RATHSKELLER was one of those
early 80s bands who were only able to release one LP which is now
very hard to get. And the record is a very good
AOR/Pomprockalbum, kinda like LE ROUX, SYNCH, DAKOTA, THRILLS...
Recently I reviewed that LP of the band, which is called 'Intro'
by the way, and now the band has plans to reform and write new
music! Time for me to ask the main members, Mike, Gavin and
Andy...
Did any of you do something musically before RATHSKELLER?
MIKE: Yes, Gavin and his brother Brandon (original bass player for Rathskeller) and I have been in bands together (on and off) for most of our musical lives. We played together in a couple of bands before Rathskeller. Just before Rathskeller formed, we were in different bands. I don't think I remember Andy Burnett (drums) playing in a real band before Rathskeller. I could be wrong about that. However, he did play drums in Marching Band. As for the rest of the guys, I'm afraid I don't really know, for sure. It's likely, though.
ANDY: I played in a jazz band in High School and in "The Marching Illini" when I attended the University of Illinois. I started jamming with Gavin and Mike in High School and that turned into Rathskeller.
GAVIN:
I was in a few bands prior to
Rathskeller. My first group was called Rediscovery. I played
drums and sang. We were just 13-15 years old. We played some
shows at a nearby Air Force Base. Most of the same Rediscovery
people became the next band called "Zero Hour Band" or
ZHB. Still just teens we starting playing some local bars. After
Zero Hour I quit playing the drums and started lead singing in a
band called "Banshee" We were heavier than the other
two groups, playing tunes by Aerosmith, Led Zepplin, Bad Company,
and quite a few originals.
When did you actually start with RATHSKELLER?
MIKE: I was with the band, from the beginning. This would have been around 1978 or 1979.
ANDY: Started jamming in 1978 but first gig was in September of 1979.
GAVIN: It was the fall of 1979.
Could you tell me more about
the beginning of the band?
ANDY: We started as a 2 guitar, bass, drums and lead vocal rock band. Gavin originally played drums buit wanted to get out front and sing so thats when I got involved with the project. All of us went to high school together so thats how we originally met.
MIKE: Rathskeller actually started with a telephone conversation. I was in a band that needed a better drummer and singer. Gavin's band had just broken up. I remember one day, Gavin called me on the telephone and asked if my band was still looking for a singer and drummer. I told him "yes!" Also, the guitar player from his band was also looking to join, so we included him, too. The early days of Rathskeller were very different than what is on the album! We were very much into 2 guitar rock. Our sound was much heavier.
GAVIN:
We all went to the same high
school together. But didn't really all play together until we
graduated (1978).
Which bands influenced you?
MIKE:
For me personally, my main
influences were Michael Schenker (UFO) and Jan Akkerman (Focus). I also liked
Foghat, Rush and the Scorpions.
ANDY: Our
early influences were hometown band REO, UFO, Foriegner, The
Babys, Ted Nugent, Rush and a lot more.
GAVIN: Bad Company was a big influence on me. Also AC/DC and Deep Purple.
Did the sound of RATHSKELLER
changed much during the years?
MIKE: Yes, it did. As I said before, the early days of the band were much more guitar rock. After a while, our other guitarist, who was from Japan, had to return home. We filled his spot with a keyboard player (Jay Penn). We were then able to do many different kinds of songs! As most bands do, we started by playing mostly cover songs. Having keys in the band allowed us to play many more kinds of music like Supertramp, REO, Head East, etc. This also changed the sound of our original songs. We started sound more "pop."
ANDY: Because we started with 2 guitars our sound did change a little when we added the keyboard, but we tried to take the same attitude with the music.
GAVIN:
Yes. We started out playing
heavier rock. We didn't have JJ on keyboards at the beginning.
The sound changed when JJ joined the band and we signed with our
manager/record producer.
By that time, a lot of similar sounding bands were signed to big major recordlabels. Bands like JOURNEY, LOVERBOY, NIGHT RANGER were big time in the USA, didn't you feel that it was a shame that RATHSKELLER couldn't benefit of the popularity of AOR/Melodic Rock back then?
MIKE: Sure! But we were very popluar in our area. Even today, our name is recognized by many people.
ANDY: Yes we did have high hopes, but we just didnt get that one break to make it to the next level.
GAVIN:
We gave it a shot. I think if
we'd had a few more music connections in the
right places, we could have been more successful.
You
told me you toured with ROADMASTER in the early 80s, please tell
me
all about these concerts
(I'm a very big fan of ROADMASTER, the world is so
small)?
