Ira Black Unleashes APOCÆLYPSE: The Journey to His 100th Band and Solo Project

0:05 Hey, you're listening to Adventure on W4CY Radio. This is the Pipe Man here on the Adventure's Pipe Man W4CY Radio, and I'm very excited about our next guest because, man, he is like, one of the best guitarists ever that's played with pretty much everyone and now he has even more badass music but it's all him and it's his vocals too and oh my god it's unbelievable so let's welcome to his show ira black of apocalypse how are you what's up how.

0:48 You doing dean right on uh thanks for having me on here and uh yeah i'm uh excited about uh talking about this my new record coming out and hanging out with you here today so. Nice So I got to say, I saw you play at Milwaukee Metal Fest, which that was like a badass, old school, like Ruthie's Inn type of gig that you played. But now that I hear the music of Apocalypse, oh my God, I'm even more excited. Your new music is so badass. And how come it took you so long to do this? Yeah, exactly.

1:29 I mean, they say it takes your whole life to have an overnight success, right? I mean, it's my own thing. It feels like that. And there are some songs on this record that are, you know, 20 plus years old, maybe even a couple of riffs here and there that are even older than that. But yeah, why did it take so long? Well, yeah, it's a good question. One thing that's happened a lot, you know, I've had the secret desire to do this on and off over the years. I've had a few failed starts in the late 90s. I, you know, tried to start something where it was my own thing and see what ends up happening is like even that first time I ended up getting the gig with vicious rumors. So I ended up getting pulled in with, you know, another well-known band. And then that just kind of, you know, it's like, why can't you do both? You know how it gets when you're playing with the band. And if you're very active, you know, your, your time gets pretty, pretty busy, you know? And, uh, and I'm also seeing that because I've been launching this while I've been playing in violence.

2:22 Yeah. I've been on the road a lot and I've been working on my band while I'm on the road and, And it's been pretty crazy. I pulled a lot of all-nighters with no sleep. I mean, a lot more than that. Yeah. Just to get this over the, you know, over the hill, over the top, you know, to where it's at now. But there's another thing right there. I mean, you know, being able to put the time and energy into it, you know, if you're juggling too many other things, one thing to play in two or three other bands that are just touring and doing this, I'm, you know, I can learn a set, go out and play it. Then once it's in my mind and okay, book this stuff, let's go. But, uh, launching, uh, a new band from the ground up. And that's what we did when we started this, we were like, okay, new social media, new YouTube, new everything like from the ground up.

3:08 And then we, I had an entirely new approach. I picked 20 songs I record during the pandemic. Very specifically, I picked the best 10 and I said, I'm going to shoot for these right here. Cause I know these are all bangers, like 10 of the most solid, like here we go songs, you know, and getting them to the finish line to, you know, meet all the deadlines, man. It's been, you know, a lot of pain and anguish. I mean, a lot of joy too. Don't get me, get me wrong. I, cause I do enjoy this, but you know, I always remember this, like, man, I earned every second of this, you know, I'm proud of it. It's a lot harder nowadays for artists that was back in the eighties to launch a band, you know, like like you were mentioning all the things that you have to do. And that was only a small piece of what you have to do. I have mad respect for artists nowadays because it's a lot more work and, and it's more than just being a musician for sure.

4:08 Yeah. I mean, we have more tools to promote it and market it and get it out there, but you all, you have to become savvy and you have to understand how all these things work. And we know, you know, it's like everyone talks about the algorithms and the this and that. And, you know, it's kind of a big mystery, you know, because technology doesn't really, I mean, yeah, you can watch some YouTube videos to help teach you this and that, but have you ever tried to get into Facebook when you have a problem? There's no one to talk to. It's a labyrinth of nothingness of hell, you know, and you're like, no one's listening. You can't fix anything. So it's like, you know, how do you launch your band in a world of, uh, you know, AI bots. Right. And as, and just when you start getting used to Facebook, as an example, they change everything. Like, and you can't even find anything anymore, you know? And, and each one of them has a different algorithm. So it's not like, Oh, I learned the algorithm. I can do it on all of them.

5:03 You got to learn it for all of them. And it's, it's insane. It's insane. I go through it with the radio all the time too. And it's like, it's not just getting out there and doing what you got to do. It's you got to go above and beyond. So for somebody that's a veteran like you and just do a startup now, And like, I have mad respect. I have mad respect, too, that you decided just a couple of days ago that you are ready to just focus 100 percent on this. And as somebody that's not only a radio person, but a motivational speaker, I'm a big believer in order to succeed. You have to have nothing to fall back on. And that's exactly what you did.

