Welcome to the show, Steve Stevens is my guest today he's a Grammy Award winning guitar player, writer, composer. This guy's worked with everybody Michael Jackson, Vince Neil, Robert Palmer, Sebastian Bach, so many others. Plus Of course, he did the iconic Top Gun theme song. That's the one he won the Grammy for. And of course, he's most known for being the guitar player with Billy Idol. But for me, I really became a fan. When I bought that first Vince Neil record exposed.
I love that record. I was just the kid was like 14 years old. And just the songs and the guitars. I thought it all sounded so cool. And of course, I knew the Billy Idol stuff too. But that's what really made me a fan. And so it's a bit surreal to sit down and chat with him and have the time to basically ask him all the different things and and we're going to talk about, you know, his background, his life story, you'll hear
about his whole career. He's got a new website, Steve Stevens guitar comm so check that out. He's on cameo doing cameos. He's on Twitter. He's doing rock and roll fantasy camp. He does charity work with save our stages. Music cares, the veterans. He's got a lot of stuff in the works to a new record with Billy Idol, a new solo record. Deadline ritual and kings of chaos is still happening. The list goes on. We got a lot of fun stories in this one. So enjoy. Check it out.
Thank you for doing this welcome Steve Stevens to the show. Guitarist extraordinare How you doing?
I'm good man. I'm... my wife... and I you know, we've been locked away since March. And we took advantage of last two days. We got actually out to the beach, which was Oh, yeah. And you're in because you're in California. Now. You're from Brooklyn in New York, but you're in California now. Right? Yeah, yeah. 20. About 25 years I've lived here. Which part? Are you like by Huntington Beach? Or Malibu or which? I don't know. They're a two. Um, yeah, we went out to
Malibu. We live in West Hollywood, but I went out to Malibu. Okay, is the traffic better? At least now with this whole pandemic and stuff today? That's why I missed the first. The first schedule. Yeah, okay. Gotcha. A traffic traffic was great around. You know, April May was unbelievable. Okay, but it's, it's back to especially on Friday. It's back to you know what it was?
Sure. Sure. So yeah, I mean, if we can just, I just want to like tell your story. It's pretty amazing story starts out and you're raised in Brooklyn, or sorry, born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens, and started playing the guitar like age seven. Start with an acoustic thing gotten electric. So how many hours like when you're a kid, I mean, that's so it seems so young. I remember my parents made me take piano lessons and practice and I'd
always put up a fight. How many hours a day were you practicing at such a young age? Um, well, at first You're so young you, you're not really practicing that the guitar came into the house as my, my dad picked up I believe he paid $17 for a guitar package at the at the department store. And it came with a music book. But my dad, you know, he was blue collar hard working guy. And by the time he get home and had dinner, he didn't have
time or patience for guitar. So, you know, I brought it into my room. And I was banging away making a hell of a racket on it.
But I have an older brother five years older than me and a lot of his friends played guitar. And they said to my parents, you know, it's a is making a hell of a noise, but it's in time. He's got rhythm. Yeah. And so they arranged for my first guitar teacher, which is a woman named Sonny Oxo. Her brother is Phil Ochs who was a protest singer in the 60s. So she was because the regular regular music teachers wouldn't take me that yummy.
Oh, that's too young. Okay, gotcha. Yeah.
So she was cool about it. And I think I've stuck with her for about half a year and then found a proper guitar teacher. But, you know, it was one of those things I love. I think I think I initially wanted to do it because I just wanted to hang out with my brother and his friends. Oh, and I thought that was a way to do it by playing guitar. Okay, worked. Yeah, actually work. Okay. Yeah, usually it's to get girls but I have an older brother. I guess that works. Do you try to young
discover girls yet? Well, you know, the girls would say to my brother, you know, I want to go along. tagalong Actually, my brother brought me to my first concert was the James gang in Central Park. But the girls would say I'll bring you brother along. He's so cute. They didn't know I was a devious little. That's My brother would be like, you have no idea what he's really like. He's really cute. My brother be like, Sure,
sure. Yeah, right. So but um Yeah, yeah so was it your Was it the second guitar teacher that you had that it was actually like your choir teacher but tie you guitar with this was a some advice that I heard that he gave you that was amazing that he told you don't have a fallback plan because you're good enough that I think you can make it and if you have a fallback plan, the first sign of disappointment you're gonna bail. So he said, just put all your energy into this guitar thing?
Um, yeah. Which was incredible and brave of him to, to tell me Yeah, what what he also told me Is he started a family when he was very young. He was he was my choir teacher in July but, but he played guitar, and he was very charismatic guy. And, of course, my mom wanted me to take lessons with him because he looked kind of like Joe name. So, but he did, he gave me some good life lessons, you know, when he said, Give it your, give it your best shot, because he was really
great. But you know, he started a family, very young had two kids and had, you know, mortgage and all this stuff. And he said, it, he said, You know, he, I guess he recognized that I had the potential to make a career out of it. And he said, Give it give it your best. And, and, and don't worry about having something to fall back on you. You know, if you if you really want it, you'll get you you'll get the success.
Yeah. And that's pretty ballsy. So but then you did go into the high school for the Performing Arts, the fame school in Manhattan. You had you had a you got in on a guitar audition, but then there was no guitars to play. And so you tried the viola, but you're like, this isn't I want to do guitar. So you ended up just dropping out of high
school? Right? Um, yeah, they admitted me in on guitar. And my teacher was the one that coached me in. And I actually got accepted in playing. I was a huge yes fan. And Steve Howe, on the fragile record had moved for a day. And I played that piece as a as an audition piece. And my guitar teacher wrote it out and in, in musical form, so they thought I was reading it, but I really was
never much of a reader. So I just kind of looked at folded, but I got into the school and they said, you know, guitar is not a symphonic instrument, meaning there's no guitar in the orchestra. Sir. You have to pick up an orchestra, orchestral instrument, and I was really, really horrible feel. So I kind of lost the interest. Although I loved music history. And my music history classes were amazing. Because I loved reading about them. Early classical musicians who were pretty rock
and roll. Those guys were pretty pretty. They were the rock stars of the day. And so I loved all that aspect of it. And I like learning music theory, always felt that was something that was important. But then there was a kid, you know, there's always that hip kid in school, right? So. So the hip kid, we stayed in Manhattan. I lived in the suburbs in Queens, and we stayed in Manhattan and we went he took
me to the Mercer Art Center. We hung out in the city and we went to see the Heartbreakers which was Johnny thunders band after New York Dolls. And it was the first time I had been in the clubs and really seen you know, yes, struggling musicians. But there was probably about four bands on the bill that night, I saw my future, as that was my education as opposed to what I
was learning in school. Sure. And, and by then I was I just joined a cover band that was playing, we started to play the Long Island cover band scene with like, Twisted Sister and all that. So you know, I would finish a gig I'd get home and I literally travel home on the subway and get home at about 3am and you know, have to you know, be in school by eight news like an hour train ride, I was exhausted. So I'm really wasn't
a very good student. And so I dropped out and got my GED, which I promised my folks and from that point on, I was living with my other band members and playing the clubs about three or four nights a week. Yeah, and so this this sounds like a Seinfeld episode or something. But I think it was it must have been around this time that you worked for a Bravo Company like us. And you said that if you didn't make it music, you would have worked your way up the corporate ladder
there. So tell me about that job. Like, I just can't even picture that like did you have the big hair and you go in with a tie or what this is what I was 14 Well, that
was that young. Okay, wow. Yeah,
because I was always in bands. And, and there was a you could look in the village. Our local paper was The Village Voice which was free and there was about three or four pages. have ads for for musicians looking for other musicians. So I would go around. And also word of mouth, you know, so I was in a little, a little band, you know, little Garage Band, I probably been in
about four garage bands. And over the summer the drummer, his dad was the owner of team form braas I don't know if their existence so when they were training little training brothers and so I worked a team form and, and actually I got fired because I was there. I wasn't there legally. But I went out in, smoked a joint during my
lunch break. And I went out and I was talking to the foreman and I put my hand down, didn't realize it was the conveyor belt, I got my hand pulled into the conveyor belt took the took the skin all over. It had to go to the hospital. And to this day, I won't I won't work with saws and things like that. Yeah, cuz your hands as a guitar player. That's scary. Yeah, it was very scary. I mean, it looked like hell. And, and, and he's in he said, Do you know that? You know, they couldn't
get insurance? He said you'd fire basically. Wow.
