NOT TALKING
Tom Keifer says “Issues are unresolved” within Cinderella ranks

Rock Revolt — We had the extreme pleasure of sitting down for a conversation with legendary rocker, Tom Keifer. While touring wall to wall, he and his band have a deluxe edition of their album, The Way Life Goes, releasing soon. Tune in to read more about life on the road, life at home with his wife and their son, and what exactly keeps him heading back to the stage again and again…

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Tom Keifer live at M3 Music Festival

Below is a portion of Rock Revolt’s interview by Brett Tully with Tom Keifer at M3.

Do you find it challenging to make a living in music today as opposed to back in the 80s?

Tom Keifer: Certainly, record sales are a little different, so that’s something that we’re all getting used to. I think that touring, fortunately, I came up in a time with Cinderella, and those records were released in a time where we did not have the internet problems and downloading. So, we were able to have the record companies who made money off of album sales, the sale of music, so they would reinvest in their artists, and stick with them for three or four records to make sure they had the best producers, best mixers, best studios, and develop them. It was called artist development. I don’t find it hard to make a living because with the touring and all, with all that, there are so many fans that still come out every night to hear the songs and sing the songs, that hasn’t changed very much. The differences are in the record sales because of streaming and illegal pirating. The saddest thing about all of it is that I think it’s very difficult for young artists to not only make a living, but to even get a shot at being developed and having a company really stay with them for record after record. So, in some ways, with the release of The Way Life Goes, I saw that coming, which is why, when these songs started to develop as a record, we really buckled down and finished the record ourselves to deliver a finished product, because that’s what labels want now. The days of “here’s a crappy demo, use your imagination, and spend $300,000 with us not knowing how it is going to turn out…” (laughs) That window is closed now for young artists coming up. I am not saying it doesn’t happen, but literally, that’s how it happened for Cinderella. We had the worst demos in the world coming out, and people had to use their imagination and risk half a million dollars on us, bring in a producer, roll the dice, and hopefully it comes out good. And, now, more and more, technology allows people to make pretty good quality records on their own with Pro Tools and the like, but I think the mindset now is that a lot of labels just want a finished record coming in. And that’s what we did with the last one, so in many ways I have a foot in the old world and kind of stepped into the new world, too. We had to put up our own money to make the record, finish it and deliver it finished. So, I think the saddest thing about it, and people who are borrowing music out there, don’t realize that it really affects artist development. And that pains me a lot because I feel fortunate to have come up in a time where that was available to everyone. You know, and the decade before that, the 70s. If you’ve ever seen the Kansas documentary, their management stuck with that band and poured so much money into that band until “Dust in the Wind” broke. Now, it would be like, “Bye, see ya.” And the 80s were like that, too. We had the benefit of that. And it makes me sad for new artists because they’re barely making ends meet, hoping not to get dropped if their record doesn’t blow up. And that’s the fucked up part of it today.

Anything coming new with Cinderella? I’ve got to ask that. Do you guys still communicate?

TK: No, no. Not at the moment. We are on extended hiatus, my friend.

Do you guys talk at all?

TK: Not a whole lot, no.

Okay, so Tom Keifer off-tour. What are you doing? Are you a sports guy? Family guy?

TK: Family. We tour so much, and now with Savannah being a part of it all, for the last few years. When we are home, we spend a lot of time with our son, who is twelve. And he plays a lot of sports, so for us, we are so overstimulated with all the traveling that when we get home, we’re a very close-knit family, just the three of us. And he comes on the road with us, and we give him that choice. He plays a couple different sports any given season, so once he’s out of school, when we tour, we go, “Okay, we’re going out for a week run. Do you want to come with us? Or do you want to stay and play your games?” And his first question is always, “Well, where are you going?” (laughs) “Any festivals where there are games and rides? “Okay, I’ll skip my games and come with you guys.” (laughs) And then if he thinks we’re going somewhere lame, he stays home. Most of the time, he really just wants to stay loyal to his own teams, which is the right thing to do, so he won’t go with us out on the road all the time. When we’re not on the road, we hang out with him, follow him out on the road, and his schedule is busier than ours, ya know? He keeps us jumping.

What everyone wants to know is, is Cinderella done?

TK: Well, the truth of the matter is, there have been some issues with Cinderella within the ranks of Cinderella for years now. Going back decades. They came to a head in 2012. We took some pretty extreme measures to right the ship and fix things, and we made a pact as a band in 2012 that we would not do anything as a band until the issues were resolved. That’s how much it came to a head. The issues are unresolved, so that’s all I can say about that.

Read Brett Tully‘s full Rock Revolt interview with Tom Keifer HERE