Q & A with Chris MclLernon of Saigon Kick

talking Pd with rock and roll legend Chris McLernon of Saigon Kick.  His journey from diagnosis to DBS to back on the stage . plus some back stage dirt and getting a check from Gene Simmons of Kiss

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcoming you to another edition of the My PD Peeps Pod, where we talked to with Parkinson's warriors about their journey through Parkinson's disease. I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm a little starstruck today. Um, so if I mess up, I'm gonna blame Parkinson's because that's one of the that's one of the benefits. That's that's what I could do because I'm allowed to. Yep, yep. Um, I want people to know who they're talking to. Um, this is a man, uh, in my opinion, rock and roll royalty. Um cold sweat, cold gin. Everybody knows Saigon Kick. I'm in love with one of his latest projects, Kennell. A lot of you might know him as a Parkinson's warrior. I'm gonna tell you how I know this man. It's not every day that you get a chance to thank somebody who helped you with women or girls in high school back in the 90s. If you're one of those girls that was standing on a corner in Bayonne, New Jersey, and you saw this really cool two-door Dodge neon stroll down, and all you heard was love is on the way.

SPEAKER_03 0:55

Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

We're gonna thank this gentleman right here. Um, thank you so much, rock and roll legend, Chris McLean. How are you? Thank you so much for joining us, man.

SPEAKER_03 1:06

Thank you. Thank you for having me. It's a blast to be here.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

This is so cool. Um, like I said, I'm a little starstruck, so hopefully, we won't have to edit much.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

Um, who you having on here?

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Listen, I would be a bad host. I know this is about Parkinson's awareness, and we're gonna get to that uh dreaded disease that we all suffer with every day and some of the the good and the bad there. But let's talk about some fun stuff. Um, I guess in the music industry, we call it a hook. Um, let's get let's get the audience uh happy about what we're talking about and keep them keep them on the listen. Um, so let's just talk a little bit about some some of the unbelievable things that you've done. Um briefly, where did you start? Like what made you want to get into music? And I'm gonna assume the Beatles, like everybody else, maybe maybe not. Um, but then also you're dead right, Beatles. Okay. So so tell me about that moment, and then also tell me about the moment where you I mean, listen, not everybody wakes up and says, I'm gonna be Eric Clapton. When did you realize not only that you wanted to do it, but that you could do it?

SPEAKER_03 2:02

Um, Beatles. Well, I I was living in Ohio at the time, and there's a channel in Cleveland called W UAB, and they're playing uh for some reason Hard Day's Night all weekend. And I saw that, and I already played guitar a little bit, uh, but my guitar had broken, so I need to get it fixed. So that movie made me go get it fixed because it was the first time I saw music as being fun. They were smiling, they're having a good time, they're smart asses. It was a blast. I'm going, wait a minute. This the nuns at Our Lady of Grace didn't really tell me much about this part, so you know look too cool, right? Yeah, so then you start you start playing and you're realizing, hey, I'm pretty good at this, you know. And I don't try because I was a jock up until that point. I mean, who I was good at my cousin, also from the same town and my godmother's son, uh played for uh the Saints and the Patriots. So yeah, like me, not a big guy, big, big, big guy, but you know, big hands and quick. So he um, so we we we were both kind of marveling when we came in this tiny little town in Ohio, you know, how do we do that? And I think it was a we both had the you know, for the lack of a better phrase, love of the game. I as I started going through high school, and I went to a school in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, I played my first gig there, and I was like, hey, this is kind of natural and even more fun than watching the Beatles. So went to college out in Wisconsin, Madison, and I had a friend there who said, We gotta go to LA. And this was as I put it, it was the last great exodus to stardom, you know, where you had some people in the 20s and 30s, they got to be a movie star. Yeah, well, this was the last one where everyone went out on the Sunset Strip and okay, I'm gonna make it, man. And let me tell you, I got there and went, oh, I look like everybody else. Because I was coming from Madison, I stuck out like a sore thumb. Right. One of the best guitar players in town, all that stuff, and just got out to LA and got bent over the knee and spanked. I'm sure not for long. Well, I hey at least I was smart about it because I had two things working in my favor. I made I still do make my living playing bass. Yeah, so I had uh I went to a guitar war thing when I mean my buddy Ralph, and we're like, Yeah, we're hot shots in Madison, and we're gonna be fine, right? We go to the whiskey. I didn't take the guitar out of the case because everyone just smoked me so bad. And the winner, I think, that night was Paul Gilbert. So it shows you what we were up up against, yeah. So um, I got out there and my buddy Anthony said, Hey man, you've been playing bass on our demos. Why don't you just play bass? And I'm and I was kind of offended. I was like, Hey, I work with a guitar player, you know. It's like uh back to football for a second, you're uh uh wide receiver, they turn around and make you a DB. It's like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. So, but it worked, he was right. And my dad said the same thing. My dad said, Look, you'll double your chances of making it. So I took the same work ethic and stuck it into bass playing, and here I am.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

It's awesome. And and then one of your your next moves after I believe it was Cold Sweat was we went to Cold Gin, which which I believe was a premier kiss cover band. Um, and you played the role of Gene, if I'm not mistaken.

