2003: the British radio airwaves were being held hostage by Girls Aloud, Gareth Gates, David Sneddon and, worst of all, Busted. However, one band emerged from the fog of mediocrity, burning a disco-punk path from America’s Motor City, Detroit. They offered plank-spanking instructions as the dance commander, they warned you about high voltage and, more than anything, they wanted to take you to a gay bar, gay bar, gay bar. That band was Electric Six.
Six years later and they still have something to put in you, but this time it’s at Hastings’ Crypt on Monday December 14, as they embark on their latest UK tour. We caught up with singer, Dick Valentine, as he strolled through the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee.
E: When was the last you played in the UK?
DV: The UK? Let me think about that. I guess it would be March of this year.
E: Are you looking forward to coming back?
DV: Yeah, we really are. We were just talking about that. Actually there’s nothing like it in the beginning of December when it’s all Christmassy and every town looks the same, with their cookie cutter promenades and Boots and HMV and Virgin Megastores. It all looks the same and every town looks the same and that’s what we’re looking for right now.
E: Ohh, I don’t how to tell you this, but Virgin’s gone.
DV: That’s right, it is. I’m so antiquated. You’re right about that. But you know what I’m talking about, they’re all the same. You go to Coventry or Bristol and, maybe not Bristol, because it’s got a bit of character, but you know, Leeds, Sheffield and all that, it’s the Pizza Express, Ask pizzeria, Pret A Manger: every town has to be the same.
E: Do you like playing to British audiences?
DV: Oh yeah, sure. They’re good kids. They’re all very enthusiastic. The difference between America and Britain is, I’d say, the American audience is the stand offish French poodle, whereas the British audience is a pack of puppy dogs. And at the end of the show you get licked.
E: Have you played in Hastings before?
DV: Oh yeah, we’ve played the Crypt a couple of times. I believe it’s owned by the brother-in-law of our booking agent, so it’s a nepotism kind of thing.
E: Can you tell me a bit about your new album KILL?
DV: Well, it is, I believe, 13 songs. We recorded it in the early part of this year. It probably took about six months to record, not working around the clock 24 hours a day, we took our time. We turn up the guitars a bit, as opposed to the last two albums we did, and kind of intentionally made a louder record, but also more of a darker record.
E: Is that the general direction you’re moving in, or are you taking each album as it comes?
DV: I’d say each album as it comes. I think actually, the way it’s looking now, the next record might be more of a new wave record, a lot more synthesizers and stuff. We’ll see. We try not to think too far ahead.
E: Do you enjoy making the videos to your songs? It seems like you have a lot of fun.
DV: Yeah, it is. I try to stay true to the director’s vision. I’ll do anything. I just show up that day and the director says this is that ways it’s going to be and I try not to interfere too much.
E: You’ve been around for over a decade now. What would you say is the secret of your longevity?
DV: Oh, for me the secret is getting a record deal when you turn 30 and having your whole 20s behind you and having ten years of working shitty jobs and office jobs and cubicle jobs and serving coffee and things like that. So, when you do actually get your chance, you don’t take it for granted and you understand parts of it are your job and you’re not entitled to it. So I think we work twice as hard to maintain the level we’re at. We’re not superstars or anything, but we’ve learned how to make it a job and make a living out of it. I think you see a lot of bands who get signed when they’re 22 or 23 and they do think they’re entitled to it and you watch them flame out pretty quick.
E: You said you worked in a lot of shitty jobs. What was the worst?
DV: Let me think about that. I would have to say the worst job I ever had, I only worked for a day and a half. I worked in a warehouse and I scaled fish. They kept it like a freezer and you know, after an hour nose was running and you’re surrounded by dead fish. So I quit after a day and a half.
E: Did you get paid?
DV: I elected to just not deal with them ever again.
E: You’re the last of the original line-up, is that correct?
DV: Yes it is.
E: I was looking at your former member list and it’s edging towards The Fall proportions.
DV: (laughs) That’s nice of you to say.
E: I think when you get to The Falls status, the former members get their own Wikipedia page. Is it good to always get this fresh impetus into the band?
DV: We existed as a local band in Detroit before we became Electric Six, so some of those people are from that era. I think this goes back to when we were started the band called The Wildbunch, which was in 1996. So over 13 years, especially with a six man line-up, you are going to have some changes. But you know, you look at the two histories, six years as a local band and six years as a band who tours the world, I think a lot of that has to do with fine tuning, to go from a band who sat around Detroit and played local shows, to getting a line-up where you can get people built for the long haul.
E: Who comes up with the band members’ nicknames?
DV: If someone joins the band, I’ll ask them what they think they’re name’s going to be. And sometimes they know and sometimes they’re kind of nervous and shy, so I give it to them. It’s kind of like a royal decree.
E: For anyone who hasn’t seen you live, what can they expect from an electric six gig?
DV: Oh you know, we’ve got six albums worth of stuff now, plus we’re even playing some stuff from The Wildbunch era again, so we try not play the same set every night. There’s no pyrotechnics or elaborate stage show, we’re just very much a bar band. But you know, I think we’re louder than a lot of bands, we’re a good time, we try not to be phenomenally boring and we try and be drunker than the audience. So it all adds up to a really good time.