The ultimate one man band Richie Kotzen has returned with his 21st solo output titled Salting Earth. From this fans perspective Salting Earth is one of the strongest solo releases of his 25 year plus career. As Richie describes, this album really showcases the full spectrum of his musical style. I would add that this album also demonstrates why Richie Kotzen is one of the most unique rock artists around, with his ability to mesh the sounds of hard rock and R&B, with the melodic flair of classic Motown. Metal Exiles had the opportunity to talk to Richie about his new solo record, as well as the creative process that has made him such a prolific songwriter for more than 2 decades.
By Michael Knowles
Metal Exiles: I Feel like this record is different than your last solo output, definitely has some heavier moments, especially the opening 2 tracks. I also feel it showcases your shredding guitar skills a lot more, how would you characterize the album?
Richie Kotzen: Well you know what I really like about it is that I think it encompasses the full pendulum swing of what I do. I if you think of some of the acoustic type things that I’ve done in the past well we have that covered in the song Grammy, the piano element with songs like This is Life and My Rock. And then you know I’ve always liked the heavier stuff too so you’ve got Thunder and End of Earth. I’m really happy with this record and the reality is what a lot of people don’t realize is I finished this record last August and I told myself I was just going to sit on this for a while and get away from music and do something completely different for 3 or 4 months, and then come back and listen to what I did and if I liked it, I can release it and if I didn’t I could back to the drawing board and revamp it, fix it, or do whatever. And at the end of the day I went back and listened to it and I really liked what I did so here we are I released it.
Metal Exiles: Do you usually set aside time to work on an album, or do you just write throughout the year and when you have enough songs for an album you put it together?
Richie: That’s what I do I really just write what I write whether it’s something on the piano, something on the bass or whatever I write and I record , I usually record it right then and there. If I don’t finish it I get enough of it going so that I have a documentation and then I don’t forget it. And then after however much time, I go back and review some things and see what I like, see what sticks so to speak, and then if I have enough material that speaks to me then I consider putting it on a record and then going on from there. You know that’s exactly what I do, the 2nd thing you said was right on the money.
Metal Exiles: To me there’s so many different elements to your music, correct me if I’m wrong but I hear elements of classic hard rock, blues rock, R&B, even Motown at times, how do you decide which direction to sort of take a song or an album in general?
Richie: Well you know the song dictates for me you know it’s kind of automatic, you hear an idea you hear something and you run with it, it’s not like I sit down, I never sit down and go well I’m going to try and write something that sounds like so and so. I really literally write what I write, I don’t question where it comes from because I think when you start analyzing things you kill the inspiration. I mean I’ve worked with people where you’re trying to write something then suddenly wait a minute that sounds like “…” and they’ll start singing a song from 30 fucking years ago that everyone has forgotten about, and I go well that’s great dude you just totally killed the inspiration for this. So because the reality is when you look at it in the kind of music that I’m doing, you can trace everything somewhere. I mean you are dealing with a certain amount of notes a certain amount of rhythms so of course there’s things that are going to overlap but if you start getting into that mindset you’ll never write anything.
Metal Exiles: One of the highlights for me is the song Thunder, think that is one of the most blistering riffs you’ve written, and one of the most powerful choruses as well, can you talk about that song?
Richie: Yea that song is actually kind of an old song, the music I’ve had sitting on my hard drive since 2003. So I had been doing some archiving and I pulled that up and there was a version of that song, the verse my cousin was rapping on, that’s how old it is so I remember hearing the chorus so I played it for someone and they went man you should do something with that. So I took the track I redid a few things, I kept the guitars and the drums, I may have re-played the bass guitar, I definitely re-sang the entire song, I kept the guitar solo. The guitar solo’s old, and you can kind of tell because I’m playing in a way that I haven’t played in a long time, well that’s because the guitar solo is from 10 years ago. But I liked it I thought it was cool, it fit the track and so that song just kind of came together and that happens. There’s another song on the record Make It Easy, and the rhythm section, the guitar solo, the rhythm guitar, the bass, the drums, were all recorded back when I did the record Get Up. That song was meant to be on the Get Up record and I never finished it, I never wrote lyrics for it. Then suddenly I went back last year and I pulled it up and went this is a strong idea I’ve got to finish this, and it’s kind of like a classic typical Richie Kotzen song like Mother’s Head Family Reunion or Go Faster or one of those tunes. So I kind of came up with lyrics and again I went back and for some reason I love re-doing the bass guitar, so I went back and redid the bass and my wife sang background on it and we got that one finished. I put tambourine down I updated it you know and there you go.
