Bulletboys Refuse To Phone It In

The Bulletboys emerged on the metal scene in 1988 in a sea that was oversaturated with bands. The guys did stand out from the crowd. They did have the hair and the attitude, but the makeup was minimal. They also had a sound that stood out from the rest and a charismatic lead singer who would start drawing some unwanted comparisons.

The band’s debut self-titled album was released in 1988 and came out of the gates blazing. It contained two huge MTV hits (yes, back when you actually could see music videos on the channel) “For the Love of Money” and “Smooth Up in Ya”. The combination of being produced by Ted Templeman of Van Halen fame and the on-stage comparisons of lead singer Marq Torien to David Lee Roth lead to an unfair stigma. The band was quickly labeled as a Van Halen clone and that seemed to follow them wherever they went.

The band saw many lineup changes throughout the 90s, but Marq was determined to keep the band going and he kept marching on. The band has continued to record and tour throughout the years. Now, with a new generation hungry for the sound and feel of the 80s, the Bulletboys are gaining a whole new audience. I had the privilege of sitting down to talk with lead singer Marq Torien after a hot and sweaty show in Roanoke, Virginia recently.

Hey Marq, how’s it going man? That show tonight was just amazing. You guys looked like you were having a blast up there on stage and it was very infectious to us in the crowd.

Thanks man! We were having fun up there; that was genuine. There are too many bands out on the road today who just “phone it in”. They either try to fake it on stage or they stand up there with a major attitude and act like you owe them something. That’s just not us man. I am doing this for my kids, so I can leave some type of legacy for them. It’s been pretty tough her of late with Jani (Lane) passing away and all. That really hurt, it hit me pretty bad. I mean, we’re all getting a little older and you look up and see that one of your fellow rockers has passed away. Amy (Winehouse) passed away too and she was such a good gal. She loved my voice. We had a couple of really cool chats. These artists get ridiculed all the time now. We use to revere our artists and that’s not happening anymore.

There seems to have been a lot of greats in the industry who have left us too soon in the last few years. How do you keep it together and keep marching on?

I feel very fortunate and very blessed. God has blessed me and people can say what they want, but he has enabled me to carry on with what I love doing. I’m a musician man and I think that if you are able to bring something musically that’s relevant and people want to hear it, then you keep going. I love our audience and it’s not a fan thing anymore because these people are our family. I get a chance to see people that I have been seeing for years and I have seen them grow up and get married and have kids and now their kids are fans too. We’ve always been a kind of underground hard rock band. I mean, we’ve sold millions of albums, but we never made it to that next level. We didn’t follow trends. We were never a ballad band even though it seemed like every band from that era was doing ballads. That was purposely done on our part because we were against those bands that did those just to get signed.

Let’s talk about those early days because I have always wanted to ask you about this. The whole “Van Halen Junior” label or clone or whatever you want to call it. How unfair was that?

Well, it was great working with Ted. That cat had worked with the Doobie Brothers and Van Halen and Van Morrison and he taught us so much stuff. I mean, we were young teenagers and out of control and he just kind of let us do out thing. The Van Halen comparisons were really appreciated and we threw our arms around it and loved it, but it was a double edge sword for us because we were not that. We were this aggressive, piss and vinegar rock band that hated the Sunset Strip. We wanted nothing to do with that! We played the Troubadour and that was our home. We were a different band. We were a mix of a lot of things. Here is this R&B, hard rock soul singer and surfer/skater type guy with Lonnie, here’s Nick who loves metal, but can also write a pop song and here’s Jimmy who is hardcore. You mix all of that up and we had a unique sound. We were way less of a hair band and more like this weird cartoon character coming to life.

I agree with you because your sound did have a different edge to you that was unlike anything out there. Your voice was very distinct.

Thanks man! I wasn’t that typical rock and roll screamer guy. I have a Motown base to my sound. I worked, at an early age, with a Benny Medina and Kerry Ashby Gordy, who was Berry Gordy’s son. I met some amazing people and worked with some great people in the Motown family and not too many people in my genre can say that. They taught me to be humble with my talent and I wish I would have done that more in my early career.

