It seems as if Tommy London set out on a treasure hunt a handful of years ago. His map in his back pocket, the “X” centered on the bright lights of night life of New York and his journey an incessant stream of good ol’ Rock N’ Roll. With a plan in mind to bring rock back to the forefront of music, Tommy found his rock soul mates when he scoped the New York scene. Along with London, Johnny B, Tommy Mokas, Doug Wright and Marty E make up The Dirty Pearls.
They’ve been playing sold out shows left and right in their hometown, go way back with Gaga (check out “Heavy Metal Lovers” on Born This Way…it’s about them!) and Whether You Like it or Not, they are going to bring rock back in more ways than one. No, really Whether You Like it or Not is the name of their album that drops in January 2012. But to hold you over till that find below the what was the beginning of Tommy London’s start, where he’s at now and what is to come.
Kendra: What was the search process like when you set foot in New York City to create what is now The Dirty Pearls?
Tommy London: Well I moved to New York with the vision of a Rock N’ Roll band and I was in a couple of bands that really didn’t do anything even to talk about but through playing the scene I saw guys like Marty E my drummer and Johnny B my guitar player and the other guys, Dougie and Tommy Mokas. Seeing the guys play in other bands I was like, if I was to put together the perfect rock band, who would I get in this scene? Marty’s in that band, Johnny’s in that band, Mokas’ in that band, and I knew that if I got these guys I’d have my own all-star Rock N’ Roll group. With that vision I said let’s go for it, I’m not asking you to leave your bands, just try this with me. They did and it all kind of worked out.
Kendra: With you all, it’s all about Rock N’ Roll being back. In your opinion, where’s it been?
Tommy: That’s a good question. Where’s it been hiding? In New York City the rock stations just went kaput, no more rock stations in New York. I also read in Rolling Stone recently that even top of the rock stations pulled the plug. So I think that Rock N’ Roll has died due to pop and hip hop because they’re definitely huge in the music industry, and I think that rock has taken a backseat to that. Maybe it’s due to image. Maybe it’s due to songs. I don’t know but Rock N’ Roll has definitely taken a backseat to pop music right now. And it’s time for someone to bring it back and I can’t think of anyone else better to bring that back than the five of us in The Dirty Pearls. You agree?
Kendra: Yes, I was just going to say it’s been waiting in New York with you guys. Now I’m not sure if you’ve seen the wonderful comedy out now with Justin Timberlake, Friends With Benefits, but if you haven’t, the first part is all about Mila Kunis trying to convince Justin to move from LA to New York City. By doing so she takes him to places only a New Yorker would know. If you had to convince me today to leave the Golden coast for the Big Apple, which three places would you take me to make up my mind?
Tommy: I would take you to St. Jeromes which we call The Clubhouse. I would take you to Three Of Cups, another hangout of ours. And I would probably take you to, I gotta take you to some historical spot so I would probably take you to, I mean it’s historical to us, but I gotta take you to the The Continental which had a lot of shows. The Ramones played there along with a lot of great bands, but now it’s converted to just a bar but I’d still take you there.
Kendra: Staying on New York, your new album, Whether You Like it or Not drops early next year. If you had to compare the sound we’ll find on the new album to a New York attraction, which would it be and why?
Tommy: I would say Whether You Like it or Not drops, The Dirty Pearls would be the biggest comparison to Coney Island; it’s a Rock N’ Roll rollercoaster baby. You have a great time, your heart’s gonna pound, your feet are gonna stomp and your hands are gonna clap.
Kendra: And on Whether You Like it or Not you worked with David Kahne who’s worked with bands who have a very definitive sound (The Strokes, Sublime). How do you try and make your natural instrument stand out above the crowd?
Tommy: That’s a great question actually. David Kahne, it was really interesting actually, he took me in the studio and really put me through the grind and made me the best vocalist and singer I could be. He took me from where I was at and took me to the top, a whole other level; I really found my voice. I think melody and the heart really define who you are, and I think that goes with the bands you just mentioned, Sublime, The Strokes and with us. I think that David really helped me define that mark and really, he made me the singer I always wanted to be. I’ve never told him that, so hopefully he reads this and will see that.
Kendra: And since we’re dishing about your pipes, is there one vocalist who made you want to be a front man?
Tommy: You know who it was? There were two people who always influenced me. My father played a lot of oldies so Elvis Presley was a huge influence on me as a person, a singer and entertainer. And as I got older the one person who always got me was Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. That guy just had it all. He could sing like a son of a bitch and entertain. From Elvis Presley to Steven Tyler, they’re the two main people in my life that I can always say inspired me to really pursue what I’m doing right now.
Kendra: Leading man in the band and in your recent video for “Static.” Who’s idea was it to make the video using an Xbox Kinect?
Tommy: I approached the director who’s a friend of mine Matt Weckel. I had this vision of making a video where the band is in the television set trying to get out so to speak, and I wanted to be all staticy and kind of break out. He was like, I have this great idea to use the Xbox Kinect to make the video. I’m really clueless to a lot of stuff but I came in thinking this could be what I was looking for and I trust his instinct so we met with him, got the green screen and the Kinect and he actually made the actual vision of the video and it is just amazing. He took something that’s in so many living rooms and made a music video out of it, and it’s pretty spectacular; it really nailed the song.
Kendra: While we’re on videos, you guys can be seen in the Lady Gaga commercial for the MTV VMAs. You guys go back with Gaga who’s this sort of pop culture enigma now. Has she ever given The Dirty Pearls any sound advice?
Tommy: She’s from the same hood that we’re from and we’ve known her from the start with what she had going on and what we had going on, and for her to include us in her VMA commercial is just an extreme honor and it’s great that she called us to be a part of that; us and Semi Precious Weapons. But I guess she just said do what you do and keep it real, which is what we do; Rock N’ Roll.
Kendra: Now on to shows, which you guys are great at selling out. What’s the secret?
Tommy: I got to be honest we use the social networks. Your Facebooks and your Twitters, and really the one thing about this band is we hit the pavement hard with fliers and just everything. We create the awareness, The Dirty Pearls are coming. We always put together a great bill with a lot bands. We make it so it’s like a great night out with Rock N’ Roll and people come and they keep coming.
Kendra: What happens when the show hits the road and you all aren’t on your home turf? Like how different is the atmosphere?
Tommy: It used to be and then recently we’ve been noticing a really big change. We toured on the west coast opening for bands and we’d always been welcomed with a good embrace but recently we don’t want to name names, but we’ll show up in towns and we’ll outdo the headliners, and we don’t even know what’s going on. It’s also reputation. We promote a show, we build it up and they come and then they tell their friends. The secret is to deliver what you’re telling them you’ll deliver and giving them what you say you’re going to because if you do then they believe you and they’ll tell their friends.
Kendra: Lastly, back to the Big Apple, could you make me a New York City mixtape? Five songs that would scream “New York.”
Tommy:
The Ramones “53rd and 3rd”
The New York Dolls “Personality Crisis”
The Dirty Pearls “New York City Is A Drug”
KISS “Strutter”
Run DMC “King Of Rock”
Originally published on August 18, 2011
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