- 20 hours ago
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00I think it was a newspaper person in Boston thought that there was some lip syncing involved.
00:04I hate when I read that. It's totally offensive because we spend a lot of time in value that we don't do that.
00:10There's no tracks with TSO. We work hard to sound good as a band.
00:15Rock, metal, prog, and everything in between.
00:19Welcome to this episode of Talkin' Rock with Meltdown.
00:23Don't forget to follow the audio-only Talkin' Rock podcast on all podcast platforms.
00:27And now, it's time for today's conversation. Here's Meltdown.
00:32So, you're a baseball guy, but are you a basketball guy as well? That's your sport, isn't it?
00:37Yeah, I'm a basketball guy, baseball. Yeah, those two.
00:41Yeah, so you grew up in the Chicago area, Blackhawks, all that kind of stuff?
00:45Yeah. The owner was terrible. I mean, he never had the Blackhawks on TV when we were kids.
00:49So, like, I just never developed into a Blackhawks fan because of that.
00:53I mean, like, you know, horrible. No one was going to go to the games if he put it on TV.
00:59I mean, talk about antiquated thinking.
01:03Yeah, that's kind of how it is nowadays. Of course, we have streaming services for everything,
01:07and I refuse to pay for the Red Wing streaming service just because it's like, you know,
01:11I already have 87 other streaming services to pay for.
01:14Well, I think between our two cities, we're responsible for probably the greatest basketball
01:19rivalry of all time. I mean, I guess you got to go Lakers-Celtics if we're honest,
01:25but that is some of the best basketball ever, those Pistons-Bulls series, man.
01:31Yeah, it's just unbelievable.
01:33Well, you're coming through town playing the LCA. You've been there a few times,
01:36of course, the home of the Pistons and the Red Wings, the ghosts of Eve, the best of TSO and more.
01:42Hey, real fast, I talked about this on the radio the other day, but explain this rehearsal to
01:47everybody that for people that may not know how you guys rehearse.
01:51Well, us musicians, we get a song list essentially a month before we get to rehearsals,
01:57and it's longer than our actual set list. There's some stuff they like to look at on stage,
02:01and they like to debate a little bit about what the show running order is going to be. We don't
02:05actually know that going in yet, and the rehearsals are about two and a half weeks. We rehearse in an
02:11arena, which is cool. Those that aren't in the know, there's a TSO East and a TSO West, so we can
02:17have as many shows as possible around the holidays. Otherwise, we'd be touring California in August or
02:23something playing a Christmas show. We got two arena setups facing each other in an arena. It's
02:31totally awesome. And so sometimes when we're doing, so the bands alternate. If you're working on the
02:37music end of things, you're essentially in like the locker room areas in the setup. It's not as bad as
02:42it sounds, like a dressing room for an arena, not like a tile locker room or something. But we're in
02:49there working on the music while one band is out in the arena playing on their stage. But what I was
02:54going to say is really cool is sometimes when we're on our stage, they'll be doing the production moves
02:58on the stage across from us. We'll be seeing the lights and the pyro and everything on the one
03:03across the way. But it's probably, I mean, I'm going to say it's probably a setup unlike anything
03:10else, man, having two setups like that in an arena. It's cool having all of us together, everybody from
03:15the West Band and the East Band. We've kind of one big team, man. We put the show together, talk about
03:20what we're doing on each side, so we're on the same page. And then there's a whole backup band,
03:24too. If any of us go down, you know, get sick or break an arm or whatever the heck. We got a whole
03:29bunch of people that can go in, too. So there's a lot of musical talent in that arena, man, like
03:36during that two and a half week period. It's really cool. That's part of the process that I really
03:40enjoy. I mean, there's a lot. I like the whole process of TSO, but that's really cool.
03:45Now, I've heard about the rehearsals before. You know, Steve Black is one of my friends. You
03:49probably know Steve. But anyways, I didn't realize you guys have like a whole other band,
03:54like a minor league that you can pull from if some guy gets hurt or gets sick or something.
