Cherry St

Cherry St. Revisited: 30 Year Anniversary

with Tom “Monroe” Mathers of Perris Records

Interview by Ken Morton

The Sunset Strip was bustling with musicians and fans, all creating what would become a music scene that would be heard all around the world. One of the bands to create kickass tunes and other havoc in Hollywood was Cherry St. who would sell out shows at iconic venues such as Gazzari’s, creating quite a buzz in the music business. The band would find themselves signed with JRS/BMG, where they released Squeeze It Dry - their only output on a major label. You can’t keep an awesome band down - ever! Guitarist Tom “Monroe” Mathers would create Perris Records to release their first batch of demos prior to the BMG experience. And once grunge reared it’s head to basically obliterate anything having to do with hard rock and hair metal, Mathers and Perris Records would continue to issue Cherry St. albums as well as other bands within the realm of hard rock, hair metal. and AOR. Highwire Daze recently interviewed Tom “Monroe” Mathers to discuss the 30 Year Anniversary re-release of their sought after Self-Titled debut on Perris Records, the stories of Cherry St. and those crazy nights on the Sunset Strip, what the members are up to today, and more... music without authorization and keeping all the cash.

I realized it was 30 years ago we released the “Self titled” so I thought it was great reason to re-release it again now, and also hopefully keep Russia from making money on unauthorized versions. It is also a major milestone for me since it was the 1st CD on Perris Records and started a lifetime career for me. The CD is almost sold out, being a limited pressing of 500 CDs. I still love the music and I’ve really enjoyed people telling me they are digging it and are glad to hear it again.

Introduce yourself and tell me what you do/did in Cherry St.?

My name is Tom “Monroe” Mathers. I played guitar and did the all of the business responsibilities for the band.

What was the local Los Angeles music scene like when Cherry St. was on the scene playing shows in the late 80’s / early 90’s?

The scene was crazy. There were thousands of people lining Sunset Blvd every Friday & Saturday night. Thousands of bands hanging out, handing out flyers, and trying to sell their pre-sale tickets if they were lucky enough to have a show at one of the clubs.

The Cherry St. debut being reissued is from 1992. Looking back, what do you think of the music now being reissued on this 30th Anniversary edition?

I can’t believe it has been 30 years.Time flies by so quick. Some of our music is being bootlegged in Russia and other places. Unfortunately, there are many thieves in the music business ripping off labels and bands by releasing their

What was it like being on the Pay To Play segment of MTV with such bands as Guns N’ Roses and Warrant?

There was major buzz about the band on the Sunset Strip when they were filming the segment. We met with Carla Diamond from MTV and shot the interview for the Pay To Play segment that aired for a couple weeks with heavy rotation on MTV. Our phone blew up with calls from all over the USA. By that time, we were headlining the clubs in Hollywood and preparing to tour the USA before even having a record deal.

What was Bill Gazzari like and what is your favorite memory of him and the legendary Gazzaris?

Bill Gazzari really supported the bands and so many went on to be major stars like Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, Poison and many more. He never had an attitude with me, you just had to prove yourself once and he had your back after that. Having Bill Gazzari come out on the stage and present us with the first colored star to go on the club was mind blowing. Many bands like Bang Tango, Razzle (Lit) and many others also had stars on the outside wall at the club.

What was the experience like sharing bills with Foreigner and Warrant, and did you get to meet or hang out with them at all?

Foreigner is still one of my top favorite bands ever and to be the only band appearing with them at a sold out 10,000 seat concert was dream come true.

Warrant really helped Cherry St before we got our record deal. We first met Jani Lane after our Whisky show when doing our meet and greet at our merch booth. We had hundreds of fans around our booth, which was a common thing for us after a show. We sold T-shirts, group photos, single photos, buttons and other items at every show. I remember Jani was amazed at how many fans we had. Later on, he did a cameo appearance in our “The Walk” video. We also met Eric Turner that night and kept in touch with him. The next show we had at The Roxy, Eric came and brought Joey Allen. They went up on stage and introduced the band before we went on.

Eric Turner also co-produced our “Squeeze It Dry” release on JRS/BMG label with Tommy Thayer. ge was taking over. I really think if it was released in ‘88 or ‘89 it would have done alot better, but that was the case with many other bands as well.

The story is that grunge killed rock and roll and the Sunset Strip music scene. How did the oncoming grunge movement affect Cherry St., if at all?

Yes, it sure did. The Strip was already getting shut down by the new mayor. The jerk was stopping bands from handing out flyers on Sunset. He had the police moving the crowds off the street and not letting them hang out by the clubs. It really affected the scene in a negative way.

Everyone had an encounter with Lemmy back in the day on the Sunset Strip. What are some of your favorite Lemmy stories and memories?

I met Lemmy many times at The Rainbow and we were lucky enough to have Lemmy with CC Deville do a cameo on our video “The Walk”. CC and Lemmy introduced the video. Lemmy was a super cool guy.

When you look back on the Squeeze It Dry release, what do you think of it now in retrospect?

Having the chance to work with Pat Regan in his studio right after recording Shotgun Messiah and before Deep Purple was amazing. His credits include Warrant, Kiss, Mr. Big and so many more.

What inspired you to start Perris Records and have Cherry St. as the first release for the label?

Well we had distribution on our 3 song tape that sold over 8,000 units on Important/Reality. So we started Perris Records to release the “Self Titled” CD. Within a few months we secured a deal with JRS/BMG, I really think doing that helped us get a deal.

After the band broke up, I had many bands contact me about working with them and it just took off. This was way before the internet. I started doing some Metal Edge magazine ads for these releases and as a result, I got many customers and European distribution companies that ordered thousands of CDs from the label.

Of course having Tommy Thayer (Black ‘N Blue, Kiss) and Eric Turner (Warrant) co-produce the release was amazing and I think it turned out really great. The release came out in ’93 and the scene had already changed; grun-

Do you still keep in touch with any of the other former Cherry St. members?

Pretty much every Cherry St. member has lived in Texas at some point, which is where I currently live. Right now, Jaimie Scott lives in Dallas, and Todd “Taz” Anthony

lives in San Antonio. Chris VanDahl, Redd Rosell and Tom “Kelly James” Dobrentey all lived in Austin at one time. We all keep in touch through social media and emails. Using Facebook makes it real easy to keep in touch.

How likely is a Cherry St. reunion and more new music?

You never say never. I know if we do get together, a lot of people will want to hear it for sure. I think we should, you only live once and music last forever.

Any messages for Cherry St. fans?

Thank you for all the support. I made so many friends that I still keep in touch with over the years. Hundreds of fans have picked up the “Self Titled” CD. I really appreciate it so much.

http://www/perrisrecords.com

Bill Gazzari and Cherry St.

Promoting the all new full length album “Down In Wuhan” out August 28, 2021 World-wide on all major platforms DOWN IN WUHAN TOUR - 2022 Friday May 13. 2022 7:30 PM WHISKY A GO GO with BANG TANGO