Hey everyone! I’ll tell you what… I’ve conducted my fair share of interviews, and I’ve read hundreds (hasn’t everyone?). The majority of them, I’m sure you would agree, tend to reflect a certain degree of rigid structure in their outline-ish, pre-set Q&A form. I know what you’re probably thinking: interviews are supposed to be that way, right?
Well, okay, theoretically speaking, I suppose they are. And while I am totally fine with the usual background and history questions (always fascinating in their very individual answers) and equally happy to throw in a bunch from our readers, I’m not much for boring predictability. I am absolutely thrilled out of my mind when I find an artist who likes to mix it up as much as I do!
Needless to say, my expectations for a great interview were rather high when I learned that I would have the opportunity to go on the record with Kelly Keagy—best known for his 25-plus-year career as Night Ranger’s multi-talented drummer, singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Impressive, yeah? No kidding! How many people out there can’t walk and chew gum at the same time? Musicians who can sing lead and play drums always amaze me, but those who can sing lead, play drums, and make it sound as incredible as Kelly does blow me out of the water completely!
I was not disappointed. Far from it, in fact. With an incredibly diverse history—from his career with Night Ranger to The Mob (featuring Winger’s Reb Beach, King’s X frontman Doug Pinnick, and Timothy Drury), his contribution to the Shaw/Blades Influence project, the intense all-star rock project Scrap Metal, and a smokin’ solo career—I knew this interview was going to be in a class by itself.
I did start out with the requisite list of questions, which Kelly answered and then some. If you think all the projects I just mentioned keep him busy, you’re right, but that ain’t the half of it! So, if you’ve got some time to join us, grab a seat and check out Kelly’s thoughts on everything from the state of modern music to “pulling up the weeds of life”… actually, you know what? I’ll let him tell you. Come on in…
Blast Music Coalition: Okay, Kelly, you’re not going to believe me when this interview is over, but I cut this way down. I could probably fill today, tomorrow, and half of next week satisfying everyone’s minds because there’s just so much to talk about with you. But let’s start with Scrap Metal. What were your thoughts when the idea was first presented to you?
Kelly Keagy: Well, about a year ago when we first did this, I was like, “Okay, it’s really going to be fun to work with these guys.” I’ve known them for years and I’d never actually gotten a chance to play music with them. I was thinking about how these are all just great songs. Then, after we played that first show, we all had that look in our eyes. It was like, “What are we gonna do now?” You know, we did this thing and now we have this thread running through all of us, including all of our guests. They were all wide-eyed too, like, “Wow! That was great!”
That was what got this whole thing started. Of course, when you have an experience like that, you’re going to want to continue it. But it’s not always possible because everybody has their own side projects, bands, and careers going on outside of it. It can be really hard to focus on one thing like Scrap Metal, which is a huge undertaking, when you have all that other stuff going on. So at first, I kind of went along with it like, “Okay, it would be great if we could pull it off.” But as time went by, it became more and more apparent that we were going to be able to do something serious with this thing. It’ll be hard for us to focus all our attention on it until we have a cohesive story to continue. We don’t have much history yet, but as long as we keep playing shows and turning people on to the music, I think this thing will only keep growing. It’s going to be awesome.
Blast: It’s looking that way already. The response to that first show at the Wolf Den was amazing, and even now, over a month later, things are obviously still going strong. People are talking about it at every show.
KK: It’s different musicians with their individual histories, and they’re all interpreting music that has been on the record and played by their original bands. Bringing in this texture of influences and their own ideas to play these songs is such an exciting thing.
Blast: Absolutely. ’80s metal fans are so pumped about this. But listening to them talk, they don’t seem to regard it in a typical, nostalgic, “classics from yesterday” sort of way. It feels completely in the now—it’s music from their favorite rockers, and there’s more on the way right here in 2007. It’s really cool.
KK: Yeah, it’s so great. We do have some original songs that we’ve been working on that we need to get back into the studio for, but of course, the touring season is coming up again. Night Ranger has two albums coming out: a live one and a new studio album called Hole in the Sun. Plus, my solo album is out, so we’re all incredibly busy. Gunnar and Matthew [Nelson] have stuff going on, and Slaughter is out there this summer. It’s going to be tough, but we have six songs that we started back around October in my studio, so we have to finish those up and make a record.
