 Interviews - Velcro Lewis & His 100 Proof Band
03-17-2005, 12:09 AM
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by Chris Barnes
March 16, 2004
 Gawd I love these guys. Not them personally, I don’t know how to love, you understand, but their music. Their debut album Ruin Everything hit me like Jesus. Who combines such ribald diversity as the Flaming Groovies, Deep Purple, the Oblivians, Canned Heat, Blue Cheer, Bob Seger System, George Jones and Otis Redding? And make it sound cool? Velcro Lewis & His 100 Proof Band are amplified good times. Hellride talks to the band about the new record, which guitar tunings suck, and listening to “Endless Boogie” on drugs.
Hellride Music: Velcro Lewis and His 100 Proof Band. OK, first explain the "Velcro" part of the name, and then give us a bio and breakdown of the band and it's members. Please.
Velcro Lewis Velcro Lewis & His 100 Proof Band consists of:
VL: Velcro Lewis - singer
HS: Halden Spoonwood - bass
BR: Bill Roe - drums
PH: Phil Hunger - lead guitar
PR: Paully Rocco - guitar
About 12 years ago I was in my basement eating some microwave burritos, listening to Endless Boogie and tripping on mescaline. I was a teenager, that what you do when you're young. I had a 4 track and a guitar that I didn't know how to play. I wrote about 12 songs that day. In one of the songs I started arguing with myself. "Hey man, I'm Velcro Lewis, get off my back." So there, that's where it came from, the melted mind of an 18 year old. That and I hate tying my shoes, so I wore velcro sneaks from K-Mart, EZ Strider they were called. It kind of adapted that meaning too, but it all really has nothin' to do with anything. I don't do mescaline anymore if your asking...
So some of these songs kinda haunted me the next 7 or so years. They were fumbling messes of sub-par Pussy Galore sounding shit. I kept at it for some reason, and sooner or later, Bill Roe, our drummer, convinced me we should play 'em live. He knew this 23 year old phenom, Phil Hunger, who was working hard writing these weird electronic/Debussy/Stockhausen sounding space rock adventures in his basement. Turned out the guy could play every damn Jimmy Page lick on the guitar as well as Eddie Van Halen's 'Eruption' on the sitar. What the hell is that about? Then somewhere down the line we recruited Halden Spoonwood on the bass and Paully Rocco on the other guitar. Halden could pick the hell out of some country guitar, but could also do some sweet things to the bass. Paully charmed us with his bad jokes and massive mustache AND he could keep up with the band, so he was in too. I couldn't imagine playing with anyone else, or anyone else puttin' up with me like these guys do.
So that was all around 2001-ish, and that's when we started playing out. We have been at it for 4 years now and we're finally getting our shit together. We released a split seven inch with the Dutchmen on Shit Sandwich records in 2003. Ruin Everything was released on LP in August of 2004 on Rococo records and we self released the CD in that following December. We just completed our next album along with 2 songs for a split 10 inch with Bible Of The Devil. Those should see the light of day this summer. I hope that answers your question. As you'll soon see, I ramble on ALOT. Doesn't help that I whiskey'ed up my coffee before I got to these questions tonight.
Hellride Music: You know, to be honest I wasn't expecting much from Ruin Everything. I first listened to it on Christmas Eve on the way to my in-laws and I have to say, I was blown away. I remember passing a particularly ostentatious Xmas light display on someone's house and "They Call Me The Tracker" was playing. And somehow everything made sense. Honestly, it's a great rock n' roll record. Tell us the behind the scenes on the writing and recording of Ruin Everything.
Velcro Lewis: I wouldn't expect much from the looks of the record either. It’s unassuming. Some people have been totally surprised. You know, you don't wanna go the route so many bands have, like puttin' skulls and mary jane and wizards and shit on the album cover. We may reference those things within the music, but if we gave anyone any kind of preconceived notions
or disclaimer of what it sounded like, then the impact, if at all, would be lost.
Some of songs on the record were written almost 3 years ago when the band started. Everyone in the band writes too, which I guess is a big deal compared to how most bands are run. Halden wrote 1/3 of the songs on the record, including 'Rockin' & Drinkin' (Tonight)' and 'The Velvet Jungle', which were originally written for this Elvis stylist, Jesse Garon Presley, that we play with sometimes as his back up band. Bill wrote 'Can't You Hear Me Knockin', I wrote 'Nitecap' back in '96, Paul wrote the song on our 7 inch, and Phil wrote "…Tracker" which has nothing to do with X-Mas displays, but I can see the connection if I squint hard enough. The rest of the shit we worked on together in some way or another, I guess. It's hard to remember honestly. Most of these were written at a time when we had an onstage bartender, Capt. Booze. My memory of our live shows is still very fuzzy.
