_ In the stagnant land of alternative-gone-mainstream here is a beautiful breath of fresh air. Reverend Rick, Lucky, Crash Gordon, and Tony Long Legs, A.K.A. the Rattled Roosters are four fellows who have flown into that bizarre territory known as Rockabilly: That label does not necessarily do them justice. They have also been dubbed “Psycho-billy” and | must say, it is a fitting title. Just what might one expect to see and hear from the Roosters? If you have ever seen them perform live you know (as the old cliche goes) it is best to expect the unexpected. | happened to catch the Rattled Roosters at one of their Town Pump shows recently, and despite being stuck in a chair, zoned out on painkillers (due to an operation two days prior) | had more than enough fun for one evening. The first thing that struck me as odd was the variety of people who flocked to the Town Pump to see the group. The ages of the folks in attendance ranged from about 19 to 55, and if that wasn’t different enough, when the Rattled Roosters took the stage people started dancing. No, not crushing, hopping, swarming or moshing, | mean they were actually dancing! Wow. There was an instantaneous energy that leapt from the stage and everyone felt it. From their 50’s style clothing and big, greasy hairdos to Tony’s sizzling stand-up bass work they had the audience captivated with their entire aura. Then when Rever- end Rick climbed atop the stage gear and started swinging from the lights | thought | might pee myself. | didn’t, but | thought | might. The Roosters certainly rattled the Pump, and in keeping with tradition, did not take a break but continued to rock ‘n’ roll ‘til the house lights came up. It was an entertaining show to say the least. | was lucky enough to have an interview arranged with two of the band members the previous week. Reverend Rick and Crash Gordon amused myself and a few others over break- fast one Saturday morning. Nickie: / understand that you consider yourselves part of the art scene, and of course your music is your art. Tell us what you are communicating through your art. Reverend Rick: Lucky couldn’t make it but he called me up to say something very arty and Captain Kirk-ish. So this is what Lucky would- say. (Rick strikes a pensive Kirk pose) “Well, | think...that art should be interpreted in whatever way a person sees fit.” (/aughs). That's Captain Kirk-ish isn’t it? Crash Gordon: The music is Rockabilly...the image is up in the air. Rev: We take a lot of our influences from many different things from the past . Not necessarily the typical Elvis thing. | mean we did get influ- ences from that but we take influences from anywhere we see... Crash: Can | say it? Can | say the whole thing? This is what it all comes down to. Rockabilly music was originally an amalgamation of all these different styles hillbilly, blues, country, blah, blah, blah. And that’s basically what they did. They put all these styles together and made it into rock and roll or whatever. So we've just had another forty years to add to that and take influences from it. So | mean, we take influences from the 70’s and the 60’s you know, the Beatles, Led Zepplin, and even modern stuff and jazz. I’m a big jazz guy. So, uh...what was the question again? Nickie: What are you communicating? Rev: | think that every song indicates a different thing. | feel that songs can be read at different levels. You know how everyone talks about U2 and how profound they are, but what percentage of people that actually listen to their music know what they’re talking about? So we don’t go out of our way to make all these statements but you can’t help having your views and opinions brought out through your music and | think it takes someone who wants to bother to go, “Okay, well what are they about?” as opposed to just seeing it at face value and going, “Okay, that’s what they’re about.”. “ Crash: It’s like any sort of art. It’s always open to interpretation. Who- ever is doing it. Everyone is an individual and they’re going to interpret it however they want. | mean we’re not trying to make any profound statements or anything like that. There’s stuff in the music that may be that way and there’s stuff that is just silliness. Nickie: How long have you been in existence? Crash: Myself or the band? Ha. Ha. Rev: Tony, the bass player, and | went to elementary school together and highschool, and then in about grade 11 or 12 we started playing. There was a stand-up bass at the school so we started with that. Crash And they were really bad. I’m not supposed to know that because | didn’t know them at that point but... can guess. Rev: So anyways, that’s where that came from. We just sort of played some stuff together and then we got together with a bunch of people and then we met up with Gord. I’ve got this great story about Gord. AN INTERVIEW BY NICKIE SENGER Crash: You want to get into the whole story? | can put this intoafew _ words. At that time | was going out with Rick’s now roommate's’s (who was at that time his best friend) ex-girlfriend. Rev: They weren't quite “ex” at the time. Crash: They weren’t? Rev: No they weren’t. Crash: See, like | got screwed around on this one. Rev: Yeah, it wasn’t really his fault. | saw him at this jazz festival and | remembered him and we needed a drummer and | thought, “That’s the guy who stole Dave’s girlfriend.” So we went and hunted him down. Crash: Yeah, they saw me and thought, “Wow. You’re the best drummer in the whole world.”. Rev: Exactly. That’s exactly what we thought. And then Lucky was a - friend of...well he was your friend right?