MIKE: Well, I don't hink I would actually say we "toured" with Roadmaster, but we did do several gigs with them. We started out by opening up for their shows in our home town. This eventually led to our also going to their hometown for a couple of shows. They were all very nice guys. Some bands treat their opening act very poorly. But Roadmaster always treated us very well and let us do as we please. I do remember that the guitar player was a fan of comedian Rodney Dangerfield. He would clown around in the dressing room and try to immitate him. He was actually pretty funny!
ANDY: We did a lot of shows with Roadmaster. We were a good fit musically, and because they were based out of Indianapolis, we were geographically close.
GAVIN:
They were great guys and an
excellent band. We had some wild parties back
then. We really enjoyed playing with them.
Did
you had any plans to write together with the guys of ROADMASTER,
because your music is quite
similar to that band?
MIKE: No, we never got to be quite that close to the band.
ANDY: We did party with Roadmaster quite a bit and I'm sure there was talk of getting together musically at an after show party or two but nothing ever became of the talk.
GAVIN:
That never came up.
Did you only record demo tapes before the LP release?
MIKE: For the most part, yes. However, there was one single that was released before the album. It had "Writing On The Wall" on side A and "You Won't See (The End OF Me)" on side B.
ANDY: We recorded some demos and a lot of live shows.
GAVIN:
We made a 45 of "Writing on
the Wall" The flipside was a tune called "You
won't see the end of me" which didn't make it on the LP.
Heard about this single,
could you tell me more about it?
MIKE: Gavin Stolte could likely tell you more about this. I do know it was recorded in Japan (yes, it's true!). We had submitted a song to a Japanese magazine called "Rockin' F" for a contest they were having. It was for unsigned bands, only. We actually won first place! The prize was studio time in one of Tokyo's best studios. So, the band flew to Japan and recorded the songs that ended up on the single.
ANDY: We recorded 5 or 6 songs in a studio in Japan in 1982. When we got back to the states, we released a 45 rpm single of "Writing on the wall" and side B was "You wont see the end of me".
GAVIN:
It was recorded in Japan in
early 1980 when we were there. We won a free 2 day
recording package from a Sony affiliate. It was part of a contest
we entered and won.
Why did it took so long to record a full-length record?
MIKE:
Gavin can tell you more about
this, too...since I'm not on the record. I don't remember it taking so long
to record, however. You may have the impression that it took a long
time, because we were together as a band for so long before the record
was made. However, in those days, no one had home studios, like today.
It was VERY expensive to make an album. You had to either save your
money for a long time or find someone to
sponsor your band.
ANDY: Because we played music for a living, we didnt have a lot of extra money to put away. It took acouple of years to save some back and then we did finance some of the costs. Its a lot easier to record now because of todays technologies. You can get a great sound out of someones home studio, all digitally. Which, by the way, we plan on doing very soon!
GAVIN: Money was a factor.
Could you tell me more about
the album? (production, the songs, did it
get airplay...)
MIKE: I'll let Gavin answer this one, though I do know it got some airplay.
ANDY: We
did pre production for the album at a friends studio and then
recorded at the biggest studio in Champaign called Creative
Audio. The songs used on the album were chosen by our manager at
the time out of numerous tunes we had collaborated on
throughout the years. The song that received the most air play
was "Writing on the Wall", a song we had written and
recorded originally while on a mini tour of Japan.
GAVIN:
It received local airplay. It
was hard to decide on the songs because we had
so many to choose from.
Are there many songs that
didn't make the album?
MIKE:
Rathskeller has written a LOT of
songs. There are many songs that are not on the record! Gavin is
amazing. He writes good songs and he can really write a lot, when inspired. I
remember back then, he would come to practice with 1-2 new songs per
week. Sometimes we would do them,
sometimes not. I write much
more slowly than this. Since I had left the band when the record was made,
none of my songs are on the record. I can
think of 5-6 songs (quickly)
that I either wrote or co-wrote that are not on any recording (other than a
demo). All of these songs were part of our show.
ANDY: Quite a few songs didn't make the Album...I would say as many as 12 to 15 at least and we still have copies of those songs on tape.
GAVIN: Yes, probably 10 others.
Were there plans for another
album after the 'Intro' record?
MIKE: I'll let Gavin handle this question.
ANDY: We assumed the "Intro" album was the first of many for us, but it justdidn't work out that way...not yet anyway.
GAVIN: No, not really.
When did RATHSKELLER split
up?
MIKE: I think it was around 1987. I'm not sure...maybe Gavin remembers exactly.
ANDY: We split up in 1987.
GAVIN: Sometime in 1987.
There are not many copies of
that 'Intro' album available nowadays, maybe
5-10 copies worldwide! But how many did you sold exactly, because there
must be some lost RATHSKELLER fans out there...
MIKE: Another one for Gavin!
ANDY: We sold 500 cassette tapes and about 1200 records. There are still ahand full of records around.
