Iron Maiden:
Bruce Dickinson will be taking part in a performance of Jon Lord’s Concerto For Group And Orchestra in spring of 2023!
Tag: Ian Gillan
Deep Purple announce new European dates for 2023!
In a new interview with Spain’s RockFM, DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan was asked if it’s true that he broke the sole BLACK SABBATH album he appeared on, 1983’s “Born Again”, when he first got a copy of it. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET ): “I didn’t break it. I threw it out the window of my car. [Laughs]
“Look, I was disappointed,” he explained. “I didn’t have the mentality of all the guys in BLACK SABBATH. I loved it. I had a fantastic year; it was insane. But when we finished the mixes… I still have a cassette at my home of the monitor mixes of ‘Born Again’, and it sounds fantastic — just on a cassette. And that’s the last thing I heard in the recording studio. When I heard the album, I went, ‘What is this?’ The bass rumble was a bit too much for me.
“There’s a famous line in a famous movie called ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ that has two or three references to BLACK SABBATH in it,” Gillan added. “And I don’t know where these may have come from [laughs], but one of them was ‘This album in unplayable on American radio,’ because of the bass end. And so it was — unplayable on the radio.
“I was disappointed in the final production mix,” Ian clarified. “I don’t know what happened between the studio and the factory, but something happened. So that was a disappointment. Having said that, I love some of the songs on there. And ‘Trashed’ is one of my favorite rock and roll songs of all time, and even more so because it’s a completely true story. [Laughs]”
You can read the entire article @ this location.
MORE on full in bloom:
Ralf Brettschneider (Admin for the Ian Gillan / Deep Purple Facebook Group):
I just found out that Ian Gillan’s wife Bron passed away. We are all with you Ian, sending you our sincere condolences and wishing you much strength during these difficult times.
R.I.P. Bron Gillan
In 1984, Ian Gillan married his girlfriend Bron, to whom he had dedicated “Keep It Warm” from Black Sabbath’s 1983 album Born Again. They have twice since renewed their marriage vows. Their daughter Grace Gillan is also working as a singer for the band Papa LeGal.
Mutilador Fanzine: BORN AGAIN Artwork
The cover is by Steve ‘Krusher’ Joule; a Kerrang! designer who also worked on Ozzy Osbourne’s Speak of the Devil. It is based on a black-and-white photocopy of a photograph published in a 1968 magazine.
Steve ‘Krusher’ Joule:
“The one of the baby was actually the front cover of a 1968 magazine called Mind Alive. I took some black and white photocopies of the image that I overexposed, stuck the horns, nails, fangs into the equation, used the most outrageous color combination that acid could buy, bastardized a bit of the Olde English typeface, and I sat back, shook my head and chuckled.”
The same photograph was used for 12-inch versions of Depeche Mode’s “New Life” (1981).
BLACK SABBATH BORN AGAIN Released 7th august 1983. pic.twitter.com/0ELZhMJ1d1
— Emerald Sabbath (@Emerald_Sabbath) August 7, 2022
BLACK SABBATH-HEADLESS CROSS POSTER. This poster promoting the Sept 11th concert in Bristol in which Ian Gillan was a guest onstage and what a wicked evening..It has seen better days but it’s not going nowhere..Look at the ticket prices..You would not get a beer for that these days.
SETLIST:
INTRO TAPE: The Gates of Hell
Headless Cross
Neon Knights
Children of the Sea
Guitar Solo
Die Young
When Death Calls
War Pigs
The Shining
The Mob Rules
Black Sabbath
Devil & Daughter
Iron Man
Children of the Grave
Heaven and Hell
Encore:
Smoke on the Water
(Deep Purple cover) (with Ian Gillan)
Paranoid
Black Sabbath Bristol UK Sept 11, 1989 – Tony martin is joined on stage with Ian Gillan to sing “Smoke on the Water” – Also features Neil Murray, Cozy Powell, and Geoff Nicholls.
Deep Purple: A brand new “7 And 7 Is” live performance video premieres this Friday! Set your reminders here.
Deep Purple: We are very pleased and excited to announce our collaboration with the great German rock station, ‘Radio Bob!’ Starting from Saturday 5th of February at 6:00 PM (Central European Time) – and every first Saturday of the month onwards – Tune in @ this location.
