18 & Life

Written for a Glasgow concert promoter. This was one of my first interviews, and I see it as a strong, informative Q&A piece, but I have since started to prefer prose articles. I find they allow for greater expression from a writer, better quality entertainment for a reader, and more effective publicity for an artist.

New Yorker Acey Slade (born Emil Schmidt) certainly lives up to his Sagittarian star sign; he can’t sit still for one minute. Being a past member of a string of bands – Dope, Murderdolls and Trashlight Vision have all at one time counted him in their ranks – he has certainly been round the music industry block a few times. He is currently fronting his own solo project, The Dark Party, which he is touring extensively in the run-up to the release of their debut album. Standing in the cloakroom area of a dingy underground Glasgow club, and speaking in much friendlier tones than his glam-punk rockstar persona would suggest, he took the time to give a little insight into life in such a travelling circus…

Hello Acey. How has the tour been so far?
Acey [Slade, vocals/guitar]: It has been fantabulous.

That’s a good word. What have the crowds been like?
Acey: They’ve been awesome everywhere. London was great, and Dumfries was pretty good too, but tonight killed.

Any memorable people or interesting characters from this tour?
Acey: Dude, with us having the dancers between bands, it has just brought out the most colourful human beings on the planet. We’ve seen everything, including ‘boy-lesque’ dancers – boys doing burlesque dancing, which I didn’t even know existed. Such a wonderful cross-section of humanity on this tour, more than any other tour I’ve ever did. It’s been a freak show, it’s been great.

How do you compare American crowds with British crowds?
Acey: You can’t. United Kingdom crowds are just so much better. Music just seems to be a part of so many people’s lives here, whereas in America, it seems that they can’t be bothered with it a lot of the time. Of course, that’s not true of everyone, but here, music just seems to be a way of life.

You’re actually producing a band from Scotland, Billy Liar. How did that come about, and how is it going?
Acey: I did a show in Edinburgh with my old band, Trashlight Vision, and I always welcome any demos that bands give me. He gave me a demo after the show, and I put it on and I just had a moment; like when A&R guys hear a band and decide to sign them. It’s an acoustic punk project, which attracted me to it. It’s pretty cool, because I’ve been stretching myself out to try different styles lately, and I could never do what Billy Liar does. I’ve also been working with a band back home called His Mighty Robot, who are like Muse meets Placebo meets Deftones. A really heavy, progressive sound, but with melodic vocals. It’s great working with bands like that.

Your new band’s style is notably different from your previous efforts with Murderdolls and Trashlight Vision; you’ve adopted a more electro- and industrial- influenced sound, closer to that of Dope. Is that something you’ve wanted to do – or get back to – for a while, and how has it compared with your former bands?
Acey: Well, most people seem to really enjoy it. I think I’ve always been known for being an open-minded and adventurous person. I would never want to play the same style of music my whole life. Producing other bands helps like that, because I can get involved with acts who play things that I never could – or never would – play. The cool thing with my solo band is that it will change from album to album, no two will be identical. I admire people like Mike Patton [Faith No More frontman, also known for several musical projects of varying styles], or even Tim Armstrong from Rancid, who went on to work with Transplants and Pink. I don’t think that people are as closed-minded as they used to be, you know?

Are the fans on this tour fans of your old bands, or is your new style attracting a different audience?
Acey: I don’t know. I don’t really pay attention to that. I play music to play music. Whether I’m playing to five people or five thousand people, it’s still the same show to me.

Tell us about your new single ‘She Brings Down The Moon’.
Acey: I wrote that song years and years ago, but it hasn’t been right for any of my projects. Now that I’m doing my solo stuff, I thought it was right to bring it out, and I knew that it was a great song. The inspiration for the lyrics was a girl I knew who was just a real pure soul, the sweetest person you could ever meet. She had some bad things happen to her, it was so sad, and I just had this image of the moon coming down and taking pity on her.

How do you find a balance between family life and touring?
Acey: I wanted to make time for family more while I was working on this album – it took about a year and a half. I wanted to back down and spend more time with my family, with my wife and my new niece, but it just didn’t happen. I was never going to quit making music, but I just wanted to find a better balance than the one I had. But, I’m a free spirit, and I can’t be in one place for too long.

It’s definitely a downside to being on tour, as documented in many rock songs. Are you happy on the road at the moment, or would you rather be back home in New York?
Acey: My wife and I are getting divorced, so I don’t have anybody to go home to. There’s my mom, obviously, but I don’t live with her, and she understands. I just miss having someone to go home to, and since I don’t have anyone to miss, I just want to go home! (laughs)

How is the current economic situation affecting life as a musician? Did you have to consider things more carefully while making the album?
Acey: Actually, it was pretty easy since my writing partner is a producer and has his own studio, and we did it all there. It’s interesting, because we’re just trying to figure out how to release it now, and I’ve found that a record company is great for getting money that you don’t have, but also taking money that isn’t theirs. If they’re losing money on another band, I shouldn’t be the one paying for it, so we’ve been self-releasing our stuff and it’s been really nice. It’s been more of a challenge, because we’ve no one to keep track of how many we’ve sold and then we’re like ‘Shit! We’re all out!’ (laughs) There’s been some mistakes along the way, and ones that we didn’t foresee, but it’s been a lot of fun.

What are your plans after the tour?
Acey: We’re playing some shows back in the New York area, and we’ll probably just start to arrange some more business stuff. We have another EP coming out (‘She Brings Down The Moon’) and the album is done. Rather than tour the States, I want to write with my new band, because they’re all just fantastic, brightly-shining human beings. I actually kind’ve want to start writing album number two. Everybody’s second album always kinda sucks, because they don’t take their time doing it, so I want to have it written, maybe play some of the new songs live, and get it out that way.

Do you envision this band being as successful as Trashlight Vision, or is that something you’re indifferent to?
Acey: It’s nice because you get to a point where the finances are and stuff, but given the economy and the career that I’ve had, I don’t care, man. I mean, I want people to get into it and like it, sure, but it’s not on my mind when I’m writing.

Thanks for your time, Acey. There’s just one last question that I think everyone wants to know the answer to… what’s [Acey's former Murderdolls bandmate] Wednesday 13 like in person?
Acey: (laughs) He’s a very scary person! And there’s always the question about the Murderdolls getting back together! The truth is, if I had my way, we’d have got back together years ago, but life is perfect the way that it is just now. It’ll happen when the time is right. I’m always up for it, but whenever Wednesday is free, Joey [Jordison, former Murderdolls guitarist and current Slipknot drummer] has been busy, and vice versa, and I’ve been doing Trashlight Vision too. I’m sure one perfect day it will all come together.