Intervju s Toddom Hembrookom, pjevačem benda Deal’s Gone Bad

Galerija slika

Ovaj gadno zakašnjeli kratak intervju sa simpatičnim brkonjom Toddom vođen je neposredno nakon njihovog nastupa u osječkom klubu United. Na engleskom je, ali ne vjerujem da će ikome predstavljati problem…

Hadžo: OK, it’s gonna be quick and painless, just like some other things that I’m accustomed to (laughter). So, we are in the backstage of the Osijek United club and I’m talking to…

Todd: Todd from Deal’s Gone Bad, Chicago, U.S.A.

H: Excellent. So, tell us first of all something about the band’s background.

T: The band’s been a band for about fifteen years, but alternating members mostly. There’s been two or three guys that have been in the band for a really long time, but the line-up has been mostly alternating and the band’s been rowing and cooking for about 15 years. I joined the band almost six years ago and in the last, I would say, three years we’ve been stepping up our touring. We had a record that’s come out, well not too long ago but it’s been out for a while now and once we get back home to the States we’re gonna be writing a new record. We’ve been touring and working really hard for the last two or three years and now we’re here in Croatia and we’re having really good time.

H: How would you describe your music? I checked a couple of Internet sites describing it as reggae and ska music, but I also hear a lot of soul.

T: Well thank you so much, I appreciate that. I think it’s hard to be an American band or a band from anywhere in the world and not being influenced by soul music, like Stax and Motown and even stuff like early rock’n’roll, like Little Richard…I love Little Richard, I’m a huge Little Richard fan. I usually describe us as 60’s Jamaican soul band or 60’s Jamaican dance band because we did play ska, we did play reggae, we did play Skindred-type reggae, but we also do some American soul music. We change it over to Jamaican rhythm and every once in a while we’ll do a straight-up American soul song and we’ll do it straight.

H: How do you compose songs then with so many influences and so many rotating members, how do you actually agree on sound of a particular song?

T: Usually one person comes up with the guitar line, you know, verse, chorus, bridge and the lyrics, or somebody comes up with the, verse, chorus, bridge and somebody else comes up with the lyrics and we bring it to rehearsal. We like to say that we put it through the machine (laughter). It’s like, whoever wrote it, he says: “I’m thinkin’ about it as a reggae song” or “I’m thinkin’ about it as a ska song” but it’s in this key, these are the changes and it’s like, what tempo shall we play, OK; let’s try this. And if it doesn’t work, then we’ll try something else.

H: So, it’s a team work actually…

T: Yeah. And we just kinda layer it in and come up with some lines and…You know, I make it sound easier than it is (laughter) but sometimes, I have to admit, it is really easy. Some songs come really easy, some songs don’t, you know?

H: That’s right. How did it come to having this tour with the Toasters, did you know them before before? Have you toured before?

T: Yeah, we’ve toured with them, man, three or four times if not more. We just got off a tour with them in February and we were on a tour with them and the Voodoo Glow Skulls, and we had a really good time and we’d done at least two or three other tours with them before, but this is our first tour of Europe.

H: That was actually my next question, ha ha ha. Do you see a difference between how you are accepted here, in Europe and the audience in the U.S. where you are more popular and better known?

T: Oh, some cities yes, but in other cities I don’t see it as, like, not getting received well, it’s just maybe they don’t understand English well or they just never heard our records before. But, for never hearing our records before, even in places where people have never heard our songs before recorded. Everywhere we go to, everybody’s very nice, they are really good audience.

H: What do you think about the gig tonight in Osijek?

T: It was hot! (laughter) And I mean temperature-wise, but there was also a good turn-out and people seemed like they were having a good time and that’s what everybody’s looking for.

H: I think that’s enough just for a short introduction. I wish you all the best and all the best with the rest of the tour. And definitely hope to see you somewhere soon.

T: Hvala puno. Thanx so much!

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