Sleaze Roxx: Paul Black Interview

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PAUL BLACK INTERVIEW:
October 28, 2005

The name Paul Black may not sound familiar, but anyone that frequents this website will recognize the band he helped introduce to the world - L.A. Guns. Years after becoming a musical footnote, he has released the early L.A. Guns tracks with him on vocals on a CD called Black List. Here he talks about that album, an L.A. Guns reunion and several of his other projects.

SR: You have just released a CD called The Black List. What is on it and how does it differ from Black City Breakdown which was released a few years back?

PB: Black List is 17 songs which were written and recorded for record labels by the original line up between 1985 and 1987 plus a bonus track from Black Cherry (my band after L.A. Guns). It's different from the Black City Breakdown record because it has five more tracks and Black List has been restored and re-mastered so it sounds better and it has a 16 page color booklet with pictures that tells the history of the original LAG.

SR: How have sales for Black List been?

PB: It's not actually out in stores yet so we've yet to see. I will say that the mere fact that it's being released is getting an incredible reaction. It'll be out November 7th but its available now at www.blackcitymusic.com.

SR: Are there any more unreleased L.A. Guns gems in the vault, or does this CD contain most everything?

PB: There are some cool videos of some live shows and some live audio. I tried to get most the songs we demoed on Black List but there are actually a few missing because the versions we found were too damaged. I tried my hardest to retrieve the masters. But, no such luck. If the world was gonna hear these songs it had to be from our own personal cassettes we had saved. These are the best versions we could find between Mick, Tracii and I. Nickey and Robert didn't have anything left.

SR: There is also talk of you, Tracii Guns, Mick Cripps and Nickey Alexander touring as an original version of L.A. Guns. How close is this to materializing?

PB: It looked good at first. Then it looked like it wasn't gonna happen. Now it looks like it's happening again. The dates haven't been confirmed and we haven't even rehearsed cause Tracii's on tour. But, I talked to Tracii yesterday and he's looking forward to all of us playing together again. Jetboy is planning to play with us if we do it and now the Zeros and a lot of other bands want on the bill. We might just do one show in Hollywood and one in SF. Or we might not do it at all, we'll see.

SR: Do you think it might confuse fans if there are two versions of L.A. Guns on the road at once?

PB: Well, it's not exactly touring. It's a short trip. We were only talking about 7 shows from here to Seattle. But now we're thinking just one show here in LA and one in SF. Doing these shows is about kicks and the fans. Mick & Tracii asked me to bury the hatchet and sing with them again for some shows in August at the House Of Blues. At that time I didn't know there was another L.A. Guns playing out. We found out soon after though that they were gonna play LA at around the same time as us, so we chose to hold off. We haven't played these songs together on stage for almost 20 years, so it's a rare event. We're not competing with them. With all that's happened between us (Tracii, Mick, Nickey, Robert & Me) this reunion is very unusual and it's a unique opportunity for L.A. Guns fans to hear and see where it all started since this is the line up that created the classic songs from the first record. Maybe it will confuse people. I don't know. But I'm sure by the time it happens, if it happens, people will figure it out. Most of the feedback I've received about this possible tour is that it's remarkable that this is happening. It's a one-time event and it doesn't take away from the L.A. Guns of today. Hey, it's all rock & roll.

SR: If the original members do reform do you think new material might be written?

PB: It's strange to me that we're even talking again, let alone write and play together. But, since the door has been opened Tracii and I have actually talked about it. Why not? We wrote some pretty good songs for the first record and nothings been bigger than that. It would be interesting to see what we come up with today. Maybe we could put something on the charts again.

SR: What are your feelings about the current Phil Lewis/Steve Riley version of L.A. Guns?

PB: Mixed. I've come to realize that Phil Lewis is actually a nice guy. He's the first one to finally come out and acknowledge my part in writing the music for the first L.A. Guns record and he said some good things about me in a recent interview with Metalsludge. I really appreciated that. As for Steve Riley. That's a different story. But I won't go into that now. He knows what he did.   On the whole, I'm happy for Phil that they were able to put out a strong record that's getting good reviews. And apparently they've got a strong line up too. Although, had I been in Phil's shoes, with a new line up like this, I would have done it as a solo project. His reputation is good enough that he doesn't need the name L.A. Guns and this album would have helped him a lot. But the way he chose to do it is good also because it's good for L.A. Guns. One more line up, one more story, one more album, one more chapter in the saga of L.A. Guns. And now there's One More Reason to...check out BLACK LIST.

SR: Lets go back to the beginning, how and why did you first get involved in music?

