Richie Sambora Interview

Richie Sambora Interview

Used By Permission

"I'm Not Someone Who Sits And Counts Their Cash" - says Bon Jovi guitarist and solo artist Richie Sambora. Dave Ling talks fame, wealth and the pressures of being a mega celebrity.

When you're Richie Sambora, life's a beach. Married to soap sex kitten Heather Locklear and guitarist with one of the most popular and enduring rock groups on the planet, New Jersey giants Bon Jovi. Rich beyond your wildest dreams. Touring the world and playing to sold out crowds at Wembley Stadium for three nights. Still a heart-throb at the age of 39. The conversation for this article takes place on Richie's mobile phone from his bungalow in California's Laguna Beach, previously inhabited by rock `n' roll legend
Ricky Nelson. When asked how many houses he owns, Sambora lets out a dry chuckle and replies: "I would prefer not to talk about that."

When asked whether it's possible to have too much money, the guitarist wastes little time in replying in the affirmative. "With me, I'm in music for the music," he stresses. "I'm not one of these people who sits and counts their cash - I go to work. I enjoy what I do for a living and I may well be set up financially, but I do this because I'm passionate about it. I go to the studio or I play my guitar every day of the year, and hopefully, I'll learn something new. As a musician, I've improved tenfold since the `Slippery When Wet' album (1986), and that's exciting."

Sambora happily describes himself as a "music junkie". Besides his own musical endeavours and running his own label, Mutiny Records, which releases "everything from punk/glam to rhythm and blues", he also purchases at least six new albums a week, spanning the Verve to Matchbox 20. Quiz him about Marilyn Manson and he has an opinion.

"I can't say that I listen to Marilyn every day, but he's pretty cool," reckons Sambora. "With him, like Kiss, you know it's showtime. Although the music's quite good, he's mainly based on the visual entertainment thing. As his career develops, I'm sure the music will continue to develop, just like Black Sabbath or Ozzy's did."

With six Bon Jovi albums, two solo recordings and countless world tours under his belt, we cannot deny for a moment that Sambora has grafted to get where he is today, but is fame all he expected it to be?

"Sometimes it's less and more than I thought it would be," he replies. "There's a lot of responsibility that goes with it. But it's harder than ever these days, because my wife is also a celebrity, so the moment we walk into a restaurant, it seems there's someone there with a camera. And if there's not, there will be a tourist who'll definitely snap a picture and sell it to the tabloids. It's just something you have to deal with. My attitude is that if the press is there and wants to take our picture, let them get on with it.
But if they climb over a fence to get shots of my daughter, that's different.

"And on the other hand, the fame can be great. When I started out trying to get a record deal, I never dreamed that my career would ever be this successful. It's overwhelming. But fame has all these strange trappings, and it's dangerous in a lot of ways. Sometimes it kills people."

For sure, it didn't do poor Princess Diana too much good, and Richie relates angrily the time he and Heather were also pursued by the paparazzi through the same ill-fated Paris underpass.

"After our wedding, I'm sure it was the same crew of photographers, on scooters and connected to each other by radio headsets," he says with disbelief. "It was the middle of the day, so we couldn't go that fast, because there was a lot of traffic. I was worried about them, because if someone put on their brakes, they'd be road pizzas, but they did frighten me."

The guitarist admits to feeling a certain amount of sympathy for another celebrity couple who have been hounded by the media, the currently jailed Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee (ironically, also previously married to Locklear) and his on-off-on wife Pamela Anderson, but he also believes a lot of their troubles were self-inflicted.

"Unfortunately, they played right into their hands," he states. "At the time of our baby's birth, the press were all over us - they were even up in the trees with their long lenses. Then it died down and they disappeared for ten months until we showed up at the Golden Globes. But Tommy and Pam seemed to stay in that hot spot. They were always in court for something or other, or Tommy would smack someone in a bar. It was never ending."

When asked whether he had forseen Lee's spell in jail, Richie becomes thoughtful.

