Lovesores

     If you have been wondering “Where have all the punk rock ‘n’ roll bands gone?” then look no farther than Lovesores. Lovesores were formed by Scott “Deluxe” Drake and Jeff Fieldhouse; the same dynamic songwriting force that wrote a bulk of the early Humpers songs. These two, the arguable Mick and Keith of the punk rock ‘n’ roll genre, have created another band that is essential listening. With two EP’s (Bubblegum Riot and Formaldehyde) under their belt and two more singles on the way, the Lovesores attack is the adrenaline shot for a punk rock ‘n’ roll fix.

Interview by Ed Stuart 

Who’s answering the questions?

Scott “Deluxe” Drake

Where are Lovesores from?

We all live in Portland, Oregon…though some of us are originally from California and Arizona.

Who is in the band and what to they do?

Boz Bennes plays drums, Saul Koll plays guitar, Adam Kattau also plays guitar, Alex Fast plays bass and I sing.

How did the Lovesores start?

The Lovesores began as songwriting collaboration between Jeff Fieldhouse, who was the original guitarist of The Humpers and my main songwriting partner in that band, and myself. He left The Lovesores about a year and a half ago for personal/family reasons.

What bands/influences did the Lovesores have in mind when forming?

None really. Jeff and I just started writing songs without any particular direction in mind. But seeing that we’re both mostly interested in traditional 3-chord Rock N’ Roll, we had a general idea in mind.

Scott used to live in Long Beach, especially during The Humpers, but the Lovesores are based in Portland. What made you decide to move from Long Beach to Portland?

I lived in California for 40 years so it was time for a change. I had just married my wife and we wanted to start out somewhere fresh.

What are some big differences between the punk scenes in Long Beach and Portland?

The biggest difference to me would be that in Portland the bands are more supportive of each other, there’s more camaraderie. Also, there is more stylistic variation in Portland. In Southern California, a lot of the bands sheepishly follow whatever is in fashion at the moment, about 75% of them wish they were Social Distortion.

In an interview with Uber Rock, Scott stated “The Lovesores are different especially in that it's just a much more relaxed project, maybe because we're older and we don't have inflated expectations. Musically, Lovesores are probably more like early Humpers, late Humpers got a bit too hyper and pummelling.”  Do you think if the Humpers hadn’t had some degree of success, Lovesores would have the same relaxed attitude? 

You gotta realize that The Humpers stopped functioning creatively around 1998 so there’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then. The attitude of The Lovesores doesn’t have anything to do with The Humpers. It’s irrelevant.

Have you read We Never Learn: The Gunk Punk Undergut, 1988-2001?  I ask because The Humpers were active during these years.

Eric Davidson interviewed me for that book but he only gave The Humpers about ½ a page of ink, the bastard! It’s nice to see some of those bands get a little recognition finally, though.

50 years ago people used to buy music and get their water for free, now people pay for water and get their music for free. Considering that members of Lovesores have been releasing music since the late 80’s/early 90’s and have had relationships with labels of different sizes (Hovercraft, No Front Teeth, Rapid Pulse, Sympathy For The Record Industry, Epitaph). What are some of the big differences/changes that you have noticed in the music business in the last twenty to twenty-five years?

Virtually everything has changed in music in the last twenty-five years. One of the biggest differences that stand out to me is the attitude of the average music fan nowadays and also, to some extent, the attitudes of bands. Twenty-five years ago, in my humble opinion, both fans and musicians seemed to be more intensely devoted to the music, which I think was a reaction to people having less access to “underground” music. That’s just human nature, the harder it is to get something the more people value it. Having said that, though, I have no nostalgia for the old days of mainstream corporate radio, corporate record stores that wouldn’t stock imports or indie records, pay-to-play clubs, etc.

After reading several reviews, Lovesores are most compared to punk rock 'n’ roll, what are some essential punk rock 'n’ roll LP’s/bands that are necessary for a record collection?

Anything by The Lazy Cowgirls, The Nomads, The Neckbones or The Pleasure Fuckers would be a good place to start.

Where can people hear the Lovesores and what is next for the band?