Yeah, that's maybe that was the best. Yeah, it worked out. Okay. So at what point did you change your name because Steve Stevens is not your real name. So what point did you change your name to Steve Stevens and how did you come up with it? Because I felt like that was kind of like a thing in the 80s was like Duran Duran, Mr. Mr. The gogos Talk Talk though, like all these repeated names.
It's actually a great story. My family's came over during the Second World War. And when they, when my dad's family landed in Ellis Island, they gave them a German name because they couldn't understand where it was. And they were, they were, you know, Russian immigrants. But you know, they said, It sounded like, Schneider, which is in German is a tailor. If you don't get your pants, um, to one another. It's Taylor. And then I saw I'm like, Well, I can't call myself Steve Taylor, because
it's Steve Tyler. So the band that I was in before Billy Idol, we had a loft in the music building, and lots of musicians would come and hang out and we're sitting there we're having this discussion. We're getting ready to play gigs. What's my name gonna be? And Sylvain from the New York Dolls was hanging out with us. Oh, they used to rehearse his band used to rehearse in our loft. And he said, he looked at me and he said, Just do what I did. Use your first name twice. So I
thought there you go. That's, I'm Christian by a New York doll. You know, that's pretty cool. And he Yeah, yeah. He remembered it because I hadn't seen him in years. And, and he we played a show with Billy about six years ago, I told my wife this story. And six years ago, we played a show with the newly reformed dolls. And I saw Sylvain and I said Do you remember giving them my name? And he said absolutely. So So
there it is, you know? Yeah. So that ban was it how do you say the fine is it mirror Abbas or mirrors are? Fine Malibu's
calibers, I must have made a typo there. But so that band you guys had a record company, the record got shelved, but you ended up hooking up with Bill Coyne who was the had been the manager and kiss. And so that's kind of how you got hooked up with Billy Idol, right? He you put out an ad and he answered and said, Hey, have you ever heard of Billy Idol? And you had heard out?
Well, we did the album and you know, we would like 15 guys a lot of guys from their from their army brats from Clarksville, Tennessee. We were living in this loft barely with a kitchen and you know, just a little pipe for shower. We were pretty broke, you know? Yeah. But when you do when you do it, you don't you don't even realize it because everybody was broke. And then we got signed to Island Records. And the producer was Jimmy Miller who did the The
Rolling Stones records. And they shipped us off to the Bahamas Compass Point stadium is nice. And we were in we stayed in the house that the Rolling Stones owned, we thought we, you know, we thought we got it made, you know, the thing we forgot about is we didn't have the songs. So the record, you know, we were all good musicians, but we really didn't have a cohesive, you know, identifiable sound. And we didn't know anything about writing songs. So the record was not released. And we
hooked up with Bill Coyne. And, and the decision was made that I couldn't go anymore. I needed musicians I could learn from Yeah, as far as I need to writers and other musicians that that could kind of challenge me. Right. So we I think we ran an ad. A coin ran an ad for like one issue of The Village Voice again and I said Qataris looking to form of an editor. And about a week later, Bill coin called me said, Do you know who Billy Idol is? And by then dancing with myself what had been
released? And he said, Well, I said dog dancing with myself. He said, Yeah, well, actually, Billy's moved to New York. He's, he's looking to put a band together. He's gonna, you know, he's living there in New York, and you guys should meet.
And that was okay. And that was it. Yeah. And so but no, but this was interesting. You had a good quote, there, you said that, it was that that this is what you had, that you didn't have in your previous band was a direction and someone that you could bounce ideas off and someone who could challenge you, right? Because if it was a guitar solo was too long or whatever, like, he would tell
you things. So I mean, do you think that's, that's got to be an important thing to have in this business is not only being able to take criticism, but also being able to give it in kind of a nice way. And you guys have that? Back and forth? Right?
Yeah, I mean, the fact was that I didn't have to, you know, I didn't have to form a band with four guys and figure out what our identity was and what our sound was. And Billy Idol already knew what he wanted to do. That's why he left Generation X. He wanted to do this, this gumbo of punk rock and and classic rock. And our his producer, Keith horsey came from the dance school thing.
side of things with things like you know, he he played drums on time to summon his records and, you know, had had this dance background. And all it seemed like I was the right fit for it. Because whatever they needed stylistically on guitar, whether it was acoustic or textural or straight up, aggressive rock and roll, I had the capability to do that. And, and I, I said to Billy, I said, Look, you know, I'm not a punk rock guitar
player. I said, But wouldn't it be better to have somebody who you can hone their ideas, and maybe, if they pay, if they play 100 of them, you pick the best 20 rather than having somebody you constantly have to push? Right, it's only gonna give you what you asked for. And I think that served us well. And I think that's why we still work together.
Yeah, so the first album, Billy Idol, you know, you had the white wedding. So that was the first time you heard your song played on the radio, right? But it's funny because like, you even had the MTV Video and everything, but you're only making 250 bucks a week from that first record, and you're touring in a van and stuff. So it's like, people don't really realize like how long it takes to really make it.
Yeah, I was on salary for I think I saved my first salary check. $250. And I didn't actually own a good recording guitar when I met Billy. And I remember, he took me to 48th Street, he got me my first real les ball. And, and, you know, he was, you know, recording the first record, I think, and I tell this to musicians all the time that it's, it's really okay to ask
questions. And it's really okay to say that you don't know if, if, if something is suggested, or, you know, because people can always show you an example of what they're looking for, especially with music. Yeah, no, they're saying, oh, we're looking, you know, I remember there was a couple of things. I mean, as far as the rock and roll guitar stuff, I could
handle all that. But there was a couple of things where they would ask for maybe like a Steve Cropper bluesy strat kind of clean thing, you know, and I was, that was not my wheelhouse, but I would just say, play me what it is your, you know, play me record. And I would be like, Oh, I know what that is. So, and I tell musicians, you know, all the time now it's okay to ask questions. And that's how you learn. Yeah, no, that's a good
point. Yeah. Because just because you have signed a big deal, you might still don't know a lot of things and you probably still learning things as you go along. Right? It's, you know, man, it's, it's not about what you know, it's about making the mistakes and, and learning what not to do. Mm hmm. Yeah. So this is this is cool, too. On the second album, The Rebel Yell, you wrote the music for eyes without a face. But Billy wrote the lyrics, but you had to kind of convince him to do a ballad.
