Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

XS ROCK

Hard Rock & Metal

Interview With Legendary Drummer Carmine Appice

Carmine Appice is a legend in the world of rock drummers. Over the years he has played with a virtual who’s who list of artists including Ozzy Osbourne, Rod Stewart, King Kobra, Blue Murder, Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, Pink Floyd, Michael Schenker, Jeff Beck and the list goes on. Recently, I had the chance to talk with Carmine about his new project, simply called “Appice” that features not only Carmine, but his brother Vinny as well.  Dual drummers playing together throughout the album with guest appearances by performers from bands such as Whitesnake, Bulletboys, Dio, Warrant, W.A.S.P., MSG, Guns N’ Roses and more.

 

XS ROCK: Hey Carmine. Great to talk with you today. I’ve had a chance to listen to the Appice album that you just finished with you and your brother Vinny Appice. So fill me in on how recording this record came about.

Carmine: Well, we’ve been doing this show Drum Wars for many years now. It’s always been a lot of fun working together. We got a new manager last year and far as booking goes, our manager thought it would help with getting new gigs and it’d be a lot of fun for us to do a record. So we needed a budget and we got that worked out through Pledgemusic. Our manager put together the Pledgemusic campaign about a year ago and then we basically took it from there. By the end of January, we actually had the amount of money that we wanted. So we started making the record and “Monsters and Heroes” was a song that I had in my treasure chest or whatever you want to call it. We had recorded it in 2011 by my group King Kobra and we wrote it for Ronnie James Dio, for his foundation. So it was originally released on Wendy Dio‘s label to support Ronnie’s foundation and any money that was made went to the Stand Up And Shout Cancer Foundation. I realized that there was no real outlet for getting that song played now. And last year when King Kobra went to The Sweden Rock Festival, we played that song live. And I said, Oh, that’s interesting that it got a really great reaction. So basically, I talked to Vinny and said we’ve a great song to start out with and I think you’ll love it. It was written by Paul Shortino and Paul and Rough Cutt were managed by Wendy and Ronnie Dio back in the day. So we revamped it and put Vinny on it and then re-edited it and mixed it and we used that song to get us the record deal. after that track it all came together. We put different people on the various tracks and mixed everything and came up with the “Sinister” record.

 

Interview With Legendary Drummer Carmine Appice

XS ROCK: I’ve had a chance to listen to it and I’m really impressed. A lot of great rocks songs on there.

Carmine: Thanks, You might notice when you listen to it that Vinny’s on the left channel and I’m on the right. And we did that specifically so you can hear the two of us playing, doing fills and answering each other. It creates really nice ear candy.

 

XS ROCK: Is there a sense of competition between you two, both being drummers and all?

Carmine: Oh yeah, there is, but it’s all in a positive way to drive us to the next level. He pushes me and then I push him.  On one song, called “Suddenly”, it was given to us by a really cool guitar kid from France and it had a really cool drum groove on it that actually happened to be a drum machine.  Vinny said, maybe we should just keep the drum machine when we play it. So we played it a certain way where Vinny did the intro and I did the verse, I did the chorus, he did the next intro and verse, you know.  We alternated and we both had specific amount of bars that we played. So I did my part and we both agreed that we would stick with the drum machine, So I gave it to Vinny and he recorded his part and sent it back to me in New York and I sit down to listen to it and he’s playing all over the place. So, I go dude, I thought we were doing this like the drum machine and he said yeah, but it sounded boring when I did it so I just went off a bit. I said great, now I’ve gotta redo mine! I can’t be looking like Joe Simple and He’s Joe Complicated, you know.  So that’s a sense of the competition. It came out better, so that’s an example of us driving each other to the next level too.

 

XS ROCK: So you mentioned King Kobra. I’m a huge fan and I’ve followed the band since the first album, which is one of the best rock debut records to come out in the 80’s. Now the original vocalist was Mark Free, which has since undergone a transformation and is now known as Marcie Free. Do you still ever talk to each other anymore?