PB: I got involved with music simply because I love music. I always have. It must just be in my blood. So much so that I've been willing to suffer for it. Music was fun for me as a child. Almost like a drug, an escape I could get so lost in it. I loved everything Classical, Jazz, Rock, Blues. I remember the Beatles appearing on Ed Sullivan. It was really exciting to me. The screaming might have added to it but it was the music itself that hit me. The harmonies, the melodies, the beat and to watch the whole stage shake with Ringo pounding the drums. I knew right then I wanted to be a drummer. I had no concept of doing it for a living or for money or to get girls or even to be a rock star. I was only four or five years old. All I knew was that I wanted to play. My brother Marc had a hand-me-down trumpet and I had buck teeth. My parents told me that if I learned to play the trumpet it would push my teeth back in and they wouldn't have to get me braces or spend money on an instrument. Luckily my brother Jody played electric guitar. He had a band that rehearsed at our house and I would watch his friend Lou Birmingham play the drums. I would pester him to show me things and he taught me the Ringo Starr beat, the Honky Tonk Woman beat, Wipe Out, all the basics for a drummer plus he left his drum set there so when they would leave I'd go nuts. I drove my parents crazy. Then in 6th grade I was able to save $100 from a paper route I had and found a drum set cheap enough to buy. I grew up in the hills of northern California so there were some real hillbillies that would get bussed down to our junior high. Some kids heard I knew some beats and owned a drum set and asked me to play. It was my first band. It was so far up in the boonies that my parents would just drive me way way up that long winding dirt road and just drop me off with my drumset for the weekends. We did a lot of pickin. Blue grass, Chuck Berry, B.B King, Old Country, Rolling Stones. It was great.

SR: What is the history behind a couple of your early bands the Mau Maus and The Joneses?

PB: I started playing drums for The Mau Maus in 1981. I had heard about them for some time but never actually saw them play until I was in em. Scott Franklin recruited me from a band called Deep Six and we scheduled a rehearsal at my house. That's when I met the singer Rick Wilder and the original Berin Brats guitarist Matt Cambell. It was a shocking experience. Anyway, the songs were great and the band looked amazing, there was nothing like them in L.A. Anyway, New Years day was comin up and I had a mansion that I was renting in the Hollywood Hills. I got it cheap cause they were gonna tear it down to build a condo. Rick talked me into having a Mau Maus party there and I agreed but I said only a few close friends. Yeah Yeah sure sure. That was the most insane party I've ever seen. My house was Jam packed and I couldn't keep an eye on things cause I was busy playing drums. People were slam dancing in my living room on the second story. I thought someone was gonna fall out the window. My house was destroyed. I was trying to turn people away telling em that the party was just for a few friends but I soon found out what a ridiculous notion that was. People knew the Mau Maus were playing and there was no holding em back. Geza X showed up wearing a dress and was gettin a blow job from some chick all night on the stairway as people came in and out. This was my kinda band. I just needed to make sure the party wasn't at my house next time. All our shows were completely crazy and chaotic. Something about the music. It was rare that we could ever even finish a show before cops would break it up. And we were always looking for new places and naive people to book us since most of the clubs were already hip to what our shows were like. The Mau Maus evolved from a band in the 70s called the Berlin Brats. You can see them if you rent the movie Up In Smoke by Cheech & Chong. Berlin Brats were a really Trashy Stonesy Glam Rock band (kinda what I wanted for L.A. Guns) and probably the coolest band to ever come out of L.A. They were even signed to Capitol Records. But never did a record. Van Halen used to open shows for them. Rick Wilder at one point held the key to the city. He pretty much saw, before anyone else in L.A. what was happening with punk rock and wanted to drive the band in more of a punk direction. So, to get away from the glam image he changed the name to The Mau Maus. That's when I came in. The Mau Maus were kind of a cross between The New York Dolls and The Sex Pistols. Rick Wilder is a brilliant song writer. We only did one record and it was produced by Robbie Krieger of the Doors, but it was never released. Robbie gave us the tapes though and told us to go ahead and release it. It's my job to remix everything and put together the first Mau Maus record ever. I'm still looking for good pictures, stories, videos etc...so if there's anyone out there with stuff to contribute just contact themaumaushollywood@yahoo.com. I'm still in touch with everyone in the band, Scott Franklin the bass player plays with the Cramps now. A couple of our guitar players are dead but the best one Mike Livingston is still alive. Rick's in New York and he's coming out to stay with me in November and we're talking about gettin everyone together for a Mau Maus show. Now that would be something.   The Joneses were another great band, started By Jeff Drake. On the edge of punk, but with long hair and glam look. There were open tuned guitars, Stones and Chuck Berry riffs & a few country licks. Very trashy and rock & roll. I felt like I was back to my roots but with a more aggressive style. We found an obscure Aerosmith song Chip Away At The Stone and recorded it for a record even before Aerosmith. That started a trend in L.A. Every band had their Aerosmith cover that they did. L.A. Guns' was Adams Apple. GNR was Mama Kin. I did one album for The Joneses. Keeping Up With The Joneses. But someone else got their picture taken for the cover. Just like what happened to Nickey Beat Alexander on the first L.A. Guns record. I actually replaced Nickey Beat in the Joneses and he replaced me for a short time in The Mau Maus. Nickey & I use to swap gigs all the time as drummers. Then I switched to singin and we ended up in the same band together.

