Tony Sly reveals the hassle involved in being a part of a legendary band. “Whenever I’m at home I wish I was on tour and whenever I’m on tour I wish I was home,” he laments.
Sly, along with his band No Use For A Name, have done there fair share of touring since their inception in 1987. They have brought out a total of nine full-length CDs, including their latest album The Feel Good Record of the Year. Living the typical rock star lifestyle whilst on tour for the previous two decades has made the now older and wiser punkster realise that he needs to start taking better care of himself.
“I drank every night like it was OK. As soon as I would return home from touring I would think, ‘What have I done to my body?’” says Sly in his thick American accent. Alcoholism aside, Sly admits that he is a very fortunate guy who doesn’t have to get up at six in the morning like many of his friends back in San Jose California.
N.U.F.A.N have seen many changes in the music industry, some for better and some for worse. Back when the band was first starting out there was no MySpace. All band promotion was done the old fashioned way, by touring rigorously and advertising themselves through all media. Having had to do everything the hard way, Sly is now quite sceptical of MySpace. “It’s a good way for half talented bands to get recognition,” he says bluntly. He does admit, however, that the network is great for people to discover bands that they never would have known about otherwise.
Drummer Rory Koff and Sly are the only remaining original band members, having had a whopping five people leave. This begs the question: where all these departures amicable? Sly lives up to his last name by not really giving me a definitive answer. Suffice to say that they all get along now, except a past bass player whom Sly tried to call four years ago only to be hung up on. He is of course referring to Steve Papoutis, but Sly doesn’t name names.
High profile ex-band member Chris Shiflett abruptly left the band right before there were to go on tour to promote More Betterness. Sly was pissed off, and rightfully so, as N.U.F.A.N were forced to find a new bass player just one week prior to their tour commencing.
Looking back on it now Sly understands why Shiflett ditched his band to join forces with Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins in The Foo Fighters. “That works for him and this works for us,” says Sly.
He is proud of the new album, which was recorded in The Blasting Room owned by producers Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore. Other bands who have utilised the Fort Collins Colorado recording studio include Puddle of Mud, Rise Against, NOFX and the Alkaline Trio just to name a few.
Stevenson’s producing was refreshing for N.U.F.A.N who had used the same producer, Ryan Green, on many previous albums. The Feel Good Record of the Year is the band’s most refined album to date. The songs are of a better quality – both in sound and lyrically – than any of their previous material, whilst still managing to not alienate their die-hard fans.
No Use For A Name visit Australia in July for an exhaustive tour alongside fellow Californian punk icons Strung Out.
2 Jul – Light Square Live (Night Train), Adelaide
3 Jul – Prince of Wales Hotel WA
4 Jul – Players Bar WA
5 Jul – Club Capitol, Perth
6 Jul – Newport Hotel WA
9 Jul – Barwon Club Hotel VIC
10 Jul – Peninsula Lounge VIC
11 Jul – Billboard, Melbourne
12 Jul – Uni Bar, University of Tasmania
13 Jul – ANU Bar, Canberra
15 Jul – Wollongong UniBar
16 Jul – Metro Theatre, Sydney
17 Jul – Newcastle University – Bar On The Hill
18 Jul – Coolangatta Hotel
19 Jul – The Arena, Brisbane
20 Jul – The Sands Tavern, Maroochydore
22 Jul – Seven Nightclub QLD
23 Jul – Great Western Hotel QLD
24 Jul – McGuires Hotel QLD
25 Jul – Bombay Rock QLD
26 Jul – Brothers Leagues Club QLD
30 Jul – The Station Resort NSW
