Fuel, fronted by original lead vocalist Brett Scallions will re-ignite this Spring with tour dates that will include a support slot at Hershey Stadium with Bon Jovi. The original line-up of Fuel has not been together since 1997, when original drummer Jody Abbott left the band. Throughout 1998 – 2007 there were several lineup changes, touring and recording as Fuel. In 2010 with many of the principathel members engaged in other aspects of the entertainment industry, raising families, and just living the American dream, Brett Scallions, the original lead vocalist is proud to fly the Fuel flag to a generation of new and old fans.

“There is only one original of anything” exclaims Scallions, “and that includes Fuel. The original lineup with Carl, Jeff, Jody and myself will always be something special to all of us, and our first Fuelies (a term for Fuel fans) but it has been thirteen years since the original lineup was intact, and since then many great musicians have come and gone. The lineup I put together for Fuel is not meant to replace or diminish what any of the original members created. Just the opposite, it is to give our fans a live destination, and to keep the Fuel name alive for a new generation to discover. Maybe someday we’ll all get on the same page and play together again, but life happens and the next thing you know you just can’t jump on a bus and take off for a month, let alone a year.”

Original bassist Jeff Abercrombie is currently the owner/operator of Thud Studios, a well reputed destination for rehearsing and recording in the greater Los Angeles area www.thudstudios.com. Original lead guitarist, and principal song writer Carl Bell is producing new music for a diversified group of artists. Bell has also been busy writing for film and television. When reached for comment Bell stated, ” Look, Brett sang all of this stuff on the bands biggest records, so it’s pretty clear that the fans want to hear him singing Fuel songs, and that is what they are going to get. Our fans are important and they deserve a Fuel, even if it isn’t an original lineup. Who knows maybe someday there will be an all original reunion. I have learned to never say never.”

http://www.billboard.com/charts-decade-end/rock-songs?year=2009

[audio:AltAddiction_Interview_w_Brett_Scallions.mp3]

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Carl and I begin talking about how the current tour with Trapt is going. Like many people, Carl knew Trapt from their hit “Headstrong” but was then surprised by how many songs they had he knew and enjoyed. Commenting about Toryn’s vocals on the tour, Carl said, “Toryn’s been great. Knock on wood, he’s holding up very well. Let me find some real wood here. As a vocalist he’s holding up, we were all wondering how he would hold up doing it every night.”

I wondered if the guys got to have any fun on Halloween. Possibly dress up or have a party. On Halloween, the guys played a show in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Carl: That was such a crazy day, if I remember right, we really didn’t get do anything. We had just drove a long way and we didn’t have time. We didn’t do anything particularly crazy. Toryn just had a birthday, so we had a thing for that. My girl had a birthday on the 18th. So we’ve done some small things here and there, but nothing for Halloween.

Asif: You notice any of the dressed up fans?

Carl: There were a few people in the crowd dressed up. Actually they turned the club over after we left to a big Halloween party. After we got off stage and they kicked everyone out, they had a whole Halloween party.

Asif: So you guys didn’t get to stay and enjoy it at all?

Carl: No, no, no! I could have stayed. I went to get into the place but it was so packed you could not even move. So I decided, “Okay, that’s not my type of thing”. It was wall-to-wall bodies in that place. So we were like,“Alright, that looks fun, but we’re just gonna go back to the bus.”

Asif: You wouldn’t have even needed an outfit. Already dressed as a rock star…

Carl: (laughs) Yeah, there was a little bit of everything, so I know I would have been fine. But I was like, “Ehh, whatever.”

With Toryn and Tommy being the new guys in the band, I thought for sure Carl would have a laundry list of pranks to pull on the two. Turns out they’ve been so busy, Carl hasn’t really had too much time to pull any shenanigans. But I can tell Carl has some ideas brewing.

