Episode 99 - Brian Tichy (Led By Vultures, Gene Simmons Band, Whitesnake) - The Musicians Mentor

Episode Transcript
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(00:03):
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome tothe Musicians-Mentor Podcast.
As usual I'm your host Travis Marc and with me on episode 99
I'm beyond excited to say is theAmerican based drummer slash
multi instrumentalist Brian Tishy.
As a drummer, Brian has played with some of the biggest rock

(00:26):
stars in the world. Some, but not all of these names
include Whitesnake, Billy Idol, Foreigner, Slash, Ozzy Osbourne
and he's currently even on the road with the Gene Simmons Solo
band. What people often don't realise
about Brian away from his drumming accomplishments, is
that he's an extremely accomplished guitarist and

(00:47):
songwriter. And so for the format in today's
episode, I decided it would be anice twist to focus on Brian
mostly in that role, especially due to the fact that he's just
launched an incredible new rock project called Lead by Vultures.
So we obviously spend a lot of time talking about that.
We talk about songwriting and riffs, getting lost in practice,

(01:09):
travelling the world, you name it, we try and cover it.
As usual, I'd like to publicly thank Brian for his time.
I'd like to thank each and everyone of you for your time.
Before we jump into this interview, let me remind you
that we are on YouTube now. Any subscriptions would be
greatly appreciated. However, if you are still
listening across your preferred streaming platforms, please do

(01:32):
leave us a rating or review. Likewise, don't forget to check
out our affiliation with the lovely folks over at Sound
Brenner. Code is in our show notes for a
20% discount. But for now, ladies and
gentlemen, please put your handstogether and help me welcome the
one and only Brian Tishi. With me on the show today is the

(01:53):
one and only Brian Tichi. You are quite the living legend,
my friend. You've played with obviously
White Snake, Ozzy Osbourne, Pearly Idol, you're on the road
with Gene Simmons at the moment.The list goes on and on and on.
I will record an introduction, host our interview, and usually
I do ask my guests to kind of just like tell people how they

(02:15):
feeling for the day and like, doa brief introduction.
But I kind of want to jump straight in with you because I
want to talk about your new project led by Vultures, and
we're going to try and kind of intertwine it with some of your
career. So let's start at the beginning,
Brian. Talk to me about how you
generally became interested in music, how that interest sort of

(02:41):
turned into you playing the drums, and how you play in the
drums then turns into you havinga music career.
Oh wow, I'll have to. I should have taken notes on
that one now. I didn't.
There was no, there was nothing that happened where I went.

(03:02):
Oh, I love drums, I love music. I want it.
It just happened and I think that's maybe more common than
somebody might think that I'd nobody did something around me
where I went. Oh, and now I'm aware of this.
It was just like at a very youngage, I just thought drums were

(03:23):
the coolest thing ever. That that was just it.
It was like, I didn't know why. I just did.
I was like, that's it, a set of drums.
They look the coolest, they sound the coolest.
It's the coolest thing you can do.
It was that simple. Probably like, you know, 5 or 6,
but not thinking I want to play.Just look at them like you'd
look at, you know, anything. And soon after I think I got

(03:47):
like a little toy snare drum forChristmas.
And I was like, that's pretty cool, but it's not a drum set.
And then I got a, a drum set, but it wasn't like a real drums.
It was a fake thing from like a department store, you know,
dynamite drum set made of thin metal and crappy heads.
And, you know, but I could play it and I play the same time I

(04:09):
got into KISS. So the two things happened all
at once. And music was just always
something that was exciting. It was just, I love that song,
you know, And I loved more aggressive, harder edge stuff
even as a kid, you know, just distorted guitar rock or
whatever, you know, big beat. And so I just started playing

(04:33):
that little drum set to my KISS records.
So it was all third grade. What is that, 7 years old, eight
years old, something like that. And then the following year, you
know, I kind of busted the drum set up a bit.
My, my mom's like if you take private lessons and you do OK,
we'll get you a kit for Christmas.
And that's what happened the next year.
And that was it. It was the coolest thing.

(04:55):
I went down and to my, the family, our house, the basement,
our house. And there's like a string
attached to it, final Christmas present card or something that,
you know, follow me or somethinglike that.
I went down there's Trump said Iwas like, oh, man.
And that was it. I was, that was it.
There was no stopping and it never changed.
And it still hasn't. So that so that's it.

(05:17):
So then I'm playing to my records, practicing drums,
taking lessons and always to thepoint.
Here's the perfect example. Like we lived in New Jersey and
my parents, they'd be like, we're going to the shore for the
week, you know, down in in NorthCarolina or something.
We get a house on the beach and I was like, so that sounds cool
in the summer, right? You can go.

(05:39):
I wasn't into it. The first thing I go is I can't
play drums for the week. That was it.
So I was bombed. So I bring my sticks in my pad
and I'd be driving home with my sticks in my hand.
No one we're going to get home at night.
I can't play just like I can't wait for tomorrow so I can start
playing again. That's and you know, I think
that sums it up right there. That was just it.

(05:59):
I guess it's an obsession. My parents were musical.
My dad was very talented, could play piano and sing accordion
acoustic guitar, a drum beat. My mom could play piano and
sing. So but I just took that for
granted. I didn't really think much about
it because I didn't care about piano, even though prior to the

(06:19):
drums, my mom did make me and mysister at the time, she was like
2 years younger take I took two years of piano lessons up the
road once a week, and that was prior to drum.
So all that did was affect my, you know, get out of school,
hang out time. My friends and I was like, Oh
God, and I had to practice, but the piano was there and
everybody played so I had so I was like, that's what we do

(06:42):
here, you know, so I'd practice a lesson enough.
I learned my basics never got good.
I understand piano, I understandmusic theory, but I like if I
had to sit down and when you like chords or play a little
line, I could. But I can't play.
I can't sit there and even bounce from chord to chord.
I just don't practice. I can almost do eruption because

(07:02):
that's just like a drum that I drum lick, you know, get it
together together. But anyways, yeah, that's so
that. So it was music was always
around and my dad had a great stereo and he crank his Beatles
and Beach Boys and Neil Young and Eagles.
And it was, you know, he was into really, you know, into
music. And so that was it started with

(07:23):
Kiss and went into all the otherstuff, the Aerosmith's and
Zeppelins and ACDC and, you know, on and on.
And all I would do is get records and practice to him.
And my dad had it around that time back when was young showed
me a couple chords, E major, G major on it on his acoustic with
really high action. Then he showed me the rift to
don't but I bet I don't a day tripper.

(07:45):
OK. Yeah, And I was like, that's
really hard. Like, yeah, I ever played
guitar. The Chiefs played these chords
is really hard. You know, it's hard.
But I was like, that's pretty cool.
And then a few years later I just it was like drums are here.
The next thing was electric guitar.
I want to I want that's I want to do that, you know.

(08:05):
And by 7th grade, I, Blizzard ofOz from Ozzy came out with Randy
Rhodes and I was already into music and stuff.
But somehow that just it just hit me like I need to do that.
I need to play that kind of guitar and and sort of borrowing
guitars from friends and learning from a friend down the
street. He showed me this is a power

(08:28):
cord, this desired man, this is smoke on the water.
This is back in black. This is a blue scale.
This is a Phrygian. I was like Phrygian.
What? Then I hear Randy Rhodes plays
diminished licks. It's like diminished.
What is all this stuff, you know?
So that was I just got really into it and I didn't know what I
was doing, but I just sit there junior high school through high
school, just playing rock bands,cassettes and going rewind play

(08:51):
like note, one note at a time. You know, started with like, you
know, I remember Revelation, Mother Earth on Blizzard of Oz
just, you know, I was like, and I would just sit there and go
let's move around the neck to find those notes.
And I just kept going. So by the high school is playing
more guitars than drums and I kind of forget about that like,
but it was right there. They were at the same time.

(09:11):
I just didn't. I'm more of a natural drummer
and you know, guitar was a lot more work.
I just remember in high school going, I hope someday I can solo
on a guitar. Like the idea of soloing like I
know a skate like I'm so bad. My vibrato is terrible.
My band sucked, but I was like, if someday I can actually like,
you know, a friend of mine who can barely play drums, I showed
him a drum beat, come over and play a beat just like you sit

(09:33):
there and jam rhythm and try andplay licks.
So it's an ongoing thing. I started always loved riffs,
started writing riffs. I had abandoned high school.
I was I was getting better on guitar and I was kind of the
main guy started writing the music.
You know, I'd like, I'd want to see it through.
Like that's cool riff, but some song I got to, I got to make up
other parts and you know, so I was doing that and that's that's
it to finish this up. There was never, there was never

(09:57):
a second guess of what else would I do as an adult.
It was just like, I'm going to be a drummer.
I don't know how. I don't know how you do that.
I don't know how these people, my idols are, become a band that
becomes a record and a poster ina magazine and tickets you buy.
And I don't understand how you can become that as a kid.

(10:18):
And then, you know, you just getolder.
And, you know, I went to Berkeley Music College right
after high school, which was great for many reasons.
For me personally, it was a great thing.
I didn't want to go to college from parents like you have to
say that the dough, you know, you're going like, where am I
going to play drums in college? Made no sense to me.

(10:40):
I'm done. But somebody said there's a, you
know, college where you get college credits for it's all
music related. So it's great.
I just sat there and was there as a drummer, but it's I wasn't
practicing drums. I was playing guitar and
learning from from other students, really just whatever I
wanted to learn. I wasn't like sitting there
practicing proper things. I was.

(11:02):
It was just always whatever I could, whatever excited me on
guitar just trying to play and that was it.
Yeah. How do you get gigs out of that?
Well, Berkeley's not going to get you a gig.
And, you know, it's all really who you know, it's really, are
you a good player? And just did somebody hear
you're playing and did it stand out?
Did somebody talk to somebody else?
And bring you up and you get an opportunity, you know, and

(11:24):
you're not sitting there saying,at least me and most musicians I
think aren't, aren't sitting there saying, oh, I got to
figure out how to make money. It was more like I got to figure
out how to play in front of people and get seen and find
some kind of respect with what Ido, you know, like, and it's all
new. So you go play a gig in front of
people. There's that whole pressure of

(11:45):
never doing, having done that stuff before.
And if there's a little bit of money, like I actually got paid
to do this thing that as a little kid I I was going to do
regardless of anything. Yeah, that's amazing, man.
And it's funny because what I take away from that is just the
pure love and obsession. The fact that you're picking up

(12:07):
a guitar, the fact that you havea guitar right now, it's like, I
don't want to be dramatic, but you can't live without it.
It's incredible. Well, yeah, I think it's it is
that simple. I just the whole live without a
thing that if you took that away, you know, of course
there's other things in life, but it all revolves in my life

(12:28):
as any pro musician, you know, Iguess if you get yourself to a
place where you can live off of music, pay your bills and that's
your main gig, you don't have towake up and go yeah, what else?
There's nothing else. I'd everything revolves around
that. So, you know, as far as defining

(12:49):
success or something, I mean, I guess that's a success, but I
don't know if any of us musicians that dreamed ever
thought success is paying your bills for music.
I I that was it was always success is being in the next Van
Halen or Zeppelin and selling out Madison Square Garden.
Like that's that's you know, I went and saw a kiss at 10 years

(13:10):
old, 79 and the dynasty tour. I'm in Madison Square Garden.
Listen to the kiss watching these four guys, these these you
know, here, these cartoon large than life heroes of my I'm like,
I'm in the same room as them. I can't believe this.
This isn't real. How do you get to the sound?
This the, the, the whole vibe ofbeing in a Kiss concert, Madison

(13:31):
Square Garden in the 70s. Yeah, that's, yeah, that's heavy
stuff. And that's all you see.
That's where you're going. And it's just a fun journey
because I don't know about everybody else, but every step
of the way, anything that's a little bit positive, anything
that's not negative is a step inthe right direction and that's
keeps you going. And another thing, not to get

(13:52):
too deep, but but it just because I'm thinking of it is,
is that's another thing that keeps you going is there's no
guarantees in this business. You know, it's all constant, I
want to say constant ups and downs, but there's always that
potential. You know, I guess if you're in,
if you're in a huge, hugely popular band or you're a hugely

(14:14):
popular musician or you've written big songs or whatever,
you respected on a certain levelfor what you do on your
instrument. You know, maybe you can ride
that out for decades and decadesor your whole life.
But, but, you know, there's ups and downs.
Even with big bands, big bands that, you know, kiss, whatever,
they go through a period where all of a sudden they're not
selling out their the arenas or whatever.

