This man needs no introduction. He is the drummer from the New York based rock band The Dirty Pearls. The infamous Marty E sat down with me and shot the shit for about 40 minutes to promote their upcoming show (April 25 at the Bowery Ballroom) and his movie (The Perfect Age of Rock n Roll).

BnR: How have you been?

Marty: Oh you know tired as hell. I have been exercising my extra curricular activities all weekend.

BnR: You recently opened up for Bret Michaels on his Rock of Love Bus Tour. How did that go?

Marty: It was fucking awesome man. Talk about big, easy crowds. They were the kind of crowds that show up for the opening acts. It's always a cool thing when you are playing and there is an unfamiliar crowd there that doesn't know what to make of you. But by the end of your set, they are all into it. It was probably easier to work that crowd than say a New York crowd in front of the [New York] Dolls. But we were able to do that too. It is a whole different animal - playing out in Jersey and Long Island. I am not sure if they are less jaded or easier to impress or both or perhaps they are out to have a good time. But it was really a lot of fun.

They were nice, well-attended shows. Bret's people were real nice to us. His band are all real great guys. I happened to have busted a snare drum head out in Jersey at the Wellmont during sound check. Bret's drummer Chuck, who is a real nice guy, just gave me one of his. He said, "No problem, dude."

BnR: Did you get a chance to meet Bret?

Marty: No, not this time. I have met him before, but he was hanging out on his bus until showtime. He was sick. I think he had laryngitis or something. He was able to sing at the shows just fine, but other than that he was just resting. I know that they canceled a few shows after the shows we played. I didn't get to hang out with him, but I did get to hang out with his band a bit. I basically had a good time. It was a real fun experience. One that I will look on fondly.

BnR: As an outsider looking in, how was Bret's show. Was it more typical of a Poison show or was it something different?

Marty: He did a lot of Poison songs. That is what people want to hear. He just put out a solo album and he did maybe three or four songs off it. Then he did some covers, which your Saturday night beer drinking crowd likes. He did Sweet Home Alabama, Knocking on Heaven's Door, I can't remember I was drinking a lot of beer. I was doing a lot of socializing while watching his show. It is good beer drinking music.

BnR: I wasn't impressed with his solo albums so I was wondering who shows up for a Bret Michaels solo show.

Marty: I'll tell ya, a lot of chicks. We love those. We love each and everyone of them. Who the hell doesn't? It was really nice crowds that took to us well. I would walk around afterward and we got a lot of really nice compliments, which is better than a kick in the pants. It is a beautiful thing when someone walks into a place without knowing who the hell you are and then after they leave, they are glad to have known ya. Hopefully, we will see them again and they will bring more of their friends next time. That is how this game is played. I think we feel fortunate to be in a position and we are playing it pretty well.

BnR: You guys are working on a new album?

Marty: Well, we are working on a lot of things. We have some new songs. We actually debuted two new songs at the last Bret show, which was at the Wellmont out in Montclair NJ. We are going to be doing those songs, not sure if we are doing any new songs at the Bowery on April 25. We have some other new stuff on deck that we probably won't be playing there. We are working on some other ideas like any of the songs we recorded so far on our six song EPs are all eligible to be on any potential full length album we would make. And we really want to do that. It is just a matter of how the hell we are going to do it. There are people looking at us and all that kind of thing, without going into too much detail about it. We don't want to say how fast the horse is running when he hasn't left the gate yet. There is some interest out there in helping us make a record. We are all for it. It is a really good time for us as a band to do that. Get into the studio with a producer and do these songs right and do them justice because there is some really strong stuff there. At least we think so.

You were at our last Bowery show and a lot of good things came from that — gigs. We are hoping maybe more of that happens.

BnR: You mentioned the Bowery show on April 25. This will mark the second time the Dirty Pearls have headlined the Bowery Ballroom. Do you have anything in store for our readers? Any surprises you can let us in on?

