20 Questions with Steevi Jaimz, 7/29/03

 

20 QUESTIONS WITH…

Tigertailz Singer Steevi Jaimz

We were recently received this email:

Hello, My name is Steevi Jaimz, i was the original singer in Tigertailz ( Young & Crazy ). And the now currant Tigertailz singer! So choose me if you want real good gossip and all the low downs from the London days including Guns & Roses walking in on our first big london gig,they had just arrived over and were so pissed off to leave all the Crap glam bands back in L.A to walk in their first club in england and see us! Thats their words not mine!
Cheers
Steevi Jaimz

Naturally, we took up Steevi on this and here are his 20 Questions! Enjoy.

1. What are you currently up to? This is your only chance to promote your shit.
If you haven’t heard, Ace and I are back together and re-forming Tigertailz. This has come about after months of phone calls and talks generated by the release of the Tigertailz ‘Original Sin’ CD. We’re both really excited at the prospect of recording a new record, which should begin in October ? we’re currently in talks with a company based in Nottingham, although nothing is signed as yet. This is the first time in over a decade that we’ve worked together again, a bunch of new songs have already been written and let me assure you, they’ll definitely kick your arse! A release date is scheduled for around March 2004, expect dates and all the usual from the UK’s ‘one and only’ glam rock ‘n roll band.
By the way, if anybody’s wondering why Pepsi and Jay aren’t included in the line-up, it’s because both declined the offer stating family and other work commitments as their reasons ? they were asked. Anyway, back to the point, our new incarnation of ‘tailz is absolutely dynamite. If you were into us before you’re gonna love it, we’re dying to get back out on the road and entertain you all in the usual way! You can catch up on all the details on our website http://steevijaimz.moonfruit.com

2. How did you come to be the lead singer of Tigertailz, record the debut, which got some great Euro-reviews and then in a flash got fired from the job? What really happened? Who did what and why?
On returning from my first trip to the States in 85, where I was in a band called Idol Threat, I came back to the UK a bit disillusioned/pissed-off with life basically. Anyway, I picked up a copy of Sounds (UK weekly rock paper at the time) and came across an ad that said “Mop-top metal band seek vocalist”. I immediately phoned, got on a train and went to audition to what later turned out to be ‘tailz. Obviously got the job and moved my arse down to Wales and set about shaping the band up to the standard of the bands I had witnessed in the US. After intensively touring the UK we started to pick up mass amounts of interest from Kerrang! (who did our first ever photo feature) to eventually signing with MFN and recording our debut release ‘Young and Crazy’. Incidentally, this was actually our second record as we originally recorded a self financed album with our management which is being pushed out as un-released demos entitled ‘Original Sin’, which is available in the US right now. We did manage however to put out a a single (the Shoot to Kill EP) from those original sessions.

At the time of the ‘Young and Crazy’ release the band was huge here in the UK, to give you an example we were selling out the famous Marquee club in Wardour Sreet (where the likes of Hendrix and the Who had played) two nights running which was unheard of for a band like us ? even London based bands couldn’t manage that at the time.
My partying was way beyond anything the other guys in the band had ever seen and eventually something had to give and a well publicized firing occurred with me firmly in the sights. The official line (used by the Tigertailz at the time) was “he was partying uncontrollably 24 hours a day” which at the time didn’t make me laugh, but looking back I find it ironic that a so-called glam band would use such a cheesy line. After all, why are we in rock bands in the first place? I guess when I grew up I used the wrong role models, I didn’t see anything wrong with wanting to be like Keith Moon, George Best and Bon Scott. So at the end of the day Pepsi, Jay and the manager (who acted like a dick) wanted me out.
Another irony to the story is that the first single they released after I was sacked was my song ‘Living Without You’. The guy that replaced me on vocals (a bass player and friend of mine from my days in Wales) happened to be the same guy that Jay and I wanted to replace Pepsi just before we signed our deal to MFN! To add insult to injury the single charted over here ? and I heard that tune everywhere I went (where are my fucking royalties, arseholes!).

3. Let’s get right to it, you?re a small guy but have always been known to be eager to start fights throughout the club scene during your hey day. What’s the problem, a chip on the shoulder, bitter or do you just have a small man?s complex?
Look, I don’t take shit from anybody (apart from the missus!) just because I didn’t kiss arse in the 80s people couldn’t handle it. Yeah I’m small and people thought because of that they could get away with having a go at me and I always love having a good tear up!

4. Tell us the story about Guns N Roses walking into your show?
Yeah, I remember that very well. They’d apparently just flown in from LA and I guess they were out on the town and wanted to hang out at the Marquee. Low and behold, as they walked in we were in full flight on stage ? us being the very type of band that they were escaping from in LA! So you can just imagine how they felt. Just after we’d finished our set I was in the bar and Slash wandered past me and made some comment about Poison. I think he must have got me confused with somebody else from that band and there was some handbags. I found it all very amusing myself, London and the Marquee obviously wasn’t what he had envisaged ? and I couldn’t have given a fuck ‘cos we’d just played another sold-out show.

