Sleaze Roxx Mid-Year 2022 Podcaster Forum

Posted on July 1, 2022 by Ruben Mosqueda in Uncategorized // 0 Comments

SLEAZE ROXX MID-YEAR 2022 PODCASTER FORUM

Date: June 2022
Interviewer: Ruben Mosqueda
Photos: Courtesy of respective podcasters

A few months ago, we had a feature on podcasters and the response was very good. Since then, I’ve been compiling a list of people to feature if we did this again. We have some that didn’t make the deadline and we’ll get ’em next time.

We have five featured from podcasting to radio to YouTube. There’s something here for everyone.

Check out their work and show them a little love. As with the previous feature, each participant got the same series of questions and had an opportunity to plug their work.

ROB LANEY of the STRAIGHT TO VIDEO PODCAST

Rob Laney’s ‘Straight To Video’ podcast is a balance of music, hard rock in particular and all things pop culture, from movies to toys, collectibles. It’s a must listen for people that like to ‘geek-out’ on stuff from their youth and people that want a taste of a time that once was. Give Rob and his show ‘Straight To Video’ some love, but before you do, let’s hear what Rob’s got to say…

Sleaze Roxx: Who inspired you to get into broadcasting?

Rob Laney: Back in the early 2000’s, I had a magazine called TrashPit which ran for about four years. Much like Sleaze Roxx, I’m a huge fan of bands from the late 80’s and early 90’s era of hard rock and during the 2000’s, that music was so out of fashion, it was unbelievable. I guess we had Metal Sludge and maybe Sleaze Roxx was in its infancy so I decided to take it on myself to track down these bands and interview them for the magazine. Basically, if no one else is doing it, I’ll do it myself! Along with older bands, I was able to feature newer bands of the time too such as Robin Black, Wednesday 13, All American Rejects, Butch Walker – all the cool stuff that was happening. Anyways, shortly after the magazine folded, I spent the next 10 to 15 years touring in bands and I would regularly be driving to London for rehearsals. It was around this time that podcasts hit my radar. The filmmaker Kevin Smith was getting heavily into them at the time so they would keep me company on my long drives and also Bowling For Soup singer Jaret Reddick was early on the game too. I always loved the format of podcasts and could see it would be a real big thing and would love to try it. When the 2020 lockdown kicked in, I utilized the time I had to learn more about audio recording over the internet and channeled all my love of pop culture, music and films into the new podcast and once again, connected with my love of speaking to others and learning their stories.

Sleaze Roxx: What do you do to make your broadcast different from the rest? If something is too similar to what someone else is doing, what do you do to make it different? How important is that to you?

Rob Laney: I spent a long time listening to what others were doing – deciding what I liked, what worked well and worked that into the format of my show. I wanted a simple format that was fun and would work time and time again with whoever I was speaking to. I’m not one to shout about what makes my show different from the rest. I just wanna bring the best conversations possible to the listener and if it’s someone they’re a fan of, hopefully bring something new that they’ve not heard before.

Sleaze Roxx: You’ve had a wide range of guests on your show. What’s been one of your personal favorites and why? What’s been the most challenging interview?

Rob Laney: There’s been a lot of standout chats. It’s great when it’s someone you’ve never spoken to before but you instantly get a great vibe from them and know it’s gonna be a fun talk. A couple that spring to mind are my interviews with Wednesday 13 which was so perfect for my show. He is a hard rock loving musician who was more than happy to chat about 80’s toys, video shops and Fangoria Magazine. The conversation just took on a life of its own and I thought it flowed really well without me having to ask hardly any of my questions. Another was my chat with Matt Willis of the band Busted. Not sure how well known he is with your readers but I’ve been a fan of Matt as a person, the way he carries himself, and the interview proved to be exactly how I hoped it would be.

Sleaze Roxx: What was a broadcasting mishap that turned into a big learning experience for you?

Rob Laney: So far, touch wood, there’s not been anything that’s caused too much trouble. There’s been a couple of occasions when I forgot to press record on my digital recorder but luckily I had the chat recorded over the internet. Then there’s been the occasion of a gap of silence in one of my episodes which I was able to fix. I guess watch this space cause something is probably gonna crash and burn now [that] we’ve brought it up!

Sleaze Roxx: We’re midway through 2022. What are a couple releases that you’re really enjoying?

Rob Laney: I can’t believe we’re already halfway through this year. I haven’t heard many albums that have blown me away. I’ve been a long time fan of Bowling For Soup and their album ‘Punk Drunk Snot Bread’ is one of their strongest for a while. Some really great tunes on there and a very reflective but still super fun bunch of songs. I finally checked out Ghost too after so many people said I would dig their new album ‘Impera’ which is pretty solid. I’m looking forward to the new LIT album and also the new Skid Row as I think their stock has rocketed since Erik Grönwall came on board.

Sleaze Roxx: While ‘rock’ is not dead, is the ‘rockstar’ a thing of the past? What’s your take?

Rob Laney: We’re from an age where it was such a big deal to have a larger than life persona on a stage. Today, I don’t think that matters so much to younger generations or they’ve never witnessed it to get what a big deal it is. Just this past weekend, I was at the Download Festival and I’m seeing bands on stage looking like they’ve just come from taking the dogs for a walk or a quiet drink at the bar? What’s that all about? Thankfully, I got to see the band Creeper do their set and was pretty blown away both by their songs but also by someone out front who had the charisma of a ‘rock star’ which we all remember.

Sleaze Roxx: What’s your thoughts on bands performing with no original members or one member under ‘the’ band name?

Rob Laney: I get it, I totally do and a band like Quiet Riot makes a genuine point in ‘What’s the other option? Do those songs just get put away and not played live again?’ Alex Grossi has been in that band since the mid 2000’s. Why should it not continue? How long do you have to be in a band to be considered a fully fledged member? Most people in the audience have no idea who the original guys are anyway. They just wanna hear the hits from when they grew up and they’ll leave happy. As long as it’s done with respect, professionally and with passion then I’m okay with it.

