By Jens

This legendary hardrock 4-piece of Georgia visited Denmark for the 4th time so course I had nice little chat with singer/guitarist Blaine Cartwright and his spouse, leadguitar and asskicker deluxe, Ruyter Suys, about their latest album, labels, songwriting, heroes, and tips on how to survive in the r'n'r biz. Other members of this hardworking combo (200+ shows a year!) includes bassist Katielynn Campbell and horrorfilm buff Jeremy Thompson on drums.

Lowcut : First I wanna congratulate you with "Say Something Nasty", I think it has stronger songs than "High As Hell".

Blaine : Thank you.

Lowcut : How does the sales of your 3rd album compare to the others?

Blaine : I don't know, I think it's doing better in Europe than the other two did. I don't know about the States though, it might be goin' better, but it's not goin' gold or anything. I don't really care that much, I just say; "Tell me when it's gone gold" and I keep workin' my ass off.

Lowcut : Did you have trouble with record labels? The intro of your latest album, "Words Of Wisdom", seems to indicate you're kinda pissed off?

Blaine : The intro? They didn't like us before that. I just wanted to push it to the limit and see if they were cool about it, and they didn't think it was very funny.
Ruyter : (in the voice of the intro) "If you can't say pussy it ain't our label company!".

Lowcut : What label?

Blaine : The one before, TVT had it in USA and they didn't put it out for whatever reasons. But the new labels both in USA and Europe are cool about it.

Lowcut : Do you have any advice for new bands who wanna get in this twisted r'n'r business?

Blaine : Oh yeah; CARRY A FLAMETHROWER AND GO KILL EVERYONE YOU SEE!
Ruyter : And get a good lawyer
Blaine : Yeah, and kill him too, haha.

Lowcut : What makes a good Nashville Pussy song?

Blaine : It's gotta be catchy and say something cool or funny because we play over 200 shows a year and I have to sing the lyrics over and over again. So I gotta make sure I don't get sick of the lyrics. Just stupid enough but not too stupid.

Lowcut : Are you preparing a new album at the moment?

Blaine : Yes, I'm preparing to prepare, haha.

Lowcut : So there's no working title yet?

Blaine : No not yet, I got some stuff in my head, but it's not very good yet, haha.
Ruyter : You gotta write a lot bad songs first.
Blaine : Yeah.

Lowcut : How does it work, do you have the music or the lyrics first for a song?

Ruyter : He does everything.
Blaine : I do everything but the lead solos. Everybody helps arrange and come up with ideas, but I write all the fuckin' songs.
Ruyter : He gets a lot of inspiration from, like, the local comedy.
Blaine : I write down everything everyone says, and they forget and I can take credit for it, haha. Ruyter, like, said the phrase "You Give Drugs A Bad Name" and I used it.

Lowcut : What about "Gonna Hitchhike Down To Cincinnati And Kick The Shit Outta Your Drunk Daddy", is it based on real life?

Blaine : Kind of. I was thinkin' of who I could call up and tell go to hell. And I don't have, like, any enemies, I forgot to make enemies. But my ex-girlfriend's father lives outside Cincinnati and he was the one person I could think of. It's kinda funny. I thought of it a couple of years back and saved that one.

Lowcut : I read somewhere that you were like acting in a movie, a small part where you're in a barfight?

Blaine : Yeah, I punch some guy in a movie. It's just on DVD, some famous TV comedy team, Bob & David on HBO, and it's called "Run Ronnie Run". It was cool hip show who was on for a couple of years.
Ruyter : It's like the American answer to Monty Python.
Blaine : I punch Bob. I have like five lines.

Lowcut : What do you think about Southern rock nowadays? Bands like The Cherry Valence and Dragstrip Syndicate?

Ruyter : Oh yeah, we like Cherry Valence a lot.
Blaine : They are probably my favorite band now.
Ruyter : There's this very good band called Automan's Piledriver, they're from our hometown Atlanta. They are only band who really sounds like what a Stoner rockband is supposed to sound like.

Lowcut : Obvious question but what's your fave AC/DC album?

Blaine : "Powerage".

Lowcut : You've done "Kicked In The Teeth"...

Blaine : Yeah, and "Riff Raff", "Shot Down In Flames", "Shoot To Thrill" and recorded "Highway To Hell".
Ruyter : "Bad Boy Boogie".

Lowcut : Ruyter, have you ever met Angus Young?

Ruyter : Lord no, everybody we meet seems to have met him. I totally accept the fact I'll never meet the guy in my life. I've met Gene Simmons, that was weird. But about meeting your heroes....I feel more comfortable in the audience.

Lowcut : A Rockford friend of mine, Dr. Mality (www.wormwoodchronicles.com), wants to say hi. Do you remember him from The Kryptonite gig?

Ruyter : Oh yeah, he was this horrorfan wearing a bloody butcher's jacket, haha. Yeah, him and Jeremy talked for hours and hours about Dracula, H.P. Lovecraft and stuff. Shit, I remember him and his jacket, hi Dr. Mality!

Lowcut : It's a small world. Thanks for the interview.

Ruyter : No, it's a big world with a handful of cool people.

NEWSFLASH! Blaine's old band, the more cowpunk-ish Nine Pound Hammer, has apparently reformed and recently played some dates in Europe with Hydromatics and Radio Birdman. Rumors has it that they're writing new songs so stay tuned.

www.nashvillepussy.com

(read livereview elsewhere in this issue)