First Time Awe In Pittsburgh

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The door of the tunnel opened and Pittsburgh exploded into view—bridges, rivers, stadium lights—and we knew we were in for something special. Sitting with Alan Kaiser at Living Dead Weekend 2024, we traced a candid arc from a first-time love letter to the city to the craft and community that made Knight of the Creeps a cult classic with real staying power.

Alan walks us through what made that set different: a sharp script, a director with focus, and scene partners who made every take count. He talks about the moment you know you’ve done good work—the kind of internal click artists rarely admit—and how that confidence fueled a run that led straight into Mama’s Family and a four-year series job. No shortcuts, just hundreds of auditions, relentless reps, and a reminder that momentum is a byproduct of consistency. Along the way, we touch on friendships that formed long after the cameras stopped, and why some stories keep finding new fans decades later.

The conversation bends toward music, where Alan’s fandom lights up: vintage Van Halen, Blackfoot, Tesla, Godsmack, and especially Metallica. We dig into what longevity really looks like—touring hard, giving back to local communities, and staying generous with fans. There’s even a tease of future guests from Anthrax and a few backstage stories about meeting Frank Bello and Scott Ian, proof that the metal family tree keeps growing. We close with gratitude for the people who show up at conventions, the organizers who make them happen, and the city that welcomed us with open arms.

Hit play for a grounded, funny, and inspiring hang that blends cult horror, 80s nostalgia, and the practical blueprint of a working artist. If you enjoyed this one, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves classic horror or metal, and leave a quick review to help more fans find the fishbowl.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:02):
Alan Kaiser on the fishbowl.
Welcome.
Good to be in the fishbowl.
Thank you for taking the bowl.

SPEAKER_00 (00:08):
The big fish.
Thank you.
Thank you for taking the time toswim in the bowl with me.
Well, thank you for trusting mewith this microphone.
Um, forgive me everybody.
It's been a long week.
I th I think my voice is shot.
I may not be able to be able toform a sentence today by the end
of the day.
But anyway, here we are.

SPEAKER_01 (00:26):
What's going on, man?
Here we are at Living DeadWeekend 2024.
This is your first time inPittsburgh, PA.
Yep.
We talked about yesterday whatit was like to come out of the
tunnels and to see the city.

SPEAKER_00 (00:40):
Oh, that was fantastic.
And I've never been toPittsburgh.
And one of the caveat to doingthese conventions is going
places that I otherwise wouldprobably not, you know, visit.
Right.
And yeah, coming uh from theairport and get and then the
driver said, he said, when wecome out of this tunnel, be
ready.

(01:00):
Beautiful, just beautiful.
Just uh the iron train bridgewith the truck train going or
whatever train going across thatand the and the view and the
rivers we could see theconvergence, you know, of the of
the rivers and the stadiums.
There was a ball game lastnight, you know, going on and
got to see that.

(01:20):
Kind of, you know, the stadiumlit up and could see the big
screen and everything.
Yeah, it was cool.
It's good to be here.
And it it and it it's just beena really very, very pleasant
experience.
Everyone has been very welcomingand accommodating and supportive
and you know beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 (01:37):
Fantastic.
Yeah, that's what we like tohear about Pittsburghese.

SPEAKER_00 (01:40):
Yeah, uh yeah, the Pittsburghies.
You're all great.
Thank you.
Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 (01:44):
Go Steelers, go pirates, go penguins.

SPEAKER_00 (01:46):
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
When in when in Rome, when inPittsburgh, root for the yeah.
Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 (01:53):
Absolutely.
Awesome.
Let's talk a little bit aboutKnight of the Creeps and Mama's
family.
Okay.
What was it like working onKnight of the Creeps?
Obviously, it's it's become likean instant cult classic.
Yeah.
And that was also true to hearyour thoughts on Slither, which

(02:13):
James Gunn did in the 2000s,which was basically a Knight of
the Creeps bring it.

SPEAKER_00 (02:20):
Never seen it.
Oh, okay.
Never seen it.
Okay.
And they didn't invite me to bein it.
Well, uh I don't know how theybring me back.
I've never I've never seen it,which is funny.
I've heard of it.
Yeah.
I I don't know.
I've never seen it.
You know, getting back toworking on Knight of the Creeps,
we we all went through like ourfavorite memories and so forth

(02:41):
of working on Night of theCreeps.
Mine was just the work.

SPEAKER_01 (02:46):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (02:47):
Working with great actors, a brilliant, brilliant
director.
You know, he wrote the script.
It's it's it's just it it's itit's a good product.
Right, right.
It was a fantastic idea, shotwell, edit, you know, and
everything.
And then of course, you know,all these years later, it it

(03:09):
spawned these friendships withthese guys.
I didn't know Jason and Stevewhen I after that movie ended.
I didn't see them for yearsafter the movie wrapped.
We didn't really hang out, youknow.
We you know, right, and I thinkthat was by design, you know,
just because of you know the waythe script was.