GAVIN: I'm not sure how many we sold. The cassette versions sold very quickly.
Could you tell me of each
bandmember what they did after the split, any
new recordings with other
bands/projects?
MIKE: I play in a classic rock band called "Albert Flasher." It's funny, we play many of the songs that Rathskeller played when first starting out (cover songs). I also own a small (very small) studio, record label and publishing company. (MCP Records/Christabyrd Publishing) We've only released a couple of records, but who knows, perhaps Rathskeller will be next! To pay the bills, I also work in Broadcasting. Also, I record a lot of my own music in my studio, along with Gavin (singer from 'skeller), who comes by quite often. my band's website is at:
http://www.oocities.org/sunsetstrip/towers/6654/flasher.html
In the band photo on that page, I am the one on the far right (I
use my stage name of Mik Roberts in this band. That is something
that started when I was still with Rathskeller)
Gavin Stolte (singer) still plays, too. He's in 2 bands, right
now. First, he plays in a band called "Jamnation." They
play funk/R & B music and are very good. They do a mix of
cover and original music. Gavin has also started playing bass
guitar in recent years. He became our singer/bass player when
Rathskeller re-united in '94. He is awsome! Gavin's other band is
called "The Apes." They play mostly blues/rock cover
songs.
Andy Burnett (drums) is also still playing. He's drumming for a
local blues/rock group called "Keith Harden Band." They
too are very good at what they do! They have become quite
popular, locally.
Jay Penn (keyboards) doesn't play any more, as far as I know. I
haven't seen or talked to him in a couple of years, but he had
"retired" the last time I saw him. He did mention
perhaps getting the band together again sometime for a recording
project.
Doug Pugh (bass guitar) doesn't play any more, either. At least
that's what he told me the last time I saw him 1-2 years ago.
Johnny Gherna (guitar...gosh, did I spell his name right??).
Sadly, no one knows where he is these days! I heard he moved away
from our area and hasn't been heard from in a long while. I
believe he got married and stopped playing, but I'm not sure
about that. I'll ask around and see if there is any news. (BTW,
his brother Doug is one of the area's most popular sound techs!)
What is most exciting, is that I've been working with the owner
of a local recording studio. He was the top engineer for the
studio where Rathskeller did it's earliest demos, in about
1978-79. The recording was crude by today's standards (8 track
analog), but it captured the feel of the music, wonderfully. I'm
told that the original studio master tapes still exist. The
engineer has started looking for them! If we find them, I plan to
remaster the songs and put them on CD. I'll keep you informed
about that project! (I do play guitar on those recordings)
While it is very exciting to hear how much the record (intro) is
liked, I should tell you a little about that record and other
Rathskeller music. Before and after that particular recording,
our music had more of a hard edge to it. The producer of the
record wanted a more "laid back" or "gentle"
kind of rock & roll. Even the songs on that record were
performed "live" with
much more energy. Harder, you could say. So, the record
"intro" is really a
one of a kind record. We never did sound that way live or on any
other recording we made. (I think we were better the way we
wanted to do it)
And,
we had built a VERY large following, before that record was made,
and I was still in the band. People LOVED our original music!
When I left the band, people told me the band was never the same,
or as good. I do not say this to brag on myself. I was told this
everyplace I went. Johnny is a good guitarist, but most people
said he just wasn't right for Rathskeller.
Why then did I leave at this critical point? The band had serious
management troubles. Our money was being wasted away and I feel
even stolen from us! I could no longer stand by and watch this
happen. I had been threatening to leave for some time and finally
made good on my threat and left the band. Our bass player of the
time (Brandon Stolte--yes, Gavin's brother) also left the band
for the same reasons.
The band continued onward, making the album "intro",
but because of these management troubles, never reached the fame
that I think should have happened. Everyone thought we would be
very successful, including us. Had we signed with a good manager,
I have little doubt that things would have gone much better for
us. I know I would have stayed with the band!
ANDY: Most
of the band members that played on the record are still in the
music business in one way or another. Gavin and I are in several
bands that play and record on a regular
basis. Gavin's current project is called"Jamnation" and
I play in a couple of blues bands called "The
BluesDeacons" and "The Keith Harden Band". Johnny
is still playing guitar inrock and roll bands and Jay and Doug
are in and out of different projects.
GAVIN:
I'm sure you've got the other
interviews from Andy and Mike. As far as Johnny
and Doug, they pretty much retired after Rathskeller. JJ played
with some bands in Chicago. I continued on in a few bands
(Adrenalin (featuring Jorgen Larsson from Norway) 451, Johnny
Quest, Soul Circle, Upside Out, Brainforest (which made a Cd in
1994) and my current band JamNation (check it out at www.mp3.com/jamnation)
In 1994 suddenly you
reformed RATHSKELLER, please tell me all about this reunion?
