Brent Muscat: guitarist, songwriter, author, future politician, and all around nice guy. He has done it all with a never ending zest that no one seems to be able to equal and he is still running full steam ahead. With a myriad of interesting happenings in his extraordinary, yet self described normal life, he never ceases to amaze people with what he takes on and how easy he makes it all look.

I finally caught up with Brent and asked him to tell us about what's been going on.  He revealed details of his upcoming tell all book, his many bands, his fans, and the infamous "tour diaries".  We also found that he had a few other surprises tucked away neatly up his sleeve....

So what's been going on?

Not much

How was your trip over seas?

Good.

That's good.

Just getting used to living in Las Vegas. I've been here about six months now.

Wow, six months. So what have you been doing with yourself?

Just having fun in Las Vegas, gambling a little bit, not too much but.....just what I can afford and what I can afford to lose. (laughter) I am starting something called Sin City All Stars, which is a group of guys that live in Vegas. Jizzy Pearl of Ratt will be in it since he lives here now. Steven Adler of Guns n Roses and Kevin Dubrow of Quiet Riot also live in Vegas so they will probably be in it at some point as well. A good jam band for us local sin city musicians.

That sounds awesome.

Yeah

How was Adler's Appetite come together

How did it come together? Well I've known Steven since 1985 when he was with Guns N Roses.  Faster Pussycat and Guns N Roses' first albums came out the same day and we toured together in Europe. So Steven and I have always been pretty close. He's funny.  He tells me he's always wanted to work with me. Adler's Appetite was basically put together to showcase Steven and to show that he can still play even after having a stroke and other problems. We decided to just go out and play Steven's songs, let him do his thing, and see if it turns into something, and so far it's been doing really good. We might turn it into an original band, but  we'll have to write original songs first. We've been offered a record deal if it goes in that direction, so everything is going very well.

Any strange stories from the road?

The last time I went to Europe, I got to go to some places that I never thought I'd be able to go. Turkey, Budapest and Slovakia. That in itself was really strange.  To be able to go to those places was really great. I think that eastern Europe is opening up more to rock music.  Next time we'll be able to go to more places like Czech Republic and Russia. Turkey, which is prominently a Muslim country, was pretty cool to play.  There were rockers there with long hair and they were really into it.  I'm going to more places now than I did back when Faster was signed to a major label.  As far as strange stories, I'm trying to think....well I got to eat deer meat in Slovakia. I am sure not too many people will be happy when they find out I ate Bambi. (laughter)

Any plans for US dates with this band?

Right now Steven just got back from the Bad Boys Of Metal Tour and Adler's Appetite will start writing new songs and looking into booking shows for next year. I am also working on finishing a live album and booking more shows for Sin City All Stars.

Tell us more about the Sin City All Stars

We have a couple of shows opening up for Firehouse and Slaughter.  One was in Ogden, Utah on the 28th of August and another on one here in Vegas for sometime in October. The Vegas show should be really fun.  We will try to have some special guests come up and play as well.

We have the core band right now, which is me, Jizzy, Lez Warner, the drummer from The Cult, Sean Koos,  the bass player who played with Joan Jett and Ronnie Mancuso, who played with Beggars And Thieves.  We want to make this a really great jam band for guys who live here in Vegas, like Steven Adler, Kevin Dubrow, Vince Neil of Motley Crüe, Michael Lardie of Great White as well as many others. We want Sin City All Stars to be a rock n roll version of the "Rat Pack" where you have the main guys and you have surprise guests to make it spontaneous.

I know a lot of people are wondering about Faster Pussycat's future, and there were rumors that the band was working on a new EP. What's going on with that?

The last time I spoke to Taime, he was working on a lot of songs and he's got probably, almost a whole album's worth done. He has a studio in his house and is into doing everything himself. When Faster Pussycat started, you couldn't record a record at your house. You'd have to get into a studio with a producer, and a big budget. At that time we'd all write and record together. Nowadays, you can do everything yourself on a computer. He could make it into a Newlydeads record or he could do Faster Pussycat record if he wants to. I try to get involved but living here in Vegas, makes it hard. If he wants to do everything himself, he might as well call it a Newlydeads record. 

I'm still hoping that  Faster Pussycat can tour with some new music. I also hope to put out a DVD and a box set. I  try to keep the merchandise in stock on the web site as well so that the fans can have access to our stuff.

The last time I talked with Taime, he didn't really want to tour without a new record. I don't blame him. We don't want to tour just for peanuts like a lot of other bands that tour every year so that their price goes down and down and down. We call that pimping yourself out. That term is used when you sell yourself too cheap. For example. How many times can you see LA Guns, with a new member?  We want to make sure that there's a real demand. When we go out, we want to make sure that people miss us and want to come see us, even if we have to make people wait a year or two.

Faster Pussycat broke up in 1993 and we didn't get back together till 2001. We could've gotten together back in 1998 or '99 but we really wanted to make sure that we choose the right tour where we  could do something real crazy and stand out from the other bands.

