Featured Band for 

April 2004

Cadillac Hitmen

Band Name: Cadillac Hitmen 

Genre: Desert Surf / Dragstrip Rock and Roll 

Geographical Area: New England 

Interview with Jeff Morris on 3/24/04 by email

1. What is the current line-up of your band? 

Jeff Morris - Guitar, Robert Garceau - guitar, Tina Marconi - Bass, Steve Toland - drums 

2. How and when did you get started with your band? 

We got together for the first time over the summer of '96. Robert and I had played together in another band for a few years and had recently quit. I knew Tina from her notorious reputation about town in Portsmouth,NH as THE scenestress with the mostest. Steve, Tina and Robert were also playing in a three piece rock band called the Hellions at the time. We all got together at Robert and Tina's place in Greenland, NH just to play some music with no plans to put a band together. I had used the name Cadillac Hitmen in the early 90's with an instro band that did surfy/psychedelic/avant garde stuff and we played a couple of the tunes I had written for that band years before plus some that Robert wrote and a few that we just made up on the spot. It sounded so good to us that we decided to throw our 10 gallon hats into the ring at an open mic night at the Press Room in Portsmouth after 3 or 4 practices. The crowd was all over us, so we figured we were on to something. The rest is history. 

3. What bands or music have influenced you most? 

It's different for each member, I know Tina is into bands like the Cramps, Southern Culture on the Skids and some harder rocking goth stuff. Robert is a rocker, I think he's worn out his copy of AC/DC live at Donnington Castle. Steve is into everything from Led Zeppelin to Buddy Rich, pretty much anything with killer drums. I grew up on stuff like Hendrix, a lot of punk "rawk" and some weirder stuff like Sonny Sharrock and Coltrane. You're probably wondering where the surf bands are, right? Well I was always a huge Ventures fan, but frankly we were never really that influenced by surf sounds. I love surf music, and I know the rest of the band likes a lot of that stuff too, but it's not really where we're coming from. We're an instro band with twin guitars and sometimes a lot of reverb, so it's an easy comparison but anyone who's listened to our stuff will say it's more Link Wray than Dick Dale. But even that isn't really accurate; we do a lot of stuff that's more cinematic, psychedelic or even hard rock. 

4. What is the break down of cover vs. original material in your live shows and/or recordings? 

We do 95% originals but we do throw in some choice covers for fun. We'll do some of the old faves from Link Wray ("Rawhide, Rumble"), The Clash ("Brand New Cadillac"), "Ghostriders", Black Sabbath(!), Ted Nugent ("Stranglehold"), AC/DC ("Jailbreak") and more that escapes me at the moment. 

5. What recording have you done? 

In '96 we released our 1st CD "The Assassin", followed by "Tri-State Killing Spree" and now in April of '04 we're releasing our third cCD"Two In The Hat" which is 6 new studio tracks plus 6 live tracks. Of the live tracks, one is a new song ("Peyote") and the last "hidden track" is our live version of the song "Black Sabbath" off Sabbath's first record. This is a joint venture release between the band's label (Hellhouse Music) and European Indie "Gem Buzz Records" of Germany. 

6. What is your band's favorite food/beverage? 

Tina is a health freak, so I'd say anything with tofu. Robert will bite your hand off if you try and touch his 30 ounce Cowboy-cut bone-in ribeye. I've never seen Steve eat solid food. I'm pretty sure he lives off  just coffee. as for me, I'm a sucker for a nice spicy hot Thai chicken with peanuts washed down with an ice cold Negro Modelo. 

7. How do you get gigs? 

We play most of our shows in Newburyport at the local rock joint called the Grog. It's the only place left where we can do what we do without problems with volume and the crowd. We've been playing there every 6 weeks or so for years, I don't even remember how it started. We just got hooked up with Loaded Dice Productions in NH also. They sponsor Motorcycle Expos and Tattoo Shows and we'll be playing a bunch of their events this summer. We also have some gigs lined up in Portsmouth at the Press Room for our NH record release party in May. 

8. What are the difficulties you find playing your kind of music in your area?

We have a great audience, and when we play at the Grog it's always a great night with anywhere from 125 to 200 people. Word of mouth has helped us, and obviously continuity at the same venue doesn't hurt either. It's a tough sell to get your foot in the door when you play instro music, but we've established ourselves as a good draw there so there's no problem getting gigs. Obviously you always have one or two pinheads that don't know the band who will yell out in between songs for some fricken' cover tune with singing. We've dealt with hecklers like that over the years, and I don't have any pity for them. Between me, Robert, and especially Tina, there is more than enough sharp wit at the mic to keep the wolves at bay.

 9. What positive attributes does your band have that sets you apart from other bands (of any genre)? 

We'll play with ANYONE and hold our own. If you're in a band you have to believe that you can do that, otherwise you should give it up. We've had the chance to play with some amazing bands over the years, Ronnie Dawson (RIP), Los Straitjackets, Deadbolt and more. We have our thing that we do well and they have theirs. There is enough room on one show for all of us. I'd say we have, without a doubt, one of the best drummers you'll find in any genre. Steve is a seriously gifted drummer, and a player's player. I still don't know why he plays with us. The rest of us excel at hanging it out there, if you know what I mean. We aren't afraid to put on a good rock show. So many musicians are afraid of being laughed at, they stand on stage in the clothes they wore to work that day and look at their shoes while the play. Gimme a fricken' break! Who wants to see that??!! You gotta give the paying customers 100% of what they paid for, not just good music but a SHOW! Jump around, hoot and holler, get out on the dance floor and grind a guitar solo out with some young ladies and have some friggin' fun! It's what people want, and when they leave the show that night they aren't going to be talking about "that amazing guitar solo", they'll be talking about how FUN it was to see a band that still knows how to put on a show. 

10. What have you found to be the single most effective promotional tool you've used to further your band's musical path? 

The website - you gotta have one, you gotta keep it interesting by offering music downloads and lots of info. Other than that, just play out as often as you can and be good to your fans! 

11. What's the most interesting performance experience you've had?

We've had some crazy shows at the NHIS race track in Loudon, NH during Bike Week. One of the best was playing on a flat bed truck to two or three thousand drunk bikers with bonfires raging and bikes doing the burnout board during our set. That was some cool shit! 

12. What do you hope to get out of being a NESMA member? 

Well we've already gotten what we really wanted, we've made good friends with Mike, Sandy, Chuck and others. That's what it's all about, meeting people with similar interests. We haven't been able to do any of the surf nights yet but I'm really hoping we can do that too. 

The new cd "Two In The Hat" is finished and is due out May 22nd!! It's a twelve song omnibus with 6 new studio tracks and 6 live tracks recorded November 1st, 2003 at the Grog in Newburyport. The whole thing clocks in at just under 75 minutes!!!!  See the tune list here. See the front cover; see the back cover; see the inside panel. Buy the disc - contact jeffhitman@comcast.net.

(See more information and photos of the band here.)

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