METAL SLUDGE’S COPYCATHOUSE:

POSIN!

Time once again for Metal Sludge’s CopyCathouse! This week we’re featuring Poison tribute act “Posin,” and we’ll be talking to David (Bret) and Tommy (Rikki). These guys come from Chicago and claim to be “the world’s #1 official touring Poison tribute act,” whatever that means. But they supposedly have quite a following, have toured all over Illinois (and a few other places), and have been recommended to us by tons of Sludgeaholics. Good enough for us! So we hit them up with some questions and here they are. Enjoy!

1. Here is your chance to plug away! Tell us about your band, products, Web site, and that kind of shit.

(Tommy) SLUDGE!! Fuck Yea!! We apologize that CC & Bobby weren?t available to answer these with us cause CC is busy rehearsing with the new bass player we just acquired.

(David) 1st off we wanted to thank ?The Sludge? for giving Posin an opportunity to type until our fingers bleed?It?s Choice! Well, let?s start out by introducing the band, Bret Michaels is played by me, David Lee, Rikki Rockett is played by Tommy Michaels, CC DeVille is played by Andrew Breyer & Bobby Dall is now played by Loki Johansen (The new fucker). You can visit our website at www.posinweb.com or email us at posin@posinweb.com. Yes, there are DVDs and T-Shirts on there blah, blah, blah! We give most of the SWAG away for free at the shows if you get us liquored up?so PLEASE?.save your cash and buy the new Jason Hook Solo CD? www.jasonhook.net. Hey, you said we could plug shit! Anyway, Posin is ?The World?s #1 Officially Recognized Touring Poison Tribute Act,? and we have played all over the US and Internationally and we?re gonna break into Japan later this year, so we are currently talking with some overseas agents to make it happen. It?s something we always wanted to do.

(Tommy) Yea, there?s a pretty huge market for what we do because of alcohol sales and attendance and were sort of riding on the wings of the upbeat party music Poison has generated thru the years. It?s an amazing feeling to perform a 2-1/2 ? 3-1/2 hour concert full of party rock tunes?you can?t beat it man, we play straight thru?fuck breaks, that?s for pussies. It?s shit we love to do, and the days we are all not playing feels like months. Actually in the past year, all of us had to undergo huge changes in our lives to make get this band focused and pointed in the right direction. Everyone in this band is 150% geared to dedicating their lives to what we do. We take this as a job with obvious choice benefits!

Posin, is from Chicago, IL. & the band started years ago as a ?cover band? playing all sorts of 80?s tunes. The band went thru about 600 members and it turned into a fucking karaoke festival with different musicians every night. It was a musical nightmare. Then about 2 years ago David and I said you know what, ?fuck it? lets take this shit to the next level man, let?s put on a live show people would freak on, let?s do it right. We are just the type of guys who don?t do things half assed. We sort of adopted the Motley outlook on things and wanted to put on a ?Theatrical Show? which everyone stopped doing since the Rock Era was eliminated.

(David) I mean, look at all the bands that are on stage now?seriously go to a venue and take the ?Sloth Test!? This is how it works?.We usually go to a venue to see a band, but the goal here is to see how much movement & excitement is happening on stage?.While your chuggin your 1st beer, look at the singer?.Is he moving more than 4 steps to either side of him or is he just singing into the mic and stepping to the left and to the right?.next look at the guitar players?.do they switch sides or interact with the crowd or the drummer at all?

(Tommy) Fuck, I mean we have seen some bands that sound sonically perfect but their stage show sucks dead donkey dick, then there are a select few bands who sacrifice some technical fuck-ups on stage but we let ?em slide if the guy is flippin? all over the stage and making the crowd turn their head. That?s us man, we don?t give a fuck if one of us slips up just as long as that guy is doin? a flip off the riser or something. If I wanted to hear the album perfect I would put the CD. They are there to see a show, a spectacle, so why stand still.

(David) Hell yea slam 10 red bulls and a shot of Jack before the 1st song. So basically if you?re standin still and we catch ya slackin, we call ya a ?Sloth-a-Holic?. We need more bands that have the balls to tear it up! Anyway, let?s move on shall we?

