Talkin' Rock With Meltdown Podcast Beasley Media Group

What a pleasure to have James "JY" Young in the studio to talk all things Styx, and more. The upcoming "Renegades and Juke Box Heroes" tour features Foreigner and John Waite. They'll be playing Pine Knob on June 15th.

We talked about a lot of topics. Playing in the band with great musicians like Tommy Shaw, and Lawrence Gowen.

Where does Styx live in the music world...Rock or Progressive Rock? JY answers that question. "It's hard to define us because a lot of the stuff is prog. But, ya know, some of the ballads are pretty much straight-ahead rock ballads." That led to how JY got into music.

How did the Grunge era affect them? At first, he said "Zero" as far as the music was concerned.  But he did say that the band may have seen a dip in concert attendance, but that's passed and now they're selling lots of tickets.

Did the Beatles playing on The Ed Sullivan Show influence him? He said they did, but older siblings did too. He expanded on that.

What legendary guitarist did he see live five times? I'm not sure if I've ever met anyone who has seen the player so many times. "That's the most profound influence on my playing," he said of the guitarist.

I asked him his thoughts on the Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame. "Well, I don't know. It's very East Coast-centric for people that have a vote. Styx probably deserves to be in there, but I'm not holding my breath." He didn't mention names, but at the end of the day, he said it's about the fans and music. He spoke of fans telling him about how Styx's music helped them through periods of their lives. "Music affects everyone differently, and we've made some great records."

It was a thrill to have JY, and the band's manager, George, in the studio with me. A huge pleasure.

Sebastian, Remington, and Emerson from Palaye Royale were nice enough to stop by the station before their show earlier this week. After playing three songs for the staff, they hopped into the studio with me to talk about the band.

I had seen on X that Remington said that Songs For Sadness was very personal to him. He spoke about how his mother's illness has really affected each of them, who are brothers. Being on the road, and leaving their mother is always hard. This was a very touching part of the interview. I wish nothing but the best for "Mama Royale".

The guys talked about the dichotomy of how Palaye Royale writes songs. Sebastian said Remington brings a lot to the lyrics, Emerson is good on the piano even though he's the drummer, and each of them bring something different. "We had eighty songs - for the upcoming album - so we narrowed them down to ten" Remington told me. He also said "If there's not a deadline, I will tinker with it" when talking about recording songs.

They also talked about the success they've found overseas. Over here in the States, they've opened for so many bands but they're looking to do a headlining tour of their own. As a matter of fact, they're playing Wembley Arena in November. Sebastian said Gene Simmons gave them some great advice early on, which they still use to this day.

The band actually started out on the Disney channel. They talked about the difference between playing Disney shows, and then going off on their own for shows. They went from big crowds to playing to empty rooms.

I was shocked to hear that the guys were hockey players, as their family has roots in Canada. I didn't think we'd be talking about that during this interview!

"It's incredible, man" is how Spencer Charnas from Ice Nine Kills responded to touring with Metallica. That's the last time he was in the Detroit area when that tour played Ford Field. Well, he's coming back this weekend to sign autographs and take photos with fans at Astronomicon. That happens in Livonia, Michigan April 12-14th at the Burton Manor.

He recalled the first show he saw from the Metal Legends back in Boston. He said they treat the band very well on tour. They have more Metallica dates left with them this year. "It's going to be quite a summer"

He told me the band is always writing and visual aspects for the band. "We're constantly in creative mode"

"Never" is how he answered the question of if he ever gets pushback for "using" some famous horror movie characters. He said he's become friends with some of the people responsible for these films and Ice Nine Kills is helping to promote the movies. I'm a horror fan so we did talk about some of the latest ones out right now. He also told me what sparked his love of the genre.

Believe it or not, even though they're from the same part of the country, he's never met Rob Zombie. He spoke to the love he has for his movies. "I think some of the stuff he does is truly brilliant".

Guitarist, Doc Coyle told me to ask him about the tuxedo place they get their suits from. He spoke to how Doc has stepped in and helped the band out. "He's an incredibly talented guy, and it was so good to have him out"

Spencer's appearance is sponsored by Rock City Music Company in Livonia.

Armored Saint singer John Bush and bass player Joey Vera, who are currently out on tour with Queensryche. They'll be coming through Detroit to play the Majestic Theater on April 14th. Joey said of touring with the QR guys, "It's always fun touring with friends, people you get along with." We talked about their experience on the Monsters Of Rock Cruise. "Yeah, they're fun. You always see a lot of people you know." Joey said.

