Q: How did the
first reunion gig feel? How did you think it went, and how have
the show[s] since been? Is there still a good audience out there
for you guys? And do you have plans for many more gigs or a
tour?
A: I guess there was a certain amount of apprehension before we
got together to rehearse (fear of the unknown and all), but
we've always had a healthy respect for one another, as human
beings and as musicians, so, in fact once we stuck the first
chord together again it was smiles all around. I think the
hiatus has really been a good thing for all of us. We've all
continued to pursue our love
of music, and the miles we've put behind us seem to have given
us a cohesion that is even stronger than we had before. I think
in the past the diversions of the road sometimes got in the way
when we were playing together as a band. Now, it's very clear
that the music's the important thing and that's super positive
for me, and I think for Mark and Laz too.
The fan reaction and support to our reunion has really been
fantastic. It great to talk to people who were fans in the
beginning but never got a chance to see us live, and even those
who saw every show we played when we came to town. It's awesome
for them that we're playing together again, and some are getting
a chance to see us for the first time, which they never thought
would happen. It's very gratifying to get responses like that, especially from
younger fans who are really into "live" music. With
the advent of "watching" music on TV as opposed to
"listening" to music or grooving to a live scene, it's
awesome to see the enthusiasm people have for bands who write
their own songs and sing and play their own instruments - live!
What a concept! We're booking more shows
in Ontario right now and we're also working on supporting
"Cold Fusion" in other parts of Canada as well.
Q: There seems
to be a real comeback of classic Canuck rock with new albums and
gigs by the likes of Moxy, April Wine, Carl Dixon [great album
BTW!], Helix, Trooper, [and not to mention a 3/5ths
Foot In Coldwater reunion!] .. etc... How do you see the current
scene of old Canuck bands still surviving?
A: I think we all have very strong and loyal fans. That being
said I think it's important to grow artistically and try to
reach new fans as well. I'm very flattered when I get Emails
from people who are just discovering SANTERS for the first time
and say they can't believe our first albums were recorded in the
'80's because they don't sound like the '80's. That's a
testament to the fact that we have been, are and always will be
masters of our own musical destiny. That is what's important to
us as artists. Trends and styles are always changing way too
quickly anyway.
Q: Has the rejuvenation of the older bands played any part in
your decision to get the original Santers band back together,
play and record again?
A: Bands rejoining isn't a few phenomenon. It's what the band
does after rejoining that matters. If you said to me "Hey
Rick, why don't you get SANTERS back together and just play all
the old songs again?" That really wouldn't interest me on
it's own. There's no challenge in that. But, writing a bunch of
new material that SANTERS would do a great job recording, and
releasing a new album with all the original members.... now
that's exiting to me. It's a great thing when bands find it in
themselves to rekindle the passion for their music, but that's a
very personal commitment that a artist needs to make, to
themselves and to the other band members. The SANTERS reunion is
something that evolved very naturally. We've all been writing
and recording with other artists and doing solo albums over the
past few years and I think we've got a deeper appreciation for
each other now, and that's what's motivated our getting back
together.
Q: Tell us a
bit about www.santers.com
; Who designed, etc. and what fans can find there?
A: I started santers.com a few years back, but it's Rick
Lazaroff who has developed into a fantastic web designer who
convinced me that we needed to update the SANTERS site and he
wanted to do it. He runs www.wasaga.com
and has been specializing in web design for many years. So,
he and I got together and designed a web site that would give
fans a place to get up to date information about the band,
concert announcements, news, new music etc. It's also a place
where you can listen to and buy SANTERS music.
Q: How do you feel about the internet's use on the music scene
these days, where as in the old days you had to rely more on
record companies and pr people. !?
A: The Internet is great resource tool to get fast and up to
date information. I think it's very cool to check out bands and
their music online and support them by buying their CD's online,
especially from bands who want to remain independent from the
major label thing. I think it's a great addition to live
concerts, radio, TV and the press.
Q: What are you listening to these days? Old, new? Any current
favorite albums?