Marty: The stage show is going to be the most over the top you have seen from us. I don't want to give away too much of the surprise, but there will definitely be more of a spectacle there. I don't know if the other guys will agree with me or not, but if I said it once I've said it a thousand times...we are a band that can turn a decent size club like the Bowery and make it feel like an arena show. But everyone in that arena has a really good seat. We definitely have some over the top things planned. There were a few over the top things last time, we are talking more of that. With that being said, I have to think of a costume to wear so I can walk around before hand. There will be somewhat of a spectacle this time. A couple of new songs that our New York audience hasn't heard, pretty much no one has heard unless they were at that Jersey show.

We have this one song, that I am particularly proud of called Don't Say a Word. It's a slow blues tune - kind of Zeppelin-esque. I mean, not to toot our horn and say we are that fucking great or anything, but it has that feel about it. It's that bluesy Zeppelin kind of thing that breaks into a bombast at the end. As a drummer, I love playing slow songs because it allows me to sort of stretch out and groove and not completely do the grind. I think people will enjoy it. I know I will and that is half the battle. So don't be going back and getting any beers during that tune ok?

BnR: Not for us we will be as close to the stage as possible.

Marty: Oh cool, then I'll hand you some of my beers then.

BnR: On the same night of the Bowery Ballroom show, The Perfect Age of Rock n Roll is set to debut.

Marty: Yup, it's premiering at the Newport Beach Film Festival in California.

BnR: In the movie, you play Bonzo, a drummer. Can you tell us a little about the role and a little about the movie?

Marty: Sure. It's a move based on a fictional band back in the 90's. Back sort of when hard rock was on its way out and industrial and alternative were on their way in. It's based on two guys from Long Island who were in a band in high school. They were planning on going to LA and one of them was less scared than the other. He went to LA without the other dude and took all their songs with him and got huge. Like Guns N' Roses huge. While the other guy teaches music at the junior high. He does another album with another guitar player and the album flops. The band then goes back to Long Island to get the original guy back in the band, so they can write another hit album or they are going to lose their contract.

The guitar player agrees to do it, played by my buddy Jason Ritter. He agrees to do it, but only if they do the original plan. That is to tour across America in an RV, driving out to LA. It's the only way he'll do it. So the movie is based on that and there are all sort of adventures and all this shit going on on the road.

My role is I play the drummer in the band. A wise ass, beer drinking, dude who hangs out with lots of babes. It's a real stretch for me. What's great about it is I got to wear my hair the way I wear it. I got to wear my own clothes for the most part. Talk about being comfortable in your own skin. I was uncomfortable with the prop beer. We couldn't drink real beer on the set. Although, sometimes I had a little bit to drink before hand in my trailer.

Oh, the one thing I want to mention, my good friend Peter Fonda is in the movie. He is the guy who drives us across the country in the RV. That was a real trip - hanging out with him every day. He's a very gracious character and one of the few people who I feel I sort of look up to. I told him, "Man you invented coolness as far as I am concerned."

It was a lot of fun and I am glad it's happening. The fact that it is premiering on the same night as the Bowery show a lot of people ask me about it. "Hey are you pissed off about it?" I say "Hey look I have been praying my whole life for these kinds of problems."

BnR: I saw the cast list and saw that Billy Dee Williams was in it. Did you get a chance to talk to Lando Calrissian?

Marty: No I didn't get to talk to Lando. Unfortunately, his day of filming was one of my days off. I didn't get to meet him. I did get to meet some interesting people. Obviously, I got to hang out with Peter every day. I got to be good friends with Jason Ritter. Taryn Manning is a real cool chick. Kevin Zegers is a cool dude. I did get to make good friends with Kelly Lynch. Just like me, she's from Minnesota. She has a down to Earth way of looking at the world.

In part two of our Marty E interview, we talk bands, which continent has put out the best music, and what bands Marty is listening to. The audio below might take a few minutes to load up, the file is pretty big. Be patient.