Transcript
Speaker: Hi, it's Dan here for Dusty Discs Radio, and this is the podcast Liner Notes, revealing chats with Canada's retro music makers. Today, I'm very honored to have as my special guest, bassist extraordinaire, composer, producer, and engineer, Ronnie Robson. He's worked with members of some of the top bands in the world, so we'll be talking about his musical adventures, and we'll get some insights into the Canadian music scene from someone who's been involved in it since the 80s. So thanks for joining me today, Ronnie. How are you? I'm great, Dan, and thank you for having me.
Speaker: My pleasure. And boy, since the 80s, that sounds like so long ago in some sense, but then in another sense, it sounds like it's just yesterday. So life goes quickly. Yeah. You know what? It really is. It is funny because I still feel like I'm living in the 80s, early 90s. Trust me. Yeah. And you were born in Ontario, Dunsford, Ontario. Is that correct? Yeah, Dunsford. I grew up, my parents own a cottage resort on Sturgeon Lake.
Speaker: And I grew up in Dunsford, which is in between Lindsay and Bob Cajun. And some of the best time of my life was there, for sure. Yeah. Oh, that's cool. And how did you get involved in the music scene? Like, you obviously started taking lessons, but I guess, was it a family influence? Yeah, you know what it was. I think five, six years old, I started taking piano lessons.
Speaker: and that went on to grade 9 or grade 10 Royal Conservatory. Music in my house was never a time where there wasn't music going on in my house. It got to the point where it was just ingrained in me. I'd always be humming. I'd be
Speaker: playing piano, I'd be playing guitar, I'd be doing what I do. You can't really say I just fell into it because I think I was born into it. But the interesting thing is that back then, I think I'm a little bit older than you, but when I was growing up, I thought being in a band or playing music was the coolest thing in the world and there was music around all the time.
Speaker: And I'm not sure if the influence is different now because like my grandsons, for example, they're not interested in music at all and I have instruments and music everywhere. Yeah, you know what? Either you have it or you don't. Either your mind is somewhere else.
Speaker: or it's in music. And being a musician, I can honestly say that. My son, he's a better musician than I am. Better looking, he's taller, he's a talented dude. But there's just some kids who just do not gravitate towards that. And I see it, they enjoy music. Music is life, right? This is what it is.
Speaker: And it was really funny because some of my kids' friends, I would get them banging on drums. They were in the same situation. They didn't really know what to do and they'd be banging on drums. I'd say, okay, here we go. One, two, three, four. And they would do it. Next thing you know, they wanted to experiment. They wanted to broaden their horizons, which is great. And that's just like on a bongo, dude.
Speaker: Yeah. Well, the reason I ask is because every kid tries something, right? When you go to school, even if it's the recorder, every kid tries something and most of them it falls away. So the people that stay in it like yourself and like me, it's got to be that love, that internal sort of, I'm musical and I have to be musical. That's just part of my life. Guy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, no, no. And I totally get that. And for me, it was easy. For me, it was like my household surrounded.
Speaker: by music. And then I had friends growing up again in Lizzie and Bob Cajun area in Dunsford and they're older musicians and they would get me in. They'd be getting me in playing drums or guitar or bass. So, and you know what, it was kind of a really cool thing. I was leaving my home, I walk 10 minutes
Speaker: And all these older guys, you know, they'd be smoking cigarettes and weed and doing, you know, whatever. But, you know, with me, I just I wanted to learn from them because they were really good musicians. So it helped me out. Yeah. And what you did, one of the things you did that was super cool is you played a bunch of different instruments. I'm similar in the sense that I've tried them, but it's important to have a feel for what it's like to be a drummer and a feel for what it's like to be the keyboard player and the guitar player.
Speaker: Yeah, no, exactly. And the thing about it is I learned to play drums because one of one of my my older friends, Steve jacket, he was a great drummer and.
Speaker: him and I, we used to jam together and he said to me, you know what, you're really good on bass. You seriously consider that instrument because you're right on the money with me. And he was a really good drummer. He's like a Keith Moon type, which put me in a situation where I got to practice, like I got to get my stuff together jamming with him. And next thing you know, the next week he'd say, you know, you play drums and I'll play bass.
Speaker: And it was one of those type of things where in a rhythm section, in a band, bass and drums are the most important. We're the foundation, right? So that kind of the education, I'll never forget. And good bass players are hard to find. It's just a fact because I've
Speaker: being a guitar player and being in bands for years. My brother actually converted from guitar to bass because he was a rhythm guitar player and lots of guys did that. But trying to find a good bass player that can sing that's heads up and can play is hard to do, I think, in my experience.
Speaker: Well, you know what? The thing with me is when I was younger, like growing up in that situation, I started jamming with other musicians and other drummers and I could lock into anyone. And that was being a bass player, that's important. You have to lock into the drums. And there was no doubt, you know, even later in years when I would get back recorded tracks from various drummers,
Speaker: like I would get to know what they were doing within like an instant. Yeah, very great. So yeah, and the thing about it is playing with drummers is the best thing that a bass player can do. I talked to a lot of young bass players and a lot of drummers and I'd say, you know what? When you walk into rehearsal,
Speaker: Why don't you and the bass player or the drummer, depending on who was talking to, why don't you guys get together like an hour beforehand and just work stuff out? Because later on, if you're recording or you're playing live, all you're going to be doing is giggling at each other, guaranteed, you know? Yeah, but you make a good point because for all the drummer jokes that I've told in my life, which is a lot,
Speaker: The drummer is the glue that holds everything together and the bass player and the drummer together are the foundation and that's the glue of the band that makes everything else magical. So it's extremely important. Exactly. And you know what? I have a lot of lead vocalist jokes. Yeah. We'll get back into that later. Maybe the second interview. Yes, there you go. That's funny.
Speaker: Well, it's cool because you grew up at a time as well where it was a cool thing to be in a band. Nowadays, I think it's a different scene and I want to ask you about that later, but at that time, it's pretty cool to be in a band. So you were jamming and did you have a solid band during your teen years or were you just bouncing around between bands and between instruments?
Speaker: I had a solid band that, I had a few actually. The last solid band that I was, there was actually two, there was Prophecy and it was like a heavy rock metal thing and we had a great vocalist like all of us are just so attuned together and then I played in another band
Speaker: which was more live and touring for a short period of time. It was called Sweet Six. I'd go back and forth and I was working in a recording studio at the time, so I had a lot of different opportunities to do stuff. But those two bands were in my teens and up to I was about 20 or 21, that was my go -to, my home.
Speaker: Yeah. Well, the reason I ask is because as you know, growing up in me, we used to rehearse all the time and play together all the time and just get in the, in the rehearsal space and just sweat it out and polish the tunes and just put in the time. Like do your 10 ,000 hours, I guess you could say.
Speaker: No, exactly. Exactly. And you know what? I've been there like, I don't know how many thousand hours it was there. And you know what? It was funny because you start to jam and you start to go off on things and then all of a sudden other songs are being written. Yeah. And I learned from a young age, start recording your jams, start recording your rehearsals because you never know what's going to come out of that, right?
