Slamdinistas live (Credit: Josh Withers)
Loren Molinare has always favoured guitars that bite and bands that mean it. From proto-punk beginnings with The Dogs to decades of hard touring with Little Caesar, he’s stayed plugged into the raw end of rock ‘n’ roll. With Slamdinistas, he isn’t chasing relevance, he’s carving out noise that still feels necessary. Their new album Wild & Restless doesn’t trade on nostalgia; it burns through it. Here, Molinare talks riffs, resistance and why volume is still a form of truth.
From Lansing to Los Angeles, from The Dogs to Slamdinistas, how does it feel to be releasing Wild & Restless in 2025? What’s driving you musically now that maybe wasn’t in 1976?
It’s really exciting for the Slamdinistas to have our second album coming out in late April. These guys are all great players, and equally important, we get along both on stage and off. At this point in our lives, we feel blessed to still be doing what we love so much.
What was driving me musically back in the 1970s was the Detroit Rock thing since I was raised and deeply influenced by the powerful bands of that era. To borrow a Dead Boys album title, I was “young, loud and snotty.” These days, I feel that I have grown musically, and I’m personally more open to different styles within the Rock & Roll format. That fortunately mixes well with the band and my co-writing partner in the Slamdinistas, Gabriel Johns.
With “Wild & Restless” I felt that we needed to have more urgency and street level grit than our first LP. Most bands sound “dirtier” live than on their studio recordings. As the producer of this record, I wanted it to reflect the urgency of life in 2025.
The Slamdinistas pull together Detroit fire, British Invasion hooks, and Hollywood sleaze. Is this the band you always wanted to be in, or just one that had to happen?
A bit of both. Vocalist Gabriel Johns, drummer Brian Irving, guitarist Mike Gavigan and bassist Peter Downing are all formidable players and songwriters. Gabriel and I handpicked the lineup so it’s definitely a band we wanted to be a part of. For this new set of songs, we got to tap into short tight ’60s arrangements on certain tracks, explore a ‘70s dance feel a la the Stones for “Latch Key Kids” and “Rock ‘N Roll Clown” (a very New York Dolls street vibe), to the Crazy Horse influenced “Should Have Known Better” and the Cheap Trick-ish “Weather the Storm.”
I have known Gabriel for many years and always liked his songwriting and singing. In 2015, he asked me to produce a six-song EP for him. After its release, we started work on what was supposed to be his full-length solo LP. I asked bassist Paul ILL along with drummer Brian Irving to work on the project, and Gabriel brought in Mike Gavigan on guitar to complete the studio band. While the world was shutting down for Covid, we hunkered down in the studio. In the middle of recording, I told Gabriel that it should be a band and not a solo record and The Slamdinistas were born. We released our first LP, “Shoot for the Stars,” on Rum Bar Records in 2023. It got lots of radio play and we played live shows on the east and west coasts.
Your single, “Oh Yeah,” has roots going back to a 1993 tour with Texas Terri’s Baby Bird. What made this the right time to resurrect it? Was there something unfinished in its DNA, or did it just demand a second life?
The song always spoke to me from the moment when I wrote the tune with her back in the ‘90s. The riff I came up with always reminded me of a spider crawling up the wall — kind of creepy. I feel with the lyrics that Texas T wrote, she totally nailed it with life in Hollywood being loose, carefree, EXTRA LARGE, and LOUD! My band The Dogs/Detroit also did a rocking version on our 2003 “Suburban Nightmare” LP.
So, when The Slamdinistas started playing live shows I suggested that we try to do our own version of “Oh Yeah.” Gabriel had been a club booker in Hollywood during the ‘90s, so he knew Texas T. He really dug deep into the lyrics from his own personal experiences with Texas T, and his life on the streets of Hollywood. The song ended up being a knockout during our live shows so we decided to commit to wax this song that is close to our R&R hearts!
Paul Roessler co-produced Wild & Restless, a guy whose history stretches from The Screamers to Nina Hagen. What did he bring to the table that pushed this album somewhere new?
Yes, Paul’s background in recording and producing was the deciding factor to work with him at his Kitten Robot Studios in Los Angeles. Two years ago, I had the great experience of working with him on the Hollywood Stars’ “Starstruck” LP, and I saw he used his charm and expertise to bring out the best from that band during the recording process.
I felt that for “Wild & Restless,” Paul did allow us to push ourselves. We wanted a Rolling Stones “Miss You” vibe for “Latch Key Kids” and he really made that happen with us playing live, no overdubs. I asked if he wanted to play Paul organ on the track and he did his best “Al Kooper/Booker T thing” on the Hammond B3. The whole session was him capturing lighting in a bottle. He inspired us in so many ways to make this a heartfelt and honest Rock & Roll record.
The Dogs have a 20-page spread in Ugly Things, not bad for a band that started in 1968. What’s it like to see your early work getting that level of deep-dive attention?
