Post by Rike on Feb 5, 2010 5:02:38 GMT -6
February 2, 2010
blogs.mcall.com/lehighvalleymusic/2010/02/bon-jovis-sambora-torres-tout-the-circle-world-tour.html
Operator: Welcome and thanks for joining us for today’s interview with Bon Jovi members, Richie Sambora and Tico Torres to discuss their upcoming Circle World Tour.
The tour follows the release of the band’s latest album, The Circle, which debuted at number 1 across the globe. The Circle World Tour begins in Seattle on February 19 and will include 135 shows in 30 countries over the next two years.
Each writer will have the opportunity to ask one question to begin. If time permits we will proceed with a second round and so on until our time is up. Please keep your questions focused on the tour and the music and remember to hit star 1 to ask a question.
We now have a question from Melissa Ruggieri with Richmond Times Dispatch.
Melissa Ruggieri: Hey guys.
Richie Sambora: Hey Melissa. How you doing?
Melissa Ruggieri: Good how you doing Richie?
Richie Sambora: Excellent.
Melissa Ruggieri: I have a question about your Grammy performance the other night. You guys were great and it was so cool to finally see you on the show. But I was just wondering why now after all these years, you know, Jon’s often talked about experience the Grammy’s not really, you know, you’ve always been a fan’s band kind of band. And how did this whole thing come about that you were asked to perform?
Richie Sambora: Yes, you know, I think they really actually came after us, you know, because we’re really, really getting ready for this tour. And I think it was kind of like, you know, when we won the Grammy a couple of years ago for Who Said You Can’t Go Home we wanted to play.
And they didn’t kind of let us play and this is kind of a respect situation where they came back and said okay we’re going to give you guys like six and a half minutes. And you guys can, you know, do what you want. And Jon came up with the idea of actually doing a three song medley.
And the interesting part of it was that the last part, you know, we opened up with We Weren’t Born to Follow which was our first single off The Circle album. And then we went into the Grammy song with Jennifer Nettles that we won Who Says You Can’t Go Home.
And then we had which I thought was the interesting part of it a contest. So the fans actually voted on the song that we would play. And it was legit man we didn’t know till the last minute what we were going to do. It was down to three songs.
It was either going to be Always, It’s My Life or Living on a Prayer. We had all of them ready, ready to go and firing. We rehearsed them all and then, you know, at the last minute that’s what they told us. They said okay Living on a Prayer was the one so.
Melissa Ruggieri: I guess Living on a Prayer wasn’t too big of a surprise.
Richie Sambora: Well, you know, we didn’t know. We was kind of surprised like, you know, Wanted their Alive wasn’t in there you know what I mean or Bed of Roses or something like that so.
Melissa Ruggieri: Okay thank you.
Operator: And next up we have Vincent Jackson with Press of Atlantic City.
Vincent Jackson: Hey how you guys doing?
Richie Sambora: Hey.
Vincent Jackson: I got a question for a million times but I have to ask. It’s a two part question. To what do you attribute the longevity of the band and the band’s success after all these years?
And also is there a band as successful as you you’d figure there’d be other groups that would sort of follow in your footsteps and look at what you’ve done and try to do the same thing so they could be successful. Do you see any of the current bands sort of following the Bon Jovi model of success?
Tico Torres: I think basically what keeps us fresh is the fact that, you know, we try to reinvent ourselves musically and listen to what’s happening sound wise. And then when it comes out to do a record, you know, it’s the writing. I think you try not to emulate anything you did in the past but try to grow.
And, you know, we got this theory of trying to evolve as musicians and as a band, you grow and try not to go backwards. Everything in the past can’t really help you when you’re writing a new record. It’s important to keep that in mind.
And as far as currency, you have to look at what sound is out there and when you work with John Shanks and people of his caliber you usually have the sounds that work in today’s market.
Vincent Jackson: Thank you very much.
Operator: Moving on we’ll go to Gary Graff with United Station Radio.
Gary Graff: Hey guys. How’s it going today?
Richie Sambora: What’s happening?
Gary Graff: Morning. So tell me about what the productions going to look like? You always come out with something, you know, fairly spectacular so what’s that going to look like? And also what are you thinking about in terms of repartee segway?
Richie Sambora: Well the repartee is going to be vast let’s put it that way. We’re going to go back and we’re going to play some stuff that we haven’t played in 20 years like, stuff from the maybe first two albums. And we have so many records to choose from and so many songs to choose from.
You know, when you’re playing - we sold out the three nights at Giants Stadium and I think we’re putting up four and five next week. I think Kid Rock is going to be accompanying us for nights four and five at Giants Stadium which will be a great show for people.
And then, you know, when you’re doing like 15 nights. We’re doing like 15 nights at the O2 in London we’re going to be a lot of different stuff. I think, you know, there’ll even be stuff like we might do Slippery When Wet in it’s entirety or Lost Highway in it’s entirety, you know, stuff like that.
I’m sure that we’ll do The Circle in it’s entirety a few times on this tour because we’re really, really proud of this record and proud of the evolution that happened with this record for us as far as musically and song writing and all that stuff.
So that that’s. So there’s going to be - yes it’s going to be a vast array. You know, we’re playing 135 shows over in 30 countries so, you know, to keep ourselves interested and happy obviously we’re going to pick songs from different records and, you know, kind of interject them into the set as time goes on.
And I’m sure we’ll take fans requests a lot of times fans also like, call into the fan club and say hey play Dry County or play some obscure stuff that like Hardest Part is a Night off the second album and that’s what we’re going to do it so that’s what that’s about.
Gary Graff: And how about the look at the production? What kind of things are...
Richie Sambora: Obviously there’s two different productions a stadium production and an arena production. The arena production entails thing where it’s almost like a half circle. It’ll be a ramp that goes off of the stage.
They’ll be in that kind of pit that’ll be the VIP section. And - but there’ll be also some tickets available to the public in that section also. And it’ll be 360 we’re selling in the round although we’re not going to be in the middle.
We have some crazy stuff. We have some robots. We have robots that actually move the video screens around the stage pretty intense stuff. It’s going to be a lot of fun so. Come see us it’ll be spectacular that’s for sure.
Gary Graff: Sounds like it thanks.
Operator: And next up we will go to Jonathan Hunley with The News and Messenger Newspaper.
Jonathan Hunley: Hello and thank you for taking the time today gentlemen. Apologize for my voice I’m getting over a cold. You mentioned evolving musically but I’m interested in if the creative process has evolved over the years. In other words where you get ideas for songs has that change a lot over the years?
Tico Torres: You know, I think it’s really about growing up I think. You know, obviously on this record there’s not a lot of boy/girl songs.
Jonathan Hunley: Right.
Tico Torres: You know, it’s not like we’re singing about like being on the road and girls and, you know, cars and things like that. This is a song that came - this is an album that came. We couldn’t have written this album if the world wasn’t in the state it was in.
Jon and I were really conscious of what people were feeling around the world, you know, with the changes that were happening especially in our world. We started writing this record in September.
We started - we got on a pretty good tip and we were supposed to do a Greatest Hits album and just write a few songs for that. But Jon and I really got on a tear as far as a writing tear. And then Obama became president okay so then we started feeling all this hope and all this other things that are happening.
And not even in our country but around the world, you know, because we are a leader. And then people feel the ripple effect all the way across the globe, you know. And then the recession hit so then there was a lot of feelings to write about out there.
There was a lot of stuff, a lot of people, you know, how people were reacting to all these things that were happening all over the world. And Jon and I kind of plugged into that and - songs like Working Man.
You know, people were losing their jobs all over the place.
And, I mean I related to it particularly because my dad worked in a factory. And he got laid off periodically where he had to go find a job. So it was a cycle that came around so there’s stuff that, you know, you tap into in that respect.
And our new single Superman is probably the only kind of boy/girl song on the record you know what I mean. But, then again you can take that into a place where the rescuer, Superman could be a fireman or a policeman or a doctor or a nurse or just a normal person doing just doing some good in the world, you know. So there’s a story on every street corner if you open your eyes.
Jonathan Hunley: Right.
Tico Torres: You know what I mean and that’s how come I think that Jon and I never got in a prolific rut because if we didn’t have an idea about what we were feeling we could tap into other people’s feelings about what they were feeling.
Jonathan Hunley: Right. Thank you very much.
Tico Torres: Okay.
Operator: Moving on, we’ll go to Andrew Leahey with Fredericksburg Free Lance Star.
Andrew Leahey: Hi guys. You talked about the actual like writing process. I was wondering if you could also take us into the coding process. You know, where you went, how long you were there, who was working with you?
Tico Torres: I recorded in a studio in New Jersey which Jon said that we’d been there done quite a few records out of there. It’s home. Everything’s set up there for us and this time a little different the way we record the letter. As Richie said earlier it was supposed to be Greatest Hit and then the writing became more prolific and more songs.
So we did them in batches. We’d go and do four or five at a time and within a nine month period. And also working hand in hand with Shanks, you know, again it’s an extra member of the band that understands us and that is working at that when we compile our songs and make them our own he’s really helpful in that.
The fact that we get to do it in a very relaxed situation and walk in every day and it’s not a strange environment. We try everything. We never use the word no. So, the song comes into our space, you know, melody, lyrics and vocals.
And some times we listen to an iPod back to hear it but it takes form in the studio. And we don’t go in there blind but that’s a work - it’s our work ethic to really exhaust every possible feel and melody to make the song shine at its best.
And the better the song the easier it is. But it’s the first time we ever did a record in increments like that. And luckily we did it and as Richie said earlier we’re very proud of this record because it’s thought out and it felt good all the way through. And of course we did more songs than showed up on a record and we try to keep the best ones.
Andrew Leahey: Great well congrats on the album guys.
Tico Torres: Thank you very much.
Richie Sambora: Thank you.
Operator: And next we’ll go to Mike Kerwick with The New Jersey Record.
Mike Kerwick: Hi guys. Thanks for taking the time today. You mentioned where you’re playing 135 shows on The Circle Tour. I wonder when you come through New Jersey and you have to play these, you know, the first three or the five whatever it is now are the new Meadowland shows. Is the preparation a little bit different? Or what goes into, you know, when you’re opening in a stadium what preparation goes in?
Riche Sambora: Yes I don’t think it’s going to be that much different. I think that, you know, I mean its home so I mean, every time you play New Jersey that’s the different preparation. I think it’s just because it’s home because I don’t think there’s going to be a big difference between playing the old Giant Stadium and the new Giant Stadium.
You know, maybe, Jon’s banter might be a bit different, as far as how he approaches his monologues and what goes on in between songs and how grateful we are and thankful we are that we get to do this kind of stuff.
I mean it’s pretty great. I mean, personally, when I’m getting ready to walk on stage I just go man I can’t believe this is my job. It’s a great feeling. You walk out there and you go there’s only a handful of guys in the world that get to do that.
I mean let’s face it - how many bands are selling out stages these days? Not that many so we’re very, very lucky and proud and happy that we get to do this for a living for sure. And we know there’s only a few people on the planet that are doing this right now so.
Mike Kerwick: Do either of you guys have a favorite story or memory from playing in the old stadium there?
Richie Sambora: I guess the first time we played Giant Stadium was probably the first time we headlined a stadium I imagine. Hey T is that right?
Tico Torres: Yes and that’s when we had the ramp that went around the whole football field. It was a walkway ramp that if you stood on one side of the stadium it was by the next goal post Jon would be way out there and actually Jon, Richie and you guys ran all through that thing. I think you needed...
Richie Sambora: Yes. Basically we were like in mid air. Basically we hung this ramp that came off the stage that went completely 100 yards and so Jon was able to go and get those people in the back of the stadium and sing to them.
And then (Alec) and I at the time we were on the side so I was about on the 50 yard line. So and we were hanging out in mid air man it was crazy. That thing was swaying too.
Mike Kerwick: Okay well thanks guys appreciate it.
Tico Torres: Welcome.
Operator: And moving on we’ll go to Marc Andre Lemieux of Metro Newspaper.
Marc Andre Lemieux: Hi guys. How are you?
Tico Torres: Great, how are you?
Marc Andre Lemieux: I’m doing great thank you. I wanted to talk a little bit more about the Grammy’s. Because it was your first time performing but you’ve been around for more than 25 years. You have tons of hit records. You were certainly deserving to perform on the show before. So was it at all frustrating during all these years?
