Mike Ruocco of Cinder Road!
Ever wonder what it would be like to play a show in Greenland in -90 degree weather? Or how about actually playing inside of Ward 57 for all the wounded soldiers? Cinder Road has been there. Cinder Road has done that. Not only did we talk about life on the road, but lead singer and guitarist Mike Ruocco also talked about his love for Elvis, his favorite 80's bands, crazy promo shows, and much more in a recent interview with Rockin' Music Reviews.
Mike: Hey, how are you doing man?
Asif: I'm doing good man, how are you?
Mike: Good!
Asif: Cool! Well, back in the day, you guys started out as a cover band. What was your favorite song to cover and perform?
Mike: [pauses] You know what's funny? I don't think, ever since I've been doing interviews… nobody has ever actually asked me that.
Asif: Sweet! We got a first! That's what I like!
Mike: I got to think about that. Uhh…we actually used to cover an Elvis song called "Suspicious Minds". I just really liked used to doing that because it was never a song that you'd see a cover band do.
Asif: Right on. Do you guys ever whip out a cover still live at all?
Mike: We still do one or two, you know, every once in a while. We'll throw in Billy Idol or some Cheap Trick.
Asif: You brought up Elvis – I know you're a big fan of his. I think he is one of the best, if not thee best, entertainers of all-time. In your opinion, what made him stand out from the rest?
Mike: For one, he not only created but defined the term "Rock Star". The decadence, the glitch, the glam. He wore sunglasses inside at night and had the sequined jumpsuits with the cape and the cars, the limos, the women – it was everything. And this was at a time when that stuff wasn't really socially in. He'd sing with so much passion…it was like, the guy would be in tears on stage!
Asif: About being on stage and performing - I've seen you guys during a "Bowling With a Band" promotion up in Minnesota – where you guys were jammin' over some bowling lanes while people were bowling.
Mike: Oh – yeah yeah yeah!
Asif: I've never seen anything like that before! What is the craziest or most random promotion event you guys have done?
Mike: Well, that was one of them! But there are a couple – one of them is for a good reason and one for just being strange. We're the first band to ever play in Ward 57 – in the ward where the amputees are from the military. There were plenty of bands that played on the grounds of the hospital, but we actually played in the ward where the patients were. So, that was interesting and we saw some things that were difficult to look at. On a stranger side, that same day, we left that gig and went and did a radio promotion in Delaware. This is two days before Christmas and we played outside, on a stage, acoustic, at a car dealership.
Asif: (laughs) Oh man!
Mike: It was like 20 degrees! And we're playing acoustic guitars – it wasn't like we could jump around and rock out.
Asif: How did it even sound?
Mike: I dunno, I wasn't out front. But my dad was there and he said it sounded great. I'm surprised, my fingers barely worked!
Asif: That is pretty messed up!
Mike: It was pretty interesting.
Asif: Besides Ward 57, you guys have played a lot for the troops. You've played in Japan, Korea, Guam – even Guantanamo Bay. All over the place, for the troops. How was that experience – to play at places like Guantanamo Bay that not many people get to go to?
Mike: There's two places that we've been that really no one gets to go to – one being Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the other was Greenland. Both of those are really neat man…for totally different reasons. Greenland is like the Arctic tundra. Literally, there is no vegetation. It was literally like 90 degrees below zero. We had a military parka that they issued us to wear that were specially formatted so that we wouldn't die outside. Every time we have gone overseas, for whatever reason, we have attracted the craziest weather. When we were in Greenland, they had a massive snowstorm. They have storm threat conditions A, B, C, and D – D being the worst. We're playing and they're like "We're at threat condition B, so we're gonna go ahead and shut the concert down." And we're like "Alright." "Now we're at C, so you guys have to hurry up." "Oh wait, we're at D now so you need to get to your room and you can't even leave your hotel room." The dining facilities were shut down – everything was shut down. It was nuts man! You couldn't even see outside the window! And they said if you were outside you'd be dead in 20 minutes. So we went outside and all mooned the video camera just to see if we could do it.
Asif: (laughs) Damn!
Mike:
Yeah – it was fun. We had a blast. And then Cuba was great because it's a
tropical island man! And it's pristine man because it's untouched! It was
really nice. It was super hot. We did some snorkeling. The water is
beautiful. It was great man. It's like being in the Caribbean. It is the
Caribbean! It's just that no one is allowed to go there.
Asif: Did you get a feel for the desolation?
Mike: Unfortunately, Guantanamo Bay is pretty secluded. You aren't allowed on or off base. There's like land mines and towers and everything from the U.S. side and the Cuban side facing each other. It's pretty dim.