Interview With Legendary Drummer Carmine AppiceCarmine: I don’t anymore. I used to speak to “them” all of the time. I say them because it’s so weird for me to call Mark Free, Marcie now (laughs). About two or three years ago, I was doing a record deal with a label and we were just getting catalog stuff together. Somebody had given me a DVD of King Kobra live in Mexico. There’s no real money it, because people just don’t buy a lot of DVD’s nowadays. So I had a deal that was maybe worth $500. It was going to cost me a $150 to do the menus and all of that stuff. So we’d have $350 and we could just divide it equally among all of the original members. I just wanted to get it out there so the fans had something to watch, because we never really had any live video footage. So Mark (Marcie) Free says no way! I’m not going to sell my voice for $50 and if you do it I’m going to sue you. I said “come on dude, what are we talking about here?” We’re not talking about in the 80’s , there’s no money in this thing. We’re just doing it for the fans, really.  So I said, you know what? I don’t need to do it. I don’t financially or creatively need to do it. So if you don’t want to do it, then “Fuck it”! So that’s the last time that I talked to him.

Interview With Legendary Drummer Carmine Appice

XS ROCK: So there’s never going to be a chance that there will be a reunion of the original lineup then?

Carmine: No, no. When the Frontiers thing came about. I got Paul Shortino. He’s a well known singer, and he said He’d love to do it. And we put out two of the greatest King Kobra records that I think we ever did. I want to do some live King Kobra shows next year because we have King Kobra at the Sweden Rock Festival coming out. So now David Michael-Phillips doesn’t want to tour and Mick Sweda is in the movie business. So I guess if we do come out, it’ll be me, Paul, Johnny Rod and the guitar player that we took out on the live album. He’s really great. We’ll have one original member and one really well known member. Most bands only have one original member now anyways…(laughs).

 

XS ROCK: You worked and toured with Ozzy Osbourne for a while, so I have to ask…What’s your best Ozzy story?

Carmine: Well, I mean…Ozzy was always a good guy until he got drunk and then he was like out of his mind. I don’t have a lot of great Ozzy stories. We played together but we didn’t really hang out a lot. After the gigs, him and Sharon would take off in their own bus.  The only cool Ozzy story that I have is when we were recording the “Bark At The Moon” album, I was credited on the first 500,000 albums as the associate producer. I was kind of in charge there with Ozzy. I couldn’t believe that Sharon left me in charge with him. We would walk down the streets of New York, and they weren’t safe in those days…and he’d be wearing all of the big diamond rings and gold this and gold that. I’d be looking in front of us, behind us and on all sides for muggers. He didn’t have a clue. We flew to England on the Concorde together and did the Bark at The Moon video and that was pretty fun. We’d be rehearsing and Ozzy would always be the last to show up. I’d always have to pick him up at the pub. He’s a good guy. A nice guy. Everything that happened between us, happened with Sharon and not between me and him. The lawsuits and everything that happened. He told me. “I know you have problems with my Mrs., but I hope we can still be friends.  And when I put King Kobra together, he was the first person to see the full show. I got a great record deal and bought some new vehicles and we were painting them. I had to thank him for that, because if I hadn’t been fired from that tour I wouldn’t have done King Kobra. So I was putting up masking tape on a RV that we bought to paint it and Ozzy says “Do you need any help?””Can I give you a hand?” I said sure. So there I had Ozzy up on the ladder putting up paper on the windows. I’ve got plenty of more stories in my book “Stick It”…My Life Of Sex, Drums and Rock N’ Roll!

 

XS ROCK: So tell me about your parents? Were they both supportive of you and Vinny playing in bands?

Carmine: Oh totally, totally. My father used to drive me to gigs because I was too young to drive and then later he drove Vinny to gigs too. They were totally supportive. My mother loved the music. She was always singing to the radio. Even when me and Vinny made it big, she said Mary’s my name and Rock n’ Roll’s my game. She was definitely a rock mom for sure. She made lasagna for John Lennon, Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck, Cactus, and Vanilla Fudge. She cooked for the stars.

 

XS ROCK: So who inspired you to want to perform originally?

Carmine: Originally, my cousin was a drummer. I would go over to his house and play on his drums and then I’d go home and bang on pots and pans. So my parents saw that it kept happening so they bought me a drum set. I had the toy drum sets when I was real little, but I used to break those. A day after Christmas it was done, you know. But, then they saw that I was a little serious about it and they brought me a real drum set.  A cheap set, and after a few years of playing that and I actually got some gigs with it, they realized that I was really serious. so they bought me a real good drum set and starting doing more and more gigs with it and eventually I bought more pieces to the drum set. Eventually I bought my own car from the gigs that I played. My cousin Joey was first and then there was me. There was seven drummers on my father’s side.  They’re all still playing except for one cousin.

