Interview by Ian Pickens.

Gravy: Introduce yourselves.

Rachel: Rachel Zilla, I rock the fuck out of the vox and guitar / Angie Zilla beats the shit out of the drums/ Kim Zilla slams the bass like a mutha fucka.

Gravy: What are the goals of Broadzilla - World Domination or a steady supply of gigolos and free beer?

Rachel: All of the above at fast break-neck speed!

Gravy: You’ve just finished an extensive European tour. How did it go?

Rachel: To coin a tired American phrase, it was AWESOME! We spread the gospel of Broadzilla across the land at a furious pace. Some were repeat cities for us so we were fortunate enough to hang out with some people we met on our first UK tours and some were new cities to which again we were fortunate to make new friends.

Gravy: ‘I have the coolest job in the world’ high and ‘I wanna go home’ low?

Rachel: It is the coolest job in the world, no matter how you look at it. There are times when you long for a night in your own bed or a morning in your own shower but nothing is better than bringing your music to people across the world.

Gravy: Any plans to return to Europe?

Rachel: We plan to come and come again!

Gravy:  Was it hard touring off the back of the Lady Luck CD which came out in 2001?

Rachel: Not necessarily, we love those songs and Lady Luck is the CD that helped us get on the map so we'll always be grateful for the music we made with Lady Luck. We made sure to pluck a handful of our favorites from that disc while mixing them in with some of our newer stuff so the set was a mix of old and new.

Gravy: Any new material in the pipeline?

Rachel: Loads and loads of new material is just waiting to be unleashed.

Gravy: So are you fishing for a label to release the new stuff? Would you prefer a major or an indie?

Rachel: Fishing! Ha! Nice metaphor. Apparently, we've been using the wrong bait - or simply fishing in the wrong body of water. A label would be nice to help get the music out there, but for now, we'll keep trolling along in the Broadzilla Boat, hoping to someday meet the "Master Baitor"

Gravy: Your first release (the curiously named Broadzilla Vs the Trampoline) has sold out, any plans to re-release?

Rachel: With so much demand and work going into the newer stuff, we haven't put much effort into working with the older material. However, we would love to re-release it someday but there are no immediate plans.

Gravy: Your sound is a mixture of metallic influences, from the AC/DC style riffing of ‘Ecstasy’ through to the more 80s style metal of ‘Diamond Sex Goddess’, which kinda reminds me of Motley Crue. Were these your main influences?

Rachel: Most definitely. I grew up worshiping the Crue! We all were into AC/DC and a lot of British metal like Iron Maiden, Motorhead and Judas Priest. Being from Detroit we all share a love for the Motown era and of course, the MC5, Alice Cooper, the Stooges and so on. It's hard to nail it down to a group of bands because each of us brings something different to the table.

Gravy: Your vocals bring to mind fellow Detroit rock goddess Suzi Quatro; did you get to hear a lot of Detroit style bands when you were growing up?

Rachel: Ha ha, Suzi Quatro, yes we love her. Leather Tuscadero as we affectionately call her. She rocks! And yes, coming from Detroit we have always been surrounded by the Detroit music influence.

Gravy: What inspires or influences you apart from music?

Rachel: General life really. Things that happen day to day, real life experiences that have touched me in some shape or form - coupled with my love for sex, drugs, rock n' roll and fast cars and you've got Broadzilla!

Gravy: When I met you before the show I couldn’t get over how quiet and introverted you all seemed. A complete contrast to the wild rockin' chicks you become on stage. Is this a conscious part of your stage show or just the way playing live makes you feel?

Rachel: I think it's just what happens to us when we get on stage. The music takes over and we become a bursting ball of adrenaline. The quietness is due in part to most likely having just woken up from a long road trip or trying to shed the boredom of touring. You tend to stumble out of the bus in a daze going, "where are we?" and it isn't until a few minutes before show time that you finally get your bearings. Then we unleash the beast that is Broadzilla.

Gravy: How did the London gig with Orange Goblin go down?

Rachel: The London gig was amazing! We love playing London.

Gravy: Was that the highlight of the tour?

