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For more info on Jesse Damon or Silent Rage visit:
www.jessedamon.com
www.silentrageonline.com
METAL
DREAMS: Let’s start with a bit of history. You came to
prominence in the late 80s as the lead vocalist/guitarist with the band
Silent Rage. Tell me a little bit about how Silent Rage originally
came together and your debut release, Shattered Hearts (1987).
JESSE DAMON: The
original three members of Silent Rage which is EJ Curse, Mark Hawkins and
myself started out playing parties, schools, weddings, and fairs,
then moved onto Bars, clubs, concerts and Madi Gras. By the mid
eighties we were recording 24 track demo's with Paul Sabu as our
Producer, and after accumulating enough songs we searched for a
record deal and landed one with Chameleon Music Group. It was an
independent company from Hawthorne, California and coincidentally our
hometown. The A&R rep at the company responsible for signing us was
non other than the marketing and artist savy Steve Brownlee.
 Silent
Rage was signed to Gene Simmons record label Simmons Records for its
second record Don’t Touch Me There (1989). This
must have been a dream come true for you. How did that all
come about and how much was Gene involved in the making of the
album?
Yes, It was a dream come true for us! Let me start by saying some of
us were huge KISS fans, so to be able to seize this opportunity was
very big in our minds. Working with a high profiled rock legend such as
Gene and learning from his experiences could only help us in my
view. When he first contacted us he spoke to EJ. At first, EJ wasn’t sold
that he was really speaking to Gene, whom EJ held in high regard as
one of his big influences. But after Gene reassured him this really
is Gene Simmons and that he was interested in Silent Rage, EJ’s jaw
dropped open. He asked several questions and finished by saying
Let’s have a meeting and talk because I’d like to sign you guys to
my new Simmons Record label. We were all stunned because of our
history and musical journey that brought us to that point. There
were several times in the past that we’d came close in meeting up
with Gene and Paul, and we had acquaintances who had worked for, or
knew the band KISS, one of those persons was Hank Schmell. He was
KISS' Special Effects Director, in charge of all the Pyrotechnics
for
the band from 1976 through some of the eighties.
From Shattered Hearts to
Don’t Touch Me There you transformed from Tim Reilly to Jesse
Damon. What brought about the change and who suggested the
name?
There are two reasons why I’d chose to take on a stage name, or
professional name. I was purchasing new gear at Guitar Center in the
late eighties, and upon paying I’d found out that in their computer
system there were six other Tim Reilly’s, two in my own area of South
Bay, two in the Hollywood area and two in Orange County. I also knew of
another whom I’d met that lived in Anaheim, and to me, that’s just
way too many musicians with the same name. Coincidently, after
meeting with Gene and discussing our positions in the band and the
band name, Gene asked if we all were using our own given names, or
would we consider changing ones name to a stage or professional
name. I think Gene thought the lead vocalist should have a strong
name with no ethic background attached, and I agreed with him. So I
came up with the name Jesse Damon because I think it sounded like a
modern day James Dean. The original rebel…
I saw Silent Rage open for Black Sabbath and
Kingdom Come in Poughkeepsie, New York at the Mid Hudson Civic
Center. How did you get hooked up on that tour and how did it go
overall?
We were newly signed to Creative Artist booking agency, and with the
help of Gene and his influence we landed a tour to support our
forthcoming release Don’t Touch Me There. We got to
choose from two available tours that were seeking an opening act.
One was the Black Sabbath Headless Cross Tour, and the other
was 38 Special. We chose Sabbath! It was a blast to say the
least. Just being able to share the stage with such a legendary band
was a big honor. I loved going out after our set and listening to Kingdom
Come and then Black Sabbath came on and the places would go nuts.
The theater’s and out door amphitheatres we performed at were all good
size
venue’s, and most were sold out.
 Did you hang out
with the guys in Black Sabbath and Kingdom Come at all or was it all
business?
I got to speak to Tony Iommi at the beginning of the tour, but as the tour
went on, most of us were separated due to set schedules and traveling. I
was able to meet with all of Black Sabbath’s members and share a
pint here and there back stage, but as I said we were all on our own
agendas. Kingdome Come, same thing.
Silent Rage’s video for “Rebel With A Cause”
got some airplay on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball back in the day?
Tell me about the filming of the video and what it was like to see
your band on MTV?
