The second musician is me, Neal Smith. Naturally I (aka Rattlesnake Smith), played all of the drums and percussion on the CD, but I (aka KillSmith), also played all the rhythm guitars on every track and I (aka Fingers Smith) played keyboards where they appear. I also wrote the music, lyrics and I (aka KillSmith), sang the lead vocals on every song.
Our additional our three guest musicians were Pete "Keys" Hick, playing great keyboards on "Beware Of The Dog." The amazing lead guitar work on the CD was by Lord Bryan Morrell and Tommy-Gun Crowley. Brian and Tommy are credited in the CD on the songs where they soloed.
All five musicians came together for the first time during the recording of this CD, my second solo endeavor. My first being "Platinum God." GEMMZINE:"Beware Of The Dog" seems like a sequel to "Ballad of Dwight Frye", where did this theme come from?
(NS) In creating the fictitious character "Dog" in "Beware Of The Dog" I wanted him to have a combination of qualities. The first having the ruthless primal killer instinct of "The Wolfman" and the second being a shrewd business powerhouse like "The Godfather." Musically there could be possible connection, but conceptually and lyrically "Beware Of The Dog" has no similarity to the classic song from our "Love It To Death" album written by Michael Bruce and Alice, called "The Ballad Of Dwight Frye." GEMMZINE: "Naked and The Raw" won't be getting mainstream airplay anytime soon, hard metal, Goth and borderline Death Metal seems to be going through a geological shift. Do you see the market for a songlike this in Europe or are American kids still reacting to this style?
(NS) "Naked And The Raw" is my death metal, Goth, power disco song and like many, not all, but many of my songs on this "XXX Rated" CD, it will not be getting any mainstream airplay soon. I did not jump on any musical bandwagons or trends, I'm just doing what I love and if the fans, young or old dig it, even better. As this collection of songs final resolve was to meet my standards, my only target market first and foremost was me. Just like the our groundbreaking band Alice Cooper, it was up to the fans to love us or hate us. But yes, I do sell a tons of CDs to the European market.
My inspiration was some great bands of the 90's and early 2000's, like Shirley Temple Of Doom, Pigface, Tapping The Vein, Kings X and Ramstein to name a few. Peter Catucci and I saw these bands live in New York City and KillSmith was the results.
Every song on the CD was inspired by that heavy metal, industrial spirit. I also wanted my songs to celebrate the dark, deranged and sexual side of our original Alice Cooper Band. With the sexually expectant, "Naked And The Raw," I went on a fantasy journey that every young red blooded American boy can relate to, and that is being with two women at the same time. But in this case, the two women are famous Hollywood Sex Goddesses from the silver screen. Gemmzine: "Can't Get You Outta My Skull" is like Lou Reed meets Iggy Pop by way of Armand Schaubroeck, is this pop/metal and is it indicative of KillSmith?
(NS) Having a pop sounding song in a metal vein is certainly one of my goals. After all I have written or co-written hit singles like "I'm Eighteen," Elected," School's Out" and "Teenage Lament 1974" in Alice Cooper and Buck Dharma's (from Blue Oyster Cult) MTV hit song "Born To Rock."
This is the only song on the KillSmith CD that came to me in a dream. I immediately got up in the middle of the night and started writing and recording it. The tragic untimely death of a teenage lover is in the tradition of the Shangri-Las "Leader Of The Pack," or Mark Dinning's "Teen Angel." You can make your own analogy about Lou, Iggy and Armand. In the past they may have been rival contemporaries in the Alice Cooper platinum era. However I doubt it as we really had no rivals at that time. My inspirations are for the most part drummers and guitarists of the distant past. KillSmith is very nasty and sings like he sings. He's so nasty that he would eat Lou, Iggy and Armand for breakfast and then have Alice for desert! GEMMZINE: "Monsters In The Attic" would be great for a 1950s Science Fiction movie - and with bands like The Lemonheads ending up on film re-releases like The Graduate, have you thought of pitching this to DVD companies who specialize in the release of those vintage movies?
(NS) I have not been trying to find other medias for "Monsters", but that's a great idea! However I am currently working on placing some of the other songs in television, cable and movies. I think that there is some bad ass shows out there that would be the perfect match for my KillSmith music. GEMMZINE:"How Do You Bleed" begs the obvious question, is this a response to "Only Women Bleed?"
(NS) "How Do You Bleed" has no more to do with Alice's solo song "Only Women Bleed" than it does with the Rolling Stones song "Let It Bleed." The only common denominator is the word "Bleed." My song is about my pro capitol punishment views, which are pro victim, pro justice and pro death. People that say the death penalty is not a deterrent, I say that's bullshit, it's kept me from killing several people I can think of in my lifetime. GEMMZINE: "Thrill, Thrill, Thrill Shoot To Kill" doesn't sound like it will appeal to feminist groups. Is there any flack against the album for the in-your-face approach to the lyrics?
(NS) Again, I guess a person can find any meaning that they like in song lyrics. I don't give a fuck what anyone thinks about my views and I never have. However if any group or critic thinks that "Thrill, Thrill, Thrill Shoot To Kill," is antifeminist or condoning violence against women they are completely wrong and would totally have misinterpreted the lyrics. I for one would never tolerate that kind of behavior and would love to kick the shit out of any man that hurts a girl or a woman. In actuality "Thrill, Thrill, Thrill Shoot To Kill" is about killing sperms when they are swallowed during oral sex or killing them when they are shot over a woman's body during male ejaculation! Pro Sperm Lifers may have a problem with that, but if that was the case ever male over twelve years of age would be guilty of "Sperm Homicide. GEMMZINE:"Dynasty Of Darkness" fits in nicely with the hard metal scene in Finland, any plans to play over there?
(NS) It's funny you mention Finland. I have visited there seven of the last eight years. I haven't played there, but I think KillSmith would go over extremely well and they would love "Dynasty Of Darkness." Maybe I could get that band of monsters from Helsinki called "Lordi" to open for me. GEMMZINE: What is "Human Evolution" all about?
(NS) In December of 1999, not only was the 2nd millennium ticking down, but so was the 20th century. I ran across an incredible article in the newspaper that listed the top 100 events of the last 100 years. I was inspired at that moment to work on a song that would be a verbal time-capsule of the good, the bad and the ugly of the 20th century. My challenge was to take these 100 events and incorporate them into a heavy hip-hop/rap style song sung by KillSmith in his rough evil voice. I'm a song person and I'm not to crazy about or inspired by contemporary hip-hop and rap, although there are some shinning moments. But I had to try to create a song with that feel. I also wanted to incorporate sound effects to emphasize the lyrics. With Peter's great help in the recording studio we were very successful in achieving that goal. "Human Evolution's" finale highlights the sounds of a fireworks display celebrating an amazing and historic century...my century, the 20th century! I'm particularly proud of this epic song. |
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