February 23, 2025 • 21 mins
Dario Lorina of Black Label Society has launched a brand-new band, Dark Chapel. Dario chats the new album "Spirit in the Glass," working with Zakk Wylde, being Jani Lane's guitarist at only 16-years-old, and if he considers himself more of an Izzy or a Slash.
More info:
https://www.darkchapelband.com/
https://www.dariolorina.com/
Our website: www.afdpod.com
More info:
https://www.darkchapelband.com/
https://www.dariolorina.com/
Our website: www.afdpod.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know. This is Appetite for Distortion. Welcome to the
(00:31):
podcast Appetite for Distortion, Episode number four hundred and ninety three.
My name is Brando. Welcome to the podcast from Black
Label Society. Dario Lorena. How are you, sir?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, man, thank you for having me, Branda.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Where are you currently? It looks like you're I don't know,
you're in the well. I guess it fits the name
of your band, Dark Chapel. You're you're somewhere dark. You
look like you're hanging out with a Fantom of the
Opera or something exactly.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, studio here in Vegas.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Okay, right on, You're you're in Vegas right now.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
So we're going to talk about if we talk about Vegas,
if it comes up, you'll see, I go, I have
a mission. I have a north Star that I follow,
but sometimes we take little detours. So we'll take some
detours that all lead us to the new album, the
debut album from your your band, Dark Chapel, which is awesome.
So we're gonna kind of go on the path that
(01:25):
well that's from You're also in Zach Wyler's Black Coab
Society Dark Chapel, but as we've briefly discussed before off air.
You could tell my new Yawk accent where I'm from.
I know you're in Vegas now, but where where are
you in Massachusetts? Where where you hail from?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah? So I'm from Boston, outside of Boston town called Cover.
That's where I grew up as a kid. And but
now I'm out here in Vegas. But when I say Vegas,
I used to have to go into a little explanation
because it doesn't really quite fit all the way. But yeah, no,
I've been in Vegas for a while.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Right, so I got my radio start, I mean, not
counting college but professional in Cape Cod. I know, it's
like an hour and a half out of Boston, right so,
but I would visit friends from Boston, Stoton, Austin, Rock City,
all that crazy.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
That's where my family's from.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, it's I would have. I really was tempted about
moving there because at the time, I mean, rip WAAF,
you know, they had a great right rock station. But man,
once the Red Sox won like that Second World Series,
I'm like, I can't live here. I'm already living down
(02:39):
two thousand and four when they won two thousand and eight,
that's when I was in Cape Cod around I couldn't
do it. So are you are you a sports guy?
How deep do you go?
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I mean definitely Patriots and Red Sox, but I don't
follow sports too much. But I do. I love hockey,
so Bruins, but the sports I follow most you would
be like UFCO, boxing and hockey, but I haven't been
with hockey the past season.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Okay, well I'm currently wearing my Islanders sweatshirt. Bruins are okay.
There's more of a rivalry between you guys and the Rangers,
who I hate. So it's it's I always just like
finding out where people come from and then the path
where they are now? So how did we get from
a little kid from from Boston? And I will get
(03:25):
to when you're sixteen with Jeanie Lane, But that's sixteen
years I told you off the air. I have my
near two year old back here. When did the path start?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
For you?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Should I be training him to be a savant by sixteen?
How did it happen?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Yeah, whenever he gets a guitar in his hands, or
drums or whatever he wants to do. But no, for me,
I just got you know, my family was musical I
was around music, and I started playing guitar when I
was six. You know, I was given one as a
as a gift, and you know, it became my life.
It consumed me. But yeah, I mean I was I
moved from Boston, VA. It's just as a teenager because
(04:01):
my family made a move, so they basically came home.
But I was playing guitar since I was six. And then, uh,
you know in like when I got into middle school.
In those years, that's like it's all I did, like
all summer long, every day after school, after homework, it
was all I did. And uh, and then yeah, I
started torn when I was sixteen with Janey. But I
(04:22):
guess there's a lot in between the story wise, but
that's kind of the basic basic process of it.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Cool. Cool, No, that's I know, we only get so
much time. I'm not going to do all of the hey,
this is your life, Dario, but just to kind of
pinpoint because that's now that I'm a dad, I kind
of and he has long hair. It's like it's like,
k want Kirk Cobain here, and I'm just like, you're
born to be a rocker, dude. So just like I
love I love finding out well again, where people are
(04:47):
now who are successful? Where how they they came? You know,
I'm not gonna whatever he wants to do is fine,
but I'm gonna subliminally, you know, try to make that
happen in the rock style I'm gonna be I'll be
honest with you. So who are you looking up to
as a as a guitarist or as a performer that
led you to that first career gig with Jenny Lane?
