Dirty Honey Frontman Marc Labelle on Recording in Australia, Rising Stardom, and Touring

Dirty Honey has been going from strength to strength over the last few years, gathering fans along the way. With the release of their second album, Can’t Find the Breaks,

Dirty Honey is now building on the foundations that started with their debut record. Vocalist Marc Labelle discusses how the band has risen and gained recognition from various big names, plus his love of the land down under and why it’s his top choice for recording the group’s records. (Read below and/or listen to the original audio via SoundCloud.)

You can read our review of Dirty Honey’s London show on February 12th, and you can also read our review of their latest record, Can’t Find the Breaks.

Your latest album is Can’t Find the Breaks. This was released in November last year and it’s still quite new on the scene. What was your main focus? What did you really want to try and achieve with this record?

Marc Labelle: “I think going into it, we definitely wanted to expand the sonic landscape of the band a little bit. I think it was a good time to do it. I certainly love AC/DC and a plethora of hard rock bands that do that blues rock thing very well, but I think there are also other elements of our tastes that we wanted to showcase in the band and there are definitely some new flavours on this record. Acoustic songs, a couple of different types of ballads, and obviously we do the rock n’ roll thing pretty well. So that’s obviously still there and a definite focus, but we wanted to broaden the sonic landscape a bit.”

Now, I do have my favourites on the record, because it is a tremendous…

“What song?”

Oh, you want to know? I love “Roam.” “Roam” is an amazing one.

“We keep hearing that, like, a lot.”

I mean, I’m a big fan of the ballad-type song, and it helps it stand out a little bit, and that’s why I really dug that one. Every time I’m like, well, what are the other songs I like? I can’t name them, because I’m always going back to that one.

Have you got any specific tracks that stood out for you that, when you’d finished writing them and you had them on paper and recorded?

“Honestly, they all went through a pretty healthy maturation process, I think.

“‘Roam’ was one that was an acoustic piece that I wrote by myself and never really thought much of it. and then (guitarist) John (Notto) kind of took the reins on making it a full band arrangement. So I wish I could play it for you. I don’t know where it is that that demo. But yeah, from the initial steps of what I had written by myself to the final product is completely different. In a good way, they’re both really good.

“‘You Make it All Right’ was the most, maybe, religious songwriting experience that we encountered and in the sense that it was sort of magical the whole way it came about. I mean, they all go through an inception and a birth and then they mature to be what they become very much like human beings growing up, but their lifespan is much shorter.”

Dirty Honey ‘Can’t Find the Brakes’ album artwork

Now, you’ve actually toured with some relatively big names, even before your first record came out. How did these actually come about? How did that happen? Because a lot of bands do tour quite extensively before their first album, but not with such big names necessarily.

“Well, we didn’t do much touring before our first record. We did a few shows with Slash and Miles Kennedy. That was awesome, obviously. Then, having done those gigs, the first EP came out and we had some success with that. Obviously, we were familiar with Slash by that point, and that got us in the door with Guns N’ Roses, and I think, the first EP made such a big splash that we got the attention of The Who and we have the same manager as The Black Crowes, and we get compared to them pretty often.

“So, I think Chris Robinson likes that a little bit, and so does Rich (Robinson), and I’ve grown to be very close to them over the last couple of years. I think ultimately at the end of the day, none of the artists that we’ve gone out with would really do you a favour.

“They kind of have to be a fan of the band or like something about you before they put their stamp of approval on it. So, generally, I think the biggest thing I’ve found is that all these artists that we’ve toured are passionate about a relatively young rock band that’s playing rock n’ roll because you don’t really see it that much anymore.

“You might in London, we don’t in America. At all, you know.”

Now, I do want to ask as well, what’s been the highlight of your career so far with Dirty Honey? Maybe touring or who you’ve played with, something that’s really stood out.

“There are two for me. Chris Robinson coming and joining us in LA on stage was really awesome. That was definitely a pinch-me moment for me. I really grew up loving The Black Crowes and, I’ve also got to perform with Slash in Los Angeles before. So that was amazing too. With Slash too, we did, I forget where we were, but we did a show with Guns N’ Roses and I got on a plane after and woke up the next morning, with a text from him that was just like; you guys sound fucking awesome,’ blah, blah, blah, and just a really nice note and I’m like, wow, how did I get here, you know?

“It’s strange, it’s just a strange feeling when your heroes are all of a sudden texting you that they appreciate what you’re doing and stuff.”

Would that have been Hyde Park, by chance, in London? Because I’m sure it was Guns N’ Roses you played with.

“It was Guns N’ Roses, no, we saw them then, obviously. I think this was maybe Lexington, Kentucky or something. Late, last summer we were doing some shows with Guns N’ Roses in the States.”

Combined artwork for both EP and LP ‘Dirty Honey’ by Dirty Honey

Now, you’ll have to correct me if I’m wrong here. But I understand you recorded your first EP in Australia. Is that correct?

“Yeah.”

Now what drew you towards Australia specifically? Because that’s kind of a distance really, isn’t it?

“Our producer had to move. Actually, he moved before we even knew him, to Australia from, I think, Atlanta or Philly or something. He started somewhat of a professional journey with a very famous band down there called Powderfinger.

