Since we just ran an interview with Paul Black- vocalist of the LA Guns that features Tracii Guns, we felt it would only be fair to post an interview with a member of the other LA Guns, the one that consists of longtime members Phil Lewis and Steve Riley. So we reached out and drummer Steve Riley was more than happy to be ridiculously praised and answer some non controversial soft pitch questions from our Deb Rao.

Steve Riley, who hails from Revere, M.A. moved to Los Angeles shortly after graduation in the early 70's to pursue his musical career as a professional musician. Taking the scenic route, Steve lived everywhere from D.C. to Salt Lake City, finally arriving in Los Angeles in 1975. 
 
Steve has an extensive musical career. He has performed with some of the top musicians in the business including Steppenwolf, Keel, Wasp, and L.A.Guns.
 
In 1987, Steve met Phil Lewis, and was asked to join L.A.Guns and has never looked back. For over 20 years the band has played a major role in shaping the state of Glam-Metal, as we know it today.
 
I recently had the opportunity to discuss,” Loud and Dangerous", how the dream of LA Guns has remained intact for so many years, the resurgence of metal, in this exclusive interview for GlamMetal.com tm. 
 
 Steve, now LA Guns are currently on tour. The band recently performed at the Knitting Factory on Halloween in LA. How is the tour going so far?
Yes, we have been playing every weekend or every other weekend. The Knitting Factory was a gig right here in Hollywood. We did on Halloween. It went really good. It was packed, sold out. We have been on the road, every weekend. We just got back from doing a show in Ohio and Pennsylvania too.
 
Now the band is going to be heading out to Texas soon. Is that correct?
Yes, that is going to be in December. We have a gig there, we have a gig in Salt Lake, we go back up to Minnesota, and Wisconsin. We are going to wrap up this year by doing four shows in Texas. That will take us right up to the 17th of December.
 
Do you think you will be heading up to Boston or New York next year?
Yes, we hope so. We haven't been up there for a while. We are going to play it by ear. It is a new agency. They are doing a great job. We are kind of following their lead on where we should go next.
 
That sounds awesome. I recently talked to Phil about your new live album,” Loud and Dangerous." So tell me, what inspired the band to release another live album? Was it to showcase the strength of the new line-up?
Well, you know, we had done a cover album with the new guys. Then we did "Tales from the Strip." Both albums did really well. We just did a great show in Hollywood last year. We had recorded it and filmed it also. 
We didn't know if we were going to use it or not. But we decided to use it, it was such a good show. It turned out really good, because we put out a couple of DVD extra's too for the fans. Just so they could see the band. It is a nice little package, and we are happy with it. We really did it on our own, we mixed it on our own. We didn't bring Andy Johns in. We stepped away from Andy just briefly. On any studio album, we will absolutely bring Andy Johns back in to produce it. Because he is such a producer.
 
I think it really recaptures the raw, energy of the early days. Would you agree? 
I think so. That is why we would really wanted to release it. It turned out so good, and it was such an energetic show. A packed Whiskey. We like to keep it fresh, and have something new out on the market, all the time. It doesn't matter about record deals anymore. We wanted to fill this gap right now between,” Tales from The Strip," and a possible new album. So the live album worked out good. There are very little overdubs used on this. It truly is a live recording. It is a true, live experience.
 
Why did LA Guns choose The Whiskey to record this album? Are there a lot of memories for the band at this particular venue?
It is always such an energetic room. We pack it out. It has so much history to it. Not just for LA Guns, but for so many bands. It is just the prefect place to capture that energy with people. 
 
How has the metal scene changed since back in the heyday of the band?
This was almost just like back in the day, when we were doing it in the 80's. Because it was a packed house. The crowd was on fire, the band was playing really well. It is just a lot of energy. It just shows you that the scene is alive and well. It might not be doing a lot in record sales, or TV. But the metal scene is absolutely alive and well.
 
How do you feel this line-up compares to the old line-up of Tracii and Mick Cripps?
We kind of stay away from comparing them. The early line-up had so much success. We had a lot of fun together too. This line-up is just an extension of that. We wanted to be faithful to the tunes. We wanted to be able to incorporate a couple of new guys that could write like LA Guns. Stay truthful to LA Guns. We think we have accomplished that. Adam and Stacey fit in so perfectly. It is like a seamless change going from the old band to this band. 
 
The great thing, is that the fans are behind you 100 percent. 
They really are. We just changed agencies too. They are getting us a lot better gigs. The fans are right there with us. Of course everybody is doing stuff scaled down, we are not trying to play too big of a place. That is good too, because the places that we play get packed out and turn into events. We are open to anything. We just want to keep playing. We have never had any problems playing with any other band. It doesn’t matter whom we end up with in 2007. We still will be playing, whether it is on a big package tour, or on our own.
 