03:59Yeah. So they rehearse at the beginning of our rehearsals. They even rehearse a little bit before
04:05we're there. They're rehearsing. And then they leave a little bit before we're done. I think like
04:10a week or something before we're done. And they're just kind of on standby and their job is to be ready
04:16if anything goes wrong. I mean, yeah, I think those tours are, they were ahead of their time
04:22with that. I mean, now I know a lot of the pro bands are doing that these days, which they didn't
04:27used to. Kind of amazing. When you think about the amount of money that's on the line, if there was
04:32just an emergency, if a huge band is playing a stadium gig or something like that, it's kind of
04:38smart to have somebody on standby just in case, man. I think COVID really normalized that for a lot of
04:44the bigger bands, they started to go, you know what, let's pay some guy just to learn the stuff
04:48just in case something happens and hang out. And, you know, at worst, they hang out at home and they
04:54get paid. Now, I just posted about this since I'm coming up on my 30th anniversary here at the radio
04:59station. But I was I was wearing this exact shirt in Las Vegas in 2019 when my friend Blas Elias and
05:06myself met Chris Angel. And anyway, so we meet Chris and then we go out to have some dinner or whatever
05:13after. And Blas told me the whole thing about how he joined TSO. And I guess they saw him on YouTube
05:19on video and stuff. How did you join TSO? I was just recommended by a couple band members. I mean,
05:27it's amazing how much it felt like just joining a normal band, which TSO is definitely not just like
05:32a normal band. I mean, it's, you know, massive and every every level. But it was just one of those
05:40situations. Alex Skolnick had been playing in the band for years. Yeah, Alex needed to take a year
05:45off and a couple of band members recommended me. Next thing I knew I auditioned for Al Petrelli. That
05:50went well. And then I had an audition for Paul O'Neill, the founder of TSO. Rest in peace, Paul.
05:56Yeah. And got hired. And yeah, I mean, it's amazing, man. I've been doing this now with them
06:03for basically 15 years. And it's like, yeah, I'm still the new guy to some of these guys.
06:08So I've been doing it the whole time, which is crazy. So but it's all it's incredible, man. I'm
06:13super honored to be a part of it. Truly like it's I think I've had a lot of great breaks and
06:19opportunities in my career. I'd have to say TSO is probably the single best thing that has happened
06:26just because of the longevity to do it for so long and have it be at such a high level and something
06:31that I enjoy doing so much. It's really amazing. Great gig. But for people that are out there,
06:37they should know that this isn't a job for shoegazers. This is a job for a guy that likes
06:41to live in the spotlight. And really, that's what Blas was telling me. They're looking for
06:46flash and flair, looking for the whole gamut, right? Yeah, I mean, I think they they value
06:51showmanship on TSO. That's that's part of the the spectacle of it all. I even approach it that
06:58way with my guitars, man. This is like my opportunity to tote out a lot of the collection
07:03just because I can. I don't have to. I could probably play the gig down on like two or three
07:09guitars. And I'm out there with like 14 of them just showing them all off being like,
07:13look at this one, huh? Huh? So anyway, it's great fun. I look at it like it's part of the
07:19visual and the things that I mean, there's those out there that haven't seen TSO. But the show's
07:23incredible to look at, man. Got a video wall, the width of the arena. The laser light show is like
07:28Pink Floyd level good. And pyro's like insane. Off the charts, we've got the moving hydraulic lifts
07:35right over the crowd playing, you know, upper deck of the arena playing to people. And we get to run
07:41out in the crowd in TSO. It's a little safer with TSO than it would be if we were a slipknot or
07:46something like that. So we get to like go out in the crowd and play for everybody, which is totally
07:51fun and snows indoors. And this is it's a really cool visual spectacle. And also you just mentioned
07:58Paul. Paul told me one time that I think it was a newspaper person in Boston mentioned that he
08:04thought the show was what there was some lip syncing involved because how can you run around the arena
08:10and sing? And and Paul said to that guy, he goes, I'll give $100,000 to your favorite charity if you
08:15can spot lip syncing on this. So there's like no tracks. It's all real. It's all right there.
