CHAINED TO INSANITY – AN INTERVIEW
CHAINED TO INSANITY is a original hard rock/metal band from Rhode Island featuring:
Sue Dussault-Eddins – Lyricist/Lead Vocalist
Dave Lazz – Songwriter/Lead Guitarist
Scott Duncan – Rhythm Guitarist
Eric Lemay – Bass Guitarist
Paul Buccaci – Drummer
I first had the absolute pleasure and honor of seeing Chained To Insanity perform when they agreed to play for free to help out at Rock ‘n Rhode Fest 2. Money was raised for a great local musician, known by everyone in the Southern New England music world, who was involved in a horrific motor vehicle accident. Aside of blowing the doors off the venue and getting the crowd on their feet, all members of Chained To Insanity were glad to help at the event as needed. I can’t ever forget their empathy and charity, but perhaps even more unforgettable was their impressive performance. I had no idea what to expect from this band, fronted by a striking woman with hair as long and free as a flag, beautiful tattoo sleeves and black lace stockings. Would they be punk? Death Metal? Folk, maybe? Honestly, they were a little of all of that with a dash of organic retro (think Woodstock), hard-hitting rock, and some well-groomed Metal.
KATE: How and when did Chained To Insanity (C2I) begin?
[ERIC] We all met at the Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Hi, my name is Eric, I’m a Capricorn, I like long walks in the mountains, breathing in fresh air and hiding my victims off hiking trails.
[PAUL]: I answered an ad for a drummer on Craig’s List. I think Dave and I must have talked for about an hour when we learned our fondness for the band Kiss and so on, we really connected.
[DAVE]: I had a bunch of music with no lyrics. Put an ad on Craig’s List. Sue answered my ad. Her and I recorded for a couple of month. Then I put an ad for a drummer and Paul answered. Then did the same for a rhythm guitar player. Scott answered. Paul got Bill for bass. Then by mutual agreement Bill left. And I believe Sue got Eric.
KATE: You’re referring of course former member Bill Henderson. I know Wild Bill pretty well, enough to know he’s a great bassist with the best intentions, but he might be guilty of taking on too many projects and spreading himself too thin at times.
[SUE]: That was in 2013 when Dave and I first met. I had never been in a metal band before but I’m always game for anything.
[DAVE]: I love Bill too. Fun times.
[SUE]: Yes. Bill had a lot of projects going on and it was by mutual agreement with the band that we should get a permanent replacement rather than using fill-ins for gigs that had schedule conflicts. Eric has been wonderful and fits in with this crazy bunch quite well.
[DAVE]: Eric is awesome
[ERIC]: Thanks guys, your checks are in the mail for spreading such nice rumors about me.
[Dave]: And Nino is our 5th member. LOL!
KATE: You mean Nino Travato, the drummer of the original metal band Mathias Steele? He’s terrific and learns new material fast!
[SUE]: That’s true, we had a few shows that Paul could not make and Nino has sat in with us.
[PAUL]: Yes, Nino is our 5th member and I owe him many thanks for filling in when I had other obligations. He is a great guy and superb drummer.
KATE: I love that about this tri-state area of RI-MA-CT. There’s a camaraderie. Many of you are like family to each other.
[ERIC]: The original band scene in southeastern New England is very small. We all need to support each other just to keep the scene alive.
[DAVE]: There are some great bands out there we’ve played with. Hoping to play with them again.
[ERIC]: Between the five of us, we have either played shows with or been in bands with almost every local musician.
[SCOTT]: I would like to say it’s an absolute pleasure playing on stage with these incredibly talented people. Being on stage with the music flowing is like no high I have ever experienced. I’m exhausted by the time I get off stage, but ready to do it again at a moments notice. It’s really the energy flowing between the band and the audience that pushes me to play harder.
KATE: Dave had mentioned music and lyrics earlier. I’m listening to some C2I vids now. What inspires your songs?
[DAVE]: I write no lyrics. Just music.
[PAUL]: I connect with Dave’s music really well. He has an old school feel to his songs.
[SUE]: Well a lot of the songs were inspired by caring for my mom. It’s such a conflicting tornado of emotions when you become the parent and the parent becomes the child. Specifically, “Lay Your Head”, “Shut You Out” and “Fatal Kiss” were all mom songs. Other songs were mostly inspired by whatever emotion I was feeling at the time. I tend to either put my emotions into lyrics or paint them on canvas.
