Bite Me! Bangkok Five Interview

Holcolm of The Bangkok Five - By Nikki Neil

You’ll be hard pressed to find a nicer bunch of guys then Frost (vocals), Holcolm KS (guitar), Coatez (bass), Sweeney (guitars), and Blanco (drums) collectively known as The Bangkok Five. You’ll also be hard pressed to find a harder working band, as these Hollywood based rockers have given up everything in order to pursue their rock ‘n’ roll dream.

Their attention and dedication to all facets of their craft have landed them a deal with Universal Records. But the boys didn’t take that as an opportunity to kick back and let the suits dictate their art. In true rock ‘n’ roll fashion they passed up the big bucks, kept their day jobs and set forth to make one hell of an ass kickin’ record.

The blistering Who’s Gonna Take Us Alive contains 13 contagious tracks that mix equal parts pop, glam, punk and sleazy rock. It’s not cynical or sarcastic – just honest feel good music that leaves an immediate and lasting impact.

Bangkok Five had its big record release party a few weeks ago. What is currently going on with the band?

We just found out that The Cult hand picked us to open for them on their Canadian tour.

That is a huge compliment.

Yeah. It really says a lot – knowing that Ian Astbury loves our band that much. Other than having Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) want your band to play with him it is a really nice feeling to know that someone really appreciates what we are doing.

I have to tell you that I am really enjoying Who’s Gonna Take Us Alive? It’s a fun album, there’s lots of energy, and the songs are upbeat. What factors influenced the album?

One thing that influenced the record is that we were working with such a small budget that we really had to do a lot of it live. The guitars on the record were all done in a day and a half. We did the drums in two days. We did the bass in one day, and we spent about a week on the vocals. I think a lot of the live-ness was the energy that we felt because even though this record was coming out on Universal we had to nail it. No one in the band took an advance. We are all still working our day jobs. We felt like it was us against the world. When you are still working a day job and when you are still going through all of that it’s very present in your mind that this is the opportunity that we’ve been waiting for and trying to cultivate spiritually. Like I said, it was us against the world. Musically, we really appreciated the idea of doing it live like the way you would if working with Steve Albini. We wanted to make it feel as real as possible and with the exception of a few of the electronic type things that Mick brought to the table like the delays to the voice that come in and out on “Who is Going to Take Us Alive?” We really wanted to have an energy like the kind of rock records that we like, whether it was The Stooges or the first couple of AC/DC records. We just wanted it to have this thing that you could really tell that this was a real band. People really freak out when they come see us live. They will say to us, “You sound exactly like the record.” Well, that is really who we are. We didn’t try to make a Pink Floyd record that we would have a tough time recreating. Our goal is to be the most visceral rock n’ roll band in the world. We aren’t going to be the heaviest, we aren’t going to be a lot of other things, but the one thing that we wanted to be is the most energetic. We want to be the band that when you come see us we give it back to you, and you really have that experience. More than anything else it was us being such fans of music, being so grateful for the opportunity, and just really, really, really wanting to make a record that we could have on our changer that would hold up to the things that we loved, whether it was Refused, Sonic Youth, or The Stooges, or something pop like Neil Diamond’s “The Hot August Nights”. We just wanted to make a classic record that stood the test of time.

When a band approaches an album in the manner you have a majority of the time it does make for good listening.

I think you are right. Sometimes when you have a lot of time and a lot of money people start tinkering.

Exactly. Overkill can ruin it.

Yeah, absolutely. We’ve been waiting how many years for ‘Chinese Democracy’ to come out?

That record will never come out, and if it does it will be so overdone.

Exactly. It’s going to be a Manhunt Steamroller record.

In your opinion what would you say the recipe for writing a great rock ‘n’ roll song is?

I think it is two things. The first thing is that there has to be a melody that comes from inside, whether it is a gospel type feeling or…if you look at some of the great songs of all time like Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” or if you look at something like “Give It All”…. I think great songs of any kind are inspired and the vocal melody is an emotional one. I think that is very important, whether it is “I Want to Hold Your Hand” or something that is really great. I think the other thing that is really important—obviously we take a lot from soul music—is the James Jameson groove. The beat, the idea…like what we take from Reggae or electronic music or soul music. Whatever it is the groove has to be infectious. It’s got to make the whole crowd want to move. I think the two essential elements are melody and groove, which is why we say that the most important members in a band are the vocalist and the drummer. And, when you have a bass player as great as ours that can tie those two together—he’s the blending agent between the two—then the guitars can do whatever you want. In our case we try to have guitars that create a lot of energy and create emotionally stirring melodies. So, when you have this charming kind of sexual rhythm and you have this singer who is doing something…Blanco is a very inspired guy and Frost is just absolutely unbelievable and to watch that guy live…it says in our bio that Frost is a bastard love child of Iggy Pop and Tina Turner. That is so true. He just gets out there and gives it. So, I think having a vocalist that can deliver that sort of performance is really crucial to any song. If the vocalist doesn’t do it, it just slaughters the song. I think the two essential elements are groove and melody and then everything else just sort of supports those two things.

