Semi Precious Weapons on Bullying

As you can probably guess based on pretty much, well, everything about them, the guys of Semi Precious Weapons weren't exactly your average high school kids. Because of that, they were bullied just like every other teen who dares to stray from the social norm, and it's why, in light of the suicide of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi — and a host of other gay teen deaths in recent months — they decided to tell their stories to MTV News.

SPW hope that, much like the message of the "It Gets Better" campaign, they can convince their fellow outcasts that, yes, life does improve once high school is over. Very much so, in fact.


"In every school, there's always the kid who gets it the worst, and I was, for sure, that kid," frontman Justin Tranter said. "Every time you had to get in a line that was boys and girls, it was like my worst nightmare. A lot of kids I know got made fun of for being gay; that was not my issue, I was just called a girl endlessly. I definitely was that kid. And when I went to high school, my first semester in public high school, it actually got very, very violent, to the point where I had to switch schools," he continued. "But luckily, I'm really blessed because my family was so cool that I never really felt bad about it ... [and] I used it as motivation to do something cooler. So instead of just switching schools, I convinced my parents to let me go to the arts high school in the city, and I had to audition and get in, and it was a very nerve-racking experience, because not only did I want to go to an arts school, but I needed to leave the school."

But while Tranter was picked on for his gender issues, SPW bassist Cole Whittle's experience was a bit different. He was both bully and the bullied, which gives him a rather unique perspective on things.
"I went through a period where I realized what a little a--hole I was, and went around my middle school and actually apologized to a bunch of kids. And then, in high school, I wouldn't say I was bullied, but being a musician wasn't cool," he explained. "I went from being a jock and a wrestler to being a musician over a summer. I showed up dressed like Kurt Cobain, and my friends were like, 'What the?' So, it has nothing to do with orientation, it just has to do with 'you don't look exactly like me,' and I think that's terrible.

"And also, bullying is worse now than it's ever been in human history, because now you can be a cowardly bully. ... Making fun of a kid 20 years ago in front of his face was bullying, but now you can sit at home and be an anonymous bully and reach three times the audience with your stupid computer," he continued. "Back in the day, the worst thing you could do was have four people on speakerphone and call some kid a loser, and it's like, 'Aw, that sucks.' But now it's getting to the point where it literally can cripple you. So if anybody has a bully they want to send to me, I'll choke him out, immediately."

And obviously, both men are living proof that life does get better once high school ends. They tour the world with Lady Gaga, party hard (and often) and command a loyal legion of fans. In fact, they consider themselves, as Tranter puts it, "the coolest guys on the planet." So much so that they wrote a song about their experiences — one that has become an anthem for their fellow outcasts.

"We have a song called 'Statues of Ourselves,' and now, when we're playing these headline shows, we look out, and whether it's girls who are overweight, or whether it's teens with gender issues, or whether it's the jock dude at our show who feels slightly out of place in our world, when that song starts, you can see [it] in people's faces," Tranter said. "This song it kind of, for me at least, it's my personal anthem and my friends' anthem, that it doesn't matter that people think we're losers, we think we're cool enough that we're going to build statues of ourselves."

And if all of that isn't enough, Whittle has one last piece of advice for anyone who's being bullied or feels like they just can't go on.

"Just know that the guys picking on you or saying sh--, one day, they'll be sitting in a Cheesecake Factory somewhere staring at their wife," he laughed. "And you'll be doing what we get to do every night. Trust me."

Credit: MTV.COM

Join MTV, Brittany Snow and the Jed Foundation (with support from DoSomething.org, the Trevor Project, Reach Out, Active Minds and the Ad Council) in spreading the word that Love Is Louder. Upload your videos of support to Your.MTV.com and tweet your message with the hashtag #LoveIsLouder.

Semi Precious Weapons Talk 'Born this Way'

Being the opening act on Lady Gaga's never-ending Monster Ball Tour has afforded the gentlemen in Semi Precious Weapons some rather, uh, unique opportunities, the overwhelming majority of which we can't print here.