SR: Is there anyway a fan can purchase music of these two bands?

PB: The Joneses-yes. The Mau Maus-not yet but soon. I'm still trying to locate some good pictures, flyers, anything cool to make a cover. If ya got something, Joneses, Mau Maus, old LAG, Black Cherry etc...contact themaumaushollywoood@yahoo.com or just go to the website www.blackcitymusic.com there's a page for all these bands.

SR: Some websites claim you played in Faster Pussycat, is there any truth to that or did they just get you mixed up with Kelly Nickels?

PB: Actually this L.A Guns was Faster Pussycat. Mick and I came up with the name from a movie my roommate had called Faster Pussycat Kill Kill. We put the band together and were gonna jam with Taime but we ended up jamming with Tracii & Nickey instead. We were gonna stick with the name Faster Pussycat but Tracii's friend Raz who owned the name L.A. Guns convinced us to reuse the name L.A. Guns by telling us he would back the band if we did. It was that easy. We changed the name and when we did, Taime used the Faster Pussycat name for his band which he recruited Kelly for.

SR: How did you get involved in L.A. Guns?

PB: Like I said in the last question, I was starting a band with Mick. I was at some Goth club in Hollywood passed out at the bar. Mick Cripps came up to me and nudged me on the shoulder. I woke up and turned around and saw this guy with big thick black hair, make-up, and a pirate's shirt staring at me. Mick said "hey you look cool do you play an instrument? What do you play?" I said yeah, a little of everything. Mick said "Great, I want you to help me put a band together but, they have to look cool and whatever instrument we're missing in the end, we'll fit you in there". I was playing drums with the Joneses at the time but they wouldn't let me introduce songs. So I told Mick "OK I'll do a side band, but we need to do my songs". I showed Mick a couple songs and we tried a couple line ups, one was called Shaghai. But, when I would show singers the songs, I would have to sing them from behind the drums. As it turns out, generally singers don't like to be guided on what to sing by a drummer, especially when the rest of the players are saying I should be the singer right in front of him. Mick and I decided to start again and try out Taime under the name Faster Pussycat, but then Mick heard a demo of some songs I had written and sung on and decided I should just sing. I didn't really want to give up the drums, but I was still playing drums in the Joneses and being the singer did make it easier to incorporate songs since I was in control of the lyrics. We ended up jamming with Nickey and Tracii at Nickey's Love Palace. We played some Alice Cooper, Mitch Ryder, Aerosmith, New York Dolls and a couple originals I had. We did our first show one week later closing night of The Cathey De Grande. Nickey and I had spent so much time there hanging out and playing in various punk bands. It was a great show. The closing of the Cathey De Grande ended an era in punk rock history, but that's where it started for L.A. Guns.

SR: With the changing of the Los Angeles music scene could you sense that you were part of something big?

PB: Yeah. It was kinda surreal to me though.

SR: What led to your departure from L.A. Guns?

PB: I think egos, selfishness, disagreements on musical direction soured things. We all became rockstars before we ever sold a record. I also had a big problem with the record label and management trying to tell me how to write songs. They really wanted me to tone it down with my lyrics. PolyGram's top two acts were Cinderella & Bon Jovi and that's the kind of material they were asking me to write. I hated that. Mick, Tracii, And Nickey just wanted to make sure we got the deal and were asking me to please not scare the label. To a degree I tried, but not completely. I didn't want to compromise myself. To make matters worse, I was getting high. Then Izzy and I got busted together and the word spread all over town. Rumors were going around that Guns & Roses were gonna lose their deal and this really scared my band and our manager since we were in the middle of negotiating our deal. Our manager felt like I was out of control and basically too radical for PolyGram. And I guess I was. They thought they couldn't secure the deal unless I cleaned up and we conformed to their vision of what L.A. Guns should be and I couldn't do that. Yet they wanted my music, my image, and my voice. I cleaned up after I left L.A. Guns. I didn't drink, smoke or get high in Black Cherry. I was a hell of a lot stronger in that band. But it's kind of ironic that the bad boy lifestyle we were so famous for is what eventually left me in relative obscurity.