SPEAKER_03 5:18

I did because we're I mean, look at me, we're just dead ringers for each other, you know.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

Well, I'm gonna be honest with you. I saw a podcast, and I don't know if you mean to do this, but you do a hell of a gene impersonation. It's hysterical, and I will tell you, I'm a huge KISS fan. Good, but me too. Knowing Gene Simmons, I feel like he would sell his firstborn for a penny.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

Oh god.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

I want you to explain to the audience because I think it's such an awesome story, and to me, this is your I made it moment, but maybe maybe I'm wrong. How in the world did you get money out of Gene Simmons?

SPEAKER_03 5:50

Ah, I have a peripheral story to that too. Uh, we were hired by Gene to play Paul Staley's birthday party, which Paul talks about it in in his book, like chapter 40 or something, or the beginning of the chapter. And Tommy Thayer had a you know, who was proven to be immensely valuable to their organization.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

And played with you, by the way.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

Yeah, he got a good promotion there. Um, but he uh Tommy was like, you know, Gene's gonna pay us if we play this. And it's like, I gotta see this. So um Tommy goes, All right, man, we got a hundred bucks coming out coming into us. Like, hot dog. You know, I I I wish I still had the check. That would have been brilliant if I'd been forward thinking up. Later that night, we're standing there, and some guy says, Hey, Gene, you look really good, you know. And he goes, Well, I'll tell you, I'll tell anybody I had lipo. I'm thinking to myself, Oh my god. And the guy goes, Well, how much was it? He pulls out his wallet and he goes, Don't don't put that in front of me. I'll take it. I'll take it. So he he's unabashedly Gene Simmons. There's everything you've heard is true and more. And there's two Gene. There's Gene the Rockstar and the legend, right? And there's Gene the guy who's in a band like me. Yeah. So it's fun to watch him turn the switch on and off because when you get Gene the Rockstar, you want to push him in the dirt.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

He'll he'll probably tell you from what I've seen. He he he I don't think he thinks himself as a great bass player, but I think he he is.

SPEAKER_03 7:15

Totally agree. He's a great bass player.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Now, did you guys have a lot of interaction with them? Like, did they have I'm sure you did, as far as you know, with what you were doing, trying to mimic what they were doing. I mean, was there a lot of feedback from them?

SPEAKER_03 7:27

Oh, absolutely, there was both of them, mostly Paul, because he's such a mental archivist, would say, Okay, you guys are playing at Riff Right. Like, for example, there's one on cold gin that we were just missing a subtle little thing, but it made the it made the song sound correct. So he and Gene would say uh Jean was one told me that the eggs were the secret to the blood, eggs and red food coloring, and you'll see these recipes for yogurt and the egg shells. Nope. He said it's raw eggs and don't break the yolk. I said, How come? He said, Because you want to kind of goop out real quick. I was like, all right, cool. And guess what? He was right.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

And I'll tell you what, Tommy Thayer was was perfect. I mean, for for that band. Yep. I mean, I'm surprised we we couldn't get rid of Gene to get you in there. I mean, I don't know what happened, but I know. Well, really, I mean, but what an unbelievable way to start. I mean, and then obviously, you know, you you you move on to to the legendary band you've got kicked. Huge hits. I mean, you're with them for a long duration of time. I mean, like I said, who hasn't I can't imagine how many times you've played Love Is on the Way in your lifetime.

SPEAKER_03 8:38

Oh man, there was one section when it was a hit. We played it, including the show, I think eight or nine times in one day. And I'm fine with that, man, because that's what I mean. There are bands that are tired of it, but um you've worked your entire life for this, don't complain.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

I mean, you had to have so many of those I made it moments along the way. I mean, you have such an unbelievable story. Um, and not to just jump past side gotten kicked because, but I know everybody knows that. Um, I gotta tell you, I love Canal. I absolutely love it. Um, I could be wrong. I'm certainly not the music buffer you are, but I listen to it and I hear listen, I think your voice is a little ace freelyish. And I hope you take that as a compliment because I think it's awesome. I I hear Canel and I hear Finn Lizzie meets ace freely, and a little bit of shinedown mixed in there.

