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00:00Every city in America can learn from Detroit.
00:02The remaking of that city has been just nothing short of miraculous.
00:05I wish every city could look at that model and say,
00:08hey man, we're going to take some pages out of their book
00:10because they're doing an incredible job there.
00:13Rock, metal, frog, and everything in between.
00:17Welcome to this episode of Talkin' Rock with Meltdown.
00:21Don't forget to follow the audio-only Talkin' Rock podcast on all podcast platforms.
00:25And now, it's time for today's conversation.
00:28Here's Meltdown.
00:30I'm sorry, John.
00:31We were supposed to talk about children's sports for the next half hour.
00:35Yeah, people will love to hear me talking about that.
00:38Yeah, so for those that don't know,
00:40John was just in town here in Detroit, in Hockey Town,
00:43and you saw your son play.
00:45They ended up a little bit on the wrong side of the puck, so to speak.
00:49But those things happen, man.
00:50It's a learning experience.
00:51I saw your son pick up an assist while I was there watching him, so that was cool.
00:55That was nice.
00:56You brought him some good luck, and I appreciate you coming.
00:58That was very cool of you to do that.
01:00Yeah, it was not the best weekend for the team.
01:03They're kind of in a struggling position right now.
01:05But I kind of say the scale's got to balance here.
01:09So at some point, you can keep losing.
01:11I mean, I know you can, but I'm hoping that they start to tip a little bit.
01:14Like I said before, it's like, I never mind when my kids got their asses handed to them,
01:20as long as it didn't happen all the time.
01:22You've got to balance it out a little bit, and there has to be some winning, some losing,
01:25some championships, some nail-biter.
01:28That's a part of sports.
01:29Yeah, he was on a team two years ago that won 1-29.
01:33So he's very familiar with losing.
01:35And my wife and I get concerned about that because you don't want to just think,
01:39OK, I'm losing all the time.
01:40Because you've got to have some winning.
01:42And, you know, I mean, granted, he has been on some winning teams, too.
01:47But it's been a while, and it can be very demoralizing.
01:50Hopefully, that's going to turn.
01:52Let me point out and say some props to my Detroit friends, Tim McGlinchey and his wife,
01:59Kirsten, and their kids.
02:01They let me stay at their place now twice when I've been to Detroit over the last couple
02:05months for hockey, not for music.
02:07And they're just an awesome couple and awesome people.
02:10And that's how we got hooked up here through Tim.
02:13But, you know, I just want to say, and I'm not just brown-nosing here.
02:17I've been to Detroit twice in the last couple months just sort of hanging out.
02:20And Detroit, every city in America can learn from Detroit.
02:24The renaissance and the remaking of that city has been just nothing short of miraculous.
02:29And it's really amazing.
02:31And every time I'm there, I just get this incredible feeling from it.
02:35And I wish every city could look at that model and say, hey, man, we're going to take
02:40some pages out of their book because they're doing an incredible job there.
02:43Well, just like a gritty, grindy hockey player, we just keep grinding forward.
02:50And, you know, it is nice when you walk downtown, you know, and stuff.
02:52As a matter of fact, I purposely didn't wear my Detroit hat because I thought you might
02:56have had yours on there.
02:56And I didn't want to.
02:58I should have.
03:01But anyways, no, it's great to see you.
03:04And, of course, while we were watching your son play, we were talking about these three
03:07gigs you have coming up.
03:08Correct me if I'm wrong.
03:09December 13th in Los Angeles at the Whiskey, the 18th of December in St.
03:13Charles, Illinois, Arcadia Theater.
03:14That might have to be a road trip on the 20th, New York, New York at the at a racket.
03:19So did I get that right?
03:21You got that all right.
03:22Yeah, you should do a road trip.
03:23I mean, if you can.
03:23I mean, obviously, Chicago to Detroit is what maybe or vice versa.
03:27It's like about four hours, roughly ballpark, you know, better than me.
03:32But, you know, and it's going to be worth it.
03:35That's a great venue there.
03:37It's just an awesome vibe.
03:39We play there twice with Wasp over the last couple of years, and both shows were just
03:42off the charts.
03:43And it's a beautiful, you know, it's a beautiful theater.
03:46Like I said, that area kind of encompasses people from Wisconsin and obviously Illinois
03:52and even maybe some from Iowa and you'll get some maybe from Indiana and obviously all
03:56the people from suburban Chicago and stuff.
03:59So it's always a great show, and I'm looking forward to doing it.
04:02I want to play Detroit, you know, with this thing one day.
04:05But as of now, there's no date on the schedule yet.
04:09But one day.
04:10Now, for people that don't know what you're doing, you're doing just songs from your time
04:14in Anthrax.
04:14Are you going to do any Armored Saint or just Anthrax songs?
04:17No, no, no.
04:17This is just the four records that I made with Anthrax.
04:20And it's funny, I'm calling it John Bush, which is a big step for me and trying to overcome
04:25a little bit of a fear of like going, OK, you're doing this yourself.
04:29You're not relying on Joey Vera, always there and being on my side.
