BiografieERIC MENSINGER

Birthday: May 12, 1958, Cleveland, OH



Introduction

Eric Singer was born Eric D. Mensinger, the son of John and ??, in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 12th, 1958. With a musical family surrounding him, Eric started playing drums when he was 11 years old. About his family Eric states, "my father was a bandleader and a tenor sax player who originally played in a society band, playing what was then called society music. He worked for a well-known bandleader in New York, and he used to work on cross-Atlantic cruises. Everybody traveled on those ships - royalty, movie stars, dignitaries - and my Dad would meet everyone because he ran the band. It was basically dance music back then; this was in the ´40s and ´50s. Then he came back to Cleveland - he was from Austria originally - and started his own thing playing for wealthy people and for political and business figures and several presidents. His band would play in a specific room five nights a week in one of the big hotels down in the square. But eventually dance bands phased out, so now he does ´singles´ like weddings, country clubs, and parties... my mother was a singer in musical plays, and I was in the orchestra for shows during the summer" (Modern Drummer, 10/90). Eric joined his Father´s band in 1972 at age 13 and was soon involved in other local Cleveland bands. Eric recalled, "I started taking lessons when I was 11 - which is when I started playing officially - but I didn´t relate to him (his father) at all because he was such a disciplinarian... I was around 13, and that´s when I joined the union and started working pretty steadily with my Dad´s band" (Modern Drummer, 10/90). Initially learning on his own, "then I took lessons from Buddy Kummil, who made me really want to play, and he had a fair attitude. He let you know that if you didn´t have your lesson ready by the next lesson, it was okay. If you came back and screwed it up the following week, then you had one more chance" (Modern Drummer, 10/90). Eric recalls that his father´s attitude, while strict would be very beneficial to him in coming years, "my dad was very domineering, very strong-willed. He wanted his ideas interpreted a certain way if you worked for him, which I can really appreciate now. But it was a little rougher for me because I was his son, so there were times when he´d kick me out from behind the drums and say, ´This is the way I want it played!´ and he´d show me, which was embarrassing for me. Eventually he got me disciplined to the point that he didn´t want to use any other drummer but me. It was great on the one hand, but on the other I missed out on a lot of the social aspects of high school because I was working every weekend" (Modern Drummer, 10/90). All of this participation in music left little time for other things, yet by the mid-1970´s Eric was even holding down a job that involved music: "I worked in a factory - King Musical Instruments - for four years, making saxophones and other things. I worked in the parts department of a Ford dealership, too" (Modern Drummer, 10/90).



A Blond In Hollywood

In 1982 Eric finally quit his father´s band after a decade playing with him, he recalled, "a year before I went to L.A., I got really serious about drums, practicing a couple of hours every day after work. I thought I´d go to P.I.T. to study, but the course I wanted wasn´t starting up until five months from the time I went out there. Instead of waiting around, I took lessons from Casey Scheuerell. I only took lessons from him for about three months, but he gave me so much in that time" (Modern Drummer, 10/90). The lessons Eric would get from Casey, who was only four years older than, him were invaluable, "he made me aware of what I was doing by making me watch how my hands were positioned when I´d play, so that I would learn to get them even. He also taught me exercises pertaining to Latin rhythms because there´s a lot of two- and- four-way independence in that kind of drumming. Plus they´re great exercises just to practice on your own, even if you don´t apply them in any musical sense. But like I said, the biggest thing he taught me was awareness, being conscious of things like body motion" (Modern Drummer, 10/90). This taught Eric that there was more to drumming than style and that the substance of it could be very subtle. Some of Casey´s education at the elite Berklee School of Music rubbed off on Eric. Casey would find success himself in the music field working with the likes of the monstorously artistic Jean-Luc Ponty. Eric moved to Los Angeles in the middle of 1983 and took up session work. Of this Eric recalled, "the starting point was definitely the Carmine Appice Drum-Off that I did. To enter, you had to send in a tape, so I went down to the rehearsal room and just recorded myself playing into a ghetto blaster. Something just made me do it, and it´s a good thing I did, because that ended up leading me to something else. Because of that, someone who saw me there asked me to be in a video, Playboy´s Women In Rock. The bass player who I did that with was real good friends with Lita Ford, and he knew Randy Castillo well and told me that Randy was going to quit Lita´s band. He told me that I would be perfect with Lita. His name was Ray Marzano, and he helped me out, took me under his wing. He set up a PA and my drum kit in a storage room he owned, and every day I´d go over there and just blast through the material. I knew the stuff note-for-note. Randy Castillo was nice enough to recommend me for the gig. Then at the audition, Lita said to me, "When I close my eyes when you play, it´s like Randy´s still here." I got the gig that week, and the next thing I knew, we were opening for Ratt, who were really big at the time, and our first show was at the San Diego Sports Arena. That was a really big charge for me" (Modern Drummer, 10/90). As for Randy, things did not quite turn out as he had expected. In the middle of 1985 Tommy Lee of Motley Crue and Bobby Blotzer of Ratt had called him from a Los Angeles party where Ozzy Osborne was wanting to talk to him. Ozzy, it seems, had been having problems finding drummers he liked and was in the market for a new drummer. Randy, who had recently quit Lita´s band, had also taken up skiing, but had not met with success and had broken his leg. Randy´s friendship with Tommy Lee had come about from him meeting the Crue while Nikki Sixx was dating Lita in 1984. Later Randy Castillo would hook up and become Ozzy´s drummer, and in 1999 would replace Tommy Lee in Motley Crue. Hollywood rock was very incestuous in the 1980´s.



