PipemanRadio Interviews The Rods About Rattle The Cage

0:04 Hi, you have then too, censure, I'm see wow, Prare Young Roway, why become of America. It's time for the Adventures of White Men on W four c HY dot com West Pomp Beats his number one internet radio station. Here's your host, the White Man. This is fight Man here on the Adventures fight Man W four c Y Radio. And I'm very excited up our next guest, because you know, this span has always had this underground type of following and that includes me because I remember, way way way back when I was in this record store in the valley in La called Oz Records, and there was a store clerk there. His name was Brian Slagel, and he pointed out this album to me with a three headed dog on it, and basically the rest is history. And now we're here today.

1:40 Geez, It's decades and decades later to celebrate a new album. So let's welcome to the show. Carl from the Rods, How are you. I'm doing great, Thanks for having me on. And way way way back, you had to add that extra Way's that's a that's a really cool story. I mean, Brian Slagel obviously legend and metal and so how cool was that, no doubt. You know. It's funny because me and my bros used to go to OZ Records all the time and he worked there and he just started Metal Blade, and so what I told him, like a few years ago, I'm like, what a brilliant plan that was, even though it wasn't really his plan. But you know, he's like, I was just a record store clerk, but he was able to promote all these bands working at the record store. So we would go and we would buy these albums.

2:30 He's like, hey, check this out, Hey check this out, and like, that's how I became the metal head I am today. That's right. And they still do. They play they play music in the store. It's a great way to promote, like who's this, Like, oh, these guys are great, perfect exactly, you know. And I missed those days too at looking at an album cover and gone, wow, I need to buy that album and not having any clue what it would sound like. You know, I think kids today are missing that with that whole track track track mentality, you know, where you get this full album experience completely and you immerse yourself. There's even bands I didn't like when I first heard it, but you know, I paid my record, so I listened to it over and over again, and then they pay my favorite band. Mm hm, that's the same for me. Immerse yourself and I listened to the album. But people, you know, people are busy. People have time to sit and listen to an album unless you're really die hard fan. But it is a shame about the physical But you do see people like I know, for this Rogs album right of the Cage, we're sold out of almost all the vinyl now wow, the reordery, so it's actually fantastic, but people are buying vinyl. I love that vinyls making comeback. And I even laugh because there's bands I've interviewed over the past few years that are playing out cassettes too, and I love that too. I still have a whole stack of my albums, including that Rod's album from way back, and I still

4:02 have like boxes and boxes of cassettes. The only thing I didn't keep were my eight tracks. I just heard somebody was some band was trying to do a release on an eight track. I can't imagine where do you play that? But that's pretty I don't even that would be cool. But I can't even find an eight track. Maybe it's just a collector's at it, but it's a cool idea, no doubt. I remember I had Blizzard of Odds and mister Crowley used to cut in the middle to change from track to the track free and it would like fade out and then fade back in, and I'd have to put a match book cover under the tape so it would play slowly. And you know, the struggles eight tracks were a struggle for sure, no doubt. So tell us about the new album. And you know, I'm always fascinated with artists like you that have been around doing this for so long. How you keep coming up with new material to write like you you would think at some point you run out of material to write. Yeah, that you know, I guess that's a case of the muse. In this album. For this album we have, David just was on a terror like he was really prolific. He would call me every couple of days, I have another one, I have another one. And you know, this album, with the exception of Heaven and Helen high Water, which Freddy brought in the riff and the song title, I've sent David the lyrics for Rattle

5:34 the Cage the idea for that and for a shock wave, which was the working title until Rattle the Cage became such a what we thought was a great song and perfect for the album. You know. In this for this album, David's just been on a roll and we're already through. I just sent them some ideas. I picked up my guitar. Finally, I've been very busy the last couple of years. I picked up my guitar and bass and I record these little home So I just already sent them some ideas. We already have four or five songs recorded in the can that I need drum tracks to and then you know, Sweeten Me and David's written I think one or two more songs, and Freddy has ideas. So it's you know, we're not short of ideas. We'll have our next album done in the next few months. Wow, that's amazing, you know, it's it's amazing because artists have been doing this as well as you. It seems like they're playing out more music now than they and in a rut then back in the day.

6:33 And I guess there is a lot of material nowadays to speak about on albums. It almost seems like we have a repeat of stuff in the eighties to talk about. Well, no, there's definitely you know, things, it's cyclical and I think things come back around and you see things coming back like power pop, power rock, hard rock, like it just you know, along with all the other genres and you know, and sub genres of metal, extreme metal. So it's a it's cool, it's you know, to me. I have some friends who are older like, oh, the music is blah blah blah blah blah, and I'm like, I don't know what you're listening to because there's so much great music out there. Every day there's new great music in the so well, you know, it's funny because there are people that I knew, you know, years ago, that I went to shows with and they kind of say, yeah, I used to be a metal head, and I'm like, yeah, you weren't really a metal head. If you say used to a metal head is a metal head and a matter of go ahead, No, it's in Europe. You know.