We were very honored that Doug Sheppard was inspired to write our definitive story. We met him when we played Philadelphia, and he mentioned that no one had ever truly chronicles our ups & downs. It took him a few years to complete the feature, which includes lots of interviews with band members, managers, road crew and friends. After being together almost 57 years, it’s amazing to think that The Dogs are still together and rocking.”
When you were starting out in the late 1960s, the MC5 were your heroes. When did you get to play your first show with them, and do you have any vivid memories from that night?
The first time we played with the MC5 was in the summer of 1969 at a ballroom in Crystal Lake, Michigan. It was the first time I had seen them live and I was totally blown away. The MC5 had a huge impact on me. It was amazing how they related to every person in the room from the moment they hit the stage. There was such a magnetic and electric vibe in the air, and their performance was like a freight train knocking me back. Being a 16-year-old kid, I was completely mesmerized by their power to use Rock & Roll to liberate your Mind, Body & Soul.
You’ve been part of Little Caesar since the late ‘80s, and you just toured the UK with them last year. How do you switch gears between bands? Is there a different headspace for writing and playing with Slamdinistas?
I was the last member to join Little Caesar in 1988. Over the years we’ve survived the ups & downs of the music industry. We were lucky to be asked to do the UK tour last September — it was amazing to play with Tyketto and Dan Bryne. This touring lineup had just the right synergy. It was a fun and successful tour for us.
Between all the bands I’ve played with, they each have their own eco-culture and timeframe that allows me to shift gears between bands. It’s sort of like being an actor who works with different scripts and roles.
One of the great things about the Slamdinistas is that our sound runs a wide gamut of influences, from Rockpile to Oasis, from the Beatles to X. That’s a totally different vibe than my other bands.
You spent the ‘90s and ‘00s working behind the scenes in the gear world. Did that change the way you think about tone and production when you came back into making records full-time?
I was lucky to get into the gear manufacturing side of things and I became really educated when it comes to analog and digital guitar amps, and recording products. Along the way I got to work for some great companies doing Sales/Marketing/A&R roles. The experience I gained from working in that world did help my understanding of the recording process. It helped me to get richer, more organic tones in the studio.
But at the end of the day, it’s still the song and the arrangement and the vibe that makes the recording process magical —that’s what really matters over the technology or gear. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all important but like the great fab songs of 60’s the song rules….
You’ve worked with legends and lifers, from Michael Des Barres to Tony Marsico. What makes someone a great bandmate after all these years? What do you see in your Slamdinistas bandmates that keeps you excited?
Yes, I have been lucky to work with some amazing artists. Working with Michael Des Barres was a real R&R treat and honor. To be in band with a guy that has been on the international scene since the ‘70s was a learning experience on how to put a real show together with power and grace. I was lucky to write some songs with him; I love his skill, showmanship, and his outlook on the power of bringing Rock & Roll to our culture.
Tony Marsico, I have known him since the early 1980s Los Angeles scene when he was in The Plugz and Cruzados. He is one of the smoothest groove monsters on the bass I have played with — a skilled and gifted songwriter and a super nice and funny guy.
It always gets down to the commitment and passion that people bring to a project. At the end of the day, it has to be fun because it’s not about the money or fame — it has to do with shared musical values. With the Slamdinistas, I feel that everyone has the same musical vision for the tunes that we write. It’s easy in the Slams because we all grew up with lots of the same musical heroes that we dug and that’s reflected on this new LP.
L.A. has a history of reinvention: punk, hair metal, grunge, garage rock. Where do you think Slamdinistas belong in that evolution? Are you reflecting the scene, or pushing against it?
With our collective musical roots, and our decades on the L.A. rock scene, we are a mix of everything we love from the ‘60s through the ‘90s. I think that the other guys would agree that we are more of a reflection of the local scene rather than pushing against it.
When we put the band together, we knew that we needed to fit into the local scene. We brought in Brian Irving who was drumming with Pat Todd & the Rankoutsiders, and Mike Gavigan who was writing and playing guitar with The Blessings. Both of our LPs really do reflect the influence of our peers who we respect that our rocking out in this town.
Your band name nods to The Clash and carries a whiff of rebellion. What’s your definition of rock ‘n’ roll revolution in 2025?
Brian Irving came up with the name, and yes, it’s a mixture of lifting the political sentiment and a wordplay on the Clash LP name. Brian mentioned he wanted us to have a name that reflected the slamming sound we were trying to create on our first LP.
So, the Slamdinisitas were born. When we googled the word to see if any other band was using it, all that came up was the real Sandinistan rebels from Central America. I have to admit that at first the name threw people a curveball, but in time it has worked to our advantage. It’s cool to have a new word that belongs to us and nobody else.
You’re playing a record release show at The Redwood Bar in May. What should people expect from a Slamdinistas gig?
Yes, May 3rd is the Record Release Party at our favorite place in L.A., The Redwood Bar. This newly remodeled venue is our CBGB, and the booker Eddie Lopez is an avid supporter of the underground scene. Fans can expect us to play the new LP in its running order that night. It’s going to be a blast, or in other words, Wild & Restless!
Further information
BANDCAMP: Bandcamp