Black Sabbath Online: BIG NEWS! It appears the multi-track master tapes for Born Again have been found!! #KeepItWarmRat
Tony Iommi:
I’m also thinking of remixing the album Born Again, the one with Ian Gillan, now that we have found the original tapes.”
From this interview w/Tony @ this location.
Ian Gillan gives a short tour through his ‘undressing room.’
I remember when I was with Black Sabbath, there was a thing about….Geezer (Butler) was complaining about the shape of a ham because it was round and the bread was square, so he thought that wasn’t quite right and wanted square ham instead.
IAN GILLAN REUNITES WITH HIS VERY FIRST BAND FOR A MUSICAL JOURNEY THROUGH THE SONGS AND THE SOUNDS OF THE DAYS WHEN IT ALL BEGAN…
“IAN GILLAN & THE JAVELINS” – THE STUDIO ALBUM –
OUT ON AUGUST 31st on earMUSIC.
“In the early 1960’s, you might have seen The Beatles doing Chubby Checker’s ‘Twist and Shout’ at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, or The Rolling Stones doing Chuck Berry’s ‘Come On’ at the Station Hotel in Richmond, and The Javelins doing Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘Smokestack Lightning’ at Wistowe House in Hayes.” – Ian Gillan
Every Deep Purple true lover knows how much their magic and powerful style is the result of many different influences brought in by the single members, all merging into the powerful sound loved by millions of rock fans. Ian Gillan´s love for American soul and Rhythm & Blues as well as skiffle and early rock and roll has been well documented in many articles and interviews.
Founded in the early 60s, The Javelins were influenced by Pop, Soul, Country, Jazz and Blues artists from America. They soaked up the music of their heroes, added their own stamp and went from town to town to perform their favourite songs in front of a small but ever growing audience – becoming local heroes themselves.
This was the time when Ian Gillan discovered himself, broke the chains and ‘found his voice’. The Javelins paved the way for the Ian Gillan who, only a few years later, wrote music history with Deep Purple, becoming one of the most iconic frontmen of all time and, together with very few others, shaped rock music the way we know it today.
“These contemporary recordings (2018) by The Javelins are drawn from our set lists, circa 1963, when I was 18 years old. Now, a few years later, I have the privilege and joy of working with my old mates from the original group; Gordon Fairminer (Lead Guitar); Tony Tacon (Rhythm Guitar); Tony Whitfield (Bass Guitar); Keith Roach (Drums), as we make a long overdue L.P.”
Ian Gillan has defined this new studio album as “a collection of catchy rhythms and feel-good melodies”. This understating definition shows Gillan´s ability to still look at those songs and his whole career with the same eyes of the 18 year old boy who sang them many years ago.
But there is a lot more to this recordings…
By paying tribute to music legends such as Chuck Berry, The Drifters, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles, Buddy Holly and Bo Diddley, Gillan and The Javelins have not only managed to do that.
Avoiding the use of any modern technology, the band has managed to find the spontaneity and true sense of freedom of pop and rock and roll music of 50 years ago, probably without completely realizing it themselves. One world superstar and four friends who have taken very different directions in life (none decided to “turn pro” as they would say it) but still able to capture the essence of what being a performing band is about.
This album is what happened during four days of recordings in a studio in Hamburg, Germany, where instruments, microphones, lyrics sheets and memories were the only tools allowed.
This album is not an act of nostalgia, or a celebration of the purity of the old days versus modernity. This is simply what the Javelins were in 1963… and this is what they are now, if they happen to meet in the studio, embracing their guitars and look at each other with a big smile on their face.
This is where it all started.
“Ian Gillan & The Javelins” has been recorded at the Chameleon Studios during a five days recording session in Hamburg, March 2018, Germany.
It features Don Airey as special guest on piano.
It will be released on August 31st, 2018 on earMUSIC as CD digipak, 1LP Gatefold (180g, black) and Digital.