Speaker: That's a good point. And then the other point that springboards off of that is for the younger musicians, we paid our dues when we were back then. We rehearsed several times a week. We put in tons of hours of recording and rehearsing and working on stuff. And then we'd go out and play and the band isn't that great live, but you work it out, you figure it out. Nowadays, the younger people, they have to go through that process because that's how you refine what you do, I think.
Speaker: Well, you know what, Dan? I think a lot of younger musicians have an advantage over to when we were growing up and playing. They have YouTube.
Speaker: Hey, how many times have you put the needle on the record over and over and over again to learn a part or to learn a song? Meanwhile, yeah, same with me. And now these guys, the younger guys and gals, they go on YouTube and they get
Speaker: you know, this thing, it's basically here's the chords, here's the strumming pattern, go for it. Like we never had that.
Speaker: Well, even the lyrics. I mean, I remember dropping the needle and writing the lyrics out by hand. He'd listen to one line and write it down and then drop it again. And how many times did you mess them up, Dan? Well, lots. And sometimes you can't even figure out what they're saying. You have three guys around the taxi. I know. What is the lyric here? So do we cue what song? Hold on. Blue Waster Cult. I can't remember the name. Blinded by the Light.
Speaker: Yeah. Well, the worst one was Green River by CCR. There's just no way you can figure out what he's saying there. I know. And CCR was such a great band. I wish a lot of younger players would pick up CCR. Seriously, they were a great band. Oh yeah. But my point about the experience is sometimes you got to go through those difficult times to give it, because experience can only be earned, right? It can't be bought. It can't be gotten any other way. You have to earn it.
Speaker: Yeah, no, definitely. But then for you too, you were sort of multifaceted. So you were a multi -instrumentalist, which gave you a good grounding as far as emerging as a bass player primarily, but having the background and the other stuff. And then you began working in the recording studios and stuff too. You were interested in the engineering and being a session guy. And so how did that all come about? You just went down and got a gig at a recording studio?
Speaker: Well, it was funny. You know, I was thinking about this the other day. I thought, you know, the son comes home and he's, oh, I'm so tired. And he works 35 hours a week. And I remember when I was younger than him and into his age, I was working like 60 hours a week. I was like,
Speaker: And it was funny because out of high school, I didn't know what I wanted to do. And my parents were saying, you know, you got to make a decision what you're going to do. And I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. My dad said to me, you know, get your business degree.
Speaker: and then we'll figure it out from there." And I said, okay. So all of a sudden, I was having coffee on the damn fourth one day and a buddy of mine said, oh, we're looking for another, he worked in a recording studio, by the way. And he said to me, he says,
Speaker: We're looking for another engineer and it's funny that I run into you, would you be interested in this?" And I said, yeah, he goes, the only problem is it's really weird hours and it's not going to be like a 40 hour work week thing. And I thought, you know what, let me get my foot in through the door.
Speaker: And I was working at a number of restaurants at that time as a sous chef and bartender. And, you know, again, I didn't know what I wanted to do. So I'm picking stuff that I know that I can do. So that's why I was doing it. So all of a sudden I'm in the recording studio and I have amazing people around me, amazing artists. And, you know, I started to learn. And that was back in the analog days.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. So it was really good education for me. And not only as an engineer and working business with music, I kind of shaped my or sharpened my personality more because people got to know me, who I am and what I can do and
Speaker: and helping them as well. So it was cool. I really loved it. So if we add it all up so you got a couple of bands you're playing in, you're working on your studio gigs, you're doing some studio engineering and you're going to school working on a business degree.
Speaker: Yeah. And I got my business degree and I got educated quite young in the Canadian music business and world too. And it was like, you just can't buy that kind of education, man.
Speaker: Well, I guess that's the thing is that when you're driven by passion and enthusiasm, then you just, I guess for me, because people have asked me what motivates me. And I think for me, it's curiosity. Like I've always wanted to learn about things. So I took a recording course or I took a stand up comedy course. I don't know, whatever it is, I've always been curious to learn what this is about. And so I think curiosity,
Speaker: is a great skill or a great attribute to have. You just stole the A word, attribute. Definitely. And you know what? Now I got a question for you, Dan. Did you ever pursue comedy? You know, I didn't, but I thought because I've been a front man and I've been an entertainer and I've communicated in many ways, I thought being a comedian would be a different way of communicating. So there was a standup comedy course.
Speaker: offered at the local college. And I thought, well, I'll take that. Sure. I took it twice, actually. So I did a 20 minute standup routine the first time and then a five minute the second time. So I discovered it's not what I would want to do, but I learned a lot from doing it, if you know what I mean. Yeah. Well, you know what? One thing about it is comedy can get you into acting.
Speaker: And I did try that too, but it really wasn't my gig, but at least I tried it. I did some background stuff and I did some auditions and I got a couple of parts, but it wasn't my thing. But again, not everything is going to be what you like. Like for you, you don't want to spend 12 to 14, 16 hours a day in a studio five days a week, but I know guys who have done that.
Speaker: Yeah. You know what? It's funny because I'm working on a lot of post audio, sorry, for film and television right now. And it's time consuming because you're not out in the field. You don't have any control over how the production is going, how it was set up and
Speaker: You know done so i'm playing fix up now where where i live in a majority of time for years and years and years i was i was playing fix up with with people's you know recordings and
Speaker: you know, whatever it was, vocals or drums or whatever. Now I'm doing like voice and background noise and just doing that, which is interesting for me, but it's time consuming more than music. Because everyone now has a home studio, right? And they watch YouTube videos and oh, I know how to control this. And then some of them, you know, say to me, I'm not really happy with this. Or in mastering, wow, you made that sound better. Well, thank you.
Speaker: Yeah. So I'm still in it, but I'm out of it at the same time, which is good. Well, and it can be, I find you have to have the right temperament. The friends of mine who are, I just did an album last year with Mike Fraser, but he's got the perfect temperament for that because he can sit there for hours and he's fine. He's calm. He's cool as a cucumber. Like for me, I would be jumping out of my skin. I can't sit there for 16 hours.
Speaker: Well, this is what I love about having a home studio is I can work on things like even my own recording. Somebody sends me on part of a project for bass or whatever, and I always tell them, I'm going to give you a scratch bass track, but I want to come back in later.
Speaker: when lead vocalist is finished, the lead guitar is done, any keyboards, whatever, because I'll make it a little more interesting when I hear all of the instruments. But in saying that, I can go cut the grass, I can go shopping. It's not like sitting there waiting, waiting, waiting, or being in a room with people. And this is something that when I was working at the recording studio when I was young,
Speaker: man, those guys were paying per hour, you couldn't make a move. Like I smoked cigarettes and I wouldn't even go outside for a cigarette for four, five, six hours because I wanted to be there and make sure it was done and recorded right. Now, I mean, as I said, I can go cut the grass, I can go, you know,
Speaker: do what I have to do, you know, marinate dinner, you know, here we go and come back and think about what I'm doing and come back to it. And that's what really, really appreciate the home studio. Yeah. You only make a good point because, um, like, like Mike, for example, who's a good friend of mine, but he, you know, when you're working on ACDC or, or Aerosmith or what, he did all the big bands at little mountain and stuff, right? But you have no control over those sessions. You're working with Bob Rock or Bruce Fairburn and that, and you're, you're an engineer, but
Speaker: They're, they're, they're driving the train and you just basically do what you got to do. You say, that's just it. I mean, you know what, you're sitting there, but in the interim, these guys got to know it's like, I'm working with you, but yeah, you know what? I need to go out for a walk. Yeah. You know what I mean? I need to go for a tea or a coffee. Yeah. Yeah. I need a martini, whatever. You just, you just go and do what you got to do. And that's, that's another thing with the, with the music industry is, is communication.
