Prophets Of Addiction's Lesli Sanders

By Jay Oakley

I'm sitting here with Lesli Sangers of Prophets of Addiction and he's currently doing a series of solo shows. Lesli, how is the tour going so far?

It's been really good. It's as fun as it can be, sitting on a stood by yourself up on the stage. [Laughs]

You'd mentioned that you just finished your new solo album, My Eyes Are Greener On The Other Side, a few days ago. How did that go, putting it together and being able to bring it right out on tour?

I've done acoustic stuff before but I've just played the songs that I've played in my bands, Prophets Of Addiction and things like that. This recording was the first time that I specifically wrote songs for that purpose, to be acoustic songs. I did end up adding percussion and some strings and stuff like that, there's more on the recording then I'm able to perform live. The reviews so far and everyone that's hear it so far have thought it's really good which is good to me because I don't ever really know if it's good or not. [Laughs] I just do what I do and people can like it or they don't like it.

Absolutely. Your first solo album, The Haunting Truth Of My Self Portrait, is more Prophets stuff done acoustically?

No, first solo album just has some different stuff. It's something I did that was more electronic, dancey-sounding stuff on there. This one is more just acoustic guitar, bass songs.

When it comes to this current tour, you're taking a little bit of time off from your work with Prophets Of Addiction, are you working on new music and is that what allowed for this solo tour or are you just taking a little time off?

Yeah, I don't know what exactly is going to happen right now. We toured a lot the last few years and I'm gonna go to Texas as soon as I get back. I've got a week back home in the Seattle area, then I go to Texas and myself and Glenn, G.G., the guitar player, we're going to do a series of shows on the weekends there, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio and San Angelo, Texas and it's going to be called Prophets Of Addiction Unplugged and we're gonna basically play Prophets Of Addiction. So, It'll be me on acoustic and him on acoustic playing all the lead guitar stuff and everything and on the weekdays we're gonna be recording some new Prophets Of Addiction stuff.

Speaking of Prophets Of Addiction, you've gone through a small lineup changes with a couple members departing the band, is that slowing you down when it comes to recording new material?

It won't really make any difference. We're just going to be working with a different drummer. We're going to take the songs to a different place then they were before. I'm kinda going for a whole different feel in the songs. That will start with the feel I'm looking for with the drummer we choose to play on the songs and maybe we'll have a different drummer on a couple different songs at first, I don't know exactly what will happen. We're going to figure that out in the next little while. So, we're going to record a few new songs, we might record an unplugged record as well, tour with that for a bit. It's just getting so expensive to go places with a full band these days. I can afford to and we can go to Australia, the UK, pile in a car and tour as just a two-piece acoustic thing and basically get the same amount of money at way less expense.

With it being so early in the year, what do you have planned? Are you going to work mostly on writing and performing acoustic before you get back out there with a full band?

Yeah, I'm waiting on the right shows and stuff, some festivals and some things like that, some tours. I'm not just going to go back out, drive around for three months playing shows at clubs, not right off the bat right now because I'm going to do this record, do some new recordings and concentrate on some business sides of things for a little bit and see where that goes. I've got some people that are very interested to hear what the band will sound like with some changes. They're pretty interested to see where the new stuff will take us to, what level we'll go to.

I love to talk history and I do love Pretty Boy Floyd and the work you did with them. How do you look back on your time with Pretty Boy Floyd? Are you happy with your time there? Is there anything you'd like to change? How do you look at it as a whole?

I thought it was a great experience. I got to go to Japan several times, Europe several times, play big festivals, it was a really great time. I was all fucked up back in those days and wasted so obviously, as fun as it was I wish I could have had fun a different way. But, I really appreciated being in that, had a lot of great times and stuff.

When it came to your decision to close that chapter was it simply because you wanted to put together a project that was your own? What was behind your decision to leave?

Well, I'm not really sure what happened at the time. I think it was, kind of, a mutual thing. Steve (Summers) and the guys were doing stuff, I was doing stuff too. I was heavily into drugs at the time, so they, kind of, went and did something and Steve, kind of, took a break for a while anyhow. I did however, just last year, play a bunch of shows, probably four or five shows, with Steve as Steve Summers in which we play Pretty Boy Floyd songs. But, it wasn't called Pretty Boy Floyd, it was Steve Summers: The Voice Of Pretty Boy Floyd. 

So, as a whole you found it to be a positive experience.

Yeah, of course. It was something I always dreamed of doing. Going to those other countries and touring like that, touring in a tour bus and all that. I always dreamed of that so being in that band gave me the opportunity to do that so I'll always be grateful for that.

If your phone rings with the possibility to return, would you?

Of course! [Laughs] I would have fun. I always had fun and I like those songs. It's not exactly the kind of music that I play but I was always a fan of those songs and I always had a great time playing them.

Lesli, thank you so much, man. It was so much fun getting to see you a few months ago with Prophets and again tonight acoustically. You've always been really great, really genuine and I appreciate your time.

Yeah, thank you.