7:41 We found once we started going to Europe that in Europe are fans like we have fans who are doctors, lawyers, like they're they're well into their career, they're older, they're hardcore metal fans, you know, successful business people, they're not. It's like here in America, country fans our country fans for life. There's no fickle Oh yeah, well I used to be a country fan, you know. I was a country fan, still a country fan. For some reason. In America, there's been this pop sensibility where you were fed this top forty thing, and once that was pass a then suddenly that group or that style of music was no longer cool. But that's not the way for Europeans who love music. They know what they like and they find the good bands that they like and they stay with them. And as long as you're putting out music that's true and to the band, it isn't just basic crap. You know, those fans stay with you. It's not about I used to be metal, like you said, and it's but in America, country fans are like the metal fans are in Europe, they're heard there for life, they like it. They're there. Yeah, true story, And you know, I'm glad you brought that up because that's why I found going over to Europe is that. Man. I thought, like, there's some bands that I love back in the eighties that I thought were not around anymore, and turns out they've just been in Europe all this time because they love the old school metal, the new school medal. They love it all. You know, I did coverage of festivals, and going to a European festival like Hellfest or Vodkin or any of those is a whole different

9:18 experience than my experience in the US. Yeah, totally different. And like Download first, I went to downloads. Oh my god, it's like a it's a city. They built a city for the festival, right right. And same with Hellfest, that whole city of Plisana. It's all like a health best city. And Download. You know, it's funny you mentioned Download because last year at Download, Metallica headline and there were complaints fifteen miles away from people that music was too loud and they can hear with dallag loud and clear fifteen miles away of like, that's pretty badass, that's badass. Yeah, they're looking they didn't get charged. Those tickets were pretty high. Oh yeah, I'm sure. And you know, it's just interesting to see, like you're saying, going to these different festivals and even here right now, I'm in Costa Rica, right, now. Oh, you know, I met somebody the first day I got here that is a musician and he puts on different events and small festivals here, and I've talked about, Man, I want to do a festival in Costa Rica because you don't really have a metal festival here. Well, that's what I thought. To talk to this guy and we're talking about maybe putting on a festival here. He said, there's a huge underground metal scene in Costa Rica and I never even knew that, you know. So it just goes to show metal has never died.

10:50 It's worldwide and in some places bigger than it ever was. Yeah, I agree. So what what is it that you know throughout the years keeps you going and keeps you doing this Besides the love of the music, what other things fuel your passion for being a musician. Well, I've wanted to play drums since I was four and a half and I didn't get drums until I was thirteen. I've got a practice pad when I was maybe eleven or something, but I didn't get drums. So I was thirteen, you know, single mom, poor and just didn't get them. So when I did, I hit the ground running and I've always wanted to play. I still have that same passion today about playing my drums. I recorded a drum track.

11:39 I worked for hire or someone and did that drum track yesterday, and I couldn't wait to play it. I was excited to actually go in and knock out the drum part and be creative. And so those things are just it's something that I just want to play my drums. I'm as excited about my drums today as I was when I was a kid. When I look at my drums, I look at all the shiny symbols and the shiny symbol stands and the drums, and you know, I just it's like it's cool. It's like I go into like a store like Harbor Freight or you know, any store like that, like Ace Hardware, and I look at the wall and I'll see all the duels. I don't want to use them. I don't know how to use them. You know, all that boys stuff doesn't work for me. I can't. I can change light bulbs, but I can do basic stuff. But when I look at all this stuff, I'm like, Wow, that is so cool. That's how I feel when I look at drums. I'm always looking at a gear. I got guitars over here in the corner. You know, just something about it that I love.

12:37 It attracts me. But it's fun to play. And I still, you know, every day I want to get up and I want to play my drums, and when I don't, I kind of feel guilty about it. So I think that's just in me. You know, it's just the way it is, and it's Someone asked me about my daughter, who is a music teacher in a public school, and they said, oh, you must have really wanted your daughter to be a musician. I had a recording when she was born, so she was always there with me. I had a nanny who was there, and my daughter was with me all the time. And I said, no, you, oh you must you know, do you push her to play this? I'm like, she's got a whole studio full of equipment. She's interested in something. It's right there every day for her. But I never said a word about it, and because I didn't want her to be like me. If I hear sneakers in the dryer, I'm listening to the rhythm, you know, if there's a solid machine, I'm listening to the edit point when I turned the radio and I'm listening to how do they do that? Listen to the way they've stacked the vocals, listen to the rhythm section, how do they do what's that based on?