You had copies of your 10cent Billionaire CD here tonight. That thing seems to be taking on a second life. I think it’s one of your best and definitely much underrated.

Thanks man! It’s a bizarre story behind it. I was signed with the label and when the recession hit the poor guy’s company went down and he couldn’t get behind it and push it. The record basically went away. We are resurrecting this record, with help from friends and family, and people seem to be loving it. People are just starting to hear it now. It’s been out for over a year and a half and got shuffled to the side. We had some people who were coming out to the last tour who were practically begging us to play some material from it. So, we did and people were singing along with it and actually knew all of the words. The reaction was so strong and we looked at each other and especially Lonnie was like ‘We need to go out and do this record. Let’s forget the old and move forward.’ So, that’s what we did. Even the response tonight was great to the songs we played off of it. We’re basically dusting it off and making people more aware of it again.

There seems to be a hunger for the 80s and the music from it. It was such a fun period that gets raked over the coals, but here we are 25 years later and a lot of these bands are finally getting some props. Have you noticed that while out on the road?

Yeah, I think a lot of times people think of our genre with a lot of contempt. I look at it as something that will never, ever happen again. Everybody was their own person. You had Axl Rose, Sebastian Bach, Mark Torien, Taime Down, Phil Lewis. We all had our own vocal style. That small bit of time carries on until this day and a lot of people still are into that music. People really want to hear rock; real people singing it and playing it. I think you notice that in popular music too. Lady Gaga, a brilliant lady who is so full of love and her music is just amazing. She has guitar players ripping real solos up there and that’s rock and roll. She doesn’t use tapes, she is a real artist. People don’t want to hear tapes and pre-recorded stuff, they want the real deal. That’s what we were and continue to be to this day. Yeah, I may miss a note every now and then and somebody may ask me why I didn’t tune up. I mean, did Keith Richards tune up? Hell no! That’s rock and roll man! Don’t phone it in man. Like tonight, my guitar strap completely fell off! Nowadays, kids panic on-stage when that happens, but you have to roll with it. If it’s too real and polished, then it’s not real rock and roll.

So, what’s next for you guys?

We are going to be doing more shows here in the states and then over to Australia by the end of the year. I’m excited because I have never been there. I hope it works out because there are a lot of fans over there with a lot of love in their hearts for us. I am also looking at making some additions to the band. I may add some back-up singers and maybe a keyboardist. You have to constantly re-invent yourself.

I have to tell you Marq, the show was awesome and this interview has been a blast. I can’t wait to see and hear what you guys have lined up for us next. Is there anything you to say to your fans to wrap this up?

I feel great that the fans give me a chance to be out here still doing what it is that I love to do. It’s been a wild ride and I am glad it’s not ending. We’re out driving 10-12 hour drives between cities to these shows, but I love it. There are a lot of people out there who want to see the band and I want to reach them all. Thank you for wanting to see us after all of these years.

UPDATE: There have been a few major things that have happened in the world of the Bulletboys since this interview. The band lost a former band mate and friend in August when former drummer Johnny G. was killed in a car accident.
On a lighter note, the Bulletboys just released a covers CD entitled Rocked and Ripped.

Jaime St. James of Black N Blue: It May Not Be The 80s, But The Attitude Is Still The Same

The 80s were known as the decade of excess. It seemed as if everything was over the top; the fashion, the music and the attitude. Jaime St. James could have been the poster child for that decade. He and his band Black N Blue seemed to have it all together. They blazed out of the gate strong with their self titled debut in 1984 and seemed destined for greatness. Their next three releases seemed to falter and soon they were lost in the oversaturation of “hair bands” that were popping up everywhere.

The band went on hiatus and ventured into different projects. Jaime actually took over the lead singer role in Warrant and recorded “Born Again” with them in 2006, but left in 2008. The fans knew that there was unfinished business with Black N Blue and had been craving new material from them for years. Their prayers were answered in 2011 when Black N Blue reunited, minus Tommy Thayer, to finish recording Hell Yeah. I had the privilege to talk to Jaime about this crazy rock and roll road that he has been travelling for close to 30 years.

