These days Paul Judge makes music with ‘Gunners’ possibly Australia’s best Guns ‘n’ Roses cover band , but when we first met he was bassist for ‘Baby Jane’ the West Australian rockers who captured the sound of the sleazy end of The Sunset Strip via Skid Row. He’s always been a man on a mission though and I’d always see him out and about when a band was in town with his bass guitar in tow getting it signed. There are some very impressive signatures on there.
So here we go in the first of our ‘Collectors Corner’ interviews ‘One man and his bass’. So if you’ve got a great Rock and Roll collection and want to tell us about it and have it featured on The Rockpit let us know…
Mark: I guess the first question Paul is how did it all start?
Paul: You know what, I can’t remember what put the idea in my head to get on the bus and to go into Fremantle with this thing. But Anthrax in 1996 were doing a signing outside of Mills Records Bar, the now defunct Freo Records store, Actually I think it’s still there but its nothing like it used to be. And they had a big sign outside of the window “Anthrax signing live next week” because they had a show they were playing at Metros and I was going through a mad Anthrax phase at the time ‘Stomp 442’ had just come out, ‘Sound of White Noise’ had been out for a while. I was never a fan of Anthrax when they had Joey Belladonna which ironically was when they were at their peak, but that band with John Bush were just one of my favourite bands around, I just thought they kicked arse with him. And I was going through that stage so I thought “They’re doing a signing, I’ve never met a rock star before” (laughs) “I’ll take my bass in and get them to sign it” I can’t really remember what the point of it was, but it was certainly never going to be an ongoing thing. I just wanted to have a bass that was signed by a band that I was crazy about at the time. So I got on the bus, I didn’t have a case for it and I walked through Freo with this red bass and they signed it and then I got on the bus and went home and it kind of snowballed from there. After that someone would suggest “Hey the Sex Pistols are coming into town let’s go look for them and see if they’ll sign it?” So it wasn’t like a plan it was just like looking for a needle in the haystack or stabbing in the dark kind of thing – let’s see if I can get someone that I like to sign it.
Mark: I have a mate in Melbourne who is the world’s best Rock star stalker and he has managed to grab pretty much every big band that has come over to Australia from Aerosmith and Metallica to Judas Priest, virtually everyone, and there is an art to it. How much of your collecting is done at places like airports and hotels and places like that?
Paul: I would say Airports about 50 percent, if you can take a guess where they’re coming from and when they get in, even if you don’t have a contact telling you it’s pretty easy to figure out, so I’d say 50% is airports, 25% is meet and greets and the other 25% is done at hotels. But airports are the easiest for sure.
Mark: So you have had to pay for some, I know I’ve seen you at a few meet and greets when I’ve been taking photos, what was the most expensive signature you’ve got?
Paul: Oh Ace Frehley by far that one cost me $700 Australian dollars!
Mark: Ow!
Paul: And he’s notorious for not signing without being paid for it, and I’m not such a big fan of Ace the man, but as a Kiss freak if there was an opportunity to get him on there I was gonna pay whatever it was going to cost to be honest! I did have more money than sense at the time I did that, so would I do it now, probably not, but at the time I was always gonna go that route.
Mark: What’s your most memorable encounter?
Paul: Oh man that’s a tough question, probably the Sex Pistols…
Paul: Or I should say Steve Jones and Johnny Rotten. There are some awesome stories that come with these but I’d just been waiting out of the back of the Entertainment centre all day and after the gig I went back round and Johnny came out of the back door and someone grabbed him in a headlock. It was just really strange and shocking that someone who had been at the show would run up to him and do that. They ran up shouting “Johnny” really drunk, put him in a head-lock and Johnny got really angry shouting “Where’s the bloody van?” And before he got in I just went up to him and said “Look I’ve been waiting here all day can you please sign this” and he signed it, a really nice signature, then he got in the van and took off. But there have been loads of great moments – Micky Dee and Phil Campbell from Motörhead were great, we took them to Black Betty’s and hung out with them all night and that was pretty memorable because when we went out, the staff at Black Betty’s thought we were all in Motley Crue and Motörhead!
Mark: (laughs)
Paul: Even though we all had Australian accents and clearly weren’t Rock stars, but because we were with Phil and Micky they thought that we were, so that was pretty memorable, but there’s heaps of memorable stories. There are so many it would take me all night to go through them all.
Mark: I know I’ve seen you so many times, I remember the night that you were outside the hotel when Kiss, Motley Crue and Thin Lizzy were in town. I was talking to Scott from Thin Lizzy who I’d interviewed a few times but not met before, and Paul Stanley came over, and as a kid I was a huge Kiss fan, and he said hello and mistook me for Marco Mendoza (who was playing with Lizzy at the time) we had the same hair and beard and a similar shirt on! But there must have been some frustrating ones for you too amongst all the great stories, was there one that got away?
Paul: Paul Stanley he was one he just looked at it and said “I won’t sign that” and kept walking. I don’t know what that was about, I’d read that he only signs guitars that he has signature models released of, so it might be a contractual thing but that was a bit of a letdown because I could tell by the way he was looking at it that he could tell some of the people that were on it. But he was just flat out not interested, not gonna sign it. Vince Neil was very disappointing, he just completely ignored me, I was following him around and the more he ignored me the stupider I felt, he just completely ignored me it would have been better if he’d looked at me and told me to piss off!
Mark: (laughs)
Paul: I would have preferred that.
Mark: It’s such a shame, we’ve followed these guys for years paid their wages by buying their music and it’s a shame. I must admit I’ve collected a lot of signatures over the years but I never thought of getting them all together on the one instrument. I’ve got a number of pick guards and a number of guitars signed but never thought of getting them all in the one spot. It’s a wonderful idea, but what happens when it gets full?