KATE: Speaking of your artwork, Sue, I love the Peter Steele painting I brought when you were vending at Rock ‘n Rhode Fest 2! My mom said he was scary when I hung it in the family room. So I happily returned him to my bedroom.
[SUE]: She hasn’t seen his naked pics, I take it.
KATE: His Playgirl spread? Hahahaha, no, but I sure as hell have!! I searched for it the moment I heard it existed. LOL. You would have needed a much bigger canvas, haha…..
[DAVE]: Eric naked?
[ERIC]: It was photo-shopped with my body as a stand in.
KATE: Which bands and musicians are C2I‘s biggest influences?
[PAUL]: Influences lol, I have 3 personals as far as drumming, Neil Peart, Ronnie Tutt and Peter Criss.
[ERIC]: I think what makes our band different than others IS our personal taste in music.
[SUE]: Now that’s a loaded question because we all have so many different tastes that jumbles in together and whatever we are doing seems to work.
KATE: I’ll give you my best guesses: Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Led Zeppelin, Sabbath, Cream, Heart, early Aerosmith, Kiss, Bad Co.
[SUE]: Now your talking my language!!
KATE: I hear a bit of all those bands and more in your songs.
[SUE]: Every time I get off the stage I get at least three or four Janis Joplin references.
[DAVE]: Sue is metal Janis.
[DAVE]: For me way too many. Kiss, Maiden, Priest, Cheap Trick, The Who, Beatles, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Testament, Queen….70’s funk.
[ERIC]: My music collection ranges from the Andrew Sisters to Anthrax.
[SUE}: I’m like Eric. I listen to everything from jazz and classical to modern music just don’t like pop.
[ERIC]: Dave’s influence is the Peter Chris solo album, with makeup.
[DAVE]: Lmao. Actually Slim Whitman.
[ERIC]: But, speaking for Paul, I’m sure he’s not afraid to admit he enjoys everything from Rush to Elvis.
[DAVE]: My Kiss buddy in he band.
[ERIC]: You and Paul are kissing buddies?
[SUE]: Dave and Paul are huge Kiss fans. I even wrote a song about it called, “I Am in a Band with Kiss Fans”, because every time we practice there are multiple Kiss jam sessions in between songs.
[ERIC]: Don’t ask, don’t tell in this band!
[DAVE]: Ha ha. Kiss. We destroyed the fish net pics.
KATE: You mentioned working well with fill-in musicians as needed. If C2I could perform with any national band or musician (past, present, dead or alive) who would it be?
[ERIC]: Tom Jones.
[PAUL]: I think Eric nailed it when he said “everything from Elvis to Rush”. There are many for all of us, at any time during our practice we will burst into Priest, Kiss, Ramone, Billy Squire, you name it and yes, me and Eric will jam a bit on the Monkees when no one is looking, lol, and tons more.
[SUE]: For me I would work with Frank Zappa. He is hands down one of my favorite musicians and it just looked like they had so much fun on stage.
[DAVE]: For me, Queen, Cheap Trick or Rush.
[ERIC]: Honestly, I respect anyone who is willing to pour their emotions out in their music and live shows. I don’t think I would refuse sharing the stage with anyone who feels passionate about music.
[DAVE]: How bout scum of the earth, Eric?
[SUE]: GWAR!
[SCOTT]: Kate, as an aside, this is my first REAL band and I was 47 years old at the time. Although, I’ve played guitar since the mid 80’s.
KATE: Now for a fun and silly question. If C2I had a spirit animal, what would it be?
[DAVE]: Unicorn from hell.
[SUE]: A platypus.
[ERIC]: Sasquatch.
[SUE]: Because the platypus look like a whole bunch of different animals put together and that’s us!
[ERIC]: Ah, I thought you were talking about us as individuals. I’m elusive, hairy, just not tall. Little Foot indeed.
KATE: I want to thank all of Chained To Insanity for performing at Rock ‘n Rhode Fest 2-you guys rocked the house!! And Scott and Chris getting pics and vid, Eric helping me with event coordination, Sue’s artwork provided amazing eye candy. What a great time! So what’s next for C2I?