I have to tell you what a privilege it is to sit down and talk to you. Black N Blue are back and stronger than ever and I have to say that Hell Yeah is an amazing CD.

Jaime: Thanks man! The reaction to the new album has been amazing. We have been getting input on my website and my Facebook page, plus the band’s page. It has just been over the top positive. I would say 80% to 90% of the feedback has been favorable. 10% have been ridiculously positive saying it should be album of the year!

This album has been a longtime in the making. Can you catch us up to speed on how it all went down?

Well, first I got a solo deal and I started writing material. I wrote “Hell yeah” and “So Long”, which both ended up on this new album. Then, I joined Warrant and it all got put on hold. The Warrant gig lasted a few years and I left and decided to finish my project. Well, it actually turned into a Black N Blue deal. It took eight years from start to finish, but there were four years that we didn’t do anything with it. The actual recording part of it only took a couple of months. We never lost sight and the end product is how we really wanted it to sound.

This album in my opinion, along with many of your fans, should have been released back in the day. I think it would have pushed you guys to that next level. I have to ask you a question, on behalf of the fans. How much did the “suits” have to do with your sound being more polished and commercial after your first album was released? You guys seemed to lose your rawness on your second album. It was a great album, but it wasn’t true Black N Blue.

We chose to work with Bob Rock and Bruce Fairbairn on our second album. They seemed to be taking us in a different direction. We had some other material like “Swing Time” and “Blame It on the Neighborhood”, but they didn’t want it on there. I guess we were being steered by the people that we paid a lot of money to in order to tell us what we already knew in our own minds. You and the fans are right; this IS the album that we should have released back then.

Do you think that your new label Frontiers may have underestimated how this was going to sell in its first week? I read many comments online on the release date that said people were having a hard time actually finding it in the stores.

Oh, absolutely! Amazon sold out of it by 8:00 AM on the day it was released! I heard from many fans saying that they got the last copy at the store they went to. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Frontiers is a great label, but I think they underestimated our fans.

Can you tell me about Shawn (Sonnenschen), your new guitarist? How did you guys get together?

It’s funny because Shawn has been with us for eight years and he is still considered the new guy! Whoop (Jeff Warner) and Patrick (Young) knew him and Patrick had actually played with him. They told me that he would be a great fit for us and that he could do the job and I trusted the guys. It looks like they were right.

I read on your website that you actually played drums on some of the tracks?

That’s right; I did play drums on the basic tracks. Pete (Holmes) loved it and told me to keep it on there. I told him that he could rerecord it if he wanted to, but he told me that he would play them the same way. That was a huge compliment for me! I was a drummer up until Black N Blue; that’s when I decided to be out front and be a lead singer. I love drumming, but lead singers get laid more!

Do you have any personal favorites on the album? Is there anything that you are exceptionally proud of?

I pretty much love everything on there. I think “Monkey” is an excellent opener and it really kicks ass. There are also a few surprises in there. The guys really wanted to include stuff like “Jaime’s Got the Beer” and I was ok with that. I really do like the lyrics in “Falling Down”; I think they’re really killer. We opened M3 with “C’mon” and the crowd loved it. I think “Hail Hail” will be added to the live show eventually.

You brought it up before I could. I wanted to ask how M3 went.

It was pretty amazing! The crowd started chanting our name before we even hit the stage, so we knew it was going to be good. We could feel their energy and they were glad to see us. It was a 45 minute set and it felt really good. We sold out of the new CD in 20 minutes!

What are your plans for a first video from the album and touring in support of it?

There really hasn’t been talk of a video just yet; we’re just seeing how things go. Frontiers may decide that they want to do one, but for now we are going to let the album do its work. There have been some radio stations that have added “Hell Yeah”, but we will have to wait and see. We have some live plans that we can’t mention just yet. We are up to touring, but we’re not going to pile up in a van and play dirty little clubs.

