CHEETAH CHROME

by Jason Walsh
In the mid 70s, a band emerged in Cleveland, Ohio, that would later transform into one of the most influential American punk outfits. Rocket from the Tombs, though short lived, morphed into the band Frankenstein, and after encouragement from Joey Ramone, relocated to New York City, where they finally became the legendary Dead Boys. “Young, Snotty, and Loud” and “We Have Come for Your Children” remain classic records in the annals of the seventies underground era, as well as the band’s renown anthem, “Sonic Reducer.” Fronted by Stiv Bators, the band included Jimmy Zero, Jeff Magnum, Johnny Blitz, and a fellow named Gene O’ Connor on lead guitar, better known as Cheetah Chrome.
Cheetah is one of the most iconic and prolific guitarists in the history of American Punk Rock and throughout the years, has continued to remain an active musician, reforming Rocket from the Tombs as well as his own solo and studio work, and has dropped in on numerous sessions with bands from all over the place.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Cheetah about the future of Rocket from the Tombs as well as other projects which includes Joan Jett’s Blackhearts, and most importantly to him, balancing it all out with a family.
JW: So what do you got going on this year?
CHEETAH: Starting off I’m going to do some recording with Rocket from the Tombs. We’re going to be working on that, got the whole big gang, David Thomas, Richard Lloyd, and then I’ll be releasing some new material of my own that I recorded over the past year, and then I’ll be doing some shows here and there, some with the Blackhearts, some without, some with Rocket.
JW: Where you going to be recording the Rocket from the Tombs stuff?
CHEETAH: At Suma studio which is out in Painesville, Ohio. It’s where we’ve always done our stuff with the Black Keys, just did their new record. It’s got quite a history actually, done the James Gang and Grand Funk.
JW: So this is going to be a new record of new material?
CHEETAH: Yeah, well, we don’t know if it’s going to be a record yet or what because with the internet and all that we’ve been doing some stuff where it’s just downloading online but they do it with an MP3 with a real high quality. We’re thinking we might do something like that, but we haven’t decided on that yet. Just want to get it out.
JW: I got you, and in a case like that, there’s less production you have to worry about in getting the records out. You put it up there and “boom,” it’s available.
CHEETAH: Yeah, well, you know, it’s like the fact that MP3s right now, the way they’re done on ITunes and all that, they’re pretty crappy really. The files are small, you know, and it sounds like you’re getting a good deal but you’re not. They don‘t sound as good as vinyl, they don’t sound as good as CD, and if you do it and make it a bigger file, it’s the same quality. You don’t lose anything. So, we’re thinking about doing it that way.
JW: So are you thinking about hitting the road at all or are you just going to go in the studio and do some recording?
CHEETAH: Well, we always like to do that. We got a whole bunch of songs that are new. We’re only going to go in and do a few right now. I would guess we’ll probably want to do some touring this year. We’ve picked the last couple of years where, you know, not many gigs at all in 2006. In 2007 and 2008 we were pretty much all doing other projects, so I guess this year we’ll get together a bit more and hopefully do at least a week on the East Coast, a week on the West Coast.
JW: Very cool. So, tell me about the solo stuff you’re working on right now.
CHEETAH: Well I’ve just been, you know, I’ve got a studio in my basement and I’ve been working on various things over the years, like different demo tapes and stuff. The result of it came out really good, so it’s kind of like “The Basement Tapes,” you know, where just different things I’ve done over the years that I like, I want to stick them out. Some of them I’ll fix them up and some of them I’ll just leave them like they are.
JW: Are you still playing out the solo stuff? I see you have some different dates this year.
CHEETAH: Yeah, you know New York is a tricky market. I usually go up to Toronto a lot, up by the Midwest and all that. The East Coast is the hardest because I live in Nashville and if I use a band, I usually use a local band. In New York, I’ll use either the Black Angels, and now I’ve been using the Blackhearts for some shows. In Toronto, I use this band, The Screwed, and out on the West Coast I would use Sweet Justice. I’ll fly into town a couple days ahead of time, we rehearse a few days, and do some nice long rehearsals so it’s not like a complete mess. Nashville being centrally located, it’s either I got to fly out there or they got to fly here. I figured we start, you know there’s a lot of expenses involved in getting started and right now New York just doesn’t have any clubs, and the ones that they do have don’t want to pay you anything, you know. They are all just offering you door deals and it feels like the 80s again. I actually had an offer where they were like “you can run the club and you can sell tickets.” I was like, wait a minute, that’s like freakin’ Gildersleeves or something.
JW: 80s mentality in a 2009 economy.
CHEETAH: Yeah, like no, I didn’t play for years because of that. I mean, New York, I didn’t play from 1996 to 2003 for exactly the same reason. Then, as soon as there were clubs around that wanted to pay you at least, you know, give you a guarantee, “yeah…ok,” then I played in New York a lot. Then slowly they all moved out to Brooklyn and now they’re all claiming poverty. So, I don’t know, it’s the same old bar business it’s always been out there.
