So I am sitting at the computer surfing the web with the stereo cranking out some classic, yes I said “classic”, eighties hair/glam metal tunes. It is a CD that contains bands like Bullet Boys (Smooth Up In Ya), Faster Pussycat (Bathroom Wall, Slip of the Tongue), Jackly (Dirty Little Mind), Poison (too many to list) and a host of other feel good performers that made the eighties metal scene what it was - great. As I continued to read an article, a familiar guitar riff comes across my ears; it is the opening to Never Enough by L.A. Guns. A song, that at the time, I had not heard in years. I quickly grabbed the remote, turned it up and sat back and relived the good ol’ times. Upon the song’s completion, I started doing my investigation on how I would be able to contact any member of the band in order to conduct an interview.

After reading some older interviews, I discovered that there are actually two bands performing under the L.A. Guns moniker. One contains drummer Steve Riley and vocalist Phil Lewis. The other version of the namesake has guitarist Tracii Guns leading the way. Well, to make a long story short, I e-mailed what looked liked the management company for the band. I did not receive any reply for about two weeks, when one day while retrieving messages from my voicemail, I hear the following: “Yeah, this message is for Chris. Chris, this is Steve Riley from L.A. Guns and I hear you would like to do an interview.” Steve leaves me his cell number, which I ring as soon as I finish listening to his message. Him and I set a time and day and below is the outcome of our conversation.

(Telephone rings and the unwelcome, but familiar words of “Please leave a message after the tone” play soulfully in my ears. I start to leave my message of “Hey Steve, this is Chris from Fears calling to do the interview…”) Phone picks up

Steve Riley: Hello?

Fears: Hello?

Steve: Hey buddy.

Fears: Hey Steve, how are you doing?

Steve: Good. How you doin’ pal?

Fears: Well thanks. Got a few minutes?

Steve: Yes I do.

Fears: Great to hear. I guess we should just get started. First off, let me say thank you for taking time out to call the other day as well as letting us conduct this interview now.

Steve: Oh don’t worry about it bro. No problem. We appreciate any support these days.
Fears: Steve, when the eighties metal scene was in its glory, I don’t think it anyone realized that that era produced some really good songs. Unlike a lot of the metal of today, the “metal” of yesteryear had groove. As a musician from that era, what are your thoughts on the metal scene of today?

Steve: Well you know, I was watching some of the newer bands on TV and stuff and reading articles on them and their crowd reaction is really really good. They have the same thing going on that us bands had going on in the eighties. It’s really hard to take anything away from them you know? Bands like Linkin’ Park and My Chemical Romance and all of the other (pause) they’ve got the audiences jumpin’ and they’ve got their own thing going on. It’s a different time. It’s a different form of music too.

The reason the eighties music, I think, was so involving with the audience was because of what you just said; there was a lot of heavy groove. There was a big push from the rhythm section and there was that heavy groove all the time. And it was really derivative of the sixties and seventies cause that’s what we all listened to and that was very groove oriented music. It was heavy metal, but it was still groove oriented. But it’s hard to take away anything from these bands of today cause they’re doing well. They’ve got their own scene going on and the way we look at it is that anything good going with rock-n-roll is good for all of us cause it’s so tough for rock right now. So if these guys rock-n-roll, and they are, and they’re doin’ good, we’re all behind them.

Fears: That’s good support. I presume all musicians need to support each other.

Steve: We have to and it’s their time right now and we all had our big, big time like that and now we’ve turned into working musicians and it’s what I always wanted to do. When I was a little kid, when I started playing drums, I wanted to be a working musician. I didn’t really say, ‘Hey, I want to be a rock star.’ I just wanted to make a living playing drums and that’s what it turned out to be bro. And we’re diggin’ on it. We lucked out that we made a mark big enough that we became working and touring musicians right now. It’s a whole new scene and it’s a young thing.

Fears: Young thing?

Steve: Rock-n-roll is a young sport and you’ve got to make a name for yourself when you’re young in order to become a working musician later and we lucked out and that’s what we did. Phil (Lewis) did it with Girl and L.A. Guns and I did it with W.A.S.P. and L.A. Guns. And you know, we made a name for ourselves so we could always work. Hopefully the young kids of today are doing that right now.

Fears: Is there anything that you don’t see happening with today’s metal scene that maybe you all had to your advantage back then?

Steve: The one thing that I don’t see bro is I don’t see the absolute take over of media the way we had. We had complete take over. We had TV, records, and concerts. We were just goin’ wild. We all owned MTV in eighties and I don’t see that now cause MTV has turned into sort of like a game show channel.

Fears: To be honest, that channel has turned into a joke.

