- 1 day ago
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00The real magic was Vince Neil. What he went through and his struggles and how he performed
00:07and how he sang, I'll never forget it for the rest of my life. He did such a great job and I
00:13was so proud of him because I knew what hell he went through. Rock, metal, prog, and everything
00:20in between. Welcome to this episode of Talkin' Rock with Meltdown. Don't forget to follow the
00:26audio-only Talkin' Rock podcast on all podcast platforms. And now, it's time for today's
00:32conversation. Here's Meltdown. It's funny the things we talk about. Rock star and 35-year
00:38radio veteran before we start the conversation. We talk about all sorts of crazy stuff. Yeah.
00:46How are you, dude? I'm doing well, man. You just commented on the weather behind me. Have
00:51you been keeping tabs on the Detroit sports teams, the Tigers, the Red Wings kicking off
00:56tonight and everything? No, I don't really keep up with sports and I know I should, but
01:04I'm always just picking and doing all that stuff. But so yeah, fill me in. What's going
01:10on? Well, the Tigers are, as we record this now, the Tigers are going into game five tomorrow.
01:15It's do or die against Seattle. That's at eight o'clock. So five o'clock your time tomorrow.
01:20Now, aren't the Dodgers doing really well, too?
01:24Perhaps. Yeah, I think so. I think they're still in it, too. I'm not a huge baseball fan
01:28myself, but you know, this time of year, I try to keep tabs on them a little bit. So yeah,
01:31I think the Dodgers are doing really well. I mean, so it's exciting. It's the only thing
01:36I could do other than play guitar was hit a ball and throw a ball. No joke. It's the only
01:43other thing I can do. Well, have you have you hit or thrown a ball lately? Yes. And it's so
01:50weird. Like, it's just one of those things. I can go to the batting cages and hit like
01:58a super fastball with no problem. I just go every time they're like, what the hell?
02:07You know, and there's the guys that are practicing every day. And I, for some reason, I don't know
02:12what it is. I could just hit a ball and throw a ball. Well, I'll tell you what, we'll have to get
02:17you to some batting practice and maybe to throw out the opening pitch for the Tigers.
02:22Yeah, that'd be great. Can you imagine? But no joke. The other person that can do like that can
02:30throw and has incredible aim. I'm not joking. You would never guess is Marilyn Manson. His aim,
02:39his aim is unbelievable. As the only other person I've met that can like really, really
02:47has incredible, perfect aim. I was like, that's hilarious. Wait a second. Did you guys play catch
02:53on tour or something? What? How do you know this? No, he would. What would it, what would he,
02:58what would he do? I forget what he would do. Like, like we'd be somewhere and he would have a water
03:05bottle and I would say, oh, watch, you know, watch me. I'll hit that tree from like, you know,
03:13the next town over or something. And he said, oh, I can do that too. And he's got perfect aim.
03:20Like, it's just hilarious. All right. We got to work on this. You know, it's funny. It's like,
03:25I celebrate my 30th anniversary here at Riff in three weeks. Okay. That's incredible.
03:30Congratulations. Thank you. I have never gotten asked or had gotten to throw out the opening
03:35pitch. None of this stuff, right? Nothing. I didn't, I don't win awards. I don't do any of
03:39that stuff. Zach Myers from shinedown. They asked him to throw out the opening pitch and he kind of,
03:44he kind of said, okay, fine. But then he gave it to his kids. So his nine-year-old kids thrown out
03:49an opening pitch in Detroit before I have the world ain't fair five. I'm telling you life is not fair.
03:57I'm telling you, it's just not fair. All right, let's talk. Let's talk about this.
04:02Let's make this happen. Let's, let's, let's start a thing. Let's make this happen. You're
04:07going to throw out that pitch. Yeah. Maybe you and I next year, we can throw each have like a
04:11catcher behind the plate. Both of us would just zing. Yeah. There you go. You're going to be in
04:16town at district one 42 coming up on November 19th and a machine shop, November 20th. You got a new
04:21record dropping tomorrow. We'll talk about that here and just admit it as well. Uh, but first of all,
04:25your tour of the Richie Cotson and I've only had the chance to see Richie Cotson a few times,
04:30but I was just telling someone earlier that dude is insanely talented. Oh yeah. It's incredible. Like
04:37I love a, like a great singer because I can't sing at all. I'm good with a couple of Hey Hey's and a
04:48girl's girls and like, uh, Whoa. Yeah. I'm, I'm okay. I can do that. But to have like a great singer
04:58and he's got such a phenomenal voice on top of being a great guitar player, it's, it's like,
05:05wow. You know, and his voice is really amazing. Really amazing. Yeah. He's like Chris Cornell.
