Vinny Appice (Kill Devil Hill) Interview

Legendary drummer Vinny Appice is enjoying some quiet time in California after recently finishing up a US tour with his latest project Kill Devil Hill. Touted as yet another metal supergroup (though vehemently denied by the band themselves) , Kill Devil Hill pairs Vinny and Rex Brown (Pantera) on bass with up and coming unknowns Mark Zavon (guitar) and Dewey Bragg (vocals) to produce some banging old school groove metal in the bands second album Revolution Rise (released 6 December).

Since the band’s 2012 self titled debut album was received so well, was there any pressure on with Revolution Rise? Surprising, Vinny answers in the negative: “No, not really; the first album came out and set us up for what the band was about. It was a little bit more raw, and the second album, by the time we went to write and record it, we were already on the road. We did lots of gigs and that really tightened us up as a band and defined the sound a lot more. So I think the second album is a little bit more focussed - there’s a little bit more polish on the songs - we didn’t feel the pressure because the first one didn’t sell five million!” He’s laughing as he adds “If we’d sold five million records, there would be pressure! It’d be hard to follow that one!”

Revolution Rise is incredibly well balanced - each member of Kill Devil Hill gets to do their thing – having such a strong line-up, how does that translate to the song writing process?  Vinny explains that everyone is involved in writing the tunes and that “Some of the songs were from ideas that we jammed; we’d like a riff so we’d record it. Some of the songs Mark brought in already done and we just put our mark on them; rearranging them and so forth so the writing process had everybody involved, and luckily we had a great producer with Jeff Pilson, so it was pretty cool.”

And were there any clashes or was it a democratic process? “It was kind of democratic – there’s always some head-butting with different ideas; not so much with the songs – well, sometimes – then there would be the majority rules, that kind of thing. You’ve gotta have some kind of solution to everybody having an opinion so ‘majority rules’ usually works.”

I’d read a recent interview with Rex Brown where he spoke about his passion for Kill Devil Hill so I ask Vinny about his attitude towards the band. His enthusiasm pours down the phone. “I started the band and it was something I’d dreamed about. I’ve played with a lot of people and a lot of big bands but I’d never really started something from the beginning, and it’s nice to see it grow into something successful. So this is my baby and I think Rex feels the same way; it’s something we’re both starting from scratch and it’s something we, and everybody involved, created together so it’s definitely exciting to hear reviews and see some success from it.”

I ask if he still gets a rush from creating music, despite having been playing for over 35 years. The answer is a definitive “Yeah! It’s fun to write,” and while he points out the he hasn’t always had the opportunity to contribute to the song-writing process with some of the past bands his drummed in, Vinny reckons “It’s nice to be able to say ‘Hey! I think we should do this…’” He sees it “more of an open forum” with Kill Devil Hill – most importantly “It’s exciting! It’s always exiting to write – and I still love playing live; there’s still that thrill and it’s still fun for me - I love playing! I’m glad I’ve been able to play my whole life.”

The band has just finished touring the US; how did that work out? Again Vinny’s passion pours out.

“The US tour was really good; we did 20 something shows and we just ended a couple of days ago and we did a lot of the new album. I think we probably did half and half; half of the first album, half of the second. It was great to hear the songs together to hear how they worked, and they worked really well. The new songs are a little bit more to the point, more riffy whereas the old songs are a little darker and a little bit more raw so they work great together and really complement each other.” He tells me that Kill Devil Hill are working on further tour plans so we may see the guys in Australia next year – whoo-hoo!

Having played arenas with Dio and Black Sabbath, was it difficult to transition to smaller, more intimate venues? “It was at first but I’m a humble guy and you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do – and that’s something you have to do, and if you’ve got a problem with it then it’s gonna be hard because that’s how the business is right now. Until you get the band known it’s going to be hard to just go out and play a big place and nobody’s there. It’s much better to play a smaller place where you’re getting people in than to want to play a giant place where nobody’s coming to see you.”

And having been in the industry for over 35 years, how would you say it’s changed?

“It’s changed a whole lot; before there almost used to be a formula: a good band got a buzz going and the record company signed you and there’d be a lot more record money there; you’d get merchandising; there’d be more money available to  work with and the album would get promoted and radio was there. But now with the record companies, there’s not a lot of ‘em and they don’t have the money they had, and everything money-wise is smaller so it’s harder to get off the ground. And with the internet a lot of people download the stuff for free, and in a way the internet helps  because you can get the word out there but in other ways it kind of kills your sales a little bit, so it’s definitely changed a whole lot. I don’t know what the formula is now…it’s crazy out there.” He laments the current lack of resources but has the tenacity to push on. As he says “My attitude is always to kick it as hard as you can and play on ‘eleven’ and the band feels that way too,” and he laughs as he adds “Nobody’s resting, y’know?! Everybody’s full force here and the music has fire and energy, and it’s exciting when you listen to it and hear it. You wanna see people go for it…”

Like myself, Vinny is slightly bemused by the miillions of sub-genres; his view? “I don’t even know! You look at some of these things and you go ‘What the …? What is that?!’ - all these different categories of music: soft metal, hard metal, popular rock and so many different stupid names!”

