MYLES KENNEDY

So Miles Kennedy, one of my early wishlist dream guests when I came up with this concept. It's interesting because I... did another interview earlier today with a filmmaker and we were talking about, you know, the famous Alfred Hitchcock series of interviews where he did the deep dive on his entire filmography. And that's really... in a less sophisticated way of what I'm aiming to do with this discdive series where I'd sit with an artist like yourself who has a discography worth exploring.

and we do studio album by studio album the whole thing so you know and I've been for the most part skipping EPs and live albums just for the sake of sanity and time obviously right but yeah and you know in some records it's a minute or two of conversation some records it's a lot longer and just kind of depends where the conversation takes us cool so I would love to begin with something i very likely don't know um prior to cosmic dust even was there an earlier like what was your first

experience in a recording studio, whether or not it resulted in an official release or not? When was the first time you were like, I'm making music and I'm in a studio and that's legit? Well, believe it or not, that would be... If I'm not mistaken, coming up on 23, no wait, 23, geez, 33 years ago. So I was a kid and... We had this band called Bittersweet, and we were kind of, you know, part of what was going on. We were into a lot of what was happening at the time in the mid to late 80s.

And so we did our first recording. We recorded two songs, and it was in the summer of 87, if I'm not mistaken. We had a song called Lonely Nights and a song called... We stand together. Very much of the era. Oh, yeah. It was full on, you know. But it was cool, you know. It was like, and the guy who recorded us.

he understood we were just these kids and we were all just excited to be in there. And it ended up being a very cool experience and kind of a precursor to what I would spend my life doing, you know? Yeah. And were you... playing guitar and singing or just guitar or just singing or what did you do in that for in that band i was just playing guitar so we had a singer his name is jason stewart and uh and the drummer and interestingly enough uh z u dean he's the drummer

who's on the most recent solo record I just finished, and also the first solo record. Just an old friend, amazing, crazy good drummer. But yeah, so I was just playing the guitar. It was fun. So, and he's played with you in, I mean, we'll be hearing about him again here in just a couple of records, right? Didn't he play in another band coming up?

But yeah, so let's talk about the first thing that I have, and this is also an opportunity to correct the record, no pun intended, if any of this is wrong, but the Cosmic Dust album Journey. Would that be your first? Full length album. Does it say anywhere where, like the date that was recorded? I want to say it was like 91. It says 91 is what I mean. 91. Okay. So yeah, that would have been the first official recording. And what's interesting is that.

That was recorded in a weekend. It was done at the community college where I met these guys. These guys were all my teachers, basically. And these were like jazz fusion guys, right? Yeah, they were really... talented drafts fusion guys and and for some reason they thought it would be a good idea to bring in this idiot student to play guitar and uh and so i was just trying to i was just

there's one of those things where i'm hanging on for dear life these are guys who are twice my age have tons of experience and um we're suddenly in a recording studio and it's recording live this was before pro tools or anything so it's basically like and it's improvisation so you go through which is talk about a daunting task you know talk about red light phobia you know and um but some what's fascinating about that record is that it's

you know so many people have discovered it and it was just kind of this one weekend thing I kind of forgot about it and so little was put into it you know in terms of you know production and all they was just like here everybody set up in your in your location and we'll start recording and then go home and that's it

Yeah. And of course there's a certain magic to that, right? Like an old punk seven inch or, you know, this, this stuff where there's a kind of a brilliance in restriction, you know, like when you think about.

John Carpenter's original Halloween he's got like two weeks in Pasadena with you know no money and no name actors versus like a Halloween film that gets made decades later with a multi-million dollar budget and it's like and yet somehow there's something more magical and pure about that first one even though he didn't have the resources to do everything he thought he wanted to having those restrictions ended up making something cooler

It's interesting how that works, right? With records, that seems to be a thing. I didn't realize that about my wife and I just watched that like two weeks ago. Oh, wow. Yeah.

I just love that era. And it's interesting hearing that information. I didn't realize that, but it makes sense. It has that quality. It's like you're capturing... lightning in a bottle for whatever reason you're not overthinking it and you don't have all this money to make it too slick and I yeah I think that happens with recordings and I think that that's why a lot of the records we love

From the 60s and 70s, there's a certain thing because they weren't overthinking it. Yeah, there's imperfections and there's the tempos off. There's no grid to lock everything into. Yeah, the original Halloween. It takes place in Haddonfield, but there are palm trees visible a couple of times. It's like there were no digital painters to go in and clean that up.

But it's part of the beauty of it. You know, as a nerd, I like nerding out on those little imperfections, you know, or you can see a, gosh, I was watching a YouTube video the other day. about these old Star Trek episodes and even the next generation that when they started coming out on Blu-ray, you know, they weren't filmed with that kind of crystal clear clarity and giant.

TVs in mind so suddenly you can see like nails and parts of the sets and you know boom mics reflecting in the corner somewhere and but it's part of the part of the charm. So this brings us into like a full on band, Citizen Swing. And we got a couple of records from Citizen Swing. What can you tell me about that?

the formation of that band and you know and stepping up as a front man and uh you know the role that that citizen swing played in your eventual evolution that got you to where you are now

What's interesting about that is that was born out of me doing session work. I never intended, well, I don't want to say never intended, as a... young person sure you fantasize about making records and being you know a recording artist but it just seems so out of reach for somebody where i lived here in spokane and and so

I was doing a session because that was what I wanted to do. I wanted to teach and I wanted to be a session guitar player during the day. I mean, you know, just kind of somehow scheduled all together. And I did a session with a gentleman who was actually Dionne Warwick's musical director, who just so happened to live here. His name was Joe Close. Amazing.

really talented like had jazz chops and was just he was the real deal and a lot of people really looked looked up to him around the community and then a a woman named carolyn lawson who they had done some things together and He wasn't one of her psychic friends, was he? No. I don't know. I don't know what the exact connection is. My Generation X is showing right now. But we...

I get a call from them a few weeks after the session. They're like, hey, you know, we were thinking we really liked working with you. Would you be interested in maybe... like trying to make a record to make a long story short they were the people who planted the seed like have you ever thought of like singing and writing and making records and i was like i don't that seems really unrealistic

And somehow they were able to finagle this deal, like for this, it was training wheels as far as a record deal goes, but it facilitated making this record.

And what you hear there on that first Citizen Swing record is somebody who is just learning how to write songs. It was essentially documenting some of the very first... full-on songs that that i was part of writing and the lyrics on that first record those were her lyrics that was the deal i'd write the music and come up with the melodies and she'd write the lyrics so it was a very interesting period but it

then evolved into the next record where we were all it was actually a band by the point it wasn't like a solo artist and then it it was it was the many uh the many different dynamics that happen when you start playing with an actual band. And so it was fun. And that happens even later when you think about like, you know, the Foo Fighters, like that first record's just Dave Grohl and then, you know, eventually becomes a band or as we will, of course, get to the Conspirators in a bit.

How do you feel when you hear Citizen Swing now? Or when's the last time that that happened that you... had occasion to like, I'm going to listen to that. Or it was someone was listening, making you listen to it or whatever the case may be. I, I generally. I generally don't go back and listen to anything that I do because I'll pick it apart. But I do remember it came on like Shuffle or something years ago. That's usually what'll get you. Yeah, that's what'll get that damn Shuffle.

And then it ruins my day. But yeah, you know, it was one of those things where when I heard it, I kind of chuckled just because first I had no idea artistically what I was. And I hadn't really established. I knew what I didn't want to do. And that's the one thing I do respect about that period. Just over the hill in Seattle, things were starting to happen. I think we started recording that probably in...

late 91, 92, and we knew about Soundgarden, we knew about Alice in Chains. At that point, we didn't know just how big it was going to get. And the one thing that I told myself is they have their scene. I'm gonna try and do something totally different. And at that point, I was listening to a lot of Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone. I was playing in cover bands as well. And it was basically an R&B cover band. So a lot of that was influencing me.

