REBEL REBEL…Shock Rock Attitude !
Interview with Teddy Heavens
1. Please introduce yourself to the world out there..
.Hello, I’m Teddy Heavens, the guitar player/manager from the Los Angeles California shock rock band Rebel Rebel. We are celebrating our 20th anniversary as a band and continue to love what we are doing. We may not be super rock stars, but we really believe in what we are doing, and that has to mean something.
2. Your music is a mix of garage and hard rock, so I guess that your audiense is amix of Glam people and punk freaks?
Yes our audience is a mix of Glam Punks, garage rockers and shock rock fans. We combine all of our influences to provide a fun and entertaining show. It can be dangerous, with a mix of Alice Cooper and the Plasmatics style stage show, but we keep it safe.
3. A few words about your stage show, is there any specific concept? Do you have any roles ?
Our stage show is based on the Mad Max/ Road Warrior movies mixed with the destruction of the Plasmatics, mixed with the high energy of a punk rock show. We destroy computers, TVs and any other electronics we can get our hands on. We use controlled fire, burning guitars and each other, by accident. We try to give the audience something more visual at the shows. We look at each part of the band as it’s own entity-The stage show, the CDs, The DVDs, the web sites-we try to make it all visually appealing, with the punk rock Do It Yourself mentality.
4. Do you think that stage show can survive without music and vice versa?
The music can definitely stand on it’s own. That being said, it’s not everyone’s taste, but they have the option of having the live show or DVD to enjoy. We follow in a long line of bands such as Kiss, Alice Cooper, Sigue Sigue Sputnik and the Plasmatics, in which some people loved the image and stage show but didn’t care for the music, and we are fine with that, as long as people come see us live, they don’t have to buy the cd. We can either get paid via merchandise/live show sales or via downloads/CD sales; it’s all good in the hood!
5. What’s the reaction from the media all these years?
Fortunately, we have had the media on our side all these years. We don’t tour much and we don’t release CDs that often, so usually we get live reviews or interviews and it brings in new fans. Myspace has been really good in getting new and younger fans into the band and it just keeps us going. Me and Nikki Sixx discussed this a couple of years ago and we both agreed it would be the future and now Motley Crue has all these young fans and are doing well on tour, it helps us in a similar way and on a smaller scale. Myspace is how this interview came about so it must be good!!!
6. What are you up to now? What about your latest recordings?
We are currently celebrating our 20th anniversary in 2008 and we have been playing a lot of shows, I’ve been Djing on the radio and in clubs, doing A & R for Blastzone (Koch/Universal), doing interviews and in August we will be releasing a lot of new products-2 Best of CDs-unreleased stuff and a disc of all the stuff from previous CDs, a flyer book, a DVD documentary and a tour of England with Undercover Slut. We are also in the studio right now recording new stuff for a release in 2009. This has actually been one of our busiest years and it’s still fun after all this time.
7. What’s the feedback from the labels?
The labels have loved us over the years but we opted to form our own label years ago, before it was fashionable in 1990, because we didn’t want to sign away our rights and publishing for peanuts. Now we control all of our own song rights and can sell them to movies, video games, other record labels, whoever we want and wee keep all the money!!!!!
8. What about sales? Do you have any number to share with us?
We have sold thousands of CDs and downloads over the years, but I am unable to declare actual numbers due to not wanting the IRS to investigate for Tax purposes!!!!
9. Do you have any problems with the “strong arm of the law” till now?
Our singer Jet has been arrested several times for getting crazy during our live shows, but has beaten the charges every time!!! Right now we try to fly under the radar, but every once in a while the police show up and try to find a reason to mess with us. So far we have been lucky, but we still have another 20 years to see what can happen.
10. Did you have any proposal from the film industry ?
We’ve done some stuff in the TV and Film industry has individuals, but as a band we have not done anything as of yet. Luckily the make up we use keeps us as young as ever, so again, you never know.
11. Have you ever been in any TV show?
I personally have been on many TV shows with minor parts, I do live in Los Angeles so It does happen and I do want to pursue acting seriously in the future, so I am sure Teddy Heavens will be floating around the TV and Film industry in the future.
12. What about the project the Los Angeles Death Dolls ?
I am also currently recording some material for the Los Angeles Death Dolls with Rebel Rebel band mate Erik in my home studio. Not sure when we will play out live or what the future holds but it is a fun project in the vein of Suicide and early Sigue Sigue Sputnik.
13. Any plans for a tour? What’s your next dates?
We are always playing live in the Southern California area and people can see our dates on www.myspace.com/rebelrebel or www.rebelrebel.org We plan on coming to England in August 2008 to play with Undercover Slut from France and doing some radio festival gigs to celebrate our 20 years together!
14. The future plans of the band?
We plan on keeping Rebel Rebel alive for another 20 years playing live, destroying clubs and writing and releasing new music in some capacity or another. We are like cockroaches, after a nuclear holocaust, we cannot be killed!!!! Stay tuned boppers! Can you dig it!
MYSPACE PROFILE FOR REBEL REBEL : http://www.myspace.com/rebelrebel