Sleaze Roxx: If a band is running tracks, should the audience be made aware? There are bands blatantly doing it. Do people care? What do you think?

Rob Laney: I think that’s here to stay now but it is getting a little over the top sometimes. It used to just be added backing vocals which were huge in the studio and that’s the only way to replicate it live and maybe some keyboards but now it’s everything – guitars, bass and even lead vocals. Much like the discussion about bands with original members earlier, I don’t think many people in the audience care but this is one that I’m not totally on board with… Okay, add some backing vocals and fill out something that you can’t do live but everything else should be done by the people on stage.

Sleaze Roxx: What’s a band that you think we should watch out for? What are they doing that makes them worth our attention?

Rob Laney: If we’re talking 80’s glam era style, then Midnite City have without doubt the finest songs of anyone out there that really capture the magic and vibe of the 80’s without sounding forced which many fall in the trap of. Three albums in and still going strong.

Sleaze Roxx: Since we focus on bands from the 80’s, what’s an act from the glam era that you think was really underrated? Defend your pick.

Rob Laney: I got into the hard rock of the Sunset Strip just as it was fading out but for me, that is some of the best stuff released. I think Jani Lane and Warrant have finally begun to get the respect they deserve for having such amazing songs. I also feel the debut Hardline album ‘Double Eclipse’ is one of the strongest albums of the entire genre. I can’t imagine how huge that would have been if it was released three or four years earlier.

Sleaze Roxx: What’s more likely to happen and why? A ‘real’ Ozzy Osbourne farewell tour, the reunion of White Lion with Vito Bratta and Mike Tramp or a reunion with Sebastian Bach and Skid Row?

Rob Laney: Well I think a Skid Row reunion is off the cards for at least another five years and I’d love to hear Sebastian’s comments on Erik Grönwall’s performances. Bratta has been MIA for as long as I can remember whilst Tramp is more than happy on the singer / songwriter path he’s been on for some time so I gotta go with the Ozzy tour despite his health. I think the combination of Sharon’s business head but also the fact that I genuinely think Ozzy loves being on stage, he’ll be back out there at least one more time.

Follow Rob Laney via Stypod or various digital mediums.

PARIAH BURKE of the HARD, HEAVY & HAIR SHOW WITH PARIAH BURKE

I like Pariah Burke’s approach to radio. He’s got a great radio voice and he is one of the most articulate people that I have listened to. He doesn’t do that typical radio cliche stuff. You know what I’m talking about. He broadcasts a weekly show called the Hard, Heavy & Hair Show. He’s got a lot to say, so let’s check it out.

Sleaze Roxx: Who inspired you to get into broadcasting?

Pariah Burke: WKRP In Cincinnati. I always wanted to be Johnny Fever. Mostly, though, it was Casey Kasem, Shadoe Stevens, Wolfman Jack, Tommy Vance, and others like them. I grew up listening to and loving all those great DJs of the 70’s and 80’s, the ones that made a radio show something you’d look forward to listening to every week. I wanted to create that experience for other people, to create radio people looked forward to, a show loaded with great rock n’ roll – the hits but also the deep cuts – and that had personality, fun, and rock trivia. I started the ‘Hard, Heavy & Hair Show’, a weekly hard rock, heavy metal, and hair band show syndicated on five continents and dozens of countries across FM, AM, and Internet radio, to share great music, but also to bring back a little of what radio has lost in the last couple of decades.

Radio talent is taught to “speak conversationally, like you’re talking one-on-one with a friend.” That’s great when you’re a local radio jock and need to connect with your community, but when you’re doing a syndicated show, or doing a podcast or Internet radio, and you don’t have a local community. When you have a global community, you should make the broadcast an experience. It should be over-the-top, bigger and louder than a conversation with a friend. National or global rock jocks need to be spacemen surfing down the gravity well from outer space atop a fiery comet shaped like a Gibson guitar with a microphone and turntable plugged into towering amps bigger than the Eiffel Tower and screaming, “People of Earth! I have come to save your souls from mediocre music! I bring you the greatest heavy rock in the cosmos! Lick it up, mutherfuckers!”

There’s a reason people say someone who does really well at a job is a ‘rock star’ and not a ‘rap star’ or ‘pop star.’ Rock is big, powerful, and flamboyant. That’s in the DNA of rock n’ roll, and whether you’re making the music, spinning the records on the air, or listening on your AirPods, the attitude of rock has to be part of it. That’s why a shoegazing-band can’t make a concert fun no matter how good the music might be. Radio is the same way. If the presenter is boring, there’s always Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, and so on. I got into broadcasting to help bring back some of that rock radio experience from my childhood, to be one of the people making radio an experience again.

Pariah Burke: I’m the host and producer of the ‘Hard, Heavy & Hair Show with Pariah Burke’. The show is as highly produced and professional as any other syndicated radio show on terrestrial [FM, AM] stations. It’s also one of the most professionally produced shows on Internet stations. We do full imaging, a full studio for recording, broadcast-quality recordings [music and talk]. There’s a clock and hard posts, and you won’t ever hear me saying “um” or “ah,” unless I’m doing it for a comedic bit. You’ll also never hear me unsure of what song I’m playing next or what’s coming up on the show. The ‘Hard, Heavy & Hair Show’ is planned before that mic opens.

