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Interview with Kevin DuBrow
Vocals - (Quiet Riot)


Interviewed by Brian Rademacher
Date: May 2007



Check out the review on the latest release from QUIET RIOT "Rehab"

After countless attempts to hook up with Kevin DuBrow of QUIET RIOT with an interview a recent outbreak of untruths came to light over a situation which you can read about on Kevin's recent press release at the following link HERE

Talking with Mr. DuBrow I found out this a man who has changed his way from past craziness and antic's to a mature subtle man, still speaking his words and feelings to the fullest read a little about the past and the future with Kevin DuBrow
.


Brian Rademacher: Hey Kevin, how's it going today?

Kevin DuBrow: Good. How are you?

Brian Rademacher: Good. Do you feel that people or fans misunderstand you with negativity?

Kevin DuBrow: (Laughing) I try not to think about it.

Brian Rademacher: In a recent press release sent out from your camp, you mention that you would not take part in the Dakota film directed by Peter Margolis, because of untruths and personal gain, and also inaccuracies in the film. Tell me a little of what you know about the movie that changed your mind?

Kevin DuBrow: It's all in the press release. It's all there, and everything is listed.

Brian Rademacher: You also say in that press release that you want to keep the memories and feelings private about Randy, but you were going to work on that project?

Kevin DuBrow: Yes, and I did some investigation and it was not what I was told, and I felt it wasn't in anybody's best interest.

Brian Rademacher: So why don't you do a book as others did, and donate the funds to a charitable cause?

Kevin DuBrow: Because I live in the present, I am quite happy doing QUIET RIOT 2007. Some people have nothing to do, and earn a living off of things from twenty- thirty years ago. We have a new album out 'Rehab' - and we work all the time.

Brian Rademacher: So you don't like talking about the past?

Kevin DuBrow: No, I don t mind, I just don't want to dig a hole about the past. Sometimes you have to do some damage control. There were a lot of great positives that happened. I mean, sometimes you have to deal with the wreckage of the past. Sometimes there are inaccuracies, and you wake up in the morning and you say, 'What the hell happened here?!' (Laughing)

Brian Rademacher: I was just at your MySpace, looking at the pictures that you have posted there. A normal person could only dream of some of the things that you've been through.

Kevin DuBrow: I had a great life, and still do.

Brian Rademacher: Tell us a little about the youth of Kevin DuBrow, growing up in Hollywood then moving to Van Nuys at the age of thirteen.

Kevin DuBrow: It really wasn't any fun. My fun started when I got a driver's license. Being a kid was no fun, you had no freedom. I wasn't into sports, so I didn't care about that, rock & roll entailed a car, and I couldn't go to concerts until I was over sixteen. I had an Opal GT, which is a poor man's Corvette. I had a great time living in Hollywood.

Brian Rademacher: How do you feel about the music of today? A lot of it sounds the same and repetitive.

Kevin DuBrow: That s because every generation has its own music; that is just the nature of the beast. The all the record companies screwed up the record business; that's why there really is no record business anymore. It's all based on live performance now. They weren't paying artists; they were so in control of what was going on financially with downloading, they all got screwed themselves. It ate on itself, kind of like the dinosaurs.

Brian Rademacher: I know a lot of bands from back in the day that don't even want to make records anymore, because they say all the money is in their live show.

Kevin DuBrow: There's a certain amount of logic to that. But for us, we want to make the music even if nobody buys it, just as an artistic outlet. Inside of us ther's music that has to be let out 'Rehab'. We didn't do it to make money; we did it because we had the songs. We did it with our own finances, and I would do again in a heartbeat. I think it turned out great and I really don't care who buys it. At the end of the day, it s a personal satisfaction musically. I don't write songs to go platinum, or they go nickel.

Brian Rademacher: Your latest CD, 'Rehab', was a great release and a change in style. Are you working on new material as we speak?

Kevin DuBrow: Not right now. It's an ongoing process. There's always something new to come out. The good thing is that we get to play new songs live. We are playing three songs off 'Rehab' live, which is nice. We are getting bored playing all 'Metal Health' songs, but we still play all the hits.

Brian Rademacher: You signed with Chavis Records. Will the next release be on Chavis also?

Kevin DuBrow: We're not signed to Chavis; they released it. We licensed the rights to Chavis to release it in the U.S.

Brian Rademacher: Do you have any thoughts on the RIAA / CRB (copyrights board) situation? If thousands of Internet radio stations shut down, a lot of exposure for bands that are rocking like QUIET RIOT will lose air-play if the station can't pay more than they are already paying for royalties.

Kevin DuBrow: Frankie mentioned something slightly to me about it, having said that, years and years went by that nobody paid us royalties, so I don't pay too much attention to that stuff. For someone like a Bruce Springsteen, it might be relevant, but since the checks aren't coming in my mailbox, I don't think much about it. In '83, '84, they had to pay us royalties because they wanted the next album to come out; it made a difference to their income. But when QUIET RIOT ceased to be a major record seller, they stopped paying us. What are we going to do, go after them?