05:13Like yes, exactly. Yeah, exactly. You're absolutely right. He's like Chris Cornell. Like
05:20and obviously you know him well enough to go out and tour with or might have known him for a few
05:24years. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. So it's going to be wonderful. And you know, it's going to be a
05:31great tour. We're heading out, um, very soon and we're going to start in San Diego and then go
05:38all across the, these great United States. Yeah. Um, so a ghost drops tomorrow. So tell me about this
05:45record. Well, what I wanted to do, you know, it's named after the guitar. Oh, the actual one I'm
05:54holding here. And, um, and it was, uh, there's a lot that went into this record. You know, I, I always
06:03think, I know this sounds crazy and people are going to roll their eyes, but you know, I believe that
06:08I'm living with ghosts and there's so many, you know, ghosts around all of us, but, uh,
06:15you know, I just feel like it's that kind of thing. And I read, I did a lot of research, like
06:22in your dreams, like if you have dreams about friends or family that have passed and they don't
06:27talk to you, they're coming to visit you, you know? So there's no words. You just communicate,
06:32uh, at a different, a different way. I know it's hard to explain. Um,
06:38and that's kind of what this record is about. It's, it's, there's no words, obviously. It's just,
06:44um, it's just my, uh, love of music. And I took a long time with this record and I released all
06:52these singles and put all these videos out and just took my time with it. And I would like,
07:01if I wrote a certain song, I would play it for like two weeks straight and then go into the studio
07:06and record it that way. And if I messed up, I would start over at the top because I didn't want
07:12any, uh, punch in. So I just wanted to do it as a performance. So I just love this record. Um,
07:20there's so many, I, and I love Steely Dan and I love how they took all these different musicians
07:27for certain songs. And, and that's kind of like what I did as well. You know, it's really cool.
07:32What other musicians are on there?
07:35So I have Steven Perkins, um, who's changed addiction fame and he is on Deviant. I have
07:44Kenny Arnoff who is on Fiend and we all know Kenny Arnoff. I have Greg Bissonnette who is
07:53absolutely incredible. David Lee Roth. I think he plays with Ringo right now, which he does.
07:58Um, he's on the album. I have Marco Miniman, who's one of my favorites from the aristocrats.
08:05I have Matt Bissonnette playing bass on Moonglow. I have, of course, my drummer, Alex Mercado's
08:14absolutely incredible. And I have Tommy Lee, um, on there too. So I have all these different musicians
08:22and it's so great. It just, cause I really thought about each song and I go, who would be great for
08:27this? Who would be great for that? And, and, uh, you know, thanks to Steely Dan for the perfectionist.
08:33I, I just love perfection and it's, it came out wonderful. Yeah. I love Steely Dan. Um, you know,
08:40so you, you've obviously played with some big bands, you know, Zombie and Manson. Now you've
08:44been with Motley Crue and stuff. Does that afford you the chance to go off and just do your own thing
08:48and just like kind of get your yaya's out and kind of create other things besides playing
08:53home sweet home every day or whatever? Um, I've always done this. Like, I guess I've been doing
09:01the instrumental thing for a long time. I don't know how many years now, but a long time, like
09:06ever since I, I guess I started, I did my first record in 2005 maybe, or 2004. So almost 20 years,
09:17you know, and, uh, it was right after I left Manson and, um, yeah, it was, uh, I've been doing it for a
09:25long time and I love it. I, I just love it so much because I just love pushing myself and making these
09:35crazy songs and going on these crazy tours. It's just so much fun. And I'm so thankful that I found
09:44this Avenue and, and I can go out and play and do this. I mean, I'm so happy about it.
09:51Yeah. It's awesome. Yeah. The ghost drops, like I said, on October 10th, uh, as we record this
09:56tomorrow night. So, uh, I have to ask you about the, uh, the residency with Motley, you know,
10:00the thing that Nikki did with that golden guitar pick I thought was ingenious. It's obviously not
10:05the most original idea, but I can't think of another guy who's done that before. Has that happened before?
10:10You know, I don't think so. Hold on. Did I lose you? There you are. Hold on. Uh, I don't think,
10:17I don't know, but I thought that was such an incredible idea. Yeah. It was a really, really
10:23great idea. He, he threw so many picks out and his tech one night put the golden pick in there.
