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Interview with Hollywood Burnouts lead singer and guitarist Mike Nazzty

Hollywood Burnouts’ new album Excess All Areas is a grand tribute to all the sleaze metal bands of the past in both look and sound. While some of you may scoff at the band and their over the top image, I personally loved the album and thought it was a fun offering that reminded me of why I got into metal in the first place. Singer Mike Nazzty was gracious enough to shed some light on the band, so crank up the album and read this interview!

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Hollywood Burnouts’ new album Excess All Areas is a grand tribute to all the sleaze metal bands of the past in both look and sound. While some of you may scoff at the band and their over the top image, I personally loved the album and thought it was a fun offering that reminded me of why I got into metal in the first place. Singer Mike Nazzty was gracious enough to shed some light on the band, so crank up the album and read this interview!

Thanks for doing this interview. I loved Excess All Areas as it reminded me of some of the first metal bands I had heard like Motley Crue, Cinderella, Scorpions and W.A.S.P. You guys don’t look like you grew up in the 80s so how did you end up playing this style of music?
Mike: Well in my case, I grew up listening to my dad’s records, you know, bands like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Tom Petty, Nazareth and so on. Music has always been a big part in my family and one day I was given Bon Jovi’s Keep the Faith and UYI 1+2 by G’N’R… I was about 7 or 8 years old back then. These records along with Maiden’s Live After Death changed everything. I became obsessed with Hard Rock/Heavy Metal. Soon after that, I decided i wanted to play guitar… you know… to be as cool as my heroes. [laughs]

Glam/sleaze music often gets a bad rap as cheesy due to the image associated with it. A lot of the songs are great however. Do you ever feel you guys don’t get the breaks a non sleeze band would get?
Mike: You know what… It doesn’t matter if you play blues, glam rock, punk, thrash metal or fusion… as long as you’re having fun and as long as you love what you’re doing, people will recognize it. Because you’re authentic, you know? Fun and dedication leads to success, so I don’t think the glam/sleaze thing constrains us.

Check out the song: “Wild Side”

In the songs I hear so many 80s bands, specifically the Scorpions and Motley Crue. Who other than 80s rockers influenced you guys?
Mike: As I said before, I grew up with a lot of the 70’s stuff from my parents so the influence comes from all kinds of bands. ABBA, Bruce Springsteen, UFO, Dire Straits, Led Zeppelin and also a lot of blues guys like Johnny Winter, Roy Rogers, Rory Gallagher and so on. And don’t forget the obvious ones… The Beatles, Rolling Stones… I mean, who in the world isn’t influenced by those two?

The album title plus the band’s image gives images of excess sex, drugs and rock n roll. How much of that is real and how much is showmanship?
Mike: The stories we tell in our songs are real, you know? Just listen to “Wild Side” or “Everybody Needs A Hero” for example. It’s easier for me to write about things I actually experienced or things I witnessed. I don’t like making up stories just to convince people I’m cool. But it’s not like we’re wasted all the time, you know… sometimes things happen and sometimes they don’t. You gotta stay focused, especially as an artist.

How does the band plan to get noticed outside of Europe?
Mike: First of all, we’re happy that our label RockRoad/Soulfood has released the album not just in Europe, but also in the US. We get a lot of interview requests from that. And the common social networks are a big help, too. Of course, we hope that we could do a little tour through the USA/Canada someday, but until then we have to focus on keeping contact with the fans through the social networks.

How are you guys with illegal downloading? Has it affected your ability to tour or focus on the band more?
Mike: Illegal downloads are a problem, yes. Especially in eastern Europe. But there are still a lot of people out there who appreciate music and the artists enough to buy the records. Besides, there are more and more possibilities to track these fuckers down, you know?

If you could open for any band that currently exists who would it be?
Mike: Aerosmith… definitely Aerosmith! Or maybe Whitesnake, because I’m a huge fan of David Coverdale and Doug Aldrich.

What are your top 5 80’s metal albums?
Mike: Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet, Def Leppard’s Hysteria, Whitesnake’s 1987, Iron Maiden’s Powerslave and Scorpions’ Love At First Sting. But to be honest… I could go on and on.

What are the plans for the rest of the year?
Mike: Well, since we parted ways with Vito and Nikki (bass player and drummer) in early July, we are currently checking out new members. Chrizzy and I are also very busy writing new material for the upcoming album. And of course, we are trying to hit the stage again as soon as possible.

Thanks for the interview. Anything else you want to say?
Mike: It was my pleasure. All you hard rockin’ people… stay tuned, because there’s a bunch of news comin’ up in the next few weeks. Just visit our website or FB and give us a “LIKE”.

Check out the song: “Kings of Sin”

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