 

XS ROCK: If you could design a dream band line-up with you on drums, who would you have in the other positions?

Carmine: Oh man, I don’t know. That’s a hard one. Maybe someone that I haven’t played with before. Eddie Van Halen, Ronnie Wood, Rod Stewart singing, Jan Hammer on keyboards. That’d be a great band.

 

XS ROCK: What do you consider as your greatest accomplishment at this point in your career?

Carmine: Well, probably the fact that I started a style of drumming that is still going on and a drum book that has influenced a lot of people around the world. It also could be that I co-wrote a number one hit with Rod Stewart.

 

 

XS ROCK: Where do you see your career going from here on out. It doesn’t sound like you’re planning on retiring anytime soon.

 

Carmine: No. I’m not going to be retiring anytime in the near future, but I also don’t think the days of headlining arenas like I did in the 70’s and 80’s are going to be coming back either. I don’t think that’s going to happen again. Unless I join something already established and well known. I’ve always said that I’d like to do one more headline arena tour in my career. I’m going to keep playing and I want to get into some speaking engagements.

 

XS ROCK: It’s probably hard to imagine at this point, since you’ve been a musician for so long, but, If you weren’t performing in a band what type of career do you think you would have had?

Carmine: I’ve always been interested in real estate. I actually do that on the side now. I have a lot of real estate ventures going. I’ve always said that I probably would have made more money in the real estate business than as a musician (laughs).

 

Interview With Legendary Drummer Carmine Appice

XS ROCK: What do you think of the current rock music scene? Is there anything out there that you like?

Carmine: I don’t know anything about it. (laughs). I don’t know how the bands make it. It used to be that I thought I knew what a hit song was, but I don’t have a clue what a hit song is today. There’s no radio airplay. So even if they get signed there’s no airplay. This country was originally brought up listening to rock music on the radio and now everything is on the internet. There’s no magazines anymore.  I really don’t know how these young bands do it. And the other thing is you take a band that’s been around ten years and all of sudden you start hearing about them. They’ve been on the road for ten years. They haven’t been making any money and living a crappy road life and having to pay people to play. They start when they’re 17 or 18 and they don’t make it until they’re 28 or 30.  It’s horrible. If you want to play in a club they expect them to go out and sell the tickets. Give me a break! They’re the musicians not the promoter.

 

XS ROCK: Is there anything that you would like to say all of your fans out there?

Carmine: Well, I always thank the fans for the support over the years. We can’t keep doing this without the fans. I hope they really like the Sinister album that me and Vinny did. It was an experiment and an experiment in mixing with each of us being on a left or right channel and we’re hoping that it does good enough that we can do another one because we’re going to still keep playing the Drum Wars gigs.

 

http://carmineappice.net/

http://www.vinnyappice.com/

Buy The Appice Sinister album at Amazon by clicking below:

 

Buy the Drum Wars Book Here

Buy Carmine’s Book, Stick It!: My Life of Sex, Drums, and Rock ‘n’ Roll

You May Also Like

Featured Articles

During the 80’s hard rock ruled the airwaves. Quiet Riot’s Metal Health became the first #1 metal album of all time. Soon after the...

Featured Articles

For every Motley Crue, Def Leppard, and Van Halen, There were many other bands that were really good, but somehow didn’t quite make it...

80s Heavy Metal

The 1980s hard rock and metal scene is widely known as a generation of excess and a lot of over-the-top imagery. In fact, most...

Christian Rock & Metal

01. Stryper-Stryper has to be at the top of this list. Not because I think they’re the best, but because their contribution to Christian...

Hard Rock & Metal

Formed in 1982 by Tom Keifer and Eric Brittingham, Cinderella was one of the biggest bands of the ’80s rock and metal era.  Following several...

Hard Rock & Metal

Recently, I received an advanced release for Josh Todd & The Conflict’s debut album, “Year Of The Tiger”. Most of you probably know Josh...