Metal Exiles: I feel that you are one of the most prolific songwriters on earth, I know you had originally planned to take a break after the last Winery Dogs tour, what gives you the energy or will to create new music at the rate that you do?
Richie: Well I call it balance and I think the rate element is kind of an illusion. I was talking to someone and they went wow you have 21 solo records out, and yea but I’m 47 years old and I started putting records out when I was 18 so you know I can argue that I should have put more records out and I probably could have because I have plenty of songs that I never released. But you know the reality is it’s about balance for me, to have output, if you want to call the music that you make output, you need input. And to have input you have to get out and live life and do things. You can’t just lock yourself in the studio forever because you’re going to become a pretty one dimensional character if you’re not out in the world experiencing things. That’s why when you listen to my records you’ll notice that there’s a huge pendulum swing stylistically. I mean it’s all me but you know you have a song like This Is Life, you would not expect the same guy that wrote This Is Life, to write Thunder for example so, and that really comes out of what I call that balance between input and output. Being immersed in music and then immersing yourself in something else and getting away from it and coming back fresh, for me that’s important. Not everybody works like that you know a lot of guys just have to be playing all the time, but usually those guys aren’t necessarily creating, and if they are creating they’re relying on other people to create with them. I really think someone like me where I’m kind of one entire entity so to speak, I need to get away from it, I need to get a break from myself in order to get excited again to do it.
Metal Exiles: Another stand out moment for me is the song My Rock, such a great groove, and I love the feel of the bass and piano, think I would put that amongst your best baby makin’ songs, can you talk a little about that track?
Richie: Yea that track has been around for a couple years. It was lurking around on my hard drive for a while and I had a version of it. It’s funny I almost released it as a single 2 years ago, around when the 2nd Winery Dogs record came out. I was going to put it out as a single and then I stopped myself because I wanted to focus on Winery Dogs and I didn’t want to have any distractions. And I’m glad I did stop myself because the version I was going to release isn’t nearly as good as the version that ended up on my record. I ended up re-working a lot of that track and re-playing some things to make it what it is now, so I’m happy that I waited. By waiting, I was able to take the original version of the song and really improve upon it and so now in the context of what it is now so, and actually that song we’re going to play live, we actually rehearsed it the other day and it’s a lot of fun to do that one.
Metal Exiles: Felt like your guitar playing was especially expressive on this album, and I feel like there is so much emotion behind your guitar playing, what would you attribute your unique guitar playing style to?
Richie: My singing voice, I think it’s all connected and it’s funny it probably has nothing to do with either. It’s probably got nothing to do with my guitar playing or singing or anything, because the other day we were in rehearsal and I was sitting down at the Wurlitzer and I hooked up a distortion pedal and a wah and we were jamming and I was soloing on this Wurlitzer piano. I stopped and I was joking and I said it’s funny I’m playing the same licks that I play on the guitar, I’m playing them on the piano it’s ridiculous, and it’s just comical. So obviously I just hear notes however I hear them. I’m hearing shit and it has way more to do with what’s happening in my brain than what’s happening anywhere else so it’s just kind of a funny moment. So, if I played the violin, I’d probably be playing the same freakin’ lines you know, it’s just the way I hear it, it’s the same phrases.
Metal Exiles: Somehow your voice sounds stronger than ever, how do you keep your voice in such amazing shape considering you have such a huge range, and do so much touring?
