Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Richie Sambora on indie rock and philanthropy

LA Weekly interviewed Richie Sambora earlier this week about his upcoming solo album and his philanthropic work. Here are a few of his answers:
On his new solo record:
"Well, it's a really personal record. What isn't? I mean, we're all the same motherf***ers right? Well, we're taking a really indie rock approach."

Wait, indie rock!?
"You know what? The music business is broken, we all know that. Everyone is kinda hanging on by a string. I was a big label guy, but I was lucky enough to free up my solo contract. I still have a big label contract with the band, but I can do whatever I want with my solo stuff. There's a whole new approach. There's a company out there called Dangerbird Records. My record doesn't sound like Bon Jovi at all. It's got different musicians and I have a different point of view. There will be a lot of jamming on there...different stuff."

Isn't Dangerbird in the philanthropy business, too?

"Yeah, Jeff [Castelaz]'s son had an unfortunate situation and he used the label to help out with that ...the Pablove Foundation. And yes, I plan to get heavily involved with Pablove. We've already been talking about that and I can't wait to help out. "

Wait. Really? Indie!?

"Yeah, that's why I feel really good about the whole indie thing. I feel really good about bands that are out playing, they are out there playing real instruments and playing real shows and they're actually bands. And that lends itself to a live performance ...which I will be doing. I'll be going on tour this fall and playing some shows. Maybe even in my backyard, who knows? Yeah, I'm gonna get back down to the bottom of the barrel and work my way up...without that whole corporate structure thing."
Interesting. I'm even more keen to hear this album now.

You can check out the rest of the interview here.

(Oh, and yes, I did asterisk out Richie's swear word even though it's abundantly clear what he was saying. I've done it in the past. I have no issues with swearing personally but I do generally try to keep a PG-13 rating on this blog. :P)

3 comments:

  1. Wow..indie rock album? I agree, really keen to hear what this album is going to sound like. Richie seems to be saying that he is moving away from the 'big corporate' sound and doing something more intimate.

    For me, this can only be a good thing. I really loved the more intimate feel of "Stranger in this Town". So I think it's a great move on Richie's part.

    Lee-Ann, do you think Richie will come our way and play a solo gig here in Australia? *fingers crossed*

    ReplyDelete
  2. Might be a long shot but I really hope so, even if it's just Melbourne/Sydney (I could take some leave from work, book a flight... :P )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too, i'd definitely fly south to see richie any chance I get. Here's hoping he remembers how much he loves Australia :) hopefully we might get the whole band next year too, when they tour again.
      The NRL keeping saying they might get the band out to play the grand final, which would be great cos then they might play other shows while they are here. I don't really like NRL, but I would make an exception if Bon Jovi played :)

      Delete

Thanks for giving me your time.