As the Maryland Crab Cake Tour gets back on the road for the spring, musician and lifer friend John Allen joins Nestor at Costas Inn in Dundalk to discuss Key Bridge memories, the legacy of Brian Jack and getting the music of Child’s Play back on stage at Merriweather Post Pavilion on May 4th at the annual M3 Festival for local rockers.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
band, play, interviewed, bridge, costas, documentary, great, tour, soundcheck, working, people, john, drive, write, night, brian, story, rock stars, month, big
SPEAKERS
Nestor J. Aparicio
Nestor J. Aparicio 00:00
We are W NSG, Towson Baltimore Baltimore positive. We’re positively at Costas. We are in my homeland at Dundalk. It’s not open. She’s really really quiet. Really quiet so brought to you by the Maryland lottery. I will have a handful of these left 10 times the cash on Friday we’ll be at fadeless live from two to five. Luke will be there other guests will be there. We’ll be having fun. John Allen is decided to join me and drive in from his homeland and estate in Harris County. You know, used to come in across the bridge over here and during new bridge new more. John is from my rival neighborhood, although we were both on Hi guys. He’s East ward off the Colgate. But we all spend time down here in the peninsula whether it was the old arena, games memories down there, pops tavern, and we’re Costas we’re on the road to the peninsula towards Paris point and last time you came on over drunk city at Aaron’s marchio from Tradepoint Atlantic. John of course, is a rockstar just like it was always meant to be my 25th anniversary. Real is coming at mine says sports writer, I hope I fulfilled that his was Rockstar. His band is planning in three and a couple of weeks. Stone horses as well as Child’s Play as well as maybe sometimes it’d be sr 71 or Trump city devils or any of those other bands. But he has you always say stone horses that we only say.
01:23
What my current band current project? Yeah, yeah, current project is stone horses. And that’s where I fumbled my way through guitar and sang and tried to sing. And I didn’t even
Nestor J. Aparicio 01:35
know you play guitar. I told you in a shot two years ago. Like, you don’t play the guitar. He plays the drums. He don’t play the guitar. That’s pretty good.
01:42
Yeah,
Nestor J. Aparicio 01:44
we’re gonna find it. I gotta help us to prep for you.
01:46
Okay, cool. I’ve been following my way through guitar for a long time actually started on guitar, when I started playing music was like fourth grade or whatever. But it was too hard. And it was too hard to kind of look cool and play at the same time. So I was I got drums kind of came a lot more narrow.
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:05
That’s why the drums happened. Really? I didn’t know that if there was a lot easier. I’ve known you my whole life. I didn’t know you started guitar. Yeah.
02:10
And, and, and so for years, I’ve gone back to it and you know, trying to learn to write songs. You know, you really need a melodic instrument a lot. A lot of songwriting goes on inside my head. And it sounds great in there.
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:25
And then computers help you with that a little better. No, yeah, no, no, you haven’t tried?
02:30
Yeah, I don’t, I don’t compose like on a keyboard or with a with a computer, I really kind of it all starts with Melody my head or if I’m playing guitar, a lot of times, it won’t play guitar for weeks, and I’ll pick it up and I’ll just start playing. And rock is about the sound, the tone of the amp and the guitar and just a song will come back like that quickly.
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:53
Maybe acoustic for No, no electric electric
02:56
guitar. Okay, most of the time, I’ll pick up an acoustic guitar. So you know that I’ll improve for a while I’ll write the song and track it. And then I’ll put the guitar down for a month or two and then I’ll lose everything. But
Nestor J. Aparicio 03:08
you can play three notes on a piano. Now.
03:11
I can play a little bit piano but I actually during COVID I took lessons and then I started having pain in my wrist from doing I was planning to Tensley and I was like I gotta quit because I don’t want to get carpal tunnel I played drums for you know most of my life and never had an issue. And here I am trying
Nestor J. Aparicio 03:29
Did you ever learn anything? Ergo drumming about like how to do it right and wrong? Yeah, from an arthritic standpoint or from like, I mean, you were younger when you were doing it, you might not think it about that way. But if you’re going out and doing a five nights a week on a on a bus, you can’t hurt yourself. I mean, that’s something that when I was the music critic that I never now think of way more about your emotions your sobriety transfer Do you know just how hard it is catch cold that kind of thing. But getting hurt is a whole like seeing like you to never play with that Larry Mullen and now having to go like bring a guy like you bring somebody else in because he’s can’t physically do it, you know?
04:05
Yeah, well, I had a lot of lessons early on and there are a lot of theories about how you should play properly without having an injury. And one of the techniques that I started playing you know, as a rock drummer is kind of disputed about how you know could injure you and I’ve always played
Nestor J. Aparicio 04:25
like pitchers with shoulders at this point right but the Tommy John search right so you know, like your kid you’re playing the drums while you you probably can really hurt yourself right? Perhaps 1617 years of age you’re playing too much.
04:36
I don’t know about that age because you’re You’re still so young.
Nestor J. Aparicio 04:40
It feels like you could do it wrong. I’m really hurt yourself that maybe
04:42
but as the years progressed, certainly though, that can that can I actually have a story about an injury that I did have, but it wasn’t carpal tunnel, it was it was tennis, elbow tendinitis. We were on tour with sr 71. And we got the call that we had to go shoot the video for the for the tomorrow. Oh single that was about to come out. They flies to Los Angeles, we get in this big warehouse where we’re set up to play. And they brought in it brought in video
Nestor J. Aparicio 05:11
spent money. Yeah. A lot of money. Yeah, you gotta you gotta be ready to play.