We also have some excellent regular features. Our most popular is the ‘Cover Song of the Week’ segment, which, yes, has been imitated a lot but never duplicated. Every week, I pick a hard rock, metal, or glam cover of a song, and I play the cover and the original, from whatever genre, whatever decade, sometimes as far back as the 1930s, back to back for the listener to compare and contrast. Leading up to the ‘Cover Song of the Week,’ which is in the last half-hour of the two-hour weekly show, I give the listener hints and clues about the song, the covering artist, and the original recording artist. The hints start out as really tough, often very obscure music trivia for people like me whose heads are just filled with the smallest facts about music and bands, and then they get progressively easier, giving everyone, even casual music listeners, a chance to solve the ‘Cover Song of the Week’ mystery before I reveal all in that last half-hour.

We also have other features like the ‘Rock Queen of the Week’ – formerly called ‘Female Fronted’ – ’Cruel Crue Summer,’ ‘Dirty 30,’ ‘Filthy 40,’ and ‘the Triple-Shot.’ ‘The Triple-Shot’ is directly related to your question, actually. I came up with the idea for ‘The Triple-Shot’ years before we put it into the show. Originally it was called ‘The Threeway.’ When I first thought of it, I recorded a couple of test bits and ran it by the show staff. Someone mentioned that Rachel Logan, who does the ‘Rachel’s Rock Refuge’ show on a couple of the same stations that air the ‘Hard, Heavy & Hair Show’, has a ‘Triple Play’ segment. I listened to Rachel’s ‘Triple Play’ and it was the same format I had come up with for ‘Threeway,’ which was three songs back-to-back from, or featuring, the same artist or producer. It was two people, Rachel and me, coming up with the same idea; she just came up with it first and a long time before I had.

So, I reached out to Rachel and asked her if she’d mind me doing something similar to the ‘Triple Play’. I figured I’d need a really different name than ‘Threeway,’ though. Rachel didn’t exactly say she minded, but I came out of the conversation feeling like I would be.… I don’t know… plagiarizing her, I guess. So, I shelved ‘Threeway.’ It was on my mind for years, though, until I realized I could do that kind of feature my way, without being too similar to Rachel’s ‘Triple-Play.’ The ‘Hard, Heavy & Hair Show’ is all about music and trivia for people who really appreciate heavy music, as are features like ‘Cover Song of the Week,’ ‘Cruel Crue Summer,’ and so on, so I made the feature, now called ‘The Triple-Shot,’ into a mini trivia game. ‘The Triple-Shot’ plays three songs, back to back to back, but rarely by the same artist, and without any set up other than a little taped intro telling people it’s ‘The Triple-Shot’ and they need to figure out what the three songs have in common. Sometimes it’s something like three Warrant tracks, all with different singers – keeping things kind of easy for those – or all bands from a particular city or three songs that all use a wah pedal, but just as often the three songs are related by something that requires a more thought or rock knowledge, like the fact that all three bands feature siblings or have members who were all arrested for something or that all three songs were written or co-written by somene like Desmond Child or George Lynch or someone who didn’t perform on the song.

The result is that ‘The Triple-Shot’ feature is very different from Rachel Logan’s ‘Triple-Play’ feature [except for the name], which is why it’s on the ‘Hard, Heavy & Hair Show’. If I had put out my original idea, it might have eventually morphed into what the ‘Triple-Shot’ is now, but the listeners and I would have felt like it was copying ‘Rachel’s Rock Refuge’. I don’t like copying other people – even accidentally.

Sleaze Roxx: You’ve had a wide range of guests on your show. What’s been one of your personal favorites and why? What’s been the most challenging interview?

Pariah Burke: So, so many good guests… One of my favorites was Vinny Appice of Dio, Last In Line, Black Sabbath, and Kill Devil Hill. Vinnie has been interviewed hundreds of times, and he’s an old pro at it. Still, I got him to divulge to me something he hadn’t told anyone before, even in response to direct questions, for years. He told me the real reason he left Kill Devil Hill, a band he started. That interview was picked up or quoted in all the metal press, including Sleaze Roxx, and even some of the bigger magazines and television news. Some didn’t even mention my name or the ‘Hard, Heavy & Hair Show’, but that’s okay [laughs]. It was great to have that exclusive, but also to have Vinny finally answer a question I personally had wondered about since he one day just up and announced that he was quitting this really cool metal band he’d started.

Sleaze Roxx: What was a broadcasting mishap that turned into a big learning experience for you?

Pariah Burke: If you’re talking about something that went out on the air… Um, I uh, had sex on a broadcast once. It wasn’t intentional. I often have guests in the studio while I’m doing the show – people I interview, but also just people who hang out and don’t get on the mic. Obviously, not many guests throughout the pandemic and quarantine, but they’re starting to come back in. This one incident was a few years ago, though – 2018, 2019, maybe. Two women were hanging out in the studio with me. We’d chit chat while songs were playing and I wasn’t talking on-air. Sometimes guests get frisky and things happen. That’s what happened this time I’m talking about.

I put on a block of five or six-minute songs – on the radio we call them “toilet tracks” because you put one or two on when you have to run to the bathroom – and then the ladies and I got busy. Well, while we’re rolling around the floor and the console, somebody’s foot or butt or some body part hit the switch to make the mic hot. Boy, was it hot [laughs]! Mics are set to only pick up sound a few inches away, unless it’s really loud, but we were both really loud and really close to the mic. The whole world heard the three of us going at it while “November Rain” or some other toilet track was playing. Some of the FM stations that air my show were fined by the FCC or their country’s equivalent. I had to cover those fines. It was a very expensive hook up [laughs]. It was a learning experience. Now, the buttons to make microphones live are harder to activate and I don’t do many live broadcasts without a delay.

Sleaze Roxx: We’re midway through 2022. What are a couple releases that you’re really enjoying?