What has been the hardest thing about touring over the past few years as opposed to the past?

Not being on a major label, things are more low budget. In the past, everything was taken care of. You had a tour manager, an accountant, an attorney and a personal manager. You just went out on the road and everything was taken care of. At that time, I was just a kid. I would  just get on a bus and go. I really didn't have to worry about anything, someone else was always doing the work for me. They would tell you where to be, how to get there and when to play. You would get a per diem (allowance) which was $25 a day for food. most of the money, if not all, would pay for your crew, hotel and transportation and if we fell short, our record company put in the money (tour support) to keep us out there.

But nowadays, there's no record company to put in money, so when we're out there and we get a hotel room, we're spending our own money. We can actually see it coming out of our pockets now. When we get paid, we get all the money but now we have to accountant for everything. We have to figure out what merchandise we're selling, where as before there was always someone to do that for us. A lot more work now.

Life on the road has got to be hard, not only for being away from loved ones, but with having to deal with living with a band and crew, packed tightly on a cramped tour bus, on a daily basis.

Yeah you are so right, it is kind of hard living with a bunch of guys on a bus....

How did you deal with that?

You have to be real patient and accept people for who they are. You also can't take things personal, you gotta let it roll off your back.

My problem is that I hold stuff in a lot. If somebody says something that hurts me, I won't say something right away but I'll hold it in. Then when something else happens, it builds up and I  blow up.  Most of the time I am really patient.  I have a really high threshold where I could take a whole lot, but I do have that breaking point.

That's the best way, you try to have fun, but it gets hard when you're not having fun and there's problems which can easily happen.  When you're out there and a couple of promoters don't want to pay you and all of a sudden you have a bus payment, you got guys in the band that are bitchin', hung over or drinking too much it all can become difficult.

I always pace myself, like I'm running a marathon. I laughed when some of the newer members of Faster Pussycat started partying from day one. Even the opening bands did it as well. I usually try not to party at all the first week.  Especially on days with shows. If I know I have a day off the next day, I may have a few drinks or whatever but I think it's so important to pace yourself. That's the secret. That and having a lot of patience.

Having been in the business for a long time, how do you feel about the adoration from fans?

Like attention and everything?

Yeah

I like it of course, it's fun. After I did the VH1 thing last month, it's funny, I've been getting a lot of new fan mail which is really kinda nice. It certainly does show me, in order to be popular, you really have to be on either VH1 or MTV. It's so hard for an unsigned band or even a band that was big in the past, unless you can stay in the public eye, it's really hard to let people know even who you are. I get fan mail from people, young kids around thirteen, fourteen and fifteen that are just discovering Faster Pussycat for the first time. Maybe because they saw us on VH1. It's pretty funny, Yeah I like it, to get fan mail from a new generation of fans or even people that might've forgotten about us that would say  "Wow I didn't know you guys were still together."

What is the strangest thing a fan has ever done?

One time, this girl jumped on the bus,  back in 1989 or '90.  She wanted to go in the back of the bus with me, but she was under age. I was pretty young back then too, but I just said no, let's stay up front here. She was grabbing me, trying to kiss on me and stuff. I wouldn't bring her in the back of the bus...she was too excited and too pushy. Then I was looking out the windows of the bus and I see this real big, six foot two, two hundred fifty to three hundred pound guy... just a really big stocky guy, an older guy, pacing back and forth outside. I asked her who that was and she said "that's my dad". I'm said "oh my God, no" and she said "yeah, he's a cop".  I told her that there's no way she was coming in the back of the bus, she should be getting off the bus right now.  'Cause he knew she was up there, he looked like he was nervous, pacing back and forth,  I thought  oh my God, I'm gonna get killed. At the time, I was single but I still told her that I had a girlfriend and couldn't go in the back with her. She said "I'll kill her". "You'll kill her?" She said "I'll come to LA, I'll find her and I'll kill her 'cause I wanna be with you". I thought oh my God! I said "I don't live in LA", I did live in LA, but I told her I lived in San Francisco. She finally calmed down and got off the bus, but that was a little scary that she wanted to do that.

Then there was this one time in Japan. I went out to a night club with one girl and another girl got really jealous. When I got back to the hotel, there was a bag hanging  from my doorknob. It looked like a little tiny gift bag. I said to myself "oh cool, I got a gift", but when I looked in it....there were about twenty rubbers torn up with ketchup smeared all over them and...there was this green grape flavored gum called Muscat Gum that I was known to chew a lot....it torn up in there as well. That completely freaked me out because, usually when you go to Japan you get tons of gifts and stuff. I remember that crazy fan got jealous, so instead of getting a gift bag  I got a hate bag. That  really freaked me out and I felt pretty hurt as well as pissed off.

A couple of times I came home, driving from a club when I lived in Hollywood, and there'd be a strange girl on my doorstep waiting for me. Yeah, weird stuff has happened.

You are an amazing writer with an unmistakable sense of humor that comes across well on the printed page as well as verbal. What is going on with your book "Brent Muscat : Babblin' on and on..." ?