5:43 Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's funny you bring that up because in 1999, right around the time I had started my solo project way back then, I had went to a three-day seminar with Tony Robbins. Nice. It changed my life. I'll admit that right now. I'll give him props any day of the week. He was incredible. He was just like that. He goes, if you have a backup plan, then you're always going to be like, well, I have that. He's like, no. Exactly. No. He's like, don't create a backup plan. This is your plan. You stick to it and nail it. I went on to do a lot of great things after going to that seminar. I still carry a little bit of that with me everywhere I go. A lot of things you said were very inspiring. That's definitely part of it.

6:29 I'm I'm like all in on apocalypse. Now, you know, we got the album out and I'm like, now the real work begins. Like we got to go out and tour, do all this stuff. We have a listening party coming up on September 23rd at pulse music group in Los Angeles. And we're putting all the pieces together. We got to get the. CDs made, the box sets and all this stuff, you know? So we're, you know, a lot of work coming out and we got to book this and get it out on the road too, you know? So. Yeah, I love it. And cause there's nothing like seeing you live too. And I think that, That's also a big thing is like how the music comes across live. And I think when you're doing your own project like you're doing now, it's even more passion and people can see it because it's your baby.

7:13 Oh, yeah. No, every one of these songs and everything I'm doing, I mean, that's kind of my mission statement really is that, you know, everything I do has to come from the heart. It has to have real meaning. Every second of everything that passes has a reason behind it. And, you know, that's literally my mission statement about this. You know, this is like, you know, a music version of me, you know, my soul kind of being laid out, you know, and yeah. And like you said, you know, the playing live thing. I mean, everyone knows I play live, but for me, that's a secret weapon. I haven't done it yet. So we're getting all these accolades and everything's building up online and it's looking real good right now. But we haven't even played one live show yet. And I'm like, everyone's kind of go, hey. Can you do this?

7:54 I mean, you haven't really played guitar and sang live, you know, like everyone's like, I mean, I hope you can do this because it's, you know, it's coming up and I'm like, get ready because it's war now. I love it. It's time to, uh, just show the world what's up, you know? So I'm, I'm so excited about that part. I'm going to bring it, you know what I mean? So I love it. And so how cool is it to, to now perform alongside your son? I mean, That's amazing because, you know, it's something I've always wanted. I mean, he's always been a major part of my life. I'm a major part of his life. I brought this up a few times, you know, I've had him had joint custody of him since a very young age. I'd have him for a week and his mom had him for a week. So, you know, and here I was still pursuing music. So as you can imagine, I mean, it was a lot of difficult times because, you know, how do you raise a kid while you're this touring musician who's kind of on the verge of couch surfing. And I mean, he could probably write his own book about his upbringing, but I always, you know, uh, you know, treated him awesome and gave him the best of what I could at the time. And, you know, it's like, I mean, I, you know, go to all lengths to make sure he was covered, even if I wasn't, you know what I mean?

9:06 And, uh, you know, so he is my best friend. He was always my little buddy. So I brought him on tour with me when I was playing a metal church for a we toured with wasp steven pierce in la guns and i brought him out on the road with me when he was six so you know he already knows this lifestyle he's been in a few bands and stuff and i'm like you know he's earned his way he's a great guitar player on his own right like he's earned where he's at he's rehearsed you know he's uh really trained well on guitar and uh you know i'm just excited to bring him out into this world like this you know on this huge stage like Boom. Look, everyone's waiting for this, you know, and, you know, my best friend, my son, who's awesome, gets to be right there along inside of me.

9:48 You don't have to be on tour missing him. He's going to be on tour with me. I know that's so badass. It's so cool that we even have that nowadays, because remember back in the 80s, like our parents never were gonna go show listen my parents were my dad would never have gone to a show with me he used to call me and my friends the motley crew and not because of the band just because of the way we looked and you know like 1980, I'm from Jersey, and he comes up to me and goes, meet your new mother, and we're moving to California in three days. And little did I know that that's what led me to speaking to you right now, because I was in that whole 80s L.A. metal scene, and then Slayer Metallica went up to the Bay Area, and me and my bro started hitchhiking and taking the Greyhound up there to get away from you. Because they left us alone in L.A. with all the hair metal bands.