People can hear us doing gigs in Portland every other week. We’ve also played out-of-town in Vancouver BC, Spokane, Seattle, Eugene, Los Angeles, Long Beach and we’re planning a European Tour in the spring. We have two new vinyl releases coming out this year and we’re on Facebook, Bandcamp, Reverbnation and all that. 

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Nikki Corvette

     Nikki Corvette’s music has been described, quite accurately I might add, as the perfect blend of The Ronettes and The Ramones. Garage bands around the world have been trying to imitate her sound ever since her debut album Nikki and the Corvettes came out in 1980 on Greg Shaw’s legendary recording label Bomp! Records. Although her name didn’t attain the household status that some of her peers achieved, it didn’t make Nikki’s music any bit less relevant. In my opinion, she hit all the marks a lot of her fellow lady rockers of that time missed. It’s more playful and light hearted than Joan Jett’s first records and less of a show boat than Blondie’s Parallel Lines and Eat to the Beat LP’s. Nikki Corvette continues to play her unique brand of sharp, sassy, and fun Rock N’ Roll with as much charisma and bounce as she did back in 1980 with a new crop of musicians she helped inspire. How’s that for the ultimate homage!

Interview by Jay Castro

You started writing and performing songs with one time guitarist for The Romantics Peter James. How did you meet him and was it him that inspired you to want to write and perform music?
I met Pete when I was 16, his best friend was dating my best friend and we dated for a while. We both liked the same kind of music and went to every concert and show possible. I learned a lot about music from him, but I always wanted to sing in a band. We stayed friends after we broke up and then started Nikki Corvette and The Convertibles together and co-wrote all the songs so he really helped me realize my musical ambitions. Our very volatile relationship did inspire the lyrics for “You Make Me Crazy.”

Nikki Corvette and The Convertibles were formed in a bit of a hurry due to the fact that you had shows booked but no band or songs. In retrospect, do you wish you would have had more time to rehearse and maybe gather your thoughts a bit, or do you feel you benefited by having your career starting off with a bang and not over thinking things?
I was friends with this guy Skid Marx, he played bass and was booking a club called The Red Grape and I was always saying I wanted to be in a band so one day he told me he booked a show for me. So Pete, Skid and a drummer, Bob Mulrooney, aka Bootsey X, put some songs together including a couple I had written with Pete and we did the show but we never rehearsed, just learned the songs separately. Not only was the sound check was the first time we ever played together; it was also the first time I ever sang in a mic!! The show was packed, everyone I knew was there and I knew after the first song it couldn't ever be worse then that!! We got booked every weekend for the next 3 months from that show and we still never rehearsed! It's really hard to say what would have happened with more time to practice, etc, it might have been great but I think the way it happened was best. It was crazy and spontaneous and scary but with time to think, I might not have jumped in; I wasn't a great singer and that might have stopped me. I believe it was fated to happen this way and I'm glad it did!

From what I gather things became a bit romantically complicated with you and some other Corvettes, former boyfriends, etc. Do you feel like this contributed to the breakup of the band in '81?

Like I said before Pete and I dated when I was in high school and his next girlfriend, Lori Jeri joined the band about 6 months after we started playing and that was never a problem. Most of the girls in the band had musician boyfriends who weren't always happy when their girlfriends went on tour, but I don't really think that had anything to do with the band breaking up. I think it had just run its course although Pete, Lori Jeri and I continued to work on other projects together over the years.

To me, the first Nikki and The Corvettes record on Bomp has a sort of sweet sunny disposition to it, a bit more of a West Coast feel and less of what one would think of as a Detroit or New York resonance. Did you have a particular sound you were shooting towards or was it more of a feeling or a 'vibe,' for lack of a better word?
Nikki and The Corvettes had so many influences and inspirations and wanted to be like all of them. I always wanted to be more punk and Pete wanted us to be more pop. The album just ended up being our combination of all of that but my voice was just kind of cute and girly and plus I've always been just super happy and excited about life so that was probably more the sunny West Coast feel, plus I love California, lived there for 24 years, so I'm very much a Detroit California girl. I don't think we tried to sound a certain way, it's just what evolved, what we had to work with, doing the album ourselves and who we were.

