Welcome to a breath of fresh air with Sandy Kaye. Today we’re taking a deep dive into the wild, loud and unforgettable world of rock and roll with one of the great drummers of the modern era. My guest is Matt Sorum, a man whose career has taken him from the clubs of Hollywood’s Sunset Strip to some of the biggest stages on the planet.
Matt has played with legendary bands including The Cult, Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver alongside rock icons like Slash, Steven Tyler, Billy Gibbons and Paul Rodgers. Matt joined Guns N’ Roses during the explosive Use Your Illusion years and helped power one of the biggest rock bands in the world through stadium tours, chaos, excess and rock history itself. But as you’re about to hear, there’s much more to Matt than just the bands he’s played in.
Today he’s leading the powerhouse supergroup Kings of Chaos, bringing together some of rock’s greatest musicians for explosive live performances, including their upcoming appearance aboard Australia’s Rock the Boat Cruise. In our conversation, Matt opens up about fame, addiction, survival, family life, the changing face of rock music and why after all these years he still feels like the luckiest guy in the room every time he steps behind a drum kit. It’s a terrific conversation packed with stories, wisdoms and plenty of laughs.
Want to meet Matt? I bet you do. All right. Good day.
How are you? Very well, thank you. Very well. And I hear we’re going to see you down under very soon, which is pretty exciting.
Yeah, that’s so cool because I haven’t been down under in a long time. I think we opened for Van Halen and Aerosmith. That would have been an amazing show.
It was. It was an interesting one because I don’t think Van Halen had been down there in a long time and they got back together. And it’s got to have been over 10 years ago.
We’re cooking, you know, everything’s going good over here. And I have a four and a half year old daughter now. So that changed my life dramatically.
I’m a late bloomer, I guess you would say. You must have a young wife. My wife’s 41 and you don’t need to know my age.
No, I’m 65. I’m feeling good and it’s fun. It’s keeping me active, if you will.
Well, they say young kids keep you young, don’t they? Hey, Matt, let’s talk a little bit about your background, because it’s a pretty interesting one. I know that you first got into music like many of your fellow musicians when you saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. I mean, that was way back in 64.
So you were really, really young then. Some of your influences since then, I think, have been people like Ian Pace and Keith Moon, Ginger Baker, John Bonham, Buddy Rich. Have I got that right? All the greats.
I mean, a smorgasbord of great drummers. I always tell musicians, young musicians, a lot of guys get in one lane, they listen to one style. They just want to play like that.
And I guess my style came from the great rock drummers, but I did get into other stuff just because I wanted to kind of hear it all. I ended up playing on the Buddy Rich tribute album, which I was asked by Kathy Rich, Buddy Rich’s daughter. I tackled a Buddy Rich thing with the Buddy Rich Orchestra.
So I guess all that sort of upbringing and the way I studied and everything has kept me kind of in and out of bands, if you will. Yeah, well, you’ve certainly been with a few. I like to morph.
I feel like it’s still challenging me. About two weeks ago, I played with Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath. And I grew up with Sabbath.
I play in the music with the real guy. And then two months ago, I was on stage with Steven Tyler and I was his musical director. I got to play all that early Aerosmith.
And I talked him into playing the early stuff. I said, you know, I want to do Toys in the Attic and Back in the Saddle. You know, I picked a set list.
He goes, really? And I’m like, yeah, Walkin’ the Dog. Let’s do Walkin’ the Dog. He’s like, OK.
So for me, it’s like a bucket list. Bucket list. The whole Kings of Chaos idea for me is a guilty pleasure.
It’s just like, not guilty at all. But I just, for me, it’s become just a huge bucket list for me to hang out with my idols and rock with them. Yeah, well, I think there’d be many people wishing they were in your shoes to be able to do that.
At high school, you were with a whole bunch of different bands. You were with a jazz band and a marching band and a wind ensemble. When did you decide that drums was your love? When I realized I had no other job skills.
And I told my mother, I said, you know, Mom, I’m going to Hollywood. She said, oh, she was so worried. You know, I mean, because I didn’t really excel at anything else.
