By Rosine Alleva – Rock At Night EU Editor
After WILDSTREET came back from touring Europe, it was quite exciting to have the band’s feedback about the Swiss Rock Cruise, the European audience and to talk about their brand new single “Mrs. Sleazy”!
Rock At Night had a cool interview with lead singer Eric Jayk.
The lineup
Eric Jayk – Vocals, Guitar | Don Berger – Bass, Vocals
Dom – Lead Guitar, Vocals | Dan Whitelock– Drums, Vocals
The first question to Eric was about the new lineup since last spring.
He told us that if the band is now a 4 piece it’s that Jimmie was unfortunately unable to do the rest of the year with them. A great guitar player, great personality, important to the band and beyond! So they chose not to add another guitar player. Would Jimmie Marlowe join the band again? He started the band with Eric in 2006 and they wrote most of the Wildstreet songs together. “He’s as much Wildstreet as I am. We wrote some more songs in 2020, I hope he’ll plan to record them.”
Touring is very hard but absolutely necessary for every rock band and Lock, the drummer wasn’t able to tour this last half year. But all ended great as they added Dan Whitelock.
The band was about to leave to tour in July for the important Rock Fest among others.
They were playing in Brooklyn and a friend coming to all the shows, put them in contact with Dan Whitelock. “He had no time to learn all the songs! But I asked him to record some stuff from the band to show his versatility (he did the breakdown, the ending section of Mother!!) So, the day before Rock Fest I bought him a plane ticket to join us. He’s awesome, jumped in and played the gig perfectly!”
European Kings Of World Tour
Wildstreet’s first European tour in 2019 didn’t cross Switzerland. This second European ‘Kings of World tour’ started with the Swiss Rock Cruise, how did it go?
Eric said the Swiss Rock Cruise was absolutely amazing, where everybody was rock minded and having fun. Daniel, the managing director, was really nice and a great support to the band this year!
“We were in Switzerland a few days already and on the Cruise from the start, so we saw King Zebra the day before our gig! Our other concert in Switzerland at the Iconic Rock Bar was also great fun”.
How was the Swiss audience?
“On the Swiss Rock Cruise people seemed more reserved but everybody loved the show. The bar was a smaller place so you feel the impact of the sound, the bodies, of the people responding to the music. You don’t have the same energy playing outside or on a boat than when you’re playing into a venue!”
Where was the best gig on this European Tour?
Although every gig was different, the Belgian gig that the tour ended with in Roselaar was awesome Eric said, and same place as they ended the first tour in 2019. “The sound, the people and the crowd were great. It was really cool to see some of our friends and fans we met at the last tour. And new people who knew our songs. On our first European Tour, the Glam Sleaze Fest in Germany, was one of the most amazing shows in my life! And one thing I noticed, Rock audiences tend to be younger than in the US…”
Did you feel a difference with touring in Europe and US after the long Pandemic break?
Eric explained that when the band started to play again in the US in February, everybody had to sit at tables and wear masks. It was weird but people had a great time and were telling them how amazing the show was. People got used to being a bit less crazy! As Wildstreet tours were going on, it opened more and more and people got less scared. “The crowds are still somewhat smaller than they would have been but everybody is back being more Rock ‘n’ roll. In France at the Cherrydon, people were so into it, singing back the lyrics, France was really cool! “
Tell us the story of your new single “Mrs.Sleazy” which has just been released digitally via Golden Robot Records on October 18th.
Buy Mrs.Sleazy HERE
Wildstreet recorded the 69 EYES ‘Mrs. Sleazy’ cover when Jyrki 69 responded to a fan question in 2011 on Twitter “Which songs and which bands would you want to record covers of your songs ?” So all the guitars were quickly recorded and the song demoed. “We wanted the loud drummer for this and asked Dennis Leeflang from Bumblefoot on the final track. We tried to be as true as possible to the original but the intro is totally Wildstreet, with my whiny guitars. Eric singing on Mrs. Sleazy is awesome.“I don’t really sing like that anymore, maybe I’ll try again!”
It’s not their first cover. The band recorded “All the Young Dudes” from David Bowie on their very first album.” I love that one, it’s really good! Probably my favorite production of the first record.”
Next projects for 2022
After the success of Wildstreet III, the New York City rockers will put out a few singles. The first one is the cover “Mrs.Sleazy”. The hard thing, as Eric explained, is going to be able to find enough time and the ressources to make a couple of good songs as they’re touring so much. But they want it to happen as soon as possible.” Wildstreet III proved that we’re not the same band and I really wanna’ show people all the things that we can do. I got 2 songs in mind. One I wrote together with Jimmy in 2020 and another one I wrote entirely on my own and it sounds really good, like nothing we’ve ever done”.
We’re looking forward to hearing it all! And happy Halloween.
Photo credits: Eric Jayk – Laura S. Photography
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From Belgian and Italian parents, I grew up with music, dance and big fun! I love singing since I'm a little girl, I still am, haha. When I was 14, I saw my first concert: T-Rex. Later it was FrankZappa, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Fela, Canned Heat, Little Feat, Bonnie Raitt, Earth, Wind and Fire ....
I dreamed to have a chat with each of them 😀 Before interviewing bands, I used to sing (and still do) and met lots of great musicians. I had the chance to be the support band to Joe Cocker in 2007. I love to communicate and meet people (Italian blood).
Working for magazine, a few years ago, l met José Oliveira! We were working at the same festival in Colmar. 2 people from the South with the same passion just recognized each other...and we stayed in contact since then. Here I am! Enjoying concerts, covering interviews and articles with José for Rock at Night!!
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