Full Transcript for Andy Curran: "Giant Pause" from Coney Hatch, Rockoholic, Vault Press and more!

one, right? 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:30.879 Where Coney Hatch was always a partnership. 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:35.199 Cody Hatch was always four people, everybody had an equal vote, right? 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:42.079 So me transitioning into doing dates and doing Rockaholic, it's not a new thing,. 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:48.800 I was I had already opened the book when Rockahol, when when sorry, Looking for Love came out, right? 00:05:48.800 --> 00:06:03.600 So we moved fast forward because I was always jumping in and out of projects, whether it was Envy of None or Coney Hatch or back into Andy World with with you know that that celebration of that record. 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:09.519 So jumping back into Coney Hatch, and I want to be respectful here. 00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:18.560 The reason there are several reasons why I walked away from Coney Hatch and we put a giant pause on the project. 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:27.040 One was because I got really motivated to do some solo stuff by doing looking for love. 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:28.879 I was like, man, this is fun. 00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:29.839 I'm loving this. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:31.920 I'm gonna continue the chapter. 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:36.959 And a lot of it is the prerequisite with the F word, fun. 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:40.399 If it ain't fun, dude, I am not doing it. 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:45.439 I don't care whether it's work or relationships I have or projects. 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:49.199 If I'm not enjoying myself, I'm not gonna do it. 00:06:49.199 --> 00:07:01.279 So A, the reason why Rockaholic came out and there was a transition, and I put together a live band is because I wanted to continue that journey of the solo record. 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:06.160 And B, it stopped being fun with Cody Hatch. 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:29.360 And there was multiple times, and in relationships, I find, dude, whether it's your wife or your kids or your girlfriends or boyfriends or whatever, there's periods in relationships where you hit these troubled areas, and you either just roll with it and go, I'm just gonna deal with it. 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:35.600 It's part and parcel of being friends with that person or part and parcel of being in the band with this person. 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:37.199 There's certain dynamics. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:41.120 And it got to the point where I was done with sucking it up. 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:42.959 I was like, this ain't fun anymore. 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:44.399 I'm moving on. 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:58.879 So the part that I really do want to talk about, which came from a very genuine place when Coney Hatch posted on their Instagram that there are not two versions of Coney Hatch. 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:09.040 That was intentional because I'm Andy Curran is not going to go out there and promote this is Andy Curran's Coney Hatch, because I would not do that. 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:10.319 A, I would not do that. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:14.160 And B, there

is no Andy Curran's Coney Hatch. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:19.199 It's Coney Hatch with either the four members that we left off with or the original members. 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:24.079 So our note that went out was buyer beware. 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:29.439 If you're going out to one of these shows in Europe, you are not seeing Andy Curran there. 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:34.559 Andy Curran is not part of the rhythm section, and this is not Coney Hatch. 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:37.039 And it was buyer beware. 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:38.639 Just set that out there. 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:41.759 So this was not meant to cause a shitstorm. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:44.320 It was not meant to be adversarial. 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:46.320 So I cleared the deck, Deke. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:48.879 I cleared it, and we're on to the next chapter. 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:52.080 And the next chapter is a whole lot of fun, dude. 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:57.200 Um, you know, having Sean and Dave and James Narrow along. 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:04.080 It comes with, it reminds me of the why I did, why I do what I do. 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:08.559 And it's like a beer league rock and roll version of my beer league hockey. 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:11.519 I'm with a guys that I'm having fun with all the time. 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:15.120 There's no drama, there's no negative history. 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:16.639 So I just cleared the deck. 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:27.840 And I will say, and this will sound arrogant, and I'll close off the Coney Hatch discussion by telling you that's my band with Dave Ketchum. 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:30.480 We started that band off, the two of us. 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:37.519 I was kind, I was kind enough to make it a partnership and let Steve and Carl be part of that. 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:40.080 And that was my name that I came up with. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:43.200 Uh Dixon and Shalski were never even around. 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:52.960 So when it comes time to somebody going out and saying that they're Coney Hatch, not on my dime, not on Dave Ketchum's dime. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:56.879 We've got history that goes back to 1980. 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:02.879 So be careful what you say if you bill yourself as Coney Hatch, because it ain't that. 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:05.279 So that's the politics behind it. 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:11.360 My parents taught me if you don't have something kind to say about anybody, then don't say anything at all. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:22.080 So that's me coming clean with why that thing came out on Instagram and why I have moved on into this chapter and I'm having a um I'm having the time of my life, dude. 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:23.039 It's been a blast. 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:31.279 We already did one show uh opening up for Glass Tiger in Picton, and um and it felt amazing. 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:35.519 Okay, it was like just a breath of sunshine. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:43.679 So that's that's so thank you

for letting me suck up uh 10 minutes explaining that. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:46.480 But for anybody who was like, what the hell happened with Coney? 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:47.440 That's what happened. 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:54.000 It's two reasons, and a lot of it is me wanting to scratch the itch with this rock and roll uh rockholic project. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:11:03.279 And you know, Andy, when I when I think of you, I mean I've been following your career since uh you know way back in 1982, which is just you know a few years ago. 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:15.200 But to me, it seems like when when one door closes for you, not only does another door open for you, you you kick it right off the fucking hinges, buddy. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:29.120 You know, like you went with Whiskey and the Devil, or sorry, no tattoos back in '90, and then you know, you followed it up with Soho 69 and Termel and Drug Plan and Leisure World and Coney. 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:39.440 And I mean, you're always pushing forward, and that's why I really wanted to bring you on today because there's a lot of exciting stuff to talk about, like your your new band. 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:46.799 I'm sure you're I'd like you to talk about James for a bit because I'm sure he's plugging some new creative energy for you, you guys. 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:50.399 Uh within the band, and you got so much going on. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:56.559 I mean, I just want you to roll with it, and I'll interject that sometimes with uh my two cents. 00:11:56.879 --> 00:11:57.360 Yeah. 00:11:57.360 --> 00:11:59.919 Well, you know, you are right, Deke. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:16.399 Like um, that is that's been a real um blessing for me to be able to start new projects, whether it be Leisure World or Caramel or jumping in into stuff with um envy of none. 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:41.360 But you know, again, at the risk of um at the risk of sounding arrogant, you could arguably say that the commercial success that I achieved with my solo record, with three top 10 songs on it, all the much music play, the two Juno nominations, the one win, those were accolades that never happened with Coney Hatch. 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:50.000 So if you're an outsider, you could possibly say, Well, Andy, why did you stop doing that? 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:55.279 Because that was arguably one of the most successful chunks of my career. 00:12:55.279 --> 00:13:06.720 And, you know, Coney Hatch was a brotherhood, so it was always, it always felt like a pair of old tennis sneakers that I could just put on and I was comfortable we could go back there, right? 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:16.399 And despite the commercial success of the debut record, there are still people who really only know me as the dude who sings monkey bars in Coney Hatch. 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:22.720 Yeah, if you say, if you say, Oh, that's that's Andy and he sings um monkey bars, he goes, Hell yeah, Coney Hatch. 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:32.159 If you say to him, that's Andy and he had license to love, no tattoos, let go, they may not know that chapter at all, despite the commercial success that we had, right? 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:32.639 Yeah. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:36.559 So that's an easy place for me to plug back into. 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:52.559 And um if I was to be really candid, you know, the stuff that was going on with Envy of None when Alex Lifeson decided that he was going to go back out with Rush, that sort of put a pin in all activity there. 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:54.639 And everybody was super supportive. 00:13:54.639 --> 00:14:10.799 And we were, you know, we were very happy that potentially Alex's involvement with Envy of None got him out of a very negative place after Neil Peart passed into a very positive place where he was creating music and playing guitar again. 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:19.039 Because I know firsthand that it was a very dark chapter for everybody in the rush camp, Getty and Alex at the top of the list. 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:25.120 And um, you know, Getty went on to work with his books and and his television program and everything. 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:28.480 I think that was really rewarding for him to step away from it. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:35.840 And Alex went in full head-on with Envy of None and started enjoying playing guitar and making music again. 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:47.759 So if if Envy of None even played the tiniest part in that rush reunion in getting Alex back into a place where he is creative, then check mark. 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:50.240 I am so proud to be part of that. 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:59.200 Um, but when he said, you know, because we were working and we were very close to committing to some live dates prior to Rush announcing. 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:04.639 So it looked, it looked very optimistic that Envy of None was going to play maybe four or five shows. 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:07.600 And then the whole the whole Rush reunion tour came up. 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:10.799 So we realized, okay, we're time out, we're putting a pin in that. 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:14.320 And there's lots of talks about us doing a third album. 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:17.279 And um, but we're everybody's giving each other space. 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:20.159 Maya Wynn has her solo album out. 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:25.519 So I stood back and I looked at this and I went, Alex is off having fun with Rush. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:29.759 Maya's out playing dates, solo stuff, doing her record. 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:30.879 Guess what, Kern? 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:32.399 Giddy up. 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:35.360 Start doing, start doing some stuff, right? 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:36.879 And what can I control? 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:38.000 My own destiny. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:42.240 So I went in, we had the makings of Rockaholic the Song. 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:51.519 And I spoke to a few booking agent friends of mine, and I said, you know, I'm thinking about putting my

