Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

What does the name "Dirty Lions" stand for? Non corporate quality music.

What made you call the band "Dirty Lions"? It's what my wife called the Lion statues in Trafalgar Square when she was a child.

How was the band formed?First of all Michelle (vocals) and I got together to write new stuff with the intention of forming a new band, we've known each other since our teenage years but never worked together before. Then we enlisted Garry Bowler (drums) and Loll Dalziel (bass). Garry, Loll and I were all members of the UK based Southern Rock band Medicine Hat for about twenty years so we new that old V8 engine wouldn't let us down :) Next up I got in touch with Ken Day (guitar) another mate since childhood. We hooked up through the Facebook, and knowing what a great technical player he is Ken got the gig.

What made you form the band? For myself, out of frustration for having no outlet for a whole bunch of good songs and a desire to perform them.

Can you briefly introduce your band and who you are?

Garry Bowler - Drums

Michelle Gimenez-Alder - Vocals

Loll Dalziel - Bass

Ken Day - Guitar

Mark Wright - Guitar

Where are all bandmembers from?/Who does what in the band? London, Manchester, Herts. We all contribute to the writing and arrangements, the lyrics are more Michelle's department though I've written a few. We all do what we can to hustle up gigs, I do the artwork for posters etc. 

What was the ambitions of the band when you started? Just to create and perform great music and to hopefully turn on as people as possible.

Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you?  A musical mash up we like to call "Sonic Esperanto". Translation - Anything goes.

Where was your first gig? "The Bridgehouse" Canning Town East London.

Where was the latest ?"Cirque de la Lune" Fest, Half Moon Bishops Stortford.

Who writes your songs?/ who writes the music who writes lyrics? Most of the songs came from me to start with, then when Michelle and I hooked up she took over the lyrics side. I still come up with a lot of the initial ideas for songs and now many of Ken's riffs kick us all off into a binge of creativity.

Who has the best since of humor in the band? We all have our moments I guess but overall it has to be Ken. He's fuckin pricless!
What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are?

In the good corner I guess you could say we're all very "simpatico", committed, creative and driven. In the bad corner - We've all got day jobs. 

Generically? Hmmm... "Badges! We don't need no stinkin badges!"

Seriously though I don't think any of us feel comfortable being put in boxes like that. To any creative that's surely just another barrier to kick down. 

Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? We just want the freedom to explore music to the best of our ability. When I write a song I revel in the fact that most of the time (at least with the good ones). It's really out of my hands what comes out,  it's much more a case of what my ears tell me is right. That and all the happy accidents along the way. Thematically again anything goes really. "Shoot me Down" for instance was written during the "George Dubya Bush" administration and was me just venting anger at that whole shitstorm. Some of them are loosely autobiographic and some are just plain fun.

Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We write our own but live we throw in a few covers.

Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? Glad you asked because this very morning I have the master for our first album "RAW" all ready to put up on iTunes. Not sure how long it will take to show up on the iTunes Store but just search for Dirty Lions RAW and that and our EP Will come up.

Do you have any clips on YouTube? Yes though nothing professionally produced just some live clips.

How old are you? What got you started in music? Me I'm 49 it was The Sex Pistols that made me want to play.

At what age did you start playing? Fifteen.

How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? As Dirty Lions in our late forties I guess.

What year was the band started? About eighteen months ago, two years maybe.

How old were you the first time you saw a liveband play? At around fourteen fifteen i guess. Used to go to see bands like Crass, Flux of Pink Indians, Newtown Neurotics. Was friends with a few of those guys back then.

How old were you at your first gig?/Best/worst gig you've played? First gig I was eighteen. Best gig? That's difficult, either Canada Day festival in Medicine Hat Alberta or European Bike Week, Faakersee Austria 2007.

Worst one was in Manchester. Won't say where or with who (gotta protect the innocent) but it was ugly.

 What places will you be playing in in the imidate future?Don't know yet nothing booked. Which could lead me into a whole rant about just how tough it is to get gigs nowadays. Want to do more festivals though and to play as much as possible. Sadly dear Garry is suffering from a serious shoulder injury at the moment so we can't really move on much until the new year anyway. 

Where have you played from then till now? In the last couple of years we've played quite few festivals and lots of pubs/clubs but we want to get much further afield. Into Europe with luck, we still have contacts in Italy and France that we'd like to get to do shows through. Maybe you could help with Sweden :)

What songs are in your live set's? Everything on our album along with about another ten or so songs of ours. We also do a few covers from Zeppelin, Kravitz, T-Rex and even Britney Spears believe it or not.

