Eric Stacy Interview

ERIC STACY INTERVIEW:
April 21, 2007

It is a confusing time for Faster Pussycat (www.fasterpussycat.com) fans, as there are currently two versions of the band out and about. Bassist Eric Stacy has teamed up with Brent Muscat in one version and have hit the road to deliver the Faster Pussycat music the way it was meant to be played. In this interview Eric talks about the new band and plans to record a new album.

SR: You have reformed with Brent Muscat and Brett Bradshaw in a new version of Faster Pussycat, what led to the reformation?

ES: Brent and I had talked like once a year for quite awhile about reforming Faster Pussycat. We’d talk about it, throw around ideas, and then boom, it would be another year later. Then same thing, he’d call me or I’d call him and we’d talk about it and nothing would happen. So, this past December when he called I told him basically, “Brent, it’s now or never, we talk all the time about this but let’s either do it or stop talking about it.” This time it just felt right, especially being the 20th anniversary of the first record coming out.

SR: There seems to be some division between your version of Faster Pussycat and Taime Downe’s. What is your take on the whole situation?

ES: I don’t want to get into a shit throwing contest with anyone, or have any kind of war of words in the press, that’s definitely not why we started back up. But in a nutshell I think to begin with Taime probably thought Faster Pussycat was him and only him and he’s reacting to finding out that the band can, and will, go on without him if he chooses not to be a part of this, which he doesn’t seem interested in doing in the slightest. And I’m really cool with that. I spent too many years hoping we’d do a reunion right but it doesn’t seem important to him, so be it.

SR: Do you feel Taime is tarnishing the Faster Pussycat name with this industrial Goth stuff he is doing?

ES: Very much so.

SR: Was there any effort made to get Greg Steele back for the reunion?

ES: I wrote him some months before we started to try and bury the hatchet, let him know it’s water under the bridge as far as I was concerned. But I never heard back from him.

SR: It has been stated that this 20th Anniversary tour will be the final time the band hits the road, will this be it for sure?

ES: I guess we’ll have to see how this year goes. It’s very hard to say what will be, or won’t be, a year from now. I will say that the guys in this band are die hard rock and rollers till the day we die. So, who knows. I know if things feel right it could be hard to just stop. But at the same time, if things aren’t fun anymore, or the fans aren’t showing the love anymore, then it obviously becomes easier to say goodbye. So in some respect the fans brought us back together and as long as they are making us feel wanted it makes it that much harder to hang it up.

SR: I’ve always thought Taime had a unique voice, so how well does new vocalist Kurt Frohlich handle the old tunes and how have fans reacted to him?

ES: He sounds great on the old songs. There are very, very few people who could walk into this situation and pull it off so well, and he without a doubt is one of those few. Granted Taime has his style that is unique to the songs, but Kurt has his own style which adds to the songs just as well. And the fans have been overwhelmingly positive to him. There are always going to be those few die hard fans who are going to sit there with a “show me” attitude and I always tell them the same thing, “just give it a fair chance, listen before you make up your mind,” and when they do they all say the same thing, “Kurt rocks man!!!”

SR: Does having some young members in the band keep the veterans such as yourself on your toes?

ES: Well, to be honest, and I hope nobody gets pissed at me for saying this, these guys aren’t too far behind us.

SR: Do you ever come across fans that are disappointed or confused because Taime isn’t there?

ES: Nope.

SR: Do you plan on writing and recording new material with this line-up?

ES: Absolutely. We hope to have a new Faster Pussycat record out by the end of this year!

SR: I see you are playing Rocklahoma. How excited are you about this show and its killer line-up?

ES: I’m very excited about doing this show. It’s about time that someone does a festival devoted entirely to the late 80’s hard rock sound and scene. It died a painful death but now with shows like this it’s finally getting the respect I think it earned. I would love to see this become our generation’s Woodstock.

SR: I heard Faster Pussycat and Guns N’ Roses for the first time on the very same day and thought FP was more entertaining. Why do you think your debut failed to ignite like theirs did?

ES: Well, there’s many reasons for that. One being that Geffen had put so much money into that record and the band that they were basically determined to make money off the record. So besides the fact that I think it’s the best hard rock record of the 80’s, Geffen put their best people on it, called in all their favors, and basically made it happen. But, having said that, Guns N’Roses was much further into their careers and their talent level at the time was way beyond ours, it’s a given.

SR: What was it like touring those days when the band was at their height of popularity?

ES: It was a dream come true. It was the kid in the candy store. I mean what can you say in words to describe something so magical and once in a lifetime? We were on top of the world and everyday was a new experience, a new city, country, everyday was a new beautiful woman, every night was another fun filled rock and roll show. Unless you’ve been there it’s hard to put into words.

SR: What are some of your most memorable stories of life on the road?

ES: There are so many. Our first tour of Europe with Guns N’Roses. When we toured with Motley Crue on the Dr. Feelgood tour. Getting our gold albums presented to us at the WEA convention in front of all the WEA big wigs, and on and on, my fingers would fall off before I could type even one whole story in detail.

SR: What was it like being in the band when Whipped failed commercially and the music you helped make famous was being replaced by grunge?

ES: It was a very hard time. There was a lot of uncertainty about the future and a lot of feeling like the ship was docking, the ride was over.

SR: For those of us that never experienced it, what was the Sunset Strip like when rock music ruled the world?

ES: For me it was the best place in the world. It was our high school education and our prom and our fraternity. It was an adult Disneyland and a whole lot more, and it was family, one big incestuous degenerative family.

SR: When I interviewed August Worchell he said that Faster Pussycat got “the best Hollywood pussy”, was he telling the truth?

ES: He ain’t lying!!!!

SR: I know several members of Faster Pussycat battled addictions, how have you made out with the battle?

ES: Well it has been a battle for sure, and I might have won some battles and lost some battles, but I won the war!!!! I’m totally off hard drugs and have been for years, and I feel great. I’ve been taking Muay Thai lessons three times a week for a while now and I haven’t felt physically better in years!!

SR: You played with the BulletBoys/Marq Torien for awhile, what is he really like?

ES: He’s cool.

SR: Is Faster Pussycat taking up all your time these days or are you working in other bands too?

ES: No, right now I’m devoting all my time to making Faster Pussycat the best band it can be.

SR: When can we expect to hear you on a new album?

ES: By the end of the year for sure.

Thanks to Eric Stacy