5. Rate European vocalists on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 being somebody who sucks dog balls and 10 being the bomb.
Kim Hooker = 3 and currently residing in the ‘where are they now league’
Zinny J Zan (Ex. Shotgun Messiah) = 8 and loved that band. Great voice
David Coverdale = 9
Andrew Elt (Sleeze Beez) = 3 ? haven’t heard enough of him
Ginger (Wildhearts) = 2, dreadful. I can’t sing but this guy takes the piss!
Phil Lewis = 7, good singer but a bit dull. Reminds me of a poor man’s Oscar Wilde
Spike (London Choir Boys) = 1 ? dogs balls, dog shit
Udo Dirkschneider = 6 with balls to the wall!
Ozzy Osbourne = 10 ? The King
Michael Monroe = 4

6. What hard rock/heavy metal band should give it up and call it a day?
Iron Maiden, although if they re-instated Paul Di’anno I’d definitely pay to see that.

7. Your solo band supported LA Guns on one of their most recent UK tours. How much of a dick was Phil Lewis?
They came over here, after playing to crowds of 10-15 people in the States (so I was told), to a sell-out UK tour and they thought they were Led Zeppelin. They hardly spoke to us, didn’t party with us ? basically, it was us and them. I gotta say Phil Lewis was up his own arsehole a lot of the time, but he was no where near as big a dick as Tracii Guns (how the fuck did he get a gig with a star like Nikki Sixx?). The funny thing was when he threatened me after one of the shows just because I cracked a joke about giving his bird a bump and getting her fucked up. He was apparently going through some kind of ‘re-hab’ ? what a joke! I should have cracked him, but with a face like that where do you start?

8. Rumor has it you once flew to Hollywood to join Cherry Street as their new singer in place of Roxy. Could you shed some light on this, was it true, what did or didn’t happen, and looking back, aren?t you glad it didn?t happen?
Yes it’s true, I did fly out there and join them but unfortunately things didn’t work out. To be fair they were going in a different direction to myself, but I’m glad it DID happen because I got to spend a lot of time in LA. While I was there I got to meet one of my best friends to this day KC (ex Nitro drummer) who I ended up working with, which was a dream come true for me. ‘What a guy!’.
During my stay I also got to spend time living at the Tuff Muff mansion where the notorious pumpkin incident happened. If you guys are reading this, you know. Needless to say I wasn’t allowed in the apartment complex’s wash room anymore. So basically I have no regrets about that trip, just great memories and stories that would curl your hair.

9. Of all the bands you’ve toured with over the years, who were the biggest dicks to deal with and who was the coolest?
The biggest dicks were probably Vow Wow and their entourage who basically treated us (Tigertailz) like a bunch of cunts. The joke was half the audience were there just to see us.
I did a show opening for Brian Connolly’s Sweet in London and what blew me away about it was when I bumped into him backstage he said “Hi Steevi, how ya doin” and this coming from a guy who I idolised in the 70s. He not only knew my name but was a real sweetheart and very cool to me indeed! Brian Connolly? sadly missed by everyone, I’m sure

10. Name one good thing about:
Drugs = they always cum with girls
Girls = they always cum with drugs
Hollywood = The coolest place I’ve ever been and the women are fantastic
Touring = audiences (or sometimes in my case the lack of them)
Being on stage = going absolutely fucking mad
Jacking off = Not having to deal with the aftermath (you know what I’m saying)
Being English = having good teeth!
Glam rock = decking out
MTV = big videos
Metallica = Diamond Head

11. Glam was huge in the mid to late 80s and it seemed as though a ton of bands got huge from Hollywood. Why didn’t Hanoi Rocks or Tigertialz try to make the step stateside, and if you had, what do you think could of happened?
I can’t speak for Hanoi Rocks (obviously), but the reason that we never made it over to the States was all record company bullshit. One excuse I heard was that I’d probably get shot if we went over to the USA, to be honest with you if we had made it over I’m sure we would have done very well as we were selling records all over the world at the time. One of my biggest regrets back then is that we never played in the US or Japan.

12. When you see somebody like Kelly Osbourne get a record deal and get to open for Ozzy, how does that make you feel?
I think it’s really cool, good on her. Ozzy went through years of shit, now he’s able to help his daughter in the business and who would begrudge that ? certainly not me (maybe we could tour with her sometime!)