2. If you had to pay tribute to someone else besides Poison, who would it be and why?

(Tommy) Simple one bro?Motley Crue. Motley has been an inspiration for me all my life. They have the drive, energy, attitude, a bad-ass look & their music has always had that perfect ingredient for life. I actually have some Motley tattoos on me and I was a runner up for the Motley Crue VH1 Fan Club but I lost to some stupid bimbo-cheerleader cause she had tits and VH1 had to fill their quota. On-top of that my two sons are named Nikki and Gunnar respectively after Nikki Sixx and his son. I remember the 3rd time I met Nikki, I told him about that and he spit his drink out on the floor and said ?FUCK.? I took it as a compliment.

(David)Ya know, let?s get something straight here?we are a ?tribute band? so therefore we pay homage to the band we are representing…100% Poison. Then there are ?cover bands? that play all different material from already successful artists. With that said, we feel a lot of tribute bands out there don?t portray their band as perfect as they could. On the other hand there are a handful of tributes that do it well and are out on tour, signed with a talent agency & making a living at it as we do.

(Tommy) We know we are not the real Poison but we do enjoy the lifestyle & benefits that comes along with the territory. Really, if it weren?t for them we wouldn?t be doing what we do. Trust me we live and breathe this shit because its music we loved growing up as fans. There?s nothing better than looking over at one of your idols and seeing them do what you love to do, but it?s their shit your playing! We go all out over the top?Limos, Pyrotechnics, Stage Dancers, Confetti, 16 Randall 4 x 10 Combo Amps as a backline, Lasers, Fog, Neon Lights, multiple 1980?s outfits, full make up and more. We even all got real hair?well, except CC (Maybe that was because of the flash pot that lit his hair on fire in Michigan?who knows) We try and emulate Posin back in the ?Cat Dragged in Days? and once in a while we will switch it up and change our appearance as they did from album to album. It really just depends on what we feel the week before?either way your gonna see something new and fresh from us and we always play the live versions of their songs cause it has way more energy and more room for crowd participation.

(David) It?s definitely safe to say that Motley has always been the attitude of this band at least as far and Tommy and I are concerned. It comes along with the gig ya know??Don?t Fuck W/ My Band,? simple! We put all our time and dedication into this band and if someone tries to fuck with it like a various ?Fat Chicago Booking Agent? then we definitely take action and do what we need to do.

(Tommy) For the most part though when under contract we are always in ?Poison Mode? from the arrival at the venue to the departure of the hotel.

3. When did you start playing your instrument and have you done any original projects to date?

All of this information can be found in high detail here?.
You can read David?s (Bret) Bio here http://www.posinweb.com/DavidLee.htm
You can read Tommy?s (Rikki) Bio here http://www.posinweb.com/Tommy.htm
You can read Andy?s (CC) Bio here http://www.posinweb.com/CC.htm
You can read Loki?s (Bobby) Bio here http://www.posinweb.com/BobbyDall.htm

Posin rocks out Austin’s Saloon & Eatery!

4. Tell us the dirtiest groupie story that took place backstage with Posin.

(Tommy) Oh here we go?fuck?.well the one that tries to push out of my head 1st is one I will NEVER forget.

(David) I know what the fuck your thinking

(Tommy) It all happened on the Vince Neil dates. I think the majority of the crazy shit you thought you would never ever see happened on the Vince dates.

(David) I?ll start it, It was at some place in Ohio and we just arrived in town and got to the hotel for check in. We loaded our shit in this crappy place with no air conditioning and met up with Jason Hook & Brent Fitz (Vince?s Guitar Player & Drummer at the time). They headed out for their soundcheck first and we waited back at the hotel until they were ready for us. We got our call an hour later and headed back to the venue to get our shit done and low and behold there?s a line of Barbie dolls, like about 9 deep to be found at the entrance to the stage with some passes they were wearing proudly.

(Tommy) I remember walking up to the stage and seeing their white teeth smiling as we approached closer and I looked for Hook, Vine and Fitz and no one was around. No Soundcheck? Anyway we walked up to the ladies and CC says ?Hey, where do we go for Soundcheck?? I remember Bobby hitting CC like ?Dumb Ass? there is NO Soundcheck. Then one of the dolls says ?The Vince Neil guys wanted us to thank you for coming out and doing a few shows for him??