He was hesitant to do that. Right. Um, yeah, I mean, it was it was it was a strange amalgam because we were we were in rehearsal for for that record, we rehearsing with our band, and a lot of ideas came together. And then one day, you know, I was living in the basement of my parents house. The only only radio station I could get was in New York that the oldies station, CBS FM, and I liked all of these kind of like old doowop
chord changes. They're, they're very classic 1950s and to me, Billy's always had one foot in The Elvis school, that kind of classic rock. He loves all that kind of Otis Redding and Elvis and, you know, obviously, you know, you know Johnny Burnett, no, you know, he loves rockabilly and all that stuff. classic, classic rock, way back classic. So I had these chord changes, I'm just playing them and he goes, Oh, what's that? You know? And I said, Well, that's just something I'm
missing one. And luckily enough, he had some lyrics. He was always writing lyrics on a legal pad. We had some lyrics and they they fit together well, but we we really didn't know what we had, we knew we had something different than everything else we had done.
But once we started I, you know, all props to our producer key foresee who believed in it and said, you know, look, Billy Idol records and not just one kind of music, you know, we we all grew up on the, on the Beatles Records, which had from one song to the next, they were so different. One would sound like an Indian, Indian raga something and then one would be, you know, classic, you know, song or
something. Oh, yeah. And so we said, you know, with this record, you know, what, if it sounds good, let's just pursue ideas and at the end of the day, if it sounds good, that it is
good. So it was undeniable for by the time that we had finished it, it had grown into this kind of creation, you know, with the middle section rocking out of it, because we said all week, it can't just be a ballad all the way through let's do something in the middle there with his electric guitars and it just you know, it's kind of paint by numbers, but it really did work.
Yeah, no, it's I love that record. The Rebel Yell song is great. And then he did the whiplash smile record and then around the same time that this is how you started doing the soundtrack stuff. You did this the Top Gun anthem for the film obviously the same name with a hair falter Meyer from who did Beverly Hills Cop, but
what was it like working with him? Um, fantastic. I mean, you know, it's a great example of, you know, in my business, you just, somebody asked you to do something, just always say yes. So, and Billy was okay with you. Like, how does that work? Because you're contractually obligated to him. Right? Or how does that No, no, he likes you. Yeah, we don't have any contracts. Okay, that stuff. Yeah. Um, but Harold was the keyboard player on whiplash
smile. He was friends with key foresee and he after one of the sessions, he mentioned to me Oh, I'm working on this movie, maybe you'd be interested in playing on it. And he put up the the multitrack after one of the Billy Idol sessions, it was on a weekend. And I think we spent about two hours in the whole thing. And it was wrapped up and and I kind of forgot about it, you know? And then the movie came out and we premiered. It was a big deal. I went Oh, wow. This is the soundtrack of
course. You know, take my breath away. And yeah, and mighty wings with cheap trick and danger zone. This was a huge record. Oh, yeah. And then I got a call from Harold from he was living in Germany. And he said, we got nominated for Grammy and I go get the fuck out. He goes, he goes, we're gonna win. I go. Yeah. Okay. You know, I said, it's very nice to be nominated. But, but we did end up winning and so cool. And like I say, Man, you never know. You just never know.
Yeah, no. And so then a couple years later, you end up working with Michael Jackson. So this story is kind of interesting, because you talk about how like when you record the song in the studio is pretty normal. Like you walk in it was just Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones and very low key similar to Billy Idol. But the interesting part to me was when you said you worked on the video for the song dirty Diana, and you came out to the video shoot and there was like toys
everywhere. And you thought I was like, oh, someone's kids here, but it was actually for like his pet chimp bubbles. Or is that one of the weirdest things that you've seen in the music business or
the weird? It's okay.
What did what did the chimp even show up at that point, though?
Oh, yeah, it was. So we pull up it's a van tricked out fan. Yeah. You know, like, you know, flames on the side numb. And it was kind of open and it was like a little jungle gym out there. And I thought, wow, they've got stuff set up for people's kids, you know, keep them occupied. Now those bubbles with the bubbles mobiel were you I'd be nervous. I mean, it's, it's, I mean, there I guess it's domesticated animal.
But I mean, I've heard stories of like chimps biting people's faces off and things like that, like, Well, I didn't think of that. But So Michael, Michael has bubbles in his heart. You know, he brings them over to meet me because how do you want to be both? Yeah, of course. And, you know, I don't know if you remember what Michael used to wear. Like tape on his fingers when he held the
microphones. You know, it's Oh, I didn't some singers back then you still kind of like tape so it kinda was like a rock and roll and bubbles had the tape on. So Michael goes all bottles has his rock teapot.
Oh,
yeah. He's an interesting guy. interesting guy. Yeah. So guys, you work with so many interesting people. Robert Palmer, you got to record with him as well. Right? You guys did a song together? We uh yeah, I did three three songs with Robert Robert was the first
rock star I ever met. So as I mentioned, we the band before idol, we went down to the Bahamas to accomplish point and Robert was living across across the street, and walked into the studio one night with a, you know, martini glass, exactly the way you'd expect from you know, what, do you have a suit on and everything or? Um, yeah, he looked great. He looked. You know, that's perfect. And yeah. And he walked in and said, Hello, I'm Robert. And you know,
and carry on. And we were recording or we were listening back or something. And he heard he said, Oh, who's the guitar guitarist, and I raised my hand. That would be me. And he literally lived, lived across the street said he was working on some demos, would I be interested in coming help help out with some demos? So we we struck up a friendship? Oh, this is this is a couple of years before idol. Oh, yeah, just a year and a half. So we always
stayed in touch. And actually, the guitars that played on things like Addicted to Love is a guy named Eddie Martinez, who was a friend of mine. So So, you know, I knew all the guys in Roberts band and stuff. And so I worked on the follow up record, and he was living in Italy at the time, and we recorded in Italy. That's fine. He was a great guy. I mean, he's, he really was it exactly the way he was in those videos. He was very cool. And he was like, the James.
Did he have like girls all around them all at the time, too, all the time?
Um, I couldn't I think maybe I contributed lyrics Also living it's a luxury. So Um, no. But when we did the video, we did of only on one song on that record..Which was can't have course, yeah. Okay. We did the video. And we did it down on 14th Street. And, and it was all you know, fashion models in the your cake and eat it too. video. That was his thing. Right? You know, it's exactly what I expect.