SPEAKER_03 9:30

Uh I don't know. Well, thin Lizzie for sure. The assignment for myself was take out, take a record and try and write it for as if Thin Lizzie was gonna record it tomorrow. So, and then Shinedown is easy because um I've they're friends of mine, so I get to hang out and pick their brains, so that helps. Um, Ace Fraley, probably just by you know osmosis. Can't help it. It's gonna I was thinking of him singing uh New York Groove earlier today. Just he he's just Ace Fraley.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

He just hear 2,000 men and I and I hear you singing it.

SPEAKER_03 10:04

Was that have you ever heard the original of that song?

SPEAKER_00 10:07

The story 2000 men, yeah, yeah, love it.

SPEAKER_03 10:10

Yeah, it's amazing because I never would have heard Ace's version out of that song. Wow, it's incredible. I was like, wow, because I really don't like the stone's version, but it's kind of like the uh blinded by the light idea. Let's make it so different, and they did.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

I'll take it. Um, you know, when I when I was listening to Canal, there was one song I I want to say it had a little bit of like a it was Kingpin, I think it had a little bit of a uh Don Henley dirty laundry intro type. It was a horns in the beginning of that.

SPEAKER_03 10:44

Yeah, it does kind of I never thought again, these things you think of, like when someone points it out, there was another song on there where somebody said, Hey, do you realize you did this? I was like, uh no, but don't tell anybody.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Yeah, but but it's awesome, so leave it alone. Right, exactly. I I'm not gonna repeat it. So a couple more quickies before we dive into the the PD. Sure. Um obviously, I'm gonna ask you questions that I can't ask everybody else because you have some unbelievable stories. Um, you told the gene story. Tell me, how did you wind up bowling Eddie Van Halen?

SPEAKER_03 11:16

That that's my favorite because I've um I have a buddy who still says to this day, if I get a little down, he goes, dude, you ask Ed Van Halen to jam, right? You win. So that whenever I kind of go, uh, it's not gonna look so good, I think that I go, you know, not bad. So Ed was um producing a band called Private Life, and they they were hearing in Sound City, which you had mentioned in your email too. Love it. So Sound City was uh the rehearsal rooms were across the street from the actual studio. So I came out of rehearsal one day because we our singer had on the day we were getting signed quit and joined a lynch mob, which we were just so we're in the process of looking for Roy Cathy, and we you know hadn't found him yet. So I walk outside and I'm fooling around and I'm singing this song called Highwire by Badlands, right? And there's this fuzzy headed guy with like one of those big old brick motorole phones, and he's like, Oh, and short dude. And I'm like, I'm just going for it. I know him a lot, and he turns his head away, like you know, trying to get it off his call. So I'm like oh man, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that. He turns around and goes, eh, that's one. I was like, holy shit, that's Ed Van Halen. And I walked about five more feet, came back and said, of course, because I'm who I am. Hi, how you doing, man? It's so nice to meet. He's like, Yeah, great. So I go into Sound Center and I'm like, dude, you are never gonna believe who I just met and told him. So we go back in and they're already in producing mode and they're busy. So I walk by the room in the next couple of days, and the door is open. He's the only one in there, and he's playing Manic Depression by Hendricks on a white Kabicki bass. So that boom bomb and oh bomb and oh, right? So I walk by, I'm like, wow, cool. And he puts his puts the bass out and runs after us and follows us to our room. And I mean, he is now, you know, me to you. Well, you know what I mean, close. You know, and I'm like, holy shit, he's right there. And Anthony, our drummer, because he and I used to show up early for work, we just like playing. And uh turn to Ed and I go, hey man, like I'm the king of hilarious. I say, hey, I play bass heap his uh drums. You play guitar, like ha ha, Yandy Van Halen. Isn't it wouldn't be fun? Haha. And he goes, Yeah, sure, what do you want to play? I'm like, oh my god. So is now it's like he's got a fish in his hands with the keys. He's like, nah, can't get it right. Goes inside, we get inside, I flip on the PA, and uh he's like, Well, whose amp should I play? So I take our guitar player and say, amp, and he had all this crap on it, and I just inked it all out so it could just plug in and go. So, and he did. So we're now we're looking now we're like any other band, we're looking at each other like, hey man, what do you know? What do I want to play? So we end up playing Zeppelin, ACDC Sabbath. Uh, we talked him into a Van Halen song. Um, and he taught me how to play Mean Street, the intro. What else did we play? Um there's another one, like a wacky one, but yeah, and he was just so so easy going. Wow. And it's been 30 years, so everyone now has a Ed Van Halen story, but in 1990 they didn't really have him. I mean, they're big, they still had Sammy, you know, and they're they're moving groom, but it's like everyone has a gene story now, everyone has a Ed story, and he was so just he's he's everything you wanted him to be.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

But yeah, he didn't disappoint.

