Northern Irish rockers Trucker Diablo have come a very long way since forming in 2008. The bands self-released debut album ‘The Devil Rhythm’ (featuring guest vocals from Thin Lizzy frontman Ricky Warwick) went down a storm with fans at home and abroad upon its release, receiving airplay at home and as far away as America and Australia.
The band have recently been signed to Californian record label Ripple Music and a new edition of ‘The Devil Rhythm’ is now available to purchase in the US.
With high profile gigs at the Download Festival, London’s O2 Arena and supporting the likes Black Stone Cherry Trucker Diablo are indeed living the rock and roll dream.
Fame’s Phil Allely caught up with vocalist/guitarist Tom harte to chat about the bands success, dreams and the recent news that their debut US single is to imortalised as a playable track on the popular Rock Band computer game.
Phil: Trucker Diablo are off to the New Blood Stage at Hammerfest in a few short weeks, how did you get added to the bill and how much does this mean to you as a band?
Tom: Back in October we got voted onto the Highway to Hell showcase in Glasgow, which showcased some of the best bands in the UK rocking for a place at either Hammerfest or Hard Rock Hell.
We were chosen to play at Hammerfest, I got the text from some mates that were still in Glasgow. When we heard we were over the moon. An amazing opportunity for us to play alongside some of our musical peers.
P: Your album is now available through various outlets, we hear America has been a growing market for you, would touring there be the dream?
T: We would love to tour America, but I suppose it’s one step at a time. We are gearing up for a tour at the end of the year but there’s always loads of legwork to do which a lot of people mightn’t realise. I would love to get on the back of a good tour in the states to help boost the profile. We’ve made a lot of dreams come true so far, so hopefully we can knock that one off the list.
P: What’s best large scale festivals or small intimate venues?
T:Festivals are amazing and small clubs are amazing too. I think we like to have as much fun as we can on stage and we try and engage the crowd so they have a great time too.
P: What drives Trucker Diablo as a band?
T: Honestly there’s a few things, we love the music we are writing and we want to keep doing that. Our families are a big part of it as we want to them to be involved because if we succeed as a band everyone can share the success. Also the fans that support us, we want to continue to write and play music they love and enjoy as much as we do.
P: What inspires your music?
T: Everyday life inspires the music, we all have individual influences that range from loads of bands old school and new school. We try and keep the songs as real and genuine as possible so people can relate to them.
P: Whats next for Trucker Diablo?
T: Oh jesus, pure madness lol. Loads of stuff happening we have obviously Hammerfest coming up then we have another 17 shows locally. We’re back in the UK on the 24th February and back over in July for a biker festival.
There are a few booking agencies looking at us at the moment so hopefully if we decide to go with one of them we can start looking at the bigger festivals in the UK. We are looking at a possible tour this year but that will be autumn time.
We will be also back in the studio to record album 2 which will be out next year. So we are booked up the rest of the year which is great.
P: Do you hope to make the band your full time job?
T: Yeah I think we work very hard as a band, we want it to be a full time job, nothing would be better. I always say if this is what we can do part time, imagine what we could do full time.
P: Any tips for young bands on the scene today?
T: It’s a simple formula really. Write the best songs you can, believe in the band and work hard at pushing the profile with every opportunity you can get. Most important stay humble, fans put you in this position as well, so you can’t never forget that.
P: What can you tell me about this computer game (Rock Band) featuring one of your songs?
T: Rock band is a multiplayer game where players can play popular rock songs as a band. We sent our song to one of the publishing houses and they loved it.
Next it was in testing to be included in the playable list for the game. Amazing for a song I wrote half tanked lol…Oh you can get it here.
P: Your song Drink, Beer, Destroy is a wonderful sing-a-long anthem, how does it feel to have fans sing it along with you at a live gig?
T: Amazing. I am really glad people love it because I think when we had it nailed, we were really excited about the song and had a feeling it would do well.
P: What song do you wish you had written?
T: Emerald by Thin Lizzy, a simply awesome tune.
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photo by Claudine Mann
Exclusive interview by Phil Allely
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