Eddie Shredders (to the point) over the top volumised performance - although at times it works but he has to get told to turn it down in the sound check (laughs). You’ve got Mr. Kiss’ hardcore thumping bass and my, I like to think, over the top playing - I end up breaking a pair of sticks after every show! Another guy would be more stuff to think about - its worked now for the past year and a half.

N: Your favourite song you like playing live?
TF: That’s quite a tough one. I’m jumping between “Murder City Blues” and “Go F*** Yourself”. “Murder City Blues” because it’s the fastest tune we’ve got in the entire set - due to that, it just produces a huge amount of energy. It gets the crowd going massively!. With “Go F*** Yourself” the answer is there in the title of the song and what its all about - the crowd get in on that one too. Also as well for this tour, it gives the chance for the ‘Dominator’ who happens to play guitar for him to show off that he can do it. Actually, lets go with “GFY”, because of what it holds and means!

N: Your favourite release so far?
TF: “Murder 1" for the tunes that are on there. I could say with “Spider to the Fly” being released on half a million copies of the MP3 players and on Pure Rawk’s “Unleashed and Loaded II”. Its got “Go F*** Yourself” and “Walk the Line”, which is a bit different - “WTL” is probably the more different one in our repertoire.

N: Is there anything you’ve played in the past or still play that you really don’t like playing?
TF: Not really. “Whiskey Town” as far as I can remember is definitely one of the earliest tunes that we have. We weren’t planning to play this for the tour because we had a couple of new tunes in the pipeline that were ready to go. But because Jay had to back out from the tour, we had to rely on a few of the older tunes, which the ‘Dominator’ executed perfectly! I thought, ‘oh no, back to the Sleazy Listening EP’, but after playing it - it still kicks arse.
N: You’ve dropped a right oldie, your ballad - “Tears of Pearl”
TF: We’ve not dropped it, its just never been an appropriate time at a gig when we’ve felt like playing it. Its been good at a few gigs in the past where we’ve played it, but it’s the type of song to bring things down and be a bit slow. Its like lets play ‘balls-to-the-wall’, take it down a little bit with a funky tune then sleaze it back up a bit.

N: You’ve been doing the tour with LA Guns, how have you found that?
TF: Awesome. Absolutely brilliant. The (LA) Guns have been really supportive and been really friendly guys, the shows have been great and their manager has been helping us out as well with stuff. The band themselves have been really good. The Red Star Rebels have been friendly and supportive as well. Tonight was possibly the best night to see the set (Nottingham Rock City). London (Underworld) was a great highlight, Cardiff was a fantastic night -
N: The s***est night?
TF: Milton Keynes. Even though the venue was great and the crowd was cool, just due to the accommodations and stuff, that was a bit of a c**k up! It caused things to run behind massively which causes a lot of stress. Dudley was ok. There could have been a more enthusiastic crowd and the Guns realised that as well.

N: Being an ‘unsigned’ band on a few major tours since you started under years ago must not only be great for you guys but for those who’ve come to see you. On this tour and over the past few shows, how have you found the fans reception towards Jack Viper?
TF: The fans have been great. They’re the best its been yet. It’s just got better and better and better. The fan base has been building for sure and we’re incredibly grateful that we’ve been playing a lot more places outside London where a lot of our fans are based. Its great to go over and answer their prayers and go ‘Hey! What’s up motherf***er!’. Its just going up and up. With the quantity and the quality of the fan base, hell - we’ve sold virtually all our merch on this LA Guns tour!

N: Virtually within the first few months of starting out, you supported the ‘other’ LA Guns (Phil Lewis’ version) and now you’ve done a tour with Tracii Guns’ version - is there one that you prefer?
TF: (Laughs) I got asked this by Mr. Kiss! Its’s a tough one because you’ve got the ‘original line up’ here now that has played tonight - Paul Black and Tracii Guns. In Germany, you had the likes of Phil Lewis and Staci Blades. I can’t call it for sure. I think in a way with the milestone of it, I wouldn’t be anywhere else but here with these guys but to go to Germany and do it with the present LA Guns line up, it was fantastic. The tunes just sounded as great anyway. I can’t put a finger on it. Meeting the legendary Tracii Guns himself, he’s been the friendliest guy ever on some sort of level maybe I prefer that because of the way that he’s been and all the stuff that he’s done. The likes of Phil Lewis and Staci Blades, they held a different atmosphere about them. Both have been incredibly legendary. I’m sitting on the fence!

Images and words by Nicola “Nix” Crichton.
Jack Viper Official site

© Pure Rawk 2007