CD
1. Do You Love Me
2. Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)
3. Memphis, Tennessee
4. Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)
5. High School Confidential
6. It’s So Easy!
7. Save The Last Dance For Me
8. Rock and Roll Music
9. Chains
10. Another Saturday Night
11. You’re Gonna Ruin Me Baby
12. Smokestack Lightnin’
13. Hallelujah I Love Her So
14. Heartbeat
15. What I’d Say
16. Mona (I Need You Baby)
LP
SIDE A
1. Do You Love Me
2. Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)
3. Memphis, Tennessee
4. Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)
5. High School Confidential
6. It’s So Easy!
7. Save The Last Dance For Me
8. Rock and Roll Music
SIDE B
1. Chains
2. Another Saturday Night
3. You’re Gonna Ruin Me Baby
4. Smokestack Lightnin’
5. Hallelujah I Love Her So
6. Heartbeat
7. What I’d Say
8. Mona (I Need You Baby)
Black ‘n Blue drummer Pete Holmes was recently interviewed on our Full in Bloom Podcast. During the interview, Holmes talked about working with the Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan. The segment has been embedded below.
Listen to the entire interview at this location.
Dreamcatcher Era
Annettes Cancer surgery fund https://t.co/B4IBMZBMw4 I'm asking for your help again to cover surgery and bills for my wife thank you all you have done so far.P
— Pete Holmes (@Holmes1Pete) February 10, 2018
FULL IN BLOOM PODCAST
Our Full in Bloom interview with Black ‘N Blue drummer Pete Holmes can be heard via the Soundcloud widget or embedded YouTube video below. The interview covers Pete’s early days in Black ‘N Blue, working with music legends like Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Ian Gillan, and Gene Simmons.
Black ‘N Blue formed in 1981 and released four successful and critically acclaimed albums through Geffen Records, including their self-titled debut (1984), Without Love (1985), Nasty Nasty (1986), and In Heat (1987), with the latter two albums produced by the legendary Gene Simmons of KISS. The band, which featured Jaime St. James (vocals), Tommy Thayer (lead guitar, and currently performing with KISS as the replacement for Ace Frehley), Jef “Woop” Warner (guitar), Patrick Young (bass), and Pete Holmes (drums), started in Portland, OR as a group of friends that came together to make their mark on 80’s hard rock. The band eventually relocated to Los Angeles and soon found themselves signed to Geffen Records.
The band would go on to sell over a million albums throughout their tenure in the ’80s. The band scored a hit single with “Hold On To 18” (from the group’s self-titled debut), a track that is widely known as a hard rock classic and still garners airplay on stations across the country. Their 2nd single, “Miss Mystery” (from Without Love), was a great success for the band. Throughout their early career, the group toured relentlessly with the likes of KISS, Aerosmith, Queensryche, Night Ranger, Yngwie Malmsteen, and several other platinum acts.
Former Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has issued a response to Tony Iommi’s recent comments regarding Ward’s absence on Sabbath’s final tour.
Tony Iommi’s Comments:
“It would have been nice to do these last shows with Bill, but it just didn’t happen,” Iommi says. “And it’s silly, really, because it was over nothing. Even if he’d have played a couple of shows, it would’ve been great.
“I don’t think he quite realizes how hard it would have been on him. So we wanted to bring another drummer just in case Bill ended up saying ‘I can’t do it’ for a couple of days or whatever. It’s too risky to go out and then have Bill say ‘I can’t do it’ and you have to cancel on 70,000 people or whatever it might be. It’s very hard, and it’s not fair on the fans and it’s not fair on him.”
Today, Bill Ward released the following statement:
“Again I feel in a position where I’m compelled to defend my actions in the period of 2011 up to, I suppose, today. Tony Iommi’s comments and some of Ozzy’s, remain in a place of disparaging remarks, which bring fault to my character as a person and a musician. I completely disagree with their comments. What they believe is quite opposite from my experience, especially in 2011 when no one spoke to me of being alarmed by my playing or my health. If they kept the info, which they so readily share now, to themselves in 2011, then let that be their shortcoming. How can I be judged that I could not do a tour when we were working on an album. How can I be judged in 2011 on health issues when none existed that would endanger a long term tour. They all know very clearly how well I prepare to tour. I did not know I was being judged in 2011, if that is indeed their truth.
