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NEWSLETTERS The
September 2002
Issue Hello again! Ok. So I got up early and got the newsletter out on the 1st anyway. I wanted to get everything out while it was fresh in my mind and for anyone that knows me… I like to be on time! As
promised, an interview with Donnie Vie!
Joni answers the
phone. She has just passed me a note giving me an open invitation to
call Donnie for a chat. The reason it took longer will come later but we
said our hellos and she passed the phone to Donnie saying they had just
woken from a nap. I was going by the 3-hour time difference so luckily
my timing was good! Me:
Donnie! How are you doing! Donnie:
Good. What can I do you for Chris? Me:
Just wanted to get some thoughts if possible on the new disc your solo
project and a few other things. Donnie:
Sure. No problem bro. First I have to
get this out of the way. What inspired you to write Zentimental Journey?
It’s so different than anything you have done with the band in the
past. It has an eclectic feel to it and sounds like Bela Fleck to me. Donnie: I
heard that now from a couple of people that it sounds like him. I
don’t know who he is but I’m going to have to get some of his stuff
and find out. I heard of Bella Lagossi! (laugh on both ends) I guess I
got the beginning part of it came to me from Jimmy Page’s “The Rain
song” actually. He then makes a comment that gives me a good laugh but
says not to print it please. We talked about a few off the record things
but Donnie was in fine form this afternoon. Back to Donnie! Me:
Ok. How about the second part of the song? Donnie:
That was something that I had come up with at another time that was
mellow but seemed to fit the piece after the “do, do, do, do part.
Then I needed a way to bring it all home. I had an idea and everyone
stuck their two cents in then. Me:
and that’s how you came up with “The Sun after that? Donnie:
Pretty much. I have an all-digital studio now by the way here so that I
can do everything here by myself now without anyone’s help once I get
everything figured out. Mostly the drum loops and samples are the things
I need to learn better. Then I won’t need anybody! Me:
Good for you! Me:
That brings me to another question before we move on. What are your
favorite songs off the new record if you have any? Donnie:
Um… Can’t Wait and Zentimental Journey. I guess I like all of them
but those are a couple that jump out right away. Me:
I know you have done this in the past when doing demo’s but it
wasn’t obvious to me on recording final recordings but I noticed that
you slowed down the tape on “Roller Bladin’’ In The Shade” and
them sped it back up. Donnie:
Yeah. That’s because I couldn’t hit the notes so we had to do that.
That was one of Chip’s song ideas. After all these years you would
think he would know my vocal range by now when he comes up with an idea.
(laughs) I mean my voice is at its peak right now and it feels great as
I have cut back on cigarettes and I have an even higher range than I did
before now! Me:
Ok. I wanted to ask you a bit about your solo work and your work with
Warren DiMartini of Ratt and Vic Foxx again if I could? Donnie:
Warren? Actually we did some shows together and we tried writing but we
ended up doing 6 different versions of one song. I had fun doing the
shows with him and we signed autographs and talked to a lot of people
and did something constructive instead of doing drugs like in the past. Me:
How about Vic? Donnie:
I’m trying to hook up with him to get him to do some drum loops for my
solo record but I can’t seem to pin him down for more than one day at
a time! He lives right down the road from me too. What is it about
drummers? Pretty soon I will know how to do the drum parts myself and if
he isn’t around I will just do them myself. It amazing I’m even
talking to the guy after all these years! Me:
So how about the solo record. How is it coming? Donnie: It’s
almost finished already. I just need to finish off a few things and
I’ll be able to get it out there then. Do you have a title
for it yet? Donnie:
No I don’t have a final title yet. The songs are all done and I’m
moving on already but I’m not coming up with things as fast as I was
before since I’m not miserable anymore. I found my Joni and she is
just what I needed at the right time. If it wasn’t for her and with my
grandfather on his way out I don’t think I would be here today. I mean
we have said our goodbye’s to him and he’s down to 80 pounds but he
keeps hanging in there. Me:
What do you mean you wouldn’t be here right now? Donnie:
I mean I was out of control with the smoking and all and if it wasn’t
for Joni coming along and my grandfather dying I know I would be dead
right now. Me: So
she was your angel sent to save you. Donnie: Yeah.
