The Fuzztones, the band that, more than any other, defined the garage revival of the '80s and '90s, returns to Greece on Friday 24th of November for another authentic rock n' roll night!
We had the chance to speak with Rudi Protrudi, one of the most genuine rock’n’roll personas, funny and sarcastic as always, who shares with us his wisdom about rock’n’roll, the new era of music industry as well as other interesting stories.
Read below our friendly chat.
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Rockoverdose: Hi Rudi and welcome to our pages. It’s not the first time we host you but everytime you have a lot of stories to share! So, how are you and what are you up to these days?
Rudi (THE FUZZTONES): Thanks! I'm good! I'm getting ready for the tour and on top of that we're doing a documentary with the guy who did the Johny Thunders, Sid Visious and a lot of punk icons documentaries. On summer 2024 I think it will be ready!
Rockoverdose: How does an experienced band like yours prepare before a tour or a show? How this has developed throughout the years? Do you find any differences with the past years comparing to nowdays?
Rudi (THE FUZZTONES): Definately! I think over the years with the invention of cellphones, with the lockdown people have changed a lot. When people get enough courage to go to a public place like a club, and I say courage because there are still people who are afraid they're going to catch a virus, but the people who have the courage they come but they dont' get loose like they use to. Instead of drinking and dancing, they film the concert with their cellphones. It's not the same, it's not really quite exciting as it used to be.
But on the other hand, we're a rock n' roll band one of the very last, so when people experience our shows they tend to loose enough a little, so we still get audience that get wilder than other bands. I just like the scene geting even more wild, girls jumbing up on stage...
Rockoverdose: Writing, recording, rehearsing, touring and repeat. Though living off your music sounds like a dream, does the life of a full-time musician ever feel like too much? Is the danger of making it feel like a job there?
Rudi (THE FUZZTONES): For some people yes indeed. I think you have to be a certain kind of person to do this. I had so many different line ups of The Fuzztones, because I had to let people go, that couldn't handle being on the road for too long, maybe they missed home. You know in America for instance, we have McDonalds or 7/11 and you'd feel amazed of how addicted people are, so when they come to Europe there're no stuff like that. I'm not this kind of person, I love to meet new people, I love traveling and hanging out with my band and I really love performing. So to me it's actually my favorite time, I feel more real when I'm on stage. That's really the real me! A lot of times when I'm on stage I have that kind of gap to normality. Everybody around me are really different to me, I wont say conservative necesserely, cause sometimes it's just the opposite, they're either too normal or too stange. So, I can't fit in.
Rockoverdose: You somehow answered my next question, which is about the same thing. I mean, although you represent an old-school way of doing things, do you follow the modern era on music industry? Was it easy or difficult for you to adapt new manners of our digital era?
Rudi (THE FUZZTONES): I like the computer, because I can accomplish much more e.g. on artwork. I like youtube because I can find any artist, I used to collect videos and make videos. On the other hand, without internet we had that suspense and anxiety when we're waiting for something, eg. a new record. It's like sex, something that has suspence and tention and gets better. Sometimes things get too easy now.
In that respect I'd like to go back to the past, when you finally attain something that you really want and it takes a lot of efford and time to get it, then once you finally get it you really treasure it. I don't think that today people really treasure things the way they used to.
Rockoverdose:However, there are still some romantic collectors of vinyls, or other old-school stuff...
Rudi (THE FUZZTONES): That's really nice, it's a special thing, somebody who does that is a special person.
Rockoverdose: Recently we have asked our followers to express their opinion on the fact that sometimes bands or artists tend to tune their songs differently in order to fit their needs. It is a debate that takes place from time to time in circles of music lovers, if it's OK to change a songs tone? But can we expect a singer in his 50s and 60s to reach the notes he was playing at 25? Can one person sing songs written over another's voice?
Rudi (THE FUZZTONES): I wonder why you're asking me that! Hahahah
Rockoverdose: Because you're an experienced musician of course! 🙂
Rudi (THE FUZZTONES): Well, I'll tell you what... I'm the worlds' oldest teenager. I can do anything that I used to do, except sometimes slower. I still love everything that I used to do as a teenager and I'm just not as fast or agiled. I think I'm up to anything that a regular 70 year old man can do, rather than maybe Mick Jagger. But I'm not as rich as him, I don't have doctors with me to give me treats and massages everynight or whatever vitamins. I just rely on me!
Rockoverdose: You have rock n' roll! 🙂
Rudi (THE FUZZTONES): Yes, that's right! I'm a believer that as long as you love rock n' roll and make it your religion, it keeps you young!
Rockoverdose: Which artist would you bring back to life and have them on the stage with you? You can make a top 3 if you can’t choose!
Rudi (THE FUZZTONES): Screamin' Jay Hawkings is on the top of the list! No doubt about that! In my opinion he was the biggest legend and one of the most talented, and a great person as well, we've been friends so he's at the top!
