Jizzy Pearl takes a short break from fronting Quiet Riot to embark on a five date tour of the UK in November to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of the debut Love / Hate album “Black Out In The Red Room”. That tour includes a performance in the Diamond Rock Club in Ahoghill on 7th November. I spoke to Jizzy via Skype on 15th September to talk about the upcoming tour, Quiet Riot and a few other things. That interview was broadcast on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 18th September.
That Show is still available via our MixCloud page -
Interview with Jizzy Pearl on the Friday NI Rock Show 18th Sept 2015 by Nirocks on Mixcloud
NI ROCKS – Jizzy, thanks for taking some time to talk to Rock Radio NI.
I wanted to talk to you first of all about the upcoming UK tour in November when you’re playing 5 gigs in 5 nights, including the Diamond Rock Club in Ahoghill on Saturday 7th November.
It’s important I guess to point out that the tour is Jizzy Pearl playing Love/Hate rather than a Love / Hate tour.
JIZZY – It’s just easier that way. Easier to do it like that than have to deal with the slings and arrows of ex members.
NI ROCKS - It’s been billed as a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the release of “Black Out In The Red Room”. What can fans expect?
JIZZY – Well, they can expect to hear the “Black Out In The Red Room” record played front to back, end to front and other Love / Hate songs as well, but that will be the big thing. That we’re going to play the “Blackout” record to celebrate 25 years. Twenty fives ago when I started doing these interviews I was saying how old I felt because I was 25 years old. But you know what; it makes me actually feel young because even though that was in 1990 and that does seem so long ago, it still sounds as good as it did and I’m still going strong and sounding better than ever and singing better than ever. So it’s just a validation of my rock n roll longevity (laughs).
NI ROCKS – Was the idea of a celebration tour something that you had or was it suggested by fans or promoters; how did the idea come around?
JIZZY – Twenty five years is a bit of a milestone so it’s always good to call attention to that and it’s funny because I did a little thing on Facebook where I got everybody to hold up their record. It just goes to show that this record has a place in everybody’s heart. When you see the vinyl record on people’s walls and you see people’s collections and things like that it just makes you feel good. It’s such a positive feeling that this band that never sold multi-millions of records still has a special place, especially in the UK where the loyalty is still there. It’s killer!
NI ROCKS – Who is going to be touring with you and appearing on stage?
JIZZY – It’s me and I’ve decided that I’m going to have a Scottish band play along with me called The King Lot, from Edinburgh. They have a record out also so they’re going to be doing the opening slot playing their music and then remain up there, towel off (laughs) and then do the Love / Hate music.
NI ROCKS – Very good. Actually Mike Tramp has just done a similar thing. He played here last weekend and was touring with a Danish band called Lucer who were the support band and then played alongside him after. It’s a good way of working it.
JIZZY – If you can make it work it is a good thing financially. I only have time to do five shows as I’m extremely busy in the States doing Quiet Riot. I have literally been weekend for the last five months and I made the joke that I feel like a football player at the end of a season. My legs hurt, my voice hurts, my shoulders hurt and I’m looking forward to a couple of weeks off and then I’m going to gear up for this Jizzy thing in November.
NI ROCKS – Have you played similar celebration shows elsewhere this year or have plans to do more?
JIZZY – As I said, I do the Quiet Riot thing here in the States and we’re extremely busy; which is a good thing. Better to be complaining about working too much than to sit on a bar stool complaining that you don’t have any work at all; and there are plenty of those people out there! I’ve just been working my ass off. It’s actually going to be a lot of fun just to be able to go to the UK. I try to go there at least once a year, to keep the fire burning. I’m going to go over and do five shows at warp speed. We’re going to play a bunch of songs and I get to drink real beer for once. The Guinness over here doesn’t taste like the Guinness over there. It just doesn’t!
NI ROCKS – They say the closer you are to Dublin, the better the Guinness is!
JIZZY – When I’m in Ireland the Guinness tastes even better. I am looking forward to raising my glass...as well as shaking my ass!!
NI ROCKS – The release of “Crucified” in late 2013 was impacted at the time by legal issues and it came out as a Jizzy Pearl album rather than a Love / Hate album. You don’t have to answer this one, but can you tell us what the current legal situation is with the band name Love / Hate?