Yeah. So what and then what about this is where I think I became a really became a fan of yours was with the Vince Neil record, which I think a lot of people have told you that that's one of their favorite records that that you've done, but that's kind of like I think I knew Billy Idol. But I guess I just didn't really know. Like, you know, that was when I started getting into rock and I got that album. And I was like, Oh my gosh, this is this is so good. Because I was a big crew
fan, of course. Right? And, you know, they said part of the reason that Vince left the crew or quit or fired or whatever, is he didn't do enough songwriting. So did you do most of the songwriting on that record? Because I know that was the first time you were able to, like actually write lyrics and stuff like that, or did you guys work together? Was it? yeah.
But I came into the band. The band was, you know, I got a call. Once again, you know, I'm signed to Warner Brothers... I get signed... and so my a&r guy, who is Ted Templeman, who was the producer Van Halen, called, I'm still living in New York and said, we've signed Vince Neil, would you be interested in coming out? And this is, obviously after Dr. Feelgood, which I thought was just one of one of the best 80s rock rock records, hands down for anything Bob Rock did... .
Oh, yeah. So all those records, he did the Cult and you know, all that all that stuff. Those Bob rock records were state of the art. So I came out and and, I said, Yeah, there was other writers involved Jack Blades and Tommy Shaw from Damn Yankees. And, and the producer was was Ron Nevison, who had a Heart record. So it was all you know, doing the record and everything was was fantastic.
Yeah. And then. So what happened with that band? Like there's all these like, stories that I read on? I don't know if you're even there for some of this, like, Robbie Crane left, the bass player left because he got in a fistfight with Vince and then Vikki Fox was kicked out because he stole equipment. Like Were you there for any of this stuff? Or was this after you left?
I was gone... I was gone before that. Okay. And I guess I saw the writing on the wall. The record, I think more people appreciate the record now than when it was released, because this is right when grunge hit... yeah. And...the record companies, although they spent a lot of money on signing events and and promoting the record, record companies, by and large - they're looking for the next they want another Nirvana or Pearl Jam or this and that.
And I remember, we were doing something and they said, Hey, you guys think about wearing flannel shirts? Or you know, and I went up you sign Vince Neil. Like the dude represents everything about Hollywood debauchery and yeah, that's that's what Motley Crue is about and you want to wear a flannel shirt I go, this doesn't make sense. So we toured with Van Halen, and that tour was already booked before we finished the record. So that was a big selling point for me to
join. And once we finish that, it's very hard for even somebody who had an audience like Vince did, we started playing smaller venues and things like that, and the press was not about what we were doing. So um, so I kind of said, I need to reassess what I'm doing.
So touring with Van Halen was that I had a guitarist from ugly kid Joe, who they also toured with Van Halen. He said, it was so weird, like, he walked into the dressing room and Eddie Van Halen and like his, you know, his tighty whities, like playing guitar and stuff, and he said, it was just like, was that surreal for you to or you already met him at this point?
I was already friends with and, and they were at this was the album not sure the name of the album, but it had a pound cake on it. And
oh, yeah, for unlawful carnal knowledge.
Is that the the album? Yeah. And those guys were just every night they'd come out with, with, you know, like storming, they would just brilliant every night. And, and, you know, Ed and I were friends, and I think he was he's pretty damn sober on that tour. You know, it was like, it was, it was a good tour to be on, you know, they think tank and Sammy drank and all that, but, but they, you could tell that they really proud of that record. And every night they were just
unbelievable. That's great. Yeah, no, I love that record, too. Yeah, but I love that Vince Neil record that you guys made. I mean, like his other one too. But like that first one expose. I mean, it's so it was so good. So you hear that a lot from fans that they really wish that you and Vince would do another record together? I don't hear that. But a lot of guitar players say that's a really, you know, that's a record that they
really listened to. And yeah, emulate, you know, cuz because the 80s were like, there was a lot of good guitar players that were that were doing heavy rock guitar stuff in the 80s. In the 90s. It was like you couldn't get the rest of doing That's right. Yeah. But it's kind of come around full circle. Now you go on, you know, go on YouTube. And there's some 14 year old kid play and doctrine or something. And it's like, it's cool to shred again, you know, in a
different way. But I think I think younger guitar players really appreciate the technical ability of the 80s guitar players. Yeah, I'd be curious to see because there's a lot of those like 70s kind of sounding bands like greta van fleet and the struts, you know, that kind of sound like queens kind of is revival, the 70s I'd be curious to see if there's any sort of 80s revival type bands, that'd be fun. I The funny thing is that the 80s at sound I think is more absorbed into like things
like pop music. Yeah. You know, dance, even things like like Miley Cyrus is citing a lot. You know, she just did a duet with Billy Idol. And she's, she's utilizing a lot of 80s kind of songs and structures and things like that.
Yeah, no, that's really cool. You've done so many other cool projects like the kings...Are you still doing the Kings of Chaos every now and then? Or is that thing...
We do.. Yeah, with with COVID, We kind of went on hiatus a little bit, but But yeah, we were actually scheduled to do a Kings show, but it got canceled.
Yeah, so it's Matt Sorum from Guns and Roses on the Cutlt. Billy Duffy from the Cult Joe Elliott of Def Leppard has been in there and the DeLeo brothers from Stone Temple Pilots, Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top, which he said was really fun to play with him. Is there ever talk of doing like an original song with that band? Or is it only mostly live shows?
There is actually yeah... Matt and I have talked about doing something and and there's actually some songs that are being floated about. So a lot of our plans kind of got waylaid. Yeah, I think at some point that there'll be some original stuff to come out of
it. Because I mean, it's a it's a damn Rolodex of who's who in rock and roll that you can call upon to to do different tracks and and it's really interesting when you I'm a huge huge fan of Stone Temple Pilots and when I get to work with the DeLeo brothers and being on stage with them and Billy Gibbons and Matt Sorum.. it sounds incredible.
Yeah, did Sebastian Bach, he played with them sometimes too?
Yep.
Yeah. So tell me about that you you were you wrote and played with him you did three songs on that. Give them hell Song 2014 I love those songs. I love that album. I love Sebastian Bach. I'm a huge Skid Row fan. So what's it like working with Sebastian like he's a little bit of a character like me is really me good Sebastian Bach stories. I love his good Sebastian Bach star.
So so I didn't, you know, I only knew him from he had guested on kings of chaos show. So I got booked. This is my best Sebastian story. So I got to play the Iridium which is a small club in New York. And it was where Les Paul used to play his weekly show. And they kept that going into Tuesday night. And they would invite guitar players to kind of be the guest guitar player with with some of the original basketball players and and it was like, you take over the night so I agreed to do
it. And so I call up Sebastian, I go, Hey, man, you know, I'm going to New York. I'm gonna do this this thing to do Rhydian? Would you like to be, you know, be the same show, man. Sounds great. All right, cool. And we get there. And I don't, I didn't realize it's a small place. But it's a like dinner theater. People are sitting at your tables eating dinner while they're watching you. Okay? And I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, Oh, shit, because that's a
different vibe. Because, you know, Sebastian Bach, he's, he's like playing to the garden. And you know, that's, yeah, he's thinking, Oh, man, this ain't gonna go down well with him. Well, fortunately enough. So he, he was such a good sport about it. I go, I go, before we go on I go, Sebastian, just to let you know, they're going to be eating dinner. Data when I go. It's like, it's like a club where they eat dinner, you know, go eat dinner while I'm on stage.
It is what it is.
