Jason McMaster: The Bring Back Glam! Interview

Jason McMaster stays busy with both Dangerous Toys and Broken Teeth. In fact, both bands will play next month's  Rock the Bayou festival. Jason recently spoke with Bring Back Glam! about Rock the Bayou, why he thinks Glam has "nothing to do with real rock n' roll" and the benefits of not being based in Los Angeles. Transcription follows.

Bring Back Glam: You are playing Rock the Bayou twice - with Dangerous Toys and Broken Teeth. Can you share sets for each band at the festival?  

Jason McMaster: Pretty much the whole first [Dangerous Toys] album, and most of Hellacious Acres.

BBG!: How long ago were you asked to play Rock the Bayou?

JM: A month ago.

BBG!:  How do you feel about all the AC/DC comparisons to Broken Teeth? Do you embrace them at this point?

JM: The ‘Teeth started out to sound like AC/DC’s lost demos or something.. was the whole idea. It was to be a one time studio project CD put on by Perris Records. It [Broken Teeth] snowballed and here we are, a touring band with going on five CDs. The bands that condone three chord simple and institutionalized rock n’ roll bands that have made a career out of one note bass lines and screaming demon frontmen and punk and metal influenced over blues riffs, is definitely what the ‘Teeth are doing. We are not trying to reinvent the wheel, just trying to get more people to respect the original wheel made by bands like AC/DC, Motorhead, Rose Tattoo and the like.

BBG!: Mike Watson has diabetes. You recently had to cancel some shows because of his health. How is Mike doing now?

JM: Mike is great. He has had the diabetes problem his whole life - this is not a new thing. He toured with the [Dangerous] ‘Toys forever and a day without a problem with it as long as he had his meds. Lots of rockers out on the road with diabetes. Dangerous Toys only canceled one date because of the flare up Mike had. It has been reset for November 8 in Austin, Texas at the Red Eyed Fly.

BBG!:  Do you have an update on the new Dangerous Toys album? Will it still be called XX as rumored?

JM: A live DVD is to be released when I can find the money and the time to get it out. It is supposed to have a CD in it as well.  The CD will just be audio from the same show. CD for the car -  DVD for the house. Rock n’ roll down the road, or while you fly the sofa. I have no new info and no release date for that. I am doing it all myself, so don’t hold your breath.

BBG!:  Do you think starting in Texas instead of Los Angeles hindered Dangerous Toys?

JM: We pulled off more cool shit than a lot of L.A. bands, and we have never had to move to L.A. or N.Y. We did it all from Texas! The L.A. bands that are from L.A. did great, and then there are a lot of people that lived in the “boonies:” midwest or wherever, that felt like they had to move to L.A. to get a record deal back then. It paid off for some, and a lot of bands broke up and moved back home when it didn’t work out. Either way, we were seated right here at home.

BBG!: I lump Dangerous Toys into the Glam category only because of the time your albums were released. Do you consider Dangerous Toys - and Broken Teeth - Glam bands?

JM: Hell no! More like dirty rock n’ roll can save your soul. Cock rock I prefer over the term hair metal. The ripped shirt and big hair eyeliner rock, whatever you want to call it, Glam, was more worried of the way it looked instead of sounded. Bands were getting deals off of their clothes at one point. Girls were buying records because the boys looked like girls. The shock of that point made them take money out of their purse and lay it on the counter. I never - at any point - have thought that my music couldn’t survive without some cool clothes and a certain look. It is rock n’ roll, plain simple and loud! all my influences show. In my opinion, Glam has nothing to do with what I call real rock n’ roll.

BBG!: Who are some of your main influences?

JM: Queen, Kiss, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Rush, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Metallica, Raven, Diamondhead, Venom, Slayer, Iron Maiden.  It is never ending.

BBG!: What is your current take on the music industry? Also, your opinion of all the 80s revival festivals that are popping-up all over the USA?

JM: The music industry is a do it yourself industry. It is, as well, a digital industry. The days of a record deal are over for real rock n’ roll. You are better off pushing your stuff online, at iTunes, on Myspace, etc. You make a lot more money doing it that way. Gas prices are keeping bands from touring, so these festivals are a great opportunity for bands to just do a few of those every summer, and play regionally near where they live until those summer festivals happen again. With a [record] deal, if you’re young and lucky (because it seems real rock doesn’t get a major record deal unless your like 20 years old), you can use tour support to pay for your fuel to tour. It hasn’t kept bands from touring, but they have to double and triple up on one bus and that’s a bit cramped. A lot of things have changed, and it’s ‘gonna get worse before it gets better.

Photo credit: www.jasonmcmaster.net

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/dangeroustoys3000

Comments

[Valentine]

Another great interview, Allyson.
Jason doesn't pull any punches, huh?
I had to laugh at the "big hair eyeliner" remark... We played a show in San Francisco with Junkyard and Dangerous Toys; although both bands were very cool, Jason certainly had to take the time to put on his eyeliner before the show...

[aXe mAn]

Great interview Allyson!
I'm a Dangerous Toys fan, but never considered them, "glam".

[Christian]

I remember people arguing what was metal and what was glam in the 80s. I don't care anymore. Dangerous Toys are good, so I listen to them. So is Iron Maiden. So is Poison. Hell, so is Bob Dylan. If I like it, it's good, I don't care what others think or label it.

[Glenn]

I think 1989 was a transitional year, Guns were the band every one copied by then; Dangerous Toys,Law and Order and
Junkyard released debut albums in that year. I think they fall into that niche,"sleaze" for a lack of a better term. All of those bands, really good but just past the highest glam era.


















junkyard

[Vince Neilstein]

Loved his cameo on the Shadows Fall cover of "Teasin' Pleasin'" a few years back.