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BY MARK BINELLI
"When I was fifteen, I had a sick mullet," brags Stacy Jones, a former drummer for the alt-rock bands Veruca Salt and
Letters to Cleo and now the singer and guitarist of his own group, American Hi Fi. "I wore concert shirts every day to school.
In 1986, Crüe, Dokken, Ratt, Maiden, Priest - they all ruled. All that shit ruled."
Disco and New Wave came back a few comebacks ago, so maybe this was inevitable. But the funny thing about Jones' unabashed
love of the late, not normally lamented hair-metal era is that American Hi Fi sound nothing like the Monsters of Eighties
Rock. "Flavor of the Weak," AHF's breakthrough single - about a hot chick with a loser boyfriend - is a jokey guitar anthem
that resembles Blink 182 after a month in the gym. The video - a takeoff on the cult documentary Heavy Metal Parking Lot,
featuring copious mullet action - also takes a page from the Blink playbook, going for the quick laugh to cut through the
TRL clutter. The rest of the album recalls the oeuvre of another drummer turned bandleader, Dave Grohl.
Before a recent show in New York, Jones and guitarist Jamie Arentzen took a break for lunch on the patio of a hip midtown
hotel. Both excitedly kept on the lookout for Tommy Lee, allegedly staying at the hotel under the name Mr. Happy.
"Mötley Crüe was my first concert, the Shout at the Devil tour," recalls Jones. "I got beat up. I was hanging around
after the show, watching the roadies break down the drum kit. And these two kids pushed me against the wall. I had a necklace
with drumsticks on it and a little cybal hanging from the button of my jean jacket. They ripped those off, punched me in the
face and took off."
"Weak," mutters Arentzen.
Jones' father worked for an oil company, so he moved around a lot as a kid - living in London, then Ohio and Texas before
ending up in Boston to attend the Berklee College of Music. After dropping out, he hooked up with Letters to Cleo and later
defected to Veruca Salt. The men of American Hi Fi - also featuring bassist Drew Parsons and drummer Brian Nolan - were longtime
pals from the Boston scene. "Brian and I were both drummers," says Jones, "so one of us had to give it up and try singing,
and it was me."
With his rudimentary guitar skills, Jones used the "two-strings method" to write his first songs. But things really snowballed
for American Hi Fi when Jones went to Maui to work on former Veruca Salt singer Nina Gordon's solo album at the studio of
super-producer Bob Rock. Rock invited the rest of AHF to the island to use his rehearsal space. After seeing their first live
gig, Rock agreed to produce their debut.
"The place he saw us was a pizza restaurant by day and a disco by night," says Arentzen. "Every Wednesday was ladies' night!"
He pauses. "Which didn't work out so well for us."
"The ladies in Maui are not interested in young rockers," says Jones. "They want surfers. One night, this girl asked me, 'Do
you surf?' I said, 'I can barely swim!' She was like, 'I have to go to the bathroom,' and she never came back."
Arentzen winces and shakes his head.
"Being in a band might get you somewhere here," Jones says, gesturing at his ultrahip surroundings, then adding with a sigh,
"but not everywhere."
VITAL STATISTICS
BAND HOMETOWN: Boston
JAMIE ARENTZEN (guitar) AGE: 28 PREVIOUS DAY JOB: Catering: omelet engineer at bar mitzvahs
STACY JONES (guitar, vocals) AGE: 28 PREVIOUS DAY JOB: Answering phones at a movie theater
DREW PARSONS (bass) AGE: 26 PREVIOUS DAY JOB: Pool monkey at billiards hall
BRIAN NOLAN (drums) AGE: 28 PREVIOUS DAY JOB: Coffee-cart server
INFLUENCES
Stacy Jones
DAVID SEDARIS
I just read Barrel Fever and Naked. He's so smart and funny. That's the perfect kind of comedian: a smartass
who thinks he's better than everyone else.
THE KNICKS
Latrell Sprewell is my favourite player. I'm drawn to him because he has a mullet. I don't know if he knows he has a mullet
or not, but he does, and it's rocking.
TOP FIVE ALBUMS
Stacy Jones
1. Cheap Trick, In Colour Just one of the greatest power-pop records ever. It's rocking but melodic - exactly
what I wanted our band to be. 2. Swervedriver, Mezcal Head Kind of like a rocking, washy band with great melodies.
3. Mötley Crüe, Shout at the Devil That's what made me want to be in a rock band. 4. The Pixies, Doolittle
Totally unique. They sound like nobody else.
Jamie Arentzen
5. The Beatles, Revolver The transition between the ultrapop and the more experimental. Gotta have the Beatles.
♥
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