RICHIE SAMBORA
An air of uncertainty surrounded the New Jersey based Bon Jovi prior to their latest release “Keep the Faith”. Several band members had all been working on solo projects for two years. Lead singer Jon Bon Jovi recorded the soundtrack for ‘Young Guns II’, started his own record label Jambco Records and produced an album for Aldo Nova.
Guitarist Richie Sambora made a solo record, “Stranger In This Town”, then played on a multi-city tour. Keyboardist David Bryan scored and co-produced the soundtrack to ‘Netherworld’. Bassist Alec John Such and drummer/percussionist Tico Torres enjoyed some time off after eight years of non-stop recording and subsequent touring. Despite rumors that his relationship with Cher was taking priority over his guitar playing duties for Bon Jovi, Sambora says he never considered leaving the band. “It was all up to destiny,” he said recently. “We’re all striving for longevity in this business and hopefully Bon Jovi will be able to make records for a long time to come. I’m just going to continue to make good music with the band. I think that this is certainly not going to be the last record for Bon Jovi. ”
Q: Did the attention the tabloids gave you and Cher ever affect Bon Jovi?
A: When she and I started to live together and go out and stuff, I didn’t do any interviews for a year and a half. So everything that was written was just written. I didn’t talk to the press at all. I told her not to either. We both didn’t and we just said, “Let’s just sit back and laugh.” None of us took it seriously. The band nor her nor I. So it was like, what story are they going to write today. That’s basically the end of it. It never really affected me. I couldn’t care less. We laughed about it. Cher and I laughed about it.
Q: Would you pass by a newstand and pick up a copy of a tabloid to read the stories about you?
A: Everybody would just bring it to me naturally. Some guys on my road crew or somebody would come over to me with it.
Q: It’s really amazing how far off tangent those kind of things can go and people buy that stuff.
A: It’s pretty weird isn’t it?
Q: The solo album
you released in late 1991 didn’t see that well. Why?
A: As an artist you go through this period of adjusting to why it didn’t take off. You have to think about it and go though those kinds of things. At the time my record came out it came out in the heaviest traffic in music history. There were records being released by so many artists all at once and the economy took a downturn. They also introduced a new record rating system called SoundScan. It was literally the week my record came out that was the week this thing was going down. Everybody in the business end of it didn’t know how to utilize SoundScan. It’s very honest way of charting records. So it was a good thing for the business but it was tough for me because at that time no one knew how to make it work. Also there was a regime change at my record company. The record company was firing a lot of people and hiring a lot of people. It was in such disarray at that time it became a weird thing for me. I think what happened after a little was since my project was different than what Bon Jovi is about I don’t think the record company knew what to do with it.
Q: How do you feel your solo project was different from your work with Bon Jovi?
A: As a solo artist you lave a lot more artistic freedom to express yourself. With Bon Jovi records there’s a strict past history of 30 million records sold that you have to stick to. Obviously people have bought Bon Jovi records for a characteristic that Bon Jovi had and the creative thing that was going down there in the music. With my record I had a chance to make it kind of different. I think the record company wanted me to get back to Bon Jovi.
Q: Did Jon encourage you in regards to your solo project?
A: Yes. I told the guys at the end of our last tour that I was going to make a solo record. Because basically it was a big dream of mine and people had been asking me to do a solo record for a long time.
Q: Are you still working on solo material?
A: Oh yeah. Absolutely. I’m always writing. I’m the kind of guy when I’m feeling something it always comes out in music. So I’ll always have a tape recorder and a guitar so I have the tools to work with. There are songs that I write that I couldn’t do myself. So I’m always constantly writing. The band right now is in the forefront.
Q: How do you decide what songs you’ll record as a solo artist and what songs are right for Bon Jovi?
A: When you’re a lead singer and you’re the front man you have to believe in what you’re singing. So Jon has to believe in what he’s singing every night. So your lead guy has to really believe in what he’s saying night after night. Jon wants to sing about certain stuff and I might want to sing about other stuff. That’s basically what it is. I might present something to jon and he might not dig it so I’ll keep it for myself. There’s all different ways it comes up.
