On Thursday March 2, after getting off a plane from Washington DC in New Orleans, Scotty was nice enough to sit down with MSN for a chat/interview deal. Towards the end, our little row got silly. I've left those parts in. Enjoy!
*once again, thanks to parkyposer for the transcript*
"Dish Diva" : Welcome
to MSN Live! Tonight we are from New Orleans as we welcome recording artists,
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy to MSN Live. Their new CD, entitled, "This Beautiful
Life" is destined to be a phenomenal hit.
"Dish Diva" : Please
help me welcome Big Bad Voodoo Daddy to MSN Live!
"Dish Diva" : Welcome,
guys!
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Hi everybody!
"Dish Diva" : Our
first question tonight is from Diane who says: Hi! can you tell me how
you would describe your latest CD?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Diane, I would describe it as a personal record and not so much a party
record. Emotionally and musically the band was suffering from growing pains.
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: I was definitely dealing and struggling with things as we made this CD.
In short, it is a much more personal and musical record.
"Dish Diva" : sugarray30
says: Who inspired you?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: That is a great question.
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: I would say right now anything or anyone with good energy.
"Dish Diva" : BBVD
fan says: Can you ask BBVD if they feel like they revitalized swing music?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Yeah, I think we did. We feel we and a handful of other bands introduced
it to a whole new audience. No, we don't feel we were solely responsible
for bringing it back but we do feel instrumental.
"Dish Diva" : tootawl
says: How many sticks does your drummer go through on a tour?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Total, I would say probably five boxes of a dozen. He is a hard hitter.
parkyposer whispers
to abigail_louie, ikya99, Lesley, MEISJE, palovely, Razzle: how many drum
sticks does the drummer stick up his butt during the tour?
"Dish Diva" : tallone
says: Are you excited about playing at Mardi Gras this year and will you
post your Madi Gras adventures on the website?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: tallone, yes we will. We are very excited about mardi Gras. We brought
our video camera and we will most certainly do a blow by blow on our website.
"Dish Diva" : Scotty
says: Did you enjoy doing the movie Swingers and did that launch your career?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Scotty, yes we enjoyed doing this film. Everyone in the film knew each
other. It was very exciting and it was really icing on the cake that it
was so successful.
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: This film really gave the scene an identity which was really important
for the whole scene."
"Dish Diva" : hellogirl
says: What cities will the band be hitting to promote the new CD?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: The next tour is very selective of 8 or 10 shows Chicago, NY, Cleveland,
Seattle, Milwaukee and a handful of others.
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: I apologize that we are stopping our tour. I am going on almost ten years
of touring and making records. At the end of our last tour, I had to take
a break and get my batteries charged. I didn't want our show to suffer
at all because our fans mean everything to us.
"Dish Diva" : palovely
says: Why they don't do "Still in love with you" in Concert?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: palovely, to everyone who wants to hear this, I will write this
and add it to our set list. We played this on our last tour. The next time
you come out to see us, just yell it out and we'll play it. I do love that
song too. Thanks for asking, pal.
"Dish Diva" : mainland
says: WHAT DO YOU GUYS DO TO RECHARGE?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: mainland, funny enough, I go in my home studio. I bought my house two
months before our record broke. I didn't come back for 2 1/2 years. I am
also writing two solo albums and one Big Bad Voodoo Daddy record. I guess
we don't really take a break.
"Dish Diva" : remote
king says: Did you have any mentors that helped you from the early swing
era?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: king, I loved Cab Calloway, Louie Armstrong. I have met Artie Shaw. I
have pretty much been on my own. It is pretty obvious when I throw a nod
to these people.
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Also Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Gene Krupa.
"Dish Diva" : Majestic
says: What is their favorite song off the new album?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Majestic, I think "Sleep Tight" seeing that it is written for my daughter
Sydney.
"Dish Diva" : Jrockthemic
says: Would the band cosider making a holiday album anytime?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Jr, absolutely. Our second record which will be available on our site
will be a spoof of a Holiday record and we are thinking of putting out
one this Christmas which will include originals and classic done BBVD way.
Good suggestion!
"Dish Diva" : pssstOVERHERE
says: Hi .. im Jeannie from California .. im wondering if this was your
FIRST time here online with an audience like this.
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Jeanie, no, I really enjoy doing this and we just switched over our site
to a new webmaster. I hope we do more of these.
Lesley whispers to
parkyposer: "so...daddies...boxers or briefs???"
"Dish Diva" : Jenni
says: Hi! I'm Jenni from GA: Have you guys been able to see any marching
bands perform your music? I know it was very popular this year. And if
you have what did you think about it?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Jenni, I have not seen any marching bands do our music. If you have a
video or an audiotape, please send it to our PO Box. We just published
3 more marching bands charts this year so I hope even more marching bands
will be playing our music.
