INTERVIEWS with

The Blues Rock World of Smith/Kotzen

Part One: Richie Kotzen

Interview by Ken Morton - Richie Kotzen Photo by Joe

Schaeffer - Smith/Kozten Photo by John McMurtrie

Smith/Kotzen is the electrifying collaboration between guitarists and vocalists Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen. Part-time LA neighbors, full time friends with a healthy mutual respect, Richie Kotzen is best known for his solo work as well as his participation in The Winery Dogs, while Adrian Smith is within the ranks of the heavy metal dynasty known as Iron Maiden. Their stunning Smith/Kotzen debut is now available via BMG Records, and it’s a blues rock adventure music fans will want to experience time and again. Highwire Daze had interviewed both iconic performers to discuss the creation of all things Smith/Kotzen. Part One with Richie Kotzen begins now... How did the project of Smith/Kotzen initially come about? Well, we’ve been friends for a while. And for years, when Adrian would come to Los Angeles, we’d get together. He’s got a second home here in California and there’s a room there where he has all these guitars set up and the amps and what have you. Usually around the holidays they’d have a get together and a bunch of people would come by – and at some point, we would all end up in that room playing and throwing ideas around. We’d get together and kind of have some fun basically. And somewhere along the line, somebody said “Hey, you guys ought to try and write a song together.” And we had some downtime, and that was really how things started. And I think what really allowed this to develop was the idea that we didn’t need to do anything – it was just something that came out of “Hey, let’s see if we can write something.” And once we did that, it became kind of exciting, and we thought that it was something that we should pursue and try to work towards – see if we could write a couple songs and maybe down the road see what happens. So, it ended up turning into a record – and I think the fact that we had such a relaxed no pressure kind of attitude, allowed the music to develop in a pretty exciting way. You recorded this on Turks & Caicos Island before the pandemic in February 2020. I had to look up where that was. What was the experience like recording at that location? Turks & Caicos – and you know, just like you, I didn’t know about it either. (Laughs) It’s Caribbean and it’s just amazing – it’s just fantastic and very peaceful – beautiful water – the ocean. And the first thing when we went down there, it was really a case of just kind of relaxing and taking it in. Adrian’s been there a bunch of times before, so it was nothing new to him. He took me around to some of his favorite spots and got acclimated – and then pretty quickly we dove into working within a day or two. And it was a nice rhythm. Adrian liked to fish, so he would get up in the morning and do his thing. I love the ocean, so I’d go out for a swim. And then we’d go into the studio for most of the day – go out for dinner that night – and then repeat. And it was just a real smooth relaxed environment. And before you knew it, we were all set, and the record was done. And the next phase was figuring out when we could release it. And the good thing actually is that we didn’t lose our release date. Our plan was to release it in March and then do live shows – obviously we can’t do the live shows but thankfully we were able to maintain the release date.

One of the drummers that you’ve worked with, Tal Bergman, participated on a few songs on this project. Tell me how Tal Bergman became involved. I’ve known Tal since I was 25. We were introduced from another musician that I was already playing with, and we became friends – we hit it off. Tal’s gone on tour with me before. He was the drummer for my band when I opened for the Rolling Stones, so we go back a long, long way. So, when Adrian and I decided we wanted to try and get some other guys playing, I had just worked with Tal and I suggested “Hey, let’s bring in Tal to play on a couple of songs.” And he just came in and nailed it – he’s got a strong sense of song and composition, so it was really easy. And of course, Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain also appears on the track Solar Fire. Tell me what it was like working with him. Well, that song, we just had a drum loop set up and we tracked the parts against the drum loop. And so, it was all spelled out – it was written – and then we sent that over to Nicko and he did his stuff at his studio – he did all the parts there and sent it back to us. And I think he just brought the song to life. It was just great having his input on there – powerful – he’s very active on the kit and he does a lot of fills that compliment the right time – so it was really great to have him on there.

Have you ever met Nicko in person before? Briefly when they played in Los Angeles.

Would you and Adrian like to do any shows in the future in support of this project? Maybe reschedule the ones you already had? Yes, that was the idea. The plan and schedule was to put this out in March and then do a run of dates. But obviously, everyone is in the same boat. Hopefully we’ll come out and tour at a later date as soon as things open up. But we absolutely intend on performing this music at some point when it’s possible to do it.

What was the first Iron Maiden concert that you ever attended and what were your memories of it? It would be the Piece Of Mind Tour and that was in Allentown, Pennsylvania and that was just a great time for me, because I was so into the band. Prior to that, it was Number Of The Beast, and that record I just wore out – so I was just so excited to see the band and go to the show. I think back as a kid how into Iron Maiden I was – and as an adult I’ve got my name on an album cover with Adrian – it’s very surreal.

It’s hard to believe but it’s very cool and I’m very excited about that. And what do you hope the rest of 2021 brings for the Smith/Kotzen project and for the world in general? Well, for the music world in general, it sure would be nice if folks could get out there and perform, because we miss it. We miss being able to go to shows. We miss being able to put shows on for people. So that’s what I’d like to see at some point this year as things get a little more under control and we can go back to a lifestyle that we’re accustomed to. And as far as it relates to the album itself, I’m very excited about it. It’s one of my favorite things that I’ve ever done, and I’d like to see it come out and get some responses from people. And I hope people are as excited about it as we are. And from there it ties back to the first part of the thing about 2021 – about being able to get out and perform at some point.

And final question – do you have any messages for your fans who are reading this right now? I’ve got to say that I hope everybody is keeping it together – being locked up and disrupted from doing things that you love to do – and stay safe and keep your head together – and before you know it, we’re going to be back to playing again.

Turn the page for our interview with the one and only Adrian Smith!!!!