July 4, 2025 • 25 mins
Join @thebuzzknight with the amazing Rock & Roll couple, drummer of Def Leppard Rick Allan and his wife Lauren Monroe. Two of the nicest people you'll ever meet take you inside their lives, loves and inspirations.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
The special thing about playing that particular show. It was
my sixteenth birthday, and I remember Bond Scott coming up
to me and wishing me a happy birthday, which doesn't
happen to too many people's, and then Brian May with
the Queen was there. And then another really special surprise
(00:23):
was after soundcheck, when the auditorium was really quiet. I
went down just to check out my drum kit and
there was this guy on his hands and knees checking
out the drums and I didn't want to. I didn't
want to start with him, so I just walked up
and I said, is everything okay? And he turned round
and it was Mitch Mitchell. I was so I was
(00:44):
just completely blown away. So what a special sixteenth birthday.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast hosted by Buzz Night.
This is the podcast that talks to musicians about their
passionate love of music. Today. The husband and wife of
Lauren Monroe and Rick Allen. You know Rick from his
legendary def Leopard Work, and Lauren is a singer songwriter
who shares her energy and love of the medium as
a healing force. For two decades, they've led their foundation
(01:13):
called the Raven Drum Foundation, which does amazing work for veterans,
first responders and so many others. Here's buzz with Lauren
and Rick on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Well, it's delightful to have Rick and Lauren with us
on the Taking a Walk podcast. Thank you so much.
I wish we were in person rather than virtual, but
I'm very happy to meet you.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
That's great. Thank you very much. Nice to meet you, too,
Great to meet you.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Now.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Do you guys take walks out in beautiful California whenever
you can?
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Of course? Yeah? Absolutely, yea.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
The nature is so beautiful here, especially Central Coast. We
really love it, the two of us.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
And do you find it to be therapeutic when you're
out taking a walk?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I think I think one of the most therapeutic things
there are, you know, it is being in amongst something
that is bigger than I am, you know, being out
in nature or looking at the ocean or looking up
at the sky. I think any of those things really
get me out of my own way. So so being
(02:23):
out in nature is really important to me, and I'm
sure it's really important to Lauren as well.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Yeah, I think it's very therapeutic.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
And I and some of the things that we teach
in our foundation we have a drug foundation, is we
focus on nature. I understand it through energy medicine and
how energy is a transference and when you're in something
greater than yourself, something happens called bioen trainment. So the
(02:51):
dominant frequency affects you. And so when you're standing by
a tree or by the ocean, they're the dominant frequency.
And we start like a tuning fork, we start to
vibrate and we can get further into our own calmness
and and it really helps a nervous system, so it
helps everyone being in nature.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Well, take us back to that magical moment when you
two lovebirds exchange your vows and you had the redtail
hawk circling above at that moment. Talk about that special time,
Well that.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Rick talk first.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Oh man, I mean, it couldn't have been more perfect.
You know, we had all our family and you know,
all our friends, and you know, just a just at
this this magical moment, which was made even more magical
by the fact that I think there were a pair
(03:52):
of redtail hulks flying way way above us, and it
just felt like it just felt like the blessing got
even more powerful. So I don't know what you experienced, Lauren,
but I mean that was that was one of those
moments I'll never I'll never forget.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
Yeah, And I think it was beautiful. Everybody saw it.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
And there were two redtails circling around right above us,
and it was it was a blessing.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Like I felt like it was a blessing too.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
What do redtail hawks signify, do you think?
Speaker 5 (04:31):
Well, my understanding the hawk represents the presence of it.
I don't know that much detail about the redtail, although
we've been giving a lot of gifts of redtail feathers,
and Rick got a gift of a redtail claw from
a lot of our indigenous friends and colleagues.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
And I'm sure this is deeper meaning. But we pay attention.
We live in a very.
Speaker 5 (04:54):
Secluded area and we have a lot of wildlife, and
we pay attention to their behavior and what they do
and how close they come. And we're able to sit
very close to a lot of them if we're still enough,
and we've been here for a number of years, so
they trust us.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Now that's great.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
So, Lauren, how did you ultimately find your musical voice?
And who are some of the musicians that influenced you
in that time.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
Well, I found my musical voice when I was really young.
I started writing songs and I got a guitar when
I was five, and it just it's like I knew.