But there are perks besides the debauchery too — like getting to hear Gaga's ultra-anticipated new album Born This Way, which isn't due until next year. And after some prodding, we got SPW frontman Justin Tranter to give us a few details about the album, which, from the sound of things, is shaping up to be quite an experience.
"It's bold and it's beautiful," Tranter said. "Obviously, none of it's done, so I can't really speak on it, but the stuff she has played me is really, really beautiful and really, really bold."

That echoes what Gaga herself said about the album earlier this year, when she promised that Born This Way would feature "a lot of hit records that will piss people off." And she didn't stop there either.

"This album is my absolute greatest work I've ever done, and I'm so excited about it," she told RWD magazine. "The message, the melodies, the direction, the meaning, what it will mean to my fans and what it will mean in my own life — it's utter liberation."

And that sense of liberation stuck with Tranter too. Because based on what he's heard, Born This Way is definitely going to set some people free.

"Gaga was so excited when she found out the title of our album, You Love You. She couldn't believe it, because it fit so well into the idea of the Monster Ball and the ideas she's exploring on this album," he said. "Everything she says is that she really wants her new album to feel like freedom — that's what she keeps saying over and over."

Credit: Mtv.com

"Semi Precious Weapons Tweet-N-Greet"

By Matt Elias of MTV

Semi Precious Weapons are known for their unabashed stage presence, flamboyant wardrobe and, maybe most of all, undying love for their fans. So when Lady Gaga's opening act hit Los Angeles for the Monster Ball Tour, the band invited MTV News along to witness firsthand a pre-show tweet-n-greet, with a very precious prize at the end.

SPW frontman Justin Tranter explained how it all goes down: "Every single day, we announce where we're going to have our Semi Precious Street Corner. So we show up somewhere every day to give away two tickets, free tickets, to the Monster Ball."

By the time the band tweeted their location from backstage and walked across the street from the Staples Center, 30 die-hard fans were already lined up. What followed was an energetic, impromptu trivia game to award tickets to the Weapons' biggest fan.Once they arrived, Tranter took command of the crowd to narrow down three finalists.

"What is the fourth song on our album?" Tranter asked.

" 'Statues of Ourselves,' " finalist #1 answered.

Tranter continued: "Finish the sentence: 'Rock and roll never looked so ... ' "

"Beautiful!" screamed finalist #2.

"Last question: What is his name?" Tranter asked, while pointing at the band's bassist.

"Cole!" finalist #3 shouted.

With the lightning round over, Tranter had one more declaration before he picked the lucky fan. "Now, listen, you can't hate me if you don't win tickets, because I love you all, I love you all — but one of you is going to get two tickets," Tranter said. "OK, this last part gets really fancy. Are you ready?"

He then broke into the playground-worthy selection method "eeny, meeny, miny, moe," landing on a tearful super-fan who traveled all the way from Australia.

MTV Iggy Interviews Semi Precious Weapons

Have you found yourself missing the days of raw, hard, true glam rock? Well time to stop reminiscing about the bands of the 1970’s — filthy, gorgeous New York City rockers Semi Precious Weapons are here!
With one eponymous EP, the full-length album We Love You, and another on the way this summer, the guys behind SPW plunge a high, pointy, sparkly stiletto heel deep into the heart of New York’s anemic, bearded indie rock scene.  Fronted by the ever-glamorous Justin Tranter and supported by members Cole Whittle, Dan Crean and Stevy Pyne, the band is known for giving superstar Lady Gaga her start — she opened for them back in 2007 as they played gigs all over the city’s Lower East Side and even appeared in their original video for “Magnetic Baby.”

More After the Jump.....