"I've always liked Tommy and I've nothing bad to say about him - but then again, I'm not female," he muses.

"We've always had a good relationship - even towards the end of his marriage to my wife. He was even at the house a bunch of times. I feel bad for him and I wish him the best. Maybe in a way it'll be a good thing for him to think it out."

It's widely believed that when an artist attains the "Hello!" magazine lifestyle, their creativity becomes dulled.

"That's bullshit!" Sambora insists. "I still believe that Bon Jovi's `These Days' was one of our best records - and we made that coming off the back of 70 million records sold. Creativity is a state of mind, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with your bank balance. My memory sucks - probably due to what I did in the `80s! - but I can still recall how I felt when someone broke my heart. You don't have to live a great story to write about it."

The track `Harlem Rain' on Sambora's second solo album `Undiscovered Soul' tells the tale of an old man who lives and dies in poverty on the streets. How did he research the subject matter for that one?

"I was born into a lower middle-class family, so I haven't experienced that kind of existence, but Harlem was a ghetto that was quite near to my home, and there was always something like race riots, gangland killings or drug overdoses going on," Richie explains. "I hope that it's an accurate and poignant lyrical attempt to portray this guy's life. The song was born out of Bon Jovi's `Hey God' and it's about the guilt that you feel when you're walking down the street and you see a homeless person. What happened in the social lottery of life? That could have been me, but it was him. How come I got the good end of the stick and he got the shitty end?"

Amazingly for a band of Bon Jovi's stature, they continue to look after their own managerial affairs. While other groups employ a small army of gofers, personal assistants and nose-wipers, BJ prefer the personal touch.

"Our whole organisation is pretty much bare bones," he reveals. "We don't act like pussies, we just go and do our gig, and that's it basically. We're level-headed people; as long as the security around us is good, we're happy. I've heard about other bands who hire six people to do one person's job - that's pretty frivolous, and it's not us. Lots of bands just surround themselves with a big entourage because it flatters their ego."

Once you've got 70 platinum albums on your wall, why bother to get out of bed to record another one, let alone a solo effort?

"Again, it's just a love of music. People often ask me why I'm doing this and whether it feels like I'm starting all over again, but I'm finding it so exciting to travel overseas to a place I've never played as a lead singer. It's almost like embracing a new woman - I bring my own music and my own band and show people I can do this, and I love it!"

Sambora is about to play his first three solo shows in Britain. It was originally planned as a one-off at the Shepherds Bush Empire, but tickets sold so quickly that a second night and a Manchester date were quickly added. Reviews of `Undiscovered Soul' and his industry showcase at Ronnie Scott's club last February had some even suggesting that he was Bon Jovi's most gifted singer.

"Well, that's nice to hear, but it's all down to personal preference," he says modestly. "I put my heart and soul into shows and lose myself in the moment, and that's what people like to see, not some guy who's going through the motions. I feel very, very natural as a singer and a band leader. I enjoy the whole trip of being out there at the front and I'd like to think I can do it pretty well."

As this solo tour proceeds, Richie expects to have "dribs and drabs" of conversation with Jon Bon Jovi about the long-awaited follow-up to the three year old `These Days'. Sambora's solo commitments end in October, and then the songwriting will begin in earnest.

"Right now, I have some little crumbs of ideas for the next album and it's interesting stuff, but I don't usually walk into the room with a finished song. Jon and I sit down and write something together, or one will alter what the other has written. We have to be comfortable with each other's imput, but it usually happens quite spontaneously."

Does Sambora have any idea of where he wants to take the sound?

"We haven't begun to have those kind of conversations yet," he says. "I would like to make a record with a positive vibe; something that our fans can put on and enjoy while they listen - maybe do something that's almost reminiscent ofour earlier albums. But at the same time, we'd also like to cover some new ground, which is not gonna be easy. It'll be interesting to see what we come up with!".

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Hope you enjoyed it!

KTF Always
Wendy

Thank you very much ... Wendy!

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