AN AUDIE BUT A GOODIE Metal Sludge exclusive: Great White drummer Audie Desbrow tells all

AN AUDIE BUT A GOODIE
Metal Sludge exclusive: Great White drummer Audie Desbrow tells all
By Gerry Gittelson
Metal Sludge Editor at Large

 

LOS ANGELES — A key force for platinum rock band Great White, Audie Desbrow continues to pound away. He is 57 now, and Great White, once among the top pop-metal bands in the world, is no longer as popular as they once were — how could they be? — but Desbrow still likes to hit things for a living, and people still line up, pay money and applaud, so what could be bad?

No, the band does not have the greatest reputation in the world, mainly because of an on-stage fire caused by the band’s pyrotechnics that saw 100 people die in a Rhode Island club. But that was 12 years ago in 2003, and Desbrow was not even in the band at the time, as he left for seven years before returning in 2006.

He has had problems of his own through the years, but when you meet Mr. Desbrow in person, he always has a great attitude. 

Desbrow still is regarded as one of the best drummers in rock, as Great White prepares to record a new album and do another tour.

 

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METAL SLUDGE: Hey Audie, what’s the very latest with Great White?

AUDIE DESBROW: We’re just getting ready to start up a tour for this year, 70 to 75 dates. Our booking agent is getting us some really good shows. We played a show with Slaughter in Nevada, and we’re took the rest of February off to work on new material.

I was with Terry Ilous, your new singer, for his first gig with you guys. I drove with him, and he’s still around. He’s doing a good job, eh?

DESBROW: Oh absolutely. Terry is great. He fits in really good as far as where our heads are at. He’s a good songwriter, too. He works really well for us. He’s a good fit with us musically, a good singer, and we get on really well. I’m really happy with him.

Obi Steinman is no longer your manager?

DESBROW: No, he’s not. Actually, we don’t have one now. Everything is done in-house. The machine runs, so to speak, with an accountant and a publicist and our booking agent, who is doing great.

What happened with Obi?

DESBROW: Oh, you know, we just parted ways. It didn’t work out too well, but he did do a lot of great things.

So this is your second stint in Great White, and you were actually not there when the Rhode Island fire happened, and 100 people died. But there are still scars, don’t you think?

DESBROW: Um, yeah. I don’t really notice it, but every now and then someone brings it up, someone who doesn’t know all the facts. It was a horrible, horrible tragedy, but I wasn’t there at the time, but it’s a horrible thing that will always plague the band’s name and never go away, just a horrible thing.

How good to you think Great White is right now?

DESBROW: I think we have a pretty tight ship, and we’ve done some good shows and had some good turnouts. We’re doing pretty well right now, and I’m pretty excited about that.

And of course your original singer, Jack Russell, has his own version, Jack Russell’s Great White. What do you think about that?

DESBROW: Well, you know, those guys have a right to earn a living as well. He sued us and we won the lawsuit, so we’re allowing him to use the name, and that’s the bottom line.

How do you think the two compare?

DESBROW: I’ve never really had it happen, where someone comes up and says, “You guys are better,” or whatever. Most people who see us, I don’t know, if they say anything, they say we did a great show.

Which one commands more money at the gate?

DESBROW: I don’t know the business end. I really don’t know that part. I guess that would up to the promoter, you know?

I guess one thing about Great White, you guys were always lumped in with hair bands like Poison and Warrant, but I think you guys are more musical than most hair bands — there’s a lot going on musically.

DESBROW: I don’t know if that’s true because the bands you mentioned are huge, and they’ve sold a lot of records, but I guess we’re more blues-based than the hair-metal thing. Anyone with long hair is kind of labeled as a hair band, you know, and I don’t know if we want to be lumped into that category.

For years everyone is saying that rock is going to come back, that glam is going to come back, that it all comes in cycles, and that the big-image rock bands are going to come back in a big way. But it’s never happened.

DESBROW: Yeah, you know, I think it has come back but not as far as glam. The period of ’80s metal has made a resurgence, as far as new bands, but I really haven’t heard any bands that have that same (pop) sound from the ’80s; instead it’s more heavier and more angry, so you’re right.

