 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Recently, legendary former AC/DC frontman Dave Evans, always a man of many words and interesting stories, was kind enough to take a break from his decidedly hectic schedule to speak with us regarding, among many other things, the release of his latest solo masterpiece Sinner…
Todd: How did you initially become involved with AC/DC? It would seem your exact origins with the group are a bit of a mystery…
Dave Evans: “Well, I was with an Australian band at the time in 1973 called Velvet Underground, which was the Australian version of Velvet Underground. Whilst I was with that band, they used to speak of a former guitarist Malcolm Young, who was the younger brother of the very famous George Young from The Easybeats. …They finally broke up and I was looking for a new band, obviously. I answered an ad in the Sydney Morning Herald, which is one of the major newspapers in Sydney, for a heavy Rock singer into Free, the Rolling Stones and that kind of stuff. When I called about the ad, the person at the other end of the line was Malcolm. He said ‘…What’s your name?’ and I said ‘…Dave Evans…’ and he said ‘…Oh, Dave…’. …He knew who I was because he’d kept in touch with the other members of Velvet Underground. So him and two other guys, Collin Burgess on drums, who was famous anyway because of (legendary Australian group) Masters Apprentices, which was a big band in Australia, and another guy, Larry Van Kriedt on bass, who I had never heard of, said ‘…Get over here quick…’. So I went over there and met Malcolm for the first time. I was really wrapped up with meeting Colin Burgess because he had been a big star when I was still in school, of course. …We jammed, it was great and we shook hands and said ‘…We have a band…’. About a week later, Malcolm informed us his younger brother Angus’s band Kantuckee had broken up (and was wondering) if he could audition for us. We all agreed to that and Angus came along and we jammed with him, it sounded great, of course, so we all shook hands again. That’s how the band got together, as it were.”
Todd: Taking into consideration the group’s obviously humble beginnings, did you (or anyone else) foresee the group ultimately achieving international success?
Dave: “Well, I don’t think anyone, seriously, goes into music or into bands without having those dreams, ya know? …That’s just the sort of thing you talk about…touring the world and being a great band. Everybody has that and believes in the abilities, but very, very few actually do make it through the ranks, for whatever reason…be it a lack of real talent, being unable to handle the pressures or touring or whether they get too many disappointments. Some people just can’t handle the disappointments that come along throughout life, ya know? Colin Burgess had already had a hit record out in England and has toured England and Britain with Masters Apprentices, so he was already a world renowned drummer. Angus and Malcolm’s older brother George had toured America and had a number on hit in Britain… So that was the whole idea of it all. It wasn’t just to be a local band kind of thing, so the whole idea of the band was to go out and kick some serious ass, as they say in Australia. Everybody had ambitions and I guess that you could say that the two Young brothers, the only two only original members left of AC/DC, have done what they’ve done. They’ve conquered the world. And I’m still performing and recording now, so that proves that we did have the ambition (laughs).”
Todd: At what point did you realize your time with AC/DC was coming to an end? Was it a gradual process or was there a single incident that ultimately paved the way for your exit?
Dave: “Well, I guess the petty jealousy started with one or two members of the band. It was just a niggle at first and you don’t worry about that when you’re all young guys. Some guys get jealous if you’re getting too many girls (laughs) and the other guys are missing out. I didn’t really pay too much attention to it, but is just started getting worse and worse until the end where I was virtually going out without them. We had a little bit of time off and I was disappointed because the band was killin’ it. We had a hit record on our hands and I was very popular with the band. It was just a personal thing from a couple of the members. But it really came to a head, I guess, in Adelaide when I had a run in with the manager. We were worried where all the money was going to. We were doing top gigs…we had done the Sydney Opera House, we had done all the top gigs on TV, we’d had a top five hit and we were scraping together money to buy fish and chips and stuff like that. So we were all a bit worried about what was happening. I’m sure if the manager had explained to us where all the money was going, it would have been okay, but we didn’t know what was going on and it came to a head one time. …I learned very quickly that you don’t go beating up your manager (laughs). That was the end of it, really. But we still had to leave Adelaide to go to Perth because our record was still in the top five over there. So we went over there for about three or four weeks and it was fantastic. We did all the big concerts and all that kind of thing, our song was still on the radio every hour on the hour, but by that time, I wasn’t really speaking to the manager at all and the other guys weren’t speaking to me (laughs). I was still havin’ a blast. I was having a fantastic time. I was still popular with the crowds and with the ladies and all that kind of stuff, but when you’re not talking to key band members and the manager (laughs), you know that there’s something up. So we went back to Adelaide and then Melbourne to have a big meeting. …I wasn’t happy with the band at all. I wanted to get paid at least something because I still had rent to pay back in Sydney, ya know? You’ve still got rent to pay back where you’re living and we weren’t getting anything. So there was gonna be this big meeting, this big showdown. I can remember that afternoon. We had a gig that night and the meeting was afterwards. I was with two girls…two friends and I told them I was leaving the band and to not try talking me out of it. …After the gig, we had the meeting and I really didn’t have to say anything, really. They just decided that I was out and said ‘…Here’s your ticket back to Melbourne for tomorrow morning…’. …I got my ticket back to Sydney the next morning and I arrived back in Sydney. I had about twenty five cents on me and when I got to the airport, there was no normal public transport back to the city, but there was a shuttle bus. So I went to get on the shuttle bus and it was fifty cents to get on the shuttle bus (laughs). …I had to tell the bus driver that I’d left my wallet in Melbourne. …I had to swallow my pride to do that and the bus driver was like ‘…Alright, get on, mate…’, ya know? So I got back into the city for free and luckily enough, the bus back to the city of Bondi where I lived was only twenty cents, so I got back to home with five cents in my pocket and that was it.”