10:32So Nikki didn't even know when it was going out and he just has this cup full of picks and he would
10:37throw it up in the air and everybody would scamper for him. And, and, uh, but yeah, someone,
10:43someone got it, which is what a smart idea. No, it always reminded me of the, of course,
10:50you know, Charlie and chocolate factory, but it reminded me of the, do you ever see,
10:55you ever watch the office where they put their, they're putting the golden ticket for free paper
10:59and they all ended up at the same place. Yeah, exactly. Brilliant. That's so funny. No,
11:04but I thought that was such a great idea. And I was kind of watching a lot to see who was going to
11:08get this pick, but, uh, how'd the residency go? What do you think of doing shows like that?
11:12You're staying in the same place. Uh, you kind of, did you go through the same routine every day?
11:17So here's the thing. I was so excited for it. Cause I've never done a residency
11:21and I've always wanted to do a residency. I love Vegas. I love the desert. And, um, I was,
11:30I was so excited. I was so excited and we get there and, you know, I have my hotel room and the
11:40guys were just after a show, they'd fly home and I just stayed and I enjoyed cause I love being on
11:48the road. I liked the hotel. I liked the room service. I liked the whole thing, you know? So I,
11:55like, I mean, I came back a couple of times here and there, but the real magic was Vince Neil. He,
12:04what he went through and his struggles and how he performed and how he sang,
12:12I'll never forget it for the rest of my life. He did such a great job. And I was so proud of him
12:19because I knew like what hell he went through and I was so happy for the guy.
12:27Yeah, that's great, man. It looked like he was, he sang great as well. And, uh, man, and you know,
12:33and that was, that was less than a year ago that happened, right? Yeah, dude, bad. Like what he said,
12:41he even said that he was like in a wheelchair and then had to learn how to walk again.
12:45And I was like, Oh my God, the struggle and the, how terrifying that must've been, you know? So
12:53that was the real magic of that residency. And I'm telling you right now, every single show was
13:02amazing. There wasn't a bad show and I listened and I read those comments and I listen and I'm so
13:11focused in on every show and, uh, every show was awesome. I was so proud of him.
13:18Was, was there a point in your, in your mind when, when you found out what happened to Vince that you
13:22might never be able to play with Motley again? Uh, well, I wasn't sure, you know, I, I was,
13:29nobody really knew anything. Right. And I would text with Vince and, you know, you would say,
13:36Oh, I'm doing good. I'm doing good. And things like that. But no one really knew what was going
13:42on. You heard rumblings. And, uh, so it was wild. There's Churro. Churro say hi. All your animals
13:53don't have any hair. They must be cold. I know they are. And, um, but this guy's, this hair is
14:00naturally just sticks out of his head like that. That's awesome. What do you think, Churro?
14:08That's right. No, that's great. What was, what were the highlights of the show for you? Like,
14:13like each night or was it something different every single night?
14:15So they had this thing like a kiss alive too, where, you know, I would go up on these,
14:21these risers, you know, at the end of kickstart my heart or during the whole song actually.
14:27So you go up on these risers. I don't know if you saw it on my Instagram because there's
14:32a lot of pictures of it, but you go up on these risers, just like in kiss and you're going
14:38up and up. And we were at the top of the venue, me and Nikki, Nikki was on one side. I was on
14:43the other. And, you know, we get up there during the song, but what other bands like kiss did,
14:52like they would get strapped in and get set up and like before the song start? Oh no, not us.
15:01During the song, me and Nikki had to get up there while still playing, you know,
15:06and we'd have to get up on the risers while we were playing. And I was like, Hey, are we going to
15:15be strapped in? Like they're like, no, you're, you're not strapped in. I'm like, Oh, okay. So
15:21there was this little metal bar that kind of went around. And so I luckily just figured out,
15:26I'm going to put my arm around the metal bar and play. So I could like, hold on this, something
15:33happened, God forbid. So we're up there and you know, we did it at rehearsal and we were like,
15:41yeah, it's kind of, you know, it's, we just have to concentrate and hold on. So the first show I'm
15:46going up, going up, going up. And I have my arm around and I'm like playing and all this stuff.
15:51Then the confetti cannons come and I didn't, no one told me the confetti cannons are coming.
15:57So I'm playing at the time that you can watch this at the time the confetti cannons go,
16:04I'm playing the solo and kickstart my heart. So not only am I trying to balance,
16:09not fall and kill myself, play on time and in tune. And confetti is in my, I mean,
16:17I am covered. I can't see my hand in front of my face and no safety harness or anything.
16:24And it was the greatest.
16:27It's awesome. Like a kiss moment.
16:29A total kiss moment. It was awesome. It was so fun. It was just a blast. Yeah.
