interview with john Stix,1987

[ankh]

Not sure if tha twas already posted, i've found flicking through my files, hope you like it.

Vinnie Vincent Interview by John Stix For Guitar Magazine May 1987




****Why did it take so long after leaving Kiss to come out with a solo record?****
Anything good takes a while to get to the point where it all works. I could have left Kiss and put out a record, but it wouldn't have been what it is now. On Invasion, all the pieces are right, from the band members to the record company. All these pieces needed time to come together. You don't make a great meal in 30 seconds.


****Did you re-evaluate your playing? What's on Invasion is nothing like what you played in Kiss.****
You will never hear Vinnie Vincent on a Kiss record. I had no freedom in that band. I joined them after Ace Frehley left. Ace and I are completely different players from A to Z. His style lends itself to the older school of playing which is great and what Kiss was into at the time. When I joined the band it was overwhelming because I don't think they were looking for someone who was a wild player. The longer I was in the band the more I tried to make it happen and bring them to tht thing I do. I just don't think that's what they wanted.


****Why did they hire you?****
We spoke the same language and had the same attitude. We all came up from the same kind of bands and liked the same music. I met them through a common friend, Adam Mitchell. He was writing with Gene Simmons and told him he had to hear me play. I met Gene and we hit it off. At the time i was broke and was sleeping on sofa to sofa at friend's houses. Any money I made I spent it on demos to use as a calling card. I did a demo for Gene who played it for Paul. They took it to their producer and the next thing I knew I was in the band. I has gone from high school to kicking it around, lookin at myself and realizing what I had to offer. I joined Kiss when my talent was at a point where it was ripe and you could pick it from a tree. I became the common denominater between Gene and Paul as far a composing for the band.


****You were the writing link between Gene and Paul?****
Gene and Paul never wrote together before I joined the band. Kiss had, for the first time in their history a unit where they didn't have to hire outside writers.


****How did you view them as writers?****
That being said, Gene has a very aggressive attitude in his music. He's a wonderful guy and we spoke the same language as far as the attitude of the band is concerned. I think we wrote some of the best Kiss material, songs like "I Love It Loud", "Killer", and "Not For The Innocent". These songs have that killer Kiss attitude. Paul Stanley was more on the commercial side of the spectrum. He had a smooth polished thing going. When he and I wrote together we wrote the songs that made Kiss respected on a wider basis. What Gene and I were able to conceive on the attitude end also needed the polish to make the whole thing work just right If it wasn't for them I wouldn't be where I am now. I also learned a tremendous amount from them about staging and putting on a show..


****How much of their stage show is Kiss responsible for producing?****
They were responsible for their own shows and Kiss shows are the kinds of spectacles which go into epic proportions of fantasy. They are the best, and every hard rock group that has come out since have in some way or another copied a Kiss show. Kiss gave rock and roll a kick in the ass and grabbed everyone's attention. People think they would burn out after a couple of years but they kept going. As they went along they made mistakes and took their falls. Kiss were almost a dead issue in 1981 after The Elder. Shows were half filled and it was a very critical situation. If Lick It Up and Creatures did not live up to expectations then Kiss was in trouble. The make up was coming off and we had better have a good record to back it up. It was a great record but it wasn't a Vinnie Vincent record. Lick It Up seemed to sum up the whole picture, with great songs showing that Kiss were actually a credible rock band. The cartoon was over and the real band was left shining. The songs and production were great and the album was a success. We took the make-up off at the right time, because people were getting tired of it. They were tired of Kiss. No matter how many records Kiss had done, if the make-up had been kept on they would be fighting the moniker of yesterdays news.


****During the Kiss stage show, how much of the musician did you have to sacrifice to become the entertainer?****
It's simple, Kiss strive for the best show possible. They were concious of how good the band was musically, but they were not a guitar virtuoso type of band. Kiss is a band designed to feature Kiss as a whole. One of the dangers of being a flash guitarist is that its hard to join someone else's situation with the frontman as the star. I think most guitar players who are sidemen to stars don't get the freedom they would probably love to have.


****It doesn't sound like you put a limit on yourself on Invasion.****
Absolutetly not. I think what rock is missing is freedom and wildness. When I sent the demo tape to my manager he said, "This is not music, it's an Invasion". Thst's where the name came from.


