Many years ago when I started The Rockpit I did it because I wanted to tell people all about the music I loved. Music that I felt was no longer on the radar of mainstream media but was still as relevant, and still as good as it ever was. It was music I knew other people out there loved just as much as I did, music that made you feel alive, music that made you forget about all that troubled you, even if just for a moment. Music that could transport you to a time and a place like nothing else could…
One of the first people I spoke to was John Corabi whose music I’d loved since seeing him play the only date his band The Scream ever played outside the United States at a sweaty Astoria theatre in the London back in 1991.
A lot of things of course have happened since then and I’ve been fortunate enough to catch up with John regularly over the phone or in person over the years. As a performer I have no reservation in saying he’s absolutely one of the very best out there, and man that voice has to be one of the greatest in the business. John has a book coming out soon called ‘Horseshoes and Hand Grenades’ (I can finally stop bugging him now) and is also coming to Australia for his acoustic ‘Songs & Stories Australian Tour’ in June.
Don’t expect a barrage of questions about Motley Crue and his departure from The Dead Daisies, though those bands are important parts of his story I’ll leave them for the book. This is a chat about the man and his music…
Mark: Hey John, how are you?
John: I’m great Mark.
Mark: I was just looking back at our archives you are now officially our most interviewed musician at The Rockpit.
John: Really? Well it’s great to be back again!
Mark: (laughs) Looking back this is now our ninth time over the twelve and a bit years we’ve been up and running. The first time was back before the solo album came out and we’ve tracked things ever since. It’s been an interesting twelve years to say the least.
John: Well definitely the last couple of years have been interesting, but as you know I have no complaints and no regrets, life is as it should be. I’m just happy coming back to play for you guys, doing these interviews and hopefully getting to see some of my Aussie mates when I get there.
Mark: We caught up last briefly in Melbourne after the show and the time before that was with Marco when we filmed the Dead Daisies interview, there’s been the MOR Cruise and all the way back to Rock In America. I think all that time I’ve been bugging you to write a book and now it’s finally coming out!
John: Yes. I have to admit that I was not planning on a book. As you know your mate Paul Miles wrote the book with me and it all came about from that run that we did in Australia in 2019 with the band. We were sitting outside of the Hotel just talking, even the guys in the band were asking me about the band (Motley Crue) “Hey what’s Mick like? What’s the biggest place you ever played?” And Paul kind of brought it to my attention – he was like “You know what dude, even though you were in The Dirt, you’re really this enigma that no one really knows much about. When you do a new song or a new record you pop out and then you just disappear.” So I kind of looked at it differently. I didn’t want to do a book because I kind of felt that I was jumping on a band wagon. I mean I’ve seen books now from roadies for bands in the seventies revealing thinks like “This guys used to like cheese on his ham” and I’m like “Seriously? Who cares?” Anyway we did the book, and Paul really did a lot of thorough homework and we kind of conducted it in an interview manner. He did a first draft, he sent it to me, I took a bunch of shit out, edited it and then sent it back and he did the same thing and added stuff. We went back and forth like ten times until we finally got it to the point where we thought “OK I think it’s pretty good.” So we submitted it to a few publishing companies and got a good deal right away with this company ‘Rare Bird’. So we’ll see what happens. I’m excited about it. I don’t know if it’s going to create any new fans, but we’ll see when it’s out there.
Mark: I think one of the first questions I asked you many years ago was about your band ‘Angora’ do we get any stories in there?
John: (laughs) Yes there’s some Angora stories in there. The rise and fall of my first band in L.A.! (laughs)
Mark: I for one can’t wait to read it, I was only talking to Paul the other day but he’s not been letting anything slip!
John: (laughs)
Mark: I first saw you on stage way back in 1991 at The Scream show you played at The Astoria in London which as far as I’m aware was the only gig the band played outside the U.S. which for me was a wonderful introduction and here we are 31 years later!
John: I know right!
Mark: With the 30th Anniversary last year, and I know Covid has robbed us of so many things, how do you look back on that band?
