1. Tell us about your infamous Gigbook.
Ha, my “infamous” Gig Book. I actually am half way through a second one at this point. When I was quite young and I first started playing in bands waaaay back in 1970 (I’m old) I had played maybe two or three gigs (high school dances or whatever). I was in early high school and one day my mom gave me an old hardback accounting ledger. I thought it would be cool to list my gigs in it so I logged in my few gigs up to that point. Date, town, state, name of band, crowd reaction (G, F, B) and how much the band made. Then, a few years later as the gigs progressed I added if we opened for a known band or anybody else of mention. Here it is 2017 and I’ve kept it up to date with every single gig since then and I’m up to 4,200 shows at this point. It comes in handy and it also helps my memory of shows that I would’ve forgotten about. I’ve yet to meet anyone who has kept a gig book from the beginning or as long. Seems like a logical thing to do!
2. You have one of the best facebook pages. people look forward to the cool rock pic of the day . is there any times you wish you could just shut it all down and be just brad?
My facebook page. It seems to be fairly popular and I basically post things to entertain myself and also possibly turning other people on to bands, artists or musical fun facts. I learn from people’s comments as well. It’s me, that’s what I do. It does get a little crazy sometimes by posting on my own page, posting a “cool rock pic of the day” every night, the Screams fan site and The Elvis Brothers fan site.
3. Your super cool wife also has a super cool facebook page. Do you guys keep a friendly competition going?
Chloe and I have no competition and especially not on facebook. We have a lot of the same friends but we also have our own, so it’s different.
4. You got to play a lot of cool shows over your career with Screams, The Elvis Brothers and with the Romantics, do You, Brad Elvis ever get starstruck of any of the bands supporting on the shows?
Starstruck from other bands that I’ve played with or have met. Not really. I always make a point to talk to them and most always get something signed by them if it is convenient. I have over 800 autographs at this point.
5. How long have you been playing for the Romantics?
I’ve been playing drums for The Romantics for 13 years in February (first gig was Feb. 18, 2004). At this point, I’ve been in the band longer than any of their drummers.
6. Do you get fans from previous bands coming to see you in the Romantics or the Handcuffs?
I do get crossover fans coming to see me with The Romantics and The Handcuffs. Also old fans of my bands Screams, Big Hello and The Elvis Brothers. I have a bit of a music history at this point.
7. You and Chloe began in a band called Big Hello before the Handcuffs. To those unfamiliar with both bands, what is the difference between the two?
Big Hello was a band I started a few different times going back to the late ’80s. A band that played my music and I was band leader. By the mid ’90s I was getting restless again so I put together a new Big Hello and that’s how I met Chloe. Big Hello was a bit more power pop (I hate that description these days) with a sound that was current but influenced by bands like Cheap Trick, Sparks, The Pixies, Beatles White Album, etc.. We independently released three albums that did fairly well. Band members started to change and we wanted to update our style a bit so we ended Big Hello and we started writing for The Handcuffs (Chloe and I are The Handcuffs). We released one album and then put together a band to play a few gigs. That turned into a band that we enjoyed gigging with. Since then we have released three albums and have had lots and lots of our songs licensed to TV and films. Our description I would say is glam meets Queens Of The Stone Age, Bowie, T. Rex, Sparks, etc.. A lot of the same influences as Big Hello but more current in production and a bit edgier.
8. Years before KROQ could be heard on the internet, Chloe used to call ‘Rodney on the ROQ’ to be put on hold so she could hear his show on Sunday nights. Did you stay up with her? Was there a little celebrity hi-five or dance when he would play the Handcuffs?
We loved meeting Rodney and have met with him a few times since. We try to stay up and listen to Rodney though it’s tough on a Sunday when it starts at 2AM in Chicago. Of course we are always excited when he plays The Handcuffs. We will have a 4th Handcuffs album for him this year.
9. Has Peggy Moffitt heard the song you wrote about her?
Chloe and I found a fantastic big hardback photo book of Rudy Gernreich’s clothes designs that was pretty much all worn by Peggy Moffitt. The photos were mostly shot by her husband, the late, William Claxton. I thought it would be cool to write a song about America’s version of Twiggy because Peggy didn’t get quite the recognition that she deserves. Peggy did a lot of firsts that most people don’t know about. We wrote the song and thought it would be cool to send it to her, just because. We did and about a week later she and William contacted us and they loved it! They invited us to their home in LA and Peggy cooked a nice dinner for us all. It was a fantastic experience and William and Peggy gave us permission to use one of William’s “Gernreich, Peggy photos for the cover of The Handcuffs first album, “Model For A Revolution”. Which is a line from our song, “Peggy Moffitt.
10. Of all your shows with all of your bands who was the most exciting band to open for?
I have opened for hundreds and hundreds of bands at this point and it’s always a thrill to meet bands and artists that are known. Everyone from Iggy Pop, The Pretenders, Carl Perkins, Billy Idol, Culture Club, The Ramones, King Crimson, The Clash, Devo, etc… And, from being in bands I have also met Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, David Bowie, Pete Townshend, etc. etc.. I got to play six songs with The Beach Boys, a few songs with The Bangles, etc., The list goes on and on and on. Lots of autographs! Lifes a gas.
11. What does 2017 hold for The Handcuffs?
The Handcuffs are past due for an album release and we will finally release our 4th album in 2017. We started it a few years ago and then we were a bit sidetracked for a while. We did release a cassette in 2015 for Cassette Store Day with a “best of” (called, “All The Way From Chicago) with one new recording (a cover of Mott The Hoople’s, “All The Way From Memphis”). We are really excited about the new songs and we love our band. Come see us live and find our albums!
Happy 10 Year Anniversary to Woody and thanks for thinking of me and The Handcuffs. xo
WOODY RADIO BLOG 