1. Your name?
Wayne Beauchamp
2. Band name, line-up and location?
V8 Rumble from Norfolk in the UK.
Adam Kirlew on the Drums
Steve Medler on the Slap Bass
Me on the Geetar and screaming a bit
3. When was the band formed?
Late summer last year (2006)
4. Do you perform originals/covers or both?
Both. Covers of rockabilly stuff (old and new), covers of anything that sounds fun ( Green Day, Britney Spears, Beatles, etc.) and a bunch of stuff I cobbled together ina bored moment!
5. How would you describe your band to someone who has never heard your music before?
Fast and furious rockabilly! It's not really psychobilly but it's definitely got that punk attitude, the guitar is twanging ( not fuzzed ) and the slap bass is thudding along, the drums are fast and rockin'. We like the early Stray Cats stuff and the songwriting of bands like The Long Tall Texans and Frenzy along with the new style 'punk' stuff like The Living End and The Peacocks but we all started off with the likes of Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent. Elvis is most definitely the king of Rock 'n' Roll. Steve is a huge Johnny Cash fan.
6. How did you get into rockabilly music?
personally it was always there as my dad played in a rock 'n' roll band. Mainly Matchbox and Crazy Cavan stuff as well as loads of Elvis. I really got into Little Richard stuff, because it was so wild, when I was in my early teens and started learning piano. gave that all up when I got a gig to thack the hell out of a snare drum in my brothers band when I was 15 and never looked back!
7. Which bands influenced you when you were starting out?
When my brother, Dale, and me started doing our own stuff it was all the bands of the time, Restless, The Deltas, The Stray Cats, etc. My brother then got into more garage ( Thee Milkshakes, Stingrays, etc. ) and I got more into the psycho ( Demented Are Go, Meteors, etc ) and we started slinging it all in the songwriting much to annoyance of some but the scene was pretty big round here at the time and we were playing to some good crowds and getting a good response.
8. What’s the greatest thing about being in a rockabilly band? And the worst?
Greatest thing is how much fun we have playing. When it goes well I have rocked away until I was running with sweat and covers in cuts and bruises and never noticed until the next morning! There is nothing like it. The worst thing has always been the majot part of the crowd who treat you like some kinda rock 'n' roll heretic when you do songs your own way. There's a lot of small minds that want to stick Johnny Burnette songs in some sort of shrine and they hate it when you mess with it. Their tolerence of deviation from the path is very limited, which is up to them, but they feel it's their duty to tell you how right they are and how wrong you are! That's changing now though and it started with psychobilly. Even though we're not really a psycho band I find that punks and psychos love to hear stuff done originally and done wild. The latest wave of punks are happily absorbing all underground music in their wake ( Ska, Metal, Rockabilly and Old School Punk ) and have created a new scene which is more exciting than we've had for a long time ... and long may it last!
9. Have you met any of your heroes? Any funny stories?
In a strange turn of fate, I ended up doing all the artwork for Raucous Records of UK, which came about from doing the artwork for Bone Tone ( run by Loz from The Hangmen ). Since then I've done artwork for Nervous, Cherry Red, Crazy Love, Western Star, Vampirella and lots of other labels. Which has given me the opportunity to talk to several rock 'n' rollers I admire and work on stuff for many more who don't even realise it! I briefly met Lemmy and also Nico McBrain from Iron Maiden a couple of years ago through my work too. In previous bands we've shared the stage with Mad Sin, Long Tall texans, Radium Cats, Caravans, Guana Batz, Frenzy, Sharks, Demented are Go!, Fireball XL5, The Klingonz, The Deltas, The Frantic Flintstones, The Lost Souls, The Hangmen, Crazy Cavan, Ray Campi, Johnny and The Hurricanes, Freddy and The Dreamers, Restless, Hayseed Dixie, The Jets and probably others I can't remember at the moment. This has meant we got to meet lots of people I admire so it's hard to pick any specific one out. I had a good chat with Lyndon Needs from The Rhythm Rockers which was cool because Crazy Cavan was my role model for many years at high school! Unfortunately there's no funny stories to be told, sorry.
10. What’s the greatest rockabilly record of all time?
Christ, that's a question and a half! My favourite changes quite regularly. Just about anything from the last few Mad Sin albums or the Horrorpops. More traditional would have to be "Love My baby" by Hayden Thompson, "Rebound" by Charlie Rich, "Half Hearted Love" by Mac Curtis, I could go on and on actually, ask me a different question!
11. Describe your typical audience…
A mix. Rockabillies who are as disolusioned by the straight rockabilly scene as us, psychobillies with a good sense of humour and bikers mainly.
12. How easy is it to get gigs in the UK for rockabilly bands?
Easy if you play Buddy Holly and Elvis songs, especially where we come from. Norfolk is a holiday destination and the coast is riddled with holiday camps so gigs are easy to get and local. To play your own stuff or your own style isn't so easy so we have to piggy back on the punk scene a bit to play locally or travel to get involved with bigger festivals.
13. How healthy is the UK scene? Do you pull in decent sized crowds?
The scene over here is better than it's been for a long time but it's more divided between the old and the new. The teenagers of the late '70's rockabilly revival scene have generally reached the age where the kids have left home, mortgage is paid and they have some time and spare cash so the club scene is pretty healthy. On the other hand the underground scene is pulling in kids into The Nekromatix, Tiger Army, etc. who just wanna hear rockabilly, the wilder the better. So it's good, it's been a long time coming, but it finally got there!
14. Do you have any funny gig stories?
V8 Rumble have only been going a few months and done a handful of gigs so far so there's not much to say and I don't suppose anyone else would find them that funny anyway. Sorry, you'll be the first to know when something funny happens ;-)
15. How has MySpace benefited your band’s profile… if at all…
MySpace has been great in letting you find and talk to other bands and promoters, which is obvious really. there's been bands who I haven't seen for 10 years and suddenly there they are! It makes the world seem a bit smaller too because, even though the scene is pretty healthy, it's still underground and you still feel like a bit of a freak walking down the high street but MySpace is full of freaks, and they're just as proud as I am so I feel at home!
16. What other bands on the scene do you admire?
Stuff from the new generation would have to be The Rock-It Dogs, The Hitchers, crossfire, Shark Soup, The Living End, The Horrorpops, 13 Cats and Mad Sin but I still really like The Jets who are as busy as ever and hayseed Dixie who are just great! The new Francine album is a killer too. then there's loads of great ska and punk bands that I love like Goldfinger, NOFX, Ten Foot Pole, etc.
17. Have you recorded any material? What are you currently working on?
We've just finished our debut album for Vampirette Records of germany. Mostly originals and a handfull of well chosen cover versions. This should be out this spring (2007).