Sleazy Money Talk New Single, Their Hometown And More

Rambunctious South Wales hard rockers SLEAZY MONEY have dropped their explosive new single, It Ain’t EZ, —a full-throttle anthem bursting with snarling riffs, blistering vocals, and a filthy rock ‘n’ roll swagger. The band sat down with JLTT: 

 

 

Who is in Sleazy Money, how did you meet and what do they play?

 

 

Connor: Sleazy Money is made up of myself –  Connor Palmer (vocals) Joe Florence (guitar) Franky Cross (Bass) and Morgan Price (drums)
Connor Joe and Franky met as teenagers over a love of heavy music and a disdain for conformity and then met Morgan in a pub and found out he an drum better than he can drink!

 

 

What is your earliest musical memory?

 

Joe: Memorizing the Spice Girls

 

 

Connor: Drooling over Christina Aguilera’s Dirty video, Sheesh!

 

 

Franky: Probably hearing Metallica for the first time, changed my life!

 

 

Morgan: Yeah probably hearing Blink182 for me!

 

 

 

You have your single ‘It Aint EZ’ which is out now. What was the story/inspiration behind the track?

 

 

Connor: It was sort of a way to cement our way of thinking into a track that others could relate to. It’s fairly well known that we come from a pretty rough area of Wales, not to take away from Merthyr, we absolutely love it, its our home and we couldn’t picture being anywhere else, but the things we talk about in the track are either our own experiences from partying, or things we’ve seen others do throughout the years.

 

 

Was it a difficult song to write?

 

 

Connor: Honestly, no!

 

Joe: It all fell into place as if it were fate. I came in with the main riff and everyone loved it. We built it up, fleshed it out and ran it through a blender and that was the outcome. We’re extremely proud of this song, we all got goosebumps throughout the writing and recording process.

 

 

The single is accompanied by an official music video. What was the thought process behind the video and who directed it?

 

 

Connor: Well the song is about doing sleazy s*** and enjoying it, owning it!

 

 

Franky: Where’s the place the sleaziest s*** goes on? A nightclub.

 

 

Morgan: Correction, the most Infamous Nightclub in the Valleys – Koolers Merthyr Tydfil!

 

 

Connor: Exactly! It was amazing doing that, definitely a weird experience seshing in a nightclub during the day. Nathan Campfield of Camphaus Media did an absolutely stellar job at capturing the chaos. Highly recommend his work and can’t see us wanting to go to anyone else after seeing his vision.

 

 

 

Where did you record the single and who produced it?

 

 

Joe: We recorded with our good old pal Chris Peet of Northhouse Studios, Crumlin. Peety has worked with us since our debut single ‘Problem Since Day 1’ and for us, he’s more than a recording engineer. He goes out of his way to help us with absolutely anything we need. If only we could match his earnings from his business, he’d be our full time manager!

 

 

Connor: Peety’s the dude! Everyone should buy our stuff so we can afford him!

 

 

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the recording sessions?

 

 

Joe: We went for a smoke break and a huge Doberman who must have been seriously horny came running over and started trying to grab a hold of Franky. Not one of us tried to help, we were killing ourselves laughing!

 

Franky: He would have regretted it, I would have turned the tables!

 

Connor: Hahahahahaha!

 

Did you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for the record?

 

Joe: I constantly rely on my Jazz picks for attack. I can also pick much more freely as their smaller which helps between my rhythm and lead sections. Speaking of solo sections, I don’t know where I would be without my boost pedal! We also used a Quad Cortex (courtesy of Peety) which gave us total freedom when choosing our sound.

 

Connor: I turned up, sang and sat back down!

 

Franky: The Quad Cortex was pretty invaluable to the process I’d say!

 

Morgan: Drums.

 

Which of your tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

 

Connor: That’s one we’ve never been asked! For me: Happiest – Problem, Angriest – Probably Unlucky 13 because of the circumstances we wrote under and Reflective – It Ain’t EZ!

 

All: Agreed, nail on the head!

 

Do you have any further music releases planned for 2025?

