The Hot Sprockets are a band from Dublin, Ireland, consisting of 5 members;
Wayne Soper – Vocals, Guitar
Tim Cullen – Vocals, Guitar
Franky Kelly – Vocals, Mandolin, Organ, Percussion
Joey Lynch – Backing Vocals, Bass
Andrew Sutton – Backing Vocals, Drums
They recently (June 6th) released their second album “BROTHER NATURE” and are currently concentrating on getting gigs outside of Ireland to go with the release, as they feel, over the last couple of years they've made their mark on Ireland and need to get out of there to further their careers as musicians.
We caught up with the guys on 'The Ultimate Dublin Pub Crawl', which, at the time of booking the gig, seemed like a great idea, it turned out to be quite messy, 3 of the band were arrested for being drunk n' disorderly, Mark from Musicmuso was bundled into a van and has not been seen since (we're sure he's fine), prior to the carnage ensuing, here's how we got on with some questions that we threw at the lads....
Please introduce the band and your music in one sentence....
We are The Hot Sprockets, we play high energy, electrifiyin’ rock and roll, and we gonna bring it to ya!
You’re called ‘The Hot Sprockets’ how did you come about choosing this name and who else do you like from Fraggle rock?
The name came about, firstly with the word sprocket. Kinda like 5 gears working together to do one job, and so then we added the Hot. Because everything sounds better when you say hot in front of it. Also when translated directly it means “chills for thrills” in Taiwanese.
What music are you currently grooving to?
As a band we have a pretty diverse taste in music, from the blues (of course) to hip hop, and from Ennio Morricone to psychadelia! One band though that we all individually are always feeling are Queens of the Stone Age / Eagles of Death Metal. Those boys can do no wrong!
‘Soul Brother’ is a superb track and a throwback of a song that has been on repeat for a while, what inspired you to write this song?
As soon as the riff was first played by soper, we got a 70’s cop show buzz from it, which was the direction we went with! So the drums are borrowed straight from Curtis Mayfield’s “superfly” album, to give it that motown feel. When it came time to hit the drawing board for the video, we knew where we were going!
Which act/band made you want to get a band together?
There’s too many influences that helped us shape our original sound, but it’s gotta be Creedence and the band! (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
What is your favourite Saturday night & Sunday morning record?
Saturday nights gotta be ANYTHING by Outkast or Michael Jackson! And for Sunday maybe some Labi Siffre. mmmm! Chillin!
If push came to shove, what is the BEST album/record ever released and why?
It’s gotta be pet sounds by the beach boys. It was just so…out there! The Beatles said it inspired them to make Sergeant Peppers! But in terms of influential, it’s got to be Black Sabbath with Black Sabbath. Totally original and it changed everything!
Tell me a fascinating fact about each member of the band?
Joe- used to be a pro skateboarder. Frankie- is a really talented artist. He designs his own tatts! Soper-has a screw in his left arm that has been scientifically proven to be the source of his shredding. Andy- is training to be a physicist. Tim- can speak several languages, and has a talent for making up fascinating facts about himself
Who designed the artwork for your ‘Brother Nature’ album?
An artist who’s work we love called JTB. The artwork of the whole album is actually just a small excerpt from one of her paintings called ”Madonna and child” which adorns the wall of Sweeney’s, a pub on Dame Street. Hit up Dimestore recordings on Thursdays and you’re bound to bump into it!{C}{C}{C}
What was the last thing you ate?
Porridge! Never start a day without that sloppy goodness.
‘Brother Nature’ has been released on your own record label Cherrypopper Records, why did you set up your own label, and what advice would you give to bands and musicians looking to be heard?
We set up our own label to give ourselves the freedom that we wanted while recording our music, no stress or pressure from the big suits while writing, we made ourselves the big suits! In terms of bands starting out looking to get heard, ye just gotta guerrilla gig at the beginning and get the name out there as much as possible! We used to try gig every night of the week, and when we’d finish a gig, we’d grab the acoustic guitars and hit up the beer gardens for some buskin!
Is there something you would like to tell each of the band members that you haven’t told them before?
No. we tell each other everything face to face, besides, they may be reading this……
What is your favourite venue to play a show at, also can you describe what a Hot Sprockets show is all about?
It depends on the type of gig you’re feelin! For small sweaty gigs, ye can’t beat Sweeney’s on Dame Street, but in terms of grandiose I was pretty blown away by the Olympia. It’s just really something to look out at from the stage! Outside of Ireland we’ve had the privilege of playing places like the roundhouse and the 100 club in London. Places just steeped in history, and where musical revolutions where born! For the show, we just put as much passion and energy into each set that we can! The result is high ballin raw power!!
What have you noticed about your growth, from Country Dirt, Honey Skippin’ and Brother Nature?
In the olden days it was about slammin out as many songs as we could, writing a couple a day, and playing them that night at a gig! Nowadays we take our time writing and spend a lot longer on individual parts to work out the kinks. In that way the song writing process has matured a lot, and that can be heard in the recordings. We still bust new tunes out though from time to time, just to test the water!
You guys have helped with Knockanstockan festival, how did this occur and how does this compare to other festivals?
