On July 19, Charm City Devils will be coming through the Philadelphia area at Crue Fest 2 at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ. I spoke with front man John Allen via phone from his Baltimore home to find out more about the band, how it feels to be going on tour with Motley Crue and what to expect if you have the chance to catch them live.
Charm City Devils (John Allen is center)Behind The Barrier: I was doing some research on you guys and there really isn't that much out there yet. Could you give me a little background on how you guys started?
John Allen: I mean, we're a pretty new band and the line-up is only about two years old so that's probably why you couldn't find much info on us. I played drums in a signed act prior to this and the singer and myself built a little studio in the basement of my house. He had a place in LA and he would stay at my place when he was on the East Coast. On one of his trips back to Los Angeles, I went downstairs and was tinkering around in the studio and I was like, 'I better learn how to use this stuff,' and that's where I first recorded "Burn, Baby, Burn" and it was just a real rough demo with not much forethought put into it. That rough demo actually is what's on the recording. It's very kind of low-fi, like White Stripes-ey, kind of a real garage-ey type vibe and ya know, when I wrote that song I really just wanted to get it down to hear it. When I finished I thought, 'I think I may be onto something here, I'm not really sure what but I think I might be onto something.' So I played it for him when he got back and he was like, 'This is cool, we should do this,' and I said, 'No... I think I'm gonna keep this one, this is gonna be mine and I'm gonna build a band around it.' And basically that was the start for me to come out from behind the drum kit and start fronting a band. Ya know, that song turned into three, that turned into six and that turned into a whole record and I just kinda built from there.
BTB: So, the other guys that are in the band, did you know them? Were you friends with them? How did you put the band together?
JA: Everybody in the band has played with me one time or another except for the drummer because I was always the drummer. These guys I knew from around town and respected as players so yea, it's really cool. It's like a bunch of friends that I was able to get together and put a band together with after knowing them for years and playing on and off with them for years. It really, really works... I think that you've got with friends and a good mix of personalities, when you're touring... we just did a little run down south and we were all in the same van together in like 100 degree heat and so if we're gonna be smelling each other the whole summer, it's better to start off at least getting along. [laughs]
BTB: Yea, I would say that makes sense!
JA: Yea.
BTB: Where did the name "Charm City Devils" come from?
JA: We were kicking around names, we had like 500 different names. I was trying to come up with something that spoke to our origins, ya know being from Baltimore, and we were kicking around different names with Charm City in it. Nikki Sixx, the president of our label, actually came up with the name. And I was like, 'This is great, this is gonna work out.' It had just as many syllables as Silversun Pickups so that's why we chose it.
BTB: Well, speaking of Nikki Sixx, how does it feel to be the first band signed to his label?
JA: It's surreal, man. I've been reading The Dirt and the stuff that those guys have been through and lived to tell about it and ya know, to be under his wing and on his label is such an incredible honor for us. It's surreal at the same time, ya know, these are guys that we as kids looked up to and idolized. And then just two months ago, when we made the announcement for Crue Fest 2, that night I got up with Motley Crue at Madison Square Garden as did all of the other singers from Crue Fest - the guy from Godsmack, singer for Theory of a Deadman and the singer for Drowning Pool. We all jumped up on the song called "White Trash Circus" and I tell ya, for one to be on stage at Madison Square is an incredible event in my life. But to be up on stage with Motley Crue, I would never guess that would happen in a million years. I'm standing there next to Vince Neil, arm-in-arm, and I looked over at him and he looks at me and I just completely forgot where I was. [laughs] I stopped singing for a second I'm like, 'What is the song?' I completely lost my shit, ya know?
BTB: So, are you guys pretty excited to go on tour with Motley Crue and the rest of the bands on Crue Fest 2's roster?
JA: Oh, totally. It beats the hell out of playing a small, smokey club. That's for certain.
BTB: The kick-off date is actually in Camden, NJ this year - do you guys have anything special planned for the first show of the tour?
JA: I think I will try not to fall off the front of the stage. No, I mean, the show is just gonna be a blast. It's gonna be the first one so we're gonna be so amped up, ya know? We'll probably, our drummer will probably play everything 10 or 15 beats per minute faster than the record and he'll be finished before the rest of us even walk on stage to play the first song.
BTB: That's awesome. Well, I'm definitely going so I'm excited.
JA: Cool, very cool. I love Philly, man... ya know, as a kid I used to go up there with a friend of mine and run around South Street and Center City and stuff so I've always loved Philly.
BTB: Yea. I love it, too. I love being here. So, you guys are the opening band for Crue Fest with a 5 o'clock performance - for people who haven't had the chance to see you guys perform before, why should they make sure that they get to the venue to see you guys open up?
JA: Ya know, I think they should get in to see a new generation of dirty, high energy, gritty, blues-based rock along the lines of bands like Aerosmith, AC/DC, with a little bit of Iggy and the Stooges thrown and White Stripes thrown in there. And I also think they'll thoroughly enjoy the show. We've been turning crowds on I think throughout the beginning of our own tour here, since the record's been out, going down south. We've played to a lot of audiences that haven't seen us before and people have been really, really responsive and flipping out and it's great to see that. We played in Atlanta last week and no one even knew we were on the bill because we were added the week of the show. And people were singing the songs along with us and we were the only band out of a four band bill that had a pit going which is crazy because I don't know if we're really that kind of band. But some of the stuff is really high energy so you can definitely get your aggression out. But I think people really dig it.
BTB: You guys have a more old school, rock and roll sound - are there any specific bands that you guys are influenced by that led to that?
JA: Well, I mentioned two of them a couple minutes ago. Aerosmith, I'm a huge fan of AC/DC and a huge fan of Jack White and the White Stripes and old blues music. I mean, I'm a history geek so I've done my reading on who Led Zeppelin were influenced by and Eric Clapton, they all cited this blues man Robert Johnson. So I went back and checked him out and the story behind him and the story of Robert Johnson, he's the guy that apparently sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads. If you listen to his recordings, they're pretty amazing. I think they were recorded in 1938 and there are some places where it sounds like there are a few guys playing guitar instead of just one so I can see where people are influenced by this guy. He was like the Eddie Van Halen of his era and just blew peoples' minds. So all that stuff, I think that's really influenced me. All of the mysticism and that's the roots of rock and roll right there with Robert Johnson.
BTB: Well, that's all the questions I had but is there anything you want to add or think I should know?
JA: People, please hit us up at the show. We come out and say hello. We'll come out and meet friends and fans after every show. Hit us up on Myspace (www.myspace.com/charmcitydevils), we have Facebook and Twitter as well. Track us down at one of those places, we always answer.
BTB: That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for taking some time out of your day to talk to me.
JA: No problem. Thank you, Ashley.
Don't miss Charm City Devils at this year's Crue Fest 2!