(To Crash) Crash: Yeah, so Lucky was like...! don’t know, he just sort of appeared out of nothing and suddenly became the best guitar player in the world. We met up with him through a set of circumstances and the rest is history. Nickie: How extensively have you played nationally or internationally? Rev: In Canada we've played almost anywhere that has a reasonable population until about Winnipeg but we haven’t played there so | guess to about Regina. Down south we've played Seattle, Portland, Eugene, San Francisco, San Jose, L.A., San Diego, and a bunch of little ones in between like Sacramento, outskirts and such, and now we’re going to Texas in March. Nickie: What is that trip for? Rev: It’s the South by Southwest festival. A music festival, like a conference that collects bands from all across North America. You apply or whatever and they choose. | think there are 17 Canadian bands that are going, 4 from Vancouver. | know that Spirit of the. West is going to be there, the Odds, Itch. It’s in Austin, Texas and | think it’s something like a couple hundred bands over a period of five days or something like that. There’s a bunch of different venues with bands playing simultaneously. Nickie: You've played the Cruel Elephant but you don’t really strike me as a Cruel Elephant kind of band. Rev: Well it’s funny, you know? It goes back to the whole alternative thing. Basically, using Seattle as an example, there’s so much “grunge”, etcetera happening, | hate using that word, and people have... well we’re an alternative to the alternative. And the Cruel Elephant is a great venue for us. At first | don’t think they thought of us as a Cruel Elephant band either but... we, uh, we played a punk rock club down in San Francisco and we walk in wearing our suits and we've got an acoustic guitar and a stand-up bass and everyone’s looking at us going...(makes a weird face) And then one song and they were all totally into it. It’s just really funny. Crash: A lot of it has to do with the energy of the music and what we do on stage too. We don’t just stand there and play hokey songs. We jump around and play hokey songs. (laughs) No. None of our songs are hokey. We’re a power rock quartet. Nickie: Your new CD is coming out soon and | understand that you are putting it out yourself. How do you manage that? : Rev: Well we have a pretty sharp manager and he works miracles in some places. We're looking for part of the financing, and money that we’ve made has been invested into it as well. It’s just something that we felt we needed to do. The Rattled Roosters had their CD release party on February 26th so it’s out now. It’s called Year of the Rooster and you can hurry down to your favourite record store to pick it up! It will give you something to chew on until the band returns from Texas. In the stagnant land of alternative-gone-mainstream here is a beautiful breath of fresh air. Reverend Rick, Lucky, Crash Gordon, and Tony Long Legs, AKA. the Rattled Roosters are four fellows who have flown into that bizarre territory known as Rockabilly. That label does not necessarily do them justice. They have also been dubbed “Psycho-billy” and | must say, itis a fitting ttle. Just ‘what might one expect to see and hear from the Roosters? If ‘you have ever seen them perform live you know (as the old che goes) itis best to expect the unexpected. Thappened to catch the Rattled Roosters at one of their Town Pump shows recently, and despite being stuck in a chair, zoned out on painkillers (due to an operation two days prior) | had more than enough fun for one evening. The first thing that struck me as odd was the variety of people who flocked to the Town Pump to see the group. The ages of the folks in attendance ranged from about 19 to 55, and if that wasn’t different enough, when the Rattled Roosters took the stage People started dancing. No, not crushing, hopping, swarming or moshing, | mean they were actually dancing! Wow. There ‘was an instantaneous energy that leapt from the stage and everyone felt it. From their 50’s style clothing and big, greasy hairdos to Tony's sizzling stand-up bass work they had the audience captivated with their entire aura. Then when Rever- end Rick climbed atop the stage gear and started swinging from the lights | thought | might pee myself. | didn’t, but | thought | might. The Roosters certainly rattled the Pump, and in keeping with tradition, did not take a break but continued to rock ‘n’ roll til the house lights came up. It was an entertaining show to say the least. Iwas lucky enough to have an interview arranged with two of the band members the previous week. Reverend Rick and Crash Gordon amused myself and a few others over break- fast one Saturday morning. Nickle: | understand that you consider yourselves part of the art scene, and of course your music is your art. Tell us what you are communicating through your art Reverend Rick: Lucky couldn’t make it but he called me up to say something very arty and Captain Kirk-ish. So this is what Lucky would say. (Rick strikes a pensive Kirk pose) "Well | think...that art should be interpreted in whatever way a person sees fit.” (laughs). That's Captain Kirkish isn’t it? Crash Gordon: The music is Rockabilly...the image is up in the air. Rev: We take a lot of our influences from many different things from the past. Not necessarily the typical Eivs thing. | mean we did get influ- ences from that but we take influences from anywhere we see. Crash: Can | say it? Can | say the whole thing?’ This is what it all comes down to. Rockabilly music was originally an amalgamation of all these different styles hillbilly, blues, country, blah, blah, blah. And that's basically what they did. They put all these styles together and made it into rock and roll or whatever. So we've just had another forty years to ‘add to that and take influences from it. So | mean, we take influences from the 70's and the 60's you know, the Beatles, Led Zepplin, and ‘even modem stuff and jazz. I'm a big jazz guy. So, uh...what was the question again? Nickie: What are you communicating? Rev: | think that every song indicates a different thing. 1 feel that songs can be read at different levels. You know how everyone talks about U2 and how profound they are, but what percentage of people that actually listen to their music know what they're talking about? So we don’t go ut of our way to make all these statements but you can’t help having ‘your views and opinions brought out through your music and | think it takes someone who wants to bother to go, “Okay, well what are they about?" as opposed to just seeing it at face value and going, “Okay, that’s what they're about”. Crash: It’s ike any sort of art. t's always open to interpretation. Who- ever is doing it. Everyone is an individual and they're going to interpret. ithowever they want. I mean we're not trying to make any profound statements or anything like that. There's stuff in the music that may be that way and there's stuff that is just siliness. Nickie: How long have you been in existence? Crash: Myself or the band? Ha. Ha. Rev: Tony, the bass player, and | went to elementary school together and highschool, and then in about grade 11 or 12.we started playing, There was a stand-up bass at the school so we started with that. Crash And they were really bad. I'm not supposed to know that because I didn’t know them at that point but... can guess. Rev: So anyways, that’s where that came from. We just sort of played some stuff together and then we got together with a bunch of people ‘and then we met up with Gord. I've got this great story about Gord. RATTEEY Re@se RG, @ AN INTERVIEW BY NICKIE SENGER rash: You want to get into the whole story? can put this into afew words, At that time | was going out with Rick’s now roommate's's (who was at that time his bestfriend) ex-girfriend. Rev: They weren't quite “ex” at the time. rash: They weren't? Rev: No they weren't. rash: See, ike | got screwed around on this one. Rev: Yeah, it wasn't really his fault. | saw him at this jazz festival and | remembered him and we needed a drummer and | thought, “That's the guy who stole Dave's girlfriend.” So we went and hunted him down. Crash: Yeah, they saw me and thought, "Wow. You're the best drummer in the whole world.” Rev: Exactly. That's exactly what we thought. And then Lucky was a fiend of..well he was your friend right?(To Crash) rash: Yeah, so Lucky was like... don’t know, he just sort of appeared out of nothing and suddenly became the best guitar player in the world. We met up with him through a set of circumstances and the rest is history. Nickie: How extensively have you played nationally or internationally? Rev: In Canada we've played almost anywhere that has a reasonable population until about Winnipeg but we haven't played there so 1 ‘guess to about Regina. Down south we've played Seattle, Portland, Eugene, San Francisco, San Jose, LA., San Diego, and a bunch of little ‘ones in between like Sacramento, outskirts and such, and now we're ‘going to Texas in March. Nickie: What is that trip for? Rev: It's the South by Southwest festival. A music festival, lke conference that collects bands from all across North America. You apply or whatever and they choose. | think there are 17 Canadian bands that are going, 4 from Vancouver. | know that Spirit of the West is going to be there, the Odds, Itch. It's in Austin, Texas and | think it’s something like a couple hundred bands over a period of five days or something like that.. There's a bunch of different venues with bands playing simultaneously. ‘Nickie: You've played the Cruel Elephant but you don’t realy strike me as @ Cruel Elephant kind of band. Rev: Well it’s funny, you know?_It goes back to the whole alternative thing. Basically, using Seattle as an example, there's so much “grunge”, etcetera happening, | hate using that word, and people have... well we're an alternative to the alternative. And the Cruel Elephant isa great venue for us. At first | don’t think they thought of us as a Cruel Elephant band either but... we, uh, we played a punk rock club down in San Francisco and we walk in wearing our suits and we've got an acoustic guitar and a stand-up bass and everyone's looking at us going...(makes a weird face) And then one song and they were all totaly into it. It’s just really funny. Crash: A lot of it has to do with the energy of the music and what we do ‘on stage too. We don’t just stand there and play hokey songs. We jump ‘around and play hokey songs. (laughs) No. None of our songs are hokey. We're a power rock quartet Nickie: Your new CD is coming out soon and I understand that you are ‘putting it out yourself. How do you manage that? Rev: Well we have a pretty sharp manager and he works miracles in some places. We're looking for part of the financing, and money that we've made has been invested into it as well. It's just something that we felt we needed to do. The Rattled Roosters had their CD release party on February 26th so it’s out ‘now. It's called Year of the Rooster and you can hurry down to your favourite record store to pick it up! It wll give you something to chew on until the ‘band returns from Texas.