We shot the video of “Rebel With A Cause" in Hollywood at the
Charlie Chaplin sound stage on the lot of A&M Records. Wow, it was a
big production, multi camera’s mounted on speed rail going back and
forth in the front of a 40 by 100 ft. stage. Gene was there to watch
during the taping to conduct and encourage us on. Also that day behind
the scenes, Paul Stanely showed up to give his support, and we were
interviewed by KLOS radio personality Jim Ladd. It was then
edited, and finished. We got to see it for the first time in New York at
the MTV Studios. It was just more icing on the cake, and of course we were
ecstatic.
Did you see a spike in record sales after the airing of the video?
Absolutely! We had more fans coming out of the woodwork than we ever
could imagine. Also, fans were greeting us on tour at the
front of the venue’s where we were performing at, I’m talking hours
before the show during early sound checks. It gave us a chance to
say hello and speak with them and answer questions, sign autographs,
etc.
How come
Silent Rage never got to sit down with Adam Curry (or Riki Rachtman
– whoever was the host at the time) to do an interview on
Headbanger’s Ball?
We met Adam Curry in New York, and he announced our debut of the video.
Rikki we knew from L.A. and the Cat House Club that was big in the
eighties. Mr. Tat himself… We never got to be on as a guest
with either dude, due to our touring schedule.
Did Don’t Touch Me There do as well as
you hoped?
If your asking me in the sense of notoriety and sales, I’d say no,
it fell short. But, in the outlook of how it turned out musically and how
I feel about the songs and production, I’m very proud of it. We
worked very hard on that CD, and we wanted to be the next big band that
broke from Los Angeles. I think it did moderately well, and of course
the radio single charted and the fan base was big, but you always want
more!!!
I
understand that as Silent Rage was in the middle of recording its
third album with Bob Ezrin when Simmons Records was shut down by
RCA/BMG. Was that a shock and was it what brought about the
end of Silent Rage.
Yes it was a mother fucking big shock, but no, that wasn’t what brought
about the end of Silent Rage. You can blame the grunge movement from
Seattle on that. The reason why Simmons Records seized to exist, is
because of Gene turning his attention and main focus back on KISS
once again, and rightly so. It also gave me the opportunity to write
songs with Gene for new KISS material.
Silent
Rage resurfaced when England’s Z Records reissued Shattered
Hearts and Don’t Touch Me There, and released
a new record called Still Alive in 2001. Was working
with Mark Alger from Z Records a positive experience?
Let me just say Mark Alger’s heart is in the right place, but his ethics
and royalty administration are yet to be desired. Nice guy, but not so
nice businessman. Just being honest Mark. Some of it was
positive. He did bring Silent Rage over to Europe and Germany, and
that was a good experience. It’s very difficult to be an American band
conducting business with a record company who’s based in the UK or half
way around the world. It’s just simply too far away. Their are
snags, delays, and missed calls in every business, but amplify that
by a thousand.
Now,
let’s talk about your solo career. At what point did you
decide that you wanted to venture out on your own?
It was in the mid nineties… I had written with Gene Simmons for
KISS, and with Bob Ezrin for Silent Rage. Then I started writing
with Kevin Beamish, and of course Paul Sabu, two producers I respect
tremendously. I wanted to set course on a new direction that
was different from what I had been doing and not come out of the
shoot with my first solo release being in direct competition with Silent
Rage.
You
released your debut The Hand That Rocks in 2002 and
its follow up Nothin’ Else Matters in 2004. How
difficult was it to promote yourself and what did you do to find an
audience for your music?
The first release ended up becoming a melting pot of all my influences.
It had some flavors of rock, some pop and a bit of blues and R&B
influences. Listen to Heart Of Love…R&B or Bad Bizzness…Blues rock,
Someone Like You...Pop etc. Believe me when I say any CD
launch is difficult, weather it’s a major release or an Independent. The
second CD was with a new production team, and they brought me to a
more contemporary place regarding genre and style.
How do you think those releases differed from Silent
Rage’s music?
Tremendously! Although it was myself singing and playing the guitar
and songwriting, it wasn’t pure melodic rock/hard rock like Silent Rage.
It was a softer side of me if you will.
 You’ve just
released your new solo cd entitled Rebel Within. It finds Paul Sabu
co-writing all of the songs with you and handling production. Have you
kept in touch with Paul ever since he produced Shattered
Hearts?