Speaker: And when you're working with people, especially online, there's that communication factor that is very, very important. So when I look at your timeline, I guess, and all the things that you did, you were a pretty busy boy. I mean, you must have been doing a lot of stuff. And so you got your business degree and then you got a regular job as well. And then you have, I assume you had a family and a normal life along with the music life. So you were able to sort of combine and do both?
Speaker: Yeah. Define normal though. Yeah, exactly. Well, there you go. That's right. Yeah. You know what? Yes. Family life. I started working for the city of Toronto. I got hired on, I think I was 23 years old. I got 33 years in the city of Toronto. I've been retired from them for 33. So I was on film projects, family projects, music projects,
Speaker: buying homes, buying cottages, doing what I did throughout. And it's been interesting. I took the safe route out where some of the more famous musicians in Canada, the record companies were paying them a salary
Speaker: and they had to go out and tour and they make more money on touring and stuff and they would go. I listened to this in the recording studio and I thought, you know what, I don't think I want to do that. Yeah, you know, like really. So it was funny because I went, my grandmother lived in Leslieville
Speaker: And I was working downtown and my mom and my grandmother said, oh, you're working there? I said, yeah, but I'm done at like four. And they said, well, why don't you come over for dinner? So I went over dinner and there was a city counselor that my grandmother knew and they invited him to. And I think he had a thing for my grandmother. My grandmother was a good girl. And
Speaker: We were talking and I said, yeah, I'm working like nonstop. I have no time, seven days a week and it's been like that for three years and da, da, da, da, da. And I said, but you know what? I'm loving it. And he said, do you ever think about working for the city of Toronto? We're looking for guys like you. And next thing you know, a week and a half later, I went down to fill out an application, week and a half later, I started working for the city of Toronto.
Speaker: Well, it's cool because my path is not the same, but I've been a full -time musician for 40 years, but I wanted to do it all. I didn't want to give up the opportunity to have a family life and to buy a home and to do the things I did. And it's so funny because I've interviewed a lot of people and some people who were
Speaker: you know, medium level successes and stuff. And they've made the point, you know, people think you're like, you're a millionaire because you had a song on the radio and stuff. And he said, it's just not true. I mean, one, one that I talked to had to claim bankruptcy and, and didn't do that well, even though they had this modicum of success in the music business more than, than maybe I did, but, but didn't do that well financially. Right. Gave up a lot and the family and life too gave up a lot touring all the time and stuff, which I never would have done.
Speaker: Yeah. I mean, now I would tour with the right band. If I was a fit for them and they were a fit for me, then fantastic. But that's the way you got to look at it. I looked at many band situations, many great bands, and I thought, I don't want to do this like I mentioned before.
Speaker: And so I took the safe route out. And not only that, is I probably made more money on side projects. And meanwhile, I have dental, I have medical, I have everything I needed and my family needed. So I took advantage of that and I worked my butt off. It wasn't easy. And I would still do the same thing. I would work, work, work on film and music projects in the spare time.
Speaker: Yeah. Well, good for you. I was fortunate. My wife had a government job for 33 years as well. So I got the advantage of those things without having to actually do it. But for you, you became, so I guess instead of a solid band, you became kind of a mercenary, kind of a hired gun guy.
Speaker: Yeah. And I liked it that way. And you know what? I still do. That's the thing. Because I know exactly what to expect and they know what to expect from me too. So hand in hand, it works perfect.
Speaker: Yeah, no good. Well, the reason I ask that is because you found a way. And that's been my point to other musicians when they call me because I work a lot and I have a good reputation for having done lots of gigs, mostly live stuff. And I just say, you got to find a way that works for you. I wouldn't be a touring musician. I had young kids at home and stuff. I tried it a little bit, but I didn't like it.
Speaker: So, I figured it out in a different way and it sounds like that's what you did as well. That's exactly what I did. And you know what? Now that I'm retired, as I said, if I got, you know, contacted by a band and said, you know, we need you on tour, if it's going to work for them, it's going to work for me. My wife is going to love it because I'm out of the house. We're at a different place in life, right? I mean, it's a different life now for you, right?
Speaker: And the thing about it is I'm still healthy, I'm still wise or semi -wise anyway, but I can do what I want to do. And I'm at the days where I work around house, I do what, I mean, film editing or I'm recording or I'm doing whatever, but there's days where I just sit out and I put the chair out in the front lawn and I have a martini and that's all I'm going to do. I think that's all you're going to do today, Ronnie. No, that's all right. A martini, yeah.
Speaker: So I have to ask you about the genres and the influences, because obviously it's very broad. If you started with classical piano and playing guitar, and if you grew up in a time when you listened to different kinds of music, I mean, we listened to everything from Cat Stevens to Led Zeppelin to Def Leppard to, you know, whatever the new wave stuff. And, but for you, it's broad, but you sort of gravitate towards the heavier stuff.
Speaker: Well, I don't want to use the term pigeon hold, but let's throw it out there with my playing. I mean, I'm more of a classic rock, rock guy, Beatles, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, Nazareth, you know, sweet, like we can keep a black side. I'm talking my language, man. Keep going. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: You know, like I'm more into the classic rock thing. I mean, super tramp. I just, I love it all. And when I kind of was out of the music thing for a while, I met a great musician and he was friends with my business partner, Glen Drover, and he used to play with Megadeth and a few other bands. But we started hanging out. We would go to breakfast or lunch together. He didn't live too far away from me.
Speaker: And we never talk about music at all. It was one of those things where it's just like, you know, Ronnie and Glenn out for lunch or out for breakfast or whatever. And he's been at my house, seen the studio, you know, guitar set up, studio set up. And I think we've known each other for about three years. And he said to me, he says, you know, I've known you for X amount of times, probably three years or whatever. And he says, I never heard you play a note.
Speaker: And that was one of the things we never talked about music. Like my wife's a huge Megadeth fan, but, you know, me not so much. But it was one of these things where I was like, OK, go home, send me something. I'll send you something back, dude. And then we started recording together. We did a few singles and then a few, you know, albums he invited me in on.
Speaker: Yeah. So they weren't necessarily metal and all of a sudden it got metal. So it was like, yeah, hard rock and that kind of thing. Yeah, that was my high school days. But, uh, yeah, and it was funny because now, um, I'm known as a rock and metal player. Meanwhile, you know, I can do regular or anything else. It's, you know, I'm a chameleon. You have to be a chameleon in this business.
Speaker: Well, that's what I thought because especially as a bass player too, like the reggae, the Motown, there's certain, you know, the classic stuff. I mean, I'm a Kansas sticks, foreigner, Van Halen guy. You know what I mean? That's my stuff. Cause I was a teenager when the Boston, when all that stuff came out.
Speaker: And then the heavier stuff got a little bit too heavy for me, a little bit too angst driven, kind of fast and furious kind of, you know. Yeah, I know what you're talking about. No, I do. I do. You know what? It's funny because I'm laughing with you because I thought, what the heck is this?
