Who are you?
We are Continental Lovers! We’ve been described as a glam-punk band and even a sleaze rock band…. we like to think we play CBGB’s rock n roll – think New York Dolls, The Dead Boys, with a bit of Cheap Trick and Joan Jett in there.
Roll Call?
Joe – Lead vocals/guitars. Joe is the main songwriter and plays ‘tight and exciting’ guitar. Sometimes referred to as ‘Captain,’ and is often a bad influence on everyone else’s behaviour, although he feels that’s unfair.
Rokket – Drums/vocals ‘Rokket’ Rik, or ‘Ravishing Rik,’ as he’s also known, is our backbone. He keeps a thunderous rhythm, and his playing is very loud! He’s banned from drinking cider.
Keri – Bass/vocals. Keri brings a touch of glamour with his big hair and big wardrobe. Keri provides the low end, and usually the road sodas. His dream job would be to work on BabeStation.
Ben – Guitars/vocals. Still referred to as the ‘new boy,’ although it seems like he’s been with us FOREVER! Ben plays lead guitar, firing off trashy licks left, right and centre. You rarely see him without his sunglasses. Sometimes he wears a hat. It’s a good hat.
Hailing from?
Europe, anywhere! Originally, we said we were from London, when the band first got together cos we rehearsed down there and played our first five shows down that way, but once we settled on the line up, seeing as three of us live in Nottingham, we say we are from Nottingham. Our drummer, Rokket Rik lives somewhere in South Wales…we’re not actually sure where. He says he lives under the Severn Bridge. All we know is he spends a lot of time (when he’s not drumming,) polishing his Porsche and drinking cocktails with umbrellas in them.
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Journey so far?
I (Joe,) decided to record songs for a solo project towards the end of 2020, during lockdown. I’d parted ways with my old band and felt a bit p*ssed off with everything and went through a real creative purple patch. That’s when I wrote songs such as St. Joan, Tattered Star and Tape Deck. I started posting stuff online, seeing if anyone fancied putting a band together and loads of people, who were probably bored and angry like me got in touch and said they were keen. Rik got in touch, and he didn’t seem put off by the fact I lived 150 miles away…I think he liked the songs and possibly my sunglasses, I dunno. Anyway, he was playing in Last Great Dreamers, so that was a bit of a coup. I snapped him up straight away. The original proto- Lovers was completed by the wonderful Debbie Dee on bass and the slightly odd Francesco on guitar. We played one gig with this line up and let Francesco go…creative differences or something (it’s a long, and very strange story.) Then we did loads of gigs as a three piece, playing some shows with legendary punk band The Boys before Debbie departed on maternity leave. In came Keri! I liked him cos he looked cool and is about 7 feet tall when he’s wearing high heels. Loads more gigs as a three piece before we nabbed Ben (the Sex Instructor,) which has really fleshed out our sound. We’ve kicked on a lot as a four piece and have played some pretty huge shows. Oh, we also released a 4 track 7″ EP on Spanish label SNAP!, which got stuck at customs for a month because of Brexit. That’s pretty much sold out! Those songs were recorded with Debbie and I splitting bass duties and the super talented Graham Jones from Haircut 100 provided some hot lead guitar! It’s fun to have someone who has been on the cover of Smash Hits on your record!
Influences/sound?
Joe – I’ve written everything we’ve put out so far and I’m very influenced by 70s New York punk and power pop. There’s a big Cheap Trick influence in my songwriting – lots of hooks, short, sharp solos, and bubble gum stories. I was originally a drummer and my guitar playing is weirdly influenced by that. People have said Johnny Thunders, The Boys, The Buzzcocks, Hanoi Rocks, Dogs D’Amour are all in there, and I agree with that. Looks-wise, we are rock n roll people – scarves, hats, studs, shades, and stack heels…We sometimes wear lipstick, but that’s when we are back at the Travelodge.
Biggest gig/proudest moment to date?
We really enjoyed opening for The Boys at the 100 Club in London. We’ve also played festivals such as Call Of The Wild, where we went down a storm and all got sunburnt, and of course Rebellion Festival, where we were one of the closing acts on the Rebellion ‘After Dark’ stage, which is reserved for the ‘stars of tomorrow.’ Pick that one out! Other proud moments include getting our music played all over the World, and on big radio stations and shows such as Total Rock, Sirius FM in the States, and some mad Argentinian show that’s on their national station. We fancy a trip to Argentina, actually. Having our first EP pressed on vinyl was pretty mint, too. That’s a good way to make your debut.
What does the future hold for Continental Lovers?
More gigging and recording. We have just released a single called ‘Paraffin Lips,’ which is doing well, and we’ve got another single and video out at the end of the Summer. Then we’ve got a couple of months off to work on new material and get something else out there. The new songs are taking shape and sounding hot! Next year, we are off to tour Spain in January, and we’ve got 8 dates booked as part of a tour next April/May in the UK. We’d love to get to other parts of Europe in the States as well. There’s an American label and a Swedish label who both want to put out an album for us, so we’ve got a lot of work to do!
Interview by Viki Ridley
