Turn It Up To Twelve

Formerly associated with Kill Cheerleader and Die Mannequin, musician and very talented song writer Anthony/Tony Bleed, is now playing some live shows with his current band Rain City Rockers.  Bleed is also writing new material on a regular basis for his solo project; tonyswar. That is no typo. tonyswar is lower case and all one word.

Because Bleed is very honest and to the point, this article is mostly in Q and A form, as the answers that were given by him, made it difficult for Headbangerwoman.com to translate.

Nevertheless, it’s gritty and interesting…

Fans of Die Mannequin will be aware that Bleed appeared in the movie Hard Care Logo 2.  A follow up to the Bruce McDonald cult classic Hard Core Logo.  What some may not realize is that Bleed was credited twice;  once for his cameo as Care Failures love interest, and again for a behind the scenes role.  How did this happen, and will it happen again?  The question was put and the answer was as follows;

TB:  ya, the HCL2 work happened due to a lack of shit to do in buttfuck nowhere, Saskatchewan..Bruce and co were needing some help on set, so i was essentially 3rd Assistant Director, which sounds more important than it is.. i have worked in film before, and would love to again..movie $ kills music $!

Distorted
Photo by Anthony Bleed

HBW:  Die Mannequin in their current form are currently on the road opening for Marilyn Manson.  You are no longer playing bass with the band, but you did tour with them before when they were openers for Manson.  Was it magical, or messy?

TB:  2. touring with Manson was cool. he was actually really funny and smart, as we all know.  he often watched our sets from side-stage and would say ‘good show guys’, stuff like that..just a good small-town boy!..  can’t say we really hung out much, as they’d arrive pretty late in the days..they obviously had a bus/driver, and we’d usually have to set off in our van/trailer, for the next far-off Canadian city immediately after playing…oh Canada..long drives..

HBW:  Rain City Rockers is a recent thing.  The line up comprises of members of Gob and Sum 41….  What, why, where and how?

TB:  Rain City Rockers is Andrew, Tom from Gob/Sum41, Darrin from Goldfinger, and myself…  Andrew from Vancouver, is a great writer of rockin’ poppy punk gems, and he brought us all together in 2013 to record an album off the floor, which is rare these days..  turned out great and we’ve all been super-bff’s since!..  well, there’s actually a lot of strife and tension in the band, and we try our hardest to not kill each other.. tough stuff, but hey, its RnR!!

Record Art
Courtesy of Rain City Rockers

HBW:  You are playing The Viper Room with RCR on April 3 2015.  Are you nervous?

TB:  No, not nervous..excited really.. Viper Room is kinda legendary, and i’ve played there in both Kill Cheerleader and Die Mannequin, so it’s somewhat of a homecoming i guess…always a great room to play, fun times always had..  and i always end up having a smoke standing outside the doors where River Phoenix died, which is kind of a morbid thing..  dunno how i feel about that, just sayin’ it never fails to cross my mind..  sad really…  and on that note, next question!

HBW:  Canada has fucking ridiculously long winters.  Does being in the sunshine make you happy?  Does smog fuck you off?

TB:  sunshine does make me happy, yes..smog too..  except when either of them fuck with my happiness..

Now you see readers, why this works better in the form of a Q and A!  Onward…

HBW:  Why is it taking you so fucking long to put out solo music as tonyswar, when it seems to flow, and it’s so superbly original and stunning?

TB:  well thank you for your kind words!.. tonyswar is just me playing and recording what comes to me; day to day/week to week…so it is out, on this great label, “my computer”… very limited edition.. it’s also out there in digital format, in “some friends inboxes”…ha..but ya, i’m still steadily writing and recording songs, compiling a collection i feel is cohesive, showing where i am right now, but with a little of the past as well…also, i dont wanna just shit it out into the interweb to float around in the ether..i’d rather have the whole she-bang rolling, a nice recording, playing some gigs and having it be an actual living thing, as opposed to just throwing it up online, yknow?… takes some work, gimme some time yo!  in the meantime, i’m using my fb/youtube pages to post new ideas/demos…

The following links will lead you to Bleed…

Facebook

YouTube

HBW:  You recently migrated South West.  Does a change of scenery put you in a better place to write?

TB:  yes, my current scenery/creative surroundings do tend to inspire more writing.. its been a gem for my creativity at least, which was just what i hoped for.. so much music and other art to eat up where i am right now, and a lot of history.. very nice.. and again, the sun beats the record cold snaps of Ontari-ario this year…lucky timing pour moi..

HBW:  Why does Danko Jones piss you off so much?  For the record, we here at HBW think he’s a cock! 

TB:  haha, Danko Jones…i just let off some steam in that article.. wasn’t really eating me up or anything, it just needed to be said.. and whatever, i’m sure he’s a decent guy, when he’s not being a prick..  when you’re an old rocker dude, and you tour Europe a lot, and a young band from your hometown ends up on tour over there with you, i’d hope you’d be kind and welcoming, maybe empathize if they have some rough gigs, with amps blowing and shit…but he chose to chastise us (Die Mannequin) for being unprofessional because of said gigs, and then just be a downer every day..  touring should be fun, not a whine-fest..  then to arrive home and talk shit about us on Canada’s biggest radio station? classless…that is all..on him…

DEFTONES on the other hand!? complete opposite..  they welcomed us with open arms, literally, from day one as we pulled up and they were BBQ’ing.. amazing tourmates..  in their 16th grueling month of touring too..  as worn as they were from the road, they loved what we were all doing together, and treated us young’ns like gold…true class..RIP Chi Cheng

HBW:  As you are now using the tonsyswar moniker.  Is Tony Bleed actually dead?

TB:  Anthony Bleed is not dead, but alive and well, living in hiding in an undisclosed city…errr…?

Headbangerwoman.com wants to give a massive shout to Mr Bleed for giving his time to answer some bloody ridiculous questions, when he could be sitting on a balcony topless writing more excellent music. 

Written by Karen G with answers from Anthony Bleed.  April 3 2015