They will be playing Arts, Beats, & Eats in Royal Oak on Saturday, Sept. 1 at 8 P.M. on the Budweiser Rock Stage.
MCB caught up with Broadzilla's guitarist/vocalist Rachel May to discuss the live reunion.
When was the last time Broadzilla performed live together and what was
the reason for the hiatus in the first place?
It was December of 2009. We opened for Lez Zeppelin at the Magic Bag. It was a really great show for us and one that we could rest on for a bit. We had been together 13 years at that point and had run ourselves ragged with keeping up with day jobs, a hectic touring schedule and everything that goes into running a band/business. It was just time for us to take a step back. We never considered breaking up the band, we just needed a break and we didn’t really know how long that break would be. As it turns out, it’s been almost three years.
What has everyone been doing with themselves since the hiatus?
Well, I think at first we all just enjoyed the break for a bit. Eventually Kim and I began playing in other bands around town. I enjoyed the challenges of playing with different musicians and getting outside of the Broadzilla wheelhouse for a moment. I definitely learned a lot musically by having to push myself to keep up with new players. And leisurely I’ve enjoyed having time to get outdoors and live a little, Kim’s involved with the Detroit Derby Girls and Angie started her own pet taxi business.
How did this reunion show come about and can we expect more?
I had always imagined we’d get back on stage at some point and we still get
asked to do shows all the time but I have to give credit to Brian Major for this
one. Brian is a local event promoter and he’s been urging me at every
opportunity he gets to bring Broadzilla back to the stage. Earlier this year he
asked about Arts, Beats & Eats, and then he asked again in June and I told
him that I would, at the very least, ask the girls if they were interested. A
quick little gathering one night at the WAB in Ferndale with the three of us and
things were off and running.
It’s really been great reconnecting with the girls and playing the music
again. It’s made me realize how special Broadzilla is to me and how proud I am
of what we’ve accomplished as an independent band. As far as what to expect
from us moving forward…only time will tell. There’s still a lot of life left in
the band and an arsenal of tunes that have yet to be recorded, so there’s
definitely potential for us to blaze a new path.
Tell us a little about the merch that will be available at the
show.
We’re going to be offering a limited edition reprint of our first CD,
“Broadzilla vs. the Tramp-O-Lean.” That disc has been out of print for many
years and we still get a lot of requests for it so we figured we’d do a small
run of those.
We also had some demos that we did a few years ago that we figured we’d
throw on a disc and do a small run of those as well. We never intended for
these recordings to reach the public because they were just rough demos of some
new songs we had written at the time. There are no effects or layering or
mixing or any fancy studio magic – it’s just a batch of totally raw
tracks.
And of course we’ll have the “Lady Luck” CD on hand and a batch of t-shirts
for the guys and the ladies.
Visit Broadzilla at ... https://www.facebook.com/broadzilladetroit
Visit the Arts, Beats, & Eats website at... http://www.artsbeatseats.com/the-beats/