Speaker: You know and I start listening and I go how's the drummer doing this you know or how's the holy smoke or listen to Steve Harris on double fingering as fast as he can in some of those songs holy cow and you know what it was funny I think I was like 25 28 years old I could actually do that I can't do that now.
Speaker: Like I'm seasoned up. I don't know what it is. I'm almost 60 years old, right? So it's, you know, I, you know, getting up to walk is sometime difficult. Nevermind, you know, the fingers.
Speaker: So, so about the genre though, like tell me, cause you hear, like I'm not a big metal guy, but you hear about heavy metal and trash metal and speed metal and death metal and power metal. I don't know how do you sort those all out? I don't think you do. Really? It's like, okay, you know, it's between what? 160 and 210 beats per minute. I don't know.
Speaker: But it is what it is. I mean, there's a lot of metal that I listened to that were actually
Speaker: It was good. It had great choruses. It had great leads. It was thought about. It was presented well. But other stuff, I just now turn the channel. And that's me. Well, yeah. I mean, that's the thing is if it's melodic and it's got some melody to it, I mean, some of the stuff is just monotony and just so I like the newer bands, like I call them the I hate my parents' bands.
Speaker: And it's just angst driven musical drivels as far as I'm concerned. It is. And you know what's funny? My wife is a metal fan. She loves all music, but she's a metal fan. And we went to see, and I can't remember, oh, it was In Flames and Killswitch Engage. I got tickets for her, both for both.
Speaker: And I remember walking into the auditorium in Toronto and we were probably the oldest couple there, right? And it was so funny because we're in the pit. Oh.
Speaker: We didn't know we were in the pit, but we were in the pit. Did you bring your elbow guards and your mouthpiece and boxing glove? No, it was so funny. I'm six foot four, 220, right? So it's like, I could take care of myself. I'm protecting my wife and there's bodies flying all over the place. Wow.
Speaker: And I remember I seen this young kid, he was flying towards us and I grabbed the kid and threw him back. And I'm thinking, man, this is a lot different than a who concert. And it was funny because here we are. Oh, we're in the pit.
Speaker: Meanwhile, we just wanted to get in front of the stage. Yeah. But no, we're in the pit. We're in the pit. Yeah. So, I mean, that's not my scene at all, but even if you can enjoy the music of it, if it's melodic and musical, like I like heavy music, but I mean, to me, Van Halen is heavy music, right? Yeah.
Speaker: Oh, me too. It's got drive. It's interesting. Like Led Zeppelin, same thing. You have your folk element, you've got your blues element, but then you have your heavy element in that. Same thing with The Who, like you listen to Live at Leads. The year that came out with the way it sounded, awesome. Absolutely.
Speaker: So, you know what? Either you like it or you don't. And that's the main thing with any type of music or any genre. But keeping it musical is, I think, important because it's funny, I read Chrissy Hines' book and she was in the punk scene when they first came in England.
Speaker: And there was a punk, there was a guy playing and she went up and said, well, you got some interesting tuning. The way you tune your guitar, it's pretty interesting there. And he goes, oh, I don't know how to tune my guitar. So it was just angst driven punk music and they didn't worry about the musical part of it. You have too much training and too much of a musical ear to allow that to happen. It's got to be musical.
Speaker: Yeah. You know what? It's got to have a flow. It can have angst. No, it can have angst, but it's got to have a flow. And possibly in tune too, which helps. Yes. So how did you connect with Hollywood Monsters then? That's the project that you've been probably most identified with in the last few years, I'd say?
Speaker: Yeah, it was really weird. It was just like, I don't even know how it began, but it was like a message between Steph Hawn and I. And next thing you know, you say, I know, listen to some of your stuff. You're pretty good. Would you be interested in this? And I went, yeah, I listened to some of your stuff too, man. Definitely. So we did a few singles, like Not Hollywood Monsters, released a few things. We did a couple of David Bowie tunes and
Speaker: other things. And then I was talking to him one day. I was sitting in the studio. I just finished up with something and a ding. There was an email and stuff. And he said to me, you know what, man, I don't know what to do next. And I said to him, I said, why don't you put Hollywood Monsters back together? You know, you've already got some great people on the last few albums. Why don't we do number three together?
Speaker: And I'll help you with that and I can get some great people and I don't know if you want to list the people that were on this album but it's amazing. Yeah, I do have the list here and I was going to ask you how you connected with a bunch of those people but I wanted to know first how you connected with
Speaker: with the Hollywood Monsters and how that all came about, which he explained. And then, of course, Vinny, a piece you had on drums? Yeah, for the majority. For the majority. We had a few other, we had a few drummers. We had Alexis Von Craven, which is from Toronto.
Speaker: And great great rock and metal drummer and Fred Mika from Sun Road which I did I was a guest on their last album and there's a few other people Ronnie Romero from Michael Shanker group.
Speaker: actually singing with Stefan from Hollywood Monsters, doing their thing together, and they brought me in on bass for that. And Hollywood Monsters' Ted McKenna, late from Michael Schenker group, he passed away. Steph had
Speaker: you know, a track of his drums. So we rewrote a song around his drums. And to me, that was the highlight of the whole album. Very close. Yeah. Well, yeah, I was wondering about that, too, because you bring in a lot of like being a studio guy, you bring in it's almost like being a chef, right? You're trying to find the right recipe, the right sort of formula that's going to make the magic happen and make it right. And you seem pretty bold about try this, try that, bring this guy in.
Speaker: Yeah. And you know what? Even if it wasn't quite the recipe that you wanted, but you invited them in, you make it work. Right.
Speaker: And I'm saying I but we got really lucky on this this album I mean I had various surprises on this album where I would just you know, I'd wake up like stuff is like six and a half hours ahead of me and he's mostly afternoon recording and stuff and he would send me stuff back I wouldn't get it to the morning and I'd be like blown away and
Speaker: You know, I did one of these things. There was a tune called Screaming Looking for a Mouth that he wrote. Yeah. And I did a I figured, you know what, it'd be really cool. Just there was a little section, you know, maybe I don't know how many bars, maybe two bars, two and a half before it went into the guitar solo. And it held. And I thought, you know what, let me grab my bass. So I connected it up and, you know, I'm playing away. And I think this little section, let me do the bass.
Speaker: Well, it wasn't about four of the five days later. He sends me back. He goes, yeah, I just redid screaming, looking for a mouth. I want you to listen to the solo part. So I listened to the whole thing. And meanwhile, he had Don Airy, who's played with multiple people on Hammond B3 organ. And what did he do? He took my wah wah bass thing, you know,
Speaker: as a segue to the guitar solo, and he added a B3 with a Wah. Love it. So Don Airy, I mean, one of the best keyboard players on the face of the earth. Well, he was in Deep Purple, wasn't he, after John Law? That's right. Yeah. And many other bands is such a great, great player and such a great, great guy.
Speaker: no one let me know about that. All of a sudden, I wake up, I almost spit it out. It was like, holy smokes. Who did that? That's great. I emailed him right back and he goes, that's Don Arie. I went, I think I had a clue that it was just his style. It was absolutely amazing. Absolutely. That's great. Then you had a connection with Greg Godavitz. Is he on that album as well?