10:45 Totally. That's awesome. It's how you learn to live in the world, though, too. Because that's some real stuff. Can you be dropped off at a truck stop in whatever town? Totally. Can you survive? Well, you can because music brought that for you. Because you were such a fan of music that you're like, I'm going to go see this, whatever it takes. And then we learned how to kind of get around. But my parents were actually. My biological father, Waylon Black, he was the blues guitar player. So my family is musically oriented. And my mom's second husband was a keyboardist in a band. And her third husband, who she's with now since the 80s or late 70s, actually, they've been together a long time. He's a guitar player. He goes by the name of Papa Joe. He's still playing to this day.

11:28 Wow. He showed me my first chords when I was 10. They got it. That's what I wanted to do because they were involved in it. I ended up. Leaving when I was 14 because it's a troubled childhood. The teenage years didn't go so good. Stepfather's a Vietnam vet. We've all moved on and worked through this over the years. We're all adults now. We've all straightened this stuff out. Back then, we're going way back to the teenage years, 1983, 84, 85. You know, had a lot of turmoil and didn't get along and stuff. And, you know, I ended up leaving when I was 14 and they knew that, you know, I had this dream about playing music because I started playing guitar when I was 10. And I was like, that's all I thought about, you know, not nonstop. So even though they supported it, I kind of left them for a long time.

12:17 I really didn't see most of my family for about 10 years. And my mom came to visit after about six years or something, but I didn't see them. For a long time. And here I was in the pursuit of this dream. And you know, that's, that was the beginning of my journey. So. I love it. And, you know, so right there, that's Tony Robbins stuff right there too. Like that's what got me through the teenage years, Tony Robbins and metal. Yeah. Those are the two. And it is funny because like people don't realize, I think metal and punk more than any other music is like the best therapy there is. People have this, you know, perception of what we are. And it's totally not even close to what people think that are not in the scene, but like, yeah, that, that whole life and that whole music, like it just took you away from all the crap in your life, you know, is the way I kind of looked at it.

13:16 What I think is interesting too, what I noticed as I, you know, get older and stuff and playing all these shows and stuff, you know, and these metal shows and stuff and meet with fans and different people and, you know, hearing the different politics and all this different stuff. I start to realize how funny it is that it ends up turning out that we're some of the most sane people. I mean, because when we were younger and thought we were crazy and it turns out really most of society's pretty crazy, you know, cause it's like, you know, when you talk to metal fans, they're super real. they're usually mostly chill, you know, the older ones that are our age is, you know, they're like, you know, they're just like, Hey, you know, life's cool. You know, you know, they're kind of well adjusted because they have the music and stuff and you meet people in the regular world and they're out of their mind nowadays, you know? And I'm like, wow, how did the metal heads become like the same people?

14:09 I know. Right. Cause it's funny too. Like with every, all the craziness that's going on now. And like, like you, I go and I do media coverage at festivals all over the world. And, when I go to these different countries to metal shows, it's like, it doesn't, it doesn't matter what country I'm in. We're just one big family, one big community. Like I have this idea too, not that it's something we could ever implement, but maybe, but the, my idea to fix all the world's problems is we just have one big metal festival that everybody's required to attend, except the political leaders that are banned from the festival and And just put everybody in a mosh pit. We'll all work it out and have a hug afterwards.

14:55 Absolutely. That sounds great to me. What is it? The well-adjusted metal fest. Right? That would be kind of cool, right? Yeah, absolutely. So what do you think all the stories of the things that you've existed in this whole musical career did for you to prepare to launch Apocalypse? Well, I mean. you know, I mean, there's the logistics of doing it, you know, writing a record, you know, making the record, you know, preparing for a live show, marketing the record, getting out there, booking a tour, learning about all the potential problems that happen. I mean, that's really, you know, all these motivational speakers and all, you know, they really talk about this thing. It's like problems are part of, All plans, you know, so if you think, oh, why am I having so many problems? It's like, no, the problems are the things that you fix that lead you to where you're going, you know, because life just, you know, everything breaks. There's miscommunication. There's, you know, all this stuff is just part of the real world. So, you know, all these different things that you go through to, you know, and having played in so many bands, I've played all the different roles at different times. Sometimes I'm just a team player and I let someone else take care of that because that's what he does. And then I had to kind of learn how to do all the parts.

16:17 So I can do everything from A to Z. I can write a record. I can record it myself. I can mix it. I can master it. I know how to get it out there. And then I know how to book a tour and how to book all the transportation. I mean, I've done it all. I can book all the opening bands. I can book an individual show by itself. I know 20 different ways to spin anything. So that's what I've learned from all these years of doing it. So yeah. when I'm involved in anything, I can kind of see where, where it needs me and where it doesn't. And I can be a team player or I can be a leader when I need to be in and take charge of this or that, you know? And so with my own project, you know, it's like, I'm like overseeing the whole thing. So I'm like, okay, this thing's got to now run, you know, like this now it's just like, and it is, I mean, I'm sure you can see online, you know, it definitely has the appearance of just this flow that just keeps going.

