By Mitch Lafon

Carmine Appice is one of those rare drummers that has had success in different musical genres and has sat behind the kit for musical icons OZZY OSBOURNE, ROD STEWART, TED NUGENT and PAUL STANLEY (just to name a few).

BraveWords.com caught up with the influential drummer for a quick chat.

BraveWords.com: Tell us about the Drum Wars shows with your brother, Vinny.

Carmine Appice: “Well, the original concept goes back to 1988. We went on a clinic tour together and we drew really big crowds. People loved the fact that we were playing together. In 1995, we did the home video, which was fun. We were battling for the name (Appice) and that video sold around 8,000 or 9,000 units. Since the HEAVEN & HELL thing fell apart with Ronnie passing away, Vinny and I talked and thought, ‘maybe we should go out and do some drum shows together’. So, we put together Drum Wars and we’ve put together these ‘drum battle’ pieces. Plus, we’ll play the songs that we are known for. We were going to start last November (2010), but I tore the tendons off of my rotator cuff and I needed surgery. So, I had to wait to heal up and get playing again. We’ll do a couple now to try it and if we like it we’ll do more later in the year.”

BraveWords.com: Your brother also injured his shoulder last year.

Appice: "Yeah, he did it before me… a year before I did. It’s one of those things we goof about.”

BraveWords.com: Will you be playing to a track during the shows or with a live band?

Appice: "Both. We’ll have an opening band and the music stores that we’ll associate with will run a contest to find a bass player, guitarist and singer to play with Vinny and I.”

BraveWords.com: What songs will they have to learn?

Appice: "They have to be able to play Dio, Ozzy, maybe some B.B.A. (BECK, BOGERT & APPICE) stuff and a little bit of everything. Once they actually find the people, we’ll give them the list of songs they have to play. It’ll be about eight songs and then we’ll have a play-along track, which is a tribute to all the great drummers of the era (from THE WHO, to CREAM, to Ginger Baker, to Ringo…). We have this medley worked up, which is about sixteen minutes long and we’ll play it together. I’ll start a fill and he’ll end a fill. I’ll do the one and two beat and Vinny will do the three and four beat. There will also be drum solos and funny bits.”

BraveWords.com: How many Drum Wars shows do you plan on doing in all?

Appice: "We’re doing a couple, right now, to break it in and then after that… a lot of promoters don’t know what they’re talking about, but we’ll put together a Drum Wars promotional video and do some more shows in the summer.”

BraveWords.com: Since this is a ‘drum war’ – who is the better drummer between your brother and you?

Appice: "Well, I’m the original (laughs).”

BraveWords.com: So, in others words… better.

Appice: "Well, I don’t know if I’m better – you know what I’m saying? Vinny does certain things great and I do certain thing great also, but I’m the originator of the style that Vinny plays.”

BraveWords.com: Back when you were in Ozzy and Vinny was in Dio – was there a sense of competition?

Appice: "No, not at all. The way Vinny got the gig for Black Sabbath was that Sabbath actually called me and I couldn’t do it, so I recommended my brother. He auditioned and he got it.”

BraveWords.com: Do you regret not having joined Black Sabbath?

Appice: "I don’t know and you don’t really know until stuff happens. I was playing with Rod Stewart and, at that time, he was a much bigger act than Black Sabbath. I went on to play with Ozzy and start my own band and Vinny stayed with Sabbath and then Dio. He did really well and it actually started his career.”

BraveWords.com: Speaking of your own bands – there’s a new KING KOBRA album. The first song that was released is Monsters and Heroes and it’s a tribute to Ronnie James Dio with a part of the profits going to support cancer research. It’s a great track.

Appice: "It is a great track. It’s one of the better ‘80’s bands’ tracks that has come out lately. I’m really proud of it and I’m really happy that we did it. It happened by accident because we weren’t really planning to do it. It was going to be on the album, but I said ‘let’s keep it separate, so that we can give the money to Ronnie’s cancer fund’.

BraveWords.com: I certainly hope that everybody that reads this article will head over to iTunes to buy it and support Ronnie and his cancer fund. As for King Kobra – what are you plans for the band?

Appice: "We don’t really know. I’m still doing VANILLA FUDGE and all the things that I do. This King Kobra thing really happened by accident. Dave Michael-Philips is actually a computer programmer. He programs the jets at Edwards’ Air Force base in California. He came to L.A. for a few days and we got together. Then Pat Regan (who was mixing the new KEEL album) called and we went down to the studio to check that out and Pat said, ‘it would be cool if you did a new King Kobra album’. I said ‘alright’, but I knew we needed a singer because Mark Marcie Free wouldn’t do it. I spoke to him a year ago about doing some live gigs, he wasn’t into it and he was really not nice about it. So, I figured ‘you know what – I don’t want to use him anyways’. He left the band because he wanted to play wimpy rock and we don’t do that. We kick ass, so I first got the original band back together and we called Paul (Shortino). I’ve worked with Paul before; he’s an awesome singer and the nicest guy. He’s also a great songwriter and lyricist. He’s also a great Pro-Tools engineer, which we needed because everyone lives in a different city. We couldn’t get all together and go into the studio. We did this all completely over the Internet, but it doesn’t sound like it.”

BraveWords.com: That’s an interesting way to record, but I guess more and more people are doing it that way.

Appice: "Michael Voss mixed it out in Germany and sent it back to us. I did the drums in Vegas. Johnny Rod came to Vegas and added bass in an analog studio. I did the drums in analog as well. Then me and Paul did the vocals and background vocals and sent it all to Dave in Phoenix and he added the guitars. Then we sent it to Mick to finish his guitar parts and then we sent it to Germany to get it mixed.”

BraveWords.com: Will King Kobra tour this year?

Appice: "I don’t know. I really don’t know because there’s really not a lot of money in touring King Kobra. There’s no money actually. In fact, we’d have to lose money to tour King Kobra. The money that is being offered doesn’t even pay for the plane flights. I’m hoping that the album does well enough that we get a chance to do a ‘next one’. We’re getting amazing critical acclaim on this album…”

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