Introducing The Dirty Pearls
The Dirty Pearls Speak
Recently your favorite hack Rock N Roll music site had a chance to catch up with a couple members of a true Rock N Roll band living the Rock N Roll life, and they are in it to win it. The Dirty Pearls, straight off the mean streets of New York City, consists of Tommy London’s crooning vocals, Marty E.’s guns on the drums, Richie White and Johnny B. on lead guitars, and Dougie Wright on the Bass. Nicknamed "The Supergroup of the East Village", these gentlemen have had a hand in some great NYC acts such as The Sex Slaves, Great Jones, and Drag Citizen, as well Philadelphia’s classiest Rock N Roll act, The Union Dead. Yes, these boys have been rockin’ since conception.
Fresh off their West Coast Hollywood La La La Tour, here is what the band had to say:
BNR: How did a group of rag tag musicians become the N.Y phenomenon "The Dirty Pearls"?
Tommy London:
I was thinking to myself one night, where is the rock star? What happened to a collective group of guys coming together and forming a kick ass rock band like The Stones, The NY Dolls, Guns N Roses or Nirvana? It hasn't happened in sometime. So I thought about all the guys that played the NYC scene that would be perfect for this vision if I was able to just pick and choose. I went after them, individually, telling them the concept for the band. A few of them were in bands at the time so it took a while to get them all in a room together to jam..but when we did..magic occurred. You could just sense the chemistry between us all. Perfect fit! It was really weird actually...but in a good way.Marty E.: It was really a matter of time. Great minds really do think alike, and it's extremely hard to find Rock N' Rollers with talent, taste, brains, personality, balls, and the hunger to get somewhere. That being said, it's perfectly logical that the 5 of us would gravitate to each other. And when we did, the chemistry was such that there really was no question that this would be a great band.
BNR: You guys recently opened up for Metal Skool, how did that gig come about? Tommy London: It was our first trip to the West Coast and we wanted to deliver the most bang for our buck, of course. We knew opening for Metal Skool would be a great night to expose the band as well as give us the chance to see the show, that we wanted to see when we were there anyway...may as well kill two birds with one stone right? Have us play so you don't have to pay...hahahahahahaha. Just kidding, we would have gone anyway even if we weren't performing that night. Metal Skool is a GREAT show! Lots of fun! But to answer your question, we submitted our demo to the person who books the night and they loved the band...so it all worked out for us.Marty E.: What he said, but more of it.
BNR: Follow-up to the question above: Were you nervous to open up for the greatest metal cover band in the United States?Tommy London:
Nah...not nervous at all! It's just the five of us on stage doing what we do best...playing music..rocking and rolling...drinking and smoking...you know the drill..Marty E.: No...I was way more nervous about finding a great afterparty.
When will you do some shows in Philadelphia?
Tommy London: We are actually working on coming to Philadelphia by the end of the year or early 2008. Of course we will keep you posted!!
BNR: Marty, we were huge fans of the Union Dead. You guys made some great music, can you shed some light as to the downfall of the band?
Marty E:
Yes...I was a fan of The Union Dead too, for a long time before I joined the band. It was, as far as I'm concerned, the 2nd-best band I've ever played in. (Guess who's first! Ahahahaha). Looking back, I think the problem was that they'd been a band for 4 years already before I even joined. Some shit went down at the end there, which, out of respect to my homeboys from the UD I won't go into. What it came down to was this: a couple of the guys felt like it wasn't going to go anywhere, which I disagreed with, especially considering what was about to happen to the band (i.e. press, at least one label interested, etc). So, furthermore, I think that a couple guys in the band didn't want to spend the time, do the work, feel the pleasure, and suffer the pain that's required of a band that tours and really lives the life. Some people might call it being afraid of success, and that may be true....I'm not really sure, because I'm simply not that way. I can say this though,,,I'm fortunate in that the Dirty Pearls started up right around the time The Union Dead fell apart...I was literally on the drums with these guys the day after the last Union Dead show....how fucking cool is that?"BNR: Have you heard from any of the band ex-members of the Union Dead?
Marty E.:
Sure! I never burn any bridges, and I still love all those guys. JxMFxDK has a band called the Sidewalk Sensations, that have already gone through a couple of lineups (kinda like the Pearls did in the first few months, ahahahaha). Eric is working on some solo shit that I have no doubt will kick ass (he promised to get me a cd...and I'm gonna hold him to it!). As far as Dresden James goes....well, I hear that he's putting a new band together or something,...playing rhythm guitar, I guess? That's the word on the street anyway. I'm glad the Rock N' Roll bug has bitten him on the ass again. He's a great performer, I don't care if he's playing the fucking electric ukelele, ahahahaha..." BNR: Any crazy groupie stories?Tommy London:
Ummm...well...tons actually...especially after our trip to the West Coast. Our hotel room was THE afterparty for EVERY show. I felt so bad for the maid the next day! HAHHA I have a few crazy groupie stories I could write about without using the names, but I have a feeling we will be shooting ourselves in the foot if they read this...ya dig?Marty E.: Groupies? Hell, I like to call them friends and fans. That being said, I kissed a girl on the cheek once, and she gave me a black eye.
BNR: If the band (collectively) was a member of the A*Team, which member would it be? Tommy London: Murdock!Marty E.: Absolutley!
BNR: Beatles or Stones? Ramones or Motorhead? Backstreet or New Kids?Tommy London:
The Stones baby!Marty E.: The Stones, but I love The Beatles too...
Tommy London: How can a New York City based band NOT go with The Ramones? Ramones all the way. Though Lemmy did recognize Marty from his previous band when we were in L.A.
Marty E: For me that's a draw...and yes, Lemmy is a class act!
Tommy London: Both groups, can't call them bands, should be shot, hung and dumped in ocean with cement shoes....not necessarily in that order. HAHAHAH...just kidding...well, at least about them being shot.
Marty E: I much prefer Wham!
We at Blogsnroses.com demand that you check out The Dirty Pearls on the world wide web at www.thedirtypearls.com and www.myspace.com/thedirtypearls. If you’re lucky you'll see them live:
Nov 5 2007 10:00P Snitch New York, New York
Nov 16 2007 8:00P The Blue Room Secaucus, New Jersey
Nov 17 2007 8:00P The Bowery Ballroom New York, New York
….and to the band: Thank you for rockin!!!
you have made me cry tears of joy
It was an honor to shoot the shit with you guys!
great to hear you rocking at snitch last week !!.. my faith in rock in nyc has been confirmed :) red haired stepchild -bass mistress nyc