13:37 Is that a fretless Your brain is going all the time. And people used to say to me after we come out of a long session and I turned the radio and like, well, you want to listen to more music. I'm like yeah, And so that's that's just it. And I didn't want to. That's a curse to me, you know, as much as I love it, it's it's something that'said I wanted. My daughter did not have that, and she doesn't. You know, she's a brilliant musician. She's the quote real musician in the family. But you know she doesn't have that compulsive I must play and I must do all these things. So that's a good thing, just not in her head all the time, torturing her like it does mean. But at the same time I say torture, I love it. What a great viewpoint, though, because you know it's funny as you're saying that, you and I talked before getting on that. You know, I played drums for nine years from a little kid, and then you know, I played them the school band, school orchestra, and I ended up realizing that that kind of sucked, but probably for that reason that I didn't have that same obsession over it, like I wanted to do it and I loved it, but I didn't love love it. And it's funny you brought me back when you talked about the practice pad, because I think part of what turned me off too is similar story, but you went in different directions. I had that practice pad for like years and bord the crap at me and then yes, but my dad finally got me a drum set because I kept begging for one, beggar. It was like this little crappy

15:09 one. So I was like kind of kind disenchanted, but you have to figure it. Yeah, absolutely, it opens the world to you. My first drum kit was a crappy couldn't afford anything, you know, real legit drum set. So I found a Japanese and this guy was kind of a shister, and my mother was working at the post office as a clerk in the window, and so we show up and I just begged and she finally signed this installment agreement for sixty dollars a month, which was a lot of money back then, and for you know, sixty dollars a month for this crappy Japanese set called name was Gracy Drums, and I still have the receipt for it, believe it or not. But you know, it was all we could afford. But parents didn't know. You know, you're sure your dad didn't know. They didn't know what to buy. They you know, they just like, oh, a drum set, like all drum sets are equal to somebody who doesn't know, so, you know, and I didn't know either. So this Gracie drum set, all I knew was it had you know, two mounted or two tom times, a mounted time, a floor time, a snare, a high hat, a ride symbol, a crash symbol. Like I was like, wow, this is a big kit.

16:18 So that's all I cared about. And it got me through until it started falling apart. But by then I was able to buy little pieces to replace it and got me started. And here you are, new album, absolutely awesome. How do people get the new music? Check out the new music, get the new album, connect with you guys on socials on the web, all that good stuff. The Rods dot Com is a good place and of course on Facebook Official The Rods. The Rods Official fan page, I think is where you go and Carl Kennedy, David Rockfeinstein, Freddie Vallano. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, We're all you know, we're there. The Rods. Just search for us and we always love to hear from people, so you know, definitely come and say hi. Let us know what you think about the new album. We're very proud of it.

17:06 We think it's one of our best since the first album, and our new bass player Freddie, has added so much to the band sonically and musically. Just it's been a huge, huge move forward for us, a big basically the big Vitamin B shot for the band. Nice I love it. Is there anything else you want to share with the listeners that we haven't covered array that they need to know about you and the Rocks, Well, the Ron We're going to Australia with doing a bill with Ross the Boss and Anvil, So this is like old whole week because you know, Ross and I were bandmates in the First Man of War, in the early Man of War genesis of that band, and so we've been friends for all those years and all these years, and then of course Buddy's and Anvil. We're good friends with those guys, so I love them and I can't wait to hang with them. So we're really excited. It's going to be old homework. So we're doing four dates in Australia starting in March, and I need to get the dates together, but it's you know, i'll be posting stuff on that, but it's it's going to be fun in Australia, and then we have other regional dates that will be coming up and hopefully from European as well.

18:14 Love it, Love you guys. I'm glad you're still making great music and I think everybody needs to check you out. Get the new album, and uh, you know, anywhere you play, hey live music's the best and you guys are still killing it. So thank you so much giving me oh my pleasure, thank you. I appreciating on the adventures of pipe Man, no problem, thank you. And oh, by the way, I have a new book coming out. Oh I's about that. That's an autobiography. And you know, as you can see in the wall behind me, forty five plus albums I've produced are recorded and so you know, it's a pretty interesting book, I think, I hope we'll see you never know until they put it out, but a lot of information in it, so I'll be posting on that soon, so I'll let you know about that, all right, cool, So if people want to keep updated on that, they just check you out on the socials and they'll find out more about the book as it as knows long well, cool, I love it, and hey look forward to seeing a lot more of you. Great. Thank you so much my pleasure. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of tight Man. I'm w for CUI Radio.