INTERVIEW WITH CARLOS DEANZA-VOCALIST FOR BUSHHOUNDS

APRIL 7, 2002

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Q:Tell us about Artimus Pyle and the support tour that Bushhounds was asked to do.

A:We opened for Artimus Pyle"s band at a Biker event in Clearwater Florida, He was real cool and complimented us on our set. We had the chance to open for him again at a club in central Florida, and after a serious night of Rock N Roll, we was partying and having a good time, and generally becoming friends with Arty.After a few more shows with him,  He asked us if we would go as support act on a small tour. So off we went. We learned alott on the road with Arty, playing night after night in a different town. We toured through Florida, Georgia,South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, & Tennessee. In fact after a show in Johnson City Tennessee, at Freedom Hall, Arty had a disagreement with some of his band members and 3 of them went home, so instead of going home and scrapping the tour the Bushhounds filled in for Arty & we finished the Tour! It was awesome for me to be up there every night singing all the Skynyrd songs. And the fans were just unbelievable! It was truly a experience of a lifetime!

Q.How did the arranging and producing session with Charlie Hargrett come about and how did it go?

A. When we were on Tour with Arty we played a show with Charlie Hargrett in Tennesee & me growing up a big Blackfoot fan it was super cool meeting Charlie.We later found out that Charlie lived near Jacksonville, so when we decided to record, our manager suggested that we record in St.Augustine, Florida, at Retrophonics Studios with Jim Devito as engineer, well our manager, Arty, & our producer, asked Charlie to come in and help with pre production, So Charlie Hargrett came in and help arrange a song called WALK AWAY he also played acoustic guitar on the track for us & helped produce the rest of our record! Recording with Artimus Pyle (Lynyrd Skynyrd) & Charlie Hargrett ( Blackfoot) in the studio was a experience of a lifetime.

Q.Tell us about shows with ZZ.Top,Motley Crue,Firehouse,Alice Cooper,and Steppenwolf,to name a few of many.

A.Well lets see The ZZ.Top show we opened for them and Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Ice Palace in Tampa,Florida,that was a great show! Motley Crue was Awesome, that was at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida, Motley Crue was Bad Ass as usual,and it was their reuinion tour with all original members,I remember I kept wanting to get Nikki Sixx a C.D of ours because he owns his own record label & the other band that night that played with us "Laidlaw" is on Nikki's label. Firehouse show was so cool it was in a bar not a arena so the crowd was really "In your face" and the place was packed.Those Firehouse guys are really nice guys, I keep in touch with the Guitarist Bill Leverty quite a bit because he lives near me, theres even talk of him producing a couple tracks for the Bushhounds as soon as his new home studio is complete! Steppenwolf  lets see that was a Party, it was 4th of July right on the beach it was hot it was Rocking, it was a great night of Rock n Roll. We played in front a huge huge outdoor crowd & then watched the Fireworks from Backstage, as we watched Steppenwolf.We are real fortunate because we have opened for so many big name artists like Black Crowes, Tesla,Ratt,Great White, 38 Special, Molly Hatchet, Sebastian Bach,Linkin Park,Staind,Disturbed, 3 Doors Down, Offspring, ect,  but we are really looking forward to this huge Festival on April 26 & 27 in Tampa,Florida, its called LIVESTOCK and this year we are opening for KID ROCK, ROB ZOMBIE,SEVENDUST,PUDDLE OF MUD,JERRY CANTRELL, & STONE TEMPLE PILOTS how fucking cool is that gonna be?

Q.When you went to Detroit to live with your Grandmother, you said this is where your passion for music developed. How so?

A.I remember being into bands like Aerosmith, Sweet, Angel, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kiss, and stuff like that. Well growing up in Detroit I was also into Bob Seeger, Ted Nugent,
J.geils, MC5, and there is this place called COBO HALL sits right downtown Detroit,in the 70"s & 80" all the Big Shows would come there. I went to every one, every New years eve it was Ted Nugent, and they use to record all the Live records there, so I can tell you if you ever heard these Live albums: Journey, Kiss, Bob Seeger, Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, ect I was on those albums screaming my head off (wishing that was me on stage performing and driving the audience wild).So my many nights at rock concerts in Detroit Rock City is where my passion for music really developed.