I could barely keep a job at the gas station. You know, they fired me because I gave gas to pretty girls and they let them drive off. You know, I wasn’t like, I wasn’t a good candidate for 9 to 5. You know, and I just, I guess, and I would say that to young musicians, too.
If you really believe in yourself, you got to focus. You just got to go for it, man. It’s not like, oh, I got my job and I’m going to do this on the weekends.
It doesn’t work that way. It’s got to be like full in. I mean, I wore leather pants to the grocery store.
You know, it was like, it was rock and roll 24-7. And when I moved to Hollywood in 1979, you know, that was it. That was my, I mean, it was my life before that, but I just couldn’t wait to get out of the house, you know.
And I got the bug. You know, I got that bug that drew me to it, you know. How did you manifest the total confidence in yourself? Did you think that you were like a brilliant drummer and that’s all you were going to do and you were going to make it no matter what? I didn’t think I was brilliant at all.
And to this day, I don’t think I would be considered the guy that people go, that guy’s the greatest drummer in the world. They don’t say that about me, right? But I know that I’m a guy that gets along really well with musicians and I’m able to come in there and be a supportive member of a group. Now, being in a band, that’s a thing.
And I’ve been in bands that can be difficult and were difficult. So my job as a drummer was sort of just to be the guy that was the backbone and be foundational and try to not be a problem child. And, you know, I can’t say I perfected it because I had issues with things that went on.
But I always saw myself as more of a leader, I guess. And that’s why this Kings of Chaos thing fits better with me. I didn’t like it when things were going wrong and when the train was coming off the tracks and it didn’t feel good to me.
And I always felt like there’s got to be a better way. Rock and roll isn’t brain surgery, you know, and I would say that. It’s two guitar players, lead singer, drummer and a bass player, and maybe a keyboard player if you’re in deep purple.
That’s not brain surgery. We play rock and roll. And when I played with Motorhead, which I did for 20 shows, and I was with Lemmy on the bus, that was the Bible of rock and roll.
What do you mean? Lemmy Kilmister. Just the way he lived his life and the way he orchestrated a show. When we went on stage, we went on exactly on time.
He didn’t want to leave the fans waiting. Why would you? We are Motorhead and we play rock and roll. And that was the statement.
As simple as it sounds, it was brilliant. And I could have retired after that tour. I was like, I’m done.
I’d grown a beard. I didn’t bathe for like a month. My wife didn’t even want me to come home.
But I was like, I’m in Motorhead for a short period of time. For me, that was the pinnacle. Can’t say all my bands operated that way.
I saw how Lemmy did it his whole life. And he lived up until the very end with that mindset of how he lived his life in rock and roll. And I guess my point is, after Velvet Revolver is when I decided to just be a one man show and do my own thing and just call guys and say, hey, man, you want to play? And that’s when Kings of Chaos was born about 14 years ago.
And I’ve been doing it ever since. But way before that, when you first went to Hollywood, Matt, how did you crack it? Because you started off playing with people like Prescott Niles from The Knack. You went on to play with Racer C, Judas Priest.
And then you were recruited to play for a very young Tori Amos. How do you start moving in those circles? Well, Hollywood was the Mecca, right? Hollywood in that day and age, there was no internet. The only way that you could actually meet people was to be part of the community.
And the community was the community of rock and roll on the Sunset Strip in the mid 70s. And I started playing there in 74 when I was 14. And that became meeting other people walking down the street.
If I was wearing a pair of red pants and a pair of white capezio shoes and I had my hair was long and I look like a musician, you’d walk up to someone and go, hey, man, how are you doing? What do you play? And that’s how the conversation started. And if you were intuitive enough, you could spot them. And I was the guy that could spot other musicians.
And I would just chuck up a conversation. And all of a sudden we’d have a jam and there’d be a band. And same thing with Tori Amos.
I met her in a piano bar and that was the mid 80s, about 86, a little bit later than when I first went to Hollywood. But the time of music was shifting there too. Continually morphs, you know, it’s always morphing.
Going to the other side, giving us the only hope. Things are getting kind of gross and I go to pretend. This is not really, this, this, this is not really happening.
