Kill Hannah and Alice in Chains also were on the bill Friday at Toyota Pavilion.

By Lisa Sokolowski lsokolowski@timesleader.com
Features Writer

Scott Weiland and Slash perform with Velvet Revolver Friday night at The Toyota Pavilion in Moosic.

S. John Wilkin/THE TIMES LEADER
Times Leader Photo Store

MOOSIC – Slash’s silhouette appeared on a curtain, the light behind him making him larger than life.

Maybe it wasn’t the light. It could have been the signature hat, the way he held his guitar or the fact that he is one of rock’s modern day icons. Whatever the case, one look at the guitarist and the crowd went wild. It was ready for a show.

The curtain lifted, and there was Velvet Revolver, the supergroup formed of the picked up pieces of Guns N’ Roses, Stone Temple Pilots and Wasted Youth.

Scott Weiland, the band’s mouthpiece, might be one of the only performers who isn’t intimidated by Slash’s legacy. Or, if he is, he didn’t show it on stage. Slash was front and center for much of the show, but Weiland stole the attention.

He stripped to just pants during the third and fourth songs, and it was amazing to wonder how such a small frame could contain so much rock star.

Six songs into the set, the band took a break to let the roadies rearrange the set. The five band members – Weiland, Slash, Dave Kusher, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum – sat in a row on the front of the stage, succeeding in making an arena show intimate.

The band played three songs that way, ending with GNR’s “Patience,” a version that, if Axl Rose heard it, would have him kicking himself for taking so long to put out “Chinese Democracy.”

But it wasn’t only Slash’s former band that Velvet Revolver played homage to. The band played STP’s “Vasoline.”

And, of course, the Velvet Revolver hits were plentiful. And much of the crowd sang along with every word, proving just how huge the band actually is.

Alice in Chains should have taken a page out of Velvet Revolver’s charisma handbook. Alice in Chains wasn’t anything special to watch, but what it lacked in animation from its members, it made up for in its production. The band’s bright colored lights attracted everyone’s eyes, and the sound and guitars were great.

The audience didn’t seem to mind that vocalist William DuVall was the only one who made his rounds to all parts of the stage – as opposed to the others (save drummer Sean Kinney) who went center stage only for guitar solos, which the audience loved.

There was very little interaction with the audience during the 11-song set, except for the introduction of the band members. There was no calling out of song names – but it wasn’t needed. The crowd knew from the very first note, and a wave of enthusiasm started in the back of the 200 section (the lawn was closed for the show) and ended at the stage.

Some of the crowd was a bit too enthusiastic, like the man who nearly tackled two girls and knocked over a few folding chairs in the 103 section to shamelessly catch Kinney’s drum head.

He flung the drum head in the air and showed the people sitting closest to him. He wasn’t ashamed that he almost flattened two girls in the process. He was taking home his souvenir -- and a concert is nothing without a few bruises and battle wounds.

The crowd was calmer for Chicago’s Kill Hannah, which opened the show. The band danced under black lights, which lit up a strip of paint along Mat Devine’s eyes.

The band looked a little small for the stage at the beginning of its six-song set, but with each song, the audience responded louder, actually enjoying each of the opener’s songs instead of just clapping because it was one song closer to Velvet Revolver.

If the alternative rock tunes played on guitars equipped with lights on them (so the band members wouldn’t knock into each other in the dark, one might presume) weren’t enough to win over the crowd – and they seemed like they were – Devine announced that Friday was special for the band because his great-great-grandfather was a coal miner in Scranton.

Winning the sympathy of the crowd, the band used that attention to seamlessly move into a cover of Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell.”

It was an appropriate song for the crowd, the rebels, the ones who have waited all summer for this weekend of rock to close out the season at Montage.

Reach Lisa Sokolowski, a Times Leader staff writer, at 970-7222.

Ever since she started shaving her legs, it seems she’s been Hollywood’s first choice to play the troubled teen. But this month, Evan Rachel Wood shows that she’s ready for bigger things. (So when is she gonna outgrow that Manson dude?) PLUS: A slideshow of exclusive photos

Just before sitting down to interview the 19-year-old actress you see on these pages, I watched a video of her having sex. On the Internet. With her boyfriend. Marilyn Manson. Who is 38.

And in the spirit of full disclosure, I’ll admit it’s difficult to get that sort of thing out of your head, especially when there are rumors that the sex—which involves blood, strangulation, and a shrieking orgasm that sounds like something out of Hostel Part II—is real. No matter how high-minded and “it’s her life” you try to be about it, you just can’t get past how potentially career-damaging this is, especially when the video involves a young actress who has often been heralded as the next Jodie Foster. It’s like, the next Jodie Foster did what? With whom?