 

Franky: We’re cooking on a few things, nothing set in stone but I’d say you can expect at least another single before the years out! Maybe even an EP on the horizon

 

Connor: An EP is something we have discussed a lot. We have enough music and some extra stuff no ones seen yet to put one together.

Joe: Maybe this is the move, you’ll all have to wait and see!

 

 

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?

 

Connor: We’re a party band so I’m going to say, We hope you’d have finished at least 3 drinks and that you’d want to bring your friends next time to experience us!

 

Franky: I’d say that too.

 

Joe: I’d say that we’d hope to leave you wanting more and I love it when people tell us we outshone the headliners – its not Ego its pride!

 

Morgan: Definitely ego! I like the sound of that too though, it’s definitely a nice feeling when people dig us!

 

 

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

 

Connor: I need a radio microphone, it is integral to our show. I have recently upgraded to a Shure BLX24/SM58 and its amazing!

 

Joe: I use a Boss Katana head and it’s the dog’s nuts! All my tones are custom tones and I couldn’t be without it. Plus my ESP Explorer! It’s my baby!

 

Franky: I’m currently in the process of upgrading all my gear. I love my Squire P Bass with the short scale neck for precision but as for amps, that’s a TBC from me!

 

Morgan: I’ve always been a massive Zildjian fan but I have a new Meinl Crash that sounds beautiful. My only absolute necessity though are my carbon fibre sticks. I love the attack I can get from them, it really makes my snare crack through.

 

How do you look after your voice?

 

Connor: Whiskey, cigarettes and a big ol 3 skinner! Nah, I’m pretty good like this, I do all my partying after the show. I swear by just being hydrated properly. It stops all the scratchiness coming in. I would say vocal warmups too but that’d be hypocritical of me. VocalZones are great too but expensive. VOCALZONE, EMAIL ME BACK DUDES!

 

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?

 

Joe: Pet Sematary

 

Connor: Debbie Does Dowlais!

 

Franky: If they made a Project X for goths, that one!

 

Connor: What, Project CEX? hahahaha

 

Morgan: Any Marvel movie, I’m a huge superhero fan!

 

 

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

 

Connor: Merthyr Tydfil! 5 words?! … Community, abrasive, forgotten, fun and home

 

Joe: Grubby, Scummy, Rough, Tough and Sleazy!

 

Franky: Pretty much covered all bases there, I’d maybe add scenic!

 

Morgan: Yeah there’s some good stuff here too! I agree with all of the above!

 

 

 

Do you have any live dates in the UK/Europe planned for 2025/2026?

 

Connor: We have Crownload Festival in Merthyr 23rd August and HRH Sleaze 8 in o2 Academy Leicester so far. We’ve been non-stop all year but its started to slow a little when we’ve been really busy with all the other stuff outside of live shows.

 

Joe: Yeah, promoters give us a shout!

 

Franky: Good promoters anyways!

 

Morgan: There’s such things as bad ones? Who knew?!

 

 

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?

 

Connor: I got this lads! 80s Sunset Strip bands! Ozzy, Crue, Ratt, Warrant, Slaughter

 

Joe: We also love hardcore music which slips into our songs too – Turnstile, Terror, Malevolence, Desolated, Knocked Loose

 

Morgan: I’m very pop punk leaning – Blink182, Knucklepuck, Neck Deep, TSSF.

 

 

 

What makes Sleazy Money happy and what makes you unhappy?

 

Connor: We’re happiest playing live shows and feeling the love from the audience. Hot take but, we’ve played with some tribute acts that made us unhappy. Cool down pal, you’re not ACTUALLY Axl Rose and I will take you outside and beat that wig off your head!

 

Joe: Yeah hearing people sing back is the best. I also hate s***** music hitting the charts!

 

Morgan: Would we even hit the charts playing this kind of music?

 

Joe: Hopefully not, that’s when we’d know our music is dogs***!

Feature Image Photo Credit: Supplied By San PR

Sleazy Money’s latest single ‘It Ain’t EZ’ is out now.

Catch them live at HRH Sleaze 8, September 2025 at Leicester O2 Academy, 5th-7th September.

For tickets, please see – https://hrhsleaze.com/shop/