The Hottest most outrageous band in New York at the Moment..Here are The Sexy Magazines. Lord Anthony Chats to the band
How long has the band been together?
The Sexy Magazines came
together in our senior year of high school. After
about five months we disbanded and went to our respective colleges. By
second semester we had all decided to come back to NYC and pursue music.
So to answer your question, we have been together for about three years.
What inspires the band to produce such warming Pop Frenziness sounds?
We want people to have a
good time. We like the idea of people dancing really
hard, or driving really fast, or fucking really fast and hard to our music.
That's pretty much our main goal when it comes to anything regarding the
band.
I dig the way Sexy Magazines
strike a good balance between traditional
and modern sounds. Do you guys prefer vintage instruments and gear, or
whatever suits the purpose?
We pretty much use whatever
sounds right, though at this stage of the game
its hard to be too picky. We're all influenced by the 1970's New York City
punk scene with the Ramones and Television, and then also by the glam bands
like Bowie and Iggy Pop's solo stuff as well. We used a mix of equipment
on our last recording. The two guitars were Marc's cherished '97 Les Paul
Standard, which he found years ago on a beach in the Carribean, with the
inscription ?Bird Lives? on the back, so that was cool, and then Franco's
Silvertone, which he bought at 30th Street guitars in NYC?no inscription.
Then, Brion plays a 2002 Ludwig set, and Mark's got a 1972 Fender Jazz
bass. Casey plays a new telecaster and on the new demos he's going through
a vintage bassman.
Tell me about the new
record, what's the title and when did it come out?
Is it available for download from the website? Can you purchase cds
directly from the band ?
Our newest record, the Sex
Murder Music EP, came out in June of 2004. It's
pretty much a five song sampler to let people know what we do. People can
order it off of our website, or stream it online. Otherwise, you've got
to come to our shows and buy it off of us.
Your new ep seems to
take a lot fromGargae groups? There is a definite
sense of Mooney Suzuki/MC5/New York Dolls...' in some of the songs. Would
you agree?
We're definitely influenced
by some of those bands, meaning of the garage
rock variety, and so I guess that it naturally manifests itself in our music.
What those bands and we have in common is our energy. We try to tap into
that manic side of our personalities that comes out in our shows. We like
people asking, ?Holy shit, what are they on?, to which we reply, ?It's the
music, little girl -Would you like to see our dressing room??
Any plans for future recordings?
We're currently in the studio
working on some demo tracks of new songs to
send to various labels, there's no plan to release any of it as of yet,
but who knows?
Has their been much coverage in the UK, any plans to do gigs in the UK.
I don't think there's been
much coverage at all in the UK, however, in the
past month we've been mentioned in the NME a few times, and we find it all
very exciting. We're dying to get over there and as soon as we can, we'll
be there.
What's your take on
the mainstream media's discovery of so called garage
rock? Do you think the success of The Strokes helps or hinder groups like
Sexy Magazines ?
The Strokes are a great
group I can't think of any reason that their success
would hinder us in anyway. They, along with a host of other bands, have
opened the door for great music to come out and be appreciated again. Just
looking at the bands that are starting to get attention, by contrast to
those of 7 years ago, one can already see how exciting the next decade of
music is going to be, and already is.
How is your style perceived
in the US? Do you often feel as though you
are ploughing a lone furrow ?
We've been playing here
for nearly three years and people are just starting
to take notice. These things take time, we knew that when we started but
its all part of the fun.
What band would be the ultimate double-bill with Sexy Magazines
Iggy Pop, Mooney Suzuki,
the Hives? basically any band that has a crazy
live show, cause that's what we do, and as an audience member I would love
to see two hours of non-stop energy. Then again, we would also work well
with more laid back acts, wherein we could either warm up the crowd, like
a quick romp in the sack, and then they could chill out after, or the opposite
with someone else providing the foreplay and us the main event.
What kind of audience would you say you're trying to reach?
Anyone who wants to listen.
We don't like pretentious snobs, and we don't
like angry date-rapists. Everyone in between is cool
How is the New York
scene at the moment alive and fresh or in waiting for
the nesxt big thing.
The scene in NYC is a strange
one, club owners don't really care who plays
at their clubs, so you'll get bills where there's a funk band and then a
death metal band. There are some really good bands coming out right now,
such as Ambulance Ltd.,Cut the Wires, Harlem Shakes, Dynasty, and Go To
Town. Nothing really ties them together and a lot of the time people don't
want to pay the money just to see one band and then a bunch of shitty bands.
On top of that they have to pay stupid prices for alcohol? So its kind of
difficult but that's why we've taken it in to our own hands. We currently
throw a monthly party called Shindig! in which bands play, artists show
their work, a dj spins good music, its open bar, and its only $10. We throw
it in this big loft space and we run everything, so there are no rules,
people don't have to put up with the shit they get at some of the clubs.
Its our way of trying to re-establish a real scene in New York, where all
the bands are friends and people can just have a good time.
Tell Us about Marc going
off to work with Mooney Suzuki last year, how
did that come about, what do you think about TMS, would you fancy a tour with
them ??
That came about cause we were touring with them and they were having problems
with their bass player and so after one show in Baltimore, Sam came up to
us and asked if any one of us would like to fill in on bass for them. They're
a great band and we have a lot of respect for what they do, so naturally
we wanted to help them in anyway we could. It also didn't hurt that Marc
and Mike Miles were pretty much identical.
Sum up the band in 3
words ?
Sex Murder Music
