*You’ve been into the rockabilly and psychobilly scene for more than twenty years… what do you remember from the beginning?
Answer – Actually, it is more like 30 years, I remember going to some great clubs in London in around 1978/1979 (Bobbysox, The Black Bull, Shades, The Royalty) , I was a very big fan of punk when it first hit the streets, but never liked the image! I remember watching Rebel without a Cause and really falling in love with the clothes and the image of 1950’s America. The very first record I ever heard was Flying Saucer Rock n Roll by Billy Lee Riley, and it blew my mind. The thing was I always liked the simplicity of punk, but also the melodies and wildness of Rockabilly, I think it was partly this that drove me to creating Rochee and the Sarnos.
*You came from the rockabilly scene. How did you feel about the early 80’s scene in London?
Answer – For me, it was the greatest time, I adored the music, the scene, and the people, in fact the people in it really did it for me, I still have friends from those days, and more and more keep popping up on myspace to remind me of the good old days! The scene was so vibrant then, the music was always wild, and we just had genuine good fun. I haven’t been out to a club for over 20 years though, maybe I should just drop in one again and see what is happening now, but I am guessing that a lot of the music will still be the same.
*Do you remember any anecdotes from those days?
Answer – One of the funniest things we ever did was to drive from London to Brighton on the coast, to stay with some good buddies, and we used to drink an enormous amount of beer, then take all our clothes off and drive around in a 1957 F Type Vauxhall Victor and pull up alongside people to ask them the time. 6 of us naked in a 1950’s car – you should have seen the look we used to get, how we never got arrested I don’t know! I do also remember me and Spark from DAG in Hamburg getting up to all sorts of naughties, but I am not going into print on that one! I think we even get a mention on their first album, and that is a direct reference to the gig we did with them and Batmobile in Hamburg in the Markthalle in September 1985. I still have a scar on my foot where I kicked a glass in a slightly heightened state of “refreshment”.
*In your opinion, what are the main differences that you find between nowadays’ psychobilly scene and the early 80’s one?
Answer – I don’t really know as I don’t get out much! To be honest, what I see now seems to have a darker, more punky edge to it, I think a lot of the bands in the 1980s, weren’t really even calling themselves psychobilly, I know we weren’t, we just didn’t seem to fit anywhere to be honest! We were quite fortunate in that we could do a rockabilly gig, by simply changing the set a little, and we did one fantastic gig at the Isle of Wight, where we had 2 really bad slots on the Saturday and Sunday, and on the Saturday, we just came out and blasted rock n roll and rockabilly and on the Sunday we did our Sarno set, both sets were packed out, and I will never forget the feeling I had when I went out on the Saturday, about the closest you could ever get to pure happiness!
*You’ve announced a new Sarnos’ release for this year and that you’ll be doing some gigs. What have influenced this decision? When will the new record be released?
Answer – The decision was partly fuelled by the advert on T Mobile earlier this year, I realised that there was still some interest in the Sarnos, so we simply decided to see if we could make another go of it, as we never really finished things properly first time round. The new album should be out either December 2007 or January 2008.
*What is the current line-up in the band? Any original member, except from you, of course?
Answer - There are 3 of the original 4, myself, Rob Glazebrook on guitar and the phantom on the Hot Rod, plus Nick Simonon on drums.
*In terms of recording, you’ve never been a very productive band, in order that you only released a couple of EPs and one LP. Are you mainly a live-act-band? Or that’s because there were no possibilities of recording more stuff those days?
Answer - It might be that we are a live act really, but also, we never actually lasted that long, we had a few songs prepared for the follow up album, and these will appear on the new one, plus some brand new tunes.
*You started the band around 1982. Why did you started it? How were the beginning days, the first gigs,…? who did you play with? Was your audience mainly psychobillies or played as well for other kinda fests?
