Faster Pussycat

When you think of Hollywood’s infamous ‘80s rock ‘n’ roll scene, it won’t take long before you turn your mind to Faster Pussycat. Led by the incomparable Taime Downe, Faster Pussycat was formed in Hollywood during its ‘80s glam metal boom.

The band toured Australia for their first time ever in 2008. Now, eleven years later, Faster Pussycat return to Australia, in February 2019, for a series of shows which will please long-time fans of the band. Together with a consistent line up and boasting approximately 200 live shows a year, both Taime and Faster Pussycat are sounding better than ever. The band has promised their long-time fans a live show full of classic hits across the first three albums of the bands career. This is a show not to be missed. Taime Downe talks to Hi Fi Way: The Pop Chronicles.

Counting down now to the start of the Australian tour, it must feel like a long time between drinks?
Yeah, it’s been ten years mate since we have been down there and it has been almost two years since I’ve had a fucking drink!

Ten years! Has it been purely timing or not the right time?
Haven’t been invited back! We have been touring ever since but we just haven’t been back there. It took ten fucking years to get there in the first place, so I don’t know? You tell me! It was fun last time too and it is a long way to go from here. It does take a promoter to bring us out there. Even back in the day when we were on Elektra we still didn’t get there, we got to Europe a couple of times but we never went to Australia. So people keep saying why haven’t you been to Australia? Last time was awesome and really cool but it doesn’t feel like it has been that long. We have been going non-stop since 2000.

Is the set list going to cover the entire Faster Pussycat back catalogue?
Not sure about any new shit, we’re working on stuff. We’ll be mixing it up and we don’t play two fucking hours. People just want to drink, have fun and listening to shit. We’ll throw some covers in there and who knows we might change what we do because we don’t like to do the same set list every night. The songs that we do we’ve been playing for a long time and are the ones that are the most fun and the most rockin’ live on stage. When we used to play this song and go in to rehearsals or sound check it doesn’t sound right or isn’t as good as it should be so we don’t play it. Some songs are better to listen to than to play so we play the songs we enjoy playing the most and keeps the set pumping. More importantly we play what I think is cool.

When you say covers will you pull out covers of some of your favourite Australian bands?
There might be something in there! We’re not giving away anything yet! There might be an Aussie thing in there.

Is the new album close to being finished?
It’s coming a long slowly. I’ve just redone my studio at home with different hardware and I’ve switched from Pro-Tools to Logic and I’m having to learn fucking Logic. It’s like trying to learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road on the wrong side of the car but going backwards to get around. I’m getting used to it and it is starting to come together now and I’m going through the songs that we worked on before, getting them together now, it’s coming along and it’s pretty cool. It’s a matter of getting in a mode to get them together so we’ll see what happens. Everyone just wants to hear the old shit any way.

Do you feel the weight of expectation given how long it has been between albums?
Not really, I’m too old to feel that pressure. We don’t have a record label saying where is our work. We work at our leisure now and like I’ve said I’ve put together this new studio with top of the line shit. We’re working with my friend Gilby Clarke from Guns ‘n Roses in his studio doing the drums and then over to Fred Coury from Cinderella doing the vocals and other guitars.

What’s it like working with Gilby Clarke?
He’s my bro, we ride motorcycles together and he is a good guy and he has a killer studio set up. The guitar sounds are Gilby, Gilby! The guitar tones he gets in there are off the hook and it’s fun working with him.

Do you miss the boom times of the eighties?
I don’t really miss it, it was fun, I loved it, it was great but I was also in my twenties and it was perfect. I got to live that and it’s not like I miss it, now it would be too much fucking shit for me! Too much excess! I miss the times in terms of some of my friends who aren’t around now. It was grateful I got to live it and be there for all that fun chaos and debauchery that went along with growing up in Hollywood in the late eighties.

What do you think about the state of rock ‘n roll right now? Are you impressed? Are you disappointed?
There’s always something that pops up that’s cool but I’m constantly listening to the same’ole shit. There hasn’t been a big huge wave of anything that’s really mind blowing but there is good sounding shit out there. There’s not even a heavy rock scene since Seattle in terms of a big exposure of anything. I don’t know! I’m glad I got to live mine!

Interview by Rob Lyon

Faster Pussycat are touring this month through Silverback Touring. Tickets from Silverback Touring…