Howdy Solks, I mean folks. That's a little trivia for ya. E-mail me with your answer and I'll send ya absoulutly nuthin, why, cuz I got nuthin'. Anyway I'm Dino the Outlaw coming to ya with a live interview I did with Chigger Red. The hottest Southern Rock band west of the mason - dixon line.
I couldn't buy drinks for Chris the bass man or Leo the drummer so I'm here with Mike Stansbury, of Chigger Red. Vocalist, guitarist, and all around cool guy.
Dino: How you doing Mike?
Chigger Red :Doing great Dino
Dino : How long has the band been together and has this always been the original line up?
Chigger Red :Yes the same original line up. The three of us. me and my brother Chris and drummer Leo. We got together as soon as my previous band broke up. I've always wanted to do this kind of thing. You know be that guy from Georgia In a cool Southern Rock band in Southern Calif.
Dino : Have you always been in California?
Chigger Red : I grew up playing the Chitlin Circuit in the deep south. Did every shithole bar from Virginia to Texas. And then like other people I moved out to California to be a big rockstar.
Dino : Have you been working with your brother Chris this whole time?
Chigger Red : No actually my brother came to LA after I had already moved out here. See he is a couple years younger and he had troubles with the law, so I needed a bass player and then it all started.
Dino : So how did you come up with the band name?
Chigger Red : Well we wanted something southern so we came up with Skillet and used that for a few months but it turns out that there was a Christian Rock band in Tennessee that was called Skillet and had all the internet sites up. Then we started talking about those little red bugs called Chiggers and decided to use the name Chigger red cuz you gotta scratch till you bleed.
Dino
: Most Chigger red fans know the history of the band but for the new fans
can you give us some inside of the roots on the three of you?
Chigger Red : Like I said before I grew up in the south and started playing
dive bars but my parents had to come because I was young haha. And I also
lived in New Orleans so that's where we kind of get the blues vibe from. I
actually met Leo in LA, he was a huge guns and roses fan, real interesting
guy, and wanted to rock.
Dino
: When did you come out here to LA from Atlanta?
Chigger Red : Shit. came out here way back in 1987
Dino
: Well why did you come out to California and not New York or Nashville?
Chigger Red : For a county boy like me, New York seemed too scary and when
you're watching TV. you see all the hot women out in California and the music
scene seemed like it was starting out here.
Dino : Most bands give them selves a time limit, so how do you guys still manage to stick together and deal with personal enjoyment of success?
Chigger Red : With me, fortunately or unfortunately being a musician makes me happier than money or anything, so I know I have to keep going to make myself happy. What I think makes us stronger as a band is when we seem to get more and more fans, always have a goal, and try to keep it fun!
Dino
: I understand that the band started in 1998, but has it been you three since
then?
Chigger Red : Yes it has been all three of us which is great because I get
to have my brother and a great co worker who are both awesome musicians in
my band.
Dino
: Are Chris and Leo the type of band members that tell you to make the decisions
and they'll agree with you and who books the shows?
Chigger Red : No we talk everything out and we get business contacts. Sometimes we'll have a booking agent but yet sometimes we don't
Dino : Now, I want to bring up Ray carver from Southbound Beat Magazine which he is responsible for the Regulators success, how did you meet Ray Carver?
Chigger Red : Well we kind of just verbally got reach to him because southern rock is like a community and I was just impressed by what he has done with the Regulators.
Dino : With the Hard Road being your third release, how do you compare it to the previous cds you have released?
Chigger Red : I don't think the hard road is as raw as the first cd was and the second cd was heavier and with the third cd, we wanted to simplify things as much as we could and just keep it Rock n Roll.
Dino : I watched the video for high society quite a few times so where did you shoot it and why did you pick that song for the video?
Chigger Red : It just kind of worked because we needed like desert scenes and I had a friend downtown that took us to a helicopter pad and it worked cuz us flying in the air was like being high in the society. I just wish we had more expensive cameras but it was a great experience haha!
Dino : The song Bitch on your first album was great. Was there an inspiration?
Chigger Red : Haha. Some people say that it's from my ex- wife, but it's such a great song. You got women and men singing the chorus and the t-shirts with Bitch on the back are selling out. It's just awesome!
Dino : You struck up a relationship with sony music Germany, how did that come about?
Chigger Red : On our second record hammered, we got some distribution in Germany and started selling more records and that got the attention of sony. So they re- released our first album and got a good fan base.
Dino : Do you have new management yet?
Chigger Red : Yes, we just got management from the label Outlaw Entertainment International and we just signed contracts a couple weeks ago.
Dino : How can a fan purchase Chigger red Collection and is the video also for sale.
Chigger Red : We actually haven't been selling the video but we're starting to make a new video and people can purchase the cd's at www.chiggerred.com
Dino :Are there plans for hitting the road for summer?
Chigger Red : We are doing some shows back south and doing some out here and if we're lucky we might actually be going to Tokyo for this summer for the Fuji Festival. . In the fall look for Gritz music festival in Jacksonville, florida and on labor day weekend hopefully we will be in Oxford, Mississippi.
Dino
: Well folks that's about it for the Chigger Red interview. Hope ya'll enjoyed
it as much as I enjoyed jawin' with Mike. Next interview with the band members
Leo and Chris..Mike did say the only way that'll happen is if
the drinks are on me. Till next time, this is Dino the Outlaw, over and out.