Who are you? Who are your favorites that you were
(05:08):
kind of Hey, I want to be that when I
grow older.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, I mean like when I was first playing guitar
and coming up playing you know, I was a kid
in the nineties, so like I was discovering tapes of
my dad's glove box that he had, so like here
here in Van Halen for the first time, that was like,
you know, magic coming through the speakers. So if I
was gonna play guitar, how could I make it sound
like that? So he was like my main guy. And
then of course I was discovering like, uh, you know,
(05:36):
I loved Johnny Winter and John Pertrucci because Dream Theater
was like my first entry into like prog medal, so
John Pertucci was a big one, of course, Zach, I
mean discovering, discovering all that. He was definitely one of
my guys. And like George Lynch and John Sykes, of course,
Randy and Paul Gilbert, just that whole, that whole world
(05:57):
of playing just anything like seventies, eighties guitar playing, anything
that was guitar driven. So that's what I was inspired by.
And as far as being a guitar player, And when
I saw Janey was looking for a guitar player, I was,
of course familiar with a lot of that, being into
all that at that time. And yeah, so that's kind
(06:20):
of what led me towards that.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Then how does that happen? I'm sure you've told this
story many times, but sixteen is young, no matter how
good you are. There's actually a pretty famous story out
there that Mark Canter likes to tell from Cantor's Deli.
He has guns and roses ties, and you obviously with
this podcast, that's the whole point of it that he
says that Paul Stanley actually looked into getting slash, but
(06:46):
he was seventeen and it's like, Okay, maybe we can't
take him out on the road. What made you the right?
I mean, guy, but you were a kid. Sixteen is
really young. I'm gonna blink, and this kid's gonna be
my son's gonna be sixteen, you know, so and your parents,
I'm obviously we're okay with it.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Yeah, I mean, you know, for me, I just I
just saw it and jumped off the high dive and
hopefully was going to learn how to swim, you know
what I mean. But I mean, that's all when I
was in school at that time, that's all I thought
about was playing guitars. So if you know, another guy
was thinking they were going to play football or be
a doctor or a lawyer, whatever they wanted to do.
I just thought I was going to play guitar. So
(07:24):
when I saw that opportunity, I just I jumped. I
jumped at it, and you know I was I think
I was in eleventh grade or so, and I was
in a program here in Vegas called Community College High School,
which like half the day was high school classes and
the other half the day was entry level college classes.
At the end of that year is when I started
playing with Jennie. So my parents were completely supportive. My
(07:47):
mom was a little like, what's going on here, what
is this right now? But it ended up, you know,
it ended up working out, and I finished school and
did all that and online, and when I would come home,
I would go in and do my testing and all that.
But yeah, I just I just dove in pretty much.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
That's so cool, especially to have the presence of mine.
I mean, you were clearly smart, and you were able
to have in the kind of particular course that you
had already taken college courses at such a young age.
But to finish your education, you could have been like, hey,
I'm sixteen, I'm already a rock star. What was the
mindset then, because.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
That was probably a lot you know, probably a lot
of my parents help him with that, like hey do this,
but also do this, you know what I mean? Okay,
but yeah, I mean I just, you know, like I
was saying, it's just I just jumped in and was
going to learn to swim. So I wasn't really sure
any of those decisions. They were just like I'm learning
as I'm going here, you know.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
And I with Janie, you know, rest in peace. And
I had his Bobby Brown on a few years ago,
and we spoke about because often this podcast talk about
mental health, We talk about addiction, but at that time, like,
how was he at that particular time? I guess when
(09:05):
you were in the band, because there's there's a lot
of variables. Again, sixteen years old, school, young, all these things,
but then they go out with the rock star, but
then they go out with the rocks through who had
some issues? Was there? How was he at that particular
you know, during your tenure with him?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Yeah, I mean I was with him for a couple
of years, and you know, he was an amazing person.
And I had seen both sides of you know, when
he was not battling and then when he was battling,
So I saw both sides of it. But overall it
was it was really incredible, and the guys in the
band were amazing and kind of took me under their wing,
(09:45):
and yeah, I mean it was it was an incredible experience.
I was just you know, wide eyed and opened it
and was just kind of along for the ride and
and being psyched to be out there playing guitar and
playing with Janey and songs that if I was familiar with.
But he was an incredible person, and yeah, we had
a lot of fun together.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
That's special. Have you when you reflect, because again, sixteen
very informative. Now that you know that you're older, you
ever look back and like, wow, I'm glad I went
through that, because if that didn't happen or I didn't
learn that from Jeanie in my time, do you find
yourself kind of like thinking back and remembering things a
little bit?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Or the revisionist history? Does it change how you look
back at it?