I knew how to express myself in that way very
easily at a young age. And I think the seventies
music scene really.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Influenced me a lot. I had a lot of that
around me and the doors.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
I remember Jim Morrison the way he articulated through poetry
and he got into some of the very realms he
when he sang and he created his poetry.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
He influenced me quite a bit, you know.
Speaker 5 (06:07):
Of course Tom Petty was my greatest influence I think
in rock and roll. Once I discovered him in the
late seventies and early eighties. I connected with his songwriting
and his expression. But I drop from a lot of influences,
I think, mostly spiritual ones, and then I just make
(06:28):
songs that are me, that are just me really.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
And Rick, mister thunder God, may I call you that?
Speaker 2 (06:36):
You can?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
You started pretty darn young as a musician. If I'm
not mistaken, you joined def Leppard at fifteen years old,
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I did yet ran about nineteen seventy eight, and I'd
been playing with local bands and you know, they always
wanted to play cover songs. And yeah, we saw a
newspaper article, Leopard Loses Skins, and we got in touch
with the newspaper, found the journalist and he put he
(07:17):
put me in touch with Joe Elliott and Steve Clark
and I met with them a few days later and
we set up an audition. And when I went for
the audition, I was I was really pleasantly surprised I
got the job. Lots of big smiling faces around the
room and that was that was the beginning of something
(07:41):
really really great.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
And take me back to being sixteen years old at
the Hammersmith Odeon and having def Leppard open for ac
DC there.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
What was that like? It was?
Speaker 2 (07:58):
It was incredible. I mean it was all I ever
really knew because I was so young. But the special
thing about playing that particular show, it was my sixteenth
birthday and I remember Bond Scott coming up to me
and wishing me a happy birthday, which doesn't happen to
too many people. And then Brian May with the Queen
(08:21):
was there, and then another really special surprise was after soundcheck,
when the auditorium was really quiet. I went down just
to check on my drum kit and there was this
guy on his hands and knees checking out the drums
and I didn't want to I didn't want to startle him,
so I just walked up and I said, is everything okay?
(08:43):
And he turned round and it was Mitch Mitchell. I
was so I was just completely blown away. So what
a special sixteenth birthday.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
That's fantastic. And talk about the influencer's music that you
experienced growing up, Rick.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Well, there was always lots and lots of music playing
at home. One of one of the one of the
artists I remember was Glenn Miller. That was That was
a big part of growing up. And then of course
listening to the radio getting ready for school. You know,
(09:26):
there was always the Greats. There was always you know,
the beat, always the rolling Stones, the who I mean,
you name it. There were all these all this, you know,
all this fantastic music, and I couldn't help but be
influenced by that. That was That was really, you know,
part of the soundtrack of my life.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
What is it Rick?
Speaker 3 (09:50):
About the diverse influences that British musicians seem to all
have they have influences, that's ban you know, all genres.
Why do you think that is?
Speaker 2 (10:06):
I've kind of experienced that with all musicians. I mean
Lauren for instance, you know she she listens to so
many different types of music. You know, you know she
grew up listening to Frank Sinatra was always on, and
I mean that carries through to now. I mean we
play Frank Sinatra all the time. Sometimes we'll throw Frank
(10:30):
Sinatra Christmas music on just because you know, so it's
kind of it's it's it's almost a tradition. But I
think most musicians don't necessarily see genres. They just hear music,
and you know, they're all the same chords. We just
(10:51):
we just played them in a slightly different way or
more or less distorted. So for me, it's all music
and all goes into you know, what influenced me. So,
you know, it was interesting. I sat in with a
Latin jazz band the other night, which was which was
(11:14):
really interesting. That was a first, but it was just
an incredible experience and to me, it was rhythm and
music and I was just sort of just sort of
playing along with it. And I could quite easily have
been playing, you know, with Lauren or with def Leppard
or any other.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Bad Lauren, had you seen def Leppard before you and
Rick met?
Speaker 5 (11:41):
No, I've never seen them, and I I know I
I really.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Wasn't a fan.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
I didn't you know, I didn't dislike the music. I
just wasn't engaged in that you know genre very much.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
So.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
But then I remember I went to a show and
I realized, oh, I know that song, and I know
that song, and I know.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
Just from the you know, consciousness of the eighties, I
I remembered things from the radio or so it was.
