J- Ok.. now onto the Poison stuff.. how was the Hollyweird tour last summer?
 

R- It was great.. we did 70 shows.. that's a lot of shows to do in a short amount of time.. I was tired after that one.. the last month we were doing a lot of long runs. Last year was a work year, It was a solid year of work ..from the time we decided to start writing songs.. rehearsing.. and doing pre-production.. doing the record, we did the record over Christmas.. then all the press.. t.v. shows, then the tour.. I didn't stop working for a year straight... that's why this record has been just sitting here.. if I had released it.. half the interviews would be about this.. and half about Poison, and it would have gotten jolted...ya know.. why kill the mother?.. haha..
 

J- So how are the summer tours doing? are they still growing?
 

R- Ya we are gonna do another one this year.. then take a year off.. then come back with something very special..

Its time for us to close the chapter on this nostalgia stuff.. I'm totally into it.. and I think its great. but nobody is listening.. and that's not where we wanna go.. everyone is so wrapped up in where we've been.. VH-1 wants to do a movie about us.. there is talk about a box set.. there's talk about all this kinda stuff.. were like.. ok.. we will do this stuff...then enough is enough.. I'm not saying we wont play nothing but a good time live.. but its time to move on.. and when all this stuff settles, your still gonna have Poison, your not gonna have Poison trying to be whoever.. we don't want to be anything but who we are.. we don't want to apologize for it.. but we do need to go to the next chapter now. Either people are going to respond to it.. or there not..

if they aren't.. then our career is over ya know.. that's the way its going to be.. cause we can't keep doing this..

I don't look at it as nostalgia.. cause the last few years we've been out there playing to fans that love us.. and never had a chance to see us. I get tons of people that say ya know, I was 12 when you guys were huge.. I wasn't allowed to go..
 

J- Right, exactly.. when I saw you guys for the first time.. I was 13..
 

R- Well the same thing happened w/Aerosmith.. I went to see them with the Done With Mirrors tour.. and they played like one song from Done With Mirrors, everything else was the back catalog, it kinda introduced them to a new generation..
 

J- Ya I meet people online that are 16 that are big fans of Poison and I can't believe it, cause how do they know about you guys..? I can understand before, you were on Mtv every 2 seconds.. but there are so many young fans trying to go backwards and find all the good music that was released..

R- Well ya know what we are in a very unique situation. and only time will tell.. if its all gonna play out in the end.. It seemed like it took Aerosmith 20 years to bring it back around.. and it seems like it has taken us 10.. or less.. at least to this level.. I mean we are not Aerosmith level obviously.. but we really re-find our era.. and that's been a double edge sword.. cause in some ways it hurt us, its helped us in many ways.. but everyone imagines what we look like from the cover of Look What the Cat Dragged In.. hahaha.. I haven't looked like that since 89' m not embarrassed of it.. I think its cool. I think it takes... this is going to be a bold statement.. but to look the way we did.. was much more ballsy then what I see out there now. there is some people doing some interesting things out there.. but its not.. shocking.. it feels like what I see now is socially rebelling.. getting piercings and tattoos are no longer rebellious.. the banker is getting them.. I think the most rebellious thing I've seen all year is.. Hedwig and the Angry Inch.. ya know.. it took a transvestite to do a rockstars job.. ya know what I mean.. cause very few people, with the exception to Manson, have had the balls to go out and be a rockstar again.. larger then life.. and people miss that..
 

J- I know I do...that's why I still support the bands I grew up on, cause they all put on such great shows.. and all these new bands, look like my next door neighbor.. and I don't want that, if I'm gonna pay money, I wanna  feel like I'm seeing rockstars.. and its sad its gotten away from that.
 

R- Well people need to work a little harder at that... there is a lot of people from that era that are coming back.. and I think aspects of it.. are badly needed.. but a lot of the people that came up while we did are not around anymore, cause they were not that wonderful in the first place! ..I don't mean to throw the baby out with the bath water.. but I mean our songs.. and our stuff.. see I sound  like I'm tipping our own hat.. so I'm trying to be careful here, but I just feel that our songs have held up.. and a lot of the songs coming out now, and some of the songs that came out then.. didn't hold up.. some of this rap rock stuff coming out, just isn't gonna hold up 10yrs. from now.. it's not gonna be on a compilation the way "Maggie May" from Rod Stewert is.. people aren't writing those classic songs.. but the dynamics are starting to change a lot.. I see people are starting to now. So it's changing a bit.. its no longer acceptable to just have a gimmick.. some of these bands have wayy more of a gimmick then we ever did.. and it just freaks me out sometimes that there isn't more quality rock n roll songs.. everyone is afraid to take a chance.. I really wanna see someone take a chance.. somebody handed me a flyer when I was in Hollywood.. and I'm like does this band set them selves on fire or anything? and they are like.. no its just a good rock n rol bandl.. I'm like cool.. ill stay home and listen to good rock n roll.. I wanna be dazzled.. give me something that blows my mind.. like Manson coming out on stilts.. I mean give me something.. I need some theater in it.. or it feels like I'm seeing my neighbors band.. hahaha..
 

