Dr2 Talks with Howling Diablos & The Infatuations

on 11 November 2009.

In a preview of what's to come, Dr2 is pleased to introduce a feature that will debut with the re-launch of the "New & Improved Dr2" in early 2010 where we are continually striving to bring you, our readers, the best in Michigan Made Music and the people who make it happen. Thus we are ecstatic to offer our newest feature, Dr2 Interviews where we will seek out the answers to questions we feel you may find just as intriguing as we do! First up, we bring you one of Detroit's best known musicians, Martin "Tino" Gross of the Howling Diablos, who has played with just about every major Detroit Artist, along with Christian XXXXXX of The Infatuations, who are both performing on Thanksgiving Eve at The Cherry Creek Theater in Canton with a special "Free" After Party at the Cherry Martini next door!

We recently had the opportunity to pose some questions to these guys that we had about their current releases and on their careers, but we start off with the proverbial question on their thoughts about the local music scene here-

Dr2 - How do you guys view the current music scene in Michigan?

Tino: I'd have to say there has always been something unique about Michigan music, going all the way back to the beginning. Detroit has an amazing history from the "Black Bottom/Paradise Valley" era which included Hastings St. and all the great blues and jazz cats, up through Motown and then the Ann Arbor/Grande Ballroom rock era of the MC5/Stooges/Seger/Detroit Wheels...right up to the present. People in Detroit have always been into great music and the fans here are the best anywhere.

Christian: I think it's the best it has been in some time now. There seems to be a real sense of community and camaraderie. A perfect example of that are the Inside Outlaws which include Ty Stone, Don "Doop" Duprie, Matt Dmits, The Infatuations, and the Sons of Strippers to name a few. Everyone works together to promote and support one another! Then you have The Howling Diablos (I've been a fan since the mid 90's), Whitey Morgan & The 78's, Class Three Overbite, The Gun Line Band, The Wrong Numbers, Brandon Calhoon, Jiva, Eleven 04, Bixy Lutz, Piston Day Parade, etc.... These are all fantastic bands that I listen to and go see every chance I get. Maybe the greatness that stems from all of these artists is due to the economic troubles Michigan is having: Here's a fix- Commercial Radio could put all Michigan Made Music in regular rotation, generate more add dollars since the quality is better than old tired stuff we're typically subjected to, shows would be packed and we'd be stimulating our own economy. The rest of the country would pay attention, and we may even see a rise in tourism, attracting even more artists to The D. Problem is, radio today doesn't have the balls to do this, they only look at Research Data vs listening to great music.

Dr2 - Your Howling Diablos have a new disc out, Divine Trash Highway. We at DR2 really enjoy your style; we feel it is uniquely Detroit. What were your biggest influences and ideas when you put this collection together?

Tino: 'Divine Trash Highway' is the record where I think all the diversity of the Diablos gets featured. I wanted to show ALL our influences, sort of a shot-gun wedding of sounds, but still with the Diablos' identity. Our biggest influences are the funk/blues/soul/rock mash-up that most Detroiters experience growing up in this great music city. The previous record, 'Car Wash' on Alive! Records were a dirty blues affair, more of the punk trash blues-thing. Somehow 'Divine Trash Highway' mixes alot of different vibes together.

Dr2 - You have a huge collection of artists that contributed to the new disc, Divine Trash Highway, how do you find so many people to contribute and then how do you pull it all together?

Tino: Everybody that contributed to DTH had worked with us in one way or another over the last few years. People probably aren't aware that Vinnie (Sponge) was our drummer for a couple years, or that we knew Jimmie Bones from back in the White Room days before he hooked up with Kid Rock. Calvin Cooke, who plays pedal steel with us on 2 tracks, is Robert Randolph's teacher and comes right out of the Church. Calvin has played with Clapton and Santana but alot of people don't really know who he is. Bobby East was also in our band for a hot minute and Steve King has engineered almost every record we've ever done. Mike E. Clark (ICP/Kid Rock) is a good friend and has always been down with us...I just put out the call and everybody showed up. God Bless all our amazing musical friends.

Dr2 - Detroit's own Top Dog/Atlantic Recording Artist Uncle Kracker recently released a new album, Happy Hour; we see that you (Tino) co-wrote "Corner Bar" on the album. What was it like to work with Kracker, and how did you two hook up?