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah, Like if I think back on it, I mean,
you know, years go by like that, and when you're
on the road, it's like wow, you know years just
years just passed by. But you absorb a lot of
things without realizing it, so it might take you years
and years to just like something clicks and go oh wow,
yeah you know that stemmed from there or whatever. But
(10:56):
I was young at that time, so you kind of
as you get older, you start to look back and
just realize a little bit. But yeah, it was incredible.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
How old are you when the Zach Wild opportunity presented itself?
Speaker 2 (11:09):
I was around twenty three twenty four about that. So
I was playing with Jane at sixteen, and then I
was playing with Lizzie Boyden at nineteen for a Yeah,
for about four years so it was probably around twenty three,
twenty four years old.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
I mean, this is still this is really great. And
I know we're talking, we're getting to the now, but
just to have all this experience with you know, really
top tier talent at it's such a young age. It's
not something that many experience like at all, you know,
So with the support of your parents and just the
broad that you were able to be on, I think
it's pretty special to you know, and it's all big
(11:45):
set up to the gein to Dark Chapel to have
this debut album of your band. So with Zach, you know,
somebody who I would love to have on this podcast
at some point. I can't imagine the amount of things
that you've learned from him, good and bad. But let's
focus on the on the good. Like he seems like
somebody that like would kind of rib you about your accents?
(12:06):
Is he is, Like is he as funny as he seems? Uh?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
I mean he's awesome, but he is. Yeah, he is
exactly what you see, you know what I mean? And uh,
but he's also from Jersey, so he has a bit
of an accent. So it's just true. It's all right,
But Yeah, No, he's incredible and we've had a blast
and uh yeah, I mean it's been it's been eleven years,
and that goes by almost in a blink of an eye.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
So yeah, do you have any favorite tunes that you
specifically look forward to playing with him every night or
is it just the experience overall of the show or
there's certain things that you look forward or I can't
play when I can't wait to play this track, I
can't wait to play this.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
You know, it is the overall. It is the overall show,
and you know, every tour or every couple of tours
is something different happening. But yeah, I mean a lot
of the like you know, like Funeral Bell or of
course like Suicide Messiah or Stillborn. I mean, the whole
thing is awesome, playing the whole set. But we've done
like Unblackened, which was like stripped down black label versions,
(13:07):
and I was playing a lot of just like keyboard stuff,
and Zach and I were kind of going back and
forth on on keyboard and then I'd play and he'd
play keyboard or whatever, or like during his Book of Shadows,
I played pretty much keyboard the entire tour. So some
of that's a lot of fun. But the full Black
Label set just yeah, the whole thing is awesome.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Whether it's Zach or Lizzie or Genie, is it always
about the music and just bonding or do you ever
kind of become like a little bit of a fan
like me and you start asking them about their career, Hey,
what was this tour? Like, how about that experience? Does
that ever happened?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Or is it I'd say it's about the music and bonding,
but i mean, yeah, a lot of that stuff might
come up in just casual conversation while you're out there,
but yeah, it's just really about hanging and having a
good time playing the music.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Okay, you know, if you're gonna be like, hey, you know, Zach,
what's the crazy you know, tell me this silly auzy story.
But I'm sure he gets that all the time, So
I'm just curious that that's a line that you're like, Yeah,
he gets asked enough about Ozzy, I'm not going to
bother him about it.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yeah. Yeah, Now, it's just we're just out there having
a good.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Time right on and speaking of a good time, and again,
the mood is set if you look at if you're
watching this on YouTube. The Darkness that is your Las
Vegas uh Las Vegas studio, Uh Dark Chapel, How's how
long have you been working on this? Like this project? Finally,
you're You're not, I don't want to say it like flippantly,
(14:38):
like you're someone else's guitarist. You're part you were part
of bands, you are part of bands. But have you
be the guy? How long have you been wanting to
do this?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
I mean, Doc Chapel has been in the creation process
for just several years, between just writing and demoing and
recording and getting it all together. But you know, before this,
I did two instrumental albums. One when I was playing
with Lizzie, so it was instrumental guitar you know album,
and it's a full album of that. I did that
in twenty thirteen. That was with Mike Varwnie strapping the records,
(15:10):
and I did another one with him in twenty seventeen
when I was in Black Label. So to me, this
is just kind of like a continuation of that as
far as my direction of what I'm writing and working on.