Carl: We’ve threatened forever to put Toryn on a van behind the bus. (laughs)

Asif: (laughs)

Carl: You can’t just walk off the street and step on a tour bus, you know what I mean? It’s just not right! But so far, we haven’t really hazed him a lot. It’s just been too busy to do anything.

Asif: You should try some of the classics. You know, like putting his hand in some warm water so he takes a leak on himself…or the whole shaving cream bit might work too.

Carl: Hmm..yeah. Yeah. Maybe ruin the sheets in his bed. We’d probably do a lot of stuff worse than that if we were going to do something. He’s got off pretty easy so far, we haven’t hazed him a lot.

Asif: What about Tommy?

Carl: Well Tommy’s been there and done that. Tommy was with Godsmack. He’s been on a tour bus…he’s not a new guy to it all. But Toryn, he’s just coming onto a tour bus without having to do the van tour very much or anything like that. We’re gonna have to get going [hazing Toryn] onto that.

One of the highlights during their shows on this has been when Carl flashes the rear of one of his guitars. It proudly displays the words “Spay Britney”. As we begin to talk about Hollywood celebrities, Carl sinks in deeper into the couch and his tone slightly changes. I can sense that Carl is very passionate about topic.

Carl: Why we are fascinated with celebrities as a human race doesn’t say much for us, I don’t think. I just don’t get why? I have a friend of mine who is a doctor. I was with him one day and he had literally saved three people’s lives before lunch. You know what I mean? He’s a cardiologist. We were out to eat and someone said, “Hey, it’s the guys from Fuel!” They wanted autographs and they were talking to us…and it seemed so completely off kilter compared to the fact that I was sitting next to a guy who had saved three people’s lives that morning.

Asif: I really think people’s perceptions in today’s society of icons and stuff like that is so messed up.

Carl: Yes man! And then you go beyond that…like with Britney and Paris Hilton…who have done totally nothing at all to contribute to anything in our planet. You know what I mean? I just don’t understand that! Obviously, it’s what people love and as a human race we love that stuff. You can’t get out of a supermarket without having to fight the racks and racks of new magazines that are out there just following these people. Making up stories – we don’t even care if they make it up anymore! People still buy it! You know what I mean? I just don’t get it. So the “Spay Britney” – I was actually going to do that for Leno. I had that on the back of my guitar for Leno and they would not let me do it because I wanted to flash it on the show. I was going to do it anyway, but they said, “If you do it, we’ll just cut it.” They can because it’s not aired live. So, that was leftover from Leno because that was at the height of Britney. When she was flashing her crotch and the baby was in the frontseat…it was just like, “Argh!…come on”.

Asif: Yeah, the Leno show was during the peak of all the Britney crap.

Carl: My favorite quote was when the guy, who saw Britney get out, said, “When I saw that crotch shot of Britney I couldn’t eat Subway for a week!” (laughs)

Asif: (laughs) Ah man, gross!

Carl: (laughs) It’s like, come on! You know what I mean? Did you see those pictures?

Asif: No, thank God I didn’t!

Carl: Those were not endearing pictures!

Asif: Thanks for telling me man. That’s definitely not something I’m gonna go looking online for!

Carl: Oh no, don’t! You are better off you didn’t! It would probably stunt you sexually for quite some time.

Asif: (laughs)

Carl: (laughs) It was seriously…(looking down and shaking his head) it was pretty rough.

When we began to start talking about the band’s newest album Angels & Devils, we really settled in. As Carl tugged on his beanie cap, he went from talking about how it was time that might have made the album different from the rest. But from there? I don’t think I even expecting him to bring up Hannah Montana.

Carl: A lot of it [with Angels & Devils] was time. A lot of it was just straight time to write volumes of music and to choose the best out of that batch of songs. Three months after our last tour, I actually had “Angels Take A Soul” written, I had “Again” written, “Not This Time” written…that was three months after we got off the tour…and three years later we get the record out! (laughs) I had a lot of songs written before we even got off of tour, it just took us so long – off the road/ into making a record/ the transition with Brett/ get a new singer in/ get everything together and get going again – it just took so long. So a lot of that stuff is written, but that also gave me the benefit of time to write a lot of songs and I had to be able to pull material from all those songs. There were 40 songs for this record we could have chosen from. So…that for me, maybe, was the biggest thing.

