| Give us Fuel, give us fire The Daily O�Collegian interview with Fuel�s Brett Scallions -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greg Elwell Editor-in-Chief Seven years ago, a little band by the name of Fuel moved out to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to make it big. Their fast lyrics, fast guitar licks and fast-rising hit song "Shimmer" have brought them to national attention. Their album, "Sunburn" has steadily climbed the charts, making them one of the summer tour bands to watch for. Fuel hit The Boar's Head last Wednesday for a concert along with tour mates Buckcherry and Pound. We were lucky enough to snag an interview with lead singer Brett Scallions about T.V., influences and why the crowds love them so. Greg Elwell: So you guys played Conan's show, how was that? Brett Scallions: It was cool, but weird to be on the other side of the camera. We aren't used to playing and having this camera on a crane pan over us. GE: Did you guys get to talk to him after we played. BS: He talked to us a little while, but it was mostly just "thanks for coming" and "how are you guys?" He was nice, though. GE: How does a T.V. show crowd differ from your regular concerts? BS: You're so far away. Everyone's sitting down, you're not the focal point of the show. You just sell yourself for 4 or 5 minutes. It's really odd, though, because for that few minutes on stage you do two hours of rehearsals. GE: You guys are working with some real pros in the booth. Steve Haigler produced the album and Tom Lord-Alge mixed it � how does it feel to work with people that helped put the Pixies and Manson on the map? BS: Steve definitely helped add some elements that we needed. They helped us tweak them out, but most of the songs were already worked out. We were trying to get them on tape. Tom has done so many things. We weren't always happy with how it came out, but then again, every band is their own worst critic. GE: This CD was one of the new enhanced CDs with video and free Internet access. What gave you guys the idea to do that? BS: We wanted to give our listeners and fans something more. There have been so many advances in technology in the past few years, this was just a nice way to say thanks to the people that bought the CD. GE: In a VH1 legends kind of way, can you tell me how you guys got together? BS: Well, Carl and Jeff knew each other since we were in diapers. We've been playing together for seven years now. We moved to Pennsylvania because of all the radio markets up there. We started off doing our own demos. We had our own recording equipment. Porcelain got us signed (second demos). GE: How did you know this band was going to work? BS: You never know. I think you just do what feels good and you hope others appreciate it. You can't predict the future. GE: I know you guys are touring right now, but before your break came, what were your jobs? BS: We've been nothing but musicians for the past who knows how many years. That's just all we do. That's all we wanted to do. We made our money playing house shows and getting local gigs and pretty soon they were playing our demos on the radio. We were getting Top 40 recognition without even being signed to a label, so (Sony) got us a contract. GE: You've played Oklahoma shows before, do you enjoy the crowds here? BS: Oklahoma doesn't get a lot of big concerts coming through, so I think the concert-goers here really enjoy the show. One of the greatest things about Oklahoma is the fact that the people appreciate the music and they come to have a good time. That makes it easy on us. GE: You guys have said that you "thrive on the adrenaline rush" of your wild shows. How do you get the crowds into it? BS: Well, hopefully the music speaks for itself. We feel our music is fairly aggressive, the show is just as if not more. It's our passion, we get into it. GE: Have you ever been stonewalled? BS: You hit certain markets and certain crowds. L.A. is hard to play. Some people there think their too cool for you. We just respond by kicking it harder. GE: How do you go on when it seems like no one's interested? BS: Play for yourself. I play for myself and give it to the crowd. Hopefully they'll take it and run with it. If you aren't playing for yourself, then no one will want to listen to you. You've got to love what you do and we love what we do. It's that simple. GE: How close are you with the other bands? I know that Mettallica and Guns N' Roses used to party together. Do you and the guys from Buckcherry and Pound get along? BS: Absolutely. We hang out as much as we can. At the end of the show we bring the other bands up for a free-for-all jam. Pull the songs out of the hat. It's a way to let loose and say f*ck it. GE: You guys have scored with Shimmer and Bittersweet and now Buckcherry's got a hit on their hands. Do you think Pound is going to have a big hit soon? BS: Pound has a song on the charts right now. Music is so unpredictable these days. I hope they do well, they just have to sit back and wait. They're a great band and I think they'll be big soon. GE: Do you feel that the alternative has left alternative rock? BS: Nowadays, rock is steering in more of a basic pattern, three chords, basic rock. Some of the greatest songs ever were written using only three chords. It's not so flowery. It's edgy. GE: What do you think your influences were? Where did you gain that desire to make your own music. BS: Geez. It's so hard to choose. The Cult, Elton John, Creedance Clearwater Revival, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen and that's just off the top of my head. I don't like to think that they're inspiring my music as much as they inspire me. We just play what feels good to us because that's what musicians do. . |
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