Richie: Man that’s a great question, I really wish I knew more about vocal health, because I know a lot about technique and I know about, I know when I’m singing correctly. I know when I do something that’s not good for me as far as you know the physicality of singing. I had the luxury of going to probably the best vocal teacher in Los Angeles when I was very very young. So I know a lot about the voice, and placement and all kinds of things, but I don’t know why sometimes my voice doesn’t feel right and sometimes it does. You know I’ve been a smoker on and off my whole life and then I’ve had instances where I quit smoking and lost my voice and I wasn’t drinking alcohol, I wasn’t smoking and suddenly I’m on tour and I can’t sing suddenly. And then I’ve had instances where I’ve done a whole tour and I’d be drinking whiskey every night, smoking a pack of cigarettes a day and never had an issue with my voice. So I don’t know, but I think what it is most importantly is sleep and hydration. Well there’s three things; sleep, being properly hydrated, and singing correctly, those three things. I think if you sing correctly, if you get enough rest, and when I say rest I mean time where you are not using your voice, time to recuperate, and make sure that you are not dry, I think those three things and you’ll be alright. And you can kind of do what you want I really think so. I mean sometimes if I drink, one thing I know Marijuana, if I smoke pot can’t sing, instantly wipes out my voice. So there are things that will fuck me up pretty good, so I avoid that I don’t smoke pot. And you know so, but you know like I said those are the real three things that you have to focus on as a singer and I think you’ll be alright.
Metal Exiles: Feels like the bass is as prominent on one of your records as it’s ever been, is that a correct assessment, and if so can you talk about that decision to showcase your bass playing more and what that brought to the record?
Richie: Well you know it’s kind of funny my wife is a bass player and we listen to my record and she loves the bass lines. She goes man I love your records because the bass you can hear it. So many rock records you can’t hear the bass guitar and you know I am such, you know the best show I have ever seen in my life, and I’m not a guy, I don’t really like going to shows very much for a number of reasons. I love music but I hate going to shows. But the best show I’ve ever seen in my life I’ll never forget it, was Bootsy Collins at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. I love bass and I’ve been lucky to play with some great bass players and I love playing the bass you know. So much of my music revolves around what the bass guitar does because it complements the vocals, it drives the track so on and so forth. So on this record there’s not a lot of crazy production like for example End of Earth is pretty much guitar and bass and drums. My Rock is a great example it’s piano, there’s a piano track, there’s a bass guitar, drums, and a shit load of vocals, but that’s it there’s 3 instruments. So you’re really hearing everything, you’re hearing the piano, you’re hearing the drums, but you’re hearing the bass because it’s not masked with a bunch of overdubs. And then the other thing like, I like to feature the bass guitar like the song This is Life, it’s a piano song but that song is really all about the bass because of the line that it’s playing and complementing the piano so it’s just a big part of what I’m doing. At the same time I don’t have a lot of other instrumentation, you know I’m not up there with an accordion or a banjo or violin, a rack of synthesizers. It’s pretty much guitar, bass, drums, and piano, that’s pretty much what you’re getting on this record.
Metal Exiles: I believe you said the melody for the song Grammy sort of came to you in a dream, and within the day the song was written. Do song ideas often come to you in a dream or just sort of hit you spontaneously?
Richie: Yea, and you know when that happens it’s weird, it’s kind of annoying because I’ve learned, it’s happened a lot. When I wake up and I hear something, and sometimes it’s something really cool and I think I’ll remember it in the morning, and I never do. So I’ve learned when that happens to me, just to force my ass out of bed and document it. And actually I haven’t had it happen for a good 4 months and the other night it happened, and I have something in my vault, I have to go back and listen to it. So when that happens I’ve learned to force myself up and that happened with the song Grammy. Not only did I force myself out of bed at 3 in the morning to document it, I actually recorded that so that version that’s on the record, the song came to me around 3 or 3:30am, by 7am it was done recorded, so you’re getting it right out of the horse’s mouth so to speak.
Metal Exiles: Didn’t get to interview you about the last Winery Dogs record Hot Streak, what would you say are the biggest differences between that record and the first one, and how do you feel you guys have progressed as a band?
Richie: Well I would say the biggest difference, that first record there were a lot of songs on the record that were Richie Kotzen songs that were brought in and converted to Winery Dogs songs, like a huge chunk. Elevate was something I had written where we took one section of one song and one section of another but it was stuff that was on my hard drive. I’m No Angel was pretty much done, Damaged was done, Regret was 90% don. So we had that element to the process. Hot Streak there was none of that. Everything that was on Hot Streak came from us collaborating. I still wrote the lyrics and the melodies and stuff but as far as the music goes that was all collaborative, exception maybe there was like 2 songs, I think Fire was something that I had, not recorded but it was in my iphone like that progression was something I was screwing with and obviously Think It Over was this piano kind of gag. That record though, Billy had a lot of great riffs, and it was funny when we were writing, he’d play a riff and I’d go keep doing that, and then Mike would play a drum beat and I was like this is going to be a song, and they were like what are you talking about, I was like trust me. So that must have happened like 5 times and we’d start playing like a lick you know just like whatever, you know here’s something we’ve been working on and I’m like that’s a verse, that’s a chorus, so it was way more collaborative in my opinion.