Tino: Kracker is one of my all time favorite people in the entire world. He is a rare natural talent with vocals, lyrics, melody, and storyline. Working with Kracker is fun because he's such a down home regular cat. Kracker was Bob's DJ when I first met those guys about 15 years ago, they really had something special. It was a natural development really, just hangin out, drinkin, tellin stories, and writing songs. I came from a blues/rock/musician background and those guys were straight up hip hop. I schooled them on the blues, rock n roll thing and they pulled my coat to all the latest Rap stuff. Bob, Kracker, and Joe C. would roll to our shows and vice versa. Kid Rock started performing regularly with the Diablos, we even did a Howling Diablos release on Top Dog. I helped him with his album; 'Early Morning Stone Pimp' and we've remained friends to this day. Kracker and I have been writing together since he put out his first record 'Double Wide'. Some of our jams are 'Aces and Eights', 'Memphis Soul Song' and now 'Corner Bar'.

Dr2 - The Infatuations have a new disc out, "January Sessions", that Dr2 is spinning right now for a Dr2 View, what can you tell us about the disc?

Christian: It's short and sweet: 5 songs, total time 18 minutes. When we started recording back in March of '09, we didn't have a band name or a bass player. We had 3 songs that we were working on and the goal was to put out a 5 song EP.

In addition to having day jobs, we finished writing the firsat 3 songs, wrote 2 more, recorded, named the band, mixed, mastered, duplicated and had a CD Release Party on April 24th. Redbull helped make this happen. We also had help from Stefanie Eulinberg (Kid Rock's Twisted Brown Trucker Band) who played drums on "Dancin On My Knees" Aaron Julison, who picked up the bass duties for the recording. Taking over the production in the mixing process was John Avedisian, Paul Bonfiglio, & Michael Welchans. We (The Infatuations) were blown away with what John, Paul, and Michael pulled off in about in about a weeks time. These guys are Bad Asses! The Whole Process was an awesomely rad experience.

Dr2 - We are HUGE fans of Top Dog/Atlantic Recording Artist Ty Stone, we see he's featured on one of the tracks, how was it to work with Ty and how did you two meet?

Christian: I meet Ty Through a mutual friend Pat "V" Vadnais. I'm also a huge fan of Ty's, so I gave him a call and asked if he's cut a track with us. He was gracious enough to come by the studio and help us out. Ty and Marco cut the vocals for "Alright" in about a half hour (a couple more bad asses at work). Ty is an absolute pleasure to work with: a lot of fun and easy going.

Dr2 - You recently made it through to the Finals of Top Dog/Atlantic Recording Artist Ty Stone's "Search For The Truth" and by the time our readers read this, you will have been named a winner to be the guitarist in his new band. What is the plan going forward, and how does it affect your career, The Infatuations?

Christian: I'm still waiting to hear what the plans are for touring with The Truth. The Infatuations are getting ready to start recording a full length LP. We have some great songs we're really excited about, but this time we are going to take our time and spend the next 4-6 months to record, design the art and put the hustle in place to get it exposed. We could really use an investor to help with the exposure, any takers? As far as my career goes: it will be with both The Infatuations and Ty Stone & The Truth. There's a few other music projects I'm involved with that are inactive at the present time, but I do plan on getting back to those too when a little more time presents itself. Between both bands, I've been playing music 7 days a week. I'm living the dream.

Dr2 - Do you guys think the Detroit music scene is on the national radar and do you feel it gets the respect, nationally, it should?

Tino: The Diablos had the honor of going on tour with George Clinton and the P-Funk and I can tell you that where ever you travel, people give up mad respect for Detroit. The three greatest music cities in the world are New Orleans, Memphis, and Detroit...blues, soul, funk, jazz, and rock n roll...this is where it ALL comes from. Nobody can mess with Detroit's musical legacy. I played in Europe twice last Summer and they really know their Detroit history!

Christian: Nationally I think Detroit is just as much on the radar as any place else. I think our music scene has a lot of respect thanks to such artists as Kid Rock, Eminem, The White Stripes, ICP, & Uncle Kracker. But internationally, Detroit is HOT and I think we get a lot more respect from overseas. The Infatuations are getting fans from the U.K. and Japan and it's getting kind of viral! Part of this, I believe, is the fact that we are from Detroit.

Dr2 - The Howling Diablos and The Infatuations have a big show coming up, what can you guys tell us and The DR2 crew about what we should expect at this event?

Tino: I would expect this show to be a celebration of live music 'Detroit Style'...we gonna blow the roof off the sucka! They're gonna have to repaint the building and take out more insurance! Also it's an ALL AGES show so kids can get a taste of a real live old school spanking!

Christian: It'll definitely be a rump shakin good time! The Infatuations and the Howling Diablos make for a great bill and hopefully we can do some touring together in the future.

Also, this is an all ages show, so this will be great for the fans, family, & friends who can't get into the bars or nightclubs to see The Howling Diablos and The Infatutions.

Dr2 - Lastly, since it is a Thanksgiving Eve Show, what does Thanksgiving mean to you guys?