So that's where I drew from musically. But it was... It was interesting because I remember when we came out in this part of the world, there were people who liked it who were like, oh, it's different. But then there were people who just hated it because like, what are they doing? It's like this funky, you know, they didn't know.

what it was it's not tuned down it's not grungy and he's not screaming and so yeah it was an interesting why isn't this guy more depressed yeah exactly exactly and why do we hear trumpets yeah i mean but there is something to be instead too for the idea of knowing what you don't want to do. And I mean, if you think about, there are so many, there are movements in art, film, you know, literature that are defined by its opposition.

you know of like okay and not to say that you were confronting what was happening there but that you saw what was going on nearby and said okay i'm gonna consciously steer away and do something else i mean there's some there's something to be said for that for sure and like you said the training wheels of an early record deal but that's an important step too right is at the time of course you don't have any

concept or context for what those will be like later in life. So in that moment, you're like, I have a record deal, you know, right? I mean, I'm signed to a record label. This is crazy. Like that had to have been its own milestone, right? Yeah, you know what, Ryan, I consider myself really lucky that that happened because what it afforded me the luxury of was refining the vision. It got me...

Those training wheels got me on the bike, you know, and it sent me kind of sent me down the road and I made a lot of mistakes. Frankly, for a long, long time, I still didn't really know what I was artistically. i would kind of go through phases where i'd start listening to one guy and then absorb too much of it and and uh i had to learn it was it was an education but i'm really grateful that i had an education with um you know

Some small record label helping out and helping. Yeah, and having some people around you and getting to play in different genres. And yeah, as you said, it's interesting. You know, I hear stories of comedians as they're...

building their act and finding what their persona is and and you'll hear them talk about how their early shows they were just doing George Carlin or they were just doing prior they didn't realize even how much and then they start to kind of find themselves and I think that you're

It's a great advantage for you, and I think this will become clear as we keep going forward in your discography. You had an opportunity to make mistakes and to play with different people and to have different... business deals and you know write different kinds of songs and different genres a little bit out of the spotlight versus some of these cats you think about where they have a

platinum record right out of the gate and they're 19 and then they're defined by that one record for the rest of their life and they're either trying to chase it or get away from it or uh or they're you know the sophomore slump right like you're watching everybody go through their growing pains on the most massive scale i think it's pretty cool the route that you took and

similar artists when they go on this path where you got to really develop and find yourself you know organically yeah mental growth absolutely i'm really i'm really really

I can't emphasize how grateful I am that it worked out that way. Because I see these young artists occasionally who'll come out and it's just a rocket ship and it just takes off. And I'm like, man, I hope they're ready for... for this i hope that they this is really who they want to be because this is this is what their brand is now and and um and i think that for me personally i am in every way a late bloomer i was a late bloomer

From a biological standpoint, when I was 16, 17, I still looked like, I mean, I barely hit puberty yet. So it was kind of the same thing for me creatively, where it just took a long time to bloom and figure out. where I belonged. Yeah, I think that's cool. And then that leads us from Citizen Swing and those two records into the Mayfield Four. That's next on the map. Yeah, Mayfield Four. So that was the first.

band that got like a legit major label deal. We signed with Epic in, I believe, early 97. And we were... What happened was interesting because... Citizen Swing broke up in 96, and what happened was that the drummer left to go play with a band called Shovel Jerk, who was, they were a band that got signed to Capricorn.

which I believe is the All My Brothers label. And they were a great band, had some really, really great songs. So my drummer, Mike, went to go play with them. And then their drummer was like... It just so happened to be Zia from way back in high school who played in Bittersweet with me. And we were like, let's do this again, man. So we did.

we somehow got a major label deal within, it was under a year. And that was crazy. That was a very exciting time. You know, it's interesting when I think about that era. I get excited because it was all the rock and roll cliches you hear about, you know, we're these kids in Spokane. Although half the band actually, Zia by that point lived in Seattle, as did our bass player Marty. He lived in Seattle as well, and then Craig and I.

lived in Spokane. So we literally travel, you know, five hours every other weekend to each other city to practice, play gigs. And then labels started coming around and we had like... They were flying us to New York and showing up at our house with limousines and, you know, back in the gold, kind of the gold, the end. The wine and dining of the A&R. Right, right. Or Amex card. Exactly.

and those back when that sort of thing still happened but uh it was exciting you know it was cool and we we got to work with like a first our first big producer was jerry harrison who who was from the chalk the talking heads and And learned a lot from that whole experience. And this is also at a time when the brand name of the...

I mean, gosh, remember eras where you would buy something based on what label it was on? Knowing that that was like a stamp of quality. And Epic has such a great legacy as its own label. And I'm trying to think. Gosh, the late 90s. I remember Oasis was on Epic in the States, probably at that time, right? They were. Oasis was. Pearl Jam was.

Rage Against the Machine was. And that was actually part of the reason that we signed with that label. Columbia was interested, RCA was interested, a cool label called Time Bomb was interested. And part of the reason we ended up going with Epic, besides the fact that you're talking about, you know, like some of the records you grow up listening to and you look at them. Yeah, exactly.

We even insisted on using the old Epic logo on the first record. But like the second record I ever had was the first Boston record. So that was Epic, you know, and so to be on that was really cool. But yeah, I mean, we were really feeling the love from them, so we signed with them, and we're with them for the next five years, I think. And that first record...

I mean, there's the Marvin Gaye song on there. It seems very transitional in terms of your discography, looking at the arc of it, in that it has some of the soul and funk a little bit. from earlier stuff that you were doing but is also steering more towards and certainly on that second record from what i've heard of it is more hard rock oriented and things like that talk to me a little bit about that transition and the kind of

songs you were interested in writing and what part this played in, you know, cementing your identity, so to speak. Well, that was interesting because the first record was... Born out of being isolated and not doing a lot of touring, except in the Pacific Northwest here. And so we weren't exposed to a lot of the rest of the nation, what was happening, other than what you'd see through.

mtv or that back when they still show videos and um and i was definitely once again like i alluded to earlier a little bit of an identity crisis i i discovered Jeff Buckley a few years prior and you can hear on some of those songs there was a heavy dose of that and it was really into Radiohead and

And that was something that, in fact, when we were making, right before we were about to make that record, the Fallout record, the first Mayfield record, Jerry Harrison, before he went in the studio, said, Don't listen to, because the new Radiohead was coming out. Okay, computer. He's like, do not listen to it.

And I was like, why? He goes, because you'll end up absorbing it and you want to, that'll become part of the DNA for the record. You want to be, you want to be your own thing. And, and so that was a great, that was a really great piece of advice. So by the time we got to the second record, we toured pretty extensively, like over a year, just in a van in a trailer. And what I learned as a writer was the idea of...

not being afraid to rock. If you're going to go out there and get in front of people, what gets people moving? What gets kind of... brings the uh the overall uh energy of the room up and i i became less afraid of the riff you know and and because a lot of that was just what was happening in the 90s there was there was this reaction where riff

Rage Against the Machine definitely shoots that theory to hell because they were based on that riff and it was powerful. What if we did Led Zeppelin and someone rapped over it? genius right so yeah I mean I think it was that second skin record we were starting to kind of

And as a writer, I felt like I was starting to find my place. It was starting to come together, but I still had a long ways to go. It's interesting what you reference again about the absorption thing is I think that that's something people who aren't artists.

or don't work in the creative field, maybe don't quite understand because certainly there are knockoffs where it's like, okay, this band is just doing this thing or whatever. But I think it's much more common that it's coming from a place of purity.

And it's just unconscious, you know, of absorbing kind of vibe. I mean, lifting a melody or something is one thing, but kind of vibe. Because every great band... is really just the sum of like all the ingredients right that went into making those people who they are and then comes out in a unique way because of their own experiences but it's pieces of other stuff you know it's funny because right in that same era

I was still living in Indiana where I grew up. Tie this into two things we're talking about here. We had a band. who was, you know, local band who hadn't really played much outside of the Midwest that went into that same situation where they were being courted by major labels. taken out the dinners and flown to New York and flown to California. And they ended up signing with an imprint called Sony 550. And they made a really cool, it was a band called Old Pike. And they were...

