Written by Jacqui James
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING Australia has always been the birthplace of great rock ‘n roll bands from the one and only ACDC to Jet.
In 2012 The Dead Daisies were born after two mates Jon Stevens and David Lowy were reintroduced after six years of being occupied with other projects by INXS‘ ex-representative David Edwards. After six hours after getting together, Jon and “Lowy” had twelve songs, and after half a dozen sessions they narrowed thirty-four tracks to eleven fit to record. Crazy!
The line-up for
the band is a music treat! Firstly you have one of Australia’s great male vocalists Jon Stevens, then on drums you have Charley Drayton (Cold Chisel and Divinyls), Richard Fortus on rhythm and lead guitar (the current Guns ‘n Roses guitarist), Marco Mendoza (Thin Lizzy) and Dizzy Reed (Guns ‘n Roses) and David Lowy (various Aussie rock bands including Red Phoenix, Mink and The Angels).
The legendary Guns ‘n Roses guitarist Slash took to Twitter to share his thrill of hearing the mix of LockNLoad which he wrote with Jon Stevens. He said, “Heard the mix of ‘LockNLoad’. A song Jon Stevens and I wrote. Sounds great. He’s recorded it with his band (The) DEAD DAISIES… With my guitarist!”
To me The Dead Daisies combine the perfect mixture of good old-fashioned rock with some other surprises in their music!
Just this week The Dead Daisies were added to the line-up for the fourth annual Rockstar Energy Uproar Festival that will see the band do twenty-five shows across North America, alongside bands including Alice In Chains and Jane’s Addiction from August 9th to September 15th . Go HERE to find out about the festival and more importantly to get a free download of The Dead Daisies’ EP Man Overboard.
Due to a few unfortunate circumstances I’ve had to wait until the time was right and I was extremely grateful to be able to interview rock legend Mr Jon Stevens again!
Thanks Jon for giving your time answering my questions. It’s a real pleasure to interview you again! Now down to business, the sound of The Dead Daisies is absolutely awesome! It’s hard to believe the band was concepted after a catch-up with you and David Lowy. How did the rest happen?
We wrote a bunch of songs that we were extremely excited about and it all stemmed from there. It’s all about the music…everyone gravitated toward the music.
The Dead Daisies have toured with ZZ Top and at the end of April you toured with Areosmith. How have crowds received you guys so far?
The crowds have been awesome and very supportive!
The Dead Daisies’ debut single LockNLoad (featuring Slash on guitar) was released on April 19. Have you guys had much deserved praise for it?
There’s been a lot of support both from Australia and internationally.
Do you think you, Charley, David, Richard, Jim and Alan are drawing experience from your previous bands or is The Dead Daisies something completely new?
We’ve actually had a change in the line-up which has seen Marco Mendoza (Thin Lizzy) and Dizzy Reed (Guns ‘n Roses), step in for Jim and Alan. Each member definitely draws from their own experience as a musician.
It’s really exciting to think Australia has a new REAL mainstream rock band! Has The Dead Daisies set out to fill the void that’s been with us for so long?
No…we’re just trying to make good music and people want to put us in that category, then so be it. We are an international band.
This week the band has announced that you guys will be performing at RockstarUPROAR festival when you’ll do an amazing TWENTY-FIVE shows across North America! You guys must be stoked?
Yes we definitely are!! It’s a great opportunity to introduce the band to the U.S and Canada.
Will The Dead Daisies ever do a pub crawl around Oz?
We are definitely looking to put together an Australian tour sometime in the future…who knows, might fit a couple pub shows along the way!
I would like to dedicate this interview to the late and one of Australia’s best female artists, Chrissy Amplett (who left behind her beloved husband Charley Drayton).
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