Post by david company on Mar 6, 2007 7:48:19 GMT 1
eb: You have a couple of projects going on. Everyone knows about Heaven & Hell but I want to start by talking about Three Legged Dogg. How did the band come about?
Vinny: Carlos [Cavazo] and I have been playing with a band called The Hollywood Allstarz. We were approached to do a couple of a benefit gigs. We would just get up there and play a bunch of fun songs. Originally it was Jeff Pilson on bass, Carlos on guitar, Chas West on vocals and me on drums. Eventually it became the band we have now which is Carlos Cavazo on guitars, Jimmy Bain on bass, Chas West on vocals and I am on drums. We started writing our own material and it turned into Three Legged Dogg.
Jeb: Sometimes bands that have classic rock members get together and try to be too modern sounding. When that is the agenda, it comes off sounding too forced. You guys are finding a balance between classic, hard rock and some newer tones.
Vinny: That is because it isn’t forced, like you said. We didn’t sit there and say that we needed something that sounds modern. We started off with different riffs and we all put our ideas in. We started putting them down and we just went about creating the songs and this is what came out. We kept an eye on it. If something was too 80's then we would bring it up and change it but most of it just came about naturally. We ended up with an album where all the roots are there yet it still sounds modern.
Jeb: Carlos is famous for being the guitar player on "Bang Your Head" era Quiet Riot. He is a great metal player but he has different styles and tones on this record than one would expect.
Vinny: Brian Young is the other guitar player on Three Legged Dogg. Between the two of them we have all styles covered. Carlos is very versatile and a lot of fun to play with. I ran into Carlos one night when I went out to a club and he was there. I have known Carlos for a long time but I had not spoken to him in years. We started talking and I just told him that if he was interested that we should jam together. He agreed and we started playing with the Allstarz.
Jeb: You are also playing in a band again with Jimmy Bain.
Vinny: Jimmy is a great player and we have been playing together so long that when we sit down and play it is like an instant band. We enjoy playing with each other.
Jeb: How long did it take the album to come together?
Vinny: We wrote four songs with Carlos and then we ran into Brian Young, who was the guitar player for David Lee Roth, and we wrote more songs. The whole thing took about eight months to do. We ended up with two or three more songs recorded but they were not finished when we got the offer from Perris Records. We opted not to put them on the album because they were not quite as good as the others.
Jeb: So you recorded the songs before you had a deal?
Vinny: We shopped it around and we had a few offers. We had one offer from a company that is part of Universal. The problem with big labels is that they want everything. We didn’t want to give up everything so we decided to go another route. We got an offer from Perris Records and we decided to put it out on the internet. We still own the entire CD, which is just like a licencing deal. When you sign with a major, they take everything. You think you made a good deal and then they end up owning everything and you don’t make any money.
Jeb: I have interviewed Carmine several times and he has the same kind of business savvy that you do. Does this run in the Appice family?
Vinny: I saw how he took care of a lot of business and I learned that if you don’t take care of the business and keep an eye on things then it is either not going to happen or you are going to get ripped off. I have always been like that anyway so it is natural for me. If you trust other people then you never know what will happen. A lot of people get hurt that way.
Jeb: What is the significance of the name Three Legged Dogg?
Vinny: There was a three-legged-dog down at the rehearsal place. We were laughing about that dog and someone said we should name the band Three Legged Dogg. We all laughed and agreed thinking that we would think of something else later on but we never did. It is kind of stupid.
Jeb: Smaller labels can have a problem with distribution compared to major labels. How are you overcoming that?
Vinny: We took a chance with distribution but the guy who runs the label is getting it together. He is making a video for us and his distribution is getting bigger and bigger. We don’t have a long contract with him so we can always go somewhere else. He is a great guy who is really high energy and is totally into the band. Sometimes that is very important.
Jeb: Do you have to think outside the box where marketing is concerned?
