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When We Kiss, Fire
The Electric Six Wants to Take You To a Gay Bar, But The Culture Room Will Have to Do
By Dominick Scala
At first glance by any good American stereotype-ist, The Electric Six would come off as a bunch of beer drinking, stoner-rock-n-rollers. After the first listen though, you almost get the impression that they are simply making fun of themselves and everyone else in their genre bending witty and humorous dance-punk musical band.
Contrived in the trenches of motor city, songwriter and vocalist, Tyler Spencer (aka Dick Valentine) put a band together back in the mid ’90s called The Wildbunch. The bunch consisted of Rock and Roll Indian (Anthony Selph, guitar), Surge Joebot (Joe Frezza, guitar), Disco (Steve Nawara, bass, former member of The Detroit Cobras), and M (Cory Martin, drums). For a few years they were the regular local act at the Old Miami and the Gold Dollar in Detroit. After a hiatus in ’99 the boys were dance-rockin out again eventually landing a record deal with XL Recordings along with a forced name change. After a few months of pondering the name The Electric Six was decided upon which no one in the band liked though none of them disliked it enough to quit. The lineup did change after some time and to this day Dick is the only surviving member from The Wildbunch days.
In 2001 the band released “Danger! High Voltage”’ for the first time and also worked with Troy Gregory (The Dirtbombs) on the track “Dealin' in Death and Stealin in the Name of the Lord.” Two years later “Danger!” was re-released (produced and mixed by Damien Mendis and Stuart Bradbury), and soon became a massive hit in the UK. They also generated a ton of press with rumors that Jake White sang back ups on the track. The second single “Gay Bar” proved to be just as successful in the UK. Both tracks are on their first critically acclaimed release “Fire.”
The Six’s second record was delayed in the States at first because they were dropped from their American label and “Senor Smoke” wasn’t put out until 2006 by Metropolis Records. They released four more records through 2008 and their latest album “Kill” was released Tuesday. They have toured extensively over the years playing such venues as Coachella and Glastonbury. They have released a bunch of ‘controversial’ videos including one for a cover of Queen’s “Radio Ga Ga’ with Valentine as the ghost of Queen’s flamboyant lead singer Freddie Mercury, and a backing band of poodles.
Every one of The Electric Six’s records consistently blur the lines of rock, synth, dance and punk, with many of their songs revolving around sexuality. I got a chance to chat with Valentine about the new record, touring, and the creative process.
Dominick Scala: So your new record “Kill” came out last week, where did you guys record it?
Dick Valentine: Well, most of the tracks were done in our guitar player’s home studio, drums in a live room, but yeah, more or less, it’s a whole recording.
Who produced it?
[Guitar player] The Colonel. We’ve done our last three albums like that.
Any particular inspiration for the record?
Oh I wouldn’t go that far, lately. When I’m on tour I just write things down. So you know maybe ill write a song called “Good Ole Boys [passing through west Virginia].
How the tour going?
Ah pretty good, we take it day by day / gig by gig — we’ve been doing this now for six years so we are a well oiled machine at this point. We just try not to look too far ahead.
I love your music, though I haven’t seen your live show yet.
Well, we try to make our band more exciting than we actually are as people.
Why did you start a band in the first place?
I always enjoyed music and seeing bands on the weekends, as a break from the office job. Playing in the band looking forward to doing shows on the weekends made the office gig at least tolerable. I never really thought I could make a living off of music, I thought at the time it made my mundane office lifestyle make more sense. Also, I went through a massive breakup and it just added fuel to making the band thing happen.
What are you listening to these days.
I don’t listen to anything when we are touring. I play video games.
Reading any good books?
Well if I can’t get to watch CSI or something ill pick up whatever is on the floor in front of me and read it.
Anything you’d like your fans to know?
Yes. Tell my fans that I fancy myself as a counselor of sorts, a caring nurturer.
The Electric Six will perform at The Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale on Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 and are available through ticketmaster.com.
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