A: I'm always checking out new bands and a lot of them are
sitting right square in the hard rock vein, and it's nice to
"hear" again. Some of the new bands that I'm listening
to that weave this sense of melody and hard rock are Creed,
Puddle of Mudd and Nickelback. In my opinion there are only two types of music, good music and
bad music. Good music is inspired and reflects the musicians
passion. Bad music is dull and boring and predictable because
it's uninspired and has another agenda to meet which is not
passionate. So, it doesn't matter to me if music is so called
"old" or "new" I listen for the passion, the
creativity and the expression. That's where I get a lot of my inspiration from, good music.
I think the survival of music depends upon people listening for
good music with their ears... not less with their eyes.
Q: How did you
get along playing in the same band as your brother for so long,
and playing music he'd written? I take it you guys got along
pretty good for brothers? No sibling rivalry? :-)
A: Our musical influences were similar growing up so as far as
personalities and original music go, it was very easy to agree
on just about everything, except for the odd flying beer bottle!
I'd say we got along well compared to some of the stories I've
heard from other bands. For instance, how could you have a fist
fight with the drunken bass player at 4:00 am after a raging
party and then go up on stage that night and rock? I just don't
get it!
Q: Can you give
me a few of your favorite drummers? Any big influences?
A: John
Bonham, Ian Paice, Neil Peart, Tommy Aldridge, Bill Bruford,
Buddy Rich, Simon Kirke, Jack DeJohnette.
Q: What bands
did you grow up on?
A: Beethoven,
Beatles, CCR, Johnny & Edgar Winter, Deep Purple, The
Guess Who,Yes, King Crimson, Rush, AC/DC
Q: Can you give
me a Top 10 list of fave albums?
A:
I can't pick a top ten because there's just too many great
albums. It's like apples and oranges.
Q: Aside from
playing with Rick prior to forming Santers, did you have any
other gigs?
A: We pretty
much played music together from day one so there really
wasn't any other gigs.
Q: How did you
get along playing in the same band as your brother for so
long, and playing music he'd written? I take it you guys got
along pretty good for brothers? No sibling rivalry? :-)
A:
Our musical influences were
similar growing up so as far as personalities and original
music go, it was very easy to agree on just about
everything, except for the odd flying beer bottle! I'd say
we got along well compared to some of the stories I've heard
from other bands. For instance, how could you have a fist
fight with the drunken bass player at 4:00 am after a raging
party and then go up on stage that night and rock? I just
don't get it!
Q: Rick wrote
all the Santers music, did you [do you] ever write at all?
A: Rick
brought the ideas to the table and collectively we worked on
the intro ideas, solo sections, arrangements etc. I do write
and look forward to creating new songs together again.
Q: What are your
favorite Santers tunes - be they as songs and as far As your
performance goes?
A: Shot
Down in Flames, Caught in the Wind, Paths of Heart, Time
after Time, Mistreatin' Heart, Backstreets, Mystical Eyes, Two
Against the World, Dog without a Home, Road to Morocco, Can't
Shake You, Black Magic, Baby Blue, Dreaming, Come and Get it,
Top Secrecy, Leigh Ann..... just to name a few.
Q: Favorite album?
A: All
4 of them! Again, it's like apples and oranges because all the
albums individually represent different stages of development;
be it musicianship, attitude, energy, lyric ideas etc.
Q: Can you give me
a few personal highlights from the Santers days?
A: Well
the Ozzy Osbourne tour was definitely the highlight for us! I
can still remember going up on stage at the Ottawa Civic Arena
and just thinking " This is unbelievable! ". We were
really flying musically at that point, you know, on our way so
to speak. On the last date at the PNE Coliseum, Ozzy's crew
turned on the house lights before the encore was done, I don't
know if they felt threatened or if they were playing a joke,
but we sure had the fans that night. The U.K. tour after the
Racing Time album was special as well because the people and
the attitudes were much different from those in North America.
We had great responses and the fan base still exists today. I
always thought our music was a little more Europe friendly.