Now that Gaga has skyrocketed up the charts, she’s bringing along the men who first gave her a chance — Semi Precious Weapons is opening for her  sold-out worldwide tour. Never a band to rest easy, SPW is using a short, scheduled break on the yearlong Gaga tour to embark on a four-city mini tour across the US, giving fans a chance to see them up close. The mini tour is with a rare assortment of true rock and roll openers including Lady Gaga’s partner in crime Lady Starlight, New York up-and-comer Breedlove, and LA favorite Nico Vega.

I caught up with SPW backstage at New York’s Bowery Ballroom before a show. Brimming with pre-show energy, they laughed and chatted away while I kept fighting the urge to stare at Justin’s  eye-popping gold stiletto boots.

Though you’ve previously mentioned liking Lil’ Kim and Jay-Z as a group, who inspires each one of you musically?
Justin: Sharon Stone, Marilyn Monroe, Patty Larkin, Patty Griffin, Miranda Lambert
Cole: Willie Nelson, John Coltrane, LL Cool J, Venetian Snares.
Dan: Patti Labelle, Peppermint Patty, Patty cake Patty cake bakers man.
Jokingly mention they will soon enough be renamed The Pattys
Stevy: …John Coltrane as well. No Pattys.

You’re very audience interactive; do you find yourself enjoying smaller, more intimate venues like the tonight’s venue (the Bowery) or the huge arenas you’ve been playing on the Monster Ball Tour?

Justin: For us tonight is going to be about 700 people, which is huge for us. Honestly, when we’ve toured with Gaga we’ve played sometimes [up to] 12,000 people. But that’s only been very recently, before that we played many a show with just 30 people. But actually we find that they’re all the same. It’s all the same energy, you know because when you’re playing in a massive arena the space is so big that the space is so big that it feels just the same as a small bar with 30 people screaming their heads off.

Cole: I don’t know many bands that can transition form 20,000 to 300-700. But we get off on… it’s a challenge to us every night to get the audience to react as much as possible. So that gets us off no matter if it is 3 people or if we’re playing in front of label people and that’s it. Somehow we try to get people to loosen up.

Justin: Yeah, most bands hate industry showcases and we some how have a f*cking blast. Whether we’re playing to 20,000 teenagers or 10 forty year olds in suits.

Cole: There is no body ready to get more f*cking wild than an office person. And if you think there is you’re craaaazy.

What is a typical day off like for you (non recording)?

Group: We don’t remember.

Cole: The only day off I remember was one day on a sh*tty tour a year ago, we checked into a baseball themed hotel in Houston and put on robes and ate cereal all day.

Justin: Count Chocula!

Cole: Oh and we put, like, other sh*t in it like candy bars.

Justin: We made like a Count Chocula surprise. All of our days off are usually filled with traveling and interviews.

Cole: [But] The really interesting part is that later put in candy bars


Justin, you have a very glamorous look on and off stage. What’s your favorite brand of eye makeup?

Justin: I only use MAC. I only wore MAC for most of my life and then they started sending me stuff for free and then I for sure only wear MAC.

You’ve mentioned that crazy stories like one of your friend on the roof and his crazy hair after a wild night inspired songs like “Her Hair is On Fire”, what’s the craziest thing that has happened during this past tour that might inspire a new song?

Justin: Our friend Jocelyn, inspires everything. One of my favorite new things that I’ve been trying to work into a song is that she’s going to AA for the Hollywood connections. Which is true.

Cole: Job interviewing at AA.

Justin: That’s one of my favorite new things that’s happened.

(In reference to a lyric in their current single) Because we know that you all are truly f*cking gorgeous, was there ever a point in which you actually couldn’t pay your rent?

Group: OH YEAH!

Justin: Years and years and years. I literally used to collect cans off the street and cash them in at the grocery store so that I could eat.

Cole: He used to walk over the Williamsburg bridge to get into Manhattan to get to parties because he couldn’t afford the subway.

