Dick Valentine of Electric Six

Before their fourteenth record and umpteenth tour, Electric Six singer Dick Valentine talked with QRO....
Dick Valentine of Electric Six : Q&A

Dick Valentine of Electric Six : Q&A

Before their fourteenth record and umpteenth tour, Electric Six singer Dick Valentine talked with QRO. In the conversation, Valentine [real name: Tyler Spencer] discussed the new album, Bride of The Devil (QRO review), singing horror songs, making so many records, how they make set lists with so many records, having daughters, getting scoops, getting on The Simpsons, and more…

 

 

QRO: How was making Bride of the Devil?

Dick Valentine: On my end, it was easy. I went to Michigan to record. This album was recorded by our keyboard player, Tait Nucleus, and our bass player, Rob Lower. They have a home studio. We’ve done the last eight, ten albums in their home studio. They took a crack at it.

For me, it was easy. I kind of went in and did vocals. They wrote a lot of the music; I think I only wrote like two or three of the songs on this one, since I have two kids now. I’ve definitely gone into CEO mode – outsourcing shit.

QRO: This is your fourteenth album – is it all old hat by now?

DV: It is and it isn’t. It’s still a lotta fun to be in a rock ‘n’ roll band, make rock ‘n’ roll records.

We don’t, at least I don’t try to think about the importance of an album that much, and I’m finding myself in the minority lately. It’s amazing how many people analyze every detail of a record. I’m also beginning to realize I’m in the minority there. I thought it would just be fun to hit “RECORD” and put out something out, but people like to talk about shit.

I told you: I’m in the minority.

QRO: It’s the album after your unlucky thirteenth record, yet this one has horror songs like “Hades Ladies”, “Witches Burning” and “Full Moon Over the Internet”, not to mention the title track. Were they too ‘on the nose’ for the last album?

DV: I didn’t even know what number record it was, honestly.

With “Hades Ladies”, I actually wanted to start a band called, “Hades Ladies.” That was my idea.

I don’t have a lot of time for a second band, so I said, “Fuck it, I’ll write a song called ‘Hades Ladies’.” I could still do a band.

QRO: Then again, in general you do a number of ‘horror songs’…

DV: Like I said, I’m not very exciting. I’m five-foot-nine; I have two daughters.

One way to make yourself more exciting is to write songs about the devil. I’m just not that exciting a person.

One way to make yourself more exciting is to write songs about the devil. I’m just not that exciting a person.

QRO: How old are your kids?

DV: One’s about to be six; [the other] is almost a year.

QRO: So they’re not old enough to know what you do, about your band?

DV: Well, the oldest one does. She knows some of my songs; she says she likes rock ‘n’ roll.

QRO: Oh, cool!

DV: I’m trying to get her out of rock ‘n’ roll. Get some turntables…

QRO: That’s where the money is…

DV: Yep.

Electric Six playing “Rock and Roll Evacuation” live at Southpaw in Brooklyn, NY, on 12/12/07:

 

QRO: When you started Electric Six, did you think that you would get anywhere near fourteen records?

DV: Not at all. Honestly, the band we started in 1996 was called “The Wildbunch,” and that formed into what we have now. If you would have told me any of the things that we’ve done, I wouldn’t have believed you.

It was never, at least on my part, was calculated to become a career. It was something to do because I had a shitty day job, and I needed an outlet. So no, the honest answer is no.

QRO: Why do you enjoy making records at such a relatively fast clip?

DV: Again, I write songs all day long, and to me, like I said, I don’t see the value spending two or three years on one album, getting your drum tones right. We seem to be descending into a world where people are analyzing those things, in my opinion, way too much. I just want to hit “RECORD”. I’d make five albums a year if they would let me get away with it.

QRO: Have you ever looked back on prior work and thought that maybe some stuff came out too fast?

DV: No.

 

QRO: You’re going to start touring just before the new record comes out – what is it like, playing songs that the crowd doesn’t know yet (probably)?

DV: It’s fun. It’s always fun doing that.

We have played one song off the new album, the title track, and that goes over really well. I think it’s real poppy song, real catchy. I think it sounds like a Killers song. Say what you will about The Killers – they put out some catchy tunes.

QRO: With so many records, and so many songs, how do you make a set list?

DV: You know, you have the staples, the songs we sort of have to play, like your “Gay Bar”s, and your “Dance Commander”s…

That said, lately we’ve happened upon a set list that we like, and we vary maybe a couple of songs a night. That’s kind of how we go about our business now.