Sabbath Stones

When Lita came off the road in late 1984, Eric quicky found some new work. At the time Lita was engaged to Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, and with that band on hiatus (broken up or defunct) Tony was looking to record a solo album. Tony Iommi and Lita Ford had together appeared at the blues jam at the Guitar Greats Festival at the Capital Theatre in Passaic, NJ in November 1984. The Badland´s biography explains the transition, "Eric met Tony lommi through Lita. and after his year long stint with her, joined Black Sabbath for two years and two albums. Sabbath´s bassist Dave Spitz (now in Impellitteri) found Ray in Rondinelli. Rumors got to Ray that he was being considered for the Sabbath gig, but he still thought it was a practical joke when he was called for the audition. Ray rehearsed with Sabbath for two days and did his first show with them using cue cards. Says Eric, ´Ray added new life. new blood. We did maybe 25 or 30 gigs. but there were complications. and dates got canceled. Tony lommi made unwise business decisions, and it fell apart" (Badlands Tourbook). However Iommi had recruited both Eric Singer and Gordon Copley from Lita´s band to start work on what would eventually become "The Seventh Star". Later when Lita, herself, was gearing up to tour and Gordon returned to her band in the summer with Eric remaining in Sabbath. With the record label forcing Tony to dub the project "Black Sabbath Featuring Tony Iommi" the album was recorded at Cheshire Sound Studios, in Atanta, GA, with Jeff Glixman producing. Following the release of the album the band hit the road on March 21, 1986 at the Public Hall in Cleveland, OH USA with WASP and Anthrax (which included Dave Spitz´s brother, Dan). Rather ironic one might think for the tour to kick off in Eric´s home town. It certainly was not a good omen, when 5 dates into the tour Glenn is fired for being unable to properly sing the classic Sabbath songs. There are suggestions that this is also the result of his abusing a variety of substances. The final show of this band lineup is played in Worcester, Massachutes, and quickly Dave calls on old friend Ray Gillen to join the band. Ray had been playing in a bar band in New Jersey called Rondinelli which had been formed by ex-Rainbow drummer Bobby Rondinelli (who would also later be a Sabbath drummer!@!!). The Seventh Star tour concludes on June 4th, 1986, in Nottingham, England. Work on the Eternal project begins after a short break and material such as "The Eternal Idol", "Born To Lose", "Lost Forever", "Hard Life To Love", "Glory Ride", "Ancient Warrior", and "The Shining" are worked out by the Seventh Star lineup, and show promise, yet Ray never gets to record for the album with Sabbath quitting the band during early 1987. The demo version of "Born To Lose" with Eric and Ray (and more frontal keyboards by the ever uncreditted Geoff Nichols) is well worth tracking down for collectors due to it being one of the best non-Ozzy Sabbath songs ever recorded (yeah, in the author´s opinion, but so what, he also dug "TV Crimes"!). Allegedly, a laugh of Ray´s is left on one track on the album with the rest of the vocals being handled by his replacement vocalist Tony Martin when the album is recorded at Air Studios, Montserrat and Battery Studios, London, England. Once again Jeff Glixman produces and the band reverts back to the full "Black Sabbath" moniker. Eric, having completed his drum work for the album, quits to join up with one of his idols, Gary Moore who was heading out on tour in support of his excellent "Wild Frontiers" album. Eric recalls his desire to work with Gary, "I had been a big fan of Gary´s for years, and when I met Jeff Glixman, who was producing the Sabbath album I was on, I told him that I was a big fan of Gary´s. Jeff had produced two of his albums, and I told him that if he ever worked for him again, I would really like to jam with the guy. Ironically, I ended up playing for Gary a couple of years later. Gary is very respected, and even though he´s not big in the States, he´s huge in Europe and Japan, and playing with him can take you to what other people seem to think is a higher level of musical integrity... Gary is known to go through drummers like water, so I feel good that I survived the tour. Gary is a temperamental person when it comes to music, but I understand why. It´s basically because he´s a perfectionist, and he´s a very emotional player. He´s got the most intensity of anyone I´ve ever played with, and he´s so focused that he almost becomes one with the guitar. I think the reason why he has this rep is because he expects the same intensity from other people who work with him. He knows what he wants from himself and the people he works with" (Modern Drummer, 10/90). The Badland´s biography would later attempt to explain the departure, "Ray and Eric did work together on the Eternal Idol album, but soon after. Eric heard from bassist Bob Daisley (who had replaced Dave in Sabbath) that Gary Moore was looking for a drummer for his touring band. Eric got the gig. One night Jake (who´d played with Bob in Ozzy) came with old friend Warren DeMartini to a Gary Moore show. As everyone sat around b.s.-in´ on the tour bus. Eric mentioned he´d be free after the tour was over. Meanwhile. Ray briefly teamed up with John Sykes´ Blue Murder then moved from England back to the States" (Badlands Tourbook). "Wild Frontiers" was also a difficult album to support, while MTV air play for the single "Over The Hills" did exist, the album was a part of the Belfast-born Moore´s very Celtic revivalist phase making the music complex, in addition to his perfectionism, and the nature of the album that had to be presented live. On the studio recording there is a heavy dose of drum programming which would be humanly impossible to replicate in a live setting. Stylistically, the involvement with Gary Moore would provide a benefit to Eric´s drumming. Eric recalled his drumming, "when I played with Sabbath I felt like I was starting to get too animalistic in that I was playing with the butt ends of the sticks, breaking everything every night. There were nights where I´d go through two or three snare heads. It didn´t come down to that I was simply hitting too hard, it was more as though I was getting away from technique." (Modern Drummer, 10/90). The more subtle drumming required for the Gary Moore gig gave Eric better control and smoothed out his control. Gary´s tour kicked off on March 26, 1987 at the Playhouse in Edinburgh, Scotland, and after numerous dates in Europe, Japan, and the US concludes at the Paradise Theatre, in Boston on Septeber 1st. One early date of this tour was recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, on April 1st, 1987, for the BBC transcription services, to be used for broadcast by the BBC and its affiliates. Die-hard fans could try and track down the disc, which would prove to be quite a find (IN CONCERT #414). It features the following set: "Over The Hills And Far Away", "Thunder Rising", "Shapes Of Things", "Wild Frontier", "So Far Away", "Empty Rooms", "Out In The Fields", and "All Messed Up". As such, this is probably available as a bootleg because many such BBC discs (i.e. Def Leppard´s 1980 live set) provide the basis for a great deat of high quality bootleg albums.



