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An Interview with ' Michael Hannon' (Vocalist/Bassist of 'American Dog') Interviewed Glenn Milligan, BA Hons CS Date: 13th September, 2002
What's the history of the band getting together? OK, This'll be a little long winded but stick with me, this'll answer a few more of the questions further down the line. After the break-up of "Salty Dog" (Drugs, Ego ect.) I got a call from Jason McMaster , the Vocalist fo "Dangerous Toys". They had just released their third cd "Pissed" had a tour booked and then their bassist quits, They needed someone now! This was perfect timing for me, so I put all my shit in a storage unit, and drove to Texas, lived on their couches for ten days and then got in a bus and travelled the U.S. for a year. It was during this tour 1994 that i saw that real rock was doing much better in the midwest of the U.S. than on either of the coasts, so after the year of touring, i went back to L.A. put my shit in my truck and moved back to Ohio and started my "new" band! American Dog was born.
It was 1995 and I had to start from scratch, So i checked out all the local clubs and started looking for other guys who had the balls to play original hard rock music, in a club scene filled with "bullsh*t tribute" acts and diseased by rap sh*t! I found two rabid dogs, Steve Theado for Guitars o' plnty and Keith Pickens on Drums it took us five years of playing the smallest stinkiest biker bars to get signed, but it was worth it! If you can survive playing the bars we did for five years anything else is easy.
Kiss is the band that started me on the "Highway to Hell", I heard "Rock and Roll all Nite" on the car radio...and I was Born Again!
I like vocalists with tons of balls and conviction, I appreciate how good vocalists like Geoff Tate are, but it ain't my cup of tea, I want Lemmy, Dee Snider, Bon Scott...You know bad Muther f*ckers!
All I did was tour with Dangerous Toys, I didn't record any studio stuff with them (although i am on two songs on their live cd) and touring with toys was a blast...We were a bunch of pirates!
Salty Dog recorded our (only) cd in Wales at Rockfield Studios, That was a lot of fun.
In toys, the bus broke down in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, we had to push a f*ckin' bus up a god damn mountain so we could get it started by coasting down a hill!!!
Toys still get together with their original bassist and do tours occasionally.
Steve and I came up with the idea for the American Dog cover, The flag is the flag for the State of Ohio (that's where we're from)Except of course Ohio's flag doesn't really have an American Dog logo in it (yet!) The title "Red White, Black and Blue" is an inside joke about Steve getting run over.
I don't know but if anybody does give us any shit we'll tell 'em to shove it up their ass!
Travelling, and havin' a damn good time! The money ain't sh*t (yet) but we laugh our asses off!
We haven't been booed yet!
When I'm in a rowdy mood my favorites are "Train", "Swallow My Pride" and "Hear Me Howlin'". If I'm mellowin' out it's "Can't Stop the Rain".
Not long at all, we we're prepared and we record as live as you can in the studio, all in the same room, jammin' in each others faces and then overdub the vocals and a little extra guitar.
They're a real rock label, not a buncha dicks in suits.
Recently? none.
It's getting better all the time, you're seein' a lot less of that rap sh*t, let's hope it dies soon!
We still have to do side jobs as well as the band right now due to the fact that we just spent all our money on recording.
Best job is being in a band...it doesn't get any better. The worst was working in a pottery place in Southern California, the kiln was so big it was on railroad tracks and hot as sh*t...plus the boss was an ass!
As soon as the ink dries for the European deal we'll start booking as much as we can, and we'll let you know as soon as it's finalised.
Hopefully very soon! I can't wait to rock with you f*ckers!
I quite like "Newcastle Brown", but it's pretty damn expensive, so i mostly drink this cheap sh*t called "Milwaukees Best Light" it only costs $5.00 a twelve pack,YEE-HAW!!!
How much do you have?
After a night of Drinking in Paris France at the "Academy of Beer" everything was funny...i couldn't stop laughing....you had to be there, and one time in Vierviers Belgium at a club called "Spirit of 66" I poured 7 beers down Steve's throat... While we were playing!... He turned GREY!!!
I like "Hard Radio", "Rusty Metal" and "The Classic Metal Show"... knac too.
That was shot at the Buffalo Chip Campground in Sturgis South Dakota this year just after we played with "Billy Idol". We lived (along with 3 other bands) in that barn for 11 days!
I'd be happy
just to be able to live comfortably off the band without a day job...i
think most musicans feel the same. I'm happy as sh*t right here in the Midwest, I like Texas a lot too.
It's a good old fashioned Rock-N-Roll show, We've got the energy of AC/DC, plus it's got the fun element of old Van Halen just add alcohol and you're there!
The bigger the crowd the better but we'll give you the best we've got if there's 10 people or 10,000 It doesn't matter where, Rock-n-Roll is the universal language...Rockers are good people.
24 beers (preferably
cold)
We get 'em from 16 to 50 about 60% dudes!
That'll be a label decision, but i think "Can't Throw Stones" would be it.
The ones i can catch!!
Life! Thanks for the honest and humourous answers Michael. Special thanks to Outlaw Productions for putting Michael in touch with us. Check the reviews of their albums in the 'A' section of CD reviews.
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