They say music at it's truest form is done not for money or fame, but rather, to fulfil a need or provide expression. If there is anyone out there who epitomizes that belief, it would be Sean Kelly, the heart and soul behind Toronto rockers Crash Kelly.

Sean Kelly plays music. Lots of music. Besides his shows with Crash Kelly, you can catch him nearly any night of the week performing with 69 Duster. Or Maria Del Mar of National Velvet. Or even Robin Black's band - you know, The Intergalactic Rockstars. With a schedule like that, why Crash Kelly, and why now?

Because Crash Kelly is essentially good music - the kind of songs you listen to when on the radio. Or used to, rather. Necessity being the predecessor of invention, Kelly wrangled up some of the best musicians he knew to play the kind of music he couldn't find anywhere else but desperately wanted to hear.

Penny Pills, Crash Kelly's first album, encapsulates raw determination and sly creativity. Listen closely and you'll hear clever word play and blistering solos behind the tight harmonies and catchy refrains. Even the verses here provide substantial backbone to the songs - not just filler on the way to the chorus. Crash Kelly is an unexpectedly intelligent band with amazing songs to boot.

Melodic and hooky, Crash Kelly's heavy but not too heavy - think like T-Rex or Hanoi Rocks. Music that surprises you at every turn and you can't help but sing along with. They're glam, but without the image. No make-up, no pyro. The show is in the music and the songs stand quite nicely on their own without the gimmicks, thank you. And judging by the reaction at the live shows, the fans are digging what they hear from Kelly's band of vagabond musicians.

Dixie Tucker recently stole some time from Mr. Kelly's hectic schedule (besides being much in demand on stage and in the studio he is also a vocal teacher) and Sean dished the scoop on Crash Kelly, where rock and roll's been all these years, and why Europe should practice getting on their knees.





Dixie Tucker: What gave to the inspiration to start Crash Kelly?

Sean Kelly: Well, I was at home one day in my apartment and was looking for something to put on. I was going through my CD's and I wanted something that sounded a little like T-Rex, a little like Queen and a little like Cheap Trick. But I couldn't decide. So I said 'you know, why don't I write a song that would be my ideal song, the first thing I would grab every time I wanted to listen to something'. I wrote a song called Penny Pills and after I wrote that, I was playing with this guy Neil Leyton and Neil came up and said you know that sounds really good. From there I started thinking, you know, maybe I'll try writing another one.

DT: Let's talk about your musical backround, there's obviously a very 70's feel to your work along with a nice dose of creative song structuring. How do you take your influences and make it your own?

SK: Well I think because I filtered all my 70's influences through growing up in the 80's. As much as I was listening to my older sister's records, I was also growing up with early Mötley Crüe, Hanoi Rocks - bands that were influenced by the 70's but were current at the time.

So I think the 70's influence gets filtered through sort of the best of the 80's, which is basically the concise songwriting of the 80's with the production aesthetic of the 70's.

DT: Penny Pills sounds like a personal album in the disguise of a good time. What experiences shaped the writing of it? How far back can you legally dip into personal experiences before sounding trite?

SK: Well, in a lot of the songs I like to use metaphor. A lot of the songs it always seems like it's the girl who's done me wrong, but sometimes it's not necessarily about girls. In fact most of the time it's not. The song 'She Gets Away' for example is about the music industry.

There are some songs that are from personal experience. I was in a marriage that fell apart because I was on the road, one song's about drugs and drinking - I'm not going to go any further into that. And a lot of it is just wordplay that sounds cool to me. You know, so really the meaning sort of shapes itself while I'm writing the tune. It's not necessarily always the meaning first.

But yeah a lot of it's tried and true sort of love gone bad. There's one song on the album called "Love Me Electric" which sounds like I'm singing about being a rock star. But I read an autobiography on Alice Cooper and it's actually from the perspective of what I thought Alice must be feeling in relation to a situation he had. It's really about how hollow I thought fame and the pursuit of fame could be.

DT: Aside from Crash Kelly where you handle most of the guitar duties, you're a vocal teacher. How did that come about?

SK: Well I got a degree in classical guitar, but as soon as I was done with university, I went on the road. I was playing in bands in the constant cycle of recording and touring - I wasn't really using the music degree.

But what would happen is after you get off the road, there's stretches of time where you have to make money. I needed a job where I could work during the day and still have time to go out and play and alternately tour. I figured, why don't I take a year off my life and go to teacher's college. Once I got in, the school board told me that they were looking for a music teacher. I said, well why not be a musician all the time, you know.

DT: KY Anto of Robin Black and the Intergalactic Rock Stars both produced and played on Penny Pills. How far back does your working relationship go?

