The Warlocks
By Cathy SimpsonCathy Simpson talks to The Warlocks about drugs, music, guitars and groupies...
I'm nervous about meeting the Warlocks, all their press has involved drug-fuelled rock and roll debauchery and the signing of record contracts in blood. To my relief, the scene as I enter the Cockpit bar is refreshingly normal. There is a distinct lack of comatose junkies, hollow-eyed crack whores and, best of all, human blood. Various members of the Warlocks are scattered around and I chat to keyboardist Laura, who is wearing a fantastic polka dot dress and sounds just like Kelly Osborne. She's spent her day shopping around Leeds, as has guitarist Corey, who is singing the praises of H&M where he got his pinstripe trousers ('For like, £2, or something!').
Tonight I'm interviewing Corey and fellow guitarist JC. The two are very different, JC is all confidence, bravado and charm ('Hey, I love your shirt', 'Man, you've got great teeth!'), he looks like the epitome of rock on the road, all dirty hair, heavy eyes and nonchalant slouchiness. He speaks in a heavy American drawl and laughs a lot. Corey is less in your face, quieter than JC he comes across as thoughtful and intelligent, he is wearing a very cool pair of American military desert boots. Sat upstairs we talk drugs, music, guitars and groupies...
CS: The NME described you as 'this year's ultimate heroine rockers'. How do you feel about that, and how do you feel to be associated with heroin?
Corey: No way?! How'd they figure that out? I've certainly never said that.
JC: I ain't never told anybody anything. They must be mind readers or something. Not everybody in the band is a drug addict, that's for sure.
Corey: Not everybody in the band takes drugs, forget the addiction.
JC: Those who don't do drugs have their own vices, be it sex, or alcohol.
CS: What's your vice?
JC: All I can say is... not everybody in the band takes drugs!
Corey: Mine's sex and alcohol.
JC: Mine's sex and alcohol too, but that's not my problem. But I have a handle on all my vices.
CS: OK! Next question... The Velvet Underground and The Grateful Dead have both been called The Warlocks, did you know that when you decided on the name?
JC: Yeah, we knew that. Neither one of those bands really established that name, and when we came up with the name it was like, none of the other names were any good at all, and so we said 'we're gonna stick with The Warlocks till we come up with a better name'. But we kept working under that name, then it got too late to change it.
CS: If you could change it, would you?
Corey: I would, yeah.
CS: What to?
Corey: Just about anything!
CS: So, leading on from the NME thing, what do you think of the NME?
JC: I love the NME man!
Corey: It's just trash, it's so fucked up, just so full of gossip.
JC: It's so funny, they'll build you up, then tear you apart, then decide they like you again. It's very fickle.
CS: How was Glastonbury?
JC: I had fun at that show, but I think we could have performed much better than we did. Although rumour has it, we were pretty good! But I was unimpressed with our performance.
Corey: It was kinda just like, another show, playing wise.
CS: What about the atmosphere?
Corey: Yeah, the audience seemed to be enjoying it a lot. Yeah, I guess altogether it was pretty good.
CS: Did you get to see anybody else play?
Corey: We didn't get chance. We wanted to but our bus had to leave. I wanted to see Supergrass.
JC: I didn't get to see Goldfrapp. I wanted to see the 'grass, oh, and Radiohead. But, you know what, I only would have wanted to see Radiohead from the stage. It's amazing how much gear and crap they have up on stage, there's all this knob twiddling, everybody's got guitar, keyboard, effects rack, and it's all like, (makes a computer noise) beep beep beep!
Corey: Very scientific!
CS: How's this tour going?
JC: Hectic.
Corey: We've been doing loads of press. We haven't been receiving a lot of press, but we've been doing a lot of press!
JC: The thing is too, with all of us- seven of us plus our crew - there's a lot of fighting.
CS: So when you fight do you make up before you go on stage? Or is there a lot of glaring going on?
JC: We work it out on stage!
CS: Who fights with who most?
JC: There are patterns, like, cycles. One guy will be pissing off a few people, or the girl will be pissing off one other person, who turns around and pisses of somebody else. Or the singer throws a fit!
Corey: We've kicked out everybody who was a serious problem, everybody you'd get a black-eye over. So we're just left with the people who get violently mad internally, instead of punching somebody!
CS: Were you all friends to start with? Is that that how The Warlocks began?
JC: Pretty much, yeah. It was like, no one else liked us so we were forced to hang out together!
CS: So what about groupies?
JC: Nah, not yet. Not me! We're the guitar players, we don't get groupies.
Corey: They like singers and bass players.
JC: And drummers. The guitar players are forgotten!
CS: So who in the band indulges in groupies the most?
Corey: The bass player. He's a shag bag!
JC: Then the drummers, then the singer. They get their fair share. I'm actually patiently waiting for a higher echelon of guitar groupies! Ha ha!
Corey: I don't want some groupie, I wouldn't mind having my girlfriend in the UK. I just need one, I don't need like, a variety!
CS: Do you get homesick?
JC: I have no home. I do miss my city (LA) from time to time, but all my friends are here on the bus with me.
CS: How does touring affect your sound?
Corey: I guess each time we come out on tour we're more conscious of how each song goes. We don't really rehearse that much at home, touring is our rehearsal.
JC: Touring at the same time tightens up the songs and makes them more fluid. It takes a while really, to come up with a good part for a song, you know. When you work it out right before you leave, your part is real simple and basic, and then when you play it night after night you start to add to it and remember what sounds good.
CS: With three guitars, do you decide who plays what? Do you swap around?
JC: We sound so completely different, but yeah, we have to try not to step on each other's toes.
CS: Is anybody blatantly better or worse than anybody else?
JC: Yeah, he's blatantly better than me!
Corey: No, no man.
CS: Is it like Duelling Banjos backstage?!
JC: Ha ha ha! Duelling Banjos!
Corey: Nah, none of us are techies or gearheads.
JC: We're all very unorthodox players.
CS: Do you go in for smashing guitars on stage?
Corey: It's been done, but it wasn't for show.
JC: It's more out of frustration. I've pitched a guitar across stage before, but it didn't break, actually I've done it a few times.
Corey: I've thrown my guitar a couple of times and it hasn't broken. If it did break I'd be really fucking mad! The intention's not to break it, just to throw it.
CS: Then do you go get it, or do you get someone else to pick it up for you?
JC: I get someone else to do it!
CS: Who's supporting you tonight?
Corey: Lyca Sleep. They sound like the Verve, we chose them. We toured with them on the last tour and they were really nice guys and that's first and foremost.
After the interview the band go on to play an amazing set, and yes, I'm pretty sure the Warlocks inhabit a world of lots of sex, loads of drugs and even more rock and roll, but hey, they make great music. And judging by the amount of JD swigging, booty-shaking and girl seducing going on after that, they can party to a pretty high standard too.
