melodylane

MELODY LANE:  Can you tell us where the name TANGO PIRATES comes from?
DANNY FURY:  I must have googled over a houndred names when i started TANGO PIRATES and everything i liked was already taken, so Dave (Tregunna....a longstanding friend and a Band Member at the time) gave me a book to read about the origins of Rock'N'Roll and there was an article from the New York Times Paper, that was released in the 1920's, in which they warned the general public about the so called Tango Pirates. Meaning the first (black) musicians coming from the south to play the clubs in New York at the time, bringing the devils music, sex and drugs to the youth of the day. 
That kinda sounded cool to me and i made it our band name. I always liked band names that had a meaning or a story to go with it and this one seemed perfect.
I could not believe that no one actually used it before. it's part of Rock history but no one stumbled upon it ....except for me now, of course!

MELODY LANE:  The line up of your band had several changes in the last years. Can you tell us the new official TANGO PIRATES line-up? Will you use the same members for recording and touring? Where are your band mates  from (city/bands)?
DANNY FURY:   Yes, that is unfortunately true. these days it is harder to keep a band together. especially if there are not millions of $ involved. My ex members left for various reasons, but the first line up band mates all started to play in (too) many other bands and it became too hard to find time they all could work.
I’m a one band kind of guy really. i always liked the magic of a tight gang and i will now only play with musicians who are dedicated to this band alone.
But i have a level of quality to maintain and so it became difficult to find good musicians. (most people with the kind of experience i need, want money right away or are in too many other bands) since Jack (my last guitarist) left, i was auditioning many musicians, but so far only found a great drummer. He is called Flipi Stipp and is from Brazil.
I'm working with a guitar player as well at the moment but have not made him a permanent member just yet. so i'm still looking for the right bassplayer and guitarist.
On our second EP i had several guitarists guesting, but they never toured with us. for the future though, i hope to have the same musicians on tour, that will play on our next record.
Anything is possible though. i have to go with what presents itself to a certain extend, or else have to sit around twiddling my thumbs.
So yes.....i want a real band, but will persue anything that will help me to get our music out there. any way i can do it, long as the level and quality of our work is maintained.
I have new songs for two more great albums at the moment and write new songs all the time. as soon as i have a full line up again, there will be more from us to come

MELODY LANE:   The first line-up of the TANGO PIRATES included two London-based legendary musicians: DAVE TREGUNNA and TIMO KALTIO. Why they are not in the band anymore? Different musical ideas or personal problems? Are you still in contact with them?
DANNY FURY: Timo and Dave are still good friends and i see them every so often. Dave actually helped with our last EP and played the bass on those songs. (as well as co writing some of the tracks) I've known him from before the Lords (of the New Church) days and he's like a brother after all those years. I still talk to Timo too, on ocasion. we're still friends. When i came back to London in 2010 to start this band, neither Timo nor Dave played in any other band, but after a year of us touring together, they started to get a lot of offers from other bands and before i knew what's happening, they both joined too many other bands and it became difficult to work, cuz someone always had another gig somewhere else. eventually (after waiting on them for month) i called it off, but found it hard to find replacements. Jack who was the second line up guitarist (and recorded the 3rd EP with me and Dave) was perfect, but had family problems that would not allow him to continue. So here i go.....looking for musicians again   ;)  (not my favorite thing to do....lol)

MELODY LANE: Tell us something about the creative process of your music. Is there a main composer or we can talk about a team work?
DANNY FURY:  Well yeah,   i write most of the songs, but don't mind to colaborate if i get stuck with a bridge or a chorus etc. A few songs we have even got started by other members (like Monster in my DNA or Lament to the Moon)  there are a couple of new and unreleased songs that originally came from Jack and i just added the words and vocal melody lines.  Generally.....this band is my baby and an outlet for my songwriting. But if a member comes along with a great idea, i don't have a big ego that keeps me from using his/her input as well. of course it has to fit the general vision and direction of the band.

