Accomplished musicians all and used to a life on the road, Slam Cartel is relatively new and not so widely known. Can you give a little background on how the current group was born and where you are heading?
The current Slam Cartel, Giles Van Lane; vocal, Adam Lee and Tom Hendriksedn; guitar, Marc Neudedck; bass, Steve Campkin; drums and myself on guitar, was born from an idea of an ideal, we pretty much have that now. We get on with each other and what we do, the band line up has taken a few tweaks to get where we are, but it seems we have found the right chemistry to produce the show we enjoy to play. We are all different people that like different things, playing live is our common ground, it works!
KG: You surely have great memories from past lives as musicians?
TW: We have all been in other bands before Slam Cartel and all have stories to tell, but great memories of this band are being made now. Great memories include releasing our first single Wishing Eye and getting it played on radio, then the release of our album Handful of Dreams, which was critically acclaimed. It’s amazing that we are being picked up on peoples radar, there’s the Sonisphere shows, the second single, so many things are creating memories at the moment it’s incredible.
KG: Do you find that London, in fact the UK as a whole restricts you as a national/international group? History and experience dictates that a US band will play the UK, but not so much in the reverse!
TW: Yes, yes and yes!! It is, for some reason hard to break as a rock band in the UK, there doesn’t seem to be the support from record companies despite there being an absolutely huge rock following here. It seems that there is no risk factor if they put their money on some fabricated shit, anyway, despite this we like what we do and carry on.
KG: Twitter was the medium where Headbangerwoman discovered Slam Cartel . Where else can we find the band?
TW: www.slamcartel.com, facebook, myspace… it’s easier to put us in a search engine and see where we can be found. There’s plenty on the web…
KG: Your music is edgy and hard, but not too fast. Metallica broke through into the mainstream with the Black album, which had a similar feel. Do you feel that you have a select fan base, or that you are suitable listening for the masses?
TW: Well we look at the demographic of our fan base and they seem to cross the board from 6yrs old to 72yrs old. People like to pigeon hole bands, but we seem to be liked by a vast amount of people with differences of music taste and opinion. We are not trying to copy or sway to please, we do what we do and just hope someone out there enjoys it. We don’t try and be the crowd we are playing to.
The Album is available on many digital platforms and the hard copy can be purchased at Amazon.com
KG: Did you ever consider gimmicks eg; Alice Cooper, Black Veil Brides, WASP ??
TW: Nah! We have Bobb the pineapple that travels with us and gets photographed everywhere we go. It is a real pineapple…don’t ask!
It was necessary to Email Terry at this point and question his sanity. It is presumed that he is being taken good care of right now, as no reply has been received!
KG: Do you feel that as older musicians you have a clearer idea on marketing, brand and world domination?
TW: Not sure if we have a better idea but we like what we are doing at the moment, it’s what we do. As for age? It’s what we are, that, we have no choice over, nor do we or care about it.
BONUS Q’s….
KG: How many days a week do you go to the local greasy spoon? Bacon or Sausage? Tea or Coffee?
TW: Tea in a cup with a saucer and bacon sandwiches with HP brown sauce!! Very English I know!
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by Karen Graham aka Headbangerwoman
