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Interviews
Marc Star: Yosh and I met about 4 years ago through friends. In a random conversation we discussed playing music. I played him a bedroom 4-track tape and we started jamming with different people, particularly drummers. About 1 1/2 years ago Danny Foronda entered the picture and things snapped. We started playing out a couple of months later. Yosh: Listening to Marc's work on Thunderfuck 69 (Marc's previous band) and home recordings hooked me instantly. The heaviness and soul were there and so was I. Danny Foronda: I hooked up with Smoke through my sister. She and Yosh are friends. The Moth was my audition song, and when we ended it the atmosphere in the room instantly went from hesitation/wonder to "LET'S ROCK!". I've played some of the clubs on the Sunset Strip in the past, and Smoke is the first one I've been in where I don't want to run and hide after our set! Hellride Music: Smoke is a stoner band from Los Angeles. Now, LA isn't exactly a hotbed for stoner acts these days. What are your thoughts about the LA stoner scene and the LA music scene in general? How has the reception been at your live gigs? Seems you are getting some high profile places like the Viper Room....that's always a good sign.. Yosh: Aren't all rock bands stoner? Danny: I think the Rock scene in L.A. is alive and well, however the local clubs and promoters are more interested in booking the Rage Against The Machine and Green Day clones (There are plenty of them out there, and you all know who you are!) in order to boost their admission revenues. If more people were exposed to real ROCK, the scene would go through the roof. Unfortunately, the present musical climate is dictated by MTV and KROQ, and not on talent or sound! Marc:
Yeah. Fuckin' promoters. It's all their fault. Most music fans don't even
know they like stoner rock because all the fuckin' promoters are in the
way. Seriously though, we just wanna rock. We've played with a lot of
kickass bands out here and when the vibe has been right, people can't
help but dig it. But we're most interested in heading out of LA and spreading
the evil. Hellride Music: One thing that I commend Smoke for is the ability...and the will....to promote yourselves. The band does a damn good job of sending out e-mails and even postcards regarding the gigs and the EP was well placed in several local and national 'zines. Whose usually in charge of promotion? Has it paid off in your estimation? Marc:
We're in charge of promotion. I send out all the flyers. Yosh handles
the email. And Danny & Yosh are such charming guys, they get all of
the Hellride Music: Let's switch gears and talk about the EP for a minute... I thought you guys did a great job on the EP. It looks and sounds like some serious thought and money went into it. Take us into the studio....how were the tracks recorded? What was the vibe like? Anyone throw or take any punches? The studio experience is usually the test of how well a band gets along.... Yosh:
Getting to work with someone so involved in this resurgence of stoner
rock, Schneebie (The Obsessed, The Earthlings etc..) has definitely Danny: We're family, and like any other family we have our little squabbles (although they are always drug/alcohol induced). In the recording studio it was all business (no squabbles!) and I think it made us more aware of our abilities. As a drummer (and all the drummers out there that have recorded can probably agree with me!) it was quite a wake up call! You don't know how good you really are, until you've recorded. Producers can teach you a lot about you're own ability. Marc: Schneebie, our producer, kicked our asses and made us really focus. Our live shows improved dramatically after recording with him. He's got a 24-track, all analog studio which he was constantly messing with, ripping out circuit boards and doing stuff. One of his most interesting toys was the Leslie. We got a little bit of excellent mileage off that one. Basically, recording was just really exciting because it was our first effort as Smoke. Perhaps when we're more jaded we'll start thinking about throwing punches. Hellride Music: Lyrically, Smoke's tunes seem pretty damn dark. Not a whole lot of talk about spaceships and weed. One of my favorite tracks is "Double Zero". It starts off with someone you call "Mr. Ugly" who needs a "case of sauce to go home and fuck his wife". Give us some insight on what drives the lyrics, not just for that song but the rest of the Smoke repertoire. Marc: It's all about sex, drugs and Smoke. Hellride Music: How does the band approach songwriting? Is it a team effort or is someone usually in charge? Marc:
Our best stuff comes out of jams. We'll generally hit on a riff that seems
to stick. We play it until it's second nature. And the songs usually Danny:
A majority of the tunes were written before I joined the band. It was
Marc who gave me a printout of all his lyrics (I had been playing all
Hellride Music: What's next for the band? Any more gigs/recording planned? Yosh: Now that we have planted our seed in Los Angeles we are preparing to conquer the rest of the west coast. Stay tuned.... Marc: We're talking about going back into the studio and doing a 4-5 song vinyl LP, but we've got some saving up to do before that happens. Hellride Music: Thanks for the interview, fellas... any last words to the readers? Danny:
Everyone is always welcome to our shows, and if you can make it to one,
don't hesitate to say something to us! Smoke is definitely Marc:
One of us is gonna save the world. And that means rock 'n' roll is gonna
save the world. And the chicks are great.
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Smoke
smokes. Smoke is a heavy rock band from Los Angeles, CA and they answer
the question posed by many of us... What would a band sound like if you
crossed Glenn Danzig with stoner rock sensibilities and had famed Obsessed/Saint
Vitus/Goatsnake/Khanate producer Martin Schneeberger behind the knobs?
Hellride Music asks inane questions, Smoke answers. A great interview
with the band.
Read
the Hellride Music review of 