17:08 You know, I have a. Great team behind me. which is an important part of it too. You know, I've always been a DIY guy, you know, do it yourself and literally doing it myself. So that's the one thing that's probably changed a little bit that I'm learning a little bit more about, you know, is having a great team of people. I have a marketing team. I have a PR team. My wife's managed me through FM management. I have my executive producer, Andy Fatico. I mean, he's just an angel. I mean, this probably wouldn't happy in the way it is without him he's really just brought just like you know he gave me this platform he's like here go whatever you need i got you he goes you do what you do and whenever you need that it's right there for you i love it and it's like that's where we're at with it so yeah it's it's it's beautiful.

17:59 It must be an amazing feeling now to even though yeah you're putting in all the work as not only guitarist but singer songwriter producer person basically doing everything, directing the video and all that. But it's finally something that is 100% your vision. Absolutely. No, absolutely. I mean, it's, you know, it's a dream come true because, you know, like I said, it's something I fantasize about a lot over the years because, you know, sometimes I'm in a band and a couple of things are falling short and then I start making suggestions and sometimes they listen and sometimes they're like, no, dude, And all of a sudden I'm like, okay, I'm being blocked here. And I know that if we do this, this and this, it can lead us to that, at least to the next step or whatever. And sometimes I get shut down in it. So being able to really be in a place where I'm like, it's an open road, 100%. You know why? Because I'm the one saying what's happening here.

18:59 I'm in charge of it. And that's the way my mind is. I'm a natural forward thinking, forward moving person. So I wake up every day and work on this. I wake up thinking about like, okay, what's the next thing on my list? Because I do make lists and stuff. Of course, that's from the anti-wrong dates and all that. Think it, that's physical, but no one knows what you're thinking. It's a synapse. So you got to say it. Number two, what's the third thing? Write it down. And I came to my own conclusion. I discovered, hey, put a date on what you write down. Maybe the universe might listen to that actually. Maybe the universe might go, Oh, you want it then? Oh, okay. Well, just tell me, you know? And so, so that's what I started doing. And this thing just started unfolding to the date. I mean, almost to a T I couldn't believe it. It's, unbelievable, honestly. But look, here we are.

19:49 My plan was set in motion to dated goals. Each one. Number one is dated. Number two is dated. So that's why we're here sitting with albums out, three videos out, everything's on track. There's some other things happening behind the scenes that I can't talk about yet, but let me just say you can probably tell by the hint what's one of the greatest things a songwriter and a musician can have happen to them. And it's in motion right now. So I can only say that right now, but it's soon to the news is going to come out that I'm, you know, being submitted for the ultimate accolades of, of what I'm doing right now. So I'm like, wow. Yeah.

20:29 It's, it's, it's pretty amazing. It just shows that, that, you know, like people look at musicians and bands and stuff and, They only see like the end result sometimes. Like, you know, you take a band like Metallica and people are like, oh, they were an overnight success. Yeah, after like 20 years of eating bologna with no bread and sleeping on floors, if that's what an overnight success is, like you were talking about before too. So to me, it's kind of like rising out of all the ashes of everything that you did in your musical career. And now you are truly the Phoenix like the album.

21:11 Yeah, no, that, that's a good analogy. You know, people have been asking about the band title, band name and album title, you know, cause you know, they coincide, you know, for, for me, apocalypse is, is the battle within and the battle without, you know you know, in the world, you know, we're always battling what's going on out there because, you know, there's, you know, it's not an easy place to, uh, live and grow up this world is it you know I always told my kids hey every time they left the house I said hey it's not a safe world out there pay attention don't just walk out the house and go everything's all good like you know keep your eyes and ears open because you know it's crazy out there but also the battle within for me you know it's just you know the the rough upbringing and you know being in the music business for so long at all costs I mean I you know dove in headfirst a long time ago and couch surf for many years and like you said the bologna sandwiches you know And, you know, so for me, Apocalypse was like the ultimate thing.