Is it always the same set's live? No not always. We like to mix things up a bit to keep things fresh.

What has been the best/most promising gig so far? For me the last one "Half Moon" Bishops Stortford was a real stand out as we were on fire that night. The audience reaction everywhere we've played though has always been good.

Have you had any bigger tours from start till now? No not yet.

How big crowds do you usually play for? In smaller venues it can be as few as thirty but then at the other end you know what festivals are like.

What are the plans for the rest of the year? To play as much as possible to continue writing, possibly get into another album and if possible get some sort of backing to help us.

Where do you usually play? Anywhere we can. 

How do you get psyched up for a gig? Don't have to get psyched up. We're pretty well drilled and therefore confident in what we do More a case of keeping calm and focused.

What are your goals with your music? To earn enough money to do just music.

When did you decide to go all in for the music? At age fifteen.

Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? Either really though we don't pretend to be anything other than products of our own generation.

What are your sources of inspiration? Things with edges, mistakes and chaos.

What's the first step when making a new song? Sharing the idea, then rehearsal where things get honed down and finally playing live. Even then stuff gets tweaked until it's right.

How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? It sucks but then there's nothing I can do to change that. In five or less years you'll be able to get it all for free anyway. If people don't need or want to pay for music then that's what will happen. You won't stop the creatives and I reckon that before to long you'll start getting music coming through from what I guess you might call virtual bands. Meaning collaborative efforts from people who've never met in real meat space at all. 

 What would be your dreams for the band? Success and some recognition from fellow musicians. 

Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? Right now I like to listen to The Grassy Knoll, Bob Green's thing. All the usual stuff like Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Zeppelin etc. Also Radiohead, Big Wreck, Los Lobos, Fever Ray blah blah blah......

What do you hold most dear? My wife and child.

What would be your greatest fears for the future? Any threat to either of the above.

When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Waking up in a coffin.

 What songs and what years were they released? Our first EP is up on iTunes with Guitar Man, Shivers and Rollercoaster. That went out about eighteen months ago and hopefully our debut album will be available on there in the next day or so. Other than that there's loads of stuff from Medicine Hat, The Pendell Guitar Project and an album some of us did with some starry eyed fucking dreamer that we don't like to talk about.

Have you been part of any other projects? Oh yeah, see "Medicine Hat" UK and "The Pendell Guitar Project".

Have you been in any other bands? Loads over the years but the biggy was Medicine Hat.

What do you work with outside of the band and the music? If I told you that I'd have to kill you.

What would you do if there was no music? I would invent music.

How important are your fans? Very! Otherwise what's the point.

What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? Well aside from the two hotties in Torino :) I guess it would have to be the thing my wife did?

How often do you rehearse? When there's lots to do then once a week other times maybe once a month. 

Where do you rehearse? Riverside Studios Harlow Essex.

Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? Tiger and Shoot me Down.

What do you feel is the best liveband you've seen? Los Lobos.

What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? Passion and a need to create.

Do you have any webpages? Yes and no, we have our own domain name but nothing up on the site yet. So far we've just been using the Facebook.

Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Never trust a man called Simon. 

Would you like to add anything else? Do what you do for the love of it, don't expect much in return and don't give up.

Describe your show, visually and musically We're tight above all tight. Quite mobile especially Loll, he's quite unique in that he wears his bass like a bow tie and moves the way a cat should :) Michelle's a Flamenco dancer so she's got her shit down. 

How do you view the musicindurty of today? From a distance it looks like shit and the closer you get the more you realise we're all just bacteria with shoes.

What advice would you like to give other bands? Keep going and hold onto your publishing.

What are the biggest obstacles for a band? Right now actually getting gigs is a major one it seems. Dealing with bullshitting management/publisher types, recording expenses all the old favourites.

What is best/worst with playing the clubs? Getting a good reaction is best. Finding somewhere to park without getting a parking ticket is my major complaint.

Tell us about upcomming gigs and why we should be at them? Whatever we do next will be good and good for your soul.

How would you describe your sound in one sentence Well crafted songs designed to purge.

What is your favorite crappy instrument?   Garry's Basmati loaded Evian shaker, oh and his famous trick with a dustbin lid.

What was one of the most quarrelsome times for you in the band? We don't ever quarrel really. Maybe deciding on which world leader should go up against the wall might do it though.

Whats your Pre-show ritual? Cigarettes.

What Won't you spend money on? Crap.

What do you feel a band/muscian should spend their money on?Apart from equipment and rehearsal costs then spend it on getting the best recordings possible.