Tico Torres: I’d say the high part is the best award I think we’ve gotten and we’ve gotten many and you don’t slight them and all was the People’s Choice Award because it was done by the people.
And, you know, the Grammy’s have always been more of a corporate voting system. Yes we’ve always scratched our head about that one. But it’s nice to be acknowledged finally.
Marc Andre Lemieux: And I read somewhere that you’ve performed more than I mean 2,000 concerts. How do you keep things interesting on the road?
Richie Sambora: Oh, you know, we have lots of songs to choose from. Obviously we are a band of the people and we give the people the songs that they want to hear then, you know, we have 15 albums to choose from.
And Jon is always calling what we call audibles just like a quarterback on a football field. And we have on our set list every night we have a thing called audibles which means you could interject any song at any point in time. And we sound check every day so we’re always trying out new stuff to play in the shows and that’s how we keep it fresh out there on the road.
And then on days off we play golf or we go see a ball game or we go to museums do whatever we can to keep ourselves occupied. Because it’s the other 20 hours in the day that we’re not playing and we’re not at the stadium or the arena that you have to fill up. You know, so that’s what we do.
Marc Andre Lemieux: Thank you.
Richie Sambora: Welcome.
Operator: And moving on we’ll go to Denise Neil with Wichita Eagle.
Denise Neil: Hi guys. I wanted to let you know that you’re coming to a brand new arena in Wichita that you’ve never played in before it just opened so that’s exciting for us.
Richie Sambora: Fabulous.
Denise Neil: Yes my question was do you all feel pressure to play the older stuff? And do you ever get tired of it or are those songs like old friends? Or is it - are you just on auto pilot? Or what’s it like to play those songs for the three millionth time? Hello.
Richie Sambora: Yes I’m right here. Okay I’ll take that question.
Denise Neil: Thanks.
Richie Sambora: Yes, you know, honestly lets put it this way. I’m not going to sit around in my house and play Living on a Prayer but when I’m playing in front of people and I’m playing it for people it becomes something different. And it becomes an experience.
And, you know, we’re proud of the songs that were the big hits that got through because those are the communicators and that’s what music is about the communication part of it. And, you know, I think I’ve said this before.
But it’s kind of like having sex with 70,000 people when you’re playing in a rock and roll band you know what I mean. You’re out there and the cool part about it is you know when you play a song like Wanted Dead or Alive or Living on a Prayer.
Living on a Prayer’s a song that, you know, is still current today. That story is still going to be current. It’s kind of like a timeless story. Everybody is (Tommy) and (Gina) you know what I mean. Everybody’s been in that situation before.
And to answer your question it feels good to play those songs. I never get tired of playing Wanted Dead or Alive or Living on a Prayer or I’ll Be There for You those kind of songs. That’s, you know, then like I said usually in the set we’ll interject I mean we’ve played different stuff every night so, you know, that’s a lot of fun.
And then we also play a lot of covers too. Jon will say hey you guys got any ideas for any covers and we’ll go yes how about Neal Young Rockin’ in the Free World bang we just do it. Helter Skelter bang we do it you know what I mean so.
Denise Neil: All right well thanks so much.
Richie Sambora: You’re welcome.
Operator: And next up we have Ernest Jasmin with News Tribune.
Ernest Jasmin: How’s it going guys?
Tico Torres: It’s going.
Richie Sambora: Hey.
Ernest Jasmin: Actually you’re kicking off the tour with two big sold out shows in Seattle. And I was wondering if you had memories specific to playing this market?
Richie Sambora: T we got any memories down there?
Tico Torres: Yes always bring an umbrella. You got to bring a little sunshine to that state.
Richie Sambora: Yes hopefully we’ll bring some sunshine to Seattle man that’d be great.
Tico Torres: You know,Seattle of course is I guess I don’t know if that has attributed or what but you have some very avid listeners of music there and muse they would call them. So (they’re) a learned audience and we’re looking forward to playing there.
Ernest Jasmin: Are you eventually doing rehearsals up here? Are you going to be...
Richie Sambora: Yes we’re going to be camping out in Seattle for like a week man. We got a couple of days coming up like actually 8, 9 and 10 I think and then we’re back probably 5 days later for another 5 days. So we’re going to be camping out in Seattle.
Ernest Jasmin: Really. Well thanks a lot guys.
Richie Sambora: Okay.
Operator: And next we’ll go to Gary Blockus with The Morning Call.
Gary Blockus: Hey guys. Happy Groundhog’s Day. Did you see your shadow this morning or did you go outside yet?
Richie Sambora: That’s funny man because I woke up this morning to take my kid to school at like 6:00 and they said its Groundhog’s Day and I went yes it is man that’s what we do all the time here.
Gary Blockus: There you go. Hey I wanted to ask you about how stoked you were for Giant’s Stadium but that already got asked. So you said when you guys were writing that you saw the sense of hope that’s going on in the country and the world when Obama got elected.
Now you’ve got all these tea parties, you know, the tea party movement going on which is kind of ripping everything to hell. What do you guys - how do you react to something like the tea party in the face of the hope that we had at the beginning of last year?
Tico Torres: You know, listen I think it’s good that everybody voices their opinion in life. You know, from traveling the rest of the world - what I enjoy the most right now is that America is viewed as open arms again by other countries and there’s dialogue and there’s a positive note to the dialogue.
And that’s worldwide and I think that’s important for many years we were shut off from the rest of the world. And I think that’s key. Conversation and dialogue is something that opens minds and voices. You know, I’d like to see more conversations and views from people in the United States personally.
You know, I haven’t seen since the Vietnam War and, you know, you see it in England. You see it in France that when people don’t like something they stand up for their rights. They stand up and show their opinion and picket and they’re not afraid of the government.
And I think, you know, the people shouldn’t be afraid of this government and should ask the questions and that’s a good thing. But I think everything that’s been happening it has been positive on that note.
Gary Blockus: No one talked about ticket prices yet. You know, in the face of the economy the way it is today things are starting to turn the corner. But unemployment is so high. What are you guys doing with ticket prices?
Richie Sambora: Yes I think that ticket prices are comparatively low as far as compared to like a band like U2 or if you go see The Rolling Stones or you go see something like that. Yes we’ve always kept our ticket prices down.
You know, we’ve done that and actually adjust regionally to different market places. Because we’d rather see people’s asses in the seats than not, you know, so I think our ticket prices will be adjusted regionally on this tour also.
Gary Blockus: Thank you.
Richie Sambora: Okay.
Operator: And moving on, we’ll go to Darryl Sterdan with Sun Media.
Tico Torres: Hi Darryl.
Darryl Sterdan: I just wanted to ask you about touring Canada what you think of Canada and Canadians and what your relationship is like with coming up here to play and the people up here? And if you have to tailor the set list in any way just that kind of thing?
Richie Sambora: Love Canada tell you why we lived in Canada for like three albums. We made three albums up there starting with our really big breakthrough album, Slippery When Wet. We did that in Vancouver with Bruce Fairbairn and Bob Rock. And we fell in love with Canada right then in Vancouver.
Went back up there to record the New Jersey album and also the Keep the Faith record so we’ve lived in Canada, you know, probably for a couple of years over those three records. And the Canadian people have just been unbelievable to me, unbelievable to us.
I mean we sold out like five Toronto’s and five Montreal’s on the last tour, you know, going across the country to Quebec and Calgary and Edmonton, you know, we do - we always do the rodeos and stuff like that so we got a great relationship with the Canadian’s.
And I think that - I think, you know, it was surprising to me and I didn’t know this but obviously Canada really has an affinity for country music. And the Lost Highway record really took off up there because of that so that was a really nice surprise man. And yes we love Canada man we can’t wait to go up there.
Darryl Sterdan: All right thanks guys.
Tico Torres: New Jersey.
Operator: And once again, it is star 1 if you do have a question. Also keep in mind if you are using a speakerphone, please make sure your mute button is turned off to allow your signal to reach our equipment.
Next up we will go to Vanessa Franko with The Press Enterprise.
Vanessa Franko: Hey guys. Thank you so much for doing the call this morning.
Richie Sambora: Morning.
Vanessa Franko: You know, one of the things I want to know about is, Lost Highway had a very national inspired feel to it. With The Circle, did you feel a push to go all out with the rock on the record?
And also Richie, The Circle really showcases your guitar playing. Was that something that just happened organically, or were you feeling the push to just rock out again with the new record?
Richie Sambora: Well, I mean obviously doing that kind of country tip on the national, whatever that national means, we walked in the studio to do the Lost Highway record, and Jon and I just kind of walked in there with a blank pad and a piece of paper. What is this going to sound like?
You know what I mean, what’s this going to be like? And we were all kind of wondering how it was gong to turn out, and it turned out to be a beautiful experiment that was like number 1 in 17 or 18 countries across the world. And it was an amazing surprise.
And then what happened was that the tour ended up being the highest grossing tour in the world for that particular year. And that was another nice surprise, and also our biggest grossing tour ever. So I mean, that was just an amazing experiment that turned out to be a wonderful surprise.
It created, I think, the next vacuum for what The Circle became. And it really happened kind of organically because, you know, as a musician, and I’m sure Tico will agree with me on this, as a musician you have to play to the song.
We’re not the kind of band out there that…I like to call it musical masturbation, you know what I mean? We’re not just going out there and kind of showing off our talents as individual musicians.
We actually play to the song. What the song needs is what, as musicians, we interject into the song. So Jon and I just wrote a bunch of really cool songs that were kind of guitar driven. You know, it seemed like they should be a little nasty.
Like the song Bullet on the record, it has a very, very heavy guitar part. The lyric deserved that heaviness, so the lyric deserved my kind of guitar stuff on this record. And it is a pretty guitar based record. And I really enjoyed making it. It was a lot of fun.
Vanessa Franko: Thank you so much.
Richie Sambora: You’re welcome.
Operator: And moving on, we’ll go to Sharma Howard with Norwich Bulletin.
Sharma Howard: Hi good afternoon.
Richie Sambora: Hi.
Sharma Howard: I was just wondering if you have any charities that you are working with in conjunction with this tour. I’m asking that question. I did receive a press release from a hospice organization with your upcoming tour at (Mohegan Sun) here in Connecticut.
Tico Torres: My own foundation, called the Tico Torres Children’s Foundation, and then we work with children of all aspects to raise money for them in the past and have done a lot of deployments.
And of late, right now we got sanctioned for the children in Haiti. And we’ve sent some doctors there with a group called Advent Medical and been successful to help a lot of people. So you try to do what you can.
Sharma Howard: Okay. Did you say that you sent doctors to Haiti with a group called Advent Medical, that’s correct?
Richie Sambora: Yes that’s what he said.
Sharma Howard: Okay thank you very much.
Operator: And moving on we’ll go to Jennifer Chancellor with Tulsa World.
Jennifer Chancellor: Hi guys. How you doing?
Richie Sambora: Hi there.
Jennifer Chancellor: You guys have come through Oklahoma many times in your long careers. I was wondering first if you have any memories or funny stories that you can share about your Oklahoma experience and your fans?
Tico Torres: I can’t think of any.
Richie Sambora: Yes, the last time I played Oklahoma …I’m actually involved in a company down there that drills for natural gas. And they brought all of their employees down and we kind of had a really fun time. I know there’s a - isn’t there like a restaurant or bar that’s very close like down the street?
Jennifer Chancellor: In Tulsa, yes, there’s several.
Richie Sambora: Yes, so I think we were in there having a pretty good time, that’s what I remember from the last time we were there.
Jennifer Chancellor: Maybe (Kazoo’s) I don’t know.
Richie Sambora: I’m not sure, I don’t remember the exact name. It’s kind of like a blur. You got to remember man, we’ve been on the road for like 25 years and, you know, we’re above like 2,500 concerts now.
So that’s a lot of traveling, a lot of faces, a lot of names and a lot of people and a lot of good times. And it’s really hard to like pinpoint exactly one great time, you know what I mean. It’s just really hard to do that.
I mean, when you have your first number one record, you kind of remember where that was, but actually what I was doing on that particular evening, I don’t remember. That’s a really hard thing to do.
Jennifer Chancellor: Okay which kind of leads into a related question. How do you guys gear yourself up for a two year tour?
Richie Sambora: What do you think T?
