2. said it could never die;
Lenny Kravitz said it
was dead, and Gene
Simmons said it had
been murdered.
But you know what,
it’s still rock ‘n roll to
me.
And, it seems, to LA
rockers Buckcherry. So
much so that these no-
torious, multi-platinum-
selling bad boys chris-
tened their new album
Rock N Roll, releasing
it in August via F-Bomb
Records/Caroline.
“Rock ‘n roll is dead
commercially - but
it’s not dead. It’s being
passed over and that’s
an easy way out for a lot
of people.”
So says Buckcherry
guitarist Keith Nelson.
“But they don’t see
what we see every night
when we’re on the road
. . . packed venues and
people wanting some
fucking rock ‘n roll. So
maybe it’s now becom-
ing the new under-
ground, the new subcul-
ture.”
Pittsburgh-born Nel-
son founded Buckcherry
with singer Josh Todd
and their 1999 debut
album went gold.
But it nearly didn’t
happen at all.
Hooked on perform-
ing since his parents
bought him a drum kit
at eight, Nelson headed
to LA in 1990, aged 22,
and started searching
for other musos to form
a band.
After no luck what-
soever he was about
to head home when he
met former Slamhound
frontman Todd. They
started discussing the
band in 1996 and, with
a full line-up, it wasn’t
long until they were
signed by DreamWorks
Records.
The rest, as they say,
is history. There’s been
shortage of hits - and
definitely no shortage of
touring.
“I won’t lie, I want
to be as successful as
possible and anyone
who says they don’t is
probably not telling the
truth,” said Nelson.
“But the thing is, we
love what we do. I love
being in a rock ‘n roll
band and I’m all in on
that one.
“Every seven years or
so a new band comes
along and people say,
Neil Young
3. OMG, it’s a great new rock ‘n
roll band and I wish them luck.
But let’s just see if they are
still around in six months!”
Rock N Roll is Buckcherry’s
seventh studio album and the
first full length album on their
F-Bomb Records label, follow-
ing last year’s Fuck EP.
“The new album was a lot
of fun, and really didn’t take
long. We started getting ideas
together on the road, threw
some riffs around, and then
just put the album together.
It’s not that fucking hard, ya
know!
“We did it in three weeks!
“I’m all for making a record
sound as good as it can but
ultimately it’s about the band
and the songs, not all the
bullshit.
“And that’s why we love
Australia! You guys know
bullshit when you hear it and
you don’t want that over pro-
cessed shit.”
Buckcherry hit the road at
the end of August to promote
the album and Nelson was
keen to get it out there to an
worldwide audience.
“That’s what we’ve been
doing for the last few years.
We’ve probably been to Aus-
tralia more in last few years
than the 15 years before that.
“Each time we play Austra-
lia we fall more and more in love
with it.”
They might be old-school
in their attitude to rock ‘n roll
but these boys are also savvy
enough to move with the time.
“Music is changing and we
have to adapt. There’s no short-
age of live venues in the US and
Europe and we’ll play anywhere
there’s electricity!”
That’s the attitude we like to
hear here at VGC HQ!
Now these boys enough a
laugh and they are clearly not
adverse to taking the Mickey
a bit, too. And one big laugh to
Nelson is the band’s own record
label, F-Bomb Records.
“Josh and I had been talk-
ing about doing our own record
label for a while, but I’ve never
run one before, and neither had
Josh, so we didn’t want it to be a
big commitment.
“That’s when fuck happened!
“Imagine five guys on a tour
bus and one says let’s make a
record called Fuck, and everyone
starts laughing. So then we say
why not do a whole album called
Fuck.
“But you know what, there’s
not one song on there about
fucking!”
Even so, the boys copped a
bit of backlash in US, and had to
take the word ‘fuck’ off the cover
for some retailers.
“But there was a huge F on
there so everyone knew anyway.
And it’s really about not giving a
fuck!
“We’re not trying to poison
the minds of their youth! It’s just
rock ‘n roll. When the phrase
rock ‘n roll came into existence,
it was about two different things.
It was about the beat of the mu-
sic and having sex in a car, very
simple.”
That may be the case but rock
‘n roll certainly isn’t what it used
to be, is it?
“No. The music industry is
changing. Traditionally, for an
artist, income streams came
from royalties, record sales,
radio play, general song-writing
royalties and so on.
“Clearly the sale of records
has been dramatically affected
by modern technology. But for
those of us who don’t want a day
job, or have another career, it’s
a little more difficult to maintain
what we need to survive.
“So we have to come up with
alternative things, become more
creative and that’s not a bad
thing. I’m not complaining about
it, I’m all for streaming music,
but the reality is I have a family,
I have bills to pay, and I believe
what the band does has value so
we have to find new ways.”
Well, the times they might be
a changin’, but one thing re-
mains solid in Nelson’s life, and
that’s his beloved Sunburst.
Other guitars come and go but
the 1959 Sunburst Les Paul has
been his instrument of choice
forever.
“I jumped through hoops to
get that guitar but it was worth
all the pain, it’s my partner.”
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