Crashing in Detroit
What's that saying about the best plans often going astray? That the best planned intentions don't always pan out the way you need, and then everything is horribly ruined? I did not see Boston rock band Crash Midnight perform due to unforeseen circumstances but alcohol consumption and the most entertaining interview I've ever taken part took me to completion. I must mention that guitar player Alex Donaldson and myself spent many a night in his seedy basement passing beer amongst friends while listening to the dirtiest of rock and roll bands. In the green room aka The Shelter in the basement of St. Andrews, I spoke with lead singer Shaun Soho and guitar player Alex Donaldson (aka Time Bomb or ASD) about the importance of Tinder and our favorite types of whiskey while I constantly lost focus either due to the beer or the way their shiny hair cascaded onto their black clothing.
Bree: You're known for partying and rocking hard; besides 151, what is your go to drink?
Shaun Soho: Actually 151 is no longer our go-to drink because we drank too much of it when we were younger. But you know, I'll dance with the devil every now and then. I fucking love whiskey...that or a badass dry martini. Because if it's cool enough for James Bond, it's cool enough for me.
Bree: What kind of whiskey? This is important.
Shaun Soho: It used to Maker's Mark but I heard...
Bree: You might get a sponsorship, just saying…but for the longest time on Facebook and in person Alex was like we're gonna go on tour, we're gonna go on tour, we got this album...
Alex: Yeah, it takes that fucking long.
Me: But I was so happy to see you guys on the bill with The Pretty Reckless. So now that it's here, do you consider it a sigh of relief?
Alex: It's a lot longer than anyone else knows. I moved to Boston when I was 18 for school, and that's when I joined the band. We got a lot of momentum in the beginning and we had a lot of opportunities but eventually I had to move back to Columbus. I obviously did my thing over there, but they got signed in the meantime and they asked me to do their album...and here I am. And that was history even thought that took way too long to happen.
Shaun Soho: I wasn't paying attention to anything you guys were saying.
Alex: Don't worry, I fucking nailed it.
Shaun Soho: See, he says that a lot…
Bree: Do you have a go-to album?
Shaun Soho: It really is Exile On Main Street (The Rolling Stones). Alex likes um, Katy Perry.
Alex: Yeah and Charli XCX.
Bree: I read in an interview that you mentioned being a burden to Adelita's Way. What are you guys doing to them?
Shaun Soho: That's putting it so mildly. Generally we make the green room unlivable. We drink all of their beer. They've been so nice to us.
Alex: That's why I was so cautious to grab their beer.
Shaun Soho: They've been great. We've probably learned more with those guys than I've learned in years in the industry...
Alex: Lemme talk..
Shaun Soho: You can't talk. Every time you talk you fuck shit up.
Alex: Ok.
Bree: No, I believe in you.
Alex: She's gonna correct my "grahamattical" errors.
Bree: I'm not correcting that.
Shau Soho: There's like an accent over the A. Grammatical? All of their crew...Rodney is a fucking badass.
Bree: Who's Rodney?
Alex: Rodney is the front of house sound guy.
Shaun Soho: In the beginning he was yelling at us to get our shit together.
Alex: As per usual.
Shaun Soho: And now he just asks us not to drink all of the beer.
There was a bit if haziness on dates, but Soho mentioned that "tour ends November 8th? Yeah November 8th in New York. And then we release 10 days later..." While Alex asked, "the real question is, what day is it today?" Don't let all that party fool you, Soho sang the national anthem at Gillette Stadium and Alex is a music professor in Columbus. And also for the record, they will most definitely partake in guzzling 151 if offered, but Knob Creek may get you the business. But for now, hide your beer and your girlfriend, because my Tinder tutorial to Alex will be put to use as their tour continues with The Pretty Reckless until early November.
Here's a little 151 to tide you over.