Metal Exiles: What is it like for you to be able to create music with 2 of the most talented musicians in the world at their respected instruments, and what is it like to be in an environment where you are sharing a creative vision, of course very different than your solo career?
Richie: You know it’s both exciting and frustrating at the same time. It’s an interesting dynamic you know. One of my friends was in a very famous band, and he said a band is a very fragile relationship, and I know what he means because the dynamic is interesting you know especially for someone like me who’s you know always kind of done their own thing their own way. It’s probably easier for me because I already have the luxury of always being able to go back and do my own thing. Whereas some of the other guys, and I’m not even talking about The Winery Dogs, but a lot of guys can’t make a record unless they’re in a band. You know that’s not necessarily true for Billy and Mike because they’ve done so many different things, they can do whatever they want, but you know it’s an interesting thing, the stuff that The Winery Dogs do, would have never happened had the three of us never gotten in a room together. So that makes it very special, but then at the same time you know we come from very different influences musically, so sometimes that contributes to the uniqueness, but can also contribute to frustrations but that’s all normal, that’s all band stuff that’s how it works when you are in a band. Otherwise then there’s no point to collaborate. And it was a fun thing The Winery Dogs, it was a cool thing to do. Right now we’re taking a break from it, and I think it’s going to serve us well to get away from it, and you know down the line I’m sure we will do something else, be it a tour or a studio record, an EP who knows the door is always open.
Metal Exiles: That’s what I was going to ask, when you would anticipate getting together again?
Richie: Yea I’m not going to anticipate anything, I don’t know I mean I really don’t. I know that they’re working on something that to me could be very cool and I can’t say anything more than that. Obviously I’ve got my solo record that I’m focused on, and my tour that’s going to go well into the end of the year, and knowing me I’ll finish this album cycle and then I’ll disappear for a while. So in that disappearance I’ll know what I’m going to emerge as next, be it a Winery Dogs record, be it another Richie cycle or maybe something that I’ve never done before who knows.
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By Michael Knowles
Metal Exiles: I Feel like this record is different than your last solo output, definitely has some heavier moments, especially the opening 2 tracks. I also feel it showcases your shredding guitar skills a lot more, how would you characterize the album?
Richie Kotzen: Well you know what I really like about it is that I think it encompasses the full pendulum swing of what I do. I if you think of some of the acoustic type things that I’ve done in the past well we have that covered in the song Grammy, the piano element with songs like This is Life and My Rock. And then you know I’ve always liked the heavier stuff too so you’ve got Thunder and End of Earth. I’m really happy with this record and the reality is what a lot of people don’t realize is I finished this record last August and I told myself I was just going to sit on this for a while and get away from music and do something completely different for 3 or 4 months, and then come back and listen to what I did and if I liked it, I can release it and if I didn’t I could back to the drawing board and revamp it, fix it, or do whatever. And at the end of the day I went back and listened to it and I really liked what I did so here we are I released it.
Metal Exiles: Do you usually set aside time to work on an album, or do you just write throughout the year and when you have enough songs for an album you put it together?
Richie: That’s what I do I really just write what I write whether it’s something on the piano, something on the bass or whatever I write and I record , I usually record it right then and there. If I don’t finish it I get enough of it going so that I have a documentation and then I don’t forget it. And then after however much time, I go back and review some things and see what I like, see what sticks so to speak, and then if I have enough material that speaks to me then I consider putting it on a record and then going on from there. You know that’s exactly what I do, the 2nd thing you said was right on the money.
Metal Exiles: To me there’s so many different elements to your music, correct me if I’m wrong but I hear elements of classic hard rock, blues rock, R&B, even Motown at times, how do you decide which direction to sort of take a song or an album in general?