Hard Rock & Metal

Britny Fox was formed in 1985 with “Dizzy” Dean Davidson on vocals, former Cinderella drummer Tony Destra, former Cinderella guitarist Michael Kelly Smith and...

80s Heavy Metal

The 1980s and early 90s saw hard rock and heavy metal go mainstream and reach a large audience worldwide. The genre was split into...

80s Heavy Metal

The 1980s were an awesome time thanks to the glam/hair metal scene. The image almost became as important as the music during this period,...

80s Heavy Metal News

Watch First Video From New Skid Row Album "The Gang's All Here"

80s Heavy Metal

Today Skid Row and Erik Grönwall jointly announce that Erik will step down as the vocalist for Skid Row. Longtime friend Lzzy Hale of...

Ratt Drama Goes "Round And Round" With Juan Croucier Touring As "The Other Voice Of Ratt" Ratt Drama Goes "Round And Round" With Juan Croucier Touring As "The Other Voice Of Ratt"

80s Heavy Metal

Ratt was one of the more successful bands of the 80s hard rock scene with multi-platinum album sales and was practically on every cover...

Black Sabbath To Release Tony Martin Era Box Set "Anno Domini 1989-1995" Black Sabbath To Release Tony Martin Era Box Set "Anno Domini 1989-1995"

80s Heavy Metal

“Anno Domini 1989-1995” is a long-awaited new Black Sabbath super deluxe box set collecting material from the Tony Martin era. The box set includes...

Watch New Video For "Crack Cocaine" Featuring Ozzy Osbourne From Guitarist Billy Morrison's New Album Watch New Video For "Crack Cocaine" Featuring Ozzy Osbourne From Guitarist Billy Morrison's New Album

80s Heavy Metal

“I guess the way that your love makes me feel/Must mean I’m really addicted,” sings OZZY OSBOURNE on “Crack Cocaine,” the newly released track...

80s Hair Metal Fans Should Love The New Video And Song "Dina" By King Zebra 80s Hair Metal Fans Should Love The New Video And Song "Dina" By King Zebra

80s Heavy Metal

King Zebra unveils their highly anticipated album, “Between The Shadows,” scheduled for release on April 12, 2024. The band hailing from the picturesque city...

ARMORED SAINT Announce North American Tour With Queensrÿche; New Music Underway ARMORED SAINT Announce North American Tour With Queensrÿche; New Music Underway

80s Heavy Metal

Iconic heavy metallers ARMORED SAINT, who’ve been hard at work demoing tracks for their upcoming new full-length, will return to the stage later this...

Hard Rock & Metal News

Listen To Brand New Single "Saoirse" By Rotting Christ

Hard Rock & Metal

In celebration of their 35th year as a band, this May, Rotting Christ are releasing their 14th album. ΠΡΟ ΧΡΙΣΤΟU (Pro Xristou) is bound to hold...

Holy Mother Unleashes "Fire Video From Upcoming New Album "Rise"! Holy Mother Unleashes "Fire Video From Upcoming New Album "Rise"!

Hard Rock & Metal

HOLY MOTHER presents the follow-up to “Face This Burn”, and their overall seventh studio album: “Rise”! Slated for a release on June 7, 2024 via Massacre Records, the album...

Listen To "Promise Of Apocalypse" By Eleine Listen To "Promise Of Apocalypse" By Eleine

Hard Rock & Metal

Swedish symphonic dark metal five-piece ELEINE unveil a visualizer video for their latest single, ‘Promise Of Apocalypse.’ The song is taken from the band’s...

Lutharo Unleash Video For Metal Masterpiece, "Chasing Euphoria" Lutharo Unleash Video For Metal Masterpiece, "Chasing Euphoria"

Hard Rock & Metal

The wait is over! LUTHARO, the powerhouse of metal, have finally unleashed their much-anticipated album »Chasing Euphoria,« which is now available worldwide through Atomic...

Watch New Sebastian Bach Video "Everybody Bleeds" From Upcoming New Album "Child Within The Man" Watch New Sebastian Bach Video "Everybody Bleeds" From Upcoming New Album "Child Within The Man"

80s Heavy Metal

Check out the incredible new video and song by Sebastian Bach from the upcoming new album “Child Within The Man” set to release May...