And so I’m tempted, as I walk into a Los Angeles hotel and sit down with Evan Rachel Wood, to just scrap all the acting talk and see what she’ll say about Manson. But that would be rude. And unfair. Because she is talented in her own right. And because she has three films out this fall, including Across the Universe, a kind of epic Beatles rock opera in which Wood delivers a breakthrough performance as a young woman caught up in the whirl of the anti–Vietnam War movement. The part is her first go at crossing the divide between child and adult actress, and she does so convincingly. (She even sings her own songs.) “I think it’s some of the most personal acting I’ve ever done,” Wood says of the role, “because I’m more aware of myself now. Before, I didn’t realize how therapeutic acting was for me—how much of myself I was letting out.”

In Wood’s earlier parts—the self-mutilating Tracy in Thirteen, the sadistic Natalie in Running with Scissors—her teen anxiety and dislocation seemed to come from a deeply familiar place. We talk about this for a while, and she traces it back to her early teenage years: a North Carolina transplant to the San Fernando Valley, the girl who never quite fit in. “I was so shy, painfully shy, for so long,” she tells me. But all that is behind her now. “For the first time,” she says, “I really feel like I’m around somebody and in an environment where I can just let go and not worry about being judged.”

That “somebody,” of course, is Manson. Wood has opened the window. And after a little awkward prodding and an obligatory line from her about “not liking to talk about my personal life,” we rush in.

I ask about their home life.

“He snores louder than anybody I have ever heard!” she says. “I think it’s the sweetest thing ever. It actually lulls me to sleep. But he puts Geppetto to shame. It’s literally like [she starts low, like a lion growling, and then pitches higher, like a hound dog with a head cold, before finishing with two forceful exhalations. The snore, by my count, lasts several seconds]. It’s every snore you’ve ever heard, rolled into one.”

This impersonation has the two of us busting up, like, How funny is that—you’re dating Marilyn Manson and he snores like a troll! But then she catches herself. “Manson’s going to kill me,” she says. When I ask her about the music video—the one with the sex, which Wood explains was not real—this is how the conversation goes:

Me: What inspired it?

Wood: We made it for each other. I just wanted to show that it’s okay to have different, weird ideas about romance. At the end of the video, we’re kissing and it’s raining blood—and for me, that was one of the most romantic moments of my entire life.

Me: Really?

Wood: Honestly. Because that’s how we were feeling at the time: Even though ugliness can be all around you—you can literally be in a thunderstorm of blood—if you look past that, it really is just two people holding on to each other. And you know, the same thing with the sex scene. If you’re going to have a sex scene, that’s what it is. When you’re with someone and you’re in love, that’s usually what happens. It’s not always soft. Sometimes it’s somebody screaming or whatever.…

Me: [blank stare]

Wood: Look, if somebody can watch it and say, “Wow! I feel less weird now!” then that’s great. Somebody’s got to stand up for the freaks!

We talk like this for almost an hour, me mostly incredulous and Wood mostly exuberant as she says things like: “When we first met, he took me up to the roof to just shoot pellet guns—at nothing! ” And: “People would be surprised at the kind of healthy, loving relationship we have.” And: “If it doesn’t work out, I would never blame it on the fact that he’s Marilyn Manson.”

By the end of our meeting, I can imagine the story that Wood is telling herself. It’s not exactly what you’d call normal, but it does seem at least somewhat thought-out: Loner teen actress falls for older, shock-rocking lover and develops into that rare creature—the Dark Starlet, the one infamous not for her partying or her time behind bars but for the publicly transgressive nature of her art. And you know what? That doesn’t sound that different from Jodie Foster’s career track after all.

I’m really just being me and growing up,” she says. “And I’m sorry if I have blond hair and blue eyes and my boyfriend looks like a vampire. What do you want me to do about it?”

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While it might seem at first glance to be a carefully constructed label ploy, the origins of the band actually go back a couple of years to the death of drummer Randy Castillo (Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne). The early version of the band, which featured Buckcherry's Josh Todd and Keith Nelson, performed at a benefit in honor of Castillo, who lost a long battle with cancer at the age of 41.

There have been many twists and turns since then, including the unlikely procurement of Weiland. As Slash explains, "This was definitely something that was either meant to be or some serious cosmic fluke."

liveDaily: I read an interview with Matt Sorum where he said, "Most of the singers I've worked with are a little crazy. When they're comfy and sweet, they usually suck." Do you agree?

Slash: I don't think I've actually procured enough singers in my day to be able to label them as such. But in my experience, from the ones I've worked with and other ones that I'm familiar with, it tends to be that the singer needs to be a little different. [laughs] There's a difference in the way that singers look at things, in general. But as far as being crazy, it all depends on what you think "crazy" is. [laughs]

How did this all come together?