Q.How did it feel to hang out in The Whiskey a Go Go knowing that such famous people as the Doors, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix walked through those doors?

A.Wow everytime I am in Hollywood im like Starstruck cause you always see famous people. But I tell you the Whiskey is a freaking legend, From Doors, to Joplin,to Hendrix, to Van Halen, Motley Crue, the list goes on. I use to go to the Whiskey on Sunday nights because it was Jam night & Jam night in L.a is quite different. There is always famous musicians jamming, and if your lucky you can actually Jam with them. I remember one night I signed up to sing Aerosmith's Train Kept a Rolling & on Bass was Billy Sheehan( Mr.Big, David lee Roth band) and on Drums was Carmine Appice( Ozzy,Sabbath,Rod Stewart ect) and on guitar was Marc Ferrarri( Keel, Ferrarri, Waynes World) I was like nervous as hell but I got up and jammed a Aerosmith song with these great players it was Awesome! I also jammed one night with Mark Torian (Bullet Boys) and ended up being a guitar tech on a small east coast tour for him while he performed in El Debarge yep thats right Mark was a guitarist for El Debarge before he was the singer for the Bullet Boys. I have fond memorys of the Whiskey A Go Go!  

                  

Q.When you hosted Rockline T.V (produced & created too) who was some of the people you got to interview?

A. Oh that was a fun time, I was living in Austin Texas at the height of the metal hair band era so if they were on tour and came through Austin I Interviewed them, people like Cinderella, Kiss, Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Poison, Dangerous Toys, Roxx Gang, Ronnie James Dio, Ozzy, Vixen, Warrant, Twisted Sister, Skid Row, Motley Crue, man the list just goes on and on! I just got a new V.J job for a show called Metal Masters and I am doing the same thing again , I just interviewed Tantric, iLL Nino, and Unwritten Law, Last week.And I will be doing Kid Rock, Stone Temple Pilots, and Sevendust coming up at Livestock.  

Q. Are you guys still using Panda studios?

A. Actually we only used them once on our first demo cd, then we went into a another studio when we recorded Long Rong, when we did our "Live to Rock" album we did it at Retrophonics studios in St.Augustine with Jim Devito who has produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, Creed, Sister Hazel,U2, Blackfoot and many others. Actually we are recording a new album this spring and that will be done at Morrisound Studios in Tampa,Florida with veteran producer Tom Morrrisound engineering. Tom has produced records for Saigon Kick, Seven mary 3, Warrant, Match Box 20, Savatage, and many many others.

Q.What label are you currently with?

A. That would be a independent label called Lonestarz Recordz. But they are working hard to get  us to a bigger label.

Q.With all your experience touring,recording,writing,ect. Do you ever see yourself "behind" the scenes?

A.Yeah its funny cause sometimes we will open for someone I grew up admiring, and I feel  weird, like am I really here? and I always just feel like a big fan because Im always like hey man can I get your autograph, and maybe a picture? Then someone will ask for my autograph (too weird) that just blows me away.

Q.When Bushhounds goes into the studio from start to finish and barring any big delays how long does the recording process take?

A. I cant answer that! It all depends on how well we know the songs before we go in, or are we still kinda writing in the studio, depends on our production budget, depends on if we record local or away from home, there is so many factors it could take 3 weeks to do a whole album or 3 months. Ask me after our next album & I will let you know!

Q.Can we expect Bushhounds in Dallas anytime soon?

A. I hope so Dallas is one of my most favorite city's I spent a couple years there as a D.J in some adult clubs like Cabaret Royal, Million Dollar Salloon, Baby Dolls, The Fair, and I worked at Labare the male strip club for quite a awhile with Robbie Van Winkle (Vanilla Ice) I also played in a band and we played at Dallas City Limits, On The Rocks, the Basement, ect. I remember hanging out with Pantera while we shot the Cowboys from Hell video at the Basement! Hey remember a band called Sollinger? The singer Johnny Sollinger sings for Skid Row now! I miss Dallas now I want to move back, strolling down memory lane! As soon as we get out on tour you can beleieve we will hit Dallas & we better see you there!