05:15
We’ve had an actor and actress, this whole storyline. And then they set us up and they brought in video symbols, which video symbols are just two symbols glued together. So it’s like hitting a big chunk of metal that’s really super heavy, right? So I go to do my, you know, when you shoot a music video, you
Nestor J. Aparicio 05:33
normally they’ll video symbols or what does that mean? So so you’re not making too much noise when you’re playing, right?
05:40
Because the hardest thing about shooting the music video a lot of people think some people still think we’re actually really playing. No, we’re miming to the song, the single that’s already been recorded, right. But to make it look real, you know, I’m out there really bashing the shit out of my drums or the rice, bashing the hell out of my drums. So in order to do that, they pump like a full pa basically back at the band. So the music is unbelievably loud. So you can really lay into it. And you can really make it feel like you’re in your basement. Well, no, like you’re out in an arena like you’re out on a live gig are really kind of playing. So. So what happens is you shoot like a long shot or the band fold and you shoot a medium shot of the band, then you go for close ups, right? And it’s always the singer gets the first one guitar player, the bass player drummer is always last right? So by that point, you’re completely exhausted. Anyway, we’re shooting the video for tomorrow and I’m hitting the cymbals and they’re not moving because they’re so frickin heavy.
Nestor J. Aparicio 06:46
It’s written a brick,
06:47
I’m hitting a brick. It’s like hitting a wall and and I’ve got these huge I’m playing to be drumsticks at this point. They’re big and fat heavy and I’m cranking up on the cymbals. And they’re not moving. I’m like, oh my god, like I’m gonna be in this video. So I got to make it look real. So I got to really crank up and hit the cymbals so they move you know a little bit so I’m bashing the hell out of these things. I go back to the hotel and my my elbow starts aching. I have one day of travel day the next day to fly I think to Chicago to stop to resume the tour. And I’m like, Oh my God. I’m dying here. Am I like a pitcher? It’s burning. Yeah, my elbow was burning. So yeah, it was it was the right thing raise you know, whatever. Compression Yeah, elevation. So like the whole rest of the tour all the way up to Christmas. This is like your bad with Yeah, like just to make it through. So then we get the video back. I’m not in the video. It’s all with the actor and actors and Mitch, the lead singer for Sr. So I’m like, wow, that was that was really stupid. Just really injured myself, you know for nothing. But you know, John
Nestor J. Aparicio 07:58
Ellen’s here. We’re Costas, you know, I have a whole list of things. This is my shot sheet for the whole week. So you can’t read any of this. Don’t look at this. So these are my, these are my ideas. My Hey, I’m gonna pull my hair down and get get in your way in life. Like, that’s fine. So so really, I called you because I want the Snyder on the show because I interviewed D 40 years ago. And I guess the whole part of this is this 25th anniversary documentaries coming out. I’ve been working on it with Greg Landry who really wants to be good. You have a role in this and I will allow we’ll talk about that. But I I really reached you. You literally just friend a friend said, Hey, I’m trying to get Dee Snider on this month. And I’m like, oh, yeah, dude, you’re dragging my ass out of bed at 11 in the morning to come down to Merriweather because you’re playing like one o’clock or something? You play one o’clock. So and on a Saturday? Yeah, the first so I’m like dude, I need to get you on to hey, I’m doing Costas tomorrow and you from Dundalk, ain’t you? And I thought well, we’re doing this thing about the bridge. So I’ve got Todd Crandall coming by fellow Gandaki and, and a local politician extraordinaire from the neighborhood who I’ve known my whole life. He’s going by a little later on, and I’ve got Joe gold from Key Brewing. anybody’s familiar Key Brewing right around the corner from here, right behind royal farms down the road there get some fried chicken as you go in but everybody is doing bridge relief to at least get something and I just, I had this planned in January looked at the Oriole schedule, I’m like, oh, Oreos, play the Red Sox on the eighth. Wow. You know, we’ll get in there and you know, have a beer, two o’clock, whatever. This is before Angeles was selling the team before Angelo’s died before the team was purchased by another owner and then before elope, so all of this happened, like around this date here. And then yesterday, I’m like, oh, I need an early guest. You’re like I’ll drive the Dundalk and I’m like, All right. So the bridge I got to let’s start with the bridge. We grew up, I don’t know a couple 100 yards from each other really as far as neighborhoods go I could see the bridge pretty much in the second floor of my first two homes that I lived in and anywhere you drive that’s it’s Holland town but anywhere you drive it has a high land here in literally fayed Avenue the area over where Gina shock is from eastwood anywhere that’s high. You could see the top of the bridge so I never thought about it as Baltimore’s bridge or whatever. It’s kind of like if you were to ask me before it fell sort of been docks bridge, I mean, it’s Turner’s stations, bridges fares points, which gundogs bridge and, dude, I started sobbing in a hotel room in Orlando at 830 in the morning, I was two hours into it. And I’m sitting there watching the coverage and I lost my my ish. I don’t know what it was like here and I don’t know what it’s like. All the Dundalk people seem to have this association to that bridge. And we didn’t realize we even have
10:54
a little That’s That’s exactly right. Like you know, it’s a piece of steel. multiple pieces of steel. And yeah, you don’t think about it like, like I look back at it now and think how beautiful it was in its design and simplicity. And and you’re an
Nestor J. Aparicio 11:13
artist as well. I may Yeah. You have an art thought about? Yeah.
11:16
And like today coming over. Like you said,
Nestor J. Aparicio 11:21
you would have taken the bridge
11:23
I would 100% taken the bridge. I think it did last time we came down here. But coming through Fort McHenry tunnel. I looked over and I could see where the roadway comes up. First time you saw it stops the first time.