04:33And Scott and Charlie, you know, Frankie, this is something I have to do for myself.
04:37And that's great.
04:38My wife's been like my right-hand man and helping me with everything here.
04:42Right-hand woman, should I say.
04:43And it's going to be fun.
04:45It's like something I need to do, kind of like we're talking about, you know, sports
04:48and, you know, taking that next step and, you know, overcoming any kind of apprehensions
04:53you made.
04:53It's something I needed to do.
04:54And I've been talking about it for a long time.
04:56And, you know, I want to do it.
04:58I love those records.
04:59And quite frankly, those guys just don't, they don't play any material from it.
05:03And I understand why.
05:04You know, Belladonna Ears has a lot of songs.
05:07Plus, they've made two records since he's been back in the band.
05:10And they just finished a third that's coming out soon.
05:12So I understand it.
05:13But I just didn't want those records to just be eliminated from people's minds.
05:17And a lot of people connected with them, especially in the 90s.
05:20So, and it was a part of my life for like almost 13 years.
05:23So I did a lot of work with them.
05:25And I think there's some amazing materials.
05:27So it'll be fun to go out there and play them live for the first time in a while.
05:30Now, take me back to that time.
05:32I'm trying to recall, did Armored Saint disband and then you joined Anthrax?
05:36Or was it one of those things where, take me back to what caused you joining Anthrax?
05:42Well, they just, they reached out to me.
05:45It was after we recorded the cymbal salvation record, Armored Saint, which was, you know,
05:49it was a major accomplishment because we were coming on the heels of being dropped from Christmas records in the late 80s.
05:55And then we found out shortly after that, Dave Pritchard, our guitar player, main guy in the band, was diagnosed with leukemia.
06:01And at that time, late 80s, that was not a good thing to get because it was, there was just not a lot of ways to, to, to remedy that.
06:10You know, you went through a lot of rough times and he did and it sucked.
06:13And then eventually he, the only opportunity he had was to get a bone marrow transplant because he had no siblings.
06:19So he ended up doing that.
06:21And, um, it's crazy.
06:23It's like, it either works or it doesn't.
06:24And if it doesn't, you know, you basically die and it's that simple.
06:27And it was weird, like seeing him be, he was just, oh, Dave was like this most really incredible, positive dude who just embraced life.
06:36He was this awesome guitar player, amazing artist, um, funny as hell, you know, red, flaming red hair.
06:42So he looked super unique and, um, and to see him like, go, I'm going to beat this.
06:48I'm going to beat this.
06:49So we're going to do it.
06:49We'll be fine.
06:50And that was when we were writing all the songs for symbol salvation.
06:52And then eventually he had the opportunity to do the transplant and went in the hospital and literally within like two to three weeks, he died.
06:59And it was just a brutal thing to go through.
07:03But as time went on, we, we said, we kind of rallied the troops together.
07:08We, we brought back Phil and Gonzo and from, uh, Phil, I'm sorry, Phil and Jeff Duncan in who were in the band at different times and both played with Dave at different times, rallied the band, made that record symbol salvation, which a lot of those songs were written by Dave.
07:20And during that time, and then we made that record and, um, it was such a major accomplishment, like this crazy, like huge sigh of relief.
07:28And then we went out and we, we toured, it was like the early nineties and it was rough.
07:32And, uh, and we just, we couldn't like really make many inroads in at that point that, you know, eight years into our career and lo and behold, that's when the anthrax guys came.
07:42So I, I felt it was terrible for me to leave the band.
07:46It was, it was a crushing thing for me and the band for me to leave on the heels of all the things that we just had done with them making that record.
07:53But after a lot of thought, I was like, I, I have to do this.
07:58Like I just, it has, it's the right thing for my life.
08:01So then I jumped into anthrax and the band kind of dissolved.
08:04And, um, and then we went on to make the sound of white noise record, which is a huge, awesome record in 1993 and really kind of embraced the nineties and brand tracks and all the metal bands that were making that transition.
08:17And, and that's where my career started with them and eventually saying, got back together in 2000, put out another record.
08:23And then, you know, as time went on, we came back and that's another part of the story.
08:28Right.
08:29But you know, I was thinking about this earlier today.
08:31It's like, you know, my radio career started in 1990.
08:34And so I've been in it for 35 years and I can't remember a musical movement in my life where things just went backwards and upside down in that early 1990s.
08:45And you're just starting your career.
08:48I mean, well, you're eight years in with the armor saint.
08:50Then you say you joined anthrax and in 1993, when you put out a record, man, you don't know what's going to happen with that because, um, the record labels are all about Nirvana and Alice in Chains and Soundgarden and stuff.
09:00And it's like, you know, that, that must've been a tough thing as well.
09:03Well, it was a funny time too, because, um, electro records, uh, signed Molly crew and then they signed it.
09:09Well, they have Molly currently re-signed them for a lot of money.
09:11And then they signed anthrax, a lot of money.
09:13And, um, and both those bands fired their singers.
09:16And so the label must've been going, what are you guys doing?
09:20Well, what, what?
