It's a stretch to call a new band underrated, especially when said band has just one release under their belt and it's just a couple months old. However, if you don't know Bombay Black, then they are underrated, because a band this good should be filling the seats of your arenas and your local clubs, or at least, blasting from the inside of your car. Where Def Leppard went astray, where Dokken broke up, when Skid Row and Warrant just doesn't cut it anymore - that's where Bombay Black picks up. This is heavy, unpretentious, ultra-MELODIC hard rock that will have you guzzling a pitcher of Guinness like you finally got out of rehab.

First introduce yourself and give us some info on the band.

I'm Erik Johnson, singer and guitarist with Bombay Black. We're a four piece hard rock group from Arkansas.

Ty:I'm Ty Simms and I'm the bass player with Bombay Black

How did Bombay Black come together?

It's an exercise in musical inbreeding. We'd all played in the same bands but never all at one time. The impetus to start Bombay Black was a Christmas group called The Screaming Santas. Ty and myself, along with Darrell and Sharpe, had done two albums of Christmas music played in the form of melodic hard rock. We ended up making a little dent for ourselves with it. As I was the songwriter and (de)arranger of the traditional Yuletide tunes for two years, I was getting really sick of all the Christmas stuff. I vowed the next album would all be odes to Satan just to go for the total opposite [laughs]. Instead I started writing a batch of new stuff. As we started to go into the recording mode, Darrell and Sharpe left to follow other avenues and Jim and Rob were cool enough to give it a shot, proving that if you hound someone long enough they'll eventually give in just to shut you up, hahaha!

Now your album has been described by some as a high octane rock ‘n’ roll ride of crunchy guitars and BIG harmonies. Being that you're a band from Arkansas, where bands such as Evanescence hail from, how did your band manage to stay true to that 80s hard rock genre/sound?

It's what we were musically raised on. There was a time when I tried earnestly to write in the modern style, just strum the electric and play a lot of sliding octaves, but it sounded contrived and had as much joy to it as fresh roadkill. I decided to hell with the modernisms. I'm gonna play how I play and write what I write and we'll let the production value make it modern. I've never looked at it as keeping true to a particular style. This is just what I like to hear as a rock fan. In regard to the local scene, most bands around here sound like Nickelback, The Cure crossed with The Yardbirds, or Cannibal Corpse. I rarely go out to clubs I'm not playing at. When I do, it's to see national acts.

It's been a few months since your album 'Mercy' was released. You garnered rave reviews from the get go and even gained a 99% rating on the classic metal show. I've been told that such a rating is a first on the show, even amongst bands such as Sebastian Bach and Vince Neil! That must be a nice nod from the public, wouldn't you say? Care to comment on that?

Honestly, it's been a shock to the system how well it's been received. There are days where I will literally look at old photos from high school and wonder how I went from braces, short hair, and pretty much a social outcast to where I am now. The Classic Metal Show rating really surprised me. Neeley made a remark on the following show about stuffed ballot boxes, which cracked me up. We did advertise that we were being put on the Rocks Hard or Hardly Rocks feature, but we told people to vote their minds. Whether they like it or totally despise it, say so. I'd prefer the truth. Music is a subjective thing and not everyone will like what's out there.

Has the album sales and reviews been up to both band and labels expectations?

I know that for me it's been beyond expectations. I'm a natural born pessimist and my own worst critic. To see it get good reviews is amazing.

How would you describe the Bombay Black sound?

I think it's a mix of retro and modern. The songwriting and the guitar riffing is very eighties-influenced. I couldn't deny that if I tried. The way it's mixed and mastered was done to match the modern methods being used for bands that are getting airplay in the states.

'Mercy' was released on Kivel Records. How did you find come to end up on them, and how's the ride been so far?

It all started with Metal Sludge. I kept hearing about MySpace and finally threw up my own profile and one for the band. Kivel put theirs up not long after and I did a linkup between the profiles. They heard our stuff and came calling. The ride's been great. We did a lot of mail outs to just about every melodic rock label you'd hear of, but Kivel had the cojones to give us a shot.

Now you've opened for some notable names in the genre: Firehouse, LA Guns and Ratt to name a few. Were these shows a learning experience? Is it true that you guys won the favour of Firehouse and LA Guns? Tell us how that must have felt. What exactly happened?

Actually, it was Slaughter, not Ratt. It was a learning experience for me since I had never played outside of a club at that time. Having a lot more room to move from side to side but about two feet from the edge of the stage was a different thing. When we got done, Montana (one of the radio jocks at 93.3 The Razor) came up telling me that Phil (L.A. Guns' singer) was impressed with my singing and would like to meet me if I had the time. I've been singing the guy's songs for years! So absolutely I've got the time. Later in the evening, Firehouse was at the meet and greet tent. The head of the local crew took an ex-girlfriend of mine over to get a CD insert signed and introduced her as my wife (he's since been severely reprimanded). According to those who were there, Firehouse was very complimentary of us. Still surprises me when I think about it actually.

What's it like being a modern band that has big backing vocals ala Def Leppard and can actually play a guitar solo instead of just sort of strumming sullenly during the middle of the song?