Nestor J. Aparicio 11:35
I haven’t seen it yet. I haven’t looked I have refused to look at Yeah, I’ve been by twice during the night. One time I drove. I was on the phone coming out of the city. I went through the tunnel last week, but I was like in a conversation on the phone. And I never looked up. Yeah, I still haven’t looked up. I still haven’t looked at it Do I don’t. I’m gonna get issue talking. I’ll get I’ll be a mess. I it’s gonna be really hard for me to look in that direction. Yeah, especially from cane street specifically because I live there and when you went with the Home Depot and the diner is you can always see the truss like that’s where I think about seeing the bridge there and like coming out at East Point above the mall where like Norris for like above Norris Ford. You could always see the trust down sort of beyond Mayor Boulevard. You know, like you just see it rise. Yeah. It’s gone. It’s gone up.
12:29
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you can see the wreckage or whatever. I mean, it’s I you know, I’ve driven over that bridge 1000s of times between playing gigs over. There used to be a club there. were originally called sandbar, I guess, the 80s and then it was called the network and we started playing there became alligators. Daytonas whatever. No longer there. So I drove over that all the time. And then also I worked at Monterey station mall and a record store. And what high school Yeah, and so I didn’t do it, Bernie. Yeah, well,
Nestor J. Aparicio 13:06
why don’t you work in Glen Burnie from Tonga? What was that about? Once you get a proper job, but he’s football. Right? I worked at soundwaves. Right. I love the job I’ve ever had with literally,
13:18
but in my in my egotistical narcissistic mind back then I was already playing out in clubs and stuff. And so when I walked into record bar, the people there they were super cool and nice. And, you know, I don’t know, they didn’t really treat me like that was like a rock star or anything. But I felt weird about like working there. You know, in jungle, like, like, I’d see people you know, I’d see people that I know. And I was like I was supposed to be you know, it’s like, all fun, right? Supposed to be imaged or whatever. So I thought I was the 80s. Yeah, I thought I’d go down to Marley station, that’d be incognito. And I really was I mean, like three, three months down there. So I lasted
Nestor J. Aparicio 14:03
maybe four months at salaries. And I can tell you the months I worked there when my son was born, so I worked there from maybe July of 84 until Christmas. I think I made it to Christmas. And all the album’s is a Coolio Iglesias all of you body and soul. You know that. So it was Bruce Springsteen born in USA, starships, nuclear furniture, these are the biggest albums during that period of time. So those are the four months you can look at that.
14:34
So that’s how I remember my time at the record store as well. You remember
Nestor J. Aparicio 14:38
that the albums that were on the right, right.
14:42
I was there later. Was like, kingdom come? first record came now is that money? varies. The Church, the big record
Nestor J. Aparicio 14:53
of the Milky Way Yeah, okay. Right. Right.
14:57
Yeah, stuff like that. I remember that coming out and we had ahead like, it seemed like 1000s of copies, and we had to build these big displays and he went
Nestor J. Aparicio 15:04
over to bridge every day for that charge. Tunnel you can’t use a tunnel tunnels. Yeah, well, we’re back to that man. John Allen is here. We’re Costas. We’re gonna have some crabs up. So I wrote down all this this cool stuff about the bridge. And I want you to talk about this because you talked about you said you were on a podcast a couple of weeks ago, promoting mp3. And we talked about the host and I found a tape of me being interviewed by two Dundalk girls at the Dundalk high radio station television. It was DHS television. It must have been some plus cable off shoot for the dog Community College channel. This is 1994 the
15:50
fines were 95 I don’t know what it was. Yeah, I
Nestor J. Aparicio 15:53
did that show. So I found the tape and doing the documentary. And they’re asking me about my dreams. And like I found this yesterday. Like you did the you did your script reading. A month ago, Mickey blew it off a month ago, bro. Hart saved it. Gina did her thing you know. So I have all my teeth Brewer who’s coming on the show tomorrow as well. So to rock and roll week here. He and Rob are doing this cavern thing later on in the month. Oh, yeah. And I’m gonna get to that the fall pitfalls are some play. So I’m gonna go see them. But I want to I don’t know what it is. That’s why I’m having Keith on the show. So I found this tape of me, very young speaking to this younger girl high school girl at the time, I’m probably 2625 26. And about my dreams and my goals. And 30 years later, I found this. And I thought John probably did that show, and probably said a bunch of crazy stuff that you would, you would score him about, and you read for my documentary and I am indebted you’ll make me cry if I look at you, but you read about my life and sort of the hardest parts of my life. I specifically gave you some of those parts because we’ve known each other longer. And then I thought to myself like you did this for Brian, in a tribute way that maybe like all these rock Doc’s have inspired me a little bit to tell my story. Because it’s been 40 years and 25 years into it. I think I’m entitled at this point to put something out. It’s 30 minutes long. In your case with Brian, you put the band back together, this is where I guess you bring em three in to talk about the festival. These nine are all that stuff that you put together a video prior to em three for a huge reunion night, two summers ago data soundstage. And I was one of the guys that watch and people were drinking. I was actually with Mickey and I was with Kirk that night. And people were talking a little bit like, you know when I’m smart. And I’m you know, I’m seeing a girl boys and I’m seeing the logo and I’m seeing the pictures. And I’m like, John put that together. Because it’s a slideshow and it’s all the stuff in your basement to tell the story of child’s play. And you said something flippant to me yesterday, when I put you on you’re like, Well, you know, there’s there’s behind the music, and it’s before the rock stars. And there were we never made it a kind of like a thing. I want you to talk about that a little bit. Because putting together a documentary on anything. And I’m in the process of doing that right now involves this thing you’ve had, like, I don’t want to get you too emotional. But You mean you’ve had an incredible tragedy within the family, a child’s play and trying to pay respect to that, trying to show these pictures, trying to get some emotive feeling but you don’t want people sobbing when you’re out there, you know, opening the show, but you want to be respectful. So I just want to give you the platform for that. Because I’m sure you can find all videos you and Brian talking about your dreams. And 30 years ago that would probably either be fun, or awful. I don’t know where it is, but depends on when you see it.
