Interview by Kris Peters
Glam Fest 2023 is less than seven sleeps away.
The festival, making its Australian debut, features some of the best and most influential glam/rock/hard rock bands of the last three decades and is spearheaded by Faster Pussycat, Wednesday 13, Enuff Z Nuff, Eclipse, Pretty Boy Floyd and Tuff.
Originating in 1985, Tuff are one of the original Sunset Strip bands out of L.A, playing in and around the same time as legends of the Strip including Motley Crue and Guns N Roses.
Despite not reaching quite the same heights as those two bands the importance of Tuff on the metal scene cannot be understated, with frontman Stevie Rachelle joining HEAVY recently to chat about the band and their appearance at Glam Fest 2023.
"It will be my second time coming to Australia," he offered. "I previously played Melbourne and Sydney but are thrilled to add Brisbane and Adelaide to the itinerary. Soon we will be landing in Brisbane and then it's off to the races for all of us."
Talk turns to the diversity of the lineup, with Rachelle admitting to having toured and played with most of the bands in the past.
"I've known Steve from Pretty Boy Floyd and his band since day one," he smiled, "since before their first gig we were all hanging out on the Sunset Strip. Same applies for Taime and Faster Pussycat. I moved to L.A in June of 1987 and joined Tuff a couple of weeks later. Faster Pussycat was already a band and had been signed, but I don't think their record had come out yet and then Enuff Z Nuff came out in 1989 and when they were on tour and played Southern California Tuff did open up for them a couple of times during their debut tour. I have known Chip since the beginning, or at least until their record came out."
In the full interview, Stevie talks more about the run of shows, what to expect from Tuff, the tour schedule which sees each band play four shows in four days, the original Sunset Strip and some of his memories of it, the early days of Tuff, his joining of the band after two years and what he brought to the existing sound, the changing world of music and more.