A: It was when Matt, Duff and I decided to form a band to play a fundraiser, as a result of Randy Castillo's death. All of these musician friends of Randy's got together to play. And when I was at the funeral I ran into Matt, he asked me to play, and then we called Duff--it was a total, one-off buddy thing. Duff flew in and I got these guys from Buckcherry to fill out the band.

So we put together the six-song set and did the gig and it was really intense. I'm looking to get a thesaurus, to try to find the right words. I don't know why Matt and Duff and I never thought about putting together a band before--probably a lot of it having to do with the Guns N' Roses stigma, and we were off doing our own things. I was starting a band with Steve Gorman from The Black Crowes, Duff was playing in his band Loaded, and Matt was making a solo record. But the next night Duff called me and we thought this was too cool to ignore. There was too much chemistry.

We rehearsed with Josh and Keith for a few months, and we basically had sort of musical differences, let's put it that way. We decided to find the right people, and started writing like crazy. Dave Kushner was playing in Duff's band Loaded, and he came down to fill in, and it was just natural. He has a different approach, but he's very rock and roll, a terrific guitar player.

How did Scott get involved? Did you know him personally?

Everyone in the band knew him in one way or another, except for me. Duff's wife knew Scott's wife, Matt knew him from rehab, and Dave Kushner knew him because Dave's band, the Electric Love Hogs, opened for STP for a while. I was the only guy who didn't know him at all. I'd seen him once at the KROQ Acoustic Christmas, and knew his music from the radio.

Scott was the first guy that I thought of, that would be perfect for this band. I liked his voice, liked STP, but wasn't aware of that much about him. Duff called him up, and he was interested to hear some material, so I sent a CD of, like, four songs to his house. And we got a call back and he said, "The stuff sounds great, but I'm really sort of torn because I'm still in STP and we've got a tour coming up. I have to see what's going on." Which is totally cool. We didn't want to have anything to do with breaking up STP, and let it go.

Then we auditioned all these singers, and from the hundreds of CDs and cassettes we got the typical Axl clones, a lot of Eddie Vedders in there. It was tedious. Several months later we were asked by our management, "Who are the top ten singers you'd like to get for this band?" Scott's name came up again, and it was around that time that STP broke up, and Scott's wife went to Duff's wife, trying to get in contact with us. Right around that time we got a couple offers to do the soundtracks for "The Incredible Hulk" and "The Italian Job," so we used those as vehicles to bring Scott in. It all clicked from the moment he walked into rehearsal.

When did you start writing for "Contraband"?

That happened pretty quickly. We did the "Hulk" recording and then a gig right after that, which is kind of what cemented us. It was at the El Ray Theater, and it went over like gangbusters. At first we were going to put out an EP of that show and do a tour, but then we decided to do the record. We started writing, and by October we were ready to go into the studio.

How did you and Kushner decide on guitar parts?

A: He's usually the guitar on the left-hand side, and any kind of weird sounds, like a synthesizer or futuristic--it's his guitar. I do all the leads. On the intro to "Sucker Train Blues" there's some guitar licks that are his. That was the very last new song that we wrote for the album.

How many takes to you do for your solos?

Usually, in a perfect world, it's the first take. Sometimes it takes more. On that particular song, that was the first take. Pulled a Strat out and just did it. I attempted to go and do it with a Les Paul, which is completely different, and it was like, why bother? On another song, "Superhuman," there's two guitars going on at the same time, and I played both of them on the record. When we play it live, Dave's going to play one part, so that will be cool.

What are the tour plans looking like?

It looks like we'll start out in the States, and by the end of the summer we'll be in Europe. This will probably be theaters. I think, depending on what opportunities are given, we'll try to keep it more toe-to-toe with the audience, although we'll do the odd festival and would love to be able to do the arena thing.

I've done a lot of touring, and I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't. I think the best thing to do is maintain a good relationship with your audience, and try to keep it as compact as possible. In an arena, you can actually do that, but when you start playing bigger places than that, then it starts to become impersonal.

To make a show intimate in front of 20,000 people is no small feat.

You can do it, and I've got to say I cherish being capable of playing in front of that many people. After doing arenas with Guns for so long, playing the clubs with Snakepit was a huge shot in the arm for me. It re-established why I really love what I do.

a 1978 phone interview by Roberta Bayley,
reprinted from the Sid Vicious section at www.sex-pistols.net

The Sex Pistols American tour ended at Winterland in San Francisco, January14, 1978. Two days later the band had officially broken up. On January 20, Sid Vicious boarded a plane for London via New York. He passed out en route, an apparent drug overdose, and was taken unconscious to Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York. The biggest blizzard of the year had immobilized New York, so we spoke to Sid that night over the phone. He sounded very weak, but anxious to talk. He was lonely and bored.

