Crimson Moon: Hello. How are you doing?
Kent Hiltz: I am doing well, thanks for asking.
Crimson Moon: Okay for those who don’t know explain what the band is all about?
Jeff McCune: A recreational re-creation recreated for recreation.
Ron Foster: We are a tribute to the band Mötley Crüe capturing the legendary dirt of old-school Mötley Crüe.
Crimson Moon: Stevie, I know you are the “Nikki Sixx”of the band, so what about the other guys, please break down which Mötley Crüe member each of your band mates portrays.
Stevie Peavey: My name is Steve Peavey, and I do play Nikki Sixx in our little outfit, and to keep things simple for the readers, you’ll know me as “The Nikki Guy” for the rest of the interview. My homie Kent Hiltz is on vocals, and we’ll be calling him “The Vince Guy”. Ron Foster built this band, and he’s on the ol’ guit-fiddle. He’s- yep, you guessed it, “The Mick Guy”. Maniac stixman Jeff McCune is on the drums, and he will be referred to for the rest of the interview as, well do I have to say it? That’s right- “Mr. Ten Inches”.
Crimson Moon: Why did you decide to call yourself Hollywood Crue?
The Nikki Guy: The Mick Guy named it before any of us joined, so that was that. He also booked shows and made social media pages before we were even a band! It’s a good name, though. Any Motley tribute needs the word “Motley” or the word “Crue” in it. It only makes sense. You don’t want to be a dickhead and name your band “Primal Scream”. The casuals won’t know what the fuck that is. I wanted to call us “sCRUE IT!”. Our booking agent said no way.
The Mick Guy: Hollywood Crue consists of tribute band all-stars from Hollywood/Los Angeles, hand selected with the goal to be the best Mötley Crüe tribute ever formed.
Crimson Moon: What made you decide to represent that particular member?
The Vince Guy: Being the singer in the band, I didn’t have much of a choice. There’s only one Vince Neil. Haha! All jokes aside, Vince is quite a character so it’s fun to go out in front of a crowd and convey the hard rocking attitude that Vince puts out when he performs live.
The Mick Guy: I love Mick Mars and all the guitar riffs in Mötley Crüe songs. It was a no brainer.
Mr. Ten Inches: Cuz I can honk a boat horn hands free. (My wife didn’t marry me for my money) Besides I like being as naked as possible publicly as legally possible.
The Nikki Guy: I always wanted to be Nikki in a Motley tribute. It was destiny that I do it, and I like to wiggle my ass while I wiggle my A string.
Crimson Moon: What’s your favorite Mötley song to play and why?
The Mick Guy: Live, its Ten Seconds to love. Ripping lead guitar solo into our big audience participation part of our show including Nikki drinking a fifth of Jack Daniels! So fun!
The Vince Guy: My favorite is probably Live Wire. It’s such an energetic song and the crowd gets into that one the most.
The Nikki Guy: I like using my bass-mounted C02 cannon during the intro of “Shout at the Devil”. The Mick Guy built me that bass. It shoots 20 foot jets of freezing-cold fog! He could have probably built me a flamethrower. He’s got the know-how, but it’s a post-Great White world we’re livin’ in. Safety first.
Mr. Ten Inches: “Merry Go Round” Last half is a solid Zep jam and my nipples get hard just thinking about it.
Crimson Moon: When did you first get into Mötley Crüe and why?
The Vince Guy: I got into Mötley Crüe when I was playing in my first cover bands in the mid 90’s. I was a late-comer to heavy metal and all of my band mates were 4 to 6 years older than me. They brought that influence into my first bands.
Crimson Moon: Do any of you play in any other band that plays your own originals?
The Vince Guy: At the moment I don’t but I still like to write. I have some demos on Soundcloud.com/khiltz and an EP on Spotify called ‘Tis Life by my old band, Wrecked and an album on Spotify called Twilight of the Idols by my other old band, Harakiri.
The Nikki Guy: I used to have a band called Deathsquad Demongods that was a lot of fun. If you want, go watch me surf the roof of a truck and spit fireballs off a flaming Flying V at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6mAApcl5AE
Crimson Moon: What made you guys decide to do a Mötley Crüe tribute band?
The Nikki Guy: My buddy Jason was in a band called Motley Too and I jammed with him and it was fun! So I wanted to do it again and jumped at the chance. Motley Too is a fun band name, but some other band knocked off their name. I think they’re called Motley Also.
The Mick Guy: Love for Mötley Crüe. Out of all the bands and music played on the radio on Hair Nation/Sirus XM, Mötley Crüe is the band that always puts me in a good mood and makes me crank the volume! It changes and improves my mood every time I hear a Mötley Crüe song!
Crimson Moon: Have you actual met anyone in Mötley Crüe and if so what do they think of Hollywood Crue?
The Nikki Guy: I met the real Mötley Crüe in an elevator when I was only 11 or so. Shout at the Devil right before Donnington Monsters of Rock! I moved to England, and my parents and I were in the Holiday Inn in London. Vince and Tommy came into the elevator and were yelling all kinds of filthy shit, not caring about the old farts and kid stuck in close quarters. The next day, we saw them in the hotel bar, and me and my mommy went up to them and they signed autographs and were cool as hell! Mick especially, hung with us for a long time! They even left me a press kit in my hotel mailbox. I watched them get in the van to go to Monsters of Rock! Couldn’t have been cooler. I used to host a podcast and told the whole story here if anyone’s interested: https://youtu.be/a15Vz7x3jSg?t=2815
The Vince Guy: I have not but I hope they think we are doing them justice. I have met Bob Rock but we didn’t talk about Motley at the time.