Brian Rademacher: Do you have any feelings about Youtube playing videos of QUIET RIOT and vintage material? I was watching some great footage of vintage QUIET RIOT called 'Picking up the Pieces', and you don't get anything for that.

Kevin DuBrow: Never did. I mean, Youtube is better then MTV, because MTV doesn t show videos anymore. I like Youtube; there are a lot of bands I liked in the '70's who I could never find any videos for, like FACES. And I go on Youtube and find a lot of neat stuff on there, THE SMALL FACES, which is a different band with Steve Marriott -same thing. Youtube's cool.

Brian Rademacher: How much did Randy used to practice when you were together?

Kevin DuBrow: When I was with him, he didn't practice at all. When we were together we were rehearsing or going out and partying. Practicing he did when I wasn't there. We would basically rehearse, go out to the Starwood or the Whiskey, go and eat, but his rehearsing time was when I wasn't there.

Brian Rademacher: Is it true that you auditioned for QUIET RIOT in Rhoads' kitchen? And what that meeting was like?

Kevin DuBrow: No!

Brian Rademacher: I read that on Wikipedia.

Kevin DuBrow: That is full of inaccuracies too; all these on-line things are filtered down through the years and it's like that game 'telephone'; it all becomes inaccurate. It was actually in his garage. The first time I heard Randy play was in his bedroom; a little room off the kitchen. Then I auditioned in his garage, and they recorded on a reel to reel machine, and we discussed the way it sounded and made some changes, came back and did it again, and basically, I got the gig. I read somewhere I was the worst singer they ever heard, and I kept bothering them until I got the gig, which is totally untrue. I auditioned for them one time and I got the gig. It was me, Randy and Kelly, and the songs I auditioned on were 'Suicidal Show' and 'Back To the Coast.' And we worked on them for about two hours. From that point on, I got the gig and we went on to find a drummer.

Brian Rademacher: Wasn't Randy's brother a drummer?

Kevin DuBrow: Yeah, but he wasn't up for the thing. He wanted to be a singer, and they didn't care for his voice.

Brian Rademacher: Have you read Rudy's book 'Off the Rail', and if so, what you thought of it.

Kevin DuBrow: I don't want to discuss him in any shape or form. I made Frankie a promise, months ago...I'm fifty-one, and I will never mention his name for the rest of my life in an interview. Because life is too short, and there's too much trouble and there's too many good things going on to sit and stew in negativity.

Brian Rademacher: I see on your MySpace site, a picture of you and Ian Hunter from MOTT THE HOOPLE, and you're holding a photograph signed to you by Ian. Are you a memorabilia collector? And what are you prized possessions?

Kevin DuBrow: Isn't that great?! I don't collect memorabilia, but Ian Hunter, Steve Marriott, Paul Rodgers and Glenn Hughes are my heroes. Ian Hunter was really neat, and I saw MOTT THE HOOPLE growing up.

Brian Rademacher: Back in the early days of QUIET RIOT, what were some of the things you would ask for on your rider? And what do you ask for now?

Kevin DuBrow: Free made sandwiches in the old days. We make our own now. (Laughing) They didn't have palm juice back then; Palm juice is good for the heart. (Laughing) They didn't have low carbs and fat free stuff back then; we got that now. In the old days there was a lot of alcohol; we have none of that now. We don't use a bus. Back then we could take everything on the rider on the bus and have stuff for the next day. These days we do three shows a week and drive in a little van, and get the hell out of there the next day. Again: no alcohol, some soft drinks, towels and water. There was one member of our band that was quite a bit older than us (and you know who I'm talking about) who had Ensure on the rider. I think he still does with the band he's in now.

Brian Rademacher: What goes through your mind on March 19?

Kevin DuBrow: I go on with my life. I think about Randy on his birthday, December 6th. I don't think about the day he died, I think about the day he was born. I don't understand all the hubbub about the day he died. I think they should all be there on his birthday. Celebrate something on a positive note.

Brian Rademacher: I see you will be playing the Sweden Rock Festival on June 7th. This should be a great show. And you're playing the same date as my buddies from ANIMAL: Randy Piper and Chris Laney. How long will you get to play? And are there any bands on that bill that you are looking forward to seeing?

Kevin DuBrow: Yes, I've known Randy Piper for years. I used to date his wife. We get to play the festival, our full show. We get there a day early because it's a long flight. This is the first time I will be in Sweden. It will be like Guerilla warfare - we get there, get some sleep, then we go to the site, which is two hours from the airport. Here's the interesting thing: I can tell you accurately everything that happened in the seventies and eighties. Everything in the last ten years - there have been so many similarities from gig to gig, nothing really struck me as memorable, as it had in the first twenty years of my career. Sweden Rock: We're really looking forward to it, but I won't think about it until I get on that flight. We're doing that Rocklahoma thing that sounds like a testosterone fest. We do a lot of those gigs. I'm glad just to be playing. Put it this way: QUIET RIOT, and all other bands from that era, is a nostalgia act, which is a great thing. People pay money to see things they grew up listening to, which is awesome. People are still giving me a way to earn a living, and I love singing for my dinner, as David Lee Roth would say. I don't think about it on a gig-by-gig basis Frankie does, because he books them.