I dig this record too. I feel this record is as strong, if not stronger, than any other record we’ve had. It’s just really difficult right now with Epic and the label and everybody being in such disastrous state that the music industry is in right now. It’s really been hard to get traction and love from those guys. I just went into the label last week and they all agreed…they really love it. It’s just weird. With Hannah Montana selling bazillion records and the biggest frickin’ show of the year in L.A, I guess all the labels are trying to jump on the pop wagon. So part of what happened was, when we launched our record, they were trying to launch a little Hannah Montana type girl who ends up getting all the financing and all the push. So it has been really frustrating. Really frustrating. But I agree, I’m down with the record. I really love the record a lot. But…if they tell me, “This record sucks, go write another record”, I can fix that. I can’t fix a label. I can’t fix their sight. And hopefully they’ll be a little change in at the label after a few meetings. I know they do believe in it, but hopefully there will be a change and get on board here and start pushing us a little harder. That’s something that’s really out of my control, which is really frustrating and really hard to deal with.

Having heard him talk about it briefly before, I asked Carl exactly what songs or what parts of songs that he re-wrote because of the change in vocal ranges from Toryn to former vocalist Brett Scallions. Carl sat up as he began to speak about Toryn, Brett, and singing “Hemorrhage” the way it was meant to be sung.

Carl: There was a lot of stuff. Like where at the end of the songs, when you try to reach the crescendo vocally, it’s really really cool. The lines I heard in my head, he could sing! I’m like, “Dude, sing this.” and he [Toryn] is like, “Okay”. Then he’d sing it and I’d be like, “Wow! He hit that note!” Then I’d come back with more…so he started opening up. As we started recording, he was hitting notes that should be hit. Brett had his issues. And Brett was a great singer, but there were parts…“Hemorrhage” is a half-step down. We had to record “Hemorrhage” a half-step down when we recorded it in the studio. That’s probably the only song we have that’s a half-step down and that’s because Brett was a different person, and a different vocal range. But with Toryn…we do radio now – we just did radio today on 98Rock in Baltimore here – and we can do “Hemorrhage” actually in standard tuning, acoustic, without having to do it a half-step down and he can sing it fine. There is some freedom that he is definitely bringing to the table with that. It’s great. No offense to Brett, he’s just a different person and people have a different range. You know, if I could sing like Brett or if I could sing like Toryn, I’d be happy to do that as well! (laughs) But obviously we’re all different animals and everybody’s different, and Toryn is different than Brett. But he does bring a little more range to the system here.

Something that I hadn’t thought about, up until this point, suddenly pops in my head. I’m sitting here, on a couch, watching television with Carl Bell. This isn’t just someone all the Fuel fans love, but I’m sitting here with The Carl Bell.

Asif: Besides all the Fuelies out there, people in the music industry in general think that Carl Bell is a musical genius…that you’ve really left your stamp on the rock music scene in this time we live in. I know you mentioned time as being a big thing, but maybe that was just for Angels & Devils, so I know I’m curious to know, and I’m pretty confident that a lot of other people would like to know, what is the mental process – the state in your mind, your psyche – of generating that idea or concept up here [I point to my head] to down on paper?

For the first time tonight, there is a brief silence. Carl is in a deep state of thinking. After a few seconds go by, Carl looks up.