And so he he climbs off the stage and he walks across the tables, and somebody is like eating chicken sees like picking up the chicken nice, like, Oh, yeah, that's some good chicken man. And he was such a good sport about it. He, you know, the audience loved it, you know, but he was still. He was still giving him shit about while he was. He was performing that is a
weird setup for a rock show. I've never heard of that.
Yeah, it's that, you know, the only other place I've played like that is that there was a legendary place in New York and the bottom line. And I mean, everyone played the bottom line Springsteen Hmm, and I played there with Billy Idol. And they serve food. It's like, you know, yeah, that's what we're doing. We it was part of our unplugged tour. So work. Yeah, that makes sense for unplugged Yeah. Sebastian Bach. I can't I can't picture that.
He's
not the dino theater guy. No, no, no, but I
does he did do the musicals, but even that's like mean, more elaborate. So and then you've got you've got so many projects here the the Deadline Ritual band, this is like an all star band. You got Frankie Perez on vocals, Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath on bass and Matt Sorum on drums and of course yourself on guitars. Tell me about that band.
Yeah, we just done.... It was one of those...Matt, and I knew.... we were friends with Frankie. And we were just like, oh, let's put something together. I was kind of on a break. Billy was Billy Idol wasn't touring for a little while. And so I'll you know, let's put this together. Matt and I spoke and we were thinking about bass players. And I guess Matt had just seen an interview with geezer after Sabbath played their last show in Birmingham.
And, and he picked up the phone and said, Hey, you know, well, you know, would, you know, would be into jamming. And it's, that's the way it starts. It's no different. Well, how does he get his brother's phone number
though? Just because everybody's phone number. Oh,
because he's from Guns and Roses. Like he just get anybody. It's different. That he's, he's that guy really? Is that guy. He's got everybody's number.
Do you ever get calls like that from like, just some random celebrities that are famous and you're not mad? Because it's like somebody like Mick Jagger ever call you or somebody crazy? Like they like you don't even ask how they got your phone number.
I had an ad, I had the ultimate Mick Jagger phone message. And he left a message on my answering machine and he said this. He was doing a solo tour in Australia. And he he said, Hello, Steve is Smith Jagga. I'm here down in the in, you know, wherever was Martinique down in the, you know, Caribbean Caribbean, and I'm going to do this tour for you. But it was undeniably him. I didn't end up doing it. I think Satriani did the tour.
Because I didn't think I was the guy to play Rolling Stone, you know, obviously he's got to play Rolling Stone stuff. Yeah. And I'm just not that guy. And yeah, it's definitely different sound for sure. Yeah, I mean, I love Keith Richards, but I don't play anything like that. So and I just I I turned down Mick Jagger. It's pretty crazy. Yeah, that's nice that he thought of you though. That's pretty cool. Yeah, yeah. And then you worked. Yeah, well, Ozzy's best friend is Billy
Did you do a song with Ozzy? I don't think it's Morrison, who's Idols second guitar player, right? Or a come out yet. But you guys wrote some songs or something with Billy Morrison. player who's like one of my
closest buddies. And I think this goddess got to be two years ago, he said that as he was looking, they had put together some ideas and Larson knew that I had a home studio and said, which would you know, would you be willing to let Ozzy come in and cut a couple of songs and I think we did like three songs. And but nothing really came of it. It was... I think it was mor more. he was just finding his direction. It was, I mean, t was unbelievable to
ave him in this. He literal y stood right there and saying Oh, this was in person.
It wasn't like vias. Like, Oh, no, he came here and was you know, bring his lunch and
he was
awesome. more need for lunch. That's that's the burning question. Everyone's on everyone's mind.
What was it because he left his Tupperware here.
mozzies Tupperware,
that's for sure. Yeah. Wow.
But um, I don't know, you know, salad or something normally, okay. Seems like a pretty healthy guy. I'm sure yeah. Now. Maybe not back in a nice but yeah. So then, but he was great. He is a lovely guy. I mean, he really is.
That's what I've heard from everybody. Yeah. I had a bass player on air Blasco. He was really nice. He was tone. You know, how great I was working with Ozzy. So yeah, yeah. And then you have a solo record, that you're going to have guest vocalists? And can you not say who the vocalist are or can you hint? Or can we guess? Because if is it people you've worked with in the past, or people you haven't worked with or a mix?
I mean, it might be a mixture of both. But I think my thing is that I'm such a fan of singers. And I've been blessed that I've worked with so many great singers.
Yeah.. Amazing.
I mean and that was one of the best aspects about my career in the 80s. Because I wasn't a band member per se. I was Billy Idol's sideman. So people figured, oh,
So what like what would be a comparison then? well, we can just call him and have him come in and do things like Rick Ocasek or so I really did get to do a lot of writing and playing with people that I think ordinarily, guys that are in bands, they just play with their band and record with their band. So but I love the juxtaposition of working with people maybe outside of my wheelhouse. Yeah, and there's an there's a lot of there's a lot of cool singers that I'd like to
work with. But, some rock, maybe some that aren't rock... I'm a fan of songs. And I certainly don't want to do a record that's shred guitar thing we have. We have so many guys that are great at that. And that's their thin . But for me, I want to do a re
Yeah, and I might try and conceptualize it. I mean, I'm a guy that grew up on hose early 70s rock records And certainly, some of Carlos's best guitar ord of great songs and in ovative guitar. And if th playing is on that record. where they had a bit of a theme .. I wouldn't go so far as to sa
Yeah, Rob Thomas... re's a solo, great, if th re's not, it's still a great so
I mean, I'd love to just work with different g. I'm going to do a prog rock re ord, but I love albums that hav Like, what is it gonna just be a mix, like, kind of like a something there that holds t e songs together. And I think th people outside of outside of what people ordinarily expect. diverse, eclectic mix of different kinds of songs?
Oh, yeah, that's a good one... re has to be that if I'm go ng to have different singer on it, but I thought... I mean best example of that was the Isn't there's no shame in trying something. And I've done this Santana record, which long enough to know when it's working, and maybe when it's not. Yeah. So do you have some
of those things lined up? Are you still looking to get a guest vocalist, I just started to like, put the word out and I'm still writing so The that's the other aspect of it is as I write a tune I'm hearing in my head Oh, who would be good for this? Yeah, this person or that person, Mick Jagger, maybe this is the time you guys work together to a song
or act or what I after what I just said about turning down the Yeah, I'd be like fuck off. And then so you also have is this a separate thing that you're doing the flamenco record and that the other band would that that's Frankie pres on vocals on that one too, right? No, um, I had already done a flamenco record flamenco gogo. But I did that actually after the Vince Neil thing. Yeah, I was kind of burnt out on on the heavy rock for sure. And flamenco was one of the styles that I started with.
