Russ is no
stranger to the rock music world.
Playing with everyone from the Metal god Rob Halford..
to playing in Atomic Punks, the biggest Van Halen tribute band,
along side Van Halen members..
Now Russ is in his own band, pushing his own music..
A mesh of new alternative / fun rock n roll...
the Thornbirds...
but first.. lets see what Russ has been up to for the last few years..
J - First off, thank you
for doing this, Russ. I'm a big fan of your work throughout the years, so this
is a thrill. You're one of the hardest-working guys in the business; I don't
think many realize all that you have on your plate. Thank you again for fitting
this in.
Russ - I probably don't work as hard as you think, but you're welcome
regardless.
J
- Now onto the good stuff: Going waayyy back in the day, how did you hook up
with the guys in War & Peace?
Russ - I was teaching guitar at GIT, believe it
or not, and I heard from a friend of Jeff Pilson that he was looking for a
guitarist. I got his number, drove out that night, and was in the band.
J - How many albums did you record with them?
Russ - We really just released a bunch of the demos that we did. It was on
Shrapnel records, and it was called Time Capsule.
J - What led to the end of that band?
Russ - I think the bass player, Tommy, had had enough. Then we just all decided
to do other things.
J - Do you still talk to any of the guys?
Russ - Occasionally. I saw Jeff recently because he just had a beautiful
babygirl. All those guys were great guys and it was a fun group to be in.
J - How important was the "hair band" look back in the
day, and do you
ever look back and think "what the hell was I thinking"?
Russ - It was really important to everyone into metal at the time. I liked it,
too. It was a lot of work, though...washing and conditioning... hot
oil treatments.
J
-You hooked up with Rob Halford, and were in Fight. (I saw you guys many times
live, here in Florida. Awesome shows!) How did that come about?
Russ - A friend of mine, Jeff Martin, told Rob
about me. Rob came down to see
me play in a Thin Lizzy tribute band. It wasn't long before I was in Fight.
J - What was it like working with Rob, and what led to you
leaving that band?
Russ - Rob is a great person and really easy to
work with. To this day I think he is one of my favorite singers. Simply one of
the most amazing singers in the world. When I joined Fight I had been really
into writing my own songs for a
few years and was writing stuff that was more pop, less metal than Fight.
After a couple of years in the band, I decided I needed to do my own thing and
find a different way to make a buck.
J - Do you still talk to Rob?
Russ - I haven't talked to Rob directly since I left Fight. I ran into his
manager on a flight once though, and I told him to say "hi".
J - You then joined Metal Shop, a tribute to "80's
hairband's," and landed a spot in a national commercial as "Danger Kitty." How
did that happen?
Russ - We formed that band to make a buck. All
cover bands are strictly to make money. We have a blast doing that band and all
the guys in it are really funny. It really has grown into more of a comedy
troupe than a band.
J - Which came first: the band or the commercial?
The band.
Russ - The casting agency saw us at the Viper
Room.
J - Metal Shop, now known as Metal Skool, has become
pretty big, and has released an album. The band also did a few spots on the
Metal Sludge CD. Any future recording plans?
Russ - I just finished writing a couple more
songs. "You don't make me feel Dumb" is one of them. "Turn out the Lights" is
a song about having sex with a really ugly girl. We have a lot of songs about
having sex with ugly or fat girls. We are going to finish recording in the next
couple of months, than release it on vinyl in Japan.
J - You are also in the Van Halen tribute band, the Atomic
Punks. How was It getting to jam with Michael A.?
Russ - He's great. It was fun. I got to pretend I was Eddie Van Halen for
about 9 songs.
J - Biggest crowd you ever played for (in any of your
bands)?
Russ - 15 or 20 thousand. We've done some
festivals in the punks and Metal Skool. Those are a lot of fun. That's when
you can really put a wireless system to use.
J - And where?
One was in Des Moines, Iowa. Is that how you spell Des Moines? Another was in
Sacramento.
J - Craziest thing a fan has ever done to meet you?
Russ - Nobody really has to do anything crazy
to meet me. I'm really approachable and nice. And humble.
J - Now onto the present. You're in an original band
called the
Thornbirds, formerly known as "The Ducks". Why the name change?
Russ - We signed a deal with Warrior Records, and decided that since we were
going to have a record in stores and eventually become bigger than KISS, now was
the time to change the name if we were ever going to do it. To me it's more
about the songs than the name, so I told Jim (our record company president) that
he could name us whatever he wanted. He picked "the Thornbirds".
J - What type of genre best describes your original music,
and how would
You describe it for someone who has never heard you before?
Russ - I think it would depend on who I was talking to. I have a hard time with
stuff like that. I like to let the music do the talking.
J - Who does the writing?
Russ - I do 95 percent of it. Darren has contributed some cool stuff also. We
all got to dig it to play it , though.
J - How many CD releases?
Russ - We have one in stores now, and we are recording another one currently.
J - Mtv's show, "Made," features some of The Thornbirds'
original music.
Have you heard your songs on the program? How did this come about?
Russ - I never heard it on there. That channel is fucked up on my TV, it
keeps playing Usher and Ashley Simpson over and over.
Actually, Jim hooked that up. He's good. That's why we're going to be
huge.
J
- Any touring plans?
Russ - As soon as we can afford it.
J - Favorite song on "All the Same"?
Russ - I'm biased. I like all of them.
J - Do you have a least favorite, or perhaps a song that
didn't turn out as planned?
Russ - I wish the production was better on some of them. "The Idiot in Me" is
great, but the guitars could sound heavier, you know.
J - What's in store for the Thornbirds and your various
side-projects in
2005?
Russ - A whole lot of rocking. As much as
possible.
Russ- I think it's amazing that people feel
different about taking someone's music without paying for it than taking a book
or a magazine or something. For a long time, musicians have been getting fucked
by the record companies, but now they can get fucked directly by the fans.
J
- How do you feel the internet has changed the process of band promotion?
Russ - Technology has made it really easy for anyone with a computer and a
microphone to make a record and promote it on the net. It's definitely got pros
and cons to it. The cons being that you have to wade through all the crap to
get to the good stuff. I personally don't have the
patience. I wish I was better at the self promo thing.
J - What are your favorite new or up-and-coming bands?
Russ - I like Magna-fi. Orson. Ashlee Simpson is very entertaining.
J - What's in your CD player right now?
Russ - My CD player is broken.
J - How do you feel about what happened to Dimebag? Were
you friends?
Russ - It's a horrible tragedy. I met him and hung out a couple of times,
but we didn't really know each other. I had a lot of respect for his
playing. My condolences go out to his brother and the rest of his
family. He was so young and it's such a shame.
J - Do you think it will change how people feel about
going to hard rock
concerts?
Russ - You can't keep people from doing the things they love. That's why
terrorism will never work. If you stop doing what you love because of
fear, you stop living.
J - Thank you so much, Russ. Is there anything else that
you would like
to say to your fans?
Russ - I would like to thank everyone who bought our record. We play music
because we love it, and when people enjoy it, it makes it all worth it.
J - Good luck to you. I hope to see you on the road soon!
J
- Now onto the good stuff: Going waayyy back in the day, how did you hook up
with the guys in War & Peace? 
J
-You hooked up with Rob Halford, and were in Fight. (I saw you guys many times
live, here in Florida. Awesome shows!) How did that come about?
few years and was writing stuff that was more pop, less metal than Fight.
After a couple of years in the band, I decided I needed to do my own thing and
find a different way to make a buck.
J
- Any touring plans?
J
- How do you feel the internet has changed the process of band promotion?
