by Steve Patrick
– Sr. Columnist —
Any drinking club that featured the likes of John Lennon, Keith Moon, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, the immortal Alice Cooper is certainly worthy of tribute. Thankfully musician-turned-actor-turned-musician Johnny Depp not only agreed with this sentiment but mentioned the idea of forming a band to honor the fallen members of the original Hollywood Vampires to Cooper himself. As a result, the band Hollywood Vampires as we know them today came into being.
The Hollywood Vampires’ current live lineup consists of Cooper, Depp, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, Depp’s songwriting collaborator Bruce Witkin, Cooper’s guitarist Tommy Henriksen, STP’s Robert DeLeo on bass, and ex-Guns N’ Roses/Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum.
The Vampires are currently in the midst of a North American tour in support of the band’s eponymous album released last year. Sorum took some time out of the band’s marathon touring schedule to discuss his involvement with the Vampires, checking out Dracula’s Castle with Tim Burton, his solo work, recent losses in his life, and his new band Kings of Chaos. Sorum even clued us in on his favorite Johnny Depp movie.
MS: Sitting in the back of the tour bus.
HRH: Very nice, that’s a good place to be on a hot day like today.
MS: Yeah we’ve got good air on this thing.
HRH: (laughs) Good. Well, let’s talk Hollywood Vampires. I know you’ve backed some big names on drums before but did you ever think that you’d be in a band with Alice Cooper, Joe Perry, and Johnny Depp of all people?
MS: Not in my wildest dreams. (laughs) You know I kind of look at my life like I turn a corner and there’s an experience, like one after another. I’m very, very lucky and honored and blessed and all those things put together to be playing with these guys. I’m just having an experience, a life experience and being able to share it with the public … hopefully, they come into it and enjoy it and just rock out. Get out of their everyday troubles and listen to some rock n’ roll and join the party, know what I’m saying? So it’s like, it’s very, very cool to be here.
HRH: Do you recall your first exposure to Alice’s music?
MS: Oh yeah. I mean I was in my early teens, not to give away his age, but everyone knows he’s been around…and uh, me and my buddy we packed up the station wagon and I believe we brought a 4 finger lid of marijuana, rolled about 20 joints, cooling up the highway kinda like Almost Famous, and went to see the Welcome to My Nightmare tour. I believe it was 1976 and sat in the 17th row. Somehow we got 17th row center. My mind was blown, you know. Opened the show with “Welcome to My Nightmare”…the whole theatrical experience. I just remember, “Wow, I love this guy and I love the theatrics and everything he’s about.” You know, showbiz and the whole thing…rock n’ roll. The scary stuff was cool ‘cause you’re a kid. (laughs) The shock rocker!
HRH: Next thing you know you’re touring with Alice in his band and visit Castle Dracula with him and Tim Burton.
MS: Now, you know, that’s something I’ve talked about which is just mind-blowing. You know you go through your life, you don’t know what’s coming next, you’re just kind of like chugging along and next thing you know you’re in Bucharest driving in a bus with Alice Cooper to Dracula’s Castle…turn around and up walks Tim Burton. I’m like, “Wait a minute.” (laughs) This is just bizarre! You know, it’s just like…those moments I always hold very dear to me and if I have any moment of getting down or whatever I go, “Hold on. Number one I’ve played all over the world in some of the greatest venues with some of the greatest musicians. Now I’m at Dracula’s Castle.” So, it just keeps on coming, you know? Couldn’t be any luckier guy in the world. You know, I grew up a fan of rock n’ roll and became a drummer, came to Hollywood in the late 70’s, and fulfilled every dream and then some. All I wanted to do was be in a band, make records, tour, and it’s really gone beyond my wildest dreams. I got into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a few years ago. I never thought that would ever happen. You know all these unexpected, top of the heap Rock n’ Roll stuff. I’m out here on this journey with these guys, getting to know them better…really cool, really cool, and I hope people come out to the show and see what we’re doing up there because the whole idea of this is a tribute to our fallen brothers in rock n’ roll. Alice’s club the Hollywood Vampires from the 70’s hosted guys like John Lennon, Keith Moon, John Bonham, Jimi Hendrix and it’s really a tribute to rock n’ roll. It’s a tribute to these guys that created this legacy of rock n’ roll music that really is a common thread through all of us. If you’re a rock n’ roll fan, there’s no getting away from The Who, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors. You know, we just added David Bowie. Lost him this year, you know. And I say to people, “Who’s going to replace these guys?” You know? Where are they? I’m just glad that I’m a part of it and be able to celebrate it. We just added a Motörhead song to the set. We just keep losing these guys along the way, but this is a celebration of their music. It’s an uplifting thing, you know. It’s like, “Look at what they’ve given us as a gift.” It’s super cool.