Vinny: We use the internet a lot since we don’t have as much distribution into the stores. We have hired Chipster Entertainment who is getting us a lot of publicity. There is more work yourself but you still maintain control.
Jeb: Can you make more doing it yourself? How many records do you have to sell on a small label with lower overhead to equal what you can make with less of a percentage on a large label?
Vinny: That all depends on what the deal is. You may have gotten a certain amount of money up-front and you have to pay that back. That means that you don’t make as much money per record. Sometimes with the small labels you can get money up-front that you don’t have to pay back. Nobody does the standard rate anymore so it can get complicated.
Jeb: You were going to tour on this album were you not?
Vinny: We were scheduled to start putting some shows together and getting some management but then the Heaven & Hell thing came up. So, we kind of put it on hold and we thought we would make a video and then during breaks with Heaven & Hell, if I can possibly do dates with Three Legged Dogg then I will.
Jeb: So you had to go in and say, "Sorry guys."
Vinny: You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. The Heaven & Hell thing is part of my roots and is a big deal so I can’t pass that up.
Jeb: I may be clairvoyant because when I heard of Heaven & Hell, Bill Ward of Sabbath was the drummer. I emailed you and said, "Are you ready to tour?"
Vinny: [laughing] I know, I know. When I heard Bill was doing it I thought that anything can happen. Sure enough I got a call from Wendy Dio and she told me Bill was not going to be involved. I told her I would love to be a part of it. She said, "Can you leave tomorrow?" The next day I was on a flight to London. A car picked me up and took me to Birmingham to Tony’s [Iommi] house. We recorded three new tracks in the studio that Tony has in his house. It went by really quick. I did the first song that night. I said, "Lets start getting the drum sound" and then I began waking up and I put the track down.
Jeb: Had you heard the songs before you showed up at Tony’s?
Vinny: Not one note. There was no pressure [laughter].
Jeb: Honestly, what is your take on the three new tracks?
Vinny: When I first heard them they had played the music to a drum machine and I thought it sounded great. They are really cool songs. They sound kind of modern but they are very Sabbath-like and they are very heavy. Once I got my drums on them suddenly it all began to sound like a band. I think the songs are really what Sabbath should sound like in 2007.
Jeb: Have you started actual rehearsals yet?
Vinny: We just started Monday. On the first day we were amazed at how tight it sounded. It was like we had never stopped playing. We were all just blown away.
Jeb: What was the first song you guys rehearsed?
Vinny: "After All" from Dehumanizer. We started with that song – or was it? Actually, it was "Computer God" and then it was that one. We are only playing the Dio era. Tony and Geezer [Butler] have just done all the stuff with Ozzy. If the band had not been together for a long time and we went out and didn’t play any classic Ozzy era Sabbath stuff then that would be different but since they have been playing with Ozzy in Black Sabbath that makes it different.
Jeb: Was Angry Machines the last album you did with DIO? That has been ten years ago.
Vinny: Oh it has been longer than that. I think it was 1997.
Jeb: Uh, Vinny, that would be ten years.
Vinny: [much laughter] Oh yeah, I guess that is ten years, isn’t it? Hello!
Jeb: Well, you have been working hard!
Vinny: Actually, we did just decide to take the weekend off, so I am just chilling out.
Jeb: How is it to hear that Ronnie, at his age, is still as strong a singer as he was thirty years ago?
Vinny: It is great to be back. I have seen Ronnie here and there but we had not had a chance to talk. We have been able to catch up on things this time. When I first heard his voice again it felt really cool. Within five minutes it felt natural. Ronnie is just singing his ass off. He is actually singing better than he has ever sung.
Jeb: Tony and Ronnie will have to coexist again. Both are natural born leaders. Do you think they can do it this time?
Vinny: They have worked together before and they have realized how to work together without having any discrepancies. Ronnie was writing with Tony before this project got to this stage. I think that after all these years it will go pretty smooth.
Jeb: Will you be playing all three new songs on the tour?
Vinny: We are putting all three in there. The set list is really, really strong on this tour.