Todd: It’s a shame such a promising situation had to come to such an abrupt and unpleasant end…
Dave: “…I don’t hold any hard feelings. Bands are bands and things happen. I’ve always wished the band the best of luck. It’s a tough life and if people don’t get along, that’s accepted. Plenty of bands go through personnel. By the time I split with AC/DC, we were onto our third bass player, our third drummer and our third manager. And I was only with the band for a total of twelve months. I wasn’t the first to leave or split with the band. A lot of incredible stuff happened in that short space of time. Our first gig at Checker’s nightclub, which was the top nightclub in Sydney, our first recordings, our first film clips, the Opera House gig…incredible tours. A lot happened in that short space of time. It was certainly quite the experience. It took me three months to get over it. I walked around stunned for that three months (laughs). Afterwards, I was like ‘…What the hell happened and what was that all about?’. One minute you’re a major star, a big star and the next minute, half the people don’t wanna talk to you (laughs). It took me about three months to get my second wind and that’s when I got together with the boys in Rabbit. …I got back on the horse, as it was, and went on to a good career as a vocalist.”
Todd: In hindsight, do you feel Rabbit should have been more commercially successful?
Dave: “I do. We certainly had our records sell in Japan. Back in those days, you really had to have the backing of your record label to get overseas. Not a lot of bands from Australia went overseas in those days. In fact, when AC/DC went over, that was a big thing. They just packed up and went. Other bands like Masters Apprentices found it hard overseas. Some of the breakthrough bands from Australia were bands like Air Supply. They came to the United States and had number one hits over here. The Little River Band…a different type or music, but they were another Australian band to come over here and have number one hits. So it was unusual for bands to go overseas. It cost a lot of money, you had to have connections to people…it was just hard. It was a big thing. Nowadays, it’s not so bad. You’ve got the internet and you can make friends all over the world. If a young band has a friend they’ve made on the internet in Germany, they can go and stay over at their place and give it a go, ya know (laughs). You can get in touch with agents yourself, if you want to. You can get in touch with record labels yourself. It’s made it so much easier. That’s why there’s so many bands with records. Which ones are good or bad…that’s up to the individual to assess, now isn’t it? Back in those days, there weren’t that many record labels that were signing bands. If you had a record deal back in the ‘70’s or whatever, it was huge. You were a superstar, ya know? So yeah, the band should have done a lot more. We absolutely killed it. Everywhere we went, we were a very wild band both on and off the stage. In fact, the gear that we were wearing when I got with the band was tights, boots, braces and stuff like that. …Kinda like the movie A Clockwork Orange… …It was a great. It was a good look and then Kiss came out about a year later with similar clothes and pissed us off (laughs). I said to the boys ‘…If they have a big hit…these Kiss guys from America…then we’re stuffed because everyone will think we copied them. We were down in Melbourne touring and I put on the radio and on came “Rock And Roll All Nite”. It was a huge hit, of course and the next minute in some of the newspapers we started seeing ‘…Oh, Rabbit…they’re copying Kiss…’. As soon as I saw that, that was it. I said to the boys ‘…We gotta change out of this gear. We’re not copying any bastards…’, ya know? …Kiss had their Kiss Army and we had our Rabbit Army. The rabbit really is a fertile thing (laughs). We used to wear the Hugh Hefner Playboy rabbits around our necks. When we first started playing, a lot of the young girls…and I’m talkin’ about the young ones…used to come to the shows with the biggest bright orange carrots you’ve ever seen. I’m tellin’ ya…if that isn’t phallic, then I don’t know what is. All these young girls would be waving these great bloody carrots at us, ya know? (laughs) So it was pretty cool. That’s what the whole rabbit thing was about. Sex, if ya know what I mean.”