I used to come from the camp of, ‘People are going to follow you around every night. Let’s do completely different sets.’ But it’s not easiest to do that; so I’m fine at this point, just having a standard set list, maybe throwing in one or two wild cards a night.

It was never, at least on my part, was calculated to become a career. It was something to do because I had a shitty day job, and I needed an outlet.

QRO: Do you try to get something from each album, or at least spread it out, what you play?

DV: No. At this point, there’s too many.

One thing we’ve been doing on these Kickstarter campaigns – people have been choosing the encores. They can choose analog stuff, rare cuts and stuff. That, not ‘forces’ the song work, but we play songs that we wouldn’t have thought of playing. We go, ‘Oh, that song’s actually really cool – let’s keep playing it.’ So we do the encore, and it stays in the set.

Like you’ve got a song like “Infected Girls”. A song that people have been requesting; it used to be a staple of our live set is now back in again.

A band as old as us, there’s any number of ways you can go about it.

And we actually have had the odd show where we didn’t do “Gay Bar” or “High Voltage”, but that doesn’t happen that often.

QRO: There must be songs that you can’t remember how to play?

DV: Yeah, we would need a couple of soundchecks to go through one, for sure.

People come up all the time, will see us before the show and will say, “Can you play this?” And we’ll say, “No, we haven’t rehearsed in a while,” and they don’t understand what we’re talking about; they think it’s our song. But you have 500 songs – if you haven’t touched one for many, many years, you might not remember what key it’s in.

QRO: But you do get requests for songs that you don’t remember?

DV: Yeah, of course.

But we always consider it; it just depends on how much time we have. We don’t have a road crew; we don’t have guitar techs or anyone to load our gear for us. So if we have an eight-hour drive between shows, we don’t have a lot of time to noodle around with playing new stuff. But it depends on the day.

 

Electric Six playing “Danger! High Voltage” live at Hiro Ballroom in New York, NY on 10/16/09:

QRO: Are people ever shocked that your real name isn’t ‘Dick Valentine’, or are confused when someone mentions, “Tyler”?

DV: Depends on the person, I think. I think the longer we’ve gone around, the less importance’s placed on this band.

The thing that blows my mind is people, to this day, still asking if it’s Jack White on the “Danger! High Voltage” song. We’ve been on record about it. To me, that is the funniest…

I’ll do an interview, and somebody asks like they’re ‘getting a scoop.’ Even after I tell them that this has been out there for ten years, they still want to believe that they got some ‘big scoop.’ It’s amazing to me.

QRO: Well, there goes my next question… [laughs]

Electric Six’s “Danger! High Voltage” on The Simpsons:

This was years ago, but how did it come about that The Simpsons used “Danger! High Voltage”?

DV: The first two records, Sony Publishing, we’re signed to Sony. I don’t know how, with The Simpsons, what their take was. We just get the e-mail from Sony saying, “Are they allowed to use our song?” I can’t think of an instance where we’ve ever said no, but you have the opportunity to turn something down, like a politician or something.

QRO: I’m waiting for someone to use “Gay Bar” in a political ad…

DV: I’m waiting for somebody to use “Gay Bar” in anything!

It’s funny – 90% of the major usages have been “High Voltage”; we’ve even had a couple “Dance Commander”s. But “Gay Bar” has been used in nothing. You would think by now…

It’s been on a couple of U.K. TV shows. I always thought it would be in a Farrelly Brothers movie or something. Where Will Ferrell, they end up in a gay bar, and they don’t know it, or something. [Will Ferrell dumb guy voice] “Wait a minute – what kind of bar is this?!?” It would be perfect for that moment.

[Will Ferrell dumb guy voice] “Wait a minute – what kind of bar is this?!?”

QRO: Finally, who is worse: “Lenny Kravitz” or “Adam Levine”?

DV: I don’t really have any animosity towards either of them.

I think it’s more about what I was talking about, writing a song about The Devil. I don’t think either of those guys are The Devil; I just think it’s a hot-button topic, and I elected to press the button. I think there’s something there, but I’ve never met those guys, so I can’t say.

I just don’t like guys in general. The future’s female, bro.

QRO: You have two daughters, so quite literal for you.

DV: I’m walking the walk, man.

 

 

Electric Six playing “Gay Bar” live at Littlefield in Brooklyn, NY on 10/2/18:

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