16:35Yeah. We had, I mean, me and Tommy, like we just had, dude, we had so much fun. Like his birthday
16:48was the last show. We had these, um, you know, for, uh, our birthdays were always together on our
16:56birthday. So like, it's, it's like a pact. We have to be together. So it was a show day and I got them
17:02these, uh, we both had these, uh, penis squirt guns, which I think is so smart. Like, why aren't
17:11these like a thing? But I guess they are a thing. Cause I got them these penis squirt guns and it's
17:18like, you hold the balls and you just squeeze the trigger and it comes out of the penis. And
17:23so she loves this. So he's like, just having so much fun and stuff. And he takes it to the meet
17:31and greet. And so he's squirting everybody at the meet and greet. And it was just, we just, every,
17:38every day we had a blast. It was just so much fun.
17:41Well, I can tell we're going to use for the real, for the internet from this interview.
17:45Yeah. Yeah.
17:47No, that's great. So, uh, I, I asked your, uh, your brother-in-law and your sister,
17:51like what I should talk to you about a little while ago. And, uh, they said on one of the
17:54stops you're going to make on this tour, coming up with Richie Kotzen, you're actually playing in
17:58New York at a place you played with Les Paul. Tell me about that night.
18:01Yeah. So, uh, a magical night. Um, I, well, it was the worst night of my life and the best night of
18:10my life. So my dad passed a few nights prior and I was like, just so down, you know, it was just like
18:20really, really bad. And a friend of mine said, Hey, Les Paul is playing at his club, the Iridium.
18:27And, uh, Jim Marshall is going to be there, the creator of Marshall amps.
18:32And they go, why don't you come down? I was so like, just in such a bad way. And I was like,
18:37okay, you know, I'm going to come down and just watch the great Les Paul and enjoy this music,
18:45you know? Um, this was probably, uh, let's see. Um, I, I, so, so many traumatic things have happened
19:01to me. I can't remember years, you know, cause it's like a mental block, but, um, it was when I
19:08was playing with zombie during Oz fest. So, um, so anyway, so I am there and I always travel with
19:17my guitar. It's like my whoopee or something. I always have my guitar and I meet Les and I said,
19:22Oh, can I keep my guitar back here? Um, you know, when I watch show and he was like, absolutely hang
19:28out. We enjoy. And, um, he's inviting these people up on stage, these great musicians. I mean,
19:36incredible musicians. And so he, he cuts on them after he's like, ah, keep practicing kid. You'll
19:44get somewhere. And these guys were incredible, you know, incredible. So I was like, Oh wow. You
19:51know, like these guys are so good. And then he goes, we got an odd looking fella here tonight.
19:58And I'm like, Oh no, you know, I don't, I don't want to get up there and I don't know any of these
20:04songs. Like, and he goes, his name's John five. Let's hear it for him. And I was like, Oh no,
20:09I was so like, not in that place. And I get up there and I'm thinking he's gonna like, just say
20:17the craziest things about me and all this stuff. And I get up there. I'm telling you, I'm being honest
20:23with you. I don't know what happened, but all the stars aligned and I just played and it was
20:32incredible. And after the song, you know, I got off the stage right away and thanked him. And,
20:40but he said, come back here, come back here. And he goes, son, I've seen a lot of guitar players and
20:45you impress me. I don't get impressed a lot and you impress me. I want you to play my Christmas special.
20:51And it was so emotional. This is a night I'll never forget. It was from the worst night and
21:00turned into the best night. It was an incredible time that happened in my life in insane. So I'm
21:08going to play that, um, the Iridium, I'm going to do two nights there and, uh, super excited about that.
21:15Yeah, that's great. You just mentioned, uh, Oz Fest and I haven't talked to you, uh, since the
21:20passing of Ozzy, but give me an Ozzy story or something, you know, that, that you remember about
21:26the, the Prince of Darkness. What, what, what do you, what do you recall about Oz? Um, you know,
21:31everybody has these Ozzy stories and they're crazy and they're fun and they're funny. Um, and,
21:38but it's, it's cause we did a lot of shows and a lot of tours with Ozzy, but what happened with
21:47Ozzy, we would have these conversations like normal conversations. And it was wonderful because
21:57everybody, you know, was like, Oh, you know, Ozzy and blah, blah, blah. But we would sit down and have
22:04these normal conversations and it was wonderful. It wasn't like the crazy Ozzy. Um, and I think
22:14that's so different than everybody else's stories. Everybody else's stories were this and that and
22:21the madness and all this stuff. But we sat down and had such great conversations about music and,
22:29and health and, uh, life and all that stuff. And it was wonderful. It was so wonderful to, um,
22:38be in his presence. And I got a chance to play with him and we did some, um, like some, you know,
22:46jams and all that stuff. And we had a lot of fun and, um, you know, there will never be,
22:54people say this a lot, but they'll really will never be another Aussie because not only was
23:03he brilliant and his voice, but he created something that will live on forever. I mean,
23:12he's like, you know, they created heavy metal, you know, it's like, it's like Henry Ford,
23:20like creating the automobile or something like he was so important to music and to us. And how lucky
23:33are we that we got to spend time with him, listen to him, see him live because this is Ozzy will live
23:46on for so long. It's like, you know, Lincoln or something, you know, we got a chance to see him
23:56live and enjoy while it was happening because we're going to be talking, people will be talking that us
24:02will be gone, but people will be talking about Ozzy for hundreds of years. And, uh, you know,
24:11so we're lucky and we're so lucky that we got the albums and the shows and the memories.
