WRIF Virtual Rock Room with Black Star Riders' Ricky Warwick
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00:00Thank you so much for watching Riff TV. Now this interview is obviously with video, but I don't
00:05interview everybody on Zoom. That's why I put it on my Talkin' Rock with Meltdown podcast. We talk
00:10to rock artists from all over the genre. So check out Talkin' Rock with Meltdown wherever you get
00:15your podcasts. And now to today's video interview. And there he is in all his Los Angeles glory.
00:23Ricky, how are you? I'm wearing the beanie hat to remind me of home, but I'm in Northern England.
00:29I'm very well, thank you. Good to see you. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, for sure. So I was going to
00:34ask you, when was the last time you were here stateside? Well, I live in Los Angeles. Okay.
00:39I didn't know that. Okay. Yeah, and I have done for 18 years. All right. I don't know why, for
00:45whatever reason, I thought you lived over in Europe, but I think maybe last time you did tell me about
00:48that. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So two weeks ago. Oh, okay. Yeah. To answer the question, there you go.
00:55Exactly. Yeah. It's funny. I was thinking about this earlier today when I was getting ready to
01:01talk to you. You're the one that told me about the guitars on the big country albums. Yeah. Right.
01:08I didn't realize those were guitars. So as soon as we talked that day, I remember going home and I'm
01:12like, I got to listen to these things over again. That's right. Because you thought they were synths,
01:17right? I saw it. I didn't know what they were, but I didn't think they were guitars. Yeah.
01:20But man, what great records those are. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And I blatantly stole
01:28a big crunchy riff on the new record. I know those guys well enough to get away with it. And
01:34yeah, they're a big influence on me. I love that band. Yeah. Great stuff right there. So
01:38the wrong side of a paradise is out. It's been out for a couple of weeks. And I guess you're
01:44the last man standing as far as the black star writers are concerned or the last black star
01:49writer standing, right? Is that how it works? Yeah, it's really me and Robbie Crane. Robbie's
01:55been with us since the second record. You know, Robbie's my bro. But yeah, you know, 10 years the
02:03band's been going. It's not a jail sentence being in a band. It's free. You're free to come and go.
02:09And things happen and the pandemics happen and people, timelines get changed and things get
02:14moved around. But I think as long as we're making great music, which I feel that we are,
02:19then that's okay. That makes everything legit, you know? Now, Scott, of course, he left to go
02:24back. And what is he? Is he like semi-retired now? Is that the deal? Yeah, he's kind of. Yeah,
02:29kind of. You know, as retarded as you'll ever get when somebody gets a lifer and rock and roll.
02:34But he doesn't want to do the six, seven weeks in the tour of us anymore. And I get that. I totally
02:40get that. I was going to say, you can't blame him for that. He's done it his whole life.
02:43Well, exactly. You know, that's it. Yeah. Yeah. Do you still like doing that?
02:50You know, I do. Yeah, I do. And especially when we had it taken away from us for two years. That
02:55really brought it home. I do. I enjoy it more now. You know, sobriety helps a lot. I've just been
03:02going to cities now and exploring them and seeing places and soaking it in a lot more. It kind of
03:10means more to me now, if that makes sense. You know, it means. Yeah. No, that makes a lot of
03:14sense. So I didn't realize you were sober. So because I have friends, a lot of bands. I was
03:19just talking about this with somebody just the other day, how they can't believe how many rock
03:23bands are sober. Like back when we were kids and stuff, none of them are sober. And now a lot of
03:29them are. Well, look, I spent 40 years drinking and having a good time. I started drinks when I was 15
03:35years old and it was never, I would never consider myself, you know, fortunately an alcoholic,
03:41but I like to drink. And I just got to the point where somebody said to me, don't you wish you'd
03:47stopped 10 years ago? And I went, no, because I had a great time and it was right for me at that time.
