Former W.A.S.P. Drummer TONY RICHARDS Speaks

Full in Bloom Music recently conducted an interview with former W.A.S.P./DANTE FOX (pre-GREAT WHITE) drummer Tony Richards. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Full in Bloom Music: Did you play with anybody before you hooked up with Jack Russell and Mark Kendall?

Tony: No, I didn't do shit, because I didn't know anyone. I didn't know where to go. So, I pretty much went to work and I was a good boy. I'd come home and hang out with my ex-girlfriend's old lady, which the girlfriend actually came out there and the mother had a guy living there. So it was kind of like a little family after awhile. We just kind of all worked and shit. I don't remember doing a lot, but you have to bear with me, this was a long time ago. (laughs) These are foggy days man. But I probably didn't do much for the first year that I was there. Eventually, I hooked up with Jack and Mark and that was the first band that I joined. At the time, they had a drummer, well the guy they ended up with, Audie Desbrow.

Full in Bloom Music: Audie was playing with them back then, before "Shot in the Dark"?

Tony: Yeah, but at the time, the guy couldn't play a note. I thought he was OK, you know? I was hungry and all that and wanted to play, but I wasn't the type of guy that would be like "Fuck that dude, I could drum circles around that guy." I didn't do that. I was just a guy that kind of hung around and everybody was like, "Who is this guy; who is this guy?" I remember this, because I was just loner from out of town, but I could play and people caught on to that. Before I knew it, they were asking me. So, I guess the way I remember it is, they got rid of Audie and pulled me in and we were in DANTE FOX.

Full in Bloom Music: Did you play with any other musicians that went on to be successful?

Tony: Just locally. I also even gave lessons for awhile. I was living in Long Beach and there were a bunch of kids in the neighborhood. I was just kicking back and not doing much. There used to be a place called Fender's Ballroom, in downtown Long Beach. They used to have a lot of punk shows there. I would hang out with bands like BLACK FLAG, X and all these different people that would come through there. I would go there and have drinks and watch the shows. Sometimes, I would even kind of work there, you know, clean up and shit. Because I used to live across the street and I knew the owners. So, I fucked off a lot of time, where I just sat back and was disappointed because I couldn't find what I was looking for out there. So, I did waste some time.

Read the entire interview at www.fullinbloommusic.com.