Q. How did you hear about or find my page Neons Metal  Madness?

A. Actually I found your Mp3 page first then went to your web site! I emailed you and asked if you would play us on your Mp3 site and you were kind enough to add us! Now we are friends for life! Your stuck with us!

Q.Who are some of your influences?

A. Thats a long long list, remember I use to be a D.J so I have many many Influences ranging from Rock like Aerosmith, Kiss, Van Halen, Ozzy, Sweet, Angel, Journey, Ted, all the 80s rock bands, all the Southern rock bands, all the metal bands, I mean really if it was on the radio it was a influence, I also like bands like Little River band, Firefall, all the 70's music, I like Country Tim Mcgraw, Hank, remember a Dallas band called Stiff? later became Lillian Axe, anyways I liked them too. I love all the music I grew up listening too.

Q.Whats your favorite singer/band of all time?

A.I would say early people like the Osmonds, got me into singing cause they were like the first boy bands & they had all the chicks and the Difranco family, I remember wanting to be a teen idol but i was only like 8 years old, Elvis was my Idol. Then I saw Kiss on the Midnight Special t.v show and that was the turning point in my life , changed my life, i was a Rocker! I quickley turned to Aerosmith  for my vocal influences, and I liked lynyrd Skynyrd, R.E.O Speedwagon, Cheap Trick ect
So I guess my all time favorites would be Aerosmith, Kiss, & Lynyrd Skynyrd! and this guy named Joe lynn Turner he sang for Rainbow, and Yngwie Malmsteen.

Q. Tell Tim in 1985 was the first time I ever heard "Round & Round" by Ratt!

A. Thats funny! yeah Tim is a big Ratt fan & we are always teasing him for it. Like if were getting ready to go on stage and he puts on a shirt he will go like hey dudes does this shirt look allright to wear on stage, and I will say I dont know man you think the guys in Ratt would wear it? and he would say Hell Yeah then we say then wear it! and Tim says "Cool dude , Classic" and at band practice he always has to start playing some old Ratt song and we end up playing around with it and get him excited then we say No way dude!!!!!!!!!! Thats our Tim & Ratt story. Dont ask about his Taco Bell Fetish.

Q.If I ever get to Florida tell  Dean I want a ride on that beautiful "steel horse" of his! And Miki will have to give me a ride in 1 of his Porches.

A. Dean said come on down He will keep the seat warm for you & Miki said his newest Porsche is all cleaned & fueled up ready to take you for a ride! And myself I dont have a Harley or a Porshe but I got a mean old Hertze Penske truck that we haul our gear in, But its cool because inside we fixed it for the band , it has a couch, a bed, a T.V, Stereo, sony Playstation, and I can give you a ride in the BUSHHOUNDS mobile!

Q.I loved the story on how you found Wayne. Can you tell us a little more about that?

A.Yeah our Past drummer quit and went home to North Carolina, kinda all of a sudden. So we needed a drummer and neded him fast. We auditioned like 15 drummers and none of them really worked out! All the other guys were calling from around the U.S but we needed someone that lived in Florida.So one day I was just cruising in a neighborhood and noticed a garage door open with a set of DW drums set up in the garage.I circled the block and said what the hell im gonna talk to this dude & see what hes all about! So i knocked on the door and was like hey man those your drums? play in a band? are you any good? He told me he had not played in over a year except in the garage, and he had moved here from Boston. He didnt really seem like the guy for us on first impressions, but we exchanged phone numbers anyways. We still had some more auditions to do so I didnt even call him. Then like a week later we got a call from our management  company and they said this guy called from the number on the web site and wanted to audition. I called Wayne and he said He had found out all about us, studied the web site, and learned some of our songs by downloading them off of Mp3.com, He also said "Im your man, Im the drummer you need" (in that Boston accent) so I said come on down for a audition! Wayne came in and just Blew us away, had allready learned some of our originals, was a hard hitter, and over all Just a Bad Ass Drummer. So Wayne has been with us about a year now and has been kicking some serious ass all year! He even does a Killer Drum Solo in our Live Concerts. and who says NO ONE IS GONNA COME KNOCKING ON YOUR DOOR!