(14:35):
But you always just look back at, well, I've got to these
places. I didn't, that weren't
guaranteed, wasn't guaranteed toget there.
And I got there and that got me the next level, not got me next
level. OK, here's a little bit of a
down spell or here's a time where I don't have as much work.
You know, it's that's the whole struggle of, you know, being a
musician and or I want to say a hired gun, you know, a hired

(14:59):
gun. You you don't get a gig or maybe
the gig ends or you're bouncing or whatever it is you're
bouncing around. I don't have work and I'm a
little not picky, but I just luckily I've played in bands and
done stuff where I I like it as opposed to taking like a pop
gig, something I just don't care.
But it's good money. Well, at least I'm playing drums

(15:20):
right now. I'm I couldn't do that.
Like at least, you know, it's got to be something where I'm
like, it gives me something thatties into where I came from.
But but, you know, even if you're a drummer and a big band
in the band, you know, takes a hiatus or breaks up and you're
counting on that band for your, you know, you've made a bunch of

(15:40):
money, you're famous or whatever.
OK, now you're home and a year goes by.
You got you got money in the bank.
But OK, what are you doing to continue that feeling?
Or, you know, maybe you can start a band or maybe you're
just not that kind of guy. You just ended up at being the
drummer in this band that got big.
You know, I I've haven't been there, so I don't know, that
feels like, but you know, it could become, oh, wow, I I'm not

(16:02):
making that steady money anymoreand I don't have a new band.
I don't even know how to do this.
All I know is I was in this bandand it was big and now it's not
there. There's always on every level
there's ups and downs, you know,the biggest stars to the, you
know, lower side of being a unknown hired gun or something
like that, you know, But yeah, you just, you just, you go

(16:23):
through the times and you just, you just go.
I'm familiar with UPS and I'm feeling familiar with downs and
the down can't let you can't make you stay down or make you
feel like there's no up. The UPS, the UPS come and go and
you just keep going because you remember that you've bet you've
had those peaks and you have valleys.
Well, I mean, there's a chance that the whole thing, the rest

(16:46):
of your life can be a valley andyou never could.
But going. And if you go, well, I've done
this. I've proven myself on in these
places. Hopefully it'll happen again.
Just keep doing your thing. Well, let's dissect that a
little bit because talking to you, I can hear the love for
bands. I know that you've done very
well as a hired gun. I mean, I mentioned just some of

(17:07):
the artists you played with at the top of the interview, but I
mean Gene Simmons early idol Steven Tyler freaking slashes
snake put this is there's some huge ones foreigner, Whitesnake,
Aussie. Obviously some of these are full
circle moments and we'll get back to that if we have time,
but I want to bring it forward to lead by Vultures, right?

(17:30):
So given your career as a touring drummer, you could quite
easily just do that. You could just continue playing
in other people's bands as a hired gun and you would be just
as successful as you are. You are a name drummer.
People know who you are in the drumming world, but yet you

(17:51):
chose to do this new project. And I know it's not your first
projects. I mean, you had some moderate
success with all back in the day, but So what was the
decision to start a new band? If you want to call it a band or
you want to call it a project, what do you want to call it and
how did it come together? Well, like I said in high
school, I had a band college, I had a band writing, you know,

(18:11):
writing songs. Started playing around Boston in
the my college years. And at the same time I got an
opportunity to audition for a band in New York.
And I took it because it's an expert new experience.
And I got it. And I went on a little some
touring and through these connections, I met somebody
else, met somebody else, get another audition, get another
gig. And I was like, oh, I wonder if

(18:33):
that band, you know, back in Boston, we were, you know, I
think we had something we're starting to play out more.
We had some new songs and but I left it behind.
A couple years later I was like,oh man, talking like what 9091
was like, man, I don't want to. I was already thinking that and
I would look at like my heroes. I'd look at new bands coming out

(18:53):
like Soundgarden. Oh these guys are mid 20s and
putting out this kick ass music.I love all this new stuff.
Or Zeppelin was like 2021 when they made Zeppelin more than a
Plant and Barnum and stuff. I'd be like, I'm like 2122.
I got to get this together. I moved back up to Boston trying
to start the band singer flaked really couldn't couldn't write

(19:15):
because we had another friend ofours writing, you know, at the
time when I was back living there prior to leaving anyways,
it's always been there and then through my 20 you know, then I
went into I start touring with Vinny Moore.
This guitar virtuoso is now in UFO great experience.
It's awesome. We tour.
We did like seven months non-stop and with JD from Black
Label Society on bass and you know, J DS we met at Berkeley

(19:37):
that he was he's literally the first if I had to go back to
where's my quote UN quote careerstart, JD John Deserio starts
with him. He's the first person that gave
me an opportunity outside of Berkeley to play for something.
You know, it was a band he left Berkeley to join and he called
me the drummer left. You should come down and that
was it. And then that's How I Met Zach
Wilde because those two were buds back then.

(19:59):
And that led to, you know, then through that connection and I
met people at Atlantic records that led to Vinny Moore.
His label was His record was on a subsidiary of Atlantic.
That led to Tori Vinny meeting some people and then Jam Wazak
here and there. He called me to be in his new
band after he left. The Aussie part and glory.
That was great. When Seattle made a record, it

(20:21):
was like 93 toward 94. That led to meeting Slash, 95
goes into 96. That guitar player Stevie Salas,
Sash Jordan back then doing records with those guys, that
was a lot. It was great.
Moved to LA at that time from the East Coast comes around 96.
I auditioned for Joe Satriani for the first G3.

(20:45):
I didn't get it but I got it where he said go learn the whole
set and come back next week to San Francisco and the flight was
cancelled at Burbank and then hecalled Dex AIDS and while we're
waiting and your flight was cancelled.
We jammed with the the drummer on the records.
I show Jeff Capitelli maybe, andhe was also going to play
keywords. Well, we jammed with them and

(21:06):
he's just going to do the tour. So it kind of just didn't work
out. But while I was in that
audition, this is just cool for guitar geeks on drums.
I said to Joe, I play guitar. He was, oh, you didn't you want?
And Jeff got on drums and we jamsurfing with the alien, trading
back and forth like solos to thepoint where he's like, dude, at
the end of the show you can comeon, play rhythm guitar and surf.
And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You know, sounds like really funand exciting.

(21:28):
Nice little experience that didn't, you know, nothing came
out of it, but whatever. This and that. 98 joined
Foreigner. So it's like this by 98.
So 9697 I was like, I really want my own band and I want to
play guitar. I have all these riffs.
I and I started singing. I'm terrible, but I just started
yelling and trying to do it. I'm a little 4 track recorded.
You know what do you call TascamPortal?

(21:50):
One studio thing started doing that.
Demoing is terrible, but I saw it through and I kept going.
And then by 98 I had a couple friends were jamming me.
I play guitar. One of them was Ray Luzier, Ray
Losers and Corn, and he'd come over and jam.
And the first gigs I did with this band, Ray was on drums.
I had the whiskey and stuff likethat coconut teaser.

(22:11):
It was great, a great feeling. Was a lot of pressure, but I was
up there in it with my trio and doing my riffs just go blah,
blah, blah, I'm doing it. I got a record labels coming out
and all that. Got a deal in Japan so so I was
really working on it. But I got an American deal, a
smaller label, but we made the record, mastered it.
We're doing artwork and people start leading the label and
start start falling through and I sensed it.

(22:33):
I was like this isn't good. But then I had kids after start
playing with Billy Idol. Well, I played in foreign for a
couple years, went to Ozzy for the summer and then played with
Billy. It was all around the same time.
And I when you have kids, you have new responsibilities.
And I just kind of couldn't put the focus on this original band,
not anymore. But I just couldn't put the as

(22:53):
much on it, you know. Has it had new responsibilities?
Yeah. And then all these years go by
brings me to now demoing songs. I should start a new thing,
starting this band, son with SAS.
We reconnected and you know, it's but it's her and I writing
and it's us. What we do together started band
with Pete Shoulders, who plays with Dean Deleo and one more
satellite and that was another connection through the Deleo's.

(23:16):
We met because we had recorded abunch of stuff together years
ago. We did a thing, put an EPA out
on this label, just pandemic hit.
So like, you know, bouncing around doing this and that.
But finally last year I just things cleared up in my personal
life more or less just it just Iwas got new place and I looked
at where I am and I was looking at my age and I'm like, and I

(23:38):
thought about it and the answer is, well, you put all this time
outside of drums. You put all this time in the
guitar into writing, into tryingto sing, into having a band
years ago into playing gigs. Even Kevin, Kevin Martin from
Candlebox saw us back in like 2000 or something.
Like you guys are great. Open up the shows next week.
We'll give you 100 bucks. It's like, I don't care.
Let's do it. You know, we're playing
theaters, the candle box, like just, you know, so I had gotten

(24:01):
somewhere with that, like nobodyknows about it, but I got at
least a place where things like that were happening with my own
band, you know. So this past year there's a
couple of things. 2025, you know, we had these big fires at
the beginning of the year. You're right.
And and it really bad that was going on.

(24:21):
And at the same time I was geeking out on learning Van
Halen on guitar, like geeking hard.
Like I got this guitar and I loved it and I was like I just
want to really learn what he's doing for a couple years past
couple years since like 20-3 something like that.
Past few years I learned all these Van Halen.
Well what am I going to do with that?

(24:42):
Call some friends let's do gig. So we got together and start
jamming. I just like really bugged out.
I got to learn the background vocals and play these solos and
Eddie try and get the tone. It was fun.
It was a challenge. We booked 1 gig.
We did it and I woke up the nextday is like February so those
fires are going on. I'm just like, wow, because when
something like going like that'sgoing on around you, anything
you had going on that's might beof some importance lessons

(25:06):
incredibly and you don't even really want to talk about.
It's just like, who cares if fire is going on?
People's the people are dying that you're just losing
everything right down the road, right.
And it's it hasn't stopped. You know, like I have friends
involved in this, you know what I mean?
So I woke up the next day after this Van Halen gig and you know,

(25:26):
the beginning of February and I was like, OK, what do I do next?
Keep looking gigs, keep learningVan Halen.
Hey, look at me, I'm another oneof the million guys online
playing Van Halen. You know, the only thing is I
did put attention and I see a lot of these guys playing a lot
of little geek things. Geek out things wrong.
Who cares so much? Well, it is fun to really learn
what this master that changed the course of guitar have really

(25:47):
what he did and how it you know how it all comes together.
It's really fun to geek out. But anyways, I woke up and was
like, I'm not going to get, I still review the solos and play
parts and try and learn some bits and pieces because it's
fun. But I don't care to make it a
thing. It's just fun because I love Van
Halen and I love Eddie of Alex, the whole thing.
But I was like, I can't keep doing this.

(26:10):
I've got I've got all these notes on new songs.
I've got a studio, my house. I can make the record here.
I don't need anybody, you know, drums, guitar, bass, vocals,
mics, drums might have Pro Tools.
Like it's all here. And I love getting sounds.
So I'm like, that all came to be.
What are you doing, dude? And I have a couple friends that

(26:30):
were like, yeah, what are you doing?
You, you really. That's what you are you OK?
You're a higher drummer. That's what you want to.
I'm like, no, because I wanted to want to do more.
Well, then just do it. But you got now I haven't done
this in so long. I'm because you got this like a
little bit a lot of procrastinations and a little
bit of paranoia of like, oh, I'mgoing to come out and show
people this is my music. Not just this is my cool guitar

(26:53):
riff or drum beat or this is me playing with some famous person.
No, this is representative of melike Alone, which is a little
bit heavier than maybe I wanted,but then I'm like the app, who
cares? It's rock'n'roll, everybody.
I felt they have all these friends putting out their own
bands and records and projects. Like who cares?
Just scream and play a riff and make drum sound big and go, you

(27:15):
know? And that's what I started doing.
So just woke up and said I'm going to pick one of these
things and OK, that's kind of a finished newish idea.
It's kind of got all the parts start and then I get then once
you know, you're putting drums down, you know you got a song.
If you're going to put drums down, that means you've seen the
vision through. And then that was it.
And it started till February of 26th.

