INTERVIEW: TOMMY THAYER – August 2022 (and November 2019)

Shane | 18 August 2022 | Reply

INTERVIEW: TOMMY THAYER – August 2022 (and November 2019)
By Shane Pinnegar

It’s been a long time coming, but FINALLY KISS’s End Of The Road Tour is hitting Australia, and it’s sure to be hot, hot, hotter than hell. The tour was first cancelled when lead singer & guitarist Paul Stanley became ill with influenza, then developed a serious throat infection. That was November 2019, and within a few months the world was turned upside down with the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in more postponements.

Just days before the 2019 tour was put on hold I spoke with lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, only to shelve that interview until now. On Monday of this week I again spoke with Tommy, the day before KISS flew to Australia to commence their last tour of the country they first played in 1980.

After the current interview, I’ll add a couple of bonus questions from the 2019 interview at the bottom.

KISS – END OF THE ROAD AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES 2022

AUG 20 – ROD LAVER ARENA, Melbourne
AUG 21 – ROD LAVER ARENA, Melbourne
AUG 23 – ROD LAVER ARENA, Melbourne
AUG 26 – QUDOS BANK ARENA, Sydney
AUG 27 – QUDOS BANK ARENA, Sydney
AUG 30 – ADELAIDE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, Adelaide
SEP 02 – RAC ARENA, Perth
SEP 06 – BRISBANE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, Brisbane
SEP 10 – CBUS SUPER STADIUM, Gold Coast

Hey Tommy – we spoke in November 2019, and you were all very excited for the tour – and then the whole world caved in, Paul got sick, the pandemic happened – did it feel like right at the very end of KISS that your luck had finally run out?

No, no, no, no, this tour has been exceptional. It’s really been over the top. And we haven’t felt any, you know, feelings of ‘oh, this is not working quite right.’ I mean, the whole world had to deal with COVID starting in early 2020, as you know, and we were on hold, just trying to be patient. And, you know, it’s a real struggle sometimes to reschedule things and get tours back on track – it was crazy. But somehow we got this together. And I know, gosh, we were supposed to come again about nine months ago, and that got rescheduled… But I think we’re on track now. The shows we’re doing down there are almost completely sold out. I know that there’s a few tickets left here and there for different shows, and I would suggest if somebody doesn’t have a ticket, you better grab them while you still can. And certainly if you’ve never seen KISS, this is your last chance. This is the End Of The Road world tour, this is Australia’s last opportunity to see this great, historic rock and roll band called KISS.

Absolutely. It’s finally happening, you’ve got your excitement all back again, the reports from Europe have been fantastic. Having been put on hold for that two and a half years, pretty much, it must be an enormous sense of relief to finally get that anticipation out there.

It is. And I think a lot of people don’t realise that it’s just as frustrating for us, the band, to go through this stuff too. I know that people plan for these shows, you know, they figure out their travel and all this kind of crazy stuff, but it’s just as frustrating for us. And I think it’s been tough for everybody. So it’s on now and everything’s happening, and we couldn’t be happier. We’re just really looking forward to it. It’s going to be a fantastic tour over the next month here in Australia, and we’re just getting ready to leave tomorrow. We’ve been rehearsing here in L.A. this week. We got everything fine-tuned for Australia, a couple little new things special for you guys, so we’re set, we’re ready. We’re going to be there soon.

That’s awesome, man. I can hear how enthusiastic you are about it. It’s great. I’ve had a peek at the current setlist that you’ve been playing recently, and it’s looking really good. It’s covering all those different eras of KISS, which is fantastic. If it were completely up to you and nobody else, is there a song or two that you’d slip in there as well just for your own personal enjoyment, because you were a fan before you were a member of the band?

I’ve always been a fan since 1974 – the very beginning. You know, I gotta be really, completely honest with you. I think the set the way it is makes the most sense, and it’s the right songs from the different eras. You know, I’ve got a lot of input on that setlist as well – Gene, Paul, myself, and of course Eric, we figure this thing out collectively. It’s dynamic, it supports the show, you know. We’ve got the classic songs you can’t not play, and like I said, we’re tweaking some stuff for Australia now. Is there a song…? Yeah, I’ve always loved All Hell’s Breaking Loose. For some reason we haven’t done it in years – I don’t know if it would be better than what we’re doing, but that one song is pretty cool. And also remember when we do the KISS Kruise every year, which has been 11 years – that’s a fantastic franchise in its own sense – we pick a lot of the deeper cuts and that sort of thing for the KISS Kruise. So if you really want to hear some of the obscure stuff, get on the KISS Kruise, because that’s where you’ll hear it.