Tico Torres: We’re doing it now. Make sure everything’s okay at home. The hard part is leaving your family of course and, you know, we’re going to go out and get greased, where we’re doing up some smaller gigs in Hawaii, which warms us up.
And it takes about a couple of weeks to settle in and once we’re there, it’s a whole other world for us. It’s hard to think so much in the future, but when you’re in it, it’s easier. You know, you gear up because we’re the East Coasters, and we always felt that we got to put on the best show we ever can.
And tickets are expensive in any walk of life, you know, even if they’re cheaper than most or more expensive, either way. People are paying good money, and we want to make sure we’re giving them a great show. So if there’s any guarantees, I guarantee that.
Jennifer Chancellor: Thank you.
Tico Torres: You’re welcome.
Operator: And next we’ll go to Jon Bream with Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Jon Bream: Hi guys. How’s it going?
Richie Sambora: Hey.
Jon Bream: So I hoped Jon’s absence this morning on the call doesn’t mean you guys are pulling an Aerosmith and moving on without him.
Richie Sambora: Highly doubtful my friend.
Jon Bream: Yes I was just joking. Yesterday you announced a second show here in St. Paul/Minneapolis and the last several times you guys have played the Twin Cities here, I noticed every time I see you guys, that you guys draw more women to rock concerts than just about any other band. I’m curious why you think that is.
Richie Sambora: Not a bad ring, is it? You know, I guess I don’t notice. It’s kind of tough to see in the dark when you’re out there, who’s who, what’s going on, and as you get older your eyes don’t get any, so I get about the first 10, 15 rows and that’s good.
I think, you know, honestly if that’s true, that’s not a bad thing, but we’ve been drawing generations of fans now. I think that we have a lot of people, there’s like three generations of people coming to see us now.
I mean there’s kids that are just discovering us now through like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, and stuff like that. Which is very interesting, the way they’re breaking music now a days. So there’s that generation of listener.
And then you’ve got the middle generation of fan that is like between like, you know, say 25-40, and then you have people that are older than that coming to see us. So that’s what I’m seeing out there and that’s what I’m seeing across the world. But in Minneapolis, by chance that we draw a lot of women, that’s pretty cool.
Tico Torres: I think Minneapolis has 10 to 1 women to men.
Richie Sambora: We like that.
Tico Torres: I’m guessing.
Jon Bream: All right.
Operator: And next we’ll go to Andy Argyrakis with Hear Say Magazine.
Andy Argyrakis: Hey guys. Hear Say is actually a college magazine. It’s a national college magazine. And I’m wondering how the band feels like they’re connecting with college age audiences and just younger fans in general.
Tico Torres: I think it’s important. I mean as Richie just said, you know, we grew a demographic of three generations, and to see younger kids get into music. And I think with what else I see, like young audiences enjoying Santana, Hendrix, you know, Queen, some of your older music that was once on vinyl.
And that’s standing the test of time, you know, Led Zeppelin is still a big hit amongst all ages. So I think it’s fantastic that you can have that crossover and have that young audience, especially in the college age.
Andy Argyrakis: And how do you guys feel like you remain relevant on the radio after all these years?
Richie Sambora: Good songs, you know, just songs that connect with people from a lyrical standpoint. I think that Jon and I as writers were lucky enough to somehow hit a nerve where, you know, you write a song that is something about what we’re feeling, that translates to audiences across the globe.
Songs like Living on a Prayer, songs like We Weren’t Born to Follow is another one that became a big hit all over the globe because of lyrical content. And it’s about how people are feeling at that moment.
And it’s important that you write about what’s happening at this point in the world today. What that feels like and plugging into that is a very, very important thing from a songwriting standpoint. And I think that that’s what translates songs to people all over the world.
And actually not only to a college demographic but to all ages, you know. Even a song like Living on a Prayer. I said it before, everybody’s (Tommy) and (Gina). Everybody’s been in that situation before. So I think that songs like that translate to all ages.
Operator: And next up we have Dagmar Patterson with Backbeat Seattle.
Tico Torres: Hello Dagmar. Hello.
Operator: And Mr. Patterson, please check your mute button.
Dagmar Patterson: Hey sorry about that.
Richie Sambora: No problem.
Dagmar Patterson: So what was the experience like playing at the Brandenburg Gate? How were you invited to that?
Tico Torres: I didn’t hear that.
Richie Sambora: Oh to Brandenburg Gate. Tico you want to take that or you want me to take it?
Tico Torres: What was it?
Richie Sambora: I got it. We were very, very honored to be asked to do that. We were the only rock band that was there at the Brandenburg Gate. It was really pretty cool because we were standing there in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
It was beautifully lit and there was a ton of people there. And all the world leaders rom Gorbachev and Sarkozy and Gordon Brown and Hillary was there. So we had some friends there, but actually we were invited by the ambassador to Germany from the United States.
Actually Jon had known him and he had asked the German chancellor if it would be suitable for us to play. And we had been such a big band in Germany.
Germany ’s a country, obviously a little bigger than the size of Ohio, let’s say.
And when we play there, we do like eight stadiums just in that one country, so we’ve been quite a big band, always triple platinum and stuff like that in Germany. We’ve been quite a big band in Germany, so it was a good fit.
And honestly, the song We Weren’t Born to Follow fit the occasion. The lyrical content fit the occasion and the whole thing just kind of came together. And it was a wonderful moment. It was great, it didn’t translate so much here in America.
It didn’t come over here, you know, as it did there. But it was a really big moment for the Germans and Europe, and it was a lovely thing and an honor for them to ask us to do it.
Dagmar Patterson: Yes and you were there in ’89 as well when it fell?
Richie Sambora: Yes.
Tico Torres: Twenty years ago.
Dagmar Patterson: Oh that’s so cool.
Richie Sambora: Yes we were there, like we were there picking away at it, you know what I mean. What happened was that we had played Moscow. We headlined a Moscow Music Peace Festival.
Dagmar Patterson: Okay.
Richie Sambora: And the wall was still up back then. And that was the first kind of sign that the thing was going to come down. The fact that we were actually there playing, you know, we did two nights in Moscow to like 140,000 people an evening in Lenin Stadium.
And that was the first sign that the wall was cracking, you know what I mean. And that the Cold War was about to end and we were there before it was done. And then we went to Berlin right when it fell, so we were there.
Dagmar Patterson: Fantastic. Well thank you.
Richie Sambora: You’re welcome.
Operator: And moving on we’ll go to Larry Rodgers with the Arizona Republic.
Larry Rodgers: Hey there. I’d like to throw this one at Richie if I could. Hey, I’m doing kind of a large Sunday preview package for your show out there in Arizona. And of course I’ll be mentioning that there’s no doubt about the success of your band over the years.
You know, your record sales, the concert numbers you’ve put up and even things like the Grammy performance kind of speak for themselves. But I will have to at least mention the fact that there are still some critics out there that don’t want to give the band it’s due.
And I’m wondering that, you know, after hearing that issue and experiencing that over the years for quite some time, do you simply kind of ignore it now? Or how do you respond to that whole issue?
Richie Sambora: Well you try to ignore it Larry, and it’s not the easiest thing in the world. But I mean there’s so much good stuff that’s happening in our careers that it’s really hard to get stuck on it, you know what I mean. It’s like, I mean definitely it’s like, you know, you’re a boxer.
And you’re in the ring and you get smacked a couple of times. You’re bound to get smacked a couple of times. I mean, that’s what’s going to happen. And not everybody’s going to love you and, you know, we always just kind of just stuck to who we were.
Love us or leave us. And luckily a lot of people love us and that’s what’s going on. But not everybody does, so you can’t expect everybody to like you. But we were never a critic’s band, let’s face it. You know, we were always a people’s band, not a critic’s band.
And we’re kind of used to that at this point. But I mean, we did get some really good reviews on this record. You know, we got a lot of good reviews on our film that we made, When We Were Beautiful. And so we were kind of happy about that.
Then we said, you know, okay now that we got the critic’s reviews, now the record is not going to sell. You know what I mean, so it’s like you sit there and you go yes, I guess you can’t have everybody. And we’re kind of used to it like you said. What do you think T?
Tico Torres: I agree. I mean, again at the end of the day, it’s the people that come to see us and enjoy our music. I’ve never taken much for a critic’s view about films or books or other music.
I have to see it and hear it for myself, because that’s one man’s opinion or one woman’s opinion. So you have to look at the whole broad spectrum of what you enjoy and, you know, search it out yourself.
Larry Rodgers: All right thanks guys.
Tico Torres: Welcome.
Richie Sambora: You’re welcome.
Operator: And we do have a follow up from Gary Graff with United Station Radio.
Gary Graff: Hi guys thanks. I wanted to get an update on the Greatest Hits album because when I spoke with Jon in the fall, he said it was going to go ahead and come out probably some time this year. What can you tell me about it?
Richie Sambora: It’s ready to go. You know, Jon and I wrote a ton of songs and we hit a very prolific vein on this particular thing. It was supposed to come out first and Jon and I were supposed to get together. We’re going to write like five songs to get, you know, two or three good ones.
Two or three new singles to get on the Greatest Hits album, and we hit a nerve. And then all of a sudden the world started changing and there were lots of things to write about. And we just kept on writing. And then we told the record company we got good news and we got bad news.
The bad news is you’re not getting the Greatest Hits, but the goods news is you got a great new Bon Jovi record to promote. And we had enough great songs left over to put on the Greatest Hits. And so it’s ready to go, whenever this record wanes, at that point, you know what I mean.
I would think in my heart of hearts that this record will last until next Christmas, and the Greatest Hits will come out for Christmas or next year. And that’ll take us through right now this tour is booked through August 2011. So I don’t know about your dance card, but ours is pretty full.
Gary Graff: Sounds like it. About how many new songs do you think will make that album?
Richie Sambora: Probably three, yes.
Gary Graff: Are you going to preview them at all during the tour?
Richie Sambora: Probably not. We’ll probably wait until we put the record out. You know, because we have so many other songs to choose from so, but you never know. I mean, we’re so loose man when it comes to that stuff. Like I said we try to give the crowd the songs that they want to hear, obviously.
That’s very important because the fans come to hear those songs. They want to hear them, we love to play them, so there’s no big deal. And then, we’re going to play various stuff from all the other records that we made.
And like I said before we’re going to go back and play stuff that we haven’t played in 20 years that, you know, that’s how we make tours interesting, you know what I mean. We’re going to go back and play stuff off the first album, stuff off the second album that we haven’t played in God knows how long, so it’s going to be a lot of fun.
Gary Graff: All right great. Thank you.
Richie Sambora: Okay.
Operator: And moving on we do have a follow up from Vincent Jackson with Press of Atlantic City.
Vincent Jackson: Yes I had a little question. If it wasn’t for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street, with your group and all of its success, everyone would identify you with the state of New Jersey. You’d be like the band of New Jersey. And I just wanted to know has that ever kind of bummed you out?
If that group was in any other state used everyone would identify Bon Jovi as being the greatest successful group ever to come out of the state of New Jersey, and now you have to kind of share that title with someone else. How do you guys feel about that?
Tico Torres: I don’t know Bruce Springsteen, he’s aces in my book. You got to remember Frank Sinatra was here first. At the end of the day, you know, we’re a world known band. We play the whole world and our fans come from all around. The fact that we grew up in New Jersey, it was 35, 40 minutes away from New York City.
And all the bands that come out of that tri-state area, you’re talking hundreds of great bands that have come out of that area, you know, it’s not so much Jersey. It’s more the tri-state area that you have the biggest city in the world.
That if you make it in New York, you’ve made it worldwide, and we didn’t have the pressure of having to actually be in New York City. We were just on the outskirts. So that gave a little more leeway. But you still had to be on your game. And I think that’s come into play, it’s nice to be in the company of somebody as good as Bruce Springsteen.
Vincent Jackson: Thank you very much.
Tico Torres: You’re welcome.
Operator: Okay and moving on we will go to Alan Sculley with Last Word Features.
Alan Sculley: Yes hi guys. Thanks for doing this today.
Richie Sambora: Hey man.
Alan Sculley: A follow up to something you guys talked about a little bit early on in the interview here, where you talked about the need to continually evolve musically and lyrically, you know. And this album again is part of that process.
