Jeb Wright from Classic Rock Revisited spoke with legendary bassist Rudy Sarzo (BLUE ÖYSTER CULT, DIO, WHITESNAKE, OZZY OSBOURNE, QUIET RIOT) recently about a number of topics. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Classic Rock Revisited: Lets talk about DIO DISCIPLES. I don’t know how you accomplish everything that is on your plate. You do a lot of work with the Rock N' Roll Fantasy Camp; you’re the bass player for Blue Öyster Cult and the bass player for Dio Disciples. Am I leaving anything out?

Sarzo: "I also am doing ANIMETAL USA, like anime but metal. Right now, it is just being announced in Japan, as that is the only place it is being released. Scott Travis is in the band along with Mike Vescera and Chris Impelliterri. It is called Animetal USA, as there was a previous release that was Japanese of what we are doing. We’re basically recording anime theme songs of certain shows that the record company wanted us to record but we are playing speed metal versions of them. It is the craziest record I have ever played on in my whole life. I’ve never played so many notes. Everything is about 180 beats per minute. It’s humanly impossible to play. We are playing Loud Park on October 15th, which will premier the band. Each guy in the band is a superhero. We wear makeup. Jen Farhood does our makeup for Animetal. She is really talented. We wear kabuki makeup and we are characters. There is a photo of us on my Facebook page. My character is called Stormbringer. The record sales are unbelievable; they are jaw dropping good. I’m having a blast."

Classic Rock Revisited: How did Ronnie touch your life?

Sarzo: "He still does. His influence will linger on me for the rest of my life. When I felt that I had experienced just about everything one could experience in the music industry, I got to work with Ronnie. He brought one element that very few people had ever been able to display in front of me and that is the magical element. One thing I learned, working with Ronnie James Dio was to not make it about you. Make it about the event; make it about being there to share with the audience. Ronnie was very interactive. He was not about having people check him out; he was there to deliver a message to the audience. People kept coming back just for that reason. He was not up there going, 'Check out my amazing voice' it was about him going, 'I’ve got this message that I want to share with you.' When he sang, and he happened to have the most beautiful voice that I’ve ever heard… it was amazing. Even so, it was still the message that was most important to him."

Classic Rock Revisited: I think that is why you have always been a fan favorite. You have always had the rock star look but underneath that you are just a guy.

Sarzo: "I’ve been a fan longer than I’ve been a professional musician. I love doing this. The thing that I really, really love, and what has become a major priority for me, is the Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp. The TV show is not your average camp. The TV show was not scripted but it was cast, so the TV show is a little different than a camp that is not a TV show. For the TV show, they have to audition the participants and they have to do background checks on each participant to make sure they are not criminals, or anything like that, then, they have to look for personalities. The normal camp is not like that.

Most of the participants in a normal camp were pursuing a career in music and, at some point, life got in the way and they went another direction. They were very successful outside of music as doctors, lawyers or whatever. They are Type A personalities that are very focused. I can get more done in a three or five day camp with them then I can get done with the average musician. They have different work ethics than the average musician. I try to reference what they are successful at and bring it into a band situation. I have them communicate with each other in the room. It is the fundamental reason why we play -- people are communicating on stage. When you and I go watch a band we want to witness magic between the band members. A band like LED ZEPPELIN, or DEEOP PURPLE, really were good at communicating with each other onstage. They had a certain chemistry and it brings a certain kind of magic. We go to concerts to witness that. While the Fantasy Camp does this on a much smaller level than say playing an arena with VAN HALEN, the emotion is the same. I am not concerned about the musical skill of the individual. I have been in a room with people who can play a thousand notes but not say one interesting thing. I would rather hear one note and have it raise the hairs on my arm and have it move me. I want people to share something with me through their instrument. That is our mission in the camp. We want to reconnect the individual with being a musician. Just because you don’t make a living playing music should not keep you from identifying yourself as a musician. You’re a dentist, a brother, a son and you’re a musician. We do all of that in the camp. We do a whole lot more at camp but that is it in a nutshell. They are life changing, rewarding experiences. The campers really care about being there and the counselors really care about them being there. I think that is why we get so many return campers. You’re a writer, when you write you have to reach down deep and put that message on a page. It doesn’t matter what the art form is, it is the message you deliver. Its not about the messenger, its about the message you deliver. A song will live forever, even after the messenger is gone."

Read the entire interview here.