By Harvey Taylor


By Harvey Taylor “Punk Rock '77 thru Today“ October 31, 2011
Thank you for taking the time to do this... Introduce yourself… I am JohnnyBill, the vocalist for American Lesion. How did the band start? Back in May of 2009, I started talking with our original bassist concerning the general concept. And it basically took off pretty quick. By July of that year the original lineup was together and already had basically a full set of songs together. We were lucky in that respect, I mean we already had a good set to work with. How did you come up with the name? Well honestly I cannot remember who said it first, but I do remember that everyone was very happy with the name because we felt it definitely described the general sentiment within the band. Our songs generally have a "theme" concerning the darker side of America. Who would you say are your influences? I would say that the band as a whole has been influenced by just about every genre, but for the sake of keeping a purist answer, I will list some of the biggest influences here: Sex Pistols, Misfits, Queen, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Guns N Roses, Pantera, PIL, Beatles, Nirvana, etc.......the list is huge, to say the least. What is the punk scene like in Atlanta? I have never seen the punk scene be worth a damn in Atlanta as a whole, but there are several bands like ours out here that really try to incorporate those core elements of punk into what they write. The music scene in general in Atlanta seems fucked, hopefully, that will change soon. Describe the songwriting process... Generally, one of us will come up with a riff or something that we are really passionate about. Then the rest of the band will add their distinctive part to it. Occasionally one person will really put it together, but there is always room for additional changes as the song progresses. We really try to consider every single song its own epic piece. You released 'the Black Plague Revival,' tell us about the album... That album is absolutely full of blood, sweat, and tears.....but not recorded very well. The songs on the album have become staple tunes at our shows, and all really have a very "anthemic" quality to them. There is no doubt, the album will always be special because of its recording process as well as the crazy fucking shows we played to support the album. Those shows earned us several titles, our favorite being "America's Most Debaucherous band!" What have you released? We released 1 ep in 2009 called "The worst of many" which contained 3 songs. (We also have a pretty massive collection of recorded material from that time period that has actually not been released for various reasons.) Then we released our first full-length album in May of 2010. Our second full length is due out December 1st, 2011. Who are some of the bands you have done shows with? We have played with some really great bands and have shared the stage with a few people we grew up listening to The Misfits, The Murder Junkies, Fuel, 10 Years, FLAW, Jackyl.....we have had some really good ones so far. Do you prefer to do shows at large venues or small clubs? Really difficult to answer that. The smaller clubs are great and can create a much more intimate environment for interaction with fans. But there are advantages to the large venues, such as sound systems that are superior and usually a broader audience to play for. Have you toured? Just around the southeast really. This new album will open up more touring opportunities which we are really excited about! There are many fans in the midwest and northeast that have been begging for us to get to their areas, so we are going to do it. Is there a favorite band you like to do shows with? We have done some of our best shows with Holocaustion, a great band from Warner Robins, Ga. We also have enjoyed playing shows with iNgrain, another great band from the Atlanta area. Is there a favorite place you like to do shows at? The Clermont Lounge in Atlanta, Ga.....hands down! Tits, liquor, and good music. What do you see is the future of American Lesion? This new album is very exciting! I believe that our best work is yet to come, and I am always optimistic about the new things we may try. People will be quite surprised with this new stuff for many reasons. We are just really looking forward to seeing the reactions... How can people contact the band? The band website is www.americanLesion.com For bookings or all other info we can be reached through our management at bookings@americanLesion.com Tune in every Saturday and Sunday from 3pm to 8pm CST for our radio show on www.podunkradio.com Cheers!