SPEAKER_03 14:44

No, he didn't because that guitar sound when he rolled the everything to 10 and just went hit an e-cord and bum bum bum boom, moved the hair in my arms and did not hurt my ears. Couldn't believe it. So, yeah, that was the coolest one because the idea that I could be friends with an idol of mine just boggled it. Just are you kidding? Really? Me? How? And then you just shut up and go, don't ask how it happened.

SPEAKER_00 15:09

You're there, it happened for a reason. Exactly. But your talent got you there, and you and you know that.

SPEAKER_03 15:14

Yeah, it got me in the door, but and to keep me in the room, you know.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

I mean, so you you've toured with a lot of big bands. Um I I want to say Aerosmith, Poison, Extreme. You spent a lot of time with Dio. Oh, yeah. Um, we had the same management, yeah. I'm gonna be honest, I'm a I have a man crush on Dave Grohl. I think Dave Grohl is such an amazing musician. Um, I don't know if you feel that way, um, but oh yeah, you did you you we alluded to before you were in the documentary for Sound City. Did you interact with him at all? I mean, what what what can you tell me about Dave Grohl?

SPEAKER_03 15:49

Um personally, not much, but it's one of the things we've been on the periphery of each other's careers, meaning you know, he's clearly bigger than his career, he's had more success than I have. But like with the Sand City thing, you're saying a friend of mine got a hold of me and said, Hey, we're doing this through Dave, you know, what do you got? So I sent in a picture of the board, and then I sent her a picture of us behind the board, and that was when we were recording the closed sweat record. And you know, he so it was a little bit of email back and forth. But everyone I know who who does know him and talks to him on you know on a regular basis, he's never lost the fan aspect of being a musician, which I think is important, and not everyone's seeing, of course, but it's just you have to shit. It's like watching Ed Van Halen or Gene. You know, Ed can do Tony could do Tony Ole and Jimmy Page perfectly, right? I mean, he knew how Gene. I remember jamming with Gene once, and all he wanted to play was Mustang Sally. Really? I was like, dude, and Jamie was like, we don't know that old crap, come on, too. And he goes, All right, I know Cat Scratch Fever. And so Jamie goes, Oh, I gotta see this.

SPEAKER_00 17:03

He did, he knew it. Unbelievable. You know, I saw an interview with Taylor Hawkins, you know, God rest us all. And they and it was him and Dave, and the the interviewer said to him, How does it feel to be one of the top drummers in the world? And he says, Listen, I'm not even the top drummer in my own band. Uh it's so it's so funny how these people view this. Um so so diving a little bit, we'll we'll get into the PD a little bit, um, segue a little bit here. Um, and the one thing I give you a lot of credit for, man, um, I spoke with um, I'm not sure if you know him, but Jimmy Choi. Um, he's a Parkinson's guy. He was on American Ninja Warrior. Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:40

I I know who I mean I know of him. I I've never met him in life.

SPEAKER_00 17:43

I'm gonna have him on. Um, but the one thing I said to him, I said, listen, you could train and that's great. You'd probably beat my ass every day of the week with or without Parkinson's. But the fact that he was willing to put himself out there on national television in front of millions of people, I think that's where the strength comes in. Yep. I I do. You alluded to that in in the conversation we've had before this. What would you say when you were diagnosed? I mean, was there a moment where you I mean, well, actually, let's let's not jump the gun. What were your symptoms and when were you diagnosed?

SPEAKER_03 18:13

I was diagnosed in 2019. Biggest symptom I had was my left, and I remember reading this about Fox. My left ring finger was twitching. And this was during recording sessions. I was still standing up, okay. You know, I was I didn't have the the the stoop or or any other tremors. Couldn't, and no one could get a handle on it. And then it turned into um my and it was all on the left side, my left hamstring just always seemed to be kind of twitchy, and I and my doctor's like, hey, you got restless leg, you know. And I'm like, oh I mean, because I've I don't know. You know, now I'd say if I saw somebody with the same thing, like, hey, get that checked out, right? I wouldn't even think but no one I knew had it, it's not my family. Um, as a matter of fact, I'm part of the Camp Le June case lawsuit, so I was there as a little kid. So but but my dad, my brother, my mom were all okay. So we it's you know, as you know, some of this weird look of the draw. So I can't as I like to say I outed myself because it was there was starting to be a few rumblings in the rock community, and I didn't want anything to pop up on a website, you know, after a gig. What's wrong with McLaren? And looking at his look at his hand, it's moving like crazy. So I just said, hey, look, this is what I got, bring it on. If you got questions, ask me. If if it manages to you agree, if it doesn't, it doesn't. But the first couple shows I did after that, I was really self-conscious. And I always checking with the guys. Like I remember saying Jason Beetler, what do you think? Do I look, am I attracting attention to myself? And he's like, Nope, I can't tell, I can't tell the difference.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

And these are people who know me well, and they know the music, you know, like I'm not gonna know if you make a mistake. They they will right, right.

