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Peter Kater - An interview with the talented pianist/composer. "When you get to wherever you are, you're thinking about where you're going to next."

Peter Kater

Peter Kater is a very talented pianist/composer who makes his home in Santa Monica, California. Having been born in Germany, Peter came to the United States at a young age with his family and settled in central New Jersey. His mother thought it was a good idea to have Peter take formal piano lessons. He studied classical music for a while and then turned to jazz and popular music of the time. In his teens, he would frequently take trips to New York City to see musical events. Peter's mother passed away after a battle with cancer, and at the age of 18 years old Peter decided to hitchhike across the country and see where life would take him. It was a great adventure for him and he would take pickup piano gigs here and there to help pay the way. Eventually, Peter settled down in Boulder and began to hone his performance skills on the piano and played in local clubs and bars. After self - producing his 1st album, he began to perform in better theaters and churches in the area. With hard work and perseverance, Peter's next few album releases were getting major radio play. This led to a long fruitful career for him. He would frequently switch genres as his opportunities to collaborate with different artists began to flourish. Peter spent years working with John Denver, R. Carlos Nakai, and many other artists. He also composed music for many Broadway plays. Peter has just released a new CD called "Love" and I recently had the opportunity to discuss his career with him.

R.V.B. - Hello Peter, this is Robert von Bernewitz from New York, how are you?

P.K. - Hey Rob, how's it going?

R.V.B. - Pretty good. Congratulations on your nice career that you're having.

P.K. - Oh, thank you.

R.V.B. - I understand you have a new album out called "Love"? What inspired you to come up with that title?

P.K. -  All of the songs are about different phases or aspects of love. I went through a period of about two years of recording all of my improvisations, casually. Every time I went over to the piano, I would just hit the record button. I noticed that my favorite recordings were one's that were something to do with my relationships, or a woman in particular... someone special. I decided it was a great theme, and pick all of my favorite improvisations and compositions that were inspired by love.

R.V.B. - Two years is a lot of time to put some good thought into it.

P.K. - I didn't really do it with the intension of making a record for it. All of a sudden, I had enough material for it. Actually for a couple of records. so I picked my favorite songs 10 or 12 songs.

R.V.B. - It's a really nice collection of songs. When you were a very young child, you grew up in Bavaria, Germany. Do you still go back there to visit?

P.K. - Oh yeah, I used to go back there every summer as a teenager. I spent all my summers in Germany, and I still go back and visit because I have family there.

R.V.B. - How did you wind up moving to the United States?

P.K. - My parents wanted to move there because it was the land of opportunity and they probably wanted to get away from their parents.

R.V.B. - Yeah, I guess everyone does at some point in their life. You settled in New Jersey. Did you visit the Big Apple a lot with your friends and go to concerts?

P.K. - Yes. That's exactly what we did. We'd go and see plays and we'd go for the music.

R.V.B. - What kind of music were you listening to as a teenager?

P.K. - I was listening to all the popular music of the time. Cat Stevens, Carole King, James Taylor, Elton John, Billy Joel, Zeppelin, Jethro Tull.

R.V.B. - Did you catch any of them live?

P.K. - I saw James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Dukes.

R.V.B. - What part of New Jersey were you in?

P.K. - I was in Central Jersey near Plainfield. It was a 45 minute ride to the city.

R.V.B. - I understand that you hit the road at one point and just went out on your own and traveled around the country. How was that experience?

P.K. - It was interesting. I had come out of a kind of stressful couple of years with my mother dying of cancer. I was kind of free after she died... to do whatever I wanted, because my father wasn't around. I wanted to get out of New Jersey, so I just kind of hit the road with my thumb out. I was hitchhiking everywhere... sleeping on the side of the road, the beach, or a park somewhere. I had my backpack and my sleeping bag... a couple pairs of jeans and tee shirts and that was it.

R.V.B. - I read that you played the piano here and there for food and a place to stay. Can you give me an example of a place that you did that?

P.K. - I got to San Francisco and I had like no money. I remember I spent my last seven dollars on a pack of cigarettes, grapes and chicken. I started walking south down Route 1 and I hitchhiked to Big Sur. In Big Sur, there was this Inn and restaurant called "The River Inn"... It's still there. I looked in the window and I saw they had a piano, so I went in and talked to the manager. I auditioned for them and they gave me a camping spot in the back on the side of the river. They let me play for meals and tips. I stayed there for about 2 weeks.

