Fleshtones Interview
by Kevin J.Hosey
The Fleshtones, one of the most American rock bands this fine land has experienced for more than 25 years, will perform its garage/punk rock influenced sounds at 9 p.m. Sunday, November 13, at Mohawk Place, 47 E. Mohawk Street, Buffalo. Admission will be $8, and opening the show will be the Stones/Faces oriented youths of the Roadhouse Gypsies.
With time quite short due to my (happily mostly successful) political campaigning recently, I was fortunate enough, through the help of Yep Roc Records’ Angie Carlson, to do a six-question e-interview with the Fleshtones’ singer and harmonica player Peter Zaremba. He and the Fleshtones are supporting the band’s newest CD on Yep Roc, “Beachhead,” and I am hoping/expecting an exciting, lively and loud show and, one things I have always respected the Fleshtones for encouraging, a show that features lots of audience members dancing. And, as I checked back, I caught my first Fleshtones’ show 23 years ago .

BuffaloRoots: The Fleshtones have been going at it, rocking, having fun and entertaining crowds for more than 25 years. How do you keep doing so, and how do you keep up the intensity of your live shows? And if someone has not caught the Fleshtones live yet, what should they expect at the Mohawk Place show?
Peter Zaremba: Actually it will be 30 years this may. Intensity? Well, we just kinda let it all come out during the show now that we've given up acting this way off stage. Good thing we're in the Fleshtones, and that's why we'll keep it up for as long as we can. The people can expect lots of action at the Mohawk, and no pretensions. That reads kinda lame, but it’s way more fun in person.
BR: How happy are you with the new CD, “Beachhead?”
PZ: We are more than happy. We think it’s our best record in years, and lots of people agree. It’s the kind of record I can play and enjoy, hard, rocking and fun.

BR: Among the many influences or styles the Fleshtones' music evokes is garage rock, which seems to have recently gone through another revival.
How do you view this and what keeps the band's music fresh?
PZ: What's become known as garage was a big influence on us, although we called it 'punk rock' in the early 70's. That and a mish-mash of every kind of rock and roll and R&B that we dug. Of course this new trend will do nothing to help us, trends never do. Our love of music and the rush we get out of it exists outside fads or time.

BR: Is touring and recording still as much fun 25 years or more after the
Fleshtones started?
PZ: Yes, even more although we try not to belabor the touring part. We fly around the country (and world) playing long weekends. It’s a blast and keeps it from getting stale, like the smell of a group that's spent 10 weeks in a van!

BR: The band has been on major, large and small independent labels, and is now on Yep Roc, which has a pretty good reputation. What are the differences in being on such labels?
PZ: Mostly money. However, larger labels don't necessarily spend all that money in an intelligent way. Right now we're happy with Yep Roc. We're in great company artist-wise and they let us make more Fleshtones records.

BR: While not trying to be limiting, are the Fleshtones an East Coast band?
PZ: Funny, a lot of people thought of us as a LA band. We did spend a lot of time there for a while, especially around the time I was doing the “Cutting Edge” show for MTV. I feel we are a real American band, and that's in the best possible sense.