Speaker: How did you connect with him? I've known Greg. I've known the guys in Godot for years and years and years, and I worked actually on their 35th anniversary concert and started working on their documentary. The documentary never happened.
Speaker: Is it gonna happen? I hope so. We're trying to, you know, sort this stuff out. But you know what? Yeah, him and I... I mean, how many times that we've been together, how many times that these guys have been over to my house, it's like absolutely incredible. Absolutely. Great band, man. Gatto. Holy smokes. Yeah. And just to let you know, I'm doing a Gatto cover right now.
Speaker: Um, there's a couple of versions and I have, um, uh, Tommy Craig on drums, which he used to, he's in Florida. He used to play with Pat Travers, you know, and I have, um, Tracy G, Tracy Griava used to play with Ronnie James deal on guitar for this. Oh, that's great. And I'm playing bass and there's a few other vocal. There's going to be a few versions of this song.
Speaker: Well, that was, I was going to ask you, how do you, how do you connect to all these people? But I guess in some ways it's, it's the best of worlds and, and you can, uh, sort of draw from people through your connections and then have them work remotely. You don't need to be sort of flying all to one location or anything. So you connected with a lot of people like X members of Ozzy and Sabbath and white snake and, you know, mega death, like you said, and hold those whole list here. It's a long list.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah, it is. It's getting longer too, which is great. So how do you connect to those guys just through the recording world? Yeah, you know what? They have a reputation and I have a reputation. So, I mean, things are really quiet right now. I'm doing my own little thing. I've got, you know, a upcoming project that I'm doing, but yet I'm still, you know, I still talk to a lot of people every day, every week.
Speaker: It's amazing. It really is. You said you're doing the post audio for television and film and social media projects. So you have an active studio with lots going on right now, right? Yeah. Yeah. It keeps me busy. That's for sure. Definitely. But you know what? Music is my number one thing. That's just the thing. I'm lucky and I've always been lucky. There's a form of luck. There's personality. Yeah.
Speaker: the way that I am, yes, but it's been luck and it really has. Well, my old manager had a saying. He said, the harder I work, the luckier I get. There you go. I always thought that's fairly true. If you're passionate and enthusiastic and you're out there doing your thing, people notice. It may take them a while, but they notice. Exactly.
Speaker: No, you know what? I know. And the thing about it is you just got to keep going at it. You can take two steps back, but go four steps forward. That's for sure. Oh, that's good. No, I love your attitude about that. That's the way I've always been too. I just find the positive.
Speaker: areas and I move into that I find what I like if it doesn't feel right and doesn't sit and write I don't do it but you know I like doing live gigs and done thousand many thousands over the years and millions of dollars worth of gigs and I'm thankful so gratitude is my big motivator now especially as I've gotten older I'm just thankful to be able to do it.
Speaker: Yeah, you know what, Dan, that's the difference between you and I. I'd rather be sitting at my studio desk than playing live. Yeah. No, really. Yeah, that's fine. And you've gravitated towards that part of it, right? Yeah. You know what? Sometimes I miss it. Sometimes I miss getting out. I hate to say the term rockstar, but sometimes I want to go out and play rockstar for three minutes or four minutes, like as a guest or whatever, right? But other than that,
Speaker: Like I love, I love my life as a musician, being at home and just taking it easy. Yeah. Not good for you. Yeah. Well, I was going to say the recording industry has changed so much over the years and over the past 50 years, if you ask how the recording industry has changed, I mean, it's almost laughable, but digital and remote, auto -tune, a lot of machine -generated music and you've worked with people you've never met.
Speaker: Yeah. And I guess it cuts both ways. You know, the old live off the floor, like we used to get together in a band room and hammer it out and then record it. And then nowadays the songs are more generated. So that's not live off the floor. What's your whole position and thoughts about the whole recording process now?
Speaker: Well, it is generated. That's the G -spot right there, generated. I miss mostly walking into a room with my fellow musicians and exploding and experimenting and just working on things, the sonic direction.
Speaker: of it. And a lot of people, all of a sudden, they get a home recording studio and they're a professional mixing and mastering engineer. Well, no. I hear a lot of mistakes that people are making, especially with Project Wear. Step back,
Speaker: Why don't you just keep on working on stuff? Don't take it personally if whoever's running the project says, hey, do this or do that. Let's change it up because you're not in the same room anymore. And you know what? If you can do it 10 or 20 times,
Speaker: That's like being in the same room sonically. You can fix things. You're going to come out of realization that, geez, maybe that rhythm part, yeah, the rhythm part is way better than it was when I started. So just keep on doing it. It's like when I do bass tracks now, I'll send six or seven different bass tracks as a scratch track even. Okay. Yeah. And say, which one do you like or which two do you or three do you like?
Speaker: When the guitar is done, vocals are done, everything, I'm going to come back on it. But at least I know where we're at with my tracks. And this should be happening with everything, all musicians in that project.
Speaker: The truth is, we talk about live off the floor, but that's usually just the bed tracks. I recorded last year at the Armory and we went in with the band because I wanted to play like a band. You get that symbiotic relationship going and you're breathing back and forth and stuff, but then most of the album is overdubbed. Let's be honest, the guitars are walked over, the vocals, all the harmonies, the secondary guitar parts, the other keyboard parts, the percussion, that's all done afterwards.
Speaker: See, that's one thing that any project that I do, I try to take the digital out of it. I want it like that. I want it to be live off the floor. A lot of great recordings that I was like when I was younger was live off the floor. It was a four -piece band. It'd be the drummer, guitar player, and I just
Speaker: go into town and you get that sonic value and you get looking at each other and the drummer going, oh, don't forget, we're ready to go in the chorus now. It was that excitement and you're absolutely right. It's a lost thing. I wish more musicians get together and do that and say, okay, here's the project.
Speaker: But then the consumer doesn't really care. And then sometimes it's a drum machine. You can't even tell. But there's a bass player playing with the drum machine. You must have done some of that. Oh, yeah. You know, I've received tracks and was like, OK, can you fix the drums? It's like, no. Yeah, I can't. Who who who did this, you know? Yeah. But I say it very nicely. I don't I never say no.
Speaker: And again, if the consumer likes the song, like I talk about AI and AI generation, I don't know if you're using any of that in your process, but they're going to be able, AI is going to be able to write songs and do mixed parameters and all the rest of it. But if the audience or the consumer likes it, they're not going to care.
Speaker: Well, you know what? A musician or a band is in a direction. If they come together for a final thought and they go for it, that's great. I've had, hey, can I record drums at your house? Yeah, you can. And all of a sudden I'm putting drum triggers on there.
Speaker: Drums. I'm saying don't set up any symbols except your hi -hats. I can record those. I can record your kick drum. I got the moving blanket over with the chair and I've got two mics on it. Everything's fine.
Speaker: That gives me opportunity later on to say, okay, here's my drum mix number one, two, three, four, five, six. What do you like? And I can take the, which would be MIDI, go on Superior Drummer 3,
Speaker: you know, pick different drum kits. And meanwhile, it's their cymbals, like they're doing cymbals afterwards. Like Foo Fighters did that. And that's not new. I used to do that in the analog days too.
