Jetboy: A Year Into Their Glittering Career, I Caught Up With San Francisco's Favorite Glamsters!

Originally published in Rave-Up issue #11, 1986
By Devorah Ostrov

L-R: Ron Tostenson, Fernie Rod, Todd Crew, Mickey Finn & Billy Rowe
Photo: Devorah Ostrov

When Rave-Up first interviewed Jetboy, they were rehearsing in Billy's garage, looking more like ragamuffins than pop stars. Now, a year later, the image and music have been perfected and Jetboy is on the verge of taking off!

Q: So, what have you guys been up to lately?

Fernie: Well, we just got off a major [California] Jetboy/Kix tour! It lasted about two-and-a-half weeks. It was a lot of fun!

Q: Is that the first time you've been "on the road"?

Mickey and Billy pose in the Mabuhay alleyway

Photos: Devorah Ostrov

Fernie: Yeah. You've got to start somewhere. I never had so much fun in my life. Living on the road, traveling... It wasn't a lot, but we got a taste of it. Now we're starving for it.

Q: What cities did you play?

Fernie: The first night we played with Johnny Thunders in Long Beach. From there, we went to Glendora and Anaheim, or some ridiculous place. Then we played in Turlock — to a whopping crowd of three!

Jetboy in JAPANtown!
Cover photo from Rave-Up issue #11
Photo: Devorah Ostrov

Billy: Seriously.

Fernie: And Kix stole the show! They had a crowd of five.

Billy: 'Cause we were up front!

Q: How did your relationship with Kix get started?

Fernie: Kix decided to come out here and do some opening slot shows. Bridgett [Wright] mentioned she was our manager; the band heard a tape of ours and liked it. It's gone really well. We've kept in touch. Kix said when they come out again, they'd like us to open their shows.

Q: The first time we interviewed you, you weren't sure how the band would go over in the Bay Area. Since then, it seems to be going great!

Fernie: It's going really well, but I think we may have overplayed the Bay Area a little bit. We're doing much better in Los Angeles than here in San Francisco. Our music and look are different down there; we're new. But we don't want to overplay down there either. One thing we did accomplish was to get the major labels interested. A lot of them went to the Los Angeles shows. The people from Capitol Records came to see us at the Thunders' show and loved it. Electra Records and MCA Records have seen us.

Mickey Finn
Photo: Devorah Ostrov

Q: Have any of them said anything negative?

Fernie: No, except for Island Records. One of the A&R guys said he didn't like me! Now we're just waiting to see what happens. We're at a crucial point with the band. We're trying to get signed now before... The way things are with the music business and trends... We want to get on top of it and get a head start because I think more and more bands will be doing this kind of stuff.

Q: Have you already noticed bands trying to copy your style?

Billy: Sure, bands try to. They're not copying us, but they're into the same kind of thing.

Fernie: It's pretty crucial right now. We have to give our all right now and do our best. We're going to be working really intensively on our show; we're going to get more organized. The record companies want to see a band that's developed in all areas. They want to see a band that has their sets, stage show and movements together — a complete package.

Billy Rowe & Fernie Rod in Japantown

Photo: Devorah Ostrov

Q: Over the last year, the band has become much more professional in a lot of ways. You must be aware of the changes from the first shows.

Fernie: We were much more raw.

Billy: We like our new songs a lot more! They're more, I don't know... I think we've created our own style.

Fernie: It's been a natural development. When we started, I'd say we were more "punk." Our songs were a little faster, like "Car Sex." Now, we're thinking along the lines of... The music is just coming out more. It's hard to put into words.

Q: Vince Ely [ex-Psychedelic Furs] produced your demo tape, right?

Fernie: Yeah, great guy!

Q: How did that come about?

Fernie: I don't know the complete story. He was invited to one of our shows [the Country Club in Los Angeles] because at the time we were looking for a producer. He liked the show; he liked everything. We were scared of going into the studio with him. With his background, we thought he might try to make us sound different, but...

Billy: We sounded better!

Early Jetboy publicity photo by Teri McDonald
Back row L-R: Billy Rowe, Mickey Finn, Ron Tostenson
Front row: Todd Crew, Fernie Rod

Q: So, you're really happy with the way it turned out?

Fernie: Well, yes and no. The sound quality could have been better, but that wasn't anyone's fault. We just didn't have enough time to work on it.

Todd Crew in Japantown
Photo: Devorah Ostrov

Billy: We learned a lot in the studio. We were in there seven or eight hours a day, sleeping on the couch in the kitchen. Vince would wake me up at 6:00 in the morning to do guitar parts. It was great! I loved it!

Q: What songs are on the demo tape?

Fernie: "The More You Cut Me, the More I Bleed," "Fire in My Heart," "Bad Disease," and "Little Teaser."

Q: That's a good mixture. There's a couple of old songs and some new stuff. Your early songs were mostly about girls and sex. Now, it seems you're writing about deeper thoughts.

Billy: It's been a natural progression.

Fernie: We still have a long way to go. We're still a bunch of young punks. We still watch cartoons, eat pizza, and stay up all night!

Q: So do we!

Billy: We drink coffee. Coffee is cool!

Fernie: It's Chips Ahoy or nothing!

Billy Rowe
Photo: Devorah Ostrov

Q: When the band first formed and you thought about your look, did you picture this image?

Fernie: Yeah, we had an idea of what we wanted. It's developed into this. I think we were more feminine looking when we started out, fishnets... We figured this look and style was eventually going to happen. When we started out, the metal thing was still pretty big, but we knew something else would take over. People's interest was going to shift a little bit and look for something different. We thought it might be us, and other bands like us. To a certain degree, that's how it's happened.

Q: And you guys are all big rock 'n' roll fans as well as musicians...

Billy: That's true! Everyone in the band is a total fan! AC/DC, Aerosmith, Hanoi Rocks, the Dolls...

Fernie: You know what's funny? I haven't really heard anybody say that we're like any of those bands. There's never been anything like, "You guys are copying Hanoi Rocks," or anything.

Q: No, but your style and songs aren't really like anyone else's.

Mickey Finn in Japantown
Photo: Devorah Ostrov

Fernie: And we're very conscious of that when we write songs. We believe in catchy, fun choruses. We're very song oriented. People look at us and all they think is, "They probably spend more time blow-drying and spraying their hair." That's not true, but if they want to think that, it's fine with me.

Q: The people who think that probably have no idea how hard you've worked and how seriously you take your music.

Billy: We're not like those bands you see whose parents buy them all their equipment and clothes. When we started out, we had nothing. We just had our guitars. We scraped the money together to buy equipment.

Fernie: It's definitely not been a breeze. The payoff though, without a doubt, is when we play live. That's where we get the most satisfaction. That's what we live for! Playing and working on music. We have to work at it though. Nothing comes unless you work hard at it, nothing at all.

Billy: You've just got to keep pushing.

★ ★ ★

Fernie Rod in Japantown
Photo: Devorah Ostrov

Find out more on Jetboy's website: www.jetboyrocks.com

Like them on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/jetboyrocks

Watch them on YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/jetboy

Follow these links to read my other interviews with Jetboy:
devorahostrov.blogspot.co.uk/jetboy/sami yaffa joins the group
devorahostrov.blogspot.com/jetboy/a press conference is held