Cover story - Album Network (radio trade magazine), Issue # 1107, August 18, 2000 by John Easdale.
Fuel
When Fuel released Sunburn, little did the members expect that it would become one of the biggest success stories of 1998, going on to sell well over 1,000,000 copies.
Of course, to the outside world, this was another overnight success story. But, as with many of these so-called "overnight" successes, there were years of struggle befoer the "big" break.
The story of Fuel starts in Tennessee - a town called Kenton, to be precise - in 1989, when guitarist Carl Bell and bassist Jeff Abercrombie started playing together. In 1993, singer/guitarist Brett Scallions was recruited as frontman, and in 1994 Fuel moved to Harrisburg, PA, in order to have easier access to the entire East Coast scene (Boston, NYC, Philly, DC, etc.).
That same year, they released Fuel, an eight song cassette, and in 1996 they put out Porcelain, a seven-song CD. Porcelain featured an early version of "Shimmer", garnered significant airplay and went on to sell 10,000 copies, which drew the attention of 550 Music. Fuel signed in 1997, and released the Hazelton EP to little fan fare that fall.
Not so for Fuel's 1998 release, Sunburn, which featured smash singels, "Shimmer," "Bittersweet" and "Jesus or A Gun"; in fact, bu the end of the year, thanks to a nonstop touring schedule and a killer live show (beefed up by newly recruited drummer Kevin Miller), Fuel was one of the most-played bands at Active rock and Alternative Radio for the entire year.
Fuel continued to tour for two solid years. After a well-deserved month off, the bandmembers convened in a cabin in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylivania to start pre-production on Something Like Human, for which they teamed with producer Ben Grosse (Filter, Vertical Horizon).
On the eve of their first tour in months, I spoke to Fuel's dynamic frontman, Brett Scallions.
You're home in Pennsylvania now:
"Yeah, I just got in 15 minutes ago."
You didn't sell 1,000,000 records and move to Hollywood?
"No, man. if I'm not on the road, I like to go where there's plenty of trees and grass."
Speaking of selling 1,000,000 records, were you at all shocked and surprised with the overwhelming success of your 550 debut?
"Sure, it's a beautiFUEL thing ; you always dream of having that gold or platinum album to put on your wall."
Well, they say it's easier to win the lottery.
"Yeah, that's the damn truth. I think the first record laid down a nice, solid, firm ground for us to walk on. I think it helped so to establish ourselves and at the same time give us a good learning curve. The first record was like a science experiment for us almost, and we soaked in what we learned form the making of it; you live and learn from the mistakes made in the past. We went in to make this new record with a more focused mentallity, knowing how the process is and being more prepared for the whole thing, and I think that really shows. I think this record came out leaps and bounds above the last record."
On the first record, guitarist Carl Bell wrote all the songs - was there more collaboration on the new record?
"Carl was writing while we were on tour for the past two years. He did a lot of writing on the road, some 50 songs, and while he was writing all of that, I was in my corner writing, too. I've always said if I write one song, Carl's got 10 to 15 to go with it. Carl's a great songwriter. He's done a lot of work on this record as well, but there are songs on there that we collaborated on."
I was curious if it was like a Rober Daltrey thing, where sometimes a singer can bring something more to the table thn the actual author, if you will.
"Sure. It's one thing to write a song, it's another thing to actually perform it and sell it. Sometimes it's hard for people to do that. Some people can have the most amamzing song under their belt that they can write [but] they can't get out there and sell it or perform it properly, or they feel like they 're just not the right person for it. One thing Carl's always said is he imagines my voice on it, because he feels like he just doesn't have the voice."
So after you released Sunburn, you stayed on the road for more than two years?
"Yeah, and on that tour we did about 500 shows, roughly."
So you took a month off before you went to record?
"A whopping month, that's exactly true. We finished it out with about two and a half weeks of touring in Australia and then we flew to New Zealand and did some press. By that time we were just vegetables, both mentally and physically - we were all shut down. We would sit in the interviews and these people in New Zealand probably thought we were freaks, because we almost couldn't even comprehend anything that was going on. As soon as that was done, we flew straight home and went to our own little corners and just kind of got away and relazed. I got home and people said I looked like shit, like I had gotten hit by a truck or something. I'm a thin guy as it is, but I had lost weight and it looked like I hadn't seen the sun in about five months. It was pretty rough."
