ALCATRAZZ Re-Record Jet To Jet for PRIOR CONVICTIONS

0:04 Hey, you have done to censure for see Wow for you young. Ro the Short Trip, We made a lightning and we were strangers in time? How the start is made up? And ships? Where the rock road. Stop? Why? I'm a radio.

0:55 This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four C Y Radio. I'm very excited about our next guest because I'm a fan of theirs for decades and some really cool new stuff going on. So let's welcome to the show. Jimmy from Alcatraz. How are you? I'm good? How are you good to be here? I'm doing great. My first question is how do you guys always get such amazing musicians throughout the decades. You know, it happens organically. We don't audition people. We just it just kind of people. We know, people that know people, kind of thing and word of mouth. You know, somebody will say, oh I heard Alcatraz is looking for somebody, you know whatever. But typically they're friends of friends or like Joe Stump for instance, we started working with him years ago. Joe. I knew about Joe. I didn't know Joe, but I knew about Joe, and I didn't know what he was doing. And then when on and searched and looked and found out, you know, his information emailed and we talked immediately. I was in California at the time, he was in New York. We talked and in five minutes you could tell he was he was a great, great guy, and he said, yeah, I'll come out, we'll play.

2:23 So I think he came out the next week and he walked in the room and we just counted the songs off and played. Wow. There was no talk, there was no rehearsal. Oh well, let's let's work on this one. This is the way we do this. He just played. So that was a real organic thing that just you know, worked out. Great drummers. We did auditioned Mark Bancachea for the Grand Bonnet Band actually and him, and then we just kept working with that love. Mark loved his drumming. He just couldn't tour anymore.

3:05 So, yeah, it's tough when we start getting on in years, right, I think that. And Mark was faced with the you know, he had an amazing job. He lives in la He had an amazing job, and he was getting time off work no problem. And then they clamped down and just said he can't do that anymore. He had to make a decision and he just you know, it didn't make sense. So Giles was the manager of the Grand Bonnet Band, and I knew Giles and I were friends from way back. And then we would do sound checks in the Grand Bonnet Band when we'd be touring and Graham wasn't there most of the time for soundchecks, so Giles would sing it. Wow, he would come up and sing so we could get our monitors together stuff, and he was killing the stuff.

4:03 I mean, just you know, singing the shit out of it. So uh that when the time came, you know, we got Doogie and Dougie was great, but Dougie had to move on. He was doing his own thing, and so Giles was the obvious choice. Really, there was no auditions or looking around. It was like, you know, he was the obvious choice. So that's how that happened. I love stories like that though, because it's like that's how you really could discover gold. Sometimes it's just a mistake or something happens or fill in, Like I know a bunch of texts like guitar and drum techs that end up in the band because yeah, they know all the songs like, so they can take over in a heartbeat.

4:54 Well, it's like Elwood from zz Top. You know. Elwood was Steve Wie's guitar our tech for a while and he would come out to rehearsal and we worked together, and I knew Elwood from years ago. And then I hear all he's got a gig was Eazy Top. He's a guitar tech for zz Top and a bass tech. I thought, oh, that's cool, and then then he ended up playing bass so amazing, Like he just fits right in with those guys. So yeah, there you go. Yeah, and it's kind of like, you know, Ozzy just passed away recently, but same type of thing. It's like all of a sudden, like Randy, I think he was just tuning his guitar and he was like, you're hired, you know type of thing. Yeah, yeah, kind of how it happens. I think organically that makes bands like yours, artists like Ozzy that just stand the test of time.

5:55 Yeah, I mean, uh Alcatraz. For the second album, we did auditioned a couple of people for guitar after Ingbay left. Yeah, auditioned Steve VI sounds funny saying we auditioned. It was I know, right. I talked a few times and he said, yeah, he didn't want to play the in Bay stuff. He said, I'll play it, but he says, I don't play like that. I can't play that stuff, which is crazy he can. But we did audition him, and I knew in thirty seconds the guy was just so aggressive and was tearing the strings off the guitar. Yeah, and we auditioned Chris and Pelltieri, and Chris was amazing, just crazy, amazing. He played the in Bay stuff pretty much note for note.