09:22And, um, you know, I can't speak on behalf of Motley of what they went through and John Karabi, but, you know, um, you know, there was something that they were just probably like, what are you doing?
09:32And then shortly after that, Electra cleaned house and then they got rid of a bunch of people, including Bob Krasnow, who was like the head of the label, who was with Electra from the beginning and like brought in the Eagles and brought countless other bands and they let them go.
09:45So, and they, they let, they go, the A&R guy who signed, uh, Mantrax.
09:49So at that point we went from this big high, you know, I joined this band, big record deal, a lot of attention on it, even though things were again, transitioning into the nineties and all the grunge bands.
10:00And the, the, you know, a lot of bands were just, you know, basically being eliminated by what was happening.
10:07Um, and then, but we were there, we put out sound of white noise and there was a huge buzz on it.
10:11And a lot of people were real excited.
10:13The only video took off MTV was playing the heck out of it and got a lot of airplay and, um, things were going well.
10:19And then within a couple of years after that, that's when Electra cleaned house mid nineties, more transition happening, more bands kind of being eliminated, um, from all the scenes.
10:30I mean, like, you know, the eighties had, I mean, the bottom line is the hair metal thing was, it was trendy, obviously.
10:37And then on the other, on the other side, you had the thrash metal saying that was trendy too, you know?
10:40So you had these two things, two scenes that were like flourishing.
10:44And both of those scenes were affected dramatically by, uh, you know, the nineties, which, Hey man, that's the way it is.
10:51It was a new time, new, a new decade.
10:53Um, there's incredible bands that came out of the nineties, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Fade No More.
10:58I mean, well, they were more late eighties, but you know, you can, you just on and on.
11:02And, you know, there's really great bands and it was just time for a change.
11:05And, um, you know, we embraced it in Anthrax.
11:07I mean, we were like, I was like, we were looking around at bands going, okay, what are they doing?
11:12Uh, let's, let's do that by any means.
11:15We were not doing that.
11:16We were just saying, you know, we're ready to kind of take on a new sound a little bit too.
11:22We've got a new singer and let's, let's make a sound like we're taking a step forward in this, in this, the sound and the scene.
11:29And, and we did that.
11:30And, um, it was, it was a sound of white noise was a record that really kind of embraced that whole new change.
11:36Yeah.
11:37That was a great record, man.
11:38I played tracks off that when it came out and it was brand new.
11:41And, you know, I, I remember it was, it's kind of a weird world that we live in.
11:45Sometimes I remember the first time I ever played Soundgarden outshined on the radio.
11:49I'm like, Holy crap, listen to this.
11:51And then ironically enough, I saw their final concert, you know, right?
11:55Oh, right.
11:55There was at the Fox theater, right?
11:57At the Fox theater.
11:59But, but they had this sound, which, you know, black Sabbath, this kind of sound.
12:03But when Nirvana came around, it was like, man, what is this?
12:06It's like, it didn't make much sense to me.
12:08And all of a sudden it started to blow up all over the place.
12:10And I guess you can't pick the time and place when you join Anthrax,
12:13but it probably wasn't optimal.
12:16Well, look, I'm super proud of my career and I'm so lucky, you know,
12:21here we are 40 years later and I'm still doing it.
12:24We just finished an Armored Saint record.
12:25It sounds incredible.
12:26And I'm super proud of it.
12:28And, you know, there's two schools of thought.
12:30One is like, okay, well, just never quite got there.
12:34My career, my career just never did.
12:35I got, you know, even when I joined Anthrax,
12:37it was the beginning of the decline of Anthrax.
12:39And so that's just reality.
12:41I used to have no problems going,
12:43we're going to Europe for six weeks.
12:44Awesome.
12:45You know, we're playing this venue.
12:46Heck, I played that place at least last time.
12:48But for them, those guys,
12:50some of that stuff was hard to swallow because it was like,
12:53oh man, we were here and now we're here.
12:55And I was like, I was here and now I'm here.
12:58And so I was like, awesome.
13:00But yeah, it was, I think it was just a tough time.
13:03And I've had those kinds of moments throughout my whole career,
13:07quite frankly, Armored Saint, you know,
13:08I had this beginning that we were red hot.
13:10Like, can you deliver?
13:11It was all over MTV in their early eighties,
13:14mid eighties.
13:15And, and then we next two records,
13:17I don't think we even made a video.
13:18So like, I don't know.
13:20It's, I, there's like,
13:22there's a school of thought of like,
13:23never quite got to that level of success.
13:26But on the flip side, I say, man,
13:29I'm still like making music here.
13:31I am 40 years later.
13:32I'm like, I'm still touring and I'm going to do this,
13:34these three shows.
13:35And some people care.
13:37So like,
13:38I try to look at the glass,
13:40my coffee glass,
13:41way,
13:42not,
13:42not half full,
13:43but like real full.
13:45And don't get me wrong.
13:46I complain about stuff and I get annoyed by stuff that
13:49bolster the cracks or mistakes that are made,
13:52even mistakes I make.
13:53But at the end of the day,
13:54I keep saying I'm lucky that people I'm still doing it.
