Now that the `90s have officially begun, it's time to find out which bands are going to take the reins of rock 'n' roll and ride to the top of the heap during the next decade. Sure to be charging successward at the front of the stampede is Lillian Axe. Comprised of Ron Taylor (vocals), Stevie Blaze and Jon Ster (guitars), Darrin DeLatte (bass), and Baltimore resident and former Dirty Looks drummer Gene Barnett, Lillian Axe put authenticity back in rock with songs that are real and a live performance guaranteed to shake you right out of your skin.
As the band was putting the final touches to their latest demo effort, I spoke with Gene about the present and future of Lillian Axe. Apparently, the boys have not been idle. "Right now we've secured a major entertainment lawyer. One of the most important things for a band is to get an entertainment lawyer, especially one that's powerful and has a good reputable business dealing with all the labels, and this guy does." Boy does he! Can I say who he is yet, Sue? (In due time....ed.)
The ultimate goal (short of world domination) is to get signed with the right label. Before Gene joined the band, Lillian Axe had a less than pleasant parting of the ways with MCA Records. But rather than dribble at the mouth about industry victimization, Gene chose to focus on what type of label the band WOULD like to sign with. "We pretty much want to find a label that likes the band for what it is, not another band to throw on the roster like every label seems to be doing now. If you have the support like Atlantic gave my old band, Dirty Looks, you'll do pretty well."
He continues, "What we need now is someone with a little more power in the management/entertainment field to hook us up with the labels and get us signed. Hopefully, within the next few months we'll be signed and recording the new album."
That's right. If all goes well for Lillian Axe this winter, we can expect a third album, tentavitely titled Poetic Justice, in the near future. According to Gene, "Hopefully the release date will be somewhere in the beginning of next summer."
Now why would a band without a record deal be so confident about their future? Simple Lillian Axe put virtually everyting they've got into their music. Just put their tape in the deck and listen, amazed, as five of the country's best fill the room with instrumentally brilliant mountains of sound. Feed your ears on Ron Taylor's vocal splendor as he shreds and croons through lyrics that are not just written, they're authored. Then go see their live show and experience the rock 'n' roll performance of the ages.
"When we're off, we go see every band there is to see," Gene explains, "and there's not many that can touch us live. I mean they can sample and trigger shit and do whatever they want to do, and they still won't come close to touching our show `cause the energy is so much more there, and we're definitely more into it."
Speaking of sampling and all the other dishonorable techniques lesser bands use to dupe the public, you won't find any techno-trickery at a Lillian Axe show. As Gene puts it, "Right now there are so many bands that just copy other people's music. I don't even know why people can't see that and boycott their shit, but they don't."
"The only thing that's going to hinder us as far as, like, supreme successfulness, like taking over the world kind of stuff, is the fact that we're not gay and we don't compromise. We could easily write gay songs and everybody in America would love us, but we don't want to because we've got to wake up and look at ourselves in the mirror. And believe it or not, some people still care."
I must agree with Gene that this band has a more than promising future, and once this awesome rock 'n' roll machine begins to roll, there's gonna be no stopping it. "All I want for this band," offers Gene, "is for it to get the recognition it deserves. And when it does, it's gonna be huge."