(27:36):
And it was really to prove to myself that I can do it.
It took many miles, it took months to play anybody.
And then couple friends would hear one demo, but mixed with
the vocals really low, like dude, I can barely hear your
vocals. I'm like, yeah, I know.
I don't want to. I don't want to hear nobody
louder than that, you know. And then I started revisiting
old songs, you know, I'm talkingliterally songs to go back to

(27:58):
2002, you know, like just going that always had something.
Or you know, that my buddy DerekSharonian, keyboard player in a
Black Country communion. And he has his own solo stuff.
And that's great because he's proven that he is his own entity
as a musician. But he's also played with tons
of different bands for decades, you know, from Dream Theater to
Invade to Billy Idol was with meand Black Country Communion, and

(28:22):
he's got all his projects, projects with Simon Phillips.
So like he was actually the number one person.
That's like, dude, just do it. Come on, you know, what are you
going to do? Look back and never did it.
And I'm like, exactly. When we had a studio rehearsal
place together 20 something years ago, I had a little
acoustic riff. He's like, that's cool.
It needs the pipes a pan. It needs the John Paul Jones

(28:42):
stairway pipes, a pan. So he's kept like, those are
great. And we kind of went with this.
It's been sitting there, a couple people heard it, like
that's cool. And he's like, dude, you got to
do that song for this record. I'm like, you're right, it's got
it, Yes. And so it was like something
like that. Then another saw that was stupid
heavy kind of joke song, but it had this really cool riff and it
was just aggressive as anything.Why not put that one on here?

(29:05):
Like, you know, it's got a shredguitar solo, it's heavy, it's
fast. So started picking and choosing.
Initially I wanted to write all new songs for this band, and
initially it was a solo record. Of course it is.
I'm doing it all myself, right? So that's what I've been doing
the past year. Play with Gene, play with George
Lynch, play with Dean Dileo, play with Michael Shaker.

(29:26):
It's real good. Don Felder, you know, so like
I'm there's my drummer stuff, right?
It's fun. All these people I have so much
respect for. Like seriously, you just look at
that list like not it's not boasting at all.
It's literally going OK, jeans my idol.
He's a rock legend. He's an icon.
OK, George Lynch. Come on.
I grew up on George. Incredible.
You know, Dean Dilio STP for he said we've done a lot of stuff

(29:49):
over the years. Shanker and older Mr. Hotel
California like these people want to go play drums.
I can go enjoy playing with these people that have so much
influence on me. All of them have influenced me.
I still do. I mean, I got to go rehearse for
a week with Shankar and Japan. I never did that much with him.
I recording with him, but just sit there and just listen to him

(30:12):
day after day and how just his phrasing, his vibrato, his tone,
his the methodology behind how he goes about putting the show
together in the band, it's just awesome.
So total inspiration, you know, as has been everybody I've
played with. But anyways, that's what I'm
doing and I'm making this recordand I was like, I'm going to
finish it by the summer. It didn't happen and but I'm

(30:35):
taking my time. But for me, it's nobody else
cares. It's me just saying I don't want
too much life to go by before this is done.
So I started going, OK, end of the year, it's got to be done.
And it pretty much was. And through my buddy Bumblefoot.
Ron Thal, Yeah. Bumblefoot.
Yeah, and. Dean, they're both on this
distribution label, Deco. She talked to Deco, talked to
Deco in December. There you go.

(30:56):
Yeah, let's send them a few songs.
And they said cool, let's do it.OK, so I got a mix master,
finish up the songs or whatever things I need to do.
And that's in the first single came out the end of March.
And it's not like I expect this to be this thing.
I just want to start it and let it run its course and just work

(31:16):
it. It's fun and it's a challenge,
but I do believe in it. That's why it's there as I've
finished. It I thought the single was
great, nice ballsy rock'n'roll. I just love the fact that it
just sounded like a band that was rocking.
Do you think that maybe subconsciously, because you've
played with some of the biggest artists in the world, that maybe

(31:41):
the pressure of putting out yourown stuff and maybe at not
getting to the Madison Square Garden kiss level?
And I'm not saying it won't, anything's possible.
We've alluded to that earlier. But do you think that that
subconsciously added a pressure to you?
You come across a little bit almost like you were reluctant

(32:02):
to do it. You wanted to, but you were kind
of, I don't know if I should, but maybe I should, but I don't
know. Was there maybe a subconscious
pressure there? No, no, I knew I had to do it.
It's just procrastination. It's just making lists of ideas
and things. And yeah, but it's, I just
procrastinate because you get used to not doing it for so
long. And then the gap of time since

(32:23):
the last time I really did it, which was a long time ago, you
start going, well, it's called 20 years.
Like really, I'm going to now present myself after doing this
music career for this long. I'm going to present myself in
this new way. I nobody hears me saying, you
know, that I'm really happy thatGene Simmons was like, hey, you
want to sing ace of spades? Like it was just fun to be able

(32:45):
to get up there and not just sync backgrounds with the guys,
but even, you know, just sing lead on a song, which is a super
well known song and Lemmy sportsis iconic.
Like it's, it's just so as soon as you hear you go, that's
Lemmy. It's really great for what it is
from the first time we hear. So you know, it's just fun to be
able to like get out and, and and do that.
But no, no, I, I'm, I'm also notI, I mean, we all have our we

(33:07):
all have egos and we all, I'm competitive to, to a certain
maybe more sports. I'm not super competitive with
music, but I, I, the older you get them where you go.
This is what I am, more or less.This is what I do and I can back
my shit up like, you know, like if I'm going to play rock drums,
I have no excuse not to be good at that.

(33:28):
That would suck if I didn't havethat confidence, Like it would
suck like to get over, you know,second guessing thing.
You can't, you can't do that in life too much.
You know, we all have doubts. We all have insecurities.
We all may procrastinate this and that, but you can get the go
down the road a little bit in life.
You go, but what, why? Why are you making such a big

(33:48):
deal about yourself? Who cares?
Do what you like. Like really, you know, to do
what you like it and and get it done and what's going what's
what's the worst thing that happens?
Like how bad is it? What's worse it not being in
mass Square Garden or it not selling a ton or you do all the

(34:08):
sudden it's you know, you're making tons of making a bunch of
money off it and you don't have to do anything else.
Or is it worse to not do it at all and never know?
That's what that's worse. It's no brainer.
It's worth I agree want to do this and I never did it and I'm
not worried about what anybody thinks of it.
As far as like I know, I think Iknow a good riff.
I love freaking riffs. Get it this get it right song
that literally is that's that's like 20 years old.

(34:31):
I had a demo that was kind of cool.
If you heard the demo compared to the new one, they're so
close. I literally redid the drums.
The demo wasn't to a click. Most of the time I don't play to
click unless I have a really good reason.
For whatever reason, most time Ijust want to sit down and play
how I feel. That was this song back then and
that's what it is now. So I just followed the demo.

(34:51):
Same. It's just, it's better sounding.
Everything's better sounding. I was like, I did the same
guitar solo, the same vocals, It's all the same.
I was like, Oh yeah, all these years later, my voice is to
sound so much better. I listen back and I'm like, oh
God, it's the same freaking voice.
Oh God, I thought. Your voice was great man, I
really. Do that.
Thank you. I'm not, I'm not patient for
anything. I'm just saying, you know, but

(35:13):
but I don't care because I'm like, you know, it is, it's just
is what it is. I don't care.
You know, I just want to be ableto scream and hit the note, you
know, and of course you get better and I've been doing a lot
more singing this past year doing all this stuff, But you
know, it's it's not. I could probably get better
playing flute in the next month and I then I could sing.
I don't know. So and that that song, it's seen

(35:36):
it all of a sudden out of nowhere.
I wasn't going to do that one. I got my list of stuff.
Here's some old stuff, here's new stuff.
And I said, well, I really should do a couple of things
that I like when I buy other buddy buddy Sean and Phoenix get
the studio used to do drums fromout there and he's he's heard.
He had all my music from back then calls me like over the
years. They do that get it right song.

(35:58):
Great man. I was at the gym that came on my
iPod wherever I I was like cool.And then he calls me when I'm
doing this record like in October and he's like, he says
same thing. And but he goes, you have to
redo it because just. And I go, yeah, it's easy, it's
simple, it's powerful to chug her.
It's like old Sabbath meets the old Nirvana that, you know, he's
like, yeah, but it's kind of youand I go, yeah.

(36:18):
And it's it represents, it's a good album opener.
Just get right into it. Bam, simplicity.
And and and following that up with I don't want to sound
modern in AI want to sound powerful.
Like when you hear our favorite,we hear old Van Halen, Zeppelin,
ACDC, Sabbath. It's powerful in their own way

(36:39):
because back then you didn't have the studio trickery
trickery that you have now. It's too many bands sound the
same now, too many drums. Drum production sounds the same
like that your drum set in the room.
Like I want to hear my I want tohear snare tone.
I'm a super geek about snare tone.
Bonham Van Halen, you're Chris Bill Bruford.
I I want that. I need to hear some
characteristic that excites me about snare tones in all these.

(37:02):
It has to happen. I have to have that I and I
don't know samples. I don't care about click tracks.
I don't care about how proper things are done in proper
studios. I know.
And then I go, I've been doing this drum engineering stuff with
Pro Tools for 22, three years, recording music, not just drums,
but I love the art of engineering drums, real acoustic

(37:23):
drums in a room or ambient mics,add some compression.
Now I love it. And, and then add guitars and
bass, make that stuff sound heavy, like when you put on
Sabbath or Zeppelin or Van Halenor you know, and I, and I love
some new bands. I love Gojira and I love my
Sugar and I I love their production, but I I don't and
and I think there's something different about those guys

(37:44):
compared to so many bands. But but I just don't even I
don't want to sound like it thatkind of modern because then I go
put on some my old favorite records that I hear these
qualities in there that I don't hear a new report and I'm like,
I want to get that. I just want that because that
becomes, you know, you put on Neil Young harvest, you know,
you put on the doors, you put onHendricks, you put on, you know,

(38:05):
stealing Dan. You hear these bands, The Who
that the only way you're going to get that production is by
those guys. So when I came up with this
music and recording, I record asa band.
I don't record as a solo record of I record every instrument.
Like, what would that? What do I want that guy in the
band to sound like? You know?
And so yeah, I want me and guitar to sound like me and

(38:27):
guitar, but it's not a solo record as much as it is this one
dude tried to become a band that's trying to give up the
impression of it sounds like a band.
Yeah, that's it. And so that's that's where it
is. And that's how it led to being
called Led by Vultures was because it's like, oh, OK, it'll

(38:47):
be called Tishy solo record in the in the perception will be
it's your side thing. You're a higher drummer in the
side. You did this cute little thing.
I wanted the opposite. I wanted to be this is what I
am. And I go and play drums with
these people because I can and I've proven I can do that.
You can pay pay bills doing that.

(39:07):
You know, I'll never stop doing that.
But this is really more what I am.
This is nobody tell. This is nobody telling me what
to do exactly. Producers, no engineer.
I've had relied on a few friends.
You know, Derek said Derek Sheridan, my buddy Sean, because
once he said do that, get it right.
So I did. It was like, yeah, it's got to
be the first single. Let's do it.
I started, you know, sort of send him, you know, him and a

(39:28):
couple of friends, all these songs over the past, you know,
bunch of months and getting somefeedback.
And outside of those guys, I'll listen to them.
I definitely listen. I, you know, the second single
coming out next month was totally edited because of
Sharonian because he said you need that thing in the front.
You don't need this. And I was like, you know what,

(39:49):
He's right. I didn't look at it like that.
But now that he and I was like, dude, thank you.
And he played on it. I was like, hey, I need a
chorus. What would you play over these
chords, this groove for the chorus, Like just give me some
milk. And it came back with none of
that. You just came in, came back with
massive synth things, doubling my octave guitar.
And he came back with strings onthe chorus that were like
pumping it up to the next level.Like I was like, dude, this is

(40:10):
so much better. This octave guitar with your
synth and their cello doubling it now sounds like a sound I
haven't heard sounds like this because it's a relentless,
straightforward, simple song. But it's the sound and the
groove. Of, of, of of the song that I
wanted. I didn't need the brilliant
chord changes. I just need a repetitive energy.

(40:32):
And Derek delivered that. But what he gave me on the on
the his keyboard tracks, I was like, dude, everything there is
like, dude, he threw me a Tom Sawyer Sawyer intro.
You know what time Sawyer kicks in?
He goes, yeah, yeah, yeah. God, it's so funny because we we
don't, we always have names for everything.
He what's the dude? Oh God.

(40:54):
Is it, is it Dreamweaver guys that the is it Gary Wright?
Is that dream Dreamweaver? I'm not sure.
Anyway, she goes, oh, dude, you need to put the Dreamweaver
string on the top behind. And it was like, it's just all
nice candy. He's you ear candy gave me.
And it took this on the next level.
Like did you get publishing on this?
Because it wouldn't be what it is.

