Brian,
I have a question or two for the ask Brian section of your website. From the very start, to the
point where you knew that it was time for you to depart from Kix, what were your best and not-so-best
memories of that time? Do you have any very dear memories that you can share with the fans? How
about an AWESOME road story?
— Chris
Chris,
Thank you for your questions. One of the most memorable moments was when we were asked by Doug
Morris (the then-President of Atlantic Records) if we'd like to be on Atlantic. In fact, that whole
experience of being flown up to New York City to showcase for the record company will stick in my
mind forever. There were a lot of ups and downs during that 17-year stretch, but I think the turning
point was in the winter of 1991. Things were out of control with Donnie. He and Steve had a fight,
which resulted in the cancellation of a month's worth of holiday shows, which in turn resulted in
our paychecks being cut in half for the next couple of months. That was pretty much the straw that
broke the camel's back for me. That's when I knew it was over, at least for me.
You asked about dear memories... what comes to my mind is our first trip to Japan. The reception we received was unbelievable. I received so many gifts that I had to buy a huge extra bag to carry everything home in.
Well now for the road story... this one may have come up in an interview at some point over the years so forgive me if you've already heard it. We were playing at this club called the Wharf in southern Maryland. This was before we got signed so we were still playing five sets a night and playing covers. This was a redneck bar and on this night the place was packed with drunken rednecks. At some point during the night the fire marshall showed up and informed the crowd that the place was being shut down because the crowd exceeded the club's legal capacity. At about that time, about 20 state troopers filed in and started taking peoples drinks from them. Well, the drunken rednecks weren't having it and a huge brawl broke out. There were rednecks and state troopers rolling around on the floor. The state troopers were trying to keep the rednecks from grabbing at their guns. It basically turned into a riot. We (the band) happened to be staying in the roach infested band apartment upstairs so we grabbed our guitars and ran out of there and up the stairs to the apartment. From there we had a vantage point of the parking lot, where the brawl had started to spill out. The cops brought in the dogs and turned them loose on the crowd. We could see screaming rednecks with dogs attached to their legs running out of the club. After it all cooled down, we went back down into the club to assess the damage. I ended up finding a couple of cop badges among other things in the rubble, which I kept as a souvenir for a couple of years.
Well there you go!
— Brian