Smokesman For A Generation

Dick Valentine barely stops to think when I pose him the question: If time travel were possible where would he choose to go? “Brentwood, California, 1994,” is the lightening response from the Electric 6 frontman.

“Why? Well because I’d like to find out if OJ really did it or not. I’d go up to the house and… I’d probably hide in the bushes or something. I dunno if I’d actually want to alter time by preventing the murder or that. I’d just be happy to go there and find out if he did it. I’m pretty sure he did but I want that closure of knowing for sure.”
It’s a typically mischievous answer from the humorous and often eccentric mind that has penned songs warning of the dangers of electricity, stolen lyrics from The Backstreet Boys and covered Queen’s ‘Radio Ga Ga’, an artistic choice which the singer admits was chiefly borne out of the desire to re-make a certain crossdressing Queen video.
As we speak he’s sitting in an all-you-can-eat Indian buffet restaurant. It’s his preferred location for doing interviews.
“I like to come here regularly,” he explains, “but the tendency of a human being, when presented with unlimited food, is to stuff themselves. So, if I do these interviews while I’m eating, I’ll slow down. I find it works as weight control.”
In between lamb samosas and tandoori chicken, Valentine is plugging the group’s second album, Sênor Smoke. Named after a pitcher on the 1984 Detroit Tigers baseball team, it’s a more varied record than their debut, with moments of funk, hard rock, and disco, backed by howling vocals and off-beat lyrics. It should have been a struggle to make. The band recently switched labels, after being dropped by XL Records.
“Well, oddly enough that helped us”, says Valentine. “I mean it lifted the pressure off following a top five debut like Fire. It instilled the attitude in us that we have absolutely nothing to lose. The worst thing had happened so we just went for it when Warner Brothers took us on. I always wanted to make really great albums, rather than just hit singles, and I think that this time around we’ve done that.”
Sênor Smoke isn’t groundbreaking stuff. It’s a fun listen, when in a silly mood, and very much a party record. In covering the likes of ‘Radio Ga Ga’ though, Electric 6 continue to leave themselves open to accusations of being a novelty act.
“That’s fair enough,” admits Valentine, “if you judge us just by our videos and songs like ‘Gay Bar’. However come see us live and you’ll really get what we’re about. You know, we’re a six piece rock‘n’roll band and play damn hard. It’s not like we rely on pyrotechnics, voodoo rituals or need to bring live animals on stage.”
This month they return to Ireland for three shows. Valentine has fond memories of their last appearance at The Village in 2003.
“Believe it or not we still talk about that show. Honestly it was one of the best we’ve ever done.”
So will Michael Jackson’s trial dominate the tour bus TV? “No, that’s too perverse,” says Valentine. “Despite the OJ thing, I’m not really interested in celebrities. I couldn’t give two shits about Brad and Jen breaking up or whatever. But when celebrities start killing each other, I’ll pick up that tabloid. I’m into celebrity murder. Who wouldn’t be interested?”

Sênor Smoke gets a live airing at the Village, Dublin (February 17); Radisson, Galway (18); and Mandela Hall, Belfast (19).