Blast: Gunnar touched briefly on that when I interviewed him. Any idea when we will get to hear some of the new material?
KK: I have no idea! We have so much on our plates right now. You know, we’re filming this NSAI show to finish off our promotional reel for this project because we want people to see what this is. It’s not going to be for sale, though. It’s strictly going to be for promoters so we can book more shows, get out there, and play more for the fans.
Blast: There’s a huge demand on the internet—particularly on the band’s MySpace page—to see Scrap Metal on a full tour. While we’re on the subject, what are your thoughts on MySpace?
KK: Oh, I think it’s very cool. It puts you in touch with people you would never normally communicate with if you just had a standard, static website, because people can really talk directly to you that way. So MySpace is a good thing; I love it.
Blast: We’re looking forward to seeing CJ Snare [of FireHouse] and several other guests join Scrap Metal. What made CJ the right choice to come work with you guys?
KK: He’s just always been a good friend. Night Ranger has done three or four shows with FireHouse, and they’re a great bunch of guys. I’ve always thought CJ was such a wonderful singer and a massive talent, so we thought, “Let’s call him up and see if he wants to do it.” He jumped at the chance. We’re looking to get as many guest stars as possible to keep it interesting—not necessarily just guys from Night Ranger, Slaughter, or the Nelsons, but everyone who wants to come in. It’s so important because a lot of musicians don’t get to play out as much anymore, or they aren’t doing as many gigs. I think it’s a really great thing that we can promote everybody’s career together.
Blast: Are we likely to see any of the other members of Night Ranger pop up as guests at future Scrap Metal shows?
KK: I’ve talked to Brad Gillis about doing something like that, and Jack Blades, of course. We’re going to just keep rotating people into the lineup. Jack could do some Damn Yankees tunes, which was also a very successful band, so that would be awesome. Then we’d do some other Night Ranger stuff too, so there’s that. Brad had a solo career as well, and I always thought it would be really fun to dig into some of those songs.
Blast: The possibilities are endless!
KK: Yeah! And this Nashville show is also being filmed as part of a celebrity reality TV show concept. It’s part of a promo package we wanted to put together—like a two-and-a-half-minute blast of, “What is this thing?” These are the people in it, and this is what it’s about. It’s built for TV, too. It’ll cover putting this band together and all the things you go through trying to make it work when the guests live in different states and, in some cases, different countries. Eventually, we’d like to get more people from other countries involved, too. But basically, the show would be about the trials and tribulations of putting together a band of different personalities—how things work or don’t work, certain songs, and how different people want to play them. Like, “How could I play that knucklehead idea?” “Well, what do you mean?” “Well, that’s not right!” (laughs) You get the idea. It’s stuff like that, showing how putting a band together can be hard work.
Blast: Sounds like it’s going to be quite a trip. Let’s talk about your solo projects, Time Passes and I’m Alive—both awesome CDs, by the way. Has any of that new music been played live yet, and are you anticipating playing it at shows in the near future?
KK: Thank you. I’ve grabbed an agent to see if I can set up some dates. I’m doing some shows in Europe, and some in Belgium in August with Jim Peterik, because he helped me write the record. I’m going to work with him over there, but right now, there really aren’t any plans for me to do anything strictly solo, other than maybe dropping one or two songs from my albums into the Night Ranger set. We’re going on tour this summer, and we’re going to pull out each other’s solo tunes and perform them alongside the new Night Ranger songs.
Blast: And you’ve got a new live album coming out soon, too?
KK: That’s going to be on Sony/BMG, so it’s going to be everywhere, but there’s no official release date for it just yet. It’s a concert we recorded about three or four years ago in Japan when we were over there. We’re actually heading back there in June to support it. The Japanese promoters want Scrap Metal to come over as well; in fact, we just got a request asking what it would take to get us over there, so we’re currently negotiating that.
Blast: That’s great. There have been so many requests from all over the world to have you guys play. I’ve seen a lot of fans from Australia and India sending messages online, too. That would be one hell of a tour.
