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 "I'm
Not a Fan of Boring or Ugly": An Interview With Eddie Angel of Los Straitjackets
Scott
Thill
If you've
never seen Los Straitjackets live, then you've missed a good time by
a mile and a half. The El Santo masters of surf guitar got more stage
choreography than the Backstreet Boys, better chops, and more "A
Huevo," you might say. We caught up with co-chopmaster Eddie Angel,
a man who likes to keep his mask on, as Los Straitjackets prepared for
an All-Star gig at the fabled Mint in Hollywood. He poured forth on
the Straitjackets new release, Sing Along With Los Straitjackets[read
the review here on Morphizm!], punk music, and not being starstruck
as musical legends jumped on the band's mikes in the studio. Enjoy.
 Scott
Thill: How did this collaboration come together?
Eddie Angel: We just try to different things each time we make
a record. We had recorded a 45 with Big Sandy singing a couple of rock
n' roll songs in Spanish about four or five years ago and we knew we
wanted to do something like that. And we had a couple of friends and
knew people in the music business that thought it would be a good idea
so we ran with it. It was pretty cool -- no one really said, "No." We
had some people that we tried to get on it -- like Nancy Sinatra and
Brian Wilson -- who didn't say no, but were just worked out. Joey Ramone
was going to do something on it, but he was too sick, you know?
We had
met Mike Campbell [of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers] touring around
six or seven years ago. We were both in Atlanta -- he was playing with
Tom Petty -- and he came down to our gigs and really dug the band. We
became friends and kept in touch with him. In fact, we recorded the
45 with Big Sandy at his house, and we also opened shows at the Filmore
and Irvine for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Dave Alvin we already
knew, since we share the same booking agent. So it just really came
together over the period of about year. It was really a lot of fun.
 ST:
How did the choice of songs come about?
Eddie Angel: Every case was kind of separate. Sometimes, someone
came to us with a song they wanted and sometime we had the idea for
the song. Sometimes the producer had the idea and sometimes we'd boil
it down to three songs and pick one of those. It was a case-by-case
thing. Mike Campbell wanted to do "Bumble Bee"; that was his idea. We
felt that the "End of the World" was a good song for a girl to sing
and Leigh Nash turned out to be perfect. In another universe, that would
probably be a hit song.
We all
liked the record. Usually, when you get done making one, you're sick
of it and you can't stand to listen to it anymore. But this one we still
really like listening to, and playing it, too. We've been touring with
Big Sandy, so we come and play a set and then we do a set backing him
up, which has been a lot of fun. It makes for a good show.
ST:
You've played with Big Sandy a lot. Are you guys thinking about putting
together a supergroup?
Eddie
Angel: (Laughs) Oh yeah, he's pretty cool! I think we really stumbled
onto something playing with him and I hope we can do more of it in the
future. We'd really like to go to Europe with him; I think we would
floor them over there.
ST:
During certain stops on your tour, are any of the guest vocalists going
to sit in?
Eddie Angel: Yeah. Mike Campbell is definitely sitting in, Dave
Alvin is coming by -- he might sit in -- and Exene's coming by.
ST:
Are they going to wear masks?
Eddie
Angel: (Laughs) That would be pretty funny! It can get hot if there
are lights on you. It can get pretty uncomfortable.
ST:
Is there a track that stands out not necessarily as a band favorite,
but maybe something that you really had fun putting together?
Eddie Angel: It was pretty fun doing "A Huevo" with the Trashmen.
We recorded that song in a garage in Minneapolis, which is very appropriate
if you're familiar with the Trashmen. We did it in one-four hour session
in a studio inside a guy's garage; it was pretty low-tech, but it was
a lot of fun. The song we did with Mark Lindsay, "Treat Her Right",
was fun, too. He sang it the same time as we played it and I kept having
to pinch myself, thinking, "Wow, that voice. That's the voice I used
to hear on the radio and here he is. We're playing in the studio with
him."
ST:
Did you ever get star-struck while you were recording?
