| Interview for DENIMzine with Sarah Mephista Memphis by Krille |
| Okay! For all the people who don't know anything about you, tell us the story of the Gutter Queens. How do you get started, who plays what and so on. The band actually started in 1992 as Juvenile Crime. Back then the sound was more Punk Rock than nowadays. They released a Demo Tape called ROCKAHOLE in 1995 and in 1997 the Demo CD BORN TO BE CHEAP. The CD was released under the new Name GUTTER QUEENS and the image and sound became more Glam Rock. I met the band at a Halloween Party where I also bumped into Elvira. I always knew I'd luv to have a band with her, which we kinda did prior to the Gutter Queens although it was more like jamming together. Back in 1998 three former members of the GUTTER QUEENS decided to leave due to some other interests and from this moment on it was clear that I would become their guitarist. We also asked Elvira to join which she did! Then we went through a hard time finding the right bass player. Fortunately Calmo called us in the beginning of 2000 after seeing our ad. Now we're ready to conquer the world with lots of make-up, fishnets, high heels and our own unique, exciting and in-your-face mix of 70's Glam, 80's Sleaze and a dash of Punk Rock with the following line-up: Jim Juvenile: wild & furious frontman. Zygi the Wild One: mean lead guitar. Sarah Mephïsta Memphïs: sleazy rhythm guitar. Elvira Tarantella: pounding drums. Calmo Sideburns: delicious but vicious bass. Once you've had the pleasure to see us perform, you'll never ever forget our psyched out and furious life show. It gets pretty wild! Surely you have been compared to the New York Dolls a thousand times! What have they meant to you? Which is your favourite New York Doll? Which your favourite song? The New York Dolls surely laid the path for bands like us. To me they are the classic Glam band with a Punk attitude, like us basically. Of course we all like the Dolls very much and we can't deny a certain influence. It's always the music and style you like that influences your work. But it's not enough for us just being "another New York Dolls-Band". We go a step further then them, we smash gender and taste bundaries. That's why we call ourselves the New Definition of Glam Rock. My favourite NY Doll is of course Johnny Thunders and I dig the song Chatterbox, sung by him. So you are from Switzerland, how's the music scene down there? Are there many Rock bands to compete with, or are you the Queens of Rock in Switzerland? In Switzerland we have a pretty big Punk scene. It's not as big as it used to be, but still there are tons of Punk Bands in almost every cellar. But there is no Glam Rock or Glam Slut Rock band like us. We're unique for Switzerland and I dare to say that we're unique for the whole world! Because we mix some Punk with Glam we have quite a big following. Usually the Punks love us such as the Rockers or anybody else. Newspapers, Zines and Radios all say that we're the hottest band at the moment! When we think of Switzerland, the only thing that comes to mind are clocks, neutral and chocolate! Is there anything else about your country worth mentioning? Is there a lot of drag-freaks or are you pretty much the only ones? As I said before, we're pretty much the only Glam Freaks around, although people dig us a lot and are starting to get curious about the whole Glam thing. Switzerland as a home country isn't a bad thing after all. You get quite a good education and if you lose your job you don't end up on the streets – as for instance in the USA. There's a good social net to catch you when you fall, which is a very important thing for a healthy country. But there is also the other side of the wealth and fortune. Especially the young kids grow up very bored because there isn't much to do expect the consumerism. Switzerland is also famous for it's liberal drug scene so a logical result is that our youngsters get into drugs at early ages. We too, we're tempted every day. That's why we're such weirdos, I guess. Why do you wear make-up? Just to look good, or is it a fucking statement? Of course we look much better in make-up, but it's also a statement, although I hate fucking statements, but somehow you have to show your audience where you draw the line. We play the old game which made Glam Rock what it is, the game with genders and androgynity. We all prefer women's clothes because it looks much nicer than men's fashion. And isn't a wild boy in make-up terrific sexy? Favourite make-up "brand"? L'Oreal because we're worth it... hehe How would you define yourselves with three words? Glamtastic Rock Sluts Please write the most ugly, disgusting and psyched out sentence (in your language) that