18:54
I have no idea that the show you’re talking about I think was on Dundalk community colleges television station, which I actually took classes there for. I never got my degree because I was going to be a rock star. I wasn’t going to need it turned out. But But yeah, kids don’t try this tonight. Right. I believe it was called the lion’s roar. And it was actually Brian and myself. It could be interview. And I don’t remember. I think we had it though.
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:24
You have no videotape. I
19:24
don’t think I do any longer. I thought I did. But did you
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:29
digitize all your stuff? Or no?
19:30
I have not.
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:31
I got a guy for you. Okay, Greg Landry is going to take care of the transfers.
19:35
Actually. I’m sorry. I did last summer, digitize all this stuff to put together that that slideshow and that intro? Yeah. Okay. So yeah, that was that was a that was a, you know, a labor of love really? Tried to show the band.
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:54
How long was eight minutes? Maybe six, eight minutes.
19:58
Yeah, something around there. Maybe I think it was 10 minutes. And because I think we played it three times over, during the change or changes, Change Overs, typically between bands or about a half hour, so I think I made it.
Nestor J. Aparicio 20:12
Well, the first band ever so I’ll do that was the Eagles. At the turn of the century I saw the Eagles. Yeah, I saw the Eagles. It literally it was their millennial concert. It was in Vegas tickets were expensive. And you know, before I knew my wife, and they did a halftime video, right? They did like an Amish intermission, eight minute piece that became the documentary that we all know is the four minute four hour documentary of, you know, all their fights all their good, bad and ugly. That’s such a great documentary. But I think they were inspired a little bit by trying to put together what you put together, which is that it’s at a concert, we don’t want to bore you or make you cry, but we want to rock you a little bit we want you to be we want you to see funny pictures of us and emote and all that. And so it’s the first time I’d ever seen a band do it at a concert. Yeah, it’s Eagles though it’s not rock and roll. Right. I
21:07
mean, well, it’s kind of funny that the way you said that my journey with that was kind of reverse because I kind of for years, I’ve been thinking about doing a Behind the Music type of thing. Like I said, what you’re what you’re referring to the flippant remark, it would be you know, not, you know, where are they now or, you know, has been kind of thing. It’s just the never was it’s because we never achieve, you know, huge national success. It’s Childsplay. Right. So, I was going to, you know, try to maybe get a narrator maybe got to talk to Keith grower, you got to talk to me, but teach get nice, nice pipes, but I have I have a lot of video footage of us. You know, playing in clubs, playing covers, even, you know, I think I included some of that in the intro that you talked about. But yeah, that was that was really a tribute to Brian. And it wound up kind of at the end. We all sort of had in memoriam page with all the crew guys that we’ve lost, in addition to Brian. And, and his dad, he was our first manager really, he passed away during COVID. So I wanted to I wanted to do that for his family.
Nestor J. Aparicio 22:17
It’s tough, but it’s compelling. Right? Like really? Right. I mean, and you’re the only one that can do it as well, right? Like to do a justice.
22:25
I don’t I don’t know. I mean, I just I love that. I love doing that kind of stuff. And I’m a bit of a control freak. So you know, I read
Nestor J. Aparicio 22:34
Landry is finding that out today. So you’re not taking that picture Dan Rodricks out now. I mean that so that’s the last extra my phone.
22:45
Yeah, so we’re kind of birds of a feather. Right. So I
Nestor J. Aparicio 22:49
mean, independence. So instinct.
22:53
So yeah, so I mean, like, the first tribute we did for Brian. It really hit home that after doing it and his mom and dad were there. And of course, it’s a soundstage. You’re talking about sound stages. This is a year after he passed in 2012. He passed in 2000. And I, sometimes I just got to be hit a brick, I think I realized that the tribute. It was really for them. I mean, like, I saw his mom and dad sitting there. And, you know, it hit me I was like, you know, I thought we were doing this to honor Him and to to to make everybody feel good. Who were fans and of course that that’s part of it. But it really hit home when I looked at his mom and dad.
Nestor J. Aparicio 23:47
Well, the effort was the effort was well, I mean, that’s what we’re doing here because you’re not going to do that on stage. But there’s a part where that’s it’s look, I mean, you make a couple of bucks. You signed some autographs I was there last year family, your daughters, everybody gets to come and see you do that in that environment. But it was because of Brian that you still have the ability to do that. Right. Like literally
24:09
you right. And then the other part of it like you’ve talked about the emotionality I mean, after we did the child’s play set his his sister got up and sang one of his songs. And man, I mean that just slayed right, because they had it they had a video presentation that went along with that as well. And just watching that, like you know and not not being on the other hand not being up on stage or being in the audience. I mean, I don’t know how there wasn’t there. I don’t know how there was a dry eye in the house.
Nestor J. Aparicio 24:39
Sammy Hagar did a tribute the other night to give me the country started just died. Toby, Toby Keith, and they were really close. He said I just was happy I didn’t lose my lose it during doing Yeah, you know, because it’s hard. It’s hard.
