The Angels with Dave Gleeson Interview

The Angels with Dave Gleeson Interview

In a not-to-be-missed event, The Angels launch their powerhouse new album, "Take It To The Streets" in a special live show at Norwood Live on Wednesday, September 19th, where they will combine the best of the new songs with their biggest hits, and a few surprises for long-time Angels fans.

In 2011, The Angels welcomed Dave Gleeson of The Screaming Jets as their new singer, with acclaimed drummer Nick Norton also joining founding members John and Rick Brewster and Chris Bailey in the supercharged new line-up after Doc Neeson left the band to embark on a solo career.

The Angels with Dave Gleeson immediately headed for Albert Studios and recorded a new EP and hit the road. But the new songs continued to flow, and they returned to the studio in between sold-out shows around Australia.

Says rhythm guitarist John Brewster, "Every time we went into the studio we finished a new song, some days we got two songs down, and the start of another, so we kept going."

The live launch of Take It To The Streets will showcase the snappy ballads, rampaging rock and dark groove jaunting of The Angels new album, which raises the question, "Do The Angels ever get nervous debuting new songs for their fans?".

"We finished every show of the last tour with a new song, Waiting For The Sun," says John Brewster, "and every night it got one of the biggest audience reactions of the whole show. We think new songs like Some Kind Of Hell, Getting Free, To The Streets and Life Gets Better will get a great live reaction, too."

There's also a guitar-drenched version of Elvis Costello's Pump It Up the band has been itching to play live for most of the year.

"Angels fans have always been open to our new songs," says Brewster. "They're always interested to hear what we've been working on. Marseille, I Ain't The One, Long Line, Mr Damage, they were all new songs once, too, and now they're a part of every show we play.

"But as much as we love our new album, live is where these songs will prove themselves in front of our fans. We can't wait to hear what they think."

The Angels with Dave Gleeson
Wednesday, September 19th
Norwood Live, Cnr The Parade & Osmond Tce, Norwood, SA.
Show Only $32+bf ($35 at the door)
Doors open 7.30pm
For Information & Bookings Ring The Norwood Hotel on (08) 8431 1822 or visit www.thenorwood.com.au

Interview with Dave Gleeson

Question: Tell us about Take It To The Streets:

Dave Gleeson: It's an honour to be on The Angels album as they are one of my favourite bands and my brother is a huge fan of The Angels as well! To be a part of the song writing process with Chris Bailey and John and Rick Brewster has been absolutely amazing.


Question: What should audiences expect from the shows?

Dave Gleeson: With such a back catalogue of songs that The Angels have there will be the classics such as Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again?, Marseilles and tracks like that. With the new album we will be playing tracks off that to get a feel for what the audience thinks of The Angels with me out front.


Question: Why did you want to join The Angels?

Dave Gleeson: The Screaming Jets were off as we'd taken some time to regroup after seven years of having a pretty hard time, out there; we played up until 2001 then we had a couple of years off before picking it up in 2004 and the seven years between then and 2011 were an uphill battle for us. The Angels (John and Rick Brewster) were playing a gig near my place so I went and had a sing with the guys and here we are 15 months later!


Question: Can you talk about the creative process behind Take It To The Streets?

Dave Gleeson: John and Rick Brewster have been producing The Angels albums since day one and it was great to see the way they work and construct songs. Chris Bailey on bass guitar is an integral part and that's why The Angels sounds like The Angels because of his bass playing. They were all open to new ideas that may have been a bit different to what they had in the first place; it was a great working atmosphere.


Question: What music/artists do you listen to when you are not playing your own?

Dave Gleeson: I have to listen to The Foo Fighters and I love the Smashing Pumpkins new album as it's a musical soundscape similar to what we're used to with the Smashing Pumpkins which is unreal. I just got a fantastic album by Joe Walsh who is a member of the Eagles titled Analog Man.


Question: Was there a moment you contemplated throwing in the towel and walking away from the music industry?

Dave Gleeson: I'd pretty much had enough around 2001 because we'd been constantly touring and the ever dwindling support from the record company and media was taking its toll. I was actually working, digging a hole for a mate who was a plumber and I said "there has got to be an easier way to make a living, than this!" and my mate reminded me of the job I used to do… which is what inspired me to record the solo album and move back into music.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Dave Gleeson: Definitely performing live because I am a front man and a show off (laughs)! I get a kick of being on stage and getting that instant gratification of the crowd going off at the end of a song or all the way through a gig.


Question: What is the biggest challenge you have faced during your music career?

Dave Gleeson: Definitely that I had to back the truck up a little bit when I realised I was going to be doing this long term. I had to calm my wild ways to make sure I do a good show! When you're young and you're on stage affected by other things such as alcohol, people think that's wild and crazy but when you're old and on stage and pissed people think 'that looks really bad'!


Question: What has been your favourite part of becoming a music artist?

Dave Gleeson: My favourite part is being able to hang out with my mates all the time. I've got to tour the world and meet people all the while with a bunch of great friends, having a great time and that's the greatest fun there is!


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Dave Gleeson: I really can't wait to get back and work with The Screaming Jets again, next year when we do some stuff. I'd love to be on tour with someone like Slash!


Question: What should we be expecting from The Screaming Jets?

Dave Gleeson: Paul Woseen, our bass player is banging together a whole bunch of songs - his an amazing song writer and we'll be taking his vision and build the whole album around that and hopefully next year we'll have that album out and have a Jets (The Screaming Jets) tour again!


Interview by Brooke Hunter