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This month I had the great opportunity to
interview
J - First off.. wayyy back in the day, how did you guys all hook up to form Cinderella?
E - Tom and I had been in a few cover bands
together and decided to start an original band. We had a different drummer and
guitar player at first. Eventually, we replaced them with Jeff and Fred.
J - How long were you together before getting
signed?
E - About four years
J - Did Jon Bon Jovi help you guys out in some
way?
E - He saw us play at a club in Philly while
he was in town recording. He was impressed and urged his A&R person to see us.
That led to us signing a deal with Mercury.
J - How important was the look back in the "hair
days" and do you ever look back and think.. "what the hell was I thinking"?
E - Image was always important and, to some
extent, still is. As styles change, looking back at how you once looked is
kinda funny. I like to compare it to looking at your old yearbook pictures
from high school. I bet that most people would say "what was I thinking?"
J - What was your favorite package tour.. any
good road stories?
E - The Bon Jovi tour was probably the most
fun. Everyone from the bands and crew got along great together. As far as
stories, I like to keep that sort of thing private.
J - What was your least favorite... w/lots of
drama?
E - Actually, all the tours have been good.
We had some differences with a couple of bands, but have had a great time
overall.
J - Biggest crowd you ever played for and where?
E - Either in Russia for the Moscow Music
Peace Festival or Germany for the Monsters Of Rock. Both were over 150K but
the Moscow show was broadcast live to over a billion.
J - Craziest thing a fan has ever done to meet
you?
E - One time some fans were following the
tour bus and accidentally swerved and flipped their car. We pulled over and
turned the car back up and signed stuff for them.
 J
- What was your favorite music video to make?
E - Shake Me. It was our first video and just
sticks out for that reason.
J - Least favorite?
E - Gypsy Road. We filmed it in Mexico and I
got a severe intestinal bug the first day. Also, my bass was stolen at the
airport when w
 e
got there.
J - Favorite Cinderella release? and why?
E - Long Cold Winter. I think that we had
recorded the best we could and had fun doing it too.
J - Least favorite, or just didn't turn out as
well as you wanted?
E - Night songs. I wish we had the experience
we had on the subsequent records when we recorded that one.
J - What led to the break up of the band?
E - Circumstances. We were
dropped from Mercury and had no interest from other labels. The grunge scene
had basically ostrisized bands like us from the market, so we basically had to
pack it in.
J - Did everyone still stay in touch.?
E - Oh Yeah. We had parted ways with Fred
after the Heartbreak Station record, but still talked to him regularly. We
never really had much of an internal problem with the band.
J - Its been years since the last Cinderella
release.. what ever happened to the c.d. that was supposed to come out?
E - We were dropped by Sony before we ever
started recording it.
J - Any plans on new music coming out anytime
soon?
E - Not in the near future. Tom is doing a
solo record which will include some of the songs intended for the Cinderella
record. Jeff and I are recording the second Naked Beggars record which will be
released this summer.
J - Now you guys are getting back together for
the "Rock Never Stops" tour, how did that come about...?
E - We wanted to tour and they made a good
offer.
J - Does this mean the band is back together for
good?
E - The band never really broke up. We enjoy
working together and are willing to play, record, etc. when we're afforded the
opportunity.
J - Any touring plans, by yourselves...?
E - There will be some one-off dates as we do
the Rock Never Stops tour and maybe some warm-up dates before we start.
J - Also you guys are also realeasing a greatest
hits c.d. /DVD.. what kind of stuff will be on there? Any unreleased tracks?
E - Basically, the CD will have the hits but
we added more album tracks from all the records. The DVD has all the videos,
except "Hot and Bothered" which is owned by Warner Bros.
J - Now on to Naked Beggars.. how did you guys
hook up..?
E - The band started out as Inga's project
with guitarist Kris Casamento. I was helping out with demos and then got more
involved. When Cinderella didn't tour last summer, I asked Jeff to join. We
also added Kristine Brasuell on keyboards around the same time. Our drummer,
Shawn Hughs, joined the band most recently. We toured for six months and are
now recording again.
 J
- And now Jeff Labar has joined the band.. how did that come about, is he a
permanent member?
E - I just kinda explained that LOL. Yes he
is a permanent member. He is very committed to the band and we all work
together great.
J - How would you describe your sound to anyone
who hasnt heard you yet?
E - It's straight ahead rock with a fun
attitude.
J - Who does the writing in the band?
E - We all contribute to the writing. Some
songs are written spontaneously together as a band, some are co-writes, and
some individually.
J - How is it playing w/chicks!!?
E - In a band or in general? hehe! It's
actually great. It's definitely different being married to the singer but it
works.
J - Any more recording planned?
E - We're recording the second record now and
will have it completed this spring.
 J
- Tour plans?
E - Naked Beggars
will probably do some dates before the Cinderella tour kicks off. We plan on
touring extensively after.
J - Do you have a website where everyone can
keep up with what your doing?
J - How do you feel the internet has changed
promoting bands..etc?
E - It allows bands to get on a more personal
level with fans and promote themselves more effectively.
J - How do you feel about Mp3's and file
sharing?
E - I really don't see much difference than
when people used to make their own tapes. The more your music is exposed to
the public, the better.
J - Into any of the "new" bands out there today?
E - Not much has really impressed me lately.
J - What would be in your cd player right now?
E - Chris Whitley
J - What's the future hold for Eric Brittingham?
E - I'm still doing what I love to do and
plan on doing it for quite awhile.
J - Anything you would like to say to all your
fans reading this?
E - I'd like to thank them for all their
support over the years and I'm glad they still follow what's happening.
Cinderella "Nobody's Fool"
video Naked Beggars "What You
Give" Live
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