Blackie Lawless Of W.A.S.P. Gives Update On His Health, Tour, And New Music
My latest Talkin’ Rock with Meltdown guest is none other that Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P.. It’s always a treat when I get to talk with Blackie. He’s a great interview and the force behind one of my favorite bands of the era.
Lots was discussed, including his health. He’s on the mend after undergoing surgery to ease his back last year. “But, you know, we had surgery on it about ten months ago, and I’m on the mend, and everything’s cool, you know? So, we should be ready for the fall tour coming in October.”
Blackie Lawless On His Special Meet & Greets
Blackie’s meet and greet is very unique, where the fans get pictures and stuff signed, then he’ll do a Q &A session with them. He explained why they do all that. “Well, we looked around at what other VIP packages were doing, and quite honestly, I didn’t get excited about it. I thought, you know, if I’m going to meet somebody I’ve always wanted to meet, wouldn’t some sort of back and forth, you know, question and answer? Wouldn’t that be what you would want to have it be? And for me, that’s what I would want. You know, and quite honestly, I didn’t because I’ve never done these until we did that the last time we were in the US a couple of years ago. And I’ll be frank with you, I got as much, if not more than the people did out of it because, like every other artist, you live in your bubble and you don’t have a chance to talk to people on a one on one basis without it being in a chaotic situation.” He later told me that some of the questions he received jarred some memories that might end up in a future autobiography.
Blackie On New W.A.S.P. Music
The last time I talked with Blackie, he told me he was working on new music. Where does it stand now? He said the surgery set him back a bit, but he got back into it. “I’ve had a long time to go through that. Those early demos of what we have been working on, listening to it with fresh ears. Some of it’s good, but there’s not enough of it yet where I would be comfortable saying, okay, this is finished, and let’s go with it. You know, I want to, I’d like to like to go back and visit the drawing board, so to speak, you know, and see what else is there, because even from two years of when we started working on that before to where we are right now, you’re going to gain so much, you’re going to grow so much, you know?”
He went on, “I don’t make records that are spread out over a two or 3-year period. Because the guy you are when you first start making it is not the guy you are when you finish making it, get in, try to, you know, six months top to bottom, get that thing cranked up, because like I said, if you don’t, you end up running the risk of it being a schizophrenic type of record. You know, where you’ve got one type of one thing and then some. The other half is something else and has no real cohesiveness.”
You can see Blackie and the band perform their entire debut album at the Royal Oak Music Theater on November 10th. For tickets, click here.
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