Those Brits sure do know how to how to have fun. Of course the
southern states enjoyed our brand of rock also and those hot
climates are great for Rock & Roll. New York state,
Buffalo, Rochester......do you have a couple of weeks?
Q: After the
Santers band split what did you do prior to joining Carl
Dixon's band?
A: I
worked with a female singer called Carmelle for about a year,
who was a super person and a great performer. Laz and I teamed
up and formed Cold Shot with Steve Shelski and later re-formed
Bratt with Darlene Watters singing. That was a fun
band; played a lot of rippin' rock tunes.
Q: How did you
hook up with Carl ? Were you in any of his pre "One"
bands?
A: I was
introduced to Carl Dixon through Steve when we played in Cold
Shot. He put together a band called Rough And Ready and toured
briefly. Then it evolved into the Carl Dixon Band.
Q: How was the
experience recording One compared to the Santers' stuff?
A: Carl
asked me to come in and do a bunch of background vocals, which
turned out great and gave me a lot of confidence.
Q: Any favorite
tracks from that album?
A: Taste
of Love, Run Reckless, More than a Memory, Love is Waiting.
Q: You've gigged
around for years with Carl, any of his tunes or Coney tunes
that particularly like playing live?
A: Hey Operator
was a no brainer for me because it could have easily been a
Santers tune so live that one always worked. Run Reckless was
the tune that shifted the whole band into 5th gear. Devil's
Deck is another.
Q: Any great
stories from the Carl days?
A: More
stories eh? Well we were always bad boys at Lu-Lu's a club I
really liked. We did shows there with Bad Company, Alanna
Myles, Sass Jordan, Max Webster, Steppenwolf, Nazareth just to
name a few, but the '93 tour in Germany had to be the
highlight. We played shows in all different types of clubs and
met a lot of great people. I remember almost getting arrested
in Winterthur, Switzerland with Mike Hall (guitar) and Howie
Bertolo (Keys). We were walking down the street, and next
thing you know the Swiss cops race up to us, jump out of the
cruiser and start hassling us. They thought we had just broken
in to a local business because we fit the description. Thank
God I can speak German because if I didn't things could've
gotten very ugly. Do you have another couple of weeks?
Q: How did the
sessions for the new Carl Dixon album go? This album was
started essentially back in 95 / 96 [I have a tape of some of
the demos from him].
A:
Recording Into the Future was a different approach altogether.
Carl was after the Phil Spector sound and doubling the drum
tracks was very challenging since a lot of the material was
new to me and rehearsal time was almost nil. All of it was
done with just myself and Carl engineering.
Q: How do
you think "Into The Future" compares to
"One"? What tracks and performances stand out on it
for you?
A: Apples
and oranges again, both rock but in a different way.
Fave tracks- Into the Future, Hot Streak (Zeppelinish funk
rock) Strange way to Live (rippin'solo section)Point of no
Return, Busted and the RobinTrower classic River.
Q: Have you done
any other session jobs or band work aside from Carl Dixon's
band in the past decade?
A: I
played on some tracks that made it to Emm Gryner's "
Distrust it " album and various unreleased demos.
Q: How was
it getting back together as Santers? And what are your
thoughts on the new upcoming album?
A: It
was great to play the old stuff again and we all something new
to the songs because we all had newer influences. The new
record presents a whole lot of exciting challenges and the
maturity of the musicians will shine through.
Q: What plans do
you have as far as any possible Carl Dixon or Santers
projects?
A:
I'm ready for the world tour as long as the guarantees are
there and all the merchandising is in place! By the way, when
will the limo driver show up at my front door to take me to
the airport?
RICK
LAZAROFF
Q) Can you give me
a few of your fave bass players, and biggest influences?
A: Jaco
Pastorius. Jack Bruce. Miroslav Vitous. Dave Holland.
Q) Do you play
guitar as well? [if so, how did you get on to the bass?]
A) I play
guitar a bit but I wouldn't call myself a guitarist. I
actually started playing drums as a kid. My father is Alex
Lazaroff, well known Canadian Jazz drummer extrodinaire. I
switched to bass when I was 10.