solo band back together. 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:57.200 And one of them said, respectfully and don't take this as a negative, you're fresh meat. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:15:59.600 You haven't played since the 90s. 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:03.840 Because a lot of the tour cycle that we see is the same old, same old bands. 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:11.360 And I say that respectfully, but you can a lot of the bands that we love and toured with and grew up with Deke, they're out there touring and playing. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:13.840 With Andy Kern's solo band, I did not. 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:19.440 I stepped away from it from a long, long time, like maybe early 90s, right? 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:21.519 So the agent said, You're fresh meat. 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:22.960 Let's get back out there. 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:25.039 And he said, What would you like to do? 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:32.399 And I said, Well, let's this this this sort of touches on the topic that you and I spoke about before we went live. 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:36.480 Let's choose quality over quantity. 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:57.200 I'm not going to go out there and play 50 shows, but if you can get me maybe some good opening slots, or we can get on an open air summer festival, or there's a play opening for somebody at the Budweiser stage, or there's a really cool slot at History in Toronto, you know, like maybe run me up and down the 401, maybe into Quebec. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:12.400 But, you know, let's let's find some quality plays and let's and and so the the premise was Deke that we're gonna dip our toe in the water, let people know that the band's back, see what kind of reaction we get we get. 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:20.000 The record company guy in me thought, well, if we're gonna go out and do some shows, why don't we do a new song? 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:22.799 Like the kids are dropping singles, the kids, right? 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:25.920 Let's drop a single instead of a full record, right? 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:26.480 Yeah, yeah. 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:29.920 So um I had Rockaholic written. 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:34.319 It was it was on the table to do something with. 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:38.720 And um, so I got Sean and Dave back in. 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:48.880 I got my old buddy Vic Florencia, who was um award Gino Award-winning engineer, and I said, guys, what do you think about going in and doing Rockaholic? 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:51.519 And everybody was like, Yeah, let's do this. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:18:18.559 So we went back into the studio, went into Noble Street, and I looked at the formula, and this will this will touch on your question with James, and feel free to ask me more about James, but um, I looked at the formula of the lineup that I had with the Andy Solo band um in Soho 69, and Mike Prokowski was a big part of that because Mike had a really, really great um uh vocal range. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:23.440 So he was doing a lot of the background vocals with me, he was doing a lot of unison with me. 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:34.960 There were nights when back in the 90s, I remember when we were touring with like Ironically Glass Tiger or Rick Emmett or even the shows that we did opening for Rush on the Roll the Bones tour. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:40.960 There were nights, Deke, where I was beating the crap out of my voice, and I had strep throat and everything. 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:46.480 And thank God for Mike Burkowski having those vocal chops that he could come in and support. 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:49.200 So I thought, oh, damn, what am I gonna do? 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:51.599 Who's gonna be that second guitar player? 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:53.920 Who's gonna be that background vocalist? 00:18:53.920 --> 00:19:01.519 And James Narrow had opened up for Coney Hatch at the Elm Combo on one of our shows. 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:05.839 And James, his dad, Phil Narrow, was a dear friend of mine. 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:10.720 And anybody that doesn't know about Phil, he's just an amazing vocalist. 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:12.319 I compare him to Steven Tyler. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:14.079 That's how much I think of him. 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:20.480 He played in Talos for a very long time and unfortunately passed away from cancer. 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:23.039 But I was aware of James and what he was doing. 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:29.039 I was quietly watching him, and when he opened up for us at the Alma Cama, I was like, holy shit, this dude's got it, man. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:34.559 So I invited James to come into the studio and sing on Rockaholic. 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:44.160 Sean had already put down all of the guitars, and um, I went in and overdubed some 12-string bass, and um, David went in and recut his drums. 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:48.000 And so it was like, okay, what are we gonna do in the vocal department? 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:50.799 It was a little bit of a litness test for me. 00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:52.160 Let's see how the kid does. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:20:01.519 So when I called him and asked him to come into the studio and the vibe and just the chemistry, we were like, okay, you want to be in the band? 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:02.559 You gotta be in the band. 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:04.000 And he was like, Are you kidding me? 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:05.759 Like he was pinching himself, right? 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:12.480 And I said, Your dad would be smiling down on you right now, all of us, um, to have you involved. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:21.200 But his energy, his enthusiasm, his talent, um, his guitar playing was way above what I thought it was. 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:30.079 I did a little bit of research online and was look looking at clips of him playing um, you know, in in some of his other bands that he plays in. 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:32.640 And he was just what the doctor ordered. 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:37.119 So when we got into rehearsals, we instantly all hit it off.

