If you were to ask us what SLAVES TO GRAVITY all about, we'd tell you to think 21st Century Stone Temple Pilots. Add to that, a heavy dose of Alice in Chains with a dash of Soundgarden thrown in for attitude and muscle. The band is fueled and powered by, Tommy Gleeson on lead vocals and guitar, Toshi Ogawa on bass and backing vocals, Jason Thomopoulos - drums and percussion, Mark Verney on lead guitars and backing vocals.
Previously called THE*GA*GA*S, and signed to Sanctuary UK and BMG Japan, the band toured worldwide playing Rock Am Ring/Rock Im Park Festivals (Germany)/Download Festival (UK)/Flippaut Festiavl (Italy)/Fields of Rock Festival (Holland) as well major support tours with Velvet Revolver and Whitesnake, and headline club tours in Japan/USA and all across Europe/UK.
Their Sanctuary debut album, 'Tonight The Midway Shines' entered the UK rock charts at 19 and the band were nominated "Best New UK Rock Band 2005" in Kerrang magazine. Then, Sanctuary hit the wall, and dropped them. The band replaced their lead guitarist, changed their name to SLAVES TO GRAVITY, and the band and management spent six months getting the new band ready, raising funds to launch Gravitas Records, a "signature" record label for just this band, refreshingly, part owned by the band themselves. Quite unique really, and very exciting. We are very clear that with members from UK/USA and Japan, SLAVES TO GRAVITY are a truly international prospect.
Take it from two guys that have witnessed this band's fury first hand. Slaves To Gravity are ready to rock the world! So hold on and hang on tight, your world is about TO GET ROCKED! The guys were kind enough to chat with The Rocker and I about the band and their debut, set for release in March of 2008. Here is what the guys shared with us.
AAM: When can we expect a full release from SLAVES TO GRAVITY? How many songs have you written already?
SLAVES TO GRAVITY: We've just wrapped up mixing the album, having spent the summer locked in a studio cutting the tracks. We recorded 17 songs, 12 of which we’ll feature on the album. The rest we plan on using as B- sides and bonus tracks, so nothing will go to waste! The target release date is set for March 4th 2008, with one more single/video set to drop just before.
AAM: Where was the video for, 'Meantime' shot? How many days did you guys spend on the shoot? Did you guys use the same director you used on, "Big Red"?
STG: We shot the whole video in a day, again in Slovenia with Gary Shore (Big Red director). He's like this omnipotent fountain of ideas, plus he and his team actually have the ability to make said ideas happen, which is a rarity! In the end we ended up with a little more "archive footage" than we would perhaps have liked, but the overall result is something we feel very confident about.
AAM: You guys have played a number of shows already. How has the response been? Did you guys play the last South By Southwest festival?
STG: The response can be pretty varied here in the UK. We're something of an island - STG that is - in a sea of shitty Indie bands, so you get a lot of fashion-baited lemmings who just hate us for being different. On the other hand, some people just get it straight away and offer us the most incredible support... We're still building our fan-base, so it's early days I suppose. Of all the shows we've played, the US ones have been the most exciting and positive. I suppose a lot of our key influences are American bands, so it's almost inevitable that we're going to make that connection with an American audience. SXSW was a great experience. Just 4 days of total chaos... amps being wheeled down the street and into the bar 5 minutes before we go on... a really great festival atmosphere. We can't wait to come back for that one next year.
AAM: How would describe your music?
STG: Dark, Dirty, Bruised and Urgent
AAM: What goals have you set for yourselves as a band?
STG: We've all had a lot of experience getting fucked over by record labels, having our dreams crushed and our hopes dashed, but somehow in spite of this I think we all still feel a deep-seeded desire to take over the fucking world! The feeling we all get when we play music together is so strong that it forces us to forgo rational thought, and turns us into slobbering egocentric maniacs that simply refuse to be beaten.
AAM: Have you been approached by any of the major labels yet?
STG: We've deliberately avoided going down the major label route here in England. We went out and secured some funding from the financial sector and set up our own label, owned and run entirely by the four of us and our Manager. It gives us the power to make all the decisions, from what songs end up on the album, which singles we release, what the artwork looks like, how much we budget for videos, touring etc etc. And when we make a decision about something, it happens. We're not having to make endless phone calls to some 14 year old A & R person trying to find out why the album release ad's never ran, or why we only have a $2 tour budget. It's a big responsibility, but we know if it fails we only have ourselves to blame. It keeps us on our toes for sure.
AAM: Any plans of doing any showcases in America?
STG: We just got back from playing 2 shows (in one night) in NYC as part of the CMJ showcase. It was cool, but there was no vibe about the festival at all. Certainly in comparison to something like SXSW where it's just total anarchy with bands around every street corner. Our aim is to license the record territory by territory, as we simply don't have the weight behind our label to roll things out worldwide.
AAM: If you guys did hook up with a major tour, is there a band or bands that you would like to tour with here in the States?
STG: In some senses we'd be delighted to tour with anyone as long as it gave us the opportunity to play our music to people, specifically to bring our noise to an American audience. Obviously there are bands that we'd be well suited to playing with... Panic Channel, Army of Anyone, VR, Alice in Chains, Marilyn Manson... I could go on for a while, but the chances of us jumping on any of those tours right now are pretty slim. We're more likely to be playing a lot of smaller club shows on our own first, which is also great. We're no strangers to dingy, sweat-ridden scum gigs!
AAM: Complete this sentence..- You should checkout SLAVES TO GRAVITY because...
STG: Puppies will die if you don't. Ha ha, seriously though... if you’re sick of Wizard of Oz rock music - i.e music with no heart or brain - we're your answer.
AAM: Any parting comments?
STG: Just to say thanx for all your support since we met all those years ago in L.A. We can't wait to come back and play for you guys. It feels like we're at the beginning of a great adventure, and we hope you'll all join us for the ride.
The Rocker and I along with All Access Magazine would to thank Ronnie Gleason and the guys in SLAVE TO GRAVITY for doing this interview. Always a pleasure guys!
For more info on slaves to gravity: www.slavestogravity.com