So it was a way for me to reconnect with why I picked the damn instrument up to begin with. So I did a flamenco record, but I still did. There's a guitarist named Ben woods, if anybody wants to Google look on YouTube, and he's like a, he's a he's a real deal flamenco guitarist, but he is a rock and roll guy. So he and I work together really well. So I'm sure that there'll be aspects of that on my on my next solo record, right? Because it's a
big part of what I do. And I remember we toured with them. Last summer, we toured with Bryan Adams. And, and there's a Brian Adam Sancho, when a man from Don walk, Don Juan de Barco, the film, the giant jet film, and it's it's flamenco guitar on it, Brian wasn't performing it live. So why don't you do that a man loves a woman. Why don't you do that live? He goes, Well, we don't really have the flamenco guitar, and I'll do it. So, so you know, that's a perfect example of a guy with a
great rock and roll voice. And then he does this. He had a guitarist named poccadot, Lucio passed away. apoco was the Jimi Hendrix of flamenco guitar. And I was a fan of both of those, when I heard those two guys together, that I'd like to do something in, I'd like to at least have a beautiful ballad, a Spanish ballad on the record like that. Oh, that's cool. I look forward to that. We're continuing to write and we did some tracks
And then also the Billy, if you have a new record coming out, maybe with Billy Idol, are you guys working on a writing it or what? What's the stage of that? with Butch Walker, who I wanted to work with for quite a while. I'm huge fan. Yeah, he's worked with a lot of people...
And, and it was just Billy myself and Butch. Butch plays every instrument and played some second guitar and bass on it. It was really like, we just formed this little trio to write and record these tunes. And I think they're the strongest Billy Idol stuff in a long time.
Well, yeah, it's amazing, because I know musicians don't like Spotify. But like, I think I had not heard the last two Billy Idol records. And so I listened to them on and I was like, there's some really good songs on here. Especially the I can't know I've always forget the names of I think it was the last single on kings and queens of the underground. And it's really catchy. It's like, Oh, my gosh, why aren't the songs on the end?
Like makes me so angry that like, sometimes when I had good music like that, I'm like, why am I just now hearing this? So people should definitely check out, you know,
yeah, because because, you know, Billy's you know, he's, he's classic rock now. So the classic rock stations, you know, they'll play Rebel Yell and white wedding and eyes without a face, but it's very hard to get them to crack new music, they have their format and it's great that they, you know, it's great that they play that stuff in it, you know, I receive royalties from it. But we're still making music and we still are, you know, hopefully valid. Yeah, no, in the song
sound good. The production sounds good. Like you guys sound like on top of your game. So that's what so like, I would be frustrating when the last record was produced by Trevor Horn. So of course, it's gonna sound pretty damn good. You know? Probably just, we just, it's what we do, man. I mean, it's not you know, it's just we love making music and we love working together and we just continue to do it. And we continue to do it with new people. So it's fresh.
Yeah, no, I love it and I mean, cuz so many people that you've worked with. I know you said the Mick Jagger thing that was one that you you backed out on his or other projects or like big gigs like that you were offered that You almost had or that you wanted that you backed out over? It didn't work out for one reason or another.
Um, the only thing and people probably know that I was approached by David Lee Ross when he left Van Halen and that he flew to New York we met up but I'm right in the midst of of the third Billy Idol record, whiplash smile, and I couldn't I couldn't, you know, I already committed to the album and committed to touring and, you know, wasn't just going to pack up and go, you know, halfway through the record, I'd
see ya. With this guy and I don't think I would have been the right guy, I think Steve I was, you know, was was perfect for that. And I actually once they got Steve, they recorded Ted Templeman was a producer they recorded in New York and I met with Steve and we hung out. And then I loaned him a bunch of guitar amps for the recording. And that's right. You know, cuz guitar players, man, we're, we're very unique. knuckleheads, you know, we're like, a lot of
us are socially awkward. And because if you take a kid, and you put any any wants to be in a room, and not out playing football, or basketball, and he wants to be in a room with this instrument, for four hours a day, you can kind of be a weirdo, you know, right. Do that, you know, yeah. And, and to, to, to issue us a sort of social life with your friends. Because I had, you know, a lot of friends when I was a kid who would be like, hey, let's go out
here. And that's it. Now I'm playing my guitar, or new Zeppelin record would come out and I wouldn't, I'd have to learn every song. Cuz that's what you did. You know, it was I was such a fan that I couldn't wait, I buy two copies of the record, because I knew I was going to ruin one because of the needle going on. And, you know, having to replay it and repack scratch the shit out of it. So, you know, it's, you know, you're gonna be a weird kid to do that. That's, that's interesting.
Yeah, it is. It is. Some of the musicians I've interviewed. They seem like they're almost more of like introverts. Like, it's kind of interesting, because you don't think that when they're on stage, and they're so flamboyant. And But yeah, I mean, players, I think guitar players in general, there's always exceptions to the rule, but I remember when I saw he dating myself here, so 1968, Elvis had his comeback special. And it was a big deal. It was in color on TV. Family just
recently got a color TV. So we're watching it. And of course, my mom and my aunt are looking at Elvis, and they're like, Oh, he's so so great. And so good looking. And me and my dad, my dad never played an instrument but he but he loved music. And we're looking at Elvis guitar playing Scotty Moore. And I'm like, Scotty is the guy behind? And I'm like, I want to be like that guy. And I think, you know, all of my heroes were, you know, Jimmy Page had this sense of mystery. I'm Tony Iommi, sense of
mystery. We're not the guy in the front, the ringleader with a guy. But it's more more like directors really kind of like, you know, working on the script and making sure all of this works together. And I think a lot of guitar players have that personality. Yeah, like I said, there's always exceptions. Well, yeah, one exception, I would say is slash he's definitely stands out. Tell me the story about how the first time you met him at
the rainbow. That was kind of an interesting, I heard you talking telling the story on another show. Yeah, slash is actually pretty shy guy, though. he's not. He's certainly not allowed now. I mean, when he's on stage, you know, that's when I learned as a character because I think beginning because it had and just the way he plays. Yeah. And I could see him being shot.
That's interesting. So, you know, I, I remember that always be, you know, particularly I won't name the name, but there was a musician who was a huge I was huge fan of, and it was disappointing to be them, because they were maybe, maybe they just had a bad day or whatever. But it kind of blew me off. And, you know, when I said I'd love this record, and I love, you know, how did you come up with this? And so evidently, when I'm, when I did meet slash, I wasn't aware I met him before.
