The cold winter nights we’ve been suffering through for the last several months are about to get a bit warmer with the kick-off of the Revolver “Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock Tour”. The bands on this year’s tour are amazing! They include Los Angeles via Australia rockers Sick Puppies, Italian Goth Metal grinders Lacuna Coil, Phoenix post-hardcore outfit Eyes Set To Kill, and Brooklyn newcomers Cilver. Each band includes at least one lovely lady and that’s where the tour’s name comes from. It may seem a bit sexist at first, to base a tour around band member’s attractiveness, but once the sonic female fury unleashed by these pioneers into a male dominated world melts your face off, it won’t be about the ladies delicate charms anymore. The tour will be plowing through 21 cities over the next month starting tonight in Wilmington, NC, and winding it’s way across America to the House of Blues in Anaheim, CA on March 20.
As a lead up to this great tour I got to talk with Shim Moore, lead singer and guitarist of Sick Puppies. Here is a bit of our conversation that’s been edited for clarity.
Concert Blogger: The band was formed in Sydney, Australia when you and Emma (Anzai, Sick Puppies bassist) double booked the music room at your local high school, is that true?
Shim Moore: That is true. We decided to share the time and began by trying our best to play some Silverchair songs.
CB: I remember them! They had a huge hit and they were just fifteen years old if I remember.
SM: That’s right, it was the song, Tomorrow. That’s really why we started the band. They were our age.
CB: How did the band’s name come to be Sick Puppies. I’ve heard two stories.
SM: The true story is that we were brainstorming ideas and it came up then. A few days later I came home to find my father reading the book Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen and that was it.
CB: Your big break came with the 2006 Free Hugs Campaign’s use of your song All the Same in their viral video on YouTube, how did that happen?
SM: I actually knew the guy that was in the video, He was a good friend of mine and I had taped him in Sydney, before I had come to L.A.. I had the tapes and one day he called me and told me his Grandmother had passed away. I made the video for him as sort of a video get well card. It really blew up on YouTube though. We had shared it with some L.A. and some Sydney friends, and they in turn shared it with their friends and it sort of took on a life of it’s own. It became the first organic Viral Video along with OK GO’s video, and that’s where they coined the term Viral Video. The video was conceived as a gift and it came back to us ten-fold.
CB: So that cracked the door open a bit and you decided to kick it down, is that what happened? Did you go from being the band from that video to being superstars?
SM: I wouldn’t say we were superstars. I’d say we had our moment in the sun, then we toured relentlessly, and did all the hard work that goes in to being in a working band. We were on tour for five years straight after that.
CB: Many people got their first taste of your music from the documentary film Rock Prophecies, which is centered on legendary rock photographer Robert Knight and his part in bringing you to the U.S. What was that experience like?
SM: It wasn’t actually what you would think. They would come in once every couple of months and film for a day of two. It would be like “oh yea, they’re making a film” and a few months would go by and they would come back for a day or two and so on. It actually took a couple of years to come out after the filming was done and we had almost forgotten about it. By the time it was released we were in a different place in our lives. It is a great thing to be able to reference though. To see what we had gone through. It was so chaotic at the time that you just couldn’t pay attention to everything that was going on. It’s great to look back on and see it from a different perspective.
CB: You have a lot of crossover with your music. Your songs have been used by hockey teams, video games, the WWE, and a lot of movies and TV shows, do you think this exposure has help you to attract new fans?
SM: Oh Yea, Everything helps everything as far as cross promotion goes. People have come up to me and said “ I know you from the Street fighter video game or from WWE or the CSI episode that our song was featured in. It’s really good to get your music out to as many people as possible and then let them make a decision on whether or not they like it.
CB: You’ll be touring the States soon with the Revolver Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock tour, how excited are you to get out on the road?
SM: It’s going to be good. I’ve got a good feeling about it. It’s a quality tour with some great bands. I’ve never seen Lacuna Coil, but I’ve heard some great things about their live show. I’m just excited to get out there and listen to some new music.
CB: I see that every date on the tour has opportunities for fans to purchase special ticket packages that include access to the band and getting to watch the set from the side of the stage. How exciting is that to get to meet your most ardent fans?
SM: That’s one of the best parts of the day. On the road you pretty much play the same set every day to give the fans the best bang for their buck, but when you do the private stuff, you can just relax and hang out and be yourself with the fans.
CB: Late last summer you released your album Connect and you’ve had a couple of singles do pretty well. Namely There’s No Going Back and Gunfight, will there be more singles or have you started the process, at least mentally, of creating the next album?
SM: We’re releasing Connect as the new single soon. It should be out by summer. Along with the tour the single will be the next thing that we are doing.
CB: Well, Thank you so much for your time. We look forward to seeing you and all the other bands out there on the road this month.
SM: No, Thank You!
Be sure to catch the Revolver Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock tour when it stops in a city near you.
2014 Tour dates:
2/20 – Wilmington, NC @ Ziggy’s By The Sea
2/21 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
2/22 – Lexington, KY @ Buster’s Billiards and Backroom
2/23 – West Springfield, VA @ Empire
2/24 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
2/26 – Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
2/27 – Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club
2/28 – Columbus, OH @ Alrosa Villa
3/01 – Joliet, IL @ Mojoes
3/02 – South Bend, IN @ Club Fever
3/05 – Broussard, LA @ The Station
3/06 – Houston, TX @ Scout Bar
3/07 – Austin, TX @ Dirty Dog
3/08 – Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill
3/10 – Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall
3/12 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
3/14 – Spokane, WA @ The Knitting Factory
3/15 – Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
3/16 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre
3/19 – West Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues
3/20 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues