Britny Fox founding member Billy Childs has been the bassist of the band since its formation in 1985. After the release of four total studio albums over a number of years, the band went on a hiatus of sorts – Recently, they returned and hit the road, playing shows and festivals worldwide with a new guitarist in tow. The evening of the Hair Nation Festival, I was able to catch Billy for an interview, where we discussed the latest with Britny Fox, including the potential for a new album and some of Billy’s activities outside the band.

First off, awesome set from you guys earlier, it was really great to see you out there delivering a great show. How are you feeling after that?

Oh, it was great, man, I wish — we kind of got cut short, I think we only played like four tunes, right? Five or four? I think it was only four tunes.

I wasn’t keeping track since I was enjoying it so much, I’ll be honest. (laughs)

(laughs) Well, thank you. It was short and sweet, I guess.

There you go. So, I want to go back a little to the origins of this lineup, the four of you guys. You know, three originals from other lineups with a new addition to the band, Chris. Can you just tell me more about how you got here to this lineup as it is?

Well, this is essentially…I mean, it was me and Johnny, Michael and Dean started out, you know, then of course, Dean left and that’s when Tommy came in, that’s the Bite Down Hard lineup. Also, we did an album called Springhead Motorshark, which was actually pretty good, man, it was different for us, but it’s not bad, it’s grown on me. So, it was that lineup, and we got back together to do this, basically, and Michael didn’t want to be involved anymore. I mean, people move on, people get older, they have different interests and shit, so…I’d known Chris for about ten years and thought he wasn’t exactly the prototypical guitar player that you would imagine for a band like us, I mean, we’re basically a blues-based Hard Rock band, you know? And I thought it would be neat, I thought it would work out well, and I think it has. I think he fits in good with us, he puts up with our shit, ‘cause we’re fuckin’ crazy, you know?

But fuckin’ crazy can be fun.

It can be fun, it can be rather trying at times too.

True. So, there was some recent talk about a new album coming from you guys, that you’ve been spending time in studio – any further word, where do you stand with that now?

We’re working on stuff, we had offers, but…You know, we have to really want to do it, we’re trying to decide how to do it, like…at this point, doing an album for us? Yeah, it could turn into that, but the amount of work that would have to go in to putting out an album, I mean, we’re used to doing big studio albums, basically, so for us to just throw something together, I don’t think any of us want to do that. So we want to put the time in and make it as good as anything we ever did, we just don’t want it to be half as good as something we did before, quality-wise, production-wise, anything like that. So we’re kind of leaning more toward releasing one song at a time at this point, you know? But really we’re just more concerned with playing and just existing as well, you know, we’re kind of just feeling out what’s happening.

Well, whenever the album gets completed –

It’s an “if”, not a “when”. But we’ll see.

Got it. So the other guys in the band are also doubling in other bands, Johnny with Doro, Chris in Knight Fury, Tommy has Count’s 77, what do you have going on outside Britny Fox?

I mean, we were together for a little over two years before anybody knew about anything, because I was playing with a band called Get The Led Out, which is one of the highest-grossing rock bands in the country at the moment. And I really didn’t think I was going to do this, anytime I had a little bit of time, something got booked, you know? I was playing places like Red Rocks, Wolf Trap…So then, I had suffered an injury, actually, I hurt my back pretty bad. I kept doing Get The Led Out for another eight months after that and it just got to be where I had to shut down for about a year. And I’m getting better, I’m definitely getting better now, but let me tell you, don’t fuck up your back, man, it’s rough.

As long as you’re getting better, though, that’s good.

That’s what I’m hoping.

So there’s something coming up for you guys, The Monsters of Rock Cruise, “Monsterwood” it’s called…is this the first time Britny Fox has done a cruise ship show?

Yeah it is, actually, and it’s the first time I’ve been on a cruise ship show…I don’t like boats, man, I…don’t know.

First time you’ve been on a cruise ship show, or first time on a cruise ship at all?

I’ve never been on a cruise ship, but I’ve been on the big ferries in Europe when we tour over there, and people have always told me “Oh, you won’t get sick on these, dude, these are big like ships” and I’m like “Okay, cool” – I’ve been sick from the moment I got on ‘til the minute I walked off. Now, little boats don’t bother me, I was on the Good Ship Lollipop when I was a kid, you ever heard of the Good Ship Lollipop? That was down in Jersey! I was on that, and I was sick from the moment I got on ‘til the minute I got off. So, I don’t know what it is, I can be in speedboats, I can be fishing in like a bass boat or something, but when you put me in a big boat, man, I get sick. So I don’t know, I’m hoping this one’s different. I mean, this ship looks really big.

Yeah, I haven’t been on one myself, but…I don’t know, hopefully you’ll be all right for it! (laughs)

(laughs) Yeah, I’m kind of scared, I’m gonna have a pocketful of Dramamine, I can tell you that.

So here right now, at the Hair Nation Festival, there’s plenty of bands playing, and I’m sure you guys know a lot of them, was there anyone you were most looking forward to seeing today at this show?

Oh, man, I’ve been seeing these guys a lot for years doing these, I started with Rocklahoma in ’07, and I mean, some of these guys…I’ve known Chip Z’Nuff forever, I’ve done numerous tours with him. There’s so many of these guys, it’s a lot easier for me to list the ones I don’t know than the ones I do know.

Got you. Well, I won’t keep you for too much longer, so to wrap things up here, aside from the album we discussed earlier, can you give an idea of what’s coming up for Britny Fox?

Well, I mean, it’s really hard to say at this point. We want to exist and we want to keep playing shows, and we’d like to record, it just gets down to an issue of whether it’s fiscally possible to do that, you know? It gets to that for everybody. It’s the kind of thing where we’ll hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, you never know. It’s a funny business, man.

Well, I know you said the album was an “if”, so if the album does come about, I’m looking forward to hearing it, and otherwise, looking forward to seeing you guys perform again the future.

Well, thank you, it’s like I always say, the reason that we haven’t released anything is just because our standards are just really high. We don’t want to give up an inch from what we used to sound like. Guaranteed, if you hear something coming out from us, I think you’re probably going to want to hear it, because we’re not going to have it any other way. If it’s not that good, you’ll never hear it.

Awesome. Well, thank you for taking the time to sit down with me, this was great talking with you.

No problem, same here. Thank you.

More on Britny Fox can be found at their website and Facebook page.

Check out my review of the Hair Nation Festival here.

About an hour before their show, I had the chance to sit down and talk with Bang Tango backstage at the Hair Nation Festival. The current lineup of Bang Tango is Joe Lesté (vocals), Lance Eric (bass), Rowan Robertson (guitar), Timmy Russell (drums), and Drew Fortier (guitar). Drew wasn’t there for the Festival, but he (or at least the mention of him) ended up playing a big part in this interview nonetheless.

You’re about to take the stage in just a little while for your set here at the Hair Nation Festival, how’s everything going today?

Lance: We’re doing well. We were here last year, and it’s good to be back again.

Joe: It’s awesome, it’s great to be back here again and this place rocks, everybody’s rockin’. You know, I think everybody in this kind of music, it’s all about love and peace and having a good time and rockin’…Because we’re all at that age where we don’t really have a choice. (laughs) It ain’t like it used to be. But anyway, I’m going to pass it on to Rowan Robertson from Dio.

Rowan: It’s great, it’s really good to see all our friends, and we get to play in front of a killer audience, it’s just a load of fun. We’re happy to be here again for another year.

Timmy: You know what, the rest of the guys all said everything I was going to say, so it worked out, you know?

(laughs) All right. Whenever you guys play a Bang Tango show, is there any one song that you always look forward to bringing to the stage?

Lance: Yeah, for me it’d be “My Favorite 9”, I like that. That song was on an album that didn’t get released in America, but it did really well in Europe, Love After Death. But I really look forward to playing that song, I like the groove of it. Then actually, the song we open up with is really good. So yeah, that’s my favorite. Here’s Tim Russell!

Timmy: Not Tim Russert! You know, I think every song we play is something, that’s why it’s in the setlist. There’s a whole catalog of songs we could play, but we narrowed it down to the ones we like to play live. To me, everything that’s in the set is a favorite and that’s why it’s in the set and I think I’ll say that for everybody. What do you think there, Rowan?

Rowan: Yeah, I like playing them all. One that comes to mind is “Attack of Life”, I love playing that, that’s got a killer Zeppelin-y kind of riff.

And speaking of “Attack of Life”, something I definitely want to ask you about is the Bang Tango movie, “Attack of Life”. How did the idea to make a documentary of the band even come up in the first place?

Lance: A good friend of ours, Drew, actually he’s our rhythm guitarist, he’s not with us today, but…he was a fan of the band and he wanted to start filming us, he filmed it for about four years and he kind of just wanted to document everything. It was in Chicago, a lot of it was recording the Pistol Whipped In The Bible Belt album, and he just got a lot of candid stuff, put together this movie, and we watched it a couple times, got some editing done with it. I don’t even know if it’s really out, it’s kind of just on YouTube now, so…check it out, I mean, it’s fun, it is what it is.

Timmy: Yeah, pretty much what Lance said, it’s on YouTube, and whether or not it’s going to be released…I think it’s still a work in progress.

Got it, so there might be more additions to it, or…?

Timmy: I think there might be some added, new stuff, but you never know. Like I said, it’s a work in progress, I think.

Yeah, so Drew was the one behind it, and he also did the music videos for the last Bang Tango album, right?

Lance: Yeah, there was some footage from that actual movie, he kind of compiled it. We were in the studio in Chicago for about three weeks and he was there every single day. He would bring a couple cases of Stella and a bottle of Jaeger and get us drunk then sit there and film us. (laughs) He followed us around Chicago for about three weeks and got a lot of that crazy footage, but yeah, he did all those videos.

That must have been interesting to have someone who once shot your music videos to then become a member of the band.

Lance: He grew on us. We couldn’t get rid of him.

Rowan: He’s a fun guy.

Lance: He actually is a saxophonist, and we had to teach him how to play guitar because that’s the only position we had to fill…I’m really kidding. But yeah, he grew on us, and we kept him in the band. Unfortunately not with us today, but…he’ll be back.

Joe: All I’m thinking is, we’ve never let some guy we don’t even know talk for our band before.

Timmy: Right? (laughs)

Joe: (to Lance) You! (laughs) He’s just answering stuff, going on like, (mockingly) “You know, then he played saxophone…” (laughs) No, we love Drew, he’s cool, man. He’s a great kid. To be honest with you, it was straight up – he’s such a big fan, and he said he was in a Led Zeppelin cover band, and I went “What do you do?” and he goes “Oh, I’m the guitar player”. And so, we’re fortunate to have him, he’s just not here for these next couple of shows…he’s having a baby.

(jokingly) He personally is?

Joe (seriously): He personally is.

Timmy: It’s an experimental surgery.

Joe: It’s experimental. We said the only way our band could become big is if one of us got pregnant, and Drew stood right up and Lance jumped up first, so…

You’d get a hell of a lot of publicity out of that.

Joe: Well, I don’t know, but…three of us left the room and now Drew’s pregnant. (bursts out singing “You’re Having My Baby”)

(laughs) Oh man. So, Lance, I also want to ask you to talk a bit about your other band, Color of Chaos.

Lance: It’s just an original band back where I live, back home in Phoenix. We’re just having fun writing, guys I’ve known for about twenty years, we’re just having fun playing in Phoenix is all it is. Just regular rock ‘n’ roll.

And another band I want to bring up is Beautiful Creatures, anything going on with that lately?

Lance: This one’s for you, Timmy.

Timmy: Oh boy, I got to answer the Beautiful Creatures questions? You know, we haven’t done anything with Creatures in many years, so…there’s really not much to talk about. Joe, you want to elaborate on that at all? It was something we did and…how long’s it been, now?

Joe: Oh, it’s been years. We don’t have any plans for that at the moment, because we’re currently writing a new [Bang Tango] record that we’re really happy with, and Rowan and I and the rest of the guys said, “Let’s go with more of a Beautiful Creatures vibe on this one”. And it’s still me singing either way, but this one has more of an edge to it, and I think it sounds badass. We don’t have anything to play for anybody, but I just know that’s the direction I can give you, that vibe for now. (mock announcer voice as he hands microphone to Lance) And back to you, Bob.

Actually, Rowan, I wanted to ask you a question too – of course, you’re in Bang Tango now but you used to be in Dio –

Joe: What?!

— I was just wondering if you’d heard anything about the Ronnie James Dio hologram, and I’d like to get some of your thoughts on that.

Rowan: Oh, well, I saw it on YouTube and I think it went great. I’ve heard a lot of positive things about it, it looked like it was a big success to me. Yeah, I think it’s a great idea.

And coming back to today since we’re here at the Festival, are there any other bands, any of your friends that you guys were really looking forward to seeing today?

Rowan: I wanted to see Yngwie, ‘cause I’m a guitar nerd.

Lance: Nerd!

Rowan: But I don’t think we’ll be able to since we’re doing an interview around then. I wanted to see Loudness, I think they were playing – weren’t they playing?

They were playing but something happened – I don’t know what – and they’re not on the lineup now.  

Rowan: Aww, yeah.

But Enuff Z’Nuff is taking their place.

Rowan: Oh! Okay.

Lance: Cool.

Timmy: That’s fantastic!

Joe: Hell yeah.

Rowan: But yeah, anyway, we know loads of these guys so it’s all like one big reunion.

There you go. Well, that’s about all I’ve got for you guys, so thank you all for taking the time to sit down with me for this interview.

[The interview came to a close here, with assorted “thank you’s” from the band.]

For more on Bang Tango, head to the band’s website and Facebook page.

Check out my review of the Hair Nation Festival here.

Festivals seem to be what’s going on with Tuff lately – you had 80’s in The Park last month, Farm Rock coming up, Monsters of Rock Cruise next month and of course you’re here at Hair Nation Festival today. Pretty busy schedule, you guys pumped to be out there playing these festivals?

This is kind of like our bread and butter. Tuff doesn’t tour all year long, say, for example, like a Faster Pussycat or whoever. We do 15, 20, 30 dates a year and they’re all flyaway dates, because I live in Cleveland, the band’s based out of Los Angeles, so…I fly in, we do this type of show, I go back to Cleveland, I come back, we do the Monsters of Rock Cruise, I fly and go back, we do Farm Rock…it’s that kind of thing. I love this, which is good for me, and good for us. We’re not an everyday band anymore as far as touring or being active that way. So I love this, this is my kind of jam, and we have a private space where we can do our thing, run away and do our life thing, come back and do this thing, so it’s all good.

Good, so you prefer this kind of thing rather than touring regularly?

You know, if I was 18, I’d love to be touring regularly, or if I was 25, or whatever age is appropriate to be out there just hammering it down, but I’ve done that. Tuff is about to be thirty years old, so I’ve done this a long time. And for me, it’s good to do the flyaway dates. Being in this environment doesn’t bother me, it’s not that it’s bothersome for the band, we love this, we feed on this, but you know, we’re not the biggest band in the world. Tonight was probably the biggest stage we ever played on. So to come out and do these shows is the perfect environment for us, we do this 20-30 times a year, and it works out just great.

Awesome. So you mentioned Tuff is about to be 30 years old, doing anything special for the 30^th Anniversary at all?

Probably spaghetti and pizza.

You know what, that’s always great, though.

…which is great for me. But, I mean, I don’t know. Everybody wants to know if we’re going to do another record, or if we’re going to do new music, and…it’s always on the table to do something like that, but when people come to see Tuff, they want to hear what they know Tuff for. So they want to hear “American Hair Band”, “All New Generation”, “Good Guys Wear Black”, stuff like that, so we feed them what they want to be fed, and we do the job that needs to be done.

So I do want to ask you about your musical background, what got you into music originally, pre-Tuff and all, how’d you get into it?

I come from a trilogy of bass players, so…I’m the baby, my brother just older than me is Kenny, he was in Keel, and my oldest brother Greg is in Badlands. So, all of us bass players all the time. My oldest brother Greg, who, in my opinion, and probably in a lot of people’s opinions, is the greatest bass player in the world, to me, for heavy metal. You know, there’s Billy Sheehan, there’s Geezer Butler, and there’s Greg Chaisson. Greg, who just beat cancer. He had Stage 4 cancer recently, and he beat it.

That’s amazing that he beat it, wow.

He’s a tough guy…no pun intended.

Hey, “Tuff”, right. (laughs)

Right. But, it all came from him, so you know, he grew up listening to Sweet, or…not really sure what Greg’s playlist is. He did something on Facebook where he listed all of his favorite bass players, of which I don’t know any of them because mine are a second generation after that, like…Michael Anthony, Geezer Butler, Steve Harris, those are my guys. And probably many of Kenny’s guys too – Greg’s a different generation beyond that, before us. But if I see Greg playing bass, I’m just like “Are you fucking kidding me” – and this is Howie Simon!

[At this moment, the trailer door opens and guitarist Howie Simon pokes his head in and proceeds to give me a stare I can best describe as a glaring side-eye of suspicion…this was the exchange that followed:

Todd: Hi, Howie, come on in! You need a refresher.

Howie: No, no, no, I just…I saw people in here, I’m making sure nobody’s stealing…

Todd: Howie came in here earlier and there was a bunch of people in here stealing all of our gear.

Me: Oh my God, really?

Todd: (shakes his head “no”)

Howie: Yep, that’s why. I saw something, and…

[Howie’s suspicious glare intensifies as a long silence ensues and grows more awkward by the moment]

Todd: (laughs)

Me: (laughs) …All right. Listen, I’m okay, you can trust me.

Todd: I can’t wait to see the translation of this from audio to…however this is done.

Me: It’s going to be transcribed. I’ve got to figure out a description for that look.

Todd (while grabbing his phone): Right? Hold on, Howie, come here!

[Todd is now trying to get a picture to capture “that look” while Howie is leaving the trailer, protesting and refusing to let Todd take the picture. Todd eventually wins and gets a picture, but promises that it’s just for himself. Howie has now left, and Todd and I proceed with the interview as we were.]

Todd: 80’s Hair Metal…well, Howie’s actually not Hair Metal, Howie sat in with us this weekend, he’s from Alcatrazz, and he’s a guitar shredder legend type of guy, so he’s awesome. He’s sitting in with us this weekend, and he’s going to do some shows with us in December, so this is…my first experience dealing with Howie on the road.

Got you. Well, I think you’ve learned a little something now – don’t know what, but…

Well, he’s protective, so I like that.

That’s good, yeah. He’ll watch your gear for you.

So, how I came to be in music? It was a rainfall of brother to brother to brother, we’re all bass players, and I couldn’t be more fortunate.

Todd, in addition to playing in Tuff, you’ve also got a food truck, Smokin’ Rock n’ Roll, talk to me about that, how’d you get started with it?

Well, Smokin’ Rock n’ Roll is me and Billy Morris. Billy Morris was the guitar player in Warrant for ten years, he lives in Cleveland, he was Jani Laine’s best friend and he’s now my best friend. Jani, unfortunately, is gone and I’ve stepped in and taken Billy’s heart, Billy’s my boy. So I moved to Cleveland five years ago after living in LA for 25 years, I met my wife on tour in Cleveland, and then we moved back to Cleveland after living in LA for a number for years. So, we’re in the studio doing some Tuff stuff, and talking about food, and I’m…not bragging, but I’m a fantastic home cook. I can do some shit. And Billy’s a fantastic home barbeque guy, so we talked and I had a concept for a food truck, he had a concept for a food truck, and together we came up with Smokin’ Rock n’ Roll. Actually, that wouldn’t be fair – he came up with Smokin’ Rock n’ Roll and I said I can work with that. So Smokin’ Rock n’Roll’s all about Heavy Metal, or Hard Rock – 80’s Hard Rock – and food. We’ve got sandwiches called the Master of Piglets, Look What The Pig Dragged In, Judas Beef, The Boss, Fleetwood Mac-and-cheese, stuff like that.

That’s cool, I was looking at the website and saw those on the menu, and I thought, “Okay, now that is really clever”, I wanted to ask you, who came up with the names, was it you two guys together?

A little bit of us, but probably, I’ve got to give credit to my wife. She’s very creative so she comes up with a lot, like, we have a mascot, the truck is all outlined with a pig and fire and guitars and stuff, so she’s like, “We should call him Shredder”, since we shred pork, and I’m like, “That’s great!”. But our top dish, our signature dish is our Judas Beef, which is two beef brisket sliders with honey red cabbage, horseradish aioli and peppered pickle chips. And they’re awesome. So, the food truck thing, me and Billy, we love cooking, we love music, so how could we combine the two things we love together, and take that to the street ‘cause we’re street guys. You know, music is being on the street, and food is being on the street these days if you’re going to do the food truck. The food truck has been wildly successful for us.