13:58And people,
13:59some people care and I'm still doing it at a pretty high
14:02quality.
14:02So in my early sixties to be able to do that,
14:05I'm,
14:05I feel very fortunate.
14:07Well,
14:07it was funny because when we were talking the other day at
14:08the hockey game,
14:09a couple of weeks back,
14:10you mentioned something to me,
14:11like,
14:11you know,
14:12I'm,
14:12I'm just a heavy metal singer.
14:13And I kind of forgot about that.
14:15As you watch your kid playing hockey,
14:16I'm like,
14:17Oh yeah,
14:17that's right.
14:17This guy's a heavy metal singer.
14:18But I was driving to watch my son play hockey last time.
14:21We drove by this little house,
14:22uh,
14:23in a little while,
14:24a little ways from where I live.
14:25And I said to my wife,
14:26I go,
14:27that house is so tiny.
14:28You can get across that house in three seconds.
14:29And it kind of,
14:30it kind of lets you,
14:31you feel like you feel fortunate.
14:33That's what you're saying.
14:33It's like,
14:34yeah,
14:34well,
14:34you know what?
14:35Um,
14:35I may not be playing here right now,
14:37but some guys are playing down here.
14:38And at least I'm,
14:39you know,
14:39I'm,
14:40I'm,
14:40you know,
14:40but you've been able to do this for 40 years.
14:42That's incredible.
14:43Yeah.
14:44You know,
14:44and tour the world.
14:45And,
14:46um,
14:46and,
14:47and again,
14:47it's just,
14:48how are you going to look at it?
14:48I don't want to be a bitter old guy and,
14:51you know,
14:51about music.
14:51I mean,
14:52I'm a really proud of all the music I've made.
14:54Um,
14:54some better than others and my personal favorites,
14:57but you know,
14:58at the end of the day,
14:58it's when I'm,
15:00I always laugh.
15:01Cause I always say,
15:02I'll probably get a little more notoriety when I'm dead.
15:06And I don't mean that in,
15:07I don't mean that in like a,
15:08Oh,
15:08what was me thing?
15:09It's more like,
15:10it's probably the truth,
15:11but,
15:11um,
15:12which I find comical,
15:13but,
15:14um,
15:14not to say that I don't get accolades.
15:16Cause I certainly do.
15:17And I,
15:18and I've been,
15:18like I said,
15:19I'm really grateful.
15:20I mean,
15:20James Hetfield was praising the category seven record.
15:23He didn't have to do that.
15:24And he was saying,
15:25this record is awesome.
15:26And it's like,
15:27this is James Hetfield.
15:28So like,
15:29you know,
15:29I've gotten a lot of props and I just,
15:31I just take it all,
15:32you know,
15:32with a grain of salt and,
15:34um,
15:35go out there and just do my gig.
15:37And I feel like I was raised in blue collar East LA neighborhood.
15:41That was predominantly Latino and lower middle class.
15:44And my dad was a cement mixer driver.
15:45And my mom was a housewife and they kind of raised me with this,
15:49you know,
15:49you don't have a lot of money kind of thing,
15:50where you just got to just,
15:51you know,
15:52just scratching clock kind of attitude.
15:54And I think I've always carried that on with me.
15:56So,
15:56yeah.
15:57Yeah.
15:57That's,
15:57that's the way you got to be in this business.
15:59I guess you got to have tough skin and just keep on moving forward.
16:01Uh,
16:02you just,
16:02especially if you're in a metal band,
16:03you know,
16:04maybe if you're in a pop band,
16:05you,
16:05you still probably be tough,
16:07but you know,
16:08you're a metal band.
16:09You got to have that mentality.
16:10Yeah.
16:10And if you're in a,
16:11if you're in a pop band,
16:12I guess you can just write songs about how woe is me all the time.
16:14Right.
16:16Right.
16:16Well,
16:16there's some metal songs like that too,
16:18I guess.
16:19I am.
16:19I'm sure there are.
16:20Well,
16:20you know,
16:20listen,
16:20it's no secret.
16:21I've told you this before.
16:22I think you're one of the best metal singers out there and a highly
16:25underrated and a people should definitely go see when you do all
16:28these anthrax songs coming up.
16:29Like you said,
16:30a Los Angeles,
16:30a whiskey,
16:31a go,
16:31go on December 13th to 18th,
16:33uh,
16:33in Arcadia theater in St.
16:34in,
16:35um,
16:35in Illinois,
16:35St.
16:36Charles and New York,
16:37New York.
16:37And on December 20th.
16:38So you just mentioned,
16:39I was going to ask you about it,
16:40uh,
16:41armored saints.
16:41So the new record's done.
16:43It is done.
16:44It's mastered and completed.
16:46We still are.
16:47I,
16:47I don't know what our protocol is or regarding,
16:50um,
16:51putting,
16:52you know,
16:52putting out this,
16:53you know,
16:53telling people what the title is and the song titles.
16:56Um,
16:56um,
16:57I'm still kind of trying to figure out,
16:58can we do that or what's going on with that?
17:00But it'll,
17:01it'll be soon enough,
17:02probably announce it in the new year realistically,
17:04but,
17:05um,
17:05yeah,
17:06it's the record's great.
