Living the rock lifestyle

13 March 2006

LIVING THINGS - ""We're not picky at all about who likes our music

LIVING Things had already experienced most of the rock'n'roll clichés - violent attacks, an onstage overdose, on-the-road brawls and various arrests - before they were even signed.

Now, having just released their major-label debut, what's left to do for a raging US rock band of three brothers and a drummer but carry on bickering?

STEPHEN MOORE caught up with Corey Becker, the band's only non-family member, to find out.

Your band mates are Lillian, Eve and Bosh Berlin are three brothers from St Louis, Missouri. What is it like not being the only non-family member in the band?

"It's good. It has its ups and downs. The up side is I'm not constantly trying to strangle them, the down side is trying to stop the others from strangling each other."

Are they almost like your second family now?

"I have spent a lot of time at their parents' house. And their mum is amazing.

"Whenever I was a kid I was getting into trouble. I would break into a lot of people's garages and steal stuff.

"I would steal food out of their fridge and their mum caught me in her garage. So that was the first time I met their mum.

"Also, around the same time, Eve and I were dating the same girl."

Did that cause any ructions?

"There was some animosity. She was called Betsy. But we are both still friends."

You have quite a reputation for trouble following you.

"That is one of the best things about the band. As a result something bizarre and curious is always happening."

You've had quite some success across the pond with your album making the Top 50 list of Rolling Stone's albums of 2005. What's it like to be starting from scratch again, playing in places like Dublin Castle in January?

"We always like to play in small places. We will play anywhere. It's a completely different animal than playing 4,000-seat arenas.

"Last night's place we played in [The Old Blue Last, EC2] was smaller than our living room back home, but it was great.

"It was a fun time, but Eve passed out onstage and we had to carry him out to an ambulance."

Really?!

"Yeah. It was towards the end of our set, we were about six songs in. It was a combination of a number of things, but he's okay now."

You have toured with The Libertines and Velvet Revolver. How did they differ?

"The Libertines tour was amazing. They really packed out Los Angeles and New York, but they weren't really well-known in the rest of the US.

With Velvet Revolver, every middle-American meathead was roaring away and drinking beer.

So how have British audiences taken to your sound?

"People here in the UK are definitely not afraid to speak their mind, but it's more in a heckling way than with guns. Everybody here has been amazing.

"We are not picky at all about who likes our music. Somebody was telling us the British don't like a lot of heavy guitars, but I thought, 'Come on, some of the greatest guitar bands of all time have come from Britain!'

"Everything right now in the US and UK is fluffy bands with 80s synthesizers and stuff. We're hoping to redress the balance."

You are a very political band. Have you taken an interest in Britain's political climate?

"We are always interested to get the British perspective on Blair, and we are always on BBC news.

"Fox News in the US is as scripted as any movie, and there are no adverts on BBC News. The news here can't be bought.

"It seems like Blair is something of a lapdog to Bush. The album title, Ahead Of The Lions, is a lyric from the song Monsters Of Man. It refers to Bush."

* Ahead Of The Lions is out now on Red Ink.