With the release of Danger Danger’s new CD “Revolve” on the horizon (September 18) and having just released a killer 2 disc compilation of his career outside of Danger Danger titled “Greatestits” we decided it was about time we caught up with one of the best frontmen in the business, Ted Poley.

Still dealing with the effects of 114 degree conditions at Danger Danger’s recent Rocklahoma experience and getting up for our 9am phonecall, Ted proved to be his charismatic and super friendly self, in an interview that covered all bases!  

So how was the recent Rocklahoma experience?  I know a few fellow Australian’s who travelled over for it who said you guys were awesome as always!!

That was unbelievable! I think it was about 104 degrees and they had something called a heat index which pushed it up another 10 degrees making it 114. When we played I was in direct sunlight and I was very close to passing out the whole time. If you check YouTube I am sure you'll see that basically I carried my own sanitary shower facilities on stage with me the whole time in the form of spring water bottles. They kept replacing them with ice cold ones and if you look closely it looks like I have pissed my pants and look like I sweat more than anybody on earth!

I had to keep pouring water over my head to stop the tunnel vision, when you know you only have seconds before you pass out. So what I usually do in this situation is pick out some of the best looking females in the front rows so that if I do pass out, it's at least into a pile of boobs and not face first into the concrete! At one point there was a bottle on the drum riser for a few songs and when I went and poured that over me it was HOT and it soaked into my shirt and that was nearly it. I nearly threw up and passed out in front of everybody, now that would of been a great show!!! I think this would of been the toughest gig ever!

Your "Greatestits" CD has just come out and it is certainly testimony to the fact you have been one of the more prolific performers in recent years.  You must look back on a compilation such as this with great pride as everything you have been involved with in the last 15 years or so has been killer.  What has been your most proudest and most memorable musical moments during this period?

Thankyou so much! “Greatestits” has been kicking ass for me, it's really doing great. I'm loving the success of it actually. It's not a big hit where it sells in the millions, but the first pressing was 2000 and it's been out officially for two and a half weeks but it's already 75% sold out! The fans are loving it and it's going to lead to a bit of an end of the year world tour. So I will be playing September 8th in Lima, Peru with Skid Row and the Rockfest in England on Nov 21st which has just been announced.  That will probably be the last of it for this year as I like to go to Jamaica at the end of the year to relax as it's really the only time I get.

Looking back I'm amazed at the amount of work I've done and been thankful of working with a lot of really cool people.  When I look back at the whole thing, it gave me some kind of perspective as I didn't think I could work this hard and didn't think I had it in me! I've had a lot of really great people around me and a lot of great fans which I am thankful for. Really, I do it for the fans. I know that sounds cornball, but I have a lot of great fans and the proudest thing for me would be the fans I have.

The two new demo songs (Tokyo Nites and You Won’t See Me Cryin) on Greatestits written with the Martin brothers hint at a new solo album on the horizon? What can you reveal about this at this point?

Well there is Danger Danger which is my day job and there is Poley Rivera which I love and there will be a new one of those soon.  Then of course there is the Ted Poley solo material and the next album will be a continuation of that and those 2 songs will very likely feature....whenever that may be.

The new Danger Danger album "Revolve" is due on September 18th and it sounds amazing (refer to our CD review here on our website) What was the album like from a recording point of view?

Well for me, I love singing, but the commute was a bitch. 7 hours worth of buses and trains each day to get out to Bruno’s studio in Long Island and I live in Pennsylvania. So my day would start at 5am standing out waiting for the bus, then walking many city blocks to catch the train and then sing for about 3 hours and then do it all again! But it was well worth it in the end. But can I say, the guys know how much I hate the commute, but can I say that the biggest compliment I can give the CD is that it was totally worth it.

Quite honestly I think it's the best CD that Danger Danger have ever done and definitely the best CD I have been involved with sound wise. I am very happy with the song as some of the bands from back in the day who we still enjoy seeing play live, often put out a CD that is often not that good. It's kind of like when you see a hot chick that was really smokin’ hot back in high school and you see her now and she hasn't held up so well haha! But in this case, the fans are really going to be thrilled with “Revolve”. The songs are just incredible and I don't say that with any ego as I didn't write them! That's a compliment to Steve and Bruno. If anything it goes back to a classic sound and sounds like anything we would of done then, if we had of recorded it now! It's very pure Danger Danger and there's not a dud song on there.

Seeing you guys perform at Firefest 2008, it's obvious that despite having not played as a band much over the years, there is still an undeniable musical chemistry amongst you guys and taking into account you now have Rob Marcello on guitars, compared to the original lineup.

Well firstly what's great is that Rob’s so cool and he started off being a massive Danger Danger fan and that shows on stage.  He would have to be one of the best guitar players I have ever seen.  The fact that he is thrilled to play with me, just thrills me too. We have a great time on stage, Rob is playing in one of his favorite bands and Bruno and Steve are playing the songs that they love. So who wouldn't have a great time on stage! You can pretty much guarantee that you will have a smile on your face at one of our shows! We wouldn't be doing it if we didn't have a good time because honestly we don't like each other very much! Haha, just kidding! No, I really like them, I just like to joke about that. I often joke with Steve West and say, you know what, we could of been really great friends had we not been in the same band together. He always laughs, which shows deep down we really are great friends I guess!