Richie: Well you know the song dictates for me you know it’s kind of automatic, you hear an idea you hear something and you run with it, it’s not like I sit down, I never sit down and go well I’m going to try and write something that sounds like so and so. I really literally write what I write, I don’t question where it comes from because I think when you start analyzing things you kill the inspiration. I mean I’ve worked with people where you’re trying to write something then suddenly wait a minute that sounds like “…” and they’ll start singing a song from 30 fucking years ago that everyone has forgotten about, and I go well that’s great dude you just totally killed the inspiration for this. So because the reality is when you look at it in the kind of music that I’m doing, you can trace everything somewhere. I mean you are dealing with a certain amount of notes a certain amount of rhythms so of course there’s things that are going to overlap but if you start getting into that mindset you’ll never write anything.
Metal Exiles: One of the highlights for me is the song Thunder, think that is one of the most blistering riffs you’ve written, and one of the most powerful choruses as well, can you talk about that song?
Richie: Yea that song is actually kind of an old song, the music I’ve had sitting on my hard drive since 2003. So I had been doing some archiving and I pulled that up and there was a version of that song, the verse my cousin was rapping on, that’s how old it is so I remember hearing the chorus so I played it for someone and they went man you should do something with that. So I took the track I redid a few things, I kept the guitars and the drums, I may have re-played the bass guitar, I definitely re-sang the entire song, I kept the guitar solo. The guitar solo’s old, and you can kind of tell because I’m playing in a way that I haven’t played in a long time, well that’s because the guitar solo is from 10 years ago. But I liked it I thought it was cool, it fit the track and so that song just kind of came together and that happens. There’s another song on the record Make It Easy, and the rhythm section, the guitar solo, the rhythm guitar, the bass, the drums, were all recorded back when I did the record Get Up. That song was meant to be on the Get Up record and I never finished it, I never wrote lyrics for it. Then suddenly I went back last year and I pulled it up and went this is a strong idea I’ve got to finish this, and it’s kind of like a classic typical Richie Kotzen song like Mother’s Head Family Reunion or Go Faster or one of those tunes. So I kind of came up with lyrics and again I went back and for some reason I love re-doing the bass guitar, so I went back and redid the bass and my wife sang background on it and we got that one finished. I put tambourine down I updated it you know and there you go.
Metal Exiles: I feel that you are one of the most prolific songwriters on earth, I know you had originally planned to take a break after the last Winery Dogs tour, what gives you the energy or will to create new music at the rate that you do?
Richie: Well I call it balance and I think the rate element is kind of an illusion. I was talking to someone and they went wow you have 21 solo records out, and yea but I’m 47 years old and I started putting records out when I was 18 so you know I can argue that I should have put more records out and I probably could have because I have plenty of songs that I never released. But you know the reality is it’s about balance for me, to have output, if you want to call the music that you make output, you need input. And to have input you have to get out and live life and do things. You can’t just lock yourself in the studio forever because you’re going to become a pretty one dimensional character if you’re not out in the world experiencing things. That’s why when you listen to my records you’ll notice that there’s a huge pendulum swing stylistically. I mean it’s all me but you know you have a song like This Is Life, you would not expect the same guy that wrote This Is Life, to write Thunder for example so, and that really comes out of what I call that balance between input and output. Being immersed in music and then immersing yourself in something else and getting away from it and coming back fresh, for me that’s important. Not everybody works like that you know a lot of guys just have to be playing all the time, but usually those guys aren’t necessarily creating, and if they are creating they’re relying on other people to create with them. I really think someone like me where I’m kind of one entire entity so to speak, I need to get away from it, I need to get a break from myself in order to get excited again to do it.
Metal Exiles: Another stand out moment for me is the song My Rock, such a great groove, and I love the feel of the bass and piano, think I would put that amongst your best baby makin’ songs, can you talk a little about that track?
Richie: Yea that track has been around for a couple years. It was lurking around on my hard drive for a while and I had a version of it. It’s funny I almost released it as a single 2 years ago, around when the 2nd Winery Dogs record came out. I was going to put it out as a single and then I stopped myself because I wanted to focus on Winery Dogs and I didn’t want to have any distractions. And I’m glad I did stop myself because the version I was going to release isn’t nearly as good as the version that ended up on my record. I ended up re-working a lot of that track and re-playing some things to make it what it is now, so I’m happy that I waited. By waiting, I was able to take the original version of the song and really improve upon it and so now in the context of what it is now so, and actually that song we’re going to play live, we actually rehearsed it the other day and it’s a lot of fun to do that one.