Jeb: Is this the second time you have replaced Bill Ward?
Vinny: It is more like the third time. I replaced him on the Heaven & Hell tour. Bill left and they had heard of me and they called me and asked me to come down. I went on tour with them and then we finished the tour and we did the Mob Rules and the Live Evil albums. Sabbath got back together and were going to do Dehumanizer and Cozy Powell was going to be the drummer but he fell off a horse and broke his pelvis. Tony said, "Let’s call Vinny." They were having issues at that time so I didn’t think that one was going to last for long. The next time I replaced Bill was when they were doing the reunion tour with Ozzy. Bill had a minor heart attack during rehearsals and couldn’t do it. So Heaven & Hell makes the third time I replaced Bill plus one time, I replaced Cozy.
Jeb: You have made a career of replacing Sabbath’s drummers!
Vinny: I just have not been involved with them at the beginning of the projects. It just has worked out that way.
Jeb: How did they hear about you the first time? Was it when you were playing with Derringer?
Vinny: Actually, I was with a band called Axis at the time. I joined them right after I left Derringer. Axis did an album and was right in the middle of getting management when Sabbath called.
Jeb: Sabbath was turbulent at that time. By the time the live album was released Ronnie and you had already moved on.
Vinny: We knew the band was breaking up. Tony and Geezer wanted me to play with them in Sabbath and Ronnie wanted me to go with him to start a new band. In the end, it was easier to go with Ronnie because he lived in LA and I lived in LA. I wanted to be home doing things instead of flying back and forth to England.
Jeb: Holy Diver is perhaps the best metal album of the 80's. Did you know it was that good at the time?
Vinny: When we were making Holy Diver we just went about our business of putting some ideas down. We had a lot of fun making that album. We were all crazy. We didn’t think we were making a classic album. We were just making what we felt. Everything came from the heart. We had no preconceived notions of anything. I remember one of my roadies coming up to me and saying, "This is going to go platinum." I told him that we would keep our fingers crossed. Who would have known that twenty-five years later the thing is still selling. You just don’t know that at the time.
Jeb: What is your take on why Vivian Campbell got fired by Ronnie?
Vinny: After a while Viv wanted to go out and play his own music – a different kind of music than DIO made. I don’t think Ronnie was really keen on that and neither was the rest of the band. It caused a lot of friction so Ronnie decided he was going to get rid of Viv. That is what happened with that.
Jeb: Do you feel that original line up was the strongest he has ever had?
Vinny: That is the classic lineup. There are certain lineups of bands that are magical. When you replace one of those members then it can still sound good but the magic is just not there. In Black Sabbath they had chemistry with Ozzy and with Dio. I did think that was the best lineup for Dio. All the success and all the biggest songs came from that initial line up.
Jeb: Do you feel the same type of chemistry in Three Legged Dogg?
Vinny: Yeah, we are a real band. We have been on the road with the Allstarz and we have lived together on the road – that is what makes you a tight band. We didn’t try the perfect mix of people in the band – it just all fell together. Like you said before, it is not forced. I really believe that if it is forced then you can hear it. When things are natural then it comes across that way.
Jeb: Before we go I have to talk about the only famous brother drum duo I have ever heard of – Carmine and Vinny Appice.
Vinny: We are the only ones I know of. There is an eleven-year difference in our ages. Carmine was in Vanilla Fudge and I would go see him play in these rock shows when I was nine years old. I was like, "Wow, this is what I want to do." Carmine was already out of the house. We never grew up in the house and had competition between us.
Jeb: Last one: how did your parents cope with two generations of rock drummers in the house?
Vinny: My Dad replaced the ceiling in the basement a few times because it fell down. At least for them there were years between us. Imagine if we had both lived in the house at the same time? My parents were very supportive of both of us. They let Carmine do his thing. They never told him to get a job and have something to fall back on. Their support was really important to us. We had other drummers in the family whose parents were not as supportive. They wanted them to have something to fall back on and sometimes that just does not work.