Now to me, this album also sounds very much like a classic Bon Jovi album. I feel like in a lot of ways you went back on a number of songs to your core strength stylistically.
And so I’m curious in what ways you feel, you know, you’ve kind of moved forward, especially musically. You kind of touched on the lyrical, the topical side earlier. But I’m just curious what you think that you’re doing musically that’s really is kind of covering new ground for you.
Richie Sambora: Well I mean right off the bat, obviously I’m going to touch on the lyrical content of what the songs are. I think that’s obviously growing and I think our lyrical prowess is getting more and more grown up, and more and more kind of plugged into what’s happening in the world today.
So I think that’s one of the ways we’ve done stuff on this album. We’ve also experimented with a lot of new sounds sonically. A lot of stuff that you think might be kind of synthesized is in there, or a lot of guitars that are just layered with different sounds and pedals and different things like that.
So we’re actually moving in different sonic territory I think for Bon Jovi than I think we’ve ever done before also. And songs like When We were Beautiful and Broken Promise Land and things like that. There’s all these different sounds that are coming in that we’ve never used before either, and different experimentations in that particular way also.
I mean there’s also there’s just the constant kind of flow of evolution. You know, it’s not even conscious half the time. It’s just - we’re just growing as a band.
Tico Torres: Yes, even rhythmically. Most of the songs have a palm energy to it and none of the records have had that in the past, which is a totally different way of approaching the songs. So if you listen back you’ll see the difference.
Alan Sculley: Thanks again.
Tico Torres: You’re welcome.
Operator: And moving on, we’ll go to Kelly Wilson with Phoenix News Times.
Tico Torres: Hi Kelly.
Kelly Wilson: Hey guys. How’s it going?
Richie Sambora: Hey. Hello.
Operator: And it looks like she has taken herself out of queue. Moving on we will do a follow up from Vanessa Franko with The Press Enterprise.
Vanessa Franko: You guys were just talking about the evolution of the band and the music and The Circle has a lot of textures to it. I was wondering how has it been rehearsing to bring those textures to life on stage, and if you’re going to change the arrangements at all to tailor it to a live show?
Tico Torres: We shouldn’t have to. I mean we’ve added, you know, (Bobby Bandiera) as extra guitar because there is a lot of guitars in there. And so basically the nice thing about this record is it’s as live as you can get.
I mean there is overdubs, but it’s not to the point where we can’t recreate it sonically. So I think we’ve done four songs live already, and are very happy with them. So we’re looking forward to doing the rest of them.
Richie Sambora: Yes, you know, it’s not going to be exactly like the record obviously. I mean the arrangements will be exactly like the record, but that’s the thing about playing live. It’s kind of different - it’s a little more bare bones.
So it’s going to be a little bit more bare bones but, it’s still going to have that power. It has the power of what the record has. So it’s not going to be exactamundo as the sonic quality or that whole thing, but it’ll be damn close.
But people will know that we’re actually playing and not lip syncing or something, you know what I mean. So that’s the good part about it.
Vanessa Franko: Thank you guys.
Richie Sambora: Thank you.
Operator: And moving on we do have a follow up from Dagmar Patterson with Backbeat Seattle.
Dagmar Patterson: Hi yes I was wondering about when you did the movie, the documentary. How did you decide that you were going to do that?
Tico Torres: We tried some writers and we tried to do a book. And I don’t know, things just didn’t turn out to be what we wanted. And it wasn’t really coming out. The nice thing of working with (Phil Griffin), he was out with us long enough that it became a conversation.
And therefore a lot of things came out by doing that conversation. And then the way it took form was a little more natural and you got more in depth about we’re about, so that really made it a lot easier to do. Again, you don’t know what you have until you view it at the end of the day. And we were quite surprised and happy the way it turned out.
Dagmar Patterson: Cool thanks.
Tico Torres: Thank you.
Operator: And we will return to Kelly Wilson with Phoenix New Times.
Kelly Wilson: Sorry guys my phone picked...
Richie Sambora: We lost you there for a second.
Kelly Wilson: I’m back. So I was asking, I know Jon does some stuff outside of Bon Jovi with acting and the arena football league. What do you guys do individually outside of the band?
Tico Torres: Rich, go ahead.
Richie Sambora: All right. Well, you know, obviously we all have our own charitable stuff that we do. I just recently got a street named after me in my home town. I donated some money to my old high school and I went back - this is going back about a year and a half.
I created an initiative that’s called You Can Go Home, and it’s about going back to your home town and helping somebody out if you have the way at all to do that. And I went back and this girl was the valedictorian of the school.
And she had all these scholarships and the poor thing started going blind. And she ended up having a brain tumor. She lost all her scholarships and her family was like kind of in front of the grocery store with tin cans collecting change.
So I heard about it and I said I got to get involved in this. And I created all this merchandising. I created initiative for the high schools in the area, like four high schools in the area. And I created a scholarship fund and I said look, you sell all this merchandising.
And you go out, the guy or gal that sells the most merchandising I’ll give the scholarship fund to, and then we got all the money to (Kelly). I matched all the money. I went on the radio. I created all this stuff. And my goal was to bring her home for Thanksgiving.
And this was like a year and a half in the making. And I brought her home for Thanksgiving. We had to like re-make her house, almost like home makeover. So, she’s got all these pulleys and stuff because she can’t walk, so we had to do all the stuff.
And we brought her home and I went on national TV and created this initiative and said, you can go home. Obviously, you know, Jon does his philanthropic stuff. I’m involved with a lot of session work. I get called to do a lot of sessions out here.
I do some movie soundtrack work and stuff like that. I’d love to do another solo album. I haven’t done one in a long time. But the band has been going so strong and so successfully that I haven’t had the time to do it.
So, you know, I get in the studio piecemeal and do a song here, a song there, that I write and place them in soundtracks and TV Shows and stuff like that, so there’s always a lot of stuff going on. Trust me there’s never a dull moment, Kelly.
Kelly Wilson: Okay.
Operator: And we do have a follow up from Larry Rodgers with Arizona Republic.
Larry Rodgers: Yes for both you guys. I was wondering, does Bon Jovi belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? And why don’t you think that’s happened yet?
Tico Torres: Well, this is Tico. I don’t know. There’s no rush I guess. You know, there’s a lot of great bands and there’s only a few that can be put in every time they have that. So I don’t know. Again it’s one of those things that we’re not going anywhere right away. So hopefully one day, you never know.
Richie Sambora: Yes I think we should get in there at one point. I do, you know, after you look at our track record and how many people that we’ve made happy in the world through our music. Yes, I think we deserve to be in there.
Do I think we’re going to get in? Don’t know. It is definitely a political situation. It’s almost like running for office over there. I mean there’s so many bands that should be in there that are not in there, you know, so you never know. Who knows? You never know what’s going to happen. We just became eligible I think this year.
Larry Rodgers: Oh okay.
Richie Sambora: Yes by some technicality. I think you have to be 25 years and our first single came out in ’84 or something like that, so there was something that was wonky. So we’re eligible now this year so we’ll see what happens. I’m not sure how that’s going to go, but we’ll see what happens.
Larry Rodgers: All right good luck on it.
Richie Sambora: Thanks.
Operator: And we do have a follow up from Andy Argyrakis with Hear Say Magazine.
Andy Argyrakis: Hey again guys. You know, I’m wondering what your take is on the whole social networking phenomenon and how the internet in general has sort of affected the band. You know, definitely in a positive sense and if there’s been any negatives that’s come along with it.
Tico Torres: The internet, it’s new to me, as it is to most people my age. And you try to keep up with it. I think it’s the future obviously. I mean, when it first had the downloadings free and everything, we lost about 80% of our record sales.
And I guess in an industry that marks you, promotes you for instance by number one, number two, number three records, it’s hard to show that. It stabilized. It’s the future and who knows. I mean I think you’re going to be able to download music through air without having units any more.
And I think it’s a wonderful device, and every day I’m learning more and more about the positive side of that. I guess the negatives, there’s too much information in the world. And how do you deal with it? The positive is that, do you have enough time to do it?
Andy Argyrakis: And do you guys think you’re going to come out with a DVD for this tour?
Richie Sambora: Don’t know yet, probably. We’re going to film a lot of shows, so yes I’m thinking that we’re going to. There’s going to be that run in 15 nights at O2 in London, which is kind of pretty cool. We’re really proud of that.
I think that when we played the Prudential Center on the last tour, it was the number one grossing event of 2007 and so that was a ten night run. So we’re going to do 15 nights at the O2, that’s kind of cool.
So I think we’ll probably film live, I’m sure that that’ll be kind of an event. I’m sure that the opening of Giants Stadium will be an event. So I’m sure that we’ll be filming some of this stuff. I mean, coming out with the film When We Were Beautiful.
We started to realize the reason we made the film, as Tico was saying before, we tried to write a book and we didn’t want to write this cliché, you know, rock and roll story about who did who and how much we drank, or how much we did or what was going on and all that other stuff.
And we were never that kind of band to glorify that kind of situation, so we weren’t going to write that kind of book. So we read the first two chapters in the book and quite frankly they were pretty boring. So we scrapped the book idea and realized that, you know, comparatively to guys like U2 and the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.
They were kind of documenting everything as they went along. And we didn’t document anything. We didn’t really have a lot of anything. So that’s why we decided to do the film. And so I’m sure that we’ll be documenting a lot more these days, so yes they’ll probably be something that’s going to come out of this.
Operator: And we do have a follow up from Melissa Ruggieri with Richmond Times Dispatch.
Melissa Ruggieri: Hey again guys.
Richie Sambora: Melissa.
Melissa Ruggieri: You had mentioned earlier about Guitar Hero being one of the ways now that so much music is promoted. I was wondering, with the NBC Artist in Residency thing that you guys did, you were sort of the guinea pigs for that.
And looking back, do you feel as if that was a successful way of promoting the album? Or did you have to give up a lot of other promotional appearances with other companies because of your commitment with NBC?
Tico Torres: Interesting enough, I mean we’ve always endeared things that are brand new and different and that was definitely a different way of doing it. I think the exposure was incredible and it was interesting to be able to have that outlet. But at the same time, of course we had to follow a format. But I think it helped quite a bit, you know, it was definitely unique for us to do that.
Operator: And our final question will come from Gary Graff with United Station Radio.
Tico Torres: Hi Gary.
Gary Graff: Hey thanks again. So is there a sense yet as to what the next single’s going to be? And if you know, can you talk a little bit about that song? And if you don’t know it, what would you like the next single to be?
Richie Sambora: Well Superman is the next single.
Gary Graff: Okay I thought that was out already, but go ahead and talk a little...
Richie Sambora: Oh okay well that’s the one that’s out already. What the next single would be after Superman?
Gary Graff: Yes.
Richie Sambora: I would think it would be When We Were Beautiful. What do you think T?
Tico Torres: I think it was any.
Gary Graff: Why When We Were Beautiful? Can you talk about that song and how it came about and what it means to you?
Richie Sambora: Well I think first of all in my mind, I think that should have came out second anyway but obviously it’s the consensus of people that make that decision. But I love that song in particular, I think it’s a great evolution for this band.
I think it’s a wonderful theme for what’s happening in the world today. I mean, Jon and I, when we were writing that song, we were thinking about getting back to a point where the world is a bit more innocent now a days.
And we were just talking about the internet on the last question. With the internet and everything else that’s going on, everybody knows everything 24/7. You know, kids know everything, sexuality is different.
Everything is different and Jon and I were thinking right off the bat lyrically, the world is cracked. The sky is torn, you know, so it’s like that’s true. It’s a whole different world than we grew up in, than we were promised when we were kids.
Things have definitely changed. Between the economic downturn and everything that’s gone on. So we were just kind of wishing that the world was a bit more innocent, the way it used to be when we were growing up, and what we were almost promised as youths, you know.
And that’s what that song is about, but it also could be taken in a respect way. If you’re in a relationship for years and then, you know, you want to get back to a point where the love is fresh again. And that innocent point is back, you’re looking to get back to that.
So it’s an eye of the beholder. I just love the textures in that song and the feel of what that is and the evolution of what that is. I think people will be surprised almost that it’s a Bon Jovi song. Yet it translates, but stylistically it’s still us.
Gary Graff: Sure I know, but with that about the NBC thing, I’m wondering, which of the four or five of you did the best change with that imitation at the end of all that?
