Motorcycle Boy

http://www.filter-mag.com/media/interior.727.html

filter magazine - media
Motorcycle Boy, RockNRoll TV Interview Video

Hollywood usually doesn't give anybody second chances, but every now and then Lady Luck shines on you and those slightly tarnished dreams come true. Such is the case for veteran Hollywood rockers Motorcycle Boy, who unfortunately hit their stride in the heyday of LA's glammy-metal scene of the late 80's
with their brand of garage-laced punk rock.

RockNRollTV.net caught up with the band after their recent emergence back into the LA club scene and talked shop with the guys: running the gamut from rock 'n roll cliches, on-stage Pete Doherty-style antics and why they're back on stage.

Check it all out here:

|Motorcycle Boy Interview|

For more Motorcycle Boy, check out the band's MySpace.
- FILTER MAGAZINE

HIP: Francois, I know you play the accordion. Where did you learn that?
There was this Clown Variety show where the clown played an accordion and I always wanted to play one since I saw him play the accordion, so my parents got me one when I was like 12. I just picked it up. I have two accordions now.
HIP: Do you play any other instruments besides bass and the accordion?
I play the piano and the guitar.
HIP: But with Motorcycle Boy you only play the bass right?
Im a lazy guy.
HIP: With a lot of musicians, you can quickly tell what their influences are. I can't do that with Motorcycle Boy. What are they?
I guess just the whole New York punk rock thing that happened. I just never got over that. Johnny Thunders, Iggy Pop, that whole thing that happened in 78.
HIP: As far as I know, Motorcycle Boy has one major release, Popsicle. Did that CD come out the way you guys wanted it to come out?
I didnt mind the sound of it. Other people criticized it but I think it sounds just fine.
HIP: So you wouldnt change anything in it?
Well, I think you always want to change some things but basically, no. I wouldnt change it. Its fine. It was fun working with Sylvain. That was really cool.
HIP:Yeah, tell me about that. How did you guys get the honor of working with Sylvain Sylvain of The New York Dolls?
We were in New York and this guy that used to be in the band called Rat Boy met Sylvain. We became friends and we asked him if he would produce the record for us. It was basically just an excuse to hang out with Sylvain.
HIP:Any plans for another release soon?
Maybe. Ive written a bunch of new songs, and yeah, we might record some.
HIP:How was your stay with the Triple-X label?
Theyre very nice. I must go visit them soon. I havent seen them in a while.
HIP: Whats you favorite club to hang out at these days?
In New York I was hanging out at a club called..oh man, everything there was car oriented,the Hot Rod Club or the Car Club, I cant remember. In Los Angeles, lets see, I guess The Dragonfly is fun. We play there occasionally. I like playing the Dragonfly, its a good room.
HIP: What do you think about the L.A. music scene today compared with say, 10 years ago?
I think its picking up again. It was a lot more fun ten years ago. Its kind of starting to pick up again and being fun again. Ten years ago was a blast. It was just ridiculous. Thats why we all ended up in trouble.
HIP: Youre originally from Seattle right? Did you ever think of going back there when that whole Seattle thing was happening?
No. When I was in Seattle nothing was happening. You couldve been the most brilliant person and nothing wouldve ever happened, and thats why people migrated down to Los Angeles. Not that it got much better for us down here but Seattle was dead. It was so dead.
HIP: When did you leave Seattle?
I dont really remember. I think I was 23.
HIP: You and Kenny (drums) originally started Motorcycle Boy?
Yeah, I kept bumping into him at different clubs and stuff and I said Hey, play drums with me. Play drums in my band He was playing in a band called Slaughterhouse Five so he couldnt quite join the band but eventually that fell apart so he started playing with me.
HIP: Has the line-up stayed the same over the years?
No, its had many, many members. Which doesnt say much about my leadership.
HIP: So who?s in the band right now?
Eden?s on guitar, Kenny Toy on drums of course, and this guy called Johnny who also plays in a band called The Stitches. He?s on the other guitar. Johnny is the only new one. Kenny and Eden have been in the band for quite some time now.
HIP: A lot of people would consider you a part of Hollywood, a permanent persona. Do you think of yourself that way?
Well I do sometimes feel like a dinosaur. Yeah, I?ve been here a long time. I?ve been thrown out of all the best clubs, and they always let me back in.
HIP: I read in an interview that you were on TV as a child in Mexico but you didn't go into it. Do you want to go into it now just to make this a bit more interesting?