KK: I’ve never actually been to Australia; Night Ranger never played there. I don’t know why, but I’d love to go over and turn people on to the music there. It would be a lot of fun.
Blast: I’m sure you’d be warmly welcomed, especially since they’ve never seen you live. The second Scrap Metal show is coming up in a couple of weeks as part of NSAI’s [Nashville Songwriters Association International] Tin Pan South Festival. Sounds like you’re going to have quite a party on that stage.
KK: Oh yeah. I don’t know if you know this, but we have Artimus Pyle from Lynyrd Skynyrd coming in for this show. He’s doing “Gimme Three Steps,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” and “What’s Your Name.”
Blast: Wow, people are going to go crazy for that!
KK: Yeah, it’s a little different lineup this time because we have more special guests coming in. Along with Artimus Pyle, we have Chas Sandford, who wrote “Missing You” for John Waite and also wrote a big hit for Stevie Nicks called “Talk to Me,” so we’ll probably do those two songs. Also, we have Alex Call, who wrote “867-5309/Jenny.” We’ll get that one in there too. It’s going to be a great show.
Blast: I’m so glad I’m not missing it! Now, you’ve also contributed to the Shaw/Blades CD and several other projects recently?
KK: Right. Mark [Slaughter] and I have a duet we’re doing for the Liberty and Justice For All CD. We’ve also been doing the Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp, which happens twice a year in February and August. We’ve been doing that for the last couple of years. Between that, the Scrap Metal thing, Mark being out doing shows with Slaughter, and Gunnar doing these cruise shows—which are really amazing—it keeps us moving. I’d love to be part of one of those cruises sometime; get Scrap Metal out on a boat in the Caribbean playing a rock show.
Blast: That would be something. I’d have to catch that one!
KK: Yeah, wouldn’t that be great?
Blast: Absolutely! So, what areas of the States is Night Ranger playing this summer?
KK: Right now we’re just starting to book dates; we’ve got about ten booked so far, but nothing on the East Coast yet. There are a bunch of West Coast dates and one in Tennessee in September. It’s kind of spotty right now, but it’s starting to fill up.
Blast: Well, we hope to see you back out this way. I know the Wolf Den in Connecticut is usually one of your regular stops on the East Coast.
KK: Yeah, we love playing that place. It’s always a great gig, and there are great people there, too. It’s not just the venue; the whole Mohegan Sun resort is awesome. You could easily go there just on vacation! I’m looking forward to going back there with Scrap Metal in November. There’s a larger arena there too, I think.
Blast: There is; we’ve got a bunch of huge shows happening there this summer. The one that stands out the most to me is Foreigner. They’re coming in June, which should be a good one.
KK: Oh, Foreigner puts on such a great show. I saw them not too long ago. We actually went to Europe with them back in 1985. What a great experience it was being out with those guys.
Blast: 1985. Hmmm… doesn’t feel like more than two decades, does it?
KK: Not at all! But you know, I think I feel better now than I ever did back then. We were always so completely exhausted from touring. We did one run that lasted eighteen months straight. It was crazy. Management was just like, “Go, go, go, go!” and we were like, “I feel like I’m eighty when I’m only twenty-five!”
Blast: Wow, a year and a half. That’s a long time to be on the road. It’s got to be pretty tough on your family, too.
KK: Yeah, it was rough on them. And we still never got to Australia! I don’t know how that happened! (laughs). On that specific tour, we did Japan twice, Europe, and then all over Canada and America.
Blast: No kidding. For spending a year and a half of your life on the road, you really should have seen Australia! So, Shaw/Blades is doing some US dates as well; will you be making appearances at any of them?
KK: If they come to this area, I’ll probably go out and sing a song with them. They’re promoting Influence right now, which is being sponsored by VH1. Are you going to go check them out?
Blast: Definitely. In fact, I’d love to review that show. Their first album, Hallucination, was fantastic; I still listen to it quite a bit.
KK: Yeah, that was a great album.
Blast: Your head must be spinning with all this stuff going on simultaneously!
KK: Yeah, I’m starting to get overwhelmed here! I don’t know what to do! (laughs)
Blast: So, what do you do when you’re not working?
