The Hotseat: Alex of Chainsaw Hookers
on October 14th, 2012Perth’s Chainsaw Hookers have scored themselves on their local Bastardfest show happening on the 27th of this month. They also have a bunch of other events on the horizon in the coming months, so we caught up with Alex from the band this week in The Hotseat. Expand this post to check out his answers.
THE BASICS
Name : Alex
Band : Chainsaw Hookers
Job In Band : Guitarist / Being plain awesome
Website Address : www.chainsawhookers.com or our Facebook
HOME
Hometown : Perth
Hometown is best known for : Being too damn expensive, having a thriving music scene.
Best venue in your hometown : Hands down for us it is the Rocket Room, its like a second home for us.
Favourite show you’ve played in your hometown : We supported the Dropkick Murphys, OFF! and MISFITS all within the space of a fortnight so if you squint you could kind of call that one show.
THE BAND
How long has the band been going? The ‘Hookers started 7 years ago since then there have been quite a few lineup changes. Andrew (bass/vox) is the only original member however our current lineup is by far the strongest the Hookers have ever been.
Any particular story behind the name? It is actually taken from a B-grade horror movie called Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, since our inspiration for each songs is a horror movie it’s pretty fitting.
What’s your most recent release? Tell us a little about it… Our self-titled album is out now through our own label Blood Rock Records via Firestarter Distro. people can get it online here or jump on our Facebook or Unearthed page to listen to some tracks.
Got a personal stand out achievement of your band to date? We scored the Triple J Unearthed spot at Soundwave in 2011 so that was pretty awesome, also our first Australian tour was pretty memorable but due to an ongoing police investigation I am not able to talk about any details right now.
OFF THE STAGE
What was your first introduction to music that made you think seriously about playing it? I grew up with my parents constantly playing awesome music (Queen, ACDC, Alice Cooper, etc.) so that probably had a contributing factor. But I guess when I was in high school I got fed up with all my friends being in bands and playing guitar and me not, so I got a guitar and immediately became awesome.
Any particular band / album or song that you personally credit as a major influence? I would have to say the Ramones, Misfits, Black Flag, Turbonegro & Zeke. I pretty much learned to play guitar to Apocalypse Dudes by Turbonegro.
Your first band name, and what style did you play? All of the Hookers guys have been in heaps of punk bands in prior years The Dead Ends, Cobra Clutch, The Iconoclast & The Disgusteens.
Most prized music related item you own? Is it bad to say that I actually love my guitar? My SG to be precise. It is all battered and scratched but since I got it I have never wanted to put it down.
When you’re not doing band related stuff, what are you usually found doing? I am always doing band related stuff haha, it is never ending. But on the odd occasion I have free time I try to go bush and camp for a few days. Just chill out and do nothing.
The thing you most look forward to just before a tour is… Playing the shows… of course! But also catching up with all my mates and seeing new bands in the cities we are going to.
The thing you least look forward to before a tour is… There isn’t much to be honest, we all love going on tour. I guess the constantly accumulating man smell can get pretty bad also Andrew has this thing where he sneezes and it fucking reeks I don’t know what causes it but man it is horrible.
ON THE STAGE
When on offer, what’s your one must have item on the rider? We aren’t picky hey, booze and more booze. Food of any kind is good too, but if we could we would get a decent bottle of single malt and a bottle of rye whisky, you just can’t go past good whiskey.
Got a favourite song to play live? I love playing our single Never Sleep Again it always seems to get me worked up when we play it live.
Any pre-show rituals? Oh yeah, we all like to stand in a circle and uh… rub our beards together. We then use that static charge to rock as hard as possible, if we don’t do that before every show we end up playing soft & lame rock songs..
What do you find is the hardest aspect of touring in a band today? For us it is always about $$, we would probably tour non stop if we could afford it. Sadly we don’t know any millionaires who want to pay us to do that… so we have to make do with a few times a year.
RIGHT NOW
Last song you listened to? Tres Brujas – The Sword
Last album you acquired? Teenagebottle Rocket – Freak Out
Which band or album is currently on high rotation? i tend to go through phases where I only listen to one band over and over, right now it is The Sword. I pretty much like every song they play.
Tell us an up and coming band or artist you think we should go and listen to right now? You should definitely go and check out my other band SCALPHUNTER (shameless plug) we play fast as shit balls to the wall punk rock.
What’s on the cards for the next few months for the band? Right now we are busy preparing for Blood Rock Fest, it is a Perth festival we organise each year to try and bring together the best heavy bands in one place. This years is the biggest and best yet, it all happens on the 17th of Nov at the Civic Hotel and this year all proceeds go to the Luke Adams Foundation.
IF ONLY…
You can pick any one album for your band to cover in full, what would it be and why? This is a pretty tough one coz theres so many great albums. But id say Misfits-Walk among us. Its been such a massive influence on what we do. And its such a great sing along album
You can pick any one band / artist to cover one of your albums in full, what would it be, and why? Motorhead. Coz it would be insanely awesome to see Lemmy and crew cover your stuff. Lemmy is GOD
One band you wish you were able to see live but never had the chance? I’m gonna say the Ramones. They were one of the greatest bands of all time. Ive seen so many live videos of theirs and it seemed like it was the most amazing live show. Just to hear Dee Dee/CJ count every song in and then the band rip through about 100 songs in 20 minutes
One venue you have yet to play that you would love to? The Tote. Its a legendary venue.
The chance comes up to fill in for a member of a band for one tour, which band would it be, and why? Danzig on a legacy show. Misfits Samhain and Danzig songs all on the same show. That would be a dream come true. Not just to see, but to actually play as well, it would be mind blowing
A headline tour overseas comes up, tell us two bands you’d take along to support your band. The Decline. An awesome band from perth. Some of our best mates. And the next choice would be so difficult. There’s so much talent in Australia that would deserve an international support.
PLUG TIME
Got any final words? There are 3 awesome festivals coming up that we are involved in, the first is Bastard Fest (27th Oct), next is Blood Rock Fest (17th Nov @ Civic Hotel) and then we are playing Devils Kitchen over east in January so stay tuned for those dates.
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CATCH CHAINSAW HOOKERS PLAYING THE PERTH BASTARDFEST SHOW
OCTOBER
27th – The Civic Hotel, Inglewood [18+]
—> For ticketing information, head to www.bastardfest.com
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