00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:41.119 And you're right, his youth has fired me up. 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:44.559 There's been an injection of youth, the new kid with the fun. 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:49.839 The last thing I'll tell you about James, and then you can jump in because uh again, I've hogged another 10 minutes here. 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:56.000 Go on, I said to James, are you familiar with my solo record? 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:57.759 Because I'd like to send it to you. 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:00.079 You know, there's quite a lot of vocal stuff on there. 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:02.480 There's double, double guitar stuff on there. 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:04.000 And he said, What year did it come out? 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:05.359 I said, Ah, I don't know. 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:06.240 You're testing me now. 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:06.880 91. 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:08.640 He goes, Yeah, I was one year old. 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:10.160 I go, You bastard. 00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:13.200 Okay, kid. 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:21.519 So he's he's a young pop, but he exudes rock and roll, and I'm sure a lot of that is genetic with his uh upbringing with his dad. 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:24.960 And um, he's been a breath of fresh air, buddy. 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:27.920 It's been amazing having James along for the ride. 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:31.200 And Dave Ketchum and Sean Kelly, we're blood brothers. 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:43.359 That was that was a no-brainer to have when when when we sort of put a stop to Coney, those two guys asked me what I was doing, and both of them put their hands up and said, Hey, we're here. 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:45.359 And I was like, hell yeah, you're here. 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:48.799 You're I'm hiring you both right now to come along for the ride. 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:49.839 Yeah, it's great. 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:54.079 I mean, I'm I'm excited to actually hear some live stuff eventually. 00:21:54.079 --> 00:22:07.920 Because a few years ago, when we did the deep dive on the whiskey and devil uh I recall still telling you that this live stuff you put on that second record. 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:11.599 Because I was asking you specifically about nickels and dimes. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:14.880 Because who was doing that second vocal on there? 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:18.480 Because I said to you, Andy, at the time, you know how much I love Coney. 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:25.519 But I said that solo band you had back in 1991 came out swinging, especially uh Michael. 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:28.000 You said it was Michael doing Michael Burkowski, yeah, yeah. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:31.039 Doing the background vocals, and then it was it's so good. 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:33.519 Everybody, you gotta go out and get a copy of that live stuff. 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:34.559 It's it's phenomenal. 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:42.799 So I can only imagine that uh you know, James is totally bringing it because to be honest with you, Andy, and I've gotten to know you pretty good now over a few years. 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:46.000 Um I don't think you'd waste your time with any slouches. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:50.160 So that's probably why I'm not in your band. 00:22:51.920 --> 00:23:04.960 Well, yeah, I have to tell you, I think you might have been on the B list, buddy, but um there was some soul searching going on to go who would be the good candidate to fill um Michael's shoes. 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:11.759 Michael lives in Norway now and um he's he does a lot of production work, but James was a was an obvious candidate. 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:26.160 And you know, further to what you said about the live stuff, the cool thing about that lineup is when we would get bored, we would just go, hey, why don't we do a cover of um free your mind by An Vogue? 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:28.000 I'd be like, Yeah, let's do it. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:34.160 Or um, you know, we used to do a cover of um She's So Heavy by the Beatles. 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:38.480 We did um uh Schools Out by Alice Cooper. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:48.960 We one of the songs that you referenced was the medley that we did of Cisco Kid and Low Rider put in together, just kicking the crap out of them, doing a rock and roll version. 00:23:48.960 --> 00:24:05.599 And, you know, so when we um little spoiler for you in our live set, I said to the boys, well, you know, part of my chapter with the solo career was being asked to be part of Neil Young's Borrowed Tunes um tribute record. 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:09.440 And I got to choose uh Cinnamon Girl to be part of that. 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:09.920 Okay. 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:22.240 And many, many years later, um, I ran into Randy Bachman, who told me that my version that I recorded of Cinnamon Girl might be one of his favorite versions that somebody ever did of Cinnamon Girl. 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:26.640 That's pretty high accolades coming from Randy Bachman. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:29.440 So we've inserted that into the set. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:38.240 And um just the ease of having conversations to go, hey, you know, why don't we do Dr. 00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:39.839 Doctor by UFO? 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:45.359 And everybody goes, yeah, it's not like people sitting around going, hmm, I don't know if we should, you know. 00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:48.480 None of it, none of that crap's there. 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:51.200 We're just doing it because we're having fun, right? 00:24:51.200 --> 00:25:01.920 So the live, um one of the first questions that people asked me was saying, okay, is the live band are you gonna play I'm Dead from Leisure World? 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:03.839 Are you gonna do Lucy from Caramel? 00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:06.799 Are you gonna do Burn the House Down from Soho 69? 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:08.160 Taco Bel Air. 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:10.000 Taco Bel Air, right? 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:11.039 One of my yeah. 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:14.640 Um, I got seven dollars in

my pocket today, right? 00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:17.359 Um spend it down at Taco Bel Air. 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:18.480 Yeah. 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:22.240 Sunset strip and uh I forget what it is. 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:41.599 But anyway, those those are some of my favorite lyrics that that that I penned, but all that to say that I told people that anybody that asked me about our set list or how deep I was gonna go into it for the live shows, I'd say, man, you know, I'm hypothetically seeing this as a continuing chapter. 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:44.960 I'm not just gonna go out and and it's a one and done. 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:50.640 So this particular run that we're doing, and we've got some shows coming up with April Mine. 00:25:50.640 --> 00:26:00.880 Um, we I just heard that the Ottawa date in January at the Hard Rock Casino in Ottawa is 96% sold out, which is really encouraging. 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:06.319 Then we've got another show in March at the OLG with uh April Line in Niagara Falls. 00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:12.559 To me, those for the short term, we're going to celebrate the debut record. 00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:20.559 So, other than um um adding a few Coney Hatch uh songs, which I couldn't get out of a venue alive. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:23.200 That would be I would be strung up if I didn't do certain songs. 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:28.960 Of course, you know, so so we're gonna we're gonna season to taste with a little bit of Coney Hatch in there. 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:38.799 And then um, you know, what I I would think that we'd be doing Cinnamon Girl along with some a collection of songs, which we'll probably swap out. 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:43.599 Some nights we might not do Nichols and Dimes, and maybe we'll do Come On, come on or something. 00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:45.440 We haven't really got there yet, right? 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:49.839 So for chapter one, it's gonna be celebrating the debut solo record. 00:26:49.839 --> 00:26:53.920 What chapter two, three, four brings 2027. 00:26:53.920 --> 00:26:58.960 I'm planning on releasing both Leisure World and Caramel on vinyl. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:09.599 So that could open up me adding a couple songs from those songs into the set, but I'm looking at um continuing on doing this, uh Deke. 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:12.480 And and uh as I said, not just a one and done thing. 00:27:12.720 --> 00:27:22.960 Well, I I remember when you first announced it on um I think it was Instagram when I first read it that hey, you know, got this new song Rockahola coming out, and gonna be doing some solo shows. 00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:30.240 And I think I I texted you within five minutes of reading that saying, Oh my god, are you gonna be going into solo six and are you gonna be going and you're you're like whoa, whoa, dude. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:35.680 Like yeah, you would I think you were one of the first of many to say that. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:38.319 Yeah, please tell me you're playing Burn the House