SPEAKER_01 (03:27):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (03:27):
But we're just great friends now, and that's the
result of you know some hardwork 40 years ago that we did,
and and uh, and and a like Isaid, a fantastic product that
we all share in.
Right.
And then, you know, youmentioned Mama's family, like I
I think I booked Mama's familymaybe six or eight months after

(03:49):
I wrapped Night of the Creeps,and the thing about Night of the
Creeps was it it gave memomentum.
You know, I was 20 years old, 21years old when I did, you know,
I was brand new, been inHollywood for a couple of years,
worked very hard, very, veryhard at auditioning.
By the time I booked Mama'sfamily, I had probably been on

(04:11):
hundreds, I think 600 audition,you know, yeah, yeah, to try and
get you know paid.
You know, but when Fred and Ihad such a great, you know, come
around, you know, instantchemistry together, you know,
with the director and me, andthen we did the movie, and I

(04:32):
felt like I did a great job.
I really did.
I mean, I'm an artist, you know.
Artists, we know when we suck,yeah you know, we don't want to
admit it, but we also know wecan feel when we did great, when
we did good work, you know,whether you're a musician or an
actor or a painter or whatever,whatever art you know, you know
when you've done good work.
And I was so proud of the movieat the screening and what I had

(04:56):
done.
I was wow, and it just it reallygave me a lot of momentum at
that time, and then I booked aTV series and worked at for four
years, you know.
I mean, how many people couldsay that, you know?
So yeah, so that's kind of thatthat period of of time in that
that year when all those thingskind of came together, you know.

SPEAKER_01 (05:15):
Yeah, yeah.
Awesome, awesome.
And you're also talkingyesterday, you're a big music
fan.

SPEAKER_00 (05:20):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Music is just who who are someof your favorite bands?
Well, my very favorite is thevintage Van Halen, David Lee
Roth Years.
Right.
Those albums Blackfoot is one ofmy favorite bands of all time.
I saw them in I don't even knowwhat year, 82 or 83 or

(05:43):
something.
Tesla is one of my favoritebands.
Godsmack.
You know, gotta get yourGodsmack a little bit.
Yeah.
Metallica, I I, you know, I I'mI I love their music, but more
so I love that they're still outthere doing it.
Yes.
And and and a friend of ours isin Helsinki, and Metallica's

(06:05):
playing, you know, last nightand they're gonna play tonight
or whatever it was Friday andSunday night or something.
And you know, the tickets are,you know, it's Metallica.
It's it's not a cheap seat inthe house.
Right.
But the thing about them isthey'll probably leave a hundred
thousand dollars in Helsinki toa charity.
Right.
That's what they do, you know,they're like, they're like
prints or one of those justthey're yeah, they're they're

(06:28):
gonna live forever and they'regonna donate and donate and help
people.
And you know, that's what Ireally yeah, I think is great
about them.

SPEAKER_01 (06:36):
So anyway.
Future, fut current fishbowllisteners and future fishbowl
listeners.
I'm supposed to get anthrax onthe show.

SPEAKER_00 (06:45):
Oh wow.
Yeah, awesome.
That'll be fantastic.
Yes, yes.
Um, I I knew, I I don't say Iwould know, knew them.
I I was acquainted with a coupleof guys from anthrax way, way,
way back.
Nice people.
Wonderful dudes.
You know, but this is 30 yearsago, 35, 40 years, you know, but

(07:07):
they're still out there doingit.
Yeah, so good.
Yeah, that'll be a funinterview.
That'll be great.

SPEAKER_01 (07:13):
Yeah, I I met uh Frank Bello and Scott Yeah at
one of the last couple ScottCiticons they had here, and
awesome guys.
Yeah, awesome.
Very cool.
Very excited to get them on theshow, but don't want to delve
too much into that because wehave Alan Kaiser on the show.
Yeah, here I am.
Awesome.
Well, well, thank you.

(07:34):
Thanks for having me.
Absolutely, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 (07:37):
My pleasure for taking the time to swim in the
bowl.
Absolutely.
I want to thank, you know,Pittsburgh and the everybody
that put on this show.
Thank you for having me.
People thank me for being here.
I'm like, no, no, no.
It's a privilege.
It makes me feel relevant.
My 30, 40 year old acting,whatever, you know, and and
people appreciate that.

(07:57):
That that the the I thank youall for that.
You know, that makes me feelrelevant and and very fulfilled.
So thanks, man.
Awesome.
Thank you so much.
All right, everybody, thank you.
Thank you.
All right.