Q: It seems as if you’re the only one in Bon Jovi with the rocker look left. Everyone else in the band has cut their hair except you.
A: I enjoy having long hair. To me it has something to do with rock and roll and individuality. It makes me different. When I was s kid and growing up all my idols had long hair. It was a symbol. I think that I couldn’t imagine myself with short hair right now. (he laughs) As soon as Jon got his hair cut everybody was asking me about it. I said, “The kid cut his hair. Big deal!”
Q: You haven’t had as many song writing credits on the latest release “Keep The Faith” as on previous Bon Jovi records. Why?
A: I think that what was happening with this record was that Jon was getting a little bit bored and also he was going through a very introspective time while I was out touring with my record. Jon was waiting for me to get done and in the interim period of time he had done a bunch of stuff. When I made my solo album it was a cleansing experience because I got to bring my emotions out and do my laundry. Jon’s solo record “Blaze of Glory” was a movie soundtrack and the story was kind of written for him. The movie story was written for him so he just had to write songs around the story line. I think that he needed to get out some thoughts and he used this album to do it. I think that this album he had six songs that he wrote by himself on this album.
Q: Is Bon Jovi still a group project or has it become a solo project for Jon?
A:Jon is definitely the leader and every situation needs a leader. I think that I was a little bit more overbearing with my solo project than Jon is with the band. There’s energy from five different people with the band.
Q:Back in 1986 Bon Jovi’s success helped launch a thousand pop metal bands. How has Bon Jovi managed to stay on top since then?
A:It has to do with the basic criteria for a good record which is good songs and great heartfelt performances. That’s something that comes through the tape. All you can ask of an artist is to put 100 percent of his heart and soul and life into that moment. Writing songs and communicating with your audience along with striking a cord with the lyrical content is really important.That’s why I think “Living On A Prayer” was our biggest song. Everybody related to Tommy and Gina. We all related to that. The song is about times being a little rough but hey we got each other. That’s something everybody goes through in life at one time or another. So that’s common ground where an artist and his audience can relate. That’s really important. From a live concert aspect even when we were at our most burned-out and tired point our shows were spotless. We tape every show and we watch it. I watched a couple of videos from the end of our last tour to remember what I was like then. Those shows were spotless. For us it comes down to delivering the goods and not compromising. Not saying, “O.K. we can relax now because we sold 30 million records.” The attitude is to keep making it better and keep evolving as a group. There’s an evolution process involved. It takes courage sometimes to not repeat yourself so to speak.
Q: Do you feel at this point in your career you’ve established yourself firmly in the music business as a songwriter?
A: Absolutely. There was something that I was always striving for and now it’s really funny because I still do recording sessions as a session player. Paul Rodgers from Bad Company and I just did a tribute to Muddy Waters recording and that was really fun. I still get hired out as a session musician and I still work with new bands along with producing some projects. I try to be a well-rounded kind of musician because that way you’re always working. My aspirations go further than Bon Jovi and further than me as a recording artist.
Q: Do you have any other interests that your role in Bon Jovi?
A: I would like to work with more new bands. I want to have a production company where I find new bands and put them in good record company executives’ hands. I feel that I can do that because of my experience in the business and the people I know. I’m always thinking about the future and what I can do. What we did in the past with Cinderella and Skid Row is we took these two bands that we believed in and helped them. We made sure they were on the right path because we believed in them. It’s not like we did it for 17 bands; we did it for two people. It’s hard to be a recording artist and do that too. The record company gave Jon and I our own record company and I just didn’t want to be in the business end of it so I gave my half back. I wanted to be a solo artist and not an executive at that point. Jon really likes to get in there and do the business end of it. I understand that and I know what’s happening. Theoretically I could be an adviser on record deals but it’s not important to me. The music end is important to me.