SR: Were there any hard feelings watching your former band reach stardom with songs you helped create?

PB: Honestly, yes there were hard feelings. But only because they discredited me by taking my name off the songs. Plus in some cases they took the essence of the song and mutilated my lyrics. Otherwise if they would have credited me and done them in true form I think it would have been great for them and me to get famous with my songs. It would have given me credibility and kept us out of a lawsuit which damaged both our careers, especially mine.   But it's all water under the bridge now. I think we've all decided to just bring everything out in the open and clear the air cause it just doesn't matter anymore. We're grown up now and we don't have to feel like there's a reputation to protect. Phil has finally acknowledged my part publicly. Mick and Tracii have asked me to put the past behind and play some shows. And I've acknowledged it was hard for them to have a singer on drugs. I'm just happy people like my music. Even if I didn't get the credit.

SR: How did Black Cherry come about?

PB: After I left L.A. Guns I put the band together with my friend Mark Lewis on guitar, Bruce Moreland (from Wall Of Voodoo & Concrete Blonde) on bass and a kid named Scott Lipps on drums. We learned some songs from LAG and a few new ones and did a show with Jane's Addiction. After that I told them to continue on without me and I moved to El Dorado Hills and checked into rehab. 6 months later the drummer Scott found new players and asked me to come back and sing again. I had just found out that L.A. Guns had released my songs without my credit. So I felt I needed to come back and prove something. When I got back in town I found out Scott hadn't just put any band together, it was a Great Band. Dave Walsh & Josh Blake on guitar Scott on drums. We didn't have the bass player yet but soon we found Mike Stevens. Later on Curtis Grant took over for Josh.

SR: Judging by the song "The Devil In You", Black Cherry had the right sound for success. Why do you think the band ultimately failed?

PB: "The Devil In You" came out on a compilation record by Metal Blade. It got more radio airplay than any other band on that record, and yet every band but Black Cherry got signed to a record label. If by failed you mean why didn't we sign a record deal? It was simply shitty record company politics and bad management. I was suing PolyGram records. That's not a good thing for an unknown artist to do. But there wasn't much choice. How do you let 9 songs go? If we had stronger management I think we could have overcome that. Labels were not even calling our manager. They were calling me. Capitol, Virgin and A&M but they all said they needed to see how the law suit would pan out first. By the time we were ready to go to court three years later, I was ready to sign anything just to get on with my life, so we settled it out of court. We all got screwed. Lawyers got most of the money. And by the time we settled, music had changed. The sun had set on sunset strip. All the labels called me though when the news hit of the settlement. They wanted to see what I had to show them but the band had fallen apart. I spent six months putting a new line up together to do one show with Bang Tango. And that was it.

SR: How much Black Cherry material was recorded, and are there any plans of releasing it?

PB: Yes, I'm puttin it out. About two albums worth, and I'm gonna reunite that band too. Cause everyone keeps asking me to.

SR: After Black Cherry you seemed to disappear from the music scene, what were you up to?

PB: I wasn't happy with the music business and how it affected me and my music. Being in a band wasn't fun anymore. It was about getting signed and becoming a rock star, not about friends getting together with a vision to create some music they all believed in. To me, if it wasn't fun then there was no point. I needed a break. What happened after that? Well, it's a long story. I had some rough times, and some great times. Life's one big roller coaster for me. But I've got hundreds of songs now. For the last eight years I've been a dad. So it's a whole new world. My son Sasha is very rock & roll. He plays violin and he love's my music. He always asks me to sing to him at night. It's the best gig I ever had.

SR: Many years later you formed Sonic Boom with The Dogs D'amour's Jo Almeida, how many insane Tyla stories did he have to tell?

PB: One. And it wasn't pretty.

SR: Drugs, alcohol and women seemed to play a huge part in the 80s Sunset Strip, how big a part did each play in your life?

PB: Well that was pretty much my downfall. I didn't just wanna play rock & roll. I wanted to live the rock & roll lifestyle, and be the bad boy of rock and roll. I succeeded in that and it was fun for a while. But, in the long run it didn't get me anywhere.

SR: What can we expect from you in the future?

PB: Well like I said, I got hundreds of songs. I'm full of energy, I'm really strong and I'm very good looking so you can expect to see a lot. I'm putting a new band together for a solo record and I'm ready to rock.

Thanks to Paul Black