It was wonderful to you know, to meet him the
first time I met him and.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
See the culture and Lauren, what was your first concert experience?
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Tom Petty and Heartbreakers? It was my first concert. I
remember when I saw him, I said, I think I
can do that. You know, I want to try that.
I want to try writing.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
Some songs and you know, and uh and really you know,
working on it. So it was fun to see him.
I still he's still my all time favorite artist.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Is there somebody you haven't seen that you'd you'd like
to see that is in your your musical wheel House
as it were.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
We were just talking about that because I have never
seen Bruce Springsteen or the Rolling Stones, So those are
the two I would love to see bucket list not
to sell.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Yeah, Lauren questioned for you first, and then same question
for you Rick. How do you two find a work
life balance.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
It's interesting. We never really had to think about it.
We just kind of automatically do it.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
We love.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Work, we love working, and we often work away and
then when we're home, we're working. But we definitely have
you know, we we things shut off at a certain time.
You know, we have to pick our daughter up from
school and then we have her life and being parents,
and I think there's an automatic shift down, and we
try to keep our weekends free so we can have
(13:44):
family time and you know, no cell phones at the
dinner table, and you know, we have a lot of
things that we automatically just don't do because they take
away from the moments that we have together. Rick is
on the road a lot, and now, you know, since
the past few years, I've been traveling to shows and
things can get hectic, and we have art that we do.
(14:04):
I'm in the art room right now and we do
a lot of art and music, and we're lucky we
don't have to work on it that much because we
automatically fall into the pattern of being together and we
want the same things one more home.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Have you cracked the code rip on balance?
Speaker 2 (14:25):
It just seems to go really organically. One of the
things that we've started doing We've always played drums together,
but one of the things we do on a more
regular basis is play drums together. We have two drum
kits set up in the rehearsal space, and then Lauren
has her own percussion set up. Now, Lauren's played percussion
(14:50):
for many, many years, and now she's pushing into playing
a regular drum kit. And the sounds that we make
together really really good. I naturally gravitate to a more
masculine way of playing for obvious reasons, and Lauren, she
(15:13):
naturally sort of dances around whatever it is.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
That I play.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
So, you know, the two of us, we sound like
three or four drummers when we play together, and I'm
really excited to present, you know, the two of us
playing drums together, you know, more often. I'd love to
bring that into a live setting because I think I
(15:38):
think Lauren is super talented I.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
Never thought i'd play drum kit. It was never it
was never real though, but he had the two kids
and he's like, you should sit down on this. I'm like, okay,
let's try that. But it was very organic. It's so fun,
and I think as a couple, it's fun to have
something that we both love to do together.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
So you know, we have this other podcast which you're
going to be on. I'm so grateful for that, that
we produce, hosted by Lynn Hoffman called Music Save Me,
And we want to talk about the special work on
this podcast as well that you both are involved with
with the Raven Drum Foundation, which you've been at that
(16:18):
for twenty years plus. Please talk about the beginnings of
it and how it was created, why it was created,
and the amazing work that you and the organization does well.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
We started the foundation in two thousand and one and
it was just a natural synergy of who Rick was
and who I was and myself bringing the energy medicine
piece to it and the mental health and somatic work.
And I was a percussionist as well and a d answer,
(16:56):
so I had a natural inclination to blend the these
two elements.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
But then when I met Rick.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
And we isolated, you know, his trauma, and the things
that made him feel better was the drumming. I mean,
he had a lot to share with sharing his own
experience of moving through recovery of post traumatic stress. So
we created a curriculum around that, and we created a
specific kind of circle to help people. And we saw
(17:23):
that it didn't matter where you were in your healing
stage or who you were, whether you're eighty years old
or five years old, whether you were you know, a
specific religious affiliation or had a specific trauma addiction, whether
it was abuse, whether it was you know, cancer.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
You're going through.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
Every crisis responded to this way of healing and it
brought community together. So we started working with various different populations,
sharing what we knew worked, and then sharing more modalities
so we serve, we educate, and we empower through them,
but also introducing people to other modalities besides allopathic medicine,
(18:05):
like yoga and meditation and mindfulness so they can have
more tools in their healing to compliment their whatever they're
working on with their doctor or whichever they've been struggling
to figure out on their own. And we've been doing
this for many years. I think the thing that made
us pivot is Rick's first visit to wal to Read
(18:29):
Medical Center to help some of the military right after
they all there was a wave of them coming home
from Iraq and Afghanistan. And I'll segue into Rick sharing
that because it's very powerful how we brought our ideas
into helping them.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Yeah. Yeah, Before I visited Well to Read, we hadn't
really focused so much on bedrooms and Well to Read
life changing for me. I really saw so much, so
much suffering, but I also saw a lot of potential.
