John: In true non-rock n roll fashion, I`m early. You there?
Tony: I`m here.
John: Right on. So what led you to form Stone Axe?
Tony: I had some extra songs I was working on during the writing/recording of The Vault Sessions that seemed a little too classic rock for Mos Generator. As I started to demo the tunes I thought that my friend Dru would be a great voice for the ideas I was coming up with. I gave him a copy of the first five tunes and he came back and laid the vocals down. So really, the songs that are on the self titled disc are demos.
John: Really? Those are some well-tuned, refined demos then. Did Dru help finalize the songs or were they pretty much fully formed by the time you handed them over to him? Oh, and what were those first five songs?
Tony: I totally finish the songs then hand them over to Dru. There hasn`t really been any conflict with that yet. I would like to write some songs together soon. The first five songs were “Riders of the Night,” “Black Widow,” “Skylah Rae,” “Return of the Worm,” and the Cream cover, “SWLABR.”
John: Was there was ever a point where you thought of doing the singing yourself?
Tony: In the very beginning of the project I thought I might do some kind of "solo album," but the idea went away very quickly. I do sing a song on the new EP coming out.
John: New EP? Do tell.
Tony: It`s a seven-song song CD EP to be released on RxEvoltion recording on August 28. It has three new studio tracks and four live tracks, recorded at Rocket Records in Tacoma this July. It looks like it`s going to come out on vinyl on Roadburn/RxEvolution sometime later this year (with a few different songs for the vinyl of course) .
John: The different track on the vinyl release was a nice touch - and a good way of getting suckers like me to buy both formats. How do you pick which songs are CD only and which are vinyl only?
Tony: It`s Roadburn`s idea to do different songs and a different cover for the vinyl release. It is always hard to chose the songs for each release. We still don`t know what is going to be on the vinyl.
John: In regards to the three new studio tracks, am I correct to assume that they were written by you and given to Dru for vocals? And is the live band also playing on the studio cuts, or is it you doing all the instruments again?
Tony: The same process applies to the studio songs as it did on the first record. I write, perform, and record the music, then give Dru the songs, and he writes the lyrics and melody.
John: Do you think you`ll ever do a full band recording?
Tony: I would like to see that happen. We`ve been doing a lot of live shows and are beginning to gel very well. I have a large back log of songs that still need vocals and I would like to get more of them finished before I start working on new songs with the full band.
John: How difficult is it to do all the parts yourself? How`d you set everything up?
Tony: I`ve been recording myself doing all the instruments on many projects the last 20 years, so that part is nothing new. I usually start with a drum track and layer the instruments on top of it.
John: About how many layers does each song have?
Tony: Most of the recordings are done with minimal layering. After the drums and bass are recorded, there`s usually one to three guitar tracks and then maybe a Wurlitzer, Hammond or Mellotron track. Something to fill up the little gaps, but not making them impossible to play live. Keeping a live band feel on the records is the most important thing. That`s why there is never more than three takes on any recording of any instrument.
John: The debut does sound very organic in that sense. What I liked about the songs on Stone Axe was that they were very reminiscent of classic rock greats - Free, Thin Lizzy, The Faces, AC/DC, etc - without copping the source material wholesale. How tough is it to toe that line?
Tony: In a lot of cases, when I write a song, I base it on a song or style of something I am into at the time. When I hand the song over to Dru, we discuss what style of vocal might sound good. Songs like “There`d Be Days,” “Diamonds & Fools,” and “My Darkest Days” have very obvious influences. We are always working on what could be the "lost" track or b-side of our favorite bands from the 70s. So far it has come very easy. It`s when we start over thinking it that it will get screwed up.
John: "Lost tracks." I like that. And while we`re talking about favorite bands, why don`t The Faces and Free have a more obvious influence in today`s music?
Tony: I`m not sure I can answer that one. All I know is, there are some bands out there trying and most don`t get it right. It`s not about taking from the obvious "top layer" characteristics of these bands but about attempting to capture a mood and time that is what I consider the greatest era of music. A lot of new/retro bands don`t put enough emphasis on the production of their records. I try to make our records sound like they were recorded in the 60s and 70s. It`s really scary to make records that sound like that these days.
John: Well, judging by the reviews you`ve gotten, there`s a receptive audience for it. You excited about the tour with Sun Gods?
Tony: We are very surprised and excited about the response the album and live shows have been getting. We have made good progress in the first six months.
When Tony from Sun Gods contacted us about doing some dates on the upcoming east coast tour together, we were very excited to have the help of a band that had already been working the areas we are going to be playing. We will both be out playing our asses off supporting new records.
John: Seems like from a touring perspective, Stone Axe is making more inroads than Mos Generator. Speaking of which, what`s the status of your other band?
Tony: Mos Generator is no longer. Touring, or lack thereof, is one of the major issues that I had with the band. We needed to work harder and people weren`t willing. It`s a shame. Stone Axe is hitting the road as much as we can, and that is all really want from a band - to work as hard as we can.
John: That is a shame. Mos Generator was one of the good ones. Was The Vault Session the last of Mos` recorded material?
Tony: Actually Songs for Future Gods was the last full length. Then we did a 7" and the Destroy! compilation. There are some songs that are unreleased and unfinished. I might record them for my own album. I really like the direction we were going at the end.
John: Shit, Destroy! was the one I was thinking of. I blame the bourbon. Okay, last words?
Tony: I think I speak for the whole band in saying that we are having a great time with this outfit and appreciate the support we have gotten so far. We are looking forward to SHoD X and the upcoming tour. Thank you, John, for your continuing support of the music I am involved in.
John: Right on. Thanks for your time.
