WANLS: Tell me the name of your band, how it came about, if you ever went by another name and how you guys formed a band.
Pam: Taylor and I were playing music in local coffee shops and open mics as The Pam And Taylor Awesome Band. We played cover songs that we enjoyed, but we wanted to be a full rock band and play original music.
Taylor: The band's name is The Revenge of Ricky Williams. It's the only name we've ever had as a full band. It started out with Pam and Taylor playing acoustic covers at open mic places around town, which was fun, but still unsatisfying. We knew we needed a full rock act. So I started talking to Dave, an old friend of mine to play bass and provide the group with a practice space.
Clinton: I answered their Craigslist ad for a drummer and several months later Evmenios answered a similar Craigslist ad for a keyboard player.
WANLS: Introduce me to the band members and whether they play/sing/etc.
Dave: I am Dave, I play bass guitar and am one of the song writers.
Clinton: While I’m not trying to steal the mic from Pam, I play the drums.
Pam: I sing... and I like to dance! I also handle the majority of our booking, PR and other nuances.
Taylor: I play guitar and do the majority of the art for the band, including the logo, color scheme, and merchandise. Evmenios plays the keys, and also some guitar.
WANLS: Throw your sets up! Fill in the blanks: We love living in ______ because ______.
Taylor: Louisville. It's cooler than New Albany.
Clinton: We love living in Kentucky, because it’s socially acceptable to take children into bars.
Dave: We love living in Louisville, because it is home.
Pam: We Love living in Brooklyn New York, because this response is pure fantasy!
WANLS: Do you guys identify with a particular genre?
Pam: We refer to ourselves as being "Party Punk." I think we're the only band claiming that genere so I guess we're on the forefront of the Party Punk movement.
Dave: Rock
Taylor: We call our music "party punk". It's rock music that is uncomplicated, but always uncompromising, and it's fun to party to.
Clinton: If you’re good, then you can’t be classified into one particular genre. So far, though, we’ve called ourselves "party punk", but I guess you could also call us "party rock" or "party music". Anything with "party" in front of it, really.
WANLS: What are your musical influences?
Clinton: Queen, Foo Fighters, Of Montreal, The Cardigans, Junior Senior, The Sounds, Madonna, Electric Six, Led Zeppelin, No Doubt, Prince, Scissor Sisters, White Stripes and, lots, lots more.
Dave: Local Hardcore, Jazz, Progressive Metal, Blues, YO YO GABBA!
Pam: My musical influences are all over the place... My number one influence is No Doubt. I love the way they are able to play a variety of different music but still consisteantly make it their own. I really love 40's swing, grunge-- I love Nirvana. I adore and kind of idolize Ella Fitzgerald and Eartha Kitt. I like poppy belters like Janelle Monae, Christina Aguleria and Pat Benitar. I'm really into Led Zepplin, and Jimi Hendrix but honestly who isn't? Dance Music like Debora Cox and I do like Britney Spears, and I'm not afraid to admit it.
WANLS: How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it before?
Pam: It's fucking rock and roll! It's party music that'll kick your ass and get you out of your seat.
Clinton: I say that we’re loud and fun.
Taylor: I (Taylor) say we sound kind of like a mix between No Doubt and Bad Religion. Or maybe Aretha Franklin and the Foo Fighters. Or maybe Katy Perry and The Ataris. It's kind of hard to pin down.
WANLS: Do you have or are you signed to a record label?
RRW: No, we aren't. And presently we pride ourselves on being DIY. Everything we've done has been because someone believed in us or we did it ourselves.
WANLS: What are some of your most memorable shows?
Dave: All of them, motherfucker.
Clinton: Our show at the Highlands Taproom was very memorable because the crowd demanded an encore, and it wasn’t just our friends, it was people who heard us playing from the street and walked into the bar.
Taylor: We played a show on right before Halloween this year, which was totally amazing. First of all, we had two other really great bands playing with us, Accidentally on Purpose and The Vibrolas. Everyone was in costume and we had these silly decorations hanging up everywhere. And at some point these this couple; a guy and a girl who were really skinny and just trashed, were performing sex acts in the back of the bar. I have to say that was our best show yet.
Pam: It was not our best performance, but it was one of my more memorable experiences. I put togther a show with the help of Clinton and some of my neighbors-- it was a free all-day show held at the Art Studio owned by my landlord (she's also a great friend) and it was the first time that a lot of people got the chance to see us play... we had previously only played one show at Clinton's house. It was a great experience-- it was incredibly hot, and we were all sweating up a storm. But everyone was really excited and they were thrilled about the show!!
WANLS: Who writes your music?
Clinton: I was under the impression that Pam found the music etched into giant stone tablets whilst on a vision quest atop a mountain, but it turns out that she,
Taylor and Dave actually wrote it all.
Dave: All of us...except for Clinton (Legally drummers don't write music)
Taylor: We all have a hand in the writing process. Usually, someone, either Dave or Pam, or I will come up with a melody and some lyrics, and then we all take that raw idea and turn in into full songs. Or one of us will just come in with some chords and be like "i like this, can we turn it into a song", and someone else will be like "i have some lyrics but no music". So we'll take those single elements and rework them so they all fit together.
WANLS: Tell me about the in-studio/music making process for your band.
Clinton: Usually Taylor or Dave will play a guitar riff, I’ll put drums to it and the song will grow from there. We usually make changes to it at each practice session until we’re satisfied. The studio process was pretty much just us playing live with minimal overdubbing. Pretty simple and to-the-point.
Pam: Sometimes there will already be lyrics to the song, and the guys won't really have a melody for the vocals, but most of the time I write the lyrics. Maybe I already have an idea about the melody. It's never the same thing each time, it really depends on who is coming up with what. It's a reall if it sticks to the wall, than it fits, kinda attitude and I like it. It's really relaxed. The studio was pretty easy. The guys laid down the music and I sang, and we walked away with a kickass EP!
Taylor: Basically, we come in, we kick ass all over the tracks, we grab some lunch, we kick some more ass, then we leave.
Dave: Very open and respectful to each other's song ideas.
WANLS: What direction do you see the band going in 2010? Any specific plans?
RRW: We hope to play a lot of gigs at places we haven’t played before, release our first EP, and grow our following exponentially.
WANLS: Which do you prefer: studio time/creating new music or touring/live shows?
Clinton: I love playing live because afterward the audience walks up to you and tells you how great you are. However, I have to admit that I find creating new music via jam sessions with the band more exhilarating.
Pam: I prefer live shows. Having created original music is fantastic, but I don't think you really know how great it is until you're able to share it with your friends & fans. I'm honestly bored a lot if I didn't create the music, because coming up with vocal layouts for the song is the very last step in the process, so I'm sitting around listening to everyone else work things out for hours, which isn't all that exciting.
Taylor: Me, personally, I prefer doing live shows. I like to think that maybe there's some people out there watching us perform and listening to our music and maybe they can get inspired to do something on their own. It's really weird for me to be up in front of people playing rock music, because i'm usually very anti-social and I have problems communicating with others. But up on stage, none of that shit seems to matter. So I think that maybe people can see me doing that, and it could push them to do something that is scary to them.
Dave: Creating new music is always more fun to me personally. As I get older I am liking people less and less. When we rehearse it is so much more laid back. No pressure.
WANLS: Your fantasy show or tour line up?
Clinton: I would love to play the rooftop of Actors Theatre here in Louisville if they are still doing that next summer. There are tons of groups that I admire and would love to open for, but of those groups, I think Electric Six would be the ones most likely to actually take us up on that offer. The audience wouldn’t know what hit them.
Taylor: Taylor: Well, if it's a fantasy show, then I want to play with the Sex Pistols circa 1977 and Eminem circa 1999. Something more realistic would be to play with the Warped Tour or the Afro-Punk festival or SXSW.
Pam: My fantasy tour would be Tina Turner headlining a tour of female fronted bands including No Doubt, The Lunachicks and The Revenge of Ricky Williams, with Janelle Monea as a special Engagment at big cities like New York and LA.
WANLS: Describe what its like to experience your live shows.
Dave: Oral sex: it may happen.
Taylor: It's cool, we go to these bars, and people see us setting up, and they know some music is about to start. And they're looking at us and our gear and probably trying to figure out what kind of music we're going to play. Our genre is not really obvious just from looking at us, so I imagine that makes people more curious about us. And then they hear us start to play and they're like "oh shit, this is some badass shit these guys brought". And then the sound takes over and people start dancing, and drinking, and dancing and drinking some more. It's all about having fun, you know.
Clinton: It's like being raped and winning the lottery at the same time
Pam: Our live shows are really what makes people go HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME because we have this incredible energy that I can't even discribe (should. have. sent. a. poet!) Some people have compared my performance style to Tina Turner (Which is an honor, but I don't really see it) and I was once called, "Arethra Stefani," which was also a badass compliment. Our music is all over the place in style, speed and even tone... I think the best discription of our live shows is that post-orgasam glow, only you're drunk and your ears are ringing... because it's freaking LOUD.