Driving Badlands

Soon after finishing the Gary Moore Tour in September 1987 hooked up with the band Drive to do some session work. Eric recalled, "the band Drive was like a heavy metal band, kind of influenced similar to like an Iron Maiden-ish, Queen type band. I was just hired as a studio drummer. I mean, even now, I still do studio work. It´s the same type of thing with a band called Stream I played for recently. When you do studio work that means you play virtually almost any type of style of music and you have to be not only capable of being a chamaeleon and adapting to the situation, but you have to realize that a lot of times you may do things that maybe aren´t of your personal musical taste. For example, that band Drive. Those guys were really good at what they did, but that´s not particularly the kind of band that I personally would want to play in. But that doesn´t mean that I can´t still go in and do a good job and enjoy myself and have a good time. The bottom line is that I´m a drummer for a living. I am a musician for a living. I play drums and I look at myself as a professional drummer; I make a living by playing music. If somebody calls me up to play on something, I don´t say no unless it is somebody that I particularly don´t want to work with or I think it is something I wouldn´t be able to do a fair job for them" (Elizabeth Sneed/White, KISS Asylum). The album was recorded and mixed at Front Page Recorders, Studio A & B, Costa Mesa, California in January and February 1988 and was produced Produced by Biff Vincent and Rick Chavez. The band would feature David Taylor on vocals, Rich Chavez and Mercy Valdez on guitars, and Michael Guerrero on bass. Drive´s "Character´s In Time" released would be released in April 1988 and would feature and endorsement for Eric´s drumming equipment in the linear notes, and then list new drummer Valentine San Miguel on drums. Musically, the material was a blend of Queensryche/Helloween power rock fueled by driving guitars and pulsing drums. Following that Eric was recruited by Ian Astbury of The Cult who had recently fired their drummer Les Warner following the end of their successful Electric Tour. Ian was starting to get ideas down for the next Cult album, the one which would turn out to be "Sonic Temple". Recording at Track Records in Hollywood in June 1988 with Ian, Billy Duffy (guitars), and Jamie Stewart (bass), the band cut 21 demos. In late 2000 some of these ("Zodiac", "Yes Man", "Citadel", "The Crystal Ocean", "Lay Down Your Gun", "Bite On The Bullet", "Iron Star", and "Star Child" were released on the Cult´s "Rare Cult" Box Set. Eric´s assistance on the demos would earn him a special thanks on the "Sonic Temple" album when it was released in 1989. Of the other demos, many would become songs on "Sonic Temple", when it was properly recorded with Bob Rock in August 1988, or develop into full songs on later Cult albums (notably "Star Child" which would become the excellent "Star"). In early 1988 Ray Gillen had returned to America after his short stint in John Syke´s Blue Murder. Interested in forming a band of his own he got in touch with Jake E. Lee, who had previously worked in Ozzy Osborne´s band. The Badland´s biography would reverse this stating, "formed in the summer of 1988 when guitarist Jake E. Lee contacted vocalist Ray Gillen, the two quickly added bassist Greg Chaisson and drummer Eric Singer and hit the Los Angeles rehearsal studios to polish material for their debut LP" (Badlands Tourbook). The choice of Chaisson was not so clear, "Eric, Ray and Jake connected. Greg also came to Badlands through the Ozzy connection when he went to Europe to audition for Ozzy´s band prior to Ultimate Sin. Though Greg didn´t get the Ozzy gig. he and Jake kept in touch. In early 1988 Greg completed the Badlands lineup" (Badlands Tourbook). He had worked in the band Steeler with Yngwie J. Malmsteen and was chosen after the auditioning of several other bass players. A deal was secured with a subsidiary of Atlantic records, Titanium Records, and Badlands, went into the One on One Studios, in Los Angeles, and the Record Plant studios in New York City to record their self-titled debut, which was released in mid-1989. The album was produced by Paul O´Neil and Badlands. Eric´s parts were quickly completed, and with time off until Badlands were ready to tour, indeed before the other members completed their work on the album. In February Eric tried out for the Paul Stanley Solo Band. He recalls, "I did the Paul Stanley tour during the interim between doing my Badlands tracks and then going on tour to support the album. We had recorded here in New York, so rather than go back to L.A. after my tracks were completed and sit around and get out of shape, the Paul Stanley gig gave me an opportunity to get out on the road. I hadn´t been out on the road for about a year, because we had spent so much time getting Badlands together. So that prepped me for the road, and consequently it kept me working. It was also fun because I had been a KISS fan as a kid" (Modern Drummer, 10/90), until the kids started bringing their parents to the KISS shows! The audition and how Eric got the job can be looked at with humor, "when I was up for the Paul Stanley gig, Paul had never heard of me, and he asked [guitarist] Bob Kulick who I was. Bob told him I had worked with Gary, and Paul told me that if I played with Gary Moore, then he figured I had to be good. That shows you how beneficial it is to do certain things. You get more respect instantly from playing with artists like that who are so well respected by their peers" (Modern Drummer, 10/90).



