Ricky Warwick is rock n’ roll personified. That attitude is what fuels his band Black Star Riders. What began as a modern Thin Lizzy has evolved into one of the great, original-sounding rock bands on the scene. BSR is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary and release a brand-new record on January 20 called Wrong Side of Paradise. Ricky recently took some time to talk about the band and the record.
Please press the PLAY icon for the MisplacedStraws Conversation with Ricky Warwick –
On the changing lineups of Black Star Riders – Yeah, that revolving door. Look, I always sort of preempt this by saying, being a band isn’t a jail sentence, you are free to come and go, and it is not the end of the world. In every other occupation, people come and go and they change jobs, rock and roll is no different. Certainly, as we get older, people have different commitments and different things that they have going on in their life that they need to address, so it’s not easy to keep the same lineup together as we get older and move on. But the most important thing is the music, and I think if the music or the songs were suffering in any way, that’s a whole different story, but the intent and the relevance of Black Star Riders I don’t think has suffered at all over 10 years. I think we’re still making the best music right now of our career that we ever have, and so that’s really all I can say on it, I think, personally, to me, that’s the reason we’re continuing, is it the music so great. I think if that was starting to suffer… Yeah, then you have to think about, Okay, maybe it’s run its course. But I certainly don’t feel out of them, in fact, the opposite. :49
On writing with different people as members change – I’m quite capable of writing and finishing the song on my own, which I could do, and I’ve done a lot on this new record, but I love writing with other people. I love taking an idea and seeing what somebody else can come up with and their input into what I’m doing and maybe take it in a whole different direction, to that is the beauty of songwriting. I like the band mentality, that’s why I just don’t do the Ricky Warwick solo thing, I love being in a band, I love the gang mentality that goes with that. When I’m right with Damon Johnson, that was very much I’d get an idea and a lyric, and I send it to him, same with Christian (Martucci). It was very, very similar as well, I get an idea so far and then sort of go, “Okay, let’s see what that’s what these guys can bring to the table”. And it was wonderful. Scott(Gorham) was different, ’cause Scott would bring in a riff or an idea, a very iconic Scott Gorham riff, not very many of them, but that didn’t matter because the quality was always insane when he brought them in. So you knew of the three rifts or ideas that Scott Gorham was gonna bring in, all three were gonna get finished and end up on the record, so there was that going on as well. Now, not so much on the new record, on Wrong Side of Paradise, just the pandemic, blah blah, blah, the record’s going on. I just really had a really clear vision. I’ve finished a lot of the songs on my own and I did send them to the other guys, and they were like, “No, this is done, we don’t really have anything to add, this is great. Let’s go, let’s do it”. Which is lovely. 2:26
On the importance of positivity in his lyrics – Because I’m a foolish, eternal optimist. We’re here to entertain. I’m here to entertain people, that’s the bottom line, that’s what, to me, music is, You’re entertaining them, you’re engaging them. You’re connecting with them. You’re entertaining them, and I think it’s very easy to go, “Yeah, the world’s screwed, we’re all gonna die, and it’s all terrible and blah, blah, blah”, but that’s a cop-out. You have to sort of, I think almost counteract that by going, “Yeah, this is what I think, and it’s not really good right now. But what if we do this, or what if we didn’t spread so much hatred and bigotry and division and tried it”, that kind of thing. I was always brought up to believe in a hard work ethic and positivity. Applying that in life, I think, gets you more results than just walking around and going, “We’re all screwed, everything is terrible, the end”. I think people want music as an escape., I think we wanna get away from the banality, the mundane, and the everyday grind. The last thing we want is me telling them really how tough it is out there, I think I can tell them it’s tough out there, but I can also say, “Hey, crank this song up and there’s some positivity radiating out of these speakers and try and latch on to that”. 4:31
On the band’s evolution in sound – Naturally, we evolved. I think we were very conscious of coming out of that Thin Lizzy shadow when we started, not having enough songs to fill a full setlist, so we had to depend on the Thin Lizzy catalog, which doesn’t suck. Now, 10 years during the line and five albums in, we’re very much standing on our own. We’ll always have the influence because obviously, we had Scott right up to the fourth record, but I’m such a massive Lizzy fan. I have the honor of singing those Lizzy songs, Phil (Lynott) is a huge influence on me, Scott’s a huge influence on me, so that’s always gonna be there. But the band is definitely diversified and grown under its own banner, for want of a better term, in the last few years, and we’re seeing that more and more. It’s a no-win situation because you get a lot of the Lizzy fans going, “Well, it sounds too much like Thin Lizzy”, and then you get the same guy going, “It doesn’t sound enough like Thin Lizzy”, and you’re kinda going, “What do you want? How about it sounds like Black Star Riders?” I think that’s where we’re at with it. It sounds like Black Star Riders. That’s what it sounds like. 6:46