24:51
It is man. You know, especially when you pour so much into things and you know if you’re really tired and I like it you know, it can get to you I’ll never forget there was when Charm City devils, my band got on to the Motley Crew for proof fest. The day before we started the tour, which is outside of Philadelphia, and Camden, New Jersey, I had an interview with this girl who like you, I’ve known her. She used to come to all ages shows down in Springfield, Virginia. And she was writing the article, I think was for Baltimore magazine. And she came up and she says, she’s interviewing me. And I just I started getting emotional about it, because I knew that she had known my journey, how long I’ve been at this, you know, as a drummer or whatever, playing sr 71. You know, all these years are finally coming to fruition where I’m fronting this band, you know, Charm City devils, and we’re going to do this entire tour of amphitheaters and arenas opening up this huge
Nestor J. Aparicio 25:55
Yeah, well, there’s also we you and I, if you want to go back to into the catalog of John and Nestor, the whole psychology of your drummer, not a singer, right. Right. Or, you know, there’s also that right,
26:07
well, yeah, I guess to a degree, when I watch bands, I usually kind of always gravitate, I always wanted going back and watching the drummer instead of lead singer. I
Nestor J. Aparicio 26:17
will always think of you as a drummer, bro, because that’s just where it’s at. Right? Like, your people. I mean, when
26:22
you saw me do for years, well, the people
Nestor J. Aparicio 26:24
that met me when I was 15, still treat me like I’m 15 I’m 55. You know, that’s just part of human nature. Right? Like, you cut your hair you can get in front of the band, you know, I mean, there’s a point where people still see Dave Grohl and see the drummer from from Nirvana to right. Yeah, maybe there’s some people I you know, I’m sure. But for you to arrive in that way. And you see someone that’s been there for the whole journey. I mean, that’s why I reached you for the documentary because I was with Greg. Well, documentary really happened because my son, my son convinced me when I started talking to him, he’s like, You should spike the ball in 25 years, you should spiked the ball. And he loves documentaries in general. And Greg hit me last year and said, hey, you know, I want to tell some stories and do some documentary stuff. And I’m like, Well, I kind of want to tell my story. But I don’t have time to do it. Because like, to your point, like, I’m not giving you a bunch of pictures and saying make it right, like you have to be involved in telling the story. Only you can tell the Brian Jackson, you have to shape it to. Yeah, I guess you do. I mean, so getting the script together. As I said to Greg, I’m like, he said, who’s gonna narrate it? And I’m like, Well, will you? He’s like, Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. He said, You know, I can do it good. He said, you have people that can really do it great. He’s like, give me homework. He’s, this is typical of like, when you deal with professional people, it’s like when you had producers for your band, you didn’t want to hear it. But then you went home that night, you’re like, alright, I’ll play that part. Maybe Maybe he’s got a good idea of playing that part now. 20 years. That’s what I’m saying. Yeah, well, I am 55. Now and if Greg’s gonna do this, so Greg said to me, no, no, you know, I’m not the narrator of my own documentary, obviously. Right. So, so I said, Alright, who would I get who would be the people? And I thought, well, the people in my story, so I thought a ray Bachman and I thought, this is a long, this is getting trending longer as we wrote a script on it had pictures and stories and videos and twists and turns and grace that you should get a series of people that like, you know, that you’re going to feel good about. I’m like, my call jomini You’re gonna want to do this. It’ll take him six hours, you know, to give me give him eight paragraphs, but
28:34
you didn’t know that at the time. I felt like such a turd. All of you. I
Nestor J. Aparicio 28:38
watched Gina struggle. So I started
28:42
to do voice work. The voiceover people are
Nestor J. Aparicio 28:45
Was this your first documentary voiceover ever, that I asked you to do something you’ve never done the first documentary? Yeah. Have you read a books on tape or
28:53
anything I know, but I’ve tried to do some voiceover stuff. And I’ve like, and I’m like, this is this is tough, you know, to overcome my Baltimore accent, and to not be monotone, you know, like, like, it’s not easy. And I sound like I’m 12. Two. That’s, that’s
Nestor J. Aparicio 29:11
a feature. I tried your Baltimore accent. So I started to think about like as it got written, because it’s going to come out in a couple of weeks, and I have a whole thing. It’s gonna come out right around the NFL Draft. So we’re trying to get it finished. But we’re only segments. And I remembered hearing Keith Brewer.
29:30
Yeah, he’s great. So he’s a pro.
