The Quakes are back in Europe this October, and this is a cause for celebration. For us in Europe, they’re a kind of mirage: the band who we’ve heard and loved through their iconic covers and originals, powering their way through lineup changes to bridge the gap between neo-rockabilly and psychobilly, that we’ve rarely got the chance to see live.

While they touched down briefly to play Psychobilly Meeting and Psychobilly Freakout in 2024, they’re long overdue a proper tour on this side of the Atlantic. “The last time we did a proper tour in Europe was 10 years ago – read, I was ten  years younger!” says frontman Paul Roman. “ I’m trying to get my voice in shape for it because I know its  going to be hard.  I don’t know what to expect. Festivals are great but we have a time limit. Playing  these club shows allows us to expand on the usual set list and play some deep  cuts.When you play a club show, you know that the people came there to see you.”  That said, there will be a slight change in the Quakes lineup for this tour, which Roman explains. “Juan Carlos can’t go on the tour with  us to Europe. We will be gone almost four weeks and it’s too much time off  work. So in place of him, Wes (Hinshaw) will play drums and former bass  player Kenny Hill will play bass. Wes is out on the road right now playing  drums for Tim Polecat.”

One of the last times the trio played together recently was for the ‘Voice Of America’ celebration shows, which saw the Quakes play the legendary album in it’s entirety twice for the people of Los Angeles. “The shows were ok,” Roman says, slightly downplaying just how cool they were. “It was a lot of hard work to learn all those songs. There are a number of them that we have played regularly throughout the years but others  that have not been played in thirty five years. The playing of the whole album concept is not new but I had not seen anyone on the psychobilly scene do it so I thought it would be cool to do. Having said that, I’m glad its over!”

Last year also saw the release of ‘Western Bop’, the Quakes’ first album in twelve years. Now the dust has settled, fifteen months after release, Roman still finds it a bit of an enigma.  “What’s interesting is what songs seem to be the most popular. I never guess them right. With streaming services they send you a report each month so it’s easy to see what songs the fans are listening to the most. As of right now, it  seems that ‘Tears Have To Fall’ is the favourite which again, I never would have  guessed. That one is very hard to sing but we may have to start playing it.” 

Fans of ‘Western Bop’ will notice there’s a couple of songs on the album which really stand out as different from our expectations, although Roman disputes that: “Hmmm, I don’t know if there is an ‘established sound’ as things have changed  over the years. I think people recognise that it is ME regardless. There is a  mixture of things on the record which is always my goal now.” One standout, at least for some listeners, is ‘Parts and Labor’, which is an almost pure country track.   “[I wouldn’t record a full country album],” he explains, “but I like to put one song on an album like that. I have another one that was not done which will be on the next one with steel guitar.” One of the other songs which lingers in the memory is his cover of Simple Minds’ ‘Promised You A Miracle’, and the decision on which of his favourite songs join the ranks of iconic Quakes covers is an easy one for Roman to make: “We look at the streaming reports. Our cover of ‘Planet Earth’ by Duran Duran is  very popular but hard to play as a three piece. That song has many overdubs and was constructed in the studio. ‘Promised’ had always been a favourite of mine  but I could never figure out how to transpose it into a rockabilly song. I then checked to see that there were very few cover versions of the song even thought it was a hit.”

Looking back on his three decades as the Quakes frontman, Roman has some clear highlights which stick out in his memory: “I would say the best crowds were in Los Angeles during the 2000s – large  enthusiastic crowds, sold out shows in Hollywood! Most recently it was gaining my entire back catalog of music. I now own all publishing and copyrights of all my material which is very satisfying. Other than that it was probably our month long tour in Japan for Sony records in 1993.”

Next year will involve “Hopefully a new album. I have some things left over from ‘Western Bop’ that we  did not get to finish and a lot of new songs I’m working on.” Fingers crossed that the Quakes’ next outing will be on the same stunning level as ‘Western Bop’.

Kate Allvey

Buy a copy of ‘Western Bop’ right here