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the Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies and
their Faithful Followers
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By Jeff Kramer
introduction and photos by Janene Otten |
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 (above photo by Robert Ashcroft)
THE SCREAMIN' CHEETAH WHEELIES AND THEIR FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS Most of the interviews I had read or heard with the Wheelies seemed to be conducted by DJ's or writers who weren't all that familiar with the band or their music. And so, the obvious questions kept coming up like, "How did you get your name?" or, "You were on the HORDE tour, right?" Well, I figured it was time that the boys got interviewed by the people who really know them the best...THEIR FANS! So, I collected questions from the fans who frequent the band's web page and, armed with over 30 questions, I sat down with the Wheelies before their show in Toledo on New Year's Eve 1998/99.
Jeff: Wheelies fans seem to be unique in their devotion to the
band, and consider themselves to be a big family, with a common goal
to spread the word and the music of the Wheelies. How do you guys
explain the sort of "all consuming" effect that your music has on a
lot of your fans?  Mike: It was just meant to be. Rick: It just happened. That's the way everybody in the band felt. Mike: We all came together and there was a spiritual bond. And we're blessed that way in that we're all kind of spiritually minded and we all know the truth. So we're gifted that way. And there's a great responsibility when you know the truth about things. And with that, combined with music, this medium that we have, it's a great responsibility and it's a great honor to be able to do this. Terry: The reason I started playing music in the first place was to effect people in a positive way. That was my whole reason....I didn't say "Man, I want to be rich someday. I want to have girls. I want to be a rock star." I wanted to touch people with music and bring a spiritual enlightenment to people. And that was when I was 12-years-old. And, for at least 10 years there I tried to put bands together and tried to get involved in groups that THAT was their purpose, their focus. But I never really felt fulfilled in that purpose. And when this band got together, I pretty much had forgotten about that whole focus and it wasn't on my mind at all. But as an afterthought, with the effect later, I realized that this band has fulfilled my whole purpose without my even trying. Jeff: It's no secret that you guys sprinkle your lyrics with religious and sometimes biblical references. Do you consider yourselves to be a Christian band, or is there a specific message that you're trying to convey in your lyrics? Mike: Ummm...if we're a Christian band...I don't know...uh, shoot man, we're...some of us are Christian's you know, so that comes out. When you know the truth and there's so much joy and love in it, and it's such a part of your life, you're going to write about it. And you want the world to know about it. But, being a Christian band? I thought about that when we first got together and Terry talked me out of it. I was like "I can't sing these songs we're singing. I've got to go preach the Word, you know sing the Word," and he's like, "Man, we've got to go into the bars and stuff"...Jesus didn't walk with the Saints and the righteous. He went preachin' to the beggars and thieves and the whores. So I was like, "Man, I guess that's where we need to be is in the bars." But, I didn't want to sing, pointing fingers at people, you know, like I'm better than you, I know how to get to heaven, and this and that..... Rick: That's the idea, man, you can't force it down their throats. You gotta make THEM think about it. Mike: All we want to do is paint pictures for people. This is where we're coming from...This is what our life consists of everyday. This is what we deal with everyday. Sometimes our songs ain't real religious, like "More Than I Can Take" or something like that. But you know what? That's a part of life, you know? And that's as much a part of spirituality as anything. We love so many kinds of music, and we like singing about everything. It just so happens that the main thing is that we want to be a positive force. Terry: I think the lyrics that Mike writes are not with a mission in mind,...it's life. Sometimes it's frustration, anger, sometimes it's love, and sometimes it's about spirituality. And that's what Mike writes about. That's what I see and it just so happens that spirituality is important enough to Mike that he writes about it. We've never had a mission in mind as a band. And I think if we did, we decided that "OK, we're going to be a Christian band," then we probably wouldn't effect people like we do. Because I think the way we effect people is more a by-product then what we are as a main focus. Jeff: We know that bands hate for their music to be labeled or categorized, but your music is so diversified in so many different styles that even your biggest fans have trouble trying to describe your music. How do you guys describe the music that you play?  