Daredevils let it all hang out

The Crank County Daredevils
The Melody Inn
Saturday, April 2

“Do you wanna get fucked by rock?” is the credo that the Crank County Daredevils have infamously tattooed across their chests and can be found dangling as a tagline at the end of many a message board post by the many female fans they’ve cultivated during frequent sold-out stops at the Melody Inn.

This Ashville, N.C., band has garnered praise on both coasts and at South by Southwest during their breakneck touring schedule. The self-described “Kings of Sleaze” owe more of their sound to Motley Crue or Faster Pussycat than they do to the punk legends that usually inspire the acts that get booked at Punk Rock Night.

So why would PRN guru Greg Brenner book a band like that into his “punk” showcase for a fourth time on April 2? Maybe it’s because they are the ultimate party band. As Josh Todd from Buck Cherry said after seeing their show last year, “The Crank County Daredevils make me wanna drink beer in the shower at 10 o’clock in the morning.”

We spoke with lead singer Billy Velvet to get his thoughts about sex, drugs, rock and roll and being compared to AC/DC.

NUVO: It’s impossible to read any of your press clippings without running into endless comparisons to Motley Crue, Faster Pussycat or Bon Scott era AC/DC. How did the band come out of a place like Ashville, N.C., and avoid the influence of the Lynyrd Skynyrds and Molly Hatchets of the world?

Velvet: All of us, especially our singer, are into early era punk rock music. I’m just a straight up metal head; our guitarist is into Love Reaction. Our drummer’s into new metal like Tool and shit like that. In Ashville, there’s really only one other straight up rock band in town. It’s more of a bluegrass and folk type of place. So we get very little outside influence in our songwriting. When we’re not on the road we’re practicing five nights a week. We write what we feel. What comes natural to us. And what comes natural to us is just good time, old school meets the new school hard rock. Good fun, hard rock, that’s what comes natural to us.

NUVO: You guys definitely have the rep as being a big party band. How do you keep that pace up on a nightly basis?

Velvet: Just one step at a time, hopefully without falling on our face. I don’t know. We roll. We roll hard, man. It’s the only way we know how to do it.

NUVO: What’s the inspiration behind the band’s name?

Velvet: Where we live, there were 350 meth labs busted in North Carolina alone. That’s more than one a day. So that’s where we’re from: “Crank County.” Then you have to be a “Daredevil” to party with us. It’s a long name, but it rolls off the tongue nicely and it’s who we are.

NUVO: In an era when so many bands are trying to put out songs that are overtly political and serious, will the Crank County Daredevils ever put out a song about politics or world issues?

Velvet: We’re not into politics, dude. We leave politics to the politicians that don’t know what the fuck they’re doing anyway. So we just want to keep our nose out of it and do what we do and that’s play good-time fuckin’ part rock and roll. I remember the days when people would go to a rock concert and sit in the parking lot three hours before the fuckin’ show started. Partying. Drinking. Before the first act even went on they were already puking. That’s what we’re into man — an hour and half of people hanging out with us. Not thinking about the bills they have to pay or the job they have to go back to, or any of that bullshit. Just totally letting themselves go for that hour and just having a good time.

NUVO: Metal Edge magazine picked your album as the best album of the year ahead of the newest releases from Social Distortion, Velvet Revolver and Motorhead. Was that just an absolute trip or what?

Velvet: Dude, that’s absolutely wacky considering those are great, great bands and people that I highly, highly respect. It’s truly a compliment in every way, man. I don’t even know what to say about that. It still blows my mind to think about it.

NUVO: This is at least the third time you’ve played Indianapolis, maybe more, right?

Velvet: Yeah, it’s our third … I think it might even be our fourth time. We just love Indianapolis so much, man. When we put it on the road Indianapolis is a staple. A lot of people in Indianapolis are saying, “Man you guys always sell out [the Melody Inn]. You gotta book into a bigger venue.” But we like the intimacy of the Melody Inn. We like the intimacy of meeting people and shaking hands. I mean, we come from the streets. That’s where we want to keep it. Greg from Punk Rock Night is a stand-up motherfucker. He’s a down son of a bitch, and we stay true to our family. And he’s family. He’s stuck by our band since day one, and the people that stick by us — we stick by them.