Semi Precious Weapons, the band opening for Lady Gaga, has a curious history with the flamboyant mega-pop star. At one time, she used to open for them.

“Yes, she was,” says Semi Precious Weapons singer Justin Tranter. “Thank God. It changed my life. Then she moved to L.A. to make the biggest record of the decade.”

Though her evolving persona of carefully constructed theatrical dance-pop contrasted sharply with their brand of trashy, uninhibited glam-rock, they felt an instant connection.

“Gaga has been a huge fan of ours since she was about 19 years old,” Tranter says. “So, she was a big fan of ours back in New York City, when no one knew who we were besides her. She started opening for us in New York in about 2007.

“I think we share the same aesthetic, though it’s musically very different,” he says. “We’re both very visual, we’re very over the top, very filthy. But we’re very honest musicians — the four of us (Semi Precious Weapons) met in music school. Much like Gaga — even though it’s a very visual over-the-top performance — we still take the music very, very seriously.”

The band began in 2006, after Tranter and his bandmates chucked everything they learned in music school, and struck out for the bright lights of New York City — and were disappointed by what they found.

“We had been in music school and were taking music so seriously, over-intellectually,” Tranter says. “So, we tried to get together and just write songs that would make us happy, and were fun. In terms of New York City, we moved there thinking it would be like Max’s Kansas City (an infamous ’60s-’70s nightclub) in an Andy Warhol documentary. It was actually much more like behind the scenes in ‘Sex and the City.’ I’m not going to make fun of it, but that was not what we were looking for.

“All the other bands in New York were taking themselves too seriously, and everything was so boring. So, we started this band and convinced all these DJs and promoters in New York to let us play at their parties. That’s how kids like Gaga did hear of us, because all of a sudden we started playing at the coolest parties in New York, where rock bands weren’t playing.”

Now that the band is playing in sold-out arenas all over the country, it might be tempting to put those sweaty nights of wild abandon behind them. But probably not — Semi Precious Weapons not only opens for Gaga, it also hosts an after-party at a club in every city. The after-party in Pittsburgh will be at the Altar Bar, starting at 9:30 p.m.

“Gaga doesn’t do afterparties — it’s a security risk,” explains Tranter, who will DJ the afterparty. “I spin everything from Metallica to Beyonce to Guns ‘N Roses to Gaga (of course). There’s lots of champagne poured all over the audience, and lots of people barely dressed.”

-Source: PittsburghLive

Check out this interview with Justin and Cole of Semi Precious Weapons, where they talk about how rock ‘n’ roll has become confusing and somewhat non-existent. They also talk about their life before becoming famous, and the tour with Lady GaGa.

Semi Precious Weapons clearly don’t like days off! The band has spent the last nine months on the Monster Ball tour with Lady Gaga and have another nine months ahead of them. You would think they would cherish the three weeks off between the current North American leg of the tour and the forthcoming European shows, but instead the band will stay on the road and play their own 13-city “Dirty Showbiz” headlining tour!

Semi Precious Weapons “Dirty Showbiz” Tour Dates:

9/20/10 Atlanta, GA Masquerade
9/22/10 Houston, TX Numbers
9/23/10 Dallas, TX The Loft
9/25/10 Las Vegas, NV Hard Rock Café**
9/27/10 Los Angeles,CA El Rey
9/28/10 San Francisco, CA Slims
9/30/10 Chicago, IL Subterranean
10/2/10 Toronto, ONT Wrong Bar**
10/3/10 Montreal QC Belmont**
10/5/10 Philadelphia, PA Northstar
10/7/10 Washington, DC Rock n Roll Hotel
10/8/10 New York, NY Irving Plaza
10/9/10 Boston, MA Royale**

The tour follows the recent release of SPW’s album debut with rock world producer-kingpin Jack Joseph Puig (The Rolling Stones, Beck, Black Eyed Peas) and Executive Producer Lady Gaga, YOU LOVE YOU, on Geffen/Streamline/Cherrytree Records, now available in stores and on iTunes.

Semi Precious Weapons frontman, Justin Tranter, explains, “We get our work ethic from Gaga herself and who would want to be at home when you have a mission. Our mission is to bring rock n’ roll, REAL ROCK N’ ROLL back and we will be bringing it back to audiences all over the country before we head to Europe on the Monster Ball”. Tranter continued, “The shows are “all ages” because we want to make sure that every kid gets a chance to experience rock n roll and is able to come and dance, scream and party during our night of filthy glamour on the Dirty Showbiz tour!”

Fellow members of the Precious Empire, Breedlove and Lady Starlight will be “Special Guests” on the “Dirty Showbiz” tour. Breedlove will appear on all shows and Lady Starlight from Las Vegas on.