Down. 00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:40.720 Are you playing are you playing Undead? 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:52.160 And it's like, okay, that's you know, at the moment, and again, this is a this is a very strategic plan about inserting the band back into the market. 00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:58.160 For the moment, we are special guests, we've got a 35, 30 to 45 minute set. 00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:06.720 So the time allowed only allows me to dip into a certain part of the catalog. 00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:13.039 So um I'm looking at this as a as a fun uh venture where I could be okay, cool. 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:15.839 Well, that was what we did in 2027. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:18.400 What are we gonna do in 2028 or whatever, right? 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:20.559 And we start changing things up a little bit. 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:26.880 But um, you know, those those records, the leisure world record in Caramel, never ever came out on vinyl. 00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:29.839 So there, so we're gonna release those in 2027. 00:28:29.839 --> 00:28:39.440 And again, that might open up just a whole other um avenue of how we might tailor the set list to celebrate those records too. 00:28:39.759 --> 00:28:44.079 Okay, and I'd have to do say my due diligence here. 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:48.079 What about uh where are we at with uh the SOHO 69 Scattering? 00:28:49.440 --> 00:29:13.440 Okay, so the so that record, um, you know, I'll I'll sort of talk a little bit about the music business side of things because the beauty of um the projects that we've been talking about, which is my solo record and leisure world and caramel, the the the rights reverted back to me, meaning I own I own the copyright to those records now. 00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:17.920 So I I'm I'm at liberty to do whatever I want with those. 00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:27.039 Unfortunately, for the Solo 69 record, which came out on Hypnotic, and then Hypnotic got bought by another label. 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:29.920 I'm trying to think, it was another Canadian label. 00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:32.799 Um, the name is escaping me right now. 00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:36.640 And then they sold the record to a US company. 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:48.880 They they sold the label Hypnotic and all of those masters, which included one of uh Gordy Johnson Big Sugar records and Look People, and there was a few other uh artists that were on Hypnotic. 00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:53.599 That now falls under a record company called Round Hill. 00:29:53.599 --> 00:30:03.680 So if I wanted to re-release Soho 69, and I do, I would have to go to Round Hill and um and ask for permission to do that. 00:30:03.680 --> 00:30:14.960 Full transparency, I have master tapes that were recorded before Soho 69 that are almost identical. 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:26.880 And I'm like, do I want to get into bed with another label to ask them permission to release the same songs that I just have a generation earlier, and I could do it on my own. 00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:37.039 So um, you know, I there's like I listened to that record the other day in Voodoo Serpentine and Burn the House Down and um Goodbye so long. 00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:40.720 Like those are songs I'm like shit, man, I got want to dig into those again. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:44.079 So, so you know, thank you for reminding me. 00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:48.720 Yes, maybe I need to look at at remixing that album and and getting it back out there. 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:54.720 Oh, he's the king of cool, you know, he's not from Seattle, but he's big in Japan. 00:30:54.720 --> 00:30:57.759 I mean, that I love that album, man. 00:30:57.759 --> 00:30:58.559 And you know what? 00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:05.680 I'm glad you told me because now I will never ever part with my signed CD copy of Solo 69. 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:08.559 So that's that's a bit of a unicorn, that one. 00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:20.960 Because at the at the moment, Deke, for no other reason that I'm I'm a really enamored with vinyl right now, all of the releases I'm talking to you are only slated to come out on vinyl at the moment. 00:31:20.960 --> 00:31:28.160 So whether we do see if if if I get enough people hassling us, going, man, why is the CD not available? 00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:28.960 We'll do it. 00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:37.920 But the the bin surfing 16-year-old guy in me that spent hours looking at a cover and going, well, this cover looks really cool. 00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:39.200 I don't know what the music sounds like. 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:40.480 I think I'll buy it. 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:45.759 Um, that's why I love vinyl and I'm and I'm working a lot with uh with precision. 00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:50.240 And you mentioned um the new company, uh formed a partnership with them. 00:31:50.240 --> 00:31:55.440 Uh Harry Hess is my business partner along with the marketing um chops of Louise Clements. 00:31:55.440 --> 00:32:00.640 And we've got an imprint called Vault Press, which is what Rockaholic came out on. 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:14.640 And um I can tell you, D, I'm not allowed to, I'm I'm not at liberty to tell you what artists we have coming up that are gonna come out on Vault Press, but we've got about six or seven ready to go that are gonna come out. 00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:23.119 And these are very um recognizable domestic Canadian artists and some international artists that we're gonna re-release on vinyl again. 00:32:23.119 --> 00:32:24.720 So I'm excited about that. 00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:28.000 And um, I'm kind of riding the vinyl wave, dude. 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:29.359 I love it, I love how it sounds. 00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:38.880 It's a pain in the ass to play, it's a pain in the ass to flip sides, but when you put those headphones on and you listen to it, there's nothing that can replace a vinyl record, man. 00:32:39.119 --> 00:32:47.359 No, and you know what, and speaking of headphones, I have to say, like, I know you dropped the Rockaholic EP on the

streams. 00:32:47.359 --> 00:32:49.839 So right away I downloaded it on Apple. 00:32:49.839 --> 00:33:07.279 And the crazy thing about it is when you listen to Rockaholic, Looking for Love, uh, No Tattoos, and License to Love, they all sound the two songs from 1990 almost sound like to me, they sound like they were done at that same session. 00:33:07.279 --> 00:33:14.079 There's just that continuous flow, and I think that's other than them being great songs, I think that's the best thing I can tell you about. 00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:20.480 It's not like you went like into grunge mode on you know the the 30, and you're like, well, what's going on here? 00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:26.640 Like you it just flows, and it is just a continuation of your your solo career. 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:34.960 You just took a pause after the early 90s, and now here we are a few decades later, and we're continuing on. 00:33:34.960 --> 00:33:37.759 And and just one thing about your uh catalog. 00:33:37.759 --> 00:33:39.680 You spoke about your catalog. 00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:42.799 Well, I went and did a count of your songs. 00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:50.079 So give or take, because I'll I might say I'm off by one number, and somebody out there will say, Oh, dude's off, dude's off. 00:33:50.079 --> 00:34:04.480 So your solo stuff you've done according to my account, oh, 54 songs with all your debut right through to uh the current Rockaholic song. 00:34:04.480 --> 00:34:09.360 And then in Pony, you did roughly, I'm guessing, around maybe 15. 00:34:09.360 --> 00:34:13.039 So altogether, you got basically 70 songs to choose from. 00:34:13.039 --> 00:34:20.400 So when people hear a catalog, you got a pretty in-depth catalog, which everybody should be checking out on the streams, if anything. 00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:21.119 So yeah. 00:34:21.840 --> 00:34:23.599 Thank you for pumping my tires there. 00:34:23.599 --> 00:34:24.719 I didn't realize that. 00:34:24.719 --> 00:34:42.400 And I I always just say I'm lucky enough to have be able to make records and even be able to get that stat that I've released that many songs, you know, and and the Coney stuff, you know, there was there's a huge portion of that catalog where I was the co-writer on, I just didn't happen to end up singing it on, too, right? 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:45.440 You know, um, Devil's Deck being a perfect example. 00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:50.239 That song is pretty much, you know, 80% written before Carl even joined the band. 00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:52.960 So um I'm proud of Devil's Deck as well. 00:34:52.960 --> 00:35:18.960 But, you know, I I'm I'm happy to hear that you felt that the rocaholic EP with the four songs felt like it was a cohesive piece, and that was intentional to get Vic Florencia involved so that sonically there wasn't a huge departure between the old stuff and the new stuff, and maybe set a kind of a common um level or you know, bar on on how they should sound. 00:35:18.960 --> 00:35:33.920 And you

know, when I I'm gonna name drop and tell you when I was talking to my buddy Steve Harris from Iron Maiden, and I told him I was gonna release the um my solo record, which he has always told me, Andy, that's the best record you've ever written. 00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:38.000 And I I argue and say, I don't know, I think you need to go listen to Leisure World. 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:40.400 That might be my favorite, right? 00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:43.519 But he said, I said, I'm gonna remix it and remaster it. 00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:45.360 And he goes, You better not fuck it up. 00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:48.480 Yeah, because he said there's nothing wrong with it. 00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:52.800 So Vic Florency and I, when we went in, then Vic remixed it. 00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:58.559 We really did try to keep the spirit of the of the original mix that Alex Haas did. 00:35:58.559 --> 00:36:02.239 And um, but maybe just try to modernize it a little bit. 00:36:02.239 --> 00:36:14.880 If I was to get really technical with you, I think we we didn't have as much reverb on the drums because back then the thing to do is slap on the big drum room and make everything sound like it was a huge canon. 00:36:14.880 --> 00:36:32.159 So we we trimmed back the the um some of the processing and the effects on the vocals, on the drums, maybe made it feel a little bit more aggressive in the guitar end of things and EQing, which is why it probably fits so nicely with Rocaholic and and Looking for Love. 00:36:32.159 --> 00:36:37.119 So that was again Deke, an intentional move sonically on it. 00:36:37.119 --> 00:36:43.280 And I, you know, in retrospect, should we have remixed the record? 00:36:43.280 --> 00:36:44.719 Nah, probably not. 00:36:44.719 --> 00:36:48.960 We could have got by with remastering it and got some similar results. 00:36:48.960 --> 00:36:50.000 Was it fun? 00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:52.079 And did I spend far too much money on it? 00:36:52.239 --> 00:37:01.679 Yes and yes, yeah, and and me as a fan of it, uh, all for the better, because you jammed the reissue full of goodies. 00:37:01.679 --> 00:37:05.280 And uh, you know, as and that's to me a big thing. 00:37:05.280 --> 00:37:12.960 And speaking of your buddy Steve Harris, I mean, Maiden are the masters of album packaging back in the 80s. 00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:39.760 I remember when uh Power Slave, Peace of Mind, Power Slave, Live After Death came out, they always seemed to put out these records around you know, September, October, and it would just derail me from doing homework for a week because I'd be engrossed with the credits, the lyrics, the pictures, what did Derek Riggs kind of put on the album cover in little subliminal messages like uh, you know, and then going to school the next day and saying, Oh shit, this history test isn't gonna go so well. 00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:45.360 But you know, so but I can I'd score really well on the Iron Maiden exam. 00:37:46.079 --> 00:37:58.079 You know, yeah, and um