Steve: It is a joke. So it’s turned into a game show (pauses) it’s not like when we were watching it in the eighties and early nineties when it was all music and it was all videos all the time. So we got way more exposure than the bands of today and what we’re doin’ is backing those bands because it’s a tough business. Like I said, you gotta really really get some exposure like we did to become a working band later on.

Fears: Yes, it does seem like all the stars were aligned for those bands lucky enough to have played in the eighties and early nineties.

Steve: They sure were.

Fears: Let us delve into your past and background a little. For those of us who know of Steve Riley will know that he was apart of the band W.A.S.P. and ultimately ended up in L.A. Guns, but where did it begin for you? I am in my early forties and I grew up listening to all the seventies music - pop, glam, contemporary, disco, etc.. Since, and I am going to assume here, you are of the same era, when did you start playing the drums and which genre of music did you lean toward the most?

Steve: I’m older bro. I started playing when I was like six-years-old. My first record deal was in 1975.

Fears: I must say I am taken aback.

Steve: It’s Phil also. Me and Phil are really close in age and a lot of people don’t really realize how much me and Phil had done before we were in L.A. Guns. I did Steppenwolf (Born To Be Wild and Magic Carpet Ride), I was in Keel, I did albums with four or five different bands – one offs that didn’t take off with second albums – and then I was in W.A.S.P. before L.A. Guns and Phil was in a number of bands too. I don’t know if a lot of people really realize how much we really did before L.A. Guns and L.A. Guns was really just the topping on the cake for us because it put us, and I go back to the same thing, in that category of being able to work for as long as we want now and that’s what we’re doin’. We’re tourin’ and workin’ all the time right now.

Fears: With the way the music industry shifts minute by minute and it’s many challenges and downfalls, is it harder for the older acts to maintain a fan base and draw the crowds or was it harder to actually build that fan base in the beginning with, perhaps, the opportunities afforded at the time?

Steve: That whole other thing too about, you know, we’re watching this whole thing; it’s like history. We’re watching it right now. We’re watching the record industry go away right in front of our eyes. We’re watching it and it’s a scary thing cause we’re seeing it go away. It’s turning into a digital age all computers all downloaded and we’re watching the actual record business dwindle and dwindle. So those opportunities to go do showcases for labels back in the seventies and the eighties, those opportunities aren’t there like they were before where you could get tons of A & R people to come down to see your showcases or your shows so you could try to get signed. It’s a smaller world for the bands trying it today. They don’t have that other opportunity. L.A. Guns came out with their first album, and the same thing with W.A.S.P., we came out with our first albums and made a nice little mark, but the company didn’t freak out because the thing didn’t go through the roof, they kept us on and developed us.

Fears: They, in essence, nurtured the bands.

Steve: Yeah. We put out Last Command and Cocked and Loaded, respectively both bands (W.A.S.P. and L.A. Guns), and we developed into an even bigger bigger sound and the record company was right with us. Working with us and side shoulder to shoulder. Now, you better score as soon as you come out of the gate or your done. Your done, the band is done. I’ve seen it. I mean if you don’t score coming right out, right now, there’s no development in the industry anymore. There’s none of that and their window of opportunity is so small nowadays and scary for them. It’s too bad that they don’t have a lot of development going on.

Fears: As a member of an established band many years over, do you find it hard to gain and maintain a fan base in the world of music today? Are there days where you or perhaps Phil just ask yourselves, “What the hell are we doing?”

Steve: It’s goes back and it’s very cliché-ish, but it’s like, you know, we’re real lifers doing this bro. We have done this all our lives and this is really what we do. We did a slew of great great shows, all sold out shows but then we might hit a bump too and have a couple of bad attendance shows, but you gotta just bear down and do it. A lot bands won’t do that either. You’re not gonna fill every place, every time. You’re just not gonna have a good night all the time and if you can’t deal with that, then you’re not gonna go too long. I have friends who did well in other bands in the eighties, but they won’t dig in like that. They just don’t have that kind of thick skin to say, “Hey, we’re a working band. It’s not going to be great every night. It’s gonna suck some nights. But most of the night, we’re having a really really good time.” To me, that’s a nice percentage on a job. Know what I mean? There is that good percentage that most of your nights days and night are gonna be cool and only one or two of them are going to suck.

Fears: I was just introduced to a DVD titled Waking Up Dead which is a project that followed Phil Varone (former drummer of Saigon Kick and Skid Row) through his darker side in the music industry and it was an eye opener for me. In a nutshell, it was implied that if he would have known back then what he knows now about the industry, he probably would not have chosen the grueling life of a rock musician. Do you feel all the trials and tribulations you have been through has been worth the aggravation subjected upon you?