The industry has changed so much since you guys started back in the 80s. What are your thoughts on the state of the industry today?

Well, people are going to continue to download for free and it makes it tough on us. That’s just what happens, but it’s not going to stop us. It’s 2011 and that’s the reality of it. I was talking to Juan from Ratt the other day and he told me that our new album will never sell what it could sell and he’s right.

So, when it’s all said and done and you have done your last encore and it’s time to call it a day, what do you want the legacy of Jaime St. James to be?

Wow, that’s a tough one. I guess I would want people to remember that I never gave up. I kept chugging right along and never quit. Our band has always been the underdog, but we never gave up.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us today Jaime. We can’t wait to see you guys tearing it up live. Do you have any last words for all of your fans?

I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming response to the new album. If you don’t have it, go out and get it. Call your radio stations and request us too. The stronger the record gets, the more opportunities it creates.

Black N Blue Raises A Little Hell Yeah!

I don’t care what anyone says, the 80s gave us a lot of great music. The second half of the decade saw the emergence of “hair bands” and it seemed like they were popping up everywhere. There were quite a few “one hit wonders” and even more “no hit wonders”. The market became oversaturated with them and some of the deserving seemed to get lost in the shuffle.

Black N Blue was one of those bands. You might even say that they were the Rodney Dangerfield’s of metal. They released four albums between 1984-1988 and had a few MTV hits. They even had the great Gene Simmons of KISS produce their last two albums, but they never seemed to get that proverbial “break” that pushed them to the next level. It’s a shame because this band had it all together. They had the look, the sound and the attitude.

Fast forward twenty three years and you find them back together and about to unleash the album that would have catapulted them to that next level. The original band is back: Jaime St. James on vocals, Jeff Warner on guitar, Patrick Young on bass, Pete Holmes on drums and Shawn Sonnenschein takes over the guitar reigns from Tommy Thayer. They have just released Hell Yeah! And it’s enough to make you want to break out your acid washed jeans and tease your hair high!

This is what Black N Blue is supposed to sound like right here. I am not sure if the band got caught up in the corporate machine after their debut album or what, but this is the raw, dirty sound that is Black and Blue. The nasty bass line from Patrick at the beginning of the leadoff track “Monkey” hooks the listener in and then the crunching guitar of Shawn grabs you by the neck and demands your attention. This is one of the best tracks on the album.

“Hail Hail” is a song that I really hope they add to their live show. I can envision the crowd with their fists pumping in the air and chanting along with that chorus. Also, Shawn has some insane guitar work on this song. The solo that he lays down is blistering. The title track is also another rocker that is similar in vain as it showcases Shawn’s fretwork.

There are two songs that may be considered rock/ballads. “Falling Down” and “Fools Bleed” are slower numbers, but they still pack that rock intensity. I also think they show how another side of the bands’ songwriting and that they do have a serious side. On the other hand, the 54 second “Jaime’s Got the Beer” seems like an out take meant for the cutting room for. I am still pondering on the meaning of the last track, “A Tribute to Hawking”. I know it is about Stephen Hawking, but I am just not sure of the point. Maybe it’s a little tongue in check, I just don’t get it.

Overall, Hell Yeah! simply ROCKS! Who knows, maybe if it would have been released back in the late 80s, then maybe Black N Blue could have joined the ranks of a Bon Jovi or Motley Crue. They certainly did deserve the attention and accolades that those guys were getting. I have to tip my hat to Jaime St. James also. His voice is superb on this release. It has a sense of maturity to it and a little bit of a rough edge that adds to the songs.

I highly recommend Hell Yeah! to old school fans from the 80s and even modern fans of metal. I think up and coming bands should listen to this as they prepare to record their debut album so that they can see what real rock and roll should sound like. It’s not an old school 80s sound recycled by the band, but rather they embrace that old school mentality of how to rock. I just hope we don’t have to wait 23 years for the follow up to this one.