Terry: Well, I think we've had different labels throughout our existence, right? One of them was hard rock at one point. Of course at one point it was blues rock. Funky-blues-rock. Anymore? Mike: I would categorize it simply as this... I know this is a profound thing, and I shouldn't be getting so uh, philosophical about the thing. If I should be so brave, I think we should just label it just...Rock-n-Roll. All in agreement: Rock-n-roll. Rick: Rock-n-roll....or Rock-n-Soul. Mike: Rock-n-Country-Soul. Bob: Boogie-Woogie-Rockin'-Country.... Terry: Rockin'-Country-Soul-Funk! Bob: It's fun to play, I know that! Terry: Rockin'-Bluegrass-Funky-Soul..... Rick: Country Rock..... Terry: Country-Gospel-Bluesy.... Bob: Punk... Terry: Jazz... Steve: He's trying to say ORIGINAL! Mike: We never wanted to be original! Jeff: Trust me, you guys ARE original! Like nobody else... Mike: But we don't want to be original though! Jeff: You don't want to be like somebody else!! Bob: I wanted to be like Loverboy.... (Laughter) Jeff: (Laughing) Loverboy!?! Terry: In all truth....our first intention was to play cover songs and we never got around to playing cover songs. We talked about what covers we might play..... Bob: We weren't gonna be a cover band. We were just gonna play some covers to break the ice. Rick: I always thought we were just gettin' together to jam.... Terry: Yeah, that was it... Bob: Yeah! See! We didn't even tell Rick we were starting a band until just now! Sorry Rick. Mike: He's still trying out for the band. Bob: Rick's on probation! Terry: He's been on 7 year probation! Steve: I think he's just about got it though! Mike: We'll make him a full blown member here any day now. Rick: Here in the next year or two. Steve: You got a lawyer don't you? Rick: Yeah, I do. Bob: That's good. You gotta give all the money back. Steve: You better get him on the horn. Jeff: Good luck, Rick. Steve: We're all pullin' for ya! (Laughter) Jeff: Most of your songs seem to be written based on your own life experiences. When you write a new song do you ever have your audience or your fans in mind? Mike: Yeah. "Standin' in the Sun" was written kind of about our fans. I was just day dreaming and saw these people walking around the beach or something. Bobby had the music and we tried to write stuff together to it and everything...and those lyrics came up. It reminded me of, you know, like the fans, the real devoted people who have been with us for so long. If you do what you enjoy and you've got to be true to yourself, just like they always say, then the people will react however they are going to react. But you can't sit around and worry about 'I wonder if they're going to like this.' Now, of course you're going to play something sometimes at rehearsals and stuff and be like, 'I can't wait 'til they hear this!' Steve: Right... Jeff: What's an example of one of those tunes? Mike: "Boogie King" was one. I remember it was like, man if we ever get any lyrics to this, man, people are going to really like this! Bob: I felt that way about "Venus" too, after we got through recording it...And "Magnolia." Mike: Sometimes you get surprises, like "For My Friends." It's a song we didn't put on the "Big Wheel" album, and then we take it out and play it every now and then and we get a really good reaction out of it. Jeff: The fans seem to be torn about the level of success you guys are going to achieve. Are you hoping to become megastars and play huge arenas or are you happy with having a somewhat underground fan base, playing smaller, intimate clubs? Mike: You want the whole world to hear your music! No doubt about it. Anybody that puts together any kind of rock band and goes out and plays clubs, you want the whole world to hear it. You don't want to be no underground band for the rest of your life. If your out there thinking about doing that, forget it! Rick: It don't last. Even great underground bands become great successes. Mike: Yeah, but the thing is you can't measure your success by how commercially successful you are, or by how many records you get spun on the radio, and how many records you sell or how many people show up at the show. We're already successful. We may have already achieved our success. Jeff: Are you happy with the success you've had so far? Mike: No, I want more. But, who knows where our success lies, you know? Rick: Well, I want more, too, but you've just got to play day by day and just play because you love to do it. Jeff: Do you guys want to play in mega stadiums with, like, 30,000 people? Mike: Sure man. Rick: That'd be great. Mike: That'd be cool, but you know what? I'd be happy doing theatres. I don't want...if we get bigger than that, that's fine, but my goal is, personally, to be doing really nice big theatres. You know, because it's intimate, they're nice, they sound good. Amphitheaters I hate. They always sound bad. Don't get me wrong, I'd play 'em in a heart beat, you know if we were that successful.. Rick: We're already successful, we've been together for 7 years. Mike: Yeah, we've done 3 albums. We've done something that thousands of kids, thousands of grown-ups would give anything to be doing. Look at this bus we're on man! You know? This is fun! Jeff: Some of the songs on "Big Wheel" have been around for a while in various formats over the years, and they're just now making it onto an album. Were they just not developed enough in your opinion for earlier albums? Bob: Yes. It just didn't happen. Sometimes you think a song is ready and you record it and it's just not there. A lot of those went through that and other things, but mostly they just weren't ready and it kind of all came together. Terry: Sometimes its the performance and sometimes it's the arrangement. Jeff: I think you guys made a good choice on "It Ain't Nothin'." I've heard that for a couple of years now....  