“Tony’s comment (and I’m assuming it was in reference to me touring) was, ‘I don’t think he quite realizes how hard it would have been on him’ How can Tony say that? I know what it takes to tour. I’ve helped to set the physical and playing bar that was metal then and today. What an undermining, self-centered thing for Tony to say. What an inaccurate thing for Tony to say. I had played all the Ozzfests and Sabbath tours after the reunion. Keep in mind, they did one tour without me first, I think just to see if it could work without me. I’m sorry and mean no malice in saying this, but it was their fear, their mistrust, and their rationale that put back-up drummers on the stage at the reunion and other tours. I disliked that they did that, but understood they wanted to. I got on with my work, playing drums in Sabbath. Never once was a back-up drummer required, and no, I did not validate the fears of those who had fears.
“I missed a European tour after my one and only heart attack in 1998. I can appreciate that Black Sabbath’s interests needed to be protected for the sake of future commitments to the fans, promoters, and all involved.
“Ozzy said the saddest thing is that he/Bill needed to own up to that. Own up to what in 2011? What was I supposed to own up to, when I felt exhilarated, confident, and strong? Own up to, I’m not up to this, I’m sick and can’t play; those failings didn’t exist in me, they still don’t exist today. I had nothing to own up to, nothing to confess. The fact that Oz had reacted with sadness tells me he was already sold on his own judgement of me. And that is very sad to know.
“Tony commented, ‘and it’s silly really because it was over nothing.’ I have to confront that statement. I can’t let that wash into my life and my family’s life, and the lives of all those affected by an original band failure. It was something. It meant everything to thousands of people including me. It will always be something and it will always ring with truth, and actual correct accountability. By saying it was nothing, dishonors the credibility of our fans, and insults the very heart of what we all clung to, Black Sabbath.
“I will have my experience in the time period of 2011 and Tony and Ozzy will have theirs. And, it’s plain to me, we’re as opposite and opposing as ever.
“I won’t forget Ozzy’s last phone call of January 23rd or so 2012, asking when I would arrive in England to commence rehearsals. Why would he say that if my performance level of 2011 had already been judged?
“I regret the loss of Ozzy’s friendship.
“I regret the loss of Tony’s friendship.
“Finally, and I’ve defended this many times, I couldn’t play one gig or a couple of gigs here or there with a back-up drummer or no back-up drummer. To do that one gig would put me in an elitist position, and I can’t do that for all the other fans who couldn’t see that one gig.
“I’m honored to have been a part of Black Sabbath, and to have played with Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, and Geezer Butler.
“Long Live Black Sabbath.
Bill Ward”
full in bloom interview with drummer Pete Holmes
PART I
(Black ‘n Blue, Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Ian Gillan)
full in bloom: We reached out to you because of your situation. Can we start with that? Could you provide some background as well as an update?
Pete Holmes: Sure. Last year, in February, my wife Annette was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was out of nowhere, but it always catches you off-guard. The cancer was pretty aggressive and we had to deal with it right away. Then two months after my wife was diagnosed, my mom passed away. Things were going pretty shitty, to say the least. So we find out that the cancer was pretty aggressive, then it took us about a month to get her in treatment. We got the biopsy done and they said you have to go get this done now. So she had a mastectomy and there were some complications with that. Some things were botched, I still can’t believe it. I’m still dealing with that on many different levels.
full in bloom: Something was botched during the surgery?
Pete: Yeah. There were some things that were done incorrectly. When a physician tells you ‘we’re going to do this; this should be the way to do it’. What do you say? What do you do? What do you know about it? You go, ‘ok, that’s what you do’….then about 10 days into her recovery, we went back for a follow-up, on a Friday afternoon, so they could just check everything, the incision and everything that goes along with that. And then we find out that she has to have emergency surgery because of this complication from the first surgery. She got through it quick, but it was very unexpected. So it has been a crash course in being a caregiver for me. The pain she was in, the meds, the draining tubes and the whole ghoulish thing. It was supposed to all come to an end on that Friday but we had to start all over again. When she finally healed from the surgery, she began her chemo. She was on heavy chemo for…I think sixteen weeks. So everything that goes along with that, she lost her hair, getting weak, just the pain and the depression, the whole deal. Her mom had passed from cancer a couple of years prior. It was a different type of cancer. But, let’s see, I think it was the week of Thanksgiving in 2016. Annette still had some spots on her breastbone and in there. She finished the chemo and she was cancer-free, other than these spots. But they didn’t want to remove those because it was a really hard part of the breastplate, really hard to get at. We’re considering a mastectomy on her left side because there’s a chance that it’s coming back and she does have some spots on there . It’s a hard decision. I hate for her to have unnecessary surgery, but it’s not unnecessary if the end result is cancer.
full in bloom: Do you have family in Los Angeles?