So he was in Velvet Revolver By this time, and he's rehearsing and I, and we, you know, they had won the Grammy. And, and all of us Rockers, were really glad for that band, because it was the one rock band that was on the charts and selling records, you know, that was still at a classic rock sound. And I think he's one of the best emissaries for. He's a great ambassador for guitar. And he's a perfect example of a guy who has the technical ability, but also loves being in a band and
working with a singer. And he's got it, you can tell slash in three notes. And I think that's the real test. So I saw him and I said, hey, it's great to meet you. Congratulations on the Grammy and he goes, we've met before. So really, I don't I don't remember cuz, yeah, you kind of blew me you off rainbow. I go, When was this? He goes, Yeah, I was. I was still in high school or something or just out of high school. And I guess he was just some kid, you know? Yeah. Like,
yeah. And I was like, I go, I apologize, man. Just I go. You know, I really apologize. That's not me. Maybe I was preoccupied to sell a good sport about it, but I didn't remember it at all. Yeah. Have you ever had the opposite effect where like, let's say A fan reaches out to you and, you know tells you like you, you saved my life like either you know, your music, your music, or they found inspiration from your guitar playing and help propel them
forward or things like that. Um, yeah, I mean, now When, when, you know, we well before COVID, we were doing meet and greets. And I mean billion I really love doing meet and greets, because we've we've got a long, you know, our relationship for these fans has outlasted some of their
parents. Or the you know, they remember the first time that they brought home Rebel Yell in their parent, you know, maybe their dad was so as shut that shit off, you know, and maybe their dad's passed away, and they come see us and they remember all this stuff. And, you know, now some of them have kids and they're turning it off. So for us, this bill, we we like doing meet and greets, because, for some reason, Billy Idol fans, it's deserved. It's, it's
a lot of them. It's a It's a special connection to the music. When you meet somebody who says well, they battled, you know, cancer, and listening to the music help them through chemo or radiation or, you know, and it gave them inspiration and, you know, eyes without a face when they got married to it or something. That's such a payoff for us. And, and we get a lot of those fans and it really does mean something beyond just playing music. You know, that's super
cool. I'm curious, like, why do you think that you made it? I mean, cuz I would say you've made it I mean, you're Billy, I mean, just won a Grammy so much success, all these mazing musicians you've worked with? Like, why do you think you made it and others don't? Because I feel like there's a lot of people who drop out of school to plan a rock band, and they don't have the same happy ending that you do. So what do you think sets you apart? Is it just strictly talent? Or is it
hard work or combination? or,
um, you know, this, it was a lot of great guitar players that, that I was a big be friends with in my neighborhood. Yeah. local heroes, guitar players that never became successful or whatever. Um, I think a lot of it is being humble, you know, and allowing,
you know,
I don't know, taking direction and, and, and being a fan of, and respecting the other person, or people that you work with, you know, you've got to have that. And if that's why bands break up because they lose respect for each other. And then it becomes about the money
and is fighting and isn't it? I think I think one of the reasons it's always worked with Billy is because he really, you know, he does have the final say, now I'm his partner and we live together and all that, but it's a Billy Idol record at the end of the
day. And we always have a joke, like, if I came up with a part and, you know, with it, or if there was a guitar solo that was wasn't appropriate, what he noticed, go save it for your own records, you know, be like, okay, you know, yeah, and Mmm hmm. And also, you know, he knows I'm not gonna bullshit him, you know, I'm not gonna, you know, he knows by now that you know, if it's a good musical idea, or what we're collaborating on, I'm not going to blow smoke up the guys but
it's that's pointless. He doesn't need me for that. So I think honesty you have to have people skills you have to sometimes be humble and and also understand what it is that the other person that you're working with is looking for,
you know, that's interesting. Yeah, that's you also had an interesting quote. So I don't know if people know your story, but you know, used to have addiction. Typical rock star story went through the, you know, party lifestyle too hard, and then you got sober. But it was an interesting you said the, or actually, this wasn't your quote, a quote that you heard was a people at a meeting, it said that someone said this
drinking the poison. And if you're drinking alcohol, I'm assuming they're talking about drinking the poison and expecting the other person to die. That's a really interesting quote about alcohol.
Well, what yeah, it's it pertains to a lot of a lot of people. You know, I'm not I'm not like a staunch a gay person or anything. It just, yeah, you know, when something ceases to work for you, in the
80s. You know, we went from from playing tiny little clubs, at the beginning of Rebel Yell to playing arenas, and you know, playing to 20,000 people a night and that adrenaline rush, and the fact that you're selling records and you're becoming this, you know, this hugely successful thing, that adrenaline rush on stage for two and a half hours was so intense, that when you immediately got on a tour, To take that seven hour ride, it was painful to crash like that you're you're, you're
up here. And so we found that that, that alcohol and coke enabled you to keep that and kind of for a while it worked to come in for a landing. By the time you got to the hotel, and you even crash, wake up and do the soundcheck and do the whole thing again, eventually it doesn't work. Right. But but it was to avoid that, that, that the emotional and physical crash that you know that now we're much better at dealing with things like that, but we didn't
have any of those tools. And also everyone in the business to drugs. Yeah, you know, you go into the day in our meeting with with label and they chop out mines and stuff like that. So crazy. So how do you deal with it? Now? How do you deal with a crash? Now? You said you're better at what you meditate? No, first of all, my wife travels with me. Oh, when we when we met, we've been together 18
years now. And, and, and one of the things that happens is you travel the world and you as a musician, you never get to see anything. Right? See the hotel room in the dressing room. And that's and and my wife just has the kind of personality she can hang with the other band members. And she comes in does helps with the meet and greet and wardrobe. And she's like one of the she really is one of the crew. When she comes out. She'll do a what everybody loves her.
And it's it's not for every spouse because you don't want to Yoko Ono. But for us it works. Yeah. And, and she's really a team player. And also, you know, just get to the point where you just, you know, time to grow up, you know, I mean, it's, and you have to find you know, you're never going to play and perform as good as you are sober. You might think it's really good when you're stoned. But it's not, you know, you listen back to it and go shit didn't sound
that way in my head. Right? But you usually do the stuff after the show. Right? Or where you got for me for me? I couldn't play. Hi, I've never recorded Hi. I mean, if people go Yeah, sure. No, I've never, because I couldn't. I was useless. So so just wait till afterwards or whatever. But I mean, as you as you, as you mature, you gain a respect for you songs, you get a respect for the guys on stage for you. You don't want to let
them down. You don't want the audience to be the one saying Yeah, I saw Rm 85 and 85 he was so much better. No, I want them to go while those guys are better than they've ever been. And we try and do that every night. So you still get the adrenaline going from A to right. Did you that never goes away. I'm not nervous. If I'm not a little nervous before I go on, something's wrong. Oh,
you actually get a little nervous. It's almost like
it's a little bit of adrenaline and nerves. Especially, I would say when we do like a festival gig, because there's a lot of other bands on it. And you want to kind of be the one to go. Yeah, well, we've got Rebel Yell and dance with myself, you know, because that's like your secret weapon. robbing those, having those tunes playing some guitar player may get up there and play the most incredible solo or whatever.
But, you know, the like Aerosmith when they get on stage and they have those songs, or kiss or whatever without those songs. It's like, that's the secret weapon. You know. I always say that, you know, our best special effect we don't have, we don't have Pyro anything. Our best special effect is our chemistry on stage. You know, just just hopefully like like making key for any of those. Great duo's. Yeah, I've never seen you guys
live. I really want to hopefully you come to Phoenix when this whole thing is over with a COVID and pandemic and stuff. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
So you've done you've done some charity gigs. So you work with a lot of charities rock rock to recovery, music cares. adopt the arts. at national independent venue Association, save our stages. You work with veterans as well.