Answer – I am not really sure why we started the band, it just seemed to evolve really, I do remember thinking at the time though that we weren’t to take ourselves too seriously, something that we still keep to today. In the very early days, it was me on guitar, the phantom on tea chest bass, and a guy called Bud on bongos. We started playing with Rob Glazebrook’s band at the Goldsmith’s Tavern in New Cross near London, and one night Rob asked if we could perhaps have a rehearsal with us, as he had some tunes he had worked out… the rest is history! Originally we played mainly to Rockabilly crowds, as the Psycho scene didn’t really latch on to us until about 1985 or so.
*You playd some times at the KLUBFOOT. What do you remember from that place?
Answer – It was an amazing venue, the crowds were wild and to be honest, that is about all I remember, as I was usually “very refreshed”.
What about the current rockin’ klubs in UK?
Answer – I haven’t been to any for years, but I hear that the scene is still very vibrant.
*What have you been doing since the band split-up? Have you been involved into other music projects? Why did you decide to give-up playing as Rochee & the Sarnos?
Answer – I have been managing my family’s country estate in Scotland for the last 20 or so years, and am practically semi retired now, so I am spending more time on music promotion for my band and Lady Sarongster, who is a wonderful jazz/folk singer. I think we split up due to my lack of confidence that I wanted to make a career out of music, as it is very difficult to maintain longevity. That has all changed now though!
*In October it will be your great comeback with bands like Batmobile, Swampys… that will be playing as well at the Old School Rockabilly Psychosis in Belgium. Will you go on doing gigs or will it be a one-gig-comeback? What do you think about the necessity of using this ‘old school’ term nowadays? Isn’t it amazing for bands like yours that represented the evolution of a whole genre?
Answer – We have now played in Antwerp and to be honest, it was brilliant! I really, really loved it and the crowd were amazing, very welcoming and up for fun. We are booked at several large festivals next year and even hope to be playing in Spain, so we must meet up! I don’t really go in for terms or labels to be honest, I never really thought of us as psychobilly at all in the old days, I still don’t now, I think we are very fortunate to be where we are, I am just pleased that people still want to see us perform after all these years!
Lots of ‘old’ bands are rejoining. Great R&R Swindle or need to have more fun? What band hasn’t done it yet and you’re expecting them to do it?
Answer – Good question, for us it is the need to have some more fun and see if we can make people happy again, the whole performance at a Sarnos show depends on the audience, the more up for fun they are, the wilder we get! I think most bands of those days are either still performing or have reformed, I don’t quite know who hasn’t as yet!
*Nowadays, apart from music, what’s your occupation?
Answer – Semi retired singer songwriter and music promoter
*Your first guitar player left the band and ended up among the Houserockers. Why did he left the Sarnos?
Answer - Rob is the original guitarist for the band, and to be honest, without him, it wouldn’t be the Sarnos, our songwriting partnership is what drives the band I think, so as long as we are both alive and kicking we will continue to produce what we can.
*Where does it come about playing the preacherman role at your shows, with Bible at hand and preaching thy word? Are you a Screamin’ Jay Hawkins fan? Lord Sutch? What are your favourite frontmen?
Answer – I only ever did that once at the Klub Foot, it was just something I threw in on the night! I love Screamin’ Jay, and I am a big fan of Sutch, my currnet favourite frontmen are Kofte from Mad Sin, Spark from DAG and JJ from Batmobile. Earlier -Vince Taylor, Johnny Burnette, Gene Vincent and of course Elvis!
*Another question that always concerned me personally. How is it possible that great sound with a one-string double-bass!? It looks like those skiffle bull-fiddles, did you get the idea from here? Or that’s because you were so broke that hadn’t enough dough for a real one?
Answer – A lot of people ask us about the bass, we found this in a junk shop in Penge, South East London, we were just looking around and the guy asked us if we knew anyone who might be interested in a “Rock n Roll” bass that he had out the back. The Phantom and I went out back and nearly died when we saw it! The minute the Phantom started to twang at it, I knew we had something, so we bought it there and then for £7.00! It is part of our sound and I don’t know how we could do without it!