(19:10):
And I remember I did great while I was there
at the hospital, and then when I got back to
my hotel, I called Lauren and I broke down. I
was really I guess it really really affected me, you know,
being being around all these incredible people, and it was
(19:33):
right then I suggested to Lauren that we we focused
more on veterans, and I think that's how we really
segued into that. Is that is that kind of how
you remember it, Lauren?
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Yeah, And I also remembered my family.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
My cousin was killed in in Vietnam and I was
very young, and I know how I changed my whole family.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
So I really.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
Understood the effects of you know, having someone in the
military who has had an injury, a life changing injury,
or if you've lost someone, how there's a ripple effect
and it's a family experience, not just an individual one.
So I was really on board with experience it. So
we both went to Walter Reed within the following months,
(20:21):
and then we brought a drum circle there and then
we started working with Wounded Warrior Project and it started
expanding from there and Rick found an immediate connection to
a lot of the warriors who lost limbs and there's
a wonderful camaraderie that they've opened up to him very easily.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
It's beautiful to see that.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
And you know, when when you're in a family that
has trauma, you can talk to one another in a
way that's different from you know, someone who hasn't experienced it.
So it's great we continue reaching out to first responders
now because they also have the same kind of you know,
(21:05):
injuries that are invisible wounds that people can't see. A
firefighters specifically have the least amount of treatment for this.
They don't talk about it. It's still very you know,
close to them. They don't express there, but what goes
on Police Department e MTS journalists who have to cover
(21:27):
horrific you know, events like Valde or like the war
in Ukraine. They have to come back and be normal
and what's that, you know, So we're really wrapping our
arms around a lot of different people. And you know,
trauma is very common these days, so we all can
(21:47):
look at that.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
And you have some events coming up that i'd like
you to promote to the listeners of the podcast. Do
you want to talk about what's happening in in a
short amount of time?
Speaker 5 (22:02):
Sure, Well, March thirteenth, we're in Boston and we have
an event a concert there that we're supporting our first responders.
There in March fourteenth, we have a very special benefit
show at the Cutting Room to promote healing in programs
with friends of firefighters based out of New York, and
that's going to be an amazing show. We have a
(22:23):
lot of celebrity drummers coming in Boston. We'll were at
the Boston City Winery. So just go to Raven Drumfoundation
dot org and you'll see everything. You can find out
more information from our websites. We just at our Instagram.
We're on there a lot rag Allen live on Instagram
and Laura Monroe live and we can keep in touch
(22:45):
with everybody that way.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
How does it make you feel when audience members connect
not only with your music, but with your good work
that you're doing.
Speaker 5 (22:57):
I'll speak and then Rick, But I think it's just
like growing a family. It just feels like, you know,
we're growing a family of people who believe in the
same things and want the world to be better. And
you know, it starts by healing ourselves. So we're all
doing the work and then you you know, you circle
(23:18):
up give people an experience of what that feels like.
It feels great, It feels really special to share that
with people, and we're very blessed to be able to
do that.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Yeah, what I've found over the years is when it
to feel my own my own trauma or my own depression,
the easy fix is always to be of service. And
then when we put ourselves out there into the community
(23:49):
and we do the right thing, it comes back to
us in ways that you can't even imagine. It's just
so so gratifying, fantastic experience. Uh, to be able to
see transformation in in other people because of because of
what what we what we facilitate, and it helps us.
(24:13):
It's a two way street. It really helps us and
it helps helps them. It helps everybody involved. So we're
just we're just really blessed to to be able to
have found this and continue to do this, you know,
to this day.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
I have to tell you. Watching YouTube perform and one
of the videos that I saw, I observed this this tremendous,
uh calmness and serenity that you both have while you're
on stage and you're performing, and you're you're with each
other and you're with your audience, and it it truly
(24:51):
is very contagious. And uh, I just wanted to to
thank you for that, and to thank you for your
good work and your great music, but also your great hearts.