80s Heavy Metal

Extreme performed for what appeared to be a sold-out performance for their show at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg Florida on March 8th, 2024....

XS ROCK Featured Articles

The Top 20 Hard Rock And Metal Albums Of 2023

Featured Articles

2023 had some really good hard rock and metal albums released if you know where to look and listen. The hard rock and metal...

45 Christian Heavy Metal Bands From The 80s And 90s That You Should Hear 45 Christian Heavy Metal Bands From The 80s And 90s That You Should Hear

80s Heavy Metal

Angelica Attempting to hit on the sound of guitar slingers like Van Halen and George Lynch, Angelica went for a more glam-sounding singer, similar...

20 Albums Released In 2023 That 80s Metal Fans Should Hear 20 Albums Released In 2023 That 80s Metal Fans Should Hear

80s Heavy Metal

Each year, it seems that the remaining 80s hard rock and metal bands that are still putting out new music seem to get smaller...

Check Out These 80s Metal And Hard Rock Stars' Real Names Check Out These 80s Metal And Hard Rock Stars' Real Names

80s Heavy Metal

Check out these 80’s Hard Rock And Metal Stars’ Real Names! Some of these names are well known to fans, while others might find...

Who Were The Top 15 Most-Glam Mainstream Metal Bands Of The 80s? Who Were The Top 15 Most-Glam Mainstream Metal Bands Of The 80s?

80s Heavy Metal

The 80s were the decade of excess and musically that was absolutely true as well. The hard rock and heavy metal musical landscape exploded...

Who Were The Best Straight Up, No Frills Hard Rock And Metal Bands Of The 80s? Who Were The Best Straight Up, No Frills Hard Rock And Metal Bands Of The 80s?

80s Heavy Metal

The 1980s hard rock and metal scene is widely known as a generation of excess and a lot of over-the-top imagery. In fact, most...

80s Rock & Pop

'80s POP HITMAKERS WANG CHUNG, MEN WITHOUT HATS, THE MOTELS, AND NAKED EYES ANNOUNCE THE “ABDUCTED BY THE '80s” TOUR

80s Rock & Pop

The 1980s were a unique, fun-filled era of music shaped in no small part by the emergence of MTV and the genre of New...

Watch Kevin Bacon Perform The Song "Losing The Night" With His Band The Bacon Brothers Watch Kevin Bacon Perform The Song "Losing The Night" With His Band The Bacon Brothers

80s Rock & Pop

The Bacon Brothers, featuring Michael and Kevin Bacon, are excited to announce the release of their new video, “Losing The Night”, from their forthcoming...

80s Music Video Of The Day

Take a trip down memory lane with this list of one-hit wonders on the U.S. charts from the years 1980 and 1981. How many...

Legendary 80s Pop Icon Adam Ant Announces 2024 American Tour Legendary 80s Pop Icon Adam Ant Announces 2024 American Tour

80s Rock & Pop

Adam Ant is pleased to announce his ANTMUSIC 2024 U.S. tour, which commences March 21st in St. Louis, MO. The English Beat will be supporting...

Foreigner And Styx Announce Renegades And Jukebox Heroes Tour With John Waite Foreigner And Styx Announce Renegades And Jukebox Heroes Tour With John Waite

80s Rock & Pop

Foreigner has announced the following: This summer we’re hitting the road with Styx! “We always look forward to being with our buddies in Styx,”...

80s Heavy Metal

Goodwyn was not only the singer but also the guitarist and main songwriter for the band. Goodwyn was widely revered as a great songwriter...

Alternative-Punk-Electronic

Alternative / Punk

Classic U.K. punk band Vice Squad has just released a newly remixed version of the song “Spitfire” along with a new video for the...

Bon Harris Says Nitzer Ebb Have No Plans For A New Studio Album Anytime In The Near Future Bon Harris Says Nitzer Ebb Have No Plans For A New Studio Album Anytime In The Near Future

Alternative / Punk

Electro-industrial legends Nitzer Ebb have released the following message regarding Douglas McCarthy’s health issues and the band’s future:

Face To Face, Save Ferris, Unwritten Law, Zebrahead & More Face To Face, Save Ferris, Unwritten Law, Zebrahead & More

Alternative / Punk

Brew Ha Ha Productions has announced the initial music lineup for the first-ever BRIGHTSIDE Music Festival, presented by WJRR-FM, on Saturday, April 27 at Central Florida Fairgrounds in Orlando, Florida.  Summer comes...