Nestor J. Aparicio 29:32
I thought he did behind the music on MTV. He did before they were rock stars on VH one, all right. So and I remember watching the show. I was living in Whitemarsh I had my bedroom upstairs and my big screen TV. And I’m watching some great thing on like Sheryl Crow had a crush on her. Before she grew up in Missouri. It’s from the guitars. She’s music teacher at
29:57
the meeting. I met her wants to hang out she said As beautiful with our Tom rose house
Nestor J. Aparicio 30:04
I can’t talk that I met at the All Star game in New York. So but I sold at the end and it said Narrator Keith Brewer and I’m like my case that that’s
30:20
the name of that of course. So
Nestor J. Aparicio 30:21
I’ve reached out to him right away and because I thought if I had him do the beginning in the end, I could figure the middle Oh, yeah,
30:29
I guess you got a pro on the book before
Nestor J. Aparicio 30:32
he was nasty
30:37
so should a smoke cigarettes have that grab that
Nestor J. Aparicio 30:45
mass? Yes. I had the funniest thing how I’m gonna take a break because I want to get some crab soup. I want to hack John Allen’s here we’re hanging into we’re not hanging. I got Maryland lottery tickets were Costas. We’re going to be fade these on Friday, this Friday, the 26th crabcake tours on hiatus the 18 because I’m going to see Springsteen and Syracuse but so I’m in. And this will, you’ll laugh at me and we’ll break and we’ll come back because it’s going to play right into my theme of what we’re going to talk about in the next segment that you don’t know about, but I’m going to drop that song. So that’s that’s your that’s your clue before we get to final chapter 10. I went to Florida. Two weeks ago this weekend and Angelo’s. I was in Florida driving my back still hurts. All I did was dropped. Like we got there. We drove to Sarasota and then we drove to Fort Myers. It was baseball games. I was Luke chauffeur because I don’t have a press pass kind of themes. He does, right. So I dropped them off at the front door. It’s like well, we’re skating you. I’ll pick you up at 10 Luke okay, if it rains now on call me because I’ll come and get you. You know, and it didn’t rain. I had to come get soaking wet on the yoga mat. So then Florida doing all this Saturday, Luke disappears with his best friend in the world. Got a family in Orlando kids, St. Bernard’s, the whole deal. So I have two days free. And it’s Tampa. So I went late at the pool. And that night, air supply and Little River Band. We’re playing this beautiful outdoor facility in Clearwater by the Ruth Eckerd Hall on the wall. Sunset tickets for 30 bucks on the lawn. Beautiful place. I like air supply. I love little rubber band. I’m like, Man, I’m gonna go. So I go to a bar district. It’s a little like, clear waters, like everyplace else. It’s not completely. It’s a little patch together, you know, stuff missing downtown, and like, whatever, the park the car, and I go to a bar, that corner of the bar and my hairs out standing there and waiting to get up here in this Mexico region. And the girl comes up and she wasn’t like flirt. And she had a dude, whether it was been cool. And I said, Yeah, I’ll have two of those specific as in a draft and a glass and Bill. Thank you. And I pull my credit card. And the girl says to me, you’ve got a great force. Are you in radio? And I’m like, no, no, I’m just you know, you’re in a band. You sing in a bed, you’re an announcer you do something and I’m like, hey, you know, I’m going to Florida. Like you went Marley station law, just kind of like you know, I’m just doing my thing. So I buy my beer, drink my beer. I go she’s at the other end of the bar and what the P and I flirted with her away by. I’m like, Hey, how you doing? She’s like, I just want to tell you if you had a radio show, I listened to I never let on. I just thought it was the funniest thing ever. And so I’m going to tell somebody that story on the radio. Yeah, so mister radio voice so I ordered one beer. And she knew I was a radio. She was convinced I was a radio announcer That is crazy. But the ultimate compliments when she told me she would listen to my show. Say oh, you’re the one. John Allen this year. We’re in Costas and M three plugged that Toby M three. What’s going on? Plug. So May.
33:52
What is it for?
Nestor J. Aparicio 33:53
It’s it’s Derby Day? Yeah. So yeah, they may 4
33:57
And yes, Saturday so we Yes. Yeah, that was good. Yeah. That was even like perfect pitch.
Nestor J. Aparicio 34:09
I tried a new singer in a band and you know that you’re a singer in a band.
34:13
But when we played on a Saturday the headliners Queens Reich you know Steven Piercey of rat I will be doing all that.
Nestor J. Aparicio 34:22
I can’t sing. I can’t get that. Not this morning. Anyway. last
34:26
in line, which they’re all the guys from from the do band and they’ll they’ll be doing all do stuff
Nestor J. Aparicio 34:31
little Sabbath to enough? I would think so. Okay, because they do Iron Man or something. Right? Well, probably not that era because they’ll probably do some do. Where are you? Yeah. Okay. Think mob rules models.
34:41
Vinny Appice. He’s playing with him. So I’m Jack.
Nestor J. Aparicio 34:45
I interviewed him once he had purple hair is in that purple band of the purple here. No. Google that. I promise you Vinnie Appice he did my show. Yeah, it was not my show. No, no, no. We did. The mixed Almost Famous era that Okay, all right. So I’ve interviewed out of this group, Jeff tape. I interviewed the guitar player from rat that passed away. Robin Robin. I interviewed him. I never interviewed do I interviewed Kevin. Kevin do bro for quiet riot lynch mob interview George Lynch. I almost got a job once because of George Lynch.
35:25
So I’ve never seen him play. I’m anxious to see him play because a friend of mine is playing baseball.
Nestor J. Aparicio 35:33
I interviewed Aldo Nova when he was involved with Bon Jovi. Yeah, Charles play. I’ve been known him guys a long time. So I didn’t get a job. I didn’t get a job. But like, this would be a way longer documentary. If I just went through like my career path and my ambition. You knew me. He’s a very ambitious, you’ve known me my whole life. So I
35:55
mean, when you’re when you’re writing for one of the, one of the big local newspapers is high school, right?
Nestor J. Aparicio 36:01
Well, so I’m interviewing you and 8788 89. You know, like, now it’s Child’s Play era. So a child’s play era. I’m interviewing people bands. It’s what I did. It’s what I did for years. I you know, people minded this. So, by the way, I found all the tapes of David Bowie. Like,
36:20
I’m reading the book by him, and his wife wrote, right now I’m on. No, no, Angie. Okay.