Speaker: It's like, I don't like the room. I don't like the symbols here. Here, we're doing it in the hallway. And I would set up three, four mics and it's like they listened to the track with headphones and the drummer would be hitting the, you know, and meanwhile I can separate them more. So it sounds better in the mix. That's the big issue. Separating the symbols from the toms is almost impossible if you just got overheads, right?
Speaker: Yeah. And you know what? It takes away the muddiness, it takes away and it's more clear and it gives me as a studio guy to make a better project for them, better outcome. Fair enough. And it's funny because I was watching the Foo Fighters and they were doing something and they were recording in Dave Grohl's house and he started bashing cymbals. And I thought,
Speaker: did that in like 87. This isn't new. Yeah. So yeah. Then you lay the work out. That was cool. Well, yeah, I'm just curious. I mean, you never know what the recording process is. Lots of guys have tried lots of different things, but again, it's the end result that really tells the tale.
Speaker: You know, the consumer is the ultimate arbiter of what you do and how successful that is, I guess, in terms of what they like. And so have you mellowed in your music over the years or are you still doing the heavy stuff? Because I was wondering about the demographic for heavy music. I mean, in North America, it's probably a thin slice of the, you know, it's more popular in Europe. Like I had Ian Creighton on from Saga and stuff. And he said, you know, they're way more popular in Europe than they are in North America.
Speaker: And then we played at Casino Regina a couple months ago and my buddy who plays with us when we're out there, he said Saga played at Casino Regina and there was only a few hundred people showed up. The market isn't there. Like he said, it was bizarre. And they're a fantastic band, especially live. Yeah. No, Saga. Amazing. It's funny. Jim Gilmore. I love Jim.
Speaker: Great keyboard player. Yeah. Definitely. But it was funny because talking to Stefan back to Hollywood Monsters, he says to me, he goes, you know, Max Webster? And I said, yeah, of course I know Max Webster. He goes, oh, they were huge in France. Yeah, there you go. They are huge in France. And we started talking about, you know, Canadian bands and mostly Canadian bands, what's happening in Europe or what happened in Europe with them. And, you know, I never knew.
Speaker: I really didn't. You know, he starts saying, hey, you know, let's let's cover a Max Webster tune. I said, OK, let's do it any time. Let's do it now. Let's go. So so my question, though, is with Hollywood Monsters, is there more of a demographic that would be, you know, amenable to that kind of music in Europe or I mean, what's what's the demographic here now? The amount of people that would be interested in the really heavy sort of speedy or metal stuff.
Speaker: Well, with Hollywood Monsters, I think more classic rock because we covered a few, we covered Thin Lizzy and things like that. So it was more and when we're recording the album, we didn't want it polished.
Speaker: like we wanted to sound like it was done in 75. But a lot of people go, oh my God, Thin Lizzy, you guys did such a great job on that. We had Danko Jones, fellow Canadian, fellow Canadianization on that, doing lead vocals and he nailed it.
Speaker: Yeah, and a few other covers that we did, Godo and stuff, like between 40 and 70, they loved it. Absolutely. No, that's good. Because it's funny, I read an article, I got to find where it is, but the guy was talking about how the music in the 70s was perfectly imperfect.
Speaker: And he explained why because of the feel and the flavor and the production's good. I mean, listen to Superdram album, listen to Steely Dan albums. They sound great, but they're natural sounding, I guess, is the word that comes to my mind. You know what? I think it's more honest, truly. It's like, okay, here's the studio. Here's how we're going to mic the amps and the drums. And here's our recording engineer. Here's our producer. Here's what we're going to do.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, Led Zeppelin, I think Jimmy Page took it a little further, you know, with guitar overdubs and everything. But I like that. I like the analog. I like the imperfection. Yeah, because I listen to bands now like I get sent a lot of songs and saying, you know, Ronnie, what do you think about this? And what do you think about that?
Speaker: And yeah, it's good. I don't say, but it's not what I would do. To me, it doesn't sound honest. You know what I mean? It's like it's too perfect.
Speaker: Well, there's a famous video, I don't know if you've seen it, but quantizing the drums became a big thing, right? So you put the drums, you quantize them for people who don't know what that is, but you just make it on every bar, it hits perfectly. So you take a drummer with feel and a good breathing sort of style and you quantize it so it hits perfectly on every beat.
Speaker: And this guy didn't experiment. He took running with the devil from Van Halen and he played the original version. Then he played a quantized version. If you ever get a chance to watch it, it's very interesting. It kind of sucks the life out of it. It does. It's too squared off. It's too boom, boom, boom, like a machine.
Speaker: Yeah. ... weathered in Van Halen because Van Halen is not perfect, but it's perfectly imperfect because it's so cool. Well, you know what? And this is what drives me crazy. I want that imperfection. Yeah. And people should be listening for imperfection too. It's like, you know, I was born in the 60s, mid 60s, and listening to music then and, you know, farther on, it wasn't perfect.
Speaker: Yeah, the horn section came in late. The sax player came in a little bit earlier than the rest of the horn side. That's what made the music. That's what made it honest. And that's the thing about making honest music and not. We can quantize the crap out of everything. And you know what? I'd rather listen to my clock tick beside my back.
Speaker: Well, but even playing to a click track, like some of the Motown stuff and that was not, you can hear the chorus kind of speeds up a smidge and then it pulls back a little bit in the verse, but so what? You know what? It's honest. It's human. That's what we play live. Don't get me started about Motown. It's one of my faves, man. One of my faves.
Speaker: Definitely. Well, you've got a reputation for being a capable, multifaceted guy, but you also got a reputation for being a nice guy and a team player and a good soul. So that bodes well for you as well, right? You just want to have a good feeling. That's what I wanted to create in the studio was just that good feeling because in hope of that translates into the music. Yeah. You know what?
Speaker: If you're working in a recording studio, it's nice to have that smile and have that experience behind you, you're going to help out. And that's a big skill, man, is listening, listening to what people want. Well, it's funny because a business guy said years ago, I can't remember, I read it, he said, well, when you're talking on the telephone, make sure you smile because people will hear your smile. Exactly. And when you're playing, smile because people will, your smile will translate through your playing. And I always thought,
Speaker: That's a good point. Try it. Well, yeah, you know what? That's a really good point. And the thing about with me is, and the funny thing is, sometimes I can't control how I'm feeling when you look at me. It's like, I cannot, whatever I'm thinking, you can tell in my face. So a lot of the times what I'll do is I'll be busy doing this, that, and the other, and I'll be making suggestions so people aren't looking at me.
Speaker: Yeah. Because I'll be looking at him and go, what the heck? Or I'll be like, and you know what? Humor is humor. Humor just kind of sets the blanket on where you go, okay, people start to laugh and whatever. I mean, you were thinking, oh my God.
Speaker: Well, you got to relax in the studio. I mean, like what you said earlier about paying, like it's like sitting in a really expensive cab and everyone's looking at you and you're trying to play it perfectly. Well, that just sucks the life out of you. You're just trying to get through it without screwing it up. Well, that's not what we want. We want you to play like you reckless abandon play. Just play.