When the album was released the biography of the band spoke volumes for the individuals who created the project, "Eric Singer paid his dues as the hard-hitting drummer for Lita Ford, Gary Moore and Black Sabbath. His association with Gillen in Sabbath made him the obvious choice as Badlands´ power percussionist. His kinetic energy both onstage and off makes him Badlands´ most outgoing member as well as the rock solid foundation of the band´s sound. ´Our music is not singles, hit-type music. It´s very concert-oriented and dynamic. It´s very raw and real and geared towards our audiences. I call it ´intensely real´ because we have incredible intensity when we play live" (Badlands Tourbook). Badlands also changed Eric´s outlook on being a musician. Since arriving in LA in 1983 he had worked as a hired hand, obey the requirements of the person paying him. The same had been the case with his father´s band. Eric recalled, "Before Badlands, I was a hired gun, says Eric, my responsibilities were limited and defined. I had to conform to a style, and I shut up and did the gig. Now we all answer for our actions, songs, time and money. Jake and Ray are the leaders and define what Badlands is about. I´ve got the freedom and responsibility to create my own parts. We´re all equal members, and every one´s opinion counts. We´re finding our direction and our sound" (Badlands Tourbook). He echoed this later, "with Badlands, I had to carve my own niche" (Modern Drummer). Unfortunately, carving his own niche led to him falling out with the rest of the band during their tour and he is fired at the end of the tour. Eric recalls, "So because the guys in Badlands are different than me and were more laid back as far as communication goes, it was a problem. I mean, I like to feel comfortable with the people I´m working with so that I can go to them and tell them how I feel about certain things and not feel weird or intimidated about that. I didn´t have that with them, and I started thinking I was becoming jaded after that experience... When I got a call telling me, "You´re out of the band," I was pretty surprised, because the first thing I thought was, "I want to try to work things out." It seemed odd to me that after putting two years into a project, they didn´t want to try to work the differences out." (Modern Drummer, 10/90). What Eric did learn was more of the harsh side of the music business: "I learned that no one is ever exempt from being fired. I had thought I was going to be involved in that for a while, and then I found myself fired. The main thing you´ve got to do in that type of situation is pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and pull yourself together... Anyone can get fired, whether the reasons are personal or musical" (Modern Drummer, 10/90). He was replaced in Badlands by Jeff Martin who would be used on the band´s second album "Voodoo Highway" in 1991. A third album "Dusk" was recorded, but was unreleased. There had, in the early 1990´s been rumors circulatinf that Ray Gillen had contracted the AIDS virus, but by late 1993 Ray´s health was failing and it was clear that he was indeed suffering from active HIV. On December 3, 1993, Ray Gillen passed awaym the result of AIDS related complications at his home in New Jersey. He was only 32. After Badlands, as usual, Eric landed on his feet, "I had heard that Jonathan Mover was planning to leave Alice, so I called the management and hooked up with Al Petrelli, who´s the lead guitar player and band director. He said he knew who I was and that he wanted to check me out. The day after the American Music Awards they set up an audition for me in L.A., so I played a couple of songs with them, and Alice said, "I heard what I need to hear." They told me that Alice really dug it and that I had the gig" (Modern Drummer, 10/90). Jonathan departed the Alice Cooper band after the first half of the Trash Tour (Europe/Canada) on January 20 in Edmonton, Alberta. Eric made his debut with at the Music Hall in Houston, TX, on February 23, 1990 and would appear in the "Only My Heart Talkin" video. In March 1991 Eric was drafted into help KISS record "God Gave Rock And Roll To You II" for the Bill & Ted´s Bogus Journey soundtrack when the band felt Eric Carr´s recovery had not reached a point where he could do the track - he would sing on it and appear in the video though. Eric would also play on Alice´s "Hey Stoopid" tour which ran from July 12, 1991 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre in Irvine, California through dates towards the end of the tour in November when he left the band to join KISS - he was replaced by Jimmy Degrasso for the last few dates of the tour that concluded in France. This would not be the last time Eric would play with Alice, for Alice obviously stood by his initial feelings for Eric. In 1994 Alice´s record label in Japan released Live At The Electric Lady which was recorded live in the studio on September 13, 1991. He also appears on two of Alice´s CD Singles, "Lost In America", and "Burining Our Bed". This album was included in a special Japanese packaging of Alice´s "Last Temptation".



