American Dog have been making music together since 1999. They've six albums to their name, appeared on tribute albums to rock legends, played many US biker festivals, toured Europe seven times and are returning to this side of the pond for more soon. Room Thirteen caught up with Michael Hannon from the band ahead of their next visit in July and August.
R13: If you had to describe your music to somebody who hasn't heard it before, what would you say?
M: Dirty Hard Rock, with a bit of a "Southern Twang" at times.
R13: You've made seven visits to Europe, how has the band developed since your first?
M: The band is a well oiled machine now, it's very evident by listening to the live bonus disc that's included in the 'If You Want Bud' CD (released 2006), it doesn't come close to the assault of 'Foamin at the Mouth' (released 2005). The band has been together with the same three members for almost eight years now, and you can hear that.
R13: What do you find is the best thing about coming to the UK?
M: I think the humor we use on stage will be appreciated a lot more with an English speaking audience, many people in France, Germany and Belgium are bi-lingual and understand the words, but I think the sarcasm is sometimes lost. Another good thing would be the easy access to Old Peculiar, I'm hooked on that stuff.
R13: What can people in the UK expect from your live shows?
M: Loud, Sweaty, Obnoxious Rock-n-Roll! It Ain't Metal, It Ain't Punk, It's Just Rock-n-Roll..No prefixes needed!
R13: What are the best and worst things about being on the road?
M: The best thing about the road to me is the education you get; I've learned much more travelling than I ever did in school. One of the most important things I've learned from travelling is a very common sense thing: There are good people and bad people everywhere you go, but everywhere you go the Rock-n-Rollers are the good people. We have our own language and Religion, which is Rock. The worst thing on the road for me is going home.
R13: You're hugely popular with the American Biker scene; do you find this is a positive thing when going to other countries?
M: I don't think it's effected us that much, other than occasionally we'll meet someone who says: "Hey, I saw you at Sturgis back in 2002!" The Biker community has been very good to us though.
R13: What is the coolest bike to own?
M: Myself I don't have a motorcycle, I just have a bicycle which I do 12 to 15 miles a day on, weather permitting. Our drummer Keith has a dirt bike and races in off-road races.
R13: You've appeared on a few tribute albums, how did inclusion on CDs marking the careers of the likes of Van Halen come about?
M: The Van Halen and Cult tribute discs were done by the same label, so that was pretty easy, they asked and we said "Hell Yeah!" Especially for the Van Halen one, I absolutely love the Roth era of VH! The most interesting 'tribute' disc we're on is the 'Saint Valentines Day Massacre' CD, which is a Tribute to Motorhead, we were on tour with Crucified Barbara in France and they were doing 'Killed by Death' as their encore and we were doing 'Bomber' as ours, so to have some fun with the girls (who wouldn't want that!?!?) we started messing around with 'Please Don't Touch' at soundchecks, when the president of the label (Bad Reputation) heard it, he went nuts and wanted the two bands to record it which turned into a tribute CD!!
R13: Are there any other bands you would love to do tribute tracks for?
M: Doing more tribute discs isn't paramount, but there are a lot of great bands that we be honored to do, Nazareth, UFO, Blackfoot, Aerosmith (back when they were all doped up please!) ZZ Top etc....We may have to do a Crucified Barbara track seeing how they're doing one of ours on this tour.
R13: If you could create your own festival, who would play and where would it be?
M: AC/DC, Ted Nugent, Motorhead, Nashville Pussy, American Dog, and I think Cleveland, Ohio would be the place, and I'd call it the 'None More Loud Tour'.
R13: What music are you currently loving?
M: I've been listening to Riot's 'Fire Down Under' CD non-stop lately, and a lot of Alice Cooper too. As far as new stuff, I just picked up Ian Gillian's 'Gillan's Inn' and Hank the Third's 'Straight to Hell'. I'm lovin' both of those.
R13: We've got Guns N' Roses coming to the UK for the Download Festival next month, do you think this new album of theirs will ever see the light of day and do you even care?
M: Yeah, it'll come out eventually and I hope it's good but I won't rush out and buy it just because it's on the shelves, I'll have to be knocked out by a few songs to want it. I hope Slash and Duff get back with the thing to give it some credibility.
R13: Thank you for your time and good luck with the tour.
M: Thanks, come say hello, the first Old Peculiar is on me!