Pariah Burke: There’s so much good stuff lately. The pandemic was the cause for so much good music being written. Um… The second Black Swan album is awesome, which, of course it is with Robin McAuley on vocals, Matt Starr on drums, and Reb Beach and Jeff Pilson doing most of the writing. Speaking of great singers like Robin, I’m really looking forward to more from The Dead Daisies with Glenn Hughes fronting. I saw them a few months ago in an intimate theater, and the whole audience and I spent the entire show with our jaws on the floor. Glenn’s voice is fucking amazing. Dorothy’s new record, ‘Gifts From The Holy Ghost,’ is in heavy rotation on my Spotify playlist and in the studio when I’m not on the air. I love Dorothy, and that album is her best yet. ‘Impera’ from Ghost is another good one I’m liking, though I can’t listen to it all the way through in one sitting.

Sleaze Roxx: While ‘rock’ is not dead, is the ‘rockstar’ a thing of the past? What’s your take?

Pariah Burke: I think the idea of the untouchable, in accessible stage God is dead. Rockers were always accessible to a point, but they were bigger than life in a way they aren’t anymore because of MTV, record labels actually doing promotion, and music being less… everywhere. Once upon a time, we had to spend $5-$20 per record, cassette, or CD instead of paying our $9.99 a month for Spotify’s 82 million songs. We browsed through the racks and were more deliberate in our choices in part because music was a bigger part of our budget, and it cost more to produce and release music, too. So we’d buy an album and listen to it straight through, often while just sitting in a room doing nothing but listening. Then we’d listen to that album again and again. There was less music to get, it was more effort and cost to get, and the record industry made the music more of an event – and I’m talking all genres here – so we appreciated the music and the music makers more. We also had printed music magazines that, every month, allowed you to put those stage Gods and Goddesses up on your wall. Those don’t exist anymore.

The music is more numerous, easier to get to, much lower cost to get, and no longer in your hand or on your shelf or in that previously ubiquitous brown vinyl cassette case in your car. Now, you might load up an app, listen to a few songs, and barely even register who the artist was. And the app just keeps on chugging, sending you to other music, which is fantastic for discovering new music – don’t get me wrong, I love that aspect of streaming music – but it makes the music and the music makers less important individually to listeners. Thus, listeners don’t become fans as often or as deeply as they used to, and therefore, music makers don’t get the chance to be rockstars.

Man, that sounds so pessimistic, but that’s a big part of why I do the ‘Hard, Heavy & Hair Show’ and why I introduce or backsell every single song I play, and why I make the music and the musicians a big deal on the show. I want to help people discover their next favorite band so they can, hopefully, eventually elevate a band or artist to rockstar status in their own minds.

Sleaze Roxx: What’s your thoughts on bands performing with no original members or one member under ‘the’ band name?

Pariah Burke: I assume you’re not talking about the situation with multiple bands of the same name recording or performing at the same time, something Sleaze Roxx staff and I have talked about many times, and which I even wrote about on the site.

For certain bands that are the only group keeping the name alive with one or no original or classic era members, I have nothing but love and respect – provided ticket buyers know the group isn’t the original or classic era line-up reunited. I say it’s a good thing for the same reason I’m grateful that there are tribute bands out there — people love a band’s music and want to see it performed faithfully [as opposed to being covered in another band’s style]. If there’s only one member still out there touring the music, and there are fans who love that music and want to see it performed live, then that’s the band doing a service for the fans. Fans [usually] love it and are [usually] grateful, especially if the missing members are no longer with us or can no longer play.

Again, though, the band needs to be very clear that they aren’t the full line-up [if other members are still living but not on stage]. Going out there as Band This who broke up five years ago and allowing people to think the whole band is reunited when it’s only the drummer and two roadies from the original band with four new members is a bait-and-switch. If you’re a band performing as ‘the band’ without key members of the original or classic era line-up, tell people beforehand, at the same time, you ask them to come see you play – especially if you’re asking them to spend money. Go do an interview. Put out announcements or re-announcements on social media about how you’re excited to welcome this person or that person to the band. Find a way to reach your fans and set their expectations so that they don’t plunk down their 35 bucks plus Ticketmaster’s fees expecting to see the line-up who rocked their world at age 17 and then get massively disappointed and stop being your fans. Plenty of bands are out there doing well with different modern line-ups, but it’s because they’re open about the personnel changes, and fans know what to expect when the house lights go down.

Sleaze Roxx: If a band is running tracks, should the audience be made aware? There’s bands blatantly doing it. Do people care? What do you think?

Pariah Burke: Hell, yes! First, for clarification, almost everyone runs tracks of one kind or another. I’ve talked to a lot of musicians about this very thing. A lot of our favorite music simply can’t be done 100% accurately live on stage. There’s a lot of studio effects and extra tracks in songs that can’t reasonably or cost-effectively be done live. For example, if there’s one hit with a choir on the chorus, do you expect the band to travel with a full choir to every festival and night club gig? So, for practical purposes, there’s a lot of tracks being run on live shows already. As long as the band members are actually playing their instruments and actually singing what they should be singing, then it’s perfectly okay to run tracks to fill in what they can’t sing — the choir, for instance — or instruments they don’t or can’t play live — say, a violin for just that one song. I think most audience members who think about it recognize the need for such tracks.

On the other hand, there are some pretty big and egregious examples of late bands, including one of the biggest rock bands ever, using tracks instead of playing live. I won’t name names. We all know. That, in my opinion, is fraud. People are paying money to see the band play the music, and if the band isn’t playing the music, they’re failing to fulfill their part of the implied contract. If you can’t sing the songs any more because your throat is damaged — again, you know who I’m talking about — then make sure your audience knows that before they buy a ticket. If you’re going to lip sync to your recording but also provide a hell of a stage show, then let your audience know that, again, before you ask them to part with cash.

Sleaze Roxx: Since we focus on bands from the 80’s, what’s an act from the glam era that you think was really underrated? Defend your pick.