Sid Vicious In Tulsa

Sid: Hello.
Roberta: Hello, Sid?
Sid: Hello.
Roberta: Sid?
Sid: Yeah?
Roberta: This is Roberta.
Sid: Oh yeah, I remember... will you come visit me in Hospital?
Roberta: I would but it's snowing.
Sid: Oh.
Roberta: I don't have a car and you can't go on the trains.
Sid: I'm lonely.
Roberta: We're gonna come tomorrow. Do you think you'll still be in tomorrow?
Sid: I'm supposed to be going back to London tomorrow.
Roberta: How are you feeling?
Sid: Weak.
Roberta: Nobody's been up to see you or anything?
Sid: No.

Roberta: It's so miserable outside. I guess you can see it on television.
Sid: Yeah, I'm just sitting here on my own.
Roberta: How long you been in there - just last night?
Sid: Umm, yeah.
Roberta: What happened to everybody else? Who was on the plane with you?
Sid: Boogie (soundman for the Sex Pistols). What happened was, I done 80 milligrams of methadone, right? And when you get - and about 6 or 7 valiums -- and when you get high in the air it has a much greater effect on you than it does when you're on the ground. You know you get pissed a lot quicker in the air.
Roberta: Yeah, you get drunk faster.
Sid: So, that's what happened...I wouldn't expect anyone to go on a train all this way just to see me anyway.

Cain's Ballroom, Tulsa

Roberta: Do you have a TV at least?
Sid: Yeah. What I could do with would be something to read.
Roberta: Yeah, magazines or something, huh?
Sid: What I really want is like a very very large pile of Marvel comics.
Roberta: I've got some great comic books.
Sid: Yeah, so do I, but Boogie's got them, the asshole.
Roberta: You don't have any way to get in touch with him?
Sid: No. He said he'd call me later today, but he hasn't bothered. And he won't be bothering either. He's a cunt.
Roberta: Well, what happened with this group of yours anyway?
Sid: I left them.
Roberta: Yeah, it seems like everybody left them.
Sid: Well. I don't think anybody really wanted to continue, but no one had the guts to actually say it. So I just phoned John up and told him what I thought of him and where I thought he was at and ummm... I mean I still think I'm pretty good. I think I was better than any of the others.
Roberta: But what do Steve and Paul want to do?
Sid: I don't know. They'll probably try and get another band together and fail. John's completely finished.
Roberta: That seems to be the general consensus.
Sid: (Cheerfully) Does it?
Roberta: Well, everybody's just saying well what can he do now and nobody can figure out anything that he can do.
Sid: Yeah, right and he's finished as a person as well. He's just not what he used to be.

Johnny Rotten

Roberta: Well, maybe this will shake him up a little bit?
Sid: Yeah, that's what I'm hoping. That it'll shake him up and then he'll be able to do something, that'd be goad if he could do that, but otherwise if it doesn't shake him up and get him out of it, then as a person, not only will he not do anything, but also nobody will even want to know him. They'll say, oh didn't you used to be Johnny Rotten?
Roberta: Yeah, I guess in England everybody's gonna be really upset about this. How do you feel about it?
Sid: I'm glad that it's over now because it was like...I feel like I was the only one still putting any real energy into it. Did you see our show at Frisco? I mean John wasn't doing very much was he?
Roberta: The shows got worse instead of better.
Sid: Yeah. I think the one we did in Dallas or something was....
Roberta: San Antonio. I thought that was best.
Sid: (Excited) What, was that the one when I got butted in the face?
Roberta: No, that was Dallas. But I liked the one when you hit the guy with the guitar. (Randy's Rodeo)
Sid: Was that the one when I was going really nuts?
Roberta: Yeah, and John was jumping around a lot and the people were throwing lots of beer cans (at the band). That was a really exciting one. If the planes go out in the morning will you go back to London tomorrow?
Sid: Well, I said I would go. Sophie'll have booked the ticket.
Roberta: But they may not be letting the planes go....
Sid: I hope they don't in a way 'cause I wanna like stay in New York for at least one day.
Roberta: Yeah, you should. All kinds of people want to see you and everything. You've never been here before. You could have a good time. I mean you're healthy enough to do it.
Sid: I don't know whether I am. I can't drink. I can't like...The doctor said that if I drank anything like vaguely remotely like the way I've been drinking for the past...however long, that I've got about six months at the absolute outside to live, and like the drugs as well, so I more or less can't do anything so if I went out anywhere I'd just like...sit there. If I went out anywhere I wouldn't be able to resist the temptation - that'd be the trouble. Like I'd end up just boozing myself out.
Roberta: Well, what're you going to do? If you go back to London, it's just the same thing.
Sid: Yeah. I probably will die in six months, actually.
Roberta: You have to straighten out for a while.
Sid: I can't straighten up. I just can't be straight.
Roberta: You could. Just as an experiment.
Sid: I suppose I just have to. I haven't figured out yet quite how I'm gonna do it 'cause I haven't been straight in like four years. I had hepatitis and when I got out of hospital I just really fucked myself up as badly as I could. I don't know why, but everybody said you can't do it, so I just went ahead and done it. It's my basic nature.
Roberta: Well, your basic nature's gonna get you in a lot of trouble.
Sid: My basic nature's gonna kill me in six months.

