“I came back off a weekend and I looked at her and I said; ‘I gotta get out of this band as soon as possible’, I said; ‘not, my kind of person… period.’ No matter how hard I tried, and I did, you know.”
— Ira Black to his Fiancée Jessica Chase on being in BulletBoys with Marq Torien
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — In a new episode of The Rockin’ Roundtable the guests are Ira Black and his Fiancée (Manager) Jessica Chase.
Black has been around the block so to speak when it comes to being in a rock band as the guitarist claims in this latest interview to have been part of 98 different projects over his career.
Many Metal Sludge readers know Black from his recent tenure in the Los Angeles based BulletBoys (2022-2024) along with stints in Dokken, Lizzy Borden and currently he plays guitar for Dio Disciples.
Last December Metal Sludge ran this article ‘HE’S BACK … BulletBoys welcome back Original Bassist and Co-Founder Lonnie Vencent‘ noting that Lonnie Vencent had returned to BulletBoys.
In that same article we also noted that an industry source had informed us that both Ira Black and Brad Lang had quit the band months earlier along with the band’s manager Jessica Chase.
BulletBoys reached out to Metal Sludge shortly thereafter, with a statement that we shared in our article ‘BULLETBOYS SAY … An Official Statement from BulletBoys explains decision to ‘Let go’ of and ‘Dismiss’ recent Band Members and Manager‘.
Now it appears there may have been some drama in the camp according to the former guitarist Black and manager Chase.
The interview below is long and informative, but at or around the 1 hour 30 minute mark is where the Marq Torien and BulletBoys related content begins to get heavy.
Black says (As Transcribed by Metal Sludge): “I don’t like talking about this stuff, but in a way I also feel like I do have to say… my side of it.”
“When I say a few things, that I am about to say… you know it’s not that I am trying to necessarily thrown them under the bus, or make them look bad, but these are just facts. So either, step up, and fix it. Or stop doing it, or work on it, or just keep being an asshole. Go for it, you know… cause some of these people that I have worked with in the past, are known globally for being, pieces of shit!”
“It’s not my fault. Marq!”
“I am going to tell you something, Marq (Torien) borrowed my amp… and then sold it.“
“Do I wanna go around and you know… doing interviews talking about this, not really. But it’s a fact, he has not ever reached out to try and… the one thing that he ever said to me was; ‘Hey! Go to NAAM. To that Amp Company. Get a sponsorship, from that Company, get 2 Heads, keep 1 for yourself and give 1 to me, and that can be the Head of yours that we lost,’ that I sold.'” adds Black as the panel seems perplexed.
“There could be a whole book, just about being in the BulletBoys,” says Black as laughter follows.
“If you look at the list of people that have been in the BulletBoys, it’s a long list. All of these people can relate and tell you, some crazy stories… apparently it’s been going on all along,” adds Black.
Chase jumps in with; “He (Marq Torien) shoots himself in his, in the foot, like nobody’s business, I mean… you know he just, he got out of the way for a while and then all of sudden it just came on, I don’t know what it was.”
Black jumps back in with: “I came back off a weekend and I looked at her (Chase) and I said; ‘I gotta get out of this band as soon as possible’, I said; ‘not, my kind of person… period.’ No matter how hard I tried, and I did, you know.”
“I am not going to say I hate him. I do somewhere, in there… I care about him (Marq Torien) and I did, and I tried. But, it’s just… no thank you.” says Black.
The band’s former manager Chase goes onto say that Torien is talented, fun to be around, a great singer, and fun to watch on stage, but then says that he was calling her ‘his bitch‘ behind her back.
The full 2 hour 25 minute interview on The Rockin’ Roundtable can be seen below.
Black made National Headlines back in January of 2009 when the guitarist was taken into custody for a misdemeanor charge and an unpaid fine.
Music Radar had reported that Black was held in the Los Angeles County jail on a $65,000.00 bond but went on a hunger-strike when the jail refused to honor him with adequate Vegetarian meals.
Black‘s fiancée says that the guitarist “has been in the system for over a week now and has had to survive on a miniscule diet. Ira has been a vegan for 15 years and it seems none of the local correctional facilities will accommodate any inmate with a vegetarian or vegan diet.”
It would appear that Black survived that hunger-strike and has since kept himself out of trouble with the law for the last 15+ years.
For more Metal Sludge articles related to BulletBoys go HERE.
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