I noticed that Adrian Young (No Doubt) played on the album. How did that come about?

We were really lucky. This band has built a reputation, and I think that people like to be involved with things that they have a good feeling about. We were trying out some drummers before we ended up working with Blanco. We played with a lot of great drummers and somebody came to us and said, “I could probably get this stuff to Adrian Young.” Obviously, nobody thought he was leaving No Doubt even if Gwen was doing her solo record. It turned out that he really, really liked the music. I think that you can really tell on “Turn It Up” that it is his drumming. I got so much from Adrian. When I played with him and I heard the way he did his fills and the way his wrist would snap the snare you realize how crucial he is to the No Doubt sound. He is essential. He was such a thrill to play with, and he really gave it his all. I know he had done another record with somebody else. It was this band from San Diego.

Unwritten Law.

Yeah. He did that record before ours, but I think he came in with us and we did two days of pre-production with him. I think that playing with us would be like going in and playing with The Hives or Motorhead. He was in shape but we were,”Alright, let’s do it again.” We were so enthusiastic. We’re the kind of guys…I hate to say it, but we’re the Mountain Dew generation. We’re just so amped up on what we do. We can’t get enough of it. It is obviously what fuels us and what makes us get up in the morning. Adrian sold about 40 million records and played stadiums all over the world, so he is more kind of cat-like cool. He was really lovely, and it was really interesting to work with him. He showed a lot of his insights. Anytime you have somebody actually caring enough to give you the insights on how this works or this doesn’t work or says, “maybe we can try to turn this around and try it like this,” you are very fortunate. We kind of looked at it like we were working with Danger Mouse or doing a re-mix because this was the only collaboration we were going to do on record so we said, “Lets take everything that this guy has learned through all the people that he has worked with and make something out of it.”

Do you think that maybe one day we’ll see Bangkok Five open for No Doubt?

He’s a pretty busy guy so I don’t see him. We definitely have a mutual respect. I would never want to speculate on something like that, but we would certainly be open to it. I think that there are a lot of people involved in that decision making process. If we were blessed enough to bring our energy to their arena or stadium show we would be honored. I saw them open for U2, and they were already an arena band on their own. It’s just nice to see quality acts pass the torch. I think that is a really lovely thing. Hopefully, the quality of our music and the quality of our performance will allow us to be part of that lineage.

What other musicians would you like to work with if you had the opportunity?

I’d love to get that Stooges tour. We played with them in the UK. To have the opportunity to watch Iggy every night and Mike Watt and Asheton would be amazing. On our own personal spiritual level I would love to work with Josh (QOTSA). I think that they really represent Southern California. That would be a really lovely experience. Of course I would love to play with the Stones. I would really, really love to tour with the New York Dolls even though there are only two original members left. Seriously, how much longer are David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain going to be around?

They are releasing an album sometime this year?

Yeah, and Sam Yaffa from Hanoi Rocks is playing bass. None of us got to see that stuff because it was of a different generation. I think when you go back and look at it from like a different perspective…. I got into music because of bands like Mudhoney. Nick comes from an electronic music background. We come from a different place and then you go back and watch these Bob Groove videos of the Dolls or the Dead Boys and you think these bands were pioneers and really took a lot of chances. They were so visceral for their time. To be honest, we’ll play with anybody anytime. We have no ego. Some bands will say, “I wouldn’t tour with them,” or “I’m worried about that.” I really believe in our band just on the strength of what we do. I’m not worried about the reflection of the bands that we play with. I just want the opportunity to do it. We’re grateful every day to get out of bed and be in a band. I’m so happy to have four reliable guys that are as committed to this as I am. We’ll take whatever we can get. If our band blew up my personal dream would be able to have John Spencer and shellac every night. That will probably never happen because, obviously, Albini is going to do so many days a year. I think John, Juda, and Russell are pretty happy doing it the way they do it. I would love to be the kind of band that takes a band out that introduces a younger audience to these cool people that are really so important in the whole development of music. This way our audience can strengthen their roots by knowing where this stuff comes from. I would have not known about RL Burnside if it wasn’t for John Spencer or by the same standards if it wasn’t for Charlotte Hughes I would never know about the Velvet Underground other than reading about them in an Andy Warhol book. I think it’s cool when the newer bands have a reverence for the bands that came before them and also an open mindedness. Right now my favorite bands are Wolf Parade, Wolfmother, and Nine Black Elves. I’d love to play with those guys too. As you can see I am a giant music fan.