She’s my angel sent to me to put up with all my s**t and she better
not leave me or I’ll kill her! (laughs again) No. We are in it for the
long haul. Donnie:
One of the songs is called “Spider Web” and another is “Alice In
Wonderland” for the solo record and Joni is a huge fan of Alice in
Wonderland and I wrote it before I even met her! The fact that I wrote
that and found her just seems to make it seem like fate to both of us. He mentioned one
other song but my PA slang ran the word together too fast for me to make
out what’s on the tape now. Sorry! He then talks about his love of
making his own jewelry and how he is into beaded wear and is getting
very good at it. He is even modified a piece I gave him with rhinestones
but said doesn’t wear it that much because he gets gunk all over
everything and is afraid to lose it with the way he sweats on stage. Donnie:
I actually have so much stuff from over the years and the things I’m
making now that I’d like to get something going so I could sell some
of it. I’ll give you first pick when I see you next for free. Well…
You’ll get first pick but it won’t be my favorite. (laughs) He then talks of
his love for the show Jerry Seinfeld that is mine as well and brings up
one of my favorite episodes about the soup Nazi. “No more soup for
you” he says! (laughs on both ends) You’d have to see it to
appreciate how funny it is. We then talk about
some off the record stuff and he ends the conversation by wanting to
convey his thanks to everyone who has shown support for his grandfather
and makes sweet comment about Joni again. He brings her up often in the
conversation and how much of a savior of sorts she has been to him plus
a reminder to all the girls that missed the boat. “Joni has become
very much like me whether she wanted to or not”. “She was anal clean
before she met me in the neat sense and now we’re both just anal”!
(laughs from me, Donnie and Joni in the background) I thanked him for
the time and he said, “I love you brother” and I said the same and
we said goodbye. He sounded like a very happy guy and very much more at ease with himself and it was nice to spend the time talking to him again. I hope that I did you justice Donnie with this interview!
Enuff Z'Nuff's 11th
album, entitled "Welcome To Blue Island" was released in Japan
on July 17th, 2002. The 11-track affair, produced by Chip &
Donnie, has already received significant airplay in Japan with the
tracks "Saturday" and "Sanibel Island." It is
already listed as a Best Seller by Tower Records, Japan. The band is
shooting for a domestic and European release this fall. In the meantime,
U.S. based Japanese import shops have been working hard to supply U.S.
fans with the release. RAM Music was surprised to receive over 300
pre-orders, with Impulse Music not far behind. CDNOW just listed the
album, so shop away below! If you haven't
picked up your copy and would like to online, click below on one the
following retailers who are reliable and have the album: CDNOW Enuff Z,nuff @ www.cdnow.com
You can now order the CD in the UK for only £10-99,
which includes p&p at: www.z-roxx.com/zroxxnew.htm
. The release date looks set to be September the 9th with the
same cover art as the Japanese release and only a slightly different
track order, which is as follows: 1 Saturday Pre-orders are also being accepted at Townsend
Records and they appear to be big fans, which is in the message
contained below. I've just received promo copies of 'WTBI' and
its ace. We have a chain of rock record shops in
England and a If you would like would you consider linking
our site to yours for Also in Classic Rock it says that the CD was
to be called “The Sun”. That was the original title but it was
released as WTBI in Japan before the band could properly notify their
label. “The Sun” was the official title they had settled on. Now it
looks as if the band will stick with the same title though. We’ll just
have to see if the American release title stays the same as well. A bit of news: Possible tour dates are in the air with Eric
Martin formerly of Mr. Big and some of the shows should be in the
Chicago area. That’s not confirmed yet though everyone so lets cross
our fingers, toes and anything else you can cross! Also Chip is to be at work producing yet another band but at this time the name was not known. ‘Gray Matter’ by Radio Earth which includes a remade version of Chip’s My Heroin from Tweaked will be on its way to him after the Labor Day holiday for a release soon after on his Stoney label. Please visit www.stoneyrecords.com and www.tecworks.net and pick one up! For future reference… The newsletter will be moving to a quarterly and as information arises type of format to better serve you as information and interviews are harder to come by as of late. If things pick up I will go back to an every month issue. That’s is for now folks! Chris, Jeff and Mike at The Express. “If we are to live life in harmony with the universe. We
must all possess a powerful faith in what the ancients used to call
fatedom. What we currently refer to as, destiny… |