22:09 It's like that ultimate battle, you know? And, you know, do you win or you lose? You know, you don't know. But the Phoenix title, you know, yeah, that's definitely, you know, rising out of the ashes. I love that analogy or that metaphor, I should say, because, you know, I have done a lot with a lot of different bands. And the one thing that. Is really hard and difficult to deal with And you just have to eat it. You know, you have to have a super thick skin to be in the music industry. But, you know, I've had to quit bands and I've been fired from a few. Apocalypse is my 100th band. Literally, it's my 100th band. So if you imagine all the different people I play with and all the different, you know, I mean, I've had a lot of fun and great, awesome times. I have a lot of great friends, but there's also a lot of pain and anguish.

22:58 Yeah. You know, there's burned bridges on both sides of the fence. You know, I mean, that's just the nature of it. You know, it's like sometimes people don't get along. And I've made amends with people. And there's a few people out there that, you know, I don't like. And I'll stay away from them. Maybe they don't like me either, you know. But, you know, so doing this as my 100th band and coming out of all this just, you know, huge legacy of playing all these rounds. It is. It's me rising out of that and going, okay, watch this. You know, so, you know, how do you take, you know, all that breadth of experience and then chisel it right up to this? Like, OK, this is my thing. And, you know, let's see what I can do now with no blocks or, you know, no personalities in my way to, you know, thwart me from achieving my goal.

23:47 So, yeah, it's perfect. You know, it tells a story all within that, you know, album title and the band name for sure. As music should. And definitely it's about time you did this because the new music is badass. Everybody's got to check it out. Tell everybody how they reach out to you in socials for the band and, you know, how they check out the new album, all the new videos and everything else that will be up and coming and anything else that you did weren't and that we didn't touch on that you think they need to know. Okay, great. Yeah. Let's mention the other band members. I got one of my. Best friends, Lonnie Pasillas on drums. The guy's an amazing drummer.

24:30 I call him my musical soulmate. Like him and I just, the first time we met about approximately 20 years ago, we jammed first time we met and we just wrote a song right there on the spot. And I play these kind of cool, you know, rhythm things. And he chimed right in with the double kick without even asking what I was doing. It was like, I was like, Oh my God, this guy and I have an instant connection. So got Lonnie. And then we have Matt Snell on bass. Who's a good friend of Lonnie's. And now a great friend of mine, you know, used to play in Five Finger Death Punch, a phenomenal guy. You know, his character is just the most upstanding. I love him. And his playing is phenomenal. He brings a lot of wealth of knowledge to the table, too. He was, you know, with Five Finger Death Punch as they did their initial climb in the early days. And, you know, he got to ride with that and see all that, you know. So he knows exactly what we're doing right now, you know, and he often mentions that.

25:23 that we're on the same trajectory. He goes, I recognize this. This is the same. I did this before, just like this. And I'm like, I know. And then of course my son, uh, Ira Black, the fourth, as we talked about earlier, uh, love him dearly. He's in the band and that's all great stuff. And then of course we have, um, our social media, we have apocalypse band on, uh, on, uh, Instagram. Then we have apocalypse on Facebook. And I'm going to show you real quick because it's been kind of a funny thing. Uh, Here, watch this. So I'm going to show people how to do this. So what you do is you hit the A button and you hold it down. And then you have to go up and scroll over to the AE letter.

26:13 And then you get that. Whoa, that's where it came from. I'm a techie and I didn't even know that. Yeah. Hold the A down. If you want to do the capital one, you know, you get a capital letter, hit the caps lock and then hold the A down. Keep your finger on the phone, slide it over to, and then that's where you get it. So, you know, I spelled Phoenix with a different spelling than the actual title. And then of course this one I did because, you know, it's hard to come up with words and names nowadays without doing something different with it. And I kind of stumbled onto the ass letter. I'm like, Hey, you know what? I want to try using that, you know? So originally I had it on the first A and then I said, you know what, let me put it in the middle A because then that gives this really cool.

26:58 It's in the middle, you know, some, some little bit of more symmetry kind of look going on. And then I. Decided to start using that as the branded logo. I call it the vertebrae. So it's like a vertebrae because on the bottom I have the vertebrae and I call it the vertebrae. I love the name. Yeah. So, then you'll hear more about that as we develop, you know, the, the band and stuff. So. Very cool. Well, I look forward to seeing a lot more of you and seeing you guys out on tour and at festivals and, uh, big things to come. And thanks for finally making us this great music. That's from inside you and only you.

27:39 Thank you. Thank you for being on the adventures of pipe, man. My pleasure. Pipe man, right on my brother. Awesome. Thanks. This is Ira Black, and you're watching The Adventures of Pipe Man on W4CY. Thank you for listening to The Adventures of Pipe Man on W4CY Radio.