SPEAKER_03 20:00

So, but then it started getting to be a little too much. So I went on uh this drug called Ritari.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

Yeah, I'm I'm on it, or you're on it.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

Um, and uh it worked to a point, and then I started getting some um dyesia, or as I as my wife would call it, I would get the SDV wonder head, you know, and which was okay because it would come on and off. As for those of you out there who don't know what it is, um they're on and off periods. So on is to me was when the medication was working off was it it wasn't, and I had like all off periods. So from there the uh the doctors and I'm I'm just looking to have really aggressive, forward-thinking guys who and gals who said, you know what, you want to try this? And I said, What? This is called DBS. We're gonna play it what looks like me thermometers in your head and give you a battery. I said, So I get to be a cyborg? This is awesome. And uh they said, Yeah. I said, What'll it do? And then the surgeon looks at me and goes, it'll make that stop. Point in my left side, and I was like, Let's go. So we did that, and that was literally um the turning point for me. And to be able to go back in, like the very first you'll like this. The very first day I brought my guitar in with me, when you get the you get the implants and then you get the battery, right? They do them separately. So the second time I came in, I brought the guitar when they hooked me up and doing for the dollop, as I call it. And um, I played somebody get me a doctor by Van Halen.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

Awesome. Inside jokes, gotta have them. Well, that's why I kind of mentioned the the Jimmy Choi thing because, like I said, I feel like a lot of the strength is, and you said this to me off the air about not being afraid to put yourself out there. Um, don't hide it. Yeah, did did it take you long from first diagnosis mentally? Did it take you? I mean, I'm not gonna lie, it took me a year or so to just come to terms with it. It really did. Like, at what point did Just say to yourself, screw this. It's it's part of me, it's not gonna define me. I have a great career, right? I'm just gonna keep moving. I mean, was there a moment where that just kicked in?

SPEAKER_03 22:10

Um, yeah, and I think it was when I made the decision to tell the guys and all my bands, just like this is what's going on, and a couple had no idea, they just heard about it, so they didn't know if it was fatal, you know, because they hear Parkinson's, and then the first thing you think, well, well, so you're like Michael J. Fox, I'm like, Well, he's had it for 30 years, you know, it's a he's progressed quite a ways. No, I I'm not like that, but yeah, that's what it is. So when it came time to kind of rubber meet the road with the band, I think is when I finally said, All right, I'm I'm just wide open. If so, because up to the point, I didn't I I got into huge altercation with my dad who was telling my aunts, and everybody would listen that I had it. I'm just like, it's not your position to tell anybody. So after that, I just kind of went, you know what? I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

Just you also have concerns that the common person won't. I mean, you're in the you're in the spotlight. I mean, you have a little bit of a different thing to tackle than somebody like me, you know. So I'm sure that that took its toll because listen, stress and anxiety is no good for this. Um I'm sure I'm sure that took its toll on you a little bit, no?

SPEAKER_03 23:15

Oh, absolutely. Yeah, uh, I remember the first show getting ready to stand up there and play and my left hand was going crazy. Now calm down after about two songs, right? But I remember yeah, because I think I got my head out of the space of everyone's looking at my hand. And they weren't, they were there to sing the song.

SPEAKER_00 23:35

It's funny, you know, all these years later, I still can't wrap my head around that. There's still people to this day that are just like, you're making more of this than we are. We you we don't even see the shit you're talking about. I'm like, don't lie, we guess you do, but but even if you're trying to make me, I can't get out of my own head, but we'll get there.

SPEAKER_03 23:50

Totally agree because my first thought was it's so obvious. Yeah, no, it's not.

SPEAKER_00 23:57

And like, as far as I mean, you I'm sure you've obviously taken from a physical standpoint very good care of yourself just from being on the road and obviously knowing people are gonna look at you and you need to maintain yourself to a certain standard. Um, so I won't even get into like the PT of it. I'm sure you're just a very in-shaped guy. I know you said used to surf. Um yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:16

Now my doctor says I still can, but I'm like, you know what? I've heard people drown, and I don't want to drown.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

Do you think you'll ever try again just because you have such a love for it?

