One-on-one with 2005 AAM Keyboardist of the Year Stu Simone
Interview
Keytar and Trek Records founder Stu Simone is a multi-talented musician (keyboards, vocals and guitar) well-known to the Southern California rock music scene, and was the touring keyboardist for platinum rockers Poison 1999-2000 international tour. Stu's keyboards, guitar simulations and harmony vocals can be heard live on the 2000 Poison album, "Power To The People." Since playing with the #1 Hair Band of all time (according to VH-1), Stu Simone has formed a tribute to hair bands, appropriately entitled HAir Guitar., (80”s Hair Bands). Producer (his latest project Kraised), journalist, poet, graphics artist and photographer (Keytar cover art, and the classic "roots of hair" photos ), a webmaster, and Music Editor are other hats that Stu Simone has been known to wear. Born within a block of the Sunset Strip, Stu Simone has pretty much seen it all when it comes to LA hard rock.
Multi-instrumentalist Stu Simone, is also a member of original hard rock band Heaven & Earth as many of us know. Yes, Stu Simone is very talented and his music adventures are proof to that. But how did it all begin for last years AAM “keyboardist of the Year?” Why and what sparked Stu Simone to trust his future to such an unknown path, (The Music Industry)? How did he find his way to tour with national acts like POISON? Is there more to Stu Simone we don’t know?
AAM: Please tell our readers how did you get started in this ((BIZ)). Was music in your family, or were you just “born to rock”?
SS: Born to rock, baby! Actually, I was just telling somebody today that it took me longer to get going in the crazy business because I had nobody in my family with any musical talent or connections, so I had to figure out everything myself by trial and error. And lots or error! Anyone who grows up in a musical family has a big advantage; for example, I’ve already taught my 5-year-old stuff about music that I didn’t learn until my teens.
AAM: In school were you involved in any music programs or classes, bands or?
SS: No, not at all... in fact, music was always one of my worst grades! I used to just giggle and make silly fart noises! Now of course, that all changed when I turned 16 or so and realized that girls dug musicians! Up until that time I was a nerd playing Chopin and Mozart and studying physics half the time, and a surfer-stoner the other half! As soon as I saw some classmates of mine play at lunch and the girls went nuts, I dropped the classical like a hot potato!
AAM: In the 80’s, a lot of parents tried to distract their child from music. Too many ”wanna be rockers” dropping out of school and heading for Sunset. Did your parents support your love for music?
SS: Actually, they were pretty cool about it, although I’m sure my father never would have imagined in his worst nightmare that I’d ever be a musician professionally... I was aiming to be a lawyer! But my mom actually used to drop me off at the legendary Starwood – the best rock club ever, in my opinion – where I became “the kid” and they would let me upstairs where I would see the likes of Diamond David Lee Roth draped in hot blondes watching bands like Judas Priest, Aerosmith and Blue Oyster Cult rock the Starwood stage. Interestingly enough, my favorite band at the time was Satyr – a cross between Led Zeppelin and Yes – and their drummer Richie Onori is now in Heaven & Earth with me, and their keyboardist Pat Regan produced the “Heaven & Earth” album.
AAM: Lets talk about the “producer” side of Stu, what’s this all about?
SS: Well it’s something that I know I would be great at, because ever since I was young I always listened to the entire production – the mix, instrumentation, arrangement, and how it al locked together – as opposed to most musicians, who ten to focus on the instrument that they play. The few times where I’ve been given the authority to tell everybody what to do (laughs) have turned out great, but those opportunities rarely see to come up.
AAM: And you write poetry too, does this include songwriting?
SS: Believe it or not, I graduated from UCLA with a degree in friggin’ Poetry, and I have written some pretty serious stuff that I’d like to get published some day. And I’m very good with lyrics as well. But I prefer collaborating with others – I’m good at taking music or lyrics that are almost “there” and putting them over the top.
AAM: As a journalist, you once wrote for the music magazine, BAM?