Bring Back Glam!: How do you think the Poison/RATT tour will change your lives?

Jacki Stone: This is a great opportunity for us to get the name and music of Vains of Jenna out to a lot of people every night! We all are grateful that Poison and RATT decided to bring us along on this tour. We will get more fans out of this and it will be a good experience... I hope we will be able to continue touring and that our own tours get bigger and bigger. We'll see after this tour how it might change our lives!

J.P. White: Yeah, this tour will definitely give us a lot more experience and also a lot more confidence as musicians. We will see and do so much new stuff during this tour that will help us later on in our careers. Already after the first show we did on the tour we learned tons of shit. I think that all this will get us stronger as a group and make us prepared for the future.

BBG: You landed a major tour relatively quickly. What do you think this means for the state of rock in the U.S.A.?

Jacki: Yeah, it's amazing. I think it really shows that rock n' roll is on the way back again. Hopefully, we'll get some kids to start a band too. We need more RnR here in the states!

J.P: Like Jacki said “It’s amazing" to be on this kind of tour and play in front of thousands of people after two and a half years as a band is almost unreal. I think it means a lot to the rock crowd in the States. Hopefully we can show them that rock n’ roll isn’t dead! It is a new generation of rock n’ roll coming up to keep it alive. Soon people will understand that it’s cool to start a rock band with guys or girls that actually look like “rock stars” again.

BBG: Are you surprised by your success?

Jacki: Well, no not really. We have worked really hard to get to where we are right now. I know we are a kick ass band with great songs! Live we are even better and we have also met the right people along the way at the right time that has helped us. But it's all about taking changes in your life and believing in what you do.

J.P: I knew that this band would be something right from the start. It’s just that right chemistry between the four of us in the band and we all feel the same way. I think that’s the reason that we could make it this far so fast. No one in the band hesitated on giving up our old life in Sweden and get to the next level.

BBG: Will Vains of Jenna play Rocklahoma in some capacity since the festival is an official tour stop for both Poison and RATT?

Jacki: I don't know yet... it would be really cool to do it, so hopefully that will happen!

BBG: Who are your major musical influences?

Jacki: I listen to a lot of different music... we all do...everything from like N.W.A to Slayer. But the "major" influences would probably be bands like Aerosmith, GnR, Nirvana, Motley Crue, and The (Rolling) Stones.

J.P: I just have to mention Avenged Sevenfold is a great band with killer songs!

BBG: Talk about your new song "Enemy in Me" for the Viva La Bands II disc. Who wrote the song and is this the direction you are going with your next album?

Jacki : The song "Enemy In Me" we wrote sometime during the summer of 2006. We have worked with it off and on and when we got the opportunity to be on the Viva La Bands compilation we wanted a new song to show the people. Our producer for this song, Brent Woods, loved the song and we decided to record it. Brent helped us some with different stuff to get the song even better, and Lizzy (DeVine, lead singer) made most of the lyrics and melodies, which came out just great! It's definitely a direction to how we might sound like on the next album. It is still raw rock n roll but so much better!

J.P: I don’t think that anyone in the band expected the song to come out that hard and raw as the final product is. It’s definitely in the direction that we wanna go and it sounds killer.

BBG: When will Vains of Jenna return to the studio to record a follow-up to Lit Up/Let Down?

Jacki: Don't know. We hope that it will be in the next six or nine months.

J.P: Hopefully it will be with Brent Woods, it’s a cool chemistry between the band and him as a producer.

BBG: Will the next album be on Bam Margera's Filthy Note label, or will you jump to a major?

Jacki: I have no idea.

BBG: Will the recording process take place here in the U.S. or Sweden? And do you have intentions of permanently moving to America?

Jacki: Well, our visas expire in October, but we are working on that now so we can at least stay here for another year. The dream is to permanently live in U.S.A. making it big over here and continue touring and then also do tours in the rest of the world!

J.P: Right now it feels like the only thing that is 100% is that we are on this summer tour with Posion and RATT. We don’t know what will happen after that.

BBG: What's your favorite - and least favorite - aspect of Lit Up/Let Down?