Todd: At this point, is there a realistic chance the Rabbit discography will ever receive a proper re-release?
Dave: “…I’ve been asked that for quite a few years, actually…even when I was touring Europe, people would ask for the Rabbit stuff. The second album from Rabbit, Too Much Rock ‘n’ Roll, was actually released in Japan, so in Europe, a few of the fans were coming up with the old vinyl of Too Much Rock ‘n’ Roll, getting me to sign it. …It was actually recorded in Australia on CBS Records, but CBS was eventually bought by Sony and Sony didn’t have the Rabbit stuff on the books, so it’s not available. But I’m sure if we wanted to resurrect it and do a re-release, I’m sure that wouldn’t be a problem. That’s something that myself and a couple member of Rabbit have spoken about. Once I get my album Sinner happening… I also want to have another album, I’ve got the material for another album, so once I get that’s sorta settled, maybe I can concentrate on getting a release of the Rabbit material.”
Todd: I understand you recently signed a new recording contract. What type of impact did the new contract have on the release of Sinner?
Dave: “Yeah, I’ve signed with Destroy All Records. …Sinner is being released here in the USA. It’s available through the major retail stores. That was a few weeks ago, which is great. It’s going to be released in Australia next month and in Canada next month as well. …The album was actually recorded in Australia. It’s Australian Rock in the same genre as AC/DC, obviously as well as Rose Tattoo. We invented that type of music back in the early ‘70’s…that hard hitting tough Rock. So it was actually recorded in Australia, but we went overseas with the album and now it’s come back, if you know what I mean, to Australia for release. That’s satisfying…”
Todd: What are your current touring plans? I’m assuming you’ll be touring as much as humanly possible once Sinner is released domestically…
Dave: “Well, Destroy All Records, my management and I are all working on a US tour for early next year in the Spring when the weather gets a little bit better. But I’ve also just got a new agent as well, Lane Productions…I’ve just come on board with them. They’re working on tours as well, starting in December, they tell me. I hope it’s in Florida (laughs) and down south here and not in Chicago or any place like that. I don’t think I’ll be doing much touring up that way. That’s the whole idea of it. I want to get back to Europe, of course, but the whole reason why I came to the US was that I’m hardly known here. I’m known in Europe, Australia and other parts of the world like South America, but in the US, I’m virtually unknown, so it’s about time I got out here. The only way to get known somewhere is to go there, present yourself and cause trouble (laughs). And that’s what I’ve been doing (laughs).”
Todd: I know it’s still ridiculously early, but do you have any idea what size venues you’ll be playing?
Dave: “I wouldn’t have a clue, to tell you the truth. Until the record comes out and does something on the radio, you can’t expect to be doing stadiums, that’s for sure. Medium size gigs, I would suppose, to start with. It all depends on how the record goes. …The reviews have been absolutely outstanding. As I’ve said before, if somebody asked me to write my own reviews, I wouldn’t have been able to write it better myself (laughs). …I’ve toured this record in Europe and smashed ‘em over there. It’s no secret that it’s the kind of music that it is. It works everywhere in the world…it’s the basic formula for this type of music. Great riffs, great hook lines, great choruses…in fact, everyone sings as soon as they hear it. It’s just relentless and it full of power, energy, dynamics and of course convictions. You’ve got to have convictions when you form this kind of music. It’s a formula that’s been around for a long time in Australia and it works.”
Todd: How did you become involved with the Bon Scott Celebration Concert? Were the ends results as positive as you’d hoped for?
Dave: “Well, I got a call from Australia…I’m living in Dallas. I just got a phone call from the organizers. I knew them anyway as they’re contemporaries of mine. They tracked me down through where I was and asked me I’d be part of the Bon Scott celebration concert. I had known Bon before he had joined the band and obviously after he joined AC/DC. Obviously I agreed. How could I refuse? Bon was one of us…a Rock ‘n’ Roll solider. He’s just one of the fallen, that’s all, ya know? …It ended up being one of the best concerts I’ve ever been involved with. It was just a great time.”