SS: Well a lot of people don’t know about “my previous life”, but I actually was the #1 rock journalist covering the LA “Hairband explosion” of the 1980s. It was weird, because I was trying to make it as a musician, but all the writers of the time wanted to write about Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen, so I ended up doing all the rock articles and reviews for BAM and Music Connection and quite a few other magazines. So every day my mailbox was full of free records and concert tickets from all the labels, and I got to hang with Motley Crue and Quiet Riot and Ratt and all the rest, but the bummer was that no one believed me when I said I could play! (Unfortunately, it seems people don’t realize that a person can actually be good at more than one thing.) But I can’t complain, because I had an amazing time in the early eighties.
It was OK, if not cool, to be decadent then - one time, I got pulled over for a 502 with two young scantily-clad girls sitting on my and my bass player’s laps in my pickup truck cab, and I was so drunk I couldn’t even stand, let alone walk a line. And they let us go with a warning! And this was just before anyone had ever heard of Aids, so that second floor Rainbow bathroom... let’s just say there’s a part of me there! (laughs) I actually moved into an apartment just above the Whiskey on Clark Street that was across the courtyard from Motley Crue’s band apartment. One time when I held a party with hundreds of people crammed into my pad, someone walked through the sliding glass door and it exploded, the police came, a guy who wanted my girlfriend punched a hole in through my door with his fist, and at 6am Lemmy from Motorhead was sucking down every last drop from all the empty cups, some of which had cigarette butts in them! I kid you not! Ahh, those were the days!
AAM: Is this how you found your way to interview the band Motley Crue?
SS: I’m not sure, I was pretty blasted at the time! I think I interviewed them first, and then they told me about the apartment... or maybe I interviewed them at the apartment. All I know is that nobody had more fun night in and night out than those guys – girls screaming and metal blasting all night long, every night! I remember when they moved out after they got signed, and I went in there, and there were holes in all the walls, the carpet was soaked with beer and puke, and the shower had freakin’ mushrooms growing on the tiles! Between what I experienced, and the photos I took, I think someday you’ll see a book by Stu Simone on the glory days of the Sunset Strip Hairband explosion.
Besides writing, I did publicity at this time, and was actually Great White’s publicist, working the excellent “Out Of The Night” EP on their own label. People in 2006 talk about indy labels and doing it yourself like this is something new, but they don’t realize that Great White and Motley Crue – just to name two – didn’t sit around and wait to get signed; they put out records on their own labels.
And I was also involved as a player, being the keyboard player for LA Rocks; our old singer Jeff Scott Soto is now singing with Journey, in case you didn’t know. By the way, two singers that I’ve played with recently, Kelly Hansen and Robin McAuley, are now the singers of Foreigner and Survivor, so good things come to those who wait. Anyhow, if you’re interested in getting a taste of the scene, check out the “Hair Roots” photo gallery on HAirGuitar.com, the website for my “authentic Hairband Tribute.” I’m sure everybody knows by now that HAir Guitar will be opening the AAM Awards show on November 4th, so get there early! We’re “authentic” because we actually use some of the same guitars and clothes and actual stage moves from “back in the day,” and we’ve all had the exact same long hair since the 80s, and we focus on the LA bands that you would have seen at the Roxy or Troubadour in the mid-eighties – Motley Crue, Great White, Ratt, Dokken, Quiet Riot, Warrant and of course Poison.
AAM: How did you become POSION’s keyboardist when they re-united in 1999?
SS: I’ll never forget, I was down in the dumps, driving a bobtail truck with a pallet jack in my hand, and my phone rang and it was an old singer friend of mine from back in the day – Cliff Calabro of Rokway – who I hadn’t talked to in years. I don’t even know how he got my number. And he just said, “Poison’s getting back together with CC DeVille and all, and their gonna do a huge headlining tour, and would you like to be the keyboard player?” And just to show you how the business works, I got the gig... without playing a note! And let me tell you, the movie “Rock Star” came out around this time, and my experience was just like the movie! They say that Hollywood blows things out of proportion, but I never could have imagined the stuff that I experienced on those tours! And I’ve got quite an imagination! Being a rock star really is the coolest gig in the world!