The co-writer...actually the guy who gave me the idea in the first place, Jason, who is a friend of mine but...we've been writing it together and we're really close to finishing but we got in a big fight. I went out with him one day...he always talks about politics, which I really hate, cause we kinda disagree, on some things.  I agree with him on some issues and we usually have a good time talking about rock n roll but I don't like talking about politics. Well, last time I was out with him, we were at a baseball game and I drove. He up and called me a failure...and I thought that was crossing the line of our friendship. it pissed me off so bad that I got up and left him there. It wasn't too far, we're in Vegas, so he could take a cab home.  One thing that I won't  put up with is verbal abuse, so I left him there and I haven't talked to him since. Basically, if I'm gonna finish the book, I'll probably have to pay him for the work he's done.  If I don't finish it with him, I will definitely need someone else's help to do so. It's really such a shame. We were really close friends. I don't know what's going to happen right now.  He's a really great writer in his own right and it was his idea. I just don't know what he was thinking.

Your tour diaries were such an awesome thing that you did on www.metalsludge.tv .  I hear that you are thinking of doing something with them like releasing them somewhere else?

Oh I would love to. I would like to just for fun, not like a major release or anything. I would love it to give it out, to be able to hand it to people. 'Cause I think, I know a lot of people read them...they were just so fun...yeah I would love to put it out sometime.

I know a lot of people don't know what Metal Sludge is and it would be a way for you to get them to a new audience.

Yeah, that's true. I love writing and I really do want to finish the book, it just might take longer than I thought, 'cause right now it's sort of in a holding pattern. One good thing is I'm still talking to a publisher in New York, who wants to publish it. I've got that end of it pretty much together. It's just gonna be figuring out this guy and what's gonna happen.

I heard that you have a solo album is in the works. Is that true?

Hmmm...yeah.

Yeah?

I have tons of music. Just wondering if I'm gonna use it for Adler's Appetite or do a solo record. But right I'm really concentrating on getting the Sin City All Stars together.

You've done so much in your young life and you seem the type that goes ninety miles an hour and doesn't ever stop to relax. What do you do to unwind?

Hmmm, let me think...being around my family, I think, is pretty nice.

More grounding?

Yeah, just to unwind, I guess....coming off of a tour and to just be able to lay in your own bed, not a hotel bed. I'm pretty normal, like anybody else. I just plop myself down on the couch and have some coffee or something and watch TV...just to be a couch potato.

What are your non musical hobbies? Do you like to cook, play video games or surf the web?

Yeah, pretty much. I get my daily dose of rock news from Metal Sludge.  I laugh, because everybody does it. I love these guys like my friend Phil Lewis says (in mimicking voice) "Metal Sludge is not important, nobody reads it. Oh it's such a mean web site, they're so mean hearted and that web site's not very important. I'll never do the tour". 'Cause I told LA Guns when they were up for the Metal Sludge tour, that they were making a big mistake by not accepting it. You should do the tour, I told them. (In mimicking voice) "Oh no...nobody reads that site" he said. Then the funny thing is when I go to his house, in the kitchen he has his little computer and it would be open to Metal Sludge where he'd sit and drink his coffee. I laugh. I like to say it's the rockers Wall Street Journal.

As far as unwinding, I do surf the web, but I try to stay off the message boards, unless I have something important to announce because I've gotten into trouble before. Getting in fights with fans..... (laughter)

I remember that...

Yeah. You can't win, ya know, because I look like an asshole for sticking up for myself. No matter....even if I'm right, I end up looking like an asshole to people. Oh how could you? How could you jump on her? Well, because I know that she's been talking shit behind my back to everybody, I've heard it from a million different people but that's ok, I guess. Then they rally other people on their side, it's like a war. It just gets stupid, so I try to stay off until it is necessary.  For instance, if somebody asks a question that's kind of important....like some people thought I'd be out on tour with Steven Adler...I will post only then to try to inform people of my plans, because I don't want people thinking I'm going to be somewhere when I'm not. I will usually answer people when they e-mail me.

Do you want to add anything in closing?

Check out the web site Brent Muscat.com 'cause we'll be doing something new and check out Sin City All Stars.com pretty soon...the new project. It's gonna be fun. It'll be something fun for people to do when they come into Vegas, hopefully, we're gonna get it to a point where we are playing twice a week.

Actually too, I might turn it into some kind of thing where people can come in from out of town, maybe that they're a musician and always wanted to play onstage with say Vince Neil or Steven Adler. We might have some kind of contest or some kind of thing where people can come in and play a song or two with us. Almost like a rock n roll boot camp.

Oh and...I'm not giving up on the book.  Like I said, it may just take a little longer than I thought. I feel like I shot my mouth off a little too early because I was over excited about it.

Well, things take time, people have to realize that.

Yeah, it takes time.

I just wanted to thank  Brent  for taking the time for this interview.

June Rose 09/04

brentmuscat.com  fasterpussycat.com  sincityallstars.com