you know, and and just devouring the lyrics to Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner and you know, power slave and all that stuff, and you know, you get fixated. 00:37:58.079 --> 00:38:10.719 So even me now a few years on, like even with your uh soon to be released Rockaholic EP, I'm excited because you've included a pretty cool little goody to it. 00:38:10.719 --> 00:38:13.760 So uh can you share it with us? 00:38:14.079 --> 00:38:14.800 Yeah, yeah. 00:38:14.800 --> 00:38:22.079 So, you know, it's funny that you're talking you're talking about something near and dear to my heart with the vinyl stuff. 00:38:22.079 --> 00:38:28.000 Like what we're gonna try to do at Vault Press is not just simply press it on a record, put it in a sleeve, and send it out. 00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:45.679 We're gonna try to do alternate artwork, we're gonna try to come up with really cool liner notes, um, maybe handwritten lyrics or photos or set list or anything from that period that a fan that loved that record would go, oh man, I didn't know about this stuff, right? 00:38:45.679 --> 00:38:50.079 And I think about a good example for me is Golden Earring or one of my favorite bands. 00:38:50.079 --> 00:39:01.760 And when I saw that they were reissuing a CD bonus deluxe version of Moontan that had outtakes, early mixes, liner notes, photos, I was all in. 00:39:01.760 --> 00:39:06.320 I'd spent more on shipping it from the UK than I did on the actual record. 00:39:06.320 --> 00:39:25.760 And and like yourself, I opened it up, I put the headphones on, and I just lost myself in the liner notes, reading about all the different things and and looking at at um specs on and and old you know, track sheets and what what instruments were you, and I just eating it up, right? 00:39:25.760 --> 00:39:36.079 So on the on the rocaholic one, because it was an EP, I thought, well, what what would be fun to include on this? 00:39:36.079 --> 00:39:41.599 And one of my, I think it was Harry, he said, well, why don't you do some handwritten lyrics? 00:39:41.599 --> 00:39:43.599 And I said, Well, you know what? 00:39:43.599 --> 00:39:46.880 I said, full transparency, Harry. 00:39:46.880 --> 00:40:03.519 I actually have some scans and and printed out a stack of old Coney Hatch lyrics that I was going to use and I did use for a Unison um charity project that I did with the photographer Fred Moore. 00:40:03.519 --> 00:40:08.320 And Fred had these really cool photos of me back in the 80s. 00:40:08.320 --> 00:40:14.320 And we tried to, we did a fundraising thing where we raised money for the Unison Benevolent. 00:40:14.320 --> 00:40:20.559 And if anybody doesn't know what that is, I would really love you to check out the Unison Benevolent Um Fund online. 00:40:20.559 --> 00:40:26.239 It's a, it's sort of a um, it's a group that are very, very successful. 00:40:26.239 --> 00:40:31.679 And I think Rush was one of the first people that um donated a million dollars to get them up and running. 00:40:31.679 -->

00:40:46.559 But what it does is it's um it's a chunk of money that goes out to anybody in the music industry that either works at a label or on a road crew or a band that has no insurance, um, no kind of medical benefits or anything. 00:40:46.559 --> 00:40:58.960 So um hypothetically, you know, and in a true case where a friend of mine actually had a heart attack and he was the sound man for a very reputable band, but he didn't have any medical insurance whatsoever. 00:40:58.960 --> 00:41:03.440 So I said, You you should get in touch with Unison, and they covered everything. 00:41:03.440 --> 00:41:07.920 They called they covered all his hospitalization, his medication, and everything. 00:41:07.920 --> 00:41:17.360 So anyway, I had a stack of original lyrics from 1980 of monkey bars, handwritten that I had saved. 00:41:17.360 --> 00:41:21.760 Stand up, where stand up wasn't even called stand up. 00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:27.199 The actual title of the song was Say What You Want and Shake It. 00:41:27.199 --> 00:41:31.599 And I pulled these things out, and a bunch of the lines changed. 00:41:31.599 --> 00:41:40.239 These are a snapshot in time when I was writing lyrics in a school book and I scanned it and printed them up. 00:41:40.239 --> 00:41:42.800 So it's kind of like a Willy Wonka thing. 00:41:42.800 --> 00:41:53.440 You're gonna get the rockaholic EP that you ordered, and you're not gonna know until it arrives whether you got monkey bars, stand up, or shake it. 00:41:53.440 --> 00:41:59.760 And they are the actual original lyrics when I wrote those songs back in the 80s. 00:41:59.760 --> 00:42:07.920 I autographed it, and then it's got a stupid little postcard in there with a school picture of me when I was like seven years old that says the Andy Kern collection. 00:42:07.920 --> 00:42:13.039 I just threw it in there and it's just part, it's like a fun piece of paraphernalia, you know? 00:42:13.280 --> 00:42:22.400 Yeah, and uh actually I did order from the Unison Fund when you did the cover of the debut prints with uh Martin Springlet and you included the cards. 00:42:22.400 --> 00:42:27.679 So folks can't see it, but there it is right there, if you can see it down there. 00:42:27.679 --> 00:42:28.880 Oh my god, yeah. 00:42:29.440 --> 00:42:35.760 Hanging up on the Martin was Martin was such a great guy and a real um sport to do on that. 00:42:35.760 --> 00:42:56.559 But you know, we kind of we kind of hit a wall with the sales on that, and so in you know, being the the consummate pack rat that I am, I opened up a box and went, wow, there's about 75 copies of these lyrics that I had professionally scanned and printed up on nice paper stock and everything. 00:42:56.559 --> 00:43:05.039 And then Harry, so Harry Hess was funny because he said, Well, that's great that you've got those, but none of those songs are songs on the EP. 00:43:05.039 --> 00:43:11.840 And I said, Yeah, no, yeah, you know, if I gotta write some rockaholic ones and somebody