LINK:http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/Interviews07/vinnie2007.htm
Vinny: Carlos [Cavazo] and I have been playing with a band called The Hollywood Allstarz. We were approached to do a couple of a benefit gigs. We would just get up there and play a bunch of fun songs. Originally it was Jeff Pilson on bass, Carlos on guitar, Chas West on vocals and me on drums. Eventually it became the band we have now which is Carlos Cavazo on guitars, Jimmy Bain on bass, Chas West on vocals and I am on drums. We started writing our own material and it turned into Three Legged Dogg.
Jeb: Sometimes bands that have classic rock members get together and try to be too modern sounding. When that is the agenda, it comes off sounding too forced. You guys are finding a balance between classic, hard rock and some newer tones.
Vinny: That is because it isn’t forced, like you said. We didn’t sit there and say that we needed something that sounds modern. We started off with different riffs and we all put our ideas in. We started putting them down and we just went about creating the songs and this is what came out. We kept an eye on it. If something was too 80's then we would bring it up and change it but most of it just came about naturally. We ended up with an album where all the roots are there yet it still sounds modern.
Jeb: Carlos is famous for being the guitar player on "Bang Your Head" era Quiet Riot. He is a great metal player but he has different styles and tones on this record than one would expect.
Vinny: Brian Young is the other guitar player on Three Legged Dogg. Between the two of them we have all styles covered. Carlos is very versatile and a lot of fun to play with. I ran into Carlos one night when I went out to a club and he was there. I have known Carlos for a long time but I had not spoken to him in years. We started talking and I just told him that if he was interested that we should jam together. He agreed and we started playing with the Allstarz.
Jeb: You are also playing in a band again with Jimmy Bain.
Vinny: Jimmy is a great player and we have been playing together so long that when we sit down and play it is like an instant band. We enjoy playing with each other.
Jeb: How long did it take the album to come together?
Vinny: We wrote four songs with Carlos and then we ran into Brian Young, who was the guitar player for David Lee Roth, and we wrote more songs. The whole thing took about eight months to do. We ended up with two or three more songs recorded but they were not finished when we got the offer from Perris Records. We opted not to put them on the album because they were not quite as good as the others.
Jeb: So you recorded the songs before you had a deal?
Vinny: We shopped it around and we had a few offers. We had one offer from a company that is part of Universal. The problem with big labels is that they want everything. We didn’t want to give up everything so we decided to go another route. We got an offer from Perris Records and we decided to put it out on the internet. We still own the entire CD, which is just like a licencing deal. When you sign with a major, they take everything. You think you made a good deal and then they end up owning everything and you don’t make any money.
Jeb: I have interviewed Carmine several times and he has the same kind of business savvy that you do. Does this run in the Appice family?
Vinny: I saw how he took care of a lot of business and I learned that if you don’t take care of the business and keep an eye on things then it is either not going to happen or you are going to get ripped off. I have always been like that anyway so it is natural for me. If you trust other people then you never know what will happen. A lot of people get hurt that way.
Jeb: What is the significance of the name Three Legged Dogg?
Vinny: There was a three-legged-dog down at the rehearsal place. We were laughing about that dog and someone said we should name the band Three Legged Dogg. We all laughed and agreed thinking that we would think of something else later on but we never did. It is kind of stupid.
Jeb: Smaller labels can have a problem with distribution compared to major labels. How are you overcoming that?
Vinny: We took a chance with distribution but the guy who runs the label is getting it together. He is making a video for us and his distribution is getting bigger and bigger. We don’t have a long contract with him so we can always go somewhere else. He is a great guy who is really high energy and is totally into the band. Sometimes that is very important.
Jeb: Do you have to think outside the box where marketing is concerned?
Vinny: We use the internet a lot since we don’t have as much distribution into the stores. We have hired Chipster Entertainment who is getting us a lot of publicity. There is more work yourself but you still maintain control.