17:07It sounds awesome.
17:08And,
17:08um,
17:09we just kind of keep taking steps up as far as,
17:11uh,
17:12as far as our style and our,
17:14um,
17:14just our whole trip.
17:15And I think that I'm re I mean,
17:17I'm really proud of what armored saying has done for the last couple of
17:19records.
17:20We've made some really killer albums and sound white.
17:22No,
17:22I mean,
17:22excuse me,
17:23pardon me.
17:24Uh,
17:24when when hands down was the second to the last record.
17:27And then the last one was punching the sky,
17:29which is a great album.
17:29And this new one,
17:30it just kind of keeps building on that.
17:32So,
17:33um,
17:33yeah,
17:34yeah,
17:34I'm looking forward to being able to talk about that,
17:36doing interviews,
17:37talking about the record and,
17:38and going out there and playing some shows.
17:40We have some stuff booked in Europe,
17:41for next summer,
17:42some festivals and we're doing some dates with,
17:44um,
17:45sabotage,
17:46which is going to be really cool.
17:47That's a band from our era that we,
17:49that we played the dynamo festival in 1989.
17:53Uh,
17:53the first time we ever went to Europe with sabotage on the hall hall of the
17:57mountain King record,
17:58which is a killer album.
17:59And,
18:00um,
18:00so I'm really excited to go out there and play a couple of shows with those
18:03guys.
18:03And they've always had a huge vibe in Europe.
18:05And so,
18:06yeah,
18:06that's going to be great.
18:07We're going to,
18:07we're going to be busy.
18:08Yeah.
18:09I was Googling the thing there and I need to probably get one of these,
18:11you know,
18:11some of these for your kids,
18:12uh,
18:13you know,
18:13where the,
18:13the shirts that says,
18:14uh,
18:14my dad,
18:15and it's like a guy holding a briefcase,
18:17like an outline from the bathroom.
18:18And it says,
18:18and then it says,
18:19you know,
18:19uh,
18:20your dad,
18:20and then it says my dad,
18:21and it should be like a guy just singing or something,
18:22you know,
18:23there you go.
18:24You should get that for your kids for Christmas.
18:26Well,
18:26my,
18:26you know,
18:27my kids did some fun shirts where they made shirts for me,
18:30like,
18:30you know,
18:30some shirt I'd probably bought a CVS and then you're drawing it.
18:33And I still wear those shirts and people laugh and they go,
18:36Oh,
18:36that's so cute.
18:37And I'm like,
18:37yeah,
18:37my kid's 18 and 21.
18:39And I go,
18:39Oh wow.
18:40But,
18:40um,
18:41yeah,
18:41I don't,
18:41I probably embarrass my kids if I wore something like that at this
18:44point and probably embarrass my wife more than my kids,
18:47actually.
18:48No,
18:49that's great.
18:49So I always wonder about this.
18:51Uh,
18:51you know,
18:51it's,
18:51it's funny cause I,
18:52well,
18:53I guess there's probably a certain timeline and you want to get
18:55stuff out there,
18:55but yeah,
18:56these bands,
18:56when they released up,
18:57they hold it so close to the chest,
18:59you know,
18:59so close to the vest.
19:00I remember talking to,
19:02uh,
19:02uh,
19:02Johannes from avatar and he couldn't tell me when the record was
19:05going to be released,
19:05but it was a really cool day and it turned out to be Halloween,
19:08you know,
19:08but he couldn't say anything at the time,
19:10but yeah.
19:11And so,
19:12well,
19:12can you tell me how many tracks there are?
19:13Maybe a flavor of some of the songs all heavy.
19:17I mean,
19:17believe me,
19:18I want to talk about it.
19:19I'm,
19:19I'm still kind of confused as to what,
19:22what we're going to put out,
19:22a release date on it.
19:23All right.
19:24Fair enough.
19:24We should do a release,
19:26a press release very soon.
19:28I was telling my wife,
19:29like,
19:29I actually,
19:30I don't want to do it in the next two weeks.
19:32Cause I'm focusing all my energy on these shows.
19:34So like,
19:35that would be actually slightly conflicting me personally.
19:38Um,
19:38but whatever.
19:39And when it comes out,
19:40it comes out,
19:40but yeah,
19:41there's like,
19:41um,
19:4111 tunes on it.
19:42And,
19:43um,
19:44and which was something that we were struggling with because sometimes
19:47Armored Sands has a tendency to write songs a little too long.
19:50And then our label was saying like,
19:52come on,
19:52man,
19:52shorter tunes,
19:53shorter tunes.
19:54And we're like,
19:55okay,
19:55okay.
19:55We're going to focus on shorter songs and just come in with an,
19:58you know,
19:58a slug in the face and make it brief,
20:01but,
20:01um,
20:02which we did actually.
20:03So,
20:03um,
20:04because we want to metal blade,
20:05our label is always great about putting out vinyl on every album and,
20:08and they just do a great job with the packaging.