Mr. Ten Inches: I have not. As far as you know.
Crimson Moon: I know you do the Mötley outfits onstage which is your favorite to wear and why?
The Mick Guy: I like the newer look of Mick Mars vs the look back in the day. I love his spooky and mysterious nature and look he has now.
Mr. Ten Inches: My bedazzled crotch pocket.
Crimson Moon: Do you or any of the band members play any other instruments?
The Nikki Guy: Besides playing bass in this, I play guitar in in Screaming for Priest (KK Downing!), and I sing in my Marilyn Manson tribute. The Vince Guy does it all, though. He sings in both this Motley band, and also nails Rob Halford (phrasing!) in the Priest band. He also plays guitar, and he plays bass in our Marilyn Manson tribute. AND- he also plays drums. Not just bullshit drums, death metal drums! I, sadly play no drums. He wins, 4-3. I do play keyboards for Home Sweet Home, though… so maybe 4-4?
The Mick Guy is a lead singer in his other bands, so he and I try to really bring it on the gang shout choruses and whatever else the real Mötley Crüe left for their backing singer hotties to tackle.
Crimson Moon: In your opinion which Mötley Crüe song(s) are the most underrated and why?
The Vince Guy: I think Primal Scream is the most underrated song. The lyrics are so pointed and the song is really heavy for Crue.
The Mick Guy: Take me to the top. It has an incredible guitar solo and again, a very happy song that puts you in a great mood!
Mr. Ten Inches: I must admit I haven’t heard them all so I couldn’t tell you which song would be underrated. I do know TL doesn’t particularly like the first album for its production value or lack there of but it’s my favorite in spite of it.
The Nikki Guy: Knock Em Dead Kid. Sounds like Grinder by Judas Priest!
Crimson Moon: What do think about the early Crüe vs. Older Crüe?
Mr. Ten inches: Young, dumb and fulla cum Vs Seasoned, rich and comfortable. (Nothing beats hunger and vision).
The Mick Guy: I like the looks of newer Crue. Sound of Older Crue.
The Nikki Guy: I will commit heresy by saying I don’t think Too Fast for Love is all that. But Shout at the Devil is one of the best metal records ever! I really didn’t like later era Motley all that much, but since joining this band, I’ve grown my appreciation for the songwriting. We do no songs after Decade of Decadance. If you don’t like it, Mr. Ten Inches will be more than happy to street-fight you after one of our shows.
Crimson Moon: What is your stage presence like?
The Nikki Guy: It’s fuckin’ sick! Never had so many fake boob gals flash me before this band! Maybe I’m doing something right?
Mr. Ten Inches: Nobody can beat the master presence and performance of TL. I don’t care that he isn’t as technically great as Peart or Bonham and I’m honored to be in his shadow. I can’t twirl like he can but I make up for it with eagerness to please and enthusiasm.
The Vince Guy: I like to run and jump around a lot and call the crowd “motherfuckers.” They really like that.
Crimson Moon: How did you come up with your band tribute?
The Mick Guy: Learned all the songs then hunted down all the right tribute band professionals to make this band special.
The Nikki Guy: The Mick Guy was already playing in bands with “Mr Ten Inches”, and I was already playing in bands with The Vince Guy. So it was formed quickly and easily!
Crimson Moon: If you could make a Mötley Crüe movie what would you do different then “The Dirt”?
The Vince Guy: I would explore the details a little more. I feel like they had to gloss over a lot of stuff to condense their whole career into a movie.
The Nikki Guy: “I enjoyed that movie. But the wigs were very distracting! They seemed like they went to lengths to NOT give them big hair. Nikki Sixx without big hair? What the fuck is that. At the end credits, they were all proud of their attention to detail, showing their scenes spliced against the real thing. Well, spend an extra $100 to give them the real hair! WTF. I guess they thought giant hair would make them less relatable. Machine Gun Kelly was perfect, tho.
Mr. Ten Inches: Maybe more live stage footage.
Crimson Moon: Is there anything else you would like to tell us about the band.
The Mick Guy: I love this band. I am very fortunate to play with such a talented group of guys. It’s my favorite tribute band I have ever played in.
Mr. Ten Inches: We may be just another one of countless tribute bands out there and especially to Motley Crüe but we will always strive to give you a full time experience to our part time jobs.
The Vince Guy: We are all multi-instrumentalists and play in a lot of tribute bands in the SoCal area including:
Screaming for Priest – Judas Priest – Vince Guy and Nikki Guy
Mechanical Manson – Marilyn Manson – Vince Guy and Nikki Guy
Gabba Gabba Heys – Ramones – Nikki Guy
Nearvana – Nirvana – Mick Guy
Lose Your Illusion – Guns N Roses – Mick Guy and Mr. Ten Inches
Alice’s Cooper – Mick Guy
Jet Airliner – Steve Miller – Mick Guy and Mr. Ten Inches
So Cal Distortion – Social Distortion – Mick Guy
The Nikki Guy: That’s 8 other current bands besides Hollywood Crue that one or more of us are in. Come see one of em play or some junk! We love to rock and we love to hang out with the crowd. We got tons of October show dates if this interview comes out in time!
Contact them at:
https://www.facebook.com/MotleyCrueTributeBandHollywood
https://www.instagram.com/hollywoodcrue