Now Steve, you hail from Revere. You are a Boston boy. What is your favorite memory playing in Boston? Was it at The Channel?
I think so. I think that The Channel is the one that has the most memories in Boston. It was such a great place, the location of it is on the water. It was packed out, all the time. With both Wasp and LA Guns, I played there. It was always insane at The Channel. We played a bunch of places in Boston over the year. The Channel and The Orpheum were two of the better places.
 
When did you move to Los Angeles?
Right after graduation in the 70’s, I started my move out West and landed in Los Angeles in 1975. I lived everywhere from D.C., to Salt Lake City for a while. I have been in L.A. ever since 1975. 
 
Would you say that you feel more of a band member with LA Guns that with Wasp?
I think both bands were really band oriented. The same thing with Wasp. But it started to disintegrate a little bit in 1987. The first four years were great. The four band members in Wasp were shoulder to shoulder. We knew what we had to do, and we did it. I think it is the same with LA Guns. We want to sound good, and write good songs. So it is almost identical. 
 
When Tracii left the band right after” Waking The Dead" was released, you brought in ex-WASP member Chris Holmes for awhile. What was it like working with Chris in LA Guns?
Chris Holmes was only in the band for three or four months. When Tracii first left, we still had a bunch of shows booked. We were trying to find a way of doing them. We didn't want to cancel everything because Tracii left. I actually called Chris Holmes. I knew he was just floating around, he wasn't playing with anybody. He has been a good friend to LA Guns all the way through. He stepped in, and did a couple of month's shows. That was it. Both us and he knew, it was just a temporary thing. He really stepped up and helped us out.
 
Steve, I have to tell you. I am still playing "Tales From The Strip." I don't get sick of it.
That makes us feel so good. So many people love that album. It is an album that we still like to listen to too. It has the mark of something that you done, that you are really satisfied with. You can still listen to it, and it sounds fresh all the time."Tales From The Strip" does have a common thread tied to every song on the entire album. It is about L.A.Guns rise to the top in Hollywood. It is about the 80's metal scene, when it was booming in Hollywood. Although the scene will never be the same, it is thriving today. Phil sings and plays his heart out on this album. Every song is a story in itself. It is hard to top 'Cocked and Loaded', it had three top singles, and it did so much for the band. But "Tales from The Strip" is right up there because we were so happy working with Andy Johns again. There was a push big on this album on our part, because it was the first thing that we did without Tracii.
 
Would you say that "Tales from the Strip" was the hardest record that you ever made? It was your first record without Tracii.
No, No. We might have thought that going in, that it might be a little difficult. Because it was the first album without Tracii, but as soon as we started pre-production we knew that we were on to something really good. We had a bunch more tunes that didn't make it on the album too. We were writing like crazy. It was coming really easy. 
 
It sounds like it was so easy to create, because it is so easy to listen to. Everything fell right into place.
Yes, there is a nice mixture of songs, the album keeps moving in different directions. I like every cut off of the album. Even the so-called fillers with the acoustic song, the drum solos. It was fun things to put in there, and easy things to insert on the album.
 
What would you say that the highlight of your career as been so far Steve?
The fact that I have been able to keep playing. There are so many highlights, as far as memorable moments, that were instrumental in the band getting ahead, or Wasp getting ahead. To survive in this business is the highlight. To keep playing, and to be able to make a living playing drums. The band is still sounding good. That is our real highlight for Phil and I right now. 
 
LA Guns is going to heading to Texas soon. Dime was just recently inducted into the Hard Rock Cafe Walk of Fame in Dallas. Do you have any special memories of Dime?
We were friends with Dime. It is still such a sad story. We were so happy that he got inducted into the Hard Rock Walk of Fame in Texas. He really deserves it. We knew him, but we never really played with Pantera. I know Vinnie and Dime well. He have gone to see them, they have come to see us perform, when we were in Texas. A couple of times, when we played The Whiskey, they have come over. It is a nice friendship. They were such a great band. Every time we would run into Dime and Vinnie, they were just the best people to be around. We miss Dime big time." 
 
Steve, do you see the trend in 80's metal continuing in 2007?
Yes, I think it is. It keeps getting better and better. All the bands that I know are seeing a lot more young fans at their shows. Attendance at the shows have been really, really good. Everybody is still trying to break records. To see if we can get into that market again and make a dent. That will come, if it comes. I always said, that LA Guns are just fortunate because we can keep playing no matter what, all over the world. We have to keep writing, and recording new material. We definitely will be going in next year to do another studio album. We don't know when. We want to make sure, we get the right label. 2007 is going to be a really good year for metal. 
 
And for LA Guns too. (ED Note:Yes for both of them)
Absolutely!
 
Thank you Steve for your support at GlamMetal.com tm. It has been great talking with you. See you in 2007.