Front 242 Singer Hospitalized Front 242 Singer Hospitalized

Alternative / Punk

After an incredible 40-plus-year run on the road, Belgian EBM act Front 242 are setting an end to their live concert career, announcing their...

Alternative / Punk

Toxic misogyny, violence against women, and incels are the latest target Al Jourgensen takes aim at in the song “B.D.E.” (aka “Big Dick Energy”)...

Punk Legends Cock Sparrer To Release Their Final Album "Hand On Heart" Punk Legends Cock Sparrer To Release Their Final Album "Hand On Heart"

Alternative / Punk

Punk legends Cock Sparrer announce their 8th and final album on vinyl, splatter vinyl, picture disc, CD, cassette and digital formats! No one (band...

Rock News

Watch New Black Crowes Video For "Wanting And Waiting"

Hard Rock & Metal

The legendary Black Crowes have just released their latest single and music video for the song “Wanting And Waiting”. The song is from their...

Molly Hatchet Live Photos From Thunder By The Bay Festival, Sarasota, FL Molly Hatchet Live Photos From Thunder By The Bay Festival, Sarasota, FL

Hard Rock & Metal

Legendary Southern Hard Rockers Molly Hatchet played all their greatest hits to a large, enthusiastic crowd that was on their feet throughout the entire...

Hard Rock & Metal

The 26th Annual Thunder By The Bay Music & Motorcycle Festival is a three-day event held Feb. 16-18, 2024 at the Sarasota Fairgrounds that...

Watch AC/DC's First Live Appearance Since 2016 At The Power Trip Festival Watch AC/DC's First Live Appearance Since 2016 At The Power Trip Festival

80s Heavy Metal

You can watch the full live performance of AC/DC from their Power Trip show courtesy of the Riff Raff YouTube channel. The band ripped...

DEF LEPPARD AND JOURNEY ANNOUNCE SUMMER STADIUM TOUR 2024 WITH STEVE MILLER BAND, HEART, AND CHEAP TRICK DEF LEPPARD AND JOURNEY ANNOUNCE SUMMER STADIUM TOUR 2024 WITH STEVE MILLER BAND, HEART, AND CHEAP TRICK

80s Heavy Metal

Def Leppard and Journey are teaming up for the Summer Stadium Tour 2024 with Steve Miller Band, Heart, and Cheap Trick! The Rock &...

Head East Release Their First album In Over 40 Years Head East Release Their First album In Over 40 Years

Rock

Legendary AOR band Head East is back and better than ever with the highly anticipated release of “Full Circle,” their first studio album in...

Rock Stars…Where Are They Now?

Where Are They Now?

W.A.S.P. was originally known for outrageous antics such as throwing raw meat into the audience and appearing to torture people on a horror-themed stage....

Winger...Where Are They Now? Winger...Where Are They Now?

Hard Rock & Metal

Winger released their debut album “Winger in 1988 and it scored the band its first platinum-selling album. Winger released its second album In the...

Britny Fox...Where Are They Now? Britny Fox...Where Are They Now?

Hard Rock & Metal

Britny Fox was formed in 1985 with “Dizzy” Dean Davidson on vocals, former Cinderella drummer Tony Destra, former Cinderella guitarist Michael Kelly Smith and...

badlands badlands

Hard Rock & Metal

After guitarist Jake E. Lee was fired from Ozzy Osbourne’s solo band, Badlands was formed when Lee recruited bassist Greg Chaisson, former Black Sabbath...

Hurricane...Where Are They Now? Hurricane...Where Are They Now?

Hard Rock & Metal

Hurricane started out in 1983-84 with the original lineup of lead vocalist Kelly Hansen (vocals/rhythm guitar), Robert Sarzo (guitar), Tony Cavazo (bass), and Jay...

Black N' Blue...Where Are They Now? Black N' Blue...Where Are They Now?

Hard Rock & Metal

  Black ‘N Blue was formed in 1981 and released four successful and critically acclaimed albums through Geffen Records including their self-titled debut (1984),...