Christian: It's a day to shut off all the media devices; spend some quality time with close friends and family. To be thankful for how fortunate I am and appreciate what I have, even in these troubled economic times in Michigan. I'm a lucky man, I live in the USA, have a roof over my head, food on the table, a great family, great friends, a wonderful & patient girlfriend and I'm doing what I've always wanted to do, playing guitar in a rock & roll and funk & soul band!

Tino: Thanksgiving means to me family, friends, love, God, country, and kicking back to some good jams. Thanks you so much DR2 for supporting music in Detroit!

Well there you have it, the very first "Dr2 Interview"! Look for this new feature to be included with the re-vamped website soon, as well as a host of other interactive features that we hope will transform DetroitRockReview.com into THEE place for all things "Michigan Made Music".

Be sure to check out the Howling Diablos wsg Jimmie Bones (Kid Rock's TBTB) on Keyboards along with The Infatuations on Thanksgiving Eve, the Biggest Bar Night of the year, next Wednesday November 25th at the Cherry Creek Theater in Canton. For More info please visit the Kid Rock site HERE! DetroitRockReview.com – The Only Place for Local Music News & Reviews!

We recently had the opportunity to pose some questions to these guys about their current releases and their careers, in general. We start off with a broad question on their thoughts about the local music scene:

Dr2 - How do you guys view the current music scene in Michigan?

Tino: I'd have to say there has always been something unique about Michigan music, going all the way back to the beginning. Detroit has an amazing history from the "Black Bottom/Paradise Valley" era which included Hastings St. and all the great blues and jazz cats, up through Motown and then the Ann Arbor/Grande Ballroom rock era of the MC5/Stooges/Seger/Detroit Wheels...right up to the present. People in Detroit have always been into great music and the fans here are the best anywhere.

Christian: I think it's the best it has been in some time now. There seems to be a real sense of community and camaraderie. A perfect example of that are the Inside Outlaws which include Ty Stone, Don "Doop" Duprie, Matt Dmits, The Infatuations, and the Sons of Strippers to name a few. Everyone works together to promote and support one another! Then you have The Howling Diablos (I've been a fan since the mid 90's), Whitey Morgan & The 78's, Class Three Overbite, The Gun Line Band, The Wrong Numbers, Brandon Calhoon, Jiva, Eleven 04, Bixy Lutz, Piston Day Parade, etc.... These are all fantastic bands that I listen to and go see every chance I get. Maybe the greatness that stems from all of these artists is due to the economic troubles Michigan is having: Here's a fix- Commercial Radio could put all Michigan Made Music in regular rotation, generate more add dollars since the quality is better than old tired stuff we're typically subjected to, shows would be packed and we'd be stimulating our own economy. The rest of the country would pay attention, and we may even see a rise in tourism, attracting even more artists to The D. Problem is, radio today doesn't have the balls to do this, they only look at Research Data vs listening to great music.

Tino: 'Divine Trash Highway' is the record where I think all the diversity of the Diablos gets featured. I wanted to show ALL our influences, sort of a shot-gun wedding of sounds, but still with the Diablos' identity. Our biggest influences are the funk/blues/soul/rock mash-up that most Detroiters experience growing up in this great music city. The previous record, 'Car Wash' on Alive! Records were a dirty blues affair, more of the punk trash blues-thing. Somehow 'Divine Trash Highway' mixes alot of different vibes together.

Dr2 - You have a huge collection of artists that contributed to the new disc, Divine Trash Highway, how do you find so many people to contribute and then how do you pull it all together?

Tino: Everybody that contributed to DTH had worked with us in one way or another over the last few years. People probably aren't aware that Vinnie (Sponge) was our drummer for a couple years, or that we knew Jimmie Bones from back in the White Room days before he hooked up with Kid Rock. Calvin Cooke, who plays pedal steel with us on 2 tracks, is Robert Randolph's teacher and comes right out of the Church. Calvin has played with Clapton and Santana but alot of people don't really know who he is. Bobby East was also in our band for a hot minute and Steve King has engineered almost every record we've ever done. Mike E. Clark (ICP/Kid Rock) is a good friend and has always been down with us...I just put out the call and everybody showed up. God Bless all our amazing musical friends.