You have a very eclectic taste.

My perspective is, “Why be in a box?” I just want greatness. I just want something that makes me feel. You can tell when somebody is going through the motions. I just want something that makes me feel alive. I’m going to have a soundtrack to my life, and I want it to be like that.

What is your first memory of somebody else’s music changing your life?

I can tell you exactly what that was. I was sitting in a highchair and my mom had the AM radio on in the kitchen and they were playing “I Beg Your Pardon, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.” It’s like some country song, and I have no idea who did it. (Lynn Anderson-NIN) I kind of know what it essentially sounds like, but that is my memory. Then, like everybody else of my generation, it was the first time I saw the profound things like Michael Jackson on TV. and it was like, “Wow! Who is this charismatic guy?” My parents were a little disappointed. I think they wished I was a little bit more into football players. They were like, “Why do you like this funny guy with a glove for?” Kids see the truth. That is the great thing about young audiences. They connect with who they see. Maybe Michael likes kids so much because they really do see his sincerity.

Kids see things more innocently than adults do because adults are jaded.

Yeah, because they haven’t had the bad experiences to color their vision.

It seems like the members of Bangkok Five have a good sense of humor. Do you think a good sense of humor is essential in this business?

I really do. I think first of all you really can’t take yourself too seriously. If you spend too much time on your own soapbox you’re going to end up taking things really personally. I think a sense of humor is really essential when you’re a band that goes out and tours because life doesn’t work out most of the time. It’s going to be challenging, and the road is going to sort of unveil itself as you come upon it. They can tell you it is going to be one way, but most of the time it is not. It’s almost Shakespearean in a sense. People don’t realize how comedic Shakespeare is. At least a lot of people don’t. I certainly didn’t when I was in high school reading it, but eventually you start to realize the comedy of life and you realize that life has always been this certain way. Unfortunately, there have always been people warring. There has always been greed. There has always been corruption. There has always been prostitution and drugs since the beginning of time. I think the people that are blessed enough to be able to stand back and have a sense of humor about it are people that probably avoid driving themselves crazy.

Bangkok Five recently played the U.K. Download Festival. How did that go?

First of all, I have to say that we are all Peaches freaks. To play with Peaches and have the opportunity to hang out with her was ridiculous. Also, I would say probably the most influential record in the last ten years for us was Refused’s “Shape Of Punk To Come,” so to be able to share the stage with (International) Noise Conspiracy was unbelievable. Even though it is not the same band they gave it their all. Talk about having to check your ego in at the door - go play with them. It was a real growing experience for us. As festivals go, at least for me, it was not how I thought it was going to be. It’s just like touring. You forget about the porta-potties and all of those things. It was a challenge because we had a 20 minute set and we had about five minutes to change over. We had to use a back light. It was a real growing experience of “Look mate, move your stuff. Hurry, hurry, hurry.” Even though we had plenty of shows under our belts and we weren’t fully prepared. It gave us an idea of what it feels like to be a commodity and move through the system. But, it’s cool because there is nothing like hearing a couple hundred thousand kids freak out when they see your band.

That must have been insane. And, in conjunction with that, I have to ask what exactly is a Rainbow Field Party?

A Rainbow Field Party is…I’m going to try to make a long story short. I know this guy who is a television director. I don’t know if you have ever heard about those shows where they go in and fix somebody’s house and stuff like that. In this case it was a show about fixing a town – about going in and refurbishing this town. This town was a dry town—a non-drinking town in Texas—that was super right wing and very Christian. He started to talk to these kids and he asked them, “What do you guys do here for fun?” He found out that these kids who have no outlets of anything to do - they can’t drink and they are in this really repressed area that is super conservative. So, he found out about these parties that they were having where they would go out in these fields and take their cars and place them in a circle and turn on their headlights. From what he says, every girl wears a different color lipstick and whatever guy ends up with the most lipstick on at the end of the night was the winner of the Rainbow Field Party.

That is very interesting. I can see where it gets its name.