HRH: Well you can’t really go wrong with a set list like you guys are putting out there. I just watched a full set on YouTube the other night and it was great.
MS: Oh and we’re getting better every day too. I mean we’re out here on the road. You know, we threw this band together obviously, so it takes a minute to fall into a stride. I think we really hit it the other night. I looked over and everybody was really feeling it. You know, we’re only about 4 shows in and I said to Johnny, I said, “Johnny, it’s going to take us about 5 or 6 shows to really hit our stride.” Then we’ll just be sailing. We’re getting ready to do 8 shows in a row here so Alice Cooper doesn’t mess around. He just wants to go play rock n’ roll. Maybe a little golf on the side. (laughs)
HRH: What is your favorite part of this set?
MS: Well I like playing the Zeppelin stuff. When I get to play Zeppelin or The Who I can really take off and be…the reason I became a drummer was these guys, you know? The Hendrix stuff has tricky beats… The Doors’ stuff, John Densmore. Then I lay it down for some of the others like T. Rex, the Bowie, keep it steady for the boys to solo over, but I get to go nuts on The Who stuff and that’s cool. Then obviously playing Alice Cooper songs with Alice Cooper. (laughs) And playing, you know, we throw a couple of Aerosmith ones in there…obviously The Yardbirds’ “Train Kept a Rollin’” and “Sweet Emotion” which is super cool to play. Simple, but a groove, you know? Joey Kramer, I want to respect him and what he gave to the music and I try to play the songs representative of the originals and I want to do my own little spin on it. But I love playing the music, it still makes me a better musician to go back and study my craft. Study the greats, you know?
HRH: Will there be a Hollywood Vampires sophomore record?
MS: Well, you know it’s been talked about. Johnny’s always throwing out songs. I mean, he wrote “Bad As I Am” with Tommy (Henriksen) and Bruce (Witkin) and he put that together for the Grammys. I think it will be kind of one step at a time. I mean, maybe the next thing will be an EP. Who knows? You know, it’s all about timing and we’ve got some characters in this band. You know what I mean? But it’s great, that makes great rock n’ roll. You never know what you’re gonna get.
HRH: Are you filming or recording any of these shows for some kind of live release?
MS: Well, you know what, I hope we do. I’ve been talking to some guys about getting a show captured. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t, you know? I mean we’ve just got to find the right venue along the way. We’ve got about 15 shows to go, so it’s going to be a good run…this next batch of shows.
HRH: Well I look forward to catching one of those shows in Ohio hopefully next week.
MS: Thanks, man. Awesome.