R.V.B. - Was it an actual campground or did they just give you a spot out in the back to pitch a tent?

P.K. - They did have camping spots there but I didn't have a tent, so I was just kind of like rolled out my sleeping bag back there. Some people did go there to camp on vacation. There was a beautiful river that went through the back of it. That was the first place I ever saw a humming bird. That kind of stuff would happen here and there on occasion. I saved up a little bit of money and hit the road again.

R.V.B. - Where did that take you to? Did you stay in California for a while?

P.K. - No. Really for the most part I was always moving. I hitchhiked from New Jersey to San Francisco. I went down to LA... over to Phoenix... up to Denver, and then further up north... back to the east coast. I would stop for a week or two here and there, but I just kept feeling like I wanted to get back on the road. I just really didn't know what I wanted to do. My life was kind of spinning around. I had a lot of interesting experiences on the road. I was picked up by a lot of nice people and a lot of crazy people.

R.V.B. - What kind of crazy people?

P.K. - (Haha) One guy picked me up and it turned out he had a gun. He kept on thinking that he was being followed. He was very paranoid and weird. I left him behind after a while. I got picked up by a couple of girls. I got picked up by a Native American family outside of Albuquerque, and they took me in for a little while. I got picked up by a religious guy. He wanted me to become a Christian at his church. It seemed a little weird to me. He was a little pushy and probably wanted more from me than just being a Christian. Every once in a while I would get picked up by a really good person. Some guy had a van that was really decked out in the back with a kitchen and a bed. I slept the whole way from Denver to Seattle one time. It was really interesting and I was young. I was 18 years old at the time. You're pretty resilient at 18 years old. I remember sleeping on the side of the highway in Los Vegas. It was just crazy stuff.

R.V.B. - It sounds like quite the adventure though. At least you got to see the countryside.

P.K. - Yeah, I got a sense of different parts of the country, and how big it is. I also got a great experience of synchronicity and serendipity. I always felt like I was kind of watched over, and even though there was a couple of situations that were a little scary, I always felt that things were going to turn out ok. I think I developed a lot of trust in those years. Then I kind of got it all out of my system when I landed in Boulder.

R.V.B. - Was there anything that drew you to Boulder or did just happen to land there?

P.K. - I think it was the mountains, to a large degree. Boulder, back in the late 70's was a very hip little community. There was a lot of new things happening there. Things that are full blown now. Like the Naropa Institute. It's a Buddhist college. It has a transpersonal psychology kind of philosophy. They were just getting started back them. Some of their early players were Alan Ginsberg and Barbara Dilley, Trungpa Rinpoche... who is a Buddhist Rinpoche. He was around town all the time. It was a very fertile organic place and it felt like anything was possible. My career kind of began there.

R.V.B. - Was the music scene burgeoning also?

P.K. - It had a pretty good music scene for being kind of a cow town at the time. It seemed like if you really wanted to get out to work and play, and you spend a little time promoting yourself, you could get somewhere... you could get an audience. I was playing clubs and lounges for a year or two and I started getting tired of that. Then I was playing small churches and the next thing you know, I was playing theaters.

R.V.B. - When you started playing in the churches, did you enjoy the sound and the acoustics?

P.K. - Yeah, that's part of it. There's good acoustics in a lot of the churches. People that tend to go to listen to music in churches are a listening audience. As opposed to bars and lounges where people are getting drunk and talking a lot. I got sick of that and I quit all of my gigs. I really enjoyed the contrast of playing in a quiet, listening situation. where people can really pay attention.

R.V.B. - Is this around the time that you came out with your first album?

P.K. - Yeah. Not long after that, I got an offer to make a record. Even though I was making music all of those years, I never really thought I was going to have a career in it. At the time, there wasn't a lot of instrumental music being played other than straight ahead jazz and classical. Even the whole contemporary jazz scene was new. The new age scene hadn't been born yet. I was not sure what I was going to do? I was playing piano and improvising and I didn't know if there was going to be a market for it. Then I got turned on to Keith Jarrett. He was improvising, and playing a hybrid style between classical and jazz. He was really successful and playing to large audiences. I thought "Maybe there is a market for this?" It inspired me to keep doing it... and doing it my way. At the same time, this whole thing with Windham Hill Record Company came around. It was instrumental music with some content. It began to spring up around the country and there was a market for it.