MELODY LANE:  List 2 songs, from the TANGO PIRATES discography, that can define the sound of the band … 2 songs that can help our readers to know TANGO PIRATES at the best…
DANNY FURY:  That will be tricky.  we have such a wide range of song types, that 2 songs only would not really represent all that we do. But if you have never heard our music, i would suggest to get started with MONSTER IN MY DNA (from our first EP) and maybe Dark Star (from our 3rd EP) you could say that those two songs stand on either side of the range of our influences.

MELODY LANE:  Your new 5-track EP "Danger! Children at Play" will be out on the italian label BBHELLS RECORDS. How did you get in touch with them? Do you plan  to release also your next full-length with them?When can we expect a TANGO PIRATES full album?
DANNY FURY:  We officially released our 3rd EP on BB Hells Records about a year ago. i met them through Face Book and gave them a go the contract will run out next month though and so far neither of us made an attempt to prolong it. This new line up i'm putting together now, is supposed to be the best so far and if it will be as good as i'm hoping for,  we might get better offers elsewhereor else release our recordings by ourselves again to sign with a record company (these days) only makes sense if they can actually get you some place and this label did not do much for us, other than to release the EP.and this, we can do ourselves just as well. I would like to record a full album next, but it is a question of money. recording a band is very expensive and so far we could not afford a full length album. I have enough songs written already, that passed my quality test, for maybe two great albums.  songs i'd proudly record for a release, but people just don't want to buy CD's anymore and without financial support, less is possible.

MELODY LANE:  TANGO PIRATES have released 3 Ep. What's the main difference between them? And after time, are you totally satisfied with your choices about sound and the writing of all your Ep?
DANNY FURY:  Well, the main difference is the people playing. and of course, there is a progression. on the first EP i'm still searching in an experimental sort of way for the direction of this band. though i think with that first EP, i already found  and defined our direction of music. The second EP was actually recorded before the second line up was found and has a different guitarist on every track. it progressed though in sound from the first EP. i think the second one was better produced and the 3rd EP came close to how i originally imagined the band to sound like. so there is an upward progression in production and sound throughout those 3 EP's. The songwriting quality is on one level though through all of our releases. (i'd like to think) but i did improve my abilities to arrange the songs.   now, after years of hearing our songs i must say, i love all 3 EP's really ! they contain the music i like to hear, but no one else is playing. i can proudly say,  i still like every single song we ever released and i will never put out a song i'm not standing behind.

MELODY LANE:  I know that for a legend like you, with such a huge career,  can be a bit hard to answer but...What has been your biggest achievement to date and what do you want to achieve in the near future?
DANNY FURY: My musical career has indeed been a long journey. my skills and my lucky stars brought me many great adventures with now legendary bands. As a drummer i was proudest of the album (move on it) i recorded while i was a member of VAIN. but my greatest achievement as a young musician came when i was made a member of THE LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH ! they were my favorite band at the time and how many musicians can honestly say that they played in their favorite band ? but since becoming a songwriter myself, it is my own band TANGO PIRATES and all the great songs we so far released, that makes me most proud !

MELODY LANE: Will you tour in Europe in the next future? Any chance to see TANGO PIRATES here in Italy?
DANNY FURY:  Yes, definitely !  as soon as i have a full line up again, i'm planing on touring all over europe (and elsewhere) touring is not cheap either though and so it is not only down to whether i'd like to do it or not. it's all about finding promoters, who will bring us over. i love italy (and it's people/food and culture) and would love to tour there. (i already toured italy a few times with the Lords and loved it) if enough italien fans want us over, i'm sure there will be a way to make it happen.  fingers crossed.

