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Under
the Covers
An interview with Shelly and Jay of
Fast Mattress
By Bob
Ignizio |
A Cleveland area band that blends garage rock, metal,
and punk, with clever lyrics and solid song writing? How could Utter Trash
not take notice? In fact, Fast Mattress (Shelly - vocals, Jay - guitar,
vocals, Tina - keyboards, Davey - bass, Scott - drums) was one of the first
bands ever covered on this site, way back in the summer of 2002 when they
played that year’s Studio-A-Rama. I wanted to interview the band back then,
but the large entourage of security, managers, and assorted hangers-on the
band surrounded themselves with made getting through extremely difficult. I
eventually bribed a low level employee of the Fast Mattress organization who
gave me an email address and told me the band might respond.
Luckily for you readers of Utter Trash, they did.
Utter Trash: When and how did Fast Mattress come
together? Have any of the members been in other notable area bands?
Shelly: We formed back in 2001 as a project band just
for fun with Jay, Tina, and me, as well as Matt Charboneau of Viva Caramel
and our friend Amy Wolf. Davey started playing with us soon after, and when
Matt & Amy bowed out, Scott joined the ranks on drums.
Jay: I have been a playing guitar and sharing lead
vocals in the local rock band The Hurricanes since 1998 and continue to do
so. Scott was previously in several successful rock bands out of Dallas,
including Trailer Park.
Shelly: Davey also plays in The Cleveland Steamers.
UT: Where does the name of the band come from? Were
you aware that there's a movie called 'Fast Sofa'? Could your mattress beat
the sofa in a race?
Shelly: Scott came up with the name, and after a few
months of constant fist- fights, Tina and I gave in. I think Jay & Davey
didn't care. I wanted us to be called the STD-JS from all of our initials,
but my left hook isn't as good as Scott's. Didn't know about the movie, but
I'm intrigued...
UT: Is "Alcoholic" about anyone in particular, and if
so what's the "behind the music" story on that one?
Shelly: This is a tough one to talk about in public,
because it is about one of my best friends. He's gone through just about
everything in the song. He knows the song's about him, but he also knows I
love him no matter what.
 UT: In "Heterosexual", you rail against the typical
macho mainstream male. Aren't there just as many guys in the underground
that are sexist pigs?
Shelly: Heck, yeah! Nonetheless, I think the
stereotypical frat boy is such a scourge not only on society, but also on
fashion, that the song is really aimed at them.
UT: On a related note to the above question, why do
you think more women don't get involved in the local punk/underground rock
scene? With a few exceptions, the NE Ohio music scene is pretty much one
big sausage party.
Shelly: I've always found that guys are pretty
competitive about music - Who knows more about music? Who has the most
vinyl? I think the local rock culture is very influenced by that, and it can
intimidate women. I get past it by just not playing that game. I'll be the
first to admit that I don't know the most about music and that I think vinyl
is annoying.
UT: What are the musical influences that mix together
to create the fabulous Fast Mattress sound? You seem to be rooted in garage
rock, but there's something else going on as well which sets you apart from
all the derivative bands in that genre.
Shelly: I have no idea. I think we all have similar
tastes in music - punk, garage, surf, metal - but how that all turned into
Fast Mattress is beyond me. I never know how to describe our sound.
Jay: I believe our sound is rooted in the unique style
of Scott's drumming. This along with that garage organ drone provides a
really unique base to layer the vocals. I believe this and the willingness
to try anything musically separates our sound from the traditional
"garage".
UT: What's the songwriting process like for the band?
Is there one member who comes up with the majority of the tunes, or is it a
collaborative effort?
Shelly: Total collaboration. On some songs one person
brings a riff or a melody idea, but it's really the process of us sitting
around in our practice space and letting the ideas flow. I'm often amazed at
the ideas that these other yahoos come up with! I'm lucky to work with these
people.
UT: How are things coming with the effort to get a dog
park in Lakewood? If my brain isn't totally failing me, I seem to remember
you talking about that on your radio show. [Shelly also DJ's on 89.3 WCSB as
"Skutr".]
Shelly: Thanks for asking, Bob! The dog park opened on
June 27th, 2003. It's truly awesome. I call it doggie heaven. My dogs go
nuts there.
UT: Where would you like to see this Fast Mattress take
you? Would you like to get a record deal, tour, etc., or do you just want
to keep things on a local level? Shelly: It's funny
how my goals for this keep receding as we achieve them. At first I just
wanted to play a show. Then I just wanted to play Studio-A-Rama. Then I just
wanted to record a CD so that we had a record of what we accomplished. Now
I'm hoping the CD will get a distribution deal, because I'm really proud of
it, and I'm happy when we get to share it with people. In my secret dreams,
I want to play on ‘Conan’. (Don't tell anyone!)
UT: Anything I didn't ask you about that you want to
comment on?
Shelly: Well, you didn't ask if we're a manufactured
"boy band" type of thing. We're all so unusually good looking that a lot of
people wonder if some record company honcho chose us to be in the band. Here
and now I'd like to set the rumors to rest. It's just a coincidence
that we're all so attractive.
Visit the Fast Mattress website.
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