We’ve known the founders of Knockanstockan for years now, ever since they ran gigs in Eamonn Doran’s as Primal Jelly Social Club. They’ve always had the same ethos, and that’s to give small independent artists a place to play and to have a crowd that want to see it. They made the transition to a festival in 2007, and have been killing it ever since! In comparison it’s up there with the best of the festivals! But we may be a tad bias; we’ve made so many friends there because we’ve played it every single year! That’s 8 years running! You could say we’re the Knockanstockan house band!
What classic song would you have liked to have recorded and why?
Suzie Q! Such a groover, and in the unedited versions they sound like they had some real funny/ trippy moments on the overdubs!!
Your 3 best tips to survive an outdoor music festival?
1: A shoe makes a perfect can holder 2: Don’t camp near a tree (it may seem like a nice idea, but in reality it just ends up being the festivals communal toilet.) 3: Bring toilet paper (I don’t trust the man that doesn’t include toilet paper in this list!)
Have you had any ‘Spinal Tap’ Moments? If yes, please share!
We have a strict “what happens on the road stays on the road” policy, but one that springs to mind is of a gig in Letterkenny about 3 years ago, where Soper hornswoggled half a bottle of whiskey before we went on, and continued to suckle on it for the remainder of the gig. In one of the last songs, just as his solo was coming up, he leapt off the stage onto some tables out front, and proceeded to shred the heavens out of the guitar. Just as it finished, he lost his balance, flew of the table and split his head open. It probably would have gone down in rock and roll history, but there was only two women in their late 60’s watching the gig. And it was their table he had toppled. He redeemed himself in the van on the way home though, by throwing up a supermacs all over himself in his sleep.
First gig you ever went to and also the first guitar riff you heard that still makes you orgasm now?
The first gig I ever saw funnily enough was Eminem! I got a free ticket so I said “to hell with it, I’ll go see what all the fuss is about! It was ok, but Cyprus Hill supported him, and that was awesome! They did a 15 min drum solo were every one of them played some form of drum. I think I was the only one in the crowd feeling it though! For raw riffage its gotta be AC/DC with Thunderstruck! I remember watching the tape of that live at Donnington in my first encounter with rock and roll, and it blew my mind! The crowd where going insane! Still gives me that feeling after all these years!
Where did you record ‘Brother Nature’, what made you choose that studio?
We recorded brother nature with our good pal Gavin “Doctor Double G” Glass. Gav’s a veteran of the Irish music scene and along with playing with Lisa Hannigan and his own solo buzz, he’s runs a studio called “Orphan Recordings”. One of us put up a stupid joke on twitter; the punch line was something like “oh our elastic band broke”. But Gav totally flipped, he was like “can’t believe you guys are finished and I never got to record you!” we said “don’t worry dude!, it was just a joke! Let’s hook it up!”. And that was that!
There are many good bands and musicians out there, who would you ask the readers of musicmuso to look out for?
Ireland is a bubblin' coddle pot of musical talent at the moment, and we’ve gotten to play with so many of them! Bands like the Eskies, New Secret Weapon and The Shades are all killing it up here in Dublin, while bands like O’Emperor from Waterford are literally mind-blowing! In one of their videos they play with the full RTE orchestra! If you’re going to watch it I suggest you do so sitting down!
Do you think we can ever live in a world where a chicken can cross the road without having its motives questioned?
I would not care to live in such a world!
What are your plans for the remainder of 2014?
We’ll be hitting' up more festivals and gigs till the end of the summer (Le Cheile Festival (Meath), Sligo Summer Festival, Green Man Festival), then at the end of August we’re hittin' up a small tour of the US of A!! We’ll be playing in Boston Chicago and Kansas City with another Irish band called Cold Comfort! Then in October we’re Toronto bound for indie week! This is one we’re all dying for! Also we're writing at the moment and it's going sweet, so were hoping to get in and record our new album later this year!
The 'law' had just shown up to check out a disturbance (Soper & Sutton playing leap-frog with some rather bemused looking elderly Dutch tourists), before they were carted away to 'sleep it off' prior to questioning, we threw in a few quick-fire questions....
Coffee or Tea? Tea
Coke or Pepsi? Coke
Monty Python or Fast Show? Monthy Python
Drum machine or the real deal? Real deal
Mac or PC? PC
Steve Collins or Conor McGregor? Conor Mcgregor
Live Show or Recording Studio? Live show
Fry up or Sunday roast? Fry up
Lemmy (Motorhead) or Ozzy (Black Sabbath)? Ozzy!
CD or Vinyl? Vinyl
Car or Motorbike? motorbike
Acoustic or electric? Electric
Shower or Bath? Bath
Huilk Hogan or Stone Cole Steve Austin or CM Punk? Hulk Hogan
Tattoos or Piercings? Tattoos
Robert De Niro or Al Pacino? Pacino, just about!!
God or Google? Google
SOCIAL MEDIA
www.thehotsprockets.com
www.soundcloud.com/thehotsprockets
www.facebook.com/thehotsprockets
www.twitter.com/thehotsprockets
We would like to say a huge THANK YOU to the band for sparing their time to answer our questions, we really do appreciate it and we wish the guys all the very best for the future. Mark from Musicmuso was found safe and well, in the foetus position in St Stephens Park sobbing gently to himself, muttering some foreign swear words, he'll be okay !!
Interview by Mark Wincott