City Sleeps frontman gets excited on stage

Lead singer Ely Dye discusses sex and rock ‘n’ roll.

By Jess Camp

Published Feb. 22, 2008

Erections, sleeping with a long lost sister, homosexual men and an Indian man that acts in just about every cop movie are just a few of the wacky things that permeate City Sleeps lead singer Ely Dye’s brain.

A lot of musicians say they feel nervous when they hit the stage, but Dye said he doesn’t.

In fact, his reaction to standing in the spotlight is a bit more shocking and includes another bodily function.

“I usually get an erection,” Dye said. “It comes from all the adrenaline, and it all goes to that one place,”

He said he’s the only one who notices the perhaps small appendage that gets erect in his pants, though.

“I don’t want any criticism, but maybe it’s a bad thing that no one’s noticed,” he said.

It would seem that this musician would live up to the wild, orgy-filled sex fantasies that are normally equated with rock ‘n’ roll.

But Dye said he doesn’t sleep with fans.

“I actually sleep with people who don’t like my band,” Dye said. “But I think the rest of the guys sleep with the groupies.”

City Sleeps, which also includes guitarists Adriel Garcia and Milo, drummer London and bassist Brady, attracts all sorts of wild groupies and fans.

Perhaps the most rowdy of the bunch are its homosexual super-fans, he said.

“I have nothing against homosexuals, but they are more hardcore than our heterosexual stalkers,” Dye said. “We love them, but they need to back off.”

Dye turned down a scholarship to a music college to pursue his career.

If he hadn’t, he might never have known the excitement of onstage erections and groupies of a different sexual orientation.

“My parents were furious,” Dye said. “They didn’t understand, and it caused friction.”

They soon decided to support him and let him go down whatever path he chose, Dye said of his adoptive parents.

When it comes to adoption, Dye has pondered some questionable scenarios.

“It would be totally unlikely, but it would be cool if I ended up fucking my sister,” Dye said. “If she’s hot and no one knew, who cares? It’d be interesting if it were in a state like Alabama. I wonder if I have a sister. If she’s out there, it might go down.”

Dye is not shy about discussing his family situation or his state of arousal, so it’s not terribly shocking that he has opinions about the state of modern radio.

“There are probably more bands than I can name that I hate,” he said. “I’m not going to say names like Puddle Of Mudd or anything direct like Alter Bridge.”

He might not have much respect for some of his competitors, but Dye said he loves his band’s new album, Not An Angel.

“It’s a good rock album,” he said. “You’ll be surprised by a lot of the sonic assembly and the set-up of the experience.”

He’s willing to beg to make you pick it up.

“Do me a personal favor by buying the album, and I’ll do you a personal favor,” Dye said.