03:52But just over a year ago, I was just like, I'm done. I'm done. I've been down that road. I've
03:57always kind of looked after myself, but I would, you know, I would train hard and I would eat
04:01bad or drink, you know, pack a, pack a beer at a weekend, a couple of whiskeys. I thought this
04:06isn't, you know, let's, let's try it without this. And best decision I ever made. So one of my
04:12friends, uh, uh, Brad from three doors down and he's told me this probably, so I'm not speaking
04:17out of school, but, uh, he said that, uh, you know, he was just, he would drink because of the
04:22boredom on tour. And you just mentioned that. Yeah. He just, that's it. Yeah. You know, I've been out
04:27here for the last two weeks and what I've been doing is a record store in store tour where I've
04:32been going around all the record labels and record stores in the UK, excuse me, playing
04:36acoustically in the stores and signing to meet, meeting the fans, Blackstar writers fans in
04:40the stores. And it's been incredible, but there's been some downtime and, you know, before that
04:44would have been going to the pub and now you don't, you know, you have, you have that.
04:48So now you're, you're filling with more constructive stuff and it's just all around better.
04:53But yeah, I totally agree with him. There's the boredom was, was a big factor before you got.
04:57Let's just go to the pub. You know, that was the excuse. You know, I had another one of my
05:02friends and this doesn't sound like you're in a situation that he was in, but he told me that he
05:06would have to wake up every day and apologize for what he did the night before. That's happened a few
05:10times. Uh, yes, that's happened a few times. Uh, I've had to do that. Not, not thankfully, not
05:17frequently, but there's definitely been a few instances where I've kind of gone up, went, am I still in the
05:21band the next day? So how, how many, so you said one year, so are you just a year? Just, okay.
05:27Okay. So, so when, uh, how has that helped you, um, with your songwriting, your performing,
05:32all that kind of stuff?
05:33It's just helped me with, with clarity, with, with, um, my overall wellbeing, just mentally
05:40and physically. Um, I would, I would always had a beer and maybe a couple of shots of whiskey
05:46before going on stage. And obviously I don't do that anymore. And I'm finding I'm enjoying
05:51the gigs more and just, it's just all right. I mean, everybody's different for me. That's
05:56what works right now. I want to continue doing this for as long as I can. And I felt to be able
06:01to do that, that I had to start really looking after myself and, and the alcohol was, was something
06:07that it had to be knocked on the head.
06:08Yeah. My wife just said to me, I might be speaking a little bit out of school in my life,
06:13but my wife's like, you haven't snored the last two days. I went to bed sober the last
06:20two days.
06:21Well, that's it. Hey, listen, being Irish as well, as obviously, you know, and the whole
06:25drinking culture that comes with that. So there's obviously that, you know, going back
06:28home to Ireland for the first time, there was a, you know, what, you know, what do you
06:31mean? What do you mean? You're not drinking, you know, but everybody's been super cool about
06:34it, you know? And, uh, like I said, um, I've been able to go out, you know, I went out
06:38New Year's Eve and I drove and I had a great time and I stayed out till four in the
06:42morning and, you know, didn't drink one drop of alcohol and I was not a great night. So
06:46it's just working right now. I mean, I don't really want to harp on about it too much because
06:50they're like, oh, he's one of these creatures that's drinking, you know, it's just, for
06:53me, that's what works right now.
06:55Right. It works for you. Exactly. I remember when I, when I quit smoking 23 years ago,
06:58and that was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. I kind of avoid places that would
07:02kind of trigger that. So sure. Sure. Yeah. I hear you. I hear you. But, uh, no, that's,
07:07that's good. Good for you, man. So, uh, also I want to ask about, uh, Christian
07:11Martucci. So, so he leaves, he leaves the band obviously to go with, uh, Corey and
07:15Stone Sour. Yeah. Had a little bit of a turnover here in the last couple of years.