Tino: Kracker is one of my all time favorite people in the entire world. He is a rare natural talent with vocals, lyrics, melody, and storyline. Working with Kracker is fun because he's such a down home regular cat. Kracker was Bob's DJ when I first met those guys about 15 years ago, they really had something special. It was a natural development really, just hangin out, drinkin, tellin stories, and writing songs. I came from a blues/rock/musician background and those guys were straight up hip hop. I schooled them on the blues, rock n roll thing and they pulled my coat to all the latest Rap stuff. Bob, Kracker, and Joe C. would roll to our shows and vice versa. Kid Rock started performing regularly with the Diablos, we even did a Howling Diablos release on Top Dog. I helped him with his album; 'Early Morning Stone Pimp' and we've remained friends to this day. Kracker and I have been writing together since he put out his first record 'Double Wide'. Some of our jams are 'Aces and Eights', 'Memphis Soul Song' and now 'Corner Bar'.

Dr2 - The Infatuations have a new disc out, "January Sessions" that Dr2 is spinning right now for a Dr2 View, what can you tell us about the disc?

Christian: It's short and sweet: 5 songs, total time 18 minutes. When we started recording back in March of '09, we didn't have a band name or a bass player. We had 3 songs that we were working on and the goal was to put out a 5 song EP.

Dr2 - We are HUGE fans of Top Dog/Atlantic Recording Artist Ty Stone, we see he's featured on one of the tracks, how was it to work with Ty and how did you two meet?

Christian: I meet Ty Through a mutual friend Pat "V" Vadnais. I'm also a huge fan of Ty's, so I gave him a call and asked if he's cut a track with us. He was gracious enough to come by the studio and help us out. Ty and Marco cut the vocals for "Alright" in about a half hour (a couple more bad asses at work). Ty is an absolute pleasure to work with: a lot of fun and easy going.

Christian: I'm still waiting to hear what the plans are for touring with The Truth. The Infatuations are getting ready to start recording a full length LP. We have some great songs we're really excited about, but this time we are going to take our time and spend the next 4-6 months to record, design the art and put the hustle in place to get it exposed. We could really use an investor to help with the exposure, any takers? As far as my career goes: it will be with both The Infatuations and Ty Stone & The Truth. There's a few other music projects I'm involved with that are inactive at the present time, but I do plan on getting back to those too when a little more time presents itself. Between both bands, I've been playing music 7 days a week. I'm living the dream.

Dr2 - Do you guys think the Detroit music scene is on the national radar and do you feel it gets the respect, nationally, it should?

Tino: The Diablos had the honor of going on tour with George Clinton and the P-Funk and I can tell you that where ever you travel, people give up mad respect for Detroit. The three greatest music cities in the world are New Orleans, Memphis, and Detroit...blues, soul, funk, jazz, and rock n roll...this is where it ALL comes from. Nobody can mess with Detroit's musical legacy. I played in Europe twice last Summer and they really know their Detroit history!

Christian: Nationally I think Detroit is just as much on the radar as any place else. I think our music scene has a lot of respect thanks to such artists as Kid Rock, Eminem, The White Stripes, ICP, & Uncle Kracker. But internationally, Detroit is HOT and I think we get a lot more respect from overseas. The Infatuations are getting fans from the U.K. and Japan and it's getting kind of viral! Part of this, I believe, is the fact that we are from Detroit.

Dr2 - The Howling Diablos and The Infatuations have a big show coming up, what can you guys tell us and The DR2 crew about what we should expect at this event?

Tino: I would expect this show to be a celebration of live music 'Detroit Style'...we gonna blow the roof off the sucka! They're gonna have to repaint the building and take out more insurance! Also it's an ALL AGES show so kids can get a taste of a real live old school spanking!

Christian: It'll definitely be a rump shakin good time! The Infatuations and the Howling Diablos make for a great bill and hopefully we can do some touring together in the future.

Also, this is an all ages show, so this will be great for the fans, family, & friends who can't get into the bars or nightclubs to see The Howling Diablos and The Infatutions.

Dr2 - Lastly, since it is a Thanksgiving Eve Show, what does Thanksgiving mean to you guys?

Christian: It's a day to shut off all the media devices; spend some quality time with close friends and family. To be thankful for how fortunate I am and appreciate what I have, even in these troubled economic times in Michigan. I'm a lucky man, I live in the USA, have a roof over my head, food on the table, a great family, great friends, a wonderful & patient girlfriend and I'm doing what I've always wanted to do, playing guitar in a rock & roll and funk & soul band!

Tino: Thanksgiving means to me family, friends, love, God, country, and kicking back to some good jams. Thanks you so much DR2 for supporting music in Detroit!

Be sure to check out the Howling Diablos wsg Jimmie Bones (Kid Rock's TBTB) on Keyboards along with The Infatuations on Thanksgiving Eve, the Biggest Bar Night of the year, next Wednesday November 25th at the Village Theater @ Cherry Hill in Canton. For More info please visit the Kid Rock site HERE! DetroitRockReview.com - The Only Place for Local Music News & Reviews!