John: You know, the thing with The Scream. I’m still very proud of the record and I still love listening to it myself. The Scream is always going to be special. Without being weird it’s like that first girl that you hook up with. Like you go to your grave, you could be married twenty times but you’re never going to forget the first girl that you…. you know what I mean? That you hooked up with or had sex with or whatever. With The Scream it was our first record deal, our first tour on a tour bus, it was our first trip out of the Country to England, so it was a lot of firsts for us. So that band is always going to be very special.
Mark: Did you consider marking the anniversary?
John: I know a lot of people last year were saying “Hey it would be great if you guys could do an anniversary show” I don’t want to do it. And I didn’t want to do it because unfortunately our drummer Walt passed away and I don’t want to do it unless it’s the four original guys, do you know what I mean?
Mark: I can respect that and understand it, you guys collectively made the music which is still there for everyone, like Zeppelin I get that feeling, it’s not the same without everyone there.
John: Yeah, that’s it. Not to put Walt in the John Bonham category, In a lot of ways, even though he did not really write he was such an integral part of the sound. So I really don’t want to do it. It is what it is. The Scream is something I’ll never forget.
Mark: I’ll certainly never forget seeing them that night at the Astoria, the walls were dripping with sweat, it was packed and it was crazy!
John: I was completely shocked when we did that show at how many people showed up. It blew me away because I wasn’t sure with the venue being as big as it was. You have to remember The Scream – we had done a few Festivals in America but for the most part we were just playing clubs. Then all of a sudden we step into this huge Theatre in London having never played London before (The Astoria officially held 2000 in those days, but I swear there were more that night. It was sadly demolished in 2009). I remember being very pissed at my manager saying “Whose fucking brilliant idea was it for us to play this place?” He just kept saying, “Don’t worry about it, relax, it’s going to be fine, it’s gonna be fine.” And then when we walked on stage and it was, not to sound weird, but I think it was over sold out, there were a bunch of people that couldn’t get in. So when we walked out on stage I was pretty pleased. That was definitely a good ordeal.
Mark: It was the power of the press in those days and word of mouth, a five star album review in Kerrang which we all read in those days. We were driving in from all over the country for that one date. A great adventure!
Mark: As well as The Scream there of course have been so many other bands and so much more music that hopefully the book will shed a light on. Motley Crue is a big one for a lot of people but I loved Union and ESP, and then you had the stint in Ratt but one band I never asked you about was the Cardboard Vampyres.
John: Cardboard Vampyres was kind of a fluke thing. Billy Duffy at the time was not working with The Cult, they had some time off, I think Ian was out doing some Doors shows.
Mark: Yes the ‘Doors of the 21st Century’ or ‘Riders on the Storm’, Whatever it was called then.
John: That’s right. And Jerry (Cantrell) was kind of in-between solo records, I remember being at the Viper Room actually, and I ran into Billy and we started bullshitting and he said “Hey I got this thing I’m doing.” He didn’t tell me who was involved he told me he was “Doing this little side thing, it’s just really covers and just for fun.” He told me he’d love it if I came down. So I said yeah, and he called me the next day, the three songs he asked me to learn were ‘Draw the Line’ by Aerosmith, ‘Back in Black’ and a song called ‘Hole in the Sky’ by Sabbath.
Mark: Nice.
John: So I walked into the room and I thought I was prepared pretty well. and Jerry Cantrell was there! And I’m just like (laughs) “Oh hey dude!” and he just said yeah, it’s me and Billy and you and they had Chris Wyse from The Cult and this guy Josh Howser that Jerry knew. And we just went out and we did a few shows. We did a few shows with Z.Z. Top, but it was more like Corporate things, so we would go and do things like Sanyo from Japan – they were having a convention in New York and they literally flew us out, it was an astronomical amount of money and we just payed a small theatre – the Hudson Theatre in New York. We did like a 45 minute set of covers. And then it was like “Thank you, bye.” But then everybody started to get back to work and everyone started to do their own thing again. So it just did its thing and then it fizzled.
Mark: Fun times though! The book has an intriguing title ‘Horseshoes and Hand Grenades’ where does that come from? Is Horseshoes the good and Hand Grenades the bad?