Justin: Yeah, it was really tough. I quit… these guys were smart and kept day jobs. In terms that they [the jobs] were in music but they were all real jobs, actual real jobs in music and all. But I was an idiot and moved to NY and said “f*ck everybody I’m going to be a superstar!” so I ended up having to walk bridges and collect cans. And then we kind of switched positions and roles and my jewelry was doing well and Dan was literally homeless.

Dan: Like sleeping in my car, living with junkies, slept wit people so that I could stay at their house.

Justin: Yeah, he would date girls so that he could stay at their house.

Cole: D*ck rent!

Justin, you have a unique since of fashion. Is there a possibility that you will start a fashion line to accompany your Fetty jewelry line?

Justin: No, I’m going to stay in jewelry. I feel like once people become successful in some sort of public way, whether they’re musicians or actors or whatever, they start putting their names on a bunch of bullsh*t because they can. And I’m gonna keep it at jewelry because I’m actually good at designing jewelry and I like it.

If you could chose one artist living or dead to open for you on your next tour who would it be?

Cole: Patsy Cline!!!!

Justin: To open for us though?!

Cole: F*ck yes!!

Justin: All the people I love I’d feel so weird if they opened for us. However, our friend Breedlove is opening for us now and it is a dream come true! And Nico Vega is also opening for us and they’ve been one of our favorite bands for a long time, she’s amazing. But, yeah Breedlove is not only one of our best friends but one of the greatest… I don’t even know what to call it.

Cole: I know! If the Loveboat crashed into a rapist’s basement.

Group: Yes!

What is your favorite song to play live?

Dan: Loud ones!

Justin: I guess I would say, well it always changes but when we did Magnetic Baby in Chicago, it was really f*cking amazing because after all this with Gaga we went back to headline Chicago on our own there we so many kids there, obsessed and waiting for us and when it got to Magnetic Baby they all just screamed the words so loud that I just stop singing and let them sing it. It was really, really amazing.

You’ve mentioned that you write a lot of the songs on piano, though you do not play it live. Have you considered incorporating a piano into your stage show or into future songs?

Justin: I don’t play piano nearly well enough to play it in Public. Some people might disagree with that but I believe that if you’re not the best at something you shouldn’t do it in front of people.

Cole: (To Justin) My opinion is that when you’re behind a piano you can’t really see your legs. That’s the purpose of this band.

Justin: Yeah, the band would crumble if you couldn’t see my legs. But yeah, on our new album that comes out in Summer there is, well piano isn’t like featured, but there is piano on the album and we do use some songs that people aren’t really going to expect it. We have a ballad with a full orchestra and a really like subtle, vulnerable creepy quiet song that like finishes the record. So I think those elements are starting to show up but it’s not going to show up in the sense of me playing piano.

How has the reception to your music varied from country to country? I know that New Zealand went nuts for you guys.

Justin: The Kiwi’s lost their minds! Australia was amazing too. They’ve all been; the audiences have always been over the top and insane in parts. I think what has been different, especially in New Zealand and Australia is that Pop radio stations have started playing our music and you know in America pop radio is only hip hop and pop. And for us to have our actual, real, rock and rock on the radio made our trips o New Zealand and Australia very good.

Cole: And I think in those countries, and Japan too, Rock and Roll isn’t that different from the main stream.

 What can we expect from your new album (dropping this June)?

Cole: You can expect to have a lot of sex to it.

Justin: Yeah! The album is made to f*ck to.

You recently toured with (Iggy faves) Far East Movement in Japan with Lady Gaga. How was that?

Everyone: Great, yeah!

Dan: It was great they were really nice guys, they had like bear costumes and even a monkey costume and even these space helmets.

Cole: They have really good energy.

Justin: In America there were three people on the Gaga tour and we were first and then in the UK there were three and we were first, so the for all of New Zealand and Australia it was just Gaga and us. So with FEM it was the first time someone was on before us, so it was FEM, SPW and then Gaga so it was actually really awesome to have a band before us to kind of warm us up.