Steve: Oh yeah bro. And you know, kudos to Phil because he’s trying a new career and he’s trying something new. I don’t think Phil had the opportunities I had either. I mean I was in two big original bands from the beginning – W.A.S.P. and L.A. Guns. I don’t think that Phil had that opportunity. He got to play with Skid Row in the latter part of their days, you know, Bas (Sebastian Bach) wasn’t even with them. But he has played around and he’s a really fine drummer, but I don’t think he’s had that kind of an opportunity that I’ve had. I’ve had a really really good time.

I’ve been playing for so long and I went through the whole seventies thing to. So before I even got to the eighties, I was all tempered out from the seventies so when I got to the eighties I really enjoyed it. The W.A.S.P. thing all the way through L.A. Guns, I had a blast and now, like I said, I’ve turned into like an old grizzled witch (laughing).

(Laughter breaks out)

Steve: I’m kind of diggin’ it. I’m still playin’ drums. I’m still endorsed by all the same companies.

Fears: Although L.A. Guns had success, I think it would be a fair statement to say the band never really blew up so-to-speak. However, the energy that was exuded was rather prevalent during each of the shows that I saw. Everytime that I had the chance to see you all, the audience always got their monies worth. Unlike some of the other acts that completely hit the stratosphere and lost their touch with reality as well as their fanbase.

Steve: L.A. Guns…we weren’t as big as some of the other bands that were on the bill. Some of the other bands would get to go on after us because of record sells even if we had much more exposure and people knew our whole set compared to maybe just a couple of tunes that were big hits for some other bands and the rest of their set is, “What is it?” nobody even really knows. We still go on first and you better believe it, I’m gonna get out there and I’m gonna challenge the other two or three drummers that are gonna follow me. I really am. I’m gonna play my ass off and challenge and just dare people to follow us and L.A. Guns has always done that anyway. I actually started that with W.A.S.P. We dared people to follow us in the old W.A.S.P. Whether it was (Iron) Maiden or anybody else that we toured with, we dared them to follow us cause we knew were like a saw blade. We just cut people in half. We were unbelievable live. You know, the first rendition of W.A.S.P. that went out - Randy Piper, me and Chris (Holmes) and Blackie (Lawless). That was just like a buzz saw and we dared people to follow us and we did that through L.A. Guns too. We do it nowadays too. We go on and we say, ‘Okay we’re gonna put on the fuckin’ show and see if people can follow it’. I still do that with the drums man. I’m gonna go up there (on stage) and place my best for sure.

Fears: Well, it seems you don’t rest on your laurels even though you may play the same songs many time over.

Steve: No I don’t.

Fears: There have been so many incarnations of L.A. Guns, but the classic lineup would have to be Mick Cripps, Kelly Nichols, Tracii Guns and of course you and Phil. How do you look upon those years?

Steve: They were great bro. Those five original guys had a blast and it was the face of L.A. Guns. We got so much exposure with the five of us together.

Fears: But what happened to that core group?

Steve: There was a breakdown in the band itself. In the nineties, every band kind of went through it toward the end of the eighties; it was a terrible period.

Fears: Will that classic lineup ever reform to kick the fans’ asses? Is there much bad blood to where it will not?

Steve: You know what, I don’t see Mick and Kelly coming back to music at all. They’re still really really good friends and they’re both doing stuff privately and they’re not really doing music and I don’t see them coming back. And you know, obviously, Tracii, right now, has that other thing (band) out there and he can’t get a gig as the Tracii Guns band; he calls it L.A. Guns. And he’s got this terrible thing out there right now bro and it just bugs the shit out of us because it sounds horrible. It’s made up of all members that didn’t make it… (inaudible) … when had to go get the record deal. It’s so stupid. It’s all of these people that record labels said, “No, if we’re gonna sign you, you can’t use those people.” So he (Tracii) went and got those same people again and has this terrible band out there playing for really really cheap dough and me and Phil know we’ve got the real thing. We know we have the real thing. Tracii was with us from the beginning, but he split. He quit the band and went with Brides of Destruction (a band that Guns partnered up with fellow rocker Nikki Sixx), was gone for five years then all of a sudden he shows up with an L.A. Guns made up of characters that couldn’t make it with the band. It’s a really bad scene right now with him and we’re not afraid to admit it and we’re taking it head on. That’s why we’re working so hard. I want people to see the real L.A. Guns and this is it man. It sounds so good, that when you do see us, you’ll see what kind of a kick ass show we put on. It’s the old L.A. Guns.

Fears: And the current line up of L.A. Guns is you, Phil…

Steve: (Interjecting) It’s me and Phil and two newer guys (Scott Griffen on bass and Stacey Blades on guitar) that have been with us for awhile now but they’re really really good. But it’s me and Phil. It’s the singer and drummer who had already done a bunch of shit before L.A. Guns. We had done a bunch of shit and we’re the ones who have that thick skin and never really stopped. We were into L.A. Guns too. We were proud of L.A. Guns – me and Phil. We didn’t feel like we wanted to stop and go do something else.

