Phoenix glam rock act the Crash Street Kids first won my allegiance with their teenage-fantasy inspired Do You Believe In Rock-N-Roll? video.  I scoped their name on a flyer in Minneapolis last fall but narrowly missed catching them.  Months down the line (fast forward to April), the band— set to headline a Rock the Cause event in Minneapolis— ran into a touring snafu: their beloved bus broke down on the outskirts of the dusty Arizona capitol.  Scraping together resources, the band scored a replacement vehicle which turned out to be a total lemon, breaking down just hours later in New Mexico.   We caught up with the Kids after the fact and asked them to tell their torrid tale…

Mary Scott: I’m picturing you guys all glammed out— make up, leather pants, boas, dust flying—hitchhiking home on the highway.  How long were you stuck and how did you get home from New Mexico?

A.D. Adams:  Now there’s a picture, huh?  That’s pretty much exactly how it went… except for the hitchhiking part!  Fortunately, we’d broken down close enough to an exit and only had to walk a few miles.  Ricky and I hoofed it, while Deuce and Ryan stayed behind with the vehicle.  As luck had it, there was a HUGE liquor outlet at that exit, so we called them, and amazingly, within about a half hour Ricky and I saw the van creeping up the shoulder of the highway at about one mile-per hour!  We put the curtains up in the van in the parking lot and killed bottles of Jameson until we figured out a Plan B.

Deuce: There was definite incentive to get that van to the exit!  Ricky and A.D. had a pretty good head start on Ryan and me, so after some Olympic-style catch-up drinking, we got busy and found a tow into Gallup, New Mexico.  We ended up stuck in Gallup for three days.

MS: How did you transport your equipment back?

Deuce:  A.D. has a good friend in Gallup, so we shacked up at his place and tried to figure out how to keep the tour from de-railing.  It took a couple days for the mechanic to find the problem with the van, so we killed more Jameson and played acoustic guitars in A.D.’s friend’s living room.  It wasn’t so bad, really… we had food, shelter, whiskey, and A.D.’s friend also has two smokin’ hot 18 year old twin daughters!

A.D.: I wish I could say that Deuce was making that up!  It’s starting to sound like the set-up to a dirty joke… You know, the one about the traveling rock band, the broken down van and the two twin daughters?!  Anyways, once we got word that the repair was gonna cost more than what we had, we looked for other ways to keep the tour going.  We rented a U-Haul truck, loaded up everything from the van and trailer and drove back to Phoenix.  Me and Ricky rode all the way home in the back of the truck with all the gear, freezing our nuts off while Ryan and Deuce rode in the front with the seats and the heat!  I’m not sure how it worked out that way…

MS: Did you wind up having to cancel the rest of your tour?

Deuce: Unfortunately, yes. After three days of racking our brains trying to find a way to go on, everything available- and I mean all options- as far as transporting us and our equipment were either out of the question financially, or unavailable to rent, borrow, or steal!

A.D.: I was on the phone 24/7 with Scott Herold, the promoter of the tour and CEO of Rock the Cause, looking for solutions.  As one possibility seemed do-able, it just as quickly became obsolete.  An eleventh-hour effort was made to get us to Albuquerque, catch a plane to Denver, and then fly on to Minneapolis or Chicago, to be picked up by van and taken to the first show!  Game on, right?! Wrong.  In a freak snowstorm, Denver Airport was shut down at the last minute!  Game over!!!  Scott told us “The universe is telling you not to continue this tour….you should never argue with the universe…”

Deuce: That made sense… so we finally went home!

MS: What happened with the dealership that sold you the crappy car?

A.D.:  Don’t get me started, Mary!!!  You won’t like me when I’m angry!

Deuce:  Yeah….uhhh……next question, please!!!

A.D.:  We’re gonna have to take ‘em to court.  Hey, if there’s anyone out there reading this who can make it happen….this would make an excellent Judge Judy episode!!

MS:  Ha!  That would be great publicity! If anyone reading this has any connections, help the KIDS out.   Out of curiosity, what do you think the ratio of touring bands (indie and major) breaking down in America might be on a daily basis?

Deuce:  1:5!

A.D:  Deuce and his awesome math skills!  It’s hard to put a number on it, but in my opinion, there are certainly a lot of indie bands that find it very hard to stay alive on the road for any length of time due to the obvious touring costs (gas, rooms, etc).  But add that to the fact that most clubs or venues won’t give guarantees for most traveling bands anymore, unless you’re a proven draw.  That’s hard for bands hitting, let’s say, Cleveland(!) for the first time.   You’d better hope you sell a load of tee shirts, c.d.’s and stickers, or you won’t eat very much or drive very far!  Touring with record company support is certainly a more comfortable scenario if you can get ‘em to give up the cash!

MS:  You recently toured Britain where you collected a #1 for your Chemical Dogs album.  Do audiences differ much and do you think the English are more in touch with Glam being that it was one of their top musical exports?

