Essexville's Scotty Hagen Fuels Motor City Rock:

THE GRANDE NATIONALS

 

By Scott Baker

Image taken from www.grandenationals.com

 

Essexville's Scott Hagen used to be quite the hard rocking, redheaded guitar player in town.

Now that he's all grown up, in typical Scotty fashion, things haven't changed too much.
After moving down to the metro-Detroit area in the late '90s, Hagen finally landed at Utica's premier independent music store, Rock-A-Billy's.

After hanging up the guitar for a few years to get his life and work in order, Hagen had been hoping to plug back in to the music scene, except he didn't really know anyone in his new area.
That was soon to change when by coincidence he had befriended a bartender at the Woodward Ave. Brewery named Stevie Michael. Soon enough the writing was on the wall. Within’ months of working at Rock-A-Billy's and hanging out with Michael, Hagen made a switch from guitar to bass. One thing led to another and Detroit's most recent premier rock and roll band on the verge of breakthrough, the Grande Nationals, was formed.

"The band has been playing together as a unit since around the beginning of February of last year, a little over a year ago," said Hagen during a phone interview last week.  "We had an EP come out around the end of October. It's a self-titled, six track EP that featured all originals and then there's a bonus seventh track, which features a Ramones cover. All the songs on the EP were written by the band as a whole."

With the rise of the Detroit music scene back on the nations map, the Grande Nationals found themselves with a built in audience and a mix bag of rock, ranging from the MC5 to Alice Cooper, bringing home the real garage sound the motor city is known for.

"In Detroit, the last couple of years have been really big for the city (music wise)," said Hagen. "It's even to the point where it seems like there might be too many new bands. I would say (the White Stripes) have pretty much to do (with it). They were pretty much the instrumental band in ushering in the whole garage scene and the whole thing going on."

The seeds of the Grande Nationals were planted somewhere between late October and early November of 2002.

"I was approached by Stevie Michael who was the bass player for a Detroit punk rock band called 12 Angry Steps," stated Hagen. "He was working on some solo material of his own and he was looking to put together a band for it. I was going to play rhythm guitar and then I switched over to bass."

"Then in the meantime, we were looking  for someone to play lead guitar and a drummer. And (Stevie) was a friend with Tony Del Bel who was with (the band) Jackie Stroker and the Grammercy Riffs, a couple of popular Detroit punk rock bands. Sarah Fisher, who's our drummer, was inactive at playing drums for a while. She hadn't played in about five years. Her and Tony worked together and they would hang out at the Woodward Ave. Brewery where Stevie is a bartender and they were talking about putting together something. So we just decided to combine the two projects."

With each member sharing the same love for the legend of Detroit rock and similar styles of music, there was no question what the original band needed to strive for.

"Everybody in the band all seem to have kind of a universal love for the same types of rock," said Hagen. "There's so many different types of rock and roll that it seems like everybody in the band likes something from every genera and we always seem to be able to agree on a lot of things as well."

Having a good cross section of local friends to bounce ideas off of, the Grande Nationals soon found gigs and recorded an the self-titled EP, according to Hagen.

"The first few shows we did were really raw and played mainly songs that were written for Stevie's solo project, but since then we've moved totally away from that and have written all of our own material."

"For the most part, all the gigs we've played have been around Detroit. We have played in Flint and in East Lansing before and we have a show coming up in Ypsilanti. It's pretty much been around Michigan. We're kind of waiting to get closer to having the full-length out to really get on the road, which we will do for sure. In fact we totally intend on hitting all of the markets where the CD is selling or has sold."

The EP is a great sounding document of the origins of the Grande Nationals. Only 1000 copies were printed with only a few remaining.
"We were happy with it," Hagen quipped. "Some of it seemed like we spent a lot of time on, but the drums were recorded quite a while (before). Since then the band has tightened up so much and has gotten so much better."

"I'm really looking forward to people hearing a full CD, because we get really good response from all the live shows that we play and as good as the EP sounds, I'm looking forward to all 1,000 copies going and being out of print so we can just concentrate on the full-length. (The EP) Is doing really good. We've sold in the Detroit area alone around 5-600 copies. Then a couple hundred in the rest of the US and it's a limited edition thing. Once they're gone, they're gone."

Through Hagen's contacts at Rock-A-Billy's, distribution was available for the EP immediately.
"We got distribution through Cargo Distribution USA and they're probably one of the biggest independent label distributors in America and the world for the most part," said Hagen. "We got in with them because I have a friend that works out there. It started selling in Phoenix, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee (and) started turning up on Sound Scan. That's also due to the fact that we had it placed in listening stations in 30 independent record stores. It's cool."

"People are hearing it and they're liking it, they're buying it and things have been looking pretty good. The EP was just a little something that we wanted to put out just to fill the gap of time until we get our full-length out, which we plan to have out by June. We're finishing up pre-production demos. Then we're tentatively scheduled to record at Rust Belt Studios in Royal Oak to do the full-length. That'll be about 12 songs and about four of the songs off the EP will be on there, but they will be re-recorded. The versions will be slightly different. Better production, more energy and I think as a whole, we feel it will sound better, especially with a producer and an engineer."
 Part of the reason for the swift sales outside of the listening stations is the bargain price. The CD has shown staying power at the top of the 20 list for the past few months.

"One thing I kind of have always been adamant about and I think a lot of CD consumers would feel the same way, is that if you want to check out a new band, it's good to keep it nice and cheap," said the bassist. "I always try to keep the EP around $5, that way you feel like you're getting enough music and at the same time, it's not so much to shell out. I mean you shell more out for a Super Sized Meal from McDonald's or something, you know. Only this will last longer and you won't get as fat from listening to it."