There’s a food truck rock carnival in New Jersey this month, the second year of it, any plans to check that out at all?

I would love to do that, but we’re so busy in Cleveland that I don’t have to go anywhere. And Cleveland is the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Capital of the world, which is weird because when we’re in Cleveland, there’s some trucks that have a slight rock ‘n’ roll theme to them, but nobody is really doing the rock ‘n’ roll thing, so Billy being the guitar player for Warrant for ten years, me being the founding member of Tuff, combining all of that into Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, and beef and pork, and all of that stuff, we really don’t have to go anywhere because we’re busy 80-120 hours out of the week.

That’s great, and busy equates successful in most cases, so that’s a good thing.

We’re very successful and we’re blessed. Billy’s not with us this weekend, normally Billy would be with us. It just so happens that Billy has to run the truck, and I’m here. So Billy will do the Cruise with us in two weeks, The Monsters of Rock Cruise, and Howie won’t be with us, but right now Howie was available. So, Billy’s running the truck, I’m doing the band thing, but it all rolls back into the joint partnership of Smokin’ Rock ‘n’ Roll, Tuff, Warrant, Heavy Metal, and food.

So back to this festival, today, did you have a chance to check out any of the other bands, and I’ve actually been asking everyone this but, anyone you were looking forward to seeing today?

You know, I really wanted to see Vain, but we’re on a rotating stage on the Main Stage, so they were on right after us, so I did not get to see Vain, which was disappointing. I’ve seen all these guys and, we were talking with the guys from SiriusXM earlier about what it means to be here and be involved in this, and it’s like a family reunion. I can walk up and down this trailer park, and I’ll see Chad from Faster Pussycat, I’ll see Chip from Enuff Z’Nuff, I saw Bret Michaels on the side of the stage, who wrote a song on our record. So, we see all these guys, I mean, I look forward to seeing all of them, but everybody’s here working, so…there’s not really a chance to break away and go see anything. If I’m going to be honest, the only band I took a minute to go see was Pretty Boy Floyd. Steve [Summers] and Stevie [Rachelle] are really good friends, and I love Pretty Boy Floyd, so that’s really the only band I got to see tonight. I wanted to see Vixen, I really wanted to see Yngwie, but we were doing the meet-and-greet, but I just want to see Yngwie tear that shit up.

Yngwie’s amazing, honestly.

I can imagine! I’ve never seen him! And he was on during our meet-and-greet, so I did not get to see Yngwie.

And I actually had another interview during Yngwie’s set, so I missed most of it. I’ve seen him once before though.

I’ve only seen him on YouTube, you know, doing orchestra shit and stuff like that, and I’m just like, “Ohhh, I can’t WAIT to see Yngwie” but then…meet-and-greet…

Oh, so close yet so far. Isn’t the meet-and-greet area right around there too?

Well, we were probably sitting right behind him, but I couldn’t hear him because, you know, there’s just a line of people coming down. But, you know, I love to see Vixen, and…any band on the roster here tonight, I would love to see. But the only band I cut out in literally two songs worth of time was Pretty Boy Floyd.

Well, at least you caught some of something you wanted to see.

Yeah, but Yngwie would have been at the top of my list. Him and Kix, which we’re probably missing right now.

Oh yeah, Kix is out there now.

But, I’m with Kix in Dallas in December, so I’ll catch up.

So just to close things off, give an idea of what to expect coming up from Tuff in the near future.

Again, we’re a part-time band at this point, so, Stevie has his life…me and Stevie are Tuff, so we do our 15-30 shows a year, and we’re doing Hair Nation live right now, Monsters of Rock Cruise in a week and a half from now, Rock ‘n’ Skull in October…and that’s what we do. We could write new songs, but they just want to hear “Hair Band”, “All New Generation”, “I Hate Kissing Goodbye”, and I’m happy to play those songs whenever I get a chance to do that.

Nice. All right, thanks for taking the time to talk with me.

Thank you.

Find more on Tuff at their Facebook page and website.

Check out my review of the Hair Nation Festival here.