Ahead of his October 6th show at Oncenter Crouse-Hinds Theater in Syracuse, Alice Cooper spoke with Syracuse.com's Jacob Pucci about his side projects, channeling his inner Alan Rickman in Jesus Christ Superstar and life before Alice Cooper. A couple of excerpts from the interview follow:

Jacob Pucci: You legally changed your name to Alice Cooper [from Vincent Furnier] back in the 70s. Does your family and close friends call you Alice, or do they still call you Vincent?

Alice Cooper: "My mom calls me Vince. The only other person that calls me Vince is [Rolling Stones guitarist] Keith Richards. Keith Richards will not call me Alice. He'll call me Vinny. 'Vinny! How're ya doing, Vinny!' It's one of those things. He would never call me Alice."

JP: But he's the only one?

AC: "He's the only one, yes. Groucho Marx would call me Coop. He says, 'I can't call you Alice. I gotta call you Coop'."

JP: Your name is legally changed, so even when you're not the character, you're still the person. After all these years, has it been tough? Are there days when it's tough to switch from Alice Cooper the person to Alice Cooper the character?

AC: "It's automatic. It's absolutely automatic. I've done so many shows as Alice. There was a time when I was not sober that I never knew where Alice ended and I began, because there was that blurry, cloudy area. 'When am I supposed to be Alice and when am I not supposed to be Alice?' When I got sober, I really made a definite line in the sand of where Alice starts and where I end. If you talk to me before the show, even when I'm in character, even when I'm in makeup, I'll just be saying to the guys, 'Hey, the Lions are playing Green Bay this week.' But as soon as that curtain goes up, my posture changes, everything changes and I flip into Alice Cooper. Then they know that character is going to be a whole different thing. He's not going to be talking to you, he not going to be doing this or that. At the end of the show, the curtain comes down and I'm right back to being normal me. I think I got myself trained to be this really strict character on stage. And off stage, I don't want any part of him. He's not at all like me."

Read the complete interview at Syracuse.com.