Beware of ERUPTIONS

Interview with The Eruptors by "Sexy" Dave

The Eruptors first sneaked under my galactic radar sometime last year, and when I heard a few tracks, I was instantly interested. Mixing the breakneck speed and power of Motorhead with some fairly off the wall sci-fi psychobilly ideas, the Eruptors make a fairly unique noise.

Having recently released their debut album Bad Time To Be Having A Good Time, a hyperspatial trip through war-torn galaxies and sleazy asteroid bars, now seems like a good time to have a word and demand they explain themselves.

SD: Thanks from Pure Rawk for taking part in this interview, hope you're all feeling rockin' today?

Jeff: Feeling awesome - the suns out and I'm going on a surfing holiday for the next five days! Sweet!

Gary: As I do every day. Went for a swim early on, ate a huge and healthy breakfast. About to do some recording in my home studio.

Alex: Ready to rock!

SD: Question One - Rollcall. Who's in the band, what do they play and what are their principal vices?

Alex: I am Lightnin' Allex Lee Hooker III, I play guitar and sometimes sing. Principle vices? Being too darn brilliant!

Jeff: Sir, present, sir! Reichfurher of rock Jeff Pepsii present and correct. Bass and shouting. All vices also present and correct.

Gary: Flamin' Gary plays drums and loves good coffee. And big drums. Other vices include my carefully alphabetised and highly eclectic CD collection. Can't get enough of reading either. Especially about sociology and cosmology. Which have yet to be united between two covers of the same volume...

SD: You've just released a curveball album or a debut album in 'Bad Time To Be Having A Good Time'. A concept album about futurist intergalactic war is an ambitious start for any band - explain yourselves!

Gary: I think the album pretty much speaks for itself - I've been in so many bands previously, which tried to release something that someone in the group thinks will be received well by the industry at that point in time or whatever. I prefer our approach, which is pretty much "we'll just do what we do best and if you like now or in ten years' time or never, it still stands as an integral and sincere statement of hardcore ROCKING OUT".

Alex: Totally, we hope that the 'critics' like it and that word will spread about our music, but at the end of the day we won't play anything that we don't enjoy listening to and we'll be doing this whatever happens. When we recorded this CD there was a chance it would have just been a CDR for sale mail order from our myspace page. It wasn't until after the album was recorded that it got picked up by a record company with distribution to the music stores and iTunes and all that.

Jeff: And this album is just the start - we're mixing the next album already which is based around an awesome party that goes all wrong at the stroke of midnight when we're attacked by vampires, ghouls and leprechauns. Fortunately for us we end up getting saved by legendary vampire killer Captain Kronos. There'll be more light and shade on the second album, and even a ballad amongst all of the loud madness.

Alex: And after that, the third album is going to push the boundaries even further. We'll still be making the fast, turbo charged punk n' roll and sleazoid garage heavy metal, but the slow stuff will be even doomier, and there'll be some more groove based songs too. Plus we have plans to record some semi-acoustic stuff.

Jeff: We think a bit like Led Zep, only brought up on punk, horror movies and glam rock. So you see how a concept album about intergalactic war fits right in...

SD: The album sounds like it was recorded at about a thousand miles an hour, pretty high-octane stuff. How was the recording process, are we talking recorded practically live in a week, or was it months of knob twiddling?

Gary: Basic tracks took three and half days of highly democratic rocking. Jammed, recorded, jammed, recorded. Then overdubbed some shouting and the bass. And Jeff twiddled knobs for a bit after that.

Jeff: The guitars, backing vox and drums were done in about 3 and a half days. I done the bass and other vox when and where I could. Fitting it in around my day (and night) jobs!

Alex: It was a lot of fun, very creative and we worked very quickly. I think that comes across in the music.

SD: Your album art is fairly heavy on babes with guns – would you say this is one of the bands top interests? Personally, I'm quite a fan.

Gary: Me too. So long as they're pointing the guns in the right direction. Girls rock.

Jeff: Any kinda strong female is a cool thing. Babes with guns, knifes, king fu, any of that stuff is brilliant.