07:19Yeah. You know, the pandemic messed the timeline up. I mean, the way we would work
07:23it would be obviously be quite meticulous in our planning that we would put a black star
07:27writers record. I would be able to tour it for a year, 18 months. Christian would go
07:30off to his Corey stuff for 18 months, whatever. I would have done my solo stuff. That was
07:35fine until you get a worldwide pandemic. And then suddenly everybody wants the pandemic's
07:39clear wants to, and rightly so wants to put records like Corey being no exception. And
07:43Corey is in the studio right now, uh, working on a new record with Christian. Christian's
07:47his boy. He's been with him 15 years. Um, you know, uh, way longer than he's ever been
07:52a black star writer. So unfortunately that was just something that had to give. And, and,
07:56and Christian, you know, just said, like, guys, I got to go do this. Corey's my guy.
07:59We, we, we get it. You know, we understand. And, and, and you've got to go and do
08:03that. Absolutely. And we'll, we'll figure it out. And we did, we got a guy in called
08:06Sam Wirt, who's a phenomenal guitar player, um, based here in the UK. And, and Sam's just,
08:12he looks like a young Scott Corum. He plays like Scott Corum. Scott Corum's his hero.
08:18And he's just, he's a good human being and we're delighted to have him, you know, in the
08:23band. So, you know, out of something crazy, something always good tends to happen as well.
08:27You know?
08:27Yeah. And then of course, like you said, you got a Robbie as well. Does he bring up a rat
08:31stories on the road?
08:33Oh, dude, Robbie can, Robbie can talk for America. So, um, you know, I, Robbie's, I
08:39call Robbie my morale technician because he's just so funny and so up. And I just
08:43love, love the energy the guy brings on the road. He's a funny, funny man. And he
08:48tells great stories, does great impressions of everybody. Cause he was telling the
08:52story, he'll impersonate the people he's telling the story about and he's got it
08:56down, man. And it's just awesome. And I just love the, I love, I love being around
09:02Robbie. I love writing with him. I love, he's a phenomenal bass player. He's just a
09:06good, good, solid human being. And he's just great to be in a band with.
09:09That is hysterical. It reminds me like of a Zach wild. Whenever Zach starts talking
09:13about Ozzy or something, he goes into Ozzy's voice.
09:16Right, right, right. Yes. I've seen Zach do that. Yes, indeed. Yeah.
09:19Yeah. But, uh, it's, you know, I was thinking about this earlier that, you know, you've
09:23had guys leave the band, but all the guys leave the band, you guys are all like
09:26hugging and Hey man, I understand. I totally. Yeah, no, but the key, it's just
09:29what you said. The guys left the band. Nobody was kicked out. Nobody's fired or
09:34like we, it was all like, Hey, and you know, that door's open. So if anybody wants
09:37to come back and get up and jam or play a few songs or whatever, we're like, yeah,
09:41come on, we're family, you know? And, and we all get it in this day and age, as you
09:45probably well know, being in one band sometimes isn't quite enough, you know?
09:50So you have to diversify and do other things and, and, and spin a few plates.
09:54And, you know, that's, that's what we're all trying to do. And, and, and, you
09:58know, usually it works out. Okay. But obviously with the pandemic, I hate to go
10:02on about it, but yeah, it did mess things up, but you know, we'll, we'll make it
10:05work. And I, I, I like to say, as long as the music's relevant and the music's
10:08still vital and still energetic and still meaningful, that's, that's the main
10:12thing. What other kind of stuff are you doing? Like you said, you guys spin other
10:15places. Is there anything? Um, I, I, um, I write, I write some stuff for some
10:19other people. I've, I've, I've put a solo record out, um, last year and I did
10:23some touring in the UK off the back of that. And, um, so I concentrate on that
10:28and a few other bits and pieces going on as well that I've been working on.