And now it's just instead of guitar solos in the
verses or whatever, now it's like I'm singing and there's
lyrics in those places, So for me, it just kind
(15:31):
of feels a continuation of that. And I was singing
at the time when I did those instrumental albums, but
I just I was always focused on guitar playing, and
singing was something I started doing later on. So with
Doc Chapel, it felt like, Okay, now I got this
to a point where I feel like, cool, I'm ready
to I'm ready to kind of do this with singing.
(15:52):
So yeah, that's but Doc Chapel was probably maybe twenty
twenty one twenty two is when I was like writing
and getting it all together and demoing it out and
feeling what it was going to feel like. And then yeah,
twenty twenty four is about when when it was done
and that's when we launched it out.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Awesome. Yeah, to hear the process of you know, it's
all about guitar playing and now, and you see that
happened with a lot of guitar players where they're just
focused on that's their role for a while, and then
they Okay, no, I got this singing thing. Let's see
what I can do. And you know, people can hear
some singles now A hollow smile, smile, hollow smiles out.
Now I can say it. I'm in a radio for
(16:31):
twenty plus years and Spirit in the Glass the album
is out February twenty eighth. Is what are you most
looking forward to? Is it the I mean, it's got
to be all of it, But is it the live shows?
Is it a certain message for fans to get? Is
it just to finally break free and just be like, hey,
(16:52):
this is this is me? This isn't me and Zach,
this isn't me, and so and so this is I
know it's Dark Chapel the band, But I guess what
are the things that you stand out for you as
this is just a few days away from coming out.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know if I look at
it like you know any of that. I just look
at it like another you know, it's another release that
I have coming out. And it's like I was saying,
a continuation from the instrumental. Now I'm just I'm singing,
and but I'm psyched to everybody really to hear the
whole album because I feel like there's a lot. There's
a lot on there. There's a lot of guitar driven
(17:26):
heavy music. We could call it on there. But there's
also like dead Weight, which is one of my favorites
on the album, which is just like intimate piano and vocal,
and then Doc Watt is just like a singer songwriter
style acoustic and vocal. And then there's some songs on
there that have their own vibe, like Bullet Out Chamber is,
you know, like a totally different vibe than like what's
(17:48):
out Hollow Smile Now, and all that remains is really
heavy and bluesy. So I'm psyched for everybody to hear
the album like in full start to finish, you know,
because I I definitely, you know, put some effort in
like arranging the songs on the album, like if you
would have listened to it in full like you'd listened
to an album start to finish. So that's that's definitely
(18:08):
what I'm psyched about. And all to come, I mean,
Doc Chapel is just just getting started. So all to come,
we have a we have an album release show match
first in Vegas at VAMPED. We're looking forward to that
and the album be out the day before February twenty eighth.
So psyched about all of.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
It, just getting started, like you said, I love that man.
Congratulations and obviously before you go, I got to do
my six degrees of G n R Bacon as I'd
like to call it. On Appetite for the stortion, we
mentioned a lot about a guitarist. Are you like an
easy guy? You more of a slash guy? What do
you think?
Speaker 2 (18:43):
They're both awesome? But I would definitely, you know, I would.
I would definitely go towards Slash because of his you know,
like beautiful, melodic, bluesy solo writing that he did, and yeah,
so I would go that way. But they both are
you know, they're's amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Have you ever had a chance to because I know
Zach's friendly with Slash. You know, it's funny because they
were almost in Guns and Roses at the same time.
Have you ever had a chance to meet any of
the guys or go to any concerts, whether it's being
on the same festival lineup or just on an off day,
anything like that.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
I don't think I've ever really actually met them, but
we did open for Guns and Roses in Arizona a
few several years ago, and we've also been on a
few of the same festivals. But yeah, no, never, never direct.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Meet okay, and we meeting BLS right opening yep, okay, Yeah,
those are the shows. And I'm like, we're never around
here because that's ah, I want to that's an act.
I want to see, you know, Zach Wilde and Black
Level Society open up for GNR. So who knows, maybe
next time they tour the stints, you guys can do it.
(19:57):
What are the touring plans for you? Oh? Yeah, because
you mentioned some plate dates in Vegas. I mean you've
just got to be so busy. Uh So, I hope
your schedule is, you know, do you keep it electronic
or do you keep it an old school schedule like
I have a calendar up there or handwritten. I need
to write it out in hand otherwise I forget.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I'm with you. I like to write it also. But
we're working on a ton for Doc Chapel. We did
we did our first two shows opening for Zach Sabbath
a few weeks ago, which was our first two shows
as a band as Doc Chapel, And now we have
the album release March first in Vegas at Vamped and
Black Label has a couple of things coming up this
year Milwaukee Metalfest in May and then yeah, working on
(20:35):
a bunch with Doc Chapel.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
So busy man, busy man. Well, Dario, thank you so
much for your time today.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Thank you man, appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
You got it. So that does it for this episode
of Appetite for the Stortion. When will we see the
next one? In the words of Axel Rose, concerning Chinese democracy,
I don't know as soon as the word which you'll see.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
It thanks to the lame have security. I'm going home.