WANLS: Fill in the blanks: If it hadn't been for __________, we would have ____________.
Clinton: If it hadn't been for Cragslist, we would have been a duo.
Pam: If it hadn't been for the help of some really awesome neighbors we might have not played our first show out as soon as we did.
Taylor: If it hadn't been for The Revenge of Ricky Williams, we would have nothing to do on a saturday night.
WANLS: Do you have any new music being released soon?
RRW: Yes, our first release, an EP called Past The Legal Limit is due out in January, 2010.
WANLS: Are there videos to any of your songs?
Taylor: Not yet, but I happen to be a very talented filmmaker, and I'm biting at the chance to do music videos.
Clinton: Not yet, but being the creative people that we are, we already have lots of ideas lined up. But no money to make them reality.
WANLS: What's the #1 priority for your band right now?
Clinton: Creating new songs to add to our setlist.
Dave: Exposure
Taylor: Getting to the point where we can all quit our shitty day jobs and play music full-time.
Pam: Making bigger plans & executing them!
The Revenge of Ricky Williams Starts a Studio Recording! from The Revenge of Ricky Williams on Vimeo.
WANLS: Plans to tour any time soon?
RRW: No concrete plans, but tentatively we may do some traveling next summer. We'd really love to play the Afro Punk Festival in Brooklyn next summer!
WANLS: Where can we find you on the web?
You will find The Revenge of Ricky Williams on Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, Reverbnation.com, MySpace, and our tumblr blog. The best place to find us is Afropunk.com, where you can also download some of our first self-recorded tracks for free.
WANLS: How can we buy your music?
RRW: Our EP will be available on iTunes, CDBaby, Amazon.com and local record stores next year.
WANLS: How can we contact you for booking?
RRW: You can message us through any of the above websites or by sending an email to Pam Newman revengeofrickywilliams@gmail.com.
WANLS: Fill in the blank: People would never guess that _____.
Clinton: People would never guess that Sigourney Weaver has decided to spare the world from total annihilation in 2012.
Dave: People would never guess that I don't like people.
Taylor: We're not nearly as cool as some folks think we are. I know every band says that, but it's really true in our case.
Pam: People would never guess that I didn't have a good answer for that question.
WANLS: Best thing about being in your band?
Pam: The best thing about being in this band as opposed to like, any other band is that we have FUN. I love all my bandmates, they're really fun people! I've been exposed to so much more, and we have a really great time doing what we all love. We love to party, we love to get a little wasted from time to time, and we love rocking the fuck out on stage and getting a crowd amped up!
Clinton: Our music is very energetic, so I get lots of cardio. And my bandmates are pretty enjoyable to be around.
Taylor: It's really cool to be at a venue and playing music that I wrote, and we worked on for weeks, pouring over every single note and chord and beat, and to see people out there with their drinks, dancing along with it. And they dont seem to care about how incredibly insecure and fucked-up I am; they just hear fun music and it makes them want to move and dance and have fun. There's a certain connection that we make with people that I can't make any other way.
WANLS: Fill in the blank: One day they're probably gonna name a _________ after our band.
Clinton: one day they're probably gonna name a class action lawsuit after our band.
Taylor: Strain. You know what I mean.
Pam: Cocktail.
Dave: Football Player.
WANLS: Last and most importantly, if you were stranded on a desert island with your bandmates, who would go cannibal first?
Pam: I don't want to eat these guys, are you kidding? Then we'd have no band!! I'd get them to work together and make something to eat out of that sand. There are poverty stricken people who figured out how to make edible cookies out of salt and mud. I'm sure we could do something similar.
Clinton: Me. I need to eat every hour or so.
Taylor: Taylor: Probably me, because these skinny motherfuckers will be looking at me like a Manwich. I'll have to take them all down fast.
Dave: Dunno, I would swim out to my death, before that would happen.
And there you have it.....the coolest to ever do it in Kentucky. Thanks to RRW, I appreciate you guys!
Can't get enough, can you? Indulge yourself...go ahead...you know you want some more:
Visit RRW on the web:
http://revengeofrickywilliams.tumblr.com
http://myspace.com/revengeofrickywilliams
Be sure to go here to download some FREE RRW music:
http://downloads.afropunk.com/album/the-revenge-of-ricky-williams
And just cause I'm feeling friendly today, here's one more taste for ya....you're welcome:)
The Revenge of Ricky Williams Recording Preview from Pam Newman on Vimeo.
Sierra says: WANLS hearts The Revenge of Ricky Williams....I wish you much success!