Yeah, we've done of course, yeah, we've done stuff for wounded warriors. And I did actually Matt Knight did a song with a guy I wish I remember his name but he was a he's a wounded warrior who played guitar and sang kind of a country artists and they said would you do something to raise money? Because actually, he has PTSD. And and Jean and Paul from kiss actually helped him in his wife get a house. They You know, this is not not this is the stuff that people don't hear
about. But they they raise money for the guy without any without people knowing and Matt and I met them and we said, Well, why don't we do a song with you? You know, neat, the guy was like, What? Let's say, you know, you're not gonna come in the studio and just sit on your ass, we're gonna put you to work. So we did this, we did a song with the guys kind of a country outside Mark something. I forgot
his name. So we did that. And then how would you I mean, percentage of the I have a signature guitar with nags guitars, and the percentage goes to musicares, a small percentage, and also the I have a guitar pedal with a company called j rocket, and 20% of all of j rockets proceeds go to Children's Cancer Fund. So, you know, it doesn't take too much to like, work out a deal where you a little bit of percentage of something is going to go to help people and
yeah, that's super cool.
It's not real, it doesn't take a lot of effort to do that. So
have you ever played the Top Gun theme, like on an aircraft carrier for the Air Force? Not for the Air Force, but we did the video I was on top of the plane have kind of done that twice. Not that I don't like heights. So I was like, I'm not doing that again. That would just be I think that'd be a good morale boost to the troops. So if they just like all of a sudden you came out from under the floor plan the guitar, but saw I'd love
to do it. You know? There's a Top Gun too. That's supposed to Yeah, are you part of that? Yeah, well, I think they're using my, my, they've gone in and use the master. Okay, from the original. So more than willing to do the aircraft for them.
That's cool. And then so you have a new website, Steve Stevens guitar.com, where people can buy merch, I want to buy one of those Reagan's only like $25, you can because you do the reagan sound weather and you can actually buy, you can buy just the ray gun, which I would probably just get the regular one. But you can also buy the one that's like made to actually play on the guitar like you've re engineered it or something.
Yeah, people would always ask me about it. And I had one. And actually I owned one because these were the kind that I use. I go in and doctor, they were made in the 70s. And there's a certain time, you have to have the speaker on the right kind, all this kind of stuff. So I had one and some girl stole it off the stage at Brixton Academy in England, and we put the word out through the road crew, and she returned it.
Oh, that's good.
She didn't ever have a choice. That's good. And so, so what happened was, you know, people would ask me in the email or whatever, and say, Hey, man, how do I get one of these? And I'd say, you know, they're not easily available. Well, I came across 25 of them that were brand new, from the 70s. So I adopted them and I made them available offline. They sold out
in one day. Oh, easy. So those ones are but the other ones are for the cheaper ones are like $25 ones are still there that Yeah, they just like things that I'll sign. Yeah,
that's cool. And then you do cameo, you're on cameo if people want to. You don't necessarily give a lesson over camera, but if there's like a specific lick that somebody wants to help you have helped for me, you can show them that or just say happy birthday or something. Right.
Yeah, I mean, I don't you know, none of that stuff is is sacred to me if they have, it's not a guitar lesson. But if they have, you know, I get a mixture. Some people want, you know, happy birthday greeting or something or, you
know, whatever. But a lot of, you know, people write in and say, you know, that the first part of such and such song or, you know, the solo in this, I can't figure out how to do it, and I'll show them you know, it's not some, you know, I enjoy passing on whatever knowledge I have. That's cool. And you're on Twitter now. Your manager tells me I'm on Twitter. Yeah, I resisted for years, or is it scary? It's kind of like twit to me Twitter feels like a
minefield like I don't know. Oh my god, oh my gosh, what did I just step into like you you feel the same way you just go on and post your stuff and then get out anything that I'm involved in my wife is usually involved in it. She's got over a million followers online and
she has a million now
between Twitter and Facebook and all that kind of, I guess cumulatively she has a you know an audience of a million well over a million and she's really active in that in social media she she gets it more Yeah, I do. So anytime I would do something she would post it and say oh check out
Steve's thing. So I kind of avoided Twitter but now I kind of like being able to tweet back some of some of my musician friends are on there and off call if they're doing something I go Yeah, you know good luck to you whatever. You know I I'm not like I'm not like on there every day right? I check in Yeah, so yeah, what is your wife was on that married to rock you guys got actually got married on that show? Like is she doing more reality TV or she I know she's making the mask. What other
projects she has? You want to plug her stuff? Yeah, she yells You know, we did that show and it was it was actually a lot of fun to do. I had the easy job because I was on on the road and mostly more about the wives and yeah, we were that show. They pitched the show to us because we I was already friends with Billy Duffy and his girl and Jeff and Susan McKagan and, and, and, and Perry Ferro, we were already friends we were already doing shows together kings of
chaos, or whatever it was. So it was just a matter of like a camera in the room to capture what was going on and, and my wife is, you know, she's so larger than life. But she's, she's the opposite of introvert of me. And I think that's why it works because she's she's really outgoing. And she's all personality. Anyway, she's, she's perfect for TV. She want to do my show. Maybe I should have her on. Oh, man, she's, yeah, she's much more interested in it. I will tell you what
way man I'm telling this is surreal right now because like I said, I had the Vince Neil CD. I remember I have the it's like I could see the picture of you in it. And it was like, I'm looking at all the song notes and that you wrote the songs and like, I love that album. It was really it really made me a fan. I've tried to follow your career since then. And then when you did Sebastian Bach's album, two, I was like, Oh my god, like he's working with all my like, favorite
singers like, it's great. Like, of course, I love Billy Idol too. And he's classic song. So I hope I can see you guys live sometime. And then last thing I think I need to plug is this rock and roll fantasy camp that you're doing on October 11. There's that already filled that says 25 person Max, I think
No, I think that this is the second one. The first one. First one we had to actually add. People we went way past 25. And I've done it's an extension of the rock and roll fantasy camp where you actually go in person, you sign up and you're in a room and, and I was curious how they were going to do this. But it's, it's really cool. It's um, you know, everybody is on zoom much like this. And they get to ask questions and I get to share.
You know, sometimes they'll ask me something I have never even thought about and and like I said, you know, man, when I was a 14 year old kid, if I could have asked, you know, Jimmy Page or somebody Yeah, out a song and had him show me or some knowledge about a, you know, a lot of people, you know, ask about how do you get a guitar sound or recording or so I didn't do it. You know, it's it's, like I said, if I can pass on some of this stuff going on in my head. Yeah. It's probably
useful to somebody. Well, that's great. Well, thank you. So I hope I didn't miss any there's anything else you want to plug at this point, or? No, I think we covered it.
Okay. Thanks, Steve. I really appreciate it is surreal for me. So a lot of fun. And I'll try to get this up soon. All right, my pleasure. Okay, thanks, Steve. Stay healthy. So despite all my research, I've never heard that Sebastian Bach or Mick Jagger story. So so many fun stories, just great advice from him. He's just such a humble and cool dude. You know, it's fun to chat with him. And again, very surreal to me. Because I grew up such a fan. You know, I want to
thank Steve, for coming on. And I want to thank his manager Ken for having the patience to set this up. Make sure you check out Steve's website, Steve Stevens
guitar.com. And again, he's on cameo Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, make sure to follow him so you'll get the updates on his upcoming record with Billy Idol, his solo record, and all the other work that he's doing plus the rock and roll fantasy camp, does charity work, etc. so much things with him, but if you liked this interview, you can support the show by following me
on social media. Write me a nice review on iTunes, where you just slip cash in my Venmo thanks for listening and remember to shoot for the moon.