Jeb: Can you make more doing it yourself? How many records do you have to sell on a small label with lower overhead to equal what you can make with less of a percentage on a large label?
Vinny: That all depends on what the deal is. You may have gotten a certain amount of money up-front and you have to pay that back. That means that you don’t make as much money per record. Sometimes with the small labels you can get money up-front that you don’t have to pay back. Nobody does the standard rate anymore so it can get complicated.
Jeb: You were going to tour on this album were you not?
Vinny: We were scheduled to start putting some shows together and getting some management but then the Heaven & Hell thing came up. So, we kind of put it on hold and we thought we would make a video and then during breaks with Heaven & Hell, if I can possibly do dates with Three Legged Dogg then I will.
Jeb: So you had to go in and say, "Sorry guys."
Vinny: You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. The Heaven & Hell thing is part of my roots and is a big deal so I can’t pass that up.
Jeb: I may be clairvoyant because when I heard of Heaven & Hell, Bill Ward of Sabbath was the drummer. I emailed you and said, "Are you ready to tour?"
Vinny: [laughing] I know, I know. When I heard Bill was doing it I thought that anything can happen. Sure enough I got a call from Wendy Dio and she told me Bill was not going to be involved. I told her I would love to be a part of it. She said, "Can you leave tomorrow?" The next day I was on a flight to London. A car picked me up and took me to Birmingham to Tony’s [Iommi] house. We recorded three new tracks in the studio that Tony has in his house. It went by really quick. I did the first song that night. I said, "Lets start getting the drum sound" and then I began waking up and I put the track down.
Jeb: Had you heard the songs before you showed up at Tony’s?
Vinny: Not one note. There was no pressure [laughter].
Jeb: Honestly, what is your take on the three new tracks?
Vinny: When I first heard them they had played the music to a drum machine and I thought it sounded great. They are really cool songs. They sound kind of modern but they are very Sabbath-like and they are very heavy. Once I got my drums on them suddenly it all began to sound like a band. I think the songs are really what Sabbath should sound like in 2007.
Jeb: Have you started actual rehearsals yet?
Vinny: We just started Monday. On the first day we were amazed at how tight it sounded. It was like we had never stopped playing. We were all just blown away.
Jeb: What was the first song you guys rehearsed?
Vinny: "After All" from Dehumanizer. We started with that song – or was it? Actually, it was "Computer God" and then it was that one. We are only playing the Dio era. Tony and Geezer [Butler] have just done all the stuff with Ozzy. If the band had not been together for a long time and we went out and didn’t play any classic Ozzy era Sabbath stuff then that would be different but since they have been playing with Ozzy in Black Sabbath that makes it different.
Jeb: Was Angry Machines the last album you did with DIO? That has been ten years ago.
Vinny: Oh it has been longer than that. I think it was 1997.
Jeb: Uh, Vinny, that would be ten years.
Vinny: [much laughter] Oh yeah, I guess that is ten years, isn’t it? Hello!
Jeb: Well, you have been working hard!
Vinny: Actually, we did just decide to take the weekend off, so I am just chilling out.
Jeb: How is it to hear that Ronnie, at his age, is still as strong a singer as he was thirty years ago?
Vinny: It is great to be back. I have seen Ronnie here and there but we had not had a chance to talk. We have been able to catch up on things this time. When I first heard his voice again it felt really cool. Within five minutes it felt natural. Ronnie is just singing his ass off. He is actually singing better than he has ever sung.
Jeb: Tony and Ronnie will have to coexist again. Both are natural born leaders. Do you think they can do it this time?
Vinny: They have worked together before and they have realized how to work together without having any discrepancies. Ronnie was writing with Tony before this project got to this stage. I think that after all these years it will go pretty smooth.
Jeb: Will you be playing all three new songs on the tour?
Vinny: We are putting all three in there. The set list is really, really strong on this tour.
Jeb: Is this the second time you have replaced Bill Ward?
