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First Elvis, then Fuel
By BRIAN ORLOFF and SAMMY MACK
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 1, 2001
In true lavish rock-star fashion, Brett Scallions, lead singer for modern rockers Fuel, currently on tour with Kid Rock, spent an evening recently living it up on Rock's personal jet.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall during that flight.
Talking to us on the phone from Norman, Okla., Scallions attempted to define his role as lead singer, alluded to the revelry of the previous evening's festivities in Texas, shared an Elvis encounter and dished the dirt on his favorite fan gift -- a stuffed chicken.
Sammy: So, how's that going, touring with Kid Rock?
Brett: Oh, you know, it's a very entertaining tour (laughs), for lack of a better way of saying it. We've been having a great time together. Bobby (Kid Rock) is very accommodating.
Brian: How would you describe the perfect live concert atmosphere?
Brett: A room with all of our fans -- that's the atmosphere. We feed off the crowd just as much as we hope that they feed off of us. We go out, play some great music, and hopefully they will enjoy it as much as we enjoy playing it.
Brian: Do you view the concept of being a rock 'n' roll sex symbol as something pejorative or do you embrace that part of the job description?
Brett: I'm in this for the music. If someone thinks I'm a good looking guy, whatever, I'm not here for that. I'm not here to sell my looks.
Sammy: When did you first know that you wanted to be a musician?
Brett: I've always wanted to be one. Even when I was 4 years old I would sing and dance and act like Elvis. It was always there.
Brian: What was the first concert you went to?
Brett: I actually saw Elvis. I was 3, 4 years old, something like that. I made it through four or five songs and passed out. But that was my first concert.
Sammy: So was your first record by Elvis Presley too?
Brett: I had a stack of records that my mom and dad had given me when I was a kid. The first record that I actually bought with my own money, though, was Kiss' Destroyer.
Sammy: What's in your CD player right now?
Brett: I've been listening to the new Tool box set, some live recordings. There's also a DVD on there with some videos and stuff. I've always been a big Tool fan.
Brian: Once you've created a hit song do you feel there is some pressure to deliver again?
Brett: Yeah, there's always going to be that pressure, but you're not going sit back and write songs for the sake of making hits. You've got to stay true to yourself and just try to write good songs.
Sammy: Guitarist Carl Bell writes most of Fuel's songs. How do you put your own mark on the song?
Brett: Music is subject for interpretation. He'll give them to me and I'll decipher them for myself, give my interpretation on what its meaning is, you know, and it makes it closer. It makes you feel a little closer to it. I think that's the beauty of music.
Brian: What is the most bizarre gift or piece of fan mail you have received?
Brett: We get a lot of crazy photographs, of course. Somebody gave us a chicken once.
Brian: A chicken?
Brett: Yeah
Sammy: Like a cooked chicken?
Brett: No, no, it was like a stuffed chicken.
Sammy: Like a taxidermied chicken?
Brett: Something like that, yeah. They had knitted a sweater for it; they had (written) "Fuel" on it.
Sammy: Where is that chicken now?
Brett: I think it got demolished.
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-- Sammy Mack, 17, is a junior at St. Petersburg High School. Brian Orloff, 15, is a junior at Palm Harbor University High School. Both are former members of the Times X-Team.
PREVIEW
Kid Rock and Fuel, Friday, 7:30 p.m. at the Ice Palace. Tickets are $22-$27.
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