20:10And so we wanted a,
20:12you know,
20:12at one point Joey was saying,
20:13well,
20:14we might only have a certain amount of songs because of vinyl.
20:17I was like,
20:17no way.
20:17We like,
20:18we haven't put out a record in six years.
20:20Like we cannot put out nine songs.
20:22Our fans will kill us if we do that.
20:24Like we,
20:25we need to have all the songs that we wrote that we finished.
20:28And we did ended up doing that.
20:30So it's going to be at least 11 tunes and,
20:31um,
20:32the artwork's great.
20:33And I think,
20:34I mean,
20:34we were supposed to have a date of April 8th or 9th,
20:37but I don't know if that's still.
20:40In play.
20:41So I,
20:42I'm,
20:42I'm probably still saying way more than I'm supposed to.
20:45And I want to talk about it.
20:46Like,
20:47believe me,
20:47I want to send you cuts of the records.
20:49You can hit,
20:50listen to them.
20:50And I will do that when I can.
20:52All right.
20:52I don't want to get you in trouble.
20:53I,
20:54you said too much already.
20:56I,
20:56I always do.
20:58Yeah.
20:58That's okay though.
20:59Hey,
20:59you know,
20:59you just mentioned a tour of the wasp.
21:01Of course,
21:02you know,
21:02you did the last couple of tours with wasp.
21:04And then there was that famous tour in 1984.
21:06You actually brought it up when we were sitting there watching your son play
21:08hockey.
21:08That was with a wasp and Metallica.
21:11Tell me some,
21:12some of your favorite memories about that tour.
21:14Well,
21:14that was a great tour.
21:15It was actually the beginning of 85.
21:16It was a ride the lightning and,
21:18and the,
21:19the first wasp record in March of the St album.
21:22And it was amazing.
21:23It was a huge buzz on that album.
21:25I mean,
21:25that,
21:25that those records and,
21:27and those bands at that time.
21:28And we were actually pretty lucky to be part of that,
21:32those,
21:33that tour.
21:34And,
21:34and,
21:35you know,
21:36Metallica was just riding a major high at that point.
21:38And so it was wasp.
21:39And so we went out there and we were the third band on the bill and,
21:42and did kick some major butt.
21:44And it was an awesome,
21:46awesome tour.
21:47We played the Royal Oak theater,
21:48I think on that,
21:49on that album in Detroit,
21:50we played three nights at Lemoore's in Brooklyn,
21:54which was like a very happening club back in the day.
21:57And we played three nights sold out there.
22:00The,
22:00all the,
22:01all the bands did.
22:02And at the last show of the tour,
22:04it was just at that point,
22:05it was wasp dropped off.
22:07Like once we got to Texas,
22:08it kind of dropped off.
22:10So it was just us and Metallica,
22:11but we played the Hollywood Palladium,
22:13the last show of the tour with Metallica.
22:16And it was stupid because we were,
22:19of course the support act,
22:20the whole thing,
22:20but because that was our hometown,
22:22somebody had this notion that we would headline and going on after
22:27Metallica at the Hollywood Palladium in front of like 3,500 people was a
22:31very,
22:31very bad idea.
22:33So we were like,
22:35Oh,
22:35that was stupid.
22:36We should have just,
22:37it was,
22:38but it was a great tour.
22:39And we developed a really great friendship with the Metallica guys.
22:43At that point,
22:43we were both on the same management Q prime at that point.
22:46And I mean,
22:47we have stories when like James through Joey's leather jacket out the
22:51window from a Colorado,
22:53like a Denver hotel,
22:54like 30 stories guy.
22:56He's going,
22:57that's a cool jacket.
22:58Joey had this cool,
22:59like red lapel leather,
23:01you know,
23:01studded jacket.
23:02And he goes,
23:03let me see it.
23:03And he got it.
23:03And they threw it out the window.
23:04And it was beside Joey's jacket floating down in the snow.
23:08And then,
23:09and then James pulled the firearm.
23:11So like all the people had to,
23:14it was like probably late two in the morning and everybody had to leave and
23:18their pajamas go out and they're cold and they didn't get caught for it.
23:22That was a great story.
23:23That's hysterical.
23:24Yeah.
23:25That was pretty funny.
23:26A lot of fun times on that tour.
23:27And like I said,
23:29Metallica,
23:30we,
23:30we just played the Sonic temple show.
23:32And one of many bands that played in Metallica,
23:34the one in Columbus and Metallica was there.
23:37And those guys,
23:38you know,
23:38we've always been friends for through years,
23:41through the years,
23:42but we never really like,
23:44you know,
23:44I just,
23:45I mean,
23:45Lars and I,
23:46myself,
23:46we were friends.
23:47We were pretty close for a while.
23:48And then when,
23:49you know,
23:49things get distant,
23:50it's not a big deal.
23:51It's once you see each other,
23:52it's like,
23:52but it was weird because we went on at three that day,
23:56of course,
23:57we were one of the first bands and they were going on at like nine.
24:00Cause they were the headliner.
24:01And then somebody was like,
24:03you think they'll come?
24:04And I was like,
24:04why?
24:05I wouldn't come,
24:07you know,
24:07they're sleeping.