13. The last of Steevi Jaimz:
Last Tigertailz gig you played was = Lowestoft (Enormodome) ha, here in the UK Feb 88
Last time you got drunk & started a fight = couple of months ago, can’t change the habit of a lifetime!
Last rock star you shook hands with = The one and only David Lee Roth. RESPECT ? it doesn’t get any better than that.
Last CD you purchased = Zakk Wylde
Last time you saw Pepsi Tate = Donington 92 where I accidentally poured a pint of beer over his head.
Last time you bleached your hair = streak-bleached it a couple of months ago
Last time you visited the USA = 91 unfortunately, I’d love to go back there and do some shows
Last concert you saw = Bang Tango/Faster Pussycat in London
Last time you visited a dentist = six months ago and my teeth are sparkly thank you very much
Last time you had anal sex = Ace and I practice it all the time ? safely of course kids!

14. Of all the asses you’d like to kick, who got away that deserved their ass kicked?
Everybody ? but my black book is still open!!

15. Which do you prefer:
Hair spray or Hair gel = Spray
Phil Collen or Phil Collins = Collen
Tigertailz or Wazbones = Tigertailz
Metal Hammer or Metal Forces = Both
Samantha Fox or Jordan = Jordan ? always out and always legless, she’s without doubt 100% rock ‘n roll!
Winger or Warrant = Warrant
Vince Neil or Bret Michaels = Vince the dude, obviously!
Hollywood or London = Hollywood (my second home ? I wish!)
Jizzy Pearl or Stephen Pearcy = Pearcy ? Ratt fucking rocked! RIP Mr Crosby
Fish N Chips or French Fries = French fries, although they can’t fight wars the fucking frogs.

16. We interviewed Alex Kane from Anti-Product. What’s your take on that whacky project and it’s hype?
You call that whacky? Whacky was the Macc Lads and Sputnik who we had here in the early 80s. These guys make me laugh going on about so-called has-been bands. That stuff has been done to death over here and much better, I might add. It’s all bollocks to me?pup.

17. You say on your website that your band Crash KO was seriously ahead of it?s time. How?
Listen, we were four spikey-white-haired kids long before it was cool in England. Look-wise we were pre ‘Shout at the Devil’ at a time when the coolest look around in the UK was Def Leppard, Iron Maiden and Saxon! What made it special was the fact that we had heavy songs, a unique look for the time and believe me, had we had the breaks we could have been as big as any of those bands.

18. Why do the English have such fucked up teeth?
Cos they smoke too many fags, drink too much beer, pass out and forget to brush their teeth. And you know you should always floss before you go to bed kiddies.

19. You obviously live in England. Do you ever get depressed about living on that dismal, rainy island?
Every day of my life?although I’m proud to be English and my roots are firmly entrenched here. You’re right, it does get you down but I wouldn’t (permanently) change it for the world (although I could be tempted, ha ha).

20. Time for Metal Sludge?s Word Association. We mention a name and you give us your thoughts.
Pepsi Tate = Awesome illustrator, but as a person he kinda sucked
Tom Mathers = Lovely guy, still talk to him, good businesss man and has obviously got his act together
Kelv Hellrazor = Lets just say there are so many stories I could tell you about Kelv and I, but you don’t have enough space. Here’s one for a taster: we were staying in a Holiday Inn in Denver, ready to go to the Dave Lee Roth and Poison show. After the show, Kelv went onto a club with Poison but I had to go back to the hotel to pick up my ID. I hitched a ride back to the hotel with two gorgeous girls and went up to our room (leaving the women in the car), before I left I decided to freshen up my breath with what I thought was Kelv’s breath spray. I picked it up and sprayed it into my mouth, all of a sudden my whole mouth, tongue and throat went as stiff as cardboard ? it turned out that Kelv had neglected to tell me that it was his secret Stallion ‘stay hard spray’ and I’d just unloaded into my throat! I had to wait more than 15 minutes before I could go back to the car.
Jani Lane = great songwriter, don’t know about his new look though?!
Kerrang magazine = used to be run in the 80s by a bunch of ugly fat chicks and tossers. Those people used to talk shit about me ? now it’s my turn, but I won’t give them the privilege of naming them. They know who they are and they’re all spineless cunts, who if I met them face to face would run scared. Probably a good magazine now!
Jay Pepper = recently kissed and made up after 15 years.
Nikki Sixx = the coolest guy this side of DLR, what a star!
Marq Torien = replaced one of my fave singers in King Kobra (Mark Free), preferred him in the Bullet Boys
Sharon Osbourne = all I can say is I wish she was managing me. She looks great and in my opinion she is one of the finest artist managers ever.
The Wildhearts = Nothing.
C.C. DeVille = Last time I met him he’d morphed into Sam Kinnison and Danny DeVito and he was a complete twat to me!

Anybody who says Phil Lewis was up his own asshole is cool in our book! For more info on Steevi, you can visit http://steevijaimz.moonfruit.com