I must admit if it were up to me, I’d love to hear Crazy Nights one time before you finished.

You never know…

Oh, very cagey – intriguing! And the other one I love is – I’ve never met anyone else who cites this as a favourite KISS song but for me it’s right up there – it’s the song I, from Music From The Elder. I love that song, and Paul does his little Elvis impersonation in that, it’s really good fun.

Yeah, isn’t that great. You know, we’ve done I on the Kruise.

Great.

I know, gosh, was that a big song in Australia?

No, I don’t think anything from The Elder was a big song in Australia, unfortunately!

Or anywhere!

Yeah, pretty much.

We’ve done I on the Kruise, which went gangbusters! We did the The Oath a couple of times too, and it was pretty exciting. But again, you know, we’ve got the set, we’ve got the songs that really work – I think Australia needs to see it that way, you need to see the show that we’ve been preparing for you guys. And we’ve been playing and it’s tried and true, road tested, and you guys are gonna love it.

By Todd Jolicouer

Fantastic. In 2019 when we were talking, I mentioned that I’d read Doc McGee had mentioned that possibly at the very End Of The Road, you’d get all the surviving ex-members of the band together for a big concert somewhere. And you, at the time, said that was entirely possible. Has there any been any more discussion about that?

Nothing definitive. I know that the invitation is always there for those guys, and I think we’d all love to see it happen. But again, that’s kind of beyond my scope a little bit. But I think everybody’s open to it, it would be exciting. And certainly, those original four that started the band, that’s a very significant thing, as we all know. It’s what I grew up loving to begin with, when I discovered KISS and I started playing guitar, you know. Ace was a big part of my influences, influencing me as a young kid playing guitar just like a lot of other people too. And that’s why it’s so special, and it’s really kind of a dream come true to be the lead guitar player in KISS and do this because when I saw KISS back in ’74 – ‘75, I never would have imagined that this would be happening in my life. But that’s the kind of the irony of it all, and kind of what makes it exciting in a lot of ways.

Absolutely. It’s proper ‘dream come true’ stuff, isn’t it? You almost have to pinch yourself?

Well, it is, yeah. You pinch yourself. I mean, it’s unbelievable. You know, on the other hand, it’s kind of an interesting testament to, you know, when you do something. I’ve always been a hard worker, you know, very dedicated, I have a lot of perseverance, I don’t really give up on things. And I think it’s something for people to keep in mind that, you know, things get tough, sometimes you doubt what you’re doing. But you know, you really need to stay in the game. And it’s amazing what can happen in your life, if you just kind of keep moving forward with things. That’s what I’ve always done and I think that’s been the key to my success, and things that have happened for me that are so good. Just keep working hard and hang in there.

That’s a really good way to put it. And it leads into another question I had for you. Rock and roll is full of the anti-authoritarian cliche, you know – rebelling against authority, and The Man and all that sort of thing. Your Dad was a Brigadier General in the army, but I haven’t read anything about you rebelling against him, or having problems with his army life at all. I mean, did his work influence your career in a positive way?

Oh, there’s no doubt about it. Because my dad, in addition to his very successful military career, you know, he was a real successful business guy in the Portland area where I grew up, and real involved in the community. He really gave back, he was, you know, very philanthropic, and he was always trying to help somebody. And so that’s had an incredible impact on me. And it’s interesting, my dad was just a great guy. He passed away a couple of years ago, and Gene, Paul, Eric, they all came up to Portland for the memorial. And it was just really because they all really liked him, and that was a good thing. So, that just shows you, you know, what kind of band this is, and you know, there’s more to it than sometimes the people think with the guys in KISS. and, you know, there’s some real great support. But yeah, Dad was incredible that way.

And the other thing that was cool about my parents is they were never really very judgmental. I mean, they might have been a little more conservative in certain ways, but they were always supportive of what I was doing. And if I wanted to do music, they were like, ‘okay, give it a shot.’ You know, my mom was always musically helpful, helping me get my first guitar and being so supportive, and I think that really helps a lot, obviously, you know, because if you have somebody telling you, ‘that’s probably not a good idea’, or your parents or something, saying, ‘oh, don’t even try to do that,’ that’s not the right thing. I think that’s the wrong message in a lot of ways. I’ve been lucky that way, I’ve had good support and good people behind me, you know, certainly my family has been amazing.

