NOTHING TO BELIEVE IN
Rikki Rockett on Bret Michaels: ‘I’m getting the feeling that he’d prefer not to deal with the three of us if he can avoid it’

Sleazeroxx —  RIKKI ROCKETT NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION. YOU KNOW HE’S THE DRUMMER IN POISON. RECENTLY, HE HAS STEPPED OUT OF THE SHADOW OF POISON AND FORMED DEVIL CITY ANGELS WITH GUITARIST TRACII GUNS AND SINFER BRANDON GIBBS, AND JOINING THE BAND IS BASSIST RUDY SARZO. THE BAND’S SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM WILL HIT THE STREETS ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2015. WE HAD A CHANCE TO CATCH UP WITH RIKKI ABOUT THE BAND, POISON AND MOVING FORWARD. WE ALSO ASKED RIKKI ABOUT HIS HEALTH AND HE STATED “I DON’T THINK IT’S CANCER — I HAVE A FEW MORE TESTS ON TUESDAY BUT THINGS ARE LOOKING GOOD.” THAT IS EXCELLENT NEWS, NOW READ ON.

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Sleaze Roxx: You’re part of this supergroup Devil City Angels. You’re about to release your self-titled debut album. How did this band come to be? This is a ‘band’ and not a ‘project’ correct?

Rikki Rockett: It’s absolutely a band for as long as we can take it. It’s difficult at this stage in our careers; we have kids, we have bills, we have priorities. You have to make whatever musical venture you do a profitable one. So it’s a little tricky at times to get to where everyone is comfortable. The older you get, the harder it becomes to pull that off. You’re not 25 and living in an apartment. We’re a little bit older and we have responsibilities. Right now, that’s the only thing that would sidetrack this (Devil City Angels).

Sleaze Roxx:  When you launched the band, you had Eric Brittingham on bass who we all know from his work with Cinderella. He’s no longer in the band but he did play on the record. At some point after the recording of the album was completed, he left. What’s the story behind his departure?

Rikki Rockett: Eric’s departure goes back to what I was talking about. It’s a struggle in the beginning when you start a new band. In the early stages, things don’t pay off right from the get go. Some people aren’t as patient as others. Eric also had some other personal things going on so he needed to make some money now and we respect that. I think he did a fantastic job on the album and I always consider Eric a brother.

Sleaze Roxx: I’d be completely insane if I didn’t ask you some Poison related stuff. You and the rest of the Poison guys did an appearance earlier this year with Brandon fronting the band. How did that get put together?

Rikki Rockett: When I was out touring with Devil City Angels, Bobby Dall came to one of the shows we played in Florida and jammed with us. He got the chance to get to know Brandon a little bit. We got offered some shows that Bret either really wasn’t interested in doing or if he had shows of his own scheduled — I can’t recall exactly. In any event, Bobby and I looked at each other and said “Why don’t we just get Brandon to do them?” Now we’d never call it Poison but we did think it was good to offer the promoters a chance to work with the three of us with Brandon fronting the band. They took it — we did it and the response was amazing. It makes you really think. Is this something that we could do moving forward? I think we could.

Sleaze Roxx: It’s got to be frustrating for you, Bobby and C.C. to continue waiting for Bret. It seems like Bret is always playing around the country. I get that he’s ‘the voice’ of the band and the face of the band but Poison is a band.

Rikki Rockett: (Pause) It’s very frustrating and that is the main reason that I started Devil City Angels. I like to play and record music. That’s become a little bit of a problem recently (laughs)!

Sleaze Roxx: Are there any hard feelings there? Or is it as simple as one guy isn’t on the same page as the rest of the band?

Rikki Rockett:  I just think… I don’t know for sure actually. I haven’t spoken with Bret in months and months. I just think that at this point in time, he just prefers to do his own thing.  Bret has his own way of doing things and I’m getting the feeling that he’d prefer not to deal with the three of us if he can avoid it. Look, I’m making that up in my head. I can’t think of any other reason.

Sleaze Roxx: Do you think there’s some damage being done to the Poison name with Bret going out performing ‘watered down’ versions of Poison?

Rikki Rockett: The number one complaint that I’ve heard about Bret’s show is that he doesn’t play ‘Bret material’ and he plays ‘Poison material.’ I’ve heard that over and over from fans. I haven’t stepped out of Poison until Devil City Angels — because I believe that a band is more potent when you keep it together. I’m very loyal like that. I’ve been practicing Jiu Jitsu for 16 years now and I’m driving to Santa Monica which is 42 miles from me each way because I’m that loyal to my team. That’s the kind of person I am. Having said that, there isn’t a whole lot you can do when everyone don’t feel that way. I think we are kind of at that point — if we’re going to continue with Poison, we have to look at other ways that we can do this. Brandon isn’t a bad choice. It’s all I can say.

Find Ruben Mosqueda’s entire interview with Rikki Rockett at Sleazeroxx