Speaker: Well, you know what? And the thing about it is you want to bring people up, right? And I've had bands, like, especially when I was younger in the studio and, you know, the guitar player, the vocalist would come in and, you know, they're, you know, top in the shop, right? And they would go, we're going to do this, we're going to do the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And, you know, the record wants record twice and I'm going to come out, I'm going to have a tea with them or whatever, a beer, and I'm just going to talk to them and say,
Speaker: What's your rhythm set? What's your rhythm set on this? Okay. Why don't you try this or whatever? And bringing people up, you know, everyone's a rock star. So, you know, you got to be careful of what you say and do or how you look, you know? Yeah. So, I cannot hide my facial expressions though, just to let you know. Well, there you go. Well, I cannot.
Speaker: There's a difference in producing and engineering too. If you're taking on a producer role, you got to get your face in there and you got to say, hey, we got to try this and try that. I'm sure you've worn both hats or one or the other many times. Oh man, chief cook and bottle washer. No, there you go. It's like many years. Yeah. You know what? It's been fun though because you get to know people and
Speaker: And I've run into people many years later and they said to me, you know, you were so cool in the studio, man. I was like, I was really just to let you know, I was really, really nervous. And I said, yeah, I know. I know. But you made me feel really welcome and you made me feel really special. And to me, years later, especially them remembering that as soon as they see my face walking down the street, you know, or at a party or whatever, that's made me feel amazing.
Speaker: Oh, that's great. I've done my job. Well, and you've been involved in teaching others as well, and you're part of this book, The Titans of Base as well, which is nice. You got asked to be part of that, and there's lots of big names on there, and you're one of them. Oh, man. I was really surprised when they asked me, and they said, oh, it's going to be 130. I said, yeah, I'm about 1 ,030.
Speaker: Right? So, okay. But I was really, really happy. And yeah, thank you for mentioning that. That's been a highlight. So it's on Rowan .com, R -O -W, Roman, R -O -W -M -A -N .com is where the book can be found. It's called Titans of Base, The Tactics, Habits, and Routines from over 140 of the world's best. And what kind of stuff did you share in there?
Speaker: Uh, just basically, you know, my bio, what, you know, I was about and that kind of thing. But man, there's a lot of great bass players in there. And again, I was really, really surprised that they asked me. I was like, and it was funny because I was having my morning coffee. I was sitting on the couch and my wife grabbed her espresso. She's sitting beside me. I said, Hey, I'd be invited to be in a book.
Speaker: And she's like making jokes, right? But I mean, you know what, you got Geezer Butler in there, Billie Sheehan, Rev Jones, Rudy Sarzo, Phil Suzanne, Leland Skar. You gotta love that guy.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure. He just released a book too. I got to get a copy. I've already been talking to him. It's all, you know, giving the finger. Yeah. So yeah, I got to talk to him about it. But obviously you bring something to the table. So that's what I was wondering. I mean, you can contribute stuff about gear and your approach and your experience and that. And you obviously brought something valuable to the table that they wanted to include. So that bodes well for you, right? Yeah, it does. And as I said, it's been a highlight. It really does.
Speaker: And did you do a kids educational series? Did I read that? Did you do some video in the studio for that? Yeah, you know what? I had to move the studio upstairs and friends of mine asked me to do something about bass and I didn't quite know what to do. And I was like six or seven projects into something and I went, I got to get this out.
Speaker: I, you know, bass is cool and I kind of played like a little riff and, you know, did some I can't even remember what I said. Yeah. But what was it like 45 seconds or a minute or something?
Speaker: But that was part of an educational series for kids in Canada, which was great. And I loved it. I was like, I don't know what I like more. The Titans are base or that, really. Well, I was wondering because obviously giving back or sharing your experience, I don't know if you teach base or if people ever take lessons from you or if you show people what you know, but it is
Speaker: inspiring and it's interesting and fun to give back a little bit and say, well, here's what I've done. Here's what works for me.
Speaker: Yeah. You know what? And it was funny because I really, I was, I was taken aback. Hey, would you do this? And I went, yeah, what for kids? Yeah, for sure. Definitely. Yeah. I mean, you know, as I said, my, my youngest son, he's like, man, he can pick up a ukulele and start playing Beatles or Paul McCartney, you know, or red hot chili peppers for that matter. Like the kid is just amazing. And for more kids to, to just pick up an instrument, no matter what it is,
Speaker: Yeah. And start experimenting and start just have fun. Never mind where you're going to get out of it. Have fun at it. Well, yeah, and that's the greater point is people who are musical can make music out of anything. A knife and a fork at the dinner table, I would always be banging them and singing along and playing the rhythm. Oh, yeah. Right. I mean, you're musical, so the music just comes out.
Speaker: Oh, me too. I remember in school, my parent teacher interview, I remember a few teachers told my parents, he's always slapping his desk, he's always humming, he's always... I was writing tunes back like grade four for Cornell. There you go. That's funny. Yeah. So when you started out, what was your goal? If you said, I want to be, fill in the blank, what was that? Just a professional musician or a lifetime musician? What was your goal when you started?
Speaker: Happy. Yeah. That was it. That was it. I mean, music in our house was, you just, you know, you listen to music, you'd be happy, you cook dinner, you do whatever, you vacuum the floor, you whatever. I don't think I really ever wanted to be like, oh, I want to be a rock star. No. Right. That's, you know, I mean, as I mentioned earlier, like I played with a lot of great musicians
Speaker: as a teenager growing up, like they're older musicians. And I thought, you know, that'd be really cool just to go out on a Saturday night and play a gig or whatever. But I never wanted to be like, you know, a John Entwistle or whatever. I never wanted that life.
Speaker: Yeah, well, yeah, that's the reason I asked that question is because a lot of people I asked them, well, did you reach the level of success that you wanted or that you had hoped? And a lot of people say, well, not really, you know, like I had a couple of songs that did pretty good and I didn't make a ton of money. And then the bands fell apart. There was members in and out.
Speaker: And so what they wanted to be, they never actually got to be in the full measure of what they wanted. And then they didn't reach a level of success that they wanted. It sounds like you sort of adjusted, you wanted to be happy as a human being. And then music was an important part of that. Is that fair?
Speaker: Yeah. And if you asked me the same question, I would say, yes, I'm happy where I am right now. Yeah. And you know what? It's not over. Yeah. There you go. Exactly. As I said, luck has had something to do with it, but I'm, you know what? I love my home life. I love just doing what I do. Yes. You know what? Do I want to get in more recording situations with great musicians around the world? Sure, I do.
Speaker: Do I want to do my own thing as well? Yes, I do. So again, if you ask me the same question, yes. Yeah. No, good. I mean, that's, that's a good place to be. I just, I always felt that I thought, well, you know, when you're younger, you want to make it, you know, you want to make it and be a rock star and stuff, but then you realize that's, that's not, no, that's, that's not really a great goal to have. You just want to be happy. If you can't be happy at the end of it, then what, what does that do for you?
Speaker: I know. And it was so funny when you said, oh, we got to make it. I was working at a recording studio and we had these guys in and their bass player didn't show up. So I ended up recording three songs. I had to learn them on the spot and did whatever. Anyway, they asked me, they said, oh, our bass player is in the hospital. We have a gig in two weeks at the Gasworks. Would you be interested in playing? And I went,
Speaker: You know what, yeah. What date is it? Let me check my schedule. Yeah, you know, I can do that. Oh, there's like four bands playing. We're doing 45 to an hour each. Here's the songs. I said, okay, you know, I can do that. Oh, you have to, you have to dress a certain way. And I said, okay, how? Oh, you have to like, you know, wear spandex and use your hair. So I said, okay, you know, like, whatever.