It is sort of the same way in Japan. You know how they have this repression that is completely over sexualized. I think it is because people are not allowed to express themselves. I think what The Suicide Girls are doing for this country and for women of our generation is great. They are showing them that they don’t have to look like what is in Vogue magazine, not that there is anything wrong with that, but there is an option. You can just be you. I think that anytime you repress people. Anytime you say, “This is the agenda and if you do something bad God is going to find out about it.” If you want to believe in God and you want to do it for your own reasons then that is great, but when you are using it as a fear and you are dictating people’s behavior out of that fear then there is always going to be a backlash because eventually people are going to be demoralized and they are going to need an outlet. In this case the outlet for these repressed kids was these wild parties out in the fields of rural Texas because they had nothing else to do. We did so many shows on that five and a half month tour that we actually ended up playing…we never did anything exactly like that, but we would be looking for a show in a certain area because we would have a show in Cleveland and a show in Detroit and we’d need to get a show some place in between so we searched around for different kinds of bands to play with and they’d say, “Yeah, we’ll throw a party.” We’d go play these parties on these farms where people would use a generator, and we’d play on actual semi flatbeds. We’d play on dirt in barns. We’d play all over. In Middle America where there is no club scene or anything like that these kids learn their culture from MTV, and they want to emulate it so bad that they throw these parties. It’s a sort of visceral thing. In a sense it can make things a little homogenized because these kids don’t really know anything about alternative culture, and they buy it all through Hot Topic. It’s great as maybe a gateway mind opening thing to show them that there is something else other than J Crew, but it sort of gets a little homogenized. During that time we kept seeing this culture of people who wanted to have something. They possessed the cool do it yourself spirit of let’s create these parties. Let’s do this. I think you see that in America’s music scene, which is why there are so many screamo bands at one time or so many rap-rock bands. It is because people find this learned culture and they latch on to it and ride it into the ground until the next thing comes along.

That is so very true. I noticed that you had an impressive thank you list on the album credits and quite a few celebrities showed up to your record release party at On the Rox. How did you guys gain such a celebrity fan base?

I think people in a town like Los Angeles are so thirsty for sincerity, and they are so used to people saying whatever they want them to say or they are so used to that whole ‘velvet rope’ culture that when you get guys…four of the guys in the band, I kid you not, are homeless. I’m sleeping on my manager’s sofa. The only time we actually have a place to stay is on our bus when we are touring. People know the story of this band. None of us have jobs because whatever comes up we want to be able to do it. We aren’t making a lot of money. We are scraping by. We have friends who work at restaurants and call us up and say, “Hey….” I they told our story people wouldn’t believe it. They would say it was too insane. Most bands would give up and go to ITT Peterson’s school of business. We’re like death or glory, and when you are nice guys people connect with that. They can’t believe that one: we’re a band that can really kick out the jams and play. Two: that we are really unpretentious, and we don’t have like some pseudo rock n’ roll Sid Vicious attitude. We just want the opportunity to do this, and we want to opportunity to keep doing it. And three: they feel the power of our music. I haven’t had a TV. since I moved out of the house at 15 ½, so when you’re going 12 years without a TV, your perspective of pop culture changes dramatically, so when we end up meeting people out at some party half the time we have no idea who they are. I think that insulates you and you end up operating from a completely different aesthesis. If it weren’t for NPR or the computer I would have no idea about what is going on in pop culture other than the musical culture that I care about. I think people are attracted to that. They are attracted to people that aren’t enamored with that whole thing that is going on.

You are very right about that. Now it’s time for speed questions just for fun. Groupies or girlfriends?

Unfortunately neither.

Mac and Cheese or Top Ramen?

I have to say Ramen.

Beer or Tequila?

Irish Whiskey.

Tattoos or piercings?

Tattoos.

Last of all, what would you like to say to your fans?

I’d say if you guys come to our shows please come and introduce yourselves. I’m always really interested in meeting people and finding out what their experiences are and how they relate to what we do and that is why I said no groupies. We definitely have an ethos of not hooking up with people because we really kind of feel like that is abusing the trust system. I love the whole vibe of The Stones in the 70’s, but I’m not into stepping on people for my own personal experience and it sort of cheapens what we’re about. Definitely come and see the band, and let us know what is going on in your town, especially if there is a party or something. We are just down with meeting people. That is the one thing I’d say. Oh, and burn our shit. Give it to your friends. Turn people on to our band. Chances are we will never make any money from this anyway, so turn people on to our band.

And definitely go visit your myspace page as well because that is probably the best way to get in touch with the band.

Absolutely. Please get in touch with us. If you see that we are coming hit us on myspace and say, “What’s up?” Let’s hang out after the show. If we don’t have to drive to the next place we are always down with hanging out. One of the great things about this experience is you meet so many cool, sincere people.

Be sure to say “Hi” to Bangkok Five at www.myspace.com/thebangkokfivemusic or www.thebangkokfive.com