Dan: They did a great job.

Had you heard FEM’s music before the tour?

Justin: Yeah, I had because we’re on the same label (CherryTree). We just did the CherryTree House with Martin, and he’s so f*cking cool and with the CherryTree House it’s just great times. And so we heard about Far East Movement through Martin and CherryTree.

Did you get a chance to try on their amazing light up space helmets?

Group: No.

Justin: No, we didn’t get to try them on, sadly.

You’ve known Lady Gaga for several years now, and you had even performed together back in the day. How do you feel about her enormous rise to fame?

Justin: It’s amazing, you know I think every single day I’m more and more surprised by her talent and her intelligence. She just keeps getting better and better. And I think the mainstream was so boring and Pop music was so boring and the fact that this girl came along that not only writes unbelievable songs but also is so fashion conscious and insane. It was just perfect, everything she does is at the perfect moment for someone like Lady Gaga to exist.

Cole: She’s an icon for behavior, fashion and music.

How do you feel about the tables turning and opening for her now?

Cole: I don’t wish that she was just opening up for us for just 400 people.

Justin: No, it’s a dream come true and she loves our band soo much and she’s so gracious to us and she has the balls to bring a real filthy rock and roll band on tour with her is…

Cole: Loyalty!

Justin: …Cool. That idea of making all of these 15 year old pop fans watch a filthy rock band is an artistic choice unto itself.

Cole: That’s the kind of shit people talk about like “Oh many he’s so cool that someone would just put there foot down and do this” and she has the balls to that.

Justin: Yeah it’s just like if Madonna had had Guns N Roses open for them before they came out. It would have been just amazing.

You’ve been spotted at several events mingling with Gossip Girl’s Taylor Momsen. Have you heard her band, The Pretty Reckless, and is there any chance of a collaboration between SPW and her band?

Justin: I have heard her band. Well we’re touring with Gaga for about the next year.

Cole: Well he’s good friends with her so…

Justin: Anything is possible!

Can you tell me something I don’t know?

Cole: I busted my head open in Tokyo that first night! And bled all over myself and had a naughty Japanese nurse mend me up.

Justin: And there is something you didn’t know! A naughty nurse mended his face with latex!

– by Michelle Salgado

MTV: Semi Precious Weapons Marvel At Gaga's Impact On Their Success

MTV Shows

"Back in the dark ages — you know, like, 2006 — when Lady Gaga was just a girl named Stefani, she used to open for Semi Precious Weapons at gigs all around New York City. Of course, things have changed slightly since then, but Gaga has never forgotten that the Weapons helped her out when no one else would, and she's returned the favor by taking them with her on the globe-trotting Monster Ball Tour.


It's a pretty nice gig for the glam guys of Semi Precious Weapons, who've already admitted that they "owe their lives" to Gaga. They're taking full advantage of all the perks that come with being the Lady's hand-picked openers — and we do mean full advantage.


"It's been crazy," SPW frontman Justin Tranter laughed. "We showed up at the airport in New Zealand, and there were literally, like, 40 kids with huge signs that said, 'Justin, I Want Your Baby.' Because we have a song called "Put a Diamond in It," where I sing, 'Who, who, who wants my baby?' And there were all these 15-year-old boys at the airport dressed like us. ... We had some pretty legendary hotel parties, where, like, [bassist Cole Whittle] got a black eye, and [drummer] Dan [Crean] had sex multiple times. Things worked out really well."


While that kind of action was fairly common overseas, SPW are still working on graduating to that level of debauchery Stateside. Though, thanks to Gaga, it appears the goal is certainly within reach. In June, the guys will release their second full-length, You Love You, through Geffen Records, and they've started selling out venues outside of NYC. They still have a ways to go, though, before SPW fans in America can match the, uh, dedication of their supporters across the pond.