You bet your life it is, you bet your life it is. I bet your life it is, I bet your life it is. The great bands like ACDC and bands like that stay steady through it all.
But as you’re trying to make it in music, you have to morph. With Tori Amos, that was sort of the new wave era, if you will. And I cut my hair short and I was trying to just play music and make a living.
It had to do with a lot of the way you look, the way you play, your attitude and personality. And a lot of things that went into being a professional musician and being able to survive doing it. But I just met people along the way.
I actually didn’t play in Judas Priest. I played in a band called Hawk, but that was a precursor to Scott Travis and ended up being in Priest. But that wasn’t me.
But I was in this band called Hawk. And I pretty much just picked up anything that came my way. And then I became well known in Hollywood as Matt the Mercenary, like I would play with anybody for 25 bucks.
Matt the Mercenary, I love it. Yeah, I mean, I had, I was in 10 bands at one time, at one point in my career. Wow.
And I just love playing music. After my daughter turned three years old, I said, well, I’m going to dive back in hard. I took three years off to just hang with her.
Now I’m turning her on to it. She came to see my show the other night, my kid. So I feel like I’ve got this sort of a dream gig.
Like people, why aren’t you in Guns N’ Roses? Why aren’t you in this band? And why aren’t you in that band? I said, I was already in that band. You know, I was in that band of the height. We put the big day out in Australia to 100,000 people.
And that was on. I don’t remember all of it, but what I do remember was it was killer. And Rose Tattoo opened.
Right. First time I met Angry Anderson. He’s awesome, isn’t he? He’s my buddy too.
This is a breath of fresh air with Sandy Kaye. It’s a beautiful day. Matt, what I hear you saying is that it took a lot more nous and cheek and chutzpah, I guess, in those days to kind of make the friends and get involved and play with different people.
So it was more about your personality than your drumming prowess at the time. Would that be right? Yeah, I mean, I was a guy that could keep good time. I like playing songs.
I’m not in there for flash. You know, I can do some stuff, but… I don’t know, man. I watch these kids on YouTube going crazy and they play like animals.
And I’m like, but can you play in a band? Can you show up on time, don’t have an attitude, leave your ego at the door, and play in a band? I’m not sure if you can. Because it’s just a different world. I’m lucky I came from that era.
And I’m so grateful that I’m able to play with these icons that, in my opinion, it’s very tough to see who’s going to replace the greats. The Steven Tylers and the Mick Jaggers and the, you know, the Bat Ilk and… I’m able to put a feather in my cap to say I’ve had that experience in first hand, not just being a fan, which I am a fan. When I come and play Australia with Billy Gibbons, we’re going to tear up the ZZ Top stuff.
Because Billy’s been playing in ZZ Top for 52 years. But when he steps on stage with me, which we’ve done two solo albums together, I don’t know if you’ve heard them, but we give it a different energy. And people get to see musicians, what they’re going to see on the cruise is us challenging each other as musicians.
I don’t want to say that ZZ Top’s punching the time clock. They’re going on stage every night, doing the same show for 50 years, right? When we all get on stage together in Kings of Chaos, this is the thing that’s exciting for me. We’re all fans of each other.
You know, we’re all playing, and we’re playing the other band’s songs. So when you come to see Kings of Chaos, you’re going to hear ZZ Top. You’re going to hear Glenn Hughes from Deep Purple, who’s one of my favorite singers of all time.
I don’t care how old he is, he can wipe the floor with most kids. His voice is still on fire. I have proof.
I just played with him the other night. He just kills Black Sabbath. And he’s in great form, and I get to play Deep Purple, and that’s the band I called my band.
♪ He’s got his way, I told him he’s gonna stay ♪ ♪ He said he’s a playboy ♪ A lot of my friends in school were like, Zlut, Zeppelin! I’m like, it’s Deep Purple! Black Sabbath. And so that’s, for me, so exciting. I’m going to rip Brian Byrne and Highway Star and all that stuff.
It’s amazing how influenced by all the British music you’ve been. I got a theory. Yeah? On British music.