you can come up with: (we will print the sentence, exactly as you write it) Huere gopfertami siech, du riiise Schafseckel! (which means fucking ey, you huge dick of a sheep) So do you like any Swedish bands? In that case which? Oh yeah! We all like the Backyard Babies and Hellacopters of course, but also Hardcore Superstar and the Hives are great. And some unknown bands as the Scarecrows have high potential! From what I can see there is quite a movement going on. We try to do the same in Switzerland, to kick start a fucking Rock scene again – somebody has to do the first step. Our bass player Calmo knows everything about the Scandinavian Rock scene. Are you famous down there? Do you get to play a lot? Any other countries you have played in? We are quite famous around Zurich. We had some great TV appearances which gave us a big boost. And we played almost all the great clubs in the german speaking part of Switzerland. The Newspapers of Schaffhausen, that's the city where the Gutter Queens originally come from, print always big pictures of us and write underneath: soon they're gonna fill big arenas... So which are your biggest influences? And why? The whole Rock'n'Roll Lifestyle was a big influence on all of us, which means Sex and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll. We don't invent anything new but we're quite sure that we created our own style and sound. Its built on top of the bodily parts of Hanoi Rocks, Ramones, D-Generation, Cramps, Mötley Crüe and even Poison. But I also listen to Electric Light Orchestra and the late Elvis. Melt this together with an in-your-face attitude and out comes the Gutter Queens... Do you have any special Gutter Queens memories that you would like to share? Well, we once got a really nasty "Love Letter" from a german fan. He wrote it after seeing the band live in Germany. He said that he digs "Dick-Girls" (Schwanz-Mädchen) like us and would like to make us cum backstage next time. He made the offer to blow us warm before we hit the stage and while performing we could always go backstage to get his special treatment. We were flattered - in a way. I know that sometimes our outfits and behaviour on stage could mislead people to think we're a bunch of sex-maniacs and would do anything for a little fame. If you were going to kill yourselves to serve the purpose of something bigger and better, what would that be? Fuck that! Killing myself would be probably the least I'd ever do. I lost so many friends on drugs and suicide that I totally appreciate being alive. About you first official released single, how has the response been so far? It was great! We got in contact with a lot of interesting people, managements, booking agencies, labels and of course fans. We will contribute songs for some great compilations and soon we have to re-print our first 7" because the first 500 pieces are almost sold. A cool thing about our label is that it's a vinyl label. To us this is a fucking statement! Any offers for a full-length album? If everything goes right we will hit the studio by the end of the year to record a full length album. But first we will release our second 7" in Summer. It will be a huge happening with the city council of Zurich as our "sponsor". They let us play wherever we want! So we will chose the biggest place a Rock concert was ever held in our town and let a great band be our opener. Then we kick some serious asses! Our aim is also to put out those four songs as a CD-EP. More news on that will come. What really pisses you off? Who would you like to beat the shit out of? Hmm, a tough one. What really pisses me off is that swiss labels don't really care about their music scene. They're dictated by the Headquarters in the US and are panty-shitters when it comes to releasing a great swiss band. They have to have a 100 percent hit guarantee, which nobody actually can give. So they just sign shitty stuff that sounds like second hand Britney Spears or even worse. It seems that the A&R-people don't really know what their job is, so I'd beat the shit out of 'em. When will you come our way and play? We really hope that we could play Sweden this year! Unfortunately our Swedish booker had a really bad accident and has to stay in hospital for a longer period. Our best wishes go out to him! That's why we got in contact with some booking agencies and other people to set up some gigs. I really hope it's gonna happen this Summer/Fall! Say something to our readers! Hey Demin-Ziners, buy our Singles and get loaded on a heavy dose of Gutter Queens! Then go to your Club and get the owner crazy for booking us. Hell yeah! And lots of Lipstick Kisses to all of you! |
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