Interview: John Corabi (ex Motley Crue vocalist)
with Sheldon Ang
Journeyman, stalwart or just The Mayor of Rock ‘n’ Roll, John Corabi certainly needs no introduction.
As the voice of The Scream, The Dead Daisies, Union and ESP but perhaps most notably, as the voice of Motley Crue during their brief departure from life with Vince Neil , anything featuring the raspy vocals of JOHN CORABI cannot be mistaken.
On the eve of the release of his autobiography “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades”, in which he recounts his life from the streets of Philadelphia to the Sunset Strip and beyond, JOHN CORABI brings his intimate solo acoustic show to Australia for the first time in what can be considered a career retrospective of sorts.
Fans can expect to hear Corabi perform music from all stages of his career intertwined with stories and anecdotes that only JOHN CORABI can deliver.
They don’t come more seasoned than Corabi and with a wide repertoire of rock ‘n’ roll at his disposal, this will be a unique insight into one of the biggest and most recognisable voices in rock ‘n’ roll.
Perth will be the final leg of the Solo & Acoustic, Songs & Stories Australian Tour at the Amplifier Bar on Saturday, June 11th 2022.
Tickets On Sale From: https://www.silverbacktouring.com.au/john-corabi-acoustic-solo/
Sheldon Ang sits with the legend and asked some of the burning questions about his present life, Motley Crue, music and regrets.
John: Mr Ang, how are you, buddy?
Sheldon: Good, how are you doing…What have you been up to in the last two years?
John: It’s been a while….yeah I’m good. Well thanks to Covid, I panicked like everyone else…so I focused on my book Horseshoes and Hand Grenades and I found all the studios, and I assumed like also in Australia, are closed. So I did a course online and I got to a point where I recorded my music at home. I wrote the book and it’s a long process as I’m new….and put a new music out. The book is coming in June and I hope to get some into Australia…so that I have them at the shows as I’m scheduled to have it in store somewhere in Sydney…but who knows what will happen at Customs.
Sheldon: And during the lockdown you wrote, Your Own Worst Enemy. It’s not something that we’d be playing at family Christmas gathering.
John: Haha probably not…
Sheldon: What sparked you to write the song?
John: Honestly, I have some friends that are struggling with their lives and bad habits and so I was watching them over and over again doing stupid things. The main thing is stupidity of human nature and when you look at how we are as humans….we are very divided; look at wars…oh my god don’t we ever learn anything positive…it all comes down to human nature… about stupid people doing stupid shit over and over again, thinking they’ll get a different outcome.
Sheldon: So it has nothing to do with your previous bands?
John: No, it is about human nature.
Sheldon: Cosi Bella, or So Beautiful, was written six months prior…it has that pop rock and is a bit more, dare I say commercialised….and apparently your fans embraced that…what’s your take on that?
John: To me, I never understood when a musician has to be put into one certain type of box on a certain type of music. Honestly, I love everything, I love Queen…I love The Beatles, I love Zeppelin, I Love Aerosmith, blues, Motown. Two of my favourite song is Penny Lane by The Beatles and Killer Queen by Queen and I want to write something that is inspired by these two tunes…I don’t see anything wrong with it and if I write about a song that’s very funk orientated, and if I love it – I put it out.
Sheldon: With these two songs, are we expecting and EP or album.
John: Yes. Now everything is about streaming and downloads…and I do want to do some vinyls and CDs but due to Covid, everybody is ordering CDs and vinyl and so it’ll be like a one year waiting list….at some point I’m going to put together something physical…CD and vinyl.
Sheldon: Why Vinyl?
John: I don’t know how it is in Australia, but for some reason vinyl is making the biggest comeback in America and so I like do both…and I’ll still make everything available for downloading…and is a new thing for me now…and I’m still new of doing things and I’m still figuring out…
Sheldon: You have been in several bands, The Scream, ESP, The Dead Daisy, Union and of course Motley Crue… when you joined these bands, do you feel like you’re putting your influence into them or the band would mould you into them?
John: I think is a give and take thing; you adapt to the people around…if you listen to the Dead Daisy stuff and if you listen to the first record, Revolution and the last record it was a combination of Richard had left and Doug came in where he had more noise and Bryan left and Dean came in, it gave the band another twist…you add the influences and you also take into consideration.
Sheldon: You are coming to Australia. There’ll be one or two Motley Crue fans among the audience. So how was it like to be the front man of the world’s hottest rock band in the 90’s when you were in your early 30’s?
John: It was interesting…I love being in that band but it was absolute chaos, lunacy and insanity – all the time…which was fun in the beginning, but towards the end it was like a little over the top…it was crazy. I don’t even know how those guys are still going 40 years later… they are so 4 such distinct personalities…and egos… and insanity…and Mick (Mars, guitarist of Motley Crue) used to say to me all the time, ‘something crazy would happen’…and I would go to Mick…’holy shit that’s insane’…and Mick would say something in a grubby voice, ‘well now you know how I feel for the last 30 years Crab’…so it was a good time but it was insanity.
Sheldon: Any regrets?
John: Nope not one…I look at life like driving a car, and if you’re driving the car, you’d look through the front window…and the person who has regrets is moving forward – but looking at the back window, and everything in the back is the past and everything at the front is the future….so you got to live for right now. I didn’t always think like that. I have lots of ups and down in my career and I still have them, and I have zero regrets. Anything I have done, I have said, I have no regrets about any music I’ve written, any bands I’ve been in. Right now in 2022, I’ve got a new book coming out…I’ve got new music coming out and I’m getting to Australia ….and just play for you guys
Sheldon: Speaking of playing for us, sonically, what can we expect from your tour…is it an acoustic or backed by a full piece band?
John: It’ll be just me, by myself with an acoustic guitar, telling stories playing stories, playing musician, and telling some jokes and strip down naked (metaphorically) and be honest with everybody… and I hope everybody comes and I hope we have a very have a good time
Sheldon: So your live show is like that 2012 acoustic album you did?
John: Even with that acoustic records, there’s more to it because of the backup vocals percussion and honestly there’s no backing tracks…so it will be the same as me sitting around in a camp fire and playing guitar, and singing to a bunch of friends…a very intimate performance. I’ll be doing a bunch of music from a bunch of different band I’ve been in…so stories on why I wrote it and I explained why I did it and I tell some jokes…so hopefully everyone will be pleased.
Full Uncut Interview
JOHN CORABI – Solo & Acoustic, Songs & Stories Australian Tour Dates
Thursday 2nd June – SYDNEY, Crowbar
Wednesday 8th June – BRISBANE, Brightside
Thursday 9th June – MELBOURNE, Northcote Social Club
Friday 10th June – ADELAIDE, Enigma Bar
Saturday 11th June – PERTH, Amplifier Bar