Richie Sambora: T who did the best change with it?
Tico Torres:
blogs.mcall.com/lehighvalleymusic/2010/02/bon-jovis-sambora-torres-tout-the-circle-world-tour.html
Operator: Welcome and thanks for joining us for today’s interview with Bon Jovi members, Richie Sambora and Tico Torres to discuss their upcoming Circle World Tour.
The tour follows the release of the band’s latest album, The Circle, which debuted at number 1 across the globe. The Circle World Tour begins in Seattle on February 19 and will include 135 shows in 30 countries over the next two years.
Each writer will have the opportunity to ask one question to begin. If time permits we will proceed with a second round and so on until our time is up. Please keep your questions focused on the tour and the music and remember to hit star 1 to ask a question.
We now have a question from Melissa Ruggieri with Richmond Times Dispatch.
Melissa Ruggieri: Hey guys.
Richie Sambora: Hey Melissa. How you doing?
Melissa Ruggieri: Good how you doing Richie?
Richie Sambora: Excellent.
Melissa Ruggieri: I have a question about your Grammy performance the other night. You guys were great and it was so cool to finally see you on the show. But I was just wondering why now after all these years, you know, Jon’s often talked about experience the Grammy’s not really, you know, you’ve always been a fan’s band kind of band. And how did this whole thing come about that you were asked to perform?
Richie Sambora: Yes, you know, I think they really actually came after us, you know, because we’re really, really getting ready for this tour. And I think it was kind of like, you know, when we won the Grammy a couple of years ago for Who Said You Can’t Go Home we wanted to play.
And they didn’t kind of let us play and this is kind of a respect situation where they came back and said okay we’re going to give you guys like six and a half minutes. And you guys can, you know, do what you want. And Jon came up with the idea of actually doing a three song medley.
And the interesting part of it was that the last part, you know, we opened up with We Weren’t Born to Follow which was our first single off The Circle album. And then we went into the Grammy song with Jennifer Nettles that we won Who Says You Can’t Go Home.
And then we had which I thought was the interesting part of it a contest. So the fans actually voted on the song that we would play. And it was legit man we didn’t know till the last minute what we were going to do. It was down to three songs.
It was either going to be Always, It’s My Life or Living on a Prayer. We had all of them ready, ready to go and firing. We rehearsed them all and then, you know, at the last minute that’s what they told us. They said okay Living on a Prayer was the one so.
Melissa Ruggieri: I guess Living on a Prayer wasn’t too big of a surprise.
Richie Sambora: Well, you know, we didn’t know. We was kind of surprised like, you know, Wanted their Alive wasn’t in there you know what I mean or Bed of Roses or something like that so.
Melissa Ruggieri: Okay thank you.
Operator: And next up we have Vincent Jackson with Press of Atlantic City.
Vincent Jackson: Hey how you guys doing?
Richie Sambora: Hey.
Vincent Jackson: I got a question for a million times but I have to ask. It’s a two part question. To what do you attribute the longevity of the band and the band’s success after all these years?
And also is there a band as successful as you you’d figure there’d be other groups that would sort of follow in your footsteps and look at what you’ve done and try to do the same thing so they could be successful. Do you see any of the current bands sort of following the Bon Jovi model of success?
Tico Torres: I think basically what keeps us fresh is the fact that, you know, we try to reinvent ourselves musically and listen to what’s happening sound wise. And then when it comes out to do a record, you know, it’s the writing. I think you try not to emulate anything you did in the past but try to grow.
And, you know, we got this theory of trying to evolve as musicians and as a band, you grow and try not to go backwards. Everything in the past can’t really help you when you’re writing a new record. It’s important to keep that in mind.
And as far as currency, you have to look at what sound is out there and when you work with John Shanks and people of his caliber you usually have the sounds that work in today’s market.
Vincent Jackson: Thank you very much.
Operator: Moving on we’ll go to Gary Graff with United Station Radio.
Gary Graff: Hey guys. How’s it going today?
Richie Sambora: What’s happening?
Gary Graff: Morning. So tell me about what the productions going to look like? You always come out with something, you know, fairly spectacular so what’s that going to look like? And also what are you thinking about in terms of repartee segway?
Richie Sambora: Well the repartee is going to be vast let’s put it that way. We’re going to go back and we’re going to play some stuff that we haven’t played in 20 years like, stuff from the maybe first two albums. And we have so many records to choose from and so many songs to choose from.
You know, when you’re playing - we sold out the three nights at Giants Stadium and I think we’re putting up four and five next week. I think Kid Rock is going to be accompanying us for nights four and five at Giants Stadium which will be a great show for people.
And then, you know, when you’re doing like 15 nights. We’re doing like 15 nights at the O2 in London we’re going to be a lot of different stuff. I think, you know, there’ll even be stuff like we might do Slippery When Wet in it’s entirety or Lost Highway in it’s entirety, you know, stuff like that.
I’m sure that we’ll do The Circle in it’s entirety a few times on this tour because we’re really, really proud of this record and proud of the evolution that happened with this record for us as far as musically and song writing and all that stuff.
So that that’s. So there’s going to be - yes it’s going to be a vast array. You know, we’re playing 135 shows over in 30 countries so, you know, to keep ourselves interested and happy obviously we’re going to pick songs from different records and, you know, kind of interject them into the set as time goes on.
And I’m sure we’ll take fans requests a lot of times fans also like, call into the fan club and say hey play Dry County or play some obscure stuff that like Hardest Part is a Night off the second album and that’s what we’re going to do it so that’s what that’s about.
Gary Graff: And how about the look at the production? What kind of things are...
Richie Sambora: Obviously there’s two different productions a stadium production and an arena production. The arena production entails thing where it’s almost like a half circle. It’ll be a ramp that goes off of the stage.
They’ll be in that kind of pit that’ll be the VIP section. And - but there’ll be also some tickets available to the public in that section also. And it’ll be 360 we’re selling in the round although we’re not going to be in the middle.
We have some crazy stuff. We have some robots. We have robots that actually move the video screens around the stage pretty intense stuff. It’s going to be a lot of fun so. Come see us it’ll be spectacular that’s for sure.
Gary Graff: Sounds like it thanks.
Operator: And next up we will go to Jonathan Hunley with The News and Messenger Newspaper.
Jonathan Hunley: Hello and thank you for taking the time today gentlemen. Apologize for my voice I’m getting over a cold. You mentioned evolving musically but I’m interested in if the creative process has evolved over the years. In other words where you get ideas for songs has that change a lot over the years?
Tico Torres: You know, I think it’s really about growing up I think. You know, obviously on this record there’s not a lot of boy/girl songs.
Jonathan Hunley: Right.
Tico Torres: You know, it’s not like we’re singing about like being on the road and girls and, you know, cars and things like that. This is a song that came - this is an album that came. We couldn’t have written this album if the world wasn’t in the state it was in.
Jon and I were really conscious of what people were feeling around the world, you know, with the changes that were happening especially in our world. We started writing this record in September.
We started - we got on a pretty good tip and we were supposed to do a Greatest Hits album and just write a few songs for that. But Jon and I really got on a tear as far as a writing tear. And then Obama became president okay so then we started feeling all this hope and all this other things that are happening.
And not even in our country but around the world, you know, because we are a leader. And then people feel the ripple effect all the way across the globe, you know. And then the recession hit so then there was a lot of feelings to write about out there.
There was a lot of stuff, a lot of people, you know, how people were reacting to all these things that were happening all over the world. And Jon and I kind of plugged into that and - songs like Working Man.
You know, people were losing their jobs all over the place.
And, I mean I related to it particularly because my dad worked in a factory. And he got laid off periodically where he had to go find a job. So it was a cycle that came around so there’s stuff that, you know, you tap into in that respect.
And our new single Superman is probably the only kind of boy/girl song on the record you know what I mean. But, then again you can take that into a place where the rescuer, Superman could be a fireman or a policeman or a doctor or a nurse or just a normal person doing just doing some good in the world, you know. So there’s a story on every street corner if you open your eyes.
Jonathan Hunley: Right.
Tico Torres: You know what I mean and that’s how come I think that Jon and I never got in a prolific rut because if we didn’t have an idea about what we were feeling we could tap into other people’s feelings about what they were feeling.
Jonathan Hunley: Right. Thank you very much.
Tico Torres: Okay.
Operator: Moving on, we’ll go to Andrew Leahey with Fredericksburg Free Lance Star.
Andrew Leahey: Hi guys. You talked about the actual like writing process. I was wondering if you could also take us into the coding process. You know, where you went, how long you were there, who was working with you?
Tico Torres: I recorded in a studio in New Jersey which Jon said that we’d been there done quite a few records out of there. It’s home. Everything’s set up there for us and this time a little different the way we record the letter. As Richie said earlier it was supposed to be Greatest Hit and then the writing became more prolific and more songs.
So we did them in batches. We’d go and do four or five at a time and within a nine month period. And also working hand in hand with Shanks, you know, again it’s an extra member of the band that understands us and that is working at that when we compile our songs and make them our own he’s really helpful in that.
The fact that we get to do it in a very relaxed situation and walk in every day and it’s not a strange environment. We try everything. We never use the word no. So, the song comes into our space, you know, melody, lyrics and vocals.
And some times we listen to an iPod back to hear it but it takes form in the studio. And we don’t go in there blind but that’s a work - it’s our work ethic to really exhaust every possible feel and melody to make the song shine at its best.
And the better the song the easier it is. But it’s the first time we ever did a record in increments like that. And luckily we did it and as Richie said earlier we’re very proud of this record because it’s thought out and it felt good all the way through. And of course we did more songs than showed up on a record and we try to keep the best ones.
Andrew Leahey: Great well congrats on the album guys.
Tico Torres: Thank you very much.
Richie Sambora: Thank you.
Operator: And next we’ll go to Mike Kerwick with The New Jersey Record.
Mike Kerwick: Hi guys. Thanks for taking the time today. You mentioned where you’re playing 135 shows on The Circle Tour. I wonder when you come through New Jersey and you have to play these, you know, the first three or the five whatever it is now are the new Meadowland shows. Is the preparation a little bit different? Or what goes into, you know, when you’re opening in a stadium what preparation goes in?
Riche Sambora: Yes I don’t think it’s going to be that much different. I think that, you know, I mean its home so I mean, every time you play New Jersey that’s the different preparation. I think it’s just because it’s home because I don’t think there’s going to be a big difference between playing the old Giant Stadium and the new Giant Stadium.
You know, maybe, Jon’s banter might be a bit different, as far as how he approaches his monologues and what goes on in between songs and how grateful we are and thankful we are that we get to do this kind of stuff.
I mean it’s pretty great. I mean, personally, when I’m getting ready to walk on stage I just go man I can’t believe this is my job. It’s a great feeling. You walk out there and you go there’s only a handful of guys in the world that get to do that.
I mean let’s face it - how many bands are selling out stages these days? Not that many so we’re very, very lucky and proud and happy that we get to do this for a living for sure. And we know there’s only a few people on the planet that are doing this right now so.
Mike Kerwick: Do either of you guys have a favorite story or memory from playing in the old stadium there?
Richie Sambora: I guess the first time we played Giant Stadium was probably the first time we headlined a stadium I imagine. Hey T is that right?
Tico Torres: Yes and that’s when we had the ramp that went around the whole football field. It was a walkway ramp that if you stood on one side of the stadium it was by the next goal post Jon would be way out there and actually Jon, Richie and you guys ran all through that thing. I think you needed...
Richie Sambora: Yes. Basically we were like in mid air. Basically we hung this ramp that came off the stage that went completely 100 yards and so Jon was able to go and get those people in the back of the stadium and sing to them.
And then (Alec) and I at the time we were on the side so I was about on the 50 yard line. So and we were hanging out in mid air man it was crazy. That thing was swaying too.
Mike Kerwick: Okay well thanks guys appreciate it.
Tico Torres: Welcome.
Operator: And moving on we’ll go to Marc Andre Lemieux of Metro Newspaper.
Marc Andre Lemieux: Hi guys. How are you?
Tico Torres: Great, how are you?
Marc Andre Lemieux: I’m doing great thank you. I wanted to talk a little bit more about the Grammy’s. Because it was your first time performing but you’ve been around for more than 25 years. You have tons of hit records. You were certainly deserving to perform on the show before. So was it at all frustrating during all these years?
