By Ryan
Sparks
Sean Kelly
has been leading his own band called Crash Kelly (the name comes
from the nickname of his uncle who used to play semi-pro hockey)
since 2002. Crash Kelly is quite simply Sean’s vehicle to
celebrate everything he loves most about classic 70’s arena hard
rock, glam and power pop. However, it’s not entirely a retro
approach because this gifted Canadian guitar slinger / vocalist
has managed to achieve something that only a few others have who
have chosen to go down the same path. He’s taken these
influences firmly by the horns, built upon them and come up with
a sound that manages to sound remarkably fresh and alive. While
Sean might wear his influences proudly on his sleeve Crash Kelly
isn’t some dated sounding tribute band. They write original,
full blown rock anthems with infectious hooks and melodies,
soaring twin guitar harmonies and even handclaps! How cool is
that?
I caught up
with Sean, who when he’s not busy tearing up the stages with CK
or working and writing with other artists (he’s just joined
Canadian legends Helix), teaches vocal music for the Toronto
Catholic School Board. He graciously took time out of his busy
day to give me the scoop about him being the most recent
addition to the Helix family, working with producer and fellow
rocker Gilby Clarke, as well as providing me with the latest on
how things are progressing with the fourth Crash Kelly album. I
could tell immediately when talking to him that his enthusiasm
for all things music is as genuine and honest as he is, and
that’s because Sean Kelly is first and foremost a fan of music
Ryan: How
cool is that you’re now a member of Helix, the first band you
ever saw live in concert.
Sean: I’m
absolutely loving it and having such a blast. It’s one of those
rock ‘n roll dreams come true.
Ryan: How
did that all go down?
Sean: It’s
funny because I kind of always had a feeling that I’d end up
playing with those guys, I can’t explain it. What happened was I
received a phone call from a journalist friend of mine Mitch
Lafon, he had heard that Brian (Vollmer) was looking for a bass
player. He suggested me to Brian and asked me if I’d be
interested. He was the facilitator behind all that so I owe it
all to Mitch. Just to let you know I’ve actually started work
with Brian on writing the next Helix record, so we’ll probably
have that done sooner than later. At first I was just going to
be touring with them but he and I really hit it off so I’m
writing and probably co-producing the next record [laughing].
When I dive into something, as my poor long suffering wife
knows, I dive in full tilt [laughing].
Ryan:
You’re going to be playing some pretty sweet gigs this summer
like Rocklahoma and the Rock Gone Wild Music Festival.
Sean:
Absolutely and on top of the Crash Kelly stuff, I also play with
Carole Pope and she’s getting busy as well, so yeah it’s going
to be a hopping summer [laughing].
Ryan: So
you play in her solo band too?
Sean: Yeah
and sometimes in Rough Trade as well. If Kevin (Staples) is
involved it’s Rough Trade and if not it’s Carole Pope.
Ryan: So
what’s going currently with Crash Kelly are you writing and
recording new material?
Sean: I’m
writing right now for a new album but I’m also gearing up- we’re
going to be getting busy with some festivals and touring this
summer. I’m just waiting for my agent to get back to me with the
dates. It’s a bit of a dance trying to schedule things between
the three bands, Carole, Helix and Crash Kelly, but so far it’s
worked out great. As long as there’s enough advance notice we
can always work it out.
Ryan:
You’re a self confessed fan of the glory days of classic rock,
glam rock, you name it. What I really like about what you do
with Crash Kelly is you incorporate all of these influences,
whether it’s a subtle lyrical reference or something more
obvious. Yet the band doesn’t sound like a knock off or a
tribute band, but more of a complete celebration of the whole
era, with an original twist.
Sean:
Thanks I’m glad you noticed that because that’s definitely what
it’s all about. It’s not about being a pastiche. Sometimes I’ll
hear bands who claim to have the same influences, but it almost
sounds like they’re making fun of it or there’s a hint of irony.
Anyone who knows me knows that irony is my least favorite device
in the world [laughing]. I’m all about wearing my heart on my
sleeve. So absolutely, and in talking to like minded people I
think it was a really special time in music, and I’m really
fascinated by the whole ritual behind it. What I’d really love
to do is bring that back. I’m sure you can remember the days of
saving up your allowance to go and buy that album, then riding
home on you bike and studying that thing.
