We've had an earlier interview with Frank Meyer in which he was referred to as one of the busiest people in show business with his full plate of projects, and rightfully so. Well, for anyone familiar with Joey Vera and what he does, he is definitely right up there in that league as well. While being in my favorite band, Seven Witches, he is also in Fates Warning, Armored Saint, Anthrax, and more.
When I asked Joey if he'd mind answering a few questions, he said that he was obviously busy and about to go out on tour (again!) but would do it if he had time. Since this is one that I really wanted, I just made up a few quick ones in the hope that he could do it befiore he left. As it turns out, he did them while out on the road anyway, which means I probably could have done alot more. Oh well, maybe we can get a "part 2" some time. For a busy guy, he's obviously really cool and took some time with these answers.
D-Day: Here’s the list of bands mentioned on your site that you participate in: Anthrax, Armored Saint, Engine, Fates Warning, Seven Witches and Tribe After Tribe. I’ll assume they’re mentioned in that order to be alphabetical, so do you consider any one of them to be your “main” band and simply “participate” in the others?
Joey: That's a tough one to answer. Sometimes I look at it like "whoever is keeping me busy, is my main priority". I've been pretty fortunate in that I've been able to work all year round with one group or another. But I never try to diminish the importance of a group by whether or not they are active. I'm really trying to have my cake and eat it too by continuing to work with all of these groups. At the same time I respect them all enough to always keep my intentions in the open.
D-Day: I seem to remember reading somewhere that you are not on the new Seven Witches album due to your touring schedule. (I believe it may have been with Anthrax?) If that’s correct, was that a mutual deal and are you OK with that?
Joey: Yes I'm fine with that. As I said, I always try to keep my intentions on the table. The Witches situation was that I was offered a job that could possibly turn into more work later. I had to make a tough decision that involved my rethinking of an obligation I had made earlier. Fortunately the band was very cool and gave me blessings to follow in this decision. I was glad that Witches was able to get someone to come in and not let the schedule for the recording of their new record get delayed.
D-Day: Even with your hectic schedule, do you still get offers from other bands to fill in? If so, have there been any that you really hated to turn down but had no choice based on your schedule? Who was it?
Joey: Seems like I never turn anything down! Really, the only things I've had to turn down are some recording projects that would have me engineering or producing. But I have missed a few tours with Witches because I was on tour with Fates for another instance.
D-Day: I normally ask everyone to name 3 bands they would love to be on tour with as a “dream tour package”, but damn, you seem to play with every band! Well, since Seven Witches is my favorite band, which 3 other bands would make the best tour for them in your opinion?
Joey: What 3 bands would be a dream tour with Witches? I think they should tour with bands like Iced Earth, Gamma Ray, Helloween. That would be a metal feast.
D-Day: I must admit that I’m not at all familiar with Tribe After Tribe. Could you tell us a little about that band?
Joey: Tribe After Tribe is a band that is headed by Robbi Robb, a guitarist from South Africa. They had a couple of records on Atlantic records during the late 80's and early 90's. The music is hard to describe but sometimes it has shades of Janes Addiction. There is alot of world muisc grooves and loud guitars, but the songs are very dynamic. I played on 2 records with them "Pearls Before Swine" (also features Jeff Ament - Pearl Jam and Doug Pinnick - King's X) and Enchanted ?
The band has a very organic quality to it. For the most part the songs are never played exactly the same twice. There's lots of room for improvisation. I've had some of the best jams ever onstage with Tribe. Killer stuff.
D-Day: What tour do you have coming up?
Joey: I'm sitting here as I write this on the first day of a tour with Anthrax. We're supporting Dio on a 3 week tour of the U.S. The tour goes from Sept. 27 to October 17.
D-Day: What would be the most memorable thing you’ve witnessed out on the road? Any “Spinal Tap” moment, craziness in the crowd, backstage antics, etc…
Joey: It's really hard to answer this question. My life is filled with litle memories from all experiences many of which are from touring. But it's hard to just pluck one out of thin air especially "the most memorable", we'd better conjure up some memories sitting around having a drink. But I guess since that is unlikely to happen....On one tour with Armored Saint
we played at a theatre and the dressing rooms were under the stage. Just like in Spinal Tap, we started to make our way to the stage for our set and we literally got lost trying to manuever the maze under the stage. For like 5 minutes! It was striaght out of the movie. Unfortunately I've been in planty of scenarios that are striaght out of that movie!
Jack Frost and Joey
D-Day: You’ve also seemed to find some time to wear a Producer / Engineer hat and have an impressive resume for that as well. Was that a conscious plan for the future when you started, or was it an opportunity that just presented itself?
Joey: It's just something that grew out of a love for the process of making music. It started with my first 4 track and I've just always been interested in the process. I like the challenge of trouble shooting, which is a large part of recording music. Trying to get the best of all of these different elements to come together in a cohesive package is sometimes hard work. But I like it.
D-Day: So, if Britney Spears approached you to work on her next album, would you consider it?
Joey: Only if she left her new husband at home.
D-Day: What would you consider to be the “Main Goal For Joey Vera”?