The band recently made International headlines when their epic performance at the Lollapalooza Music Festival in Chicago which caused friend and fan Lady Gaga to stage dive and crowd surf during their set with Justin. The performance has been viewed over 10,000,000 times on YouTube. Last weekend, Semi Precious Weapons joined Slash and the Smashing Pumpkins at the Los Angeles’ 3rd annual Sunset Strip Music Festival and the performance ended with fans jumping the barricade and joining the band on stage for the finale of “Rock N Roll Never Looked So Beautiful.”

Check out these CRAZY videos from the front row of the guys performing at the Sunset Strip Musical Festival a few days ago, where Justin demanded that fans be taken up on stage with them! It looked like one filthy show!

Justin calling the fans up on stage

Sticky with Champagne

Cole up close

Weapons! Below is a list of contact details for Radio Stations in New Zealand & Australia who play Semi Precious Weapons, be sure to request them as much to ensure maximum airplay!

New Zealand:

The Edge

http://www.theedge.co.nz/

PHONE STUDIO: 0800 THE EDGE (0800 843 3343)
TXT STUDIO: Send your txt to 3343 (Txts cost 20c each)
music@theedge.co.nz

ZM Online

http://www.zmonline.com/

Phone:0800 DIALZM (0800 342596)
Fax:09 3674804
Text:ZMZM (9696)
zm@zmonline.com

MTV NZ

http://www.mtv.co.nz/

Phone us: 09 308 6600
mtvnz.feedback@mtvn.co.nz

Juice TV

http://www.juicetv.com/

+64-9-308 5855

C4 TV

http://www.c4tv.co.nz/

(09) 928 9000
Our on-air number is: 0800 C4 MUSIC (0800 24 68742).

Australia:

Nova FM

http://www.novafm.com.au/nova100/

General Telephone: (03) 8420 3999
SMS: 1998 1069
STUDIO: 13 24 10
top10@novafm.com.au

Mix 1011

http://www.mix1011.com.au/

(03) 9414 1011
music@mix1011.com.au

The HitList

http://www.thehitlist.com.au/vote-here.php << Vote for Semi Precious Weapons

2DAY FM

http://www.2dayfm.com.au/

number’s 1800 15 11 00

Mix 1065

http://www.mix1065.com.au/

Phone No: (02) 8899 9888
Fax: (02) 8899 9566#

Special thank you to Krista for compiling the list

Be sure to request Semi Precious Weapons daily

She may have exploded into international infamy with her debut record, The Fame, but Lady Gaga never forgot where she came from — which couldn’t have worked out better for her favourite New York band, Semi Precious Weapons, opening act on Gaga’s gargantuan Monster Ball.

“She kicked and screamed and put her foot down until everyone that works with her and for her let us open her tour. And here we are,” says SPW frontman Justin Tranter over the phone from a stop in San Jose, Calif., six months into an insane world arena tour that will keep him and his band on the go until next May.

Formed in New York in 2006 by four stylish music school grads looking to inject a little glamour and filth back into rock ’n’ roll, SPW quickly attracted the devotion of Gaga, then a young singer-songwriter.

“She was a big fan of ours, luckily, thank God,” says Tranter. “Probably one of our first fans we had that wasn’t related to me.”
When Gaga began collaborating with Lady Starlight in what Tranter — an emerging style icon in his own right — describes as “over-the-top, Hairspray sort of disco-ball breaking insanity,” SPW knew they’d found their perfect match and asked the pair to open a show for them.

“[Gaga] became our permanent opener in New York; every time we played, she’d open. And then she moved to L.A. to make the biggest record of the decade,” Tranter says. “The first time [SPW] heard ‘Just Dance,’ we were driving through Minnesota to play a show to like 15 people and we heard it on the radio. We always stayed in touch with her, so it was just kind of really surreal and insane.”

Obviously, when its newly successful longtime admirer hand-plucked SPW from the world of dingy bars and danger vans, taking it to a promised land of stadium seating and climate-controlled tour buses, everything changed, says Tranter. Oh, except the most important thing: “Our show is exactly the same. Whether we’re playing in a bar to 30 people or whether we’re playing in an arena, we do the exact same show.”

The hardworking band’s crazy workload hasn’t lessened since graduating from DIY to Monster Ball — it’s just shifted. “There is still some filth and some glamour and some rock ’n’ roll debauchery,” says Tranter, “[But] both situations are tons of work, just in different ways. The smaller bars, we’re driving ourselves from venue to venue, we’re selling our own merch, we’re making our own merch. But there aren’t 200 kids who want to meet you and have their CD signed.”

There are also the daily on-location concert ticket giveaways, the interviews, the soundchecks, the shows, and the inevitable after-parties, which typically feature DJ slots or live SPW sets, to think about. And as Tranter mentions, each gig is followed by a meet-and-greet where fans can get their copy of SPW’s debut record, You Love You, signed.

SPW’s work won’t stop with the Monster Ball: expect the band’s follow-up record early in 2011, as well as a headlining tour though Canada during its off-time this autumn.