Todd: How do you prepare yourself for a show? Is there a specific ritual you go through each night?
Dave: “It’s funny that you should ask me that because it is a ritual. You’ve got to get yourself into that zone and absolutely get your adrenaline flowing because the shows that I do are dynamic, kick ass, badass and all that kind of stuff. It’s a very physical show full of passion. You can’t just walk onstage cold and do that. …Normally, I start by pacing the room. People just leave me alone and I pace around the room. I might throw some chairs around…beat the shit out of some chairs, punch doors and walls…just start getting really agro. Not because I’m an aggressive person, but to get the adrenaline going. I really get into that zone and the alter ego becomes alive and well. The alter ego becomes real. Everyone has an alter ego. Most people flirt with it when they’re drunk or whatever, but any actor becomes that person. When you go onstage, you’re alter ego is who you become. The alter ego becomes real for me. So yeah, you do metamorphosize into this character that’s going to go out onstage and do this music, be real and have this conviction. In fact, when I was in Rabbit, I remember watching a show about the Rugby league and it showed that before the team would go out on the field, the big blokes would slap each other across the face…to get the adrenaline absolutely flowing. And I thought ‘…Shit, that’s good…’. So I came to the guys in Rabbit and said ‘…Guess what we’re doing before we go onstage…’. (laughs) I said ‘…We’re gonna slap each other across the face just like the footballers…’. …So we started doing that and I tell you what, even it’s your best mate, if you let a guy slap you across the face, you’re gonna wanna punch the guy out…”
Todd: When you do eventually tour, what type of set list will you be working with? Will you be primarily focusing on material from Sinner?
Dave: “Well…I’m gonna do just about all of the songs from Sinner. Also, at the moment, I’m also trying out a couple of new songs as well…and they’ve been killing. They’ll be for this next album. …It’s just an experiment. I’m not doing all of the songs I’ve got. I’ve been taking just but three and seeing how they go. It’s the same as the first album…the same quality. Not every song you write makes the cut for the album. You’ve gotta be really critical about this. You gotta say that every song’s gotta be strong. You have to be able to hear every song on the radio. …If you’re going to do an album, each song…has to be a song you could hear on the radio. I can remember listening to The Beatles as a kid. Every single song was fantastic. Every single one. The Rolling Stones…their albums…every single song was fantastic…you loved every single song. …A band like The Eagles…every song is a fantastic song (laughs). …There was no such thing as filler on a Beatles album and there was no such thing as filler on a Rolling Stones album. There’s no filler on an Eagles album. I’ve always been mindful of that. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the way you’ve gotta approach your album. Not every song makes the cut. My producer, Mark Tinson, who…I wrote songs with in Rabbit…contributed to the songwriting. Me and Mark wrote most of the songs with help from a few other guys who put in some bits and pieces. But that was the whole idea. When we got together to do this album, I listened to the ideas and stuff that he had as well as some of my ideas…I was very critical and twelve songs made the cut. Not that there was anything wrong with those other songs, by the way, but we got the twelve best. That’s the way you’ve got to do it as far as I’m concerned.”
Todd: What musicians are you currently working with? Anyone of national or international notoriety?
Dave: “I’m working with some local boys from Dallas. It’s taken me a while to get the right guys. I must admit I’ve gone through a few guitarists and drummers and that kind of thing (laughs). …This type of music sounds easy to play, but it isn’t. It’s all about the attitude and I’m talkin’ the real attitude. That’s the conviction in the music. I grew up with this music. It’s personal to me…this tough attitude. It’s not some pretend thing. This is not some AC/DC cover band. You wonder why the AC/DC cover bands don’t sound like AC/DC…well, that’s because they’re cover bands. AC/DC are the real thing and this music is the real thing, too. It’s taken me quite a while to go through and get the rights guys…they have to be able to play the music and they have to have the right stuff to play this music. They’re local boys…experienced guys, but there are no real big names in this band. But they’ve been to hell and back with me, believe me (laughs). I’m not called the king of all badasses for nothin’, mate.”
Select Discography
Sinner (2006) ***
A Hell Of A Night (2000) ***
Thunder Down Under (1986) ***
Too Much Rock ‘n’ Roll (1976) **
Rabbit (1976) **
“Can I Sit Next to You Girl?” (Single) (1974) *
* as a member of AC/DC
** as a member of Rabbit
*** as a solo artist