First Time Awe In Pittsburgh

The door of the tunnel opened and Pittsburgh exploded into view—bridges, rivers, stadium lights—and we knew we were in for something special. Sitting with Alan Kaiser at Living Dead Weekend 2024, we traced a candid arc from a first-time love letter to the city to the craft and community that made Knight of the Creeps a cult classic with real staying power.

Alan walks us through what made that set different: a sharp script, a director with focus, and scene partners who made every take count. He talks about the moment you know you’ve done good work—the kind of internal click artists rarely admit—and how that confidence fueled a run that led straight into Mama’s Family and a four-year series job. No shortcuts, just hundreds of auditions, relentless reps, and a reminder that momentum is a byproduct of consistency. Along the way, we touch on friendships that formed long after the cameras stopped, and why some stories keep finding new fans decades later.

The conversation bends toward music, where Alan’s fandom lights up: vintage Van Halen, Blackfoot, Tesla, Godsmack, and especially Metallica. We dig into what longevity really looks like—touring hard, giving back to local communities, and staying generous with fans. There’s even a tease of future guests from Anthrax and a few backstage stories about meeting Frank Bello and Scott Ian, proof that the metal family tree keeps growing. We close with gratitude for the people who show up at conventions, the organizers who make them happen, and the city that welcomed us with open arms.

Hit play for a grounded, funny, and inspiring hang that blends cult horror, 80s nostalgia, and the practical blueprint of a working artist. If you enjoyed this one, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves classic horror or metal, and leave a quick review to help more fans find the fishbowl.

Chapters

• 0:00 Warm Welcome In The Fishbowl
• 0:27 First Impressions Of Pittsburgh
• 2:00 Knight Of The Creeps Reflections
• 3:41 From Creeps To Mama’s Family
• 5:17 Music Obsessions And Metal Icons
• 6:42 Anthrax Tease And Gratitude

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:02

Alan Kaiser on the fishbowl. Welcome. Good to be in the fishbowl. Thank you for taking the bowl.

SPEAKER_00: 0:08

The big fish. Thank you. Thank you for taking the time to swim in the bowl with me. Well, thank you for trusting me with this microphone. Um, forgive me everybody. It's been a long week. I th I think my voice is shot. I may not be able to be able to form a sentence today by the end of the day. But anyway, here we are.

SPEAKER_01: 0:26

What's going on, man? Here we are at Living Dead Weekend 2024. This is your first time in Pittsburgh, PA. Yep. We talked about yesterday what it was like to come out of the tunnels and to see the city.

SPEAKER_00: 0:40

Oh, that was fantastic. And I've never been to Pittsburgh. And one of the caveat to doing these conventions is going places that I otherwise would probably not, you know, visit. Right. And yeah, coming uh from the airport and get and then the driver said, he said, when we come out of this tunnel, be ready. Beautiful, just beautiful. Just uh the iron train bridge with the truck train going or whatever train going across that and the and the view and the rivers we could see the convergence, you know, of the of the rivers and the stadiums. There was a ball game last night, you know, going on and got to see that. Kind of, you know, the stadium lit up and could see the big screen and everything. Yeah, it was cool. It's good to be here. And it it and it it's just been a really very, very pleasant experience. Everyone has been very welcoming and accommodating and supportive and you know beautiful.

SPEAKER_01: 1:37

Fantastic. Yeah, that's what we like to hear about Pittsburghese.

SPEAKER_00: 1:40

Yeah, uh yeah, the Pittsburghies. You're all great. Thank you. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01: 1:44

Go Steelers, go pirates, go penguins.

SPEAKER_00: 1:46

Oh, yeah, absolutely. When in when in Rome, when in Pittsburgh, root for the yeah. Right, right.

SPEAKER_01: 1:53

Absolutely. Awesome. Let's talk a little bit about Knight of the Creeps and Mama's family. Okay. What was it like working on Knight of the Creeps? Obviously, it's it's become like an instant cult classic. Yeah. And that was also true to hear your thoughts on Slither, which James Gunn did in the 2000s, which was basically a Knight of the Creeps bring it.

SPEAKER_00: 2:20

Never seen it. Oh, okay. Never seen it. Okay. And they didn't invite me to be in it. Well, uh I don't know how they bring me back. I've never I've never seen it, which is funny. I've heard of it. Yeah. I I don't know. I've never seen it. You know, getting back to working on Knight of the Creeps, we we all went through like our favorite memories and so forth of working on Night of the Creeps. Mine was just the work.