KK: Work! (laughs). Really, I’m constantly working on songs. I’m playing with a band right now in Nashville alongside four of the biggest country songwriters here. They set up gigs about once a month at the Bluebird Café, so I’ve been playing with them. I’ve also been trying to co-write with some of the local songwriters here because I always need material.
Blast: That sounds like a lot of fun too. I don’t know how you manage to fit it all in. What do you do when you’re not writing songs or playing? When you finally get some actual downtime?
KK: Um… I’m getting ready to garden! I’m going to go dig out some weeds in my garden!
Blast: There you go. Gardening can be a pretty low-key way to spend the day.
KK: Yes, well, it’s kind of a metaphor for life—you’ve gotta keep pulling up all the weeds!
Blast: I would have to agree with you there!
(Am I the only one left with a sudden visual of Kelly in heavy-duty gardening gloves, belting out “Sing Me Away” while chucking weeds over his shoulder one by one?)
Blast: Okay, everybody’s got a pretty solid list of influences. To give our readers a little background, who would you say had the greatest impact on your decision to become a musician?
KK: I grew up in the ’60s, so of course, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix. Those really flamboyant, massive musical personalities were what got me moving down the road toward being a musician. Then, not too long after that, I started playing drums. Once I got behind the drum set and realized that I could actually play the songs, it was like—forget it, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I was probably right around the ripe old age of eight.
Blast: An early start. Was it the same case with singing? Were you singing all the time as a kid, too?
KK: You know, I started singing Elvis Presley songs when I was about four. I would hear Elvis records and I’d be trying to copy the exact phrasing of the whole thing he did. The first time I saw him on TV, I was like, “Wow, who is that?”
Blast: I want to see pictures of this!
KK: Actually, I had one up on my website a few years back! I think I was eight years old, with my hair parted deeply down the side, doing my full Elvis thing. (laughs)
Blast: What about music today? What do you think of what’s out there on the radio right now?
KK: I love The All-American Rejects, Audioslave, and hard, heavy music like that with great lyrics. I try to listen to everything. I was heavily influenced by the early ’90s music scene too. The guys who continue their careers from that era are the ones I tend to gravitate toward, like Soundgarden—I love the musical roots they all came from. But take a band like The All-American Rejects; they have fantastic melodies in their songs, and that’s what I really appreciate about them. As well as having a young, energetic vibe to them, they write really great hooks.
Blast: That’s one of the few questions that I make sure to ask in almost every interview, and I get such a huge range of answers. Some of them are incredibly negative, and some are very positive. It’s always fascinating to hear the different perspectives from veterans in the industry.
KK: I know, some people are immediately like, “Oh, they all suck,” or, “I don’t know, I don’t listen to any of that modern stuff.” Personally, I think when you’re a songwriter, it’s not a good idea to listen to too much outside music while you’re actively creating. If I’m writing an album, I won’t be listening to anything but what’s in my heart—what’s inside of me needs to get out, so I don’t want it clouded or influenced by someone else’s current ideas. But after I’m entirely done writing, I’ll go right back to the radio and check out all the new stuff.
Blast: It’s incredibly refreshing to hear from someone with such an open mind about it. The phrase “three-chord wonder” is among the most common negative descriptions I hear used to dismiss so many bands today, both in interviews and in general conversation.
KK: Well, they said that exact same thing about the Beatles early on, and look what happened there! I remember back in the day when everyone was looking at new rock acts like, “Oh man, these guys are gonna be gone by next year!” The thing is, there’s no reason to be negative; there’s more than enough room in this industry for everybody, and everybody deserves to be heard. I think the most positive thing that could be happening right now is for all different kinds of music to get exposure. I’ve actually been listening to a lot of jazz lately; I was a big jazz-fusion fan back in the ’70s with Tony Williams and all those great bands. I still go back and reference those records and their arrangements. I try not to let myself get tunnel vision; I genuinely enjoy listening to everything.
Blast: All right, so if we walked out to your car right this second, what would we hear playing in the deck?
