My Birthday With Dick Valentine

Channeling the devil himself this Friday the 13th, Dick Valentine will take the stage tonight at the Key Club, instantly sending the entire Sunset Strip to hell in a hand-basket.

Electric Six, fronted by the exuberant and raucous Mr. Valentine, is currently on tour to promote their latest record, “Switzerland” (2nd release on Metropolis Records), and to preach the pulsing gospel of loud parties, fire, drugs, all things night-time, dance commanders, and of course, gay bars.

Their ferocious rock manglings keep the often ridiculous lyrics at bay; a perfect juxtaposition cocktail of light hearted musings with dark feeling sounds. By all accounts, to witness this band live can prove somewhat of a religious experience. Just ask the fan base that follow them from gig to gig. I’m pretty sure they’ll tell you Electric Six invented rock and roll.

Here’s is what Dick Valentine told me:

How's it going?
(Hack Hack) A little under the weather. Recovering from a cold.

That's a drag, I'll keep this short and painless.
Haha. Ok.

So... What's in the suitcase? The one on the cover of the new album. I see money poking out, but I have to believe there's more in there.
Love. The suitcase is full of love.

Did you know that a guy in a Ghostbusters jumpsuit left you a haiku comment on your MySpace page?
People are leaving us haikus?

Yes.
No, I did not know that. I'll have to check it out.

Detroit. Never been there. What's it like?
Ever see Star Wars?

Yes.
It's like that.

Like a Dagobah swamp? Like a Cloud City floating metropolis? Like a frozen Hoth winter? Or did you mean it's all lush and green and Endor-ish. Oh! Wait! Wait! Do you guys have two suns in orbit around Detroit? I'm sorry sir, you'll need to be more specific.
Please note: This follow-up question was not actually said aloud as it was aborted during the internal-filtering process that keeps me from outting myself as a complete nerd during first time interviews.

I read that your presence was recently requested for the South Park 10th anniversary party . What was that experience like?
It was really great. A very good time. Just the right amount of tension and fear.

Regarding lyrics from "I Buy The Drugs," who's getting the mail and filling prescriptions at -- "PO Box 900, Los Angeles, California, 90202"-- ?
Fox News. Well it's supposed to be Fox News. It's one number off. I think their zip code is 90213, but that didn't rhyme.

Did you have lots of records in your house growing up? Can your genre mashing style be attributed to the parentals' taste in music?
(Laughing to Serious) Hahaha. NO. My taste in music did not come from my parents. My dad liked the Doors. I was at some dive bar in Venice Beach once and some guy said "I have to show you something" and he took me to this dark little table in the back where someone had carved "Jim Morrison" into the wood. It was sad.

You lived in LA for a little while, right? Did you like it?
Yeah, for a year when I was on hiatus from the band. I really really liked it. I thought it was great. There was a place in North Hollywood that had really good tacos.

What's the LEAST coolest movie you like?
Whoa. I need to think about that for a minute. The least coolest movie? Well there's one that's coming to mind so I'll just say it. An Officer and a Gentleman. I love when stuff like that happens.

I had a dream that you guys opened the gig at the Key Club with a cover of the Kiss anthem, "God Gave Rock and Roll to You." On a scale from 1 to 10, how psychic am I?
Ooh, no.... 1.... And you know why we'd never play that? Because we're lazy.

In my dream you weren't in the make-up or anything...
Still.... But we were messing around with a cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water recently.

Sometimes people say records are like children to them. What do you think about this?
Yeah, they are like kids. Our first one, "Fire" was a big event, a knock 'em out thing. But as you go on, things get blurrier, you have less emotional availability. You start speaking in one-word answers. Eventually it will be all grunts and moans. I think we're nearly there with the latest record.
_ _ _ _

TONIGHT!!
Friday, October 13 / Electric Six (w/ Aberdeen City, The Blue Van) @ The Key Club / Doors at 8p / Call the box office for exact showtimes: # (310) 274-5800

UNTIL THEN!!
Here are some videos...

Danger! High Voltage!

I Buy The Drugs

Photo by Pieter Van Hattem via Electric Six