Some people would never understand how much hard work it is, dragging your ass around the world. It's like being a traveling salesman or something.
"Yeah, sure, you're out there on the road and you're trying to fit everything in as much as you can. You're contantly having someone tugging you and pulling you in different directions. It's hard sometimes to just sit down and get some peace of mind for yourself and relax. and even get something to eat. It's a tough live, for sure, and we really know how to make it tougher, I can tell you that. When we tour, we tour, we go out and stay gone for months and months and months at a time. It's not a 'We'll go out for a month and take two weeks off' kind of thing for us. We'll go out for six months and take a half week off after that."
Cool, so you take the month off, go off to your neutral corners and eat healty, sleep and do crazy things like that. A month later it's time to make another record.
"Yeah, well, we started out in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania here. We rented a house up in the mountains and cooped ourselves up there for two months with two feet of snow on the ground. We just sat down in the basement and rehearsed and worked up songs. We tried to flush everything out and prepare ourselves to go into the stuido. And the last week or two of being there, our producer, Ben Grosse, came in and then we started doing pre-production. We really tried to fine-tune everything."
How did you like working with Ben Grosse?
"I think Ben was above and beyond...definitely a huge asset. It was one of those things where he sat with us in the beginning and said, 'Look, man, I'm gonna voice my opinion on things and I'm gonna try to convince you that my opinion is right, but the bottom line is if you're not happy with it and you wanna do what your ideas are, that's what we're gonna do. We want to make sure that everybody is making the record that they want to make, and everybody is gonna be happy about this 10 years from now.' A total cool vibe; there were no egos involved at all, which was such a beautiFUEL thing. He's an amazing producer and I would recommend him to any other band out there."
Was he more of a technical or idea kind of guy?
"I think he's a combination, really. He's got a lot of great ideas and he brought a lot to the table when it came to making the songs the best that they could be. But he also knows his way around a studio and the control room so much, to where he can do all of those trippy, weird noises and stuff. He knows how to get the best sounds out of everything he does."
How did you, personally, approach recording this album differently?
"I think on the first record I was a lot more reserved, at least vocally. When it came to getting in that booth and standing up to that mic, I was a little more reserved, and a little more confused on just how to approach everything. I think it hurt me; I don't think I really belted that record out like it should have been, by any means. My approach to this record was, I just went in with a no-holds-barred kind of attitued. It was, 'I'm gonna blow this shit out as hard as I can and give it everything I've got. I'm not gonna let any type of hesitation take me over by any means.'"
"Hemorrhage (In My Hands)" is the first single. Now, there's a song called "Love Lies Bleeding" on Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Did anybody say to you guys, "Hey, Elton John or Bernie Taupin is gonna hear this?"
"No, nobody's ever really noticed it. That song in particular wasn't on the mond when those words were written."
I'm showing my age, I guess.
"Hey, man, I'm right there with you, because I used to listen to those records when I was a kid. I think Carl's a big fan of Elton John as well. Elton and Bernie just really knew how to get together and write 'em."
FUEL FACTS
ORIGIN
Kenton, TN, but they're based in Harrisburg now.
LINEUP
Brett Scallions (vocals, guitar)
Carl Bell (guitar, vocals)
Jeff Abercrombie (bass)
Kevin Miller (drums)
ABOUT THE CURRENT CD
Something Like Human is Fuel's second full-length for 550 Music. The first single, "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)," is already on 215 Alternative and Rock Radio stations.
DISCOGRAPHY
Fuel (Self-released eight song cassette, 1994)
Porcelain (self-released seven-song CD, 1996)
Hazelton (EP, 550 Music, 1997)
Sunburn (550 Music, 1998)
Something Like Human (550 Music, 2000)
PRODUCED BY
Ben Grosse
LABEL
550 Music
HOW LABEL DEAL CAME ABOUT
550 signed Fuel in 1997, after their self-released EP, Porcelain, had sold over 10,000 copies.
Accompanying photographs coming soon.
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