wants them, I'll do that too, right? 00:43:11.840 --> 00:43:14.480 Which is the beauty of being in charge of your own project. 00:43:14.480 --> 00:43:15.679 You can go, yeah, I know. 00:43:15.679 --> 00:43:19.039 I talked to the boss on the line and he and he said, Okay. 00:43:19.840 --> 00:43:22.480 And if I have to go, I'll go yell at him in the mirror. 00:43:22.480 --> 00:43:26.079 Yeah, you know, you know what, and that's you know, that's cool. 00:43:26.079 --> 00:43:35.199 Um I would like to get, I always told you this, one of my favorite Coney tunes, because you know, uh Out of Hand album came out when I was 16, right? 00:43:35.199 --> 00:43:42.400 So for me, especially your songs, you know, shake it, shake the stick. 00:43:42.400 --> 00:43:44.880 And I'm 16 and I'm here, okay. 00:43:44.880 --> 00:43:56.239 And then we go into Fallen Angel, and then we go into Sun Lake It Hot, and then the other song that I recently got into quite a bit, which is such a great song, is Love Games. 00:43:56.239 --> 00:43:57.119 I love that. 00:43:57.119 --> 00:43:59.599 Dave Ketchum Ride. 00:43:59.599 --> 00:44:07.599 In the the chorus, it's just got like this swing and groove, and you know, you doing the love hot love fast, play your high cards last. 00:44:07.599 --> 00:44:12.639 I mean, I can't remember what I ate two days ago, but I remember those lyrics, buddy. 00:44:12.880 --> 00:44:13.760 That's so cool. 00:44:13.760 --> 00:44:16.239 Well, you know, we shake it, we shake it. 00:44:16.239 --> 00:44:19.039 Somebody not not to to go there, but I will. 00:44:19.039 --> 00:44:21.440 Somebody's like, is that song about masturbating? 00:44:21.440 --> 00:44:27.679 And I'm like, No, dude, but it's about playing video games, you idiot shaking the joystick, right? 00:44:28.079 --> 00:44:31.760 Just like the just like the video that Coney did for it. 00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:44.320 Yeah, we spent so much time, we would be playing these bars, and then in between sets, we'd run and play, you know, uh Pac-Man and Galaga and all, you know, Tank Zone and all these things. 00:44:44.320 --> 00:44:55.440 But love games is an interesting one because when we um when when we were doing Coney dates last year, I think we did one of those sort of you know, stereotypical posts. 00:44:55.440 --> 00:45:00.480 Hey, what song would you like us to play when we come to Lindsay, Ontario? 00:45:00.480 --> 00:45:02.960 And there were a bunch of people that said love games. 00:45:02.960 --> 00:45:04.880 And dude, that was buried. 00:45:04.880 --> 00:45:09.039 That was a buried B-side on on Out of Hand. 00:45:09.039 --> 00:45:12.960 And I was surprised that some people asked to hear that. 00:45:12.960 --> 00:45:15.760 And if I recall, we actually did it. 00:45:15.760 --> 00:45:18.639 We've said, okay, well, a bunch of people asked for it. 00:45:18.639 --> 00:45:24.639 So first time in like you know, 25-30 years, we ended up playing love games live. 00:45:25.039 --> 00:45:27.360 Whoa, well, there we go. 00:45:27.360 --> 00:45:30.639 I damn, I missed that one. 00:45:30.639 --> 00:45:32.880 But uh, yeah, you know what? 00:45:32.880 --> 00:45:39.840 It's it was cool just to go back and it's like, yeah, it just it just takes me, just you know, that's the great thing about music, just takes you back to that period of time. 00:45:39.840 --> 00:45:55.440 It took me back to when I was 16, you know, devouring anything coney, anything maiden, anything priest, crocus, except all that stuff, and you know, it's just like you like you said, you you know, you put your earbuds or your headphones on and you just lose yourself into the music. 00:45:55.440 --> 00:45:56.480 Yeah, yeah. 00:45:56.719 --> 00:46:18.639 Dude, same same thing happens to me when I put Aerosmith Rocks on or Cheap Trick, you know, Heaven Tonight zaps me back, and I'm 16 years old, and I remember everything about it, all the early Ted Nugent albums, the UFO records, the Scorpions, like you know, um just like yeah, it's that's what the great part about music is. 00:46:18.639 --> 00:46:21.920 There's a connection of it, and very rarely do you ever lose that. 00:46:22.480 --> 00:46:39.679 And I mean, I think we should just talk a quick second, too, about uh Harry Hess, because for all us hard rockers out there, we know that Harry Hess is co-founder and frontman and lead singer and songwriter of Harem Scarum, who put out the classic mood swings back in '92. 00:46:39.679 --> 00:46:47.360 I mean, and I also see him on some of my album credits as a mixer and engineer, and uh so uh it's pretty cool. 00:46:47.360 --> 00:46:49.840 Like, how Andy? 00:46:49.840 --> 00:46:52.079 I have to ask you, how does your brain work? 00:46:52.079 --> 00:46:57.679 Like, are you sitting at the kitchen table in the morning and you say, Hey Monica, pass me the rice krispies? 00:46:57.679 --> 00:46:59.840 And while you're at it, I'm gonna start a record label tomorrow. 00:46:59.840 --> 00:47:02.320 Like, like, like, where does this stuff come from? 00:47:02.480 --> 00:47:02.880 Yeah, yeah. 00:47:03.199 --> 00:47:07.280 I'm gonna write a song called uh Rockaholic, and uh pass the potatoes, you know. 00:47:07.360 --> 00:47:11.199 Like, it's like well, rockaholic, it is okay. 00:47:11.199 --> 00:47:21.920 So I'll answer uh we'll we'll I'll answer the Harry Hess question second, but the Rockaholic one, anytime I'm I'm not even exaggerating here, okay. 00:47:21.920 --> 00:47:28.320 Anytime I talk to Sean Kelly, he is in full frickin' rock mode. 00:47:28.320 --> 00:47:31.920 You say something to him, and he's like, Yeah, man, that would rock. 00:47:31.920 --> 00:47:37.119 And then you know, or we're getting ready to do a show, and he's like, What do you think of this guitar? 00:47:37.119 --> 00:47:38.159 Should I use that one? 00:47:38.159 --> 00:47:44.079 And I go, I really like that, yeah, it really rocks, you know, or I'm gonna wear this jacket, man. 00:47:44.079 --> 00:47:45.599 And this jacket rocks.

00:47:45.599 --> 00:47:51.920 And I and at one point I said to him, I go, dude, you are a frickin' rockholic. 00:47:51.920 --> 00:47:52.719 Do you know that? 00:47:52.719 --> 00:47:54.159 And he starts laughing. 00:47:54.159 --> 00:47:59.039 And I said, as a matter of fact, I think I'm gonna write a song about you, dude. 00:47:59.039 --> 00:48:05.199 So I blame, I blame Sean Kelly as the inspiration for Rockaholic. 00:48:05.199 --> 00:48:11.599 But make no mistake, some days I look in the mirror and go, Yeah, guilty as charged, Kern. 00:48:11.599 --> 00:48:12.960 What are you talking about? 00:48:12.960 --> 00:48:20.719 But I think about, you know, Z, you know, uh you're telling me about your your collection and everything, Deke. 00:48:20.719 --> 00:48:22.960 You are you're a freaking rockaholic, easily. 00:48:22.960 --> 00:48:33.280 That's the beauty of that song, is anybody that's in the rock, they're there, you don't just get into it a little bit, you're doing a deep dive on it, right? 00:48:33.280 --> 00:48:43.280 So um that's what inspired the rockaholic song with Sean Kelly, and and it's uh it's a real personal uh connection with that guy. 00:48:43.280 --> 00:48:46.960 He's just a big lovable knucklehead of a rock fan, right? 00:48:46.960 --> 00:48:50.800 We're gonna you keep posted on on what I'm gonna do on Instagram. 00:48:50.800 --> 00:48:52.400 I'm hauling that guy out on the mat. 00:48:52.400 --> 00:48:55.920 We're gonna we're gonna have some fun um at his expense. 00:48:55.920 --> 00:49:06.400 But you know, Harry Hess, um, I ran into Harry and I met him basically because of his engineering and mastering and mixing chops. 00:49:06.400 --> 00:49:17.840 And I found out that he was doing some great work out of his studio, and he had a studio called Vespa that uh uh ended up when I was at Anthem doing AR, and we had Big Rec go in there. 00:49:17.840 --> 00:49:22.000 And I know we did a lot of Billy Talent stuff in there, he did Di Mannequin. 00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:24.480 Um, there's all kinds of stuff. 00:49:24.480 --> 00:49:28.159 I think he did uh um a bunch of harem scarum stuff. 00:49:28.159 --> 00:49:44.880 So he really came on my radar as a mixing engineer and a um and a mastering guy, and I was aware of harem scarum, and it wasn't until we subsequently became really, really close friends because of our common love of a lot of things. 00:49:44.880 --> 00:49:54.719 And we were involved in that singing chapter when we released um Moot Swings and the uh and the solo record, The Whiskey and the Devil 30th Anniversary. 00:49:54.719 --> 00:50:17.440 And we realized that we had a very good recipe there and a foundation of something that would work, and that was to talk to artists, find out what they have in their archives, what hasn't been released before, maybe what has never come out on CD before, like Leisure World or Caramel, and talk to the artist directly and go, we'll help you release that. 00:50:17.440 --> 00:50:28.639 And that was