(41:14):
It wouldn't be as exciting, you know, if if you didn't give me
that stuff, you know, And it wasinspiring.
So anyhow, he's a key person in in in this becoming what it is.
My other buddy who say do get itright, because I have a song on
the record called led by Vultures.
This one of the few songs I had a title.
I wanted to write a song becauseof the title didn't have the

(41:35):
music. I go I want one of those old
school double bass. I want like I want that and I
want to go twist and turn and beheavy and I want to be called
led by vultures. I was like, hadn't written it
yet, had some risks. It's like December and he goes,
so I started putting it togetherand he heard the music.
There's no lyrics and no vocal sequence.

(41:57):
It's cool, man. It's cool heavy song.
So that's good name. I go, yeah, it's cool, cool song
title. That's why it's there.
You know, he goes be cool name for band.
I go, yeah, it would be. He goes, have you thought about
that? I go, what are you talking
about? It's a solo record.
He goes yeah, but the perceptionchanges as soon as I call it a
band name. 100%. Like, OK, Black Label Society is

(42:20):
Zach Wylde without Zach. There's no without Zach, there's
no black. But like, there's been many
different people in the band, but it's all based around his
songs, his voice, his guitar playing, his name, his what he's
created. So you know, from from Ozzie and
beyond being who he is and that's I mean, he came to a

(42:42):
house in 98 with the first blacklabel record knocks on my door
and goes, dude, come in my car and he plays crank it Staunton
in his car, SUV, whatever. And I this is 98.
I can and I said I have a few new songs for my band at
Crankham. I was like, he's got it.
He's got his new thing. You know, pride and glory did
one record whatever fewer few years, few years later and he's

(43:02):
going and I didn't know where itwas going to go, but I'm like,
wow, man, it hasn't stopped and he's been relentless.
Now look at the success like he's it's really, I mean the
merch, the the his meet and greets, that whole side of
things, because Zach's a character and he's got a huge
fan base from the world, but theband and the music, he stayed
true to it, you know, but he canyou know, also it's heavy, but

(43:24):
he's shown over the years. He gets into his lighter side
and acoustics and ballads and stuff.
So he's being Zach in his band is like he really doesn't have
to do anything else outside of black label.
You can do Zach's habits to get there.
He's just be black label. He's fine, you know?
Yeah, You know, that's an inspiration too.
So. So that it was part of it.
It was like or Foo Fighters growl, you know what I mean?

(43:45):
Even in the 90s when I saw them as I'm on MTV doing a concert, I
was like, oh man, look at that, like 96 or whatever.
I'm like, this is amazing. He's just got his own thing.
He doesn't get. It's just a whole he's moved on.
He's fronting it and he's throwing down big wrist, loud
guitar. You know, that was a part of me
going well if he can do this andhe's extremely talented.
So I think he could, you know, harmonies in Nirvana, he was

(44:07):
just already nailing harmonies on the record and live.
So he had maybe more or less a, a, a bit of a natural gift of
singing, you know, a good pitch.So here he is doing it.
It might not come across like that when you hear and see him
the first time, but like, now, it's there, man.
Writing hit songs, you know, that could be on the radio for
decades and decades. All great.

(44:27):
But that was an inspiration. It still is as is, as is Zach.
So I looked at those kind of things and I went, yeah, I'm not
even close to their level. But if I put this out as a band,
who cares? And I don't in the press, we're
not going. Brian, from these bands.
It doesn't matter if you know myname, you know it, but do you

(44:49):
like the music? Who cares where I came from?
It just matters if you like thisband.
And I like that because it's just got it.
It's a it just rests on its own.Do 2 two feet and it and it it's
its own world. It does.
I'm not trying to go, you know, buy this record because I have
all these guest stars on it thatI played with and I this drummer

(45:10):
from these, but I don't care. It's no, I just wanted to be
this this this band. That's why it is a band, because
it's supposed to sound like a band.
And if the members aren't lockedin right now, it's not so
important because the experienceright now is the songs.
There's only going to be two songs out in third single Be Out
and July and then the record in August.

(45:32):
So at that point you'll get the whole big picture.
But I'm just building it up. I just want to build it up right
now. Well, I wanted to ask you about
that. What's the plan with the band
live? Have you got band members?
I mean, Shane Hawkins is in the video.
That was a cool touch. He's a cool drummer man Talented
kid. Shane's great and I had met him
be with Gene Simmons, the guitarplayer Brett Woods plays in

(45:57):
Chevy metal used to play with Taylor and this Bill does Chevy
with Shane. It was a nice it's like cool,
because Shane's a great drummer.He's young.
Yeah, keep that going. You know, good experience for
Shane. It's it's it's already
established. You know what I mean?
Why not? Right.
Makes it makes sense to me. So I met Shane through one of
those Chevy metal benefit shows and then Chevy metal open up for
Gene of, you know, and like November at a festival out here,

(46:20):
a love ride, a benefit thing. But anyways, so we that he's got
a drum set. It's there.
And so, you know, we hung out and it came time for the video
and I was like, like the month later.
So he's on my mind because we just met and like that song with
the way he plays, that's what that's that's a no brainer.
Yeah, right. You know, it's a shame.
We want to do the video. I'm like, why don't you just

(46:40):
play bass? Make it easy, you know what I
mean? He's just bang your head and
play in the video. And he was like, yeah, let's do
it. It was that simple.
It was like, I want to get it started.
We just want a rocking video to display the song and but as as
far as who's in the band and what, like, I would really
probably need a second guitar player for the for a whole big

(47:01):
chunk of the record because whenyou hear it, there's some stuff
where there's just like way too many guitars, but it's fun.
I want to go Brian May here. I want to go like acoustics over
the 22 acoustics with two electrics and a solo and a
harmony, you know, blah, blah, blah, you know, So it would
probably be a wise decision to to have a second guitar player.
I love trio stuff, but you know,so drummer, you know, got to see

(47:24):
where Shane's at. I don't know where you know, I
don't know. There's no I have no
expectations or a big plan on who.
I luckily know a bunch of peoplehave a bunch of friends that are
great musicians, so it's really going to be like who's where at
what time? I think maybe I might.
I just went last week to Jeff Tate's regular these party at

(47:46):
the Viper Room. And it was really cool because I
had thought I should do some kind of regular these party.
They just have a party and play a couple of the songs from
record. Yeah, like play the record, but
also play live, like at least a couple of songs, like the simple
ones where you don't have to really work too much.
You know, put a whole bunch of rehearsals together and.
And I went there as I. This is great.
It's great hanging. And he's, you know, he did some
some Queen's record acousticallyon stage and, you know, a bunch

(48:09):
of people. There was like a private event
thing. And I was like, yeah, this would
be fun to do, you know, and it builds the band up.
Hey, let's invite key people andget out of it, you know, pump it
up. You know, it's a marketing
strategy, you know, more or lessso.
So these are things we're thinking of that might be the
first time we play. If I decide to do that, we will
play a couple of songs and see what what happens.
But that's the exciting thing isthere's certain things I have to

(48:31):
make a decision on now. Like, what's the second single?
They were going to do the video,which we just did a week ago.
I got to promote that. When are we going to announce
like this show the record cover and have T-shirts and all the
little things you're now? That's what I have to know.
Like these things have to happen.
I've got to promote this thing as it is now.
And then I got the second single, then the third.

(48:54):
I don't have to worry about learning this song or finding
the musicians yet. I just need this to be heard in
it's in the capacity it's in. Makes a lot of sense.
I'm going to pivot slightly for my next question and I'll bring
it back. What would you say has been the
hardest part for you personally in regards to being a career

(49:17):
musician? Without thinking about it, the
hardest part is being an adult and having to pay bills like we
all do like like, like getting ahead with no guarantees in this
business. I mean, I think that's the
hardest thing is, is making money, you know, like really

(49:39):
like because like you get your bills out of the way, got a
clear head to be creative, right?
I'm not saying money is the answer to everything.
It's not. But you take a millionaire
who's, you know, got lots of taxes.

(50:01):
You take somebody who can't pay for the rent and can't pay their
phone bill, I'm going to choose the guy with the millionaire
with the lots of taxes, those money problems, because you can
doubt, you know what I mean? That's the further away from
zero, the better at financially,just the further away there's,
you know what I mean? So that just that's the hardest

(50:24):
thing is when you, you know, whatever's going on in your
personal life, what whatever's happening, you know, and you go,
OK, and I'm not like, I'm not bad with money.
It's not like, you know, I made money.
I go, oh, I, I because there's, you know, there's the people
have jobs they don't like. They work all week and they're
work at their lover boy. They're working for the weekend.
They're getting all Mike Reno and they're like going out and
partying on the weekend and they're buying things because

(50:47):
that's the payoff for doing thisthing they don't want to do.
Now I do this and I love doing it.
So I earned it doing something Ilove.
I don't need to go find this outlet to let out some type of
whatever kind of enjoyment that is.
Now I I leave me alone, let me stay home, be creative, put the
money in the bank, pay the billsand wake up and go.

(51:08):
I don't have to worry about that.
I can make a record, you know what I mean?
That's, that's so yeah, that's, that's the hardest thing.
Some people, some people might say being away from my family,
it's like that, that was, that'sthat came of the territory.
That was like, that's what I do.Like, I don't need to.
I don't care about vacations. Like I've been to a lot of
places on this planet and I've seen and experienced usually

(51:31):
while on tour, but I don't need,I don't care about sitting on
beaches. I don't care about I've, you
know what I mean? I don't care about that side of
vacationing from somewhere. Take a place, you know, what's
Tokyo like? Cool, I'll tell you what's Paris
like? You know, what's what's, what's
the Australia like? You know, what's the blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah. What's Asia like, you know, pick

(51:52):
up country like I've seen, you know, what are the Swiss Alps?
Like I mountain bike to them on a drum tour.
Like, like I've gotten stuff in there like, yeah.
So I like being left alone to becreative.
Yeah. Perfect world, man.
I'd have a bunch of money in thebank and I have a killer studio
and a big ass house and I'd be flying people in to make music
and that's it. Friends, people.

(52:14):
I respect anybody that said theywould do it, be creative, put
shows on just to do it. Like I don't like to feel
creative and feel this feeling of it wasn't there announced
there because I made it happen. That's that's that's the best of
me. Everything else would, you know,
Yeah, sit down and drums and practice a little bit, learn
some new stuff. A guitar.

(52:34):
Like I'll never get nearly as close as I think my potential is
at all like, like if I you know,those things, you think your
head OK, I, I see I could do this, but I really need to stood
down. Did I work on super fast double
bass drums? No, but I did spend years and
years and years on guitar and finishing songs and engineering.
Like I and I like killer drum sounds and big groove better

(52:58):
than super fast double bass, youknow, and I want to hear me and
my music go and you go, well, yeah.
And you move your head and there's a riff.
You go, oh, that's a good riff. Like I want that more than I
want to, you know, that's just me.
So, you know, you got how much time, you know, how do you do
devote your time? You know, I, I look at these

(53:20):
killer drummers that are on the Super high levels and I'm like,
wow, you dedicated so much focus.
I, I love it. I I'm so impressed and but then
I go, you know, and the end result is what, like you've
gotten a name for that, Like that's what you're known as.
That's that's what you went for.Mission accomplished.
You know what I mean? But I'm like, I don't know if I

(53:41):
really ever wanted that name forthat.
Like I'd rather man, I'd rather be the dude from sweet and love
it like oxygen that goes get it.Boom.
And I'm like, is that not one ofthe most badass drum feels ever
like that? Like he hit the flance's right.
The bucket of fish is which I call the roaches.
Whatever Mick Tucker. Like, Oh, come on, man.

(54:06):
As a kid. Found the rate.
I'm waiting. I'm waiting.
I went. Here it is.
Oh, the payoff is so beautiful, you know what I mean?
I want that more, you know? I want.
Come on, man. The black dog.
Oh, yeah, dude, you know what I mean?
That stuff. Like, I want I one of my
buddies. Like, dude, you don't have a
song with a drum intro on the front of the mic.

(54:28):
I'm like, dude, Stargazer, you know, Cozy Powell, like come on,
listen to those drums. That is so start the record off,
dude. I'm like Hopper teacher, just go
down killer just of killer drum intros, you know, whatever, Phil
Collins. I don't care anyway, just
Bluetooth whatever. Go down all those to kill over
the mountain. We've already, I've talked about

(54:48):
it, all the killer drum drum intros, and I'm like, I don't
have one song. That's what's my problem.
So I went on my way to make thisLed by Vulture song start with a
way too long stargazer like double bass drum intro, but that
reintroduces itself in the middle before the guitar solo.
But it's fun because I'm like, Idon't care.
It's on the radio. It's just an album track.