6:48 We were just looking to get away from that at the time. We want to follow up with somebody that played like that. So and Steve didn't. Steve could play what was needed for the older no parole stuff, but he was Steve Vai And like I said, I just loved him because he was so aggressive with a guitar and so inventive and he just kind of went nuts on stage, which I loved. I thought it was great. That's important. I think, you know, it's one thing and be a great musician, it's another thing to be a great musician on stage. It huge difference. I call him bedroom guitar players people go, man, you should see this guy. He can play the in bass stuff note for note or the Steve v stuff whatever.

7:36 And you look at the video. He's in his bedroom right, perfect conditions, you know, and he's playing to a track and he's playing great. But like I called my we were looking for a guitar player at one point, and I called my friend Steve Mathieson, who was incredible guitar player. Was he was teaching. He was head of the guitar department at am I in La Musicians Institute. So I called up Steve. I said, Steve, we need a guitar player. And Steik said, well, I've got a bunch of guys here that can play all that stuff note for note, and none of them would have a clue how to tour or they wouldn't be good band members. He goes, yeah, they've just sat at home learning this stuff note for note, but any other songs. At the time, we were playing Michael Shanker stuff, Chris and Pellantary songs, you know, in the Grand Bonnet band. And so the guy had to be an all around musician. He couldn't just be an inbay Clung, you know. So so Steek says, you know, I've got guys.

8:45 I'll give you a name, but it won't do any good because none of them would be able to get on a bus or a van and know what to do. They'd get on stage and they'd be just a fish out of water. So I didn't find anybody that way. And you're right too, like what happens on stage, like you have to be somebody that's prepared for any disaster. Yeah, you know. And some of those bedroom guitar players, like they're great until you throw a wrench in it, and then there's like, I don't know what to do that. It's like people in my business like that use a script, Like once they're off script, they don't know where to.

9:27 Go exactly exactly. And I've seen it. I've done interviews over the years, and some people are like, you know, are you live or you know, they literally are like how did the band get together? Right? Oh? Okay, how do you get your band name? Yeah? Yeah? So same with guitar players, because and these guys, I'm sure if you were in the guy's bedroom and he's playing, and you said, okay, well now play play something else, you know, play a solo from whatever, and he'd lock up. He'd be like, uh, well, I don't really do that. You know, I can play this, I can play and he'd play you another solo off the Alcatraz record or something. But yeah, they just don't they don't get it.

10:21 I even watch people that play on stage and you can tell who's really the great musicians because they're not even looking at their guitar most of the time, you know, or they're not looking at the drums or whatever they're playing. And then you see other ones that they're looking to make sure every note is perfect. But you know what, what I've found out in thousands of shows I've been over the year, some of the best shows are when it wasn't perfect. Well, yeah, and we don't worry about that. I mean, Joe Stump is like Steve was when he auditioned. Joe is a real aggressive player. And he again Joseph professor at Berkeley. You know, can he play the notes perfect?

11:08 Of course he can, but that's not the point live. It's all about the energy and if and again he was ripping the strings off the guitar he played. He's so aggressive and I love that and he's a great guy. But yeah, on stage. He's not thinking about anything. He's just. You know, he's just kind of like in the zone. Yes, you know the same with me. I don't think about what I'm doing. That just I know what I'm doing and I just kind of play and I just have fun basic. Factly, and listen. If you're not having fun in this industry, it's a wrong industry right now. Yeah, you don't get rich, that's for sure.

11:49 No, especially nowadays, like these poor artists are starting now opposed to back in the seventies eighties. Oh my god, like it must be so difficult. There is no such thing as the quote unquote rock star anymore. No, it's it's pretty Uh, it's changed drastically. I mean there's Metallica. Yeah, my god. Look how many records those guys had to make and how many tours they did before they got to be Metallica. You know, same with the Iron Maiden. But like I said, there's there's Iron Maiden and Metallica, and then there's all the rest of us. I was at Metallica's first show ever. You're kidding, No, en Slayers first show ever. God, wow, it was wild.