08:19It's so annoying that people think that we do that. It's I hate when I read that. It's it's
08:26totally offensive because we spend a lot of time and value that we don't do that. I think what
08:32confuses people or maybe that it's occurring is that it's really polished musically, but we do play
08:41to what's like time code to sync the production to us. So, you know, we're we're on basically, you
08:50know, it's the equivalent of a metronome, right? Like with with some of the songs, there's times
08:55where it slows down or speeds up or you'll get count ins for certain sections. That's just running
08:59with time code to sync the lights and the pyro and things like that to us. So everybody's on the same
09:04page. And but that's it. There's no tracks with with TSO. That's I mean, there's no need to we have
09:13so much talent in that band. I mean, you've got nine singers in each band. And I mean, so the backing
09:19vocals and no, we're good. We got that covered. You know, and everybody plays their parts, you know,
09:26relatively well, man. I mean, we work hard to sound good as a band. So it's yeah, it's really annoying
09:31when people think that we're faking it. It's like, dude, come on, man. Yeah, I want to give you a
09:35chance to talk about that. Because I know that was one of the things that I think Paul really
09:39he strived for. And that was one of his things he was really honored about.
09:44Yeah, definitely. I mean, I obviously Paul was the guy to hire me and I was all part of the
09:50opening, you know, I'm hiring you rap, you know, like one of the one of the things he hung his hat on.
09:56And there was a lot of those things that Paul had. Some of them were quirky and some of them made a
10:01lot of sense. And that one makes a lot of sense to me because you don't want somebody to question
10:04the integrity of what it is you're doing. So that is. But I guess, you know, it's such the norm
10:12these days that like most bands have tracks going that people just assume. Right. Like, no, we
10:17actually don't. And there's no way if Paul were alive right now that he'd let us, you know what I
10:23mean? That would never it would just never happen. Yeah, I was thinking about that. And the way in
10:28we're probably close to the same age. And it's like, yeah, that this this talk didn't
10:31come up until like the last decade or so. But anyways, moving on here, I saw you did
10:36on your Facebook. You did that skit about, you know, a spinal tap. Have you seen the new
10:41one? I haven't yet. I haven't had a chance. It's just because I've been really busy, man.
10:45I've been recording a lot. I do. I've just I finished my album, which my project is called
10:52Joel Hoschers 13. Then I have two other projects that I'm a part of of Frontiers Records. Iconic
10:58with my White Snake bandmate Tommy Aldridge and Michael Sweet from Striper. Nathan James,
11:03great singer from London, Marco Mendoza on bass. And then Revolution Saints, which is I'm just
11:10finishing up on the last song recording that album. That's with Dean Castronova from Journey.
11:15And that's sort of that's really been one of Frontiers biggest projects, I suppose we'll
11:21call it for now. We call it a band or project for quite some time now. I mean, the last 10,
11:2915 years, something like that. So anyway, been really busting hard. That's stuff that I got
11:35to get done because it's like, man, I got to start working on all the songs for TSO. I've
11:39got to get myself together. Not to mention a smattering of other little gigs that I'm doing.
11:44I'm playing with Broadway's Rock of Ages band. That's not the show, but we just go out and we
11:49do shows in places where play full length versions. It's like watching, getting to watch me do a cover
11:55gig, which is a lot of fun. I have a blast doing it. It's great. It's real, real light and loose,
12:00man. Just like, you know, but we're, I have, I think four of those or something like that before
12:04TSO yet. And just add the acoustic gigs with Brandon Gibbs last weekend. It's like, get a set
12:10together, record the salad, my teach virtually. And then, you know, there's days like today,
12:15press day for TSO. It's like, uh, I've been at it since nine this morning doing interviews solid
12:20right now. So believe it or not, so fairly well. What do you have coming up in a 2026 that,
12:27that you can talk about? Um, I mean, I, it's not announced yet, but I, I, I'm going to be part
12:34of a performance at Carnegie hall in January that I'm super psyched about. Um, let me think
12:39what else, I mean, a lot of these album releases will technically be happening in 26 that I'm
12:45recording right now. Um, trying to think what else I got queued up. It's like, it's coming
12:51together. I was at the monsters of rock cruise is something earlier on in the year that I'm
12:55a part of that's I have an annual set on there that I've built. That's kind of like a, that's
12:59a tradition too, in its own way. It's called the hangover jam. And I give away free bloody
13:04Mary's to everybody that comes and I give away free stuff between every song. It's just that
13:09again, it's just, it's fun. You know, it's me with an acoustic guitar and, uh, I have guests,
13:15guest singers, had some really talented people up with me over the years though. You know,
13:18I've had Todd Latore from Queensryche and Kip Winger's gotten up with me, Brad Gillis. Um,
13:24you know, a lot of, a lot of guys from bigger bands and whatnot have, have come up and sat
13:29in. So it's, it's great fun. Yeah. All the sober guys. Uh, by the way, uh, I was, uh,
13:34I was talking with some people today, so I may see you on that boat this year.