And do you ever get disillusioned with the industry? His response is remarkably honest. “Yeah – you’re doing this and you go ‘Shit! I’ve been doing this for so long already I should be living on a mountain top in a big, giant mansion!  And I’m not!’ so it’s just like ‘Man! I’ve really broke my ass all these years…’ but I did get the opportunity to know what it’s like to be on the top of it too.  A lot of people don’t even get that far. It’s frustrating sometimes and you go ‘OK, this album kicks ass, how come it didn’t sell 25,000 copies?’ It’s frustrating because 25,000 is not even a lot of copies…”

And then you look at the shit that’s in the charts and you wonder what the fuck is wrong with people? “Exactly! It’s almost like it’s all marketing now – everything is marketing, it’s all clean and corporate and you’ve got to market this stuff right. It’s not just the music that sells – you’ve got to market it. And you can market crap! I see stuff that’s just crap but people know about it because it’s marketed well.” And thus we rue the falsity and evils (and sadly, the necessity) of marketing.

You played with John Lennon many years ago? “Yeah, I was in the same studio that he worked at, and my band rehearsed there and we were managed by the owner of the record plant and studios in New York. Jimmy Iovine was producing us and he worked with John and we did hand-claps on that song Whatever Gets You Through The Night and that’s how we met John. He became friendly with us - we used to rehearse in the place too - and he’d come and hang out with us. Then he asked us to do a live gig with him so I got to play Imagine and Slippin’ and Slidin’ with him at the New York Hilton at this big televised gig, and then we did a couple of videos with him, then he produced a singer and we were the band. It was amazing – and I was like, 16 – I had to go to high school the next day!”

That’s pretty mental, was that one of your highlights? “Oh yeah! Absolutely. At the time it wasn’t – it was like ‘OK, this is pretty big’ but I was young and I’d already met people that my brother Carmine played with; Jeff Beck came over to the house for dinner at my parents house in Brooklyn and I was around it somewhat, and John was, of course, bigger and amazing, but I took in my stride: ‘OK, this is cool. I’m playing with him but I wanna make sure I’m professional’ but now I look back, now that he’s passed on, and I go ‘Damn! How many people can say that?!’”

And speaking of Carmine,is there a rivalry between you , what with both of you being drummers and brothers? “Yeah, yeah – we’re always in competition but I’ve always kicked his ass and he knows it!” Then he laughs before continuing “It’s all friendly competition; we actually do a show called Drum Wars and we get a band, we rehearse and we work through all the songs in our history; I play some Dio and Sabbath, Carmine plays some Ozzy, Rod Stewart and Vanilla Fudge and in between that are some drum duets, a battle and a couple of solos – it’s an exciting show; a lot of drums and rhythm. We’ve doing that for the last year and a half and it’s been working out great; we hope to do some more next year. But it’s definitely a friendly competition.”

I ask about the set-to with Dio Disciples that occurred earlier in the year; you’ve now made your peace but could you tell me about what happened? “Well, it was just on the spur of the moment; it was right after Ronnie passed and I was doing an interview and I was asked what I thought and I said ‘Well, I think it’s disgusting…’” He breaks up laughing again. “I just thought it was a little too soon for the timing of going out and playing the music; it was very soon after Ronnie passed, but I know all those guys and I apologised to Simon (Wright) and since last summer, Simon couldn’t do it and they had a couple of gigs so I said ‘Alright, I’ll do it’ so I went and played with them and I had a good time. It was fun. We all enjoyed it.” And regarding the disagreement, he says “Now it’s all water under the bridge. Everybody’s happy.” Phew! I’m glad that one’s sorted.

And finally I’ve got a few drummer friends who wanted me to ask; what kinds of injuries can we expect as we get older? “Luckily, knock on wood, I don’t have any. The only injury I sustained was when I had to get a shoulder operation, and that was more my fault because on the last couple of Heaven & Hell tours; I had these drums that were up in the air above my shoulders and I would stretch and really hit ‘em, and it just wore my shoulder out so I had to come off that tour and I had to get surgery. So that’s the only injury that I’ve had; my hands are good, everything else is good. I’m very strong, probably because of the fact that I never really stopped touring since 1976 – I might have stopped for a year or something but I’ve always been on the road and played live – I’ve never sat at home for five years  and done nothing, so that’s kept me strong. Same with my brother, he’s older than I am and he’s kicking ass! He’s playing great and it’s the same thing; staying on the road.”

And there’s the secret to longevity as a drummer: don’t ever stop.

It’s been great to catch up with you, Vinny.

“Take care - hopefully we’ll see you down there next year.”

Vinny Appice, an all round legend and charming fellow.