Eddie Angel:
That didn't really happen too much because we already had some kind
of connection with all of them. But we were totally flattered that they
even wanted to be a part of it. I think that everyone on it has a unique
kind of charisma that really comes across.
ST:
Four of the songs are sung in Spanish. Combining that with the fact
that you guys are big El Santo fans and wear the wrestling masks, were
you trying to put together a twist on these standards or was it more
of a spontaneous thing?
Eddie Angel: We didn't put as much thought into it as you think
we might have. We really like Mexican rock n' roll and some of these
songs are much cooler sung in Spanish nowadays. If Big Sandy had sung
"Tallahassee Lassie" in English, it wouldn't have had the same cache
going for it, you know? But in Spanish it's much more unique and timeless;
it doesn't sound like just another song on oldies radio. We'd like to
do a whole record like that, cool rock n' roll songs in Spanish.
It's only rock n' roll but he likes
it. Eddie gets straitjacketed in a cave performance near Burgos,
Spain. (Photo credit: Kike Louie, Straitjackets.com) |
I think
the thinking is that people like rock n' roll -- and when I say rock
n' roll I'm talking about early rock n' roll as opposed to rock music,
which I define as music before Sgt. Pepper's -- but they're told
somehow that it's not really hip to like it, that it's too Fonzi and
Happy Days. Instead, they go for more serious stuff. So here
it's been somewhat more disguised to the point that it's maybe more
appealing to them; it's still got the good energy and the good beat,
but they're not hearing the lyrics to "Tallahassee Lassie", which they
might find corny. I personally don't -- my favorite record in the world
is "Surfin' Bird". I'm not a fan of serious lyrics in songs, so the
way to get around that is to sing them in Spanish. (He laughs). I guess
that's it in a nutshell! It's fun to see the languages that rock n'
roll works in.
ST:
There's so much interesting instrumental music going around. Do you
think there is something in lyrics that, like you said, is too serious?
To the point where you miss kicking back and just enjoying the groove?
Eddie Angel: Well, I definitely think that rock music is way
too serious. It bores me to death. It does. I can't really think of
anything I hear that I like anymore; it's either boring or ugly, and
I'm not a fan of boring or ugly. That's seems to be what's out there,
in general. But we're just trying to do stuff we like. We have an underlying
philosophy: rock n' roll is supposed to be about fun. And I think other
bands had that in the past -- the Ramones had it -- but it always kind
of gets lost, buried beneath the pretentiousness.
I think
that people are fed a line in most rock journalism that says music is
supposed to be serious stuff. And I'm not saying it shouldn't be --
in one sense, rock n' roll is totally serious to me. I've dedicated
my life to it. But it's not meant to be taken so seriously -- it's supposed
to be fun and light-hearted. It's supposed to be an anecdote to the
serious stuff. It's like going to watch a science fiction movie as opposed
to a Fellini movie. We want to be fun and entertaining and that's the
long and short of it.
Good rock
n' roll shares an element with punk music. I think Link Wray and early
Elvis were punk rock, you know? Elvis coming out and doing "Hound Dog."
It shares a certain kind of anarchic attitude, I guess. But the thing
I don't like about punk music is when it gets political. Then it becomes
a bore. I like punk music like the Ramones. You always have to keep
that sensibility that this is supposed to be about fun. As soon as you
lose that, I'm personally uninterested. Because I don't think anyone
in a rock n' roll band has anything to say to me. I want them to sing
about "Surfin' Bird" to me.
ST:
Ok, I have to ask it. Which one of you is the best wrestler?
Eddie Angel: (Laughs) I would probably guess our drummer, Jimmy.
He's the one with the worst temper.
ST:
Dirtiest fighter?
Eddie Angel: That would be him again, I think.
ST:
Do you guys have any ring names?
Eddie Angel: Pete is Pedro Del Mar. Our drummer, Jimmy, calls
himself Lord Chevron. Danny is Daddy O'Grande. Eddie Angel is all they
call me.
 Scott
Thill -- a media fanatic who finds the time to write on everything that
does not include the words "boy band" -- is a gainfully employed
dotcom editor currently finishing his first novel, The Dangerous Perhaps.
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