10:32So would you consider this, uh, um, the wrong side of paradise, your pandemic
10:36album? It seems like every, no, no, no, because it was written before the
10:40pandemic. Oh, I gotcha. Okay. Yeah. It was pretty much done and dusted. There was
10:44only two songs that I wrote. I wrote two songs on the record the week we started
10:48record. We started, we recorded it October of last year. So 2021. So we were
10:53just coming out of the pandemic and I wrote two songs just prior to going into
10:56the studio, but the majority of it was written very early 2020 before we went
11:02into the first lockdown. Hmm. Yeah. So it would have been around this time
11:06then three years ago. Yeah. Three years ago. Incredible. Yeah. Uh, uh, tell me
11:11about the picture on the album.
11:12Well, we wanted to have a band picture on the album, but we couldn't work out who
11:21was in the band that week. So, um, we wanted to do a band photograph, uh, because
11:27we've never had one all three black star writers. We've always had artwork. So we
11:32thought we'll do a band photograph. And we did an amazing photo session with the
11:36great Ross Halfon. The people know his work. Yeah. Turned out amazing. Ross is great.
11:41His work speaks for itself. And we, boom, we had our cover. Then Christian had to do,
11:45go and do the Corey thing. I'm like, man, what are we going to do? You know, we don't
11:50have a cover. So I went, I went to a guy called Paul Tippett, who we've pretty much
11:53worked with on every black star writers album. And I said, Paul, you know, we need
11:57to come up with something. Uh, you know, he's like, what do you got? What's the album
12:02title? So I'll start sending him over some lyrics and send him over wrong side of
12:05paradise. And he sort of picked my brain about what the song was about and depicting.
12:09And he really came back on that cover. You know, I grew up in Northern Ireland in the
12:13seventies and eighties at the height of the troubles over there. Uh, sadly, barricades
12:18and walls were a part of everyday life for me. When I was a kid, there were, there was
12:22one at the end of my street and, you know, to keep it segregated. And as a kid, it was
12:27a sense of wonderment because you don't know the sinister reasons behind it. You just think,
12:32well, there's a wall. What's on the other side of it? Is it like amazing over there?
12:36Are they having a better time than we are? Do you look different? You know, you're just
12:39all those questions you ask. And it was kind of taking that and developing that as I grew
12:44up, grew older. And just sadly now, you know, as a species, we're still seemingly building
12:49walls and dividing people instead of building bridges and bringing people together. And,
12:53you know, trying to get a bit of empathy and understanding and love. We just seem to be
12:58putting up barricades and walls and fear and hatred and, you know.
13:04Yeah. That reminded me a little bit when I went to, I think it was Belize or Cozumel or
13:09something. And we were like in the area and you could see through the gates, guys walk
13:13around with AK-47s on the other side. You know, that's kind of like what it is.
13:17Yeah. I think it's a little bit nod to that. And then nod to the fact that, you know,
13:21again, you know, we have developed so much and we have so much technology and
13:26so wealthy as a planet. And yet this, you know, people can't afford health care or
13:32education as people go in Hungary, as people work in three jobs just to keep a roof over
13:36their head, you know, and that's just not living. And it shouldn't be that way. It
13:39just shouldn't be that way. It's wrong. And I think I'm just sort of, you know,
13:44tapping into that aspect of it as well.
13:46Mm-hmm. You mentioned the in-stores a little while ago. I saw some pictures on your Twitter
13:51and Facebook and whatnot. So how have those been going?
13:55You know, it was amazing. Thank you. And we did 20 of those in 13 days.
13:59Wow.
14:00Yeah. We were doing two a day. I say wait, it was only me. It was playing, but I had
14:05my Term Hanger, Black Star Hanger, came out with me and looked after me. It was unbelievable
14:09because I'm a record, you know, I grew up in record stores. I love them. I'm a vinyl junkie.
14:13I love everything about them. So for me, that was a no-brainer to go back and do that. And
14:19it's great to see that people are buying records again. And there's more of these independent
14:23little record stores beginning to spring up in the cities, especially over here in the
14:27UK. You know, seven, eight years ago, you might've been hard pushed to find 20, 25 stores
14:33to go and do that in. We could have done 30 or 40 of these shows. There's that many again.