(55:08):
Even though I finally that for the second thing, it was like I
got like a week and a half before I got to pick the second
song. I thought it was going to be
this couple. Sorry, I went to the label, went
to like a handful of friends. Listen to the songs.
They're not all finished, They're not totally mixed, but
just I want to know the second single.
I want to know what you like themost, but I want to know the
second single. And that's a handful.

(55:30):
Like it was like the second it was, I was right.
The second single. What most people came back with
this, this song called Massivity, but it's led by
Vulture song. Dude, that's dude.
It's it's like, it's got a cool course, but it's I'm like, it's
6 1/2 minutes long. It's got an outro in quarter
time with nothing but dive bars.Supposed to be whammies.
Distortion feedback was supposedto be vultures swooping down on

(55:52):
the freaking city. I'm like.
And. But people.
Yeah. And I'm like, yeah, in this day
and age, you can put out whatever song you want.
You can. So.
So I was like, wow, that's kind of funny because it's really
not. It wasn't written with any for a
single. It was written like don't worry
about time, don't worry about. I want that extra verse there.
I want to wait. I want a second verse before I

(56:14):
hit the payback, payback of the chorus.
I want it to develop. Then I want to do that all
again. Then I want to go to a
breakdown. I want to go to heavy riff all
our old school Pantera. Then I want to go to a freaking
Shanker meets Van Halen guitar solo.
And that, you know what I mean? That I want an outro with
nothing but dive bars like Vultures.
That was like, so it's an album track but people are going dude

(56:35):
that would out next, why not? Though.
You know, that's what's fun, youknow, in my own little world
here I'm talking to you about mylittle world, a bit of my little
life. But it's fun and I'm having fun
doing it and it's going to come out.
And I've heard from some friendsunexpectedly that written me
when that first single came out.Like dude, that fucking rocks.
That sounds really good. Or like the sound, you know,

(56:57):
like some good friends, some acquaintances, you know, get a
text here and there was like, wow, you know, that that's
that's nice. And like I said, those are the
things that keep you going. You know what I mean?
Like unexpected from, you know, an acquaintance drummer who I'm
buddies with, but we don't keep in touch.
I haven't talked in a couple years to add new songs, but it's
great. It's you know, it's just it's

(57:18):
you know, or the sound, dude, the snare drum.
Thank you. That's probably, you know,
choruses are good stuff. But in my head, man, I put the
freaking snare drum tone right next to the chorus, which is,
you know, is wrong. But I don't care.
I don't care. It matters to me like I love,
like somebody go listen to the three snare drums before the
chorus of Christine 16. Is that not such a beautiful

(57:40):
sound to listen Eddie Alex Van Halen go listen to all weight
drop dead legs go down the list of how you know or whatever.
You know, I I just make it's very important to me, like for
it's just something I geek out on so, but those guys I'm
talking about I'm sure geek out on it too, like man of.
Course they did well I said I would pivoted back around,
although this might be too soon to ask.

(58:03):
So I'm going to try and relate it more to your career and then
see if we can branch it into Lead by Vultures.
But I asked you what the hardestpart about, like, being a career
musician was. Let's stay in that same vein.
You've worked with a lot of bandleaders and musical directors,
and when your band does hit the road, you yourself will be a

(58:24):
band leader. Might be a redundant question to
ask because it might be too early, but what do you think is
going to be the hardest part about being a band leader versus
being a hired guy? Nothing.
There's nothing hard. There's nothing hard about it.
I've been, I've been on that side a little bit and just a
little bit, you know, whether it's a band with whether it's my

(58:46):
little teeny bands, whatever. With SAS Jordan, we're Co
partners, you know, it's the waywe have.
We never had problems about any,you know, we did some shows back
then with the band son Somethingunto nothing.
SAS and I we you know, we're notplaying, you know, OK, we got a
teeny bit of money. There's a teeny bit of whatever,
teeny bit of responsibility go, you know, and same thing with

(59:09):
this Silverthorne band with withPete Shoulder.
It's so small, it's barely anything to even talk about.
But it is an experience where you are in that position.
There's not nothing, nothing at all.
You don't have to impress. You have to impress people that
are there to see you. You don't have to impress your
boss. You don't have to worry about

(59:30):
getting fired. You don't have to worry about
somebody's mood changing and you're not there.
I luckily haven't really been fired.
I guess in the Ozzy world I was.That's a weird situation I don't
even ever talk about because I play with Ozzy.
It's all that matters to go watch on YouTube, you know, it's
there and got a raise on my second show, you know, but I

(59:51):
don't know what happened next year.
If they could they they called me to start the record and then
said we don't need you. And we hadn't even played.
It was like the weirdest thing. I've never even talked about it.
Only a few friends know because it really doesn't matter.
It's just another experience where you learn from it.
You know, at the end of the day,the bottom line is there's a
tour book out there with my picture saying I'm the drummer
on the tour. And there's video and I did it

(01:00:11):
and, and I was on the headliningOz Fest with freaking Tommy Lee
and Pantera and Godsmack and allthe other guys watching us, you
know, and whatever, you know. And so it was a great
experience. Like it's true, true highlight.
They're the only band that played Diary of a Madman live.
Like, you know, I think we I don't know if we opened with it
or it was second or so, I can't remember, but great, great.

(01:00:32):
It was all it was all great. It's fine.
But you know, so, but you are, you are worried because you know
that the business it while things are the same from band to
band, there is the business of music.
There's generally generally there's a bunch of similarities,
you know, in what's expected when you're in a band, you know,
but then there's the way they dobusiness, you know, the internal
side that that personalities andhow things go that you have to

(01:00:55):
kind of adjust to. I've luckily been in mostly
really good situations, you know, with everybody, you know,
really got like, it's actually kind of cool to think it's
really minimal, minimal hassles or problems or drama.
Like there's always some kind ofdrama with whatever.
It depends on what you want to make, you know, what you
consider drama and you know how much it matters to you.

(01:01:18):
A lot of the stuff in generally in life is just like, how much
does it matter? You know, how much does it
really matter? You know, like how much of a big
deal do I make of this thing? You know, how far do I take
this, you know, exactly. Can I let it go and move on?
Like could I or just cut it in half, cut the value in half?
I could, I could just, and then you know what, now I got that
50%, I cut in half to do, you know, other stuff that's going

(01:01:42):
to benefit me in better ways, you know?
More time to create. Yeah, yeah, I'm not worried.
And even just putting on these bonds of bash shows or Andy Rose
remembered you're the leader like that, even though it's not
original music. I had to.
It's my name at the end of the day.
They called everybody and put the the concept came from me.
I put it together like starts there.
So there's a responsibility since leading a show and and

(01:02:04):
it's like it was super fun, great.
You think I did it for almost like 10 years and I'm it was
great. It was just so many great
memories. But it was that responsibility
of leading, of being, of course,letting everybody know where
things are AT and, and appreciating and respecting
everybody's time they put into to making this what it is, you

(01:02:24):
know, So, so that on that side of being a leader, there's a
responsibility. Yeah.
Like as a boss, I guess, you know, you want, you don't want
to bullshit people. I'll worry about that stuff when
it comes up. You know, it if, if I got to the
point where I had to worry aboutthat, those things, then I'm in
a great position. I'm in an amazing position right
now. I'm I'm not worried, you know,
if you know, but if it gets there, that'll be awesome.

(01:02:46):
Where I have to hire people and pay them and we have to rehearse
and go play and tickets are sold.
That's a problem. There's no problem.
There what a problem to have. You know, I I mean, it's some
people go, it's so nice when youjoin another band.
You don't have to do anything. You show up and play your drums
and get paycheck and like, yeah,yes, it is.
It is cool on so many levels, but there is nothing I've told

(01:03:10):
so many guys from bands that I grew up on that I'm friends with
or whatever. Like I have so much respect for
the fact that whatever could Charlie Benanti from Anthrax,
right? Just like I was in high school
cranking Anthrax, You know what I mean?
Playing law my Bam, my Bam was covering a couple of Anthrax.
So it's like, dude, I have so much respect for the fact that
your whole career and what people know you as starts from

(01:03:31):
you starting with your your buddies in basement or whatever.
And so let's call this band Anthrax and let's get heavy and
there you go. That to me is the pinnacle of
being a musician. It's not like how many basket
play with that. It's nice if I can jump into a
Don Felder drum chair, which is so different than a Whitesnake
or or an Aussie or a Lynch or a Shanker.

(01:03:53):
Like they're all different. But like that's way different
because it's just it's eagles vibe.
You know, it's but it's like really, it's really nice to be
able to to have a Don Felder comfortable enough with me as
new all year heavy, heavy metal basher.
But yeah, man, go see me with Felder.
Dude, I'm I'm laying back. I'm not there's no arms above
the head. Like it's not.

(01:04:14):
I don't want to be seen. This is Don Felder game.
It's about the songs. And Don Don's good, you know,
being Guitar Hero and these amazing songs.
He's apart. Let's play.
Just make the band feel good. That's it.
I I, you know, and I know my place there and I haven't.
I would never ever question it. There's nothing to question.
Do the do the gig the way it's supposed to be done.

(01:04:35):
That's it. And and do you want to go, you
know, join foreigner? You know, I have totally.
I love foreigner grew up on foreigner.
I played it pretty true to the songs, but then I would also
make it more energetic life likeI would kind of try to drive
this big loud rock band and makeit exciting.
If somebody said don't do that, I wouldn't have.

(01:04:55):
But if I look over at Mick Jones, the damn founder of
foreigner and he's looking I wassmiling year after year.
I'm like straight that's you know, I mean because I'm the kid
that learned how to play drums in these foreign records, you
know, so so you tell me to do something, I'll do it, you know,
but if you're hit, say anything except smiling and but you never
push it. You know that that's the other

(01:05:16):
thing I think you get comfortable in the situation and
as let's just say as a drummer. Oh, I can add a little more in.
I can add a little bit of my stuff in because I've been here
and every school, you know, like, yeah, that feels
completely unnecessary. You didn't need to go to get to
get to go to you just needed to go black boom.
But you went to get to get to doom.
Like there there's no forward orsomething.
You know what I mean? OK, you're going to go to 17 on

(01:05:37):
heads games this time where the first course ends and and
Dennis, Ellie goes just like over the mountain that say that
like, dude, Yeah, yeah, Dennis, you let loose.
But it was just great for that song.
You don't want to put that in every song just because it
worked one time or something. You got to know your place.

(01:05:57):
You got to always look at your boss and go without you here,
without you signing those checks.
I'm not here. And if you wake up one day and
change your mind, I have no say.Why am I fired?
What did I do? Please let me explain.
No, it's not your place, you know, to negotiate about that
kind of stuff. They you want to ask for a
raise, you get a raise because you think you're doing a good

(01:06:18):
job. You've been there for a while.
All right, cool. Maybe it'll work out, you know,
but if they don't like you or they want to change, you know,
that's that's not your your it'sgot to be kind of the basic one
O 1 smarts on how to be in a gig.
It's not your gig. So you go to a friend's house.
You're not going to leave your underwear all in the kitchen and
did leave a mess around. You can not just be just be

(01:06:41):
basically respectful. You know what I mean?
Basically, some people, I think I've seen it, I've seen
musicians getting gigs and then they they start, you know, over
playing or trying to integrate their things that don't need to
be there. You know, on whatever level.
If it works in a band, it works in a band, but it might not work
in that band. So I just trying to go like,
well, Coverdale loves. He loves visual power.

(01:07:03):
He loves pounding and volume andenergy and visual and a show.
James Simmons loves that. Give it to him.
You know, you don't take, but you don't go meet Felder covered
old. He loves all the stuff I'm
popping sticks and a blah, blah,blah.
You know a point to that and whatever.
I was like, dude, that's white steak.

(01:07:24):
I'm sound, Felder. You know what I mean?
Like, come on. Yeah.
Exactly, dude. You know that that's just basic.
You know, when you're placing a gig, you know, it's, it's none
of that stuff is that hard? And then you take a step back.
You know, I really enjoy being adrummer.
I really like that as an adult, I can still be a kid.
I used to put my dad's Eagles records on and Play DoH.
I put my KISS records out. I just put my dad's Beatles

(01:07:45):
records on. So when I put those records on,
I was that my challenge because I had challenges I didn't
realize until I got older practice challenges.
But they weren't challenges. They were just it's because I'm
a competitive. What if I had to be the guy on
this record right now? What if I had to be the guy on
on, you know, draw the line fromAerosmith?
What I had to be the guy on Van Halen too.