MELODY LANE:  On an old interview you defined STIV BATORS "probably the most influential person in my life". Can you tell us a couple of anecdotes or the weirdest stories you lived while you were playing in Stiv's bands?
DANNY FURY: oh....there are so many Stiv stories. but where to begin ?  ;) he was easily one of the craziest guys i've ever met. on my first tour with the Lords, we're driving down the freeway to a gig and while we're all sitting and chatting, Stiv claimed out of the back window, (at full highway speed) crawled over the car roof and let himself hang over the windscreen, scaring the poor driver (and the rest of us) half to death while laughing his head off   :) on another gig we were late and on arrival, the audience already saw the supportband and was waiting on us.we set up as fast as our roadies could (in front of the waiting audience) and once ready, noticed that Stiv was missing. We looked everywhere and eventually sent out crew members to go and find him. after some time, they did find him......he was taking his sweet time, shopping for clothes down the road.   :) there's even weirder or stranger anectodes and some stuff i can not even legally mention here....lol he loved to play pranks on people and he was extremely intelligent and witty. i could tell you Stiv stories for days on end. might write a Stiv story book some day. I always roomed with him in the hotels we stayed at and he tought me all about running a band, as if he knew that one day i will have my own band and because of that, i dedicated DARK STAR (from our 3rd EP) to Stiv    R.I.P.    (The song will tell you a bit more about him too)

MELODY LANE: You were the drummer for the legendary cult band KILL CITY DRAGONS. A band surrounded by a mysterious halo that, unfortunately, broke up too soon. I got some questions that, living in the doubt for years, hope can clarify me the story about that band...
DANNY FURY: KILL CITY DRAGONS ?   you did your home work  ;)  a band i helped to start, after the Lords split. i was 4 years with that band but yes, agreed....it should have been longer. in the end we had amazing songs that unfortunately never got released sure....ask away   :)

MELODY LANE:  first of all, is it true that you met Billy g. Bang casually in a bar in the States? How Did you recruited him?
DANNY FURY:  well, we heard about Billy working there. we did not just stumble over him. but yes, true.  we first met him working behind a bar in New York. We asked him to join and he packed up his things and flew over to London, like right away.

MELODY LANE:  for what I read Kill City Dragons were a wild and dangerous band...All the members had a too "decadent" life style...can you confirm it? In your opinion,were the excesses of the members that prevented the band from becoming greater and more popular?
DANNY FURY:  aww....that ain't no lie   ;)  we sure were a wild bunch...he he I could not say that it was the excesses that held us back from bigger success. we were very dedicated and worked hard, though it is true, there was a lot of partying going on as well.  on a level hard to keep up with too. but ultimately it was other things that got in the way. like grunge happenning was a big reason why we eventually split. In those days, it was always one style that would be promoted. always the latest wave was being signed and the A&R guys at the time, were worried to sign anything that was not grunge. another reason was Andy Mc Coy coming to town and stealing Billy from us, promising him the world. (which of course he never delivered)

Steve von Saint and i, spent a year searching for a new singer all over the world. we finally found a guy who could replace Billy and after 2 more years of touring, were offered a record deal by Music for Nations. on the day of the signing though, we all met up in a pub before going in to sign the deal and Johnny (the new singer) came in and told us he's quitting cuz he wants to do his own thing. that kind of put the nail in the coffin and shortly after, i got the offer from Vain to join them and replace Steven Adler.
after 4 years of hard work with not much to show for, i decided that i needed a backdrop change and California sounded just great to me at the time.
and so the Dragons were history.

MELODY LANE:  The relation between KILL CITY DRAGONS and the SHOOTING GALLERY: why BILLY and TREGUNNA decided to left you and join ANDY MCCOY? In an old interview I read on the web, you told that you didn't like "HOW" Andy stole Billy G. Bang from your band. Today, can you tell us "how"? How they approached your band mates?From bio and interviews it's quite clear that both Andy and Billy had "common problems" in that period...
DANNY FURY:  Well, i'm not mad with anyone anymore. after all, it is all such a long time ago now. but i didn't like the way Andy dealt with things, cuz it all happened behind our backs.he approached us before a show and asked if he could play the encore with us, which we happily agreed to. Then obviously, he used that to talk Dave and Billy into joining his band. i guess these things happen in Rock, but since it left us with half a band, Steve and i were not exactly extatic about it. it meant another few years of work down the drain. as far as Andy and Billy's common problem goes,.......it only became Billy's problem too, after Andy turned him on to it and it cost Billy dearly. Luckily, Billy is still around to tell the tale. (and we are still friends too) But with these things, one can not lay blame really, as we are all grown men and responsible for our own actions.