We're just a band doing things how we choose to do them. We like harmonies and solos. There's a place for sullen strumming, but we haven't had a place for it so far. I don't pay much attention to a lot of the modern bands. I know in the eighties it got stupid with the sameness in the looks and style department, but now it's even worse. There's this great photoshopped album cover on somethingawful.com where the band is called "Our Lady Nickelfault of a Deadman". The title is "Let's End This Charade... We're The Same Fucking Band". You just gotta laugh!!

What are your feelings on the state of this style of music in today's market?

It's a niche thing because it's not really cool by MTV's standards. If MTV stopped playing Eminem and Snoop and went back to playing rock ‘n’ roll like they used to, bands like us would have a better shot at mainstream longevity. The downside would be people expecting it to be a return to the days of the Sunset Strip and losing interest when it's not.

Thanks to the Internet, it's a global Metal Community. Has your music found its way overseas yet?

As far as I know, yes. The Screaming Santas had a few copies shipped to Europe and Japan and the connection turned them onto us. Now we are focusing with our label on increasing that overseas interest with the 'Mercy' album, which is available at www.kivelrecords.com and all other fine mail order outlets and record stores [laughs]. So far the response has been good. In less then a few months and we sold more then the Screaming Santas CD did in a year and a half . So we seem to be on the right track.

How would you say that the 4 of you gel as a unit? What can one expect from a Bombay Black show?

We've been in and out of the same bands so the gel factor's really high. When we're just jamming around, we'll lock into a tight groove where everyone's right in the pocket. Our shows are our CD played louder and more aggressive. Once in a while if the venue's willing, we'll throw out some pyro!

Is it true that your bass player once lit himself on fire? How did this happen?

Yes, but I'll let Ty tell you about it.

Ty: I usually blow fire on stage and at one show we had a small problem. I always prepare the torch that I use before the show so that all my bass tech has to do is light it and hand it over to me. Well this time I didn't use enough kerosene on the torch and it had dried out by the time I needed to use it. So here I am standing onstage with a mouth full of Kerosene (don't try this at home boys and girls) and my bass tech is trying to light the torch but it just won't light! So I dump kerosene out of the bottle that I use on stage onto the torch and he finally gets it to light.There is too much kerosene on the torch now and it's running down my arm. So when I finally blow fire the extra kerosene on my arm ignites and burns all the hair off of my arm. I think there is a picture somewhere. It was no big deal but it does make for an interesting story.

They say you have a lifetime to make your first album and only a year for the second. Is there any pressure going into producing a solid sophomore product?

I'm sure in the world of major labeldom, the pressure is beyond intense especially if you've at least gone platinum. Since we're on an independent label, I'm honestly not worried about it. I think trying to consciously make something better than before isn't as important as making the new one the best you can. Spending so much time looking over your shoulder won't help you drive to where you want to go, y'know? Each album should be taken as its own thing.

You guys are already writing new music for the follow up to 'Mercy'. How much material have you completed, and is your sound evolving in a different direction? What can we expect?

It's hard to say. We're not making any real effort to go in any direction except that everything has to have that rocking vibe to it. We're pulling out some older material that we feel never got their fair shake and mixing it up with some brand new material. Plus, we still have a lot of songs from the 'Mercy' writing sessions that might make the cut. What the end result will be is a nice little mystery that we'll all have to discover together.

On 'Mercy', many of the tracks were written about relationships. Namely, painful and otherwise the horrible types. Do your new tracks find new subjects? Or, are you guys still running with/from the same kind of evil women?

Somewhat. According to band law, I'm only allowed to date hot women with big boobs that I'll end up in conflict with, lest my lyrical well run dry. There will be some different stuff as well. Possibly even a ode to the joys of love, but I've been having a serious mental block on that topic. Go figure.
Ty: Aren't ALL women evil? (Laughs)

Explain to us the process behind the process of how the band works approaching recording and writing.

I'll let Ty talk about the recording. I've been the primary songwriter thus far, but we've been jamming some things and will probably have some group tunes this time around. When I'm writing alone, however, it varies in the inspiration. My major problem is in getting it down on paper or tape. If I have to spend more than a day on it, the muse leaves and the song withers.

Ty: Everyone approaches the studio differently. Erik and I tend to work fast during tracking and then I spend a lot of time experimenting with production and mixing. We just recently laid the basic tracks for three songs in one day, but it will probably take another three months before those same songs are in final mix.

Is there anything I left out that you'd like to leave with all the Fireworks readers?

Thanks for the attention, visit our website at www.bombayblackmusic.com, and we hope to see you soon! Thank You Derric!

Bombay Black is sort of like reaching in your pocket for your PEZ dispenser and finding a hundred dollar bill. Mercy is chock full of hooks, melodies, tight musicianship, but most of all, it's just a wicked cool listen. These guys don't whine and complain about how hard life is; their music just makes it that much better. So consider it "happy hour" every time you give Bombay Black a listen.

You can visit Bombay on the web by going to:
www.bombayblackmusic.com
www.kivelrecords.com
www.myspace.com/bombayblack