In 1997 you published a book called Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven. What is it about and what led you to want to write a book?
It all started as a game Lee Childers, photographer, manager for Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers and Levi and The Rockats, part of the Bowie, Mainman, Warhol crowd and on and on, and I used to play when we were bored at work. We would try to list all the dead Rock Stars we could think of and I decided it would be a great book for all the crazy people like us. I had wanted it to be an encyclopedia of dead rock stars, how they died and where they were buried; a lot of my friends and I like to visit their graves but didn't know where many of them were buried. In the end, I had to cut in down drastically because of time issues, deadlines and the overwhelming scope of it but it's still my dream to publish the definitive book of rock star deaths and a map to their graves.

In 2003 you released the "Love Me" b/w "What's On My Mind" 7” on Rapid Pulse Records. The first record that was released that marked an end to your recording hiatus.  How did that project come together?
After a long hiatus from music I started playing again occasionally with a young all girl band called The Pinkz. I got a message from Russell Quan, Bobbyteens, Flakes, Mummies and too many other bands to name, that a friend of his wanted me to play his festival called Rock Action in Minneapolis. I called his friend, Travis Ramin, intending to tell him no but he somehow convinced me to do the show with him and some local musicians. The show was great and Travis and I became really good friends. Next thing I know he wanted to write and record some songs so we wrote 2 songs over the phone, I was in LA, and we recorded them in Minneapolis. Pretty soon we started doing mini tours, East Coast, Midwest, West Coast and then Japan and eventually decided to make a real band of it and we became Nikki Corvette and The Stingrays recording several more records together.

In releasing the Wild Record Party album in 2005, you covered the gamut of pop music, everything from late 70's Punk to late 50's Rockabilly and Doo Wop. Is this a sort of homage to your influences or are these simply songs you've always just wanted to let loose on?
It's kind of a combination of reasons. Some are songs I had always loved and covered in the past, some were songs I just wanted to record and most of them were either a direct influence or representative of my many varied musical influences. There were also a few that were requests of other band members and a few that were compromises between us. It was just a fun record for me because I'm just a true fan, always have been, always will be and it was the chance to do a lot of songs I wouldn't normally do but that I was a fan of.

You have records on many different labels and collaborated with a lot of people through out your career in music. Have you ever thought of compiling your music into a sort of career spanning 'Box Set' collection?  Because that frankly would be super fantastic.
I hadn't really thought about it until I read this question but I kind of love the idea! There are a lot of records, especially the Japan only releases, which a lot of people haven't heard and there are some songs on those I'm quite proud of. I think it would be interesting to do, especially to re-release some songs I'm really proud of that were only released in Japan. Some of the recent work I've done is more grown-up and I'm trying some different styles of music and I'd like people to see another side of me. What do you guys think???? I would love to get some feedback!

There have been a number of books and memoirs written about the NYC music scene in the mid to late 70's. You were right there in the middle of it. There's even a story of David Johansen writing an English paper for you when you were in high school! Have you ever seen a passage or read any book that just completely misrepresents those times or anyone you've known from back in the day? Anything you that's made you think to yourself "that guy has it all wrong!"
Although there is nothing I can think of offhand, I am absolutely sure there are many instances I have thought this but that doesn't mean it didn't truly represent what the writer felt, it's all relative and personal to everyone in a different way. I have found in talking to people about shared experiences that we viewed them very differently even if we were together and I'm sure I've said stuff about things that happened, that someone else said "No, that's wrong." As far as the Johansen story, I was a college freshman and had stayed up all night hanging with The Dolls, I had an English paper due in a couple of hours on Desire Under The Elms and Johansen actually did help me write it. I got it turned in on time and gave him credit for the help.

You've been involved throughout the years with many young artists, everyone from Amy Gore to LA's The Pinkz, who I saw open up for The Real Kids and totally held their own, and The Donnas. Have these collaborations been a key factor in keeping you inspired to continue to play and write music?
I really love working with different people because they open me up to different styles of music and yes, they very much inspire me to try new stuff and keep me fresh. I'm a little scattered/ADD/easily bored so all these people keep me excited.