SK: I met Ky in 2000 at a recording session for Neil Leyton. Immediately we just started talking influences and we were finishing each other's sentences about music. I said, there's a guy I want to work with and I think he felt the same. So we worked on that and we went on tour with Neil so we got to know each other on the road a bit.

He was the first guy I thought of when it came to getting someone to actually put the record on tape because I knew he could bring the production aesthetic I wanted and he's also a really good editor of ideas. He knows when the idea sort of reached his peak and he's not afraid to let you know that's it.

DT: Toronto has a vibrant music scene, what sets Crash Kelly apart from the rest of the bands making a go at it?

SK: In terms of the live entity, I think when you bring in an Intergalactic Rock Star with the bassist from the Lowest Of The Low, mix it in with a folk guitar player - that's Allister - and throw in a drummer who is in math rock bands, you're gonna come up with something different.

I think for the guys, it's an excuse to play the music that they really liked as kids. That sets us and the nature of the songwriting apart. I'm not afraid to wear my influences on my sleeve, because I'm not trying to pitch it as the next new thing. I think something new is coming out of the fact that I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. By virtue of me just being honest and going out there with my influences, that's a fresh splash on the scene.

DT: You recently did a residency at Rancho Relaxo (a local Toronto club). What are the challenges involved with playing to the same crowd every week?

SK: Well you have to make people feel like they're not just coming to see their friend's band, that they're coming to see a show that's going to be worthwhile and you bring them into it. Don't put up the wall, and they're going to want to come back because they are going to feel that they are a part of it.

I try to engage people and make them feel like they are part of the show. To me, I know it's a cliché, but it's Madison Square Garden - that's what I'm trying to do, I want it to be that kind of an experience. And you don't need to do it necessarily with pyro - which is great, I love that stuff too - but sometimes you just have to do it with your attitude. That's the best feeling when you can win over the crowd. Then I feel that I've done my job and it doesn't get any better.

DT: What's it like stepping into the spotlight from the backround roles you played in your other bands?

SK: At first it was scary. I remember actually being physically ill. The first gig we played I couldn't believe it. But I kinda relished it too. After playing so long, it becomes harder to get excited, but I was genuinely nervous and scared and thrilled at the same time. So it reenergized me and I'm really enjoying the process of getting better as a frontman and stepping into that role. It's great, it's fun.

I mean really, I don't picture myself as a rock star. I picture myself as a conduit for the party, you know what I mean? I feel like I'm a lot better at being one of the guys that I am at being the guy on the stage. So if I can bring everyone into the experience then I think it's successful. I don't want to alienate people and be 'I'm the rock star, you're the audience' I'd rather were all here together and this is my job, your job is to drink the beer and have some fun.

DT: Can you ever achieve the perfect sound live?

SK: The perfect sound is a moving target. I mean, what is the perfect sound? To some people it's the sound of an arena, to some people it's the sound of a small club, some people it's the sound of a studio. I think live is like guerilla warfare, you just go in and make the best of whatever situation. The live experience is 50% sound and 50% human interaction. Sometimes you can hit that rare moment where everything is sitting in its proper sonic place but most of the time you can't. You just make do.

DT: You've said that "2003 will be the year that the Toronto Rock n' Roll scene makes a huge splash in Europe" So when can we expect the Crash Kelly European Tour and what will it be like?

SK: Crash Kelly is going over in July. I'm excited because it sounds like there's some cool bands we might be touring with it's gonna be very cool.

To go back to Neil, Neil Leyton just went over there and did a tour, Robin Black was just over there and knocked them dead, and I think we are gonna go do the same. I think that there is a market that is open to what we're doing - to rock and roll music, and I think that when Crash Kelly goes over there, that we're gonna win them over. I think that we're gonna fill a void that they need over there. It's gonna be very cool.

DT: Do you believe the hype that rock and roll is making a comeback?

SK: Well it depends on what you mean by a comeback because really rock and roll doesn't go away. I mean, when it goes out of the public eye, I think that's when rock and roll is at its truest form, because rock and roll is rebel music. It's supposed to be rebel music. I'm not talking about corporate rock or what they pass off as nu-rock, I'm talking about rock and roll. An independent rock and roll band can thrive in a scene that maybe in the national or secular rock scene, it might not be the big focus. That's when an indie band can really thrive because the true fans are going to search it out.

So is it making a comeback? You know you've got garage rock that seems to be making a splash with people and that's great. But, you know, fashion will come and go, but will rock and roll really ever go away? It never will. Never. Not as long as there's kids who have guitars. As long as there's garages and as long as guys want to be with girls, or whoever. I mean, I think rock and roll's gonna be there. Rock and roll making a comeback? Nah, it never went away.




For more info check out www.crashkelly.ca