One of the guitar players actually is in the band My Morning Jacket now. So he did okay. But they were like a cool kind of Americana, early Springsteen, Stones-y kind of thing made a cool record. So they went on tour with the band Train, who I think they were label mates with and was also just taking off. And they toured together quite a bit. They watched each other play every night. They jammed together.

you know different times and train puts out a song called drops of jupiter and it is very much an old pike song really do the point that the old pike guys went uh hey uh and the train guys went oops and they you know they care co-writing and publishing and you know it all got worked out uh amicably

But it was just a total, like, you know, those guys weren't like, we're going to rip off this part of this whole Pike song. It was just like, we're, our bands are very similar. We're hanging out all the time. We're on the same label. We're on tour together. You know, it's, it, it ties into.

what you were talking about, about absorbing things. And it also ties into, you know, I think especially really every decade until this one, there's an idea when you're a musician, right, that all it's going to take is a major label. You know, when the major label gets involved, it's a magic wand and it's like, I've been discovered, you know, and now I'm going to be put into the machine and whatever voodoo goes on with making you a successful rock musician.

like i'm plugged in i'm on my way and the reality of course is you know it's a small percentage of the acts that even make it that far then make it to the next couple of stages and how many stories there are of, I mean, I imagine every town has their local hero band that almost got there, right? So as the Mayfield Four, after that second record was out,

Was there, I'm trying to think of the right way to describe it, like a coming down period almost of like, man, I thought this was going one way and it's kind of plateaued and what do I do now? Did you have any kind of... Oh yeah. Crisis of faith in that moment. Crisis was an understatement. It was a tough time. Actually it was, but I think probably maybe the most difficult time in my life.

post childhood life just because yeah like you'd so beautifully articulated you think that when you get the big deal then you're off to the races and what we didn't realize was that only i think that at that time somebody to manager told me only five percent of the bands who get signed ever actually sell any, even recoup the advance that they get for the records. And that was the label's excuse for why the deals were so disproportionately...

in favor of the label versus the band because they were like, we're taking all these risks and spending all this money on all these bands and only a couple are going to work. Exactly. And those couple that work get to pay for everybody else. Exactly. So that was something that I learned. And by 2002, I'm back at home, not touring anymore. And it was really...

When I talk about this period, I always use the word crestfallen because that's, I think, the word that sums it up. I just felt really just disillusioned and I think really wondering what the next step was.

and i went back to teaching guitar and i fortunately met my my future wife and that was thank goodness for that man because i was i was not in a good place mentally um So, yeah, there was well over a year of... trying to figure out what was next and i didn't even know if i wanted to be a recording artist in fact i even had an offer to audition for something that ended up being a you know a big band and i respectfully declined because i just knew i wasn't

mentally there i would be useless um so so yeah it was it was a needed it was a needed uh power down and reboot and your identity gets so wrapped up as a person in When you have a career in the arts and it's something you love and are passionate about, that's just so much who you are. And then you wake up one morning and you're not the guy from the Mayfield Four.

you know and you don't have a tour itinerary in front of you or whatever yeah there's it's a whole mind trip right where you have to like you said power down and kind of reboot and i would imagine there was there was a moment there where you thought I guess I'm going to be one of those guys that got to make some records and see part of the world. And that was that, you know? So how does that then lead us to one day remains? Cause that's the next.

album. Yeah. So that would have been, so I got the call from Mark Tremonti in I think right around Thanksgiving, right around this time in 2003. And you're in November birthday also, right? Yeah. Yeah. Are you in November birthday? Mine was the seventh about two weeks ago. Right on. Mine's exactly 20 days later. Well, happy birthday. Happy almost birthday. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I mean, he called, which really blew my mind, just because at that point, I thought I'd been out.

of the kind of the orbit, the rock and roll orbit long enough to where I thought that was pretty much it. And I was working on a solo record, actually. I was working on... something totally different. It wasn't even really a rock thing. It was just very acoustic. It was kind of what I ended up doing. Yeah. It was more along those lines. So I was, I was surprised and I, I,

I wasn't sure until he sent some demos whether it would even be the right fit for what I could bring to the party. You know who he is, and you might get a vibe on the phone and everything, but you don't know what the new band is going to sound like. Exactly. So, you know, sent the demo. I put the vocals on top and sent it back. And then within, I don't know, less than, I don't know.

five weeks or something, I'm suddenly in Orlando and we're making a record. We're starting the whole process. And it was interesting because I didn't even know if I was in the band for the first... four months i was just i mean i called my wife well i'm here and we're working on stuff but no one's told me anything it wasn't until this uh there was this uh

initiation he thought mark thought it would be really funny to see me squirm it was the world's highest free fall it was like 300 feet and you basically drop but you've got this cables you know kind of keeping you from death. And that was his way of initiating me. No, thank you. Hate heights. Yeah, me too. You give me like two stories up and that's, I'm good.

that's enough it's far enough right um yeah i love those those stories too by the way where i mean for some reason i'm thinking about gary charone where he's just writing songs with eddie van halen and they're recording stuff and then he's out here in california and then he hears like oh they're going to the mtv awards with david lee roth but don't worry you're you're

in the band we think and then he was in the band you know and then they made an album and i just i kind of like there's something almost childlike a kind of mischief even in that when there isn't a conversation about what exactly we're doing. It's like a relationship, right? Like hanging out with somebody and it's like, are we dating? Are we a thing? What's going on here? Yeah, exactly.

it seems like that's got to be more fun than the sort of uh mechanical way that it goes down sometimes yeah it was definitely not it was not mechanical it was it was uh it was definitely very um it was like It would just kind of evolved and then it became a thing. And I think what's interesting about that is if you would have told me 16, nearly 17 years later, that we'd still be doing it.

I would have been shocked and I'll tell you why because I at that point was such a realist to the point where I was a pessimist and I understood shelf lives of bands and especially bands who've had that kind of success in a prior band and I Even though I... people would say that they won't get back together and this, that, and the other. In the back of my mind, it was like, well, you know, we'll see. And I'll just enjoy this process and we'll make some music and we'll tour and see what happens.

to have about it though honestly because it's so rare that anyone gets the first go around let alone the second bite of the apple and it is like you said regardless of how anyone feels and it's not to take anything away from those from the truth of those feelings in that moment but we've all seen this movie before where you know eventually the tide changes a little bit and and yeah and there are sort of um and yet

I would argue, even for Tremonti and even for him having different bands and for you having different bands, I think Alter Bridge is the thing that you're both the most associated with. at this point you know what I mean like when we think about like who is Miles Kennedy who is Mark Tremonti it's like oh they're the guys from Alter Bridge and then there's the other stuff that you guys do that makes sense yeah and that's quite a victory considering you know

where that started is more of a super group or somebody's new project or the band after the band or you know and yeah as you said oftentimes those have a shelf life where it's it's kind of a novelty that first album and people check it out and then it tapers off yeah yeah it's absolutely right and i and i'm just i'm sure i'm pleasantly surprised let's put it that way that you know we're still doing and i think ultimately it's because

The fan base that we kind of had to win over show by show. It was a long... there was a lot of touring and a lot of just building up the old fashion because we never really had a massive hit you know we'd never been like well what creed was is they had huge hits and you know they had a label that put everything into that band and made you know in conjunction with great songs and and and it made it happen and and with all with with a b it's been a

We were always having to kind of prove ourselves because of where it came from. So there was that initial like, well, they're just shutting the door on the band. I mean, the story that always... sticks with me is the first record came out and we were in the uk doing press and somebody somebody was telling us about how the first record was getting played in in the in the office and and someone said what is this i like this

and then they they replied it's so and so formally blah blah blah and oh and well never mind it was suddenly just written off and i was like wow that's very interesting human you know it's it's a subjective medium so you can Yeah. And the idea that if that had that answer been anything else, you know, then they might have been like, oh, this is great. You know, let me get a copy of this. Right. Yeah. And what that says. That's so funny.

yeah you know and of course that first record you know it sort of it had a steady climb to gold status but yeah when you're coming out of a band with one of the rare rock bands in history to have like diamond album I think somewhere in there you know it reminds me of like when the first Smashing Pumpkins album that came out after melancholy only goes gold

It's like normally a gold record, but in that case it's like, yeah, they're coming off the one that did 8 million or whatever. So it's not until you get several records deep. And you can prove this kind of staying power as you have, where you have a robust discography that you can then really evaluate, I think.