SPEAKER_03 24:25

Yep, yeah. Well, and also I'm just a stubborn pain in the butt. So that's awesome. That's good enough for me. So you can't do it.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Oh yeah, watch it. Watch this.

SPEAKER_03 24:33

Yeah, I mean, I'll probably have a life vest on that looks like you know, I've got a Volkswagen around my neck, but I but you know what?

SPEAKER_00 24:38

It's again, it's one of those things. Who gives a shit? Right. Let them let them look at me because uh I'm not gonna care about what they thought today when I'm gone. So why should I care now?

SPEAKER_03 24:46

You know, exactly. And and they never know. Here's what's crazy about when I made the the announcement, the people that came out of the Parkinson's closet and told me they had it, including a guy I went to high school with, I had no idea. You know, I mean, we're literally within days of each other's birth.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

And he might in my opinion, I give so much credit to people like you because listen, we're all doing this, we're all advocating, we're trying to raise funds and bring awareness to this disease, but yeah, a lot more people know you than they know me. So when you're not afraid, when you're in that spotlight, to be able to say, hey, listen, I got it, I'm fine. So you can't.

SPEAKER_03 25:28

Yes, totally agree because you have to. I uh I mean, I meant it when I said you can't hide, right? And that takes so much energy anyway.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

It uh it really does.

SPEAKER_03 25:38

It's like I love your hat because I say the same thing to people. It's like hey, hey, man, you can you can say what's shaken, I won't get offended, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:44

And what would you say would be the number one thing that you would like? Some one of your friends just said says to you, hey, I just got diagnosed with Parkinson's, or anybody, what would be the number one thing you would just say to calm them down? A bit of advice for them.

SPEAKER_03 25:56

Uh, I'd say, you know, I got it, right? And then see what their reaction was. And then just ask them, what are you doing about it? Because it's it's more gonna be more of a pain in your butt than anything else. And know you're even though it's in every article you read when someone dies, they died from complications of Parkinson's. Did they? What you know, what and what complications are you talking about? So the after that, I think you have to you have to calm people down because it's so I think scary at some point, they're just afraid. And what they're going by, most likely, I know one friend of mine does this, they're going by an elder family member that had in the 70s, right? It's a completely different it is, and people like when I tell them, like when I turn the DBS off, I'm like, well, this is what it'd be like, but this is 1955.

SPEAKER_00 26:44

Bam!

SPEAKER_03 26:45

And they're just like, whoa! And they hit it, okay. Ready? Flame on, pop, turn it back on.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

You bring up something very cool because that's part of the success story is you can actually show what you. I mean, since you've found you had Parkinson's, I've seen some of the stuff you've done. Like I said, Canel. Um, I've seen I I want to say, did you do a cold sweat concert a year or so ago? Is that you?

SPEAKER_03 27:08

Yeah, oh yeah. Yeah. I didn't do this one um because I had the uh the the HPV throat cancer to get rid of, which I did.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

God bless you. But I mean, listen, I'm I'm I'm I'm going down the Jersey shore and I'm trying not to drop all my chains putting it into the parking meter. You're out there touring. You you're the ultimate success story, man, as far as Parkinson's Warriors go, as far as non-Parkins' warriors go.

SPEAKER_03 27:29

Um by the way, I like the fact that you can say warriors because I never want to say I'm suffering from it or I'm battling it. I I heard uh Fox say he's a Parkinson's patient, you know. And I'm like, yeah, I don't want to be saddled because battling it makes it sound like I'm being attacked by something. No, this is something I'm stuck with, you know. It came along with the with the original package, and I don't really like it, but this is 2025. There's ways around it.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

Well, listen, I I could list all day long a bunch of accompliments, a bunch of a compliments that that you've made. In my opinion, being a Parkinson's warrior and a successful one and putting yourself out there is the number one thing you've ever done, in my opinion. Oh because you're you're talking to a whole community, whether you know it or not, and people are following you and you're giving them hope. So I I first from warrior to warrior, I cannot thank you enough.

SPEAKER_03 28:22

Oh, absolutely anytime, man. Because as you know, it's one of those things where you can't teach if you haven't learned.

SPEAKER_01 28:28

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 28:29

So, not like anyone is. I mean, I'm always suspicious when somebody says, you know, I did this or I did that, and they they really dig in, they haven't. So when they talk, I start getting the only time I really get offended is when people start giving me advice on how to treat it, or how, or like I said, the outmoded um reaction and treatments that they have seen. And it's not angry, but it's just like it's an eye-rolling moment. You're just like, no, no, no, it's gonna be okay, and no, I'm fine.