For Hagen, his roots as a musician from Essexville helped pave the way for his success in the Grande Nationals.

"For a while there, it must have been about almost 10 years ago now, even longer than that, I watched all the local bands in the Bay City area come around and do their thing and all the cover bands," laughed Hagen. "So I thought I would do my own cover band, but my cover band was going to be a little more visual. I had (the band) Dr. Sinister's Perverted Spaghetti House that played the Battle of the Bands at the Boys Club and thank God put an end to those wretched displays for a while with all those bad bands that played at the time. We went and put on our show and the Boys Club wasn't happy with it and shut it down.

"From there I always did some of my own home tapes and home recordings and would distribute them to friends and anyone that would request a copy. Then I started up The Monroes. There was (home recordings like) The Red Bastard Vs. The Incredibly Limp Lasagna Bomb. Ground Chuck’ was the second record. Then there was Hot Beef Injection’ that was the final Spaghetti House album." All were released on cassette via his own Puke Pie Records imprint.

Before his move to Ferndale, Hagen put away his guitar after losing interest in the Tri-Cities original music scene.

"The last show I played at the James Town Hall," said Hagen. "I kind of had been fed up with watching kids play chase while I was playing and rocking out or doing whatever I was doing and I just kind of felt delusional about the whole thing and wasn't into it. I went into hiatus."
"About the same time I moved down to the Metro Detroit area and wanted to get something started but never had the people to play with. After a number of crap jobs, I finally ended up at Rock-A-Billy's. It was more of an outlet for me to meet all the people that I've wanted to do anything with. Pretty much since then I got the whole thing started with the Grande Nationals and I have other ideas for writing and stuff like that too."

With the Grande Nationals, Hagen felt born-again as a complete musician.
"It's got me back into playing music again which I was really sad not to be doing. I felt like I wasted too much time not doing it. It just takes the right people to play with. This band, everyone gets along really well. It's a good group of friends to be playing with."

          

The cross-section of music fans has become a selling point for the new group.
"We pretty much classify ourselves as a rock and roll band," said Hagen. "I mean people listen to us and we seem to have gathered a pretty eclectic audience where we get people that are into punk and are into metal and hard rock and garage rock. And (it's) all-ages. All kinds of people seem to be diggin’ it and I think it's just best summed up as rock and roll, because you can listen to it and hear elements of certain types of music in each song."

"But by no means could you classify the band as a punk rock band or like even a metal band or anything like that. Sometimes it might get heavy, but there's enough other flavors in the music to keep it from being pinpointed to one of those other genres. That's such a broad term to everybody, too; they’'e kind of like, 'What kind of rock and roll?' You know, just rock and roll in the vein of the classic early 70s Detroit rock and roll."

Although they pronounce the name as the Grand’ Nationals, the spelling of Grande comes from the legendary Detroit venue that started the entire buzz in the first place.
"The Grande Ballroom was very much an instrumental part in deciding on a name for the band and everything," stated Hagen. "A lot of the classic Detroit artists have played there. Like the MC5 were pretty much the house band. Every band that came through town, the MC5 opened up for and blew 'em away every night. Even to the point where people like Cream would come to town and they didn't want to play with the MC5 because they didn't want to get slaughtered by those guys. The Stooges, Alice Cooper, Grand Funk and all those old Detroit bands that were just really good rock and roll bands had all played there. It's really sad that that place doesn't exist anymore because there'd be a lot of pride felt if you had a chance to play on the stage at the Grande Ballroom."

With a list of influences stretching outside of Detroit as well, Hagen has penned the music for a track on the upcoming full-length CD titled Pink Flutter.

"It's always been no secret: I've always been into punk rock and heavy metal," Hagen quipped. "I think the first band that I was a really big fan of was Iron Maiden in the mid-'80s. That was like every early teenage boys favorite band because the music was cool and they had the best (album) covers ever. All the dudes dug 'em and that was like the band to be in."

     "But I've always liked artists that put on a show, you know, kind of schlocky and gimmick oriented bands. I was always into like bands like Motorhead and Twisted Sister, but once I discovered Alice Cooper, it was all over. Anyone else after that never held a candle to Alice. I always liked punk rock and the Ramones have always been my favorite punk rock band. So pretty much, I'd say anything that I write always ends up sounding somewhere between Alice Cooper and the Ramones." Elvis Presley rounds out Hagen's trio of favorites.

Having opened for a few 'name' bands, the Grande Nationals are looking to a busy year of gigs, especially on the eve of a new CD.

"We've played with some good national acts like Sponge and we've played with The Fags," said Hagen. "We played with this band called The Sounds from Sweden that were really cool."
"For myself, I was very excited we got to play a show with The Dictators. That was a gig that was like stellar for me, just because I have been such a Dictators fan for so long."
While Hagen plans on booking a Tri-cities show at some point, he has found comfort at the venues surrounding his new home.

"Around here I really feel comfortable playing at Smalls in Hamtramck. They've got great sound there and the sound guys are super cool. We've played at Alvin's before. We've got a lot of friends that own the place, so it's always a good vibe when we play there. And I dig playing at the Lager House. It's kind of like playing at home. You go in there and you feel comfortable, because everyone that comes through the door kind of seems like you might know from seeing around at shows. It's good to see the people that will always pack the place for ya."

While the band plans to shop around their full-length CD this year in hopes of going on a permanent tour, remaining copies of the soon-to-be out-of-print EP can be ordered off their website at www.grandenationals.com