MELODY LANE: Another cult band you were part of: VAIN. You played on the album "Move On It"(1992).
DANNY FURY: yes i did. and proudly so !

MELODY LANE: How did you get the job as their drummer?
DANNY FURY: Davy Vain must have heard about the Dragons splitting up and gave me a call. i agreed to audition for them and flew over to San Francisco, sat behind a drum kit and played a few of their songs. they then left the room for about 5 minutes, came back and asked me if i wanna join the band.  and since i was already there and liked the weather, i said yes.....as easy as that....lol

MELODY LANE: Is It true that you replaced the ex-GNR Steven Adler (out of Vain due to drugs problems) but that then you and Steven became friends and even jammed together at SLASH's wedding? (Truth or just a legend?)
DANNY FURY: yes that is true. by joining Vain, i did replace Steven Adler (who did indeed have severe problems at the time) and he was a real gentleman about it too.

Any other guy would have been pissed off about me taking his job, but Steven does not have a bad bone in his body.
He let me stay in his Bungalow, rentfree for a whole year and everytime we played in LA, he came down to the show and we did indeed become friends.
after one of those shows he invited me into his house up in the hills and we hung out for 3 days. then when we finally plunged into our beds, after 3 days of being up,
this mayor earth quake hit LA and woke us up again. what followed was like a bad movie...LA in the dark, the ground shaking violently every so often and people looting stores, cars crashing into each other and people running in every direction. i finally made it out of town after 2 more days of a whole lotta shaking going on    :)
it is not true that i jammed with Steven on Slash's wedding, cuz Stephen was not there. Slash did invite us though to play at his wedding and i did however jam with Slash that night and got to know him a bit as well.  (lovely guy too)

MELODY LANE:  In 1991/1992 you lived in L.A. playing with Vain, and also your ex band mates Billy and Dave moved in the city being members of the SHOOTING GALLERY. Did you get in touch with them in L.A. and were you still friends over there after KCD split? On MCCOY biography, we could read that the leader of SHOOTING GALLERY and the ex-GNR drummer were neighbour...
DANNY FURY:  we did not live in LA though. all Vain members lived in and around San Francisco, but i did meet Billy once in LA. actually....i met him again at Stephen's house and we had a good time hanging out. think we even talked about a Dragons reunion

MELODY LANE:  Did you left VAIN or were you fired after that MOVE ON IT didn't achieve the same success as the first slbum No Respect?
DANNY FURY:  no, i was not fired from Vain....i was never fired from any band i have ever been with. oh no....that's not quite true. think i was fired some years ago from SHAM 69. well, it was a mutual decision really, but in essence i was fired for not fitting in look wise and for other private reasons. When i left Vain, Davy actually asked me to stay, when i told him that i wanna quitt. and the reason why i wanted to leave again after 4 years in the band, was cuz Vain basically stoped working and i was sitting around with nothing to do. Like i said before....around that time, grunge made it big and all else was out and so it also pushed Vain out of the game....for a time anyway.
I am a very creative person and can't sit still for too long and after many month of no shows and nothing going on, some of the other members left and in the end it was only Davy and me. that's when i decided to leave the band. i think Davy was very hurt over it and i hated to see him that way, but it could not be helped.
I think money ran out too at the time and so i had no other choice, but to move on.

MELODY LANE: In the end…A message from you to all MELODY LANE readers.
DANNY FURY:  my message to your readers is :   be tolerant with your fellow human beings. don't be down on people over petty things.  (love is the strongest force in the world and music is the strongest art to carry the message of love.) don't chase too much after money and material things cuz only inner peace will truly bring you happiness and that, you achieve by loving and sharing, by being true and honest in all you do, in all you are. to yourself and the people around you. believe in yourself and try to make this world a better place. any way you can ! keep safe and rocking y'all.

TRUTH IS THE SWORD OF US ALL

Danny Fury    Tango Pirates