14:38And that's just great, you know, and the turnout was fantastic. I played about eight songs acoustically.
14:42I played a few from the new album, a couple of oldies, and then, and then I would just
14:46hang and talk and sign stuff and hang out and, you know, what a great day to, what a great way
14:50to spend the day. Right. You know what I, I, this really came to the forefront during the pandemic
14:56that, um, you know, we weren't, we weren't allowed to see people and hang out with people
15:00and blah, blah, blah. And everything shut down like in March of 2020. Sure. I've told this story
15:04before, but in September, late September, Metallica put out that live concert thing. And that was
15:09like the first event I really went to. Do you know what I'm talking about? They didn't drive
15:12in the concert. Yeah. And I realized at that moment that going to concerts and doing that
15:17kind of stuff, you're hanging out with people of your own ilk. And that's really what draws
15:22a lot of us together. And that's what was missing. It does. And you couldn't be around. And now
15:25all of a sudden you're with people and you're able to talk with them and they're there, they
15:29admire what you're doing and, you know, you get this back. It's great. It's, it's a real,
15:33you know, I mean, sort of unifying factor. Music obviously brings people together and where would
15:38we have been throughout the whole pandemic without the arts? We'd have been screwed, you know,
15:44it's, it's, it's, it's salvation. And for me, it's great to meet people. You know, there's some
15:49people that, that come to the in stores that aren't comfortable going to shows because they
15:56have certain issues. So they're like, it's great that we could come to an in store and get to see
16:00your personal or they have a disability that might stop them going to the show. So it was nice to
16:04meet, meet some of those people. And I think they appreciated the fact that, you know, that, you
16:08know, that was a chance to hear some of the songs and, and, and get their Black Star Rider stuff
16:13signed. And, and, you know, so it was just lovely. And it was a lot, a real mixture of people, you know,
16:18everything from, you know, the older generation to people bringing their kids along. And, you know,
16:23it was, it was, it was lovely. It was really good.
16:25Yeah. And I, I wrote something on our website, not that long ago about how the,
16:29the, the, the in store has almost become like a lost art. You remember when we were kids,
16:34when we were kids, I remember going to see Black Sabbath in 1999.
16:39Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I remember doing them back in the day with my old band, the almighty,
16:43and we still have some great ones, you know, back when tar records was still going, I remember
16:47doing tar records and Piccadilly Circus in London and we'd over 2000 people at it at an in store,
16:52you know, and we were there for seven, eight, seven hours and it's just incredible. But I think
16:56it genuinely is coming back and I'm seeing it even more. I have children, my own, my own
17:01sort of teenage daughter has asked for a turntable and is asking for vinyl. And because I think
17:09people are just realizing, yeah, it's great that you can just go click your finger and get a song
17:13instantly on your phone and get it there and listen to it. But the whole experience of seeing artwork
17:18and lyrics and all that kind of coolness that comes with an album, I think people are kind
17:24of going, okay, this is unique. We can't replace this. And I think that's starting to, to, to sink
17:31into obviously our generation. We know that, but even, even the younger kids and I start to
17:35appreciate that, which is wonderful. Yeah. I'm a vinyl junkie. I've got about me too. Yeah.
17:40I got about six or 700, but you know, you know, who started it, who I blame this whole thing
17:44on is Johnny Chow. Do you know Johnny Chow? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was almost exactly
17:50six years ago to the day that I was interviewing him just like this. And I've known Chow for years
17:55and while I was on the phone with him, but he says, uh, he says, yeah, we only listen to music
17:59at my house on vinyl. And I went home that day and I told my wife, I said, order me a turntable.
