Marc Torien of the Bulletboys
Interview by SuperMonkey
ilovesupermonkey.com

Marc what’s happening! Bulletboys! They are back in black! “I know right?! I couldn’t be more thankful. The fans have been great and so supportive. The media as well. I mean our new song #2 with a bullet on the top rock station in NYC. Who would have saw that coming?”

I guess we should start with the obvious question, what happened to all the blonde hair? “That’s the silliness of the 80’s man! I guess I liked it at first because people didn’t recognize me. Now a daysII just want to be myself so I’m just sticking with the black hair these days.”

I think your resurgent success is very interesting. “It’s the internet man! The internet is the reason for our success.” I think it’s a combination of several factors. One that you guys broke right at the tail end of the 80’s rock scene when bands like Nirvana changed the direction of music and media. Smooth Up In Ya was a KILLER SONG! Everyone loved it and we all wanted to hear more Bulletboys, then all of a sudden that shift in the music biz and you got labeled a hair band then all of a sudden it wasn’t cool to like that kind of music. “Yes maybe and also the fact you couldn’t get airplay in the 80’s unless you had a ballad. Smooth Up was our ballad! That’s really the only song we were able to get out and it broke us. I think bands like Slipnot and Voltbeat are amazing, and there are so many great things going on in Rock ‘n Roll right now and you look out into the crowd and there’s 30K people going nuts. Rock ‘n Roll is not dead and the Bulletboys like to rock, that’s what we do best. I’ve always hated that label of hair metal, what is that? It’s rock ‘n roll.”

So you have a new album out titled Elephante’ which is awesome, I can’t wait to buy the vinyl. What’s your favorite song on the new album “Kinfolk it’s pretty personal to me. II was really down, didn’t have a place to look to and I found my faith. I’m not a perfect specimen and I try to be a good musician. The song talks about having blind faith in something you’d normally do not have. Words that come out of your mouth can be powerful. These days I try to stay positive, have faith in something higher than yourself and I’m not talking about religion. I’m talking about faith and trying to do the best we can with what we have.”

So you recorded recently at Dave Grohl’s Studio 606 tell me about that that had to be a once in a lifetime experience. “The energy in 606 is unbelievable – David Grohl and the Foo Fighters are hands down my favorite band. He has been carrying the flag of rock ‘n roll yelling “No! Rock ‘n Roll IS NOT DEAD! I have so much love and respect for Dave I can’t say it enough.” I couldn’t agree more, Dave is an amazing person and so inspiring.

What are some words of advice for aspiring musicians? “To be in this business you have to be a reinventing yourself, people get over you really quick. We’re in a mass media world where they are always looking for the next best thing.” Like American Idol or The Voice. I can’t stand those shows. What’s your opinion? “ I have a lot of good friends that work on some of those shows but I will say I haven’t really seen someone go on that show and really make it to the level of success they promote. But I have seen those shows do wonders for the judge’s careers.” That is so true, very good point Marc.

Last question where does the name of the band Bulletboys come from? “Bulletboys sarted the band in Ronnie’s garage in a big gang area of LA. At rehearsal there’d be holes in the garage and we could just pick up bullets in garage floor. Then some dude I can’t remember said “Hey you guys should call yourself the Bulletboys!” It matched personalities it stuck.”

I can’t wait to see them LIVE! Check out the Bulletboys Friday July 17th at The Rex Theater in the Southside, brought to you by SuperMonkey Recording Company! Get your tickets at www.ilovesupermonkey.com