It
takes major guts and a whole lot of balls to put on a festival
especially when it's your first ever festival. Take the dude behind
the First Ever – Borderland Fuzz Fiesta – that is taking place on
Feb 21st
2015 in Tuscon, Az.
You
have bands such as Wo Fat, Mos Generator, Fireball Ministry, Asimov
and Powered Wig Machine to name but a few. Yeah, the FUZZ is
definitely coming to Tuscon, AZ on that day. The whole place is going
to be dripping in FUZZ.
When
our good friend – Cat Jones – asked me if I wanted to interview
the brave soul behind this festival – I said – Damn right I do.
Cat duly obliged and here we are interviewing Wayne Ruddell. You may
know Wayne from his kick-ass band – Powered Wig Machine. Well he's
the genius behind this festival along with his brother Joey. So
before the FUZZ takes over Arizona, Wayne has kindly agreed to talk
to us here at Sludgelord HQ.
Q1
– Hi Wayne. How are things with you today. Thanks for doing this
interview.
No
problem, thanks for having me.
Q2
– So we're here to talk about – Borderland Fuzz Fiesta. Can you
tell our readers the inspiration behind this festival.
Well
the main inspiration behind BFF was to add another fest based
in the southwest focusing on Stoner Rock, Doom, and Psych. Most of
the best stoner themed fest were overseas, and we are hoping to
change that.
Q3
– You have pulled together some killer bands on this lineup. Was it
hard convincing the band to perform on the bill.
The
hardest part wasn't finding bands to play, but finding bands to play
within the budget of a first year fest. It was challenging, but all
in all it worked out and I couldn't be more proud of the line-up this
first year.
Q4
– So people can expect a lot of great Stoner Rock grooves and huge
amounts of FUZZ!!!
Haha
Yeah If you're a card-holding fan of the genres of stoner rock, doom,
or psych and live in the Southwest, BFF is gonna be a hell of a
party.
Q5
– Where and when did you get the idea to put on this festival.
The
idea was actually given to me by my good friend David Rodgers
(Godhunter, founder of the Southwest Terrorfest). He and I were
talking before this year's SWTF and the idea came up about a stoner
themed fest. My brother and I have been hosting a lot of stoner rock
shows for the last two years in the state, and we really wanted to
try our hand at a fest.
Q6
– Was it a hard job putting this whole festival together. Did you
have help from other people who have put on festivals in the past.
I
don't know if I lucked out or not, but it has been relatively smooth.
Everything has just fallen into place. Dave from SWTF was really
helpful with pointers on the logistics of throwing fest. We also had
some help from Ari Aho who manages the Rock where the fest is
taking place this year. Other than that Joey and I have been working
Hans Solo.
Q7
- Obviously a lot of hard work and planning is needed to plan this
sort of festival. How long did it take you to arrange this year's
festival.
Yeah
there is a lot of moving parts planning the fest. We put in about 5-6
months planning for BFF this year, and honestly I wish we had
another month or so.
Q8
– Was it a hard job deciding which bands that would appear on the
festival. Though I know some of those bands are very good friends of
yours.
Deciding
on bands is tough man. We had a pretty good idea who we wanted for
this first year. Budget really dictated in the direction we
went. There was so many great bands that emailed the fest after it
was booked that I would have loved to fit on the bill. Hopefully we
can get them on for next year.
Q9
– So how's the reaction been like to the festival when you first
announced it. Have the ticket sales been good. I would love to go
that one myself. Fireball Ministry, Wo Fat, Mos Generator and some
band called Powered Wig Machine are appearing.
The
reaction to the fest has been amazing. I am humbled to see so many
people around the Southwest and other parts of the U.S. attending the
fest this first year.
Q10
– Was finding the right location to hold the festival a hard task.
Finding
a venue for a bigger event can be challenging, The Rock was perfect
for what we had planned for BFF. We had the ability to add a second
stage in the side room, which offers a more intimate setting than the
main stage.
Q11
– So why did you choose the name – Borderland Fuzz Fiesta – for
the festival.
Haha
honestly I just wanted something different. I wanted the name
to be against the grain and catchy, which also made sense for
southern Arizona. Borderland Fuzz Fiesta (BFF) was perfect :)
Q12
– What are the long term plans for the festival. Or is it too early
to tell.
Well
we plan to make it a mainstay in Arizona for the next few years to
come. We start booking for next year's fest in June. We have already
decided to add two more days. More fun more fuzz! We probably will be
looking for more and more help as our scope increasing each year. We
are excited and hopeful at making something great out of it.
Q13
– Right enough festival talk. People may know you as members of
Powered Wig Machine and Fuzz Evil. Can you tell our readers what is
currently going on with those great bands as we are huge fans of them
at Sludgelord HQ.