We did a lot of stupid things in the studio. I had this tedious idea to record some of the songs differently than others. They have a lot of old pre-amps and compressors, mics, amps and boards at Lake Street where we recorded. I felt like the more rock n' roll songs called for an old school approach, while songs like 'Evil Woman' and 'Neutral Drop' deserved more of a classic acid rock sound. So we put the engineers to work and well, the process turned out to be a huge headache for everyone, but I think the end result came out a lot better than any of us had expected.
Hellride Music: You've attached yourself to the Desert Rock scene, but you've got a lot of cross-appeal potential. I hear a ton of influences, but somehow you make it cohesive - a lot of garage rock, dirty blooze (that's a mean slide guitar, whoever is responsible for that) even some rockabilly. Where does the band draw it's influences from and how come you decided against using the same tunings as Josh Homme?
Velcro Lewis:  Well, we're all in the same boat concerning what we let influence us. Aside from Bill and Spoonie having thousands of more records than the rest of us, you'll find a lot of the same shit in everyone's racks. Musically, we've somehow managed to draw this line somewhere between the Flaming Groovies, Deep Purple, the Oblivians, and Canned Heat without sounding too much like any of them. Shit like the Sonics, Blue Cheer, Bob Seger System and even George Jones and Otis Redding have played a part in shaping our output as well. We just write songs, and if we feel like we can get away with playing them alongside our other material and pull it off without lookin' like total jackasses, then it's thrown into the 'repertoire'.
As far as attaching ourselves to the 'desert, stoner,or fuzzrock' tags, I think its been more like theterms attaching themselves to us. A lot of people like to throw sub-genre names around just to make it safe for them to like it. Man, its all fuckin' rock and roll, everyone likes rock, everyone likes to party. There's no reason to make excuses for it or come up with a new name that'll make it cooler. People need to gain some self-confidence when dealing with their musical tastes.
I don't know about any crossover appeal, I guess I really haven't thought of it, but we do have some pretty diverse fans. Metalheads, hipsters, rockers, punks, suburban throwbacks, people from Wisconsin and even my dad. But that’s just how it is in Chicago, the whole rock scene is pretty amalgamated. Everybody likes all kinds of music here, and everyone's a retarded fanatic about it too, so it isn't that strange to attract different kinds of people, especially in an alcoholic city like this one. People are drunk most of the time, and that has worked out pretty good for us. We've somehow been able to get away with playing shows with Mountain, Dixie Witch and even Weedeater and then end up on a bill with Andre Williams, Paul 'Wine' Jones or Split Lip Rayfield, all with a pretty positive result. It’s funny how accessible we ended up being.
Now as for Josh Homme, I don't know what that guy tunes to, I'm sure its something ridiculously low, like A or something. That Kyuss stuff is heavy. I haven't really payed attention to them since Sky Valley came out. What're those guys doin' now?
I'll tell ya one thing though, you can't pull of a fuckin' Blues Breakers cover when you're tuned down to A, you know? We're not Buried At Sea or Brutal Truth, here. You HAVE to tune low in order to execute something that goddamn evil. D tuning is acceptable, I guess. I think some bands are convinced it's something they have to do, there's tons of bands that would sound much more real if they didn't tune down so low. Like that band Dirty Rig. Their album sounds like White Zombie instead of Skynyrd like it should sound. Imagine how awesomely classic most of those bands would sound if they were tuned higher. We'd have a bunch of little baby Wishbone Ash/Black Oak Arkansas on our hands, and that would be awesome. That would be special.
Halden Spoonwood: I'd like to add that I never heard of no Josh Homme in my life, but I generally have a hard time hearing in any detail what those low-tuners are playing. So I'm almost against it on principle, but I'm a crotchety old man.
Velcro Lewis: So, maybe you have heard that guy play, but didn't realize it because you couldn't 'hear' him! Spoonie really just listens to Martin Mull records and Bill Monroe tapes anyway.
Phil Hunger: Yeah, I don't know who he is either.
Velcro Lewis: Whatever...
Hellride Music: You guys should learn to get along. What's the press been like for Ruin Everything? You guys happy with the reviews so far?
Velcro Lewis:  The press has been eerily good and a lot of people have been very supportive of the record, but at the same time we know who's gonna like it and who isn't. I think we'll wait for the next record before we start asking Mojo or some other big deal rag what they think. But yeah, the word has been great. A lot of people seem to get into what we're doing from the get-go and actually listen to the whole record, instead of just turning it off immediately because it starts off with a fast song instead of some kinda St. Vitus sounding cut.