-Source: SeeMagazine

Interviewer: Hunter Mullich, SF Appeal

Semi Precious Weapons. Remember that name, you’ll probably be seeing it a lot in the near future. Fronted by the undeniably attractive, bleach blonde Justin Tranter, the band of four comes from New York City. The over-the-top glam rockers released their debut album You Love You in June, they’re on Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball tour (arguably one of the biggest of the year), and things have never been better.

The band recently received a tidal wave of attention after their Lollapalooza performance a couple weeks ago, where their close friend Lady Gaga showed up and performed a now famous stage dive. The jump was covered by virtually every media outlet there, one Youtube video of the incident has over million views.

I met with the band on their tour bus outside of San Jose’s HP Pavilion, where they opened for Lady Gaga on Tuesday as part of her Monster Ball tour. They sipped warm whiskey out of red cups, I stuck with water. We sat and talked about the current state of rock and roll, the famous stage dive, sexual tension with Gaga and her kissing skills, and why they’re hated in their home town.

First of all, I saw you guys at Lollapalooza, great show. It’s definitely a show people have been talking about.

Justin Tranter (vocals)- Even before she (Gaga) jumped off stage!

Yea! I saw you tweeted that you had 6,000 people at that show?

JT-Yes, we found out afterwards we had over 6,000 people there.

Is that your biggest show so far?

JT- Definitely.

So, was that infamous [Lady Gaga] stage dive planned or…

JT- Not at all!

It just kind of happened in the moment?

Cole Whittle (bass)- We didn’t even know she was coming to the show. She didn’t either, she came last minute and kind of surprised us.

JT- Yea, two of our friends, Lady Starlight and another one of our friends were with her , and they were like “Oh, were gonna go watch SPW” and [Gaga] was like “Oh why the fuck didn’t anyone tell me?!”

(laughs)

JT- Well, cause normally you’re a little busy…

CW- And then she stole a fucking golf cart!

JT- She drove a golf cart to get there!

CW- She couldn’t find a driver and was like “Fuck this!” (makes golf cart sounds)

After that whole stage dive went down you said rock and roll isn’t dead, do you really believe that?

CW- Absolutely.

JT- We do believe that.

Cause these days it’s hard to get a song on the radio with out some kind of synthesized hook.

CW-Tropical robot (laughs).

JT- It’s impossible! Because even quote un quote rock bands, ya’ know, the drums are fake, everything’s fake. Pretend keyboards, ya’ know in a “rock band”. Um, but either we’re delusional or very optimistic go-getters. But we truly believe that we will get rock and roll back on the radio.

So you guys are shooting for a radio song?

JT- Yes, we actually want our whole album to be on the radio (laughs).

Did you have control over all the songs that went on your last album?

CW- 100 percent, either because they trusted us artistically or they were like “I don’t wanna get near these weirdos.”

JT- Either way!

So you were voted NYC’s best band in Village Voice, but I’ve also read that they hate you there. How’d that work out?

JT- Well it was actually just a Village Voice readers poll, so it was our fans voting. But at that point I don’t think we’d even played a show outside of New York, maybe in Boston or something but that was it. It was just that our fans, and the kind of magical, ridiculous world that we had created in New York, those kids were obsessed with us, and we were all that mattered to them. That’s back when Gaga was opening for us. And everyone else in New York thought we were losers, complete idiots.

You must have too fun for them I guess.

JT- Yes, if you have fun you must be an idiot, as far as New York is concerned. Which is pretty awful. Considering that’s what made New York, fun and intelligence and sophistication put together. But now it’s about something else. It’s about Sarah Jessica Parker and fat people.

Is there any tension with Gaga now that you’re opening for her?

JT-Oh no.

CW- There’s sexual tension.

(laughs)

JT- That’s totally true, there’s sexual tension with Gaga. But no, it’s a dream come true, for all of us. And she’s so proud of the fact that she used to open for us. And we’re so proud of the fact that, ya’ know, if she wasn’t the biggest star in the world and we didn’t start to get more and more fans, partly because of her, we would be doing the exact same show to 100 people in New York City.

CW- Just like we were before.

JT- So we’re all pretty proud of the fact that, ya’ know, as far as we’re concerned it’s the new New York. It’s like a movement touring the whole world.

CW- She stage dove from our old shows, but there was no crowd surfing (laughs). Now there is.

JT- Her and I made out on stage many a time in 2007 and no one cared.

CW- I cared!

Is she a good kisser?

JT- She’s a great kisser.

Do you call her Gaga or do you call her Stefani?

JT- Gaga, we met her as Gaga.

You guys are definitely on an up swing of popularity, going on this tour, all these different things, your first album coming out. How far do you want to take it?

JT- We want to be the biggest band in the whole world.

CW- We want to be the best at everything. Ever.