You know. This is Appetite for Distortion. Welcome to the
(00:31):
podcast Appetite for Distortion, Episode number four hundred and ninety three.
My name is Brando. Welcome to the podcast from Black
Label Society. Dario Lorena. How are you, sir?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, man, thank you for having me, Branda.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Where are you currently? It looks like you're I don't know,
you're in the well. I guess it fits the name
of your band, Dark Chapel. You're you're somewhere dark. You
look like you're hanging out with a Fantom of the
Opera or something exactly.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, studio here in Vegas.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Okay, right on, You're you're in Vegas right now.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
So we're going to talk about if we talk about Vegas,
if it comes up, you'll see, I go, I have
a mission. I have a north Star that I follow,
but sometimes we take little detours. So we'll take some
detours that all lead us to the new album, the
debut album from your your band, Dark Chapel, which is awesome.
So we're gonna kind of go on the path that
(01:25):
well that's from You're also in Zach Wyler's Black Coab
Society Dark Chapel, but as we've briefly discussed before off air.
You could tell my new Yawk accent where I'm from.
I know you're in Vegas now, but where where are
you in Massachusetts? Where where you hail from?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah? So I'm from Boston, outside of Boston town called Cover.
That's where I grew up as a kid. And but
now I'm out here in Vegas. But when I say Vegas,
I used to have to go into a little explanation
because it doesn't really quite fit all the way. But yeah, no,
I've been in Vegas for a while.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Right, so I got my radio start, I mean, not
counting college but professional in Cape Cod. I know, it's
like an hour and a half out of Boston, right so,
but I would visit friends from Boston, Stoton, Austin, Rock City,
all that crazy.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
That's where my family's from.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, it's I would have. I really was tempted about
moving there because at the time, I mean, rip WAAF,
you know, they had a great right rock station. But man,
once the Red Sox won like that Second World Series,
I'm like, I can't live here. I'm already living down
(02:39):
two thousand and four when they won two thousand and eight,
that's when I was in Cape Cod around I couldn't
do it. So are you are you a sports guy?
How deep do you go?
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I mean definitely Patriots and Red Sox, but I don't
follow sports too much. But I do. I love hockey,
so Bruins, but the sports I follow most you would
be like UFCO, boxing and hockey, but I haven't been
with hockey the past season.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Okay, well I'm currently wearing my Islanders sweatshirt. Bruins are okay.
There's more of a rivalry between you guys and the Rangers,
who I hate. So it's it's I always just like
finding out where people come from and then the path
where they are now? So how did we get from
a little kid from from Boston? And I will get
(03:25):
to when you're sixteen with Jeanie Lane, But that's sixteen
years I told you off the air. I have my
near two year old back here. When did the path start?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
For you?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Should I be training him to be a savant by sixteen?
How did it happen?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Yeah, whenever he gets a guitar in his hands, or
drums or whatever he wants to do. But no, for me,
I just got you know, my family was musical I
was around music, and I started playing guitar when I
was six. You know, I was given one as a
as a gift, and you know, it became my life.
It consumed me. But yeah, I mean I was I
moved from Boston, VA. It's just as a teenager because
(04:01):
my family made a move, so they basically came home.
But I was playing guitar since I was six. And then, uh,
you know in like when I got into middle school.
In those years, that's like it's all I did, like
all summer long, every day after school, after homework, it
was all I did. And uh, and then yeah, I
started torn when I was sixteen with Janey. But I
(04:22):
guess there's a lot in between the story wise, but
that's kind of the basic basic process of it.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Cool. Cool, No, that's I know, we only get so
much time. I'm not going to do all of the hey,
this is your life, Dario, but just to kind of
pinpoint because that's now that I'm a dad, I kind
of and he has long hair. It's like it's like,
k want Kirk Cobain here, and I'm just like, you're
born to be a rocker, dude. So just like I
love I love finding out well again, where people are
(04:47):
now who are successful? Where how they they came? You know,
I'm not gonna whatever he wants to do is fine,
but I'm gonna subliminally, you know, try to make that
happen in the rock style I'm gonna be I'll be
honest with you. So who are you looking up to
as a as a guitarist or as a performer that
led you to that first career gig with Jenny Lane?
