ROCKIN METAL REVIVAL INTERVIEW

Ø Riffmaster – Hey Andy, What's up my man?

Brother Andy: Thanks so much for having me… I appreciate the time! Actually, I just returned from Jamaica so bare with me Mon! LOL!!!

Ø Riffmaster - I was checkin' out your "Rockin' Metal Revival Site" and I see that you have met up with many of my rock legends. How does one go about finding and setting up these kick-ass interviews? AND, do you go after the artist, or are your shows so famous now, artist management is contacting you?

Brother Andy: Glad ya checked out the RMR site, hope ya liked it! As far as getting in touch with the artists, I asked that very question my self when I first joined on, how do you go about it? Well, one of the things I've learned is most of the artists have "people" so finding out what label they're on is one way… From there, it sort of trickles down until the request finds the right person ie: management, publicist, agent etc. Then wait for a response! In some cases, if you don't have enough hits (listeners) on the show you'll get a "sorry but you're not big enough" which I believe has only been on one occasion! Other times, once you've made an initial contact you stay in touch & develop a rapport with that contact & some things can come from that; sometimes you might get an obscure interview thrown at ya to get to a bigger one… but it’s usually a good outcome! Finally, if you've been fortunate enough to meet & spend any amount of time with an artist, you become friends & can sometimes avoid the middle man!

Ø Riffmaster - Out of all the rock stars you have met, who personally has lived up to your expectations and has touched your life in one way or the other?

Brother Andy: For me personally, Mike Stone! Mike recently parted ways with Queensryche to pursue other interest both musical and otherwise; He's formed a new band called Speed X with Nick Catanese from Black Label Society! Mike lives pretty close to us so, The Rockin' Metal Revival SHOW has become very good friends with him… so we get to chat & hang out quite often! He's such a down to earth guy, no ego or rock star persona at all! I was even lucky enough to play with Mike in one of his side bands called simply, The Mike Stone Band! Just a classy, fun, personable guy!

Ø Riffmaster – Give our readers a breakdown of how the show came about. I'm sure there is a neat story there…

Brother Andy: Well maybe more of a history than a story really! It started with two of my best friends (Big Red & Jerry Swanson) Doing "Red & Jerry's Rockin' Metal Revival" I've been friends with these guys forever… Red & I used to work together & hit it off right away with the common love of music… Jerry & I had met years ago but never knew each other well until one day out of the blue he called & asked if I would like to start a band! Red & Jerry would have me on from time to time to do some little skits or call-INS for fun & I would go sit in sometimes when they recorded just for kicks! They dubbed me "production supervisor" as my character! LOL!!! Unfortunately Jerry & his family had to move out of state after a couple years of doing the show & with it doing so well, Red didn't want to give it up & asked if I would be interested in becoming his co-host! I wasn't sure at first because I had NEVER done anything like this but agreed to give it a shot just to help out until Red figured out where he wanted the show to go! Well, I'm still here some time later & learning more all the time… so I think Red's gonna keep me! LOL!!!

Ø Riffmaster – Now where do the funds come from to make this operation click in good fashion as it does? Is it voluntary or what?

Brother Andy: Funds? We could get funds? LOL! Actually it's all done on our own dime & on our own time! Red has the gear & most of the “know how” so myself & fellow co-host "Smooth" do what we can to help out!

Ø Riffmaster – Tell us a little bit about the shows transition over the years… Where you came from, where you are now, and where you are going with the show in the future…

Brother Andy: Well as I mentioned earlier, Red & Jerry started the ball rolling a few years ago being mostly geared towards 80's metal & that era of music but in the transition it's become not so much geared toward any one thing but dedicated to anything that is just good music; it's still in the heavier vein but the spectrum as become greater! as for the future, I hope to keep bringing new things to the listeners & turn people on to music they might never had heard otherwise & I just want to see people continue to enjoy what we're doing! As long as we're having fun & the people tuning in are having fun, let it go where it may!

Ø Riffmaster – How many hours a week does it take to put this all together for the metal listening masses?

