People get confused, which is nice.īROWN: Earlier you mentioned that you play the same venues. It is nice to operate under a stage name for a long time. People read too much into it, I think, but I think it’s funny. If you watch me on stage with a rock-‘n’-roll band, you might think something is different because there’s amplification and a lot of music, but there’s nothing. If you went to my apartment, you’d have no idea that anyone from rock-‘n’-roll, or Electric Six, for that matter, lives there.īROWN: Tell me about your stage name, Dick Valentine. There’s a song called, “Riding On The White Train” and the lyric is, “Satan destroys you, but Jesus puts you in a little bowl and smokes you,” and that’s my favorite over all the lyrics I’ve written. VALENTINE: Yeah, “You don’t really wanna go to that place, it’s on fire.” I like that. It’s just been sitting out there like a ball on a tee ready to be hit.īROWN: You should go to the competitor, turn it into something negative: “Taco Bell is on fire, you should come here instead.” It sounds great, but we’ve been trying so hard. We’ve had that reference to Taco Bell sitting out for 10 years, and a band we went on tour with a couple of years ago, they just got their song in a Taco Bell commercial. He gets x amount more money because of that. VALENTINE: Well, it was, “Danger! High Voltage.” When I originally wrote it, it was: “F ire in the disco, fire at the Taco Bell” twice, but the guitarist at the time said, “Let’s change that second one to ‘gates of hell.'” And that was it. I think in the history of the band, only one other person has written one lyric. I guess I kind of have a lock on the lyrics. Generally, we designate one person from the band to be the lead producer, but we all kind of lend our hand in musical writing.
If I write a song-I’m not good at whistles and bells and producing, I’m just good at writing chords and stuff. VALENTINE: The music is done by everybody in the band. When you write, is it via e-mail, or do you write on your own? We’re putting out a second album this year.īROWN: I know that everyone lives in different cities.
Between doing an Electric Six record every year and various other projects, I’m in a New York band called Evil Cowards. I’m of the mind that if you can put out four albums a year, you should. We’re already looking towards the next studio album, and it’s going to be very exciting. We’re in that region where the record’s turned in, but it hasn’t come out yet-for us, that record’s done. So by doing a solo acoustic album, it definitely keeps it fresh on my end, but now I’m ready to go for Electric Six record number nine.īROWN: Yes, Electric Six is very prolific-you recorded eight albums in nine years? There’s six people in the band, and we all encourage each other to do our own thing whenever we have a chance. VALENTINE: We’ve been going for 10 or 11 years, and I’ve found that the key to longevity is, like anything, mixing it up. It’s a purgatory, but it’s a wonderful purgatory.īROWN: Is that why you decided to record a solo album, Destroy the Children ? We play a lot of the same venues over and over again. Nickelback would be like Prêt à Manger or your Nandos and we would be more along the lines of one of those smaller coffee shops with the tuna sandwiches with sweet corn.īROWN: Yes, I would name one, but they all keep growing. There’s so many tiers and levels you could be at, and not just in music, but in any industry. It feels great.īROWN: Would you say that you’re more popular in England than in America? We’re a couple steps down, but it’s a great, great place to be. We met with Valentine over tea to discuss making the fraternity playlist, Taco Bell, and favorite song lyrics.ĮMMA BROWN: Electric Six is very popular in England.ĭICK VALENTINE: Well, I wouldn’t go that far. Dick Valentine, however, is the only remaining member of the original six. Since Fire, the band has released an impressive eight albums, with another one on the way, and gained a bit of a cult following. With their videos for songs like “Gay Bar,” and “Danger! High Voltage,” the band seemed to be reveling in their preposterousness.
TAKE YOU TO A GAY BAR LYRICS FREE
Valentine’s real name is Tyler Spencer and, dressed in jeans and free of facial hair and leather, Spencer seems a very normal Brooklynite.Įlectric Six first came onto the scene in 2003, with their album Fire, a high-energy rock record that is at once supremely silly and captivating. If the words “Electric Six” conjure up images of the band’s lead singer, Dick Valentine, dressed as Abraham Lincoln, but with leather hot pants, and singing, “I want to take you to the gay bar, gay bar,” you might be in for a shock.