Raging Teens Interview

BSM: You recently were performing in Europe. How did that go over?
Kevin Patey: Yeah, we played a festival is Spain, and we got back the night before the big terrorist attack.
Amy Griffin: It was called the “High Rockabilly Festival.”
KP: Yeah, we don’t know what the Spanish translation would be, but that’s what it was called. Maybe because there were a lot of high people there, or something.
BSM: How big was the festival?
AG: Maybe like 600 people.
KP: It wasn’t one of the bigger festivals, but it was a really good time. What was weird is that the place where we stayed was not where the show was. The guy was like, ‘The hotel is right on the beach.’ We get there, and the hotel turns out to be a campground, but we weren’t in tents. We were in--
AG: Chalets
KP: They called them chalets, but they were trailers. They were right on the beach, and you had to take this 30 minute bus ride, and you were stuck there all night, and we didn’t go on until something like 4 in the morning, or something like that.
AG: It was quarter to 3.
KP: Yeah, we didn’t go on until quarter to 3. So, it was a really late night.
AG: And it was at a school. It was kind of weird, and it had a bar.
KP: It was kind of like the Barcelona version of Berklee School of Music, where the event was held, I guess, and they had a bar, and it was fun. Bands from all over Europe played, we were the only American band, so...
BSM: How did you happen to get invited?
KP: We played Europe a few times, and one of the promoters had seen us, and asked us to come over, and do their event. I think this was the first time they were doing this festival, so it will probably get bigger and bigger, but it was a good time.
BSM: So does this mean that the rockabilly revival is an international scene, or is it something mainly found in this country, with a couple of pockets of fans in places like Spain...?
KP: It’s nation-wide, y’know.
Matt Murphy: It’s spotty, you know. In places like Boston and New York, and stuff like that, it’s pretty big. In Los Angeles it’s pretty big, especially there’s this huge Hispanic thing going on there, which is pretty bizarre...it’s all the hair, I think. [Chuckles] They’ve got the best hair going. I dunno, it’s nation-wide. Like Sweden, you know.
KP: I was talking to this guy on the phone the other day, and he said the rockabilly world is like a big puddle. He goes, ‘Unfortunately, it’s kind of shallow.’ [Chuckles] So, you know, there’s not a lot of money to be made at it, but everywhere you go, there’s a crowd for it, which is nice. It’s not filling stadiums anywhere, though.
BSM: Have you found that it’s been growing, since you’ve started?
KP: Yeah, the scene in Europe was really big in the Eighties, and what happened is that it kind of dwindled off, and no younger kids were getting into it. So the scene in Europe is more so older folks, whereas here in the States, it’s really growing, which is great.

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