A 10 question interview with Rik Fox
(I originally did this interview via E-mail back in late 2019....then technology had its way with me and I thought I lost it. Managed to salvage it a few months ago but being in a pandemic with always changing rules and finances....well, it slipped my mind again, life happens. Finally at long last here it is in its entirety. The 10 question interview with Rik Fox, bass player for such bands as Steeler, SIN, & W.A.S.P. among others. Enjoy.....)
Greetings
Welcome to the first random installment of 10 Quick Questions...
This is a casual review spot that is conducted with musicians and bands over messenger and E-Mail. I set up the questions 5 Random Questions and 5 Career Influenced Questions. The artists are on their own time as to when they get back to me and then I post their answers here as they wrote them...no editing, no censoring. Now let's begin....
--------------------------
The first candidate in line for this new site feature is the one and only Rik Fox...a musician that has in my honest opinion gotten the short end of the stick in the business...however in spite of this he still has a great list of credentials under his belt with various bands in the New York and LA music scenes (among others) his most recognizable was the band Steeler where he played along side the likes of Ron Keel and a young Yngwie Malmsteen. He was also the Co-Founder of LA shock rock legends W.A.S.P., even going as far as naming the band...but that claim is mired in controversy among musicians and fans alike. But....as we say on this site all too much....Let's Do This!
Random questions...
JW: Any awkward school years stories?
Rik: All school years stories are awkward, aren’t they? However, I’ve always been a pretty transparent person, and this is beyond awkward, and, extremely difficult to talk about, but I was sexually traumatized by my Parochial School Third Grade Nun. It was a very terrifying experience of humiliation and degradation. If I can ever eventually get my book finished, the Catholic Church is going to be reeling from the fallout. Jaws will drop, I assure you. Hell of a way to open an interview, eh? I bet you weren’t expecting that salvo.
Well....no I wasn't. Thank you for being so open about that, it is a shocker...especially since I have known you for as long as I have. That took a bit of courage to bring that up and I respect that. (EDITORS NOTE: I want to take a moment to urge the readers of this to please keep any and all comments that may be in poor taste to themselves...they will be deleted from the comments if I see any. Thank you.)
JW: What is your favorite odd food?
Rik: “Odd”? I can’t think of anything ‘odd‘, although I’m something of a chef in the kitchen, I create all sorts of interesting concoctions, including healthy, and cancer-fighting combinations. I contributed one of my recipes to a book of Rock Star Recipes to help fight Autism, I’m extremely honored an humbled to be included among the performers in the book. I’m pretty much a traditional ‘comfort food’ kinda guy, although I watch my health more these days and don’t overdo anything.
JW: Any words of wisdom that you have for those reading this?
Rik: Well, based on my experience in this business, I’m not too sure that there’s that many people who really care about anything I have to say, (and you, personally, have been a witness to some of that). But I will say, that at the end of the day, follow your dream, and, if you can make a positive difference in the life of just one person, then you’ve done your job. If you force-multiply that by many more, and make a positive difference in the lives of others, then you can take that with you and your reward will be waiting for you in the afterlife I guess. It’s good for the soul. It’s all about the energy of Love, especially with animals. Always watch your ‘six‘, and your friends backs too.
JW: When was your first concert and who was it?
Rik: At the age of about 12 or 13, I was taken to see Richie Havens. I guess I was a little too young to get all that acoustic political message stuff, so I really don’t count that. I was always into more up-tempo, popular, or heavy rock. So, I’d have to say that my first ‘official’ concert while in high school, was the legendary night of Grand Funk Railroad and Humble Pie at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York, I believe it was 1970.
JW: Do you have that one go-to album that no matter how many times you listen to it, it never loses its joy for you?
Rik: That’s a tough one, because there’s SO many influences that hit me in my formative years in high school. Honestly, I really can’t nail it down to one album. However a short list would be Steppenwolf, Uriah Heep, Grand Funk, Mountain, Humble Pie, Angel, KISS, Alice Cooper, Captain Beyond, Mott the Hoople, Slade...lots of 1970’s heavy English bands.
Now that we have gone through the lighter section of questions, time to get into the meat and potatoes of this interview...
Career related questions...
JW: How old were you when you started on the road to being a musician, and what set you on that road?
Rik: About 12 or 13. Most definitely hearing my first two albums; The Beatles, ‘Rubber Soul’ and the first Steppenwolf album in December of ‘68. Then, seeing Steppenwolf on TV sealed the deal. I guess seeing bassist Nick St. Nicholas wearing a fringed buckskin jacket and black leather pants looking cool with his Rickenbacker or Gibson EB-3 bass was the ‘IT’ moment for me.
JW: Is there one song or album in your career that you wish you could either fix or forget? If so, what?
Rik: Really listening and practicing to the bass lines of Uriah Heep’s Gary Thain really helped improve my playing style, so, probably, my bass tracks on the STEELER album. I’d love to go back in and re-record my tracks, because I know much better lines now then I did then. I wish I knew then what I know now. It’s too bad there’s no real clear good quality version of that first W.A.S.P. demo I recorded on in 1982, my bass grooves on ‘School Daze’ were really swinging and jazzy.