JIZZY – There isn’t really any legal situation. I owe the name and have owned the name forever and ever. It was - did I want to lawyer up and spend $10,000 to $20,000 to defend something that is really to me a hobby and for fun. Going to the UK is basically a paid vacation. There is no pot of gold at the end of the Love / Hate tunnel. We didn’t sell multi-millions of records. The fact that I’m able to go over there once a year and still play; that’s enough for me. So, in answer to your question, when that happened a year or two ago it was just easier for me in this digital age to take one font off and put another font on and all the drama went away. What are you going to do? Everybody threatens to sue everybody! I’ve been in situations with lawyers and being sued and stuff like that. The smart thing to do is not to rack up a huge bill; when in the end you’re going to end back right where you were. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
NI ROCKS – We’re going to play a track from “Black Out In The Red Room” now. Would you like to pick one, maybe tell us a little about it and introduce it?
JIZZY – Well, let’s play “Black Out In The Red Room” because not only is it the title of the record, it’s also one of my favourite songs from the band. Reason being that it is simple and easy and the chorus just kicks you in the ass. That’s why I like it.
NI ROCKS – You joined Quiet Riot about 2 years ago and the band released the album “10” in mid 2014. You did an e-mail interview for me in early 2014 (http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/interviews/1404-ni-rocks-interview-with-jizzy-pearl-lovehate-a-quiet-riot.html ) and said that you hadn’t had the opportunity to get involved in the writing of the 6 studio tracks on the album but had been involved in other ways. Are we likely to see more new Quiet Riot material sometime soon?
JIZZY – The state of the recording music business / industry is problematic to say the least. I’ve just done a gig with Lynch Mob, those guys are friends of mine, and I was talking to Oni and he said that their record had just come out on Frontiers that day. I said congratulations and he says you gotta check it out. The next day I went onto the internet and the whole thing was up for free! That’s the state of the business that we’re in! That being said, if Frontiers want to give me some money, which would be awesome, I’m always writing and always have tracks waiting, songs that aren’t recorded yet. That would be something that I’d love to do. I self-financed my own “Crucified” record a couple of years ago and it’s rough out there! I grew up in a time when people valued records. They went out and bought records; they didn’t bitch about there only being two good songs on a record, you bought the album because you loved the band. You celebrated the record and embraced the band. It was a different dynamic than it is now, I think because of the availability of the downloads and accessibility. It is what it is! Here I am getting on my soapbox and I shouldn’t do that! In answer to your question, yeah if someone wants to put some money in the hat I’ll be glad to do some more music.
NI ROCKS – Yeah, as someone said recently, it used to be that when you bought an album you may have heard only one or two tracks from it before you bought it – the single or whatever. Now you’ve heard most of the album before you get it in your hand as it’s been all over the internet and whatever.
JIZZY – You know what, it diminishes the value of the music on an emotional level. Someone said on Facebook what would have happened if “Blackout” or “Wasted In America” had come out today instead of 25 years ago and the short answer is that it just wouldn’t do as good. People wouldn’t love it like they do because it is just the nature of the internet. It’s rough but we struggle on.
NI ROCKS – You’ve mentioned already that there is a heavy touring commitment with Quiet Riot in the States. Any chance that the guys will be over in the UK sometime?
JIZZY – Actually, yeah. We’re headlining Hard Rock Hell in March.
NI ROCKS – That’s right. Anything apart from that do you know?
JIZZY – As far as I know it’s just that one show. There might be more added but right now that’s all we have.
NI ROCKS – Other than the upcoming tour and fronting Quiet Riot, is there anything else that you’re hoping to work on over the next year or so?
JIZZY – I’m always writing and keeping myself in the game. The older we get the harder it is to keep your shit together, as far as your chops and stuff like that. I really pay attention to the whole You Tube phenomenon; in that every time I get on stage I’m presuming that it is going to be filmed and I see it every night with Quiet Riot. As soon as we do “Cum On Feel The Noize” up come the phones; hundreds of them, so I just presume that every single time we play it’s going to be up on the internet forever. It behoves you to have your shit together, you know what I mean. You’re not allowed to suck anymore in 2015. (laughs).