Pariah Burke: The Electric Boys. ‘Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride’ and ‘Groovus Maximus’ were killer hard rock and glam albums that incorporated funk chords, sitars, bells, and psychedelia not seen since the 70’s, but in a way that totally rocked the late-80’s. At a time when Guns N’ Roses and Skid Row were stripping away the artifice and makeup of glam and rock, the Electric Boys were doing the same thing but with 70’s imagery and Bob Rock’s guiding hand.

Pariah Burke: Mike identifies as ‘Mike Tramp, formerly of White Lion’ and Skid Row has repeatedly compared Sebastian Bach to a nasty ex-girlfriend they wouldn’t fuck with someone else’s dick. I’m paraphrasing. Neither of those bands is getting back together. Ozzy, on the other hand, is dealing with one major health crisis after another, yet he’s still putting out music. I think he’ll come back around for one more go, one last time around the world to say good-bye properly. And I’ll be in the front row.

You can find out more about Pariah Burke via his website.

JUANCHO ‘PUERTO ROCK’ and JUANCHO ‘DEUCE’ of LOS JUANCHOS

I discovered ‘Los Juanchos Hablan Metal’ from Juancho ‘Deuce’ who posted the link to the podcast on an Eddie Trunk fan group. In addition to the podcast, Juancho ‘Deuce’ and his cousin Juancho ‘Puerto Rock’ also do a live radio broadcast on Sundays. It’s in Spanish and I know we have some readers from the Latin America would really dig what these guys are doing as much as I do.

Sleaze Roxx: Who inspired you to get into broadcasting?

Juancho ‘Puerto Rock’: Since I was very young, I used to listen to a local station in Bogota, Colombia called the Super Station 88.9, which had a specialized rock and metal program called “El Expreso del Rock” [Rock Express] directed by the master Andy Duran together with Lucho Barrera, who accompanied and entertained me in those long homework days every Sunday night.

Juancho ‘Deuce’: Juancho Rock and I are cousins who grew up together. We are the same age, we discovered metal early in our life and we pretty much did everything together. With that said, we had the same taste in music, and we got it from the same source that Juancho Rock mentioned. We both used to listen to the same rock radio show “Expreso del Rock” [Rock Express] on Sunday nights in Bogota, Colombia. It was our only source of information concerning metal music back then. We were so obsessed with the two radio disc jockeys, Andres Duran and Lucho Barrera, that both of us as kids used to record our own radio shows on tape, mimicking these two guys. Juancho Rock should have those tapes somewhere in a box. Juancho Rock ended up studying communications at some point in his life and, he did it, he went for it! He became a broadcaster! I went another route. I went to design school here in the States.

It never even crossed my mind to do broadcasting myself until the podcast explosion. I knew with my cousin’s talents and experience as a disc jockey, we would be able to produce a good podcast. So, one day I decided to put it together, I went back to Colombia with a podcasting mic as a present to him and almost forced him to do it [laughs]! At the very beginning, I thought I would produce the program for him and let him be “it,” but we ended up doing a try-out and it sounded good. We went from there.

Sleaze Roxx: What do you do to make your broadcast different from the rest? It’s in Spanish which is unique. If something is too similar to what someone else is doing, what do you do to make it different? How important is that to you?

Juancho Puerto Rock: Well, the truth is, I started doing radio more or less 16 years ago, producing my first program called “Rock City Night” in Bogota Colombia. I’ve always had the idea of making different styles of programming — shows where the genre of rock and metal and its different sub-genres are at the forefront. That is why if you listen to each different episode of Los Juanchos, there’s always an additional element, something new, that is not known or that is perhaps worth highlighting, that is different from the traditional and that our target listeners will surely learn. And that is because we’ve spent many years studying the genre, which makes it possible to find treasures or stories that often go unnoticed.

Juancho ‘Deuce’: I truly believe that our chemistry together is what makes it special. What we are doing is basically recording all those conversations and discussions we’ve been having for decades, about this topic. But this time, and I think this is key, with two different cultural backgrounds. I’ve been in the States for over 25 years now, so my music taste has changed dramatically from what I used to consume back in the day. Because that’s what we got, the big bands, Bon Jovi, Poison, Metallica, Megadeth, all the big productions all packaged perfectly for consumption. But we never got to experience the nuts and bolts of the rock ‘n’ roll machine at its source. So many stories, so many bands that we never got to discover or experience in person back then. I fortunately had the opportunity to immerse myself in it once I got to the States and that helped me understand the culture a lot better. So I experience and listen to it differently now.

Juancho Rock on the other hand, stayed in Colombia and his music taste is completely different from mine. When I came up with the idea to do a podcast with Juancho Rock, that’s what I had in mind, discussions about music with complete opposite cultural takes. And the dynamic is working. I like talking music with him. Pretty much we are presenting music to each other and are trying to convince one another to listen to each other’s music [laughs] which is very hard to do.

Sleaze Roxx: What’s been one of your personal highlights to date?

Juancho Puerto Rock: Doing rock radio in Colombia has led me to meet and make good friends with metal legends in the scene, not only from Colombia, but from various parts of the world, who have always been my idols and today I have the honor and pleasure of having them within my personal circle of friends.

Juancho ‘Deuce’: Concerning the podcast? The right people are listening to it and they dig it. That’s enough for me.

Sleaze Roxx: What was a broadcasting mishap that turned into a big learning experience for you?

Juancho Puerto Rock: More than broadcasting mishaps, I had to fight at first with mishaps related to sabotage, with rude comments towards some programs, especially on the air, when some artists from the local scene were guests… You know, envy, lack of tolerance and little respect towards the scene… This made us learn to always know how to handle some out-of-orbit listeners in a respectful and eloquent way… An experience that everyone in this medium must have, because we will always be vulnerable to this type of uncomfortable situation.

