Singer hopes to add fire to Fuel and rebound from a long layoff

The band plans to begin working on its next album before the end of the year.
By JOHN PATRICK GATTA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
The romantic clich & eacute; that absence makes the heart grow fonder doesn't apply to the modern music world. With radio play lists becoming tighter, attention spans growing shorter and record industry layoffs causing onetime allies to be kicked out of the office and on to the street, it's no wonder that Fuel vocalist Brett Scallions sounded anxious when the band released its third album, "Natural Selection."
That was more than seven months ago, but Scallions remains unnerved that being out of the public eye could derail nearly a decade of hard work.
"We took so much time off after the tour of 'Something Like Human' and then making the 'Natural Selection' record. We just don't want to do that again. We felt like we lost momentum," he said during a phone interview from Nashville.
The band's solution is to stop promoting their current album in August and quickly regroup for writing, rehearsals and recording sessions before the end of the year.
Reasons for delay
Slowing down the process last time included Fuel's main songwriter, guitarist Carl Bell, enjoying life on the road rather than writing the next record while the group toured behind its sophomore effort. The group also made a complete change in its business associations.
"It was like being caught in a bear trap. We wanted to get away, but there were so many things that were involved that we just had to sit back and wait. We were going through a management change, attorney changes. Basically, wipe the slate clean and get all new people.
"We couldn't go into the studio because we had to make sure to get old people out and new people in. It really took up more time than we had anticipated," he said.
The album becomes a natural progression from the previous two releases, measuring out equal parts arena-ready riffs with melodic craft. It makes the material a natural for airplay, occupying a niche between new metal aggression and classic rock hooks.
"This has never been a garage band, so to speak. That's why we don't want our records to sound that way. We try to make them as big as possible. Even our live show -- we try to make it as big as possible, too."
Style
Fuel displayed an ability to fill the void left when the grunge world withered away and light rock alternatives blossomed. It takes the influences from the past, and with power chords, lands them in the present. But what caused the group to go beyond a male-dominated head banging audience were soaring ballads such as "Shimmer," which became a constant presence on several radio stations around its onetime home base of Harrisburg, Pa. It went on to help Fuel's 1998 debut release, "Sunburn," reach multi-platinum status.
The band members live in different parts of the country -- Scallions in New York and Tennessee, bassist Jeff Abercrombie in Los Angeles and drummer Kevin Miller outside of Allentown, Pa. "It's something that we've finally been able to do -- sit back and go, 'Where do I want to live?' We don't have to be neighbors anymore."
Scallions said that not living in the same zip code has no bearing on getting work done, but working on "Natural Selection" at Bell's residence in Las Vegas certainly did.
"That was pretty stupid to do right there. I don't think we can do that again. There was about three hours of rehearsal time, and the rest of it was nursing hangovers or going out and partying."
On his way to making album number four, and he's still learning rock 'n' roll lessons along the way.