2019.01.17 - SiriusXM's Trunk Nation: L.A. Invasion - Interview with Matt (and the other members of Deadland Ritual)

The interview was about Deadland Ritual, the band Matt formed with Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol, The Neurotic Outsiders) and Frankie Perez.



Transcription of selected parts:
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Eddie Trunk: So Frankie, you're the guy that, I mean, you certainly, as you mentioned, you and Matt, you had a band, you guys have had bands like all-star bands and things like that, right?

Frankie Perez: Yeah.

Eddie Trunk: You still do that?

Frankie Perez: So Matt, I met Matt, he had a band called Camp Freddy, which was an all-star band. And actually my first gig with Matt was a Christmas residency about seven years ago. It was a Camp Freddie show here, and we still do that. But now it's called Kings of Chaos and he'll elaborate on that.

Eddie Trunk: Okay. So, Matt, jump in here. So your history with Frankie dates back to doing that band?

Matt: Yeah, well it kind of started there. Slash, actually, called me one time and said, “Hey man, I found this singer and would you check him out with Camp Freddy, and I'm going to come down and watch?” (laughs)

Eddie Trunk: So Slash had you audition Frankie, basically?

Matt: We were looking for a singer for Velvet Revolver.

Eddie Trunk: Oh, okay.

Matt: And then, you know, long story short we kind of worked on that for a while. That didn't come to fruition and then just remained friends with Frankie, loved his voice, kept playing with him in different situations. And when the situation came around, I have a charity for kids here in L.A. called Adopt the Arts. And we did a big benefit. And Geezer, I called Geezer because I’d just played with him with Alice Cooper in the Hollywood Vampires. We did a gig here at the Roxy and Geezer got up and we played. I think we played a Hendrix tune, Manic Depression, and it was just great. And then I think I got his number, “Hey, Geezer, could I have your number?” (laughs) So then I called, and we went up for my Adopt the Arts thing and we played War Pigs, because he knows that one. And we all know it as well. We love it. So we said, “Can we please play that song?” And he obliged and said yes. And it was Steve, Frankie, and myself playing that night. And I remember it just felt explosive. It was like, just we all looked at each other and we were like, “That was really cool”. And at that point, time went on and we started talking about doing a project. And I called Geezer and I sent him a demo that we had, another song that we haven't put out yet that's great. And he liked it and that was pretty much how it started. And then we got together and started writing songs.

Eddie Trunk: So let me go – we’ll bring Geezer in here in a second. But Frankie, let me go back to something you said a second ago, because you actually did shows with Slash prior to Slash doing what he's doing now with Myles Kennedy and all that.

Frankie Perez: Yeah, exactly.

Eddie Trunk: You were in a version of his band. Was it for a short time, basically?

Frankie Perez: Yeah. He was calling it Slash and Friends at the time. So when Velvet Revolver didn't happen, he called me one day and he said, “Hey man, I got some dates booked”. And one of the first ones was this festival in Norway, which is another all-star lineup he did. And so, yeah, I did a bunch of stuff with him.

Eddie Trunk: So what's fascinating here though is that obviously Matt loves you and you're in a band with Matt now. You had done that with Slash at that period of time. Why didn't it happen for Velvet Revolver for you? It seems like that would be what all the boxes would have checked that you would have actually ended up with that gig then.

Frankie Perez: You know what, man, someone asked me this, like, recently. And the truth of the matter is there was one guy that was right for that gig and sadly he's not here. That's the bottom line.

Eddie Trunk: Yeah, and that of course is, you're talking about Scott Weiland.

Frankie Perez: Scott Weiland, yeah.

Eddie Trunk: Yeah, yeah. Matt, do you still hope to do Velvet Revolver again at some point?  Is there still a side of you that hopes that that band is resuscitated at some point?

Matt: No, I have a new band now.

Eddie Trunk: I know you do, but, you know, most people are in a lot of bands at the same time, which we're gonna touch on in a second. But somewhere down the line - because Slash has told me a lot of times he feels there’s unfinished business with that band. Do you feel the same way?

Matt: He's never said that to me.

Eddie Trunk: Oh really? (laughs)

Frankie Perez: He didn't say that to me either.

Eddie Trunk: Maybe he feels differently now too, because he's got his thing going, you know, humming quite well.

Matt: He's out there running around. He's doing fine. Slash loves to play the guitar, man. He was home for like a week and he was back out on the road again.

Eddie Trunk: I know.

Matt: And I'm like, okay. But I don't know. I mean, it hasn't really been discussed. So, no.

[...]

Eddie Trunk: […] All four of you guys are gonna have to really be on board with this to work it. Is this the priority? Is this where you want to hang your hat and really make this thing go?

Matt: Yes, it is. And I remember, you know, to go back to Velvet Revolver, starting that band and what we had to do, and build that as a new band, even though there were guys from a lot of different big groups in that band. We still had to come out with great songs.

