Col Parker |
The music never stops.
Col. Parker, a West Coast-flavored rock n' roll band holding fast to its roots, is jamming their way into 2002. These four men have been around -- and they're coming around again. Comprised of singer/guitarist Gilby Clarke, drummer Slim Jim Phantom, singer/bassist Muddy Stardust and keyboardist Teddy Andreadis, Col. Parker have positioned themselves as the new year's messengers of a classic sound that is new once again.
Loudly proud of their influences (Exile on Main Street-era Stones, Gasoline Alley-era Rod Stewart, Sweetheart of the Rodeo-era Byrds, Memphis soul and Bourbon Street gutter blues) Col. Parker has used them as the inspiration for their first official album, Rock 'n' Roll Music.
With over a decade of large-scale music industry experience behind him (as a key member of the Stray Cats), Slim Jim Phantom brings an exceptionally wise eye to his current work. Regular StarPolish contributor Marisa Lowenstein recently caught up with Phantom at his Los Angeles Cat Club and found herself conversing with somebody who has been to the top and back again - and who has never lost his love for music.
STARPOLISH: So, how did it all begin?
PHANTOM: The whole thing started at my club, The Cat Club on Sunset, which is next to the Roxy and the Whiskey and theViper room. I wanted to have a night that was just my night. Part of the reason [you] own a nightclub is so you don't have to invite anyone to your house. I had one night that was open about two years ago. A few of the guys from the local scene, like Gilby Clark (from Guns N Roses and Kills and Thrills) and Teddy Zig Zag, starting jamming on weekly basis, just for fun Then the word got out - a local news channel came by. Rod Stewart came a few times, Jeff Beck came, and Jimmy Page stopped by. Then Axl Rose came by one night. It made the news and then it really turned into more than just having fun - it turned into a scene.
STARPOLISH: How were you "discovered?"
PHANTOM: A rep from Icon records (the soundtrack division of Mel Gibson's film company) started checking out the shows and invited Gilby and myself out to dinner -- and you never turn down a free dinner on Sunset Boulevard. He said he wanted to capture what we did Thursdays in the studio. And the contract with Mel allowed the signing of one real (non-soundtrack) thing a year. We thought we'd at least be able to make a record that all of our friends would be on. And then it turned into something more. Everyone started to bring in his own songs -- songs that they never got a chance to record. It was turning into more than just a cover record. It actually started to sound better doing our own songs. Before we knew it the whole thing was an original record. We put a couple covers on it because that's what it was originally pitched as. When we finished recording, Icon changed distribution and V2 Records has us now.
| "I had more fun the minute I realized that I wasnt curing cancer." |
STARPOLISH: How long have you guys been officially together as Col. Parker?
PHANTOM: Not even two years. Gilby and I have been in the same group of guys for years. We were both home with the kids and the whole thing. We're part of a group of 20 guys in town who all know the same songs. For the recording of the album we brought in Teddy and Muddy and it stuck.
STARPOLISH: You guys have pretty significant histories in music and you had already built up a weekly fan base at your Thursday night jam sessions. So has the reaction to the album been strong?
PHANTOM: So far, yes. It seems like it's the album that a lot of people have been saying they wanted. It's going to radio in January but we've had it out covertly and it's been added to some pretty cool stations -- 95.5, the big classic rock station out here, added it just because they like it. Usually you've got to grease some palms to get on there. It's kind of the record that all us 30-somethings have been saying we wanted.
Col Parker |
STARPOLISH: You've labeled this record "the album that reminds you of high school." How did you come up with that?
PHANTOM: It's kind of like the album everyone was hoping the Black Crowes would keep making -- that kind of thing. We approached the record by saying, "you know that song from Sticky Fingers? Let's write a song like that." We used all our favorite classic rock albums as a template for what we wanted to do. It's the record that we wanted to make.
STARPOLISH: You don't see a lot of people today making new music with such heavy classic rock roots. Was that a concern?
PHANTOM: Well, it's the record that we want to listen to. There are really no records out there for us to buy. Sheryl Crow and Tom Petty don't rock quite enough. I want it a little harder than that. And I have a 13-year-old son and I can not relate to the stuff that he listens to on any level.
STARPOLISH:What's he listening to?
PHANTOM: It was Linkin Park, but now they're too commercial. Disturbed, One Size Zero. It's all very aggressive. Everyone's mad about something. When I was 21 making records I was the happiest guy on the planet. These guys all sound pissed off.
STARPOLISH: So angry at the world, I know.
PHANTOM: Yeah, I don't know why, it's a pretty good job.
STARPOLISH: This is what you wanted to listen to&so you made it.
PHANTOM: Exactly. I found myself going back and buying the one Bob Dylan record I didn't already own. We needed something new and we wanted to make an album that would be like all of all our favorite stuff. Basically we wanted to make Sticky Fingers 2001.
STARPOLISH: Where do you see this sound fitting in with what's playing on the radio today?
PHANTOM: The thing that we're starting to see is that every town in America has a 95.5, a classic rock station that plays Led Zeppelin, The Doors, and The Rolling Stones. And every now and then they'll add a new act. There's a DJ out here who's always championing for "new old acts". New classic rock - it's a new genre. There's a rap station, a Latin station and I think every town now has a classic rock station. And when we were making the album we didn't think it would be out on a major label. We thought we'd keep the advance, make the record cheap-hey that's what you do if there are any young people reading this-you don't spend all the advance money on the record. We thought that people who liked us in one of our other projects (Stray Cats, etc.) would buy it. And I found a kindred spirit in Gilby. We're both 39 with families, so we went for it.
| "You can say something and maybe someone will listen to it and maybe they wont but youve done your job by saying it in the first place." |
STARPOLISH: Unlike the majority of new bands out there today, you guys actually bring lots of history to your work. How has your past experience in the music industry helped you today? How are you doing things differently?
PHANTOM: By the time I was 21 I was on the comeback trail. I started making records when I was 18. You're just smarter about the whole thing today. Like when you get money to make a record, try to save some of it to pay the rent. A lot of people get a couple hundred thousand dollars and they spend it all making the record. They give the producers and the studio all the money. And if their record doesn't sell they've got nothing to show for it but a huge debt to a label-which they can never pay back. If a label is willing to spend money on you, take it -- but be a bit leery of certain things because it's ultimately your money. If they're flying the whole band to London first class to do one interview, you're going to end up owing them $40,000 because of it.
You've also got to play the game, to cooperate with them [the label]. In the past I would find any excuse to fight with them, whereas now I want to work with them and I remember that they're not the enemy. Also, try to enjoy it a little more. I had more fun the minute I realized that I wasn't curing cancer. I wasn't doing anything but playing rock and roll music and providing a little escape for someone if they like your record. It's an hour of not worrying about daily life. Then you've accomplished your goal. You can't take the whole thing too seriously. Even guys like John Lennon and Bob Dylan, who were the closest to actually changing anything with rock and roll music, understood what its limitations were. You can say something and maybe someone will listen to it and maybe they won't, but you've done your job by saying it in the first place.
STARPOLISH: Have you had some significant moments of taking it too seriously?
PHANTOM: Yes, most of my life. When you're 18 and you're making a hit record, you think what you're doing is very important and that the world will stop spinning if you stop making music. I'm not saying that [a musician] shouldn't be serious about his work. It's just that it's not the be all and end all. There will always be another guy after you. If you relax and have fun with it, your playing and song writing will improve, too. These angry guys can be angry for only so long -- soon they're going to run out of anger and they're not going to have any more songs to write.
I've been on the top and I've been on the bottom. I've played stadiums and my own little club, and one doesn't make you any better than the other.