It just goes to show that you can’t buy into that cliché and stereotype every time, it shows that everyone’s situation is completely different.

Completely different. Yeah, I mean, we all grew up in different kind of circumstances. I mean, I think we’re all similar in a way as far as certain things and you know, our love for rock and roll bands and all that kind of stuff that we grew up with, all the bands. You know, you and I probably have a lot of similar tastes and things that we like and stuff, but everybody’s family is different. And your brothers, your sisters, your whole environment – everybody’s situation is different. But I grew up in a great musical environment with a lot of good, good music – and my mom was a classically trained violinist and a beautiful singer, and I had older brothers that were playing Beatles albums and all the great 60s, early 70s pop music and rock and roll music. So it was a good environment to grow up in for sure.

Talking of your brother, you’re involved in his wine business, I believe. What’s your role in that?

My brother Mike has a winery up in Oregon, it’s a boutique winery called Pete’s Mountain Vineyard, just outside of Portland in the Willamette Valley. And he’s done really well with it on a smaller scale. It’s all very direct kind of marketing. But anyway, the idea that we came up with is I’ve released my own wine through Mike’s vineyard, and it’s called Tommy’s Reserve Sauvignon Blanc. And it’s a beautiful kind of a European-style Sauvignon Blanc that everybody should try. And you know, I think it’s real great if I do say so. I also bought some vineyard property up there that’s right near him as well, but I don’t have my own wine label or anything. It’s all through my brother.

Nice. You’re not out there, squashing the grapes yourself with your bare feet on and all that side of it?

I’m not in the vat, no! You know, we actually did that once though, when he did his first harvest, probably twenty years ago, it was so small that we actually did that. We were in the vat squeezing the grapes, you know, like old school, the traditional way!

By Todd Jolicouer

So apart from Gene and Paul, you’ve been the longest serving member of KISS – do you think you get the right amount of respect for that?

I’m so fortunate, and, you know, a lot of times you hear about the people online and things being critical and things like that – and sure – there’s a little bit of that. But you know, the vast, vast majority of people are so supportive and so great about accepting what we’re doing. And I think what we’re doing speaks for itself as far as success and the way the band’s been going over the past ten or twenty years, and you can’t argue with that. So, you know, I think no matter what you look at online, whatever subject or group or whatever, there’s always those dissenters and people that have a chip on their shoulder, and they want to try to say something online or make a comment, which is derogatory. But I don’t pay attention to that, and it’s really such a minute thing. It’s really no big deal. I mean, most people are just incredibly supportive. And you just see these fans out there, at the concerts, stadiums and packed arenas, there’s no question that we’re on the right track, we’re doing the right stuff.

That’s fantastic. Because as you say, we live in a bit of a clickbait generation where the negative news and the negative headline gets the attention more than the positive ones. So as long as you’re feeling that positivity is there, that’s the main thing, right?

Yeah, I think a lot of those smaller websites, people try to, you know, they take little bits [from an interview], and they create these little stories and try to create some drama so people click on it, like you said, and it’s a lot of BS. Yeah, the truth is, when you get out to one of our live shows, and you see what’s going on there, it’s like THAT’S reality. THAT’S really what’s going on.

Well, maybe it’s even more than that. It’s an ESCAPE from reality for two hours. That’s what it’s about. That’s why people keep coming back.

Well, you’re right. I mean, that’s what KISS is about. It’s a little bit of escapism – it’s like, party time. We’re gonna have a frikkin’ amazing, fun evening, we’re gonna rock and go crazy. And everybody’s gonna have a smile on their face and see this insane show. That’s what we do.

A little tricky question here. You don’t have to go too deep into it if you don’t want to. It just occurred to me, we live in the age of cancel culture. Now, if we go back to the 70s, Gene and Paul’s… some of their lyrics and lifestyle choices, were a little bit on the edge, shall we say, in today’s eyes? I always found it very amusing back then, but with the amount of people getting cancelled for what they did thirty or forty years ago. How do you think they’ve escaped that sort of negative scrutiny?

Well, I think rock bands have a little bit of a pass. I don’t think people are as hard on us because it’s kind of supposed to be out there a little bit. I mean, times change and I think in the ‘70s and then the ‘80s it was just a different environment. And you can go back and look at [that time], you know, a lot of bands were singing about girls and doing all kinds of crazy stuff, whatever it is.