Metal Exiles: Felt like your guitar playing was especially expressive on this album, and I feel like there is so much emotion behind your guitar playing, what would you attribute your unique guitar playing style to?
Richie: My singing voice, I think it’s all connected and it’s funny it probably has nothing to do with either. It’s probably got nothing to do with my guitar playing or singing or anything, because the other day we were in rehearsal and I was sitting down at the Wurlitzer and I hooked up a distortion pedal and a wah and we were jamming and I was soloing on this Wurlitzer piano. I stopped and I was joking and I said it’s funny I’m playing the same licks that I play on the guitar, I’m playing them on the piano it’s ridiculous, and it’s just comical. So obviously I just hear notes however I hear them. I’m hearing shit and it has way more to do with what’s happening in my brain than what’s happening anywhere else so it’s just kind of a funny moment. So, if I played the violin, I’d probably be playing the same freakin’ lines you know, it’s just the way I hear it, it’s the same phrases.
Metal Exiles: Somehow your voice sounds stronger than ever, how do you keep your voice in such amazing shape considering you have such a huge range, and do so much touring?
Richie: Man that’s a great question, I really wish I knew more about vocal health, because I know a lot about technique and I know about, I know when I’m singing correctly. I know when I do something that’s not good for me as far as you know the physicality of singing. I had the luxury of going to probably the best vocal teacher in Los Angeles when I was very very young. So I know a lot about the voice, and placement and all kinds of things, but I don’t know why sometimes my voice doesn’t feel right and sometimes it does. You know I’ve been a smoker on and off my whole life and then I’ve had instances where I quit smoking and lost my voice and I wasn’t drinking alcohol, I wasn’t smoking and suddenly I’m on tour and I can’t sing suddenly. And then I’ve had instances where I’ve done a whole tour and I’d be drinking whiskey every night, smoking a pack of cigarettes a day and never had an issue with my voice. So I don’t know, but I think what it is most importantly is sleep and hydration. Well there’s three things; sleep, being properly hydrated, and singing correctly, those three things. I think if you sing correctly, if you get enough rest, and when I say rest I mean time where you are not using your voice, time to recuperate, and make sure that you are not dry, I think those three things and you’ll be alright. And you can kind of do what you want I really think so. I mean sometimes if I drink, one thing I know Marijuana, if I smoke pot can’t sing, instantly wipes out my voice. So there are things that will fuck me up pretty good, so I avoid that I don’t smoke pot. And you know so, but you know like I said those are the real three things that you have to focus on as a singer and I think you’ll be alright.
Metal Exiles: Feels like the bass is as prominent on one of your records as it’s ever been, is that a correct assessment, and if so can you talk about that decision to showcase your bass playing more and what that brought to the record?
Richie: Well you know it’s kind of funny my wife is a bass player and we listen to my record and she loves the bass lines. She goes man I love your records because the bass you can hear it. So many rock records you can’t hear the bass guitar and you know I am such, you know the best show I have ever seen in my life, and I’m not a guy, I don’t really like going to shows very much for a number of reasons. I love music but I hate going to shows. But the best show I’ve ever seen in my life I’ll never forget it, was Bootsy Collins at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. I love bass and I’ve been lucky to play with some great bass players and I love playing the bass you know. So much of my music revolves around what the bass guitar does because it complements the vocals, it drives the track so on and so forth. So on this record there’s not a lot of crazy production like for example End of Earth is pretty much guitar and bass and drums. My Rock is a great example it’s piano, there’s a piano track, there’s a bass guitar, drums, and a shit load of vocals, but that’s it there’s 3 instruments. So you’re really hearing everything, you’re hearing the piano, you’re hearing the drums, but you’re hearing the bass because it’s not masked with a bunch of overdubs. And then the other thing like, I like to feature the bass guitar like the song This is Life, it’s a piano song but that song is really all about the bass because of the line that it’s playing and complementing the piano so it’s just a big part of what I’m doing. At the same time I don’t have a lot of other instrumentation, you know I’m not up there with an accordion or a banjo or violin, a rack of synthesizers. It’s pretty much guitar, bass, drums, and piano, that’s pretty much what you’re getting on this record.