Juancho ‘Deuce’: I knew it would be a challenge for me to speak fluently in Spanish. I’ve been away from Colombia for so long that my English and Spanish are merging badly into ‘Spanglish.’ The Spanish speaking population is not very forgiving when you make up a word or mess up a conjugation. So, it’s a struggle for me. In the flow of things, it’s hard for me to pull the right word, and sometimes I sound like an idiot [laughs]!

Sleaze Roxx: We’re midway through 2022. What are a couple releases that you’re really enjoying?

Juancho Puerto Rock: As for new albums, there is Thunder with ‘Dopamine,’ the one with “Fury” by Tokyo Blade and as a bonus track, although it is not from 2022 but it is very recent from 2021, the album ‘Triumph & Tragedy’ by the band Hitten.

Juancho ‘Deuce’: As far as new albums are concerned, not too many… yet. But we have a way to go in 2022. I am certainly, looking forward to some releases. At this moment, I’m totally digging Kreator’s ‘Hate Über Alles.’ Man, what a band that never disappoints! And I am also digging Michael Monroe’s latest singles “Can’t Stop Falling Apart” and “Murder The Summer of Love.” Looking forward to that whole album, ‘I Live Too Fast To Die Young.’

Sleaze Roxx: While ‘rock’ is not dead, is the ‘rockstar’ a thing of the past? What’s your take?

Juancho Puerto Rock: First, I am one of the greatest current defenders of rock and to me it is not dead, nor will it ever die. I’ve always said that it is the only genre that exists in every corner of the world… I dare say that there is not a single country in this world where there is not a rock band playing something…. And secondly, as part of my daily life, researching and discovering new bands, I have been able to find a wide number of new hidden groups, projects and talents. The problem is, in my humble opinion, that people are no longer interested in new stuff, nor do those of our generation who stayed with the classic bands and who already feel too old to go to concerts [laughs]! And even less the new generations who are not even interested in knowing the roots of rock. What, I think is perhaps a reality, is that traditional rockstars no longer exist with the spirit and essence that characterized them back then, much less keep filling up stadiums for 50 years.

Juancho Deuce: This is a complex answer… I am over 40 years old now, so my view on rock-stardom has changed for sure. Even though I romanticized the very idea of a rock-star as a teenager, idolizing, fantasizing about the idea of rock-stardom, now that I’m an old fuck, not so much… If at my current age, I were to meet a personality like those portrayed in ‘Decline of Western Civilization II,’ any one of them including the bands, the way they talked back then, the way they acted, all goofy like, pretending to be rebels, etc., I‘d definitely be like, “Get those fucks away from me! They’re annoying as fuck!”

With that said, I do think the 90’s killed it off completely. The whole concept of the ‘holier than thou’ personality went away with the grunge movement in my humble opinion. A few remained, a few conquered. The one that comes to mind as being bigger than everyone was Marilyn Manson back then. Outside of his current controversy he was one of the biggest traditional rock-stars ever during that era. So yes, it has died down quite a bit. You cannot get away with the things they did back then. Or maybe it’s perspective? I being older than the current new bands and musicians, it’s hard to see them as greater than… You can admire them for musicianship but not for being rockstars. They’re just kids to me now… acting out! No [laughs]! But I digress… Tobias Forge might be the ultimate current ‘rockstar.’ One of the few….

Sleaze Roxx: What’s your thoughts on bands performing with no original members or one member under ‘the’ band name?

Juancho Puerto Rock: That is a delicate subject to talk about, because there are cult bands where not only was music the essence, but also their members. As in the case of Quiet Riot, where the only one who currently holds the reins of the band is Rudy Sarzo, whom I admire and respect a lot, But in my opinion, the incomparable voice of Kevin DuBrow is needed, as well as the excellent drums of Frankie Banali and the good riffs of Carlos Cavazo. That is, more than 90% of the band is needed. In that case, it is better to not continue, because it’s a band without its spirit.

I can support the enthusiasm of a band like Foreigner, which have changed musicians several times and continue to sound the same… These changes have brought attitude back to a classical group that surely would not have had the same energy without this hint of modernity… For example, its current vocalist Kelly Hansen, gives the band new vitality and power.

Juancho Deuce: For the average weekend warrior, I guess it’s ok. For the hardcore fan, it doesn’t work. For me, it depends on the band and who is the key member. There are bands that have irreplaceable members. Ratt without [Stephen] Pearcy is no good. Steve Riley’s L.A. Guns doesn’t count. If Fred Coury started touring under the Cinderella name, it wouldn’t count… I understand the need to do it, brand over band, but it just doesn’t work for me.

Sleaze Roxx: If a band is running tracks, should the audience be made aware of it? There’s bands blatantly doing. Do people even care? What do you think?

Juancho Puerto Rock: Well here is another somewhat controversial topic. In my opinion, it is not bad that some bands do it, because I am aware as a spectator, that there are many nuances and arrangements that occur in the studio and which when playing live are somewhat difficult to reproduce exactly by production theme, etc.

Juancho Deuce: The whole point of seeing a band live is to have an experience. The banter with the crowd, the musicians once in a while getting inspired to change a note here and there, going with the flow, all those things make a good show. As a fan, I’m not gonna pay to go to a show to see your face and to see you dance around pretending to sing. That’s stupid. I’m not gonna go up in arms and tweet about it, but I don’t like it. I don’t think I even like rehearsed banter from frontmen. You know, when they say the same shit after each song show after show and use the same cues etc. It’s boring. Be live, be spontaneous. If you can’t do it, then don’t.

Sleaze Roxx: What’s a band that you think we should watch out for? What are they doing that makes them worth our attention?