Tico Torres: I’d say the high part is the best award I think we’ve gotten and we’ve gotten many and you don’t slight them and all was the People’s Choice Award because it was done by the people.
And, you know, the Grammy’s have always been more of a corporate voting system. Yes we’ve always scratched our head about that one. But it’s nice to be acknowledged finally.
Marc Andre Lemieux: And I read somewhere that you’ve performed more than I mean 2,000 concerts. How do you keep things interesting on the road?
Richie Sambora: Oh, you know, we have lots of songs to choose from. Obviously we are a band of the people and we give the people the songs that they want to hear then, you know, we have 15 albums to choose from.
And Jon is always calling what we call audibles just like a quarterback on a football field. And we have on our set list every night we have a thing called audibles which means you could interject any song at any point in time. And we sound check every day so we’re always trying out new stuff to play in the shows and that’s how we keep it fresh out there on the road.
And then on days off we play golf or we go see a ball game or we go to museums do whatever we can to keep ourselves occupied. Because it’s the other 20 hours in the day that we’re not playing and we’re not at the stadium or the arena that you have to fill up. You know, so that’s what we do.
Marc Andre Lemieux: Thank you.
Richie Sambora: Welcome.
Operator: And moving on we’ll go to Denise Neil with Wichita Eagle.
Denise Neil: Hi guys. I wanted to let you know that you’re coming to a brand new arena in Wichita that you’ve never played in before it just opened so that’s exciting for us.
Richie Sambora: Fabulous.
Denise Neil: Yes my question was do you all feel pressure to play the older stuff? And do you ever get tired of it or are those songs like old friends? Or is it - are you just on auto pilot? Or what’s it like to play those songs for the three millionth time? Hello.
Richie Sambora: Yes I’m right here. Okay I’ll take that question.
Denise Neil: Thanks.
Richie Sambora: Yes, you know, honestly lets put it this way. I’m not going to sit around in my house and play Living on a Prayer but when I’m playing in front of people and I’m playing it for people it becomes something different. And it becomes an experience.
And, you know, we’re proud of the songs that were the big hits that got through because those are the communicators and that’s what music is about the communication part of it. And, you know, I think I’ve said this before.
But it’s kind of like having sex with 70,000 people when you’re playing in a rock and roll band you know what I mean. You’re out there and the cool part about it is you know when you play a song like Wanted Dead or Alive or Living on a Prayer.
Living on a Prayer’s a song that, you know, is still current today. That story is still going to be current. It’s kind of like a timeless story. Everybody is (Tommy) and (Gina) you know what I mean. Everybody’s been in that situation before.
And to answer your question it feels good to play those songs. I never get tired of playing Wanted Dead or Alive or Living on a Prayer or I’ll Be There for You those kind of songs. That’s, you know, then like I said usually in the set we’ll interject I mean we’ve played different stuff every night so, you know, that’s a lot of fun.
And then we also play a lot of covers too. Jon will say hey you guys got any ideas for any covers and we’ll go yes how about Neal Young Rockin’ in the Free World bang we just do it. Helter Skelter bang we do it you know what I mean so.
Denise Neil: All right well thanks so much.
Richie Sambora: You’re welcome.
Operator: And next up we have Ernest Jasmin with News Tribune.
Ernest Jasmin: How’s it going guys?
Tico Torres: It’s going.
Richie Sambora: Hey.
Ernest Jasmin: Actually you’re kicking off the tour with two big sold out shows in Seattle. And I was wondering if you had memories specific to playing this market?
Richie Sambora: T we got any memories down there?
Tico Torres: Yes always bring an umbrella. You got to bring a little sunshine to that state.
Richie Sambora: Yes hopefully we’ll bring some sunshine to Seattle man that’d be great.
Tico Torres: You know,Seattle of course is I guess I don’t know if that has attributed or what but you have some very avid listeners of music there and muse they would call them. So (they’re) a learned audience and we’re looking forward to playing there.
Ernest Jasmin: Are you eventually doing rehearsals up here? Are you going to be...
Richie Sambora: Yes we’re going to be camping out in Seattle for like a week man. We got a couple of days coming up like actually 8, 9 and 10 I think and then we’re back probably 5 days later for another 5 days. So we’re going to be camping out in Seattle.
Ernest Jasmin: Really. Well thanks a lot guys.
Richie Sambora: Okay.
Operator: And next we’ll go to Gary Blockus with The Morning Call.
Gary Blockus: Hey guys. Happy Groundhog’s Day. Did you see your shadow this morning or did you go outside yet?
Richie Sambora: That’s funny man because I woke up this morning to take my kid to school at like 6:00 and they said its Groundhog’s Day and I went yes it is man that’s what we do all the time here.
Gary Blockus: There you go. Hey I wanted to ask you about how stoked you were for Giant’s Stadium but that already got asked. So you said when you guys were writing that you saw the sense of hope that’s going on in the country and the world when Obama got elected.
Now you’ve got all these tea parties, you know, the tea party movement going on which is kind of ripping everything to hell. What do you guys - how do you react to something like the tea party in the face of the hope that we had at the beginning of last year?
Tico Torres: You know, listen I think it’s good that everybody voices their opinion in life. You know, from traveling the rest of the world - what I enjoy the most right now is that America is viewed as open arms again by other countries and there’s dialogue and there’s a positive note to the dialogue.
And that’s worldwide and I think that’s important for many years we were shut off from the rest of the world. And I think that’s key. Conversation and dialogue is something that opens minds and voices. You know, I’d like to see more conversations and views from people in the United States personally.
You know, I haven’t seen since the Vietnam War and, you know, you see it in England. You see it in France that when people don’t like something they stand up for their rights. They stand up and show their opinion and picket and they’re not afraid of the government.
And I think, you know, the people shouldn’t be afraid of this government and should ask the questions and that’s a good thing. But I think everything that’s been happening it has been positive on that note.
Gary Blockus: No one talked about ticket prices yet. You know, in the face of the economy the way it is today things are starting to turn the corner. But unemployment is so high. What are you guys doing with ticket prices?
Richie Sambora: Yes I think that ticket prices are comparatively low as far as compared to like a band like U2 or if you go see The Rolling Stones or you go see something like that. Yes we’ve always kept our ticket prices down.
You know, we’ve done that and actually adjust regionally to different market places. Because we’d rather see people’s asses in the seats than not, you know, so I think our ticket prices will be adjusted regionally on this tour also.
Gary Blockus: Thank you.
Richie Sambora: Okay.
Operator: And moving on, we’ll go to Darryl Sterdan with Sun Media.
Tico Torres: Hi Darryl.
Darryl Sterdan: I just wanted to ask you about touring Canada what you think of Canada and Canadians and what your relationship is like with coming up here to play and the people up here? And if you have to tailor the set list in any way just that kind of thing?
Richie Sambora: Love Canada tell you why we lived in Canada for like three albums. We made three albums up there starting with our really big breakthrough album, Slippery When Wet. We did that in Vancouver with Bruce Fairbairn and Bob Rock. And we fell in love with Canada right then in Vancouver.
Went back up there to record the New Jersey album and also the Keep the Faith record so we’ve lived in Canada, you know, probably for a couple of years over those three records. And the Canadian people have just been unbelievable to me, unbelievable to us.
I mean we sold out like five Toronto’s and five Montreal’s on the last tour, you know, going across the country to Quebec and Calgary and Edmonton, you know, we do - we always do the rodeos and stuff like that so we got a great relationship with the Canadian’s.
And I think that - I think, you know, it was surprising to me and I didn’t know this but obviously Canada really has an affinity for country music. And the Lost Highway record really took off up there because of that so that was a really nice surprise man. And yes we love Canada man we can’t wait to go up there.
Darryl Sterdan: All right thanks guys.
Tico Torres: New Jersey.
Operator: And once again, it is star 1 if you do have a question. Also keep in mind if you are using a speakerphone, please make sure your mute button is turned off to allow your signal to reach our equipment.
Next up we will go to Vanessa Franko with The Press Enterprise.
Vanessa Franko: Hey guys. Thank you so much for doing the call this morning.
Richie Sambora: Morning.
Vanessa Franko: You know, one of the things I want to know about is, Lost Highway had a very national inspired feel to it. With The Circle, did you feel a push to go all out with the rock on the record?
And also Richie, The Circle really showcases your guitar playing. Was that something that just happened organically, or were you feeling the push to just rock out again with the new record?
Richie Sambora: Well, I mean obviously doing that kind of country tip on the national, whatever that national means, we walked in the studio to do the Lost Highway record, and Jon and I just kind of walked in there with a blank pad and a piece of paper. What is this going to sound like?
You know what I mean, what’s this going to be like? And we were all kind of wondering how it was gong to turn out, and it turned out to be a beautiful experiment that was like number 1 in 17 or 18 countries across the world. And it was an amazing surprise.
And then what happened was that the tour ended up being the highest grossing tour in the world for that particular year. And that was another nice surprise, and also our biggest grossing tour ever. So I mean, that was just an amazing experiment that turned out to be a wonderful surprise.
It created, I think, the next vacuum for what The Circle became. And it really happened kind of organically because, you know, as a musician, and I’m sure Tico will agree with me on this, as a musician you have to play to the song.
We’re not the kind of band out there that…I like to call it musical masturbation, you know what I mean? We’re not just going out there and kind of showing off our talents as individual musicians.
We actually play to the song. What the song needs is what, as musicians, we interject into the song. So Jon and I just wrote a bunch of really cool songs that were kind of guitar driven. You know, it seemed like they should be a little nasty.
Like the song Bullet on the record, it has a very, very heavy guitar part. The lyric deserved that heaviness, so the lyric deserved my kind of guitar stuff on this record. And it is a pretty guitar based record. And I really enjoyed making it. It was a lot of fun.
Vanessa Franko: Thank you so much.
Richie Sambora: You’re welcome.
Operator: And moving on, we’ll go to Sharma Howard with Norwich Bulletin.
Sharma Howard: Hi good afternoon.
Richie Sambora: Hi.
Sharma Howard: I was just wondering if you have any charities that you are working with in conjunction with this tour. I’m asking that question. I did receive a press release from a hospice organization with your upcoming tour at (Mohegan Sun) here in Connecticut.
Tico Torres: My own foundation, called the Tico Torres Children’s Foundation, and then we work with children of all aspects to raise money for them in the past and have done a lot of deployments.
And of late, right now we got sanctioned for the children in Haiti. And we’ve sent some doctors there with a group called Advent Medical and been successful to help a lot of people. So you try to do what you can.
Sharma Howard: Okay. Did you say that you sent doctors to Haiti with a group called Advent Medical, that’s correct?
Richie Sambora: Yes that’s what he said.
Sharma Howard: Okay thank you very much.
Operator: And moving on we’ll go to Jennifer Chancellor with Tulsa World.
Jennifer Chancellor: Hi guys. How you doing?
Richie Sambora: Hi there.
Jennifer Chancellor: You guys have come through Oklahoma many times in your long careers. I was wondering first if you have any memories or funny stories that you can share about your Oklahoma experience and your fans?
Tico Torres: I can’t think of any.
Richie Sambora: Yes, the last time I played Oklahoma …I’m actually involved in a company down there that drills for natural gas. And they brought all of their employees down and we kind of had a really fun time. I know there’s a - isn’t there like a restaurant or bar that’s very close like down the street?
Jennifer Chancellor: In Tulsa, yes, there’s several.
Richie Sambora: Yes, so I think we were in there having a pretty good time, that’s what I remember from the last time we were there.
Jennifer Chancellor: Maybe (Kazoo’s) I don’t know.
Richie Sambora: I’m not sure, I don’t remember the exact name. It’s kind of like a blur. You got to remember man, we’ve been on the road for like 25 years and, you know, we’re above like 2,500 concerts now.
So that’s a lot of traveling, a lot of faces, a lot of names and a lot of people and a lot of good times. And it’s really hard to like pinpoint exactly one great time, you know what I mean. It’s just really hard to do that.
I mean, when you have your first number one record, you kind of remember where that was, but actually what I was doing on that particular evening, I don’t remember. That’s a really hard thing to do.
Jennifer Chancellor: Okay which kind of leads into a related question. How do you guys gear yourself up for a two year tour?
Richie Sambora: What do you think T?