I mean, I would love to discover the new Guns N’ Roses, guys in 20s, a new band with like 10 great songs and a great look and a great stage show, but no one has even come close.

DESBROW: Yeah, that’s true. I feel bad for younger bands because music has changed so much, the industry as far as the big record deals and promo money and video support. That’s pretty much gone because of the internet. It’s tougher for new kids to come out now the way we did.

How did you get your first big break?

DESBROW: Well, I got my first drum kit when I was 12 and played in garage bands and stuff. Eventually I was playing with a guitarist named Tracy G. in band called Centaur, and we actually auditioned Jack Russell when he was 16, and he blew us away. He could sing any cover song, the Scorps, Judas Priest, anyone, but eventually the band fell apart and Jack joined Mark Kendall’s band called Zzyzx. They changed the name to Dante Fox and called me a couple of times, but I said I wasn’t interested, but eventually after opening for them at the Country Club (north of Los Angeles), I did audition for them, and I came in and joined after Gary Holland was the drummer for the first Great White record. Capitol was interested, and I remember doing my first video, “Face The Day,” and that was kind of cool.

How much fun was it to be in a big rock band in those days?

DESBROW: It was a lot of fun. It was fresh and new to me at the time, but it was something that I had always dreamed about doing. It was a blast.

I remember the night you played with Whitesnake at the Forum.

DESBROW: We were actually certified platinum earlier that day. Before we went on stage, the guys from RIAA came in and gave us our records, and we took all these press photos right before we went on stage, and we did a great show. I remember hanging out at the Forum club with everyone from Rip magazine. It was a lot of fun, a great night to remember.

There was a point when you were doing too many drugs, correct?

DESBROW: Oh yeah, that was part of the whole thing. Everyone was partying and doing drugs, having a good time, but I got a little carried away with that stuff and had to clean up.

And of course so did Jack Russell. He’s sort of infamous for that.

DESBROW: Yeah, we had so many problems with Jack. Just like any business, you can’t perform and do your job well if you’re not sober. I mean, how many times can you do that in any job before you get fired? You can only go so far.

It just seems like with Great White, with all the success there has been a lot of bad news, too. A lot of negative stuff.

DESBROW: In entertainment, you’re always going to have your ups and downs. Nothing is perfect. You’ve just got to roll with it, learn from it and move on. We’ve grown tighter as a band, and we’re working on a new record, but we don’t have a title yet. We’re still throwing around some ideas. We all have ideas.

Bobbie Brown was on one of your album covers, and she was in some of your videos.

DESBROW: Yeah, she did the cover for “Twice Shy,” and we did the video with her for “Once Bitten, Twice Shy.” She was portrayed as Jack Russell’s girlfriend in the video. We had the “House of Broken Love” video, and she was in that one, too.

Have you seen her reality TV show, “Ex-Wives of Rock”?

DESBROW: I think I saw a few minutes of it a while back, but I didn’t really pay attention. There are a lot of reality shows out there. Some are cool, but I don’t have enough time for TV.

You took a seven-year break from Great White before rejoining.

DESBROW: Yeah, I was fired and was very angry and said a lot of crap about people in a Metal Sludge interview (SEE HERE). Because I was angry, I didn’t have a lot of nice things to say, and I’m not proud of that.

How did it work out for you to return?

DESBROW: I got a call from Sean McNabb, who was the bass player at the time, and he asked if I wanted to tour with the band again, and I said, “Sure, why not?” I talked to Jack and Obi, and it took off from there, and I started up again.

Did you miss being in Great White?

DESBROW: Not at first because, like I said, I was angry. A lot of things were said or whatever.

What did you do in the interim?

DESBROW: I did a band with Tony Montana called Tombstone Shuffle, did a few shows back east, did some recording projects and demos. I still had to pay the mortgage, so I actually worked a regular job, but things got better once I got back in the band. I never liked being cooped up.

What was your regular job?

DESBROW: I worked for Fed-ex.

Really?

Yeah, it’s pretty funny how much power you have by wearing that Fex-ex shirt. They’ll buzz you in anywhere without any I.D. I could have been an imposter. I tell you though, I wouldn’t want to do that job for the rest of my life. That’s for sure.

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Gerry Gittelson can be reached at gspot@metalsludge.tv

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