Juancho Puerto Rock: There is a relatively new band called Girish and The Chronicles which caught my attention in the first place because of its origins. It is a band from India, coming from the Himalayan Mountain range exactly from the city of Gangtok. Besides that, their music has all the energy, power and style of the best classic hard rock and metal bands, adding some somewhat progressive and modern sound nuances that make them have a particular style. To prove it go check these songs out “Children of The Night” “Identity Crisis”, “Primeval Desire” and the romantic “Walking The Line”. Then there’s G.A.T.C, an exponent of good current heavy metal which shows that rock is definitely more alive than ever.

Juancho Deuce: There are quite a few bands that are getting my attention these days. Night Demon for sure is one of those bands that I’m a big fan of. I love the rebirth [if we can call it that] of the NWOBHM… They’re doing it really well, and they’re paying tribute and respect to their influences. For a three-piece band, I think their sound is excellent. And there’s two bands we’ve discovered recently that we presented on our radio show. Both of them from Australia, one is Wicked Smile, a band that I consider hard rock but with a lot of modern influences. Great voice and guitars… And the other one is called Dangerous Curves. A band that plays tribute to all the party like hard rock from the 80’s. Really well-done music that makes you feel alright. Good stuff good vibes. I love them.

Sleaze Roxx: Since we focus on bands from the 80’s, what’s an act from the glam era that you think was really underrated? Defend your pick.

Juancho Puerto Rock: And on the other hand, perhaps thrown into oblivion is one of the great musicians and icons of glam, Mr. Michael Monroe of the band Hanoi Rocks, who despite having been on the front pages, due to the tragic accident involving Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe and where unfortunately, his drummer Razzle lost his life. It was not enough for them to be remembered as one of the great references and exponents of the glam movement of the 80’s, being left behind totally unexposed to a bigger audience.

Juancho Deuce: So many of those bands got fucked over for being of the time. I think every metal and rock fan should know that by now and they should stop talking shit about this era… They were dealt a bad hand with the whole fashion sense of the time… But it is undeniable that all these bands that came out of the 80’s were excellent musicians and masters of their instruments. With that being said, one of my personal favorite bands is Killer Dwarfs. This band blows my mind away how great they were. All their albums were solid. I was introduced to them through the ‘Dirty Weapons’ album, and to this day I still wonder why they weren’t bigger. Russ Dwarf to me still has amazing pipes live. That ‘Live No Guff!‘ album is one my favorite live albums along with KISS’ ‘Alive II’ and [Iron] Maiden’s ‘Live After Death’.

The other one is L.A. Guns. L.A. Guns has consistently made more great albums in their 40+ year career than many of the big bands. That is, when the core of the band, Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns, are working together. Phil Lewis is still an amazing singer, and Tracii Guns is one of my favorite guitar players. The last three albums ‘The Missing Peace,’ ‘The Devil You Know’ and ‘Checkered Past’, are excellent albums, from beginning to end. I love them. And finally, Extreme… This band is one of my favorites of all time. The talent in that band is undeniable and it kills me that they got thrown together with the whole monster ballads nonsense. Extreme is one of the few bands that keeps me excited about new music. Truly, all of their albums are amazing and they should get more credit than they get. How can people not see the talent there? It’s hard to comprehend. Nuno [Bettemcourt] alone should be talked about more.

Juancho Puerto Rock: [Laughing] Well, all three are very unlikely, but looking at the options in my opinion, it could be the return of Sebastian Bach to Skid Row and this despite the fact that to this day, the other members of the band can’t stand Bach. But if we start to analyze, there are three environments for me that would make this reunion possible: (1) fan pressure; people expect it and are crying out for it; (2) commercially, it would be a good economic opportunity for both parties; money is money and more than that, they are already getting old; this is more pressure [laughs]; and, (3) if Guns N’ Roses did it, why not Skid row?

The other possibilities are less remote but not impossible. On the one hand, Vito Bratta has long since retired from the music industry because he no longer wants to see how rock has gone into decline, and Mike Tramp has already tried countless times. But he [Bratta] is definitely very upset with the music world. And on the other hand, every day that passes is perhaps one day less for the Ozzy Osbourne tour. His health conditions are getting more complicated by the second because he has quite a delicate pathology, and adding to this, the normal deterioration of his age… From here the best energy goes to Ozzy to get ahead and be able to carry it out. This would surely be a ‘true farewell tour.’

Juancho Deuce: Hmm… This whole Skid Row debacle, I don’t know… That seems highly unlikely. I still, to this day, don’t understand the resentment these guys have towards Bach. One thing I’ll say is this, I read a lot of comments on social media comparing a Skid Row reunion to some sort of romantic relationship, which is nuts to me! Something in the lines of “If you ever got a divorce, you wouldn’t want to go back to your ex-wife, would you?” or something like that… I hear that a lot. That to me is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard! These are men! Why can’t they work things out like men and give it an honest try? Really? Is it really just like trying to put back together a broken marriage with kids and infidelities? Give me a break [laughs]!

White Lion – I mean the whole Vito Bratta fandom is ‘cult-like.’ Even if it happened, wasn’t White Lion one of those bands everyone was tired of by the end of the era? Who would go? I’ve never met someone who said, “White Lion is my #1 band in the history of metal.” They are liked by a few, me included, but I doubt there would be any excitement or money behind it. I think that’s it for them. Ozzy – He’ll die rocking for sure. I would say he’s like a lot of those musicians, if they stop, they die. Like a shark!

You can follow Los Juanchos via various digital mediums.

SAM WALL

Last but not least is Sam Wall. I have no idea how old this kid is. I say kid because he’s ‘youthful’ but he’s getting better and better with each passing interview he does. I stumbled upon on of his videos on YouTube a few months ago (he was interviewing Jeff Pilson) and I have been a fan since. I love his laidback style and approach. He’s having fun and the interviewees are too.

Sleaze Roxx: Who inspired you to get into broadcasting?