John: (laughs) No. It actually comes from my father, God rest his soul. My Dad had a very dry sense of humour and he always just had these little quips that he would come out with when I was speaking to him. One time I was telling him about when I was in Union – he called me on the phone to see how the new band was going and I told him, “Awww man, I’ve got to be honest with you, we’re getting some really great reviews and I don’t know why but even after The Scream and Motley, the reviews that we’re getting”, and the positive feedback about that first Union record, I go “I don’t know Dad I think his might be the one.” I said “I think my ship has finally come in.” And just very dry, he took a puff of his cigarette and he goes “Ship’s coming in huh?” So I go “Yeah” and he says “Well, you know what they say? If you’re ship’s coming in don’t be at the fucking airport!” Right! So I laughed, and years later when I did the acoustic record and I was telling him about it: how I was going to do half of the record with some older songs from my past that I wanted to rework and maybe give them another shot, and then the other half of the record was new stuff. So he goes “Well what are you going to call the record?” I said, and I was kidding, “I was thinking of calling it ‘John Corabi’s Almost Greatest Hits.’ And he just nonchalantly said “Or, you could call it horseshoes and hand grenades.” I was like “What does that mean?” and he goes “You know ‘Horseshoes and hand grenades’ – you donlt gotta be right on the money, you just gotta be close.”
Mark: (laughing)
John: So I just thought that was a genius title for something, so I wrote it down and I stashed it away. Unfortunately my Dad passed away in 2014, and after reading the book as many times as I did going back and forth with Paul I realised that I am the king of being at the right place but always at the wrong time! So Paul said “What do you want to call this thing?” And I just said “I just want to call it ‘Horseshoes and Hand Grenades’ That will sum up my career in nutshell.”
Mark: That’s a great story.
Mark: Are there any themes that run through the book?
John: You know honestly I think the only thing if you really look and read the whole book – it’s literally about a guy who has been through some amazing highs and equally low, lows but I’m always almost psychotically optimistic all the time!
Mark: (laughs)
John: I always feel like every song that I release is going to be the one that just magically every human being on earth has to download and buy and that’s going to be the song that turns everything around for me and makes me a household name. So I’m just stupidly optimistic all the time! So I think the theme for the book is kind of just to believe in yourself, don’t take no for an answer and just persevere. Just keep moving forward.
Mark: That’s wonderfully positive, it’s all about the journey! I haven’t read the book yet, I may have seen a couple of snippets, but what do you hope people get out of it? What do you think your average Rock fan will be feeling and thinking at the end of it?
John: I think that they’re gonna realise that we’re all human. One of the things a lot of people ask me about the bands is why have I been in so many bands? I think this will kind of put everything into perspective – you know The Scream was doing this, but all of these other things were happening to me at the same time. And when I got the Motley offer, the Motley offer was a way for me to step up my career but also take care of those other things that were happening at the same time. You know you go into every band thinking that will be it. Like I’ve told you before Mark, I would love to be talking to you right now about the fifteenth Scream album!
Mark: (laughs) I’ll be dreaming about that alternate reality tonight now!
John: (laughs) But I wasn’t dealt that hand, I just played the hand I got dealt the best I could and did the best I could. So I think even with the personal relationships and things it just puts a human perspective to it where people will go “Wow, he got that distraught over his marriage failing; and he got that distraught over that girlfriend doing him the way that she did?” you know what I mean. I think it will just make me, not that I’m not, just like everybody else. You know what I mean?
Mark: I do.
John: I’m not a Rock Star I never assumed or claimed to be one. I’m just a dude that has a fucking awesome job that I love! I think it will just clarify the simple person that John Corabi is.
Mark: Well you’ve always been warm and so welcoming when I’ve caught up with you so I’m glad that will come through in the book.