Fears: Do people now go see L.A. Guns for the members or for the music of L.A. Guns?

Steve: You definitely want to see at least a couple of original members. But you know what they really want to hear (the fans)? They really want to hear Phil sing the songs. They really really gotta hear that. For example, we played with Skid Row the other night and they’re really good friends of ours, you know, we’ve toured with them and I’ve known Bas since I was in W.A.S.P. and they’re good friends of ours and they sounded great with Johnny Solinger. He’s a great performer, he sounded great, he pulled it off and he was kicking ass, but some of the fans were still wanting to hear Bas sing the songs even those this guy was kicking ass. They wanted to hear Bas. So what it turns into is if you’ve had hits and you’ve had a lot of exposure, the one thing that you have to have to become a working band and to keep playing is that original lead singer. We’re the only band in America, that I know of and I swear I don’t know of any other bands that has an all American lineup with a British singer. There’s no other band. I can’t think of one that has a British singer and the rest are all Americans. So the thing is, is that Phil is a real unique character. He’s an English guy that came out of an eighties L.A. band and he’s just unique. His voice is unique. He doesn’t think he sings like Robert Plant or Ian Gillen, but he’s Phil Lewis and he has a distinctive voice that the people absolutely want to hear singing the songs. It doesn’t matter if you have a great singer. He left the band for three years in the nineties and Tracii and I tried to do it without him with three really talented guys and it didn’t work dude. These songs have to be sung by Phil Lewis.

Fears: The songs need his heart and soul.

Steve: You’ve got to hear his inflections. Everything. It’s his songs. He wrote the melody. He wrote the phrasing. He wrote the lyric. So it’s really his baby and you want to hear it with his voice. Drummers, guitar players and bass players can all be rotated. Someone could definitely step in for me, but I really believe that if you have the same push on drums and you have the same vocal, you can really really sound exactly like the records cause there’s a lot of great guitar players and bass players, but if you have the same drummer pushin’ and the same vocals from the record that you’ve heard (pause) we pull it off every night. The band sounds killer right now. It really really sounds great.

Fears: Other than constant touring, is there anything new that will be coming from L.A. Guns?

Steve: You know bro, we’re one of the few bands that always records too. We’ve been doing an album like every year, year and a half; we did the last three with Shrapnel (Records) and Mike Varney. We know it’s not gonna sell a lot. There’s a lot of outlets to sell a lot of records, but we’re a band that has to write all the time. Like you said earlier, we can’t rest on our laurels. We have to keep challenging ourselves and writing for ourselves. Plus it gives us another tool to sell out there. We’ll bring it out there and have these CDs right at the shows because we know we don’t have the distribution anymore; it’s not there. So the kids are gonna have a hard time finding so since we’re on the road a lot, we kind of bring it to them.

Fears: What is the logistics of your touring? Do you only hit certain States? Are only a certain amount of days you all play, etc.?

Steve: What we just did was finish a whole summer’s worth of dates and we’ve been touring in a new way. We’re flying in and out of L.A. We fly out on a Wednesday and play Thursday, Friday and Saturday in an area. Three different shows in an area like three to four hundred square miles; right in there. We’ll do three shows, then we’ll fly back to L.A. and we won’t try to fill Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday which are hard days to fill on tour. We’ve been touring this way now for about a couple of years and working a lot. We’ve got a full thing man and we kind of run it like a full time business.

Fears: Well I guess in essence it is – a business.

Steve: It really is brutha.

Fears: It seems that you are still having a lot of fun with it.

Steve: Everybody is getting along in the band. Everybody is playing well. Everybody is really knowing that you got to dig in to do this thing nowadays. You really have to. You have to really get tough and go with the good and bad. Bounce back and forth really easy or you’re gonna just fade away. We’re havin’ a great time right now.

Fears: As I hear your phone’s battery starting to fail, real quick, outside of L.A. Guns and during your downtime, what does Steve enjoy doing to get away from the business?

Steve: We kind of like manage and run our own business – L.A. Guns. So we’re constantly and touring on that and figuring out what we’ve got to do, but when I unwind I’m like a big sports freak. I just like to kick back. I’m from Boston and I gotta watch all the Red Sox and Patriots. I’m like a freak on all of that, but I am a big sports freak and I watch a lot of that and try to go to some games and stuff you know.

Fears: Steve, thank you very much for taking time to speak with us. It’s been a pleasure.

Steve: Oh brother, thanks for the support. Thanks pal.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.laguns.net/

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