Absolutely. No, I couldn’t agree more.

In today’s world you’ve got to be careful. But, you know, we were all a lot younger then. and we were just having a good time. And I think people accept that… maybe they understand. I certainly hope so.

Having been in the band for so long, do you know how many shows you’ve played with KISS?

That’s a good question. I have thought about that, too. It’s got to be pushing 1000. Yeah, I guess it’s twenty years, you know, do the numbers. And I think there’s a way to find out, there’s some websites, maybe even Kiss online has a list of the shows – I should find out and get my current number!

You should have a little check list next to your bed or something like that. Then when it’s 1000 or whatever, you can have a little party.

Yeah – woo hoo!

So having done 1000 or whatever shows, does it still excite you every time you slap the makeup on and get on stage? Or, some days, does it just feel like a job?

No, you know, it’s, believe it or not, it’s more exciting every time. Because, I don’t know, for some reason, I just feel like in a weird way we’re just getting better and better. And I know that sounds strange. Maybe I’m, over time, just even more comfortable and been doing it longer. I mean, there’s something to that, you know – the amount of reps, the amount of shows, I don’t feel like, ‘oh, this is getting old and tiring.’ I mean, first of all, I’m in KISS – come on, Jesus! So I just think it gets better and better. And I’m more excited every time we play and go on tour. I mean – and I’m not just saying this – there’s a lot of truth to it. It’s weird. But this tour has been so spectacular. And I know it sounds like, ‘oh, I’m just hyping it,’ but it’s been over the top. And it’s definitely been the best thing that I’ve been involved in since I’ve been in KISS for twenty years. It’s the band, where we’re at and how we’re performing. And it’s just really exciting. It’s a lot of fun.

By Todd Jolicouer

I would have been very surprised had you said anything else, to be completely honest. I mean, the answer to that question kind of writes itself, right?

Of course. I am being as honest as I can. I’m not just giving you a line.

I know – I believe you! Look, I’ll trade places any day you want a day off, you know. So, I did a bit of a deep dive last night into Tommy Thayer, and I found something that I hadn’t found when I researched our previous interviews – you have a Hunter S Thompson connection!

Yes, it’s pretty interesting! The late Hunter Thompson… So, I had a band after Black And Blue, I was just kind of between things. I think it was kind of around when I was starting to work for the KISS organisation behind the scenes. But anyway, I had this band called Shake The Faith, and we were playing around L.A., really getting pretty popular locally, but the timing wasn’t quite right because it was the ‘90s, and we had a hard time really taking it to the next level – but it was a great band. And we did this record in Japan, for a Japanese release. And we had this whole concept and somehow, we had seen some artwork that Hunter Thompson had done in Playboy magazine – he’d do these really spectacular paintings where he’d take a photo and he’d shoot it with his guns and then splatter paint all over it. We thought this would be a cool concept for our album cover.

And so, you know, you’ve got to hand it to me for having the balls, but somehow I got a hold of his number and I just called him out of the blue. I don’t know how I got the number, but I got a hold of him, and I said, ‘yeah, we’re doing this,’ and he thought it was kind of cool. He loved that a rock band wanted to use his artwork. So we just worked it out, and he did these paintings for us, and we used one for our album cover for this band Shake The Faith. They are fantastic.

It’s just one of those things – I guess I didn’t even realise what I was doing, I just didn’t think about it because I was young and thought, ‘I’ll just call him and I’ll get a hold of him,’ you know. So I just did that and got this Hunter Thompson original art.

That’s amazing.

He was an interesting guy – he lived in Aspen, and I was corresponding with him, and you know this is back in the days where you’d call somebody or fax them. So it was really interesting and just thinking back now, it’s a far more sensational thing than it felt at the time – I just thought, “oh, I’ll just call this guy up!”

KISS – END OF THE ROAD AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES 2022

AUG 20 – ROD LAVER ARENA, Melbourne
AUG 21 – ROD LAVER ARENA, Melbourne
AUG 23 – ROD LAVER ARENA, Melbourne
AUG 26 – QUDOS BANK ARENA, Sydney
AUG 27 – QUDOS BANK ARENA, Sydney
AUG 30 – ADELAIDE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, Adelaide
SEP 02 – RAC ARENA, Perth
SEP 06 – BRISBANE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, Brisbane
SEP 10 – CBUS SUPER STADIUM, Gold Coast

SOME EXTRA SNIPPETS FROM OUR NOVEMBER 2019 INTERVIEW:

Tommy, will it be emotional when the time comes to hang up the costume?