Pete: No and we’re both fairly private people. I love her, so of course I am going to take good care of her. I’ve known my wife over thirty years. I’ve decided to put down everything and stay here with her. I’ve been able to do some shows, there were a couple of times I was able to leave for four days. She was fine, it was after her chemo and she didn’t have anything coming up and I would be back before her next chemo treatment.
full in bloom: I saw your GoFundMe page.
Pete: Yeah, we set up the GoFundMe page and we’ve received a little over $12,000 so far . We’ve left it open because we still need to. Even though we have some insurance, you know, I’m a working musician for life and I’m responsible for the insurance. Nonetheless, these bills with four different doctors are unbelievable. When something like this happens to someone in your family you really get a crash course in everything.
full in bloom: You can become an expert in a short time.
Pete: Oh, good God, I’m telling you, man. We were just at the doctor yesterday having blood test. It almost becomes routine and it’s really a shitty thing that that’s the case. I know she’s on the road to recovery and I’m very protective. I’ve got to take care of her; I can’t live without her.
full in bloom: You met her in the 80s?
Pete: Absolutely. I met her probably right as Black ‘n Blue was starting.
full in bloom: Wow. But you weren’t married to her in the 80s?
Pete: No, not at all. We’ve only been married now for fourteen years. We knew each other, we had this thing where we would get together and party really hard, then I wouldn’t see her for a year. Then she came down to L.A. and lived with me at the Black ‘n Blue house. We had a house that the band lived in when we first came down here. A big party house. She would come down and stay with me for two weeks. Then I wouldn’t hear from her for two years. Then I would see her somewhere and then I wouldn’t hear from her for six years. I was actually recording with Ian Gillan (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath) doing some demo tracks for one of his records here in Los Angeles. Afterwards we went to Cat n’ Fiddle and she was bartending there. So around 2000, we kind of hooked up again and everything kind of clicked, like ‘wow, these meetings, the weird history’, and just everything kind of worked. I don’t know what that means, but it was on, there was a different kind of dynamic.
full in bloom: No kids, huh?
Pete: No kids. (laughs) We partied a lot when we were going in and out of seeing each other. We’d get together and do the big deal and go crazy. The great thing about marrying her was that she already knew all my history. She didn’t have to say, ‘well, you better get a real job’. She had already seen that we’d sold millions of records and that I played around the world. She knew this was my job. We just kind of looked at each other and I said ‘you know I am going to have a tough time taking care of both of us, let alone a kid’. It could have been selfishness but in all fairness, I just thought if I take that on I don’t know what’s going to happen, I was scared. So it’s probably a better thing for the child (laughs) and for me, because I just got too much shit to do already.
full in bloom: Sure. A lot of people feel like their life isn’t complete if they don’t have a child. A lot of women feel that way. I was never one of those people.
Pete: I still don’t know how I got married (laughs).
full in bloom: Did you grow up in Portland?
Pete: I grew up in Portland, Oregon, I certainly did. I’m glad I did, man, I really am. I got a great musical education. I got to meet all the bands that came through. It was just a natural progression of the tours that were being routed to come through L.A., San Francisco, Portland, Seattle. I really got to see some of the most unreal bands in the history of music, in their infancy.
full in bloom: I read somewhere that you were voted best musician in high school.
Pete: Yeah. I was voted best musician of my senior class. I never took band lessons there at all (laughs). I was never in a music program in high school. During high school, I was out touring with guys that were older than me. Going out of state. Playing in clubs. Sometimes playing original music. Sometimes playing covers. Sometimes playing progressive music. I would come back to school on Monday and there was some big party over the weekend and they’re like, ‘did you go, it was so awesome’ and I would say ‘uh, no I didn’t’ (laughs). I had some friends that I played in a band with that went to school there, that were my friends and my age. We set up and jammed in a music room there one day. We brought all our gear, big drum set, all our shit. It was part showing off and part having a place to rehearse. People were just blown away… we were playing this improv jazz fusion shit. Then the school asked us to play some of the assemblies. We did that without any music at all, we just improvised with this fusion music. I wasn’t involved in a lot of stuff in high school. I was very popular but I wasn’t in any click. I was blazing my own trail, so to speak. So yeah, I turned around and they voted me best musician. Can you imagine? There were some drummers there that were really good, in the marching band. I’m sure they just shit when they saw that, but I was getting real world experience, stuff you could not learn in school. It was a good thing growing up in Portland, for sure.