Bob: That one tried to get on both the other two (albums). Steve: Have you heard the other version of it? Jeff: Oh yeah, older versions from a couple years ago. Steve: A lot more rockin'... Bob: Mike came in one night and just started playing it....real slow. Jeff: When you guys do a song like that, when it's gone through transitions and taken a while to finally make it on an album, does it ever seem old by the time you record it? Bob: Well that one sure didn't. It's so different. Terry: No, "Groove Me" didn't either. Jeff: How far back does that go? Bob: First six months of the band. Mike: It was totally different. Bob: But we quit playing it by the time we recorded the first album because we recorded it once but we quit playing it because we weren't happy with the arrangement or somethin'. It just wasn't doin' it for us. Mike: It used to be a big crowd favorite, we did it a long time ago. Jeff: With all the diversity in your music and your individual backgrounds and your musical style preferences, does it ever create controversies over the direction of the band?...Any friction here on where the band's going or what kind of music you need to play? Bob: Not really. Terry: There's always debates within each song but not as a band. We've never once talked about what kind of direction we want to go in. Steve: It's kind of like an editing process. Whatever feels best for the song. Just being open...try anything...try other people's ideas. Terry: Sometimes we try a song so many ways, every way possible and we try everyone's ideas and it's still.....we all don't feel it, you know? And that's when we like, put it away. It's kind of unsaid I think, we just kinda burn ourselves out on it. Jeff: Most bands don't really seem to want to get close to their fans, where you guys make yourselves easily accessible and enjoy talking to the fans personally and meeting everybody and hangin' out with'em..... Mike: I don't think we do enough of that. I mean they come see you, you know, and every night you've got to go out and thank everybody and sign autographs if someone wants an autograph or whatever. I mean that's part of your job, to thank these people. If I owned a store on the corner down here in a little neighborhood, I have to thank everyone who comes in and let them know that you appreciate their patronage. That's part of the job, but I don't think you can do enough of that. Jeff: You guys do enough of that. I mean you guys make yourselves accessible to just about everybody who wants to talk to you. Do you think that will ever change if you guys become superstars or more popular? Mike: Yeah, it will change to a certain extent. If you're playing a 30,000-seat arena, 5,000 or whatever, you can't go out and.... Bob: There might not be enough hours in a day to talk to everybody... Mike: But they know where you are. If they really want to see you, then they'll come back to the bus or whatever. Jeff: Do you guys think that the odd name of the band has hindered your success in any way? Mike: Probably. I don't know... I know that people think we're a heavy rock band when you hear the name or whatever, but.... that's my name! Terry: Who knows, it may have helped some ways and hurt in others. It seems to get a lot of commentary on the radio a lot of times from the DJs who like to experiment with the name.... Bob: It does scare people away though. They would probably like it but think it's heavier than it is.... Terry: There's probably a lot of middle-aged people that would probably dig our music but a lot of people who are scared by the name, you know and never give us a chance because of that. Mike: It doesn't matter one way or the other, that's our name and we're sticking with it! Steve: It gets a lot of attention, you know. It probably balances out. Jeff: Is there anything you'd like to say collectively to the fans? Steve: The fans are awesome! Bob: We like 'em! Mike: We like 'em a lot.... A LOT. Terry: Stay cool and don't ever change. Bob: Rick is scrunching up his lips and scratching his nose and he says.....! (Long pause) Mike: Go get his guitar quick! Bob: Somebody get Rick's guitar! Rick's going to play a little something for you tonight. Jeff: Let me ask you this, this one's not on the list....How do you feel about the grassroots effort of the fans? How they take it upon themselves...it's like "Man, these Wheelies are great, we gotta make them stars, we've got to call the stations and request them!" It seems like a big group effort that everybody wants to make you guys successful. Bob: It's a big help. It could be the difference. Terry: Yeah, it's totally cool. Steve: It's overwhelming. Terry: It kinda undermines the industry itself, which I think is cool, because the band can have success through just the fan's support without the industry pushing it. And it's a lot more sincere, I think. Jeff: Alright. On behalf of the fans out there, thank you guys and we appreciate your time! All: Thank you! The three studio CD's the band has offered will be joined by another in the fall and a live CD, recorded at 328 Performance Hall in Nashville at a benefit for the Matthew Butler Foundation is available on the SCW website. Go to www.wheelies.com to order CD's & tickets to Wheeliefest 2000, the ultimate gathering of the Wheelie faithful.
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 June 25: Watkin's Glen, NY - Watkin's Glen Intl. Raceway (Mike sings the Natl. Anthems) June 25: Rowland, PA - Fantasy Island: WHEELIEFEST 2000 June 28: Sea Bright, NJ - Tradewinds: FREE SHOW (www.tradewinds.com for details) June 29: New York, NY - Wetlands June 30: Springfield, MA - City Festival: FREE SHOW July 1: Charlottesville, VA - Traxx July 3: Huntington, WV - Gyrationz July 6: Chattanooga, TN - The Bay July 7: Huntsville, AL - Crossroads July 8: Nashville, TN - 328 Performance Hall (web cast) |