Well, there’s no doubt when we get to that last show, which is going to be 2021 in New York, it will be emotional. It will have to be – I’ve been the lead guitar player in KISS now for 17, 18, it’ll be 19 years, that’s a big, big chunk of my life, and a very important part of my life. And obviously I’ve been so lucky and fortunate in my life to be in such a huge, important and legendary band like KISS – that’s something I don’t take lightly. So at the end of the road, when it comes to an end, it IS going to be emotional, and there’s gonna be a celebration, but there’ll be some sadness, I think, with that too. Because, you know, it’s definitely the end of a really important era, of course.

Mmm. And will you continue to be involved in the business of being KISS? Or is that it – you get the gold watch and then you’re off doing your own thing?

[laughs] Gold watch – that’s good! I’m sure KISS will continue in a lot of ways – the music will always be there, there’s the imagery of course… I can see the possibility of me personally being involved in KISS after the end of the road. Uh, I think that’s entirely possible. I – a lot of people don’t know – but I worked behind the scenes with the band for six or eight years before I was actually in the band…

Exactly, yeah.

So, it would come naturally for me to do that. And I’ve known Paul and Gene for 35 years now. I met those guys back in the mid-eighties when my old band Black and Blue was the opening act on the KISS Asylum tour. So, we have a long history and uh, I just don’t see that coming to an end. I’m sure we’ll still continue to be working on something together.

Well, Paul is 67 now, Gene is 70 – you’re 58, I think it is. Does rock and roll keep you young?

That’s right. Yup.

That’s not a bad way to do it.

Yeah. I’m a little younger than the other guys, so I’m not completely ready to retire yet.

Cool – what do you think you’ll miss about being in KISS the most?

You know, it’s interesting… the obvious thing would be touring and playing music and being part of one of the greatest bands of all time. But I think the thing that I might miss most, though, is just the camaraderie, the four of us. People don’t think about it so much, but that’s an important chemistry. The fact that we spend so much time together touring and living together, playing together – I think we’re really close and I think we have a great friendship between us, and if we don’t spend as much time touring and doing the things that we do in KISS, that might be a little bit of something that we miss a lot.

And what do you think you’ll be most happy to leave behind? I would imagine putting the makeup on every night must be a bit of a pain.

Well, you know, I can’t complain about that. That’s actually something that I’m so lucky to be able to do. And really, I can’t think of many things right here and now that I won’t miss – because, you know, there’s nothing bad about being the guitarist in KISS! I really can’t think of too many things I would be happy to leave behind.

It’s not a bad gig when you can’t think of anything that you don’t like about it.

Yeah! I really can’t. I know that people think, ‘come on, there’s got to be something.’ But I mean – listen. Being in any band or any kind of relationship, you know, there’s things that sometimes come up that are challenges, things like that, but it’s not that that really stands out to me.

Over the years Gene has mentioned a couple of notions such as a KISS 2.0, where generations of younger musicians could take the roles in the band and keep touring. Do you think that’ll ever happen or is that just a bit of a pipe dream?

I think that it’s really entirely possible, but if it happened, it would have to happen naturally and organically. I don’t think that you can put a band together like a new version and just put them out, you know, a week later and say this was KISS or something. I think for a band to continue on – and I believe a lot of bands will continue on – it has to be done properly, like I said, I believe it has to be done organically. Where, if somebody new comes into the band, they come in, they establish themselves, kind’ve like I have over the years, then it becomes natural, it’s got to be a natural transition. On the other hand, I think there’s some bands out there that aren’t open to, uh, evolving like that or continuing, or maybe they can’t, but I think KISS is a band that could do that. I think it’s highly possible.

I read a headline yesterday stating that the manager of the band, Doc McGee, has stated that all ex-members of KISS have been contacted about that big final show – sadly Mark St John passed away some years ago – but what do you think the chances are of every living ex-member of KISS being on stage at that show?

You know, that’s a good question. I didn’t know that Doc had gone public and commented about that – I didn’t hear that yet, but I’d say that it’s possible. Will they all want to come in and do that, I don’t know – but I’m fully open to all that stuff. Ace came out and jammed with us last year on the KISS Kruise 2018, and it was fun. Of course, Bruce Kulick is still very close. He was with us on the cruise this year, just last week, and we played a bunch of songs together on the Sail Away Unplugged concerts we did [on the KISS Kruise]. So I think it’d be great and I’d be open to it. I think that’s entirely possible.