What does Nikki Corvette have in store for us in the near or not so near future?
I have so many projects in the works it's insane!!! I am currently working on songs/singles with Hunx from Hunx and His Punks, Kepi Ghoulie from Groovy Ghoulies, Morten Henriksen from The Yum Yums, Kevin Preston from Prima Donna and King Khan as well as writing songs for an album with my band The Romeos. Some Rock N' Roll Art shows with this amazing San Francisco artist Dirty Donny, a book project in the very early stages I will be doing with Deniz Tek, Radio Birdman as well as a mini West Coast tour this winter and tours of Japan, Spain and possibly more of Europe and hopefully Australia next year. I just released a single “He's Gone b/w Rockin' Romeos” with my incredible Italian band The Romeos, right before our last European tour, it's sold out but hopefully we will repress it soon. I have 3 songs I co-wrote with producer Mike E. Clark as well as some vocals that will be on his Zombies Rule record later this month. I am constantly finding new projects and beyond what is already in the works, I'm not even sure what's in store but I will keep working, playing and rockin' as long as people are interested and I'm having fun!!!

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The Ills

     When I first started hearing about the Ills, I heard comparisons to bands like The Spoiled Brats and The No Talents. So, when I finally got a chance to hear these Iowa City monsters, they did not disappoint! Those influences are indeed there, but the Ills have taken that sound and stuck their own brand on it. It is theirs, they own it now, and lucky for us they are sharing it with the rest of us lowly dogs!

Interview by Jay Castro

Who’s answering the questions here?

Danny and Erika

Who is in the band and what instrument do they play?

Erika Ebola - Vox

Danny Dysentery - Guitar

Molly Marburg - Bass

Tommy Tinnitus - Drums

Are you all originally from Iowa City?

None of us are. Tommy Danny and Molly are all from different areas of Iowa, Erika is from Texas and Iowa.

How did Rip Off records find their way into your hands in Iowa?  

Danny: When I was a kid, Iowa City record stores carried a lot of punk and garage punk records.  I would make trips to Iowa City to go record shopping. I had heard about The Rip Offs in Maximum Rock 'n' Roll and spotted their LP at a local record shop and bought it and I loved it. When I met Erika she was into it too, and we started obsessing and collecting a lot of that kind of stuff, like the No Talents, the Drags, the Statics, the Makers, The Registrators etc.

Erika: I first heard about this stuff when I was a kid in Texas. I was kind of on the hunt for female attitude and vocals that kind of matched how I felt. I loved those classic grrrl bands from Olympia labels (like Bratmobile and Bikini Kill) and those awesome women fronted bands from the early LA scene, (X and the Bags etc.).  A friend had this Spoiled Brats song dubbed on a tape and made a joke that no one could like this, except probably me! So, it was played for me, and I instantly fell in love with it! Which lead to you know all that stuff, girl and guy, and then I ended up in Iowa.

Does the band play shows a lot in Iowa City?  Is there a scene out there that the rest of the country should know about?

Erika: We play a lot.  There are a lot of cool and different punk bands in Iowa City, but there’s not a scene of bands that sound similar.  Everyone is doing their own thing. It doesn’t really create a cohesive scene “sound” but I think that's great because that would be boring.  There are a lot of really cool bands here if your into different kinds of punk, like Lipstick Homicide, Slut River, Conetruama, NERV, Big Box, and a lot more… and they are all doing their own thing from straight up pop punk to black metal hardcore.

Also, it’s a very academic town. It has the highest percentage of the adult population holding a bachelor's degree or higher in the US, yet, it is still very small. Maybe this has an influence on how stuff end up playing out here, I dunno.

Danny: What she said.

Your newest 7” is on No Front Teeth records, how did you get involved with that label?