Who are you? Who are your favorites that you were
(05:08):
kind of Hey, I want to be that when I
grow older.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, I mean like when I was first playing guitar
and coming up playing you know, I was a kid
in the nineties, so like I was discovering tapes of
my dad's glove box that he had, so like here
here in Van Halen for the first time, that was like,
you know, magic coming through the speakers. So if I
was gonna play guitar, how could I make it sound
like that? So he was like my main guy. And
then of course I was discovering like, uh, you know,
(05:36):
I loved Johnny Winter and John Pertrucci because Dream Theater
was like my first entry into like prog medal, so
John Pertucci was a big one, of course, Zach, I
mean discovering, discovering all that. He was definitely one of
my guys. And like George Lynch and John Sykes, of course,
Randy and Paul Gilbert, just that whole, that whole world
(05:57):
of playing just anything like seventies, eighties guitar playing, anything
that was guitar driven. So that's what I was inspired by.
And as far as being a guitar player, And when
I saw Janey was looking for a guitar player, I was,
of course familiar with a lot of that, being into
all that at that time. And yeah, so that's kind
(06:20):
of what led me towards that.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Then how does that happen? I'm sure you've told this
story many times, but sixteen is young, no matter how
good you are. There's actually a pretty famous story out
there that Mark Canter likes to tell from Cantor's Deli.
He has guns and roses ties, and you obviously with
this podcast, that's the whole point of it that he
says that Paul Stanley actually looked into getting slash, but
(06:46):
he was seventeen and it's like, Okay, maybe we can't
take him out on the road. What made you the right?
I mean, guy, but you were a kid. Sixteen is
really young. I'm gonna blink, and this kid's gonna be
my son's gonna be sixteen, you know, so and your parents,
I'm obviously we're okay with it.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Yeah, I mean, you know, for me, I just I
just saw it and jumped off the high dive and
hopefully was going to learn how to swim, you know
what I mean. But I mean, that's all when I
was in school at that time, that's all I thought
about was playing guitars. So if you know, another guy
was thinking they were going to play football or be
a doctor or a lawyer, whatever they wanted to do.
I just thought I was going to play guitar. So
(07:24):
when I saw that opportunity, I just I jumped. I
jumped at it, and you know I was I think
I was in eleventh grade or so, and I was
in a program here in Vegas called Community College High School,
which like half the day was high school classes and
the other half the day was entry level college classes.
At the end of that year is when I started
playing with Jennie. So my parents were completely supportive. My
(07:47):
mom was a little like, what's going on here, what
is this right now? But it ended up, you know,
it ended up working out, and I finished school and
did all that and online, and when I would come home,
I would go in and do my testing and all that.
But yeah, I just I just dove in pretty much.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
That's so cool, especially to have the presence of mine.
I mean, you were clearly smart, and you were able
to have in the kind of particular course that you
had already taken college courses at such a young age.
But to finish your education, you could have been like, hey,
I'm sixteen, I'm already a rock star. What was the
mindset then, because.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
That was probably a lot you know, probably a lot
of my parents help him with that, like hey do this,
but also do this, you know what I mean? Okay,
but yeah, I mean I just, you know, like I
was saying, it's just I just jumped in and was
going to learn to swim. So I wasn't really sure
any of those decisions. They were just like I'm learning
as I'm going here, you know.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
And I with Janie, you know, rest in peace. And
I had his Bobby Brown on a few years ago,
and we spoke about because often this podcast talk about
mental health, We talk about addiction, but at that time, like,
how was he at that particular time? I guess when
(09:05):
you were in the band, because there's there's a lot
of variables. Again, sixteen years old, school, young, all these things,
but then they go out with the rock star, but
then they go out with the rocks through who had
some issues? Was there? How was he at that particular
you know, during your tenure with him?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Yeah, I mean I was with him for a couple
of years, and you know, he was an amazing person.
And I had seen both sides of you know, when
he was not battling and then when he was battling,
So I saw both sides of it. But overall it
was it was really incredible, and the guys in the
band were amazing and kind of took me under their wing,
(09:45):
and yeah, I mean it was it was an incredible experience.
I was just you know, wide eyed and opened it
and was just kind of along for the ride and
and being psyched to be out there playing guitar and
playing with Janey and songs that if I was familiar with.
But he was an incredible person, and yeah, we had
a lot of fun together.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
That's special. Have you when you reflect, because again, sixteen
very informative. Now that you know that you're older, you
ever look back and like, wow, I'm glad I went
through that, because if that didn't happen or I didn't
learn that from Jeanie in my time, do you find
yourself kind of like thinking back and remembering things a
little bit?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Or the revisionist history? Does it change how you look
back at it?