18:05And that's what started the whole disaster I'm in now. So, you know, I mean, I, I'm like you,
18:10I dipped out of it as well. You know, I dipped out of it and when the CD thing took off and
18:15then obviously, obviously I, I, I went into the, the Apple thing when that started, you
18:20know, with, with the, with the iPods and all that kind of stuff, isn't this great? And
18:24then I just was like, I missed it. And, and it was only about seven, eight years ago that
18:29I really got back into it again. And now I'm, I'm actually replacing a lot of the albums
18:33that, you know, that I get lost in, in moves or fights, fights with girlfriends over the
18:39years and they take half your record collection or, you know, so I'm, I'm, I'm rebuilding
18:43it back up and I've got quite a, an amazing collection. You know, the funny thing about
18:47doing the in stores was, uh, it cost me a fortune. I was going to say, how many did you
18:52buy there? Right. Oh, dude, dude, it was insane because you're just, you know, you get it.
18:56Obviously they're great and they give you a discount, but you still want to support the
18:58store. So you want to pay for it. Um, but yeah, I was like, this has cost me a fortune.
19:03I said, there are record label. I said, you've got to give me some per diems here. Cause this
19:06is, I'm spending a fortune on records here. You know what I mean?
19:09That's funny. You mentioned it because as soon as you said you were doing in stores, my
19:12first thought was, man, I can't walk into a record store and not walk out with three
19:15or four or five. I know. Right. Yeah. Yeah. The thing that was kind of holding me back
19:19was I'm going, we start our UK tour here next, next Saturday. And I knew that I was going
19:25to do that. I thought, I don't want to lug all these records on the tour bus for the next
19:28three weeks. So that was kind of, that kind of put me off. I think if I'd just done it
19:31and been going home, I'd have been going home with a box of vinyl. I'm telling you, man.
19:34And you mentioned your record label. So new record label as well, huh?
19:38Yeah. Yeah. And they're, and they're, I can't say good, good enough things about them. I
19:42was actually hanging out with them today. They're based here in Nottingham. They're
19:46a legendary label. They started off, they, they, they signed Napalm Death. They were
19:50the first band to sign Napalm Death, a legendary Napalm Death. And they've always diversified over
19:54the years. They were kind of very heavy metal grind core label. And now they've diversified
19:59into more, more of the hard rock and stuff. And they've been brilliant. And Nuclear Blast
20:02who were with, I've got to say for, for nine years and did four records with were wonderful.
20:06And in this day and age to be of a label that long as a testimony in itself, but we
20:10just felt, and, and, you know, they were, they were prepared to make them a record with
20:14us, but we, we both sort of felt, no, maybe it's run its course. It's time for a change
20:18with everything that went on. And sometimes that's a good thing. So we, we went, we went
20:24with the Eric records and they've been phenomenal. They just got us a top 10 record here in
20:28the UK. We went in at number six in the national charts and number one in the rock chart. And
20:33you know, we've charted in Germany and Sweden and in the top twenties over there. They've
20:38done a fantastic job. They've really been great.
20:40Yeah. It's got to be a little bit scary, maybe a little bit of trepidation, but it seems
20:44like it's turned out for the best, huh?
20:46I think so. You know, sometimes it's just good to make a change. You know, I think we, obviously
20:49with the lineup changes and we just thought, well, we'll, we'll have a bit of a label
20:53change and bring in some, you know, some freshness, just shake the thing up a little
20:58bit. And it's, it's just worked really, really well. And everything we've asked for, they've
21:03given us, they've been so supportive and they get it cause they're fans. You know, I was
21:07there today and it was, we were just hanging out talking about music all day and, you know,
21:12it was a great vibe.
21:13You know, you said you start your UK tours. Are things going to be, I'm not a musician.
21:18I've never been in a band. When you walk up on stage, there's only four guys up there.
21:21Is that going to feel weird? Do you or no, or maybe have the Scott, Scott next?