(01:08:05):
What if I had to be on ACDC backin Black?
Could I be that guy? That's my challenge.
Could I be the guy on this Beatles record?
Or, you know, you bring what wasn't available.
And that's how I challenge myself.
Can I do this? Is every snare right?
Is every symbol is every Phil? How does that feel?
You know what I mean? Like that.
And that's years and years. And then I turn the records off
and I go, I got to improvise. I what would I do if I had to

(01:08:27):
play solo right down and press you?
But it was fun. So now I get to put myself in
that headspace as an adult playing with those people.
Uh oh. Now I'm not just playing the
white Snake. Slide it in.
I'm playing slide it in with covered.
I'm not just playing crazy trainor, or, or or war pigs, you
know, I mean, so I just put myself back to 1 as a kid and I
go, here's the challenge. Make it, you know, get it done,

(01:08:50):
you know, and that's fun. Like give me a rock egg now,
man, I I accept the challenge. I'll cut them all.
Like I have to be able to say that at my age, like Jesus
Christ, you know, Oh, I don't know, I might need to.
No, man, like you, you also livelife like, you know, with that
spur of the moment stuff too, you know, last minute, like can

(01:09:10):
you? The preparing is great, but
there's something exciting aboutit's just happening now and
you're going to go, can you do it?
Go get in that club and somebody's going to play.
Sit on the drum set, it's all screwed up and let it go play.
The top of my thing for that example is Foreigner Journey in
99. I'm playing a Foreigner Journey.
Plays afters every night like clockwork.

(01:09:31):
Everything's the same, you know,out for a few weeks, whatever.
It's a whole summer tour and it ends up Dean Casanova who
started playing with Journey. Then it's like 99.
He he hurt himself and he couldn't play.
But we don't know what's going on.
We're in Foreigner. They come up to me and go, we're
5 minutes late. We're never late playing before.
And they they go, can you play with Journey tonight?

(01:09:54):
That means in an hour I'm about to go play the Foreigner.
And the joke was we played I think the Greek Theater the
night before. And now we're in Reno and I got
like 2 hours of sleep and there was like a whole video.
We're up late and everything. And I was joking before
Foreigner. I'm like, guys, I was literally
saying I don't have what it takes to cut the cake tonight.
I can't do it. Like I was joking, but it's
because I was kind of tired anyway.

(01:10:14):
Say go, can you can you do this?And I go, sorry.
OK, so, so, so I know some of the hits I go, yeah, because I'm
going to say no and somebody else is going to get up there
and do that. Yeah.
So yeah, they go, all right, what kit you want to use your
kid or jeans? Kit?
I go Deans. It's his journey on it.
I don't want to use a Florida kid on journey stage.
Everybody's going to be looking at me, right.
So I get off the stage, go to Journey's dressing room and

(01:10:37):
they're like Neil Shawn's like there's a set list cut that
song, but we can start with this, you know, this song only
the lonely. I'm like it goes.
It goes like this, that that like trying to write the hits
down on a piece of paper. The man just like we got to go
because if you go over curfew, Idon't know, it's like a $10,000
a minute, like some stupid fee. Fine, right.
So I come on, we got to go and Igo, OK, you got in ears, right?

(01:10:59):
OK, you're going to hear Jonathan Cain's pre recording
Jonathan Summit. You're going to hear my voice
intro. The song is a click and you'll
hear it and I'll say 1234. You count us in.
I can't remember the exactly what he said.
All right, so they open with separate ways right, So go.
I just jump on the drums. I've never played Dean's kid.
It's all Dave's pet. I I had tight pedals.

(01:11:20):
His pedals were loose. He has like symbols everywhere.
I like a small whatever do it, the intro taste roll and I hear
click, click, click, click. And I don't know how because
I've done this a lot of times with clicks and count all this.
I don't remember. I just remember him going.
I hear the click and he goes separate ways and I hear 1-2 and
I think I was hearing and I heard 1-2 and then I'm supposed

(01:11:44):
to go 1234 but I think the wholeman hears it.
So I didn't have to count them in because we all heard it.
He has separate ways. 12, 123. Wow.
God, God got it. And I'm off and running for a
journey show. You know, The funny thing was
that in the backstage, Neil Shawn goes because all right,
what we're going to and we'll cut.
Don't stop leaving. I go no, no, no, leave that one

(01:12:05):
in. I learned the whole drum pattern
from Steve Smith's instructionalvideo.
It's it's like, but we are we didn't.
And there was some train wrecks dude playing Stone in love.
Dude. The thing with Sean doing that,
like his to me is like High Peakon guitar is the outro Stone in
love playing that. But then they go in this new
outro ending, which is not on the record, which I'm like, I

(01:12:27):
think I saw the video once, like, I'm lost, you know.
But they look at Ross, Valerie, come around like nodding, here
we go. It's going to, you know, or
whatever. There was some big train wrecks.
But all I know is the next day was a day off.
Everything that I needed to do for the next show, I would have
dialed in, plus learning more songs.
But because I was Foreigner's drummer, it was a little bit of
like, well, Foreigners like kindof be like, well, if you're

(01:12:49):
going to use our guy, we got to talk about this, you know,
wasn't me. I had no negotiations going on
with anything. I just did the show, gave me
some cash, thanks, and and they got mugs.
Kanan, who is Jonathan Cain's brother, he came in next day and
he's sitting there learning the songs, like in a hotel room,
whatever. In the hotel.
I heard him the next night. He played.
I think it was fine, but I heardstuff.
I'm like, he's less prepared than I am.

(01:13:11):
I've been listening songs all summer.
I'm ready. I heard my mistakes.
I see. I know I made that mistake in
Wheel in the Sky before the final chorus where the band
stops. Like I've got that, like I'm
ready now. So I could have, I could have
give me that one day in a hotel learning this stuff.
Yeah, it would have been fine. Totally.
But anyways, that was, that was some killer pressure because it

(01:13:33):
was so last minute so on. There was nothing.
There was no like forewarning of, you know, it's just like,
can you play in it? Can you get off stage of foreign
and jump on that kit and play, you know, an hour and a half
set, whatever hour 15. Anyways, it's all good stuff.
It all adds up to those of the experiences that you can't get
while you're sitting around doing videos forever on YouTube.

(01:13:56):
100%. Making sure your cameras and
your lights are good and practicing that exact stuff over
and over. I've done it with my Van Allen
souls. I've done it with drum stuff.
I've totally done it. But I couldn't only do that.
I need to feel humans. This the human being element of
life of here we are together andit's happening now.

(01:14:17):
That's excitement, man. That's that's can't get that.
Can't get that alone. Like I'll make this record
alone, but it's studio. I don't care to have a band
rehearsed and playing it like they did in the 60s and or even
70s or 50s. I wanted to do it the way I want
to put, you know, to do it trackby track, instrument by
instrument. But playing live, the pressure,

(01:14:37):
which not that you're asking, but you know, it was like the
4th grade in the school band. They gave me a drum solo and I
was like, we're going to stop and you're going to do like 16
bars. I was like, whoa, OK.
And then the next year, I did a drum solo at the talent show.
Literally. OK.
That was whoever little Susie doing her dance routine.
Next up is Brian, just she's going to do a drum solo.

(01:14:58):
And I carry my drums on stage and I've got the solo worked
out. Right.
Fifth grade. And I got pictures from from my
parents. Stick some pictures.
Yeah. Rocked out of solo, you know,
just set my drums up with whatever I did.
And pressure was great. Like it was intense.
Then in 6th grade, they were like, you want to play the high
school talent show? I don't know how I got to the
high school, but I was on stage,junior drum solo and some talent

(01:15:22):
show there. I don't know.
I don't even know how I got there.
I was like in 7th grade and thisis like a high school.
But I did. It was another form of pressure.
It's like a big room. The drums are reverberating
through. And I'm like, like, I have some
good stuff to do as a kid. Play a drum solo in front of
people in your 5th, your 5th grade, 7th grade, whatever.
Yeah, and then start playing backyard parties with some

(01:15:44):
friends and then, you know, having the school band, we
played a concert or two battle the band, stuff like that.
But some, some people say, you know, you get stage fright or
anything. No, man, like, first of all, I'm
a drummer. I'm the I'm the back of the
stage. I got drums in front of me.
That's my wardrobe. The drums, you know, like I'm
not in the front, happen to makeeye contact and perform.
I I can swing arms. Drummer, drummers look cool.
Just play in their arms, right? Yeah, dude.

(01:16:05):
But I don't get stage fright. I get nervous about being
prepared if it's Oh my God that we're rehearsing with Shanker.
We had three shows and the second show was the DVD film for
DVD at Buddha Con. I never play Buddha Con.
So like there's this pressure 5 days rehearsals, 3 shows, like
we got to come across like dialed in and I have no excuses.

(01:16:28):
Like I put my time into preparing for the for the
rehearsals in Japan, you know, but until you're actually in
there doing it and then you hearthe Segways and how you're going
to get into this and all the little stuff tempos.
Oh God, I was so just so stressed, so stressed.
Those rehearsals in the first three days, the 4th day things

(01:16:49):
started clicking in. Michael said something nice.
Like he wasn't he was great. But when he wanted something he
would like Brian, I I need it. That section pick up or the
tempo in this mid don't go too fast.
I got to do this. It can't be too fast.
So I'm like OK, that one's that,this one's this, this one's
segues. And I'm like DVD at Buddha Con

(01:17:11):
in like 4 days. And the fourth day things
started clicking the 5th day andwe'd run the set twice and I
joke with Michael, he'd be like,we do the set and then it do a
lunch break, right? So it started like 11 or 12.
So it's like 2. Michael would stand in front and
we had plexiglass in front of the drums for the rehearsals for
his hearing. And I had requested not to have

(01:17:34):
that on stage because it doesn'tlook cool, you know, So we
didn't. But in rehearsals, Michaels in
front, he's hearing my drums behind the plexiglass.
So when we came time to do drum solo, I would just go, yeah, I'm
going to do this. I'll start here and I'll finish
like that. I wouldn't play.
Just finished solo the third dayI started.
I better do solo like because he's like, can you meet, you

(01:17:56):
know, two or three minutes ago? Yeah, Cool.
So he sits behind the amps and waits.
But now there's no plexiglass, so he got to hear my solo
without being in front playing guitar.
And he loves Bonham. Like I didn't know Shaker.
Like the show's intro tape is Immigrant Song.
Like he loves Bonham, right? So he complimented me after the
solo about my power and the whatever the solo he was, you

(01:18:17):
know, and there was some visual stuff that he liked and I was
like oh cool, you know, cool. Like, you know, that's nice.
He's the boss. So anyways, that 4th day, so
that so that he would look at mego.
All right, Brian, are you are wecool to run the set again?
And I go like, and he was askinglike, are my hands OK?

(01:18:39):
Am I tired? Whatever.
I'm never going to say no, no way.
So I I go, I go, Yeah, man, let's do it.
Right. So we've finished the second
set. We're done for the day.
And I'd walk up to I go, Michael, you go.
Yeah, I go, it's cool if we run the set again and I start

(01:18:59):
laughing, he start laughing. But it kind of, I think I did it
two days in a row and it was just fun to get a chuckle out of
him. Like he was like doing the
second time running the set. He'd be like, Brian, can we do
the second time? I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
But he was being, he was just being nice to me.
Yeah, he's been black. Yeah.
But then he's like, all right, cool, we hit it twice.
That's, you know, it's a full day rehearsal and I come up and

(01:19:19):
like, hey, where I go up to the guys, they're like the whole
band was saying there I go guys,but making sure Michael's there
like guys, they look sorry to interrupt, but how long until we
can run the set again? That's awesome.
But man, I was, I was until those last couple of days versus
I was bugging hard. And that's the pressure.

(01:19:43):
That's the big pressure. It's it's like not playing in
front of people. Some people get nervous.
That's interesting to me. It's, it's not about the the
playing in front of people. It's about playing what I'm
supposed to play and nailing it and kicking ass Band.
There was a couple mistakes in the shows.
I mean, God, I was supposed to queue Derek on something.

(01:20:05):
No, I was supposed to wait for him to do something and they
queue the band back in the end after solo.
I don't know. I was talking to my tech, he's
solo, and the queue went by and I was like Bah, Bah, Bah.
And he's holding the final note and I'm like, and I got a but I
was like, bam, yeah, I was a little late.
It was in the. I was like, Derek, I'll never do
that again. Sorry, we only have three toes.