Sam Wall: It all started when I was younger, and at night, I’d put on replays of Elvis Duran and The Morning show on Z100 to listen to while I fell asleep. In seventh grade, we had a home economics assignment where we had to pick a career and interview someone in that field. I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I just thought radio would be cool. Instead of going for someone local to talk to, I emailed Bethany Watson from the morning show with a list of questions — that was also technically my first interview. To my surprise, she responded within the hour, and that kind of sealed the deal for me.

Sam Wall: I think one thing isn’t really done intentionally, but the fact that I’m 17 is definitely a bit different from the norm. What I try to consciously do though is just make sure all my guests enjoy themselves. I try to avoid asking about any controversial topics, and if I do, I’ll handle them with care.

Sleaze Roxx: You’ve had a wide range of guests on your show. What’s been one of your personal favorites and why? What’s been the most challenging interview?

Sam Wall: Favorites are kind of hard to pick, because I’ve enjoyed them all for very different reasons. The most fun I’ve had doing one was probably Kieran Robertson and Alex Hart from Geoff Tate’s band. That one was done on the Monsters of Rock Cruise and was my first in person interview, and they were just so into it having a good time and joking around. Kieran’s told me after on multiple occasions that that was the most fun he’s had doing an interview, and that really means a lot to me. As for the most difficult… we’ll get to that.

Sleaze Roxx: What was a broadcasting mishap that turned into a big learning experience for you?

Sam Wall: Tyson Leslie. Wasn’t really a mishap and wasn’t his fault either, but I had a list of about 15 talking points I wanted to hit, and Tyson hit about 10 of them while answering the first question. I thought I was screwed, so I decided I’d just scrap the talking points and just have a conversation with him. Keep in mind I have literally never talked to him before this in my life, and for someone who works in broadcasting, I’m pretty bad at holding one on one conversations. But we talked for well over an hour, about what I have no idea. That taught me to really not rely on my notes as much and helped me keep things even more fun and loose. I’m seeing Tyson next month. I’ll have to tell him this story.

Sleaze Roxx: We’re midway through 2022. What are a couple releases that you’re really enjoying?

Sam Wall: Queensrÿche just dropped “In Extremis” yesterday and I’ve really been enjoying that. “The Gang’s All Here” by Skid Row is also amazing. In terms of full length albums… I’m loving ‘Rock Believer’ by the Scorpions. My favorite by far though is ‘Diamond Star Halos’ by Def Leppard.

Sleaze Roxx: While ‘rock’ is not dead, is the ‘rockstar’ a thing of the past? What’s your take?

Sam Wall: I don’t think it is entirely, but it’s pretty close. Going from town to town doing drugs and getting drunk really doesn’t happen anymore. Either because the bands have grown up and realized that it’s a bad idea, or the bands are young and have seen some of the tragedies from the 80’s, which may have in a way scared them straight. Pretty much every rocker I met on the Monsters of Rock Cruise was either not drinking, or not drinking enough to get blackout drunk.

Sleaze Roxx: What’s your thoughts on bands performing with no original members or one member under ‘the’ band name?

Sam Wall: As long as they’re working hard to sound like the original, and obviously have the blessing of other original members, then I feel it’s alright. I was going to see Quiet Riot not too long ago and thought it would be weird, but I thought about it and I’ve seen Foreigner six times and didn’t feel weird about it. I saw Quiet Riot and they put on an amazing show! As long as they stay true to the original versions of the songs, I’m there for it!

Sleaze Roxx: If a band is running tracks, should the audience be made aware? There’s bands blatantly doing it. Do people care? What do you think?

Sam Wall: I don’t think that there should be a disclaimer played before the show saying ‘this is fake’, because then it kills the smoke and mirrors magic. I think if a band using tracks is called out on it, they should choose not to comment on the matter instead of claiming they aren’t. Because then once you slip up and it’s shown that you are, not only do you look bad, but it makes the fans who believed you look bad. I think some people care but clearly not too many. If a lot of people cared, KISS wouldn’t be selling out 10,000 seaters.

Sleaze Roxx: What’s a band that you think we should watch out for? What are they doing that makes them worth our attention?

Sam Wall: I have two bands… Resist & Bite, and Red Voodoo. Resist & Bite is the newest project from Tommy Skeoch formerly of Tesla, and they’re amazing live! Got to see them in February and nobody can match their singer Nathan’s energy. He was jumping from the stage to the railing, then from the railing into the crowd. Truly an amazing show. Red Voodoo is a band out of Northern Cali, produced by Frank Hannon of Tesla. They’re around my age… late teens, early 20s. They have such a classic sound, but it doesn’t sound out of place in today’s rock. Definitely worth a listen.

Sleaze Roxx: Since we focus on bands from the 80’s, what’s an act from the glam era that you think was really underrated? Defend your pick.

Sam Wall: KIX! Not only are the songs that do get played on Hair Nation great, but I love so many of their B-sides. “No Ring Around Rosie” for example is one of my favorite songs from any band. Also seeing them live is a totally different experience every show. You never know what Steve Whiteman’s going to do. You have to see them if they play at a club or theater in your area, but in my opinion they should be playing in amphitheaters or arenas.

Sleaze Roxx: What’s more likely to happen and why? A ‘real’ Ozzy Osbourne farewell tour, the reunion of White Lion with Vito Brata and Mike Tramp or a reunion with Sebastian Bach and Skid Row?

Sam Wall: I’m going to rule out the Skid Row one right now, because Erik is amazing. It’s really a coin flip between the other two… but I’ll have to go with a real Ozzy farewell tour, just because we’re probably going to get to a point where he can’t physically perform anymore. Then again, they’d just bring out the Ozzy Osborne hologram, so maybe it is Vito Bratta. But if the hologram doesn’t count, then a ‘real’ Ozzy Osbourne farewell tour is most likely to happen.

You can catch Sam Wall on YouTube.