Nestor J. Aparicio 36:27
All right. So I have all of these tapes that were from the Radio Shack when I lived on King Street, where the phone picks up. And it’s ello Would you accept the collect call from Mr. David Bailey from the UK? Yes, please. The bottom sounds paying for it right. Or the phone would ring and I know like it’s two o’clock and Billy Joel is gonna call me. I pick up the phone and I hit the record. Hello, is Nestor there Nestor there? Yes, this is Nestor. Hey, this is Billy Joel. So I have all of these like cool things. Right. So these are going to be in the documentary. The George Lynch story is lynch mob was playing opening for to other bands and I want it I’ll make it up rat and poison I’m making that might not be right. Was
37:14
it? Is it lynch mob, or was it winning with darkness? Because
Nestor J. Aparicio 37:17
it was lynch mob. 9091 in that range, okay. So they were playing whatever the shed was in Memphis, Tennessee. I had resumes, trying to get a job, any job, sports job, a job, anywhere because I was ambitious, right? I didn’t really want to live in Green Bay. But I thought that I was going to apply to the people there. I didn’t really want to live in Memphis. But I thought being the music critic of the Memphis Commercial Appeal would be appealing. Because I interviewed the big rock stars, because the Baltimore Sun and times mirror, which was the LA Times had access to it. When I would interview any rock and rolling, it would go on the wire, and it would get picked up. So if you were the publicist for child’s play, and I interview you, your story would go on the web, and maybe you showed up in Toledo opening for a band and they’re like, Oh, we got the story. There’s a Toledo connection, because it’s these uncles from whatever, right, then you pick a story up. So my story is went everywhere. And editors then started calling me the day that Stevie Ray Vaughan died that the woman that ran the Tacoma Morning News wanted me to write a tribute. Like and pay me $100 on the spot. Can you turn this over an hour or two? Yeah, I can do something for you. Right. So I was respected enough that I was trying to get a gig. The Memphis Commercial appeals rock critic. This is I think it looked this up. I had been trying to get a job there. And the the guy who liked me, this is a crazy amount thinking the whole story is crazy. The guy who liked me like me, he’s like, I got a critic here. This might things might be changing. The critic went to the show and reviewed lynch mob. And I think George Lynch got sick or something didn’t play. So the review had a review for a band that didn’t play. So clearly, the reviewer wasn’t,
39:20
didn’t attend. Right, so
Nestor J. Aparicio 39:22
they’re gonna make a change in that department. And I thought I was gonna get this king lynch mob. Yeah, like, yeah, and it turned out, I’m not making this up. And I will drop the mic on this because it’s a terrible ending. The guy who was the editor had a heart attack and died a couple of weeks later. And when I called back and his name was George and I’m thinking the interesting thing first, George Henderson’s Dundalk guide baseball, but I call back and they’re like, he passed away. And so the guy who wanted to hire me died. Now you can’t laugh about that, but it’s 35 years right? But the things in life that take you on a different path divine providence monkey would have been there for you that John Allen is here making me so tell students I want to talk Rockstar stories we come back in and I want to like, talk about that song writing and talk about Dundalk and talk about the Key Bridge in working man and Costas, and like how rock and roll songs are about my bottle, my wine, my girl, my job, my town, my hometown. Yeah. Good old boys making good old rap. Okay, we do that. John Ellis here. He will be talking about in three front getting other bands when we get them all. Sunday.
40:41
That’s the whole second day. The second Sunday is Bret Michaels. With D he’s a Steelers fan.
Nestor J. Aparicio 40:46
I had him on the show once Bret Michaels. We want the girl for me on the
40:50
whole either one of those things to get out of right now. We won’t hold that against he’s a nice guy. Dee Dee Dee Snider. Yeah, that guy. I mean, I’m such a fan of his. First of all, he’s got an amazing boys. Secondly, one of the best frontman I’ve ever seen, like my interest knows how to handle a crowd just has them.
Nestor J. Aparicio 41:11
You know, the problem. I saw them in the pit open for me, and I had my press paps absent had that picture that’ll show I’m talking about I had Bruce Dickinson and I was backstage with Eddie when they brought Eddie through the hole. And yeah, well, that show not anymore looming away
41:25
because, like, they only gave them like a 20 minute 25 minutes. Yeah, and d at the end of it. He was doing his rap and stage patter. And I was like, oh my god, like he’s really going on. But it was great. And he had the crowd 20,000 kids
Nestor J. Aparicio 41:43
doing this. This was the hot thing and you went to fencing? Yeah, pictures of
41:48
usage heat. They turn that he had them turn the house lights on, and the caps on. I mean, he fronted like, like nobody’s business. Like he just I think it was all those years and clubs in New York, Staten Island or Long Island. Wicked Wicked Lester. Just know that was kiss.
Nestor J. Aparicio 42:06
Oh, but that wasn’t enough bandwidth. Was he not? What did Lester are my nuts
42:12
knew you’re nuts. That was Gene Simmons. That was D Schneider
Nestor J. Aparicio 42:15
had a a connection to kiss. That was a band connection. Right? Okay. All right. Do you know more? Hey, you’re the real mask. But yeah, I
42:24
mean, but D is and just uh, I saw him speak at a CMJ on a panel, College Music journal conference years ago and just a super intelligent dude as well. I mean, he’s just just, I’m a fan.
Nestor J. Aparicio 42:38
One of the few guys it’s done me on Howard Stern. Night Ranger. I love Jack plates. Yes.
42:45
Night Ranger Kelly. Had dinner with him. He’s great. striper
Nestor J. Aparicio 42:49
striker. I always see that picture with a devil. Well, they always looked like the Pittsburgh Steelers, right? Yeah, they had like bumblebees, y&z won’t hold that external time girls. What a great song that is a great song.