Go on. It just rained all the time, so what the hell else were they going to do? It’s like, I grew up in California. Hey, let’s go to the beach! Let’s go ride our skateboard, get on the bike.
Not in England. My theory is they didn’t have a lot of options, so they stayed in the house and played the guitar, their drums, and wrote great songs. Yeah, got good at it.
A lot of great stuff came out of Australia, too. But you guys do have sunshine. But that working-class Australian thing, you know, that backbone of Australia, that’s where, you know, ACDC and, you know, all these great bands and, you know, the Angels.
You know them all. Mozart, too. Yeah.
You’re a good student of music, aren’t you? Lots of people tell me what to do to make the rest true I’m a rock’n’roller It’s the life that I need I’ve got music living inside of me I’m a rock’n’roller I’m a rock’n’roller How did you land in with Guns N’ Roses? Oh, I played in a band called the Colts. British band, right? And they recruited me in the late 80s, which was, I guess, my first sort of ride on a tour bus where I got some notoriety, where I became, you know, a guy that was out there. People were like, Hey, it’s Matt Sorum on drums.
And I started getting, like, drum magazines and stuff, you know, and endorsed. And then Slash and Duff came and saw me play with the Colts. And we were, in the late 80s, the Colts was on fire.
We were a great rock band. And I’ll look back at that time and I’ll say, the Colt, premier era Sonic Temple electric album. We were playing arenas.
So I got to have that experience with the Colt too, you know, to be honest with you, I would have been happy to stay in the Colt, but Guns N’ Roses came along and wanted me to jump in. I’m like, what was I going to do? They were the biggest band in the world at the time. And I was like, I better take this opportunity.
Were the Colt members pissed with you? Yeah. They weren’t happy. I remember taking Billy Duffy out to lunch.
And I told him, in a typical English form, I said, well, I guess you’re buying lunch then, mate, aren’t you? The one mistake was I never spoke to Ian Ask very personally, which I should have and I regret it. And I’ve tried to apologize. He doesn’t want to know.
Well, I mean, it’d be a bit like breaking up with a girlfriend, you know, you don’t do it over the phone. You know, it’s not cool. I was young.
I didn’t know. And I have said my apologies, but I went back with the Colt. I’ve made another album in 1999.
So he must have liked me enough to kind of come back. So I’m the American in the band for a bunch of Brits. So that’s even another long shot.
But I grew up on British drummers. So I would think that British drumming is a little, probably a little bit different than the way American guys play. How so? There’s a certain style in the way that British drummers play.
Like even like, I was just playing with Paul Rogers two weeks ago as well from Bad Company. I’m listening, and I still go back and I study Simon Kirk, the way he played. It’s a different feel, like on the hat.
And I studied that stuff, and I listened to it. I guess that’s been my gift, is I get to play with so many musicians. I feel like I’m becoming a better drummer through the years.
Johnny was a schoolboy When he heard his first Beatles song Love me do I think it was And from there It didn’t take him long Got himself a guitar Used to play every night Now he’s in a rock and roll outfit And everything’s all right Don’t you know Johnny told his mama Be a big star someday Mama came to the door With a teardrop in her eye Johnny said don’t cry mama Smile and wave goodbye Don’t you know Yeah yeah Don’t you know That you are a shooting star That you are a shooting star And all the world will love you Just as long, as long as you are I don’t get lazy. I’m not just playing in one band. And people are like, Bat, you’re better than you’ve ever been.
I’m like, I am? Thanks! But the reality is, I’m still studying. I’m playing with Macy Gray next week. Completely different style.
Like soul music. I call my drum tech, I’m using smaller drumsticks, I’m playing in smaller kit. I have to be that guy for that gig.
And I want to do it because I love Macy. I think she’s amazing. The week after that, I’m playing with the singer from the band Live.
And that’s more 90s. It’s different. I just have to learn it and play it.
Right. You’ve got to keep adjusting your style the whole way through. I mean, I think it’s like life.
It’s like you and me. We wake up in the morning, what are we going to do today? I try to become a better person, too. In the meantime, not be an asshole to my wife, just keep my mouth shut, stuff like that.