24:08And lo and behold,
24:09we turn around like right before we're going on stage and there's James and Lars and Trujillo.
24:13And,
24:13and we're like,
24:14what?
24:15And,
24:15and they watched our whole set and it was,
24:17you know,
24:17it was pretty cool for them to do that.
24:20And they didn't have to do that.
24:21And,
24:21and then James actually gave us props during his set,
24:24things are I'm insane and corn and they were killer.
24:26And I was like,
24:27wow.
24:28I mean,
24:28it was really nice.
24:29So we still always have that relationship with them,
24:32even though sometimes,
24:34you know,
24:34we won't speak for a long time,
24:35which is,
24:36it's not a big deal,
24:37but it was,
24:38it was awesome.
24:39And,
24:39and let me say that,
24:40you know,
24:41on this tour that we did with Wasp,
24:42the dates were great.
24:43We did two legs with them.
24:44We were supposed to only do the first one,
24:46but I'm doing the second one with them because of circumstances.
24:48And we were happy to do that.
24:50And,
24:50and Blackie treated us awesome.
24:51And it was a great tour and we had a lot of fun.
24:53And all the guys in his band are incredible.
24:56All Achilles and Duda and,
24:57and,
24:58and Doug and,
24:59you know,
24:59they're amazing band.
25:00And we had some great shows.
25:02It sold a ton of merge.
25:03And it was,
25:04it was probably one of the best tours Armored Saints done in like 25,
25:0730 years,
25:07if not more.
25:08So it was great.
25:09Now I saw both of them here.
25:10You did play the Royal Oak theater.
25:13And then Harpo's.
25:14Yeah.
25:15The famous Harpo's.
25:16Yeah.
25:16The time before that.
25:17And then,
25:18you know,
25:18that,
25:19that tour you're talking about with Metallica and wasp though,
25:21the,
25:21the thing that you haven't brought this up.
25:23We're watching your son play hockey.
25:24That's where you guys got snowed in in Buffalo.
25:26We did.
25:27We got snowed in in Buffalo.
25:28It was a major blizzard.
25:29It was a Superbowl Sunday.
25:30I remember distinctly.
25:31I can't tell you what game it was,
25:33but it was the Niners and dolphins.
25:35Cause it was in Marino and,
25:36and Montana.
25:38I remember that.
25:38And we were watching the game and then we saw the snow coming.
25:41We're like,
25:42wow,
25:43this is going to be not good.
25:45This is going to be bad.
25:46And,
25:46and yet still a ton of people came to the show.
25:49It was at the salty dog,
25:50which is a club in Buffalo.
25:52And,
25:52and the show was great.
25:54And,
25:54and then the next day where it was just like,
25:56we're not,
25:57we're can't get out of town.
25:58We were there for about two to three days of stranded in Buffalo.
26:02And finally we got a police escort out of town.
26:06I think go to Scranton,
26:08Pennsylvania was,
26:09I think the final,
26:10finally the next show that we were able to play.
26:12And yeah,
26:13I remember being in the hotel and we were trying to go through the kitchen and,
26:18and just try to get,
26:20find some food that we could eat because everything was shut down.
26:24And Chris Holmes,
26:26I remember cracking up and he was being a maniac and,
26:29and you know,
26:31we trying to find food and just a lot of laughs and all three bands cracking up
26:36about being stranded here in this hotel.
26:38I was,
26:39I think it was a pretty nice hotel,
26:40like a Hilton or something in,
26:41in Buffalo,
26:42but we literally like food was,
26:45was,
26:46was something we couldn't find.
26:48We couldn't,
26:49obviously we couldn't order anything.
26:50And I remember going through the kitchens and like the cupboards and just
26:54trying to find something to eat.
26:56So great memory.
26:57And the life of a rock star.
26:59Like you said,
26:59you don't talk to the Metallica guys all the time,
27:01but you guys will always have that.
27:03Oh,
27:03it's great.
27:04We always have this history and,
27:05and Lars was always a huge supporter of the band back in even early days.
27:10And you're up to,
27:11he was kind of like almost co-managing with his,
27:13with his girlfriend at the time for the simple salvation record.
27:16He's always been a huge supporter of that record.
27:18And,
27:18you know,
27:19look,
27:19I mean,
27:20the Metallica guys,
27:21they're,
27:21and they're the Kings.
27:23It's the end of the story.
27:23That's what,
27:24that's all you can say about them.
27:25And I always say that what the things they did,
27:28they always took a lot of chances.
27:29And I always,
27:30I always think that's really commendable.
27:32You know,
27:32making a record with Lou Reed,
27:34you know,
27:35the load records,
27:36you know,
27:36whatever,
27:37cutting their hair,
27:38just always taking chances.
27:40All of the,
27:40always the things that they do,
27:42all the stuff they've done live.
27:44They never really just played it safe and said,
27:46you know,
27:47we're just going to do this and that we're going to stay consistent to that.
27:49They took chances.
27:50And sometimes when you do that,
27:52you know,
27:52it always hit the bullseye,
27:54but you know,
27:54as an artist,
27:55I think that's how you really grow.