JW: Being a musician has its bad days, any career horror stories you would like to share?
Rik: Well, right off the top, actually ‘being’ in this business is, in and of itself, a horror story, depending on your POV. I think every band has had it’s ‘Spinal Tap’ horror story in one form or another. I guess the main ’horror story’ that comes to mind is never really having been accepted or respected by a lot of the other players in the business. Especially in Los Angeles. It would be nice if Blackie Lawless finally came clean on the truth about my being one of the original co-founders of W.A.S.P. and admitted that I created the band’s name. But, as we all know, there’s tons of insecure, and jealous players out there and for some reason, people just couldn’t get past my image and really listen to what I was playing, despite knocking out of the park onstage. Personally, I’ve found that a lot of guys really don’t like it if you look cool or dress cool, so they say shit about you behind your back. These days, much of that 80’s image is all gone and it comes down to the music. In 2018, I recorded a couple of tracks on an album called ‘London Fog’ by a guy named Jim Crean, out of Buffalo, NY, and he’s got a laundry-list of top A-List talent on his albums, like myself, all playing guest tracks. He asked me, so I recorded on the album single ‘Broken’ with Dio/Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice, and Jack Russell’s Great White guitarist Robby Lochner and Paul DiAnno guitarist Steph Honde, and another track of an Angel cover with Frank DiMino. Although the album is really good, Honestly, for my part on it, at the end of the day, nobody really gave a shit, especially in trendy Los Angeles. A lot of guys get celebrated when you play with industry heavyweights. But not me. Nobody cared. But, I think, if you listen carefully, you’ll hear some pretty cool bass lines I laid down there. Nowadays, I’m starting to get a small percentage of that acknowledgement from guys I really respect, like The Master; Billy Sheehan, and Badlands bassist Greg Chaisson, and they’ve actually taken the time to listen to how I play and have complimented me, for which I’m honored and humbled. Some people think my time in STEELER playing with Malmsteen was a horror story. But I’ll tell you what, I’m the first bassist on U.S. soil to go toe-to-toe on a daily basis with Malmsteen and I didn’t sweat that kid one minute, I survived. LOL!
JW: As a song writer we get inspired by all sorts of things outside of our genre and even our field, What inspires you musically in your career?
Rik: Good question. I’m pretty well-read. All kinds of topics, all kinds of fields. If you watch Ronnie Dio’s interviews, he says the same thing. That’s where you draw a lot of creativity and inspiration from. Sci-Fi is always a great source, I’m a student of military history, and so, that’s a great source. Look at Manowar and Sabaton; great songs about glorious historic battles. I’ve got the legendary Polish Winged Hussar knights in my ancestry, so that’s very inspirational right there. Channeling your emotions and even anger, is a great way to pour it into song lyrics.
JW: What have you not done in your career that you still want to do? The thing that would put the cherry on the top of your already amazing musical legacy.
Rik: Well, I thank you for even considering my musical career a ‘legacy’ let alone ‘amazing’...From your lips to God’s Ears. That’s extremely very kind of you to say that. The Brass Ring has always seemingly eluded me, and not by my choice. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride I guess you could say. I’ve watched the parade of friends go by on many occasion and nobody reached out to say ‘come on and join in.’ At least I’ve got a few great industry people behind me for which I’m very grateful, like Sola Custom Guitars for my upcoming (by the time you read this) Rik Fox signature “Thunder Eagle” © Bass, DR Bass Strings, Babicz/Full Contact Hardware Bridges, EMG pickups, Pro Player Art Custom Amp Screens, Sew Perfect Custom Patches, Dunlop Picks, and the never-ending support of my wife Tamara, who’s saved my skin on more than one occasion. I’d always like to record on more albums, of course, and, at my age, do at least one arena tour. But it’s getting far too dangerous out there now for that, on top of which, there’s a lot of irresponsible, ineptitude in the booking and promotions end of the business, and, even that godforsaken, stupid, greed-driven ‘Pay-to-Play/Buy-on concept which really takes all the traditional fun out of the whole thing. All the egos out there? Decades later, ‘same shit’ different decade.’ Thanks for having me as your interview subject. As Ronnie would say: “Good on Ya.”
And thank you so much Rik. From here on is some recommended content and artist links for you to check out. I ask the artist if they have anything in particular to share and this is what they give me. Please enjoy these links and their content, the artists I tend to reach out to are ones that I truly believe are worth your attention...thank you for taking the time to read this content...and stay true.
His website:
His reverberation page...
https://www.reverbnation.com/rikfox
"I'm not in the video but I'm on the track with Dio/Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice, and guitarists Robby Lochner from Jack Russell's Great White and Steph Honde of Paul DiAnno/Hollywood Monsters."
Video for "Don't Take Your Love" by Jim Crean
My personal recommendation is the debut album from Steeler. A nice chunk of 80's hard rock and a joy to listen to, especially considering the talent on the thing. It can be purchased in various ways....check your favorite online music distributor to get your copy today.
Casualty #1 in the war Blackie vs Wasp members.
ReplyDeleteShame really....