I'd say also probably Arthur Lee from Love. I really admire him and love his songwritting and voice. He only did a song with us, got up on stage back in the 80's or 90's it's on yoytube you should check him out!
Probably, the rest would be not so famous, I'd say Graig Moore from Gonn, a 60's garage rock band that wasn't very well known, as they didn't have a hit. But, they had a song on the Nuggets album, which we've played for years and years and when we hooked up, we went on tour together and had a lot of fun. He's a great singer and we were trade off on songs to see who could do eachother, and that was a lot of fun. I like people to challenge me, same with guitarists, it makes me better, I'm a very competitive person and I like it when people bring that out of me.
RockOverdose: You're competitive but also you're challenging yourself, I think....
Rudi (THE FUZZTONES): Thank you very much.
Rockoverdose: This will be your 10th visit here in Athens. I’m sure you have great memories from your live shows here. What do you have prepared for us this time, any surprises? How easy is for you to pick up songs from your long discography in order to make a setlist?
Rudi (THE FUZZTONES): Absolutely! I have great memories from Greece. About the setlist, it's kind of in the middle. I try to second guess the audience, what they might want. There certain songs we do, that the audience absolutely expects and won't leave the theater unless we finish doing those songs. So we always include about 3 classics that we know they're going to demand. I always try to do at least one song from every album we've ever done, cause everybody has a favorite album. So, we do that, we try to think about a set that has dynamics, we pick the audience up and then we let them down, then for the finale maybe we do a few more songs without stopping and then we raised them down again, so by the end of the night we finish with a climax! Again, I have to refer to sex, because rock n' roll is like the audio version of sex, when you see an exciting concert you wanna climax at the end of it, you leave the venue with a relief! That's how we know we've succeeded! If we can give you an audio orgasm, we know we did our job!
Rockoverdose: Indeed! This feeling is very true! So, what are your future plans after this tour?
Rudi (THE FUZZTONES): Well, finishing the documentary is number one, and I'm also in the process of writing my 4th book, I'm going to finish that. We constantly working on releasing music, I just worked a deal with Radiation Records to re-release our first two albums, Leave Your Mind At Home and Lysergic Emanations. I've just been on studio last night remastering Leave Your Mind At Home, making it into a stereo album, which was originally a mono album and with today's technology you're actually able to remix a mono record which is really crazy! I also did a new album cover, and that's going to come out pretty soon. In December, Area Pirata Records out of Italy, is releasing an album called "Live at the Dive of 1985", that's a Lysergic line up, playing at a night club in NY city called The Dive, which was pretty much the garage scene version of the CBGB's. It is specifically for the garage audience, it's kind of legendary for the local garage scene, and Cleopatra is also releasing an album called "Fuzztones in Themes" and that album is a compilation of studio recordings we did this year, we were backing up music legends. We've tracks that we've backed up Mark Lizzy, Blue Cheer, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and other rockabilly legends and other songs that we do ourselves, a brand new that's called "Strange music sound" and we finish the album with our own version of the Cramps song, “Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?”... And the answer is???
Rockoverdose: Your grandparent was greek. Do you know any greek words? Why didn’t you choose to move in Greece instead of Germany, when moving from the US?
Rudi (THE FUZZTONES): Yes my grandfather was 100% greek, he lived in Athens! I don't know any...
You should! You've been in Greece so many times, and I'm wondering why you didn't choose to live here when moving from the States to Europe.
Rudi (THE FUZZTONES): That's funny you ask that, cause the guy that booked this show, way back about 19 years ago, he was going to arrange for a house for me and my organist Lana Loveland, to live in. So, I moved to Germany where she lived, specifically to put my stuff in storage and move into that house in Greece, and then it felt through. That was our intention, but it was easier to stay in Germany and I can tell you for sure that I would much rather live in Greece, I'm not a fan of Germany, German people are generally very up tight, organized, they love rules and they are not that friendly, the weather here is not good. Greece is better weather wise and people are much friendlier, also girls are prettier by the way!
Rockoverdose: Thank you... It's never too late to come if you wish! So, thank you very much again Rudi. That was a nice chat! We’re looking forward to see you next month! Take care and be safe!
Rudi (THE FUZZTONES): Nice! Thank's so much! See you soon. Bye Bye!
For RockOverdose,
Vivi Zapantiotou
info
The FUZZTONES Live
Παρασκευή 24 Νοεμβρίου 2023
Opening Act: The SNAILS
Doors open: 20:30
The Snails on stage: 21:00
The Fuzztones on Stage: 22:30
Τιμές εισιτηρίων
Προπώληση ΕΩΣ και 10 Νοεμβρίου: 25 ευρώ
Από 11/11 έως 23/11: 28 ευρώ
Tην ημέρα της συναυλίας: 30 ευρώ
Προπώληση ticketmaster
Κύτταρο
Ηπείρου 48 & Αχαρνών
www.kyttarolive.gr
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