24:17Yeah. Was there a chance that, uh, that you could have gone to back to the beginning or were you
24:21watching at all? Did you see any of that? Um, yeah, I was, um, actually, yeah, I got a call from
24:28Murillo saying, Hey, there might be an open spot. You want to do this? And I said,
24:32of course, you know, I'm, I'm there just whatever you need. And he goes, okay, just hang tight. You
24:41know? And, and I was like, absolutely. Um, you know, whatever you, you know, I'll, I'll be there.
24:48It doesn't matter. I'll, you know, I'll be there a hundred percent. So, um, but yeah, they didn't need
24:53me, but at least I got that call saying, Hey, we might need you. And I, um, I was, you know,
24:59of course there in one second, if I needed to be. And, uh, I just watched it and life is a funny
25:08thing because we can't explain what happens, you know, like, um, we've all had people that have
25:19passed. And when you go to the hospital and all the families around, but you always hear, Oh, well,
25:26that person, you know, we're waiting for that person to get to here to the hospital and, and
25:32they, you know, they sense their being or something like that in the hospital. And then that person
25:38passes. And I think that's, you know, what do I know? I don't know anything, but like with Ozzy
25:45and that sendoff, it was, you know, that's just proof that there is something so much bigger and so
25:57great out there that, uh, we can't even explain because Ozzy, that performance was chilling. It
26:06was incredible. He was incredible. I had tears in my eyes and, um, then he was gone and it was,
26:17that's, those are things we can't explain, you know, and he was so special. He was so special.
26:25I just, I'm, you know, I miss him every day and I don't think that, uh, will ever go away.
26:31Now, uh, rapid things up here. Uh, by the way, you talked about the ghost earlier and, uh, you do
26:37have a ghost story. You told me one time about where you saw somebody, a woman in the doorway of
26:41your room. That's true. You have any other ones? No, that's the only time that's ever happened,
26:48but it's, and that absolutely happened. And I was so awake. I was like, okay, I'm awake and I'm
26:57telling myself I'm awake and I'm looking at that doorway and I'm like, I'm awake and I'm looking
27:03at that doorway and I'm looking at a ghost and I'm, I take my arm, not taking my eyes off of the image
27:10and I'm hitting my wife hard. I'm like, wake up and still staring, wake up, wake up. And you know,
27:20people's eyes take a minute to, she didn't understand, but yeah, it was really there.
27:25It was incredible. That's crazy. So, uh, what do you got coming up in, uh, 2026? Can you,
27:31can you say anything about anything you have, you have lined up yet? Well, I have, uh, I'm doing a
27:35show with, um, at the NAMM show, I do this thing called the J5 NAMM jam and it's the fifth annual
27:42and this, uh, in January and this time we're having living color. So I saw that. Yeah. Yeah. So we're
27:52going to do that. I'm going to do a show in Northern California. And then this is really
27:59nuts. I'm going to do, um, 50 shows, 50 States in 50 days. So 50 shows in a row starting Alaska,
28:10hit all these States every day, a different States. And I think I'm going to do over 50
28:18because we have Washington DC and things like that. And then I'm, we're going to finish in Hawaii.
28:24Wow. Yeah. Crazy. Can you take me with you a 30 year old, a 30 year veteran of WRIF?
28:32Yeah. Yeah. You know what? After show 16, you'd be like, I got to get out of here.
28:38I'm sure. Well, five, we're going to see you twice. District 142 on November 19th and the machine
28:45shop, uh, uh, two of our favorite places, uh, coming up on November 20th. Uh, the ghost is out
28:51on October 10th. And of course, uh, uh, we'll see you soon. Thanks so much for the time.
28:55Thank you, dude.
Recommended
1:16:56
|
Up next
11:01
32:17
1:49
0:58
2:19
2:32
2:35
1:55
2:03
15:19
2:01
Be the first to comment