um, Harry and I just realized with our connections that we have that we could make that come to fruition for if we could do it for ourselves, we could do it for any artist. 00:50:28.639 --> 00:50:44.159 So, you know, if you're if you're listening out there and you happen to be a band that has a bit of a catalog or or you're sitting on stuff that you wish was released, you know, get in touch with us through the Vault Press Instagram and we'll take a look at it. 00:50:44.159 --> 00:50:51.920 But um, as I said, we got about six or seven releases coming that we're really excited about that aren't anything to do with Harry or myself. 00:50:52.639 --> 00:50:52.960 Wow. 00:50:52.960 --> 00:51:00.159 And um so when can we expect uh your solo EP to hit the street, so to speak? 00:51:01.119 --> 00:51:04.000 So are if are you talking about the Rockaholic vinyl? 00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:05.440 Yeah, sorry, yeah. 00:51:05.440 --> 00:51:11.360 So we just sorry, I'm just gonna get rid of this. 00:51:11.360 --> 00:51:12.639 Okay. 00:51:12.639 --> 00:51:17.440 Um so uh that's ready to order officially right now. 00:51:17.440 --> 00:51:19.679 I know you ordered some through Vault Press. 00:51:19.679 --> 00:51:30.079 Yeah, we um just did a collaboration with a uh label out of um New Jersey called Deco Entertainment, and I signed I signed about 50 copies for Deco. 00:51:30.079 --> 00:51:33.840 When it will be in the stores is a question mark. 00:51:33.840 --> 00:51:39.519 I think we're going to keep it what we call D2C, direct to consumer, direct to customer right now. 00:51:39.519 --> 00:51:49.039 So the two places where where you can find the Rockaholic EP would be at Vault Press, Vault Press Um uh com. 00:51:49.039 --> 00:51:53.599 And there's a hyphen in between Vault and Press and then Deco Entertainment. 00:51:53.599 --> 00:52:00.639 And um, you know, there's been some pretty good early reception and feedback to the announcement. 00:52:00.639 --> 00:52:09.920 So I wouldn't be surprised, um Deke, to tell you that maybe by the time November, December rolls around, you might be able to find copies in your in your favorite record store. 00:52:09.920 --> 00:52:13.599 But for the moment, it's it's going to be online and it's ready now. 00:52:13.599 --> 00:52:15.599 It's it's it's it's available. 00:52:15.840 --> 00:52:16.559 Well, that's it. 00:52:16.559 --> 00:52:21.760 I look forward to uh waiting to see it drop in outside my doorstep. 00:52:22.159 --> 00:52:26.400 Let me know what copy of lyrics you got because I don't know, I don't know which one you got. 00:52:26.639 --> 00:52:27.440 Oh, absolutely. 00:52:27.440 --> 00:52:30.000 I'll definitely uh be telling you. 00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:39.760 So uh as far as uh Rockaholic and which is basically your new song, is there any more plans for more new solo music? 00:52:41.920 --> 00:52:47.280 Yes, but it's a top secret laboratory experiment that's going on right now. 00:52:47.280 --> 00:52:51.920 Okay, so so I'm gonna

tell you, I'm gonna be really super vague. 00:52:51.920 --> 00:53:07.920 All right, it it's three piece, it's not under my name, and it's really aggressive, punky alternative, and there's a full 10-song record in the can. 00:53:09.119 --> 00:53:10.880 Can I can I take a guess? 00:53:10.880 --> 00:53:13.119 Yeah, uh Dell Boys. 00:53:14.480 --> 00:53:20.880 Oh, well, that's interesting because Dell Boys was going to be a band that Danko Jones and I were gonna put together. 00:53:20.880 --> 00:53:22.480 That's the only one I got. 00:53:22.480 --> 00:53:30.320 Yeah, no, this is a brand spanking new one where we've got lab coats on and it's in the secret laboratory right now. 00:53:30.320 --> 00:53:32.159 It's going to be announced soon, Deke. 00:53:32.159 --> 00:53:41.760 And I don't want to spoil it on this because um we had a we had a blast doing it, but it's it's the first three-piece that I was involved in. 00:53:41.760 --> 00:53:42.480 Nice. 00:53:42.480 --> 00:53:50.320 Um, and I'll let you know that I am singing and playing bass on it, but it is uh it is anything but subtle. 00:53:50.320 --> 00:53:51.519 How's that? 00:53:53.039 --> 00:53:56.000 Just how we like it, just how we like it around here. 00:53:56.000 --> 00:53:57.840 That's uh that's super awesome. 00:53:57.840 --> 00:54:06.639 Well, I guess right there, I'll when I get my hands on that, I guess I'll have to have you back on so we can deep dive um about that. 00:54:06.639 --> 00:54:11.119 Um, in wrapping up, is there anything you'd like to add? 00:54:12.960 --> 00:54:17.679 Um, you know, I think well, first off, thanks for having me on. 00:54:17.679 --> 00:54:18.079 Absolutely. 00:54:18.079 --> 00:54:27.760 I gotta tell you, this is a you are officially the first person that I spoke to in depth about what was going on with Coney Hatch. 00:54:27.760 --> 00:54:33.840 You're the first person that I've spoken to in depth about why Rocka Holly came out. 00:54:33.840 --> 00:54:43.360 You're the first person that I've leaked the information to about my secret, top secret laboratory uh recording experiment. 00:54:43.360 --> 00:54:47.760 And I couldn't think of a better guy to share it with and have you be out of the gate first. 00:54:48.079 --> 00:54:49.360 I appreciate that, Andy. 00:54:49.360 --> 00:54:58.800 And you know, my a lot of my friends they listen to my stuff and they always enjoy it when you come on because you always have great insight and stories to tell. 00:54:58.800 --> 00:55:14.880 Like, you know, I we can go back to one of our earlier chats when you almost formed a band with Adrian Smith from Maiden back in the early 90s and auditioning for Doro back in the 80s, and you didn't get the gig because you were too tall, and you know, it's just that kind of stuff that's old. 00:55:14.880 --> 00:55:30.480 And you know, we've done the deep dives with the envy and none records, and I've always you know, I've always thrown uh you know some questions at you at the end about you know

