GUERRILLA TEENS / THE HUMPERS / THE LOVESORES and more ... SCOTT DRAKE speaks ...
Scott Drake contacted us to talk about his new band Guerilla Teens. We took the opportunity to ask him a few questions about his long career and all the bands he's been involved with... So, if you're in the mood for a best of, here's what you'll find ... He prepared the first volume in the last question!
Can you tell us about the day you heard Tommy Roe's ‘Dizzy’, it was the beginning for your love of music?
It must have been riding in my mother’s car. That song was a radio hit…and I loved it! It was 1969.
What led you to your first band, The Naughty Women? Was it a logical evolution or not?
I saw them at a party and I thought they were the perfect combination of “Glitter Rock” and “Punk”…a cross between NY Dolls and The Germs. I wanted to join them immediately!!!
You were into glam at the time and you lived in California. Didn't hair metal appeal to you (a future member of Guns N'Roses was in your first band)?
I like 70’s Glam (T.Rex, Sweet, Slade, Bowie, Dolls, etc…) but I don’t like metal really at all.
Your second band that we know of was The Suicide Kings. Could you tell us a bit about the history of this band?
It was another member of Naughty Women (Mike Crescione) and myself…we just wanted to start another band after Naughty Women broke up. In Naughty Women I only wrote 1 song…but in SK, I wrote all the songs.
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| Scott in 1983 |
You were part of the California garage rock renaissance in the early 90s. Could you tell us a bit about that era and how it all began?
I was getting really sick of the current popular bands (things like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane’s Addiction) so I really wanted to start a straight-forward rock and roll group that didn’t have ties to any “scene”. The only groups I knew who were similar were Lazy Cowgirls, Devil Dogs, people like that…but I wanted my band to be a bit less traditional. Once we started playing gigs (1990) we started attracting like-minded people. When Zipgun (Seattle) came down and played with us it was really exciting because now we knew this could be a nationwide thing.
Then came the creation of The Humpers. You recorded for the legendary Sympathy for the Record Industry label. It must have been impressive to be on a label that put out so many good records. What are your favourites? Do you have any anecdotes about the label?
Sympathy was based in Long Beach as were we, so we knew Long Gone John before we were on the label. It was really Clawhammer who helped us start getting good shows in LA and convinced LGJ to put out our records. He put out great stuff by Lazy Cowgirls, Clawhammer, Nomads, there are too many to name! My daughter was about 2 years old when we were first on the label so I’d take her with me to LGJ’s house and she’d play with Barbie dolls while we talked about music!
What are the first feelings that come to mind when you hear about The Humpers? Do you still sometimes play a gig every year?
Those guys are my brothers. The band was together around 10 years and we toured A LOT at the time. So you get to know each other REALLY well…sometimes TOO well! We try to play a show every year…we have one coming up in the Fall but it’s a secret!
You've also recorded for Epitaph Records, what's the difference between these two labels?
Oh! Well, Sympathy was 1 person. Epitaph has an art department, a legal department, a marketing department, etc….it’s a big company.
It was very difficult getting answers at Epitaph….but they could afford to give us tour support and get our records in every shop. We liked the people there a lot, but we didn’t really fit in. They were more focussed on their punky skateboard bands.
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| The Humpers |
The Vice Principals followed in your musical footsteps after The Humpers. When you change bands, do you want to change your musical style too, or is it mainly to play with new musicians? Why did you join this band?
The whole point of The Vice Principals was my brother (Jeff Drake / Joneses) and me playing together. He originally wanted to start a solo project but I convinced him that he’d get more attention with a regular band. I don’t think Vice Principals sounded much like The Humpers…the VP’s did way more cover versions and were less aggressive musically.
Why do you sometimes feel the need to make solo albums?
Just because sometimes I had a lot of songs that my current band didn’t like. I’d much prefer having a regular band than to doing a solo thing.
The LOVESORES was your band with Jeff Fieldhouse. Can you tell us about him and the band?
Jeff and I first played in Suicide Kings together (at the end)…and then we started The Humpers together…and then, years, later The Lovesores and now Guerrilla Teens. He’s my favorite song-writing partner and one of my oldest, dearest friends. If I had the choice, he would ALWAYS be in my band. The Lovesores was our attempt at playing something a little less “punk” and more traditional…some of it was leaning toward The Faces, Rolling Stones, NY Dolls, stuff like that. It was a fun band but after a while there started to be a lot of disagreements between band members. We split right before the pandemic.