12:37 I mean, like my dad moved me to La. I was from Jersey and my dad moved me to LA in nineteen eighty. Can you imagine of that being the time to move to La. Well, I moved there shortly after that. Right, so you know, and listen. I think bands like you and other some new upcoming bands are bringing back musicianship, like I think we lost that for a while. Oh definitely. You didn't have those shred or guitar players. You just had people going through the motions. I find some of the metal down nowadays is like a formula, like an algebraic equation. And you know, metal and rock was never that.

13:23 No, No, there's a lot of bands that play like that. That that's that's their goal is to be technically, you know, better than the next band, you know, technically right. I have never cared about that, And I admire the players keyboard players that can play like that. I'm very impressive. But I just that's never been me. And I'm more worried about concerned about writing songs and and and making the band run. Yeah. Well, you've you've pretty much done every job in the band since the beginning, which is rare.

14:09 Well, yeah, I mean it got into this thing writing songs where I would program drums just for the writing, you know, and and but I'd work hard on the drum program because I would I would really stress out over the field. I didn't care about the sound or anything because it was just a computer. But I would stress out over the parts. Is that kick drum pattern right? Or you know, should there be fills here? Whatever, It doesn't matter what kind of fills, just should it be broken up here or whatever. And I found the drummers playing about ninety percent of what I programmed. And I even said to the last drummer we had, I said, you know, you don't need to play that, you just play what you feel, right, And he was stuck to that. Yeah, he played I programmed. And I didn't know whether to be flattered or bummed out. You know. I wanted him to be him and just waial have fun.

15:12 And that's cool about musicians that play in a bunch of different bands, because I always have respect when you're playing a bunch of different bands, because to be able to know all those songs, or you know, you're talking about drummers like Dave Lombardo, like he plays in what six different bands, and I'm like, how the hell does he do that? And I always knew he was good. But to me, that's amazing because that means you're not on a script. You are playing by feel. Yeah. I mean I tour with Warlord and that's a difficult gig. Musically it sounds simple, but the arrangements are really way different. Bill who wrote all that stuff, You're real quirky and so nothing. You have to memorize it.

16:03 You can't. It's not like learning Foreigner songs that you know where the chorus is, the choruses, you know, you can feel it and you'd heard them about ten thousand times. So I could play in Foreigner kind of thing that wouldn't be a difficult gig. But the Warlord thing was tough. But it was such great exercise, you know, so different from Alcatraz, right and now I just played on the did the eight to Z record and that same thing. That was a whole different thing from Warlord or Alcatraz. But I had to stretch to do that. I love that, you know, I love to So. Let's talk about the reworking of the eighties songs in the upcoming new album tell us why people should listen to the songs now compared to back then.

16:57 Well, mainly we have a single. Giles is a new singer and really brings it on these songs. I mean he nails them. He sings them like they're supposed to be sung. He was a fan of Graham's. He loved Graham and loved his vocal. So Giles is true to the melodies and the feel of the song, and we played him on this record. We did them exactly like they were meant to be done. You know. People should listen to it though, because it's a really current version of Alcatraz. It's the latest. I mean, it's really up to date. Giles is nailing this stuff, and we do more stuff off No Parole than we've ever done so and I really feel good about what the recordings on this record. I think we did a good job, and Giles certainly did a great job representing it because we were honest with each other. You know, we'd start to do a song, and a lot of those songs Giles had sung at soundchecks before then he joined the band and we had no recordings. We just toured, so we did one hundred shows with Giles before we ever recorded this record. Nice, so he had sung Jet the Jet one hundred times or two hundred times, you know, between sound checks and having sung it in the Grand Bonnet Band at soundchecks and stuff. So Jet the Jet for

18:27 him was a no brainer. Hiroshima, no brainer. All those songs for him are easy, so he has fun with him and he hits the notes every night, very consistent. So I think what people will find is, especially they come see us live, it's a real consistent band. I mean, I'd like to say we sound good every night. It's real consistent energies there every night. That's key to me, like and to me, it's key that if you are a live band that can capture the audience that goes well behind the studio album, you know.

