RICHIE KOTZEN Doesn't See Any Reason THE WINERY DOGS Shouldn't Continue

Mark Kadzielawa of 69 Faces Of Rock recently conducted an interview with THE WINERY DOGS guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

69 Faces Of Rock: The original version of what became THE WINERY DOGS was supposed to be with John Sykes. Well, that didn't work out, so how did Mike [Portnoy] and Billy [Sheehan] find you?

Richie Kotzen: Well, I don't know much about what they were doing with John. I don't really know. All I do know is that they were talking about doing something with him, but it never materialized. Billy and Mike wanted to play together and do something in the trio format. It was Eddie Trunk, the DJ, who approached me to find out if I was interested. The timing was just perfect because I just finished a long cycle for my last record, "24 Hours", which I was touring a lot. I was about to start a new record. The three of us got together in my house, and the first day, we went into my studio, and started playing, and came up with a bunch of ideas, and from there we developed those ideas into songs. And once we had seven or eight of those, we started cutting the record.

69 Faces Of Rock: How quickly before the three of you realized there was some outstanding chemistry happening?

Richie Kotzen: It was just that first day. I think on that day we recorded three or four ideas, and basically it was the guitar riffs and chord changes, and I went back and finished those off. The first one I remember singing on was "Six Feet Deeper" and "Criminal". These were the first two I sent back. And then we got together again, and continued to work in the same manner. Then I had a bunch of songs that I had previously written, that I brought into the band, and some of them we left alone, and a couple of them we've reworked, and that's basically it. Once we had it down we decided to start recording, we booked time at my place, and did drums over the course of two weeks. These guys went on tour with another project they have called PSMS. While they were on the road, I basically did all my vocals and guitars, and then Billy came back and did his bass. There was another break, and we got together one last time to do percussion. I had already done a lot of the background vocals, but we still went in and added Billy's voice and Mike's voice to the mix. And that was it, the record was done.

69 Faces Of Rock: This has to be one of the quickest records ever written and recorded, yet the quality is definitely there.

Richie Kotzen: Thanks. I guess when you talk about it, it seems quick, but the reality is, it all happened over the course of a year. Initially, when we got together, it was around a NAMM show, and then I remember the year ended, and suddenly there was another NAMM show, and the record was already recorded. So, it took a year to put this together, but in little blocks.

69 Faces Of Rock: What really elevated the album are your vocals. You're known as a guitar player, but you're making a strong statement as a singer here. What is you background in this field?

Richie Kotzen: Well, the first time I ever sang on a record was in 1990 on my second solo record. It was called "Fever Dream", and I realized quickly that it was what I wanted to do. A lot of people who are familiar with me know that my first record was an instrumental record, and that was a nice opportunity to me, but it really wasn't what I wanted to do ultimately on a creative level. As a kid, I always was in bands with singers, and that's what I wanted to do. In the process, I remember when I was writing for that second record, I was sending demos to the label with various singers. And it was actually the record company that suggested that I sing myself. And so, at that point we moved forward. Over the years ,you obviously grow as a person, and so my writing style grew, and at this point, I don't really put a divide on what I do. I don't consider the guitar separate from the vocals, it's all in one. It's who I am. The first objective for me is writing, and coming up with the material, and the whole creative process. That's the focus, and the vehicle to get that across to people is singing and playing.

69 Faces Of Rock: The idea of a power trio goes back to the '60s and '70s. Was that a conscious decision on the part of the band?

Richie Kotzen: Well, as far as it relates to playing rock, I love that era. I love the late '60s/early '70s. I think that's the best era of rock music. The bands like THE WHO and THE ROLLING STONES, and Jimi Hendrix, all the bands really. That's the real, initial wave of rock that just changed everything, and I think that's a big part of my influence. Billy and Mike were influenced by that as well. We didn't discuss any of that, we didn't discuss the direction. It just kind of happened naturally. I think if it was anything other than that. If we went in and planned what kind of record we were gonna make, it wouldn't be as honest as it is. That's another thing about the record that I like, it really just is natural. That's what we sounded like when we played together, and when we recorded, and those were the songs we wrote, and so far we've gotten a great response.

69 Faces Of Rock: THE WINERY DOGS are very unique in every possible way. Will there be enough steam to keep this project going?

Richie Kotzen: I think so, and I think that as long as we are enjoying what we're doing, there's no reason why it shouldn't continue. Obviously the record is new, it just came out, and we're in the middle of our tour cycle, and that's been going very well. It's like any other record that comes out. As long as we get the opportunity to play, and we're enjoying what we're doing. I've been a solo artist since I was 18 years old, so obviously I'm gonna make another solo record. Billy has his fusion band, NIACIN, and there's no reason why he shouldn't make more records with that. We'll continue to do what we've always done, but now we have this other thing that is very cool, and very exciting, so there's no reason not to do it.

Read the entire interview from 69 Faces Of Rock.