Punk rock super group Implants will be on our soil in May as part of the Hits & Pits Fest. The group formed in 2011 and features members of SoCal punk mainstays Strung Out, Pulley, Ten Foot Pole and The Tank. The band’s debut album was released on Cyber Tracks in 2013. You can listen to tracks from it [Here]. This week in The Hotseat we catch up with singer Ken Conte. Expand this post for his answers. Re-cap all the Hits & Pits Fest details [Here]. Grab tickets while you still can.
THE BASICS
Name : Ken Conte
Band : Implants
Job In Band : Lead Singer
Website Address : www.facebook.com/implantsband
HOME
Hometown: Temple City a Suburb of Los Angeles
Hometown is best known for: Movie Capitol of the World / Music / Sports teams (Lakers / Dodgers)
Best venue in your hometown: Roxy / Troubadour in Los Angeles
Favorite show you’ve seen in your hometown: Too many to name
Favorite show you’ve played in your hometown: Vandals Christmas show at House of Blues Hollywood
THE BAND
How did the band first come to exist? An avenue to work on songs outside our other bands (Strung Out, Pulley, Ten Foot Pole and The Tank)
How long has the band been going? A few years now
Any particular story behind the name? It has nothing to do with Boobs, we are all implanted from other bands.
What’s your most recent release? Tell us a little about it… “From Chaos to Order” our debut record and we are really proud of it and how people have responded to it.
Got a personal stand out achievement of your band to date? The NOFX tour was pretty nice, but we have been very fortunate and have played some really cool festivals and shows with great bands. Groezrock
OFF THE STAGE
What was your first introduction to music that made you think seriously about playing it? My mother always had me playing some kind of instrument and I have pictures of me as a 3 year old holding a mic and recorder singing, so I guess it goes back as far as when I was 3 years old if not sooner.
Any particular band / album or song that you personally credit as a major influence? Too many to name and from all types of styles from 70’s Rock like Queen or Zeppelin to Bad Religion, ALL or DEVO. There is not one band I could say that made me want to do it, because they all made me want to do it.
Your first band name, and what style did you play? Destroyer and we played Heavy Metal
Most prized music related item you own? My Mother’s 45’s from when she was a kid
When you’re not doing band related stuff, what are you usually found doing? Playing with my kids doing the dad thing or my day job.
The thing you most look forward to just before a tour is… Leaving and playing for our fans
The thing you least look forward to before a tour is… not seeing my family
ON THE STAGE
When on offer, what’s your one must have item on the rider? BEER
Favourite place you’ve toured… and why? Too many to name
Most memorable show you’ve played? and why? The Implants 1st show on Cinco De Mayo a couple years ago because we had never played live with each other, no one knew our music or what to expect and we weren’t sure how we would be received.
Got a favourite song to play live? Life Passes
Any embarrassing on stage moments come to mind? I forgot to sing an entire verse of a song, but for our bass player Chris Del Rio during our first show he slipped on a puddle of water on stage and slid across and off of it.
Any pre-show rituals? Not really, just try and chill out, then get pumped up right before we hit the stage
What do you find is the hardest aspect of touring in a band today? The financial side of touring is the hardest. It is really hard to take care of a family, bills and everything else to survive on a day to day basis. That’s why right now we have to have other jobs and cannot dedicate 100% of our time to our music. In a perfect world we would do nothing but tour and write music, that is what we are working towards, hopefully we will get there soon.
RIGHT NOW
Last song you listened to? Bad Religion’Fuck You’
Last album you acquired? Joe Jackson ‘I’m the Man’
Which band or album is currently on high rotation? Bronx
Tell us an up and coming band or artist you think we should go and listen to right now? Biffy Clyro they are not a new bad, but they are pretty unknown here in the U.S. .
What’s on the cards for the next few months for the band? We have just started to write our next record, we have a couple tours scheduled both here and in Europe and the US.
IF ONLY…
You can pick any one album for your band to cover in full, what would it be and why? Big Drill Car “Type Thing” because I love Big Drill Car, I was influenced by their music, it would be fun and I have become friends with them all over the years.
You can pick any one band / artist to cover one of your albums in full, what would it be, and why? DEVO, I think it would be cool to see their take on our music I think it would be fun to hear..
One band you wish you were able to see live but never had the chance? Dag Nasty
One venue you have yet to play that you would love to? First Avenue in Minneapolis
The chance comes up to fill in for a member of a band for one tour, which band would it be, and why? Cheap Trick, because I listened to them a lot over the years and I think I could do ok with it with a little practice.
A headline tour overseas comes up, tell us two bands you’d take along to support your band. Useless ID and Masked Intruder
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