We would be playing the bars and I was just sixteen. Every break we took I had to stand outside and I would smoke cigarettes while the rest of the guys would hoop it up…and shit, that was fine with me, because it was more real than anything else, man.
full in bloom: Who were your influences at that time?
Pete: Oh Jeez. I was influenced by a lot of different music, so it’s kind of hard to pinpoint it. I was really into progressive music as well as heavy stuff. From the prog-side of things it was probably Genesis and Yes and Emerson Lake and Palmer. Odd bands like Gentle Giant, anything that was different to me was good, anything that wasn’t on the radio, to me, was killer. On the rock side of things, bands like Grand Funk, Black Sabbath, Wishbone Ash, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Thin Lizzy, all the usual suspects. All those bands were influencing me. I don’t really have just one go-to band. It was all encompassing. I could be all those things and I was going to be all those things. I was going to have knowledge of all that. It was all killer to me. I was soaking it up like a sponge. There wasn’t one thing I liked more than the other. I just felt like I knew something more than everybody else with that kind of musical knowledge.
I collect albums and cds. A lot of those albums I still have them from the sixties. I still have the Monkees on the Coldgems label. Some of the early, early Beatles stuff still in the sleeve, unopened.
full in bloom: Do you shop on Ebay?
Pete: I do, yeah. Sometimes I do. I have real specific tastes though. I hunt it down and make sure it’s something I want. Modern stuff, I just bought the KXM cd, bands like that. I always have at least a little something from everything that’s going on, at least two records by every band that’s happening.
full in bloom: It’s interesting that you talk about having the progressive side to your playing. I have to admit, I have been a big fan of your drumming. I’m not a drummer, but I grew up with a close friend who played the drums. He taught me how to listen to a drummer. He wouldn’t even listen to a band unless the drummer was on point. Even if the songs were great, he would not listen to it if he didn’t like the drummer. Now, I can appreciate what those progressive drummers can do, a million things a minute. Like the Dream Theaterzzz and the whoeverzzz. But it’s the drummer that brings something else. My favorite rock drummers are people like Tommy Lee, I like the Appice brothers, Matt Cameron, there are others. My favorite metal drummers are people like Dave Lombardo and Vinnie Paul. All of them have unbelievable skills but there’s just something else about their playing. You have that same quality…it’s like playing with class.
Pete: I understand what you’re saying and I appreciate that so much, man. You know I believe, even though I know all that stuff and have all that background, really the musicians I was playing with molded me into what I am, which is a rock drummer. I’m not a prog drummer. I’m not a thrash metal drummer. The people you play with are the people that will define your road and you’ll find your niche. But you need to realize what that is and then you need to follow that. Then you need to have that realization of ‘God, I love Billy Cobham but I’m never going to play like Billy Cobham, all the bands I’m playing in are rock bands’…then be a rock drummer. All that other stuff will contribute. It’s like a guy who is going to write a novel. He loves to read books and he’s read a million books but he’s got to write one book that has his take on shit. That’s how it kind of is for me, but I do appreciate you saying that. There are a billion drummers out there that can play licks around me but the thing I have over these cats is the experience. You can learn all of the rudiments and all that technical shit but you can’t go out and play arenas with Aerosmith, then jump on with Yngwie and then go out with KISS. It’s equivalent to a master’s degree in music. It’s not something that can be taught.
I’ve had people like Vinnie Paul come up to me and say, ‘you were a huge influence on me when we were growing up’. I’m that kind of guy, too. If I get around someone that I grew up with, I’m the same way.
full in bloom: Did you work with Yngwie Malmsteen?
Pete: No, Black n Blue did a tour with him.
full in bloom: What was that experience like?
Pete: I was good drinking buddies with Yngwie. Everybody has their horrible Yngwie story….I did four months with the guy and we just partied the whole time. He was really cool; he was a great guy.
