7Horse playing their AAA Top 40 single "Low Fuel Drug Run"
A 20-year member of Los Angeles rock ensemble Dada, drummer Phil Leavitt is no newcomer to the music business. Leavitt and Dada bassist Joie Calio formed their own band 7Horse last year, and dropped the hard-rocking debut, Let the 7Horse Run.
The first single, "Low Fuel Drug Run," managed to make the AAA Top 40 radio chart, a rare event for an indie band without a label.
After touring hard most of the year, Leavitt and Calio decided to release one more single from the album, a raw, explosive rocker with a riff from hell called "Meth Lab Zoso Sticker."
The response from radio has been, according to Leavitt, "dismal."
Rocks Off caught up with Leavitt as he was leaving a boxing gym near his home after a workout. Apparently he was there beating up the body bag, working off a little steam. A life long baseball enthusiast and player, he was totally stoked that Roger Clemens was about to pitch again in the minor leagues.
Rocks Off: You mentioned the title of the new single is causing you some problems with radio acceptance. Did you really think it wouldn't be a problem?
Phil Leavitt: Look, what is radio's job, what's their goal, day in, day out? To sell advertising. How do they do that? They play stuff that keeps people from changing the station.
How do you do that? Play shit people like, play stuff that grabs people. And play enough of it that they're afraid they'll miss something good or new if they go roaming. That track is probably our best song so far. It rocks hard, it's got a killer pocket, and it's not really like everything else on radio. But now everyone in radio has turned Chicken Little overnight.
Rocks Off: So why not just change the title if they're balking at saying it on the air?
PL: Fuck that! That song is not even about meth or a meth lab. That's just something in the first line. The damn song is about a guy saying he's got a big dick and he likes to fuck. If you're going to shy away from that, rock and roll is dead and so is radio. So go ahead and go out of business, you idiots.
We all know radio is a dying industry, but why would they want to hurry the end along? It's crazy. Put some goddamn songs on the radio that keep people from changing the dial and you'll be successful. Otherwise, might as well just go on and put yourself out of your misery.