glitter punk – Veglam

First, let me tell you that the cover of this promo CD from Sweden is just great ! I mean, it’s nice, original,quite funny and romantic at the same time. This little boy standing up could symbolize every broken-hearted outcast glam/punk rocker, you know who you are! 🙂 In fact, it perfectly illustrates the lyrics and this atmosphere full of broken teenage dreams and passionate rebellion. It makes me feel like I’m 15 again ! The first song called “Promqueen Daydream” is a poppy glam punk jewel dipped in bubblegum that makes every part of my body move.”Baby Doll” starts like “Cry Tough” (POISON) because of the drums intro but is indeed closer to HANOI ROCKS. Then, “Goodnight Kisses”proves that glam is punk, it sounds like a glitterversion of The RAMONES. The last song (“First Date”) is also a very good glitter punk pop anthem. SUGAR SHOCK do what they want and are damn good at it. Some will complain about the sound but I won’t, damn& blast it ! This is a good punk sound to me, we don’t need powerful metal guitars and FM sounds here and there’s a lot of charm in the punk side of the band. I’m sure that punks will appreciate… So now, I urge you to come and walk with me on GlitterGlue Avenue and greet SUGAR SHOCK with cheers ! Laurent C.

“Sugar Shock personify the snotty stage of the teens. With a cockiness not seen since Guns ´n Roses, these boys give their nailpolished mighty middlefinger to the rest of the world. These brats are the rebel rousers of the 21st Century.” Yeah ! it sounds like a good introduction for this Swedish band. Put on your make-up and start a bubblegum diet ’cause you won’t resist their glitter charm.

So, was it difficult to get the line-up of SUGAR SHOCK ? How did you met ? Did you play in other bands before ?

Starlet/ Sugar Shock: Yeah, it’s always difficult when you are doing something new and have a high ambition. Cristy and Cherry met via Cristy’s brother who is an old friend of Cherry’s (he is also the drummer in Elasmo (http://come.to/elasmo). They mailed Glitzine – an on-line glam/glitter magazine which I run – and asked if I knew anyone that may be interested in creating the ultimate glitter sensation. They were looking for a vocalist and a bassist. I answered that I got a candy-coated voice and twinkeling eyes. We met and it was love at first sight. Everything happened really fast. We had seven songs after seven rehearsals. We shared the same basic thoughts on how Rock n Roll should sound… and look! Simply put, it was an amazing first date! It doesn’t happened often. I’ve been looking for some alleycats with attitude for years! Cherry and Cristy had also played in bands they weren’t comfortable in. Finally, everything felt right. We started looking for a bassist and that’s when the problems started. Bassists are not easy to find. We wanted someone who was just like us, a fourth sugarsweet kid. He/She also had to play tight of course. We tried about six bassist and we’re still looking for a bassist (interested parties should mail info@sugar-shock.com) eventhough we can go on very well as a threepiece.

Are you satisfied with your new cd “First Date” ? Did you put it out on your own label ? How do you distribute it (Internet ? shops ? independent mailorders ?…) ?

We are very satisfied with “First Date”. It’s getting raving reviews and everyone seems to like it, punks as well as glamsters. There are always things that you can do better and different but “First Date” contains four hits with a capital H. It’s one of my favourite albums which says a lot! I love the sound and the attitude. It’s exactly how we want to be. Jukeboxpunk with a teenage twist. I was curious how the masses would react to it. After all, glitter and kisses haven’t been that popular during the nineties. Was the world ready for a revival of rebellion? The Answer is yes! Actually the world begged on it’s knees to be revamped and rocked again. We grabbed a bunch of krayolas and painted a rainbow all across the glitterglobe. We are gonna distribute “First Date” ourselves through our website ( http://www.sugar-shock.com) . We will try to get some distribution deal but this is basically a promoCD. We are looking for a major deal and we just won’t quit. There are some publishing/Record companies that are interested in us already. Things are looking very bright at the moment. We will enter the studio again in feb/mars and record our next E.P.

I’ve heard that you use to throw bubblegums at your audience during concerts, how do people react ?

Bubblegum yum yum. There is only one way to react to it isn’t there? Drastic Plastic Superfantastic!! Some are trying to catch as many gums as possible, others are just blowing bubbles and looking cool. Some just don’t have a clue what to do! We want our shows to be something to remember and come back to.

Is it easy for a band like you to play in Sweden ? Are the conditions good generally ? Would you accept any kind of show ?