Ryan: We’re
about the same age so I can definitely relate to that.
Sean:
Cool.
Ryan: I
know Phil Lynott is a big influence for you not only musically
but lyrically as well. I definitely picked up on that the first
time I heard the twin guitar harmonies in your songs.
Sean:
Absolutely. He’s definitely one of the big ones. There’s a song
on our second record Electric Satisfaction called “She
Put The Shock In My Rock ‘n Roll” that is basically a text book
example of every influence he’s had on me, from the lyrics to
the twin guitars. I just find Thin Lizzy to be the ultimate
example of classic 70’s melodic hard rock. I love them.
Ryan: You
also put a real Celtic stomp on a song like “Old Habits” on your
last record. That’s a real rock anthem with some great hooks.
Sean:
Thanks. It’s funny because Gilby (Clarke) really latched on to
that one when I was playing him the demos. He heard a lot of
Slade in there as well which I thought was really neat.
Ryan:
Probably because of that driving beat.
Sean: Gilby
caught on to the riff and suggested that part.
Ryan: The
debut record Penny Pills was a solid effort overall but
the second album Electric Satisfaction was a considerable
improvement not only sonically but the songs as well. Do you
think Gilby’s input played a significant role in that?
Sean: Oh
absolutely. As a producer Gilby and I have a really great
working relationship, which largely stems from the fact that he
really understands all the influences, because we share them.
There’s not a lot of talking between us when we’re working which
is why we get things done so quick. We speak in musical
references and he’ll know when I’m talking about an obscure
Starz or Angel album. He gets that right away and we can work
really quickly. I can definitely say I’ve learned a lot from
working with him, especially in terms of sounds and
arrangements. He’s also really good at editing and trimming the
fat to get to the heart of the song.
Ryan: I
understand that when you were looking for a producer you just
reached out to him out of the blue via e-mail. Was it really as
simple as that?
Sean: You
know what it really was. You can get into that whole argument
about the internet and how downloading is killing the industry,
but the positive side to that is you can instantly have your
musically accessible to somebody like that, whereas in the old
days you’d have to go through all of these different channels. I
just sent him an e-mail with a link to my website. He heard it
and just got all the references. At the same time we were both
signed with a label called Liquor and Poker Music out of L.A.
and they had actually been thinking of having Gilby work with me
as well, so it was kind of a synergistic moment [laughing].
Ryan: What
happened with Liquor and Poker because you were signed to a
multi album deal were you not?
Sean: Yeah
we were signed to a four album deal but the label is essentially
gone. It was a great idea and a dream come true to sign to a
label like that. The reason why I reached out to them in the
first place was because they had the new Hanoi Rocks and I’m
such a Hanoi fan. They had a great A&R guy there and when he
left the company I continued working with another great guy, but
when you lose your key man at the record company it can be a
difficult thing because you’ve established a relationship, and
once you lose those people it can be tough. In a way it couldn’t
have ended more perfectly because I think they blew all their
money, and we had a great time spending it I’ll tell you that
[laughing]. I don’t necessarily know if it was always the wisest
thing, but I didn’t mind the tour busses and hotels while they
lasted [laughing].
Ryan:
You’ve done three albums now with essentially three different
lineups. Do you feel now that you’ve got the right guys in the
band?
Sean: Well
you know what, I always do. With every lineup that’s gone out
I’ve always been very appreciative of their abilities, and no
one’s really getting rich of off this. To tell you the truth
we’re probably moving through another lineup change [laughing].
My longtime cohort Allister Thompson is moving on to different
things. Over the years he’s started to veer away from hard rock,
so it’s time to reinvent, but that’s kind of the beauty of how
Crash Kelly has always been run. I always liken it to T.Rex or
Whitesnake, it’s my vision and I’m going to push it through.
Anybody who wants to is more than welcome to come along for the
ride. Having said that, these guys were great and the last tour
we did with Gilby across Canada was fantastic. I’m always
looking for rock n’ roll compadres to jump on board, so anyone
that wants to come along and give 110% is a member as far as I’m
concerned.