Eddie Trunk: Yeah.

Matt: And we still had to write great material. And we still had to work really hard to be taken serious. And the same thing goes for this band. We've been really diligent on making sure that we're writing great material and you know, sending around the stuff to each other when we have a riff and say, “Hey, do you like that?” And everyone chimes in. We're really open-minded. You know, there's no like hierarchy that's sort of taking the fun out of it. Like Geezer said, you know, this is fun again. I have to say, at the very beginning of Velvet Revolver I felt like a 20-year-old kid again. And I feel like that now, even though, you know, we're all a little older, but it's still that the energy of rock and roll and where we come from. It brings us back to when we first started again, because yeah, it is new and it is a challenge, right? But at the same time, we've done this before, but we know what we gotta do to get to where we want to go. And so we're all on the same page. We're fired up and that feels good, that's exciting. Because not to say that the old job can get boring because it doesn't, because you're playing in front of your fans and you're playing all this great repertoire that's been written over the years. But at the same time, trying to break a new band is not easy. And I'd say, if you say it was easier for guys like us, I would say we've been on the phone every day for about the last six months working on this project to get it off the ground. So, I mean, we're all here, we're all up for it. We're talking to you, we're going out in the summer, in June. We're gonna do 20, yeah, we're gonna do-

[A woman in the audience is screaming]

Matt: We won't be here yet.

Eddie Trunk: She must have a ticket because she's screaming and the show's not even announced.

Matt: We'll let you know on that. Come to Europe. But we're gonna start overseas, you know, and we're gonna do 20 dates, and I haven't told Geezer yet, 23 days. No, he knows. (laughs).

[...]

Eddie Trunk: […] Matt, you’ve got one [Black Sabbath song you want to play with Deadland Ritual]?

Matt: Symptom of the Universe.

Eddie Trunk: That would be amazing as well.

Matt: Yeah.

Eddie Trunk: And Steve, what about you?

Steve Stevens: Yeah, I gotta agree with Matt. That was the one.

Eddie Trunk: Symptom of the Universe?

Steve Stevens: Yeah.

Eddie Trunk: Sounds like, well… Geezer, you’re up for playing that one?

Geezer Butler: Absolutely.

Eddie Trunk: Ah, beautiful. Hey, I don't care if you don't play anything else in the rest of the set.  If only you guys play Symptom of the Universe, that's worth the ticket right there. That would be amazing. Now, what about going further? Like, would you do a Velvet Revolver or a Guns N' Roses tune or a Billy Idol tune? Or would you work that into the set too, Matt, do you think, or…?

Matt: I think maybe a VR track might work. You know, it would feel right. Probably, you know, the coolest riff would be Slither, right? So, probably we have to go there. And then when we're on the bill with Slash, you know, we'll just both play it and see who plays it better. (Laughter) Because I'm not going to tell him that we're playing it, except for now he's going to find out.

Frankie Perez: Well, you just did, buddy.

Matt: Oh, sorry. (Laughter) But I'm not gonna go like, “Hey, Slash, we're on the bill with you today. Can we play Slither?”

Eddie Trunk: Well, you gotta be careful what show it is, because Guns N' Roses started playing Slither, I'm sure you heard.

Matt: No, I didn't hear that.

Eddie Trunk: You didn't hear that?!

Matt: I'm not gonna talk about it, though. (Laughter)

Eddie Trunk: Oh, but you heard it. They were playing it in their set, which shocked everybody that was in there.

Matt: You just shocked me just now (laughs).

Eddie Trunk: Come on, you really didn't know that?

Matt: No, I live in Palm Springs, man.

Eddie Trunk: What does that mean?

Matt: I'm golfing.

Eddie Trunk: You don't get the internet out there?

Matt: I'm usually out by the pool.

Eddie Trunk: Oh my gosh. […]

[...]

Eddie Trunk: Matt, I want to ask you about something before we run out of time here. We are sitting here at the Rainbow in what has been rebranded “Lemmy's Lounge”. There's a statue of Lem right down there. Lem spent years and years at that bar playing that game and sitting there, and we all saw him there having his drink and playing there. I just was remembering this as I was walking here. Because I had you on That Metal Show at a time when we interviewed you at Roseland. You were playing in Motorhead. How long did you play in Motorhead for? You filled in for Mickey, right?

Matt: I did 13 shows.

Eddie Trunk: And you lived to tell about it.

Matt: Which was a perfect number. Because I had many blisters on my fingers. I got to tell you man, it was probably one of the greatest tours of my life. I had so much fun with those guys. Lemmy called me up - and I said this at his memorial. He actually texted me, and I could hear his voice through the text, [mimicking Lemmy’s voice] “Matt, I need you to play drums”, you know? And I actually texted him back. I wrote, “Why me?” (laughs) It's like, I don't know why I said that. And he wrote back, “Dave Grohl's not available”.

(Laughter)

Eddie Trunk: Did he really?