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah, Like if I think back on it, I mean,
you know, years go by like that, and when you're
on the road, it's like wow, you know years just
years just passed by. But you absorb a lot of
things without realizing it, so it might take you years
and years to just like something clicks and go oh wow,
yeah you know that stemmed from there or whatever. But
(10:56):
I was young at that time, so you kind of
as you get older, you start to look back and
just realize a little bit. But yeah, it was incredible.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
How old are you when the Zach Wild opportunity presented itself?
Speaker 2 (11:09):
I was around twenty three twenty four about that. So
I was playing with Jane at sixteen, and then I
was playing with Lizzie Boyden at nineteen for a Yeah,
for about four years so it was probably around twenty three,
twenty four years old.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
I mean, this is still this is really great. And
I know we're talking, we're getting to the now, but
just to have all this experience with you know, really
top tier talent at it's such a young age. It's
not something that many experience like at all, you know,
So with the support of your parents and just the
broad that you were able to be on, I think
it's pretty special to you know, and it's all big
(11:45):
set up to the gein to Dark Chapel to have
this debut album of your band. So with Zach, you know,
somebody who I would love to have on this podcast
at some point. I can't imagine the amount of things
that you've learned from him, good and bad. But let's
focus on the on the good. Like he seems like
somebody that like would kind of rib you about your accents?
(12:06):
Is he is, Like is he as funny as he seems? Uh?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
I mean he's awesome, but he is. Yeah, he is
exactly what you see, you know what I mean? And uh,
but he's also from Jersey, so he has a bit
of an accent. So it's just true. It's all right,
But Yeah, No, he's incredible and we've had a blast
and uh yeah, I mean it's been it's been eleven years,
and that goes by almost in a blink of an eye.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
So yeah, do you have any favorite tunes that you
specifically look forward to playing with him every night or
is it just the experience overall of the show or
there's certain things that you look forward or I can't
play when I can't wait to play this track, I
can't wait to play this.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
You know, it is the overall. It is the overall show,
and you know, every tour or every couple of tours
is something different happening. But yeah, I mean a lot
of the like you know, like Funeral Bell or of
course like Suicide Messiah or Stillborn. I mean, the whole
thing is awesome, playing the whole set. But we've done
like Unblackened, which was like stripped down black label versions,
(13:07):
and I was playing a lot of just like keyboard stuff,
and Zach and I were kind of going back and
forth on on keyboard and then I'd play and he'd
play keyboard or whatever, or like during his Book of Shadows,
I played pretty much keyboard the entire tour. So some
of that's a lot of fun. But the full Black
Label set just yeah, the whole thing is awesome.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Whether it's Zach or Lizzie or Genie, is it always
about the music and just bonding or do you ever
kind of become like a little bit of a fan
like me and you start asking them about their career, Hey,
what was this tour? Like, how about that experience? Does
that ever happened?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Or is it I'd say it's about the music and bonding,
but i mean, yeah, a lot of that stuff might
come up in just casual conversation while you're out there,
but yeah, it's just really about hanging and having a
good time playing the music.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Okay, you know, if you're gonna be like, hey, you know, Zach,
what's the crazy you know, tell me this silly auzy story.
But I'm sure he gets that all the time, So
I'm just curious that that's a line that you're like, Yeah,
he gets asked enough about Ozzy, I'm not going to
bother him about it.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yeah. Yeah, Now, it's just we're just out there having
a good.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Time right on and speaking of a good time, and again,
the mood is set if you look at if you're
watching this on YouTube. The Darkness that is your Las
Vegas uh Las Vegas studio, Uh Dark Chapel, How's how
long have you been working on this? Like this project? Finally,
you're You're not, I don't want to say it like flippantly,
(14:38):
like you're someone else's guitarist. You're part you were part
of bands, you are part of bands. But have you
be the guy? How long have you been wanting to
do this?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
I mean, Doc Chapel has been in the creation process
for just several years, between just writing and demoing and
recording and getting it all together. But you know, before this,
I did two instrumental albums. One when I was playing
with Lizzie, so it was instrumental guitar you know album,
and it's a full album of that. I did that
in twenty thirteen. That was with Mike Varwnie strapping the records,
(15:10):
and I did another one with him in twenty seventeen
when I was in Black Label. So to me, this
is just kind of like a continuation of that as
far as my direction of what I'm writing and working on.
And now it's just instead of guitar solos in the
verses or whatever, now it's like I'm singing and there's
lyrics in those places, So for me, it just kind
(15:31):
of feels a continuation of that. And I was singing
at the time when I did those instrumental albums, but
I just I was always focused on guitar playing, and
singing was something I started doing later on. So with
Doc Chapel, it felt like, Okay, now I got this
to a point where I feel like, cool, I'm ready
to I'm ready to kind of do this with singing.