J- Back to your summer tours? which was your favortie so far..
 

R- Believe it or not...and and for no other reason.. then I'm friends w/the drummer.. cause all the tours have been very successful... but with Warrant.. cause I'm friends w/Mike.. and we hung out everyday.. I was like ya! I have my buddy on the road.. that was the one that ended early.. cause Bobby's back.. but it was a lot of fun non stop party..
 

J- What was your favorite tour.. back in the 80's.. either headlining.. or opening?
 

R- I really enjoyed when Tesla was out with us.. we had a lot of fun with those guys..

J- I saw that tour too.. its cool to hear you talk about them..
 

R- Ya they were cool.. we had a lot of interesting tours back then.. we even had Alice in Chains out with us.. stuff like that.. its neat to see there prospective on the stuff.. its great to help out.. When we started out in clubs.. and we started to get bigger.. and started selling out the bigger clubs, and other places.. that's when we started to bring out a lot of underground bands.. cause we have fun with the bands we play with.. seeing those audiences come together, we were the band I think, that was very digestible.. back in that time.. digestible to a lot of the the underground.. the underground was becoming digestible to straight ahead rock and roll people.. people weren't really sure what to think of us then.. but then when our video hit.. then the underground vanished.. oh well.. they aren't cool anymore.. hahaha... but we sold out I guess.. hahaha... all right I'm a sold out whore I guess.. but watching the real underground death rock starting to want something more exciting... getting tired of there bands... coming to a Poison show... because there favorite band is playing.. and they stay and watch us.. they started looking between there audience, and our audience.. and it created a whole other thing.. it was really cool what happened back then. I wish I could take your hand and walk you through that..
 

J- Did you get along with all the bands through the years...
 

R- No..hell no..hahahaha
 

J- Hahahahaha

I'm sure your not gonna tell me the ones you didn't get along with..
 

R- Well everybody know we didn't get along with Warrant.. to this day there is still weird stuff with them.. every time I turn around... Jani Lane is saying something weird about us.. so I don't really respond to it anymore.. cause that's about all the press he can get.. ya know what I mean....

I mean there is ex-guitar players still saying stuff.. but ya know what.. Poison gets bagged on by a lot of bands, we're an easy target.. for other bands.. but then I have to look at were these bands are.. and I get it.. its not like Mick Jagger is saying it.. or Joe Perry is saying it.. its some guy who is bitter cause his songs didn't hold up.. I mean where is Yngwie Malemsteen... hahaha.. Ya know.. who could play circles around C.C. supposedly.. ya he's a fabulous technical player.. with no soul what so ever.. and nothing he ever produced was ever worth anything.. ya know.. you can be schooled to do that.. Quiet Riot was horrible to us, when we were an opening band, not Frankie he's a wonderful person.. but there were a lot of bands that were pretty mean to us.. super restrictions.. super jealousy.. ya know. especially when singers would see the reaction from the audience to Bret.. but we were always pretty cool to our opening acts.. we've been accused of not being cool.. but they know deep down, that we always were.. even Ratt had some weird stuff about us.. I even told Blotzer this.. I was like ya know.. you guys were dicks... except for Robbin.. he was always nice, they said we could use pyro.. we bring pyro out, and 2 days later they would get jealous.. and send the pyro guy home.. and we'd have to pay him for a week... and he would say... "well our manager said..." and im like come on Blotz... ya know.. its me...its ok.. its years later.
 

J- What do you think of all these 80's bands getting back together w/different members..etc..?
 

R- That gets funky after a while.. I mean in some ways its cool.. but.. if they are doing it for the money.. I mean some of these bands get back together.. and wear baggy shorts.. and that got un-cool.. so now they go back to what they used to do.. cause they see it working.. so it gets a little pathetic.

 

What's next for Rikki...