these records for their merits on just the creative side entirely because you're not looking at that context of where it fits into the arc of the momentum of the expectations at the time or i always i always tell friends of mine who are in bands when they're stressing out about deadlines and release dates and this tour that tour i always go you know

Depeche Mode Violator. It's my favorite album of all time. I have so many great memories associated with it. You know, it's kind of songs that can instantly take me back to different times and places and people and all that sort of stuff. All the things I can tell you about that record, I can't tell you which quarter it was released in.

or what tour you know what what tour they were main support on so the single had to coincide with the book and it's like you know that stuff's important and it's it's part of the puzzle but the records man that's what that's what lasts. Like that's the staying power, you know? So for us to be sitting here in 2020 talking about that first AB record, you know, to think about those kinds of conversations that were happening back then.

as as meaningful as they seem to people having them at the time it's like you know it's a footnote now right which is just super cool um and that that record You know, in terms of the songwriting, because you're all four credited, what was that process like and how did it differ? from the way that you were accustomed to writing songs prior to AB? It was definitely a different process on so many levels because with everything else that I've been involved with...

for the most part, I was the primary writer. Right. And so now I'm in a situation with, you know, Mark Termani, who's a fantastic writer. And it was the idea of learning. to the to you know basically join forces and and collaborate now that first record so much i you know i would say well over half the tracks were already ready to go, which is part of how we were able to get it out so quickly. Songs like Broken Wings and Down to My Last. And so he'd already had those songs.

in the can as they say and i just had to basically sing and uh but then there were the open your eyes and and uh metalingus and the things that still hadn't taken shape yet and But with that said, Mark was the guitar player. And so that was the strangest thing for me initially was not playing guitar on the record and not playing much live. And I felt completely...

Because I've always considered myself a guitar player first, songwriter, singer second. I love the guitar. So that took some... time to get used to and interestingly enough on the the next records, once they discovered that I was a player, then it was like, oh, let's bring this into the mix as well. That's an adjustment on both sides. Yeah, absolutely.

For me, obviously we all love DLR and we all celebrate early Van Halen. And it hit at just the right time when I was the right age too. I love the Sammy Hagar era. And one of the things I loved about it... was him being the red rocker and showing up with his guitar and seeing the interplay with him and Eddie and the way that Eddie seemed rejuvenated and to be having fun in a different sort of way you know there's yeah it's another

tool in the toolbox man like why not use it right right if sammy was my first con first rock and roll concert VOA. VOA tour. Yeah, January 1985. It was great. Is VOA the record where he's parachuting onto the lawn? I think so. It was I Can't Drive 55 and all that. Yeah, that's a big one. Yeah, that was a big hit. But yeah, I think that it certainly, which I guess would bring us to Blackbird.

You know, that was, so it was different. Now I'm playing guitar and Mark and I are, basically I'm living with Mark for, geez, I think I want to say I lived there for the most part for a better part of a year and crafting. record and though all of us are listed as songwriters the genesis of the songs generally come from Mark and I And then we bring them in and Brian and Scott do an amazing job with their parts. This is the important thing. They're part of the filter process. So it's like...

Is this riff cool? Is this chorus cool? Yay or nay? And that helps. That's such an important part of the process. You might get so in your head about something. Absolutely. And I'm sure there's times where you're sick to death of something you've been... honing away at and ready to toss it out and then they come in and they're like that's really cool yeah we're not throwing that away exactly so that's awesome and this was your first time what became a long relationship with Elvis

Interestingly enough, so that musical relationship started on the second Mayfield Four record. So he was this young, up-and-coming engineer who had just... he was going through a hot streak he just uh engineered a record uh

a little record called make yourself with called incubus and some fair, fair amount of other bigger records from that late nineties thing. And he was just a kid, but we, I remember thinking, man, this guy's really talented. He was, he was peter collins uh engineer and peter brought him in and so when we were talking about producers for blackbird um his name came up because the guys also liked chevelle

And he'd done some of the Chevelle records. And I was like, man, Elvis, I couldn't stop gushing about what he would bring to the party. So yeah, that's where that all started.

Gosh, that's crazy. Yeah, the first time I heard his name and became, I wouldn't say we know each other super well, we're acquainted, became acquainted with him. He was doing a band called Brothers Keeper that was a... hardcore band from Erie, Pennsylvania in the 90s and yeah it was one of those things where then when I started hearing his name in the early 2000s especially showing up on all these huge records.

I was like a kid that was doing hardcore bands you know and yeah and just seeing his name just this morning and you know reading the Rolling Stone interview with Wolfgang Van Halen talking about working with Elvis you know like he's just one of those guys now like you know a rick rubin or a garth richardson or you know take your pick of any of those and that's who he got to start with was with garth up and he was he was uh he came up uh under under garth's wings

And so with Blackbird and getting kind of more situated, so to speak, and really settling in. When there's a label change like that, and we don't have to belabor the, nobody cares about the politics part of the interview, but in terms of how that affects. the creative process right like whatever the the attitudes were the pressures might have been coming from one label and going into another is that is that something that affects the songwriting or is it something that

you're able to completely, you know, what's your, what's your process there to balance out what's happened with this kind of storm that's happening around you positively or negatively and how that affects what your. Yeah. I think that all of that definitely had an effect because we were coming out of windup and trying to figure out where we were going to go. And that also made it so that we had so much time to make this record. I mean, I think that...

I think in a lot of ways, the song Blackbird would never have existed if it hadn't taken so long to get out of that initial deal and then get on with Universal, I believe. And so in a lot of ways, it worked out wonderfully.

And it just afforded us the luxury of refining what we were and ultimately defining what we were. Because I think on that first record, we... it was such a kind of a shotgun wedding you know it happened so so quickly we didn't really have time to to uh to mold that sonically so um So, yeah, you know, I think in a lot of ways it was a good thing. And as far as expectations go, sure, there were tons. Universal had high hopes and they, I think, did the best they could.

all things considered and uh we got some we had some songs that did pretty well at radio and helped really get things rolling but it was never like it wasn't like it was in 1999 or whenever it was where it's you know you're on mtv and your diamond records it was it was it was successful by rocking you know your your rock band standard uh but as far as coming from a mega act like they were definitely different but

It was a good process, but we definitely... I think it was the only record we did where we had an actual A&R man, an A&R guy. We've never really had A&R guys, which is... which is, I think, I mean, kind of, there's so much freedom. You just kind of do what you want to do. But the thing with Blackbird is most of the songs were already written. They were all written. Yeah.

So it was kind of like, and that's the thing is, and our guys can be intrusive, but there's also something to be said on the positive side, or I suppose this could even just be like your product manager or something, but having someone. when you're at a larger label that's a huge organization, having someone that theoretically advocates for you, like personally, that has a personal and professional investment in your success and is in there, you know.

rattling the saber hopefully to get all the other departments going for you when you don't have one of those then it's kind of you're adrift a little bit yeah that's that's that that is definitely True. You want somebody championing your band. If you think you're just going to get on a label and the label, everybody at the label is just going to be there. That's just not how it works.

When you first start out, you naively think these things. You're like, oh, we're going to get on this label and we're all going to be friends. You think this. And it just doesn't, unfortunately, it doesn't work. It doesn't work that way because first of all, half the people that were there on your first album will be gone by the next record. Well, you've got a new president now. And we learned that with Mayfield 4. I mean, that was part of the reason that we didn't...