A.D.:  The audiences all over Europe and especially in the U.K. and Scandinavia are amazing!  There is still an incredible relationship between entertainers and their audiences over there.  The people seem to genuinely want to be entertained and their enthusiasm and involvement with the act is so much more defined and sincere.  I think American audiences can be a bit jaded… numb or disinterested because of all the cookie-cutter crap-rock that’s jammed down their throats on a daily basis courtesy of corporate-programmed American radio!

Deuce: We’re so lucky to have been played on some great radio stations over there.  That has helped us a lot!  Now if more American radio stations would grow some yarbles…

MS:  I know what you mean… We blogs hope to help somehow make up for that, level the playing field a little bit.  Minneapolis is also an amazing city for independent music, especially rock.  First Avenue has a lot to do with that.  Speaking of, being a Minneapolitan (and not to sound catty- love your sound and look), but your albums follow a story line surrounding a character called The Kid.  Was Purple Rain an inspiration and/or have comparisons been made between the two characters?

A.D.:  Thanks for the props, Mary!  The name, The Kid, isn’t related to Prince’s character at all, although I am a HUGE fan of the movie and the record.  I even saw Prince on the Purple Rain tour… Great!!!  We just needed to call our hero something, but the names “Zal Clemenson” and “Ace Frehley” were already taken, so we stuck with The Kid tying in with the CSK moniker.  As for comparisons, I suppose whenever anyone does stuff in a conceptual form, it will invariably be compared to something similar that has come before it.  The story we tell is quite unique and awesomely kick-ass!

MS:  Alice Cooper has helped with several Crash Street Kids records and is a sort of celebrity CSK cheerleader.  I heard or read somewhere that he’s a born-again Christian and have this hilarious image in my head of a way toned-down Alice lurking in the wings during a live show, shaking his finger.  Does he ever lecture you guys about your androgyny, sex, drugs and/or partying themes?

Deuce:  No.  Alice is a good friend.  We love him to death!  He’s been on our side since day one… He even lent us his rehearsal facility for some warm-up shows before our first tour a couple of years ago.

A.D.:  He has the sickest grin on his face when we start talking about his old shows years ago and then talking about our insane show nowadays!  He gives us a lot of crap about stuff like…”Confetti bombs, huh?   Wish I’d thought of that”…

Deuce: Also, he looks good in one of our cheerleader’s uniforms!!!

MS:  O.k., I’m having way too much fun visualizing that one… Moving along, are you guys working on a new album?  If so, are the songs you’re writing built around a new character or will they draw more directly from your adventures?

Deuce:  We’re actually working on two albums right now… We recorded two shows at Cooper’s Town (Alice’s concert venue in Phoenix, Arizona) and will be releasing them shortly!  We’ve also started working on our next studio record.  We’re hoping to release both this year and are finishing up the video for the song “Destroyer” from our current c.d., Transatlantic Suicide.

A.D.: The live album is gonna be insane!  You can actually hear stage explosions on the audio tracks!   As for the next studio disc, we are sworn to secrecy by the powers-that-be at Hot City Recording Company, and “mum” is the word as to the content of the next disc.  It will most definitely be a BIG-ASS Crash Street Kids record!!!

MS:  If you could offer three (or more) touring tips to new bands hitting the road, what would they be?

Deuce:  Take plenty of whiskey and Band-Aids!!!

A.D.:  Deuce…you’re a mess!   Number one:  book more shows than you think you can play… some will always fall through!  Number two: make sure your vehicle can make it!!  Number three: no shitting in the tour bus!

MS:  Any make-up dates coming up in Minneapolis or the Midwest?

A.D.:  We’re working on that as we speak.  The people up there have been so good to us, and the crowds are fantastic.  Everyone can keep up with us by logging into our websites and social media sites.  We’re on: www.myspace.com/crashstreetkids , www.crashstreetkids.com and Facebook.  We also have a channel on iTunes called Crash Street Kids TV.  Also, our friends at Rock the Cause have a website that will keep you updated on CSK mishaps and triumphs, amongst other philanthropical endeavors!   Their address is www.irockthecause.org.

MS:  Awesome.  On behalf of Borangutan, thanks so much!

Deuce:  Thanks a lot for digging what we do and for the interview.   Next time we hit the road, you oughta pile in the van with us and come on the road for a few days… and bring an extra liver with ya!

A.D.:  Thanks, Mary, and thanks to all the fans out there… and please buy our latest c.d. Transatlantic Suicide if you haven’t already!   Shameless I know, but Gene Simmons would be proud!!!

“Do You Still Believe In Rock in Roll?” by: Crash Street Kids

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And there we have it – roadside reports as well as tour survival tips from one of America’s last great glam rock acts.  We’ll notify you post haste when the Kids roll through town again… In the meantime, keep your eyeballs glued to CRASH STREET KIDS TV and tune into Borangutan for your daily dose of local music news!

Signing off,

Mary Scott

Links

Crash Street Kids – Website / Myspace / Facebook

posted July 9th, 2009 at 2:45 pm Interviews, Reviews Crash Street Kids