Previously a member of Ten Inch Men and Talk Show, Dave Coutts is now back, after an absence from the music business, with a new single ‘Teargas in August’, that’s just been released digitally through Golden Robot Records.
Described as “a tasty sample platter of the soft and rockier sides of his style with changing tempos and melodies”. The acid trippy flashback lyrics keep you second guessing the true meaning of this tune. If you’re a fan of 60s and early 70s melodies akin to The Beatles, The Who and The Kinks, you might want to check it out.
Ten Inch Men formed back in 1984, and rocked college communities around America. The band released 3 singles, 2 EPs and 1 album, with Dave Coutts featured on guitar and vocals. They received some heavy rotation radio play opened for acts as diverse LA punk band X in front of over 10,000 people, for Bon Jovi in San Diego and San Francisco, alongside the likes of The Knack, Living Color and Fishbone, before Couttsquit in 1994.
In 1995, he got a phone call from Steve Stewart, the manager of Stone Temple Pilots.
“Steve asked me if I would be interested in being the front man for Stone Temple Pilots. I thought I was getting punked but he wasn’t kidding. I met with Robert a couple of times, did a very informal audition, and started recording demos with them.”
Eventually, this transformed into the band Talk Show, recorded an album on The Atlantic Records Label and touring with The Foo Fighters and Aerosmith. They won MTV’s Best Rock Video in ’97 and their single ‘Hello Hello’ went straight to radio and charted at number 8 on the Billboard Rock Charts, the band disbanding in January ‘98.
What the hell has Dave Coutts been doing for the last 20 years? Raising a family with his wife Tracey who he married just before the Talk Show album was released. Coutts has recorded a few times with his friend guitarist and bass player John McCloy when his kids were younger, but really wanted to look after his growing family and follow some of his other passions.
“My path back to music started when I went to a funeral for my friend and keyboard player Jimmy Schumacher in 2018 and saw some old musician friends there. ‘Went to see a buddy play at a club, met more old friends and fell into a cover band called the Long Beach Leftovers with Mickey and Mark Meckes, George Wyant, Kevin Bartley and Norm Antonini. Around the same time, I met Marty Beal, and started recording with him at his studio the Racket Room in Santa Ana CA.
“It’s been a blast getting back into music. I feel like I have been reunited with a long-lost friend.”
You can check out the video to ‘Teargas In August’ right here at RAMzine and order it here.