I just love touring and playing live and jumping in and singing and sweating with the people, I just love it. After the new Danger Danger CD cones out and kicks in, I really want to give the fans the Danger Danger shows they have been crying out for, especially given it's the 20th anniversary of the band.

Danger Danger toured with the likes of Alice Cooper and KISS back in the early days.  As a relatively young and up and coming band at the time, were there any learnings and memories that have stuck with you to this day?

Those are pretty rough crowds to open up to. They are really only there to see the main band, they don't give a shit about you! They have paid a lot of money, had a lot to drink and they wanna rock! But that's what really schooled us. I guess if we hadn’t made it through that acid test then we wouldn't be where we now are. But we kicked ass and actually converted a lot of people to Danger Danger from those heavier and early shoes. That's the thing about us, we can write sings about getting laid, but in the end we have the musical chops to back it up!

As for Alice Cooper we hardly saw much of him on tour. Alice is really cool, he'll be checking the weather reports and playing golf and all that. He's not really about living the rock n roll lifestyle as much as what you think Alice Cooper would. Which I guess is kinda like me with my vegetable garden!!!

But the Kiss guys, they just seemed to get a kick out of us and they have always been really nice to us. They have taken us out on a couple of different tours "Revenge" and “Hot In The Shade". Believe it or not they would take us out and go bowling with them in England and play laser tag. Paul Stanley would be really nice to us and bring a plate of shrimp cocktail to us. He knew that Danger Danger wouldn't be getting no shrimp cocktail!Also, Paul Stanley singing the tune of my name to “Unholy”, which then led to obviously the CC Banana track! I just thought that was one of  the coolest things ever. My hero Paul Stanley singing my name, leading to the parody track! I use that song as my intro tape...it's just so funny!

You have been a semi regular visitor to South America to play some shows which must be a great opportunity!  What have been some of the highlights from a non-musical sense with these trips you have done?  

Well that's actually the best question! Quite honestly, that is the single greatest thing, aside from all the money I never made anyway haha! The single greatest thing aside from meeting all the cool fans has been seeing the world. Places like Peru I cannot recommend highly enough with Machu Picchu and the Nasca lions which you can only really see from the air. Then you have Brazil and all the great food. I never really knew how great South America was.  Even Japan has been really amazing with all the Temples. Some guys on tour like to drink, me I just like getting up and exploring. Seeing the wonders of the world is something I can really recommend. It's really changed me as a person. Go see the world, that's the best piece of advice I could give anyone!

So how about visiting and playing some shows in Australia then?

Well I really can't wait to come down there one day. Everything I have seen about it looks so beautiful. One day I wish some promoter would get me or Danger Danger down there! So if there is somebody down there reading this interview...well I would make a really sweet deal as a solo artist to get my ass down there!  I'm looking forward to it. It looks like my kind of place with the beaches and the water!

What is still left on the list of musical accomplishments for Ted Poley??

Making a steady living would be really great haha!  Really, I am very happy being me. I can't really be anyone else so I have just learnt to be me. I'm very content these days and I guess I have just learnt to be me harder! I've decided to just go for it and be the best rock singer I can be. Now I am going through the pain and torture of doing a whole tattoo sleeve this summer. Some people take years to do it, but not me. Me in my genius I have decided to go through it all at once! I tell you today it feels like I have stuck my arm into a paper shredder! But at the end of the summer and when I ever get to Australia, I will be set!!!

Your connection with your fans is great via your accessibility through email, website, Myspace, your online store etc and it’s obvious that this accessibility is something you place high importance on. Is this something that is tough to maintain with balancing all your priorities, or is it a labour of love?  

I love it, but don't get me wrong it's very hard to do and balance my time. I treat every fan the way I would line to be treated if I was on the other side of the fence. As some fans will know, I will come up to them and take their cameras. The initial look of shock on their face is priceless. But then I take it and hold it 2 inches from my face and then go back and take a few pictures of Steve behind the drums that nobody could ever get. And then go right up to the guitar player and shove it right into his face. Then the last thing I like to do right before I hand it back is take a big picture of them in the audience with a big old smile on their face. But hopefully I've handed it back to the right person at the end! That kind of thing I would of just flipped over if someone did it to me!

I'm just a friendly guy. I will email you back so long as I am not out in tour or get back to a 1,000 emails. Fans know if you need anything, you can contact me.  But what I love is when you come by my site and check it out and everything I am currently up to.  I really want to keep this “Greatestits” thing going because when it runs out, then I have to come up with an idea for another CD haha!

I really do appreciate all my fans out there, I love them and hopefully soon will see you all in concert!

*Interviewed by: Scott Smith