MIKE: The reunion started out simply as something for fun. Some of us were a little bored musically and we knew we'd enjoy playing together again. We worked up new music and old. It was a LOT of fun, but only lasted for a short while, unfortunately.
ANDY: In 1994 we reformed basically for fun and a chance to play the old tunes again.
GAVIN:
That was alot of fun to play the
songs again and lead sing. I sing and play bass now, so it was
fun to just grab the mic and rock!
Did you play any of the old RATHSKELLER songs?
MIKE: Yes, we did do several of our old songs and we also wrote some new ones.
ANDY: Most of the songs we played were the same songs we had played during the "hay-day" of Rathskeller.
GAVIN:
Yes we did.
Did you consider to make new original material in the style of the old songs of RATHSKELLER?
MIKE: I don't think we actually thought about the sound of the new songs. We just got together and wrote music. I think it did sound a little like the old songs, simply because it was still us, writing and playing together.
ANDY: Our new original material wouldn't necessarily be in the same vein asthe old 'Skeller tunes. We are the same artists, but our writing has evolvedover the years. But like I said earlier, we do have a lot of unreleased songs written back in the 80's.
GAVIN: We did put together a couple of new tunes at that time. It all sounded like us!
Were you successfull during
the reunion?
MIKE: More or less, yes. At our first reunion concert, we broke the attendance record of the venue we played at.
ANDY: The reunion was a lot of fun and I would say it was successful. Kind oflike a class reunion in that some of the fans we hadn't seen in years and itwas just as great seeing the fans as it was playing the music.
GAVIN: It was a short time, but you could say it was successful.
Why did the band split up
again?
MIKE: Actually, I don't know. (it's true!)
ANDY: We only reformed for the dates we played and for fun. We really didn't"split up" again because we all had our own bands and we enjoyed playing inthose bands.
GAVIN: We never intended to stay together at that point.
You told me about what the
bandmembers are doing right now, is there a
chance for a reunion?
MIKE: YES! As of September 30, 1999, I've talked to the key members of Rathskeller. We are going to begin writing new music immediately, for a new CD!!! This is all thanks to the fabulous interest of Strutter'zine readers, etc.!! We are very excited!
ANDY: As for the future plans of Rathskeller, God only knows!
GAVIN: All I can say is maybe.
Even if there isn't a
reunion, any chance that the 'Intro' album will be officially
re-issued on CD or that there will be a release on CD of unreleased
songs?
MIKE: As for the "intro" album...hard to say. I wasn't part of that project, but from what I do know, I would guess there would be some legal difficulties in re-releasing "intro." As for other music, we will see!
ANDY: If
there is enough interest in the "Intro" album, the
possibility is there to
re-release on CD and with all of the old tunes just sitting
there....who knows!
GAVIN: Good chance of that happening.
You already told me about
what the guys are doing right now, but musically
a lot of things have changed since the early 80s. AOR has almost vanished,
but is now making a huge comeback, especially in Europe with big labels
poping up here and there. Would you like to play the fun
rock'n'roll
of RATHSKELLER all over
again?
MIKE: Of course!! This is still my favorite kind of music to play!!
ANDY: Personally, I just enjoy playing music in any style be it Rock or Blues or Funk or Christian, it's all fun for me.
GAVIN: Certainly. Those were great times and I miss them.
Regarding the previous question,
you still play music, but you probably don't make
the rock'n'roll like
RATHSKELLER did 15-20 years ago, is there a chance you would
record new material in the RATHSKELLER style again?
MIKE: Sure! That is what we write! It comes easily for us. As I said before, Gavin is a great song writer. He and I have worked together on several songs. They always sound like Rathskeller to me!
ANDY: Well, you never know what the future holds, that music is still a part of me and always will be.
GAVIN:
Another maybe. It's just a
matter of finding the time. Our lives have changed
quite a bit since then. We all have families and day jobs to deal
with.
Finally, do you have
anything to add to the readers and the fans out there?
MIKE:
I would like to say thanks for
your interest in Rathskeller! We are very excited
about all of this and especially the idea of working together again.
The guys in the band have been very good friends of mine for
many, many
years. It's hard to believe we will again be working together
again under
the name Rathskeller. I know we have all grown musically,
too. I can't
wait to hear what the new music sounds like!! Perhaps we'll
start a
Rathskeller web page so that
anyone interested can keep track of the progress
of the new CD.
ANDY: I appreciate the new interest in the old music and what Strutter'Zine has done to revive Rathskeller. Rathskeller was a lot of fun and a great experience for me personally. Hopefully our fans feel the same way. Thanks again Gabor!
GAVIN: Stay tuned.