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 Heaven and Hell has just released their new DVD and CD: Heaven and Hell- Live From Radio City Music Hall on Rhino Records.
For over twenty-five years, Vinny Appice has been known as one of the most respected and sought after drummers in hard rock today. Vinny has performed with such legendary bands as Dio and Black Sabbath. The Brooklyn born drummer is continuing to make his mark Rock and Roll history, as legendary drummer Vinny Appice has been recruited to be a member of one the most talked about bands of 2007, Heaven and Hell.
One of the most anticipated tours of the decades is slated to begin on September 5th in New York featuring Heaven and Hell, Alice Cooper, and Queensryche. As Heaven and Hell featuring Ronnie James, Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice has been touring relentlessly nonstop since their world tour kicked off on March 11, and have been receiving rave reviews from city to city.
GlamMetal.Com is proud to present a pre-tour kick off Heaven and Hell Interview with Rock drummer Icon Vinny Appice. Vinny discusses the buzz surrounding the Heaven and Hell tour, highlights from his extensive career, and what it was like to work with the legendary Beatle John Lennon.
www.myspace.com/vinnieappice www.vinnyappice.com www.myspace.com/heavenandhelllive
Vinny, Thank you so much for checking in. Actually, the new Heaven and Hell DVD, "Live At Radio City Music Hall" is released today. Now, this is the first concert of the band in fifteen years. How exciting was it to be part of this musical history?
APPICE:Yes, this is the first anything in fifteen years. First tour, first DVD, first CD. So it is pretty exciting. Today we are doing an in store today in Hollywood. At Hot Topic Signing the DVD for 3 hours, so that should be crazy.
Now, I had the opportunity to see the concert last night on VH1. They were playing "Live From Radio City Music Hall". It looks like it came out really well. Tell me a little bit about the production of the DVD. Was it hard to shoot all of the different angles on this tour because it was so theatrical? Also, I heard a lot about the issues regarding the New York City Union.
APPICE:At Radio City there was a lot of confusion because, there was a lot of stuff going on. Because first of all it is New York. You got a lot of friends coming down, and people in the business and you are recording a DVD, so it was really crazy .We had problems doing a sound check because everything ran late. Then, when we did a sound check, we had to stop. We didn't even play one song because the Union Break came up. In New York, the Union Break is like God. So, we had to stop. (Laughter) So it was a little never racking. But, we can only do half a song, and hopefully that was OK for everybody who was doing a little recording and camera work. We would have liked to do more. If we could. So, it was a lot of nerves rattling here and there. But, we thought it came out really, really good. When, we sort of finished product with all of the editing it looks fantastic.
Yes, it came out really nice. Also Barry Erhmann produced it. He has worked a lot with Queensryche. How did the Union Break affect the process of the filming of the DVD? It must of been kind of nerve racking too?
APPICE: Yes, because it is not only us, it is the guys in the truck recording it. The more we can play, the better they are going to be on getting levels on things. So it wasn't just for us, as a normal show would be. But that is the way it goes.
Right, plus it was one of the first shows in fifteen years, so you wanted it to be perfect. I guess that is rock and roll.
APPICE: Exactly.
Now, there is a double CD that comes with the DVD. Is that correct?
APPICE: There is also a CD that they put out too. I guess you can buy, each of these items individually and they are also packaging it together. You get the CD and the DVD. This is all from Rhino, so I am not exactly sure what the package is. You can probably find out all the DVD and CD info on Rhino's website.
Actually, you hail from the Brooklyn area, so it must have been so exciting to have all of your family there. Was the last time you performed with Heaven and Hell in New York at Madison Square Garden, fifteen years ago?
APPICE: In New York, well we played the Garden a bunch of times with Sabbath and Dio. Maybe the last time was the Beacon Theatre. Last time, we were doing Black Sabbath it was the Beacon Theatre on the Dehumanizer tour. We played all of these places already, it is great. Now we have Radio City under our belt. It is pretty cool.
When I saw Heaven and Hell perform at the Mohegan, a few months ago, so many fans came up to me and mentioned how instrumental you were in helping them pursue their career as a drummer. They were so excited about hearing Vinny Appice perform tonight. Will you be doing any drum clinics on this tour?
APPICE: That was probably my family. (Laugher) No, I tried to get some clinics, but they are having problems booking them this tour. It is pretty crazy to me, because it is such a major tour. I did like seven or eight of them in Canada at the beginning of the tour and everyone was jammed packed. So I tried to get them to do it on this tour, but I can't get them to do it. I guess they already budgeted out their money for clinics and stuff.
That is too bad, because the fans really wanted this to happen.
APPICE: Yes, I love doing them. I love meeting the people on that level and play for them and hang out. But we couldn't get it going.
Musically, what advice do you give your fans in the clinic?
APPICE: Basically, it is more of a musical thing. I am just demonstrating a lot of the licks, I use. How I go about creating things and recording, that kind of stuff. I answer a lot of questions. I love doing that stuff.
