BULLETBOYS Singer: We Were Drawing A Lot More People Than Headliners L.A. GUNS

BULLETBOYS singer Marq Torien spoke to Cleveland's "The Classic Metal Show" (web site) on Saturday (Jan. 24) about the much-publicized stabbing of the group's tour manager while on the road with L.A. GUNS last fall and the acrimonious departure of BULLETBOYS guitarist Jason Hook. Asked to explain what "really" happened on the L.A. GUNS tour, Marq said, "The real thing that happened was that we got put on a tour with L.A. GUNS that we thought was going to be a really wonderful adventure. 30 shows. It seemed like it would really benefit the band, and we would have a great time out there. What happened in the second show…actually, the third show, was that I realized that the band BULLETBOYS was drawing a lot more people than L.A. GUNS. That didn't really sit too well with me because I felt that maybe we should be co-headlining. But we ended up opening up, and fans were very bummed out with L.A. GUNS because Tracii [Guns] isn't in the band. I was told that Tracii was going to be coming out soon, but he never showed up. Then we were rolling up the road, and we had a problem with our bus driver. Our bus driver just went nuts one day and slammed on the breaks while we were on the freeway and started screaming at our road manager because he wanted some type of monies that he felt he was owed, but hadn't got the night before. I think the bus driver had a couple too many cross tops or something. I have no idea. The next night, we finished doing the show, and had a great time that night. [I] woke up the next morning, and my road manager is banging on the back of the bus where I'm sleeping, screaming that he just got stabbed by the bus driver. I'm thinking, 'It's just a joke. It's Halloween. It's the day of Halloween, and they're trying to pull a fast one on me.' That wasn't the case. I'm sitting there and my road manager is covered in blood. It was a bad scene. We had to call the police. The police arrested the bus driver and found out that the bus driver has priors for aggravated assault and attempted murder. We were just like…we couldn't believe it. Right now, we're not signed with any type of label, and we don't have any type of insurance in case one of my members of the band gets hurt or I get hurt. It didn't seem right to be out there on the road and trying to do this thing without some kind of protection. After my road manager got stabbed, I managed to get everyone together, get us some plane flights and get us the hell off the road."

With regards to the departure from the group of guitarist Jason Hook, Marq said, "You know, I don't know [what happened]. Jason — he came in the band, and he had a lot of fun when he was in the band and stuff, but…Sometimes what happens to members and stuff, or people — they start reading their own press and they become very big-headed, and I think that's what basically happened to Jason. He started believing his own press and he just kind of got out of control. I don't like to play with people that are egotistical and have other problems that are going on. I like things to run smoothly. Basically, me and him…it wasn't working out. I mean, he did a couple of things to me that were really below the belt and tried to do things behind my back, and it wasn't in the band's best interest to have him keep on playing.

"It really is [a shame] because he's really a good hearted person, but I think he really got caught up in the whole hoopla of the music business. 'I'm Jason Hook now, and I've done this!' Before, he was doing anything. His name was Jason Grinstead, and he from Canada and doesn't have citizenship in the United States. We took him on because we thought he was a really good guy and fun to be around. We thought he was a great guitar player. After you start seeing people's true colors and see how greedy they are and what they want, it was kind of like a slap in the face. So it was time for him to go and it was time for me to find other musicians who wanted to enjoy and play great music."

Marq's interview with "The Classic Metal Show" can be heard in its entirety at this location.