PAUL LIDEL of Dangerous Toys & 99 Crimes - Interview
Austin,TX rockers 99 Crimes led by Dangerous Toys and former Dirty Looks guitarist Paul Lidel are set to release their first full length album "99 Crimes". HBH caught up with Paul for the low down on the new album, Dangerous Toys and more.
HBH: Last time we talked you were promoting the bands debut EP now the band has it’s first full length album set to be released by Perris Records. Can you talk a little bit about the new album and what fans can expect?
Paul: We're super excited about the release of the bands first full length album! I'm really happy with the way it's turned out. Our producer Omar Vallejo did a great job, and everyone loves the way it sounds. We recorded the first five songs and then got signed to Perris Records. We only made a couple hundred copies of an EP with the first five songs. Perris Records saw a lot of potential with the band and asked for another five songs. We ended up recording six more songs, so the full length album has 11 songs.
Here are the titles:
DEVIL IN YOUR DREAMS
RUMOR
COMIN' DOWN LIKE RAIN
FOOL
MOVE LIKE THAT
CRYSTAL BALL
AVENUE
BLOOD FROM A STONE
DO IT OVER
NINE POUND HAMMER
NEVER SAY FOREVER
HBH: Do you have a release date for the new album?
Paul: Yes, the release date is April 5th. It's available through Perris Records.
HBH: How does songwriting work for 99 Crimes? Are you responsible for most of the song writing or is it a band effort?
Paul: It varies. I tend to write quite a bit so I continually put songs up on the bands dropbox, and if the guys like one of them we'll flesh it out in rehearsal. There's a song called "Avenue" on the album that Jeff brought in, and sings lead on, that I think is awesome. Sometimes at rehearsal we just start jamming and songs come out of that. I get lots of lyric ideas from Chris because he talks in song lyrics, in that he has certain way of saying things. Often he'll say something and I'll say "say that again" or "I've got to write that down". For me, the process of writing songs with 99 Crimes is a real pleasure because everyone works well together and has their input which makes the songs
sound like 99 Crimes songs. People describe our music as reminding them of certain old school rock bands without really sounding like any of them. I think that comes from the varied backgrounds and influences that each of us have, and how they come together to make music that sounds both familiar and unique.
HBH: Are their any plans to film more videos? The bands video for “Coming Down Like Rain” off the last EP came out great I thought.
Paul: The filming of the video for "Coming Down Like Rain" was an extremely memorable experience.
We filmed it in an an old jail house in a small town in Texas name Gonzalez. The jail has been inactive for about 50 years, and they say that it's haunted. It definitely has a heavy vibe, and you could tell that it was a miserable place for the inmates there. They had a gallows there and talked about the people that had been executed there. We have plans of doing another video with the same director, Steve Miller of Austin video specialist. He did a great job, and we look forward to working with him again.
HBH: Is there a particular track or tracks that you’re the most proud of off the new album, one you think fans would be instantly gravitate towards. I know I was able to listen to “Rumor” and that is a great catchy track that I think a lot of people will really like.
Paul: It's really difficult to pick a particular track, and it was even harder to pick the songs that we wanted to record. If I had to, I'd say the song "Crystal Ball". It's a bit longer than most of our songs,
but I feel like it captures what the band is about. When we play it live, it is often picked as a favorite. Of course the song "Rumor" is one that we're proud of. That one kind of wrote itself. When we play it live, I see people singing along with it, that have never heard the song before.
Josh, I really like the lyric video that you made for the song "Rumor", you did a fantastic job!
Many people at shows sing along with "Coming Down Like Rain" because of the video.
HBH: I enjoy the video editing process and was glad you trusted me with making the video.
HBH: How was the Monsters of Rock Cruise? Those things look like a blast with tons of great bands every year.
Paul: The cruise was amazing. I've played on the Monsters Of Rock cruise four times so far with Dangerous Toys, but this year I went just on vacation and had a blast. Because I wasn't performing this year, I had more time to meet lots of people, and see many friends that I had made on previous cruises.
I was pleasantly surprised at how often I would be approached by people, many of which I hadn't met before, and have them ask about 99 Crimes and the new album. I definitely got the feeling that the word was out and people knew about the band and the album!
HBH: You mentioned the last time we spoke about filming some guitar instructional videos for your Youtube channel. Is that something you’re still interested in doing and if so have you had a chance to film any videos yet?
Paul: Yes, I've got the cameras together, made plans for several videos, and I have started filming them, but the instructional videos have have had to take a backseat for the time being while I focus on the release of the 99 Crimes album, and working on new songs for both 99 Crimes and Dangerous Toys.
HBH: How’s this summers schedule shaping up for 99 Crimes as far as touring/shows?
Paul: We've been busy so far this year with regional shows around Texas, we played in San Angelo Tx. last night, and last week we played a couple shows during Austin's South By Southwest music festival. Right now we are gearing up for the big album release party here in Austin later in April. We are also in the process of firming up dates on the east coast coming up this summer.
HBH: Are there any plans for Dangerous Toys to play some shows or possibly do some recording in the near future?
Paul: Yes, this weekend on March 30, Dangerous Toys plays in Atlanta at the RockLanta festival. We have been writing some great new songs and plan to play some at upcoming shows! We also have shows coming up in Austin on July 20 at Come And Take It Live, and in Denver Co. on July 27 at Herman's Hideaway.
HBH: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Paul: Just want to say thanks for all of your support, we really appreciate it!
Interview by : Josh Smith