21:25Well, we've already done it. We've already played, uh, we did a show, uh, we headlined
21:31a festival here in December, um, with the new lineup. So that was great. And, you know,
21:36I, I come from my old band, the almighty was a four piece. I played a bunch of guitar in
21:41that. And then my solo band fighting hearts. I turn my souls to one. That's a four piece
21:45as well. I play guitar in that. So it's not alien to me. So what we're actually doing
21:49with this tour, we're celebrating it. We're promoting the new album. We're celebrating
21:5210 years of Blackstar Riders as well. So we've brought Scott Goran back. We've brought Jimmy
21:56DeGrasso back for this tour only on drums. So what we do is we, we will go, we go on,
22:01we start off as a four piece. We play a few songs, a few tracks from the new album, a couple
22:05of oldies, and then Scott comes up and joins us for the remainder of the set. So we do
22:09about 13 songs with Scott. We go through the back catalog. We play a couple of Lizzie songs.
22:14Of course we do. Scott Goran is there. You have to, which is great. And that's, so that's
22:18how it works. And the first time we tried it was back in December at that festival and
22:22everybody seemed to really dig it and it went really, really well. And yeah, but only for
22:26this tour, you know, after this tour, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll be full on a four piece
22:29going forward.
22:30Yeah. Jimmy, I haven't seen Jimmy in years since his days in Megadeth and what a good guy.
22:34Yeah. Yeah.
22:36He's an amazing drummer and you know, it's, it's fun having him back and it's great.
22:40And, but, you know, Zach who played on the album as well as a, as an amazing drummer
22:44and he was very gracious and stepping aside to let Jimmy come in and do this 10th anniversary
22:48tour. But we're looking forward to very much to welcoming Zach back, you know, once we,
22:52once we get done with this, this run.
22:53All right, Ricky, a final thing here for you. Some guy named Jay Rustin wanted me to ask
22:58you about too many wires.
23:00What does that guy know? That guy knows nothing.
23:02He doesn't know anything about playing, about making rock music. He wanted me to ask you about
23:05too many wires.
23:06Yeah. It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a story from a gig in Ireland many, many years ago.
23:16Um, and I think the guy that booked the gig in, in, in rural Ireland, rural Ireland, that's
23:22not easy to say, um, didn't know what he was booking. And, you know, we turn up, the fans
23:29turn up, his venue stroke bar gets wrecked and the locals don't know what's hit him.
23:38And we were sort of packing up to leave the, leave the, leave the venue. And a very disgruntled
23:43owner came up to us and sort of looked me straight in the, in the, in the, in the eye and said,
23:49you're too loud. You have too many wires and you won't be back.
23:57You have too many wires. I just thought that was brilliant. Wow. We've too many wires, you
24:05know, you know, it's funny about that. I've been on stage. I've seen hundreds of concerts,
24:08maybe a thousand, I don't know, but you know, stages typically when you see them,
24:12they are spotless. I've seen guys, roadies stuff, vacuum carpets. I watched Bob Dylan one time and
24:19there was wires all over the goddamn stage. And I'm like, what is this mess? Yeah. Well,
24:24this was a three piece, uh, sort of hardcore band. I was playing in after the almighty split up. I
24:28was in for a brief time called sick SIC. Uh, we're all Irish boys. And, uh, you know, so we were
24:35playing pretty small venues, but it was very hardcore punk rock. So the people that came, it was a lot
24:39of motion and everything that you can imagine going on. I think this guy just didn't know what
24:42was going on. I think, I think somebody said to him, like you, the pub will be busy and you'll
24:46make a lot of money on, on the booze. But I didn't think he expected what had happened, but you know,
24:51we, we were old school, we were all plugged in. There was no radio mics or anything like that,
24:56you know? So it was, by the time we jumped about, it was like spaghetti junction on stage with the wires
25:00crossed and everything. And he just, he just didn't seem to dig it, you know? And it was just like,
25:04all right, you know, okay, well, we won't be coming back. So there you go.