19:08 Yeah, And I kind of base everything I work backwards. I base everything off live, and then when I'm making records, I think, what would this be like live? Oh, with these parts enhance the song so it would be good live, you know. And some songs we do, I know we'll probably never play them live, but I still think, like, okay, with this work live, yeah, you know, and we can only play sixteen seventeen songs whatever, So you know, going in you can't when you got five six, seven albums worth of stuff you can't possibly you know, play them all, and we try to do. The bulk of the set is off no parole, and that's what people want and we love playing it. But I always think of live.

19:56 I just think, like I said, when I'm writing, when I'm playing parts, I just think, well, with this work live, how's this going to be live? You know, that's a great way to go about it, I think, you know, I think I think it makes it easier to have it sound good either way. Yeah, and I don't I try not to play, like, do you know four tracks of things? So can I play this live? I got two hands so and in the band New England that we had, you know, I got the first album I got Carried Away. I was I was having fun. I was doing melotron parts and piano parts and organ parts and whatever, and then we started rehearsing and I'm like, WHOA, well do I do that?

20:47 It was hard trying to get that to sound like the record because many overdubs. So, you know, for the last several records, I've tried to keep it simpler, much simpler, so that I can play it live just like the record. And I love that because there's so many bands nowadays that can't do a live show unless they have the backing tracks, right yeah, And I want musicians up there, not backing tracks. No, I've never never done the backing tracks. We did them with Graham for vocals, but musically I've never done that. I know. Oh, there you go. And I've listened to the twenty twenty five, twenty six version of Jet to Jet and it's like Alcatraz two point zero. Like it gives me the feeling from back in the eighties that I'm nostalgic about, but it also gives me the energy of today.

21:46 Well, and that was the idea, and you just nailed it right there. You're supposed to. Certainly, it's reminiscent, reminiscent. It's that song. We didn't want anything, but it's it sounds. And I don't know where that comes from. That's something that you can't put your finger on, but it does. It sounds. When we got done with this stuff, I listened and I went, Wow, this sounds new. This doesn't sound like, oh, these tired old songs were beating them to death. It didn't come off like that. So and playing it again was fun. I got into it. I mean I was. I was having a blast playing that stuff. Yeah. I love hearing that because I think to myself, Man, some of the songs that bands have to play for like thirty forty years, I would be like, oh my god, I want to play this song again, our own stuff.

22:39 I don't mind. I love playing it because people dig it. Yeah. What I didn't like was in the Grand Bonnet band, we had to play songs like Night Games and Since You've Been Gone. Good songs, but somebody else wrote them. They had nothing to do with Alcatraz. Really, they were songs that Graham had success with. He didn't write them, but he had success with him ing Bow or whatever. And yeah, I got if I had to play since You've Been Gone one more time, I was going to shoot something. I really. I didn't hate the song. Like I said, it was a good song. It's just I just it wasn't Alcatraz. Right, Hey, we got to play this Abba song, you know, we have to play it because whatever. Yeah, but we're Algatraz. Oh you got to play the Abba song, you know. So Since You've Been Gone was coming off. It was starting. I was starting to get a bad attitude about it.

23:35 You know, I don't blame you, though, I mean, I. Just didn't like it. I felt like we were being like a cover band, you know, but because Graham vocally, well, he couldn't really sing the stuff. And then at some point it was all tracks. At that point it didn't really matter, but we kept doing since You've been gone and wow, yeah, so I so now I'm so thankful that this band we don't have to do that kind of stuff. Yeah, now you could be excited to go on your European tour that's coming up, Which that's cool because like I do coverage at festivals all over the US, UK, Europe, And what I found out once I started doing festivals in Europe is like a lot of bands that I loved in the eighties that I thought were gone haven't been gone all last time. They were just in Europe because the clouds just love that music like ye never gets old.