Brian Rademacher: How much different are the women from back then to now?

Kevin DuBrow: The women- Completely different! Back then there were no worries about AIDS. I was twenty-eight when we made it; I'm fifty-one now. The people who come and see us come in couples most of the time, or bring their kids. QUIET RIOT was really never a chick's band. If MÖTLEY CRÜE was equivalent to the STONES in terms of what they were getting from girls, we were THE WHO. We were more of a guys' band; the music was more aggressive, we're not so pretty.

Brian Rademacher: If you could change anything in you music career, would you?

Kevin DuBrow: Absolutely, but I can't. (Laughing) What I should do is to make up for it in the future music we do. Certain people I worked with in the past were unable to do certain things I wanted to do, so we had to adapt to the people who we were working with. That was the nice thing about the 'Rehab' album; it turned out just the way I wanted it to. I'm really happy with it. There are certain aspects of 'Condition Critical' that are just embarrassing, but I don't listen to them.

Brian Rademacher: Do you have kids?

Kevin DuBrow: No

Brian Rademacher: Are you married?

Kevin DuBrow: Nope, and I'm not gay either.

Brian Rademacher: Do you feel you missed out on that part of life?

Kevin DuBrow: Sometimes, Most of the women I dated were psychos. Nice, pretty, beautiful, tall blondes or nuts. I went through years and years of completely gorgeous women that are completely crazy.

Brian Rademacher: How about now?

Kevin DuBrow: I'm single now, and gun shy.

Brian Rademacher: So what about the women now? What do they do, shake your hand and walk away?

Kevin DuBrow: We do meet and greets, they say 'Hi. How are you? It was a great show', I say, 'Thank you for coming' and go back to the hotel and go to sleep. I'm a happy camper; I have two cats, I have a good life, I have some good friends, and every once in a while, you wake up, go on the Internet, and see some adoration. (Laughing) You get a little shell-shocked by being ambushed when you had nothing to do about anything. You see your name mentioned when you didn t talk to anybody about it. You say, 'What the hell happened here?' I had to put out a press release on something I didn't even start. Like in the eighties, I said them dumb things. I started that stuff myself; that was my own screw up. This time I woke up, I see my name on the Internet, and said, 'What the fuck?' I had to put out a press release for damage control, because I couldn't believe what was going on. I told them I wasn't going to do the film weeks ago, and they are just telling people now in their own way. I felt like I got ambushed. All I want to do is get on with my life and enjoy myself. I have a great friend in Frankie Banali, I really enjoy playing with Alex and Chuck, and sometimes you wake up and say, 'What happened here?'

Brian Rademacher: Does it stump you that people around the world actually care what you have to say?

Kevin DuBrow: Frankie says one of the reasons why people like to talk with me is because I'm controversial, and it helps people sell magazines or look at their sites. A lot of times people interpret that what I have to say is the untruth for some reason. My credibility is not as high as some people s who are liars. So having to deal with that, I tend to clam up, which is my current status. I'm not going to be doing a lot of talking as I used to. When I get up in the morning and I see an article about me on Guitar World Magazine, posting negatives, and I have nothing to do with any of it, it makes me want to not do interviews. When I am promoting  Rehab or an upcoming gig- cool, but then again, I look on Blabbermouth and go 'WHAT?' I don't want to be taking my time doing press releases. There's other ways to spend my day productively.

Brian Rademacher: So what is a typical day for you now?

Kevin DuBrow: I am going over to the Salvation Army to donate some old clothes. W're gearing up for a bunch of shows, so I gotta go to the cleaners to get some stage clothes cleaned. I am painting a new mic stand. The last one broke on the airplane. So I am preparing for the show.

Brian Rademacher: When people stop you and recognize you, do you stop and talk?

Kevin DuBrow: If I'm not going to miss a flight, sure. I always talk, and people are always very nice to me. That's what amazes me when I see negative things. And yet, when I'm out in public they treat me so nice; couldn't be any more friendly to me. We do meet and greets after every show, sometimes people have too much to drink and there's an attitude. I found out anytime there's alcohol involved, there could be inappropriate behavior. Otherwise, people couldn't be any nicer. They appreciate the music that QUIET RIOT's brought into their life, and I appreciate their support and giving me a career. It's all good. Sometimes people bring up a subject that I don't want to talk about, like the way this started.

Brian Rademacher: Kevin, I have the right to ask you whatever I want to ask, and you have the right to answer it or not.

Kevin DuBrow: But sometimes they push it, because you're not going to get me to talk about something I don't want to talk about. But, you get alcohol in there& you follow me& You never know what's going to be said. Otherwise, in the last ten years people have been great to me.

Brian Rademacher: You know Kevin, it's been great talking with you, and was a real pleasure talking with you. Enjoy yourself at the Sweden Rock Festival.

Kevin DuBrow: I appreciate that, and I am looking forward to that show, and also seeing HEAVEN and HELL. I loved that SABBATH stuff when Dio was singing, and he has a great band with him. It was great talking. Take care, bud.

 

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