On covering the Osmonds’ song “Crazy Horses” – Being a six or seven-year-old kid in 1972. I was 6 in ’72, and we would get the Osmonds’ TV show in the UK, I had two older sisters who were absolutely obsessed, they were early teens at that point, so they were falling in all over the Osmonds. We used to watch it and I just remember that song and I was just (thinking), “This is amazing”, even at a young age, and it’s just always stuck with me over the years. I’ve always thought, “I’m gonna do a cover version of that one day”. Black Star Riders have never done a cover version up until this record. I thought, “Well, people aren’t going to expect us to do that”. I talked to the other guys in the band and Robbie Crane loved the song, and Christian was completely up for it, “Let’s just do it. It sounds like fun”. And it was, it’s a great duel lead vocal. Christian does a great job doing the duel vocals on it with me, and it’s a lot of fun to record and we’ve already played it live, and it’s just great. It’s killer. 8:14
On the cover image – Honestly, what happened was we were going to have a band shot on the cover, and we did a wonderful photo session with a great Ross Halfin, which was phenomenal, we had the shot picked out that was gonna be the album cover, and then Christian got the call from Corey Taylor, “The pandemic is over, let’s go to work”. The timelines clashed, and obviously, (for) Christian, Cory is his boy, he’s been with him for 15-16 years. He’s like, “I’m sorry guys”. Which we get. So we’re like, “Alright, okay, that’s the cover of the window. What are we gonna do?” So I went back to Paul (Tippett) and I sent him the lyrics for “Wrong Side of Paradise”, and I go, “This is the meaning behind the song, and what I’m trying to get out”. He said, “Okay, I leave it with me”. Like Paul always does, he just came back with that straight away, and I looked at it, I was with my manager at that time, we both went, “That’s it. That’s the cover. He’s nailed it”, and I love it. I’m so glad we didn’t use the band photograph anyway because I think this is just far stronger and iconic…It’s just a really strong iconic cover. I think when you hear the record in its entirety, the cover makes even more sense. Sadly, it’s kind of where we’re at as a culture, and as a society, we were banging on our head against a brick wall trying to get ahead, there’s people working two, or three jobs just to pay the bills. Sadly, that’s wrong, it’s just we’re all just trying to get that little glimmer of light, that little bit of hope in that little bit of reward for all the struggles that we’re putting in. 9:34
On original members Scott Gorham and Jimmy DeGrasso joining the 10th-anniversary tour – We’ve already done one show with that lineup. We realized that was the 10th anniversary of the band, and we should do something to mark that. The idea was going about that it would be a great, great idea to tour, and I said “The door’s open”. Scott says he stepped back, but I think Scott will be dipping in and out of Black Star Riders for quite some time to come and the door is obviously very wide open for him to come back in any time he wants. I’ll be honest with you, I hadn’t really spoken to Jimmy in about three or four years since he left the band. Robbie called him up and he’s like, “Yeah, let’s do it”. And it’s been great. It’s really, really good. So how it works really is what we do as we go on, and we play some tracks from the new record and a couple of other songs as a four-piece, which is myself, Robby Crane, and Jimmy, and our new guitar player, Sam Wood, and then Scott comes out and join us for the rest of the evening and we just go into the back catalog and rip right through it and obviously because Scott comes back into the fold, we’re doing a couple of Lizzy tunes in there as well. So we’re talking about a 20-song set, so it opens and it’s covering everything, and as I said, we’ve already done two shows and it works really, really well. 11:58
On new guitarist Sam Wood – (Sam is) very underrated in my opinion, he’s probably one of the best British guitar players like that right now, and I really hope he starts getting the recognition that he deserves because he’s wonderful. He’s a great human being, and he’s really brought a lot of attitude and energy and fantastic musicianship to the band. I had the pleasure of working with Sam, I did some shows with my solo band in the UK last summer, and Sam played in The Fighting Hearts, my solo band. I was kind of looking at him and going, “Yeah, we need a guitar player. This is the guy”. So it was a no-brainer, and he still playing in Wayward Sons as well, so that’s cool. He slotted straight in seamlessly. 13:30
On if there are plans to tour the US – Ideally, of course, we are. But it has to make sense financially, being where we’re at, and the current world climate and just none of us are gonna leave home and lose money. That’s just the bottom line. I mean, you wouldn’t expect it in any other career, why should you expect it from a musician? It has to make financial sense and it has to make sense, has to be the right bill. Something like the Priest tour, a bill like that again would be ideal. If not, we have talked about possibly doing some club shows as well, we have three of the band now living in the United States, which is obviously a bonus. Yeah, we’re always looking at it, but it has to be the right thing, and it has to be the right reasons to do it, that’s just the bottom line really on that. 14:35
On his friend and Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor – I’ve been in touch with him a lot, and he’s doing okay, and he’s getting the best treatment that’s available out there. Andy is a very positive guy. I’m hoping that he’ll get through this latest setback. I just was talking to him before Christmas, He’s done a solo record, which he finished a few years ago, he put a couple of tracks out that have been released from that. I co-wrote about six tunes with them on that record, and I’m not just saying because (I wrote it), I didn’t play on it, but it’s a phenomenal record, it’s just amazing, as you’d imagine. It’s got Bowie-esq style, it’s Power Station, it’s just great. So I can’t wait for people to hear it. He was talking about putting that out this year, so that’s a good sign, and the last couple of times I talked to him, he sounded in good spirits. So it’s good to hear. I was gunning for him with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, because I know how much he was really looking forward to it, and he deserves it. 15:50