"In other countries that we go to, because we're on this massive tour, and they're hearing our songs on the radio already, they view us as superstars," Tranter explained. "And here in America, they view us as a band that's been harassing everyone for three years, desperately trying to break through," he said. "[But] the difference [from when] we used to play in America three months ago to now is insane. We're selling out shows on our own, and kids know every single word. It's really amazing.


"Another difference [between] the rest of the world to America is, here, when we say, 'You should have sex to our music,' people chuckle, like, 'Oh, that's quirky,' " Whittle added. "Over there, they just do it." -- Credit: James Montgomery/MTV

Rene Cervantes of Mtv Writes:

"New York City neo-glam rockers Semi Precious Weapons have to been seen to be believed. Listening to SPW tracks like "Magnetic Baby," from their self-titled EP (released this January), is only part of the experience. True, you get to hear the snarling, bratty, punky glam rock, full of nods to David Bowie, T. Rex and The Stooges, but inhaling the entire sensory splendor of Semi Precious Weapons? The glam Gestalt, if you will? Therein likes the true power. Impossibly fit, head-to-toe glam front man Justin Tranter is a born rock star. And true rock stars all know how to do one thing: work it. Check out the shots from this exclusive MTV photo shoot, and stare in wonder at the various flirty and fangs-out poses Tranter rocks.

It's a sense of extreme, eye-catching style that the band share with one of their closest musical colleagues, Lady Gaga. Truth be told, Semi Precious Weapons gave Gaga one of her earliest breaks when they had her open for them years back. On her way to the top of the charts/world, Gaga's returned the favor by having Semi Precious Weapons open for her and putting them in her "Telephone" video — even if she did kill them off. As Justin Tranter told MTV News, "We pretty much owe our lives to Lady Gaga!" That's friendship for ya.

Anyway, enough about Gaga; more about checking out photos of these dangerously stylish dudes."

Check out more fabulous pictures!

Vintage Shet! MTV Made: Feat. Justin Tranter

We know it's old, but we loovvvve watching it.. Damn it Michelle! You lucky tramp.

MADE - MTV Shows

And we can't forget the "Deleted Scenes" Lolz @ the 1 Minute Mark when Mtv says "Do you best impression of eachother." Michelle is lucky, If I was her coach I would've given her a Keyshia Cole weave and she wouldve been shwerkin that leotard 24/7.

MADE - MTV Shows

MTV Interviews Semi Precious Weapons

Lady Gaga may be busy prepping the release of her eagerly anticipated new video "Telephone," but it seems she still has time to help out a band of fellow New Yorkers — the fashionista superstar has been quietly working to introduce the world to Semi Precious Weapons.

However, these dirty rockers are not new to the game — Semi Precious Weapons have been a staple of the New York party scene for a few years now, bringing their unique formula of rock music, high fashion and "good old-fashioned filth."

Now the guys find themselves playing to different sort of crowd. "The last four months for us have been insane," lead singer Justin Tranter told MTV News recently. "We've gone from a band that plays in bars, driving ourselves to every show, selling our own merch ... to opening for [Lady Gaga] all over the world."
It doesn't stop at opening for Lady Gaga — the current first lady of pop also helped the boys get signed to a major label and is providing an assist on their upcoming album as an executive producer. So why all the goodwill from Gaga? Well, not too long ago the roles were reversed.

"We've been playing shows with Gaga since 2006," Justin recalled. "Her first couple of shows as Lady Gaga in NYC were opening for us."

Although the tables have now clearly turned, the boys from Semi Precious Weapons couldn't be more appreciative of the opportunity that they've been given. "We pretty much owe our lives to Lady Gaga!"
But just because SPW are opening for Gaga and now have a major label deal, don't expect their raw rock sound to be tempered — they promise to keep their edge plenty sharp. "People don't really know what rock and roll is anymore," the band stated plainly. "You can't call it rock and roll unless it's dangerous, unless it's offensive."