Erika: It’s kind of a strange circle. Jim from Rapid Pulse Records originally pointed us in their direction. They heard some demos of ours and were interested and put out our first 7”. Our new EP Get It is actually coming out as a split release between the Canadian label Shake! Records and No Front Teeth Records. We played a show with the Ketamines last year and their drummer Ryan (who is also in Fist City) helped connect us with Shake! Then, Shake! reconnected with NFT for this release.

The Ills did a pretty cool video for your song Total Dick.  Was that fun to make? Where and how did that happen?

Danny: Erika made it. We filmed it in a local junk shop owned by our friend Brian who’s a big fan of the band.  I think Erika did her part in the bathroom of our apartment.

People have compared the sound of your band to the glory days of Rip Off records and bands like The No Talents.  Bands I’m pretty sure are integral to your sound. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill!   Do you feel any pressure because of those comparisons?  Are the almighty Ills up for the challenge?

Danny: In the beginning it was kinda more of a “let’s be this kinda band”, and I still love them. Now we are not trying to be one kind of thing anymore, we’re just mixing all our influences and everything together. But those comparisons are flattering and kind, and we do love rip off records, but we’re nowhere as good as those bands!

Erika: It is flattering that we have those comparisons. They are a part of our influences. But, we would never try to or want to fill their shoes.  They are pretty fantastic at what they did and got that covered. Plus, we gotta do our own thing! I think there may have been a moment of pressure to self-edit to keep within that expectation. But that’s all self-inflicted pressure that we said, “ehh, forget about it”, to a long time ago! We have a lot of different influences and I think our music will continue to reflect that.

On your bands profile, you list your other interests as Punk Punk Punk.  Surely you have some non punk interests?  Baking, knitting, sculpting, c’mon spill the beans!

Danny: I really love Italian horror movies, film in general, pretentious art shit, coffee and rock n roll and all music really.

Erika:  I collect purses and nail polish and movies.  As a band I think we all like drinkin’.

Do you think Rock ‘N’ Roll can still be a vital and influential force for kids in such a disposable age?

Danny: I think on a massive scale, no. On an individual scale, yes. Because like there are teenage punk bands right here in my town that are exciting and inspiring... to see like 14 and15 year old kids taking the time to write songs and learn instruments and put together good bands shows that. But in the mainstream I think no, it’s time has passed. I don’t think there’s gonna be one band that's gonna come along soon that's gonna capture peoples imagination and bring rock back into the forefront. It looks like right pop is here to stay. Is there even big rock band right now? I guess I don’t know and don’t pay attention to even know.

50 years ago people used to buy music and get their water free; now people pay for water and get their music free. How do you think this affects the music industry?

Danny: I don’t know about paying for music, but they charge way too much for water here at the local grocery store. And you have to buy water because the local tap is so fucking nasty you can’t use it. I mean its 29 cents a gallon now...  as for music it’s harder to get people’s attention now, it’s not like when you had to read reviews, decide if you wanted to spend your money based on word of mouth, make a commitment and give that record a chance. Now all you have to do is go and click a button and if it doesn’t hit you on a gut level then… bam, yr done. You don’t give it any attention.

Erika:  People still buy vinyl and tapes. I don’t know much about the economics of the larger music industry and I don’t think it much affects bands like us.  But, you know because everything IS free and easy; it is disposable. It can be strangely difficult to get people to even listen to something that is free and in front of them. There’s no personal investment or connection with a band or record before hearing it. It’s “ill check that out” which translates to, I’ll listen to 10 seconds of two songs and then decide if I’m interested or writing it off entirely.

Where can people hear the band, purchase your music or buy those awesome purple Ills T-shirts!?  

You can hear some of our music at sand

http://snd.sc/11Sdz2q

Our 7” Ep Get It should be out in May. It should be able available from: Shake! Records, http://www.experienceshake.com/  and NFT, http://www.nofrontteeth.co.uk/merch.html  

You can get the shirts, our old 7” and our newest one (soon) at

https://sites.google.com/site/theillsrock/home/stuff

What’s next for The Ills?  Any tour plans?

Getting ready to record our 2nd album! Writing the third! We plan to hit the road soon for our EP and 1st LP that should be out on Big Neck Records this summer!

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