John: At the end of the day I’m not and have never really been into the trappings of what the music industry offers. My thing is from day one I just wanted to leave a legacy of music and hope that in some weird way some people might talk about me the way I talk about Paul McCartney. Do you know what I mean? I hope that when I’m dead and gone people say “You know what that guy was a pretty good song writer.” maybe even “He was a pretty good singer and a pretty good guitar player.” So that’s the thing that’s always driven me, it wasn’t the cocaine, it wasn’t the chicks, I’ve always had a different view point on this whole thing. Hopefully the book will clarify all of that shit!
Mark: It’s all about the music. And the new stuff is sounding great as well. There’s a bit of The Beatles right there in ‘Cosi Bella’?
John: You know Mark it’s funny when that song came out everybody was like “Man it’s a really good song but not really what I expected from you.”
Mark: They can’t have been reading our interviews John! (laughs)
John: (laughs) I just sit there and I go – I’m pretty sure that every interview I’ve ever done since the beginning of time people say “Who are your favourite bands?” And I’ve always said The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and Queen is like a distant fourth. So I’ve always wanted to write a song that didn’t sound like but was reminiscent of ‘Penny Lane’ or ‘Killer Queen’ and maybe I did, maybe I didn’t? I don’t know – everybody’s ears are different. But after I had done the whole song and we mixed it and mastered it – I thought ‘I love this’ it’s got piano, it’s got horns, it’s got vocals and a cool guitar solo! OK job well done, next song!
Mark: I loved it and ‘Your Own Worst Enemy Too’ another great song, the production line is rolling!
John: You know what the beauty of this is now though?
Mark: I think you should tell us.
John: When Covid hit I kind of panicked and I was watching all these people release music via the internet and I was mad at myself because I was always that guy that would walk into a studio and say “Hey get me that Jimmy Page guitar tone” or “Get me that George Harrison tremolo thing that he does. OK cool.” So I didn’t know how to record myself. So when Covid hit I took Pro Tools classes! And the beauty of everything now – those two songs – it’s awesome because I recorded them myself on a laptop in my bedroom, I gave them to Marty Frederiksen, he mixed them and mastered them and we put ’em out! No studio time!
Mark: Sounding good, sounding good! (laughs)
John: (laughs)
Mark: You’re here to see us in now time – June isn’t very far away at all! I for one can’t wait, I know that Paul will be bugging you on every date, he told me he’s travelling the Country with you, hopefully doing some work like maybe the merch. Be honest how hard is he to work with?
John: You know, I just say to him, listen dude you’re from a prison colony, get off my back! (laughs) you know, fuck off! (laughs). No honestly I love Paul, he’s funny, we had some laughs when we were doing the book. He’s a good dude and he’s just been the ‘Ra Ra’ guy in my corner for years so he definitely knows, he gives me my space and I give him his and we do our things and the we just raz each other the rest of the time, it’s awesome.
Mark: I’ve seen you play acoustic quite a few times over the years on the MOR Cruise and places like that, and it’s a great show, are you going to be able to get any of the new songs into the set?
John: I’m gonna try to, it’s weird I’ve tried doing ‘Cosi Bella’ a few times, but it’s weird there’s so much shit going on in that song like the piano really drives it, so I’ve played it a few times, and I think maybe because it’s new as well, it’s not connecting yet with people. So I’ve kinda avoided it, I’m just going to stick with what everybody knows, I am planning on doing a couple of new weird little things you won’t have seen when I get down there, try some new stories, but we’ll see. I don’t know, you never know! I might pull ‘Cosi Bella’ out one night.
Mark: Maybe in Perth? (laughs)
John: (laughs) Maybe.
Mark: Thank you so much John, it’s always a pleasure to speak to you. Take care and stay safe till you get over. See you soon.
John: Alright buddy! We’ll have a VB and some Jamieson when we get there! Cheers!
JOHN CORABI – Solo & Acoustic, Songs & Stories Australian Tour Dates
Thursday 2nd June – SYDNEY, Crowbar
Wednesday 8th June – BRISBANE, Brightside
Thursday 9th June – MELBOURNE, Northcote Social Club
Friday 10th June – ADELAIDE, Enigma Bar
Saturday 11th June – PERTH, Amplifier Bar
Tickets On Sale Now From:
https://www.silverbacktouring.com.au/john-corabi-acoustic-solo/
