The rock and roll bad boys from Louisiana, SUPAGROUP are back and they mean business! Their new album, 'Fire For Hire' is out now and is receiving tremendous praise from music fans around the world. Unlike their name suggests, Supagroup is not a super group, as none of its members have ever reached a celebrity status. However, the Lee brothers, Chris and Benji, claim to be distantly related to the martial arts legend Bruce Lee. Because of this, Supagroup's albums have had martial arts imagery and Supagroup has used the slogan "Kung Fu Rock n' Roll."
The current lineup has Chris Lee singing and playing rhythm guitar, Benji Lee playing lead guitar, Leif Robinson Swift playing bass guitar, and Michael Brueggen playing drums and percussion. The Rocker and I had a chance to talk with Supagroup front man and guitarist, Chris Lee about their latest release, 'FIRE FOR HIRE'. Here is what Chris shared with us…
AAM: Are you satisfied with the feedback your receiving from, 'Fire For Hire'?
Chris Lee: The reviews are starting come in right now. It's pretty mixed, some say, "We love it!", then you have those that say they f*&^%king hate it!" (laughs). It's all good though. You know what, regardless of the reviews, I really love how the album turned out. It's solid rock and roll record. Not a lot of people are doing that at the moment. 'Fire For Hire' is our third album and we are pretty damn proud of it. You can stack it up against anyone from the same era, there are not a lot of rock bands that put out the quality stuff we have. That's 3 damn good hard rock records in five or six years. Hopefully we are not putting out material that is just have us swimming upstream to please ourselves. We want to put out good quality rock and roll for people to enjoy.
AAM: You describe the new album's sound as two kinds of music. Rock and Roll.
CL: (Laughs), Yeah that pretty much sums up the new record. But I can’t take all the credit for saying that. It was my brother Benji who actually came up with that. A solid ball of rock that is guaranteed to rock your socks off.
AAM: How long did you guys spend in the studio recording?
CL: We recorded and mixed the whole thing in 12 days. It was basically one track a day. Kevin Shirley is a great guy to work with, but he is a task master. We were like, 'We want more time in the studio' and he laid down the law, 'No, you have to do one track a day and that's final.' (laughs).
AAM: What was it like working with Kevin Shirley (Black Crowes/H.I.M.)?
CL: Kevin is really an awesome guy to work with. There was no trying to get to know each other you know. Trying to push each others buttons, there was none of that. We got past that. We've become great buddies, we love Kevin.
AAM: Where was the video for, "What's Your Problem Now?" shot?
CL: The video for "What's Your Problem Now?" was shot in New Orleans. That song actually is an old song from our first record. When got our new record deal, I think they were to cheap to make a new music video. It's like, we'll just use this old song and have Kevin remix it so it sounds like it’s from the new one (laughs).
AAM: We heard that two of your songs will be featured in an upcoming movie, is that right?
CL: Yeah, 'College' is like a 'American Pie' type movie. "Jailbait" and "Let's Go (Get Wasted)", are the two songs. It's going to be out sometime next year.
AAM: You guys really appreciate your fans that come out to show, don't you?
CL: Its always encouraging to hear and meet our fans who come to our shows and tell us how much they loved our performance. You know when people see for the first time, they usually love us, I mean really love us. Not only do they get rocked, but they hang out with us after the show. I mean how cool is that. We physically shake hands with everyone we've played for.
AAM: You guys still based out of New Orleans? We heard you guys had moved.
CL: We never moved. We're still based out of New Orleans.
AAM: What has been like post-Katrina, as far as you guys can see?
CL: It's pretty cool there, but every time it seems we are turning a corner towards something positive, there is always something that brings us down. The re-building process there has been pretty slow.
AAM: So, when are we going to see you guys rock the SUPERDOME?
CL: We hope that comes true soon for us, we are huge Saint fans! We would love to play the Superdome. That would be a dream come true for us.
AAM: As far as touring goes, any plans playing overseas?
CL: We're hoping to stay touring in the States until Spring of next year. Then hit Europe in the Summer of 2008.
AAM: We need to confirm this, the picture on the inside of the CD case. Is that an homage to Van Halen?
CL: You guys caught that, wow! That pose is from the 'Hot For Teacher' video. We did a recreation of the 'Women And Children' cover on the 'Rules' album. You'd be surprised not many people caught that (laughs).
AAM: So, what are SUPAGROUP's future plans?
CL: We want to be able to do this for a living. That’s a pretty basic goal for us. We don’t have to be hugely rich or anything, but it would be nice to just do this. We still have day jobs. I’d like to not have a day job.
AAM: Chris, as always a pleasure, thanks for talking we us. Drop us a line next time you are in L.A.
CL: Always a pleasure as well. Thanks to you guys and All Access Magazine for your support. We'll see you guys soon.
For more info on SUPAGROUP: www.supagroup.com