Alex: We wanted the album work really to really stand out. Politically correct? No! Awesome? Definitely! It was drawn and designed by Andy Tilley of Sumpdoggy Designs. He is the guy that draws the covers for Bubblegum Slut Magazine too. The CD version of the album is a limited edition, in a six-panel digipack with lots of cool cartoonish artwork. I'd definitely buy it if I saw it on display in a music store, especially as we also made sure that the album retails at mid-price. It's a real collector's item, ay!

SD: You guys seem to live pretty far apart; doesn't that make things a little difficult? And given this, how did you meet?
Jeff: Our paths all crossed when we all lived in London. It's actually not that difficult to keep the band going though. With Internet you can keep in touch very easily and exchange ideas. With all things in life you can see the problems or the solutions. We're a solutions kinda band.

Gary: We simply communicate through the magic of Rock. And keep each other sweet by only meeting when absolutely necessary. Like to tour. Or
rehearse for a tour. Or to record.

Alex: Eruptors HQ (the top secret location where we record our albums) is in a remote secret location somewhere in Ireland, where Jeff lives. I live in northern England, whilst Flamin' Gary de Niro still lives in London, Southern England. The Sweden thing is because myspace doesn't allow you to pick two countries! So, for the sake of argument and stirring up hundreds of years worth of politics, we decided to pick neutral territory. In the end we went for Sweden because of it's pedigree of top-notch rock n' roll (Hellacopters et al).

SD: Would you ever consider doing a ballad?

Jeff: Big time. Ballads are awesome.

Gary: The answer to that question awaits you on the next album.

SD: Questions pinched from myspace quizzes (!):

1 - Could you date someone taller then you?

Jeff: Yep. That is for all intents and purposes most of the human race....

Gary: No. I need to feel like I have the best chance of winning an arm wrestle with any partner.

Alex: I already have a fiancée, and she is shorter than me, not really surprising as I'm 6 feet 6 tall. My girl is pretty tall though. Her legs are about as long as mine, which I like.

2 - Last person you hung out with?

Jeff: My buddy Seanie K this morning, he strums some acoustic guitar on the final track of the album 'Return To The Dawn of The Earth'.

Gary: Hezron Chetty - he helped me to the car last night with my gear.

Alex: I had a meeting this morning with a website designer, about improving the Eruptors internet presence.

3 - What was the highlight of your week?

Jeff: DJing a classic rock set and getting the whole crowd to sing along to 'I Want To Know What Love Is' by Foreigner. I was very drunk at the time ...

Gary: Tomorrow's gig playing drums with The Gillian Glover band - we rock, and she's brilliant.

Alex: Tomorrow - I'm going to America.

4 - Have you ever been given an engagement ring?

Alex: Yes, I'm wearing it now. My girl and I bought each other engagement rings from a jewellery store on Haight Street, San Francisco, a couple of days after I popped the question. Mine is silver, the centre is engraved with flames and spins.

Jeff: Nope.

Gary: Nope.

5 - What is the last thing you bought?

Jeff: Some cables for my studio. I'm in the middle of doing a refit.

Gary: Granola and some guitar strings and petrol.

Alex: Your soul! Bwahahahaha

SD: Well, that just about wraps up this interview, thanks guys. It only remains for me to ask, what are your plans for the future?

Jeff: More great Eruptors albums. And my solo album of guitar feedback and synth noise while I quietly recite poetry.

Gary: Recreate the Earth (reference last tune on our debut record), give it a warm, temperate climate, populate it with hot chicks who have lots of spare time. Rock out to my heart's content. And make sure no-one starts any rumours about the place being created in anything other than a Big Bang - if you will, an Eruption...

Alex: To keep on keeping on, making the music that we want to make. We just want to get as good as we can within our niche and entertain all of the like-minded individuals out there who share our tastes in music and bizarre imaginations. In the meantime, buy our album, buy an Eruptors T-shirt, and hassle your local venue/promoter to give us a gig. Check out www.myspace.com/eruptors for info and links to everything. You'll find great music, killer artwork, and photos of sexy ladies wearing our merch.

Words by "Sexy" Dave Ashworth, images courtesy of The Eruptors. Check out their Official MySpace for more info and tour dates. The Eruptors will feature on the upcoming Pure Rawk Compilation - "Unleashed and Loaded III".

© Pure Rawk 2008