Despite the accolades he's been receiving for Death in Vegas' second album, The Contino Sessions, his reputation as the acclaimed former resident DJ at the Heavenly Social in London, and his knack for the visual arts, Richard Fearless is, above all, a die-hard music fan. "I still get excited chasing around for a record or meeting someone," says the twenty-seven-year-old Fearless. "I'm like 'Who am I? I'm a mere mortal.' I still get like that and I think it's good. I hope I never get to the stage where I'm just cocksure about myself musically."

On The Contino Sessions, the psychedelic new album named after Fearless' own personal playground, Contino, a recording studio and art room all under one roof, Fearless enlisted a few of his rock & roll heroes to add their signature styles -- Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie, the Jesus & Mary Chain's Jim Reid, and Iggy Pop. "I wanted to work with three male vocalists who were very in tune with each other," Fearless explains. "And there was a parallel there, not just in lyrical content, but there's a dark edge to them. You think Mary Chain, Primal Scream and the Stooges, and there's some temerity there. Certainly the Mary Chain and Primal Scream were influenced by the Stooges."

Fearless individually designed music for each voice, sent out tapes of the backing tracks and crossed his fingers. The outcome was a sweeping three for three, and each guest vocalist wrote his own lyrics. "I knew Bobby anyway, from going out," Fearless says. "I always wanted him to do a track. So, to work with Scream was massive for me." Gillespie's contribution, "Soul Auctioneer," glitters as the standout track on the innovative album, which ranges from warbling pop soundscapes to hard-driving rock. To an infectious dance meets hip-hop beat, the Primals mouthpiece almost raps in a Dylan drawl about "eggs hatching insects" inside his head.
Reid offers his distinctive vocals on the hypnotic "Broken Little Sister," a track reminiscent of his band circa 1985's Psychocandy. "When I was a teenager, one wall of my room was just a massive picture of the Mary Chain," Fearless recalls. "It was brilliant to work with him. I'm just so glad he liked the song."

Reid was just as impressed with Fearless. "I liked the genre overlap," Reid says. "When people experiment like that and don't stick to the same old formulas, that should be applauded. I like the fact that there's a Mary Chain-esque track back-to-back with something ambient." Reid, who also has his own studio, cleverly called the Drugstore, was impressed with Fearless and musical partner Tim Holmes attitude toward making music. "They have a small studio and that allows them the kind of independence to do what they want to do."
And, lastly, the most important cameo for Fearless was Iggy Pop himself. Brimming with fanaticism, Fearless recounts the day that Iggy recorded his murky track, "Aisha," at Electric Lady Studios in New York: "It was just such a weird day because we were so nervous and there were so many things I wanted to ask him and things just came out like, 'My favorite color is blue' or something like that, just looking like a total fool."

Scottish songstress Dot Allison, formerly of One Dove and currently Fearless' girlfriend of three years, appears on the opening track, "Dirge." "The idea was to have the album start like a funeral march, which was 'Dirge,'" Fearless says. "It was just a mantra from the beginning, and Dot was in the studio at the time and we were just trying to layer it and she just said 'What about vocals?'"

Despite all the cameos, and Fearless and Holmes' willingness to share their spotlight, Fearless' favorite track is the closer, "Neptune City," which has no guest vocalists. "It's the triumphant end," he says. "To me, Neptune City is like the lost city of gold."

And, speaking of cities, what does Fearless think of his band's namesake, the bright light city of Vegas? "I've never been there," he confesses. "It's just a name, but a really strong name."

LIZA GHORBANI
(September 23, 1999)