Carlos Cavazo is a legendary guitarist in his own right. He released 7 albums (and one live album) with the legendary Quiet Riot and even participated in the now legendary “Hear N’ Aid” project that was put together by Ronnie James Dio as the Metal version of “We Are The World.” He has been a veteran of the road for nearly 27 years and in 2008 he signed on as lead/rhythm guitarist of Ratt. In 2010 Ratt released “Infestation” (Purchase Here) which is a great, fun Ratt album that is very reminiscent of the band’s “Out of the Cellar” and “Invasion of Your Privacy” albums.
Thanks to my good friends at Roadrunner Records, I had the pleasure of interviewing Carlos Cavazo after their set here in Atlanta with The Scorpions. We talked about everything from the early LA club days to his recent work with Ratt and what it’s like sharing the guitar duties.
I hope you’ll enjoy this interview as much as I did!
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On the latest Ratt album Infestation you guys managed to capture the classic Ratt sound yet it still sounds fresh. It doesn’t sound dated or nostalgic. Did this come natural or did you have to work at it pretty hard to get it that way?
Actually I don’t think we worked really hard to make it that way. We did that we wanted to keep the same sound as early Ratt, the sound that made them famous and also the energy and excitement but write new, updated material with that kind of sound and that’s what we achieved. All the songs are good in their own right. It does have the same energy and sound as early Ratt stuff.
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I think it sounds great and production quality is really awesome.
Thank you. Michael Baskette is a great producer and he really did a good job on the record.
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What does Carlos Cavazo do to get pumped up for a show? Do you burn incense? Do yoga? What’s up?
<laughs>Robbie what do I do to warm up? (Bassist Robbie Crane plays air guitar) Actually we all have our little rituals. We warm up our voices; we warm up on guitar and jam out back here. We warm up our solos, go over certain parts of songs. There’s definitely a warm up procedure because if you don’t warm up and you go on stage you could come out there a little stiff.
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I was extremely lucky to see Quiet Riot back in ’93 at The Cotton Club here in Atlanta. That venue was downgrade in size for not just you guys but for a lot of your peers. Was that kind of a hard pill to swallow or did you just continue to enjoy what you were doing and just kind of take it as it comes?
We enjoy any gig. If the people are into it we love it. One thing people have to remember is that we played the clubs longer than we ever played the arenas so it’s no big deal.
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So it’s kind of like going back home again?
Yeah but obviously the arenas are definitely a lot more fun and more people but that’s the way life is. You got ups and downs.
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Classic hard rock & metal seems to be enjoying some success after being cast into a ditch for a while. How does it feel to get to do it all over again on a bigger level and did you see it coming?
I didn’t really see it coming actually. I was just going with the flow and having a good time with it. I have been really lucky in my career. I really enjoy everything I do whether is the bigger places or the smaller places, or the big tours or the small tours. It’s all fun. I love playing music. It’s what it’s all about and it’s how I put food on the table. I’m a musician whether I do good or I do bad.
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In Quiet Riot you were the only guitarist in the band and now you’re in Ratt with another stellar guitarist Warren DiMartini. Was that transition a bit challenging for you?
Actually no. I fit in really well with these guys and just slid right into place. Me and Warren are similar in many ways. Our styles are very similar and we’re influenced by many of the same people.
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Your style of guitar playing really fits in well with Ratt and if I didn’t know better I’d swear that you’d been in the band for many years.
Thank you. That’s the whole point of it. I’m really happy to be with these guys. It’s like a dream come true for a guitar player to play with Ratt . I’ve always been a fan of their music. I’ve known them throughout the years and oddly enough, I was good friends with Robin Crosby before I knew any of these guys.
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How did you come be such good friends with Robin Crosby?
I met him on the LA club scene. He was always very cool to me. We used to hang out and we would always keep in touch on the phone and eventually I took off with Quiet Riot and he took off with Ratt so our friendship sort of faded a little bit.
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What four artists would we be surprised to hear you were a fan of?
Gypsy Kings. I love flamenco music. I love classical music. That’s all I listen to really. I like Foo Fighters. Who else? Hm, I have a record of TV Themes that I listen to once in a while. That would probably shock everybody <laughs>. I listen to a lot of Motown on the R&B stations in LA.
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Have you ever heard the Leonard Nimoy album?
<laughs> No! I haven’t heard that. I’ll have to check that one out. William Shatner has one too.
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Back in the early days of the LA music scene, were there any bands that didn’t make it that you thought should have been huge?
The band Ala Carte, a three piece band that was very much like a ZZ Top kind of band. I was sure they would be big. Smile who Tommy Girvin, their guitar player, went to play with Eddie Money and the rest of the guys I’m not sure what they’re doing. I thought for sure they would be big. Some of George Lynch’s bands like Exciter. I thought they would be big but he ended up making it big with Dokken. There were a lot of great bands. There really was.
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If you could line up all the members of any band side by side and run down the line slapping them all in the face. Who would it be?
<laughs> Probably one of these new bands who do all that dancing stuff. <laughs> These boy bands or something like that. I’m not against it but it’s like that kind of music is kind of taking over ya know? We need more room for rock to take over, not that dancing stuff.
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Back in 1985 you participated in the Ronnie James Dio project “Hear N Aid”. What was that project like and was it a positive experience?
It was a lot of fun actually. I got to meet a lot of people I hadn’t met and everybody was really good. Really nice, positive spirits and it was for a good cause. We’re all for helping kids that are starving. People have helped us in our live so it was time to give back. I had a good time and it was a real good experience. Real memorable.
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I was just listening to this on vinyl a few nights ago and I just love all the great guitar solos on that album.
<sings> WE’RE STARS!
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You recently worked with Tim “Ripper” Owens on his latest album “Play My Game.” How did you get hooked up with him?
I hooked up with him through Bob Kulick the producer who was doing his record. I had met Tim a few times on the club scene in LA and he’s a really good guy, really funny and I enjoy hanging out with him. I was really happy to be part of his album but he wasn’t even in the studio when I did my part.
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Are there any other artists that you’d like to work with that you haven’t worked with yet?
I would’ve loved to have worked with Ronnie James Dio again. That would’ve been cool. Came close there a couple of times. Let’s see who else I’d like to work with. Eddie Van Halen!<laughs> There are a lot of people I’d like to work with probably.
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How was your relationship with Ronnie James Dio. Were you two close?
We didn’t call each other on the phone or anything like that but we were good friends. We would run into each other in the club scene and give each other a hug. I know a lot of the people he knows. My girlfriend and I were invited to his birthday party last year but I was on the road and my girlfriend went and hung out with all those people. I really wish I could’ve gone.
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I’ve been watching VH1 Classics Metal Mania and they love the hell out of those Quiet Riot videos. When you watch those old videos, do you remember the good times or do you just kind of cover your face?
<laughs> They bring back memories of what happened during that time period. Sometimes filming those videos was a little bit of a pain but it was cool. I don’t regret anything that we did.
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If you could put a dream band together with any musicians alive or dead, who would be in it? You also have to be in the band.
First of all, I think Ratt is my dream band. I love being in this band but for another band? I’d have to say, Me, Jimi Hendrix, John Bonham and John Entwhistle. I’m a really big fan of Jimi Hendrix. He really changed it for me when I heard him.
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Do you guys have any more shows lined up after this?
We have some more dates lined up with The Scorpions and a few on our own. After this tour we’ll be doing some fly out dates.
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Carlos, thank you so much for taking the time out to do this interview. It’s been an honor.
No problem man. Thank you!
The Brainfart & Carlos Cavazo – July 14, 2010 – Atlanta, GA
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