Runnin’ With A Charm City Devil

Allen called us while the band was “sitting outside of a brake place” near Bensalem Township, Pa.  But proper vehicle maintenance was hardly on his mind. 

“Shots,” the first single from Charm City Devils’ third long player had just been released and is available here.  Battles arrives Sept. 23 on The End Records and can be pre-ordered here.

Turns out Allen has something in common with one of his heroes.  Like Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Allen started his music career as a drummer before becoming a singer.

Oh, and he’s also a fan of Captain Morgan.  As are the other members of the band.

A rock band sitting outside a brake shop paints an unusual picture.  What moves Charm City Devils from city to city?

We have a van and trailer [that] we’ve put a ton of miles on.  We used it through Crüe Fest II, our tours with Theory Of A Deadman, at Sturgis playing with Guns N’ Roses [and] we’re using it to play with The Winery Dogs.  We’re actually going to upgrade to a van wagon and trailer and roll out West for some of the longer runs.

Haven’t you and the band been busy for most of the year?

We finished a record this winter and we were still doing one-off dates and everything.  Today, as we speak, our first single, “Shots,” just became available on iTunes.  We’re pretty excited about it.

Are you seeing any sales results yet? 

I have not checked on that.  I know the label offered a pre-ordered bundle which is, I’m surprised, because it’s such a great deal. You get a T-shirt, the CD and a shot glass.  A lot of people have pre-ordered that. I think I might buy one for myself.

Who did you follow when you were a teen?

Metallica.  I love that band.  I kind of went backwards.  I started getting into the history of rock and got into AC/DC, Deep Purple.  Those are the bands I really loved.  Then I went back further and read about this guy Zeppelin and The Stones were interviewed by, a guy by the name of Robert Johnson.  I sought out his recordings.  I love Delta Blues and stuff like that. I’m kind of a history geek in that regard.

It’s interesting to see how we got to this point, where contemporary music came from. … On the last tour I started reading “Skydog: The Duane Allman Story” [by Randy Poe].  Just from perspective, when I hear contemporaries from that era, I go, “That sounds kind of like it was influenced by The Allman Brothers.”  You start to hear things you didn’t before. … I guess I’m just a history geek.  That’s one of the reasons we covered “Man Of Constant Sorrow” on the last record.  It’s a bluegrass song.  It’s over 100 years old.

As a frontman of a hard rock band, do you feel a kinship with the man who supposedly made a deal with the devil?

Totally.  The mystery around a figure like his –  I can understand it when you listen to those recordings and it sounds like two guys playing guitar.  Think about the era he came out of.  He was kind of like the Eddie Van Halen of that generation.  He just blew people’s minds. Of course, they felt like, “How can this guy be this good?  Must be diabolical.” (laughs)

Do you think fans of Charm City Devils are as passionate about your band as you were about Metallica?

I think so.  We have a small but growing fan base.  It’s really heartening … we’ve been doing these support dates for The Winery Dogs and for Slash, and every night I hear, “I usually don’t like the support acts but you guys are phenomenal.”  We’re making friends out there.  We’re doing it, for the most part, the old-fashioned way, through touring and meeting people.

I hang out at the merch tables after the shows and meet people.  It’s what it’s about, for me.  It’s connection.  You write a song and you hope to connect at an emotional level or a personal level through lyrics and melody.  Then you go out live and you hope to make that connection in person as well.  To me, that is what it’s about at this point in my life.

I failed to mention, also, that a huge influence on me was KISS and Aerosmith.  I love those bands.  They’re like my bucket list bands to open for one day.  We’ve already supported Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Roses and Slash.  They’re crossed off [of the bucket list] but I have so many more because I am such a huge fan.

Is it difficult keeping your inner fanboy under control when you’re opening for one of your heroes?

Normally, I refrain from going out of my way to meet them.  I feel like … I’d be a goof ball.  I’d be that 13-year-old saying silly things. … I know how it is.  As a performer you’re trying to get into your zone.  Some people, they might not want the interaction as much as others.  I just try to give people space.

How do you get into your zone on show days?

I used to take it very seriously, try to work up to that moment.  But I’m wearing so many hats with the band and taking care of different business things, merchandise and whatever.  … I’m learning the ropes.  I’m fairly new to being a singer and a frontman. I was a drummer for a long time. … I just do what I gotta do.

Comparing Battles to the Charm City Devils’ first album, it sounds as if the band has grown quite a bit.  What are your thoughts on that?

I agree.  In particular, the single, “Shots” sounds like a party anthem but it’s an angry open letter to a friend of mine who has addiction issues.  I’ve tried to help him many times and the song kind of grew out of that frustration of him not responding, not taking the help.  That song is kind of a pissed-off wakeup call to him.  To say, “Hey, man.  I’m worried about you and I love you.  I want you to be here 20 years down the road.”

Our records have always had a few songs that are deeply personal but this one has more of that. Those elements are found more on this record.  I’m just trying to learn things and get better every day.  I feel like I’ve grown as a frontman, a singer, and, hopefully, as a writer.

So there was a time when you didn’t pictured yourself as a singer?

Yeah.  I thought of myself as a backup singer and a drummer.  I didn’t initially really love my voice when I heard it back. I grew and developed and kept working hard at it.  I keep pushing the envelope and fortunately my body has responded.  It’s amazing, every record I’m singing in higher and lower ranges. Hopefully I’m broadening my abilities, not only vocally but also in lyrics and melody.

Do you read a lot?