Thanks
man we love your blog and have been big supporters of what you guys
do. Right now both bands are on full throttle. Powered Wig Machine is
releasing a loaded "Supa-Collider" vinyl, gatefold 180gram,
on green translucent with black and orange splatter in late Feb
around the fest on Battleground Records. On March 11th PWM
will be supporting Uriah Heep at The Rialto Theatre. After that we
plan on taking a break for a bit to record our third studio album
that will be called, "Sundowner".
On
the Fuzz Evil side, We just finished tracking our debut self-titled
album at Primrose Studio. We are hoping to have it out on vinyl late
summer. I am very excited to release this record. It might be some of
the best stuff we have ever written. Aurther Seay (Unida, House of
Broken Promises) made a guest appearance and dropped a nasty solo on
the opening track "Good Medicine"
Q14
– You've put yourselves on the bill with Powered Wig Machine.
Suppose that's one of the perks putting on the festival. Putting
yourself into the firing line and performing a killer show. Does that
create extra pressure for you. Playing at a festival you've
personally organized and created.
Ideally
it would be nice to sit back and make sure everything runs smooth,but
sometimes you gotta get your hands dirty. You know what they say,"All
work, and no play"
Q15
– Powered Wig Machine and Fuzz Evil are highly thought of within
the Stoner Rock/Metal community. Has the responses from people and
critics surprised you at all over the last couple of years or so.
It
has been real humbling that last couple of years all the love we
received for Powered Wig Machine, and Fuzz Evil. I remember a few
years back getting so discouraged. It felt like we were invisible. I
think every artist hits a low period before they make a break
through. We a firm believers in hard work. We put our heads down and
worked our asses off. Haha I just wanting to have a good draw in our
small town on the AZ border. I never imagined the response would be
as big as it is.
Q16
– We all have a musical journey. How did yours start. What inspired
you to pick up your guitar and become a vocalist as well.
Well
both of my parents were very musical. We always had tons of
instruments laying around at our house. My father taught us the
basics, and Joey and I taught ourselves how to play. We didn't
have alot growing up,but we had each other,two acoustic guitars and
shitty tape recorder. Both of our parents were very religious growing
up. We use to smuggle in Sabbath,Zeppelin, and Thin Lizzy tapes to
jam on our tape player. The only way we could hone our skills was to
join this gospel style band at our hometown church. That is where we
meet our Drummer for PWM Daniel Graves. It was a really Pentecostal
church so we would be jamming these open ended heavy gospel grooves
for 45 mins-hour . Eventually it was a bit much for them and we
politely got ask to leave the band. Haha it was like in Back to the
Future when Micheal J Fox starts ripping to that 50's song. "One
day....your kids will love it." Vocally it was different. I grew
up singing all the time in our house. I used to love singing along
with the motown stuff on the radio. They had so much soul, and I knew
that was it for me.
Q17 – Who are your all-time fave bands and musicians. Or ones that
influenced your music career.
Vocally
as a kid I really got into the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and James
Brown. When I got older vocally I was most influenced by the
iconic voices of Freddy Mercury, Dio, Ozzy of Course, Neil Fallon,
Phil Laynott, and Danzig. As a guitar player they were certain guys
that really shaped the way I play guitar. Tom Merello was huge for
me. He wrote such monster grooves in Rage Against the Machine that
had so much energy. I remember saving up to buy a Digitech
whammy so I could get those nasty octave riffs he used to play. Josh
Homme was another guy and still is one of my favorites from Kyuss and
Queens of the Stone Age. I could identify most with him because he
isn't a shredder, or a flashy guitar player,but a great song writer.
He is a incredible rhythm guitarist whose riffs are heavy and
melodic. Perfect example is in there newest record "Like
Clockwork" the solo on "I appear missing." Just
Unreal. The last guy is Jimmy Page. I love the mystic that he had.
His riffs were just so dark in a sense. No shame here I use
alot of his riffs for solos in Fuzz Evil to get the Led out. The guy
is the best.
Q18 – Are you planning on promoting any more gigs in 2015. Or is too
early to tell us anything about that.
Nothing
in the pipe yet for any others shows. At show point I would
like throw some Borderland Fuzz Fiesta presents shows throughout the
year to build hype for the fest.
Q19 – Lastly, do you have any words of wisdom for your fans or people
coming to the festival.
Hopefully
we are planning to get on the road alot more in the next few years in
the states and overseas. We are looking forward to meeting alot of
you on the road and at the fest. If you see us around come say Hi!. We
would love to meet you! Cheers!
Wayne
– thanks for doing this. Best of luck with the festival. Hope you
get drowned in the FUZZ and it's a mega success. All the best
brother!!!
Words
by Steve Howe and Wayne Ruddell
Thanks
to Cat Jones at Southern Cross PR for arranging this interview.
For
More Information:
Borderland Fuzz Festival Links
Fuzz
Evil Links
Powered
Wig Machine Links
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