13:38Oh, right on dude. Yeah. You should come on. Have you done that cruise yet?
13:41I haven't done it yet, but I mean, Don Jameson, Bumblefoot, Slaughter, Brad, who just, I mean,
13:46I've got tons of friends who have been on that cruise.
13:48Yeah. It's a, it's a fun cruise. Well, Bumblefoot does the other one, right? Uh, but
13:53I guess you might be right.
13:55Rondo's the other one, but Don, Don Jameson is, is on every year and yeah, it's, it's great, man.
14:01It's fun. There's always something happening on that cruise, you know, it's like, and the,
14:06it's cool to go on one like that, where there's that many bands, because it's not like I've done
14:11some other cruises where it's like, there's one or two big bands. And for the most part,
14:16when you're walking around the ship, you're just congregating amongst cruisers. But on the
14:20Monsters Rock cruise, dude, it's like one out every five people, somebody from a band,
14:24right. You're walking down the hallway and you're just, you're walking right by all the
14:27people you're going to go see play. Um, so it's a little bit more communal, man. It feels like very
14:32like, you know, you're all, you're all in it together.
14:35I, uh, I was so close last year. My wife and I took a trip down to the keys and we're coming
14:39back to get on our plane. Uh, the day you guys were leaving and I saw the boats, I was crossing a
14:44bridge and I saw the boats and I took a picture of it. I sent it to like, uh, you know, Ray West from
14:49spread Eagle and Don Jameson and Mark Slaughter. I'm like, I'm right here, but I couldn't get on the boat.
14:53So anyway, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, dude, you're too, you know, we obviously have a lot
14:57of mutual friends, but I love, you know, I love Don, man. He had been on his show a couple
15:00of times. He's a great guy. We're always a part of the, the, uh, the shred competition
15:05they have on there. Don is a, a judge, which is, he's hilarious, you know, obviously he doesn't
15:12play, but, uh, having him on there just as a judge in a shred competition when he doesn't
15:17play is comedy in itself. It's comedy. Well, yeah, he's great. I've known him for years. Tell
15:24you what, we'll, I'll let you, uh, split here at TSO December 27th at the LCA. And, uh, please,
15:28before I leave, uh, give our condolences to, uh, Chris Caffrey on his, the passing of his mother.
15:33That's, uh, it sounds like she had a great life and she got to see her son, uh, really, uh, do what
15:38he wanted to do in life. Yeah. I mean, I think she should be very proud. I mean, Chris is a,
15:43a great musician and a great dude, great friend, and, uh, just a, uh, great performer. You know,
15:49his personality really shines on stage, um, uh, just as much as guitar playing. He's obviously a
15:56dear friend. I've been touring with him for 15 years now. So, you know, I feel for Chris in this
16:00moment and obviously wish him the very best, but his mom should be very proud, man. I mean, he's,
16:04he's a great guy. Yeah. Well, thank you for your time. Maybe we'll see you, uh, coming up in,
16:09uh, April, I guess. And, uh, take the rest of the day off. All right. Right on, dude. I got a few
16:14more actually, and then I got to teach five and then I got to record man. Come on. I'm seeing
16:18you. Thanks so much for your time, Joel. Appreciate it. All right, brother. Have a great one. See ya.
Recommended
1:35
1:19
3:01
13:22
10:19
18:04
12:39
20:04
12:31
1:21
1:16
7:35
Be the first to comment