Fortunately, in a lot of ways, didn't have success out of the gate because I just wasn't ready at that point. But the president of the label, two weeks before we were supposed to go in and record that record, got let go. So it was like... everything everything shifted so so yeah there's so many stories like that like you know

anthrax doing this huge deal with electra and then a new president comes in and like what's this bad or you know danzig doing his album on hollywood records and someone at disney as the story goes is flipping through spin magazine and sees it a cartoon of Danzig shaking hands with Mickey Mouse and there's, you know, flames and devils and pentagrams. And apparently this Disney executive went, what's this joke about? Oh, that's an artist that's on Hollywood records. What?

not anymore and it was like weeks after the record came out. all these stories it's like behind the scenes where it's like just the whims of you know whichever way the wind is blowing right and have such an effect and yeah and that thing when you don't have someone championing you like you said it's that thing where you're everyone's responsibility so you're no one's responsibility

right like right like when when everyone's in charge no one's in charge right that whole thing um yeah and of course as you said that you had a lot of success with some singles from blackbird um Rise Today, Watch Over You, songs that, as you said, it became kind of a definitive record, like we know what this band is now. And going from that...

into the appropriately titled AB3. I'm a big fan of the Roman numeral records. Let's talk about that and what the mindset was in terms of like you said you have the shotgun wedding of a debut uh just kind of like the the first audio slave record maybe and then you have this more definitive follow-up What did you know then going into a third record and obviously spent a lot of time together now? And you said living together, writing together, touring together. What did you know were some things?

about what you'd established that you wanted to hone in on and maintain, and what were some things going into that third record that you wanted to explore and maybe add into the stew that weren't there before.

I think the overall vibe we felt like with Blackbird, we've established that. So we wanted it to be a continuation thereafter. As far as things to explore, like... there was a song called slip to the void, which had kind of, which was an initially this thing that I kind of stumbled onto working on some solo stuff and long story short, I, played something at the wrong tempo and uh and was like oh wait i really like this this kind of reminds me of of a ufo song

And then the melody and the kind of spooky intro came in. And I remember when I brought that intro into the band. I wasn't sure how that was going to be received because there was an element of keyboards on there. We'd never done that. And I think that when they heard it and then embraced it, I think we started to kind of...

collectively feel like we can explore some different timbres and textures that we haven't utilized in the past. And we've ever since then tried to experiment with that a little bit here and there on each record. at the same time, you don't want to, we're never going to put out our disco record. You know, we kind of know what we do and our fans expect a certain thing from us. So it's that delicate dance of pushing the envelope.

arrangement wise, instrumentation wise, but keeping the formula in place. And we have to be really careful of that because there are some fans, they're just like, if they had their way, they'd want... you know, One Day Remains or Blackbird over and over again. Then you have other fans are like, well, I didn't, that wasn't really my thing, but I liked it when you guys started doing this. So it's, you know, it's hard to keep everybody happy. It is. And, you know, there's only one ACDC.

you know the band same record over and over and you want them to exactly that's the genius of it yeah it's i i often argue that and you're again one of the reasons why i wanted to have you do the disc dive with me is you're one of the best examples of this. I think in the post kind of Maynard Keenan world, where it went from, here's your main project and here's your side project.

or here's your solo project, whatever you want to call it. It's much more acceptable in the rock world in the last couple of decades now to view each individual project as equally valid.

you know, at least from a creative standpoint. And to think of it as Alter Bridge, The Conspirators, Miles Kennedy, whatever it is that you're doing, it all has sort of an equal... footing in terms of um how it's perceived things don't feel like they're just kind of tossed off as like oh here's a little idea i wanted to explore and that's that and i argue that because of that

It's an opportunity then for each entity to be much more pure about what it is. Because I think historically when you have bands that, you know, the bands you can think about that. made the disco record, did the big departure where everybody went, whoa, what? I often see that as you just had a lot of ideas and so much creativity and all these people that wanted to try all these different things.

They needed to get different things out of their system and they only had the one band within those confines to do those things. And when you're a Miles Kennedy, you've got all these different places you can park different things. So if you're like, I'm feeling a certain kind of way.

about writing a certain kind of song there's probably an established viable working project that people like where you can put it and uh so in that regard you know if you decided you really needed to make a reggae album, we wouldn't have to have an altar bridge reggae album. Yeah, you don't have another band. That's a great point. It's a luxury, really. And yeah, you don't have to subject the fan base that you've spent 17 years building on your reggae.

you know experiment um or your jazz odyssey as i always joke about but yeah that's why that's why the i needed to do the the solo thing is i was like well i've got all these songs and these i i want to explore these other these other styles a little more. And so, but it is interesting, but kind of post Maynard, how that's came to, I call it the post Maynard thing. Yeah. Only because I feel like he's the first one I remember where people are like, no, perfect circle. That's just as.

meaningful as tool. Yeah, I totally agree. I totally agree. And again, I think it really helped open the door. And it's just so much more acceptable now in a way that I don't remember that growing up. Growing up, it was always... this person's in this band. People probably wouldn't have stood for it. I mean, imagine, you know, roll it back to 1985.

You know, I don't think people would, people were very protective of their brand and now kind of anything goes. Yeah. And I think that there's a more of a trust and a shared respect. in a group like Alter Bridge, for example, where you and Mark are able to do all these different things and not be threatened by one another.

You know, you're not sitting at home going, he's doing this Tremonti record. You know, and it seems like that was the case with bands historically and that that's really loosened up and where you can recognize when your partner's like that. That allowing one another the space to explore those other things is ultimately better for your own relationship together. Because you have to go do that. Absolutely. Nobody's resentful because they wanted to try something that they...

couldn't break out of the band and go do it. You shot down my reggae idea, bro. Exactly. Go make your reggae record. I'll be here waiting when you're done. Which is, you know, then when Slash comes calling. you know, there's a comfort there, right? Where it doesn't mean the end of Ulta Bridge. It just means you're going to go play with Slash. One of the things I love about the Miles Kennedy Slash story.

is that, you know, that post-Snakebit album, that Slash record was a real kind of almost compilation, like a duets album where it's Slash on the whole record and then it's... you know Matt from Avenged Sevenfold and you know all these different singers it was like well they sound like on a slash song and the thing I love about your story with him is that you were the guy where he was like wait I do want to have a singer

Being at a point in his career where he was like, I don't really want a lead singer in my band. For, I mean, what it says about your talent, but also about your ability to just... coexist in all the ways that band members need to. I don't know, the level of comfort, the trust. I just think it speaks volumes to who you are, that you were the guy for someone like Slash to go, oh, no, you know what?

I've been divorced twice, but maybe I will get married again. That's a big deal. What do you think it is about that chemistry between the two of you? And what were your... you know i mean was this another going into apocalyptic love even was that another situation kind of like that first altar bridge record where you're like i'm not totally sure what our scenario is

but I'm just going to do it, see what happens. Or, you know, what was kind of your, your mentality going into that? I think there was a fair amount of that because, because of what we talked about earlier, that I'm such a realist and kind of unfortunate, not unfortunately, you just have to. you don't want to get your hopes up for nothing. And this business is heartbreaking. So I'd had my heart broken. And so it was, it was like, exactly. So it's, it's kind of like,

I was like, okay, I'm going to roll with this. I don't know what's going to come of this. I did enjoy the process with not just Slash, but the entire band.

The crew and everybody was just, it was like a family so early on. And so that was exciting. But at the same time, I always knew that there was this massive thing out there that... the world one including myself to see again you know what I'm alluding to and so it's like I didn't want to have any delusions there that this this was you know going to be the only thing forever but but

I will say that that apocalyptic love record was, it was a tremendous amount of work because I was also playing guitar on that record. So I remember kind of doing double duty, you know, track and guitar during the day and then... cutting vocals at night and working with eric valentine the producer and and it was uh it was it was a lot of work because just because of there was also all the altar bridge commitments that were going on so i was just literally just

bouncing back and forth between both things and kind of it doesn't give you time to think like oh the last record had chris cornell and ozzy right right to think about that yeah exactly there was no time to think about that exactly that's a that's actually a really good point um but uh but it ended up being a cool a cool experience and uh and also I started singing because of Stevie Wonder and so that record was recorded where you know Stevie Wonder had

cut tracks many times and i got to hear stories about oh yeah stevie wonder did this here and so you know little things like that that's the rock geek in the you know the music that loves that sort of thing so so yeah it was it was great and and and it's still

The cast of characters involved in that camp, it's a good crew. And with you doing all the lyrics, with Slash's name on the face of the record... is there what's that process like is he just like do whatever you want is it carte blanche is there you bounce things off of one another does he look at something and go ah maybe tweak that or

Or does he just leave it alone? How does that part of it work? He's surprisingly hands off. I didn't know how that was going to work initially. In fact, on the very first track that we collaborated on, which was Starlight.

