Scott Sudbury's debut album will either be the first of many in a multi platinum career
or a closet classic that was missed by many and adored by the few.
One listen to his STATIC ON MY RADIO cd and I guarantee that you'll never forget him, as
this is one artist that defines the word 'class'.
We caught up with him during a hectic gigging schedule to tune into his wave-length and
find out what makes him tick.
VOLTZ -- How did you get started in the music business?
SCOTT -- Music was always a big part of our family. My mom and dad weren't musicians,
but they were huge fans of music. They listened to lots of different stuff. I can
remember hearing things like Elvis, Paul Simon, ELO, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zep, Jackson
Browne, and Otis Redding at a very early age. My first live show was Barry Manilow at
five years old. We used to go to these great festivals in Memphis and they would be like
a picnic for my brothers and me. I got to see all the blues greats like Muddy Waters,
Albert King, Willie Dixon, Rufus Thomas, Booker T and the MGs, all before I was even a
teenager. My oldest brother's interest in music was good because I would sneak his
records out while he was not at home. While tagging along with my dad and brothers I
also got to see Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Billy Squier, and Molly Hatchett all
in the same day. That's when I knew that music was going to be a very important part of
my life. At 15 I started banging on this old Apollo guitar that my brother had gotten
from my grandfather. I used to ride my bike over to the other kids houses and watch them
play then ride home as fast I could and try to remember what they were doing. That's how
I learned.... no lessons. I didn't start trying to sing until my last years of school.
That was mostly back up, I kinda got forced into the singing thing, because I couldn't
find anybody else to do it and be dependable about it.
VOLTZ -- Your cd has a variety of influences on display from Glen Burtnik to Rick
Springfield. Who were your influences as a musician?
SCOTT -- I think all the people my mom and dad exposed me to were influences on some
level. Jimi Hendrix was who I would try to learn from as a player at first. Then I got
into a lot of the 80's stuff... like Dokken, Crue, Ratt, etc. I started trying to write
songs during my last year of High School. I would listen to Bon Jovi's New Jersey and
Slippery When Wet over and over again... Studying that stuff. I was always drawn to well
written, catchy songs that you could hum or sing along with. I saw Bryan Adams in the
early 90's and he blew me away. He has probably influenced me the most as far as
songwriting goes. He also made me dig back to the Tom Petty, Loverboy, Cheap Trick,
Cars, and AC/DC things that I had in my collection as a kid. They were all huge
influences for me. I get a lot of questions about me with Rick Springfield and Sammy
Hagar, and those were things that slipped by me as a kid. I had to come back and
rediscover a lot of the early 80's artists, but I think they were great and the songs
still hold up today... Good Stuff.
VOLTZ -- Your debut cd 'Static on my radio' has a depth of songwriting that can often
only be found on your fourth or fifth release. How do you manage to make it look so easy?
SCOTT -- Thank you. This was my first project. When I started recording these songs, it
was only supposed to be a demo and everything was done real fast.. No more that two or
three takes at the most. Most of these songs were of the first draft, or the first
thing that came to mind. I didn't beat myself up with questioning it too much like I'd
always done before. I just went with it. There wasn't much time so I didn't overthink
anything, which I think works good for me. There was a time when I tried to fight my pop
rock influences, but my writing style was always showing up and I just finally embraced
it. I don't know if writing is ever easy, but it took a lot of the pressure off of me
when I stopped second guessing myself. I think that's when you start to come through in
your writing. When you can be comfortable and accept it as you.
VOLTZ -- Do you play live in the states, if so how often. What about European shows?
SCOTT -- I've been doing a lot of acoustic gigs on Beale Street lately because I haven't
had a drummer for a while. Pete Mendillo just joined up with me. You might remember
Pete from Jim Jamison's Survivor. Pete along with my brother Keith Sudbury on bass, and
Allan Mullins on guitar, and I have been playing university gigs to get ready for a tour
of some sort. We are trying to make enough contacts to put together a trip across
Europe. The European reception has been good to me. I can't wait to come over and play
there.
VOLTZ -- When you play live is it all originals or do you play some covers.
SCOTT -- When we play festivals we do all originals. When we do the University gigs, we
do covers of some of the early influence stuff that we still enjoy. Like Cheap Trick,
Cars, Petty, Bryan Adams and of course, we rock them up a bit. It's a shame, but there
aren't many places to play over here that welcome an all original set. Most of the time
you are required to play some covers, so we keep it to the classic stuff we enjoy
playing.
VOLTZ -- How well has the cd done in the states.
SCOTT -- The CD has sold into 38 states. But it has been a slow process. Most of the
response has been outside my hometown of Memphis, so it's not very easy to go to these
places and play a lot at this time. It takes a lot of convincing and proving over here.
No one wants to admit they like something until MTV says it's okay to like it. Our MTV
is very different from what it used to be. It once was a great vehicle for new acts that
couldn't get radio play or media attention.. But it has just become big business, and
people that are doing things independently are finding it very hard to compete. We are
taking the old fashioned approach of playing live to promote ourselves.
VOLTZ -- Pick your 3 favourite songs from 'static' and why.
SCOTT -- My favorites change from day to day. The interesting thing is that different
parts of the world like different songs. Germany has really embraced 'Around' and the
more rocking songs, while Australia seems to like the slower stuff like 'Long Way home'.
Here are some of the songs I never get tired of playing.
"Static on my Radio" tells how I was feeling about the state music was in at the time.
Everything on the radio was gloom and doom, and it was something I just couldn't relate
to. I was writing these songs for this record and trying to capture that fun aggressive
thing that made me want to create music in the first place.
"Here I Go" is a quick in your face song that really comes to life in a live performance.
Crank it up and drive fast kind of rocker.
"Tonight" is a great example of how rock used to be. A lot of the kids have never been
exposed to this style, so they see it as something fresh, but for the older listeners, it
brings them back to their youth. It's like 'Yeah, that how I remember Rock n Roll".
VOLTZ -- Give me several reasons why the readers of Voltz should buy your cd.
SCOTT -- I think my CD is true to what Rock and Roll should be...Fun. So much music of
today is not fun.
VOLTZ -- How are things coming along on the follow up to 'static'.
SCOTT -- I've been recording songs with producer Jeff Powell. Jeff has worked with
Tonic, Dish Walla, Bob Dylan, Steve Ray, Beth Orson, Primal Scream, etc. Things are
going well and I hope to have a new release out before we go to Europe. We are keeping
all of the elements of 'Static', but we are rocking things up even more this time as far
as the live elements of the recording are concerned.
VOLTZ -- What's the biggest thing that ever happened to you as a musician?
SCOTT -- Just being able to make a living doing something you love to do is a blessing.
I've been very fortunate getting to play with some of the acts that I have so far. I
just keep pushing forward and it keeps growing. I'm just thankful for the fact that I
can do this all the time.
VOLTZ -- Pick one song that would sum up rock n roll to you.
SCOTT -- Probably 'That's all right' from Elvis during the Sun Studio days. Elvis was
Rock and Roll. He took all these dangerous elements from Blues and Country and mixed
them up into Rock and Roll. He also was the first act to get that kind of reckless vibe
of a live performance to actually come across on records. His energy along with the
band's energy was incredible, even today you can still feel it. Also, he did some of the
first live shows where they actually put microphones on the drums.. great rhythm section.
VOLTZ -- Anything you would like to add or say to the readers of Voltz?
SCOTT -- Thanks to all who have supported my music. I hope I can come over and play for
you in the near future. Be sure to check out my website at http://www.scottsudbury.com
and if you want to contact me my e-mail address is scott@scottsudbury.com
Voltz Magazine Jan 2001
|