(15:52):
So yeah, that's but Doc Chapel was probably maybe twenty
twenty one twenty two is when I was like writing
and getting it all together and demoing it out and
feeling what it was going to feel like. And then yeah,
twenty twenty four is about when when it was done
and that's when we launched it out.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Awesome. Yeah, to hear the process of you know, it's
all about guitar playing and now, and you see that
happened with a lot of guitar players where they're just
focused on that's their role for a while, and then
they Okay, no, I got this singing thing. Let's see
what I can do. And you know, people can hear
some singles now A hollow smile, smile, hollow smiles out.
Now I can say it. I'm in a radio for
(16:31):
twenty plus years and Spirit in the Glass the album
is out February twenty eighth. Is what are you most
looking forward to? Is it the I mean, it's got
to be all of it, But is it the live shows?
Is it a certain message for fans to get? Is
it just to finally break free and just be like, hey,
(16:52):
this is this is me? This isn't me and Zach,
this isn't me, and so and so this is I
know it's Dark Chapel the band, But I guess what
are the things that you stand out for you as
this is just a few days away from coming out.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know if I look at
it like you know any of that. I just look
at it like another you know, it's another release that
I have coming out. And it's like I was saying,
a continuation from the instrumental. Now I'm just I'm singing,
and but I'm psyched to everybody really to hear the
whole album because I feel like there's a lot. There's
a lot on there. There's a lot of guitar driven
(17:26):
heavy music. We could call it on there. But there's
also like dead Weight, which is one of my favorites
on the album, which is just like intimate piano and vocal,
and then Doc Watt is just like a singer songwriter
style acoustic and vocal. And then there's some songs on
there that have their own vibe, like Bullet Out Chamber is,
you know, like a totally different vibe than like what's
(17:48):
out Hollow Smile Now, and all that remains is really
heavy and bluesy. So I'm psyched for everybody to hear
the album like in full start to finish, you know,
because I I definitely, you know, put some effort in
like arranging the songs on the album, like if you
would have listened to it in full like you'd listened
to an album start to finish. So that's that's definitely
(18:08):
what I'm psyched about. And all to come, I mean,
Doc Chapel is just just getting started. So all to come,
we have a we have an album release show match
first in Vegas at VAMPED. We're looking forward to that
and the album be out the day before February twenty eighth.
So psyched about all of.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
It, just getting started, like you said, I love that man.
Congratulations and obviously before you go, I got to do
my six degrees of G n R Bacon as I'd
like to call it. On Appetite for the stortion, we
mentioned a lot about a guitarist. Are you like an
easy guy? You more of a slash guy? What do
you think?
Speaker 2 (18:43):
They're both awesome? But I would definitely, you know, I would.
I would definitely go towards Slash because of his you know,
like beautiful, melodic, bluesy solo writing that he did, and yeah,
so I would go that way. But they both are
you know, they're's amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Have you ever had a chance to because I know
Zach's friendly with Slash. You know, it's funny because they
were almost in Guns and Roses at the same time.
Have you ever had a chance to meet any of
the guys or go to any concerts, whether it's being
on the same festival lineup or just on an off day,
anything like that.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
I don't think I've ever really actually met them, but
we did open for Guns and Roses in Arizona a
few several years ago, and we've also been on a
few of the same festivals. But yeah, no, never, never direct.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Meet okay, and we meeting BLS right opening yep, okay, Yeah,
those are the shows. And I'm like, we're never around
here because that's ah, I want to that's an act.
I want to see, you know, Zach Wilde and Black
Level Society open up for GNR. So who knows, maybe
next time they tour the stints, you guys can do it.
(19:57):
What are the touring plans for you? Oh? Yeah, because
you mentioned some plate dates in Vegas. I mean you've
just got to be so busy. Uh So, I hope
your schedule is, you know, do you keep it electronic
or do you keep it an old school schedule like
I have a calendar up there or handwritten. I need
to write it out in hand otherwise I forget.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I'm with you. I like to write it also. But
we're working on a ton for Doc Chapel. We did
we did our first two shows opening for Zach Sabbath
a few weeks ago, which was our first two shows
as a band as Doc Chapel, And now we have
the album release March first in Vegas at Vamped and
Black Label has a couple of things coming up this
year Milwaukee Metalfest in May and then yeah, working on
(20:35):
a bunch with Doc Chapel.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
So busy man, busy man. Well, Dario, thank you so
much for your time today.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Thank you man, appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
You got it. So that does it for this episode
of Appetite for the Stortion. When will we see the
next one? In the words of Axel Rose, concerning Chinese democracy,
I don't know as soon as the word which you'll see.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
It thanks to the lame have security. I'm going home.
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