i did when i sent the demo back uh because he sent the music and then i put the melody and lyric to it and he sent it back i didn't know how involved to be with that and he was just like cool let's let's do this there but there have been there have been a handful of um moments where he would say hey man like I don't know about this there would be on the last record there was a song called my antidote and

i remember we were doing pre-production and i was still finishing the lyrics and a lot of times with lyrics you just have kind of placeholder lyrics and instead of my antidote it was my rock and roll i just kept singing my rock and roll and i don't know why i didn't know what it meant it just kind of Sang easily

And I think he actually mentioned something either to Elvis. I think he mentioned it to Elvis. He goes, Miles is not going to keep that lyric. And then Elvis is like, you're not going to keep that lyric, are you? And I was like, no, I don't think so. What do you think of my antidote? He's like, all right, that's my better it's like those i'm sure you've heard the uh the metallica demos where hetfield's just like he's just it's the phrasing that you of course know and love

but he's just... it's just gibberish. there's no words at all. yeah it's fun to hear those yeah or yeah or Sammy Hagar again there's stuff where you know pre-pro stuff where he's uh he's like scatting essentially just you know now what like what did you did you hear pre-pro recordings of are those out there yeah um and the metallica stuff uh

man they're such a transparent band they actually put some of those demos out black album era as b-sides oh no kidding you'd get like the you know back in the day of the cd maxi single with the little thin jewel case uh you'd buy like wherever i may roam and it would have sabba true live and then roam demo and it would be just the just james and lars in the garage and the vocals would all be

nonsense that's cool yeah check that out yeah cool to like reverse engineer yeah especially songs that you know that well so going from apocalyptic love I mean yeah like you said

back-to-back because the fourth AB record came out like the next year, right? I mean, they were like kind of almost on top of each other. So you were tracking them simultaneously? No, but it was like you... make a record you tour the record then you go in between the tours you go make a record with the other band it was insane in fact on that next altar bridge record on fortress i remember having something where i had to

had some i remember maybe it was a kings of chaos thing it was one of those those deals where it was like a number of different artists and we'd go i think we were in maybe in south africa if i'm not mistaken and so we had to shut down the altar bridge thing for fortress and then i went and did that for a couple weeks then came back and finished my vocals and it was real it was a real

pain in the ass for elvis because by that point my voice is just shot from all the flying and it was just like it was pretty nutty there were some there were some times there was like how long is the kid going to be able to keep doing You know, my manager at the time was just like, he was just waiting for me to drop. He was just a year. At first, people were like, even I remember Eric Valentine said that when we were doing Apocalyptic Love. He was like, so wait, you're still doing...

You're going to do both of these. And I was like, yeah. And he goes, there's just no way. You're going to have to make it. On a piece of paper, it sounds totally fine. Sounds totally fine. And then there was another time. Around that same period where I was then touring with Alter Bridge, like during the summer. And I'd met Lemmy.

Early on, I think during Slash's first solo record thing, we played something for the Golden Gods Awards, and I got to meet him. I actually saw that. That was fun for me, because I got to meet him. all these guys just geeking out so i ran into him again at a at a festival in europe and he's like what what are you doing here and i was like well i'm i i'm touring with the other band i play with and i remember he poured me a jack and coke

And he had his slot machine there. And I'm just geeking out. This is so cool. What a great moment. And he's like, so you play with this other band and you play with Slash Conspirators. So you just bounce back and forth and you're just on the road all the time. I'm like, yeah. And by this point, it had been like three years straight. And he looks at me and he takes a sip of his Jack and Coke and he just looks at me. This has come from Lemmy. And he says, you're going to shorten your life, mate.

I'm just like coming from him. Hardest living rock and roller. Exactly. Exactly. So that really got me thinking like, Hmm. He had head cap.

right which was his group with the one of the stray cats i think right about these stuff right that yeah man that's a wake-up call for sure yeah let me tell you to take it easy that's amazing um so yeah so going into fortress um cry of achilles addicted to pain there's a lot there's what i'm curious about doing with those vocal takes like you said You know, when I think about an actor, when you hear about, gosh, I just read something the other day about Ezra Miller.

shooting new scenes for the Zack Snyder Justice League on the set of Fantastic Beasts. And I think about actors where it's like, okay, you're the Flash.

tonight. This morning you're in Harry Potter land. What's that trip like for you as a singer? Because obviously it's not as extreme as playing two totally different characters and two totally different worlds but there is some comparison I think in that it's different groups of people different chemistry different vibes with bands is there any sort of

process to kind of get yourself from one headspace to another when they're overlapping that closely? Yeah, there's always kind of getting re-acclimated. And it generally takes about two weeks for me, for some reason, because they are very different roles, even though I'm singing with both of them. Stylistically, they're different. One, I'm playing guitar. One, I'm... trying to be the the the front guy but who's you know

It's hard to be the front guy when you're standing next to the guy in the top hat, because he's such a massive, he's such a presence. The guy whose silhouette is recognizable. Exactly. And really, there's one guy who does it very well, and his name's Axl. He crushes it. So I think that that's the perfect front man. That's awesome. There are Mick and Keith. Exactly.

And then you get me, a total joker up there. You at the Hall of Fame, if there was anybody else who was going to get up there, that was... Goosebumps. You sounded so great and did such an honor to those songs. I appreciate that. That was the scariest night of my life. You're probably looking at the door. I did. I swear to you, I did. I honestly thought he was going to come in at any minute. And it wasn't until I saw everybody go start.

after billy joe or after they got their their their award and gave their speeches they started to walk out and get their instruments i was like i remember telling myself i'm gonna be doing this oh geez but um but yeah you know It definitely takes a little bit of time to kind of re-acclimate in each environment. And now with the solo thing as well, it's a whole different process. So if you'll continue to indulge me here, we have more slash conspirators coming here with World on Fire, which...

You know as much as there is to say about each of those slash experiences I feel like You know the narrative around that first record was that there were all the different singers and then around the second record was that it was more of a you know a band experience with a front man and then roll on fire i feel like was really when correct me if i'm wrong but i feel like it was really when

slash featuring miles kennedy and the conspirators really kind of took off like there was really buzz around that and it was really seen as a important kind of cornerstone piece of the rock world and and i would even argue that you know there's something about that era of what slash was doing independently of the thing he's known for that i think really

Without trying to read the tea leaves, it seemed like it gave him some leverage, so to speak, not in a bad way. But, you know, it wasn't like he left GNR and disappeared into the sunset.

And I feel like World on Fire was a real career resurgence moment where he was... equal value one might say it was and it was demonstrated by what inevitably did happen and the way it did happen um what was your sense going into that record of kind of where that band stood in both internally and externally as far as where you guys were at creatively and then from the outside the reception that the band had gotten at that point I think that

Yeah, as far as the reception went, I feel like we'd spent enough time kind of paying our dues showing that this was a thing and people were starting to become more receptive to it. so that so that was good and as far as the the dynamic within the band we by that point we toured so much together and really those bonds were there and there was that

Kind of that brotherhood that you hope for. And what's interesting is a lot of bands, that never happens. There's always bickering and there's always this drama and this tension. And I play in two bands where that... For the most part, with Alter Bridge, sure, we have our moments. We've got to work things out. But generally speaking, we're all pretty low. Sorry. What kind of dog is Ethel? She's a corgi. Oh, cool. I like corgis.

i've been waiting for sigmund not sigmund or mozart to make his appearance but he hasn't he's been surprisingly quiet i thought for sure that little gapper was going to start and just come in here because it's around dinner time for him and he gets really pushy What kind is yours? Shih Tzu. Oh, okay. So another little one. He's a terror. Yeah. He's Shih Tzu thinks he's pit bull. So.