43:04
I tell you even before that means Street and Main Street and prior to that black tiger that that was my first one. Always,
Nestor J. Aparicio 43:11
always always love faster pussycat, always pretty easy. Nivea. I love that I love
43:19
don’t change that song. cold sweat is actually the band that we toured with. Touring rat race. That was the we went out with them. That was Mark Ferraris band Mark Ferrari used to be the guitar player for for keel. And so we we we did a short stint with them in like, September, leading into Halloween when we were working on that record. It was it was incredible. Man. We I never forget the first night of the show. Like we first first night at the tour. We show up in North Carolina at this club called Cadillacs. And we walked in the back door they were SoundTracking and the stage vine blew our faces off because they had just come off tour with Ronnie James Dio so when you’re in an arena you’re used to having that Marshal crank way up man. And this was like a club you know we walked in we were like oh it was great. No because it felt like it gave us license finally to be really loud on stage you know because we had this great sound man who and it’s a good rule to live by. Is you were too loud last year, but Okay, well that has nothing to do with us that’s that’s my sound man. So well I’m
Nestor J. Aparicio 44:32
just telling you you know you can be too loud. Yeah. Especially now tools what’s happened but remind me that
44:40
but but we were always told from this really great sound and we had in the early days so if you can keep your stage wind down, I can use I can control it out here. You know even if you keep your guitars at a modest well volume. I can try to come through the PA so we always live by that we tried plus we had terrible monitor because we can never hear what we’re saying at all because we own the stuff so so then when you when we got to the point where you know we got to see Mark Ferrari and we were rolling and saw real equipment oh my god and volume and you know we your eat every club every venue had their own PA or they were renting so it was an hour so we could, you could just let ways
Nestor J. Aparicio 45:20
I’m blown away by the digital part. I watched the soundcheck with Tommy Conwell last summer down at Dewey Beach and I hadn’t been at a soundcheck for 20 years. Respect what you guys do is rockstars and all that but the fact that you can walk the room and get everything Oh with with an iPad that just blew me away and then when the show started it just sounded so great and to have the right person with the iPad.
45:45
That’s the other part is the digital recall from soundcheck now of course room changes when people get in it but one of the biggest factors like when you have a multiband Bill, you go up there and you do the soundcheck you work on your monitors so you got you know you’re satisfied to hear your voice, you can hear whatever instrumentation you want on stage. And then you get done after you know 45 minutes of doing this the next band
Nestor J. Aparicio 46:09
comes in and resets everything and it’s all gone. Right? So let’s put a memory like a memory seat in the car it
46:15
is so every time like I try to remember I’m like, Please can you save that? Because they can all they do is hit a button but sometimes they forget Yeah, they don’t do it. So you’re like you get back on stage and it’s nothing like it was at soundcheck you know, like just, you know, their voices and their whatever, you know, it’s just there’s nothing
Nestor J. Aparicio 46:33
that bothers me more TVs when I sit close, then then a person in a band who can’t hear themselves. And they’re there, because I’ve been the guy taking phone calls or I’m like, answer the phone. We didn’t help it’s a you know, it’s a much more of an ensemble effort than just the four or five of you on stage.
46:51
Oh, yeah. Yeah, big time. And it’s frustrating, like, you know, when you’re struggling up there, and it’s interesting, usually when you’re a new band, you just fight through it. But after you’ve been through, you know been on the road and had the luxuries that’s when you see the older cats will just they’re there they’re not going to have it
Nestor J. Aparicio 47:15
great too. I mean, you know, they really I mean it’s it’s we all want to look good here
47:19
in fact that night that you that we were talking about Iron Maiden to a sister one of my one of the most vivid memories was Bruce they can send to the monitor guy screaming just waving hands like you know, his voice was was was cutting out and and he was he was not happy. Now listen,
Nestor J. Aparicio 47:38
I don’t want to not promote Pretty Boy Floyd. Oh, boy, Floyd, I I pan them 30 really badly 35 years ago, so sorry, guys. So
47:48
the guys don’t you’re trying to the guy that produced our debut record the rat race record produced. I
Nestor J. Aparicio 47:54
remember that. I remember that when they came out and he and he spoke power
47:58
and some fancy. Yeah, went on to a huge career.
Nestor J. Aparicio 48:00
What else did he do?
48:03
Well, he really hit his stride. During the beginning of the American Idol. He produced crystal Curry’s first I think a couple records and
Nestor J. Aparicio 48:15
had huge hits a great sound. Yeah, dodgers sounds great.
48:19
So he’s just a great saint. Hell of a nice guy to just just salt of the earth came up from like, kind of the club scene. More south. He’s like in Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina area. Anyway, but the after that Howard was like the go to guy for hard rock like he did the pod record a really big one. You know? We, yeah, Youth of America, you know, youth of the nation or whatever. And he did like a ton of records in that era. Just just huge. his long career. Yeah.
Nestor J. Aparicio 48:53
Shut down when he’s here he is in stone horses. He is in Child’s Play on May 3, it’s a third or fourth and we get the dates right before four through the fourth in the fifth that is that we’re saying horses Derby dates Derby Day Saturday, and three old rockers will be there. My big appreciation to John for doing the document we’re gonna come back talk about rock and roll songwriting and themes of the working man because we’re in Dundalk, and it’s not like we don’t know anything about being from Dundalk. We’re both from Dundalk. We’re constants. It’s all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery in conjunction with Liberty pure solutions get me clean water as well as Jiffy Lube multi care. I am wearing my Oreos orange because the Orioles are playing today. I put this thing together months ago we didn’t know the bridge was going down. Ty Crandall is going to be a little later on my high school. Kimo Sabe, who helps run things over here and tries to keep the place running nice and we lost the bridge and it’s a mess over the peninsula. Get over here but we want to make sure we’re supporting folks over here as well. Key Brewing will be your Joe Gould will be your little later on. I had Mike McDonald on about two years ago here that we’ve all had at least one Dundalk calling if we’re from longer at least just to try it I’m back for more cost is John Allen is going to hang out and do another segment with us we’re talking rock and roll song ready stay with us