my favorite Andy Hatch songs or solo songs, envy and none songs. 00:55:30.480 --> 00:55:41.440 But uh I have one question for you, and it was are there any collaborators or artists you would want to work with at this point? 00:55:42.000 --> 00:55:44.880 Oh my god, holy that's a great question. 00:55:44.880 --> 00:55:53.280 Well, listen, I'm gonna start off by telling you that I had a blast working with Gordy Johnson co-writing Dig in a Hole. 00:55:53.280 --> 00:55:59.199 I had a blast, I had a blast working with Kim Mitchell on his chemo Sabi record. 00:55:59.199 --> 00:56:08.000 And it's really nice for me to step outside my world and and get you know dropped into somebody else's world to collaborate. 00:56:08.000 --> 00:56:16.960 So, you know, I often so I don't know how sometimes I pinch myself and I'm like, how did I end up becoming friends with Robin Xander? 00:56:16.960 --> 00:56:18.239 How did that happen? 00:56:18.239 --> 00:56:21.119 You know, the guy's like one of my all-time heroes. 00:56:21.119 --> 00:56:33.840 So I jokingly say to him, hey, you know, if ever you need a bass player, you know, uh if Tom Peterson wants to uh you know take a month off in Hawaii and get a suntan, I'll put my hand up. 00:56:33.840 --> 00:56:35.760 And I said the same thing to Damon Johnson. 00:56:35.760 --> 00:56:40.719 Damon is in Leonard Skinner, and I'm like, Leonard Skinner are one of my all-time favorite bands. 00:56:40.719 --> 00:56:46.079 There's a bass player in Toronto, you know, would love to uh help out with anything Leonard Skinner. 00:56:46.079 --> 00:56:48.159 So those would be the top of my list. 00:56:48.159 --> 00:56:51.039 Skinner and Cheap Trick, pinch me. 00:56:51.360 --> 00:56:55.199 And you know, uh Damon Johnson, uh, I love that brother Kane stuff. 00:56:55.199 --> 00:56:56.480 I mean, it's good. 00:56:56.480 --> 00:57:03.760 I I picked up his the recent uh brother Kane album that came out earlier this year, and it's really, really good. 00:57:03.760 --> 00:57:07.440 That guy should be a household name as far as I'm concerned. 00:57:08.320 --> 00:57:15.039 He's an incredible talent, he's probably an even nicer guy than he is and talented. 00:57:15.039 --> 00:57:21.760 Um, we were looking at trying to see if we could do some brother Kane Andy Kern dates, and we're still trying to talk about it. 00:57:21.760 --> 00:57:29.679 Um, you know, unfortunately for him, I don't think you know, the Canadian market or the Canadian agents, it wasn't really a household name. 00:57:29.679 --> 00:57:31.360 They did really well in the US. 00:57:31.360 --> 00:57:41.199 Um, so I might be holding my breath a long time for uh for a brother Kane, Andy Kern um lineup live, but it's something that Damon and I have spoken about. 00:57:41.199 --> 00:57:46.719 And I um he's a fantastic guy, and you should probably get him, see if you can get him on your podcast. 00:57:46.719 --> 00:57:51.599 Maybe I could uh connect you with his manager because that guy's got some awesome stories. 00:57:52.000 --> 00:57:54.480 Oh wow, yeah, that would be uh that'd be something else. 00:57:54.480 --> 00:57:56.480 And you know, Andy, I have to thank you. 00:57:56.480 --> 00:58:02.800 You know, you're my first guy on anybody can go on Spotify whenever I drop this episode for the first time. 00:58:02.800 --> 00:58:10.159 Andy's first guy I reached out to who's willing to come on, and uh I didn't have to force him at all. 00:58:10.159 --> 00:58:17.519 And uh, but I have to say, Andy, I got not only do I have some of my friends coming on, we're gonna be talking some music stuff in the next few weeks. 00:58:17.519 --> 00:58:18.719 I got my buddy John T. 00:58:18.719 --> 00:58:21.119 Snow, my other baby muck coming on. 00:58:21.119 --> 00:58:30.880 We're gonna be talking about some stuff that I'm keeping a little bit of wraps on, but just so you know, Andy, some I've hit up some friends, mutual connections of ours. 00:58:30.880 --> 00:58:35.679 I got uh Brent Jensen, he's gonna be coming on and having a chat with me. 00:58:36.079 --> 00:58:36.960 Love that guy. 00:58:37.119 --> 00:58:44.960 Yeah, um the one and only Greg Fraser who just put out a new Storm Force album that is really good called Truth. 00:58:44.960 --> 00:58:46.400 Everybody should check it out. 00:58:46.400 --> 00:58:48.000 It's very, very good. 00:58:48.320 --> 00:58:51.199 And awesome, fellow Blackhawk fan. 00:58:51.440 --> 00:58:52.400 Yeah, there you go. 00:58:52.400 --> 00:58:57.920 And the one and only, and I have to do a catch-up with this guy as well, and that's Mike Fraser. 00:58:57.920 --> 00:59:05.039 So I've got commitments, we're just nailing down some dates, so I'm pretty excited coming up on the distortion then. 00:59:05.039 --> 00:59:11.280 I'm gonna have a run of uh A-less talent, and you know, so uh I'm pretty pretty excited. 00:59:11.280 --> 00:59:18.320 And the and Andy, the cool thing about it was uh Brent, Craig, Mike Fraser, yourself, and Sean. 00:59:18.320 --> 00:59:29.280 The last time I spoke, well, I've talked to Sean since and obviously you last time with the other three guys is when we did that big UFO panel discussion on Strangers in the Night. 00:59:29.280 --> 00:59:31.519 And uh that went over so good. 00:59:31.519 --> 00:59:35.199 So uh Spounder reach out to Mike Fraser and say, Hey, you want to? 00:59:35.199 --> 00:59:47.760 He's like, Yes, and and Greg Fraser, and you know, they're always willing to come on and it's just let's pick another record that that all four of us love and get on there and and fanboy and geek out. 00:59:47.840 --> 00:59:50.800 But I I guess in closing, I want to thank you again, dude. 00:59:50.800 --> 00:59:51.679 It's been a blast. 00:59:51.679 --> 01:00:03.920 And when you're talking to Mike Fraser, if he happens to be wearing a kilt when you talk to him, make sure that you say your buddy Kern wants to know, are you wearing clean underwear today? 01:00:04.880 --> 01:00:08.000 I will definitely make a note of that for sure. 01:00:08.000 --> 01:00:10.400 And no one phrase a good laugh. 01:00:10.400 --> 01:00:13.519 But Andy, as always, uh thanks, thanks a ton. 01:00:13.519 --> 01:00:14.719 Thanks for always making time. 01:00:14.719 --> 01:00:15.760 I always say it. 01:00:15.760 --> 01:00:17.599 You're you're one of the best. 01:00:17.599 --> 01:00:25.360 Um, you've always been a good friend, not only to me, but to willing to come on and talk about all your stuff and giving me all these first hand scoops today. 01:00:25.360 --> 01:00:30.719 I'm I'm really floored that uh you kind of made me the guy. 01:00:30.719 --> 01:00:43.760 So uh I'm gonna do my best to get this out there and spread the word on everything that you're doing, the EP, your shows, um, everything Andy Current and the Secret Laboratory Experiment Band as well. 01:00:43.760 --> 01:00:45.039 So thanks. 01:00:45.280 --> 01:00:48.079 Thanks as you're you're welcome, Deke. 01:00:48.079 --> 01:00:59.199 And let's sign off by saying the first line of the song Rocaholic, because it it it actually kind of you know encapsulates you and I. 01:00:59.199 --> 01:01:01.920 It's too late, it's in our veins. 01:01:02.880 --> 01:01:12.079 I was gonna say, uh, I had written down here uh three shots of Sin and Tonic rehabs for quitters, so let's get on it. 01:01:12.400 --> 01:01:13.039 There you go. 01:01:13.039 --> 01:01:14.000 Nice ending. 01:01:14.000 --> 01:01:14.800 Okay, buddy. 01:01:14.800 --> 01:01:15.039 Cheers. 01:01:15.360 --> 01:01:15.920 All right, buddy. 01:01:15.920 --> 01:01:16.480 Take care.