It’s like, I can do better today. That’s how I feel. Games, changes and fears When will they go from here? When will they stop? I believe that fate has brought us here And we should be together back But we’re not I’ll pay it off when I’m dreaming of you And I’ll keep my cool when I’m fading I try to say goodbye and I choke I try to walk away and I stumble Though I try to hide it it’s clear My world bubbles when you are not there Goodbye and I choke I try to walk away and I stumble Though I try to hide it it’s clear My world bubbles when you are not there I lay up here to be free How is it and how has it been trying to maintain a relationship through all of those years on the road and playing late at night and doing all of that? Has it been difficult? Well, I didn’t get married until 13 years ago and we’ve been together about 20.
We went through stuff but then I, you know, I got off the road and I think the road would have been very, very hard for me to stay in a relationship and then I had my kid late in life because of that reason too because I just, I didn’t want to be away. You know, I saw band members, friends of mine, struggle with it because we’d be out there for nine months and, you know, a year, whatever, longer. You know, the family stuff was, a lot of them got divorced, you know, stuff went on.
I don’t know if I consciously waited but I did subconsciously wait to do the family thing and now I’m in it and I work my life around my family now. You want to talk about what happened between you and Axl or you want to leave that go? No, not really. So long ago.
I’ll tell you one thing about Axl. You know, what a great band when we were out there and they, you know, they’re still out there and doing what they do but I think more than any other band that I’ve been in, that band has given me the title, right? I can really live the rest of my life based on the moniker, you know, Matt from Guns N’ Roses. I do speaking engagements now because I do a lot of different things and because I’m the guy from the band.
Really? And I do this sort of like life course thing. You teach a life course? No, I just do a TED Talk. Okay.
What’s your key message? It’s just living life and finding your purpose beyond the title. So I guess my meaning and what I was getting at was, you know, being in a band like Guns N’ Roses is bigger than really all of us. It’s an entity.
It’s, you know, it’s something that’s like I say, a moniker. But when you’re in it and when I was in it and I was young, obviously I drank too much alcohol. I did drugs and I chased women.
And I did everything I was supposed to do at that point in my life. And for good reason. Why wouldn’t I? I was a young man and I made mistakes.
I did stuff, you know, that was typical, you know, cliche rock and roll. But now I look back at it and I go, it’s such a gift, you know, even though coming out of it, you know, we all go through difficult stuff. But as you go through the process of learning about what you went through, you find yourself again.
And that’s why I feel like where I’m at now. So I talk about my journey, you know, and it connects with people. It’s not just about being a rock star.
It’s about being a human being. I can go, I go out in front of like corporate people that are working with other people in a workplace. It’s like being in a band.
There’s always going to be a leader. But it’s how you support the leader that makes it all work. It’s about collaboration.
So that’s kind of my talk. I talk about collaborative effort, open-mindedness, willingness, willingness to try things, willingness, open-mindedness, meaning we’re only going to get better together if we don’t listen to each other. That’s the kind of stuff I talk about.
Yeah.
This is a breath of fresh air with Sandy Kaye. It’s a beautiful day. I did a book, I’m not, I can’t say it.
It’s something, I’m going to write another one that’s more straight off from me, and it’s not a, you know, rock and roll diatribe. You know, because that’s what they wanted and that’s what I gave them. The point was about Axl, when people ask questions about it, you’ll go see a lot of bands, look, guys have broken up and they got their sour and all that.
It’s like, there’s no reason to be sour. You know, because things that I do today are all connected to that. In general, a door opens.
You know, I meet so many people because of that band when they say, hey, that’s the guy from Guns N’ Roses. I’m going to be on that cruise ship because I’m in that, I came from that band. I have the credibility of one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time of being there.
People go, well, they’ve had a lot of drummers. Actually, there’s only three records and I’m on two of them. And so you can say whatever you want about the other drummers.
I got the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with them too. There’s only two drummers in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, me and Steven Adler. And that alone isn’t me going, I’m in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but it is a feather in the cap.
For sure. It’s like, this is cool. Okay, great.
