Rewind With Riki Rachtman, 6/14/01

METAL SLUDGE REWIND WITH…

Riki Rachtman

We last talked to Riki on September 14, 1999. As most of you know, Riki recently reopened the Cathouse and is a huge Sludgeaholic. In fact, Metal Sludge is co-sponsoring the Cathouse on July 3rd. But we’ll get to that later.

Anyway, it seems like Riki always has something going on, so it was time to catch back up with him and find out what’s up. His birthday is also tomorrow, June 15th, so..uh…I guess us putting this up is our birthday gift to him!

Enjoy!

1. What are you up to right now?Well hopefully by the time this goes to print Ill be back on the radio. In the mean time I host and direct a heavyweight boxing show called THUNDERBOX that is on TV nationally . Im still running Poolschool skateboards and apparel ( www.poolschool.net) and yes the Cathouse is back and we will see how that goes. we may do a CATHOUSE tour and hope to do one in Vegas and possibly San Diego this summer

2. How did the reopening of the Cathouse go? Did it meet your expectations? Who showed up?It was great, It seems like everyone had a great time. I didn’t make any money or nothing cuz everyone was on the list but it seems like everybody had a blast. I didn’t open the Cathouse to make money although it would be nice.I wish more people would have danced though? If people keep on supporting it Ill keep it open. There were a lot of old faces and some new. Matt Pinfeild from MTV showed up with the guy that played the retard in Something about Mary. Jesse James the bike builder was there. The guys in Bad Religion, Love Hate, Guns N Roses, LA Guns bla bla bla oh yeah I know it sounds like a clich? but there were a lot of women

3. If somebody asks you what you do for a living, what exactly do you say?Krispy Kreme asst Night Crew Chief

4. Name the 3 best and the 3 worst Cathouse memories?

The very best was when I opened CATHOUSE Arizona. 1500 people started waiting inline at 3:00 in the afternoon. Having Alice Cooper play on Halloween was great and Ill never forget Axl chasing David Bowie down the street. The worse memory was realizing in 93 it was over. I remember having to go on stage and tell the crowd Alice in Chains wouldnt go on cuz the drummer was dope sick.

5. Which do you prefer:

Richard Petty or Rusty Wallace = Oh my god the King Richard of course. I have a 43 tattoo

6. In your original interview we asked you about the Cathouse coming back in 1998 and why did it end. You said, “I miss those days so much but unfortunately they will never come back. I did the cathouse in 98 for 3 months. I just didn’t have the passion. People are lame now they don’t have that fun attitude they used to. I also couldn’t bare going out all the time.” Now that you did your first night back are the people still lame, do you think they want to have fun, and can you bare going out all the time again?

Anybody in Hollywood knows I have been out every fuckin night for the past few weeks. Im trying to remind people the CATHOUSE is back Do I like going out every night?Fuck no. I still think a majority of these rockstars are so full of shit. Ya know what I dont care about your 12 demo deals. Lighten up have some fun. I want to have big stupid fun again. If the CATHOUSE fails to be fun. Ill close it again. I wanna have theme nights I want to do all the stupid rock clich?s. Now that the Cathouse is up and running I dont need to go out every night. I can actually go to the Rainbow cause I like the food not to give out our damn flyers.

7. You also talked up and hyped your involvement in wrestling, auto racing and skateboarding in the first interview. What is the current status of these other endeavors or have they bottomed out like the Cathouse did after a few months?

Ouch… Well WWF bought WCW so my job went away in wrestling. Im still trying to get something going in auto racing. Thats my dream so Ill probably keep on trying. The skateboard thing is still doing well .

8. Any animosity towards the Catclub on Sunset next to the Whisky?

No way Gilby plays there all the time and he has always been one of the most level headed guys in rock. Slim Jim owns that place and him and I have been friends for a very long time

9. Have you been fucking anybody famous lately? How’s the sex life?

I wish my sex life was half as good as what I read on Metal Sludge.

10. Rate the following chicks on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 being a mess and 10 being a hottie.

I judge really low. Ive only met one 10 in my whole life and that my friends is like drinking bleach

Julia Ann = looks 7 personality 3 The only thing we have in common is our disdain for each other. I dont know why or where it started I guess its just one of those my girlfriends friends hate me. I dont actually hate her and have had some really good conversations with her before. I wish her no bad will which for me is actually pretty good.. Damn this is interesting to no one isnt it

Britney Spears = 7 she make lousy omlettes

Kendra Jade = ( not really sure how she rates) Hi everyone Im the guy she didnt fuck

J-Lo = 6 I dont think her ass is as big as they say

Gerri Miller = Hey ho lets go

Madonna = 7 but when she has an english accent 5

Heather Locklear = 8 I was actually the dj at her and Tommys wedding Ive seen her without makeup and she isawesome Courtney Love = 7 I dig Hole and chicks that can kick my ass

Christina Aguilera = 5 She is the Celine Dion of the millennium

Gwen Stefani = 8 cool as fuck. She will stick around for a while

Carmen Electra = 8 looks wise. I dont know her and if I did she would probably be a 6

Josie Pearl = 7 met her at the cathouse Tuesday she seems nice enough. Her and Jizzy have always been cordial

**** I was extremely generous on all these. Im still an asshole just didnt feel like giving low scores Im sure Id change them all in an hour

11. VH1 has had a pretty successful show with “The Rock Show” hosted by DJ Kane and then Scott Ian from Anthrax. Has VH1 ever approached you about hosting and if so would you be into playing Warrants “Cherry Pie” for a payday?