Given that Mr Frehley has said some uncomplimentary things about you in the past, do you look on something like that – the prospect of jamming with him or seeing him backstage – with any kind of trepidation?

No. You know, Ace is a good guy at heart. He might say things here and there [that he] probably maybe regrets sometimes, or that’s my impression. Ace has been obviously a huge part of KISS, and part of how the band started, and those early records and the guitar solos and guitar parts that he did were phenomenal. It’s really a big part of why I got playing guitar in the first place. Sometimes when people say things, I don’t, I don’t hold it against them. I don’t take it too seriously because, you know, the press or the media, particularly on the internet these days, everything’s kind of twisted around anyway and I don’t really pay too much serious attention to any of that.

Obviously in the current music industry, going to all the effort of writing and recording a new album just doesn’t seem to pay off too much financially, especially when you’re not going to be touring on the back of it. Is there an archive of outtakes which could be spruced up and released to satiate fans eager for more KISS?

Not really. Most of the stuff ended up on the records. There were a lot of demos Gene put out, but there’s really not a lot more than that. I’m just thinking what people haven’t heard… not much there to be honest with you. But you’re right about new music – people aren’t really buying music. I mean I know KISS fans would probably love it, but you know, you’ll look at it, the amount of time it takes to really do something well and put together a great record, it almost isn’t worth it.

And sadly people would go, ‘yes, yes, we really want this.’ And then half of them would just go and download it for free anyway.

Yeah. And then it would sell a low number, so if you figure it out, there’s a lot of negatives to it – even though we all grew up wanting to create and write great tunes, and do a record. Everybody loves new music and that’s exciting, but it’s just a different world today.

Yeah, it certainly is. So with this tour going on for two or three years, how do you personally sustain your momentum and energy throughout it, when it drags on for so long? I mean, everyone has bad days. Everyone feels a bit down from time to time.

Well, well that’s right because that’s part of being human. But we get conditioned, we get ready for these tours and then really everything about being on the road is focused on that two hours on stage. So you know, the key is to get a lot of rest – it’s kinda boring, not so ‘rock and roll’ – so rest and eat well and just take care of yourself. We still have a good time and I particularly like to have a good time – I like to go out and party a little bit, have some fun, but you have to watch it and make sure that you’re being, you know, cognitive of the things that it takes to do a great show. There’s a lot of competition out there these days and everybody’s watching every moment, everything you do is online, on YouTube videos, so it doesn’t matter anymore if you’re in some tiny city and it’s off the beaten path and you do an average show, because everything can be online instantly. You really have to be on your game more than ever.

I’ll wrap up with a little Aussie flavour. A little known fact is that you played on some of the sessions for Jimmy Barnes’ Working Class Man album with none other than Mick Fleetwood and Billy Burnett. I mean, wow, there’s a band I’d like to see it in a pub.

That was an unreal experience back in 1985 for a young newcomer to the business. I was in a band called Black And Blue, and we had just finished recording an album up in Vancouver, British Columbia with Bruce Fairburn producing, and Bob Rock was engineering it. And we just finished and I got back down to LA to the apartment I were living in, and John Kalodner, who was the A&R guy with Geffen Records, who signed us, he called me one day. ‘Hey Tommy, I’d like to offer you to come play guitar on a session with this Australian artist named Jimmy Barnes.’ I gotta be honest with you, I didn’t know who Jimmy Barnes was.

Mm – he was only just breaking into the American market then, wasn’t he?

Yeah, or he barely had. And then John Kalodner said to me, ‘no, no, no – he’s huge. He’s like, as big as Bruce Springsteen is in America, he’s that big in Australia.’ Wow, that’s great – so I got my guitar and headed down to the studio. I walked in there, and sure enough there’s Mick Fleetwood, bass player Billy Burnett, Bill Payne, the keyboard player from the band Little Feat, and Jimmy Barnes, and I’m like, ‘wow, this is unreal!’ I can’t imagine how I ever stepped into this. So, I recorded two or three tracks that ended up on the record, and it was a cool experience, but it was really an eye opener as far as doing something with big name, legendary people who I was kind of a little intimidated to begin with. But I got over that pretty fast.