Q.Whats next for the Bushhounds?

A. Well like I said we are recording a new cd to shop to some labels, and we are getting a 2002 summer tour together. We would like to go out and support some friends like Molly Hatchet or 38 Special, but if that dont come through we will do like some club dates Tour.

Q.When can we expect another C.D?

A. As soon as its finished! around May or June

Q. How far does your fan base reach? U.S only or Overseas?

A. The power of the internet is unbelievable, Through Mp3 .com & our web site we have gained fans Worldwide. We get emails from people everyday from France, Italy, Russia, China, Sweden, I mean we get emails from people from countries I have never even heard of before. There are several radio stations in France, Brazil, Cheq Republic, Italy, Germany, ect that have requested cd's to play on their shows. We do interviews with magazines from all kinda crazy places as well. We have people all over the world that know who we are now because of the internet! And  all the people that read this interview will know about us now thanks to you!

Q.Have you guys ever been to Europe? If the opportunity was there would you go?

A. We have never been to Europe yet, but about a year ago this promoter from Europe called us and said he was interested  in us touring over there. He said he was gonna be in Miami in a week and if we could play down there that week he would come meet us about a tour.So we booked a last minute show, drove 4 hours to play for no pay, rented a truck, got 2 hotel rooms, and played in front of no one because the guy never showed up. come to find out he had a medical emergency and couldn't make it to Miami, but he said he felt so bad he owed us one. Then that September 11 thing went down and spooked everyone so we never made it to Europe. As soon as our new Cd is done and we do some touring through the Us,  we will take him up on his offer and we will Tour Europe by the end of the year!

Q.Tell me about the club scene in Florida. How receptive are they to Bushhounds?

A. We love Florida, We play at big places opening for big name artists, Venues like Ice Palace, Jannus Landing, Ruth Eckard Hall, State Fairs, Festivals,  Bike Week, Superbowl, WWF wrestling events, Radio Station events like Gasparilla & Guavaween, but its the clubs that got us started! We still do all kinda club dates as well like our favorites, Gasoline Alley (our first show ever) , Green Parrot, Boomerz, Brass Mug, Carlie's, Hennesy's, I mean our friends and family and real close fans always come to our club dates. We enjoy playing with all the other killer local bands in town too. We love the Florida club scene! It Fucking Rocks for us!

Q. What is the local radio station like? What kind of music do they play?

A. 98 Rock is the station that plays more new rock like Godsmack, Puddle of Mud, Default, Creed, Staind,Linkin Park, Sevendust, stuff like that, they also do a perfect hair hour everyday from noon to 1 playing all the 80's hair bands.
Thunder 103.5 plays all your classic rock Pink Floyed, Eagles, Stones, Who. Grateful dead, you get the picture. Then there's 97x they play newer more alternative stuff like Hoobastank,Weezer,Blink 182, New found Glory, Unwritten Law, ect. and 102.5 is a hard classic rock station playing like G&R, Nazareth, Van Halen, Scorpions, April Wine, Ac Dc, ect. But theres only one station in town that puts local bands on the air and that is a A.M station with a show called Hollywood & brewski's Uptown Downtown show, those guys rock and support local bands.

Q. Carlos thank you very much for this cool opportunity! The Floor is yours!!

A.No thank you for supporting us and having us on your web site! I just want to say to everyone who ends up reading this! Thanks for taking the time to check us out, please go to our web site www.bushhounds.com and sign our guestbook so we know you heard about us from Neons Metal Madness web site. Check out our music at www.mp3.com/bushhounds, and if we are ever in your town come on down to the show and party with us! And whatever town you live in Take the time and help support your Local bands! Peace from Carlos & the Bushhounds and thank you Neon for the Interview, now I can go smoke some breakfast.  

KEEP ROCKIN'!

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