24:34 Yeah, we play. We toured over there for years and we played like a little club in Germany. The first time we played this one particular club and I don't remember what talent it was in, but I just thought, wow, this is this is going to be rough, really small stage, and you know, I thought it was awful small and I just thought, gosh, what's this one of the best gigs we ever played. People went They're just so into the music and they were right up in our face. So it was great. So Germany's always liked that well Europe in general, I mean, Holland, Belgium, they're. All and they all love it and they don't complain. Yeah, oh my god. Over here, I do festivals and people are complaining about the dumbest stuff. And I don't see any complaints when I do festivals over there, because people just love the music, love the vibe, love the live show, and they're not concerned about all the stupid crap that people complain about.

25:35 I just noticed we Warlord just played a festival in Italy. Oh we opened for Judas Priest. Nice and I went out to watch Judas Priest and what I noticed is the crowd totally into it. There's no fashion in the United States when you're at a festival or a big gig, and you much the girls were all really worried about how they look and their their clothes and posing. Yeah, you really into the band or not. They're just there for the scene. Yeah, and guys as well, and everybody's it's a poser kind of thing. And then over there not at all. These people were just there to rock.

26:23 And there was a lot of attractive people there, women, men, whatever, but they weren't you could tell they were not there posing for each other, you know, it was they were there for the music totally. I just got back from Bloodstock in the UK, and it's like, what amazes me is there were people. There were sets at ten thirty in the morning, and people were there, Yeah, in huge crowds, not a few people, huge crowds, and even for big bands it didn't matter. Yeah, as you know, those festivals over there, they go on a lot later too, so I guarantee these people didn't get any sleep, right, but they're out there supporting and oh yeah, that's way cool.

27:07 Oh it's great. And the first time I played over there and did some festivals, I walk on stage and I was shocked. I was like, we weren't the headliner and some of these festivals and there'd be like three, four, ten thousand people and I'm thinking, oh, well they're you know, we don't have a hit or anything, and we're not metallic or whatever, and the people were just all over it. They loved it, and I was wow, they just liked the music. They appreciated the music. If you're good, you're good, and they like that. So yeah, I love playing over there, I mean England, all over Europe, England, whatever. I just yeah, it's great, amazing, And like I said, we did about sixty shows here in the States and there were some really good gigs and really cool people, but there was a lot of real duds where there weren't that many people at the shows and the people that were there were half asleep. You know, why didn't you even bother to pay to get in?

28:14 You know, right, I don't get it. Or like a band drops off a festival that there's like sixty bands at the festival and they're like, oh man, I was only going to see that band that sucks now, and it's like, dude, then why are you going to a festival? Then go to their concert? Like festival is about finding new music in the atmosphere and enjoying all of it, right. Because that's how you I mean. I discovered bands as a kid going to shows and the opening band would I never heard of them before? And like Oh my god, it were amazing and I people tell me that about the band New England. They didn't know who New England was. And we had a hit on radio kind of and you know, we were opening for Kiss or Sticks or whoever, and a lot of you people came to me after that.

29:01 I said, oh my god, you guys were amazing. I never heard of you. You know, I'm going to buy your album, Like now, I got it. It's great. I love it and yeah that and I love when that happens totally. Yeah, Well, you got the new album coming out in twenty twenty six, and I think everybody needs to check it out and get it. And not only does it have some redone eighties songs, but a few new ones too, So that's cool. We did with Doogie, and that was no offense to Doogie. We just wanted to do newer stuff off our most recent records for Giles so that people could see what Giles could do on record. And yeah, it's been it's been great. Like I said, love, I love the music.

29:52 So it was fun doing all that. Replaying a lot of that stuff was really fun. Well I love hearing after what you've been doing this for like forty two, forty three years. Like, so that you still feel that way. That's what I love because that says that you really have the passion for it. People say say to me and go, oh man, aren't you getting too old to this? I mean you and do you like this? And that to me is like ridiculous. It's like, right, breathing, how about air? Do you like air? Do you like breathing? Do you like water? I mean, I don't know. This is what I've always done since I was fifteen or fourteen whatever, and I loved it then and I love it now.