(David) After that I remember heading back up to the hotel again and we all started drinking. Vince had all of his roadies loading in our shit for us and we were treated like kings while they put us up in a different hotel suite with beer, whip cream cans, dildos and 9 bimbos! Fucking killer! Without going into detail?we had cans in our face, the whip cream cans were empty, the bimbos we eliminated to 8 (Maybe to make it even), hard dance music was blaring and Firestone would have been proud of the amount of rubber burned in that room. The coolest thing is that the dildo?s weren?t used?..Why you ask? Cause the Vince camp had one of the girls put the vibrating dildo on this huge digital Sony Triniton display that spanned the entire stage when we were playing. It was fucking enormous! The crowd was laughing their ass off and we didn?t know why. We had our Posin logo on there in the beginning but when we looked up 3/4ths of the way thru our set the dildo was about 500 feet long by 200 feet deep..That was amazing.

5. Pick your Poison…

Blues Saraceno or Richie Kotzen =

(David) This is hands down for us?Blues would be it! For Richie to fuck another band mate?s woman is simply breaking the code no matter if they were together at the time or not. That?s way too hardcore to do to a fellow musician/friend.

(Tommy) Yea?That?s like me going around and fucking David?s woman. Holy Christ man, that?s over the top! I?m just sure glad Richie survived that whole ordeal cause I know if I was Rikki I would of beat that fuckers ass. Lesson #2, DON?T FUCK YOUR BAND MATES BITCH! Plus, Blues solo shit is killer!

Talk Dirty to me or Nothin’ but a Good Time =

(Tommy) Talk Dirty To Me simply because we got into this for the booze and the women. Look, when your ?Talking Dirty To Me? were always havin ?Nuttin But A Good Time?. These sorts of things just happen.

(David) Seriously though, Talk Dirty To Me is a band favorite and there?s nothing better when the crowd yells that fucker right back at ya at the end of the night! Nothing else compares to it that we can think of besides maybe banging some hot broad after a show?Cheap Thrills ?R? Us.

Head bands or Cowboy hats =

(David) Shiiiit! Cowboy hats are what it?s all about. It?s just that Bret thang?. and ya know most people don?t know that Tommy and I have written some country songs with a few well known touring musicians for a few low budget TV show and we will be releasing our 1st single this winter. It?s a cool project to be apart of?.Talk to Tommy about the headbands?.see the hairspray comment below?

Hair spray or Silly string =

(Tommy) That?s a tough call man, I?ll tell ya why, Hairspray is all good until about the 2nd song in?this is the stage when it drips down your face, seeps into your eye sockets and burns like a mother fucker causing blurriness for about 3 songs. On the other fist, Silly string has a cool effect when we launch it into the crowd but then once the crowd grabs the rest of the unused can and turns it on us, it makes the stage into the ?Bret Michaels Ice Capades Tour? and you can see David sliding all over the stage. It?s very bad-ass to watch if you have bets on how long he can stay on his feet. If ya get a can, SPRAY HIS ASS!

(David) Fuck off!

Vocalizin’ or Socializin’ =

(David) Vocalizin because even if we?re Socializin we?re still telling you what the fuck we think. (Tommy) You know what they say, Socializin makes em want to Vocalize?So yea, Vocalizin!

6. What are your favorite and least favorite Poison songs to play live? Please tell us why.

THE GOOD
(David) Well for me, the 1st song of the night right after our intro does it for me. We go right into ?Cat Dragged In? and once I hear that loud guitar scream from CC it?s like a circuit breaker switch jacked into the on position and you feel that shit hittin hard. Fucking Choice!

(Tommy) I actually get off on the 2nd song ?Look But Cant Touch? cause that guitar in the beginning is so fucking heavy. We actually bleed the 1st 2 songs together, so by the time ?Look? kicks in, I?m already gearing up for another 3 minutes of slamming those sheep skins. ?Cat Dragged? is intense man, it has those drum hits in the beginning that wash away all the stress.

THE BAD
(Tommy) My least favorite song would have to be ?Mama Don?t Dance?, its just slow paced and for a drummer it?s boring as shit. The only reason I put up with it is because I usually have asses shakin in front of my kit, isn?t a song like that worth sacrificing to check out some ass on stage..I think so..

(David) ?Life Goes On? is one hell of a tune to listen to but playing it feels like 20 minutes. I swear to God sometimes I feel like our whole entire stage show is just that song from beginning to end. On top of that leave it to us to do the extended ending to go on for another 15 minutes. Hi we?re Posin, we play 1 song all night?..FUCK!