Um, when I was younger my mother used to dress my brothers and I all the same. There were four of us, so wherever we went we kind of like got attention. My mother made us all take piano lessons, we played the violin, the trumpet, all kinds of instruments, she was kind of a stage mother. We would go to Mexico every summer because my mother?s Mexican and my father was a schoolteacher so he had summers off and we would spend our time in Mexico, ever since I can remember. Every summer?s been in Mexico, that?s how I learned to speak Spanish at the same time as English. We were there all the time. My mother being the stage mother that she is, would make phone calls and she got us on television. Every summer we?d go back and we?d be on this clown variety show. Too bad it was before the time of the VCR because I don?t even have any tapes of it, all I have is photographs of when I was on TV. It was kind of cool getting attention, the only problem with it was after you get attention like that you just keep wanting more and more attention and then you end up seeking out that same attention, and then you end up like me.
HIP: Was she in the entertainment business?
She wasn?t really in the entertainment business, but she was in the show-off business. She liked to show off her sons and made us go on television. It was cool. People used to stop me on the street when I was a little kid and say ?Hey, I saw you on TV!?
HIP: You guys are known for having a big female following, got any good groupie stories?
Well, the girls are very good to us. They take care of you, they buy you things when you need them. I?ve had girls buy me amplifiers, guitars, shoes. Shoes are the most important things, I always ask them to buy me shoes.
HIP: For the female readers, do you think you?ll ever settle down and tie the knot?
Yeah, absolutely. I?m looking for that special girl so I can get married. That?s my goal. Do you?
HIP: Shit, I have no idea. Next question, are you still a man of leisure?
Well I do find these points in life when I don?t have to work, that I really enjoy. One time I went five years without a job and it was pretty cool. All I did was watch TV. I?d call my friends and I?d go ?What?s up?? and they?d go ?Oh, I just got fired? and I?d go ?Oh, man of leisure. I like that!? I try to be a man of leisure as often as possible but unfortunately I still have to go to work every now and again because I need money for my beer.
HIP: Got any current bands you like right now?
Yeah, I saw this one Japanese band that I really like. They?re called Orange Candy. Amazing band. Sometimes you see a band and it just makes you feel just like not writing any more songs, it?s like ?Okay, I?ll stop now. They got it.? Another band I saw, they were from Alabama, they were called Fr**-A-Go-Go. They were amazing, man. This guitar player, he?s playing a song right? He?s playing a solo then he takes his guitar off, shoves the headstock into the crotch of his pants, grinds against the headstock, pulls the headstock out of his pants and continues playing the solo. Amazing, man, It was still in tune! I mean it was a little out of tune but it didn?t matter at that point. I saw that band and I was like ?You know what? I?m going to go home. I need to rethink things here, this is too good.? They were amazing.
HIP: I don't know if you want to talk about drugs but you're known for your various states of intoxication. How do you feel about that reputation of yours?
I don?t really mind it all actually. I went 75 days without a beer. It was pretty weird, it was almost like a drug in itself. Very strange. Very strange, the sober world. I?ve been trying not to drink too much lately. I don?t do drugs any more. I gave that up about four years ago. That?s a pretty tough life.
HIP: How do you feel now looking back on songs like Supersonic?
You know, it?s strange, I wrote Supersonic before I even did drugs and it?s almost like a subconscious level, something warning myself. I don?t know man, that was a trip. Drugs knocked me out. It was weird, I OD?d like over ten times, I stopped counting after ten, and I?m not just talking about like the OD where you friends bring you back to life. I woke up in ambulances, over ten times. I would wake up and I?d be like, ?Oh, not again. Damn!? and you still don?t care. You?re thinking ?Oh shit, I gotta get my next fix? You don?t think about the fact that you almost died, that doesn?t scare you. Death would be just a great really good night?s sleep. Strangely enough I?ve never had to go to jail. I?m very surprised by that. I?ve avoided the man. I?m afraid that maybe in the future, all those hospital bills may come back to haunt me. I don?t know who takes care of them, I know I certainly didn?t.
HIP: Why do you think so many creative artists do heroin?
If you?re like me, you feel very empty all the time...
HIP: Sure...
....and you?re just looking for something to make you feel good. Alcohol makes you feel good, and heroin makes you feel even better. It?s only natural, you know, if it?s cold outside you want a blanket. So if you don?t feel all that good and something makes you feel better, it?s like, "Well, yeah". I guess it?s an artist?s nature to explore and experiment and search other levels to see what?s out there. That?s basically what I did, I was experimenting. It?s only natural that eventually you?re going to come to heroin. First, I discovered Exstacy. I didn?t do drugs until I was like 29 years old. Someone gave me a hit of Exstacy in New York and it was like so brilliant, I was like ?Wow! Maybe there is something to this drug culture?. So then I took a hit of Acid and I loved it. It was a natural progression after that. It was pretty cool for a while but then it kind of started hurting, so I had to stop. It hurt, man.









- HIP MAGAZINE