Sugar Shock is a pretty new band. We haven’t had any problems with booking shows so far. Sweden is the ultimate scene for a band to start. Lots of culture, tradition, ambition, great bands and an impressive underground network. There’s no place I’d rather be! Sweden’s got one of the best rock at the moment eventhough it’s more punk than glitter. The conditions are good but people in general aren’t that familiar with shock rock. Initially, they look a bit confused but if Sugar Shock doesn’t get your feet moving… you’re already dead! Hey, even stiff kittens got claws! We accept any show as long as there is free glitterglue, marshmallows and mintchocolate. Mail: booking@sugar-shock.com

What do your families think about the band and the way you look ?

Our parents love Sugar Shock. Everyone’s a sucker for sweet stuff right? They are all very proud of what we’re doing. They’re the best! Regarding our looks; in the beginning my parents weren’t that fond of me wearing make-up. I come from a small-town. Lots of prejudices and the tails grown on taller all down the line. Anyway, I can’t and don’t want to be any other than myself so they had to accept it. Which they did. They’ve realized that am still the same person eventhough I have make-up smeared all over my face. They realized that I’m a glitterkid and that my life’s a neonfairytale. I may grow up someday but I will never grow old.

Starlet, when did you start your webzine (“Glitzine”) ? Does it take a lot of your time ? You also run a mailorder, what kind of stuff (cd ? 7″? zines ? what styles ?) do you carry ?

I started Glitzine three years ago. There weren’t any good glam resources on the Net so I started my own (with a lot of help from my old friend Johan Plate). It took a lot of my time and it still does but I’m working more with Sugar Shock now. That is my main priority. I have other writers for Glitzine nowadays who have decreased my workload. The Mailorder was just an idea because I wanted to expand and develope Glitzine. However; I got addicted to Sugar Shocks so I had to put that idea on hold. I used to do a little but a little wouldn’t do so a little got more and more…

Many American bands come to Europe, and on the contrary, just a few European bands can afford to play in the USA. What’s your opinion about that ?

We have considering touring in the U.S. later in our career. I have a lot of contacts and it would be major cool. America isn’t our main priority right now of course. We are focusing on Sweden and Europe. Internet has however reduced the distance and we got a lot of American fans who we would love to play for and meet. America is not the land of opportunities anymore but it would be a blast to play there.

I’ve already interviewed many Swedish bands for my paper zine, and almost every time, they said to me that there is a lot of interesting bands (no matter the musical style) in Sweden, do you agree ? Do you think that there are more bands in Sweden than in any other European country ?

I think Sweden’s got the most interesting rockscene right now. There are several glitter/punk bands with a lot of potential (The Jackals, Hardcore Superstar, Scarecrows, Plan 9, Highschool Hellcats etc). I don’t know any other country with such a good and flourishing underground scene. All bands are ambitious and are trying to help each other. Sugar Shock, Plan 9, Scarecrows and The Jackals are trying to put together a Glittertour this spring. We’ll spread the glitter all over Sweden.

Most people who say that glam is back often refer to industrial/neo-metal bands with glam influences mainly in their look. Do you think that glam is better when it contains a good dose of punk/rock’n’roll ?

Everything is better with a dose of punk/rock n roll. I know what you mean though. There are several different approaches right now, all claiming to be ”Glam”. So what do Suede and Psycho Gypsy have in common? I don’t know and I don’t care. Glamrock to me, is all about attitude. It’s about decadence and disrespect. It’s about fashion, flamboyance and flair. It’s about having fun. Sugar Shock is focusing on the sweet boy-meets-girl approach because that is what we stand for. Teenage-lipstick-traces. We are the last great daydreamers. I don’t like to put label on things. We never call ourselves ”glamrock” because it means so many things these days.

So, I won’t bother you more, what are your projects ?

You are NOT bothering us bro! We are very thankful for your interest towards us. We will push our CD and spreading the Sugar Shockwave all around the GlitterGlobe. We have some label/publishing -interest and we’ll work more to generate a deal. We will record seven new songs in late February. The New promoCD will be even better than ”First Date”. Everyone who’s starving for Sugar, get a taste of SUGAR SHOCK. Check out our website: http://www.sugar-shock. Mail us: info@sugar-shock.com. Call us: + 46 19 33 02 12. Write us: Sugar Shock, c/o Persson, Tybblegatan 110E:304, 702 19 Orebro, Sweden. Stay young at heart and don’t forget to dream your life away !