“He’s been living there in Byron Bay ever since. Probably for about a decade now. When we started talking with him and really creating a relationship with him and wanted to do the record with him it was pretty obvious, we either need to fly him to America to LA or we need to go to Australia. Then once you start crunching the numbers and looking into what Byron Bay was. I’d never heard of Byron Bay before we made the record there, so a quick Google search is like, oh, ok, this is fucking paradise! Yeah, I’d be happy to go to Australia to make a record and get into a mindset that’s completely unique and creative down there.

“Honestly, it was awesome.”

Now I understand you’d actually planned to return to Australia to record your debut record, but obviously COVID hit, a lot of messed up stuff, and it was disastrous for the entire entertainment industry.

Now, given it was still early days for you as a band did you have any fears that could potentially derail the group?

“I think we were pretty stoic and confident that we would get back to touring in some capacity, obviously, but it wasn’t fun, that’s for sure.

“We had a ton of momentum, and we were going a thousand miles an hour and it just comes to a screeching halt. That’s not a very good time to live through. But yeah, ultimately, we just focused on making music and we did what we had to do, but it was definitely nice once we were out of it to go back to Byron (Bay) and record this last record and do all the things that we like to do when making a record. Getting in there together, feeding off of each other and yeah! COVID wasn’t fun!”

Well, that’s going to be the only question on that. I’m hoping there will come a time when I don’t even think about it as a question.

“Right?”

Yeah, exactly. Now in 2022, you were invited to play Download Festival; I believe that was your first time in playing the UK.

“Yeah, it was.”

Dirty Honey, photo by Daniel Prakopcyk

How did that opportunity come about, and what was it like playing one of the UK’s biggest festivals? You were actually on the main stage as well, or one of the main stages.

“Yeah, one of them. No, it was great, obviously. I think we’d done maybe a show in London before that. I’m not sure, I can’t remember the timeline exactly. But we had a great time, obviously. It was a great experience to actually experience Download. It’s something that we all see from afar, from foreign shores, but it’s just one of those like feather in the cap types of festivals that you obviously pinch yourself when you’re there.

“We played early and like there was a massive show up for us, so it was a really inspiring and I think we’re feeling the effects of that gig now, you know tonight we’re going to talk to a bunch of people that saw us at Download and that happens all over the UK, obviously.”

Now you have toured Europe quite intensively, you know in the UK in 2023 and the venues, they’ve been gradually increasing I believe I want to say it was the London Garage you played here last time, but you’ve also, as we mentioned, played with Guns N’ Roses in Hyde Park.

Do you actually prefer the intimacy of the smaller venue or the spectacle of the huge arenas? What’s your preference for that?

“Well, there’s like, pluses and minuses to both, right? Like, obviously the sound in a grade A, top-notch room is going to be way better. Both for the audience and for us on stage.

“But yeah, I do like the sweaty, dirty like vibe of a place like the Garage even here like it’s not that big, you know, I mean, this is a good size show for sure, but it’s still going to feel intimate which is kind of a nice level to balance out both the pros and cons of a huge venue or like a small place.

“So yeah, you’re going to get the best of both worlds. And like, this is kind of the size of venue you would like to see an up-and-coming band at before they really pop off. And you can be like, I was there when they played in the Electric Ballroom, you know what I mean?”

Exactly.

Now, as I’ve said, you’ve actually toured quite extensively around the UK and Europe.
Has there been any sort of standout moments in the UK or the EU that set it apart from the USA shows, perhaps, or Australia?

“Yeah, I mean, Hyde Park was awesome, obviously. Even that first show at the Garage, that was a fun one, just to make a statement in London and it’s a place I’ve wanted to play my whole life.

“Where did we play the last time we were here? I’m trying to think. Oh yeah. I can’t remember. Oh yeah. Where was that? That was a Kent…”

Kentish Town Forum? You had me thinking there.

“And then I just remember like the first time we went up to Glasgow, that was like a surprise how many people showed up, you know, in Glasgow.

“Like I don’t know anybody in Glasgow, so, I didn’t know anything about Glasgow until I arrived there and like got to check it out and just to have such like a supportive fanbase show up on the first show that you’re ever playing in Scotland was like really cool and inspiring.

“We’ve since built something really nice there and same with Birmingham last night. I think the UK has really taken a strong liking to us, I don’t know why. I think just everybody here has really good taste in music, in my opinion. But no, it’s been really cool.

“There have been a lot of highlights, honestly, since coming over here for the first time.”

Amazing. Now, I’ve only really got one more question and it’s not really a question. I try too and like to finish on a joke when I can and test out some of the worst things and see if I can make people laugh.

So, it’s more of a fact, but did you know 90 percent of bald men still own a comb?

“That’s interesting.”

They just can’t part ways with it!

“I like it.”

Thank you so much for chatting with us today.

“My dad would love that one.”

Stick it in the bank. Tell him when you get home. Tell him courtesy of V13 and Damian.

“My dad was trying to date a historian. Just couldn’t get over her past.

“Ah, you got me back there.”

Thank you so much for chatting with us today. Good luck with the show. I can’t wait to see it.

“Yeah, thank you. Thanks for having me.”