The guys told me about going to Anthrax's Scott Ian's 60th birthday in Las Angeles at the end of 2023. John said there were some really talented people there celebrating the milestone.

The band recently recorded a cover of "One Chain Don't Make No Prison" which they're going to release as a stand-alone single. That being said, the guys are all about making full albums. They talked about album reissues, as well as vinyl copies of all their albums.

I had to ask them about the new Armored Saint music they're working on. As far as writing on the road, Joey said they don't do it. "We just write at our own pace." He went on to say they have six or seven songs demoed. They'll be touring and then returning to the studio to finish it up by the end of the year.

Something I didn't know about Armored Saint was that their first show outside of hometown shows was at Harpos. They said they played a radio station show way back in 1984. "That was our first show ever outside of California," Joey said. John talked of that show being added last minute, as they were supposed to play Chicago first. They also played Cobo Hall on that first tour. "We just couldn't believe what was happening," Joey said of playing some of these classic venues.

Joey told the story of crashing a car with Tommy Lee of Motley Crue. We also talked about their tour with W.A.S.P. and Metallica, where they were snowed-in, in Buffalo, New York. Joey also told a funny story from early in their career about a comment he made about Blackie Lawless and W.A.S.P. on the radio.

Great to talk to the guys!

 

It was great of Mike Kroeger from Nickelback to take so much time to talk about their documentary Hate To Love: Nickelback, which comes to theaters on March 27th and 30th. We also talked about a few specific songs, hockey, and more.

He told me this documentary might help to dispel some of the things about the band that aren't true. "It's the filling in of a few blanks and maybe telling some stories that no one knows." He said the band hasn't shared that much, and that may be their own fault, but they want to straighten some misunderstandings. He said that the "hate" doesn't bother him much anymore, but it did in the past. "It's hurt me and my family, but now I really don't care about it, now I want to use it." Mike really opened up about this topic. 

We talked about the monstrous hit "How You Remind Me". That song became the most-played single on the planet. "I didn't really feel like it was that much better than the other ones" but it went on to smash the doors down for the band. 

Another song we dove into a little was "Rockstar". Mike told me how an old promotional trick used by Alice Cooper in the 70s that they used to help that song become a huge hit. He said that was the 7th single released from that album All The Right Reasons and the 7th number-one song. That's crazy!

I also asked him about Canadian bands that break or don't, in the States. Mike talked about their road to success "down here". We talked about recording in other studios, their induction into the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame by a hockey legend, as well as playing the closing ceremony at the 2010 Olympics, which was an insane few hours. Great story!

Oh, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my friend John Guarnieri, security to the stars, who gave me a great question about cheesecake. LOL....you just have to hear it. Thanks, John. 

Great to reconnect with Jeff Scott Soto. The last time I talked with him was mere weeks after we met, I believe in 2018. He's one of these guys who you just like the first time you meet him. He's so easy to talk to, which you'll see in this conversation.

He's coming through town playing the Token Lounge on March 27th with The Art Of Anarchy band. He spoke about how he joined the band, which was somewhat defunct, with the help and through his friendship with Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal. The new album is out, and JSS told me that the band hasn't even played one of these songs live yet. He said rehearsals start next week, as I post this.

JSS has been in many bands, but the Trans Siberian Orchestra is one he's been in for a long time. He talks about the reasons why he's jumped around to different bands throughout his career. One of the guys he plays with in TSO is Slaughter drummer, Blas Elias. Jeff talked of meeting him, and how they both have parts in the movie "Rockstar".

We also talked about his 40 years in the music business! Yes, he started at the early age of 18 and was off and running with the Yngwie Malmsteen's "Rising Force" album. He said he didn't even know he got the gig until weeks later.

He just did the Monsters Of Rock cruise, and along with playing many shows onboard, he did his first comedy routine. With the help of rock comedian Don Jamieson, he said it went very well. He talked about doing a similar thing with Jason Bieler from Saigon Kick. JSS said he's learned a lot from him. Jason also submitted a funny question for Jeff....LOL

We talked about Queen, the documentary making "We Are The World", and more.

Lots of great stories from Jeff, cannot wait to see him and Art Of Anarchy at the Token Lounge in a couple of weeks!