Matt: Yeah.

Eddie Trunk: That's awesome! (laughs)

Matt: I was like… You know, Lemmy wasn't a guy that minced words. He'd tell you the truth. I love that about him. And then I texted, “When are we rehearsing?” And he wrote back, “We aren't”. And I got a DVD from Wacken Festival. It came in the mail, like the next day, FedEx. And he said, “Learn the Wacken show”. And I learned it. And then I met them at the 930 Club in Washington, D.C., we soundchecked and I played that night. The night you saw me at Roseland was my second show.

Eddie Trunk: My gosh!

Matt: And it was amazing. For a drummer though, it was like, I had to remember which song was booga baga booga baga booga, or boom baga booga baga booga, or booga baga booga. Right?

(Laugher)

Matt: So, it got confusing, you know, because there's a lot of Motorhead songs that have that sort of thunderous rock beat happening underneath and I just needed to kind of decipher that. But, obviously, playing Overkill and Ace of Spades, and then I had to learn the newer stuff that Mickey did like Tragedy, which some of that stuff was like, wow. But yeah, it was one of the greatest experiences that I ever had and… yeah. So I did it and I’m happy to say that I was-

Eddie Trunk: I remember seeing you and that was, like you said, your second show. And we talked, we were out on the street behind Roseland, which unfortunately isn't there anymore, but we were talking and you were just like, “Dude, this gig is hard”. Like, you were showing me your hands and you were like, you were beat up. Like it was going to boot camp for you. They really put you through it.

Matt: Yeah, it was, you know, when Lemmy came out and he said, “We're Motorhead and we play rock and roll”, he wasn't joking. You know? (laughs) And it was a very energetic, high energy set. And I loved it. And I still remember it like yesterday. It was one of the greatest experiences, especially being on the bus with Lemmy. You know, he's just got great stories, especially about - he knew everything there was to know about every civil war. We'd be driving down the highway through the Midwest or like, you know, in the south where they had, like, battlefields, and he'd point and he'd go, “Over there was the battle of…”, you know, whatever. And he knew everything about not only, you know, the Second World War, First World War, but American Civil War. So a history buff, wow. […]

Eddie Trunk: Did you guys, any of you guys ever have any history with Lemmy here, right here in the Rainbow, hanging out and having some nights?

Matt: Oh yeah.

Eddie Trunk: And that's like, “oh yeah” (laughs).

Matt: Look, you know, I haven't had a cocktail in quite a few years, but even at Lemmy's memorial they had shots of Jack laid out on the table. I don't know if you remember that.

Eddie Trunk: Yeah, I do, yeah.

Matt: And I went over and I almost picked one up, just, you know, I'm like, “Oh, I get a pass”, right? I mean, for fucking Lemmy, I get a pass.

Eddie Trunk: Right, you should, absolutely.

Matt: I didn't do it.

Eddie Trunk: You didn't do it.

Matt: Because I would have ended up in fucking Tijuana and then you know, would have all gone to shit and not good. And Lemmy would even say to me, you know, “Oh, you shouldn't drink, man, you shouldn't drink”.

Eddie Trunk: He once yelled at me backstage at a Slash show at this House of Blues right here, because I wasn't having a drink. Because it was getting late at night and I had to fly the next day and it's like, it's two o'clock and there’s no need to keep drinking. So in the middle of talking to him, I turned around to the refrigerator in the dressing room, I grabbed a water, and I came back and he just looked at me with the most offended face. He said, “What are you doing?” He goes, “Go back and get yourself a proper drink”. I said, “Well, Lem, it's…” “What do you think you're going to get, fucking hydrated? Go get it”. He didn't want to talk to me until I went and got the drink. One other thing, Matt, on you, somebody here in the audience came up to me before you got here and told me that you recorded with Izzy Stradlin. Is that true?

Matt: Yeah, Izzy called me out in the desert. We both live in the desert (laughs). He lives way out in the desert. He's an interesting guy. Izzy lives in the desert and then he has a pad up in Ojai, which is kind of up in - past Santa Barbara, up that way. And he texted me and said, “I've got a song. Come up”. I drove up to Ojai, and we got in this little studio and we recorded a song called Fighter Pilot Money.

Eddie Trunk: Has it come out yet?

Matt: It's out.

Eddie Trunk: Okay. Does he want to do more, do you think?

Matt: Izzy just put it out. He just released it. You know, not even any press or anything.

Eddie Trunk: Right.

Matt: Because he just likes playing music and writing songs. But he's always been an interesting guy. And, you know, he could call me tomorrow and say, “Let's go record a song”. And he came over to my house and we sat down and played some guitars and, you know, that was cool.

Eddie Trunk: Yeah, wow. He's kind of, you know, a lot of people always wonder what he's doing and when he's out there. I had no idea he put a song out and that's cool. So hopefully it maybe inspires him to do more and gets out there and plays a little bit. I think a lot of people would love to see him.

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