Now what are you going to do with it? You sell yourself a bit short though too because you played with some other fabulous guys like the Hollywood Vampires with Alice Cooper. You did a whole bunch of work with them. Well, there you go.
I was in that band because of Guns N’ Roses because it’s almost like, I would say this to musicians, speaking of Johnny Depp, right? So Johnny Depp was in the Hollywood Vampires. And you could look at the case study of Johnny Depp. When he came to Hollywood, he was a musician.
He played guitar. But he got an acting role on a film called 21 Jump Street. It was a TV show.
I remember. And he didn’t really want to be an actor, but then he realized he was making a living, and that’s when the money kind of got him. And then he decided he was going to pick and choose and really create his path and his destiny about the kind of art he wanted to put himself in.
And I kind of look at my flow through these different bands that way because if I wasn’t in the cult, I might not have gone to Guns N’ Roses because that’s where they saw me. There’s a bit of cliques in rock and roll. You know, there’s the Queens of the Stone Age and the Poof Art.
They hang over in their own little territory. Certain musicians run in that circle. And then in the rock and roll classic rock world, that’s probably where I sit, somewhere in there.
If I would have been in maybe, let’s say, more of a hair metal band like Warrant or Poison or something, I wouldn’t have gone to Guns N’ Roses. They wouldn’t even have picked up the phone, you know? No. But the cult was a cool band.
The cult was like, the band’s cool. So that got me. Of course, Velvet Revolver because that was three of us from that.
And at that particular time, Axl was calling himself Guns N’ Roses, so me and Slash and Duff united. And it was time for us. We knew we needed to make a statement, and we did.
It’s been a long year since you’ve been gone I’ve been alone here, I’ve grown old Fallen pieces, I’m falling Felt the pieces and I’m still falling Every time I’m falling down Hold on my hand We had a good band. And that was the band that I really wanted it to last. I really thought that maybe could have been, and I said this in the press and someone was like, no way, it could have been as good or as big as Guns N’ Roses if we kept going.
The thing about Guns N’ Roses is they wrote that Appetite for Destruction album. That first record, I don’t know, that’s a tough one to beat, right? Absolutely. So that was a really great period of my life.
Do you get upset or regretful when one band ends for you and you’re looking to go on to the next? And with whatever emotions are going through you at the time where you’re exiting one, and then there’s that hiatus before you get into the next, do you ever start doubting yourself and think, oh God, what if there isn’t the next one? What am I going to do? Am I going to go back to pumping gas? Or how do you maintain that constant belief in yourself that there’s more opportunity down the road? That’s part of my speech in my panel. Is it? Because it’s about getting up and putting your trousers on. And I am a case study in hills and valleys.
But I know the hills and I know the valleys. But the thing it’s given me is an incredible amount of balance. And I’ve really been able to decipher real people over fake ones.
That’s been the interesting educational factor of what I’ve gone through in my career. Because there’s a lot of people that you just don’t need in your life. And once you start getting rid of people that aren’t lifting you up, you get lifted up and more good people come in your life.
You open the avenue for people that are going to resonate with you and bring you higher than when you hang with people that are just trying to drag you down. Or, you know, you’re hanging with friends and they’re just being negative. Ah, fuck Axl! Or whatever.
And you’re like, no, man. It’s not like that at all. I’m not even thinking about that.
I’m thinking about the next thing. And that’s exciting. For me, that’s rock and roll.
It’s like excitement when you were a kid. And I say to people, you know, there’s a lot of bands out there doing it for the money. That’s it.
They’re just making the money. They don’t even like each other. It’s like, wait.
What happened when we were kids and we didn’t even know anything about money? Remember that? That’s what it’s done for me. It’s brought me back to my roots. And I go back every time I need to go back and put the gas on again.
I remember when I took a Hollywood $40 station wagon. And where I’ve come, I own my own house. I have a good life.
I’ve done well. And I’ve learned to negotiate for myself and rally for myself as a person. And in the business of rock and roll, I’m going to say this, but it’s true.
The guys that run this business, drummers are disposable in their mind. They don’t care. All they care about is the lead guys that sell the ticket and the name of the band.