Vinny: It is more like the third time. I replaced him on the Heaven & Hell tour. Bill left and they had heard of me and they called me and asked me to come down. I went on tour with them and then we finished the tour and we did the Mob Rules and the Live Evil albums. Sabbath got back together and were going to do Dehumanizer and Cozy Powell was going to be the drummer but he fell off a horse and broke his pelvis. Tony said, "Let’s call Vinny." They were having issues at that time so I didn’t think that one was going to last for long. The next time I replaced Bill was when they were doing the reunion tour with Ozzy. Bill had a minor heart attack during rehearsals and couldn’t do it. So Heaven & Hell makes the third time I replaced Bill plus one time, I replaced Cozy.
Jeb: You have made a career of replacing Sabbath’s drummers!
Vinny: I just have not been involved with them at the beginning of the projects. It just has worked out that way.
Jeb: How did they hear about you the first time? Was it when you were playing with Derringer?
Vinny: Actually, I was with a band called Axis at the time. I joined them right after I left Derringer. Axis did an album and was right in the middle of getting management when Sabbath called.
Jeb: Sabbath was turbulent at that time. By the time the live album was released Ronnie and you had already moved on.
Vinny: We knew the band was breaking up. Tony and Geezer wanted me to play with them in Sabbath and Ronnie wanted me to go with him to start a new band. In the end, it was easier to go with Ronnie because he lived in LA and I lived in LA. I wanted to be home doing things instead of flying back and forth to England.
Jeb: Holy Diver is perhaps the best metal album of the 80's. Did you know it was that good at the time?
Vinny: When we were making Holy Diver we just went about our business of putting some ideas down. We had a lot of fun making that album. We were all crazy. We didn’t think we were making a classic album. We were just making what we felt. Everything came from the heart. We had no preconceived notions of anything. I remember one of my roadies coming up to me and saying, "This is going to go platinum." I told him that we would keep our fingers crossed. Who would have known that twenty-five years later the thing is still selling. You just don’t know that at the time.
Jeb: What is your take on why Vivian Campbell got fired by Ronnie?
Vinny: After a while Viv wanted to go out and play his own music – a different kind of music than DIO made. I don’t think Ronnie was really keen on that and neither was the rest of the band. It caused a lot of friction so Ronnie decided he was going to get rid of Viv. That is what happened with that.
Jeb: Do you feel that original line up was the strongest he has ever had?
Vinny: That is the classic lineup. There are certain lineups of bands that are magical. When you replace one of those members then it can still sound good but the magic is just not there. In Black Sabbath they had chemistry with Ozzy and with Dio. I did think that was the best lineup for Dio. All the success and all the biggest songs came from that initial line up.
Jeb: Do you feel the same type of chemistry in Three Legged Dogg?
Vinny: Yeah, we are a real band. We have been on the road with the Allstarz and we have lived together on the road – that is what makes you a tight band. We didn’t try the perfect mix of people in the band – it just all fell together. Like you said before, it is not forced. I really believe that if it is forced then you can hear it. When things are natural then it comes across that way.
Jeb: Before we go I have to talk about the only famous brother drum duo I have ever heard of – Carmine and Vinny Appice.
Vinny: We are the only ones I know of. There is an eleven-year difference in our ages. Carmine was in Vanilla Fudge and I would go see him play in these rock shows when I was nine years old. I was like, "Wow, this is what I want to do." Carmine was already out of the house. We never grew up in the house and had competition between us.
Jeb: Last one: how did your parents cope with two generations of rock drummers in the house?
Vinny: My Dad replaced the ceiling in the basement a few times because it fell down. At least for them there were years between us. Imagine if we had both lived in the house at the same time? My parents were very supportive of both of us. They let Carmine do his thing. They never told him to get a job and have something to fall back on. Their support was really important to us. We had other drummers in the family whose parents were not as supportive. They wanted them to have something to fall back on and sometimes that just does not work.
LINK:http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/Interviews07/vinnie2007.htm