Thank you, thank you, thanks for being on.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk Podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
The special thing about playing that particular show. It was
my sixteenth birthday, and I remember Bond Scott coming up
to me and wishing me a happy birthday, which doesn't
happen to too many people's, and then Brian May with
the Queen was there. And then another really special surprise
(00:23):
was after soundcheck, when the auditorium was really quiet. I
went down just to check out my drum kit and
there was this guy on his hands and knees checking
out the drums and I didn't want to. I didn't
want to start with him, so I just walked up
and I said, is everything okay? And he turned round
and it was Mitch Mitchell. I was so I was
(00:44):
just completely blown away. So what a special sixteenth birthday.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast hosted by Buzz Night.
This is the podcast that talks to musicians about their
passionate love of music. Today. The husband and wife of
Lauren Monroe and Rick Allen. You know Rick from his
legendary def Leopard Work, and Lauren is a singer songwriter
who shares her energy and love of the medium as
a healing force. For two decades, they've led their foundation
(01:13):
called the Raven Drum Foundation, which does amazing work for veterans,
first responders and so many others. Here's buzz with Lauren
and Rick on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Well, it's delightful to have Rick and Lauren with us
on the Taking a Walk podcast. Thank you so much.
I wish we were in person rather than virtual, but
I'm very happy to meet you.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
That's great. Thank you very much. Nice to meet you, too,
Great to meet you.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Now.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Do you guys take walks out in beautiful California whenever
you can?
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Of course? Yeah? Absolutely, yea.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
The nature is so beautiful here, especially Central Coast. We
really love it, the two of us.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
And do you find it to be therapeutic when you're
out taking a walk?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I think I think one of the most therapeutic things
there are, you know, it is being in amongst something
that is bigger than I am, you know, being out
in nature or looking at the ocean or looking up
at the sky. I think any of those things really
get me out of my own way. So so being
(02:23):
out in nature is really important to me, and I'm
sure it's really important to Lauren as well.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Yeah, I think it's very therapeutic.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
And I and some of the things that we teach
in our foundation we have a drug foundation, is we
focus on nature. I understand it through energy medicine and
how energy is a transference and when you're in something
greater than yourself, something happens called bioen trainment. So the
(02:51):
dominant frequency affects you. And so when you're standing by
a tree or by the ocean, they're the dominant frequency.
And we start like a tuning fork, we start to
vibrate and we can get further into our own calmness
and and it really helps a nervous system, so it
helps everyone being in nature.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Well, take us back to that magical moment when you
two lovebirds exchange your vows and you had the redtail
hawk circling above at that moment. Talk about that special time,
Well that.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Rick talk first.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Oh man, I mean, it couldn't have been more perfect.
You know, we had all our family and you know,
all our friends, and you know, just a just at
this this magical moment, which was made even more magical
by the fact that I think there were a pair
(03:52):
of redtail hulks flying way way above us, and it
just felt like it just felt like the blessing got
even more powerful. So I don't know what you experienced, Lauren,
but I mean that was that was one of those
moments I'll never I'll never forget.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
Yeah, And I think it was beautiful. Everybody saw it.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
And there were two redtails circling around right above us,
and it was it was a blessing.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Like I felt like it was a blessing too.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
What do redtail hawks signify, do you think?
Speaker 5 (04:31):
Well, my understanding the hawk represents the presence of it.
I don't know that much detail about the redtail, although
we've been giving a lot of gifts of redtail feathers,
and Rick got a gift of a redtail claw from
a lot of our indigenous friends and colleagues.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
And I'm sure this is deeper meaning. But we pay attention.
We live in a very.
Speaker 5 (04:54):
Secluded area and we have a lot of wildlife, and
we pay attention to their behavior and what they do
and how close they come. And we're able to sit
very close to a lot of them if we're still enough,
and we've been here for a number of years, so
they trust us.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Now that's great.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
So, Lauren, how did you ultimately find your musical voice?
And who are some of the musicians that influenced you
in that time.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
Well, I found my musical voice when I was really young.
I started writing songs and I got a guitar when
I was five, and it just it's like I knew.
I knew how to express myself in that way very
easily at a young age. And I think the seventies
music scene really.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Influenced me a lot. I had a lot of that
around me and the doors.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
I remember Jim Morrison the way he articulated through poetry
and he got into some of the very realms he
when he sang and he created his poetry.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
He influenced me quite a bit, you know.
