Rockezine.com interview with Electric Six on Jul 06, 2003

with Tyler on Jul 06, 2003

On 6 July I went to the Metropolis Festival in Rotterdam, where I had an interview with Tyler, singer of Electric Six. Before the interview, I had no idea what to expect, because their bio is rather strange! It says that the boys all have psychological diseases and were selected for Electric Six (like a boyband) because of this I decided to find out if this was true.
		So, your name is Tyler, but you go by the name of Dick Valentine? Tyler: Yes, it’s my stage name.
		In your bio I read that the five of you have (in total) nine psychological diseases. Is this true, or is it just a PR stunt? Tyler: Well, I think it’s true for everybody. We just get it out up front, but everybody has got stuff going on. Everybody’s got disorders. I think most bands try to hide it. They try to make themselves look like people who are above all that, that don’t have any problems. ‘Gee, look at me with my guitar, I can walk on fucking water!’ We don’t do that. We get everything out up front, so we can only seem better!
		And you were also selected for Electric Six because of these disorders? Tyler: Exactly. None of us knew each other beforehand. Like lots of things in America, your name is put into a machine, and that is how we were selected.
		So, how long have you been together then? Tyler: We’ve been together for five years.
		And this is your first album? Tyler: The first album that is getting out to the masses, yeah. We’ve made albums before, but there were never more than 200 copies made. That was before this record deal, none of us had any money, so we could not make more copies.
		This is your first big album. Have you started on another one yet? Tyler: No, this one was just released last week, and we have been touring for six months. We will be touring for another year, and after that we can think about a new album. The people from the record company really make you work! I knew that getting into it, but it is still hard work. Yesterday I flew into a town I had never even heard of! They make your work without any days off. It is hard work.
		Rumor goes, that the woman in the ‘Danger! High Voltage’ video was your girlfriend at the time. Is that true? Tyler: It is if you want it to be. Video’s are all about fantasy. It is like a television show; there’s a lot of people out there who actually believe those characters are real. I certainly wasn’t faking the passion with her! At that moment I really felt something for her. I drank lots of vodka and just did it!
		Another rumor goes, that the same woman sings on the album. But other sources say it is Jack White, from the White Stripes. Who is it? Tyler: I’ll tell you what I always tell people, which is the truth: I did my vocals, I went on a holiday, and when I came back, there was another set of vocals on the track. I asked the other guys who it was, and they said it was a friend of theirs from Cleveland, Ohio. But then I listened to it, and it sounded a bit like Jack White. So I called Jack and asked him, but he said it wasn’t him. And I believe him. When you listen to it, it sounds a bit like him, but not exactly. I am 51% sure it is not him.
		But how do you know Jack White? Tyler: All the rock bands from the Detroit area know each other. Jack is an acquaintance of mine
		How would you describe your music? Tyler: Nervous. We are a nervous band. It is not ‘discopunk’ as some people describe it after hearing ‘Danger! High Voltage’. We are a rock band.
		What music influenced you? Tyler: We all like different things, but one band that we all like is the Talking Heads. So they influence us. Also Blondie, you know, the new wavy guitar bands. And also cock rock like AC/DC and Black Sabbath.
		How did you come up with your name? Tyler: We were called the Wild Bunch before our record deal. But then we got the deal, and there was this Massive Attack/Tricky cooperation called the Wild Bunch, so we had to change our name. Nobody liked what we came up with. Sometimes three people would like a name, but the other two threatened to quit if it was used. Then someone came up with one and I threatened to quit if it was used. We came up with Electric Six, because our bass player was in a band called Electric Six when he was eight. It did not mean anything; it was neutral, so we all agreed to it.
		But you are called Electric Six, and there are five people in the band? Tyler: Right now there are six. We had a line-up change in May; two guys left, and three joined us. It worked really well; we rehearsed a few times and went back on the road again. The other guys just weren’t fit to be on tour. Nothing personal; they just did not like being on the road. It is not nice touring with people who don’t really want to do it, so they quit.
		Who comes up with these funny videos? Tyler: The directors: Tom Kuntz and Mike McGuire. They usually do commercials, but one day they did an Avalanches video, and they are on the same record company as us. We don’t come up with the ideas. They’re their ideas and we just go with it. Sometimes we have our own ideas, but their ideas are much better, and the video’s need to be separated from the songs. We wrote the song, they do the video. I can also brag about how good the videos are, without it seeming to egocentrically!
		How do you like Holland so far? Have you been here before? Tyler: We really like it. I have been to Amsterdam before, but some of the guys in the band had never been here before. They like it as well! Tonight we are going to Amsterdam, to have a stag party for our bass player. He is getting married in five days. I don’t really like going out, I like to stay at home, wearing dresses and playing with dolls. But tonight I have to.
		Your song ‘Danger! High Voltage’ is also used in the new Charlie’s Angels film. How do you like that? Tyler: Oh it’s great. Our songs are meant to sell out! And it was the right song for the movie; Charlie’s Angels is great. They can use our songs in other movies, too. It is not good to have too much integrity for your music, and not letting anyone use it. David Bowie said: ‘Integrity is the killer of music’. People should not regard their music as the greatest thing on earth. They should re-evaluate it and keep it in the right perspective.
During the interview, I got the impression that Tyler (Dick Valentine) is a very normal, intelligent man, not the schizophrenic, anti-social maniac the people that wrote the Electric Six biography want to make us believe he is. I think he is right about the part that everyone has some sort of mental disorder, and if he does have one, he sure hides it well! (Gonneke Arts)