25:09You probably haven't heard that critique since Jay, Jay, Jay loves that story. And I have to tell
25:14that story every time I see Jay rusted. You know, what's funny is, uh, Jay, uh, grew up across the
25:21river here and just over in sure. And actually he, uh, he went to school with one of my friends,
25:26Darren McCarty, who was an NHL hockey player. Oh, right on. I've heard of him. Yep. Yep. Yeah.
25:31And of course a legend here in Detroit and I've never met Jay. So I just text him every once in a
25:35while when I need a question for a, for an artist he's worked with. And that's what he sent me.
25:38Right. Not too many ones. He's great. I can't say enough good things about Jay. Jay's just,
25:43just a great guy to work with. The great temperament, phenomenal engineer, um, phenomenal,
25:49um, knowledge of music. And, and he pushes you, man, you know, there's no auto tuning. There's no
25:55cutting corners. You, he pushes you till you get it right. And I love that about him. Uh, you know,
26:01maybe I, I'm not sure I do at the time, but the end result is always really, really great. And he's
26:06a great, great guy to work with. And I love working with him. He seems to really have his
26:10finger on the pulse of, uh, of a lot of rock bands right now, unless he's last five or eight
26:15years. Yeah. Yeah. Well, he deservedly. So gets a lot of work because he's, he's one of the best in
26:20the business, but he's got a great ear. And I think he never loses sight of the fact that when Jay
26:25makes a record, he's not making a Jay Rustin record, he's making the record of the band he's
26:29working with. And that's the sign of a great producer. Like he'll will morph into it. Whichever
26:33band he's working with, he will understand that he's making a record for that band, you know,
26:38and, uh, and that's a good thing. Yeah. Well, Ricky, good luck with everything. Hopefully I'll be
26:44able to see you over here. I think the last time I saw you live was, uh, uh, on that Judas Priest
26:48tour in 2018. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We're, we're definitely hoping to rectify it out. We're, you know,
26:53we're working on, um, on looking at some North American dates for this year, for sure. You
26:58know, with the, uh, you know, with, with three of us obviously being based in the U S now, that's
27:03going to make things a lot easier. So, uh, we, we will, we will get out there for sure
27:07at some point. Yeah. I think I might see, uh, my old friend and of course, uh, yours as
27:10well, Damon Johnson this weekend. So, or next weekend. Oh man. Well, give him a big hug from
27:16me. I'm so happy for Damon, Damon, Damon. I was like, bro, I was like, not only do you
27:21get to play in Finland, is he, but you're in Leonard Skinner now. I mean, come on, you
27:25know? And he's like, yeah. And I was like, yeah, but he, you know, he, he deserves it
27:31because he's one of the good guys. He's a phenomenal guitar player. And if there was
27:35anybody that was going to be able to carry on Gary Rossington's legacy and play the parts
27:41with the passion and, and, and style that Gary plays them, it's Damon Johnson. Yeah.
27:47So he's, he puts that band obviously up on a pedestal and, uh, just a fast fact
27:53about a Damon Johnson. He was introduced to his wife by Darren McCarty right here.
27:57That's right. That's, that's where I know the whole thing. That's what I'm trying to
28:00think. That's, that's right. Cause he told me that story. Yeah. There you go. But I
28:05miss Damon. Uh, we talk a lot. Obviously I don't get to see him as much, but we're
28:09still, you know, we're still bros and, and, uh, you know, I I'm just so happy for him.
28:14I'm happy he's doing so well. He deserves it.
28:15Well, good luck to you. Uh, the, the record on the wrong side of paradise is
28:19out right now. I have fun on those European tour days, man. That sounds
28:22awesome. Yeah, it's going to be great. You know, we've got Michael Monroe
28:25out with us, which is great. And we've got Phil Campbell from motorhead. We've
28:30got his band, Phil Campbell and the bastard sons are out with us. So what a
28:34lineup, you know, it's just incredible. So, uh, it's going to be fun. You know,
28:39I'm no pressure following those two acts. Right. Ricky appreciate your time.
28:45Thank you. Thank you, brother. Appreciate it. Thank you.