Joey Royale of The Lonesome Doves

Before leaving NYC, Joey Royale of The Lonesome Doves helped pave the path for honestly sinister country-rock  storytelling crooners.


Chief Magazine: Before I ask anything about the band, where'd you grow up and what kind of shit were you into as a kid? Music, ways to kill time, whatever.
 
Joey Royale of The Lonesome Doves: I grew up in New London, Connecticut.  I was always into music as a kid.  We had a great club in our town called the El N Gee.  I went one night when I was 14 to pick up girls but instead I saw a band that changed my life- The Amazing Royal Crowns, a rockabilly band from Providence.  I had always been into Elvis and Roy Orbison and country but I was into punk too, and I was like, this is perfect this is what I want to do.  But I didn't, I just sat around watching old horror movies, and making monster models and blowing shit up in the woods.  I spent a lot of time in the woods setting fires.

Ah, like all of us.

Yeah but, I didn't really go to parties or drink and plus I was like 5'3" 98 lbs until junior year of high school.  I got a little to into my weird world.  But then I grew senior year and started chasing tail. That's when I realized I wanted to do music.

Wait, when you started chasing tail you decided music was the way?

Tail was 16 when I grew and started the hunt.  The same year I bought a guitar.  Played it for a week, then gave up.  Tail took over, and went to college and didn't do anything.  Actual performing started after I moved to New York.

Where did you go to college?

Fordham University in the Bronx. 

I don’t really know why I asked that. Do anything of interest while there?

I did nothing creative for all four years of college

So when and how did you start the band in the first place? Where were you living and what kind of shit were you into at the time?

Well, after college I moved to Astoria.  I was just getting into Nick Cave and I was already obsessed with Johnny Cash.  I lived down the street from this bar Tupelo.  Tupelo was the catalyst for a lot of things. It seemed like everyone there had my same taste in music--Cramps, Nick Cave, The Mummies. I met this kid, who eventually turned out to be totally psycho, not in a cool way.  He introduced me to Freekout, we formed a band called Mean Mercedes, and we started playing shows.  We were playing a bunch and having fun doing sleazy rock kinds of stuff with songs about high school harlots, giant squids, monster movie stuff.  It was fun stuff. 

But then I got deep into the Birthday Party and Nick Cave stuff in general, and the drummer, the psycho, went nuts.

How nuts is nuts?

He started wearing leather pants and stupid hats.  That shit doesn't fly with me

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Stupid hats and leather pants? Good to know where the line is. So anyways, after you kicked out the fuck-up what happened?
 
Freekout and I decided that we wanted to do something different.  Something that wasn't as "fun."  We really wanted to do some stripped down country stuff.  I tried writing nice old country tunes, but the dark stuff always would rear its head, so we were like this is what The Lonesome Doves is going to be. None of that cheesy alt-country shit or the hot rod Psychobilly shit.  We didn't want people smiling and all that. 

It fucking worked. The first time I saw you guys I was screaming myself bloody.

You were the target audience.  Really. Some asshole booked us at The Pussycat Lounge, this horrible strip joint that has a stage upstairs.  He booked us on a Psychobilly bill and it was so stupid.  Freekout and I decide, all right, no more of this horseshit.  We are no longer taking shows just to take shows.  Then we met David from O'Death and that’s when we found our niche.

What was the first point where you guys really thought your shit was coming together? Was it at the Apocalypse Lounge death country nights?

Yeah.  Those really started to take off.  We went from playing to just a handful of people and the other bands to all out sweaty, packed to the walls, people almost passing out shows.  I cherished those shows.  We really had an awesome supportive scene.  I personally was really influenced by all those guys- O'Death and
Goddamn Rattlesnake and Poorboy especially. Brownbird Rudy Relic too.  That was a really great time. 

Being a bastard, it feels good telling people that they missed out, but it sucks that the lounge is dead.

Well it's good and bad.  The Apocalypse closing kind of forced us to go out and "spread the word" so to speak.  All the bands still kept in touch and played out together.  Sure I miss the place, but it made us get off our ass to shoot for bigger things.

That’s true, and with that said, what’s going on with you guys now?

Nothing. We did the electric Lonesome Doves thing a couple times and that was fun.  That was back to the Mean Mercedes stuff.  It was the summer and we decided to lighten up a little bit and resurrect the party sound again.  Then me and my girl split, I left NYC, and that's it. I sound pretty boring.

Bah.

I did start a new band.

Go on...

We played our first show the other night. The Royale Brothers.  It’s in the same vain as The Lonesome Doves, same themes of murder and crime and what not.  Just a bit more old-timey.  Those damn O'Death boys rubbed off on me.  There were three people from the audience laying on the floor covered in filth after the set and my friends were fanning the PA because it caught on fire. Good first show.

That does sound like a good show. It's funny though, this is going to be the first interview in the magazine where I get into an argument with the musician to fucking man up and get back on the horse.

Give it to me.

When you coming back to the city, Joe?

I'm not.

…Damn. I was gonna joke around and bust your stones but forget that. You serious?

Yeah.  I'm happy here, man.  I'm doing everything I want to do. Both of my new bands are doing well.  I'm doing crazy art shit all the time… Coney Island may even use one of pieces for their blowoff next summer. The scene down here is great and the kids are hungry. I'm happy.

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Downloads

03 Murder of Crows.mp3
05 We Gonna Ride.mp3
04 Called My Bluff.mp3

Website

www.myspace.com/thelonesomedoves 

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