Tico Torres: We’re doing it now. Make sure everything’s okay at home. The hard part is leaving your family of course and, you know, we’re going to go out and get greased, where we’re doing up some smaller gigs in Hawaii, which warms us up.
And it takes about a couple of weeks to settle in and once we’re there, it’s a whole other world for us. It’s hard to think so much in the future, but when you’re in it, it’s easier. You know, you gear up because we’re the East Coasters, and we always felt that we got to put on the best show we ever can.
And tickets are expensive in any walk of life, you know, even if they’re cheaper than most or more expensive, either way. People are paying good money, and we want to make sure we’re giving them a great show. So if there’s any guarantees, I guarantee that.
Jennifer Chancellor: Thank you.
Tico Torres: You’re welcome.
Operator: And next we’ll go to Jon Bream with Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Jon Bream: Hi guys. How’s it going?
Richie Sambora: Hey.
Jon Bream: So I hoped Jon’s absence this morning on the call doesn’t mean you guys are pulling an Aerosmith and moving on without him.
Richie Sambora: Highly doubtful my friend.
Jon Bream: Yes I was just joking. Yesterday you announced a second show here in St. Paul/Minneapolis and the last several times you guys have played the Twin Cities here, I noticed every time I see you guys, that you guys draw more women to rock concerts than just about any other band. I’m curious why you think that is.
Richie Sambora: Not a bad ring, is it? You know, I guess I don’t notice. It’s kind of tough to see in the dark when you’re out there, who’s who, what’s going on, and as you get older your eyes don’t get any, so I get about the first 10, 15 rows and that’s good.
I think, you know, honestly if that’s true, that’s not a bad thing, but we’ve been drawing generations of fans now. I think that we have a lot of people, there’s like three generations of people coming to see us now.
I mean there’s kids that are just discovering us now through like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, and stuff like that. Which is very interesting, the way they’re breaking music now a days. So there’s that generation of listener.
And then you’ve got the middle generation of fan that is like between like, you know, say 25-40, and then you have people that are older than that coming to see us. So that’s what I’m seeing out there and that’s what I’m seeing across the world. But in Minneapolis, by chance that we draw a lot of women, that’s pretty cool.
Tico Torres: I think Minneapolis has 10 to 1 women to men.
Richie Sambora: We like that.
Tico Torres: I’m guessing.
Jon Bream: All right.
Operator: And next we’ll go to Andy Argyrakis with Hear Say Magazine.
Andy Argyrakis: Hey guys. Hear Say is actually a college magazine. It’s a national college magazine. And I’m wondering how the band feels like they’re connecting with college age audiences and just younger fans in general.
Tico Torres: I think it’s important. I mean as Richie just said, you know, we grew a demographic of three generations, and to see younger kids get into music. And I think with what else I see, like young audiences enjoying Santana, Hendrix, you know, Queen, some of your older music that was once on vinyl.
And that’s standing the test of time, you know, Led Zeppelin is still a big hit amongst all ages. So I think it’s fantastic that you can have that crossover and have that young audience, especially in the college age.
Andy Argyrakis: And how do you guys feel like you remain relevant on the radio after all these years?
Richie Sambora: Good songs, you know, just songs that connect with people from a lyrical standpoint. I think that Jon and I as writers were lucky enough to somehow hit a nerve where, you know, you write a song that is something about what we’re feeling, that translates to audiences across the globe.
Songs like Living on a Prayer, songs like We Weren’t Born to Follow is another one that became a big hit all over the globe because of lyrical content. And it’s about how people are feeling at that moment.
And it’s important that you write about what’s happening at this point in the world today. What that feels like and plugging into that is a very, very important thing from a songwriting standpoint. And I think that that’s what translates songs to people all over the world.
And actually not only to a college demographic but to all ages, you know. Even a song like Living on a Prayer. I said it before, everybody’s (Tommy) and (Gina). Everybody’s been in that situation before. So I think that songs like that translate to all ages.
Operator: And next up we have Dagmar Patterson with Backbeat Seattle.
Tico Torres: Hello Dagmar. Hello.
Operator: And Mr. Patterson, please check your mute button.
Dagmar Patterson: Hey sorry about that.
Richie Sambora: No problem.
Dagmar Patterson: So what was the experience like playing at the Brandenburg Gate? How were you invited to that?
Tico Torres: I didn’t hear that.
Richie Sambora: Oh to Brandenburg Gate. Tico you want to take that or you want me to take it?
Tico Torres: What was it?
Richie Sambora: I got it. We were very, very honored to be asked to do that. We were the only rock band that was there at the Brandenburg Gate. It was really pretty cool because we were standing there in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
It was beautifully lit and there was a ton of people there. And all the world leaders rom Gorbachev and Sarkozy and Gordon Brown and Hillary was there. So we had some friends there, but actually we were invited by the ambassador to Germany from the United States.
Actually Jon had known him and he had asked the German chancellor if it would be suitable for us to play. And we had been such a big band in Germany.
Germany ’s a country, obviously a little bigger than the size of Ohio, let’s say.
And when we play there, we do like eight stadiums just in that one country, so we’ve been quite a big band, always triple platinum and stuff like that in Germany. We’ve been quite a big band in Germany, so it was a good fit.
And honestly, the song We Weren’t Born to Follow fit the occasion. The lyrical content fit the occasion and the whole thing just kind of came together. And it was a wonderful moment. It was great, it didn’t translate so much here in America.
It didn’t come over here, you know, as it did there. But it was a really big moment for the Germans and Europe, and it was a lovely thing and an honor for them to ask us to do it.
Dagmar Patterson: Yes and you were there in ’89 as well when it fell?
Richie Sambora: Yes.
Tico Torres: Twenty years ago.
Dagmar Patterson: Oh that’s so cool.
Richie Sambora: Yes we were there, like we were there picking away at it, you know what I mean. What happened was that we had played Moscow. We headlined a Moscow Music Peace Festival.
Dagmar Patterson: Okay.
Richie Sambora: And the wall was still up back then. And that was the first kind of sign that the thing was going to come down. The fact that we were actually there playing, you know, we did two nights in Moscow to like 140,000 people an evening in Lenin Stadium.
And that was the first sign that the wall was cracking, you know what I mean. And that the Cold War was about to end and we were there before it was done. And then we went to Berlin right when it fell, so we were there.
Dagmar Patterson: Fantastic. Well thank you.
Richie Sambora: You’re welcome.
Operator: And moving on we’ll go to Larry Rodgers with the Arizona Republic.
Larry Rodgers: Hey there. I’d like to throw this one at Richie if I could. Hey, I’m doing kind of a large Sunday preview package for your show out there in Arizona. And of course I’ll be mentioning that there’s no doubt about the success of your band over the years.
You know, your record sales, the concert numbers you’ve put up and even things like the Grammy performance kind of speak for themselves. But I will have to at least mention the fact that there are still some critics out there that don’t want to give the band it’s due.
And I’m wondering that, you know, after hearing that issue and experiencing that over the years for quite some time, do you simply kind of ignore it now? Or how do you respond to that whole issue?
Richie Sambora: Well you try to ignore it Larry, and it’s not the easiest thing in the world. But I mean there’s so much good stuff that’s happening in our careers that it’s really hard to get stuck on it, you know what I mean. It’s like, I mean definitely it’s like, you know, you’re a boxer.
And you’re in the ring and you get smacked a couple of times. You’re bound to get smacked a couple of times. I mean, that’s what’s going to happen. And not everybody’s going to love you and, you know, we always just kind of just stuck to who we were.
Love us or leave us. And luckily a lot of people love us and that’s what’s going on. But not everybody does, so you can’t expect everybody to like you. But we were never a critic’s band, let’s face it. You know, we were always a people’s band, not a critic’s band.
And we’re kind of used to that at this point. But I mean, we did get some really good reviews on this record. You know, we got a lot of good reviews on our film that we made, When We Were Beautiful. And so we were kind of happy about that.
Then we said, you know, okay now that we got the critic’s reviews, now the record is not going to sell. You know what I mean, so it’s like you sit there and you go yes, I guess you can’t have everybody. And we’re kind of used to it like you said. What do you think T?
Tico Torres: I agree. I mean, again at the end of the day, it’s the people that come to see us and enjoy our music. I’ve never taken much for a critic’s view about films or books or other music.
I have to see it and hear it for myself, because that’s one man’s opinion or one woman’s opinion. So you have to look at the whole broad spectrum of what you enjoy and, you know, search it out yourself.
Larry Rodgers: All right thanks guys.
Tico Torres: Welcome.
Richie Sambora: You’re welcome.
Operator: And we do have a follow up from Gary Graff with United Station Radio.
Gary Graff: Hi guys thanks. I wanted to get an update on the Greatest Hits album because when I spoke with Jon in the fall, he said it was going to go ahead and come out probably some time this year. What can you tell me about it?
Richie Sambora: It’s ready to go. You know, Jon and I wrote a ton of songs and we hit a very prolific vein on this particular thing. It was supposed to come out first and Jon and I were supposed to get together. We’re going to write like five songs to get, you know, two or three good ones.
Two or three new singles to get on the Greatest Hits album, and we hit a nerve. And then all of a sudden the world started changing and there were lots of things to write about. And we just kept on writing. And then we told the record company we got good news and we got bad news.
The bad news is you’re not getting the Greatest Hits, but the goods news is you got a great new Bon Jovi record to promote. And we had enough great songs left over to put on the Greatest Hits. And so it’s ready to go, whenever this record wanes, at that point, you know what I mean.
I would think in my heart of hearts that this record will last until next Christmas, and the Greatest Hits will come out for Christmas or next year. And that’ll take us through right now this tour is booked through August 2011. So I don’t know about your dance card, but ours is pretty full.
Gary Graff: Sounds like it. About how many new songs do you think will make that album?
Richie Sambora: Probably three, yes.
Gary Graff: Are you going to preview them at all during the tour?
Richie Sambora: Probably not. We’ll probably wait until we put the record out. You know, because we have so many other songs to choose from so, but you never know. I mean, we’re so loose man when it comes to that stuff. Like I said we try to give the crowd the songs that they want to hear, obviously.
That’s very important because the fans come to hear those songs. They want to hear them, we love to play them, so there’s no big deal. And then, we’re going to play various stuff from all the other records that we made.
And like I said before we’re going to go back and play stuff that we haven’t played in 20 years that, you know, that’s how we make tours interesting, you know what I mean. We’re going to go back and play stuff off the first album, stuff off the second album that we haven’t played in God knows how long, so it’s going to be a lot of fun.
Gary Graff: All right great. Thank you.
Richie Sambora: Okay.
Operator: And moving on we do have a follow up from Vincent Jackson with Press of Atlantic City.
Vincent Jackson: Yes I had a little question. If it wasn’t for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street, with your group and all of its success, everyone would identify you with the state of New Jersey. You’d be like the band of New Jersey. And I just wanted to know has that ever kind of bummed you out?
If that group was in any other state used everyone would identify Bon Jovi as being the greatest successful group ever to come out of the state of New Jersey, and now you have to kind of share that title with someone else. How do you guys feel about that?
Tico Torres: I don’t know Bruce Springsteen, he’s aces in my book. You got to remember Frank Sinatra was here first. At the end of the day, you know, we’re a world known band. We play the whole world and our fans come from all around. The fact that we grew up in New Jersey, it was 35, 40 minutes away from New York City.
And all the bands that come out of that tri-state area, you’re talking hundreds of great bands that have come out of that area, you know, it’s not so much Jersey. It’s more the tri-state area that you have the biggest city in the world.
That if you make it in New York, you’ve made it worldwide, and we didn’t have the pressure of having to actually be in New York City. We were just on the outskirts. So that gave a little more leeway. But you still had to be on your game. And I think that’s come into play, it’s nice to be in the company of somebody as good as Bruce Springsteen.
Vincent Jackson: Thank you very much.
Tico Torres: You’re welcome.
Operator: Okay and moving on we will go to Alan Sculley with Last Word Features.
Alan Sculley: Yes hi guys. Thanks for doing this today.
Richie Sambora: Hey man.
Alan Sculley: A follow up to something you guys talked about a little bit early on in the interview here, where you talked about the need to continually evolve musically and lyrically, you know. And this album again is part of that process.
Now to me, this album also sounds very much like a classic Bon Jovi album. I feel like in a lot of ways you went back on a number of songs to your core strength stylistically.