KK: Well, right now I’ve been preparing for an upcoming show I’m going to be doing. It’s a private corporate event, but it features some of the guys from the Fantasy Camp—like Mark Farner from Grand Funk Railroad, Bruce Kulick from KISS, Alice Cooper, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter [of Steely Dan/The Doobie Brothers], and Simon Kirke [of Bad Company/Free]. We’re putting together this custom show that came together through the Fantasy Camp network, so we’re rehearsing Bad Company tunes, Steely Dan, and The Doobie Brothers. Then we’ve got Alice Cooper involved, so we’re doing “School’s Out,” and we’ll throw some Night Ranger songs into the set list too. We’ve put together a set that is just unbelievable! I’m going to try to recruit those guys into some Scrap Metal shows down the road, too.
Blast: Wow, what an insane lineup for a single stage!
KK: Oh yeah, there’s about twelve songs total we’re going to do. The stuff from Farner is incredible—we’re doing “Closer to Home (I’m Your Captain).” I’m just looking at this master list right now, and I have all the tracks programmed into my iPod to study. I’m practically salivating over here!
Blast: And this is just for one single show?
KK: Yeah, it’s just for one night, and it’s a private event. But I’d love to play more with those guys, and I’ll get a chance to when we do the official Fantasy Camp events. Those public performances act like a real band, and it just absolutely kicks ass.
Blast: When I was offered the chance to do more Scrap Metal interviews, I threw a suggestion box out to the fans. We’ve got this incredible all-star lineup, and I had talked to Gunnar right after the first Scrap show—which was a fantastic conversation—and I want to talk with everyone else too. But I had to put them in some kind of order, so I appealed to the masses. The response from readers who wanted to hear from you came in faster and in bigger numbers than anyone else.
KK: Well, it’s so cool with a project like this because you see all these different fanbases cross over and come out to the venues. You know, some of them are just dedicated to the one specific star that they love, which is great. But then when they see all of us standing out there together… like when we came out and did the full meet-and-greet with the crowd after the show, it was amazing to see all these fans who might not have ever normally come out to a standard Night Ranger headline show. Or maybe fans of Nelson or Night Ranger wouldn’t have traditionally bought a ticket to see Slaughter. Seeing them all come together as one rock crowd was a beautiful thing. I really realized that when I was out there shaking hands. It was just awesome.
Blast: Yeah, they can’t get enough of it. You know, I had no idea I was even going to be at that first show myself until a few hours before it started. I drove down there thinking I’d just enjoy the performance as a fan and properly cover the next one. I didn’t bring my professional camera, my notebook, or anything! By the end of the very first song, “{(You Can Still) Rock in America},” I was sitting there watching the venue absolutely explode. I stood up and said, “I can’t NOT cover this show.” All my notes and the set list ended up scribbled on the backs of random business cards, and the pictures—get this—were taken entirely on my cell phone! That’s actually where that live shot of Eric [Brittingham] in the review came from. But I’m so happy to have had the chance to work with Scrap Metal; it’s been a phenomenal experience.
KK: That’s so cool! I know, this whole thing just took off like wildfire. While I was up there playing, I could see Eric back behind the drum riser near the backstage cave area before we officially brought him out, and he was literally jumping up and down like a little kid! He was completely rearing to go from the very beginning of the set; he was just like, “I want to come out now!!!” He wanted to be out on stage for every single song.
Blast: I think it’s incredibly safe to say a full-scale Scrap Metal tour would be a massive success.
KK: Yeah, we’ll probably be booking dates into October, November, and December. We are actively trying to lock down an official tour routing and make that a core part of the reality show recording process. It’s going to be great.
Blast: Well, I guess we’ll have to save the other ten pages of questions for Kelly Keagy, Part II… keep ’em guessing! Thanks so much for taking some time out of your schedule to chat, Kelly. This has really been a blast.
KK: Okay, thanks! This was great. See you soon!
Okay you guys, there you have it—Kelly Keagy, Part I. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed sitting down for it. Stay tuned for Part II, where we discuss… nah, forget it, you’ll just have to wait and see!
In the meantime, hang out with us for our upcoming complete review of Scrap Metal’s second live show at the Cannery Ballroom in Nashville as part of NSAI’s Tin Pan South Festival. And don’t forget to check out Night Ranger’s upcoming releases, the studio album Hole in the Sun and their brand-new live album!
