Today we interviewed Chad Cherry – frontman of The Last Vegas and Razor Candy.
Shannon Wilk – How did you get your start in music?
Chad Cherry – “I think I first started when I got a bass when I was 16 years old.”
Shannon – Who would you say is your biggest musical influence?
Chad – “There are so many, but to narrow it down to 5, I would say Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, and Kiss.”
Shannon – Your album ”Whatever Gets You Off” was produced by Nikki Sixx, who also is the president of the record company which you worked with for the album. How did you get that connection?
Chad – “We got that connection through Guitar Center. They were holding this huge contest called Make Rock History and there were about 8,000 bands that were part of it. We had a battle of the bands and after the whole week, we came out as number one. That got us a really cool record deal, we got to go into the studio with Nikki Sixx and then we went on tour with Motley Crue. It was a really cool opportunity.”
Shannon – You have opened for many A-list rock bands such as Motley Crue and Guns N Roses, among others. What was that like for you?
Chad – “It’s the best, to get to play music with bands that sort of shaped you and inspired you. To get a chance to do shows with them and, not only that, but to go into the studio with them and become friends with some of the people who you consider to be your musical icons, it’s everything. It’s a really cool opportunity that not many people get to have. It’s very humbling.”
Shannon – What gave you the desire to start a clothing company?
Chad – “I was kind of pushed in that direction when I had some time off from touring. All the clothing I was wearing onstage at that time were all pieces I had created myself. I had some time off and I started thinking how cool it would be if I started making a bunch of clothes for other people, mostly the stage clothes that I would want to wear, but make a brand out of it. It just morphed from there, ideas came from other ideas, and it’s now a living, thriving company.”
Shannon – What do you think is the biggest challenge about the music industry today?
Chad – “That’s a crazy question because I don’t even know what the music industry is anymore. I think the hardest thing is to be heard and to get your music out there. Even though it’s free, a lot of people are into so many different things, the big challenge is for the right people to hear you. Other than that, I really don’t even know. There are people starting record labels out of their own living rooms and you don’t even need a record label anymore. You need a really, really good song and a Youtube channel. The industry changes so fast, once you think you have a direction with a label, it just changes. It’s tough and it takes a lot of work to get your stuff out there. People get into what they like from a young age and they kind of stick to that. Things change and all the music you didn’t like a long time ago, you like a decade later because at that point there is new music for you to dislike.”
Shannon – What is your favorite horror movie?
Chad – “The original version of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and the 1973 version of it. If I can just sneak in John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’. I saw ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ when I was in 6th grade or something, it’s good stuff.”
Shannon – Can you talk a little bit about your new project Razor Candy?
Chad – “Razor Candy is Paul Wiley (the guitarist in Marilyn Manson) and myself. It’s funny you asked about horror movies because we’re both big fans of any horror movies from John Carpenter to George Romero, we’re all over it. That was one of the mutual bonds we had before we started writing songs themed from horror movies. All the bands I talked about earlier that I like, he also likes. We started recording in the summer and we basically wrote and recorded everything on the spot. He’s a great songwriter and producer and he’s done movie scores, so he’s really, really good in the studio and playing basically any instrument there is. It’s been a real blast working on this project, it’s so up my alley. It’s horror movie based and that’s something I’ve liked my whole life.”
Shannon – Anything else you want to include?
Chad – “The website is www.sensoryrecordings.com and the vinyl has one extra track. The digital download is streaming everywhere, but the vinyl has the one extra track, so if anyone is getting into it and you want that extra track, you’ve gotta get a record player.”