Interview: Ted Bullet, Thunderhead

PAYING THEIR DUES

THUNDERHEAD are mostly remembered in Britain as being the support to MOTÖRHEAD  back in 89, promoting their new LP Behind the Eight Ball. They've since released Busted at the Border on MFN, but the spotlight has yet to catch them in its glare. Hopefully the eleven grittily aggressive tracks on Crime Pays will elevate their status.

Despite being just across town, vocalist Ted Bullet, the American quarter of an otherwise German stronghold, and I resort to the wire for our discussion on Crime Pays. Ted initially recalls how he got involved in the project.

"I was playing with local bands in New York, but due to all the talent and bullshit on the West Coast, we couldn't get a deal. I then auditioned for a band in Germany, which didn't work out, but I stayed on for a while and ran into Henny Wolter (guitar) in a bar. We found we had the same influences, and he knew a bass player (Ole Hempelman). We later found Alexi Scotti (drums), and here we are."

While getting an interview arranged, you get to see a mountain of blurb on the subject; with Thunderhead, I got to see a lot of comparisons with Motörhead and THE ALMIGHTY.

"Well, the Motörhead tour was the highlight of the band so far. They treated us great, but as far as the connection goes, I hear that too. Maybe it's the rawness, though we play our way, they play their way."

Significant as it is, Thunderhead chose to produce Crime Pays themselves. Quite a feat to take on at this stage, isn't it?

"We'd worked with producers before. Without this being anything against the person involved, it didn't click for us. We found it hard enough laying down the basic tracks without it being produced at the same time, so this time our drummer engineered it and made it a solid Thunderhead thing."

And as if to stress the point, Ted adds:

"We had nothing from the outside."

So was it a comparably better process than using a producer?

"Oh yeah, we know what we had to do. We had the song all set. all the basic tracks were done live, which is more of a groove. Also I'm very particular as a singer, but it was so easy to work this time."

Another anomaly in the Thunderhead setup crops up while discussing the writing technique of the band. So often you hear of bands writing 30 or so songs, only to discard two thirds while recording. Not so. this prolific output for Ted and the 'Head.

"We prefer to write quality-wise. Someone will come up with a riff and we'll work on it; if it doesn't sound good, we'll throw it away right there."

Which means, I take it, that off the eleven tracks written for the album, eleven were used.

"It's the only way I can do it. I have a hard enough time writing eleven songs," he laughs, but soon returns to serious tones. "You get off touring, which leaves you six months to do an album. Pumping out one album per year is hard for me."

Of the tracks on the album, many deal in far more personal subjects than most would let out of their systems. It soon becomes apparent that Ted Bullet has had quite a tough upbringing. He's certainly not your ordinary guy feigning hardship.

"'Forgive and Forget You' is about a friend who murdered his girlfriend. I go and visit him in jail a lot," Bullet adds matter-of-factly. "I figured I'd write a song about him."

The title track is also quite startling in its content.

"Crime Pays is an autobiography. I left my house when I was thirteen and moved to New York. I lived in cars and shelters. In order to survive, we had to steal food and money."

But this shouldn't be taken in the negative sense, Bullet explains.

"Already in Germany, I've heard that I shouldn't be telling kids that crime pays, but I'm only talking from the way I grew up."

Is the thread of your youth followed into the track, "N.Y. You Let Me Down Last Night"?

"Yeah, when I was there, you'd get these little kids coming in and they were going to kick ass, make it big, or whatever. But it was their ass that got kicked. They were the ones running home with their tail between their legs."

Not all the lyrics on offer are to be quite so literally taken. "What Mama Don't Know," for instance, is about a kid who takes his first love back to meet his dad, only to discover it's his sister.

"That's one I made up, because I thought it was cool," sniggers Ted.

All in all, then, has music been a saviour to Mr. Bullet? He's brutally honest.

"I really appreciate it. Without it, I'd be either in jail or dead. All my so-called friends are into something crazy. It's great for me to sit back and say, I'm going after what I want in life, and I'm very fortunate to be here."

There you have it then. Check out Crime Pays for straight on, no frills, rock and roll. Lyrics walking it as they talk it. A move you won't regret.

Joe Mackett
Riff Raff
January 1992

Share on Google Plus