Speaker 5 (06:07):
Of course Tom Petty was my greatest influence I think
in rock and roll. Once I discovered him in the
late seventies and early eighties. I connected with his songwriting
and his expression. But I drop from a lot of influences,
I think, mostly spiritual ones, and then I just make
(06:28):
songs that are me, that are just me really.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
And Rick, mister thunder God, may I call you that?
Speaker 2 (06:36):
You can?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
You started pretty darn young as a musician. If I'm
not mistaken, you joined def Leppard at fifteen years old,
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I did yet ran about nineteen seventy eight, and I'd
been playing with local bands and you know, they always
wanted to play cover songs. And yeah, we saw a
newspaper article, Leopard Loses Skins, and we got in touch
with the newspaper, found the journalist and he put he
(07:17):
put me in touch with Joe Elliott and Steve Clark
and I met with them a few days later and
we set up an audition. And when I went for
the audition, I was I was really pleasantly surprised I
got the job. Lots of big smiling faces around the
room and that was that was the beginning of something
(07:41):
really really great.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
And take me back to being sixteen years old at
the Hammersmith Odeon and having def Leppard open for ac
DC there.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
What was that like? It was?
Speaker 2 (07:58):
It was incredible. I mean it was all I ever
really knew because I was so young. But the special
thing about playing that particular show, it was my sixteenth
birthday and I remember Bond Scott coming up to me
and wishing me a happy birthday, which doesn't happen to
too many people. And then Brian May with the Queen
(08:21):
was there, and then another really special surprise was after soundcheck,
when the auditorium was really quiet. I went down just
to check on my drum kit and there was this
guy on his hands and knees checking out the drums
and I didn't want to I didn't want to startle him,
so I just walked up and I said, is everything okay?
(08:43):
And he turned round and it was Mitch Mitchell. I
was so I was just completely blown away. So what
a special sixteenth birthday.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
That's fantastic. And talk about the influencer's music that you
experienced growing up, Rick.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Well, there was always lots and lots of music playing
at home. One of one of the one of the
artists I remember was Glenn Miller. That was That was
a big part of growing up. And then of course
listening to the radio getting ready for school. You know,
(09:26):
there was always the Greats. There was always you know,
the beat, always the rolling Stones, the who I mean,
you name it. There were all these all this, you know,
all this fantastic music, and I couldn't help but be
influenced by that. That was That was really, you know,
part of the soundtrack of my life.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
What is it Rick?
Speaker 3 (09:50):
About the diverse influences that British musicians seem to all
have they have influences, that's ban you know, all genres.
Why do you think that is?
Speaker 2 (10:06):
I've kind of experienced that with all musicians. I mean
Lauren for instance, you know she she listens to so
many different types of music. You know, you know she
grew up listening to Frank Sinatra was always on, and
I mean that carries through to now. I mean we
play Frank Sinatra all the time. Sometimes we'll throw Frank
(10:30):
Sinatra Christmas music on just because you know, so it's
kind of it's it's it's almost a tradition. But I
think most musicians don't necessarily see genres. They just hear music,
and you know, they're all the same chords. We just
(10:51):
we just played them in a slightly different way or
more or less distorted. So for me, it's all music
and all goes into you know, what influenced me. So,
you know, it was interesting. I sat in with a
Latin jazz band the other night, which was which was
(11:14):
really interesting. That was a first, but it was just
an incredible experience and to me, it was rhythm and
music and I was just sort of just sort of
playing along with it. And I could quite easily have
been playing, you know, with Lauren or with def Leppard
or any other.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Bad Lauren, had you seen def Leppard before you and
Rick met?
Speaker 5 (11:41):
No, I've never seen them, and I I know I
I really.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Wasn't a fan.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
I didn't you know, I didn't dislike the music. I
just wasn't engaged in that you know genre very much.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
So.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
But then I remember I went to a show and
I realized, oh, I know that song, and I know
that song, and I know.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
Just from the you know, consciousness of the eighties, I
I remembered things from the radio or so it was.
It was wonderful to you know, to meet him the
first time I met him and.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
See the culture and Lauren, what was your first concert experience?