Carl: I think a lot of it is just doing it. You know what I mean? You have to just start writing songs. And your gonna write tons of stuff and its going to be horrible, but just keep writing. [pauses] A lot of it is just dedication to what you’re doing, and then the other side of it is that I think there is some kind of wiring in your system or the way you were wired that helps you do what you do. I could go out all day and shoot baskets, but I’m not going to be Michael Jordan. Something happened with Michael Jordan that was just right. I could go out and play golf all day, and won’t ever be Tiger Woods. And God forbid I don’t claim any expertise in any of this, because I wish I could write much much better songs than I write, but I think part of it is just having a little bit of a natural tendency to do what you do and then nourishing that as much as you can. Banging out songs…a lot of people don’t realize how much work it is to write songs and write, and write, and write, and write. And how frustrating it is and how you have to motivate yourself to do it. In fact, I think a few of my former members in the band just don’t realize how much work it is to write songs. Especially songs on a level that you can compete with what is out there, much less have hits and all that stuff.

It takes a lot of work [as he emphasizes that statement by a slight change in the tone of his voice and makes a fist with his hand to his chest]. So, for me, you sit down…you start with a riff…and you’ve channeled yourself enough to where you can make sense out of a riff pretty quick. Put vocals over it and get it to some state where you can say “this is good” or “this is bad” and continue working on it. And you know, the good ones come quick. “Hemorrhage” came in 30 minutes tops, that whole song was written. “Bad Day” came really quick. “Last Time” came quick. Seems like for me, the songs that we work on and work on are going to sound like they were labored over and forced and not good. I think a lot of it is, like I said, getting yourself writing and writing and writing to where you are receptive to ideas and you recognize ideas and you recognize [snaps his fingers] “hey, that riff is cool and this melody over that would be great” and you just start working from there. So, basically just lots of labor. (laughs) Very labor intensive. And hopefully you have some natural gift to pull it off as well. [pauses] And I wish I had more natural gift! (laughs) I’ll take a big dose please! (laughs)

Just then, Tommy walks in with a gym bag.

Carl: And here’s Tommy Stewart with a bag!

Tommy: Huh? What did I miss?

Carl and I both laugh as Tommy just stares at us, clueless as to what we were talking about earlier in the evening. Carl then got up to go watch a bit of the Trapt performance. As their vocalist Chris Brown noticed Carl to the side of the stage, Chris told the crowd “That’s Carl Bell of Fuel. He’s gonna rock you later on tonight.” As the guys made their way onto stage a little while later that night and got Ram’s Head jumping with “Last Time”, I think the entire Baltimore crowd would have thought back to Chris’s statement and said “Yup. He was right!”

BY: The Asif – Rockin’ Music Reviews

ALL PHOTOS BY: Jim Hendershot

The energy level continued rise towards its pinnacle during the next 20 minutes. After “Won’t Back Down”, the guys continued to perform up tempo songs from Sunburn, Something Like Human, Natural Selection, and Angels & Devils. Every show has your typical chair clutchers that will sit regardless of how amazing the performance is. By Carl and Tommy’s artistic persuasion, those same people came to their feet when the band broke into the opening notes of Stone Temple Pilots’ “Sex Type Thing”. The crescendo of the night came when Toryn held his fist up and sang the lines “Hold your hands up to the sky and try so hard to rise above…” during “Bittersweet”. Like a cult would follow their leader, all three levels of the House of Blues– from the standing room on the floor to the balconies up top – followed Toryn and pumped their fist or raised the palms into the air and began to leap off the ground.

The night came to an end when the guys performed their hit “Hemorrhage (In My Hand)”. As Tommy threw his sticks into the crowd and Carl’s guitar resonated feedback as he walked off stage, Toryn hopped in front of the security barrier and high-fived every hand that reached out. As the curtain closed, Chicagoans were in awe wondering what they had just experienced. Could it be that they just heard a band that sounded amazing live? Or could it have been that they just saw an incredible performance that was accompanied by a great light show? Nah…it was because they just saw Fuel give them a real rock show!

written & photos by: The Asif

329 N. Dearborn St, Chicago, Illinois 60610, with Trapt

Gig review & photos by The Asif: www.rockinmusicreviews.com

www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_loVVsigoM