"Dish Diva" : tallone
says: question: Scotty, I saw the band on Martin Short a couple of weeks
ago and noticed your no tie. Is this a new look for you and will we be
seeing it on this upcoming tour?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: tallone, I am going back and forth, however I feel comfortable. I thought
at one point there was so much focus on the clothes, they weren't listening
to the music, so I pared it down. I do like waering suits and ties but
I will be going back and forth depending on how I feel.
"Dish Diva" : MEISJE
says: Which is the most difficult song to perform live?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: MEISJE< fo rme singing live, " I am Not Sleeping" because there are
so many things going on. Trying to get the melodie in tune and on time
is the hardest thing for me to perform.
"Dish Diva" : Lesley
says: what's the weirdest thing that's ever happened while on the road
BESIDES the nightmares?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Hi Lesley! Probably the smell of the bus in the morning after a night
of spicy food and alcohol.
"Dish Diva" : mickey452
says: Do you have any other talents besides singing really well?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: My talent shines mostly with singing and songwriting and producing.
"Dish Diva" : Stretch
says: What inspired the song 2000 volts?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Stretch, I was trying to write a mini pulp story about a fictitious serial
killer crazed freak and I wrote that song about 8 years ago. We did it
on the first record. We did it over because I didn't like the way
it is. I really wanted to write a film noir song and I thought that was
an interesting topic.
"Dish Diva" : Christina
says: You look and sound good in your ads for FOX, do you plan to do any
more commercials?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: FOX is talking with us now about doing more for them. If our fans get
a kick out of it, we get a kick out of it. Since we don't want to do MTV
videos we thought this would be a good way to expose our music. Music has
changed gears so quickly that we wanted to do things on our own terms.
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Everything you see and hear from Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is Big Bad Voodoo
Daddy.
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
yeah man! chat room man! yeah!!
MEISJE whispers to parkyposer: that's like....DEEP.
"Dish Diva" : chrissie
says: How does it feel to know that you have helped to inspire a new generationbecome
interested and involoved in this type of music?
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
it feels...uh...good?
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
and stuff.
Razzle whispers to parkyposer: real good
MEISJE whispers to parkyposer: dude.
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
homey
Razzle whispers to parkyposer: right on!
MEISJE whispers to parkyposer: duuuuuuude.
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
buddy?
MEISJE whispers to parkyposer: dude?!!
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
homey??!
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: chrissie, I am extremely proud and I plan on making this just the beginning.
Each show will get better. This is just the tip of the iceberg I promise.
"Dish Diva" : Acetag
says: Do you guys ever consider what your families opinions are (i.e. wives
girlfriends) before you tour?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Acetag, yes, we do. This is the first time that our families voiced an
opinion about us taking a break. We had been on the road for like the last
eight years. We apologize and we want to be there for you but we need to
recharge our batteries. The last four years have been a dream come true.
We played 286 dates last year. That is to the max.
parkyposer whispers to abigail_louie, ikya99,
"Lesley-the sequel", MEISJE, palovely, Razzle, tallone: it's not like 'honey,
i'm going to be gone on the road for 12 months and won't be home, k?"
abigail_louie whispers to parkyposer: "well,
okay honey. just be good."
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
"watch the kids, will you?"
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: This year we will take a little break and refresh ourselves so we can
start on our next projects.
"Dish Diva" : MEISJE
says: Do you have any weird initiation rituals that you put Ron and Mike
thru to make them REAL Voodoo Daddies?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: MEISJE, yeah, they had to shoot a gun in the desert naked.
"Dish Diva" : brainbug
says: Just wondering who does your wild artwork.
ikya99 whispers to parkyposer: Hey now,
what's wrong with Donny Osmond???? Let's not go there, okay??
ikya99 whispers to parkyposer: I'm a little
bit country, I'm a little bit rock and roll lalala
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: brainbu, Todd Schorr who is a great artist. He has a book and I think
you can get it on our site. He is on the East Coast. We plan to keep him
as long as he keeps doing stuff for us.
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: axicano says: I want to know how they came up with thier name?
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
i want this...i want that...WHAT ABOUT MY NEEDS??
MEISJE whispers to parkyposer: what would
be cool is if scotty would make up a different story each time that question
was asked
Razzle whispers to parkyposer: heehee that
would be good
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
yeah...it'll be a cult thing...how many versions have YOU heard??
abigail_louie whispers to parkyposer: lol
MEISJE whispers to parkyposer: right!
