Burning The Airwaves
Injected Are Ready to Set Your Stereo on Fire

>>Injected in a more serious moment...>>

It only takes a little time with the guys from Atlanta's newest rock stars, Injected, to get clear on a one thing: there is very little quiet time on the tour bus.  Whether it's finishing each other's sentences, laughing at someone's joke or comparing notes on beers, the foursome operates on a different level.  Maybe it's that these guys don't seem caught up in the rock star mentality.  It doesn't seem like they're looking for life to be like a Motley Crue video.  They just want to play their music have a good time.

There isn't any attitude with the foursome, either.  Comprised of vocalist Danny Grady, guitarist Jade Lemons, Steve Slovisky on bass and Chris Wojtal on drums, Injected are all about high-octane, nitrous powered rock, without the aftertaste.  They're genuinely happy that people are interested in their music and what they have to say.  When we sat down to get the bottom of things with Jade and Chris, they were just as happy to talk about their favorite bands or favorite whiskies are they were to talk about anything about the band.  Ten minutes with these guys and you feel like you've known them for years.

With their major-label debut Burn It Black generating quite a buzz, fueled by the hook-laden first single "Faithless" and the fan-selected second single "Bullet," Injected are a band that deserve your attention.  Before 2002 is over, Injected's high-rev rock will be everywhere.

In between sound check and their performance at Hollywood's legendary Troubadour, we sat down with Jade and Chris.  They did most of the talking.

>>Jade (left) and Chris talk beer & whiskey>>

VOX: Why 'Injected'?  Where did the name come from?
Jade Lemons: From his [Chris’s] garage, man.
Chris: It’s just the name of our band.

VOX: It’s an engine reference, right?
Chris: Yeah, it is.  We just keep telling people it’s the name of the band.
Jade: We just don’t want anyone to think it’s a drug reference.  It ain’t.

VOX: Right now, you're out touring, knowing that most people don't know who you are.  What do you want them to go away from the showing thinking about?
Jade: You want them to want to and find out more about the band.  To really come away with something stuck in their head and the need to go and hear it again.
Chris: When you see someone who is really into the music and just really soaking it all in, that’s the best.  You just hope the

VOX: Have you had the chance to meet anybody recently that just blew you away or was an important musical figure to you?
Jade: I had the chance to sit and rap with Willie Nelson, which was mind-blowing.  I mean, you just have to sit and ask all the big questions, and believe me, I ask them.

VOX: Did he tell you to fuck the IRS?
Jade: He might have said to fuck the IRS, but he was more telling me about being honest as a musician and being true to what we’re about.  He’s always been that way, so you know he’s not bullshitting you.

VOX: Let's talk tunes.  The first single is "Faithless."  Tell me about the song.
Jade: Oh, man.  It’s the eternal problem: getting burned in love.  Getting your heart broken.
Chris: Getting cheated on, having someone just rip your heart apart.
VOX: Who got their heart broken?
Jade: Who hasn’t man?  Who hasn’t?

>> The comedy duo. >>

VOX: How about "Burn It Black?"
Jade: It’s about…smoking grass…
Chris: And how bad it is and you should quit.  Gimmie a cigarette, man…
Jade: Falling off the wagon again, man?

VOX: Who smokes?
Jade: We alllll smoke.
Chris: I’ve tried to stop the drinking, though.   It used to be that I would get on the bus, have three beers, and not even have a buzz.  Then I have three more just to start to get a buzz, and there I go, back again…
Jade: We’re into German beers, though, not, like, Mickey’s.
Chris: Yeah!
Jade: Honestly, Budweiser is like, A-number-one for me, with a shot of Maker’s Mark…
Chris:  Good combo!
Jade: …but, you know, Paulaner is probably the finest beer I’ve ever drank.
Chris: Hogarten, man, Hogarten!
Jade: That’s funny dude!  I was the first guy to bring Hogarten to your house!
Chris: I know! Now when I go home, I’ll have a four-pack of Hogarten…
VOX: How about Spaten, man?
Jade: Spaten’s pretty good!
Chris: Yeah, but I’m talking the unfiltered wheat beers.  The kind where you swirl the bottle, pour it in the glass and you can’t see through the glass.   It’s the beer that eats like a meal!
Jade: Paulaner, chunky-style.
Chris:  That’s right!  I like my beer chunky.
Jade: That reminds me of that scene in “Strange Brew” where he takes the beer out of the fridge and pours it into the dog’s bowl, and then his mom yells in, “Gimme a beer!”  So he takes the bowl and pours the beer back into a glass, and there’s moist and meaty dog food in the glass, and he’s like, “Here, Dad.”
Chris: It’s funny, ‘cos, like, we have beer in the cooler on the bus, and when I was drinking, there was never any left in the morning.   Well, that, and one of our roadie guys, he and I would stay up all night just to finish the beer…that’s why there’s a case of beer in our Ryder [truck]…
Jade: And a bottle of Maker’s Mark.
Chris: And a bottle of Maker’s Mark for these guys.

>> Injected's singer, Danny Grady>>

VOX: What made you choose that song as title of the record?
Chris: Because that represents the sound of the band…
Jade: The sound of this record…
Chris: …the sound of this record…
Jade: …and the band, right now…
Chris: …right now.

VOX: Has the sound changed much over time?
Jade: Yeah!
Chris: Yeah, it’s a little different now.
VOX: What’s the difference?  What did it sound like?
Chris: What’s the oldest song on the record?  “I, IV, V”?
Jade: “Bloodstained Glass” is the oldest song.
Chris: “Bloodstained Glass” and “I, IV, V” are probably the oldest songs on the record and the newest songs on the record are “Only Hurts Awhile” and “Dawn” and “Lights Are Low”…
Jade: See, we used to have more of a New York-hardcore kinda sound, like Quicksand, more muddy kinda sound.
Chris: I had to straighten that shit out.

VOX: For those people who are going to get Injected for the first time, what should they expect from the live show?
Chris: Oh, it’s a lot more aggressive that the record.
Jade: Yeah, and unlike what you’ve been led to believe by hundred of bands in the past couple of years, our live show doesn’t sound exactly like the record because we don’t have a fucking DAT tape running in the background with a bunch of guitar tracks and drum loops and backup vocals and shit.

VOX: No sequenced keyboards?
Jade: Fuck all that shit. We’re a fucking rock band.   It’s guitars, bass, drums and vocals and it’s all about getting out there and playing great songs, and when the kids leave we want them to think, “Man, wow, great rock show!”
Chris: It’s a lot more aggressive than the record.
Jade: Yeah.

What are you playing?
Jade: You know, I think Les Paul’s are the easiest to play to because they’re the easiest to throw around.  Their Achilles heal is that headstock, but you can break the fuck out of those guitars and they just glue up just right.  Gibson has always made phenomenally great guitars.  Love SGs, love Les Pauls, love Firebirds…but I also love old Fenders, Del Rays, Silvertones…I had a guitar collection once, literally, like 60 guitars at one time, when I was like twenty…
Chris: I use Fibes drums; they’re out of Austin, Texas, custom made shit.  It’s badass.   The other stuff is just mass-produced, but Fibes are the best.