(01:20:27):
But you know, I won't do it tomorrow night.
But it's all great. It's all it's all fun stuff.
Like that's the I love the challenge because you know,
somebody hires, they're going topay you and you agree this is
what I'm working for this, you know, well, you better get in
there and throw down like and noand no excuses.
And that's the bug out you. As soon as I hear somebody start

(01:20:48):
making excuses to me, I just like I go, I know the feeling.
You want to make excuse and I go.
Nobody cares. Nobody.
No one cares. No.
No. So that is the beauty of playing
live. You're pushing yourself to a
different place. And I'm not saying everybody
that's solely on like social media or whatever you call
influencers and all that. I'm not saying they can't do it.
I'm just saying what like years are going by and you're kind of

(01:21:13):
predominantly doing that. There are these feelings you're
not getting that are really satisfying when an audience
collapse and you go, this shit was live and I worked on it and
I couldn't stop and record it again.
Like my excuse for years have been I'm I've got to practice

(01:21:33):
harder to to get a killer drum solo.
I got to have more flow. I've got to have, I got to get,
I got to practice and have thoseideas ready to go and pick.
And I never do. And I always go.
I love the element of surprise. But my excuses, Oh, I didn't
really work hard enough on it's like, why not?
You could have, you know, there's been times I've worked
on drum solo stuff like, but like I do love the, I do love I

(01:21:58):
have to stay more in a wheelhouse.
Like I have to stay in AI have to be a little more limited if
I'm, if I'm not going to have all these extra little doodads
that I've worked on, worked out.You got to stay in what you
know, which means you're going to fall back on things that are
comfortable. But I do love the elements of,
well, what if I just told you start out differently?
Or what if I go into this and see where it goes?
I know when I go to this, I can do these things, but what if I

(01:22:20):
go, you know, like I like that, you know, being a little, you
know. In the moment, yeah.
It's just fun to challenge yourself or if you hit a
mistake, covering it up, gettingthrough it happens all the time.
Oh, God, Like I'm going for something that I don't really
know where I'm improvising. OK, I can.
I want to get to this thing. And you go, you kind of trip up

(01:22:41):
and it causes you to do something else.
But that can cause you to do something else cool, you know?
Yeah, just thought it's just, it's just never ending process,
you know it's. I agree.
Well, look, Brian, I want to respect your time and I think
we've covered quite a lot of ground here, but I want to
finish how I finished all of these interviews and you might

(01:23:03):
have already answered some of it, but I'm going to.
Ask the question. Yeah, I'm going to ask.
I think I said like just, I don't know, maybe about 1020
seconds too much. Yeah, no, not at all.
But what would you say has either been the best piece of
advice you've ever received in regards to your music career?
Or if you can't think of something along those lines,

(01:23:23):
what do you think would serve asgood advice for an up and coming
musician trying to pursue a music?
Career that question is better because the first one it's it's
decades of playing with people, learning from them.
And it's not the literally somebody saying a quote or a
phrase or a sentence or here's abit of advice.
I've already gotten a bunch of advice from Gene Simmons in many

(01:23:45):
different ways because he likes doing that.
And it's really cool just to be able to sit there with a demon,
you know what I mean? On many levels, I couldn't
answer a piece of advice becauseit's a constant learning
experience. I think the best one would be if
you're going to commit to something for real, the best
thing to do, just get it in writing.

(01:24:06):
I'm not talking lawyers and contracts.
I'm talking a basic agreement that you can go back to an
e-mail that's sent to both of you.
It just agrees on what it is. So if there's a thing going on
down the road, nobody can sit there and say they didn't state
that or that wasn't it, because that's that causes problems.
Like it's not just financially like, yeah, that can like, oh

(01:24:30):
God, I've, I've, I've agreed in text to a gig amount and I've
got paid 50 bucks less and I letit go because there's going to
be more gigs. So there's going to be 1 is.
And I just never said anything. I was like, oh God, I could.
It's like, but it's there. If you ever really want to get
to it, it's there. I chose not to because it's
like, ah, there's more work coming up.
It's I didn't even think there'sgoing to be more work, but
there's. But like, if there's going to be

(01:24:53):
people on schedules and you're agreeing to something, there's
some money involved. There's a schedule, there's
things and you got to stop what you're doing to do this.
Just get an agreement. You know what I mean?
Like I said, it's not like, oh, let me get to my lawyer and
spend 500 bucks on just just have something, you know, So
whatever, if ever becomes a problem for real and you have to
defend yourself on the dude, come on.

(01:25:15):
I was there. You know, that basic stuff, even
on a lesser level, just keeping receipts, which it is really a
receipt of an agreement. You know, I think that's really
important. You're going to be booking
things. Somebody might end up screwing
you around where you could have done something else, but double
the money and it's way more fun and it's cooler and everything
about it. But you committed and then they

(01:25:36):
screwed you over. I don't have much of that, but I
have stuff and hey, you know, orsomebody goes, I didn't say
that. No, no, no, we're not going to
do that. We're going to get an e-mail
that states what we're agreeing real easy, real easy.
Nobody likes talking business. It sucks.
But like what sucks worse is doing stuff and not getting what

(01:25:57):
you're supposed to get. That sucks.
How many times you want to walk around and go, I was supposed to
have this. I only got that because I
didn't, you know, there's no agreement or in these guys are,
you know, making excuses. You know what I mean?
Or get a deposit. You know, somebody's hires me to
do a drum track. Some people just send me the
money in full because of whatever they know me.
But some people, I don't know them.
Yeah, man, I just send me half like, then I'll get your drum

(01:26:20):
track done. You like it, Send me the rest of
your stuff. You know, it's simple.
Just think ahead about that little bit of business stuff.
That's really good advice I think.
Oh, it's great advice. But, but as far as advice I've
been given, I can't say. Like at Berkeley, in music law,
whatever music business class, the first rule is don't sign a

(01:26:41):
contract with a lawyer. That was like #1 right.
And that was like, I was what, 19 years old by the time I was
21, I was literally at Atlantic Records signing contracts
without a lawyer in Atlantic. Freaked out.
Like, if I don't sign it, they're going to like, you know,
I'm just a kid here. And I'm like, not cool.
When that happened to me, it wasnot cool at all.
So disrespectful. And I would never do that to

(01:27:03):
somebody. If I was the people that did it
to me, they were older and experienced and I'm this new
kid. I would have been no, no, that
wasn't fair. It's I'm friends with the people
that did that. But it was it wasn't cool.
There's no way around, there's no justifier validating doing
that to me. Literally going, here's a hey,
just sign your name here. It says you're playing on the

(01:27:24):
record, 7 pages a sign here. It says, you know the you're
going to be the drummer in the live band.
It's not here. It says you're going to be in
the videos. Like literally doing that.
That's such bullshit. And I knew it, but I was so
paranoid because I was a kid andeverything was so new that I
just did it rather than going you're at a sign, you know, we
can get other drummer 100 drummers in here.
We're talking like the 80s mentality of what was going on

(01:27:48):
in the music business at major labels, which was all for the
most part in the rock world, hair metal, whatever it was a
money was being spent on videos and image and whatever.
Cocaine. I don't even, I'm not saying
that. I'm just saying that stuff that
was just like normal things going on, that whole sex, drugs,

(01:28:09):
rock'n'roll thing and whatever. And, and, and it tied into the
way people could treat somebody new, you know, Hey, you know,
you're lucky to be here and, youknow, instead of showing
respect, like, dude, 30 years from now, I'm going to still be
doing this stuff, You know what I mean?
We're going to cross paths. And it happened four years later
where I called that person out in an interview and didn't even

(01:28:29):
think about it. Dude, it was in Rolling Stone.
And it was like, I wasn't even like thinking.
I was like, I'm getting called by Rolling Stone at my mom's
house to do an interview. And I was like, bye, bye, bye.
And it was, it's a longer story,but it was all kind of funny to
me. But actually the only thing they
took of what I said was this diss and the guy end up seeing
it and calling me. And yeah, there's an apology.

(01:28:50):
And but you know what? That's that's, that's that's
what happens because it affectedme and it wasn't cool.
But the other side my, of my, myexperiences are, are, are so
much better. Like the, the good far outweighs
the bad. It's just that a thing of going
through life and and having all the experiences.
It's it's what's resonated with me.
It's like when I look back and Igo, I learned this.

(01:29:11):
I learned this by being there, by seeing how this boss is
seeing how these guys are, seeing how people treat people,
you know, and learning here's. So this is on the other side.
The good advice. Don't ever think you're too
close to the boss. Great advice.
Because you're sitting alone with Billy Idol in a room making
record for 1000 hours. You're going to be close, you'll

(01:29:34):
know each other, you're going totalk.
Don't ever think that all of a sudden there's Billy Idol and
there's you and now all of a sudden there's you and Billy
Idol. Now you were the kid in high
school. He was Mr. Rebel yell, right?
I'm saying he's he's that guy. He's the icon.
You're writing with the icon, but you're not the icon.

(01:29:54):
Nobody's buying the Brian tissuesong called whatever to find the
Billy Idol song that you Co wrote.
You know what I'm saying? Like you've got to I've I've
done that. I've went with some of these
people. I play with her.
I thought, you know, we're hanging.
We're not that different in age.The end of the day, you're
paying me and I might even let you bullshit, but I might let

(01:30:15):
you take advantage of me becauseI want to be in this but in a
business sense. But but like, if you start
throwing your opinion around, tell them what you think about
maybe stuff they're doing. Pick a subject like infidelity,
drinking, whatever, whatever, what, Just pick something you
you think you want to chime in there.
You, you, you. The chances of you losing that

(01:30:37):
gig have increased. You're.
Going to lose the gig, but the chances of losing it will
increase is how you know what I mean?
For many reasons. It's not I'm not saying it's
going to I'm saying it might, but anyways, the the but the the
real advice as far as musician stuff.
First of all, when you're alone,you're alone, nobody else

(01:30:58):
matters. You and your instrument.
How focused are you? Like really how focused, because
imagine that heaviest musicians and how focused they are in
their practicing. Let's just say musicianship wise
to get to a level of a Charlie Parker.
Oh yeah. Of of a John McLaughlin of it

(01:31:19):
just go down the list of insane musicians like that drums of a
Virgil Denadi. I'm going to take metric
modulation to Mars and I might come.
No, I'm not going to come back. I'm going to go to Pluto.
You know what I'm saying? Like, how am I going to do that,
man? I have to sit here and zone in
and I'm going to have to feel how things groove and how they

(01:31:39):
balance and what my body feels like being in a place that's not
comfortable most of the time. OK.
That's like high level of focus 100.
Percent. Right.
So are you focused when you're not trying to go to Pluto with
Virgil and you're just sitting there playing dump?
What's going on inside that space there?

(01:32:01):
Are you focused when something'suncomfortable?
How do you make it feel comfortable?
I've done like, I do that improvising.
I make a mistake, back up, slow down.
What did I do? Do it over and over, challenge
myself. I've been in those practice
zones, especially at Berkeley, you know, like, so that's the
musician type, focused practicing.

(01:32:21):
I'd give a lot of lessons and stuff.
And I can see it in people's eyes.
I can see the people that will be focused and I see the ones
that I can tell aren't, I can tell when they're alone.
It's not there that getting intothat zone.
And that zone was meditative forme, right?
Like I didn't realize it as a kid, but it really was distinct
memory of playing House of the Holy while the sun's going down

(01:32:43):
and the side ends and now I'm playing in the dark.
That wasn't heavy at the time. Looking back, it was heavy doing
things that now I'm playing in the dark.
I am in this place. I can't get anywhere else.
I'm never going to get this anywhere else.
Only here at this age, playing the Led Zeppelin in the dark.
This is there's no else I want to be.
You know what I mean? This is like great and, and

(01:33:04):
zoned out to a place that where,where do I go?
Where who can I pay to get there?
I'm not going to get there. I can only do that here.
And, and, and so I know I was inthese zones and challenging
myself. I've got to be faster.
I've got to be better. I've got to be more solid as a
kid. Why?

(01:33:25):
Because I want to be, because I'm competitive, because how
else would we get there with these these guys, these are gods
on these records. They're gods.
They're all gods. I'm just a kid.
How do I get to become a God? I have to be really good.
I got to really, there's a lot of work involved, but I love it,
you know what I mean? It's fun, you know, so you got
to you got to really think aboutwhat you're doing when you're

(01:33:47):
practicing. I watch them playing with George
Linds. I'm watching his pinky vibrato
and I'm like, God, it smokes mine.
He's like I put a lot of time onmy pinky put a lot of that's he
said it one time me, it's like Iwatch when he hits his vice,
that killer vibrato and I'm like, damn, that pinky is right
in there. He put time in.
I watch Zach play dime. Zach or dime get to the phrase

(01:34:12):
Bam. The pinky vibrato is nailed like
no questions. And that's what makes them
sound, that they have that next level level of balls and
attitude compared to some guitarplayers.
Also diversified. Play all the styles, right?
Yeah. But then at the same time,
nobody cares about Angus Young playing fusion.
Nobody care, right? So there's two sides that coin.