Jacki: I'm very proud of the CD. We did it by our own in a cabin, in the woods, in the middle of January 2006 and it only took us a week. To get this far from that album is a pretty fucking cool thing!

J.P: Of course there is parts that can be better and tighter. If we knew that the songs on the record would end up as an album we probably get more time and (put more) work into it. It’s raw and punky and reflects the way we live and I’m fucking proud of it!

BBG: What's the best part of touring?

Jacki: I love everything about it! Being on the road with my best friends is absolutely the best thing ever. Going to city to city, meeting new people, fans, girls and have that gift to be able to perform every night is a dream coming true!

J.P: That’s true. Just the feeling of going somewhere all the time, you never know what to expect the next day; it’s a great way to live. It’s almost like sex: you arrive, you play, you say "Thank you" and you go away to the next one (laughs).

In this exclusive interview, I had the opportunity to speak with Vains of Jenna guitarist Nicki Kin about the upcoming tour, the new album and how Vains of Jenna hope to bring Glam-Metal music back to the charts.


Nicki, Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to do this interview for GlamMetal.com. Now rumor has it that Vains of Jenna will be performing on the Poison/Ratt Tour beginning June 13th. Is this true?
KIN: Yeah it's true, we will be out with them all summer, we're really fuckin excited about it. It’s gonna be a great tour and a great opportunity for us to show everybody what we’re all about.

How did you get the gig. It is such an amazing opportunity for Vains of Jenna? Did C.C. Deville come to see the band perform earlier this year?
KIN: He saw us last summer at The Cat Club, and he and Bobby Dall saw us at The Viper Room, last time we played there. They're really cool guys.

Were you influenced by Poison/Ratt at all, growing up in Sweden?
KIN: Yeah, we were all influenced by that kind of music. It’s really big in Sweden right now.

Vains of Jenna have been on the road touring constantly in support of your debut album,"Lit Up/Let Down on the Bam Margera label Filthy Note Records. How important will this tour be to the band?
KIN: this is really important, we never played in front these big crowds before and hopefully It will help us sell some more copies of our album.

How have the sales of "Lit Up/Let Down" been so far? Where can the fans buy the album?
KIN: the sales has been ok I guess, none of us expected too much from an album we recorded in one week in a cabin in Sweden, produced and mixed by ourselves… so it’s been ok.

Let's talk about the first video off of your debut album," No One's Gonna Do It For You." Where was it filmed and what were some of the highlights?
KIN: We recorded the video in one day at Bam's house in West Chester,Pennsylvania.That whole day was fuckin great, we were really hungover when we started shooting early in the morning and we had slept for like two hours, but we
had a great time!! What I like most in the video is the live shots, cause we’re playing a real show and that’s when we look the coolest. The video was what it looks like, a big fuckin party.

I really enjoyed the sound of your new album. It kind of reminds me a lot of "Appetite For Destruction." Who does most of the songwriting in the band, or is ita group effort?
KIN: Thanks, yeah it's a really raw sound on the album, which we like!!! All of us write songs. Usually, me or Lizzy comes up with an idea and then we all work on it, that’s how it usually works... but some songs on the album we wrote in like 10 minutes and it just sounded cool!! The songs on Lit up/Let down were written like the first four months we were a band.

Let's talk a little bit about your guitar playing on the album. I can hear a lot of punk influences, and at the same time a lot of metal influences. Who were some of your guitar heroes growing up? Who inspired you to first pick up the
guitar?
KIN: I think a lot of different guitar players inspired me.. Keith Richards is definitely a big inspiration for me!! No one can play like Keith... Slash, Joe Perry, Jimmy Page are some other heroes of mine, I been listening to them since I was 5 years old or something…A band that I been listening very much since like a year back is Avenged Sevenfold, They have really inspired me. I grew up with a lot of blues music too, I guess everyone from B.B King to Kerry King made me wanna play guitar.

Is Vains of Jenna working on a new studio release?
KIN: We're in the middle of recording right now with Brent Woods as a producer, but we're not planning to release a new album yet... first we have some tours to do then we see what happens. I really want people to hear our new shit though!!

Will the new material follow in the veins of "Lit Up/Let Down"?
KIN: I think our new songs are much better, but it's not like we want to change our sound, it just comes naturally....I think we've grown as songwriters and musicians, and we get inspired by new things all the time….. but it’s still sounds like Vains of Jenna.

How as the band grown musically, since your constant touring schedule has played a major role in your career?
KIN: The band has definitely grown musically!! we have played over 150 shows in the U.S since October and toured all over the country and it made us a lot better and stronger as a band.