You toured Europe with the LOVESORES. What does it mean for an American musician to play on the Old Continent?
I love touring Europe. Europeans generally have a lot more respect for musicians than Americans have. I also toured Europe with The Humpers and as a solo artist. The first time I toured as a solo artist, my whole band was French. Featuring Macst and Buanax from The Irradiates.
And if you're from California (which for us represents the American Dream), why did you move to Portland (which, by far, is less dreamy)?
Southern California is not so dreamy for everyone. Where I lived was a big sprawling metropolis with too many people, too much crime, too many drugs and too many bad attitudes. I like the size of Portland better and I like the cooler weather and more easy-going people.
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| The Humpers |
You also had a go at radio in Portland with The Golden Age of Rock and Roll. Could you tell us a bit about this?
It was fun but a bit stressful to fill 2 hours with music every week. I was trying to show people the connection between all the eras of rock and roll: 50’s R&B and rockabilly, 60’s freak beat, 70’s glam and punk, etc….rather than have a show with just one style. I’d play Gene Vincent…then Creation….then Motorhead….then The Weirdos….just trying to tie it all together. I played a lot of current Portland bands too…and European stuff that people in Portland might not be aware of.
What do you think differentiates European punk from American punk?
I probably don’t know enough about European punk to answer this question. It’s hard to even say what American punk sounds like. Who is punk….The Germs? The Ramones? One is very noisy and chaotic and the other is tight and melodic. That's too big of a question for anyone to answer.
We've also noted in your career the bands the Thirsty Brats and the Fabulous Prizes... Can you tell us more about them?
The Thirsty Brats was a band from Erie, Pennsylvania that moved to California. They needed a guitar player, so I helped them out for a while. We only recorded 2 songs that appeared on a compilation called Gimme the Keys. The Fabulous Prizes was a band Billy Burks (Humpers) and I started after The Humpers split. We only played 3(?) shows. We broke up because the bass player was a violent asshole. That was my last Califormia band before I moved to Oregon.
Did you have any other bands between the Lovesores and Guerilla Teens?
No. Lovesores ended right before the pandemic…and then Jeff Fieldhouse and I started writing songs together again right when the pandemic was starting.
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| In Paris |
We've heard of demos of the band that were on Bandcamp and that have been deleted. Would it be possible to get hold of them or are you not happy with them?
If people ask for them we can make them available. We were just trying to create interest in the band at a time when we couldn’t record in a studio. I think they came out pretty well, considering!
The band was created during the lockdown. What was the initial aim?
It started out with just Jeff and I writing songs together to maybe put out an EP or something…but we had so many songs and we were having so much fun, we both thought “this really should be a new band”.
Can you tell us a bit about the various record releases you've had?
OMG….I‘ve put out so many records…I’ve been releasing records for 40 years. The best one is the Guerrilla Teens new album “The Monkey’s Paw” which is coming out this summer on vinyl. It’s already available digitally on BandCamp. Download it now and you will live a happy and fulfilled life.
Could you tell us about your latest record and how it evolved?
Jeff and I are ALWAYS writing, so we get a batch of songs that make sense together we start recording. The title song “The Monkey’s Paw” is about greed. It’s a warning about sacrificing your integrity for quick money. Don’t do it!
If you were to release a best of album of your career, could you give us a list of the tracks?
Wow…that’s tough…..here are some off the top of my head:
Fistfight - Suicide Kings
Bad Boy - Suicide Kings
Space Station Love - Humpers
Apocalypse Girl - Humpers
Wake Up and Lose - Humpers
Fast, Fucked and Furious - Humpers
Run, Run, Rudolph - Humpers
Wolfgang Amadeus Jackboot - Vice Principals
When Girls Collide - Vice Principals
9975 - Scott “Deluxe” Drake
Grand Mal - Scott “Deluxe” Drake
Fast Friends - Lovesores
Mission to Mars - Lovesores
Bubblegum Riot - Lovesores
Cross-Eyed Cat - Lovesores
Mata Hari - Lovesores
Halfway to Maybe - Guerrilla Teens
Under the Dagger - Guerrilla Teens
The Monkey’s Paw - Guerrilla Teens
I, Cyclops - Guerrilla Teens
That’s just Volume 1….hahahahaha…..thanks ! Rock on!
Merci Scott
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| Guerilla Teens |
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