(01:34:34):
I like be able to play with different rock acts.
And I don't care if Angus. I don't care if, like, I don't
care. Like, I don't need to hear Neil
Puritan is easy and I need to hear Phil Rudd and Rush, right?
I don't care. I love Phil for AC DCI, love
Angus for AC/DC. You know what I mean?
Lindsey Buckingham in, in, in Blue Mac.

(01:34:56):
I don't need him in Bashuga. You know what I'm saying?
Like so you don't really have to.
I got a master of the Blues, then I got a master fusion and
jazz. I got to know my thing.
Yeah, man, if you're into it, learn some theory.
Theory is good, you know, like theory is good.
Especially as a drummer, knowingthat, like, I I know I got
nowhere. Guitars, hands.
I see the chords. I know you know that's a major

(01:35:18):
minor. I know at Corbin went to
arrangements like I'm I could. So it's really helps me learn
things quickly. But I loved it as a kid reading
about Randy Rose and Ingvey and theory stuff.
I was like, I took theory in high school because of that.
Like I want to know modes. Why do the modes work together
and relate to chords? Like I want to know so I hear
Dorian. I know Dorian versus Aeolian.

(01:35:41):
I know it's the difference of the 6th like, and there's a
sound and I remember reading Steve, I say Mixolydian sounds
like summertime to me. And I was like, I kind of cool.
That was interesting. You know, Lydian has a different
sound. You know, these are and but to
know how they work with the chords or what you know when you
say the four chord to the the six minor versus the dominant

(01:36:02):
blah, blah, blah. I understand the sounds.
You know, it's super helpful fordrummers.
Drummers learn sing some backups.
Super helpful. I got to be playing with Gene
said maybe, but Gene wants somebody's going to sing, you
know, in Lynch mommy, but it helps that I sing backgrounds
David cover. It was like, I was like, yeah,
Tommy, I'll just didn't sing, you know?

(01:36:24):
He's like, you don't want to sing in the snake choir, you
know, you don't want to sing. All right, I'll sing.
I had to wear one of the BritneySpears mikes, you know, and,
and, and. But I didn't mind it.
It was a challenge, but I would rather have just been in white
sake, you know? But advice.
Yeah, it's for drummers. I'm singing all this stuff, but
I'm like, I want to say practiceall this different shit, but I'm

(01:36:46):
like, if you really love metallic and metal and that's
what you love, that's maybe moreimportant.
You know what I mean? Maybe.
But then you look at some of theexact wild, you know, if there's
certain names and bring it up more like today.
I don't know why, but OK, he plays.
He plays. He has this image and he's
looked at. Then you go sit down, listen,

(01:37:07):
play Blues or chicken pick and you're like, dude, he didn't get
the. He didn't just pick it up, but
he sat there as a teenager. Yeah.
These things that may not be in the big picture, what you hear
him do mostly in his and is playing.
But there's a side that's just killer, killer.
You got to do what you want to do and not everybody's cut out

(01:37:30):
to do everything for real. You might do one thing great.
Do I want to hear Lars Org and Steely Dan?
You know what I'm saying? No, not really.
I don't care. I want to hear him.
Yeah, I kind of really want to hear him on Injustice For All in
Black Album, you know what I mean?
I want, I want to hear that guy do his thing.
I don't need him to play this other stuff, you know, but it if

(01:37:50):
the challenge is there and you feel inspired, you should push
to do that. But man, I think it's really
just whatever you whatever excites you the most, you should
do the most, whatever you like to do.
You know, some people might might really love being hired
drummers and they just want to go from gig to gig experience to
experience and be that. And that's that's cool.

(01:38:13):
Maybe that you know, that that that that might be really like
their feeling of that's what I wanted, you know, or a studio
cat. I only, you know, whatever.
I don't know how many studio cats there are these days.
I know there are, but but you know, it's not like it used to
be. But you know what I mean?
If that's what you want to be, you don't like touring, you want
to stay home and you just love being in studios and playing on

(01:38:33):
track. That's cool to do that.
Well, then you should be diversified.
Play to a click track. You know we're going to click.
Yeah, everybody, everybody practice with a click and
practice without a click. That's this is good advice.
It's basic advice. Cover a bunch of ground, but
focus on what you love the most.And at the end of the day, you
might be 2025 sitting there and and and someday, hopefully

(01:38:55):
you're 35455060 in your gut and hopefully you get there 7089 a
hundred. You want to look back and be
like I took advantage of those, those things that were ready to
take advantage of when I was there.
I didn't let it slip by out of paranoia or procrastinating or

(01:39:15):
self doubt, self doubts, uselessman.
Because, you know, listen, the chances of any of us being, you
know, a buddy Rich or a Paul McCartney or or or an Elton John
is really, really, really slim. That doesn't mean you can't be
killer and great and high level and you might become the next
dude who writes. You might write the next
yesterday meets imagine meets the freaking love, lies,

(01:39:37):
bleeding or whatever. Right?
Yeah. But if you're not, it's it's
what makes you happy because youmight not be that stuff, but you
want to look back and be happy with what you are.
And I am happy with what I've done, but I'm not happy being
known mostly as a higher drummer.

(01:39:58):
I'm fine with it, but I'm not completely content.
Let's just go completely contentnow.
Why? Because I've done this a lot and
I've done this writing and engineering and putting music.
I want to. I want, I want to be that.
So I'm going to work on it and if you care or not, I don't care
or not I care, you know, I don'tcare.
I don't care how much you care. You like it, you might like it.

(01:40:21):
If you don't like it, you don't.I don't expect everybody to.
But if you do, cool man, becauseI'm going to keep doing this and
I won't know what the results are until it's done exactly, I
have to do it. Well, I think that that's a
great way to conclude this interview because you are doing
your own thing. Lead by vultures, I think is

(01:40:42):
going to do amazing things. I hope it does all the things
that you hope it does. I mean, like I said, the
singles, great. I can't wait to hear the record.
It's truly something that I'm looking forward to.
There's a side that that get it right song.
There's there's a side to the record like that, which there's
there's a few things like that and then it goes into stuff that

(01:41:03):
shouldn't be on the record really like it really shouldn't
be like I had mellow couple of little more than mellow thing.
Most of it's heavy guitar room and there's stuff that's not so
simple because like there's an instrumental just to show off
just because Cheridians like youneed your own YYZ right, Like I
know cut you off, but like yeah,yeah.
And I'm like because I got to I got my main rocket set up and I

(01:41:26):
got a Neil Pier replica type wannabe kit set up and might
both of them are might just in case, because it's fun because I
have the room, you know. So I was like, yeah, I'm going
to do it. I'm going to go nuts on this
period kit. Just going to take.
It's kind of an odd appear that's kind of like me too.
It's like I do these things. But yeah, I'm going to put
Pierce in there just because whynot?

(01:41:47):
It's fun. But anyways, and the guitar, I'm
going to show up and make up this and it's going to be a busy
riff. It's going to be up like
whatever, you don't even know what to call it, the main riff,
but it's like busy. And then it's going to go to
this and then I'm going to shredit on a solo one of the heart
just to show you that I could dothese things on drums and
guitars. Dude.
Do I hope it's a like the song is cool.
Like I hope the riff is cool. I hope the parts are cool.

(01:42:08):
They are make sense. It's kind of got a 70s little
old Hendricks thing to it. Like, yeah, it does.
I have a walleye track going underneath the melody where he's
just, he's just going like Hendricks would do while the
drums like to scat, scat, scat, scat.
You know when the guitars going,you know the RIP because it's
fun, because I'm like, yeah, it's kind of 70s like Hendricks

(01:42:28):
jamming with Pier trying to jam with some fan Halen Shaker guy
or something like that. You know, but but that's there
just because Shrinian challengedme to write an instrumental that
struts my stuff. I'm like, why wouldn't I worked
on it for all these guitar licksfor all these years?
Like I go listen, I I hear Nuno shredding kicking ass and Zack

(01:42:51):
and Shanker and you know, all these great players and I'm
inspired by all of them and probably grew up on most of the
same players that we they did, you know, and, and so I want to
put my little thing down, you know, so that's, that's the,
that's like the odd ban out. And there's a couple mellow
things, but then there's like layered things and there's more
involved things and harmonies and vocals and blah, blah, blah.

(01:43:12):
So the Get it Right song was just a great introduction of,
dude, simple riff, throw down, bang your head a bit, scream.
So, but that's mostly, I'd say it all.
That's the center of the record,yeah.
Listen man, regardless what you think maybe should or shouldn't
be with it, it's going to be youand I think the world is going
to enjoy it. I know I will.

(01:43:34):
I appreciate it. Looking forward to it, yeah.
It's a it's a fun little, it's afun thing to do.
It's a fun thing to go. I can hit drums and be this
drummer guy and pay bills and, and I can see here today, hang
up the phone with you and literally go upstairs.
I go in the loft and just be creative.
Dude, I love it, man. Well, listen, I'm going to let

(01:43:56):
you go create. I can't thank you enough for
your time. As I said earlier, I wish you
nothing but success with the project with all new musical
endeavors moving forward. And you know, just just keep on
rocking, man. The passions there, you can feel
it. So just keep on rocking man and.
At the same time we're talking about me, you're interviewing
me. So it's me, me, me, me, me.

(01:44:17):
Yeah. But the truth is I'm just like
everybody else. All, all my buddies putting
their records out, every, all these bands because everybody
going for the same thing. It's it's nothing special.
So it's, it's like, but you wantto talk to me?
And I, I said, I'm sorry. Like at the end of it, I start
feeling God, I was just like, just blah, blah, blah, me, me,
me. And it's like kind of like, and,
and I know what we're doing. It's an interview, but I'm

(01:44:38):
saying, and I start to go, what are you doing?
You put a rock rock record out. So what just makes just you
hopefully got some good risks and it doesn't sound like crap,
you know what I mean? But really, stop making a big
deal about it. Oh, you do it all yourself.
So what? Like you've been freaking, you
know, you've been doing this fora long time.

(01:44:58):
You know what I mean? So I don't want it like it is a
big deal to me, but it's it's not that big a deal.
It's not, it's really not. I can name all these friends or
people I don't know, putting their bands out records way more
than me. That was another thing I landed
on this. Who am I to judge or say
anything about what anybody's doing when I got nothing to back

(01:45:20):
my shit with, you know what I mean?
I look at the higher drummer commenting on this band like,
you know, I mean, you know, we're all friends.
Mock things at all. That's that's I don't like that
or that's OK or that. But like you have to put your
money over your mouth. It's back up your shit, you
know, and that's that's what I'mtrying to do here to prove to
myself. So I don't sit here sound like

(01:45:40):
this little, you know, opinionated, you know, above it
all, you know, whatever I, I, I,I, I don't, you know, but at the
same time, you know, it's, it's just a rock record.
But I, I wanted to sound like a cool rock record And, and, but I
don't want to, you know, it's not more important than somebody

(01:46:00):
else's is not any more importantthan any other thing being
released anybody else's music. We're all trying for the same
thing. We all want that.
I'm just doing the same thing everybody else is doing, you
know, But you have to have a little confidence to think, you
know, this is going to stand out.
I'm going to chug that little B string and people are like,
yeah, yeah, I want him. I want more of that.

(01:46:21):
That's what I'm hoping. I think it's going to do well,
man. I look forward to seeing the
next single, or here in the nextsingle, shall I say, peace.
Thank you. Thank you, man.
Bye. There we have it.
Brian Tishy, everybody. Once again I'd like to thank him
for his time. Check out all of his links in
our show notes. Make sure you check out Led by

(01:46:42):
Vultures, super cool projects. I'm excited to hear more.
Once again, I want to thank eachand everyone of you for your
time. Don't forget to leave us a
rating or review, a follow or a share.
It's greatly appreciated. My name is Travis Mark, if you'd
like to know more about me or the Musicians-Mentor concept,
please do check out musicians-mentor.com.

(01:47:02):
If I can help you with your bandor artistic career in any way,
shape or form, drop me Adm or ane-mail.
All the information is in our show notes.
Until the next time, be diligent, practice hard, but
have some fun. Peace.

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Episode 99 - Brian Tichy (Led By Vultures, Gene Simmons Band, Whitesnake)

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Episode 99 - Brian Tichy (Led By Vultures, Gene Simmons Band, Whitesnake)