Asif: Damn, I can't imagine that. Alright – one of the things we like to do here is get the fans involved. Right now, I got a question from a guy that is big fan of you guys. Scott – from Galliano, Louisiana – asks: "It seems like the 80's rock groups are making a resurgence in the industry. Who were your favorite groups from that time and what do you think of the current rock scene right now?"
Mike: My ultimate favorite from that time is Def Leppard. Some other ones I love would be Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Motley Crue, Cinderella, Dokken – I love all of them. I was a huge fan of all that music and it's still the majority of what I listen to today. And I think the resurgence is awesome. Music has always been cyclical and it's great to see that no-bullshit rock coming back. Because that's what we are! It's giving us the opportunity and the platform to play our music again. It's been tough, you know? - for us to get on tours, for us to get on the radio – because it's still a lot of that "drop-tune, deep, dark I'm upset and my life sucks" music.
Asif: (laughs)
Mike: We're about having a good time!
Asif: You guys have been on the road with bands like the Sick Puppies and Hurt – you're currently on the road with RED…a lot of bands that are up-and-comers like yourselves. But you just a huge opening stint for Tesla! Opening up for a legendary band like that…did you pick up anything from them that you haven't picked up or learned from bands that are on that same level as you guys?
Mike: Absolutely. I mean, put it this way: Tesla really are legends. And here's the thing: they're over the bullshit. There is no drama with those guys. They get out there and they do their thing and they're over it. They've been to the top, and then they've come back. They're smart man – so smart. At one point in time, there were four buses and multiple semis – now they're down to one bus with 14 people on it. Because they want to make the money! They're like "We're not going to waste the money anymore. We've toured the world and had four buses and earned millions of dollars and then got home and had nothing." So, they're like "Fuck that, you know?"
Asif: Getting smart…
Mike: Yeah. On top of that, it's just amazing when you go out and tour with a band…you know, I grew up listening to Tesla. And to be able to call them my friends? That's bigger than anything right there. There was a lot of business stuff that they did that was really smart – and I run the business of this band – so I definitely took note to all that and it was pretty incredible stuff. Younger bands there's a little more competition between. But for the most part, we've been very lucky and we've had a great experience with everybody.
Asif: That's positive to hear. We've been talking a lot about you guys being out on the road – because pretty much that is all you guys are doing! In those few hours in the afternoon leading up to the show – when you have some free time and down time – what do you do to chill and have some fun?
Mike: We definitely like to drink on our down-time – and on our on-time!
Asif: (laughs)
Mike: (laughs) The coolest thing is that we get to see the country. Everyday. We actually get to see it because we're driving it. It's great man, we have a good time out of it. We don't have a whole lot of down-time, but the time we do we like to go out, we like to hit the town, we like to have fun. We like to hang with the bands that we're touring with. My band, Cinder Road, has always done cookouts on days off. We bought a grill at Walmart, we pull it out of the trailer, we grill up a bunch of burgers and dogs and we just sit out there in lawn chairs and talk about music, the old days and everything. We started doing that by ourselves, and then when we went out with Candlebox, we suggested "Hey, we're gonna do a cookout if you guys want to join us." And they were like "Yeah!" and they loved it and fell in love with it. So, from then on, everyday off we do a cookout. And that's when you get to hear the real stories. You get to hear about how everything was, and, you know…just some great stories.
Asif: What's the coolest thing you've got to checkout while you've been on the road touring that you probably wouldn't have gotten to see if you were just back at home in Baltimore and trying to get out on your own time?
Mike: It's hard to say – I mean, to bring it down to one thing. Just to be able to see how different the country is visually. We got mountains, the ocean, the desert…everything. To be able to meet the people and hear how different the music scenes are town-to-town. It's all fun, you know?
Asif: Yeah, I hear ya! What do you guys have going on after this tour?
Mike: After this tour we're gonna take a couple weeks off and then we're going to be putting out a live album. Tesla was generous enough to record us a bunch of nights on the tour with them and they just gave us the tracks. So we're going to put a live album out and eventually a DVD. Then we plan on staying on the road thru the summer into the fall and then - start working on another record!
Asif: That's great! I'm excited to hear about this live album. I'm really looking forward to it.
Mike: Thanks man!
Asif: Alright dude, thanks a lot. Enjoy the remaining leg of the tour you guys are on…and thanks for your time!
Mike: Same to you man! Keep in touch!
PHOTOS: courtesy of Kevin Estrada, James Scott, Stephanie Moore, Mary Ouellette