I actually do now.  I never did as a teenager or in my early 20s.  I started reading a few years ago. … There’s a lot of downtime [when touring] and I started reading some stuff.  I just finished the Slash book (“Slash” by Slash and Anthony Bozza), that was a great read. It gives you some insight into influences and stuff.  Their selection of Mike Clink as a producer …  because of the guitar sound he got from Michael Schenker on a UFO record.  We were listening to Sirius XM and an old UFO song came on.  And I’m going, “Damn.  That does sound similar to that guitar sound that’s on that first GNR record.  I would never have put that together before.  That’s really cool.”  To me, anyway.

Have you and the band worked up any regimen to make the road a bit smoother in your travels?

Yes. Lots of Captain Morgan (laughs).  Our schedule is so tough we don’t have any time.  Our bass player tries to work out a little bit.  I always bring stuff thinking I’m going to [work out].  But I never have the time.  We don’t really eat very much and we drink a lot.

Was it always rock ’n’ roll for you when you were growing up?

Aside from, like nursery rhymes, the first music I remember that I listened to and really liked, was my parents had a couple of Beatles 45s and a Beach Boys 45. …  And it just grew from there.

What’s the toughest thing about being the frontman for Charm City Devils that fans may not be aware of?

I guess it could be the 23 hours of the day when we’re not on stage.  That can be tedious.  Other challenges, like just getting to the gig – blown tires like today and the brakes are shot – but it’s the same for everyone.  It’s just life.  It’s no different than from what every person goes through.

What is the creation process like for you?

We have no one set way of working.  A lot of times it’s a melody that comes into my head, maybe some lyrics go along with it. … Maybe it’s just a [bit] of a melody and I come up with the lyrics later. … Then I bring it to the band and we build around it.  Sometimes I have something that’s a skeleton that’s more formed, like the single “Shots.”  I had the chorus and the idea and the band took it to another level.  Our bass player and guitar player came up with the main riffs and made it a complete band effort.

One of the songs on the record, we were tracking at my house, tracking a guitar part for another song, and our guitar player started playing a riff and I was like, “That’s cool.” I tracked it and lyrics started coming right away.  Those are always so much fun because you’re inspired and it all comes together very quickly.

I love to come up with songs on my own but when a guitar player or a bass player or drummer plays something that’s … I don’t know if it’s a groove or a killer riff, it makes you want to create something. It inspires you. That’s the best.  Better than almost anything.

It sounds as if a song is still growing when you and the band go into the studio to record it.

That’s true. After being in the business so long, and I’ve said this to friends, any time in the creative process a song can be destroyed.  What the listener hears at the very end of the product, if there’s magic there, it’s a … frickin’ miracle. … From the time you work on a song, from that little seedling idea, to recording demos or the finished record, anything can happen. … For songs to strike a chord with the public, it really is a miracle, I think.

Are there Charm City Devils songs where the fan reaction was more positive than expected?

Yeah.  Sometimes I think, live, if you play a song that has a lot of energy, you’re going to incite a reaction.  I think we found that in the last record.  “Love & War” is a fast-temp track and it went over great. The room just exploded the first time we played it.  It’s got dual guitar solos, fast tempo, it’s in your face, and that’s the kind of stuff that really works sometimes and you don’t expect it to when you recorded it in the studio.

You’ve been doing a lot of support dates where you’re limited in time allowed to play. When you’re headlining do you follow a rigid setlist or do you have some room to experiment amd go with the moment?

We follow a loose setlist.  We have some places in the set where we jam around a little bit and have a good time with the audience.  I have a good time out there.  I enjoy being a frontman.  I love messin’ with people.  I love making them laugh.  I don’t take myself too seriously. … I just feel that life is too short to be uptight about things.  We love what we do.  We want people to have a good time.

Upcoming Charm City Devils shows:

Aug. 9 – Temecula, Calif., Pechanga Resort & Casino Theatre (with Slash feat. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators)
Aug. 10 – West Hollywood, Calif., Viper Room
Aug. 11 – San Francisco, Calif., Brick & Mortar Music Hall
Aug. 14 – Spokane, Wash., Knitting Factory Concert House
Aug. 15 – Coquitlam, British Columbia, The Theatre (with  Slash feat. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators)
Aug. 17 – Seattle, Wash., El Corazon
Aug. 18 – Portland, Ore., Alhambra Theatre
Aug. 19 – Boise, Idaho, Knitting Factory Concert House
Aug. 21 – Denver, Colo., Summit Music Hall
Aug. 22 – Kansas City, Mo., Czar Bar
Aug. 24 – Memphis, Tenn., Hi-Tone Café
Aug. 25 – Nashville, Tenn., Mercy Lounge
Aug. 26 – Johnson City, Tenn., Capone’s
Aug. 28 – Tallahassee, Fla., Pug’s Live
Aug. 30 – Jacksonville, Fla., Jack Rabbits
Sept. 3 – New York, N.Y.,  Mercury Lounge 
Sept. 5 – Mashantucket, Conn.,  Grand Theater
Sept. 6 – Laurel, Del., Station 7
Sept. 19 – Destin, Fla., Club LA
Sept. 20 – Shreveport, La.,  Festival Plaza (KTUX 99X Festapalooza )
Sept. 26 – Winchester, Va.,  Blue Fox Billiards
Sept. 27 – Baltimore, Md.,  Carroll Park  (The Shindig)

Please visit Charm City Devils’ website, Facebook page, Twitter feed and YouTube channel for more information.