Q) Favorite bands
growing up? Can you give me a Top 10 album list?
A) My earliest
influences were the Beatles and all the Soul and R&B
recordings from Motown and Stax Records. Then Hendrix and
Cream. Then on to the prog bands of the seventies; Yes, King
Crimson and Gentle Giant. And all through that was a steady
diet of Jazz. Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Thelonious Monk.
Top albums in no particular order. "Milestones",
Miles Davis. Infinite Search, Miroslav Vitous (the best bass
album ever recorded). "Close to the Edge", Yes.
"Court of the Crimson King, King Crimson. "Weather
Report", Weather Report's first release.
Q) What sort of
bands were you involved in prior to Santers? Any recordings?
A) I played in
Rock Bands, Blues Bands, Dance and Funk bands; I think they
called it Disco. The most notable band I played for was the
Snakes, a blues band featuring Fred Mandel on keys who has
gone on to perform and record with Queen, Elton John and Alice
Cooper.
Q) What do you
recall of your days with a guy named Rob Seagrove ? :-)
A) Rob
Seagrove? Oh yeah he was a pimp that use to work out of
Montreal. No hold on. That was somebody else. I played with
Rob in a cover band in the seventies. We played crappy
commercial stuff but even then we were throwing in some fusion
to keep ourselves amused. I remember playing Scatterbrain with
him, a wild odd metre tune off Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow. Rob's
a great guitar player and a nice guy. I lost touch with him
when I moved a couple of times. Tell him to email me.
Q)What are your
favorite Santers tunes from the catalogue? Anything that
you're proud of as far as your own performance goes?
A) I like High
Risk, Too Young to Die from Guitar Alley and am especially
fond of the live tracks on the euro release of Top Secrecy.
For me live is where it's at. That's how the band sounds.
Q) You and Mark
are a very tight rhythm section, very heavy, and a huge part
of the Santers sound. What can you tell me about how you guys
get along musically and how things work so well there?
A) Mark's got
great metre and is solid. That makes it easy for me to lock
in. You can't play a game of push and pull. Others drummers
have commented on how easy it is to play with me. It's just a
matter of adjusting to their individual feel and if they have
good metre it works quite well.
Q) Do you write
songs at all? Have you contributed any to other projects?
A) Yes I do.
Mostly instrumental stuff. I would say mostly Jazz influenced
atmospheric stuff. You know, great background music for a
travel show or something. I plan on doing a real self
indulgent solo CD if I can ever get my home studio completed.
Q) Any favorite
Santers' days stories and personal highlights from the old
days?
A) I guess the
Ozzy tour and the tour of England in support of Magnum. The
shows at Massey Hall for sure. That would be my favorite venue
to play.
Q) What did you do
in the years following the break up of the Santers band? Any
other bands, recordings, etc ... ?? [Details!]
A) I played in
several cover bands after our split. In 1990 I recorded a Jazz
LP with the Orhan Demir Trio. It got great reviews in the U.S.
from some fine publications. He's an amazing jazz guitarist
from Turkey who lives in Toronto now. Hopefully I will get to
do some more work with him.
Q: Are you
involved in any musical projects at the moment and/or do you
have any plans for the future aside from Santers?
A) I also
play in Jazz combo playing mostly standards and hope to record
some of that and hopefully do another CD with Orhan Demir and
maybe finally get a solo CD completed. That would be about it.
Interview:
© Kevin J. Julie (Universal Wheels) '02
2001
saw the reunion of Canadian trio SANTERS, with the release of "Cold
Fusion" - a 14 track 'best of' with a few unreleased gems included as
well. A few months back I sent questions for guitarist / singer /
songwriter Rick Santers, bassist Rick Lazaroff, and drummer Mark Santers to
get a complete Santers retrospect. [Oh yeah, see my old interviews for another
exclusive with Rick Santers!]. Anyway,
here's the interviews with Rick, Rick and Mark!