NI ROCKS – You’ve worked with a lot of people in the music business over the years. Is there anyone in particular that you’d like to work with again or work with for the first time?
JIZZY – I’ve worked with different writers and different guitar players. Certain ones that I really like aren’t well known to people, they live here in Las Vegas and they’re extremely creative. When I’m collaborating with someone, chemistry isn’t something that you can predict. For example, when I was in LA Guns, Tracii Guns and I wrote a lot of songs at soundcheck while we were on tour. It was just one of those situations where it came together like that. It doesn’t really happen like that very often, trust me, when you can almost write a record at soundcheck; have pretty much 80% of a song done and go home and record it. That’s what chemistry is. There are guys here that I play with in Vegas, who collaborated with me a little bit on the “Crucified” record and are amazing but nobody knows who they are. I’m a little past the point of being star struck. A lot of people say “oh I’d love to work with Prince” you know what I mean; but that’s never going to happen (laughs). So I look at it from the realistic viewpoint of “who can make my song better?”
NI ROCKS – Actually, Tracii was on the show two weeks ago and I’m going to see him tomorrow night in Belfast with Gunzo.
JIZZY – He’s a great guitar player. He’s one of those guys that has a special gift. He sticks out from a lot of the noodlers out there that just don’t have any soul.
NI ROCKS – At this point I thought we might play something from Quiet Riot’s “10” album. Any particular track you’d like to play
JIZZY – Try playing a track called “Backside of Water”
NI ROCKS – The story of Love / Hate playing Whiskey A Go Go and struggling to get signed is pretty well known. Do you think the internet and social media has made it easier for bands to get their name out there, but at the same time taken away from the live performance?
JIZZY – Technology is good and bad. For example when ProTools came out it made recording songs easier for guys like me who traditionally would have had to go to a 2 inch studio and spend a shit-load of money for a real room. Now you can make records in your house if you have the talent to do that, so it made my life easier. But it also allowed lesser musicians to think that they were doing bigger things than they were. In other words – “come see my band, we just made a cd” – “maybe you guys aren’t ready to make a cd. Maybe you need to go back to the drawing board and your best songs will be a year or two later”. There’s no nurturing period now. That’s the difference between back then when we were starting and now. When I joined Love / Hate we lived in a building. I think I joined in ’85 and basically we tied my mattress to the top of Joey’s truck and it was “you’re moving in now to this building; here are the cockroaches and the rats and this is the shit-hole you’re going to be in until we get a record deal”. It was basically like debtor’s prison almost (laughs). It took us four and half years of full-on, straight-out Dickensian poverty before we got that really good record deal that we did. What did that do? We bonded. It gave us character, it gave us soul and perseverance and gave us our attitude. That’s why our first record was the culmination of so much power. You can hear it in the recording, it’s screaming at you, because we were uncaged. Nowadays I don’t think that bands get together thinking that it’s going to take them a few years and then they’re going to make it; people think they’re going to make it if they get 1,000 “likes”; you know what I mean. That’s the difference. Facebook gives you the illusion that you’re bigger than you are because of the whole narcissism thing and people feed into it. Maybe they won’t try enough and sacrifice enough. In answer to your question, you can’t replicate what we did and what other bands did back in that time because of the internet and the accessibility and stuff like that. Are there going to be brand new bands that come out and kick ass? Sure, there will be, but there’s going to be less of them.
NI ROCKS – Do you get the opportunity to listen to any new bands or do you prefer to listen to older stuff?
JIZZY – My iPod is full of ancient recordings from the 60s and 70s. I don’t even really listen to the 80s that much. What I like and listen to is old-school stuff – The Who, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd. I’m into classical music; I listen to Beethoven, Bach, Dvorák and stuff like that. I hear new music on the radio sometimes and it all cuts down the same. I’m not really a good, honest, objective judge of what is good now these days. It’s a generational thing – I don’t know what the kids like these days!
NI ROCKS – I’ve a 19 year old and 17 year old who thankfully are both into rock music, though even the rock music they like is very different to what I’d call rock.
