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Despite the success of your debut album, more than a few critics have labeled American Hi Fi as just another slickly produced
cookie-cutter radio rock band.
STACY JONES: Yeah, well, that's what I love. I'm not trying to reinvent rock music. There's a reason the pop song is
verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, double chorus and then out - because it fucking works. We try to blend all the things
we love into one band and into a sound I think is totally cool. That's what the Beatles and the Stones did. We're just trying
to be a decent fucking rock'n'roll band. The world needs a little bit of that right now.
So has Carson Daly offered you guys guest-VJ spots on TRL yet?
JAMIE: No, but we can't wait.
Is it something you'd actually do?
STACY: Yeah, of course. I wouldn't go on there and whore myself out, but I would say "There's my band, and this is
what we do." I'm not going to do "Say What? Karaoke" or any of that shit. I would like to play the MTV Beach House, though.
You're not worried about selling out?
STACY: It's weird because I didn't think people still talked like that until recently. And then this band from Boston
has been talking shit about us - that we're sellouts and we don't like what we do and we just do it for the money. Well, we're
not making any money. If you're a band on a major label, with all the money that label spends on you, you would have to sell
like a million-and-a-half records before you make a dollar. We're doing this because we love rock'n'roll.
JAMIE: We just want to connect with people and we want to enjoy what we do, and so far it's been working out.
STACY: And we want to sell records because we want to have fans and be able to go out and play in front of more than
10 people. It's retarded not to want that.
The "Flavor of the Weak" video no doubt connected with more than a few folks. You paid homage to your favourite decade
by playing off the 1986 documentary Heavy Metal Parking Lot. Do you ever do '80s songs live?
STACY: The problem with doing a cover is that you run the risk of it being the best song you play all night. But once
in Cincinnati, we ran into Art (Alexakis) from Everclear and we went to this lesbian karaoke bar. I was really psyched because
we sang "Wait" by White Lion. It went over a lot of people's heads because the crowd was filled with older lesbians.
Wasn't "Flavor of the Weak" originally written for a different band?
STACY: I actually wrote it for a fictious band.
JAMIE: It was a joke. While we were recording the album in Maui, we got drunk one night and got talking about this
band that I could play drums in, and it would be fronted by cute girls that wrote nothing but indie-rock hits. Then [producer]
Bob [Rock] said he wouldn't finish the record if we didn't record that song.
STACY: At the time, the song was really goofy-sounding. Maybe it's still goofy-sounding, but it was really>
goofy sounding. So we toughened it up a little bit.
Stacy, how difficult has the transition from drummer to frontman been for you?
STACY: There really isn't a transition. I'm still in a rock band, and I'm still playing music I love.
JAMIE: Well, you can see the girls in the crowd from up front.
STACY: That's true, but the only real difference now is that I have to talk to the crowd. But I just swear at them
and they go crazy. And my throat kills a lot after a show. I have to hock loogies all the time.
JAMIE: No matter what you're doing up there, you're just playing for the song. It doesn't matter what vehicule you
have to do that.
Is it frustrating to be compared to other drummers-turned-frontmen, like Don Henley, Phil Collins and especially Dave Grohl?
STACY: I would much rather be compared to Foo Fighters than just about any of our contemporaries right now. They're
one of the only bands that I really love. So I'm stoked when I'm compared to Dave, but at the same time I feel like I'm a
hack. I think that he's great and I kind of feel it's almost unfair to him.
The cool thing about drumming is that you can hide behind your kit if you don't want attention. Now you're writing all
of Hi Fi's music and lyrics. Do you feel naked?
STACY: Yeah, it took a while to flush things out when I was writing these songs. In the beginning I was trying to be
really cryptic and cover up what I was saying. Bob and Nina [Gordon, longtime girlfriend and Veruca Salt co-founder] really
helped me realise that you don't have to be so cool about it. Bob just told me one day, "No one knows what the fuck you're
talking about, so just say it." And Nina was great helping me with rearranging words. She should be getting royalties.
You've been dating Nina for about four years now. Any plans to settle down?
STACY: No, far from it. We're dating. No marriage for me right now.
Is that because you're going to put your energy into replacing Peter Criss or Eric Carr or whoever the hell it is that's
playing drums for Kiss now? You're a huge fan, right?
STACY: I am a huge fan, but I probably wouldn't join Kiss because I just have this feeling that Kiss is one of those
bands that are better if I just leave them where they are. Like I bet Gene is a real dick, Ace is totally out of his head,
and Paul Stanley is gay. Which is fine, but he probably would try to fuck me or something.
Paul Stanley is gay?
STACY: He's totally gay. I mean, come on, think about it. The chicks are all part of the rock'n'roll vibe. He should
just come out. How hot would that be if all of a sudden, Paul came out: "I'm gay, and I've always been gay." That would be
rad. Then he should get together with Rob Halford. There's really no gay rocker couples. Just think about what a great pair
they'd make.
JAMIE: They could have their own band.
STACY: I'd totally play drums in that band. I'd leave American Hi Fi to play in the Rob Halford-Paul Stanley Gay Lovers
Band.
Have you played shows you wish you could forget?
STACY: We did this spring break gig in Jamaica that was put on by Magic Johnson. It was totally ridiculous because
they charged like $30 to get in. College kids on spring break don't spend $30 to go to a fucking concert. They pay five bucks,
get a wristband and drink free all week. So no one came to the gig. So we busted out a Dokken song that no one ever heard
of ["Alone Again"] and "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" by Night Ranger.
JAMIE: Magic was there and he looked really bummed out. He was sitting on the steps of this makeshift trailer with
his head in his hands.
Let's end on a negative. What's the worst thing that's ever happened to you?
STACY: Five years ago I got really fucking gnarly salmonella poisoning from Burger King. It was horrible because I
was laid up for like two weeks and I turned so gray I thought I was gonna die. And I had to plays shows where I was barfing
into a bucket next to the drum kit. There's nothing worse than being sick on the road.
JAMIE: I'm sure it wasn't the worst thing, but when I was 6 or 8 years old, I had this parakeet that I loved. My family
and I went on vacation and left it at a friend's house, and we came back and it was dead. The exterminator had come, and it
died.
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