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
it'd be an underground thing
parkyposer whispers to abigail_louie, ikya99,
"Lesley-the sequel", MEISJE, palovely, Razzle, tallone: that would be cool
MEISJE whispers to parkyposer: and then
tell Scotty about it....
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
"i was abducted by aliens and they forced me to name the band that"
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
"::sob::...it was awful..."
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: axicano, I was given the name many years ago. I went to see the Late
Great Albert Collins who was great Texas guitar blues legend. I had
him sign my poster and he signed it "To Scotty, The Big Bad Voodoo Daddy"
Love, Albert Collins. I knew it was a message from the Blues gods.
"Dish Diva" : marco
says: When you tour do you always keep the same music or do you switch
things around?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: marco, we switch things around. We pick out the 15 to 20 songs we will
play per night but i might chnage arrangement of each song. I read the
crowd each night. We rehearse and then play it by ear. We feel the crowd
is definitely 1/3 of the show.
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
1/3? i thought we were 5/16's FOR SURE!
MEISJE whispers to parkyposer: fah! I was
sure we were 98%.......
"Dish Diva" : singing_kinda_guy
says: Hey BBVD what are your hobbies and interests when you are not perfoming?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: A third of the band surfs, half of us play golf, some of the band are
fathers and like to spend time with their families. So we surf, mountain
bike and play papa.
"Dish Diva" : kristen
says: What "trademark" do you guys use to distinguish your sound from the
other swing bands? (i.e. Benny Goodman's clarinet being above the
other instruments, Count Basie's signature)
Razzle whispers to parkyposer: now a third
surfs? last week it was only 4 guys
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
maybe he's as bad at math as i am
Razzle whispers to parkyposer: or is a third
of 7 4?
MEISJE whispers to parkyposer: what separates
BBVD from most band is that each member is inordinately HOT
tallone whispers to parkyposer: i'm not
good at math either....
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
right...karl is the the Follicular King
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
glen is the porn star...and so on...
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: kristen, I think it would be two things. My influence from pop music
would be one and the second is the way Kurt plays the drums because he
approaches things like a rock drummer. He brings such a unique twist to
the way he plays the drums.
Razzle whispers to parkyposer: kurt is rad
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
kurt's the man
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: The music is a little more revved up because of Kurt.
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: That is really the key to our sound.
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
vrooom vrooom...
MEISJE whispers to parkyposer: Kurt is Phunky.
Razzle whispers to parkyposer: kurt is a
punk rock boy!
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
funkay fresh!
"Dish Diva" : DoctorK
says: Congratulations on the Fox gig. It was great "seeing" you each
nite. Any upcoming soundtrack projects?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Doc, nothing as of yet and thank you. We are looking for something that
really appeals to us. We are dying to work with a Martin Scorese or Quentin
Tarantino. We'd like something we can really sink our teeth into and maybe
even score a whole film.
MEISJE whispers to parkyposer: wooooooo
Razzle whispers to parkyposer: quentin meets
the boys
"Dish Diva" : ikya99
says: Will you ever have videos of your concerts for sale?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: ikya, we are working on that right now. We recorded a video last tour
and we are editing it and will hopefully release it free over the Internet.
We are working on that right now.
"Dish Diva" : abigail_louie
says: have you guys ever thought of putting out an enhanced cd?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: ab, yes, and we were trying to do it on this record, but the record company
wanted this record out soon so there wasn't time. I think maybe on the
next CD there may be behind the scenes footage that would blow minds.
"Dish Diva" : sweet
swing chick says: How was the Washington DC gig? How many people actually
showed up?
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: sweet, the people at the Kennedy said it broke their record times ten.
There were 8000 people. I really really had a great time.
MEISJE whispers to parkyposer: ack something
went wonky with my room
Razzle whispers to parkyposer: geeezx!
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
bless you?
"Dish Diva" : englishlit
says: Do you guys collect anything since you are on the road so much?
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
the voodoo stamp collection?
Razzle whispers to parkyposer: okay, who
is buying furniture on the road?
"Lesley-the sequel" whispers to parkyposer:
"andy! you can't bring ANOTHER sofa on the bus!"
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: lit, yeah, everyone collects things from vintage furniture to vintage
suits and ties and vintage and unique/rare instruments to try and bring
home and add to the show. The next record is going to be out of control.
"Dish Diva" : Guys,
thanks for being here with us tonight! It's been a pleasure!
MEISJE whispers to parkyposer: oh fooooooo
"Dish Diva" : Have
a great time at Mardi Gras!
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: I just want to thank you all for being supportive and loyal. From the
bottom of our hearts, thank you very much and we'll see out back
out there on the road very soon!
BigBadVoodooDaddy
: Good night!
MEISJE whispers to parkyposer: wheee!