Interview: Lionsex - "We like to roar out our rock n roll as loud as possible"

With the rhythms and vibes of old-school Rock n’ Roll, Lionsex comes roaring and prowling from Milton Keynez, UK in animal prints, leather jackets and hairspray. Greatly influenced by legendary bands such as Guns N’ Roses, Marilyn Manson, Pearl Jam, AC/DC, Led Zepplin, to name a few and rough edgy vocals, guitar licks and cool tempos, the band has come together to stir the music scene with their modern take on a classic genre.

 

Lionsex is Jef Leppard (lead vocals), JJ Lyons (guitar), Jakk Vanity (guitar), Davy Lyons (bass) and Pete Purrfect (drums) and it is currently signed to Roar Power/Universal Music Operations. With a brutally honest interview, Davy let Band Bucket in on some of the band’s insider news, along with their view on the current state of the live music scene in the UK and showmanship. Read along to find out more:

1.  What inspired you to name the band LIONSEX? Does it have anything to do with having two ‘Lyons’ in the band?

“Hahaha well kind of…me and my brother JJ started up the band and shortly after we met Jef Leppard…so it seemed like a good idea to make a name out of some big cats, and LIONSEX is one people will remember I think.”

2. Does the band roar more than it moans or does it moan more than it roars?

“Lol. In LIONSEX we like to roar, as loud as we can, so people here us and don’t forget we are there. We like to roar out our rock n' roll as loud as possible.”

3. Embodying the image of Rock ‘n Roll, how important would you consider props, clothes and makeup to be in your live shows?

“Yes we are a theatrical band. We like playing with make up and having BIG hair and all that stuff that comes with it, and we want to make our shows memorable for the people who come to see us. But ultimately it is about the music. But like Gene Simmons says, if someone is going to come and pay to see us, we want to give them more than just standing there looking at our shoes. That would feel wrong to us. We like to give a big energetic show.”

4. What is the one thing you love the most about playing live?

“We love to rock out, and create a noise that others can rock out to as well. At the end of the show we’ve got to be sweating, or else something didn’t go right.”

5. When trying to make your mark as musicians what do you think are the biggest obstacles faced by new, up and coming bands?

“I think there are so many now. In the UK the live scene is being strangled at the very bottom level, by various factors. In fact since smoking was banned in 2007 it has made the live audience disappear for half the night. The good shows are dominated by certain booking agents and many venues are not concerned about new music anymore. The rock scene is very disjointed, as people like to pigeon-hole bands according to their looks etc., etc. Most small venues would rather hire a Bon Jovi or Metallica covers band than give a new band a chance. It’s a shame. All you can do is work hard, be determined, do what you believe in, don’t let anybody tell you not to do what you want to do and don’t take NO as an answer when it comes to hassling people for shows and opportunities for radio play, magazine and fanzine interviews, online and in real life!”

6. It has been 2 years since you released your debut album, ‘GET IT’. What can we expect from LIONSEX in the near future?

“We recorded GET IT in late 2009 but it has only just been picked up by Universal Music and was re-released on 21st November worldwide. So we are keen to support GET IT for the next few months, and have a UK tour running throughout December and are looking to tour Europe and beyond in 2012, then the studio beckons, as we have a whole new album of songs written, waiting to be recorded.”

7. Thanks for taking the time do this interview with us. Is there anything that you would like to add?

“No problem. We would just like people to check us out, find us on Facebook and MySpace, listen to our songs, hopefully like them and come and check out one of our shows. We just wanna rock, so if you want us at a venue near you – DEMAND IT…ROAR LIKE A BEAST FOR IT… ”

Well that’s just about it guys. You can get yourself some Lionsex-ing on the following sites:

http://www.myspace.com/lionsexrock

http://www.facebook.com/pages/LIONSEX/5632879926