SPEAKER_00 29:01

For those of you who don't know, um this part of the story, I'm gonna post the video that you sent me if that's okay, the Dennis Quaid thing about the MUSC. Because I think that's so unbelievable what you're doing post DBS, and that you know, we'll give DBS a quick pop. I mean, unbelievable success stories, and and you're one of them.

SPEAKER_03 29:18

Oh man, I'm telling you, when I and it's funny, they cut part of that out because I remember I was there with everybody in the uh MUSC, which medical university of South Carolina, because I live in Charleston. Um, and luckily it was like here, Atlanta, because I'm I'm I'm luckily one of the top spots on the East Coast, so specifically the South. So she the uh the head of the the department said, you know, well, what was your reaction when you first found out? And I said, Can I swear? And she kind of looks at me and goes, Yeah, go ahead. I said I was fucking pissed, is what happened. And I just lit up the room and they called all that out. But it was true. I was like, no, are you fucking kidding me? Me? No, I just can't happen to me. No, so it's I've kind of you know, we talk about denial and acceptance and all that stuff. Yeah, I think I've accepted my denial is my my that's a great way to put it. Because I say nothing it's not me. I got stuff to do.

SPEAKER_00 30:21

Well, it's funny you say that. That's a great way to put it because I've always said, like when I'm talking to people, I'm like, you know, the first thing is acceptance, and I I still don't think I accept it, but that maybe that's what it is. I have I haven't accepted I haven't accepted the denial. That's a great way to put it.

SPEAKER_03 30:32

Yep, yep. Because otherwise, I think you you I and I asked my doctor just because I love pestering them because I got them, right? You guys, I got your attention, I'm using it. And I said, Okay, what do you usually get with guys my age? Because I got diagnosed in my late 50s, so it was a matter of oh, so early. You know, is it how how I didn't realize you had a copy of my death certificate? What are you talking about? So, but I said, Well, what what do people typically do if you're me? And they said, Well, some do what you're doing, and it's not very much that we see that. You know, they go in and they just tackle it and go. And he said, A lot of them just kind of accept it and kind of ride the couch. And I was like, No, not you, not you, Dina. Not right, exactly. Other things may be, but not that.

SPEAKER_00 31:24

That's unbelievable, man. So the one thing I wanted I like to do is I like to add a little fun to this before we go. Sure. Um, I'm gonna I like to call we're gonna shake things up and do a little rapid fire. I'm gonna ask you less than 10 questions. Sure, a couple of quick word answers. Um I'm from New Jersey too. I still live in New Jersey. There you go. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 31:44

Everybody in my family is from New Jersey from this orange, and my all my brothers and sisters were born Teaneck, so yeah, I'm the only one who wasn't.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

I think I know this answer because I cheated and I saw an interview with you a while back, but I gotta ask Bruce or Bon Jovi.

SPEAKER_03 31:59

Oh, Bon Jovi.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

I I knew that was the answer.

SPEAKER_03 32:03

Bon Jovi. Van Halen or Van Jovi. Richie Sambor is just such a great guy. You can't fight that.

SPEAKER_00 32:10

He's just I mean, do you do you see him getting back for a farewell tour?

SPEAKER_03 32:15

I don't I don't know if John can do it from what I've heard. I mean, just meaning literally seeing him, I'm like, dude, oh, you're gonna hurt yourself.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

It's it's tough.

SPEAKER_03 32:24

You want to go out on top, and he's trying, he's had the vocal surgeries and everything, but but he did a lot, he's a lot of miles on that chassis.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

Oh, yeah. Now you might have a uh a little bit of a tough time with this one. Van Halen or Van Hagar?

SPEAKER_03 32:39

Oh, Dave. Dave, Dave, Dave. It's like that. Better frontman or better vocalist. Um Sammy can sing better, there's no doubt about that. But Dave, as a musician, is just he's better than Sammy. I mean, let's see Sammy come up with something like the the bridge section unchained. You just I mean, even Ed said to me, he's like, I don't know how Roth came up with half the shit I gave him. Because I'm thinking, well, you gave him hard stuff because he wanted to make a bad.

SPEAKER_00 33:10

Well, do you think they gave Sammy a little more difficult stuff because they thought he would accept it more than Dave did, or no?

SPEAKER_03 33:18

Uh I think there might have been a a section of um their agreement, the tacit agreement with Sam that, you know, okay, we we're already Van Halen.

SPEAKER_01 33:26

Right.

SPEAKER_03 33:26

You know, so you're gonna you're gonna make it still sound like us. So there it was more of a recipe, whereas the first time around it was all you know, throw no holds barred.