Yeah, it's interesting how the different dog breeds don't seem to have any real awareness of size. They all think that they're like on a level field with each other. Right, right. That's great. But yeah, and not to oversell the, you know, where the slash thing was at that point, but it really seemed like it was, there was a lot of acceptance, I guess, in the rock community that this was.

a real thing it wasn't just a slash side thing it wasn't a it wasn't a slash miles super group that you know again getting back to that idea of these entities co-existing you know i feel like that was the record really where It all kind of came together, if that makes sense. Yeah, I think that's a fair assessment. I never even thought of that, really, but I think you're right. By that point, we'd been together touring and making records for five years, and that seems to be kind of the...

the magic number where people are like, okay, I think they're a thing now. We'll give it, let's just, let's give it a try. Yeah. So going back in with Elvis to make the last hero. I mean, I can only imagine he's got to feel like another member of the band at this point, right? Because there are some bands that have those relationships where it's the same cat.

you know, for the whole discography and there's some where it's a different person every time and, you know, different arrangements work for different groups. What is it about that relationship? with Elvis that works so well with both you personally and then with AB in particular? It's trust. It really boils down to that, like trusting someone's instincts, knowing that.

When it's all said and done, he's going to get the best out of you. And even there might be things said during the process where you're like, hmm, really? You think we should cut that chorus? Or you think that that should change in some way? Well, you were right on that one record, so okay. Yeah, I mean, and I think that that's what happens, and you trust their filtration process. And also, he's just...

He's a lot of fun to record with. He's kind of a character. You know, he's really funny and really, like, sorry. He's really... He's just kind of got it all. If you're going to be locked in the studio with somebody, he's a good one to be locked in the studio with. Yeah. I feel like that record has a really, this word gets misused these days.

But I think the cover is a very iconic feel. It looks like a... I don't mean classic rock as in the genre, but it looks like a classic rock record. Was that...

something that you felt was reflective of maybe where the songs were coming from? You know, how does the art... music marriage work for you generally speaking and then specifically with The Last Hero because I feel like it I can't think about that record without thinking about that cover yeah in a way that I wouldn't I wouldn't say that necessarily about the other AB records

cover art was bad, but there's something really striking about that. Very striking, very simple. And I felt like it captured certain vibe of the lyrics. And I think that, yeah, I think it might be my, it might be my favorite AB cover because it is so simple. And, and I remember we, we talked with, with Dan Tremonti who does the artwork about that quite, quite a bit. And just like trying to convey what, from an,

what we were hoping to achieve and have it be congruent with the music. And I think he did a really, him and his team did a really great job. Yeah, it really does evoke that. You know, because sometimes the art and... the record can seem divorced with different bands where it's like clearly somebody was doing something and then the band's doing something else and yeah that's why i asked about this one because it really it feels

And then sometimes that's just something you've imagined because you as the listener associate it because that's just how it looked when you got it. Right. You know, does Ride the Lightning sound like an electric chair floating in the sky? Or am I just used to that? But I feel like this record, it really does kind of, that covers evocative of how it sounds and how it feels. Right.

It's good to know that I'm not just making that up. So obviously you and I have had a great opportunity to discuss the year of the tiger at some length in the past. And it remains a favorite of mine. You mentioned Jeff Buckley earlier.

and I think I know I've told you this before and I don't mean to embarrass you but I think that is as much as Axel and Slash are Mick and Keith I think you're our Buckley right now and the soulfulness the depth and particularly with Year of the Tiger, the way that you really put your trauma, your questions, your doubts, it's a very raw record.

It's very emotional. And again, not to say that you're not putting yourself in all the other records, but having a couple years on now from Year of the Tiger. How difficult was it to put that much of yourself out there in that way? And, you know, cause you, cause with AB and with Slash, you've got all these guys around you, you know, it's, those are.

rock monsters in a way you know where you can and there's some theater involved in that style of music and then here the tiger is just so here it is there it is yeah how difficult was that to get out there You know, it was kind of a necessary process for me to work through some things that I thought, interestingly enough, had been worked through years.

prior in therapy but I discovered a lot still needed to be worked through and I think maybe that's why people appreciate that record is because they it's coming from a very honest place and and yeah what before the record came out was i nervous absolutely because i was like you're really putting it out i don't think i realized as it was happening

how I would feel about laying it out there for people. I think it was a lot of times with records, I just... get absorbed in and I get lost in the moment and my goal is always where is it going to be coming from the most honest place because I'm not I just I'm not interested in I like telling stories But I generally like the stories to have something that I can relate to. And if I'm going to write from more of an autobiographical standpoint, like Year of the Tiger, then it's...

going to go as deep as I can and have it resonate. But then once you're standing on the edge and you're about to throw it out to the world, you're like, what have I done? What's going to happen here? so that was interesting i was really in you know it's i don't know if i've ever told anybody this but that was when i started to it was it was a few months before that record came out i was actually on tour with altar bridge

And I was really starting to lose sleep over whether it was the right thing to do to release that record. And I was having so much anxiety that I then discovered certain Eastern philosophies and certain teachers. I was having so much anxiety. That's how I really got into like meditation and coincided. Little did I know we did the, the chat for my podcast, no prize from God, which is about.

belief, unbelief, and everything in between. Little did I know that that was the serendipity of you and I converging and having that conversation about belief and spirituality and stuff like that.

Right as you were releasing that record. Yeah, it's pretty neat. It's very special It also changes the dynamic when you're doing press But I would also be interested in the fan interactions right because maybe you're out with Alzerbridge and a fan tells you after the show about how much they love this riff or you're out with Slash and somebody says oh I love that you guys pulled out that velvet revolver deep cut I didn't think I'd ever hear that live

you're the tiger i mean i can only imagine you probably had some interactions with with audience members right who were like this song about this thing that happened to you reminds me of this thing that happened to me and got pretty emotional oh geez yeah the amount of times i would do meet and greets and then have to it's part of the reason i started wearing

sunglasses they're not sunglasses they're actually have my reader things on the bottom here but but they're little there's a little haze there because i'd find myself well you know tearing up a lot people would be like they'd start to share their story and how the song how they're connected with the song and the meaning of the record and i'm kind of a softy you know so it's like people people talk about this and and and yeah it's hard not to get emotional

There he is. He heard you mention him earlier. He's like, oh, you want to hear from me? So going into living the dream. And you mentioned all the guitar that you were playing on Apocalyptic Love. And if I'm not mistaken, I think then Slash did the guitars mostly on Hold on Fire. Yes, you're correct. And then it changes yet again, right?

on living the dream because now there's a rhythm guitar player in the band who's who's tracking so let's talk about guitars and how that yeah the different dynamics across those three slash records how was that for you going in this third time around? And is it a relief to not be tracking all the guitars? Yeah. Yeah. You know what? It just helps me focus more on being the front man.

Frank Sidoris is such an amazing guitar player. Look, man, it's wonderful to play in these bands with all these talented guys. Yeah. It really is. So I was really glad to hear that Frank was playing on that record because I would, you know, I'd have Slash in my left ear and then Frank in my right. And I'd always be like, man, these guys, they have a thing.

And it would be cool to record that. So the next record, there you have it. And yeah, Frank's a monster. And that's, again, not to keep harping on this through line here, but... It again speaks to the magic of having all of these different places to park your creativity. Because, I mean, imagine a band that's Slash and it's his only band.

and then it's your only band and then you know and so now what all three of you are like i know i really want to play guitar on this record because it's the only record you might make in a five-year span And instead, you have all these different places to do all these different things. So there's a comfort to just kind of, you know, what serves this particular record, this particular time, this batch of songs. Absolutely. Best thing for it.

Absolutely. I gotta put my mark in here or else I don't have a mark anywhere. Exactly. Exactly. That's super cool. So this would bring us to just last year, which. I realize 2020 feels like it's been about 10 years long. But can you believe Walk the Sky was 2019 and not 2010? But yeah, let's talk about...

walk the sky and of course Elvis is back in the picture. yeah it's interesting I didn't do this on purpose but when I brought up John Carpenter earlier because there was a interview with Mark where he talked he likened some of Walk the Sky to John Carpenter with the synthy stuff because you know you said you guys just watched Halloween a couple weeks ago all that music that's all John Carpenter.

And you mentioned earlier introducing, you know, you're like, oh, this kind of reminds me UFO and then bringing in some of that stuff. So Walk the Sky is another record that has more exploratory. I hate experimental because experimental, that starts to sound like the disco record, like you said. It's definitely not that. But there's some freedom there. I mean, it's a long record.