And so I’m curious in what ways you feel, you know, you’ve kind of moved forward, especially musically. You kind of touched on the lyrical, the topical side earlier. But I’m just curious what you think that you’re doing musically that’s really is kind of covering new ground for you.
Richie Sambora: Well I mean right off the bat, obviously I’m going to touch on the lyrical content of what the songs are. I think that’s obviously growing and I think our lyrical prowess is getting more and more grown up, and more and more kind of plugged into what’s happening in the world today.
So I think that’s one of the ways we’ve done stuff on this album. We’ve also experimented with a lot of new sounds sonically. A lot of stuff that you think might be kind of synthesized is in there, or a lot of guitars that are just layered with different sounds and pedals and different things like that.
So we’re actually moving in different sonic territory I think for Bon Jovi than I think we’ve ever done before also. And songs like When We were Beautiful and Broken Promise Land and things like that. There’s all these different sounds that are coming in that we’ve never used before either, and different experimentations in that particular way also.
I mean there’s also there’s just the constant kind of flow of evolution. You know, it’s not even conscious half the time. It’s just - we’re just growing as a band.
Tico Torres: Yes, even rhythmically. Most of the songs have a palm energy to it and none of the records have had that in the past, which is a totally different way of approaching the songs. So if you listen back you’ll see the difference.
Alan Sculley: Thanks again.
Tico Torres: You’re welcome.
Operator: And moving on, we’ll go to Kelly Wilson with Phoenix News Times.
Tico Torres: Hi Kelly.
Kelly Wilson: Hey guys. How’s it going?
Richie Sambora: Hey. Hello.
Operator: And it looks like she has taken herself out of queue. Moving on we will do a follow up from Vanessa Franko with The Press Enterprise.
Vanessa Franko: You guys were just talking about the evolution of the band and the music and The Circle has a lot of textures to it. I was wondering how has it been rehearsing to bring those textures to life on stage, and if you’re going to change the arrangements at all to tailor it to a live show?
Tico Torres: We shouldn’t have to. I mean we’ve added, you know, (Bobby Bandiera) as extra guitar because there is a lot of guitars in there. And so basically the nice thing about this record is it’s as live as you can get.
I mean there is overdubs, but it’s not to the point where we can’t recreate it sonically. So I think we’ve done four songs live already, and are very happy with them. So we’re looking forward to doing the rest of them.
Richie Sambora: Yes, you know, it’s not going to be exactly like the record obviously. I mean the arrangements will be exactly like the record, but that’s the thing about playing live. It’s kind of different - it’s a little more bare bones.
So it’s going to be a little bit more bare bones but, it’s still going to have that power. It has the power of what the record has. So it’s not going to be exactamundo as the sonic quality or that whole thing, but it’ll be damn close.
But people will know that we’re actually playing and not lip syncing or something, you know what I mean. So that’s the good part about it.
Vanessa Franko: Thank you guys.
Richie Sambora: Thank you.
Operator: And moving on we do have a follow up from Dagmar Patterson with Backbeat Seattle.
Dagmar Patterson: Hi yes I was wondering about when you did the movie, the documentary. How did you decide that you were going to do that?
Tico Torres: We tried some writers and we tried to do a book. And I don’t know, things just didn’t turn out to be what we wanted. And it wasn’t really coming out. The nice thing of working with (Phil Griffin), he was out with us long enough that it became a conversation.
And therefore a lot of things came out by doing that conversation. And then the way it took form was a little more natural and you got more in depth about we’re about, so that really made it a lot easier to do. Again, you don’t know what you have until you view it at the end of the day. And we were quite surprised and happy the way it turned out.
Dagmar Patterson: Cool thanks.
Tico Torres: Thank you.
Operator: And we will return to Kelly Wilson with Phoenix New Times.
Kelly Wilson: Sorry guys my phone picked...
Richie Sambora: We lost you there for a second.
Kelly Wilson: I’m back. So I was asking, I know Jon does some stuff outside of Bon Jovi with acting and the arena football league. What do you guys do individually outside of the band?
Tico Torres: Rich, go ahead.
Richie Sambora: All right. Well, you know, obviously we all have our own charitable stuff that we do. I just recently got a street named after me in my home town. I donated some money to my old high school and I went back - this is going back about a year and a half.
I created an initiative that’s called You Can Go Home, and it’s about going back to your home town and helping somebody out if you have the way at all to do that. And I went back and this girl was the valedictorian of the school.
And she had all these scholarships and the poor thing started going blind. And she ended up having a brain tumor. She lost all her scholarships and her family was like kind of in front of the grocery store with tin cans collecting change.
So I heard about it and I said I got to get involved in this. And I created all this merchandising. I created initiative for the high schools in the area, like four high schools in the area. And I created a scholarship fund and I said look, you sell all this merchandising.
And you go out, the guy or gal that sells the most merchandising I’ll give the scholarship fund to, and then we got all the money to (Kelly). I matched all the money. I went on the radio. I created all this stuff. And my goal was to bring her home for Thanksgiving.
And this was like a year and a half in the making. And I brought her home for Thanksgiving. We had to like re-make her house, almost like home makeover. So, she’s got all these pulleys and stuff because she can’t walk, so we had to do all the stuff.
And we brought her home and I went on national TV and created this initiative and said, you can go home. Obviously, you know, Jon does his philanthropic stuff. I’m involved with a lot of session work. I get called to do a lot of sessions out here.
I do some movie soundtrack work and stuff like that. I’d love to do another solo album. I haven’t done one in a long time. But the band has been going so strong and so successfully that I haven’t had the time to do it.
So, you know, I get in the studio piecemeal and do a song here, a song there, that I write and place them in soundtracks and TV Shows and stuff like that, so there’s always a lot of stuff going on. Trust me there’s never a dull moment, Kelly.
Kelly Wilson: Okay.
Operator: And we do have a follow up from Larry Rodgers with Arizona Republic.
Larry Rodgers: Yes for both you guys. I was wondering, does Bon Jovi belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? And why don’t you think that’s happened yet?
Tico Torres: Well, this is Tico. I don’t know. There’s no rush I guess. You know, there’s a lot of great bands and there’s only a few that can be put in every time they have that. So I don’t know. Again it’s one of those things that we’re not going anywhere right away. So hopefully one day, you never know.
Richie Sambora: Yes I think we should get in there at one point. I do, you know, after you look at our track record and how many people that we’ve made happy in the world through our music. Yes, I think we deserve to be in there.
Do I think we’re going to get in? Don’t know. It is definitely a political situation. It’s almost like running for office over there. I mean there’s so many bands that should be in there that are not in there, you know, so you never know. Who knows? You never know what’s going to happen. We just became eligible I think this year.
Larry Rodgers: Oh okay.
Richie Sambora: Yes by some technicality. I think you have to be 25 years and our first single came out in ’84 or something like that, so there was something that was wonky. So we’re eligible now this year so we’ll see what happens. I’m not sure how that’s going to go, but we’ll see what happens.
Larry Rodgers: All right good luck on it.
Richie Sambora: Thanks.
Operator: And we do have a follow up from Andy Argyrakis with Hear Say Magazine.
Andy Argyrakis: Hey again guys. You know, I’m wondering what your take is on the whole social networking phenomenon and how the internet in general has sort of affected the band. You know, definitely in a positive sense and if there’s been any negatives that’s come along with it.
Tico Torres: The internet, it’s new to me, as it is to most people my age. And you try to keep up with it. I think it’s the future obviously. I mean, when it first had the downloadings free and everything, we lost about 80% of our record sales.
And I guess in an industry that marks you, promotes you for instance by number one, number two, number three records, it’s hard to show that. It stabilized. It’s the future and who knows. I mean I think you’re going to be able to download music through air without having units any more.
And I think it’s a wonderful device, and every day I’m learning more and more about the positive side of that. I guess the negatives, there’s too much information in the world. And how do you deal with it? The positive is that, do you have enough time to do it?
Andy Argyrakis: And do you guys think you’re going to come out with a DVD for this tour?
Richie Sambora: Don’t know yet, probably. We’re going to film a lot of shows, so yes I’m thinking that we’re going to. There’s going to be that run in 15 nights at O2 in London, which is kind of pretty cool. We’re really proud of that.
I think that when we played the Prudential Center on the last tour, it was the number one grossing event of 2007 and so that was a ten night run. So we’re going to do 15 nights at the O2, that’s kind of cool.
So I think we’ll probably film live, I’m sure that that’ll be kind of an event. I’m sure that the opening of Giants Stadium will be an event. So I’m sure that we’ll be filming some of this stuff. I mean, coming out with the film When We Were Beautiful.
We started to realize the reason we made the film, as Tico was saying before, we tried to write a book and we didn’t want to write this cliché, you know, rock and roll story about who did who and how much we drank, or how much we did or what was going on and all that other stuff.
And we were never that kind of band to glorify that kind of situation, so we weren’t going to write that kind of book. So we read the first two chapters in the book and quite frankly they were pretty boring. So we scrapped the book idea and realized that, you know, comparatively to guys like U2 and the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.
They were kind of documenting everything as they went along. And we didn’t document anything. We didn’t really have a lot of anything. So that’s why we decided to do the film. And so I’m sure that we’ll be documenting a lot more these days, so yes they’ll probably be something that’s going to come out of this.
Operator: And we do have a follow up from Melissa Ruggieri with Richmond Times Dispatch.
Melissa Ruggieri: Hey again guys.
Richie Sambora: Melissa.
Melissa Ruggieri: You had mentioned earlier about Guitar Hero being one of the ways now that so much music is promoted. I was wondering, with the NBC Artist in Residency thing that you guys did, you were sort of the guinea pigs for that.
And looking back, do you feel as if that was a successful way of promoting the album? Or did you have to give up a lot of other promotional appearances with other companies because of your commitment with NBC?
Tico Torres: Interesting enough, I mean we’ve always endeared things that are brand new and different and that was definitely a different way of doing it. I think the exposure was incredible and it was interesting to be able to have that outlet. But at the same time, of course we had to follow a format. But I think it helped quite a bit, you know, it was definitely unique for us to do that.
Operator: And our final question will come from Gary Graff with United Station Radio.
Tico Torres: Hi Gary.
Gary Graff: Hey thanks again. So is there a sense yet as to what the next single’s going to be? And if you know, can you talk a little bit about that song? And if you don’t know it, what would you like the next single to be?
Richie Sambora: Well Superman is the next single.
Gary Graff: Okay I thought that was out already, but go ahead and talk a little...
Richie Sambora: Oh okay well that’s the one that’s out already. What the next single would be after Superman?
Gary Graff: Yes.
Richie Sambora: I would think it would be When We Were Beautiful. What do you think T?
Tico Torres: I think it was any.
Gary Graff: Why When We Were Beautiful? Can you talk about that song and how it came about and what it means to you?
Richie Sambora: Well I think first of all in my mind, I think that should have came out second anyway but obviously it’s the consensus of people that make that decision. But I love that song in particular, I think it’s a great evolution for this band.
I think it’s a wonderful theme for what’s happening in the world today. I mean, Jon and I, when we were writing that song, we were thinking about getting back to a point where the world is a bit more innocent now a days.
And we were just talking about the internet on the last question. With the internet and everything else that’s going on, everybody knows everything 24/7. You know, kids know everything, sexuality is different.
Everything is different and Jon and I were thinking right off the bat lyrically, the world is cracked. The sky is torn, you know, so it’s like that’s true. It’s a whole different world than we grew up in, than we were promised when we were kids.
Things have definitely changed. Between the economic downturn and everything that’s gone on. So we were just kind of wishing that the world was a bit more innocent, the way it used to be when we were growing up, and what we were almost promised as youths, you know.
And that’s what that song is about, but it also could be taken in a respect way. If you’re in a relationship for years and then, you know, you want to get back to a point where the love is fresh again. And that innocent point is back, you’re looking to get back to that.
So it’s an eye of the beholder. I just love the textures in that song and the feel of what that is and the evolution of what that is. I think people will be surprised almost that it’s a Bon Jovi song. Yet it translates, but stylistically it’s still us.
Gary Graff: Sure I know, but with that about the NBC thing, I’m wondering, which of the four or five of you did the best change with that imitation at the end of all that?
Richie Sambora: T who did the best change with it?
Tico Torres:
