A Dirty Dozen with JAY R of SNAKE BITE WHISKY – January 2019

According to a recent press release: “Snake Bite Whisky has quickly established themselves as Australia’s number one sleaze band, bringing something fresh to the global hair metal revival. Their sound is a heady mix of punk and heavy metal-injected sleaze rock. After the successful release of several singles, an EP, and touring, Snakebite Whisky are ready for the world to hear their debut album, This Side of Hell, out now via Pavement Entertainment. This Side Of Hell was recorded at Sonic Clarity Studios in Australia and mixed and mastered in the US by Peter Rutcho, who has worked with diverse artists such as Falling In Reverse, Parkway Drive, Deez Nuts, and many more.” We get singer Jay to discuss new music, influences, and much more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

This Side Of Hell is our debut full length album being released by Pavement Entertainment worldwide on CD and in digital format. It’s ten tracks of blistering modern sleaze rock mixed with elements of Heavy Metal, Punk and Outlaw Country. It’s definitely its own animal and has cross genre appeal.  Oh yeah! There is an Easter egg if you like and you don’t have to be an existing fan to pick it up. It’s something we did on purpose and you would have to listen to the album in sequence to get it.  If someone thinks they get it they can message us and we’ll sort out some free stuff for the first person to get it.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

It was Guns N’ Roses for me without a fucking doubt! The lifestyle, the image, the music, the whole mythology that was around them. The most dangerous band in the world and I was like, “I want a piece of that action” and that started me of on a journey that’s taken me all over and given me some fucking amazing experiences.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Lemmy, the man was the living embodiment of Rock N’ Roll! Go listen to No Sleep ‘Till Hammersmith it’s an unbelievably visceral record, a statement of intent from a band who didn’t give a fuck what anyone thought. You know a lot people credit Motorhead with their influence on Thrash Metal etc but I really feel they were one of the forerunners of the sleaze genre.

4. Who would be your main five musical influences?

Motorhead, Guns N’Roses, Faster Pussycat, Johnny Cash, and L.A Guns.

5. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Sean Bevan. He produced the first Beautiful Creatures album and it’s fantastic. I’d love to see what he would do with one of our tracks. The production on our album is massive thanks to Peter Rutcho so the bar is set pretty high!

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

It’s what you get if you cross Motorhead with early Guns N’ Roses throw in a little Sex Pistols and Outlaw country and give it a modern sound. Haha! That might seem like an odd description but we are honestly our own animal. We don’t sound like anyone else at the moment. The worse thing we hear is about our image. People come up to us in the street and ask if we are like  Steel Panther because of the way we dress. Pisses me off! We are a real Rock N’ Roll band, not a joke, real image and real hair! These aren’t stage clothes that we wear it’s just the way we dress and we don’t even look like Steel Panther.

7. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

Touring and meeting people from all over the world and I know it’s lame but when someone tells you how much they love a certain song you wrote, makes you feel great to know that you have created something that has touched somebody else. And playing live is like a fucking drug… you can never get enough.

8. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

When we hang out it’s just hardcore drinking. We basically just drink until the sun comes up or we pass out whichever comes first, responsible drinking but D.A and myself are pretty accomplished cooks and Stacii always seems to leave his wallet at home and Ace is the dude who likes to chat to everybody!

9. When was the last time you were star struck and who was it?

You know I can’t remember a time I was star struck. I’ve met a lot of rock stars over the years. I guess one that sticks out as being the strangest meeting was at a Velvet Revolver after party in London and I’m standing by the toilet and I feel this hand on my shoulder and it gives me a couple of hard pats and I turn around and it’s Slash. And he just says “Hey Dude” and then walks in of into the loo so yeah, I met Slash on his way to take a slash.

10. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

Porn star? haha! If I wasn’t doing this I’d love to have a tv show like Anthony Bourdain and travel the world eating, drinking and talking shit.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over”, even if it didn’t change your current situation?

I don’t really do regrets because everything is an experience that you learn from and move forward but if there was one moment in my career that left me feeling unfulfilled for a long time was the demise of JackViper in London. We were hotly tipped to break out and it all went to shit internally before we saw it to fruition but it brought me to where we are now so it happened for a reason and we are all really good friends now.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

It has to be, without doubt, Appetite For Destruction. Take away it’s legendary status but that album changed my life. It was definitely the blueprint for my life.

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Category: Interviews