Speaker: These guys were in Mississauga, so I travel out to Mississauga and we went, I think we had like six rehearsals. Okay, I said, but you know what? I won't be around for sound check, but I'll give you another bass. Can you go in and do the sound check for me? And they said, okay.
Speaker: So they wanted me in this band, and that was the big thing. It was like a poison thing, right? Yeah. I'm laughing now because I get to the Gasworks, I go in the dressing room, and they're all dressed in zebra and leopard skin, and I'm wearing torn jeans and a Ramones t -shirt. Yeah. And I went on stage like that, and he says, whoa,
Speaker: You know, we're never going to make it if you dress like that. Oh, you're never going to make it. OK. So I went up. But meanwhile, everyone's giggling. You know, I'm in the I'm dressed the way that I'm dressed. But, you know, so that was the beginning of the end for that band. And they were good. Yeah, good.
Speaker: But that was the whole goal was to make it to a certain level. And for all the ones that made it to the very top, you know, the top guys, there was thousands of bands right below that. Some of them had sort of one or two songs that did okay. And then the rest of them were all just sort of like sports, right? The NHL, lots of kids play hockey, but almost none of them ever make it to the NHL.
Speaker: but that doesn't define your life. I mean, I was never going to define my life by whether I had a hit song or not. I have got a great life. I'm very thankful. So I made it just in a different way than I thought I would make. No, exactly. And you know what? The same with me, Dan. It's like, you know, I have respect in the music. It was just great when people say to me, Oh my God, Ronnie,
Speaker: you know, like here this or that and the other blah, blah, blah, or they see me on television or whatever. And it was like, that's great. Thank you very much. And I appreciate that. I do. But you know what, when I walk through the front door, you know, back home,
Speaker: I'm just Ronnie. And you know what? I'm Ronnie outside too, just like I don't... Thank you. Treat everybody the same. Just be a normal person. I've always wondered about that. I thought, okay, the guy wrote a few songs. He's just a person like the rest of us. What's with all this pawing at the guy and treating him like he's some kind of demigod or some elevated... He's just a guy that wrote some songs.
Speaker: That's great. You know what? I learned really, really young is rock stars who are rock stars, a lot of them don't want to be treated as rock stars. They just, hey, oh my God, the rain. Yeah. I know. I haven't seen this rain and blah, blah, blah, and you start talking to them and blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Yeah. And people that recognize me or, as I said, have seen me on television as well,
Speaker: I change the subject right away. It's like I don't want to be anyone but Ronnie. That's fair. That's just it. How much live playing are you doing? Have you got anything booked? Are you looking for live gigs? Are you doing any of that? Nada. No, seriously.
Speaker: If someone wanted me to go on tour or whatever, a fit for them, fit for me, I would do it. Definitely. I do miss that somewhat, but yet I don't at the same time. I can say that in the same breath. It's work. It's not like you're doing it, you're living it 24 -7.
Speaker: when you're out. I don't have to live 24 -7 in my studio, in my house. No, no, fair point. Yeah. I kind of went the opposite because I make a living playing live. Yeah, you do. I've done thousands of shows, but I mean, for me, I sort of like the adrenaline and the pump from getting up in front of an audience and bringing what you got. I can't do the studio thing. I'm not that skilled at it and I don't have the right personality for it, I don't think.
Speaker: Yeah, you know what? And that raises another good point, personality, for certain things. As a guest performer, any day of the week with any band, let's go. You want me to get up and do one or two tunes. If your bass player doesn't mind, if the rest of the band doesn't mind, I'm in.
Speaker: just to get out there and have some fun. But other than that, it's now. Good for you. Yeah. Well, you got to find your happy place. And your happy place is where you feel content. And I guess I like the saying, contentment is being happy with what you already have.
Speaker: And you can still aspire for other things, but you're content because you're happy with what you already have. Yeah. It sounds like you're content. Oh man. I'm content. And I, you know, it couldn't get better for me. It really could. Oh good. Especially with projects coming up too. It's like, I'm doing what I want to do when I want to do it, how I want to do it. Yeah. So what have you got coming up? You got, you got film stuff. You got some band stuff coming up.
Speaker: Well, what was decided that I would do a culinary, like a social media based culinary show called Surak City. Right. So what I would do, it's not necessarily in my kitchen doing recipes like everyone else. It's restaurant visits, it's tips and tricks. Nice. It's just what has to do with culinary based restaurant, maybe business, that kind of thing.
Speaker: I'm writing my own music for it now. Little spots here and there. I just did this really cool thing. It took me like a while to learn tabla drums.
Speaker: and I'm sitting on my family room floor with mics, you know, set up and I'm learning to play. And I just did actually guitar for the track yesterday because it's going to be for a Indian based cuisine like that kind of thing. So it's, so you know what, I'm getting out of my, I'm getting out of my norm and doing more film with, you know, presenting myself.
Speaker: As I said, I worked in the restaurant industry for years and years and years, and it's going to be a really cool thing. Nice. Definitely. Yeah. Well, that sounds really cool. I mean, again, that's the curiosity factor. You like this? Let's go check that out. Let's do this for a while. Let's see what this sounds like. It sounds like you've been a real multifaceted person with many, many different interests, which is a great thing too, because that all gets brought to bear in your musical stuff too, right?
Speaker: No, exactly. And the thing about it is music and food is my favorite. Definitely. But it's going to be called Sioux Rock City, food friends, music life, our world within. And where will that be accessible?
Speaker: Duddle, I've set up Instagram, Facebook. There's nothing on there. I just set up the pages a few days ago. I'm waiting for more equipment to come in, film equipment to do it. And as I said, it's not going to be boring. It's not going to be just in my kitchen. And that's another thing too. In two weeks, I'm redoing my whole kitchen. Not so much for the show, but it's just because my wife wanted it. And I thought, OK, here we go.
Speaker: And it's going to be outside, inside, different restaurants, different on the street. It's going to be really, really cool. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be different for me. Very cool. And that'll be accessible through your RonnieRobson .com.
Speaker: Yeah. And Facebook, TikTok, if it's still around in a few weeks and Instagram, that kind of thing. Nice. Okay. Well, good. Well, man, like you're a super interesting guy, very accomplished and stuff for sure. I was happy to have you on the program. We went a little bit over, but that's okay. We're having a good gab, so I don't mind doing that. So really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me today. It was excellent.
Speaker: You know what? I really appreciate being on the show and thank you so much and thanks for the listeners for listening. That's great. Thank you. Many thanks to my guests, Ronnie Robson, for being part of the Lighter Notes podcast and sharing some insights from his many musical adventures and accomplishments. More information is available at RonnieRobson .com. Great website. Check it out. There's lots of information on there. We hope you enjoyed the podcast and invite you to subscribe to it and share it on social media so others can enjoy it as well.
Speaker: and we also invite you to listen to Dusty Dicks Radio Tuesdays and Thursdays to hear music from the Canadian artists you're hearing on this show. So until next time, I'm Dan Han.