How did you meet Bam and what was it like working with him on his reality show, "Unholy Alliance"?
KIN: We met him the first time at house of blues in Hollywood, we talked for like two minutes and like three days after that we met him again when I was getting a tattoo on Hollywood Boulevard,we told him about a show we had at Cat club that week. He came to see the show and wanted to sign us to his label Filthy note right after the gig. So we signed with Filthy note a few weeks later, recorded video and all that To be on is show on MTV was really cool, we were just hanging out with him, getting drunk and all that and it was just fun.

Now Bam is also from the show, "Jackass" fame? Has he ever pulled any funny stunts on the band?
KIN: HAHA, not really I think, not that I can remember at least..

Nicki, Let's go back to your early roots, and talk about your amazing 10,000 mile journey from Falkenberg, Sweden to perform at the Whisky-A-Go-Go on July 30, 2005. What was it like perform in LA in the first time? What was running through your mind onstage?
KIN: We were so fuckin excited just to be in L.A and walking around on sunset strip and that stuff and to play the whisky where a lot of heroes used to play was so cool for us then. I don't really remember what I was thinking in stage, but I was really fuckin' happy to play in L.A

Vains of Jenna has to be one of the most exciting bands to emerge on the scene in along time. Four days after tour performance at the Cruefest, you were recording with Gilby Clarke. What was it like working with Gilby?
KIN: Gilby was really cool, a really nice guy and we're all big Guns fans so that was really cool to be able to record with him and hang out at his house.

Did he give you any advice as a band to follow?
KIN: Not really I think, we focused on the recording.

What kind of sound did you hope to inspire on "Lit Up/Let Down"?
KIN: I don't wanna call us a glam or a sleaze band. For me this is just how we write songs and I call it rock n roll and it can be what ever the fuck we want it to be. But people can call it Glam or whatever, I don’t care.

How would you describe the sound of Vains of Jenna? it kind of reminds me of early Faster Pussycat and LA Guns.
KIN: Yeah, we listened a lot to those bands and still do. Just like them we have a raw sound, and if I would describe Lit up/Let down I would say it's just raw rock n roll with a little bit of punk to it...and a lot of energy

 Did you perform in High School with any of the members? Is that where the band first met?
KIN: Me and Jacki were still in high school when the band was formed, we've been friends since we were 9 years old or something like that and we always played in the same bands too.Lizzy and J.P used to play in the same band, and since we're all from the same small shitty town we all kind of knew each other and yeah J.P and Jacki are brothers

What are some of the differences in performing to European audiences and American  audiences?
KIN: It's not that different, we played a lot more in The States though so we know a lot more about
the crowd here. I love to tour in the U.S we have met so many cool people here!!

How is the music scene in Sweden? I hear the Sweden Rock Festival is amazing?
KIN: There's a bunch of really good bands from Sweden. There’s not a lot to do in Sweden, so kids start to play music and form bands when they’re really young and now we have a lot of great bands!! More bands should try to come to the states though.I hear Sweden Rock Festival is really good, I never been there myself, but most of the festivals in Sweden are really good.

Any bands that have influenced you from Sweden?
KIN: Yeah a lot of them....Backyard Babies, Hardcore Superstar, Hellacopters, Crashdiet, Ebba Grön Dia Psalma are just some of them..they're great bands

Has touring The States been everything that you thought it would be? What have some of your favorite cities been to perform in so far?
KIN: It’s been even better than I expected. We have had a lot of great shows and people been really cool to us. We all love all cities we play in Texas. Phoenix and New York is always really good too…and you can‘t have a bad time Las Vegas.

Are their any funny road stories that you would like to share with us?
KIN: There’s too many…haha.. crazy shit happens all the time on the road!!

How is the LA scene? How do you hope to make an impact on the metal scene?
KIN: The rock scene is getting better all over the world right now. I hope we’re gonna get the kids to listen to our kind of music. We’re the new generation of rock n roll and I think people need good music again!! Since we been living in L.A we’ve seen that it getting much better, kids start to dress like us and form bands, so it’s great.

Are you making Los Angeles your home these days?
KIN: Yeah, we're in Los Angeles when we're not on the road

How did the band come up with the name Vains of Jenna? Any special meaning behind the name?
KIN: J.P came up with the name one night, he was really drunk and wrote down like 10 different names and Vains of Jenna was the coolest one. Most people think it has something to do with Jenna Jameson, but it has not, it’s just a cool name.

What special gear do you use onstage, and do you have any guitar endorsements?
KIN: We're endorsed by B.C Rich and Carvin. I play a B.C Rich EM1 through a Carvin V3 amp. It sounds fuckin great..

Nicki, Is their anything else that you would like to say to the fans at GlamMetal.Com about your album and upcoming tour?
KIN: Don’t fuckin miss us this summer, buy the album… and thanks for supporting rock n’ roll. That’s all I have to say

10 QUESTIONS WITH

VAINS OF JENNA!