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Tom Petty and Heartbreakers? It was my first concert. I
remember when I saw him, I said, I think I
can do that. You know, I want to try that.
I want to try writing.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
Some songs and you know, and uh and really you know,
working on it. So it was fun to see him.
I still he's still my all time favorite artist.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Is there somebody you haven't seen that you'd you'd like
to see that is in your your musical wheel House
as it were.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
We were just talking about that because I have never
seen Bruce Springsteen or the Rolling Stones, So those are
the two I would love to see bucket list not
to sell.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Yeah, Lauren questioned for you first, and then same question
for you Rick. How do you two find a work
life balance.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
It's interesting. We never really had to think about it.
We just kind of automatically do it.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
We love.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Work, we love working, and we often work away and
then when we're home, we're working. But we definitely have
you know, we we things shut off at a certain time.
You know, we have to pick our daughter up from
school and then we have her life and being parents,
and I think there's an automatic shift down, and we
try to keep our weekends free so we can have
(13:44):
family time and you know, no cell phones at the
dinner table, and you know, we have a lot of
things that we automatically just don't do because they take
away from the moments that we have together. Rick is
on the road a lot, and now, you know, since
the past few years, I've been traveling to shows and
things can get hectic, and we have art that we do.
(14:04):
I'm in the art room right now and we do
a lot of art and music, and we're lucky we
don't have to work on it that much because we
automatically fall into the pattern of being together and we
want the same things one more home.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Have you cracked the code rip on balance?
Speaker 2 (14:25):
It just seems to go really organically. One of the
things that we've started doing We've always played drums together,
but one of the things we do on a more
regular basis is play drums together. We have two drum
kits set up in the rehearsal space, and then Lauren
has her own percussion set up. Now, Lauren's played percussion
(14:50):
for many, many years, and now she's pushing into playing
a regular drum kit. And the sounds that we make
together really really good. I naturally gravitate to a more
masculine way of playing for obvious reasons, and Lauren, she
(15:13):
naturally sort of dances around whatever it is.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
That I play.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
So, you know, the two of us, we sound like
three or four drummers when we play together, and I'm
really excited to present, you know, the two of us
playing drums together, you know, more often. I'd love to
bring that into a live setting because I think I
(15:38):
think Lauren is super talented I.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
Never thought i'd play drum kit. It was never it
was never real though, but he had the two kids
and he's like, you should sit down on this. I'm like, okay,
let's try that. But it was very organic. It's so fun,
and I think as a couple, it's fun to have
something that we both love to do together.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
So you know, we have this other podcast which you're
going to be on. I'm so grateful for that, that
we produce, hosted by Lynn Hoffman called Music Save Me,
And we want to talk about the special work on
this podcast as well that you both are involved with
with the Raven Drum Foundation, which you've been at that
(16:18):
for twenty years plus. Please talk about the beginnings of
it and how it was created, why it was created,
and the amazing work that you and the organization does well.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
We started the foundation in two thousand and one and
it was just a natural synergy of who Rick was
and who I was and myself bringing the energy medicine
piece to it and the mental health and somatic work.
And I was a percussionist as well and a d answer,
(16:56):
so I had a natural inclination to blend the these
two elements.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
But then when I met Rick.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
And we isolated, you know, his trauma, and the things
that made him feel better was the drumming. I mean,
he had a lot to share with sharing his own
experience of moving through recovery of post traumatic stress. So
we created a curriculum around that, and we created a
specific kind of circle to help people. And we saw
(17:23):
that it didn't matter where you were in your healing
stage or who you were, whether you're eighty years old
or five years old, whether you were you know, a
specific religious affiliation or had a specific trauma addiction, whether
it was abuse, whether it was you know, cancer.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
You're going through.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
Every crisis responded to this way of healing and it
brought community together. So we started working with various different populations,
sharing what we knew worked, and then sharing more modalities
so we serve, we educate, and we empower through them,
but also introducing people to other modalities besides allopathic medicine,
(18:05):
like yoga and meditation and mindfulness so they can have
more tools in their healing to compliment their whatever they're
working on with their doctor or whichever they've been struggling
to figure out on their own. And we've been doing
this for many years. I think the thing that made
us pivot is Rick's first visit to wal to Read
(18:29):
Medical Center to help some of the military right after
they all there was a wave of them coming home
from Iraq and Afghanistan. And I'll segue into Rick sharing
that because it's very powerful how we brought our ideas
into helping them.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Yeah. Yeah, Before I visited Well to Read, we hadn't
really focused so much on bedrooms and Well to Read
life changing for me. I really saw so much, so
much suffering, but I also saw a lot of potential.