Ryan: The
characters in your songs often face moral dilemmas between
choosing between rock ‘n roll or religion. It’s sort of like the
angel one shoulder telling you what to do and the devil on the
other side doing the same thing, which is something that I think
a lot of people growing up as teenagers can relate to. Was this
the case for you as well?
Sean: Oh
absolutely. I wouldn’t say I come from a strict Roman Catholic
upbringing but it was definitely very influenced by religious
imagery. I saw the good and bad of it. I saw the hypocrisy of
it, but I also saw the good side of it. I’ve always been
fascinated with the human struggle and the human condition,
because listen I honestly believe that if human beings weren’t
inherently good then our society would have fallen apart
already. It is falling apart, but it would be ten times
as bad. I’m always fascinated with that. Sometimes we have these
dark, dirty compulsions to do all sorts of crazy stuff, but by
the same token I think we ultimately want to do the right thing.
It fascinates me to see the whole human condition unfold like
that. So I try to capture that, and I’ve seen plenty of examples
in my own life as well.
Ryan: Like
I said we’re pretty much the same age and like yourself I grew
up loving the Sunset Strip metal of the 80’s. At the same time I
was also digging back and discovering their influences, which
was pretty much the glam and hard rock of the 70’s. What you’re
doing with Crash Kelly is seamlessly blending the two together I
think.
Sean: Oh
yeah what hooked me in was bands like Twisted Sister, Quiet
Riot, WASP, Ratt and Motley Crue. My older sister was a child of
the 70’s so she had a lot of those glam rock records, bands like
Slade, T.Rex and Sweet. I grew up listening to that stuff and I
could see the correlation even when I was a kid. I went back and
really researched the 70’s stuff and I could see where it was
all coming from. I love the 80’s stuff too. The way I look at it
that was kind of a refinement of the 70’s stuff. What I mean by
that is the songs had more hooks and punch, but at the same time
there was probably a little more depth and soul to some of the
70’s stuff, but I like it all [laughing].
Ryan: The
cover of your last record One More Heart Attack, with the
school desk, was obviously a tribute to another one of your
hero’s Alice Cooper.
Sean: Yeah
that was done by a great artist named Matt Brooks. He did a
phenomenal job. He could see the lyrical connotations with the
school yard and the whole “Jenny Jet” being the rock n’ roll
rebel at school, and the song “One More Heart Attack” dealing
with disenchanted youth. So he latched on to that imagery and
I’m still very pleased with that cover. I feel that it’s the
best cover we’ve had to date, just in terms of it reflecting
what the music sounded like visually.
Ryan: I
thought your choice of cover songs on Electric Satisfaction
was interesting as well. The American version had “Cold Ethyl”
but the Canadian version had one of my favorite tracks growing
up, a slightly more obscure song, Sweeny Todd’s “Roxy Roller”.
Sean: That
song always reminded me of going to the roller rink when I was a
kid.
Ryan:
Exactly!
Sean: When
I tell the kids at the school where I teach that I used to go to
the roller rink they look at me like I’ve got three heads
[laughing]. That was definitely a roller rink classic and I’m
just a big fan of crunchy sounding guitars and sweet vocal
melodies. I always thought that was such a sassy number. It was
a ton of fun to do and we banged it out down and dirty really
quick. The Japanese version I think ended up with both as bonus
tracks.
Ryan: The
Japanese always get that little extra something.
Sean: Well
they have to because it’s actually cheaper to buy the import
version in Japan then it is to buy the domestic version. It
would be dishonorable to buy an import version if the domestic
version has more product so that’s why you do it.
Ryan: I
understand you’re currently working on a book. Tell me a little
bit more about that.
Sean: I am
indeed. The book is going to be called Hair Metal For Hipsters.