JW: How long have you been out of the city now?
CHEETAH: Oh god, since ’96 I guess.
JW: So you’ve been gone for quite a while and you’ve been in Nashville all that time?
CHEETAH: Yeah.
JW: And that’s a great city for musicians, not just Country. There’s so much going on down there.
CHEETAH: Oh yeah and I just love it because it’s very low key, and like you said, there’s musicians all over the place. You got guys from Cinderella down here, Jack White lives down here, guys from English bands are here, you know. If you want to go out and hang out, you’ve got a very, very good crowd to hang out with. I don’t really play here. I have my little thing I do in my basement and all that, and I play all the time, but as far as playing a show, I haven’t played here in two years. Even national acts coming through don’t draw in Nashville and that’s the only sad thing about it, because everybody and their brother is a musician and everybody’s too cool to go see somebody else play (laughs).
JW: Who’s going to go pay $50 to go see a band play some big venue when they can just go up the road and go see all their friends in a bar?
CHEETAH: Exactly, and the bar bands here, the competition’s pretty strong, especially in country music. Rock ‘n roll, there’s only a couple clubs but there’s quite a thriving rock ‘n roll scene going on here. I haven’t been part of it in a while. Last time I was out and saw some bands they were good. There’s a band called the Pink Spiders that are from down here that’s real good and there’s this band Paramore that just went platinum I guess.
JW: It sounds like you’re going to be pretty busy, you got a lot of stuff on your plate, but at the same time, you’re not straining yourself out too much.
CHEETAH: Well, that’s the thing, I got a kid that’s going to be four in March and right now, he’s my priority, so you know, I’m going to be 54 and I don’t like jumping in the van and going out for six weeks. That’s like ridiculous. I don’t have to do it. I just do gigs that are worth doing. Periodically, you hit markets that you like, have fun, pay the rent, and that’s all you got to do.
JW: Is it weird having different bands that you hook up with in different cities? Are you doing the same material, or are you doing different stuff with different bands when you go do this, or do they kind of know what you have in mind when you head to say, Toronto or out West.
CHEETAH: No, I’ll send them a CD and usually they’re all pretty well familiar with the Dead Boys stuff, so I just name the songs and they learn those. The new stuff and the solo stuff, I send them a CD a couple months ahead of time and they can rehearse it a bit on their own and I usually try to get in three or four nights ahead of time so we actually have some good rehearsal time. It’s not like a “wham-bam” thing. We do at least two nights rehearsal.
JW: Get everything nailed down and play the shows. But you know, each different venue, you look over and you got different guys playing the same stuff. Is that kind of weird though?
CHEETAH: No, because we’re all friends, you know what I mean, it’s all guys I know. I mean I hooked up with the Blackhearts, like friggin’ Thommy Price, I’ve known him forever. The Black Angels, I’ve done many gigs with them, same with The Screwed. It’s all people I know well and I know I can trust them. It’s not like Chuck Berry coming to town and hiring musicians, you know (laughs).
JW: Right, right. So what keeps you still doing this? Do you still have a love for this, a passion for this, or is it just a job for you?
CHEETAH: Oh, I love it. I mean, I love to play and I do it every day pretty much now. I’ll at least go down and play my guitar for an hour, sometimes two, or I’ll get in and mix something. There’s always something to be done. I just really enjoy it, it’s very kind of therapeutic for me, and playing live I enjoy a lot. It’s kind of becomes a pain in the butt when you got all the family involved now. I am kind of sick of the travelling, but at the same time I take my family with me more now when I play out. So like when I go to Canada, I’ll take them with me, or New York or something like that. So it’s nice, I get to hang out and my son gets to come see me play. He’s pretty interested in music and all now too.
JW: You said he’s 4?
CHEETAH: Yeah, he’s going to be 4.
JW: Does he get what’s going on?
CHEETAH: Oh yeah, yeah. Big Beatles fan right now. He heard the Beatles, I was listening to Sgt. Pepper’s for some reason, I guess I was trying to study a bass sound or something like that, and he was like, “Dad, what’s this music?” and I was like, The Beatles. “Play another one, play another one!” and next thing you know, I was like, “oh, I got more Beatles stuff.” I started playing it for him and now he knows all the words. Now, I’m trying to get him into the Stones (laughs). He likes a few Ozzy things too.
JW: And at the end of the day, going home is the best thing, huh?
CHEETAH: Oh yeah. I’m lucky and I’m very glad I’m able to share it with my family. It’s fun to be able to get out on the road and all that, but like I’ve done that for years and years and years, so now it’s just nice to be part of the family life, you know.