Today, the 26th, Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen share with the world the first album resulting from their collaboration, Smith/Kotzen . The partnership, which unites the forces of the Iron Maiden Poison and Mr. Big member , currently in The Winery Dogs , is, of course, nothing less than an explosion of energy and mastery from two great names in music.
To learn more about the new project between these two forces of nature, Nando Machado , co-founder of Wikimetal , spoke with none other than Richie Kotzen.
Check out the full interview below:
Nando Machado: How are you, Richie?
Richie Kotzen : I'm doing great, and how are you?
NM: I'm fine! First of all, I have to thank you for the music you've been making throughout your career, but specifically for this fantastic album you recorded with Mr. Adrian Smith .
RK: Oh, thank you! Yeah, it was a great opportunity for us to get together, we had a lot of fun making the album. I'm glad you liked it.
NM: First of all, do you consider yourself a singer-songwriter, or more of a guitarist? How would you define yourself?
RK: Well, I've pretty much based my whole life on writing songs and performing, and also singing and playing guitar. And I always say, if you're a musician without a song, you have nothing to play, so my priority in life has always been music, it's been with me since I was younger, the most important thing is music, everything else comes along with it. So first and foremost, I enjoy music, and eventually I pick up my guitar when I have an idea. I think I have the answer to that question, which is that I'm more of a singer-songwriter, and then, obviously, I'm known for my guitar playing as well.
NM: Speaking of the partnership with Adrian Smith, do you recall the first time you came into contact with his music?
RK: Piece Of Mind album [1983], so I've always been a big Maiden fan my whole career. And I paid a lot of attention to Adrian and what he was doing.
NM: When you saw that show, did you imagine you'd be recording an album with him a few years later?
RK: No! Exactly, that's the irony of it, like, "Am I really doing this?", I have to pinch myself sometimes. But it's a great opportunity, it's crazy to think that I'm here making an album with one of my heroes, you know?
NM: Was he [Adrian Smith] an influence when you started playing guitar?
RK: Certainly the band was, Adrian's songwriting too. At that time I was very young, in my head, I didn't know who did what, I wasn't so immersed in the overall picture of the band. I was very young, everything was very new to me. But it was great working with Adrian, we got along really well, we have a lot in common, our styles, and things that excite us musically.
NM: Yes, I noticed that there are similarities, but at the same time you complement each other. For example, it's easy to tell when it's you playing or Adrian; you have different styles. But at the same time, there's a very good synergy.
RK: Well, I think we have very similar tastes in music, you know? We really like the same singers, like Paul Rodgers [ Bad Company, Free ], he's one of our favorites. Adrian has a very strong connection to blues, and I grew up with R&B, which has a lot of blues influence; I also have a good history in the world of jazz fusion. So we had a good exchange of ideas from both sides; one guy would start something, the other would finish the task. So far, it's been one of the easiest albums I've ever made.
NM: Yes, it's fantastic! And how did this partnership begin? Do you remember the first time you met Adrian? How did it develop into you two becoming musical partners?
RK: Well, we met about ten years ago... I can't tell you the exact circumstances of how we met, it's a bit hazy for me. But we've been friends for a long time, we'd always see each other when he came to Los Angeles, and my wife, his wife, he and I would go out to dinner, spend time together, and talk. Periodically, he would have events at his house, he has a room with all the guitars there and everything, and we would just play, during the end-of-year period, even my wife would join us and play bass too. And one time someone suggested that we try composing a song together, so we agreed and the first track I remember emerging was "Running". Then one thing led to another and here we are with the album.
NM: You recorded the album on the beautiful island of Turks & Caicos . Do you think the location influenced the album in any way?
RK: It's certainly a great environment, being in the Caribbean. We had the opportunity to fish there, wake up and be able to swim, you know? And then we'd go into the studio and work from there. But it was a good routine, and I don't like to stay in the studio for too long, 5, 6, 7 hours, so right after that we'd go to dinner, finish up at night, and do it all again.
NM: So I imagine the album was finished before the pandemic, right ?
RK: Exactly. We finished everything and then we heard about this pandemic, about this virus. Luckily, we managed to get everything done up to that point, we were able to work together in person, we didn't have to worry about sending files back and forth.
NM: Is it part of your plans to perform with Adrian on stage in the future?
RK: That was the idea! The idea was to go out there and perform for people. And now we're in this situation where nobody knows for sure when we'll be able to return. When we finished the album, we had to think about when we could release it so we could do a tour. Adrian had dates booked with Iron Maiden, I had dates booked for my shows. And then we chose March 2021 to release the album and do the tour. The good news is that we'll still be able to release the album during this period, but unfortunately the whole tour fell through. So we have to wait for a window of opportunity to appear between dates, and reschedule for later than ever… but the good news is that now we can release it, now people can listen.
NM: Considering the current music scene, rock isn't the main genre anymore, so to speak. How do you see the current moment faced by rock 'n' roll in general?
RK: Well, some people talk about this situation but I don't know much about it. When Iron Maiden came to Los Angeles two years ago, they played in a baseball stadium, and it was packed, I was there, it was amazing, people loved it. I did a tour in 2019 that was a success, we played at Hellfest to a huge audience, and it was great. So what happens is that things change, technology kind of dictates the situations. One thing I always say is that the situation now is that people make records today that 40 years ago they couldn't make. Because 40 years ago you had to learn guitar, bass, keyboard for years. Now you have a computer, programs, where all you have to do is have good taste and you can put together something that's clever and put it on the radio, and you're not even a musician. I'm not saying that's bad, I think everyone has the right to be creative, I think that's great. But you can't expect things to be the same as they used to be, things change, people change.
Listen below to the new album by Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen, Smith/Kotzen :