As for his drumming needs, "the two things that I need when I play are earplugs and chewing gum. The gum keeps me salivating so I don´t get a dry mouth, and it relaxes my eardrums because I´m constantly chewing. By wearing earplugs, it keeps all that high-end volume controlled. If you hear too much high-end volume in a short time-span, your ears start closing up as a defense mechanism." (Modern Drummer, 10/90). Eric also has a special preference for his sticks. "I have half the stick filed, and I have them made so that they´re only half lacquered; there´s no sense in having them completely lacquered if I´m just going to file it off. The more slippery the stick gets as I sweat, the tighter the grip gets, and that contributes to getting tense. The tenser you get, the more it can disrupt your flow and your groove. So I like the wood filed because the pores of the wood are open to absorb the sweat more" (Modern Drummer, 10/90). As for what Eric can do with his chewing gum and special sticks, one only has to have attended a KISS expo and been within 15 feet of him while he does his best John Bonham. Versitility is what makes Eric Singer special, and it is both his nature and flexability that made him an attractive catch to KISS. When Eric Carr was suffering his cancer related problems in 1990 Paul Stanely knew exactly who to call to help out in the studio while Eric Carr fought his illness. Like Bruce Kulick with his situation with Mark St. John in 1984, when Eric Carr passed away in November, Eric was in the right position - he was there with the band, they were familiar and comfortable with him, and while there was great sadness in the loss of Eric Carr the band needed to continue. In December 1991 Eric became an official member of the band. Eric has more of a discography, and again turns up on a Black Sabbath release when Europe get´s the "Blackest Sabbath: 1971 - 1987" compilation on Vertigo records in 1989. This album includes 3 tracks from the two albums Eric played on. Interestingly, a further compilation, "The Sabbath Stones" would include an Eric era track when released in 1996 - the Japanese version of the album has 2 Eric drummed tracks. In 1990, the irony continues when Eric drums on two tracks, "(Mobile) Shooting Gallery" and "Pink Clouds On An Island" on former Black Sabbath´s drummer´s "Ward One - Along The Way" album.



Controlled Fury

Taking the seat of the great Eric Carr, and legendary Peter Criss, Eric Singer had much to live up to, and did not appear threatened by the challenge to which he had submitted himself. While Peter Criss had set the standard with a unique somewhat unconventional technique, Eric Carr had provided a powerful, wild, innovative, and awesome kick to the ass of the KISS monster. Eric Singer combined both, with his own style, appearing at times as a warrior with controlled fury, both precise and free-flowing, at one with the music. When he departed the band he went back to what he had always done, to one extent or another: have drum, will travel. Notably, Eric has reconnected with Alice Cooper, done his own solo project with Bruce Kulick and John Corabi, and worked on several tribute projects. In January 2000, Eric was recruited by KISS to fill in for the AWOL kitty, even donning the Cat makeup to fulfill KISS´ tour plans in Japan and Australia.Quelle: http://www.kissfaq.com/members/bio_singer.htmlDiscografiesiehe Homepage www