(Tommy) lol, the funniest thing is that someone always requests this song and David just can?t say no to ?em.

7. Your press release says: “The World?s #1 Officially Recognized Touring Poison Tribute Act.” Who says so? And have you ever seen any other Poison tribute bands? If so, who are they and what do you rate them on a scale of 1-10.

(David) The press release states we are the ?The World?s #1 Officially Recognized Touring Poison Tribute Act? because we are! Prove us wrong?Actually Rikki and Bret from Poison gave us the honored title after a show they did with Vince Neil at the Tweeter Center in Chicago, IL. Tommy and I were actually there to see some of our friends in the Vince Neil Band and it was our 1st time meeting the guys on a 1-on-1 basis. They were all cool as hell and the most surprising part is that they all have heard of the band and logged onto our website many times just to see what was happening

(Tommy) Yea, Rikki is actually the guy who keeps in contact with us on a monthly basis, he was actually the guy who gave the owner of Pork Pie ?The Ok? to get me the artist deal with them. I signed on with them this year at the NAMM Trade show in Anaheim, California. It was an honor to get into Pork Pie simply cause Rockett endorses them as well and I was skeptical to what he would think business wise. To our surprise he was honored and was totally for it and so we all spoke to the company about it while at the show. Their drums are very special & unique, my new custom Poison drum kit is coming along amazing and its very eye-catching and colorful like Rikki?s.

(David) Rikki also did a cool little promo video for us when we met up with him at NAMM and if you hit the Posin website I think its on the main page when the video screen loads. We did speak with him about a possible ?Tribute to Poison? show we are in the process of setting up with a few entertainment companies. Were trying to possibly get a few tributes for the event and he might be involved one way or another. It would be at the House of Blues or possibly the Whisky in Hollywood. Cool shit happening.

(Tommy) As far as other Poison tribute acts, I think there is one on the west coast but I?m not sure if they travel around the states. Hey, they?re just keeping it alive like we are so it?s all-good! As far as any of the guys in Poison watching us play live that hasn?t happened yet. They seen our live DVD and told us they dug it but there?s speculation that Rikki will be coming out to our Whisky show in Hollywood later this year. We just rescheduled it due to administrative errors and crossed dates.

(David) That?s the moment we have been waiting for and we will be putting on the show of our life that night.

(Tommy) Yea, I couldn?t image Rikki looking over at me and seeing me fucking up?FUCK YEA?

8. What was the largest crowd and the largest paycheck Posin has ever played for?

(Tommy) The largest crowd we played for was when we were playing on the Vince Neil dates?I don?t know how many people were there but it was the biggest crowd this band has played for and really after those shows, we took off. If you look at any of or videos or pictures you will see how many people were there. Vince and the crue really showed us how to market the band and he genuinely loved what we were doing. I mean, I know I am bias being a huge Crue fan and all but he was always cool to us and treated us like the headliner.

(David) yea, if you see a lot of our photos you will see that he let us plug into all of his Randall cabinets and we played their guitars etc. The whole band was fucking choice!

(Tommy) Vince?s Manager Jack Carson really sat us down and explained how to act professionally and gain more market share for the band thru promoting and imagery. We learned like 5 years worth of touring experience in like 5 or 6 dates with Vince.

(David) The only thing I was worried about was Vince getting drunk or something and punching out our Bobby Dall! That would have been to bad-ass to see! HAAA! The largest paycheck we got was for $5800.00 in Tennessee at a private party for some rich folks.

(David) I think I paid off my cell bill with that

(Tommy) I know man?how the fuck you talk that much?

9. Name your top 3 favorite bands besides Poison:

Motley Crue??We thought about this for fucking 20 minutes and sat in complete silence?.We can?t think of 3?.Its usually anything with HAIR!!! PTFO!

10. Has any member of Poison ever attended one of your shows, and if so did they get up and jam with you?

We sort of answered that above in question #7??HEY CC?.come fill in for a few shows!

There you go! Everything you ever wanted to know about “the world’s #1 official touring Poison tribute act.” That’s probably as close as we’ll get to the real Bret Michaels too! But you never know… stranger things have happened.

For those who still want more, check out the official Posin’ site at www.posinweb.com.