HRH: Let’s talk a bit about your solo work. You put out an album a few years ago as Matt Sorum’s Fierce Joy (2014’s Stratosphere)…
MS: Yeah, the Fierce Joy record, yeah. That was a real different experience for me because I love a lot of music, right. I’m a singer/songwriter as well, but my style is I would say more in the Tom Petty meets The Beatles meets Wilco. Bands I really like I just…you know, with music being independent these days, I don’t have to go and hustle a label to try and believe in you, you just make music and put it out. Similar to how I and Izzy Stradlin just did a song (called “F.P. Money”). Recorded it and put online, you know? That’s kinda… it’s the new model of music in general. So, I did that album and I really loved the experience of making the music for the music’s sake. It wasn’t about any monetary gain or anything but total self-satisfaction as far as being an artist and wanting people to see that I was a songwriter. I’ve done 2 albums. I did another record called Hollywood Zen and I’m a singer. I’ve always been a singer. I’m going to sing a song tonight for the kids…a little “Ace of Spades”. I’m the lead singer on that one. Alice and I sing it together. That’s a first time for me ever in my career…to be a lead singer in a band of this caliber. So that’s kinda crazy. I’ve seen Taylor Hawkins do it a bunch in Foo Fighters and always liked when he jumps out. It’s cool. It’s fun. You go, “Wow, the drummer can sing too!” Roger Taylor from Queen used to sing and I always liked that. I always thought that was an interesting thing to see, you know…different. So that’s been fun and I’ve got my band Kings of Chaos that I’m gonna launch in the fall. It’s a super group of its own. Billy Gibbons, Robin Zander, Billy Duffy from The Cult, Steve Stevens. We’re going to start touring around, doing some stuff. I mean, people think we’re throwing it together to obviously get more attention and that’s obvious. We want people to come to the show. We want people to recognize it. As performers and entertainers, you want a full house. As you go through your career you’ve got to keep reinventing. You want to keep the people coming. You know, “What’s exciting?” So, that’s what I’m doing next. That’s my band. Kings of Chaos. I don’t know what the future holds for Hollywood Vampires, but hopefully, I’ll be a part of it. It’s all good.
HRH: You mentioned that the Vampires pay tribute to Alice’s old buddies… the ones that are no longer with us. I think he affectionately calls them his “Drunk Dead Friends.” Can you not help thinking about Scott Weiland when Alice starts talking about people that we’ve lost along the way?
MS: Not at all. I mean, that was very much … a very tough part of last year. On top of that, I lost 7 other friends, a couple due to drugs and alcohol and a couple to cancer. Very close friends.
HRH: I’m sorry to hear that.
MS: I couldn’t believe it. It just kept hitting me. It kept hitting me, kept hitting me. And then when Scott died, not long after that Lemmy died and it was just like, “Oh God.” You know, we all have loss in life, and we’ve all lost people along the way, but it just kept coming. It was like a domino effect. So it was a tough year and then 2016 came and in the first few months obviously we lost Bowie, we lost Glenn Frey. Luckily I haven’t lost any other close friends along the way this year. It makes you kinda wake up and call people and try to be more in touch with family. The message is to kind of like enjoy these people while they’re here. Work out your differences, whatever those are, and be good to one another. I think that’s what the world needs right now, you know? It’s Ringo Starr’s birthday and Ringo Starr today is at Capitol Records promoting peace and love. It’s as simple as that. The idea of the rock n’ roll experience and a rock n’ roll show is for people to come out, let go, get out of their head about their job, or their finances, or what’s going on in the world…whatever…and just relive your life through rock n’ roll and the music and the songs that you love and maybe the characters on stage. You leave that experience with a memory and it’s something that you can always tap into. I think that’s what we do as entertainers. That’s what we’re here to do is to give people happiness and we’re very grateful and appreciative that they’re here to support us in the same right. For me, I call myself a musical vagabond. I just move around and wait for the next thing. I always look forward. I think that’s what’s been great with this experience. You know, here I am playing with guys that I grew up with and it’s right where I’m supposed to be right now, right? Couldn’t ask for a better career. So far so good.
HRH: You definitely can’t complain. (laughs) Okay, Matt, I’m going to throw a few quick questions at you to wrap up. Just say the first thing that pops into your head. We’re in the heat of the summer, so what’s your favorite ice cream?
MS: Oh, Ben & Jerry’s toffee crunch … Heath Bar…Heath Bar Crunch! (laughs)
HRH: The weirdest thing that a fan has ever given you?
MS: Moonshine with a rattlesnake in it.
HRH: (laughs) I think that qualifies.
MS: (laughs)
HRH: Lastly, since you’re in a band together, what’s your favorite Johnny Depp movie?
MS: Oh, Edward Scissorhands.
HRH: Classic. Nice job working the Tim Burton in there too.
MS: (laughs)
HRH: Well Matt, it’s been an absolute pleasure, thanks so much for doing this again. We all look forward to catching the Vampires out on the road this summer.
MS: Okay man, right on. Thank you!
For more information on the Hollywood Vampires, please visit www.hollywoodvampires.com. For more information on Matt Sorum, please visit www.mattsorum.com