30:40 Once a rocker, always a rocker. I guess I don't think about it. I just kind of this is what I love doing. Yeah, exactly like I was saying for years when Sharon was trying to get Ozzie to retire, I'm like, if he retires, he's probably going to pass away. Oh yeah, and look at what happened. I needed that last show. Yeah, and that was it, Like because he knew it was the end. I don't think he could live without going on stage. No, And I think it gets that way. I would go out of my mind, right, I would. I don't know. That's scary thought that I don't know what the hell I would do. It's a certain mentality, you know. It's like I have my youngest or she'll go to festivals, some festivals with me, and halfway through the first day she's like, Dad, I don't know how you do this every weekend. I'm done already, And I'm like, I don't know how I wouldn't do it every weekend.

31:35 Well, that's when you gotta That's what I think. And I tell people I've produced some bands, nobody famous, but and you'll hear these guys talk about, you know, well, I gotta I'm going to I gotta work, so we can only rehearse one day a week. I said, well, you're never going to do anything rehearsing one day. It's not going to happen. Well, I really like this, and I said, well, it's got to be something you can't live without. Total if you feel that you can do other things and it's okay and do music as a hobbyist, that this isn't for you. No, you're right, And you brought up Metallica in the beginning to interview, Like listen, those guys starved for ten to twenty years, sleeping on floors and eating baloney sandwiches with no bread. Yeah, that's why they're Metallica now.

32:24 And that's what that's what you have to do. And those guys are the poster band for that. I mean, talk about paying your dues. Oh wow, I mean. And they were fortunate that they had enough success in the beginning to float that boat to keep them out there. Yeah, some bands don't. Some bands have to put out three or four records before they do anything. Yeah, Calica didn't have to do that because it was it was great stuff to begin with and they had the band had a vibe. I love Metallica and I love the early records. So yeah, but yeah, you got to just you can't think about this. You just either you want to do it or you don't if you don't feel it. And that's I tell younger musicians. I said, guys, you have to you know. They go, well, I want to make a lot of money. I said, forget the money. Yeah, money you get in this because you can't live without it.

33:20 And then and you're really in and you're doing your thing, then you think about, okay, be smart and how can I make a living at this? But don't get in it. You can't get in it for money. That's insane. I mean, no, totally, And I think the only way to make money in it is if you have that serious passion that there's nothing else you're going to do. That that's it, because that's what people that's what the fans want. They don't want some businessman. That's that's you know, counting the tickets at the door from the stage. I mean totally. And you know, and we toured with Kiss and I know this guy's pretty well and people used to think Gene Simmons was more of a businessman than a musician. And I'm telling you, Jean is a great bass player and more than he would probably admit. But you know, I hung out with him a lot, and Jean the lot, and Jean's a really good musician. And it's not about he's not didn't go to Juilliard or Berkeley.

34:22 But Jean's a businessman for sure. But at the heart of it, he can get on stage and play the shit out of the bass. And love it and love it. You know, like if he was just a businessman, Kiss would have been gone a long time ago because they didn't need any more money. No, no, and Paul the same thing. Paul wasn't trying to be a rockstar guitar player. Paul was just trying to be the lead singer, songwriter, rhythm guitar player in the band. But again he just he kills it on stage. I stood on stage and watched those guys night after night, and they were so consistent and so good at what they do, so again, committed. People used to accuse kisses, Oh they're just business. They just put on the makeup and they're faking it. They're not. Yeah, they take up, that's their thing, so what, but they ain't faking it.

35:15 Not at all. It was real. Well, you guys aren't faking it either. Everybody needs to check out the new album when it drops. At least go check out Jet to Jet Now because it's badass. And for a am I listeners over there in Europe, check out the tour dates, and uh, catch Alcatraz live because that's an experience you don't want to miss. No, that'd be great. Well, thank you for giving us great music for all these decades, and thanks for being on the Adventures of Pipe Man. Well, thank you, and I'm happy to be here and thanks for listening. Thank you for listening to the adventures of Pipelin. I'm w for Cui Radio.