Ratt’s Juan Croucier
full in bloom: You just recently did some shows with Ratt’s Juan Croucier.
Pete: Yeah, we just did a few shows in Texas. It was us and the Killer Dwarfs, we just kind of co-headlined. We did three shows, we headlined two and they headlined the third show.
full in bloom: It seems that most of the Ratt drama has been resolved, were those gigs left on the books?
Pete: No, there will be more coming up. We’ll be doing some recording as well. Hopefully we’ll get into the studio soon. Between our schedules…in between Ratt shows and Black ‘n Blue shows, we’ll get together to record and do some shows.
full in bloom: Well, that brings me to my next point. Since the band kicked out Bobby Blotzer AND you’re also in a band with Juan, why aren’t you the drummer for Ratt?
Pete: Well, you know, there’s a lot of logistics. Let’s remember that we are speaking about Ratt (laughs). They’ve got a lot of stuff to iron out amongst themselves.
full in bloom: So, the reason they haven’t named a drummer is due to the ongoing legal issue(s)?
Pete: I don’t think that. I think, for now, they just haven’t been able to settle on one. Juan wants me to do it, I’m his choice…he’s the bass player. The other guys have guys that they like and I can understand that….I know all those cats. Listen, I came up with those guys, before we had our record deals.
full in bloom: I think you would be the best fit. It would be great to hear your style of drumming on their new material.
Pete: Thank you. Never say never. I would love to do it. A couple of years ago, Ratt were going to do some gigs and Blotzer hurt his back…this is how Jimmy (DeGrasso) started working with them. Blotzer couldn’t do the gigs and I was the one up for the gig because I had been playing with Juan. I know their music so well I could play it in my sleep. But I was out with (Michael) Schenker. Juan’s calling me on the phone, ‘man, I wish you were here’…that’s how frustrated he was and how much he wanted me to do the gig. He knows that I’m out on the road for a few months but he’s calling me from Chicago just to tell me that. We’ll see, Jimmy’s a great guy, he’s a great drummer…I don’t think anything is set in stone with them yet, but for now, he’s the drummer for Ratt.
full in bloom: It looks like you are also available for session work. What does it take to hire Pete Holmes to record drums on an album?
Pete: What does it take?….well, a few things. It has to be a good hang, meaning that the people have to be cool and easy to work with. It also has to be legit, in the sense that it’s not just some kid who doesn’t know how to write a song, yet he’s got six of them. It’s not really about money for me; I will sometimes do stuff for free that I love. Then there are some things that I will say ‘I’ll do it but you have to pay me this’. I have to enjoy the music, it has to be good. My name is going on that thing, so I’m not just going to do anything. If there has to be some money involved, then we’ll hash that out depending on all the other things, the hang, the songs, how much I want to play them, how much I want to be involved…and if it’s real…that’s the main thing. I can tell if it’s the real thing and if I want to be involved with it. You have to be able to communicate with me and don’t think like I’ll come out….some people will say to me, ‘I thought I’d pay you like $200 to do the whole thing’, I’m like, ‘dude, I can sit in my home and make $200, I don’t need to leave’. When we start there, then you can see that it’s kind of a weird thing. I’m a weird guy but I’m not weird enough to take shitty money.
full in bloom: Do you have any kind of recording background?
Pete: I don’t. Of course I have been around a lot of that. I have several different engineers I can work with and several different studios that I can work out of. If something needs to be done in Pro Tools, someone can send me the tracks and I can lay down my drums. I even have a studio where I can do 2-inch tape, which nobody does.
full in bloom: What do you mean? I thought 2-inch tape was all the rage nowadays.
Pete: That’s how I’m going to record with Juan. We’re going to do 2-inch and Pro Tools; we’re going to combine them. We want the playing to be real.
This concludes Part I of our interview with Pete Holmes. In Part II, we’ll start with his days in Black ‘n Blue, then his days working with Michael Schenker, Ian Gillan and Uli Jon Roth. If you are a fan of any ONE of those people, you won’t want to miss it. If you are in a position to help Pete Holmes and his wife Annette with their medical bills, you can donate HERE.
Make sure to listen to PART II of our interview with Pete Holmes, located here.