Yes, I have. Although their have been some lulls in talking to each other
from time to time through out the twenty two years I’ve known Paul,
we’ve remained good friends and work very well together songwriting
and recording.
What influenced you to bring Paul on board for
Rebel Within?
I felt the need to tap into my roots and write some slammin’ rock
songs. It was just time for me to return to what I know the
best. Paul is one of my favorite songwriters, and I knew by bringing
him on board and giving him the reigns to produce it, we’d come up
with some songs that would take you on a high octane ride, of which you
don’t want to get off.
How would you compare Rebel Within to
the rest of your catalog?
Rebel Within has more of a heavier style. It sounds more
like Silent Rage than any of the others, but I still feel it has a solo
artist quality to it, probably because I’m the one in the drivers
seat making all the decisions.
Was there something that you wanted to do on
this recording that you hadn’t done on your other solo recordings?
Yes, capture some of the magic that Paul and I had from Shattered
Hearts and Don’t Touch Me There, and translate
it into a consistent hard rock CD.
Tell us a bit about some of the tracks on
Rebel Within:
“Cry Out
Loud”
The Struggle for freedom, and what the innocent have to pay to get
it. Heavy medium pace rocker. Hard Rock / Melodic Rock / Metal
Rock
“Pretty
Girl”
The lyric says it all "Walked in and ordered sex on the beach, all the
other girls are just a nose outta reach." A tongue in cheek slutty rocker.
Upbeat tempo. Melodic Hard Rock
“Livin’
On The Edge”
Living dangerously. Living for the moment, making the best of each
day. Takes you high in the sky. Melodic Hard Rock
“Hell
Hole To Heaven”
It’s a high, octane ride around the world and back. The last dumps
you have to play before hitting it big. Hard Rock / Melodic
Rock / Metal Rock
I know that you’re probably too close to the
material, but do you have any particular songs on the record that are your
favorites?
"Cry Out Loud," because it set the tone for this CD. It was the
first song I wrote for this CD. "Hell Hole To Heaven"…there are a
couple for you.
How much touring do you think you’ll do in
support of Rebel Within? Will you primarily stay close to home?
Not necessarily. I would like to perform in Europe again. I plan to
go to South America in April or May, to Argentina and Chile. Maybe some
U.S. Dates as well New York, and some in the east. Also regionally
of course, L.A., Las Vegas, San Diego, up north… and so on.
What are your thoughts on the death of Tower Records
and the overall future of record stores?
Sad state of affairs…I don’t really want to see all of music going
to the download age completely. A lot of people still love
collecting the hard copy CD’s. Yeah!!!
 Is
this a better time to be an artist than the 80s or 90s? I mean
anybody can buy Silent Rage or Jesse Damon songs on iTunes now.
You don’t have to rely on getting your LP or CD stocked in stores
across the country.
No, it’s not a better time. I loved the 80’s and 90’s . You used to
be able to go to the stores and see your product on shelves and see
fan base going to buy a copy. Now everything’s at your fingertips
and its too easy for everyone. We all used to have to work hard and
earn a spot on a record label, and participate in helping promote a CD,
now you can record a CD from your house or bedroom and release it on
your own label. Times, they sure are a changin’.
So, what’s up next for Jesse Damon or Silent
Rage? How about a Silent Rage DVD?
As for myself, I will continue to song write and record music and
release it. I’m hoping this coming year to land some film placements for
some of my songs, and really looking forward to performing out live. As
for Silent Rage, I’m dying to get back and finish up some new
material we started, it’s been on hold because of busy schedules and
all our busy lives as of late. Would love to have Sabu for that one
too. As far as a DVD goes for Silent Rage, it’s a good idea. We have
accumulated a lot of footage through out the years, and I think the
fans would like it, and deserve it. In closing, I just want to say thanks
to Dirt from Metal Dreams, and to all the fans I thank you so much. If
your still listening, I’m still jamming!
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All
you 80s rockers should remember Silent Rage from their video "Rebel With A
Cause," which received some airplay on the original Headbanger's Ball back
in the day. Silent Rage was signed to Gene Simmons' (KISS) record
label, Simmons Records, and toured with Black Sabbath and Kingdom Come.
In this interview we speak with singer/guitarist/songwriter Jesse Damon
about Silent Rage and his recently released third solo album, Rebel
Within.