Rachel: It's hard to pick a favorite because we were able to share the stage with bands we admired equally. Goblin was a treat for all their metal glory, the Wildhearts were a treat for good old fashioned rock n' roll and Seed were a punk rock blessing to tour

Gravy: On ‘Y did U have 2B Psycho?’ you sing of mulleted, white trash guys trying to pick you up in every town you play. Autobiographical?

Rachel: Haha, somewhat. There is most certainly some truth to that. While it's not exactly in every town we play, we do encounter the psycho types quite often. All though I'll have to speculate that the same goes in reverse gender for the guy bands as well.

Gravy: What's with that techno remix on the end of the CD? Are you into that kind of stuff or is it just a goof off?

Rachel: I guess being from Detroit it's hard not to be a part of the techno movement. I'm not a huge fan of techno but I can respect its place in the scene. Sean Deason is a friend of mine and wanted to play around with a track of ours. The result is what happens when two friends at the opposite ends of the music spectrum come together and we thought it was unique enough to add as a bonus track. We didn't put the track on there hoping to convert rock fans to techno fans or vice versa, it was just something we had fun messing around with and thought we'd share it.

Gravy: Broadzilla use Gibson and Fender guitars and Marshall amps. Do you feel it would be sissy to play anything less ROCK?

Rachel: Most certainly. Thou shall not play rock n' roll with anything less!

Gravy: Can you give us a quick breakdown of the gear you use for the sad and lonely nerds out there?

Rachel: My pleasure. Marshall JCM 800 (white series) 100 watt, hot-rodded for extra oomph! 1960 TV 4x 12 cabinets with the ultra cool vintage screen. Gibson Gold Top with P-90's issued in 1988 but a re-issue of a 1956. Gibson Standard, with Seymour Duncan JB's issued in 1973 (tobacco burst.) Gibson SG (Les Paul) Jr. with P-90 issues in 1962 (white)

Kimmy plays a Fender Jazz (black) and a Fender P (red) Bass through an Ampeg Amp and a Classic series 8x10 Ampeg cabinet with the black screen.

Angie plays a chrome colored Ludwig kit with Zildjan cymbals and Vader drum sticks with the double fat ends

Gravy: How important has www.MySpace.com been to getting the word out about Broadzilla?

Rachel: It has been RAD to chat with the fans. MySpace rules!

Gravy: Do you feel the old traditional methods of breaking a band such as printed zines, touring extensively etc are being replaced by the Internet?

Rachel: Some of them sure. You'll always have magazine press and you'll always have to tour and bring the music to the people, but the internet is a great place to keep the fans in touch with the latest, up to the minute, band happenings.

Gravy: What’s the weirdest thing you have seen for sale on EBay?

Rachel: Bellybutton lint. Gross.

Gravy: So I take it you didn't buy it?

Rachel: Uh no. But being amazed at what I saw, I did forward the link around to my friends.

Gravy:  Has anyone noticed the similarity between you and Princess Jasmine from Disney’s Aladdin?

Rachel: No not yet. I always get Cher. But I'll take Jasmine as a compliment. I liked Aladdin.

Gravy: Are you a fan of cartoons in general? What's you favorite and who do you think is the punkest cartoon character ever?

Rachel: Love cartoons and all hail the Cartoon Network! Hello Kitty is the punkest cartoon character ever. Period.

Gravy: Plans for the future?

Rachel: Plans for the future are simply to rule the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh and lunchboxes. Broadzilla lunch boxes. Just like Kiss have.

Gravy: …And Coffins? Those Kiss coffins are like, uh cool.

Rachel: Not sure about the coffins. I always thought Kiss took it a step too far with those. Maybe a Broadzilla Hearse. All tubbed out and ready for the drag strip -Shirley Muldowney style!!

Gravy: Last words?

Rachel: Rock out with your cock out, jam out with your clam out and always fly your Broadzilla freak flag high!

Many thanks to Rachel Zilla for taking the time out to do this interview and for not biting me once.

You can check out Broadzilla by following the white rabbit through these links:

 new BROADZILLA video

http://www.tv-productions.co.uk/tv/ecstasy.htm

 BROADZILLA on MySpace.com

http://profile.myspace.com/users/958837 

BROADZILLA sound files

www.cdbaby.com/cd/broadzilla

BROADZILLA website

www.broadzilla.net