Heaven and Hell has been touring nonstop. The band just got back from Australia. Tell me some of the highlights from the land down under.
APPICE:That was pretty amazing because, we haven't been down there since 1981. It was fantastic, we got off the plane and there was a whole bunch of fans there from the airport and hotel. They were really looking forward to seeing the band. The crowds were great. The places were full. They loved it. Then, we went to New Zealand, which we never been and we just did one show there. They were just an incredible crowd. What a response, it made us feel great.
Heaven and Hell also performed a lot of outdoor festivals this summer. How did the European tour go? Any high lights that stand out in your mind?
APPICE: Yes, we did festivals, and the Bang Your Head Festival. It is nice, playing those outdoor festivals. It was a sea of people. When you look out in the audience, it is pretty incredible. Then, we did one with Metallica. They were really great; we watched them from the side. That was more of a summer thing. Now we are back in doors, at the arenas. So that is cool.
Yes, Heaven and Hell will be playing with Alice Cooper, and Queensryche beginning September 5th in New York. The band will be performing in a lot of outdoor settings, as well. How will this affect the stage show? Any surprises? Will Ronnie sing with Queensryche?
APPICE: You never know. Ronnie might sing with Geoff Tate, I know they did some work together.
Yes, Ronnie was Dr. X. Let's hope that Geoff brings him up onstage for an appearance. Is it hard to pick out the set list for the upcoming tour?
APPICE: No, we changed it around slightly. It is going to be a little bit shorter. On the first leg of the American tour, actually there were more songs we played an hour and 45 minutes. Now we are playing and hour and 30-35 minutes. So we will probably wind up pulling one song.
Will the stage production be as theatrical in an outdoor setting? I know you are performing at the Tweeter Center in Boston on September 9th.
APPICE: No, it is going to be the same stage. We are going to have the screens and all of the scenery and lights. It is going to be pretty cool.
It is pretty interesting that Heaven and Hell is touring with Alice Cooper. On the recent tour, Heaven and Hell's stage setting was very theatrical. Alice Cooper really started the whole theatrical production in touring that was so popular back in the day. What are your thoughts on the triple bill?
APPICE: I think it is a great bill. Like Ronnie says,” They are not opening acts”. These are three major bands. It is Queensryche and Alice Cooper. They are not opening acts." They are much legendary, yeah no? Alice is going to be doing his thing. I don't know, how much production, he has got. It is going to be a great show. Then, we have production, so it is just like bringing back some of the old stuff. A lot of people haven't seen that. I think it is going to be pretty cool that they haven't seen any shows like this. A lot of shows today, it is just the band playing. There is not a lot of stages stuff, going on. This will be cool, for anyone who has never seen it. .
There is talk about making the band going to South America late Fall. Would you like to confirm this?
APPICE: Yes, I think South America is coming up in December. First we are going to Mexico on August 29th and we got three shows in Mexico. Then we fly to New York, and we start the American Tour with Alice Cooper and Queensryche on September 5th for four weeks. Then we got ten days off, and then we go to Japan, then the U.K. and South America. There is even talk of possibly doing Russia and India.
Is the band overwhelmed by the response to the reunion of Heaven and Hell has been receiving?
APPICE: Yes, everybody is really happy with the response. It is more than everybody thought it would be. Success has been more than everyone thought. We are just having a good time. We love playing for everybody. When you are having a good time, it makes it a lot easier. When people are not getting along and enjoying the tour, it is really hard, to continue. But, this is going really, really well.
The vibe was great onstage at the Mohegan. I could tell right away, everything was going well. I rally enjoyed the show tremendously.
APPICE: The show has even gotten tighter now. We keep playing and come up with different little bits here and there. It just tightens up a lot. We're ready, yeah no?
Any plans to maybe record a new studio album?
APPICE: That has been the major question with everybody. Asking that question, and the answer is basically the door is open. We are just going to finish the tour, see what happens afterwards, and take a little time off and see at some point maybe next year, we will do a new record.
Let's talk about your other band. Three-Legged Dogg. It is an awesome band. Tell me how this band got together. I know you are working with Carlos, he use to be in Quiet Riot.
APPICE: Yes, Carlos Cavazo from Quiet Riot, Chas West on vocals, he played with Bonham, Jimmy Bain, he use to play with Dio and Rainbow on bass, and Brian Young, who played with David Lee Roth on guitar. I met Chas, and then we did a little Hollywood Allstarz band for some fun. We played around town, Jimmy, Chas, and Carlos and I and different people. So we decided, let's start writing and put something together. So we started about a year ago, and we started doing it and things were going really well. So, we had a friend Tom at Perris Records, and we played,” Frozen Summer" for him and he loved it, so he out it out on his record label. We just wanted to see what happened, so the response has been great. People like the band. So, now while I come home every five weeks, we get together and we are finishing up some new songs. We are getting management in place, we want to get another CD going and then do some touring.