Paul: Oh it is full, I got Noel Gallagher last week, and I don’t know why I’m still doing it – I’m not even an Oasis fan! So some guys I’ve gotten on there are sort of a spur of the moment thing because the person I’ve been looking for hasn’t been around so it’s been like a consolation prize person! (laughs)
Mark: (laughs)
Paul: But I have Liam Gallagher on there and I thought I’ll get Noel and then I’ve got Oasis pretty much! But if I limited it to people I liked there wouldn’t be many people on it so at this point I’m just kind of just filling it up with people who are famous. It’s turned into more of a superficial thing now just because it looks so cool.
Mark: So when it’s done is there another bass in the wings waiting?
Paul: No way once it’s full that’s it – there’s room for maybe two more and I’m saving those for Brian May and Justin Hawkins and once they’re on it is done! I’m getting it framed and then it will go on the wall and that will be it. Id’ be going till I was 60 if I got another one!
Mark: It will be hard to frame it though won’t it as there is one on the back isn’t there.
Paul: Yes when Zakk Wylde signed it he decided to sign it on the back on the plate that goes over the electrics, I think he did that as a way of excluding his signature from everyone else’s! I didn’t ask him to do that and as soon as he did I just thought, “Oh God how am I going to display this now!” But luckily he signed it on the wiring lid so I can take that off and display that with it. And Slash has since signed that and so has Josh Todd and John Corabi, so I’ve got four of them on that so it looks great.
Mark: So the big question is if you could have absolutely anyone on there who would your dream signature be?
Paul: You do ask some tough questions Mark… I would have to say probably Axl Rose because I missed him by five minutes last time and he is the pinnacle of Rock Star divas if you know what I mean and at one point he was probably the biggest name on earth. So if I could get him on there I think I would be quite happy and in fact I would probably stop right away.
Mark: I know you’re a collector of other things as well, do you think this is an extension of that? I have a few collections myself, mainly music, there’s a couple of bands where I have to get absolutely everything they have released. And when I get that completed I’ll move on to another. I find it quite absorbing.
Paul: I’m like that with a few things and a few people who know me well think it’s an unhealthy obsession. But I think it’s a way of staying sane and staying interested in life in general. Some people say they throw themselves into their work but I throw myself into fantasy if that makes sense, I’m a Marvel freak, not as much a comic freak but a movie freak. When a movie comes out I will go and buy everything that comes with it, for the history and the mythology of it all and it all goes back to my childhood. It is what it is, I can’t change it, it’s the same with Star Wars, I’m an absolute Star Wars freak.
Mark: Have you watched The Mandalorian?
Paul: That has got me back into Star Wars big time after the disappointment of The Last Jedi.
Mark: It’s like they stripped it all back to what they had at the start of the original saga and the simplicity is what makes it. It is in a way like that ‘space western’ Lucas originally saw it as.
Paul: It is and that’s exactly what it needed.
Mark: Getting back to the bass, who is the most impressive on there do you think? When people see it whose signature gets most comments?
Paul: Well some people who have signed it have actually been quite taken aback by it, there was Whitfield Crane and Cordell Crocket from Ugly Kid Joe and they both said “Dude, we would be honoured to sign that” and then there’s other people who it doesn’t phase at all and they don’t care. And that’s fine as well. But ordinary people, other fans, there was one guy at Joe Satriani who I could hear, he was talking a bit louder than he should have been, I could hear him making a plan with his girlfriend to steal it, it was a bit of a worry, he was planning to roll me out front after the meet and greet but he managed to get himself kicked out before any of that could happen. So that made me think, shit, I’d better stop doing this, that was the first and only time it had become a bummer going out and getting an autograph. But most people are great and just wonder how long it’s taken me to get that done. And people are always looking at it and asking who’s on it, and at times it gets a bit annoying but you’ve gotta expect that when you go out with a bass covered in signatures.
Mark: I was trying to think the other day whether I met you first with the bass, or covering your band? I think I probably met you before I saw the legendary bass.
Paul: Probably you’ve been out there on the scene reviewing gigs and stuff for so long.
Mark: I shall have to come a see it once it’s all complete and framed up.
Paul: Oh mate you’re more than welcome to, it’s gonna look amazing.
Mark: I’ll take you up on that. So at the moment musically you’re playing with Gunners one of Australia’s best Guns ‘n’ Roses tribute bands. No more original music?
Paul: Mate I don’t miss original music at all, I love playing in the Gunners and we’ll have a really busy 2020. And that fulfills all my needs mate. People actually come to the shows, we make a bit of money, it’s fun and I loved Guns ‘n’ Roses growing up so it’s fun to pull on the leathers and the wig, and you get to be 25 again for the night. Making original music is great but where I’m coming from is that you kinda need to know when to stop, and I don’t take that much satisfaction in writing and playing it to nobody. I’d like to get it out there and I’d like to get a lot of people to hear it, but if I can’t do that I kind of felt like I’d wasted my time. But that’s just me and everyone is different, but I don’t worry about the original thing anymore. My priorities have changed.
Mark: It’s hard, music must be one of the most wonderful and also most frustrating pursuits. It’s so hard to get heard, and if you’re doing all of that promotion and making music it must be so draining for a local band.
Paul: The scene sucks, not the bands in it, there’s plenty of great bands, just the way that it’s gone. There’s no support, I’m not even sure if there is a record industry anymore actively looking to support anyone new. It’s just too hard, it’s so much effort for little or no return. With Babyjane we had our little window and we made the most of it and we did some great things. We thought that if we held on a little longer we’d catch on but we were a bit naive. We pretty much signed anything that came our way without doing our background checks and looking into it and that kind of put the brakes on. But it is what it is.
Mark: It’s hard out there mate. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today. Catch you soon.
Paul: We will, thanks Mark.
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