Hey Sludgeaholics and Sludgettes. Look what we found! One of the missing links to rock n' roll. If you liked Guns n Roses, Hanoi Rocks or that whole sleeze sound from the 80s, than this band is for you. Or maybe you're into Backyard Babies, or Towers of London right now. If so, then this band will set your sack on fire.

From a small town in Sweden they formed less than a year ago and have already trecked to Hollywood, played the Sunset Strip, recorded with an Ex.
member of GnR, and have had labels knocking on their door. Why? Cause WEEZER sucks balls and kids are over the wigger/rap shit and the gay fucking haircuts. Lizzy Devine is the band grandpa at just 24 years of age, while bassist JP White is barely legal at 21. Jacki Stone is JP's younger brother at 19, and Nicki Kin is also 19. These 2 guys graduated high school in June and flew to Hollywood a month later. How fucking rock n' roll is that? Read on and find out more about who's gonna put the spit back into rock n' roll! Coming to Hollywood in 2006!.

Check the guys out live in Sweden 12-9-2005 right here...
http://www.vainsofjenna.com/vainsofjenna-hardtobevain.WMV 

1. Who are you and where can people find out more about Vains of Jenna?

We're a four piece band put together by a major record label. We're as fake as a band can be! hahaha!!! No seriously, we're four guys from a small town on the westcoast of Sweden. We formed in January 2005. The first gig we ever got offered was at Cruefest in Hollywood. This happend back in early Feb. when we'd just recorded our first song. On lead vocals and guitar we have Lizzy DeVine, on bass we have JP White and on lead guitar we have Nicki Kin. Our drummer is Jacki Stone. .

2. What the fuck does your name mean, and did you know that you spelled Vains wrong?

The band name is our connection to the world of sex, drugs and rock n' roll. The "Jenna" part has nothing to do with pornstar Jenna Jameson (or has it?)

The misspelling of VAINS is because we're fuckin' Swedish. And it looks so much cooler with an "A". People have sent us outtakes from dictionaries pointing out our "mistake". But screw them. We like the spelling and we're keepin' it.

3. Tell us about your trip to Hollywood, playing Cruefest and anything else worth mentioning? And is there any future plans of gigs, tours or travel outside of Sweden again?

We had a blast in Hollywood. The week was insane. We met a lot of cool people. At Cruefest we played kinda early, but that didn't stop us from puttin' on a hell of a show. Or at least that's what we've been told.

We met our manager at the Whisky backstage, he took us to Redrum Studios to record some songs with producer Gilby Clarke later that week. We're all big GnR fans so that was awsome. We're flyin' back to the states next year and we're prob. gonna play at Crüefest next year too.

4. What hard rock/heavy metal band should be dropped so you guys can take their place?

Just wait and see. We're about to take over the world. Then they all will be droppin' like flies!!!

5. Name 3 good things about living in Sweden and name 3 bad things?

GOOD: Girls, Girls, Girls
BAD: Like a dick in the water: Cold, Tiny and Boring

6. Shotgun Messiah was from Sweden and so is Backyard Babies. Do you know these bands and did you ever see them live, open for them, or roadie for them?

No, we don't know anyone in those bands. We've seen Backyard Babies live a couple of times. Shotgun Messiah called it quits before we got a chance to see 'em.

7. What's the smallest and largest crowd you've played in front of?

Smallest: 12 people when we played with Swedish band Gemini Five in Mariestad, Sweden.
Largest (so far in this band): About 400 people

8. Your drummer Jacki Stone & bassist JP White are brothers yet have different last names. How the fuck did that happen?

They've always been called that. If you want to know more about this. Buy the brothers a bottle of booze and see who starts talkin'.

9. Your average age is about 20 years old. Are you the bastard kids of Guns n' Roses or Hanoi Rocks? Is any of your Dads named Slash, Izzy or Nasty Suicide by chance?

Once apoun a time Lizzy's mother Mike Monroe and Nicki's father Duff were on tour together. And then something strange happend. No! We're the new generation. They're old, and we have all the respect in the world for them, but this is our time and it's just begun...

10. Time for Metal Sludge's Word Association. We mention a name and you give us your thoughts.

Tim Tim = One of the few cool swedish rock n' roll guys that made it.
Andy McCoy = A legend.
Gilby Clarke = A cool guy. The man with the new Corvette.
Riki Rachtman = Oh that's the guy that owns that place on page 186 in the Hollywood Rocks book
Zinny Zan = Back in the days he was good lookin' singer. Still got a great high pitch
Duff = He ripped off Nicki Kin's good looks years ago
Taime Downe = One hell of a lyric writer.
Fred Durst = don't like his shit.
Joe Perry = One of the guitar gods
Nikki Sixx = Great song writer.