[SUE]: Well, we have been on furlough through the pandemic and are planning to get back to practice soon. We hope to be playing out once everything opens up again and we will be working on new material once we get back at it.
[DAVE]: What Sue said.
[SUE]: I know Dave has some new songs for me to listen to and I have a pile of lyrics I intend to fit into them.
[PAUL]: As far as what’s next? It will be nice to get out in front of a crowd again and play our music. Whether it’s for 25 people or “Steve”, we always play as if it’s a sold out place. But regardless, as long as I get to play with my band family. I don’t care if it’s in a basement, a crowd, or the side of a street. We always make it work, we always have fun.
[ERIC]: Locking forward to the reopening of the venues. Speaking on the behalf of all of us, we really miss playing our music to our fans, being able to interact with them and share in the rock and roll community of southern New England. That’s the printable answer, the real answer. We’re all going stir crazy and really miss making noise!
[SUE]: We love Rock ‘n Rhode and had a blast playing it.
KATE: I’m so glad! I picked most of the bands that year, which was great. So any C2I news I missed out on?
[SCOTT]: One thing to note is we’re endorsed by Dirtbag Clothing. Gotta put them in.
KATE: Ha ha… just checked their website. Great slogan: “When you have the passion you wear it till it stinks”! Hahaha, love it.
[ERIC]: So why don’t we get free clothes to wear on stage? I’m all about free stuff!
[SCOTT]: We get deep discounts, LOL. Dimebag was one of the first endorsers. They’re a “small” company but REALLY care for their artists.
[ERIC]: Okay, good enough.
[SUE]: Another thing you might want to know is that I am ordained and I married Dave (Lazz) and Ramona on stage at the Met at one of our shows at the end of our set.
[SCOTT]: Sue married Christy and I as well.
[SUE]: I sure did!
KATE: Always available to help out a band mate! That’s really great!
[SCOTT]: Christy and I are getting pretty good at the photography thing…We feel anyway.
[ERIC]: Yeah, I got nothing cool like that. Just like any artist, you never master it. You just make less mistakes!
[SCOTT]: Absolutely, still lost lol.
[SCOTT]: One of my favs was playing a charity at my old school, URI.
KATE: Now that’s an example of two birds, one stone for ya. Show the ole alums how great things are going for you, while also donating your time and talent for charity. Must have felt wonderful.
[DAVE]: Forgot to mention…a few years ago we made the short list for the Grammys with 2 songs. Also before Covid, we had two #1 songs on CKIW 76 radio. For almost a year. They had to retire one of them.
KATE: Holy cow! That’s incredible! I had no idea that the Grammys were interested in bands that weren’t nationally known. Kudos to them. And even bigger kudos to Chained To Insanity.
[SCOTT]: Yes, thank you! We were in the top 10 for months. The top 5 more often than not.
[SUE]: We were number 1 for so long that they kicked us off the list!
KATE: I think I remember that contest. I know I voted for you in more than one of those. I guess I never heard the results. Absolutely awesome! But I gotta ask again, while my jaw is till on the floor: The Grammys? Really?
[SCOTT]: Yes, we made the final ballot. It was when Disturbed got it for “The Sound of Silence”.
KATE: This is just amazing to me! I thought I hated the Grammys, lol. Maybe now I don’t.
[SUE]: We were being represented by Big Noise the year we got the Grammy ballot.
KATE: I am in awe!!! SO happy for you! I had no idea at the time, but then again I’m about music and social media-haven’t turned a TV on in 5 years, lol, so I haven’t paid attention to Grammy news.
[SUE]: Well getting on a Grammy ballot is not getting a Grammy nomination. You get on the ballot and then the board members from the Grammys vote on who gets the nominations. As Scott said we were up against Disturbed and David Bowie. So we did not get the nomination but we did get on the ballot and that’s big considering the thousands of musicians who submit to the Grammys every single year.
[SCOTT]: I’m so glad you explained all that, lol.
KATE: LOL, yes. It’s still huge. Congrats!
I hope the humor and personality of this great band and its members has translated well to the readers. Interviewing them has been as entertaining as attending their shows, and that’s saying something. Such an amazingly talented band of real human beings. No ego or drama, just heart and soul. I’m looking forward to hearing the material they will be working on post pandemic and seeing many future shows. See you there!
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