Hellride Music: Does Velcro Lewis & His 100 Proof Band have an overriding group philosophy? Do you feel the other members harbor at least some animosity because your name is in the band moniker and there's isn't?
Velcro Lewis: "Pro attitude, Pro gear!" No ,really, I'd be lying if I said we had some kind of band credo. The closest thing to any of that would be to just have fun and play loud. Both are essential ingredients for when you're cookin' up a good time. And we haven't had a bad time in quite a while. As for animosity, I'll let the other guys answer that one, as long as they keep the shit talkin' to a minimum.
Halden Spoonwood: No one that I know of has any animosity about the band moniker. I think it makes sense to put "Velcro Lewis" in front for this type of thing. It's a memorable name, and a memorable dude. Plus the "blah-blah and the so-and so's" band-name format isn't used that often any more...
Velcro Lewis: …Unless you're a tribute band from the suburbs, that is.
Bill Roe: I lobbied for the 'Bill Roe is Totally Awesome Band', but they wouldn't go for it... suckers.
Velcro Lewis: And after that we threw around the idea of "The Bill Roe Couldn't Get Laid In A Morgue Band". The vote was 4 to 1 in favor, but since we're a democratic band, we stuck with the original plan. Plus Bill's too much of a sex machine, no one would believe us.
Hellride Music: HA! You guys are comedy gold. How about gear? What do you guys use and why?
Velcro Lewis:  We use a bunch of crap, but all of it works somehow. Phil and Paul seem to like those Fender tube amps. Nothing fancy, just a lot of guitar copies or knock-offs, cabinets with ripped speakers, borrowed stuff, you know. As much as we all cream over all kinds vintage stuff, I think Bill is the only one with a real sweet set up, those are some damn fine drums he plays.
Bill Roe: I now play a 1979 Slingerland kit (Teakwood finish) with a 26" bass drum, 16" floor tom, & a 14" rack tom -- the guy who owned it previously was a Bonham freak, so I have everything but the additional 18" floor tom (dammit!)....but on the record I played a Frankenstein kit of drums that were in the studio.
Velcro Lewis: Yeah, we get real lazy when we recorded and don't bring any of our gear to any of the sessions. We get like that sometimes. We need room in the van for the mini-fridge.
Paully Rocco: I play Fender amps, 'cause when you turn them up they sound like an old man who's been smoking for forty years, only louder. I play DeArmond semi-hollow guitars, mostly because I really liked the way it looked in the guitar shop, and because they have that sound that's like chopping wood.
Velcro Lewis: Paully bought his guitar after he won $200 from a scratch off lotto ticket, on his birthday nonetheless. Impulse buying is a vice we struggle with.
Halden Spoonfield: I play a Peavey Mark VIII bass head and cheap Fender knock-off basses. I'm thinking of getting a big obnoxious six-string bass just to piss everyone off because everyone hates them.
Phil Hunger: As far as amps go, I use a late 60's Fender Dual Showman because it was cheaper than any old Marshall Super Leads. To get any overdrive out of it you have to turn it up to 10. On the record I used a Fender Pro Sonic 60w head. For guitars I play a Fender Tele, a Cort Les Paul copy, a Global SG copy, and an Epiphone Casino. I play them through a Big Muff and a Morley wah, the fancy fiber-optic one. I could go on and on with this but I won’t. I don't want to give away to many secrets.
Hellride Music: Favorite track off of "Ruin Everything" and why?
Bill Roe: Steppin' & Sippin' ", it makes me feel like I'm in a juke joint somewhere.
Velcro Lewis: My favorite track is probably "The Velvet Jungle". The combination of the slide guitar and farfiza sound so sweet together, like Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood doin' it on a circular waterbed, you know what I'm saying, right?
Hellride Music: No. I don’t actually, but it sounds nice. OK, the end of the interview…. Any last words?
Velcro Lewis: Fuck Steve Jackson and Kevin Hodge!!!!!!! And thanks Hellride!
 Download a MP3 of They Call Me The Tracker
Visit the Velcro Lewis website at www.velcrolewis.com
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03-17-2005, 09:14 AM
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Elm City!!!
Posts: 105
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My daughter's virginity!
I HATE these SOB's!!! My 14 year old daughter went "on tour" with these jerks one summer and came back in the autumn knocked and hooked on the hooch!!! Had to send her to my ma's place down appaloocha way to "straighten" her out. I'm happy to say Jenny is now married to a nice young fella works over at State Farm and goes to church every sunday. Beware Satan and his "rock merchants". They're taking over.... Velcro Lewis and his croonies are examples of everything that's wrong in the mid-west! -Jeremiah Seger Overkill III
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