(19:10):
And I remember I did great while I was there
at the hospital, and then when I got back to
my hotel, I called Lauren and I broke down. I
was really I guess it really really affected me, you know,
being being around all these incredible people, and it was
(19:33):
right then I suggested to Lauren that we we focused
more on veterans, and I think that's how we really
segued into that. Is that is that kind of how
you remember it, Lauren?
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Yeah, And I also remembered my family.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
My cousin was killed in in Vietnam and I was
very young, and I know how I changed my whole family.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
So I really.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
Understood the effects of you know, having someone in the
military who has had an injury, a life changing injury,
or if you've lost someone, how there's a ripple effect
and it's a family experience, not just an individual one.
So I was really on board with experience it. So
we both went to Walter Reed within the following months,
(20:21):
and then we brought a drum circle there and then
we started working with Wounded Warrior Project and it started
expanding from there and Rick found an immediate connection to
a lot of the warriors who lost limbs and there's
a wonderful camaraderie that they've opened up to him very easily.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
It's beautiful to see that.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
And you know, when when you're in a family that
has trauma, you can talk to one another in a
way that's different from you know, someone who hasn't experienced it.
So it's great we continue reaching out to first responders
now because they also have the same kind of you know,
(21:05):
injuries that are invisible wounds that people can't see. A
firefighters specifically have the least amount of treatment for this.
They don't talk about it. It's still very you know,
close to them. They don't express there, but what goes
on Police Department e MTS journalists who have to cover
(21:27):
horrific you know, events like Valde or like the war
in Ukraine. They have to come back and be normal
and what's that, you know, So we're really wrapping our
arms around a lot of different people. And you know,
trauma is very common these days, so we all can
(21:47):
look at that.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
And you have some events coming up that i'd like
you to promote to the listeners of the podcast. Do
you want to talk about what's happening in in a
short amount of time?
Speaker 5 (22:02):
Sure, Well, March thirteenth, we're in Boston and we have
an event a concert there that we're supporting our first responders.
There in March fourteenth, we have a very special benefit
show at the Cutting Room to promote healing in programs
with friends of firefighters based out of New York, and
that's going to be an amazing show. We have a
(22:23):
lot of celebrity drummers coming in Boston. We'll were at
the Boston City Winery. So just go to Raven Drumfoundation
dot org and you'll see everything. You can find out
more information from our websites. We just at our Instagram.
We're on there a lot rag Allen live on Instagram
and Laura Monroe live and we can keep in touch
(22:45):
with everybody that way.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
How does it make you feel when audience members connect
not only with your music, but with your good work
that you're doing.
Speaker 5 (22:57):
I'll speak and then Rick, But I think it's just
like growing a family. It just feels like, you know,
we're growing a family of people who believe in the
same things and want the world to be better. And
you know, it starts by healing ourselves. So we're all
doing the work and then you you know, you circle
(23:18):
up give people an experience of what that feels like.
It feels great, It feels really special to share that
with people, and we're very blessed to be able to
do that.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Yeah, what I've found over the years is when it
to feel my own my own trauma or my own depression,
the easy fix is always to be of service. And
then when we put ourselves out there into the community
(23:49):
and we do the right thing, it comes back to
us in ways that you can't even imagine. It's just
so so gratifying, fantastic experience. Uh, to be able to
see transformation in in other people because of because of
what what we what we facilitate, and it helps us.
(24:13):
It's a two way street. It really helps us and
it helps helps them. It helps everybody involved. So we're
just we're just really blessed to to be able to
have found this and continue to do this, you know,
to this day.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
I have to tell you. Watching YouTube perform and one
of the videos that I saw, I observed this this tremendous,
uh calmness and serenity that you both have while you're
on stage and you're performing, and you're you're with each
other and you're with your audience, and it it truly
(24:51):
is very contagious. And uh, I just wanted to to
thank you for that, and to thank you for your
good work and your great music, but also your great hearts.
Thank you, thank you, thanks for being on.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk Podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts
Host
Lynn Hoffman
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