
Interview by Mary Boukouvalas
Stan Lee, of LAâs legendary original bubblegum pop-punk veterans The Dickies, says his scene âused to be sex, drugs and rock n roll; now I walk my dogsâ.
Formed in San Fernando in 1977, The Dickies were the first West Coast punk band to be signed to a major label. Surviving line-up changes and untimely deaths, The Dickies continue to play and record today with founding members Stan Lee and Leonard Graves Phillips. Lee recalls many moments from their career, from âPaul Wellerâs advice when we first started: âget everything you can out of the record labelâ, to hanging out with The Stranglers and the Hellâs Angels in Amsterdamâ. [pullquote]Though his proudest moment was when âJoey Ramone passed us the torch and said, âYouâve got to carry on now, weâre doneââ.[/pullquote]
Lee feels honoured being touted as LA’s answer to The Ramones because âas for influences,â he states, âit wasnât till I saw the Ramones and the Damned that I thought this is do-able. I had just started playing not much long before. It was actually Kevin DuBrow from Quiet Riot that talked me into playing guitar because he wanted to be a rockstarâ. It was not much long after that The Dickies were touring with their idols. âIt was great touring with The Jam, Ramones, Dead Kennedys, The Stranglers. If youâre a punk fan like I am, it was pretty great. I was in the front row every night watching The Jam. Paul Weller is such a great guitar player. And The Ramones every night, come on. My pride and joy is this picture on my wall of Joey singing and heâs wearing a Dickiesâ shirtâ.
The Dickies’ music idealism and style came from the same place as their predecessors, yet lyrically they were miles apart. Lee states that they considered the moniker, â’Clown Princes of Punk Rock’ as amusing. We werenât singing about Anarchy in the UK, no future or anything like that, that was a different place. We were going on waterslides, it was swimming pools and movie stars in LA. We had no angst against anything. We had a different spin on itâ.
Though successful worldwide, including Australia, this will be the first time, in their 38 years of existence, that The Dickies will reach these shores. first time, Lee comments: âWe havenât forgotten Australia. It just never materialised. I said, âIâll believe it when I see the airline ticketsâ. And this time, Metropolis Touring offered it and I guess it really must be happening cause youâre calling me so I guess thereâs going to be airline tickets this time. We gonna fucken deliver as much as we canâ.
Donât miss The Dickies live in Australia & New Zealand for the very first time!
View the Tour Trailer:Â http://youtu.be/TqgMBLPqwbE
The Dickiesâ 2015 Australian & New Zealand tour:
Australia
Australia
Thursday 16th: Melbourne – Evelyn Hotel (with extra special guest Nursery Crimes)
Friday 17th: Brisbane – Prince Of Wales Hotel
Saturday 18th: Sydney – Hermanns Bar (with extra special guests Nursery Crimes)
New Zealand
Thursday 23rd: Dunedin – Musicianâs Club
Friday 24th: Christchurch – DuxLive
Saturday 25th: Wellington – Bodega
Sunday 26th (Long Weekend): Auckland – Kings Arms
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