AAM: Ok, so here were are now 2006. With so many accomplishments in your life already, what are you up to this days?
SS: Well, my favorite thing is playing live, but I also need to make money, so that means playing in tribute bands. I run my own band, HAir Guitar, where I also get to unleash my “altar ego” STUde Slybone, the cocky mic-twirling lead screamer with the razor-blade voice and all the moves. I also play in not one, but two different Journey tribute bands. And then I get my original ya-yas out with Heaven & Earth, which is one of the only bands in town that plays what I call “New Classic Rock.” The band is dynamic yet powerful, screaming yet melodic, with great players such as Stuart Smith on guitar, and always great vocals. I feel lucky to get to harmonize with the likes of Kelly Hansen (now with Foreigner) and current singer Keith St. John of Montrose fame, and the band is kind enough to provide me with a vintage Hammond B3 organ to rock out on!
AAM: Describe an average day in the life of Stu Simone?
SS: First off, no matter how late I get home, my 3-year-old son usually wakes me up – screaming at the top of his lungs – between 5am and 6; then I’ve got to drive my girl to Kindergarten. So if you see me leave a party or gig early, now you know why! And for all my musical friends who give me grief for never coming to their shows, I’ll let you in on another little secret. I’m in my second year of Law School! And believe me, law school at Southwestern University (top entertainment law school) is no walk in the park! So while my friends may kick back to a Playboy or Sports Illustrated, I’m trying to make heads or tales of the finer points of Joint Tortfeasors and Adverse Possession in an Appellate Court case of dubious jurisdiction. But you know, it has been done – for example, did you know that when George Lynch left Dokken, they hired their lawyer, Jonathan Levin, to be their lead guitarist? And I’ll tell ya, the more you learn about the law, the more you realize that it is a GOOD thing to know this stuff! For example, next time I get pulled over, I can assert my fourteenth amendment rights! In other words, I know where they are and aren’t allowed to search! (laughs) See, cool stuff!
AAM: What made you decide to get into law now?
SS: It’s just a really bad time to be an artist, unfortunately. I put out my Keytar “No Strings Attached” CD in 2000 on my own label, and had a hard time moving units. In fact, I’ve still got boxes of CDs in my STUdio. Oh well, I figured it just wasn’t a good time to put out a inSTUmetal album. Well, to this day I get fan mail from allover the world telling me how much they like the music, and I know damn well they didn’t buy it! And recently a friend pointed out that some company back East took a picture of me holding my Keytar right off my website, and is now selling T-Shirts with ME on them... and I had no idea it was even happening! So I figure that artists really really need good lawyers more than ever, and there is a lot of legal work to be done because times are changing fast, and the law right now is behind. If we’re not vigilant, and keep making sure that the law maintains an artist’s rights, then it is possible that artists won’t be able to make any kind of living even if they do sell many units around the world. And if that day came, to quote Don McClean, that would be “the day the music died.”
AAM: Your fans will get a chance to see you wear a few different hats at this year’s All Access Magazine Music Awards Show on Saturday, Nov 4th. What surprises are in store for your fans, maybe just a hint?
SS: As I said, HAir Guitar will be opening the show, and the legendary Sheena Metal, who’ll be hosting the show, will be joining us; Many people don’t know that she led a really cool original parody rock act, Beer Bong, back in the day; they were sort of a cross between Spinal Tap and Wasp! (I was very drunk at the time, but I seem to remember midgets and blood...?) And we’re trying to get some of the original Hairband stars to sit in with us... assuming they are awake at 6:50pm! And I’m gonna announce some of the awards. If you haven’t been to a AAM awards show, you MUST go this year! It will be at a very cool club, The Knitting Factory, and Deb always books the coolest “buzz” bands in town to play. Plus, it’s the ultimate LA rock’n’roll smoozefest! You never know who’ll you’ll bump into as you grope your way to the bar!
AAM: Thanks, Stu Simone for taking the time to share with us. Congrats and thanks again for helping us out at this year’s awards show. And please tell our readers and your fans the best way they can keep up with you.
Story and Interview by Debra Stocker
