Dirty Sweet Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 15th 2010 6:08PM by Kevin Chen
Comments

Combining an old school sound with new school hooks and riffs, Dirty Sweet has become a band that bring the phrase "Old School Rock 'N Roll" into the 21st century with style and passion. Spinner speaks with Ryan about the band's music and their influences.

How did you come up with your band name?

Well, there's the lyric from the T. Rex song "Bang a Gong." There's that, and then it kinda made sense because we'll do stuff that's early metal influenced and then we'll do stuff that's very melodic and folky and makes for a softer side of things. It shows a wider dynamic of our sound.

Describe your sound in your own words.

It's definitely influenced in roots rock n' rolll, but we're trying to do a contemporary spin on that.
What are some of your musical influences?

Any soul music, a lot of blues, older Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Robert Johnson, meshed with early Black Sabbath. Of course the Stones, of course [Led] Zeppelin, of course the Beatles, but also some of the smaller faces like Humble Pie and Rod Stewart. We're mainly influenced by old R&B and old blues.

What's your background in music?

My mother was a musician, so I was brought up around it. I was brought up from a very early age in music. When I moved to San Diego about 10 years ago I started getting really into the music scene again because I didn't have that luxury where I was from in Spokane, Washington. I just got really into the music scene and figured it was time to put together a band.

If you were to choose one song that you have a strong connection with, which song would that be?

I love Stevie Wonder and there's this song "I Don't Know Why" and the lyrics are "I don't know why I love you but I love you." What's cool and funny about this song is that two of my other major influences covered it. The Jackson Five covered it and then I came to find out also that the Rolling Stones did a version of it. I think that I like all three equally for different reasons. It showed me that a song done different ways can be just as powerful as the original.

What are some of the more memorable experiences you've had on tour?

Last year we had probably the best show we've ever had -- a show we thought would be terrible but turned out amazing. It was a free show at the Beauty Bar [in Austin, TX] and ended up being packed. We just crushed it. The energy level was through the roof. It set the tempo for all of our future shows at SXSW and Austin. That same day we ended up playing three 20-25 minute sets at Stubb's and had an amazing time there also.

Locally, we also played a show with the Killers in front of 6,000 people which was incredible.

Internationally, one of the coolest experiences was playing our very first show overseas at the Paradiso in Amsterdam and having the show completely sold out on our first time in Europe. Completely sold out and we were the only band on the bill. That was awesome.

What has been the craziest experience from the road?

Meeting people -- all the people you meet from celebrities to people around. There's so many experiences it's hard to pin one down. There's always a bit of debauchery but it's also not fun very often, it's painstaking and it's stressful. But especially going overseas where people love and support music, versus touring in the States where people don't have quite the appreciation that people overseas do, it's interesting to see the comparison between the way that people react to artists. That would be the overall most impacting thing as far as touring.

What's the most influential piece of advice you've picked up along the way?

It might be kind of a jaded view, but it's that being a musician is a job and it's not just sex, drugs and rock n' roll. It's hard, it's one of the hardest jobs I've ever done. As far as this era in music, it's the hardest and most competitive it's ever been. So I would strongly advise anybody to really consider what they really want to put into a band -- don't do it for fun, don't do it for the girls, but do it because you really want to do it. Don't do it halfheartedly, because it won't work.

Who was your first celebrity crush?

My first celebrity crush was Joan Jett when I was three years old. In real life, my first celeb crush would be Anna Faris. I met her at a show in LA and hung out with her a little bit that night. She's from Seattle where I'd spent a lot of time and we had a lot in common. It was cool to meet somebody that wasn't a phony LA actor whose only concerned with furthering their career. She's not really that type of person. But nothing happened, because I blew it (laughs).

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Right now, it's early soul. All the stuff I used to listen to as a child. It's really nostalgic for me.

If you were to create a meal inspired by my music, what would you be eating?

It would be a meat pie with some strange ingredients -- sweet, salty and with a lot of texture.

Kevin Chen is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.