I’ve got a lot of friends in a lot of different genres of music
and I often find myself defending hair metal. It’s a maligned
genre and I often find I’m defending its musical integrity. So
what I’m doing is I’m looking for the best hair metal albums,
musically speaking, and this is just my opinion. Going through
them and drawing a lineage to bands that some of these, music
Nazis as I call them, think are cool. For example showing that
hey you might not like Motley Crue but I can draw a lineage to
Sweet, Cheap Trick and The New York Dolls who you might think
are all amazing. Now having said that, lets face it a lot of
80’s music, while excellent musically, with great songs and
great production, there’s a lot of bad stuff lyrically out there
[laughing]. So there’s also going to be an element of checking
out some of the lyrical content as well, but I think you can say
that for the 80’s in general. That was a socio- economical
reflection of the things that were going on. It was a real ‘me’
generation.
Ryan:
Sounds great. What’s the timetable then for the book?
Sean:
According to my publisher it better be soon [laughing]. I figure
that heading out with Helix is another great opportunity,
because with the Rocklahoma and Rock Gone Wild Festivals I’m
going the chance to talk to these guys right up front. I want to
talk to these people that actually made the records.
Ryan: So
you’re also going to do some research as well.
Sean: Yeah
if you’ve got the opportunity to get a couple of road stories
then why not? [laughing]
Ryan: We
won’t talk about too much about modern recording techniques
today and how you can e-mail your parts back and forth, but you
prefer the old school approach of getting everyone together in
the same room and recording that way.
Sean:
Absolutely. I tell you what, if recording on two inch tape was
so cost prohibitive I’d be doing that all the time as well. It’s
all about capturing those sounds because just sonically speaking
those records sound so great. There’s nothing better than drums
on two inch tape. Unfortunately those days are gone, but we’re
getting to the point with new plug-ins and new technology, we’re
actually getting closer to replicating the old stuff which is
good [laughing]. At the end of the day it’s about capturing the
energy of the musicians that you’re playing with, and having
great songs. So to answer your question, yeah I definitely
prefer the vibe of having everyone playing at the same time.
Ryan: Tell
me a bit about the origins of the bands name because that’s an
interesting story.
Sean: Crash
Kelly was my uncle’s nickname. His name was Orville Kelly and he
played for a number of pro hockey teams. In the American League
he played with the Hershey Bears and the Buffalo Bison’s and he
played for the Johnstown Jets in the Eastern League, as did my
father. So there was two Kelly’s kicking ass in the Eastern
League in the 50’s. Orv was a great guy, and talk about a guy
who sums up the human condition. He was such a sweetheart of a
man on one hand, but on the other hand he was a total hell
raiser on the ice. He liked to hoist a few as well. I always
thought that he was such a great example of a guy who also had
the angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. Hell all the
Kelly’s in the family tree have it [laughing].
Ryan: I
think it’s cool that the bands name pays tribute to him.
Sean:
Absolutely and the one thing that I tell the guys is, they have
a lot of leash in Crash Kelly but you have to respect the name.
Anyone who steps outside of that is going to be on the outside
and on the receiving end of some misery [laughing]. Fortunately
everyone has done so to date so no worries there.
Ryan: For
people who might not be aware of what you do outside of Crash
Kelly, you’re a classically trained guitarist and you’ve put out
some classical recordings as well.
Sean:
That’s a whole other ball of wax, and ironically in terms of
sales it’s been my most successful endeavor. I’ve put out
through Universal in Canada, a couple of classical records which
has been a real blessing as well. It’s neat because on one hand
you’re hipping people to classical music, but on the other hand
you’re also hipping these classical people to rock ‘n roll. They
take a look at me when I walk in for an interview or to play and
I can see the eyes rolling right away. I also love metal and
there’s a real correlation between classical music and heavy
metal, so I love talking about that. I do clinics for Yamaha
guitars and I definitely like to bring that fact up in my
clinics as well.
Ryan: Well
that’s about all I have for you Sean.
Sean: Hey
thanks man it was a great interview, and thanks for taking the
time to ask me those questions.
Ryan: I’ll
let you back to your teaching. It’s great that you’re doing that
because whether you’re teaching music or whatever it’s a
profession that I think is often underappreciated.
Sean: Oh
thanks. I’m at three different schools and I just finished doing
a big music festival, getting all my choirs ready to go. I’ll
tell you I’m more nervous about that than I am jumping onstage
in front of ten thousand people [laughing]. The kids always
shine so that’s great.
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