On a steamy September night, Fuel front man Brett Scallions stalks the stage of New York's Roseland
Ballroom. He clearly enjoys the sight of a packed house, occasionally propping himself precariously on a
monitor and playfully taunting the crowd -- not surprising for a guy who admits that he loves the freedom
of throwing off his guitar and "getting in everyone's face. It's clear that New York fans don't mind one bit.
As Fuel lashes into the last caustic song of the set, "Ozone," Scallions closes his eyes and sings with
savage ecstasy as thrashing moshers are lifted on raised arms just a few feet away from him. Drummer
Kevin Miller is stripped to the waist and sweat-soaked, slamming the skins with carnal rage.
Guitarist/songwriter Carl Bell and bassist Jeff Abercrombie, weave around Scallions, creating the glorious
wall of electric fury that makes Fuel one of the most explosive hard rock acts to emerge in recent memory.
In fact, at a recent club gig in Sacramento, California, Scallions and Bell collided right in the middle of
"Ozone," the headstock of Bell's guitar cracking Scallions in the face and splitting the singer's upper lip. "I
saw stars," says Brett. "I turned around and grabbed the towel off my amp to wipe my face off, looked
down, and saw that it was covered with blood."
Scallions turned back to the mic and attempted to finish the song -- then realized the injury made it
impossible for him to sing. "He had trouble with those P's," laughs Bell. "Later, the hospital report called
the incident 'assault with guitar.'"
Riding on a wave of success generated from their runaway hit single, the gorgeous and gritty "Shimmer,"
the guys who made Harrisburg, Pennsylvania a hot music scene have a lot to celebrate these days.
Not only are they in the midst of a heavy tour including overseas gigs and arena support dates in the fall
of 1998, but Fuel's debut album Sunburn has been certified gold and hit the No. 1 slot on Billboard's
"Heatseekers" chart. The follow-up single to "Shimmer," the more aggressive "Bittersweet," is already
riding the active rock and modern charts. The band recorded a new long entitled "Walk The Sky" for the
platinum Godzilla soundtrack with Pearl Jam producer Brendan O'Brien. The guys had their first taste of
television, performing on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." They have played large festivals throughout
the country with everyone from the Foo Fighters to Green Day. In October '98, Fuel's "Shimmer" video
was nominated for two Billboard Music Video Awards, for Best New Artist Clip in both the
Alternative/Modern Rock and Hard Rock/Metal categories.
Most notably, the guys have been overwhelmed by enthusiastic press response. "Breezy melodies with
full-out metallic aggression," wrote Rolling Stone, and Entertainment Weekly praised the band's "brutish
guitar stylings and familiar, yet contagious choruses." New York Times music critic Jon Pareles caught a
live gig and admired how the band played with "passion and precision," noting Fuel's "sharper riffs
making way for clear melodies."
The entire year has been a happy, but head-scratching one for a group of four determined guys who just
inked their first major label deal with 550 Music a mere year and a half ago.
"On many occasions Carl and I will walk out into these arenas mid-afternoon before soundcheck," says
Miller. "The seats are empty and we just sit there, put our foreheads together and say 'is this really
happening to us?' It's like an outer-body experience."
Produced by Steven Haigler (The Pixies, Quicksand, Local H) and mixed by Tom Lord-Alge (Marilyn
Manson, Hole), Fuel's Sunburn is eleven compelling tracks of hard-edged, but strikingly melodic rock
born from the prolific ideas of songwriter Bell.
"Writing is like therapy for me," says Bell. "It helps you decode what's going on in your life." Currently
working on new songs while the band tours, Bell admits to spending hours sometimes searching for the
right word, the most compelling lyric that matches the melody in his head. "There has to be something
that hooks me," he points out. "You have to find it quickly and then slowly flesh out the details."
Carl's diligence paid off with the songs on Sunburn. Edgy, raw and explosively played, tracks like
"Untitled" and "Jesus Or A Gun" shift into surprising moments of introspective beauty. On "It's Come To
This," Fuel actually uses a drum 'n' bass approach in structuring a rock song, creating a bold mix of
genres. Lyrically, Bell immerses himself in the perils of relationships and life, from the vulnerability of
"Shimmer" to the brutal revelations of "Sunburn."
Carl Bell and Jeff Abercrombie grew up as boyhood friends in a small Western Tennessee town ("Carl's
mother used to baby-sit me when I was in diapers," recalls Abercrombie with a smile). Growing up without
television in a "two stop light" town, Bell's primary entertainment as a teenager was listening to the 500
vinyl albums his older brother won from a Memphis radio station. "Instead of coming home and watching
'Gilligan's Island,'" says Bell, "I'd throw on a Stones record."
Although both boys started out playing guitar, Abercrombie jokes that Bell slyly convinced him to play the
bass "'cause it was cooler." In a town so small that there were only 27 people in Bell's graduating class,
the guys found themselves struggling to find fellow musicians. Abercrombie was actually the first to meet
Brett Scallions, who grew up in the town of Brownsville, Tennessee and was trying to get by playing
small gigs with various musicians.
As a young singer Scallions worshipped the vocals of the Cult's Ian Astbury, but Scallions' own powerful
voice resonates with an unique, expressive energy. Fuel finally crystallized when Scallions joined the
band on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. The group recorded an eight-song demo cassette which sold
nearly 5,000 copies at shows and stores. That first flush of success convinced them that a move to a
larger city with greater radio, gig and media options was essential. Although Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
may not rank with Seattle or Austin as user-friendly music towns, Fuel made the most of a great location
that placed them in a central point near Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
"We began to build a loyal following," says Scallions. "The fan base supported us from day one and it
just grew and grew." In fact, upon the release of the band's self-produced, promoted and financed EP
Porcelain, local radio stations immediately jumped on an early version of "Shimmer," garnering the band
early airplay, sold-out gigs, positive press and the attention of record companies. Shortly after a gig at the
Electric Factory in Philadelphia, Fuel was signed to 550 Music.
At the same time, drummer Kevin Miller befriended Bell, Scallions, and Abercrombie while playing with
another East Coast band. After recording Sunburn with an outside session drummer, Fuel approached
Miller to join them -- beginning with a high-profile showcase at New York's C.B.G.B.'s, with a mere six
hours of rehearsal time.
"It was my first show and they threw me right in the melting pot," laughs Miller. "I figured that I had honed
my skills for years and years for a moment like this, so it was either put up or shut up!"
As gifted musicians and dynamic performers with a gold certified debut album and hits on radio and
MTV, Fuel has had a truly meteoric rise through the ranks of up-and-coming rock bands. Now they're
hungry to hit the road for their own headline gigs, like their appearance at Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival
in early September '98. All four musicians are quick to confess that they thrive on the adrenaline rush of
Fuel's raucous live shows.
"I like to establish to everyone early in the set that you're coming on our ride," says Scallions, "and it's
going to be a lot wilder than you expected."
