I have so many. I grew up with a lot of Jazz and Big Band music in my house,
and my sister and brothers always had, CREAM,the DOORS,BEATLES,STONES,ZEP, way
to many to write down. My father influenced and musically educated me more
than anyone. My favorite artists are, CHEAP TRICK, STEVIE WONDER,ZEP,PINK
FLOYD, ELO, SWEET,ROXY MUSIC,DEEP PURPLE,FACES,NEIL YOUNG.....many. I like tons
of Indy artists and Alternative stuff.
Tell us something about the gear you use, and why you
chose the instruments that you play?
I have several drum sets. My favorites
are all my old and newer FIBES drums, they sound amazing. I also love my
vintage SLINGERLAND-RADIO KINGS from the '40's. Since I play most instruments
I let you know my favorites there also. I love my Gibson LES PAULS and my old
DANELECTRO, like the one Jimmy Page used. I have Two VOX AC30's and a
MATCHLESS Clubman head. My bass is a 65' FENDER P-bass, and I have tons of
vintage keyboards I use for sessions.
How do you feel about your fans trading old shows (bootlegs) such as
"Slims"?
I heard about it from Rob.
I think it's cool. I haven't heard the
SLIMS show, but I do have the LIVE radio show we did in LA. That was our first
show as a band and it kicked ass. That's a cool bootleg. If a band is dropped
by a label and has since broken up, I don't have a problem with bootlegs, it's
great the band still has fans.
Tell us about what you have been doing since the band stopped playing
(ie solo albums, session work, engineering etc)?
After the RIVERDOGS I joined,
LITTLE CAESAR for a little while, and after that in '94 I did GILBY CLARKES
record and toured for about a year. In '96 I recorded an album by myself and
started a band called, POWERSLIDE. It was fun to go in and finally do what I
want for a change. From POWERSLIDE until now I've been doing my own thing plus
producing a few bands here and there, and writing songs for TV and film. I
came to LA in '80 not as a drummer but a singer/songwriter, a friend of mine
told me there was a drummer shortage at the time and he hooked me up with a few
bands and the rest is history. I would rather do my own thing, but it's cool
to know that I'm needed as a drummer now and then.
Why did the Riverdogs get dropped from their contract from EPIC when it
is obvious that the debut album was a masterpiece? Sale's especially in
Holland appeared to be good. Were you caught up in the rejection of the
"hair bands" with the Nirvana boom?
I never considered us a hair band like
most bands in LA at the time. We were more like a 70's rock band like BAD
COMPANY or ZEP. The timing for us sucked bad. I was all fine when I joined
right after the record was done but the typical happened. bad management,
REALLY bad management, and the record company was firing all the people that
were into the record, cleaning house as they like to put it. Then they hired a
new A&R guy to look after the band, he wasn't into us at all. Plus he had
another band he just signed and wanted them to get higher priority. PEARL JAM
was the band. So you can see what happened to us. We did get the OK to start
another with KEVIN GILBERT producing but after turning in the the first 3 or 4
songs and the new president not digging our "sound", they dropped us. Vivian
left the band before we started recording the second record because of
frustration and money.
Where do you live today? And why?
I live in Burbank, CA. I love it here, it's
close to everything. All the studios are within biking distance. It's a great
town for my wife and 2 kids, plus nobody gives me shit for having a studio in
my garage.
Where do you see the music industry going today and do you see a place
for yourself as a solo act and the Riverdogs as a band?
The music biz is way
screwed up these days. I have to many comments on the subject, I would sound
really pissy to some people so I won't say, sorry. As for me as a solo artist,
I'll keep recording and putting out my own CD's, if by chance it turned into a
label deal I would probably say no. I want to make some money for my art, not
be in debt for years to some corporation. The RIVERDOGS were a good band, and
still might be in the future. We have been getting together in pairs and as a
group to catch up on old times and play a little. We recorded a few weeks back
at Nicks house and it was amazing. So much fun, just jamming and putting
everything down to piece together as time allows.
What is the future of the Riverdogs with the new record coming out this
summer? Will this be a one-time release or will we see more records and
possibly a tour from the band in the future?
Nothing is set in stone yet, but
we'll see. The plan now is for the four of us to get together as much as we
can and record everything. I'm not sure we'll be ready with a CD by summer but
we'll let you know. With Viv in LEPPARD and me starting a TV show this summer,
time will be tight. My new solo CD will be finished by July and I'm going to
do a small tour in the states around September.
What are your musical plans for the next year or so? Any interesting
projects with musicians we might know?
To finish my new record, spend time with
my new baby and make some money dammit. I'll be spending a little time at
Vivians helping him record some of his new songs.
Does it surprise you that the Riverdogs still have so many fans this many
years after the band broke up?
I'm very surprised! We had absolutly no
promotion, so I don't know how anyone ever heard of us. We played only 6 or 7
shows, that's it! So I'm really blown away.
What was your fondest Riverdogs memory?
We played a show in Cleveland for the
'River fest'. We showed up to this outdoor stage, ampitheater type thing that
held about 1000 people. If you were sitting in the audience you could see
bands and the river was behind the stage. We all walked up on stage and I
noticed that the drum kit was turned around facing the river? I asked my tech
to turn it around to face the people and he tells me that we are playing to the
river! We fell out busting up laughing because the whole time our backs were
at the 200 or so people in the seats and we were playing for the 4 or so boats
anchored in the river in front of the stage! stupid! Vivian was so funny, he
would jump on the mic between songs and all he would say was, "Nice boat dude"
You had to be there.
What was the coolest part of being in the Riverdogs?
The talent of the
musicians.
What was the best show the Riverdogs ever played and why?
The final show in San
Jose, CA. It was on halloween. It was magical, some of the songs we jammed on
for about 10 minutes, and Rob made me do a drum solo, the bastard. I hate drum
solos, they're a good excuse to get a beer. It was a great show. I have it on
video some where.
We are in the process of updating the Riverdogs site, is there anything you
would like to see up there? (that ones more for us, but it would be nice to
know!!)
I am available as a producer if anyones interested. And everyones
welcome to visit my homepage. http://home.earthlink.net/~danzeisen4/
We understand this new cd will be a mix of new songs, unreleased songs and
studio versions of some of the "Absolutely Live" songs. Care to let us know
which songs will be included, or is this going to be kept 'Top Secret' until
the release?
I don't have a clue. I hope Rob puts on the studio versions
of,'Love is not a crime' 'Eight questions'. Those songs came out great and
still sound good after 9 years. It's also a nice tribute to Kevin Gilbert
(producer) since his passing away a few years ago.
Will we see any kind of Riverdogs tour to support the cd, or any one time
shows?
Only our pocket money. We were talking about MAYBE doing a LA show at a
way later date. I'll let you know.
We've also heard rumors (ahhh... the infamous rumor mill is starting
already) that things went so well with the new songs, and that certain
members were so excited, that there has already been talk of a full length cd
of new material. Any truth to this?
Yes, Viv was more amped then all of us.
We are talking about doing a record. TALKING is the key word here.
Is there any official (or even tentative) release date for the cd yet? And
will you seek any kind of U.S. release, or will this be strictly for MTM
Music?
Please ask Rob about that, I'm not sure. A magic '8-BALL' could give you
a better answer at this time.
Any plans in the near future for you to make another cd?
It's being worked on as
I'm typing. I'm about 5 songs into it and I'm hoping to finish by the end of
April. Cheers!
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