JIZZY – A lot of kids do hark back to the older stuff. They discover Led Zeppelin and can’t believe how good it is. So if feeds on itself and it’s awesome in that respect. But new music, I couldn’t tell you!
NI ROCKS – The UK tour kicks off in about six weeks and you’ll be playing gigs in Edinburgh, Newcastle, Buckley and London as well as Northern Ireland. When are you travelling over and what are you working on between now and then? You mentioned having a couple of weeks break.
JIZZY – Like I said, I’ve been doing the Quiet Riot thing pretty solid and it’s a very challenging gig physically and vocally. It’s not easy to do that material and give it the due respect. I treat it very seriously. Going to the UK and doing the Love / Hate music will be a vacation for me. I don’t feel I’m being as judged, people want to embrace it – as long as we sound good and don’t suck, which we won’t!
NI ROCKS – Have you worked with The King Lot before. Will you have a few days to get together?
JIZZY – They’ve been very good about learning all the material and we’re actually rehearsing via Skype. That’s part of the technology that is good for me because you wouldn’t be able to do this in the old days. You wouldn’t be able to just show up and hope that a band had done their due diligence. I get to interact with these guys even though we haven’t formally met. Here’s something funny! I was talking to the guitar player and he says don’t worry man we’ve been listening to all these songs since our teens! (laughs). Well that made me feel old. Thank-you!
When I go back to the UK it really is like a time machine. The way people feel about the music is palpable. It isn’t some sort of weird groupie thing. It’s genuine love of the music and that’s maybe what differentiates the European audience a bit more than audiences in the States. They have a different relationship with the music and to me it’s something I can feel. It’s very special.
NI ROCKS - You’ve played here before of course; what are you expecting from the local fans?
JIZZY – Free Guinness!! I’ve played The Diamond a couple of times and I’ve played Belfast and Dublin with Skid Row away back in ’91. We played Northern Ireland back in ’91 when it was still “heavy”.
NI ROCKS – During what we call “The Troubles”.
JIZZY – They put us up in The Europa, the most bombed hotel in the world! I remember we were in some big ballroom with all these older gents in suits and ties kinda making fun of us until they closed the bar to everyone except people who stayed at the hotel. All of a sudden I had 600 of my best friends asking me to buy beer for them! We experienced that and then going back and seeing the difference now compared to then is pretty crazy.
We’ve always had a great time with Derwin at The Diamond and he treats us good! And the Beer Bus will be rolling back and forth for all our special partiers with their party needs! (Laughs).
NI ROCKS – The Beer Bus is a great institution here!
JIZZY – Well, it’s smart isn’t it! Have you driven that road from Belfast!! That’s like Mr Toad’s Wild Ride (in Disneyland). That’s something you don’t want to do at 2am in the morning! I’m all for the designated driver thing.
NI ROCKS – The Diamond’s a great place and Derwin has done a great job with it. That’s all my questions. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.
I’d thought we’d finish off with something from “Crucified” that you released at the end of 2013. Do you want to pick a track, tell us about it and introduce it?
JIZZY – Let’s play the one ballad song, it’s called “I Don’t Want to be Your Baby”. Basically it’s a song about a girl, but it’s a song that the girl wouldn’t want particularly to be identified with if you understand! It’s sort of an anti-love song and it’s actually about a certain person from the past, but we’ll just leave it at that!
For more info check out http://www.jizzypearl.com/
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Playlist for Friday NI Rocks Show on 18th Sept
GASOLINE OUTLAWS – Nothing On Me
LOVE / HATE – She’s An Angel
Interview with Jizzy Pearl – Part 1 (8 min)
LOVE / HATE – Blackout In The Red Room
Interview with Jizzy Pearl – Part 2 (8 min)
QUIET RIOT – Backside of Water
Interview with Jizzy Pearl – Part 3 (11.5 min)
JIZZY PEARL – I Don’t Want To Be Your Baby
SCREAMING EAGLES – Bow Down To The Blues
THUNDERMOTHER – Enemy
KOBRA AND THE LOTUS – The Spirit of Radio
DIEMONDS – Hell Is Full
NEWMAN – Illuminate
SHADOW TRAIN – Power and Resistance
THIN LIZZY – Black Rose