Page 40 - ROCKNATION ISSUE 27

PAGE 40 ROCKNATION ISSUE 27

After releasing the EP “Bubblegum Radio” in February, I knew right away I wanted to Rich Kid Express
Hello Rich Kid Express and welcome to Rocknation. Congrats to your new
Psychodelic release. Please tell us about some of the tracks.

get started on an LP. It was a six month process of writing and getting ideas together
and tracked. It’s an uptempo record filled with riffs and hooks. I tried to keep it simple
and catchy. There are ten tracks on ‘Psychodelic’, all with just a little different feel and vibe. ‘Get Outta My Life’ is the lead off track and it’s got a real drivin’ attitude and tempo.
It sort of sets the stage for the whole record. ‘Cross The Line’ is a bit of a seventies Zeppelin-esque style song, it’s got a simple groove that chugs the song along. It’s one of
my favorites off the record. There are some horns and piano in the song ‘Do It Your Way’ that sort of gives it a Lynyrd Skynyrd, meets Aerosmith sort of vibe. I could go on
about all the songs, but the best way to discover it would be to just listen on your own. Most of the time everyone has their own opinions on how songs come off and what it
reminds them of. All I can say is, there is a big influence of seventies and eighties rock on the record and I don’t think it’ll disappoint. It’s catchy and fun! Just the way rock is
supposed to be.
Who did the music and lyric writing for this release?
Well...this one is easy. I did it all. (laughs) I write and record all my own music on the Rich Kid Express stuff. I guess I’m a multi-instrumentalist, but that sounds too fancy. I’d
say ‘jack-of-all-trades’. I’m a drummer first and foremost, but Ace Frehley was my favorite member of KISS growing up and I’ve been trying for years to really learn how to
play guitar. So I did all the instrumentation myself and wrote all the lyrics....did all the singing and background vocals too. It’s very time consuming and I have to keep focused
when working because it’s easy to drive off course sometimes. I just take one idea at a time, whether it be a guitar riff or drum beat and go from there. I always tend to write
music first, and worry about the lyrics and vocals afterwards, always hoping I’ll think of a catchy melody line to work it all out. So far it’s been lots of fun to do. I do have another
band project also with a buddy of mine and we record as ‘The Bad Somethings’ and typically in that project I just play drums and sing. He handles most all the guitar work. But
with RKE I get a chance to play a little of everything and have even enjoyed dabbling with the keyboard and piano. It’s an on-going learning process. Being creative in that way is very fun.
Where did you record these tracks at?
My wife and I had a new house built about 3 years ago. I decided then I was going to have a studio built onto the house. So it was recorded in my studio ‘Squib Kick Sounds.’ I own a small independent
rock label called Squib Kick Records and basically use it as my label for pushing music I’m involved in. I’m constantly trying to make contacts and meet new people and ways to progress my music for-
ward. I’m slowly learning about the business and how to promote. It’s been a big learning experience. When it comes to mixing, I do all the mixing myself as well. That has to be the most fun of the entire
project! Sitting down and carving out a sound. I enjoy it quite a bit. But there is so much to learn. I learn something new every time I sit down to mix a song. Now, now when it comes to mastering....I take
my foot off the gas and turn that over to a friend of mine. Dave Harris at Studio B Mastering in Charlotte, North Carolina does all my mastering. He is a real pro and his ear for what the songs really need is
always fantastic. We work well together on getting the songs all shined up and putting the finishing touches on everything.
I see Rich Kid Express getting some airplay please tell us about that.
This has been the surprising and most rewarding thing about releasing new material. When you get a good review in a magazine or radio picks up your song for airplay, that is the key to getting the music
out there and getting noticed by new fans. I’ve been lucky with both Rich Kid Express releases so far. There are many independent radio stations that still look for the hard rock, classic rock sound. I’ve
landed on quite a few independent online radio stations and shows. With ‘Bubblegum Radio’ it was cool being on SiriusXM and having some spins on the ‘Rodney On The Rock Show’. Rodney Bingen-
heimer was a longtime seventies DJ out in California, who helped the glam rock scene thrive and was a big force in getting The Runaways and Joan Jett’s career going. Anytime a radio station is willing
to play your song, they obviously feel their fans will dig it. Getting that exposure is great. I’m trying hard to reach the seventies and eighties hard rockers out there because what RKE does, is exactly what
they enjoyed about being teenagers and watching ‘Headbanger’s Ball’ on MTV. Having it played worldwide on rock and roll radio shows, is the icing on the cake. With most stations now, you can stream or
get an internet broadcast worldwide very easily.
If you had to tell someone what your music sounded like, what bands would you mention?
My biggest influences are KISS (especially the 70’s era), AC/DC, Sweet, W.A.S.P and Joan Jett. I’m a big fan of seventies glam rock and bubblegum. I always try to have something that reflects that in my
music. But really growing up as a teenager in the eighties, my heart lies with the whole scene from ‘81-’92. I discovered W.A.S.P. by accident, just seeing the debut LP in the store and that album cover
grabbed me! The song titles, they looked cool. ‘I Wanna Be Somebody’ is my favorite metal song of all time. I like the sleazy stuff, I like hair metal and NWOBHM. The whole era was something you just
had to experience and I loved it! I take those influences and try to wrap my songs in those styles. I’m surely not going to win any awards for being an original sounding Artist. I mean I’m not re-inventing
the wheel. I’m just taking what I loved about the scene and music and trying to write my own songs that people can identify with and say ‘hey that sounds like this or that, and I like it because it reminds me
of good times.’ If I had to describe what I sounded like....it’s like KISS and AC/DC go on a date and get into a fight with Alice Cooper and Motley Crue. The outcome is ugly. But...it doesn’t sound too bad.
(laughs)
Thank you for taking time for this interview and any last words to the fans?
I would just like to say thanks to Rocknation for having this interview and I’d like to tell folks out there not to be afraid to take a chance on new music! There are lots of new up and coming hard rock bands
and the New Wave Of Classic Rock is a real thing.Find some new Artists that sound a little like your old favorites and give them a shot. Don’t give up on the scene...try to appreciate the remaining rock
heroes we have left with us, and especially the ones still putting out music.Let’s not let the ‘pop rock’ and ‘country’ scene dominate the music world. There are far too many good rock bands still out there
and emerging. Subscribe and Follow you new favorites. You’ll be surprised what you find if you look beyond your old record and tape collection. You might actually find some new stuff to add.