Brother Andy: It's a bit quicker now, Red now has some of the software at home so we conduct the interviews & record the talk bits in studio then it's pieced together at home; where before we sat through the entire three hours of recording & put it on cd to post later!

Ø Riffmaster – I'm sure you've had some uncomfortable & weird moments while interviewing some of the guys / girls huh? Ya know, Spinal Tap kinda thing ?

Brother Andy: Who told you!? LOL! Yeah, it's happened! I remember we had Bobby Rondinelli from Black Sabbath/Quiet Riot/Blue Oyster Cult etc. on; He was talking about a certain album he had done with Black Sabbath & I opened my mouth & started raving about a song I really liked off of that album or so I thought, only to have him inform me that I was talking about a different album! Not a major error but, I felt pretty foolish! Don't trust the first web site you check is what I came away with on that one! LOL!

Ø Riffmaster – Andy, have you ever had a rude artist on the show? I hear some of these cats are really stuck on themselves while others are pretty cool, or funny, etc.

Brother Andy: Ya know we talk about that quite often, we've been really fortunate, there really haven’t been any ego maniacs or "I’m beyond you" types; there are some that like to talk about themselves a bit more than others but everyone has been really cool & gracious! What I find most is that we're being thanked for promoting them & that they are sincerely appreciative!

Ø Riffmaster – Please tell our readers what your high school years were like, and what the soundtrack would be to sum up your senior year in High school.

Brother Andy: Wow that was a while ago! LOL! I was of course into music; never involved in any music program but I always played in bands throughout! I stayed out of trouble & took my studies very seriously! NOT! LOL! Seriously, I wasn't in too much trouble but there were times my parents probably would've liked to of disown me!

Basically, I played & listened to tons of music & went to a lot of shows! It was a really fun time, a lot of the bands we still love today were at their peaks then & I'm glad I was a kid when I was! Sound track huh!? Hmmm... I'm not up on many movie sound tracks; Dazed & Confused might work though! LOL!

Ø Riffmaster – So Andy, what are you listening to a lot of these days?

Brother Andy: For some odd reason, I've been listening to a lot of Reggae lately, maybe due to the vacation!? Otherwise my latest favorite is the Speed X debut "Flat Black" as well as Lynch Mob's latest "Smoke & Mirrors" … I mix it up usually, anything from Amy Winehouse to Pantera to Stevie Ray Vaughn!

Ø Riffmaster – Favorite Muscle Car?

Brother Andy: Not much of a car buff but I like the new Dodge Challengers!

Ø Riffmaster – Why?

Brother Andy: They just have the look that screams roll the windows down, crank the tunes & go! Badass!!!!

Ø Riffmaster – Name some folks you would love to get on the show… Who have you had to pull teeth to get on the show? Inquiring minds want to know…

Brother Andy: For me, I would really like to have Frank Hannon of Tesla, he was on with Red & Jerry before so I missed that one, anyone from Iron Maiden, Jake E Lee, AL Pitrelli just to name a few, there are sooo many more! Ace Frehley was a tough one to get, not so much like pulling teeth but it took a lot of time to get things squared away, it was way worth it though!!!!

*** Riffmaster – Not to toot my own horn… However, I was glad to help y’all out there too…

Ø Riffmaster – Lastly, please give our readers one last parting shot across the bow… What is Andy going to be doing in 5 years?

Brother Andy: If Andy knew, he'd tell ya! LOL! Really, I hope to stay involved in music in some fashion, I would like to see The Rockin' Metal Revival still going & growing and maybe find myself a band that can stay together for a while just to have some fun playing for people! And of coarse just to be healthy & happy!

Ø Riffmaster – I would like to thank you for your time and candor with my loyal readers, peeps, subscribers and keep on fighting the good fight to bring us the best rock show on the net. Thank You! I really appreciate the time you gave me! We will be sure to keep rockin' ya'll! Until then, Keep the horns high!!!!!!

ROCKIN METAL REVIVAL INTERVIEW