SPEAKER_01: 2:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 2:47

Working with great actors, a brilliant, brilliant director. You know, he wrote the script. It's it's it's just it it's it it's a good product. Right, right. It was a fantastic idea, shot well, edit, you know, and everything. And then of course, you know, all these years later, it it spawned these friendships with these guys. I didn't know Jason and Steve when I after that movie ended. I didn't see them for years after the movie wrapped. We didn't really hang out, you know. We you know, right, and I think that was by design, you know, just because of you know the way the script was.

SPEAKER_01: 3:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 3:27

But we're just great friends now, and that's the result of you know some hard work 40 years ago that we did, and and uh, and and a like I said, a fantastic product that we all share in. Right. And then, you know, you mentioned Mama's family, like I I think I booked Mama's family maybe six or eight months after I wrapped Night of the Creeps, and the thing about Night of the Creeps was it it gave me momentum. You know, I was 20 years old, 21 years old when I did, you know, I was brand new, been in Hollywood for a couple of years, worked very hard, very, very hard at auditioning. By the time I booked Mama's family, I had probably been on hundreds, I think 600 audition, you know, yeah, yeah, to try and get you know paid. You know, but when Fred and I had such a great, you know, come around, you know, instant chemistry together, you know, with the director and me, and then we did the movie, and I felt like I did a great job. I really did. I mean, I'm an artist, you know. Artists, we know when we suck, yeah you know, we don't want to admit it, but we also know we can feel when we did great, when we did good work, you know, whether you're a musician or an actor or a painter or whatever, whatever art you know, you know when you've done good work. And I was so proud of the movie at the screening and what I had done. I was wow, and it just it really gave me a lot of momentum at that time, and then I booked a TV series and worked at for four years, you know. I mean, how many people could say that, you know? So yeah, so that's kind of that that period of of time in that that year when all those things kind of came together, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 5:15

Yeah, yeah. Awesome, awesome. And you're also talking yesterday, you're a big music fan.

SPEAKER_00: 5:20

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Music is just who who are some of your favorite bands? Well, my very favorite is the vintage Van Halen, David Lee Roth Years. Right. Those albums Blackfoot is one of my favorite bands of all time. I saw them in I don't even know what year, 82 or 83 or something. Tesla is one of my favorite bands. Godsmack. You know, gotta get your Godsmack a little bit. Yeah. Metallica, I I, you know, I I'm I I love their music, but more so I love that they're still out there doing it. Yes. And and and a friend of ours is in Helsinki, and Metallica's playing, you know, last night and they're gonna play tonight or whatever it was Friday and Sunday night or something. And you know, the tickets are, you know, it's Metallica. It's it's not a cheap seat in the house. Right. But the thing about them is they'll probably leave a hundred thousand dollars in Helsinki to a charity. Right. That's what they do, you know, they're like, they're like prints or one of those just they're yeah, they're they're gonna live forever and they're gonna donate and donate and help people. And you know, that's what I really yeah, I think is great about them.

SPEAKER_01: 6:36

So anyway. Future, fut current fishbowl listeners and future fishbowl listeners. I'm supposed to get anthrax on the show.

SPEAKER_00: 6:45

Oh wow. Yeah, awesome. That'll be fantastic. Yes, yes. Um, I I knew, I I don't say I would know, knew them. I I was acquainted with a couple of guys from anthrax way, way, way back. Nice people. Wonderful dudes. You know, but this is 30 years ago, 35, 40 years, you know, but they're still out there doing it. Yeah, so good. Yeah, that'll be a fun interview. That'll be great.

SPEAKER_01: 7:13

Yeah, I I met uh Frank Bello and Scott Yeah at one of the last couple Scott Citicons they had here, and awesome guys. Yeah, awesome. Very cool. Very excited to get them on the show, but don't want to delve too much into that because we have Alan Kaiser on the show. Yeah, here I am. Awesome. Well, well, thank you. Thanks for having me. Absolutely, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00: 7:37

My pleasure for taking the time to swim in the bowl. Absolutely. I want to thank, you know, Pittsburgh and the everybody that put on this show. Thank you for having me. People thank me for being here. I'm like, no, no, no. It's a privilege. It makes me feel relevant. My 30, 40 year old acting, whatever, you know, and and people appreciate that. That that the the I thank you all for that. You know, that makes me feel relevant and and very fulfilled. So thanks, man. Awesome. Thank you so much. All right, everybody, thank you. Thank you. All right.