****Where did the band come from?****
When i left Kiss for the first time, after the European tour for Lick It Up, they called Ozzy to ask where he got his guitar players from. He said to contact Dana Strum. Dana couldn't figure out why I left the band but he went to New York to hear Kiss rehearse. He got there and said, " I have some people in mind, but i don't know if I can replace Vinnie. I don't think I have somebody who has everything he has". Paul said he wanted someone who was hungry like I was. "Vinnie went down on his knees and burned for us," Paul told Dana. Dana presented a few guys who didn't work out and then he went back to LA. In the meantime I'm hearing all about Dana Strum as a killer on bass. He has the knowledge to play the right stuff and we shared the same attitude as I did with Kiss. Dana was looking for the real McCoy, he is a great singer and producer. The vocalist on the record, Robert Fleischman, was the lead vocalist in Journey before Steve Perry. On the road we're using Mark Slaughter. Our drummer, Bobby Rock, was also real hungry. His is a good story because you never know when your're big break is a phone call away. Bobby called from Houston and said," I'm your guy, I'm the killer you've been looking for." If I had a dime for everybody who has said that to me I would be a millionaire many times over, but something sounded right about him. I remember I used to tell Gene Simmons the same thing before I joined Kiss and I wanted to give someone else that same chance. Bobby drives to SIR studios, sets up his drums and blows us away. for a straight hour and a half he played the most incredibly sophisticated stuff I've heard in my life. When he stopped we gave him a standing ovation and said you are the one. It's an amazing thing to say," I want this, I'm this good" and prove yourself in front of skeptics. Every thing that I've got in my career I've had to fight for. If you believe in your- self and what you do then you could be the next hero, but it doesn't come easy.


****Were you a natural on the guitar when you first learned to play?****
I grew up in a musical family. My father played pedal steel and my mother was a country singer. When I was a kid I would fall asleep listening to their band. I loved the guitar more than anything and it's all I ever wanted to play. I slept with my guitar as a kid and I didn't even know how to play it. Now I fall asleep at night playing the guitar. But I'm the kind of guy who will do whatever it takes to get a break. I slept in the gutter to do it.


****On Invasion, you spent alot of time in overdrive.****
Definatley. That was the whole point. I enjoy playing that way and have to be true to myself. Everyone has their own opinion and this record is my expression. It's what Vinnie Vincent is about.


****It came as a shock that you could write a song as much as in the pop format as "No Substitute".****
I've always been told that. People will hear the record and say," How in the world did you just rip the head off of somebody and then come ack with this beautiful song?" It's the same band and the same formula done in a more emotional way. "Boyz Are Gonna Rock" and "Animal" have the bigger than life magnetism of arena rock and show what the guitar hero is all about. They speak to the kids who want to put them on the turntable and get blasted against the wall. "No Substitute" and "Baby" are another facet of the same emotion.


****What was your equipment set up on Invasion?****
I used a Jackson Guitar with an EMG 81 pick up. Jackson is putting out a Vinnie Vincent Custom model. The only one named after a person was the Randy Rhoads model. The finish on my guitar is a hot pink silver metal flake. The bridge is a Floyd Rose. I designed the guitar to be hot rodded as hell. There are no effects or pedals on the record. Everything you hear is natural feedback. I used nine 100 watt stacks in the studio. There was four Marshalls, three Duncan's, and a Carvin and Randall stack. Engineers told us we couldn't do it because of phase cancellation. But I auditioned 75 amps to get the best ones and it was so loud you could have killed yourself. I was in the same room as the amps for awhile, but it was overwhelming and I moved into the control room. We tried to get a warm a tone as possible but it shifted on each song even though the mikes were set up in the same places. We were dealing with so many options because ther were so many amps and so much power.
Alot of people ask me how I get my sound, like what are you playing through? I think it has to start with the amp before anything else. I'm using Laney amps on the road. They have an incredible amount of sustain and a heavy overdrive. They're very warm and tube-sounding. I've got alot of variations in tone. I've got a built in parametric EQ in the amp so I can enhance any lows to highs that I need. I'm working with their technicians. We go through trial and error on every single thing A to Z before we get it right. It's definitely an over the top record. But I really must say that it is satisfying because i finally have a record out that is the real Vinnie Vincent.


****Now that you don't have a rhythm guitarist, what do you use as an anchor?****
One of the things I couldn't deal with in Kiss was that there was a rhythm guitarist. There was something to fill in the holes. The holes are what make it so free and satisfying. There is no one stepping on your toes. You can virtually do anything you want and not have another guitarist covering up what you play. That was a frustrating angle in Kiss because I didn't want to do that. I'm not interested in subtle guitar playing anymore. I was ten years ago but not now. People change, standards change, music moves on. I'm lucky that at this point that my true style is what is going on today.

[Genebaby]

Nice interview, thanks for posting!

[shramiac]

Well there's the definitive amp list that Dennis from Pro Tone Pedals wanted!

4 x Marshalls, 3 Seymour Duncans, a Carvin and a Randall.

Thanks ankh

[ankh]

i'm glad i can share something you may find interesting

[Mikelangelo]

I have to look for this magazine!!! There were some good interviews already back in the day