SPEAKER_00 33:37

Am I thinking wrong? Was was Gary Sharon in there somewhere in between? Yes. From Extreme, right?

unknown 33:43

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 33:44

It didn't last very long, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 33:46

No, well, that was when the Dave thing happened. Dave came back on MTV and then blew up and all that. So always so close.

SPEAKER_00 33:55

So favorite guitarist, not named Chris McLaren.

SPEAKER_03 33:59

Easy. Um, I got a couple. Um I'll take a couple, go ahead. All right, I like Billy Gibbons, Gary Moore, um, Brian Robertson, Scott Gorbum, obviously. I think um the guys I was in bands with certainly, you know, they're up there because they because I had to listen to them every night. I better like them. Um I think uh Rick Emmett from Triumph was was and probably still is amazing. Um Blackmore, Willie Roth, Michael Schenker. So a lot of a lot of, you know, as the era would probably dictate. I think you have some underrated guys like Rick Nielsen, um Mike Campbell from Tom Petty.

SPEAKER_00 34:41

You're also what I love about this is you're not listing the Hendricks, the Claptons, the you know, I I love that. You you're really digging and giving us some awesome names.

SPEAKER_03 34:51

Yeah, the Jeff Beck's. I mean, there's so many great love Jeff Beck to me was still up to his death, even still the most modern guitar player I ever heard. He always sounded like he was outside of the genre and styles of that time. Whereas a lot of my guys, you can kind of go, oh, he's from 74. You can just tell.

SPEAKER_00 35:10

Right.

SPEAKER_03 35:10

Not Beck.

SPEAKER_00 35:12

Favorite drummer.

SPEAKER_03 35:16

Ringo. Always the right part for the song.

SPEAKER_00 35:20

If we're gonna make a super group, favorite lead man, from man.

SPEAKER_03 35:24

Um, Roth for the show, for sure. Um, is it gonna be a good one?

SPEAKER_00 35:32

Freddie Mercury up there or no?

SPEAKER_03 35:34

Oh, absolutely. Plant, I gotta say, is up there. Um not a Stones fan, so I can't say Jagger, but Jagger invented the position. He really did.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

There was a little help from Tina Turner, right? I think they said Tina Turner.

SPEAKER_03 35:48

Yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

Helped him with some of his dance moves.

SPEAKER_03 35:51

Yeah, oh yeah. Dickinson, for sure. Um so I mean there's and I think there's two types that you want the showman and you want the executor who can do his parts live. So I'm always picking on that.

SPEAKER_00 36:04

Last two.

SPEAKER_03 36:06

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 36:07

You're stranded on a desert island by yourself. You can only bring one album with you, not even a group, an album. What's it gonna be? Beatles Revolver. Awesome. No question. And the world ends tomorrow. What is the last, not the first, the last great rock band that we heard?

SPEAKER_03 36:28

Oh, that's a great rock band. Ooh, good one.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

Um I mean, I and I should tell you from a genre standpoint, I like the shine downs, the daughters, the volbeats. I don't know if you consider them great rock bands or oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:42

I mean, yeah, it's among the best of the modern bunch.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

Who is Shine Down? I I think they're phenomenal. Yeah, I mean staring down the barrel of 45. I mean, they they are so great. I love Shine Down.

SPEAKER_03 36:55

Yep. Um, but I mean, I love the Scorpions, like number two right behind the Desert Island Disc would be Love Drive.

SPEAKER_00 37:03

Doesn't he have such an unbelievable voice?

SPEAKER_03 37:06

Yeah, well, it's so soulful. When Window Change, I mean Levy died, Mickey D got it before he joined the band. They did Overkill. And I'm thinking to myself, how's this gonna go? You know, because it's Klaus singing motorhead. You talk about polar opposites, but he sang like Klaus said it was fantastic. I loved it.

SPEAKER_00 37:26

It's unbelievable. Well, listen, I I've taken up enough of your time. Um, dude. Chris, I want to thank you so much. Like I said, this has been such an honor for me. I was a little star-struck getting you on it. I must have caught you during an off period when you accepted to come on here. But this has been so cool. I'm gonna remember this forever. Um, I hope to have you on maybe again one day. We could talk about a little rock and roll some more. Anytime. Anytime. And until next time, I'm just gonna say, keep moving, keep laughing, and keep connecting. Love you guys. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 37:57

Parkinson's affected my ability to really to play an instrument. And the mental capacity I had was still there, but these physical things just kept corroding. As soon as I got the surgery, I could feel the difference. And I remember bringing my guitar, and I specifically played a Van Halen song that I knew I couldn't play before, but I hadn't tried it since I'd gotten the operation. So I brought it in and worked it right out. Could not believe it. And the fact that I could play and play easily and play smoothly and professionally is just worth everything.