March 1, 2005

By Lucky (SugarBuzz Hollywood Reporter)

SugarBuzz Magazine

I knew I had to find out much more about this soon to be too hot rock band. So with that in mind I traveled to their home base in Portland, Oregon to get an in depth look see. Here is what transpired...................

Johnny: I'mJonny Shiitake, and i'm the lead singer of Lovely. I'm originally from Chicago, but I did a 6 year stint in NYC before landing in Portland. I'm all about ditching bartabs and avoiding my landlord.

John: My name is Johnny O'Deed, I play guitar, I'm from a shitbag trailer park in Iowa, and I'm all about playing loud and fast.

Ellen: I play Bass, I lived in Alaska the longest, and I’m about short skirts and tall boots.

Matt: My name is Matt Heartattack, I play drums, I'm from the meth-fueled deserts of Eastern Washington, and I'm all about no longer living in Eastern Washington.

Jonny: I met Matt and John through a mutual bartender friend. When they met me they thought,"Wow, that Jonny guy is a total fucking asshole. He'd be the perfect singer for our band!". My drunken rendition of "Paradise City" on karaoke night sealed the deal. I fuckin' own that song.

John: I decided to start my dream band, and everything fell in to place pretty quickly. Everyone in the band is the first person I talked to about each position. We all clicked immediately.

Ellen: I put an ad in the paper looking to play guitar with the MC5, they asked if I’d play bass in Guns n’ Roses instead, how could I resist?

Matt: I agreed to start a cockrock band with John if he would join the punk band I was in. One day we showed up for punk band practice, and they had moved out. That was the day Lovely started for real.

Jonny: When I was 6, my slutty teenage babysitter played Shout at the Devil for me. I was scared shitless and strangely intrigued. Vince Neil was the first "chick" I ever had a crush on.

John: My Mom would play "Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-erd" around the trailer, and I would just bounce off the walls. I was in Kindergarten.

Ellen: Not my earliest, but seeing Rock and Roll high school in the 6th grade had a profound affect on me.

Matt: My brother took me to a KISS concert and got me stoned. I was in grade school.

Jonny: Jagermeister and Camel Lights. Oh, and the bartenders at Kelly's Olympian. They have my full endorsement.

John: Nope. I could sure use a Jim Dunlop sponsorship, 'cuz I destroy a pick every 2 songs. Ultex 1.14s, Jim!

Ellen: None beyond what’s on my driver’s license. Levis, call me!

Matt: None. I need a stick sponsorship pretty badly. I'm surrounded by kindling at the end of a show.

5. Are you trying to convey a message in your music?

Jonny: Absolutely. My message is that ladies should feel less inhibited at rock shows, and be free to expose their bosoms without fear of embarrassment or guilt. Seriously.

John: Only that rock'n'roll should make you feel good. I'm sick of bands saying everything sucks. If you play real rock'n'roll, things absolutely cannot be that fucking bad.

Ellen: Thank god, no.

Matt: I just try to make people feel how much I love rock'n'roll.

Jonny: A brooding, breathtaking, bleeding rock'n'roll powerhouse, dammit!

John: We're a rock'n'roll band, plain and simple. No piano, no strings, no ballads, no acoustic interludes. Just no bullshit rock.

Ellen: About 5 and a half feet tall, good hair, bad tattoos.

Matt: The sonic equivalent of a good ass-beating that you totally deserved.