Oh no I would say stick that paycheck up your ass VH1 I only wanna play the music I like” Fuck that gimme a check Ill play a friggin REM video. I wont say I like it if I dont but Ill play thedamn thing. Is that a sell out…. No its a fuckin job. I played videos I hated. I never had a choice. Look at me do you think I wanna play some of that crap we played on the Ball. But hey some people really like that shit so give the people what they want. VH1 has had me do some voice overs and guest spots but never asked me to host anything and yes I sure would

12. Has Riki Rachtman ever:

Drove drunk down Sunset Blvd. = Not in the past 14 years but prior to that ya but everyone knows take FountainConsidered suicide = Yup.

13. What’s up with Axl? You seem to have had a pretty in relationship with him. The videos, the club, he wore your swag. When was the last time you saw or talked with Mr. Rose?

I owe a lot to A Rose. The last time I spoke to him was when I got arrested for beating up that DJ. He saw it on the news and called me to suggest an attorney. We dont really talk anymore but I cant wait for new GNR. They are the best fuckin rock band period

14. Make up your own question here.

Appreciate what you have. I had everything house cars lots of money and I didnt appreciate shit. I was always depressed and stressed out about losing it. Guess what I lost it all. I used to make fun of those bands that had it and lost it. Not anymore. Its really tough. Ya gotta have fun. I know that sounds pretty petty but its the truth. Like people ,like yourself. Judge for your self. If you dont know KEEP your mouth shut

15. What do you think about the following:

Poison & Warrant touring together = I was never a big Poison fan but thought that all those guys with the exception of CC were cool as fuck. Brett is a real class act Now I actually appreciate the humor and fun of what Poison is trying to do. They play party music.I would probably go see them play and I actually will hear a few of the old Poison songs and find my self tapping my feet but dont tell anyone okMotley playing with a chick drummer = Are they?

16. We asked you about the reunion shows and how it will affect rock n’ roll for the millennium back in our first interview. You said: “The reunion shows I don’t attend. I didn’t dig most of those bands when they were hot. There is a market for it though.” Poison is going out for the 3rd year in a row and KISS has been doing it since 1996. Both bands are selling between 5,000 and 15,000 tickets per show. These are true re-unions but what are Riki?s opinions of bands like Ratt, Skid Row and Thin Lizzy who are touring with replacement singers, drummers, etc.

Bas was Skid Row and Phil was thin Lizzy. Stephan Pearcy was Ratt and none of those singers are in those bands. Its not them. I would probably see Skynrd though.

17. You have openly admitted to being a huge Sludgeaholic. What was the defining moment for you with Metal Sludge? What was the first thing you read that made you a Sludgeaholic?

I love the brutal honesty. Ive read a lot of shit about me on Sludge and its all right I can take it. Im an easy target. Funny though none of these people would ever say anything to my face though. The death threats make me fuckin laugh. Ya got beef with lil old riki. Tell me… instead of putting it on a message board Im the easiest person in the scene to find. I also enjoy reading about woman that I supposedly fucked although Ive never had. Its amazing to me how huge it is on the LA scene. Please stay true Sludge.

18. When you go to a skatepark, do the kids laugh at you because?well?you?re a little, ok, a lot older then them and you fall down a lot?

Its the old guys who skate the ballsy stuff like pools now. Usually kids dig seeing us “old guys skate”

19. Are you the ?old guy? at the bar now?”

thanks for giving me more of a complex” I dont age

20. Time for Metal Sludge’s Word Association. We mention a name and you give us your thoughts.

Scott Ian = Intelligent and another good person. I always had fun with Anthrax

Great job Sludge I didnt get the opportunity to say anything mean about anybody. Im not a nice guy. Im a mean bitter lonely guy

So there’s the latest from Riki.

Like we said earlier, Metal Sludge is copromoting the Cathouse on July 3rd. Here’s the ad:

Now this is NOT a Metal Sludge Extravaganza or anything like that. But the Cathouse and Metal Sludge are paying tribute to the long lost American art of house parties, keggers, rock & roll, and the mullet, so don’t be a dick, check it out! How can you go wrong with a $300 Wet T-Shirt contest and a $100 Mullet contest?

For the latest on the Cathouse, you can go to http://www.clubcathouse.com.

To check out Riki’s stakeboarding site, go to www.poolschool.net!