Metal Exiles: I believe you said the melody for the song Grammy sort of came to you in a dream, and within the day the song was written. Do song ideas often come to you in a dream or just sort of hit you spontaneously?
Richie: Yea, and you know when that happens it’s weird, it’s kind of annoying because I’ve learned, it’s happened a lot. When I wake up and I hear something, and sometimes it’s something really cool and I think I’ll remember it in the morning, and I never do. So I’ve learned when that happens to me, just to force my ass out of bed and document it. And actually I haven’t had it happen for a good 4 months and the other night it happened, and I have something in my vault, I have to go back and listen to it. So when that happens I’ve learned to force myself up and that happened with the song Grammy. Not only did I force myself out of bed at 3 in the morning to document it, I actually recorded that so that version that’s on the record, the song came to me around 3 or 3:30am, by 7am it was done recorded, so you’re getting it right out of the horse’s mouth so to speak.
Metal Exiles: Didn’t get to interview you about the last Winery Dogs record Hot Streak, what would you say are the biggest differences between that record and the first one, and how do you feel you guys have progressed as a band?
Richie: Well I would say the biggest difference, that first record there were a lot of songs on the record that were Richie Kotzen songs that were brought in and converted to Winery Dogs songs, like a huge chunk. Elevate was something I had written where we took one section of one song and one section of another but it was stuff that was on my hard drive. I’m No Angel was pretty much done, Damaged was done, Regret was 90% don. So we had that element to the process. Hot Streak there was none of that. Everything that was on Hot Streak came from us collaborating. I still wrote the lyrics and the melodies and stuff but as far as the music goes that was all collaborative, exception maybe there was like 2 songs, I think Fire was something that I had, not recorded but it was in my iphone like that progression was something I was screwing with and obviously Think It Over was this piano kind of gag. That record though, Billy had a lot of great riffs, and it was funny when we were writing, he’d play a riff and I’d go keep doing that, and then Mike would play a drum beat and I was like this is going to be a song, and they were like what are you talking about, I was like trust me. So that must have happened like 5 times and we’d start playing like a lick you know just like whatever, you know here’s something we’ve been working on and I’m like that’s a verse, that’s a chorus, so it was way more collaborative in my opinion.
Metal Exiles: What is it like for you to be able to create music with 2 of the most talented musicians in the world at their respected instruments, and what is it like to be in an environment where you are sharing a creative vision, of course very different than your solo career?
Richie: You know it’s both exciting and frustrating at the same time. It’s an interesting dynamic you know. One of my friends was in a very famous band, and he said a band is a very fragile relationship, and I know what he means because the dynamic is interesting you know especially for someone like me who’s you know always kind of done their own thing their own way. It’s probably easier for me because I already have the luxury of always being able to go back and do my own thing. Whereas some of the other guys, and I’m not even talking about The Winery Dogs, but a lot of guys can’t make a record unless they’re in a band. You know that’s not necessarily true for Billy and Mike because they’ve done so many different things, they can do whatever they want, but you know it’s an interesting thing, the stuff that The Winery Dogs do, would have never happened had the three of us never gotten in a room together. So that makes it very special, but then at the same time you know we come from very different influences musically, so sometimes that contributes to the uniqueness, but can also contribute to frustrations but that’s all normal, that’s all band stuff that’s how it works when you are in a band. Otherwise then there’s no point to collaborate. And it was a fun thing The Winery Dogs, it was a cool thing to do. Right now we’re taking a break from it, and I think it’s going to serve us well to get away from it, and you know down the line I’m sure we will do something else, be it a tour or a studio record, an EP who knows the door is always open.
Metal Exiles: That’s what I was going to ask, when you would anticipate getting together again?
Richie: Yea I’m not going to anticipate anything, I don’t know I mean I really don’t. I know that they’re working on something that to me could be very cool and I can’t say anything more than that. Obviously I’ve got my solo record that I’m focused on, and my tour that’s going to go well into the end of the year, and knowing me I’ll finish this album cycle and then I’ll disappear for a while. So in that disappearance I’ll know what I’m going to emerge as next, be it a Winery Dogs record, be it another Richie cycle or maybe something that I’ve never done before who knows.
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