I think it's one of those records that, gosh, remember when there was, I don't think this is an issue anymore, but there used to be a restriction on how long a CD could be. True. Yeah, it was like, was it 75 minutes? Yeah, I feel like Walk the Sky probably got close to that. Yeah. There's a lot of material in there. We might be getting fined. Yeah, exactly.

So let's talk about that and just kind of the wealth of material that you guys had there. I mean, just to just contemplate for a minute how prolific. you are personally because that's one thing that we're kind of glossing over with all these different projects is this is a lot of songwriting you know and sometimes you hear about bands where it's like oh we wrote 40 songs we whittled it down to the best 10 but there's other bands where

They only put out a 12 song record every three years because that's the only 12 songs they wrote. What's that balance for you like between, I mean, is this, you know, all these records you're putting out, is they're still untold? archives on top of that that we haven't heard? Lots. Yeah, I had a feeling. Yeah, there's a lot of... Once the faucet's on, it doesn't go off, right? Yeah, right. And honestly, I'm trying to kind of shut the faucet off.

Right now just just because I feel like I want the well to fill back up. I want Yeah, I feel like there can come a point where you just start Creating the same thing over and over again, and it's good to kind of power down and Then, you know, when you turn it back on, where are you going to be at that point? So, yeah, I mean, fortunately, I have friends that keep, they'll say, man, I'm, you know.

When's it going to run out? And I'm sure it will eventually. But while it's flowing, I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed and hope that... more inspiration is there to keep, you know, keep the journey happening. Yeah. You got to get out of your head with that, that fear too, where you're like, if I slow down, then do I

Does that mean I stop and I can't start again? Right. That's a good point. That certainly has crossed the brain airwaves. I'm not going to lie. But yeah, it's still – and the good thing is there's so much stuff that's – just kind of hanging around like talk with my manager about sometimes he goes what about that one song oh yeah i totally forgot about that one and we should do something with this one and this one so it's it's nice to kind of have a

Like a backup plan, like in case you do have total writer's blocks, like, well, we've still got all these. And I've done that. I did that with Year of the Tiger. You know, there was a song on there that I extracted from a previous. unreleased solo record called love can only heal and it ended up being one of the fans favorite tunes so you know it's nice to have those you know kind of bolts in the chamber that you can oh yeah let's let's put that on this to help

Yeah. You know, lift the whole thing up. And some legendary bands have made entire records of, you know, that's true too. That's in there, which is really interesting, right? There's that theory. I had a producer tell me this once. He's like, you know, so many artists write their best stuff before they hit 30. And why is that? And I don't know if I agree with that. Especially in your case, as you said, as a late bloomer.

Well, yeah, I was a late bloomer and the stuff I wrote before 30 is definitely not my favorite, but some of it's just downright cringeworthy, but it's part of the process. But yeah, there are those guys. They had such a, you know, they had such a, you know, look at Robert Johnson. I mean, it's crazy what he was able to do before he, you know. before he exited this world. It's, dare I say, supernatural. Exactly. Deal with the devil perhaps?

I just watched Crossroads again recently. So good. I kick recently. And then that ended up back doing all the Karate Kid movies and then thinking, oh yeah, Crossroads. Yeah, I need to watch that again. I thought Steve Vai did a great job. I remember watching that as a kid going, that guy is badass. And it's funny how there's a little bit of a hair metal vibe, but...

Him in that movie though, it's not, it's surprisingly timeless. Like it doesn't feel dated. I agree. You see the duel. I totally agree. You could definitely think like, oh yeah, that's the devil's fiddle player. I buy this. I agree.

And, you know, Ralph, he does his best. It's a little bit of the Michael J. Fox and Back to the Future. A little bit. What's interesting about the Back to the Future scene, I just watched that recently and I... I could be wrong, but I believe the guitar that he uses in that, which is a... I don't think that particular model was even released till after.

Probably not. I don't think they got that right. I could be wrong. What's the word? Anachronistic? Yeah, when it's, yeah. Exactly. Oh, man, so funny.

so yeah that there is something to be said there for having those vaults and and again you know like i mentioned earlier i've read that q a with my friend and colleague brian hyatt from rolling stone did with wolfie and of course we always hear about all the stuff all the eddie stuff that's in the vaults you know and um who knows for quality control right of having those different

ears like you were saying that the way it works in ab of having somebody to tell you like oh that's great they'll emphasize that or yeah that that maybe not so much back to the drawing board who knows yeah what's in the vaults you know guys like eddie when they when they leave us

It was like Frank Zappa. It was the same sort of thing. I mean, how much stuff still exists there. I mean, it's beautiful, though. You know, for me, I find hearing those stories about... the guys at that level, the Eddie's ranks, knowing there's like an actual vault or, you know, these, these two inch masters that exist of, of, of, of things that they can hopefully at some point.

put out and, and continue that legacy. It's beautiful. That's the beauty of the times. Exactly. But imagine there was a period where you couldn't do that before you could really record things. I mean, So it's pretty cool. Gosh. Yeah. To think about, yeah. How much Robert Johnson stuff that wasn't recorded by anyone. The lost animals. Right. Um, so you are, uh, Trying to replenish a little bit, recharge. What's next on the agenda for you in terms of... So they did another solo record.

I recorded that a few months ago, and hopefully that will be released some point next year, provided the world kind of gets rolling again. I saw an interview where you said this is more rock oriented, not to paint it with too broad of a brush, but in terms of compare and contrast with Year of the Tiger. Yeah, it's definitely... more amplified and it's there are more

guitar solos, which I really needed to do for some reason. I just really been going through this phase where I'm falling in love with guitar again. And so there's a hoodly who's and no, I just miss it. I would just get up. I've been getting up every day and just playing guitar for hours.

and so i was like i think i'm going to add some of this back into the mix i hadn't done i hadn't done a lot of that since the early 90s frankly so that was i mean and you're in i mean obviously slash is slash and I've found in certain conversations that people don't often aren't aware of this, but Tremonti is an absolute shredder. Oh yeah. Not everyone realizes that. Right. the first band he was known for he was listening to Slayer you know he was like a thrash metal guy as a kid so

He's got the, he's got the spider fingers. Oh yeah. Yeah. He, he, you know, and he's, he's a student of the guitar. He still loves to learn. And, and, and, and that was one of the things that's how we bonded initially. I think that was, that's part of the reason I think that these things have worked out.

Both with Slash and with Alter Bridge. Because I started as a guitar player. And so when you get in a situation where they realize that you're... kind of cut from the same cloth and a lot of times guys who just sing are a little they're hardwired a little differently

So I was able to kind of enter the realm and be like, and we'd start talking guitar geek stuff. We'd be talking music theory. We'd be talking, Hey man, have you checked out this player here? Have you, Hey, check this lick out here and you're showing each other licks. And so, you know, I think that that.

That is part of what kind of made it a little easier in the beginning. And the beauty with Alter Bridge is that it's never competitive. It's like Mark realized that I was a guitar geek like himself. And he's like... hey man, come in and play. Play a solo here. It was never like, oh, I'm not. That's how the Eddie and Sammy thing always seemed to me. Eddie's not threatened by Sammy. And Sammy's not trying to show up Eddie. It just was like, hey.

you can also play guitar let's i'm gonna go play keyboards now got the guitar part handled for this part yeah there you have it yeah it works out cool well uh dude miles this is i was really looking forward to this It was not meant to be the other day.

It was meant to be today. Everything happens for a reason, as my mom always says. And yeah, I'm thrilled getting to speak with you again. I remember our last interview very well. And it was one of those interviews where you remember it because it's a... it's stimulating conversations. So I always appreciate it. Thank you so much. And same here. And I'll tell you as a, you know, for my creative contributions as a journalist, when someone says, as you just did.

I don't think I've ever told anyone this before. That's like the stairway to heaven or whatever the musician analog is there, that's for me. Right on, man. Thank you for that. My pleasure. And yeah, look forward to chatting again. Cool, Ryan. Well, take care of that corgi. I'm going to go take care of Mozart here. Take care. Say hi to the ghost dogs. I will. I will do that. All right, brother. Thanks so much, man. All right. You take care.