A&E

Hard-working Vegas rockers Otherwise finally hit it big

Image
Patrick (center) embraces his newfound success
Photo: Robert John Kley

Otherwise singer Adrian Patrick wants the world to know that “contrary to popular belief, Mötley Crüe was not the first original rock band to ever have a residency in Las Vegas.” Patrick’s Vegas-bred hard rock band spent years kicking around the local scene, including a residency with Steel Panther at Green Valley Ranch. Otherwise may not have reached Mötley Crüe levels of popularity yet, but their single “Soldiers” has become a radio hit, and new album True Love Never Dies is getting a national rollout. Patrick called from New York City to talk about how life has changed for the band.

How has it been adjusting to life on the road?

It’s not that hard. It’s something that we’ve been wanting to do for a while, so now that we’re getting the chance to do it, we’re fully embracing it. The last run we did was rough because we were in a van, but this time we’ve got ourselves an RV; we’ve got bunks. It’s much better.

You just came off a string of shows opening for Lacuna Coil. How was it connecting with another band’s audience?

It was very cool, because they’re technically classified as a goth-metal band, so for us to get the kind of response and the reaction we have from that particular cross-section of the market is very cool. It’s cool to have a guy in a Cannibal Corpse T-shirt come up and buy your CD and tell you, “You guys really rocked.” You don’t really expect that from someone wearing an Iced Earth T-shirt or something like that.

Was there a point when you guys were playing locally when you thought you might never succeed past Vegas?

Oh dude, that’s where we were at last summer. We wrote the song “Soldiers” because of that. We were at that point where we were like, “Dude, what the hell are we doing wrong? Do we need to do something different? Are we going to have to get day jobs?” And then the night that we actually wrote “Soldiers,” that was an anthem to ourselves. Like, “You know what? We’re not going to quit. We’re going to soldier on.” That’s what that song came out of.

What was it like seeing a song that you wrote about your own personal struggles take on a larger meaning for people?

For it to get embraced by the military community the way it has been is a great honor. We’re very humbled by it. We’ve got military guys coming to our shows, and they’ve got shrapnel in them, and they’ve got neck braces, for the rest of their lives. We were toiling away and thinking, “Oh my God, this is it for us. Life is so bad.” And then you see these guys who love our song, and you see what they’ve gone through, it really puts it in perspective for us.

Share

Previous Discussion:

Top of Story