And I think differently. I want to play with talented dudes. That gives me that youthful feeling that I always felt playing music when I was young.
I’m 65 years old. I still feel like I’m 20-something sometimes. I get it.
I certainly get it. So Matt, where did Kings of Chaos come from? What was the idea behind that? I had another band. Another band.
Another band and another band and another band. I had this crazy band called Camp Freddy. It was with me and Dave Navarro from Jane’s Addiction.
And we came up with it kind of on the fly. We were in Hollywood. Jane’s Addiction was split up.
I was between the cult and hanging out. And we started doing these bucket list bands. And we were just playing all over the place.
And we were just cult people. We had Robbie Williams play with us, the big pop star from England. And Steven Tyler and Courtney Love.
We became a well-known sort of party band. Doing big events and Vegas crazy stuff. And it kind of ran its course.
I’m like, I’m just going to do the same kind of vibe. I’m just going to be this old member. And that’s when I came up with the name Kings of Chaos.
Little sister, who’s the only one? Little sister, who’s your superman? Little sister, who’s the one you want? Little sister shotgun, it’s the last day of tea. Little sister, what’s your last wish? Little sister shotgun, oh yeah. Little sister, who’s the one you want? Little sister shotgun, it’s the last day of tea.
Take me back. I put my first tour together with Joe Elliott and Duff Leppard and Duff McKagan. I had Gene Simmons and Kiss.
Then I took it to South Africa twice. Slash, Duff, Joe Elliott again. Robin Zander, Billy Gibbons, Steven Tyler.
It was so much fun. Because we were just all hanging out. I just take care of my band.
So the band members are floating. You just call in whoever you want from your little Black Booker buddies and say, hey, you want to come with us on tour here? Or play gigs there? And they go, yeah, OK, we’ll join you, Matt. Yeah? Yeah.
And I fly them on a flatbed seat. They get hummus dip, whatever they want, from backstage. You know, M&Ms with no cheese.
I get them what they want. Every musician has a creature comfort. Like what? Just tell me some of the weird ones you’ve come across.
Well, I mean, when I went to Africa, I got this massive list from Steven Tyler. Even though he probably doesn’t even know half of it. It’s his people, you know? Right.
I got him a 4,000 square foot room. I’ll just call him Mr. Tyler Rico. Hello, Mr. Tyler Rico.
It’s concierge calling. And we just wanted to see if you found the baby elephant in the east wing. He’s like, what? I get him, like, you know, Voss water in a glass bottle.
And he wanted Egyptian cotton sheets and stuff like that. And the toilet bowl is 68 degrees. Have most of your cronies sorted themselves out now from their youthful habits? Yeah.
I haven’t touched a drink or a drug in 18 years. So you’re saying to say- All my hair grew back. It’s amazing.
Really? I don’t know. I was kind of a mess. But I say to people, you get a certain amount of alcohol or drink and drugs, you can do it all at once or you can spread it out.
And that particular kind of drinking is called moderation. Yeah. But you know what? Life is short.
What’s on your set list for Kings of Chaos on the Rock Cruise? My favorite ZZ Top stuff. All the early ZZ stuff. Glenn Hughes, Highway Star.
I love playing Highway Star. And the Cheap Trick stuff. Probably one of my favorite singers of all time is Robin Zander.
Dream Police, Surrender, I Want You to Want Me. Great song. The trick really is shit inside of my head.
The trick really is sick to the feet. And I don’t know what to do. I’m gone.
You can’t talk. It’s cheap. And those rumors ain’t nice.
And when I fall out of my seat, I don’t think I’ll survive. I’m running out of air time. Today is the day.
It’s in the air for me. I’ll never say goodbye. That’s why I’m running out of air time.
Fun for everybody. Hey, I’ll let you go, Matt. You’ve been awesome to chat to.
I tell you what, your mom had no reason to worry about you, did she? Turned out just fine. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
It’s a beautiful day. You’ve been listening to A Breath of Fresh Air with Sandy Kaye. Beautiful day.
Oh, baby, any day that you’re gone away. It’s a beautiful day.