I know you play a lot on the West Coast; you should also tour the East Coast this time around. We are still stuck in the 80's in the put here, yeah no!
APPICE: (LAUGHTER) Well that is Ok.
Now, Jeff Pilson produced the new Three Legg Dogg CD,"Frozen Summer". What was it like working with Jeff?
APPICE: Well, we worked with Jeff He has a home studio. He is really great with Pro-Tools. We went and recorded four songs at his place. He wound up basically co-producing it with us. He had so many great ideas. We love Jeff; he is such a great guy. So, he is like co-producer on some of the songs.
You also worked with Mick brown of Dokken in Hollywood Allstarz.
APPICE:Actually, I did work with Mick brown, we did an Allstarz gig somewhere. We did two drummers, Mick and me. That was cool, we had a good time. Jeff started with the Allstarz, and then he got busy with Foreigner. So he couldn't do it. We got Jimmy to come in. We still do gigs sometimes. Obviously not this year, because I am busy with Heaven and Hell.
You recently performed with your brother Carmine, at the Runaways Tribute for Sandy West. Tell me how this transpired.
APPICE: We knew Sandy from a long time ago. It is unfortunate what happened. She passed away. We wanted to do something. We were invited to participate. They had a little tribute at a club here in LA. They said it would be cool, if you and Carmine could come up and do something. So it was very interesting, there were all bands playing. The place was packed; there were probably eight bands that night. We were on in the middle, and we come on with just two sets of drums, and everyone was like "Wow, what is going on here"? We came out and did a little drum battle. We worked out kind of a rhymic thing. We did like three different things and people loved it. We did,” We Will Rock You". It was just drums and then Carmine would sing and get the audience going. That was cool. The whole place was singing.
Growing up in Brooklyn. Who inspired you as a drummer?
APPICE: Mainly, obviously Carmine got me started. When I was a kid, I use to see him play and go "Wow". That was an inspiration to get started. Carmine was a pretty hot drummer. I had to learn all the stuff, he was doing. Then, when Led Zeppelin came out with John Bonham that really influenced me. Buddy Rich, I love Buddy Rich.
Also you worked with John Lennon. How did you meet John and how were you inspired by him?
APPICE: the guy, who owns the Record Plant Studios in New York, managed us. That is where Lennon, use to work. We would rehearse every night up in the room. One night they needed hand claps for the song,” Whatever Gets You Through The Night". They called us on the phone, and said can you guys come done here and do hand claps with John Lennon and Elton John. So we came down, and there is John Lennon and Elton John in the studio, we are like,” Wow" this is cool"." John said, "Who are those guys"? They said, that is Roy's band, Roy was the owner of the Record Plant and they rehearse upstairs. Next day, we are rehearing and in come John and Yoko come in and sit down and watch us rehearse. Then we hung out with him. We got to be pretty cool friends, as much as you can. Then, he asked us to do a live gig at the New York Hilton. It was a live TV show for ABC. We were his band, and then we had to get a wardrobe and we made these masks, because they wanted us to wear these masks on the back of our heads, so it would look like we have two faces and no hair, and all this crazy stuff. We hung out with him for two weeks, running around, getting fitted for the clothes and the mask. We were like in the band with him and Yoko running around, doing all of this stuff. It was pretty amazing, and I was like 16. I use to go to school the next day, so it was freaky, yeah no? Then we did a bunch of videos with him, and we did a couple of things in the studio. We produced the owner of The Record Plant's wife, she was a singer. We did quite a bit of stuff with him. It was fantastic to even meet someone like that.
At such a young age, to have that on your resume is amazing. Tell me about your work with Ronnie in Dio.
APPICE: Dio was cool, because Ronnie and I came out of Black Sabbath. We had success with that. Ronnie said, I am getting a new band together; do you want to do it? I said,” Absolutely". The nice thing about this is, we were starting fresh. After you make three or four albums, you have to watch what you played on the last album and make sure you are not repeating yourself. It was fun starting from the beginning. Then we got Jimmy Bain in the band, he hooked us up with Vivian Campbell and that was it, that formed Dio. We just wend and had a great time, then that album come out,” Holy Diver". It is a great album. It just took off, we were playing theatres and then all of a sudden we went to arenas. It was pretty successful. It was a good time.
How do you feel the music industry has changed since then? Do you feel it has changed for the worst or better?
APPICE: I don't know what to think? There is good and bad to it. The Internet is a great thing. Home studios are a great thing. Unfortunately, some of the record companies are not doing well. So times have changed. Years ago, you would get a deal on one of the major labels. They had a lot of money, now that seems to have tightened up a lot. But the nice thing is, you got the Internet. A lot of bands can do things by themselves. You can make a record now in your basement, if you know what you are doing. There is pros and cons, yeah no?
Thank you Vinny, for taking time out of your busy schedule to do this very important interview. It is truly an honor. Is there anything else that you would like to say to your fans?
APPICE: We're hitting the road, and looking forward to seeing everybody.
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