27:57And I really commend them for that.
27:59You got these dates coming up,
28:01like I said,
28:01where you're singing the anthrax songs at that part of your catalog there
28:05with anthrax.
28:05And I know when you were here,
28:06we'll wrap this up just by,
28:09by saying,
28:09are you ready to go with these shows?
28:10Cause you told me that you were singing like you,
28:12what'd you,
28:13you,
28:13you rehearsed like 20 songs that day or something.
28:14I saw you or something.
28:15You said,
28:15I've been,
28:16I've been doing it cause I'm,
28:17we're also playing the category seven.
28:18It's like,
28:19so the category seven guys are basically the band who's,
28:22who's playing the music.
28:23This was the idea that we came up with,
28:25which was a good one.
28:26We're piggybacking on one another a little bit,
28:28if you will.
28:29Like I said,
28:30those guys are incredible players.
28:31You know,
28:32if I was starting a band from scratch,
28:34I would reach out to them because they're incredible musicians.
28:37The only drag is Jack Gibson can't do it because he had a schedule conflict.
28:41And so I had to get another bass player,
28:43which was easy.
28:44Cause I asked Joey Vera was my,
28:46you know,
28:47my blood brother in Armand Sane.
28:48And so it worked out well.
28:49So,
28:50but yeah,
28:51it's a lot of preparation.
28:52So we're going to do like five songs,
28:55six songs of category sevens,
28:56and then we're going to take the,
28:58leave the stage for like 20,
28:5930 minutes.
29:00And then we're going to come back and play the songs from Anthrax.
29:04So what I've been rehearsing is,
29:06okay.
29:07Which I've never done this.
29:08I was saying,
29:09I'm like sing five or six songs.
29:11And I take a 30 minute break and check out like box scores or something.
29:15And what read the news.
29:17And then all of a sudden 30 minutes later,
29:18I start singing again,
29:19which is something I was kind of weary about because,
29:22you know,
29:22as a singer and drummers too,
29:24like you're warm.
29:25The last thing you want to do is,
29:26is get cold.
29:27So,
29:28I mean,
29:28I guess hockey players and,
29:30you know,
29:30athletes have halftimes and period breaks.
29:32Right.
29:33But you still want to like stretch a little bit.
29:35Like you don't want to,
29:36it completely cold.
29:38And as a singer,
29:38it's,
29:39I was wondering about that,
29:40how it's going to be,
29:41but it's been fine.
29:41Actually,
29:42I'm still kind of warm.
29:43And so I'm really excited about it.
29:45This is going to be a lot of fun and it's going to be a lot of work.
29:48That's why I only said,
29:49I'll do three shows.
29:50And we'll reevaluate after that and see how it plays out.
29:53It's a lot of work,
29:53but the set is great.
29:55There's this,
29:56it's really,
29:57I think it's flowing really well.
29:58And I can't wait to get in the rehearsal with those guys next week and start
30:01playing these tunes live.
30:02It's going to be killer.
30:03Yeah.
30:03The older I get that,
30:04that like if I play hockey or something and there's like a,
30:06you know,
30:07a break in intermissions,
30:08it's the worst.
30:08It's like,
30:09you just want to keep going.
30:10It is.
30:11It's bad.
30:11And Jason Bittner,
30:12the drummer,
30:12he's like really adamant about going to that.
30:15There cannot be a long break.
30:16And I was like,
30:17you got no problem.
30:18You know,
30:18we could,
30:18we could go back on 15,
30:2020 minutes later.
30:20If you want to same guys,
30:22there's no roads.
30:23Like we might change a backdrop other than that.
30:26Like there's nothing,
30:27there's no,
30:28there's no gear to move.
30:29There's nothing to do.
30:30So we can just go back on whenever you want.
30:32So,
30:32I mean,
30:33we want a little break just to create a little tension.
30:35I think,
30:36which will be fun.
30:37You know,
30:37I'm going to have to change my shirt because I start sweating after song one,
30:40but I think that'll be fun.
30:43But yeah,
30:43we don't want some big,
30:44big break in between bands.
30:47Yeah.
30:47Well,
30:47listen,
30:48good luck with these shows,
30:49man.
30:50Los Angeles and New York are kind of out of the question.
30:52We'll see about,
30:52I don't know.
30:53I think I got to work that week.
30:55I'm off the week after,
30:56but you're still,
30:57you're feeling a little ill.
30:58You might be coming down with something.
31:00Yeah.
31:00That might be true.
31:02I'll have to,
31:03I'll have to see if I can remember that.
31:04I don't know why this thing keeps going.
31:05If you see that it's moving in.
31:06Anyways,
31:07Mike,
31:07Mike,
31:07me a hard time.
31:09Thanks for coming out to my son's game.
31:10That was really cool of you to do that.
31:12And it was great to get to know you and please let's keep in touch,
31:16you know,
31:16and thanks for all the love and at the station and,
31:19and,
31:19and all the support through the years really appreciate it.
31:22And,
31:22uh,
31:22you know,
31:23thanks.
31:23Thanks.
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