by MATTHEW WOODLEY

Time in the hole will do something to a man, just ask Lyle Sheraton. Once the frontman for greasy rock 'n' roll band the Daylight Lovers, Sheraton (who may or may not be an alias for FUBAR/CPC Gangbangs greaser Paul Spence), has cleaned up his act, thrown on a suit and is sharing the stage with trained musicians at a bar that doesn't even serve pitchers. Sunday Night Live, they call it, and with music from Mike King & the Cocktail Mints and variety acts of all types, it's the best place to start the week since church. The Mirror spoke to Sheraton about the show and his newfound swingin' self.

Mirror: What landed you in jail anyway?

Lyle Sheraton: It went in the books as self-defence. It was a classic story where you're protecting someone, in this case my father. This guy insulted him you know, a painter. Not a painter-painter, an artist. And I know what it's like to be an artist - I said that in court. But the judge said, "I don't care what you do as an artist."

M: You've really changed directions since the incarceration.

LS: Well I've got new religious beliefs, you know. I even tinkered briefly with the idea of changing my name to Izzy Iskowicz, but I thought that my name was kind of a trademark. I mean, if Nike all of a sudden changes their name to, say, Zoobaz - oh sorry that's already… Okay, say if Zoobaz suddenly changed their name to Booboo, the quality would still be the same but people wouldn't know.

M: Totally. You've taken the quality of your own song and dance up a few levels too.

LS: You have to have been to a certain dark place to come out on top. And that's kind of what happened with me in the pen. I wasn't very good with lifting weights - they're so heavy. I had to do something outside, but I wasn't into basketball and stuff, so I would dance. It started out as something to kill the time, then I realized that it really weirded out people. What I learned in the pen is that you can just out-weird the weirdos, you know. They see the guy dancing in the corner by himself, facing the fence, and they'll leave you alone.

M: How about Mike & the Mints - have they influenced your stylistic approach?

LS: These guys I'm playing with, they got class. I got nothing on these guys. The Great Sayyid, who plays the saxophone, he's known worldwide. And Moe - he's the trombone player and he's played with the MSO and he's very professional - sometimes he thinks that I'm a little rough around the edges. I think he sees me as a beautiful, silver piece of jewellery, but one that's been tarnished by time: my time in the hole. So he keeps me honest.

M: What else have you got up your sleeve?

LS: We're gonna bring in guys who visually are stunning - a guy who does magic tricks, hats and canes flying all over the place, we're gonna bring in some tap dancers, all kinds of stuff. I would suggest that people should arrive looking classy, but they don't have to act classy. They can shout and be raucous - you don't have to be reserved here.

Sunday Night Live takes place every Sunday, 10pm,
at the Jello Bar (151 Ontario E.), $5