R.V.B. - So you started in on the grass roots of this new genre.

P.K. - Yes, very much so.

R.V.B. - That's very exciting and important in itself, in that you were coming into your own at the same time a new musical genre was being born.

P.K. - I was just doing my own thing. I wasn't trying to play that kind of music. I was just doing my thing which is a hybrid of my backround... classical, pop, and rock. All of those songs I've played to through high school. I played all of those Billy Joel and Elton John songs.

R.V.B. - What were some of the classical songs that you played at that time?

P.K. - Just the basic ones that you play as a kid... Chopin, Mozart, and the more challenging ones when I was a teenager. I wasn't really all that into it, to tell you the truth. At the time you chose, what do you learn, classical or jazz. My mother chose classical for me. I was doing what she wanted me to do up until a certain point, when I started doing what I wanted to do.

R.V.B. - So this time around when you made your first album, it was a mix of styles that you were exposed to?

P.K. - Yeah, it was very much my own thing. I recorded it myself. I hired a producer and had quite a good backer. I took the record around to different labels to see if they were interested. I was really surprised that several labels did want it. "Blue Note" wanted it, "American Gramophone" wanted it, "Narada" - which was pretty large at the time, wanted it. I couldn't believe what a small royalty they were paying for it. They were offering me like 75 cents per unit for an LP that was selling for 8-9-10 bucks. I just couldn't believe that I was going to make 75 cents per record. Everyone else was going to make 2 or 3 dollars each. I said screw them and I decided I was going to make my own record company. I just distributed it myself. It was king of a ballsy move for a 22 year old.

R.V.B. - What was the name of the company that you started?

P.K. - Source Music.

R.V.B - Do you still own that label?

P.K. - No, I've gone through a couple of labels since then. What I did realize was that running a record company was a lot of work. It was taking away a lot of my free time as an artist. After I did my first record on my own label, I started doing records for other labels. My first record was solo piano, but then I started wanting to add other instruments. I decided I wanted to try to get into the contemporary jazz genre. I did, and my next 3 or 4 records after that started charting on national jazz charts. I went from a top 20 record, to a top 12 record, to a top 6 record, to a number 2 record. I never had a number one contemporary jazz album, but I was playing jazz festivals around the country and getting a ton of airplay. That was in the mid to late 80's.

R.V.B. - It was at this time when things really started happening for you. You hooked up with Robert Redford.

P.K. - That was unbelievable. Redford was just starting the Sundance Institute in Utah. They were trying to raise money for that and gain exposure, and one of Redford's close friends turned him on to my music. Redford was really into what I was doing. He would fly me out to play for his donor's events. I went from not hanging out with any celebrities, to all of a sudden going over to Redford's place... staying at his guest house... and playing for all of these A-List Hollywood actors, directors and producers. Sidney Pollack, Alan Alda, Dave Grusin... I'm playing for all these people that are very successful and hugely well known. I felt like "What the hell am I doing playing for these people?" I look out in my audience and there's Redford listening.

R.V.B. - I'm sure that was a big boost for your career.?

P.K. - It did in a way. It's funny in a way, when you get to wherever you are, you're thinking about where you're going to next... especially at that age. You never feel that you've arrived anywhere. You always feel like you're trying to get somewhere. I did a lot at there at the Sundance Institute for years. He was a very generous, forthcoming guy. Then I got a call from a director in New York City. They wanted to use my music for this play that they were working on. I didn't know who John Malkovich was at the time... I didn't know who Joan Allen was... I didn't know who Lanford Wilson was, but they wanted to use my "Two Hearts" album as the score for this play that they were doing called "Burn This". It was written by Lanford Wilson and he was a Pulitzer prize winning play write. It ran on Broadway for over a year. I proceeded to do 11 on and off Broadway plays with the director.

R.V.B. - You wrote the scores for them? Did you ever come to New York to watch the plays being performed or actually participate in any of them?

P.K. - Yeah, I wrote the scores for them. I would come to the rehearsals... I would meet with the actors... I'd meet with the director... I'd record the music, and yeah I would go to all of the opening nights and the after parties. It was a jump into another whole echelon of talent. It was just amazing to be a part of it. It was Tyne Daily, Ethan Hawke, John Voight, Judd Hirsch...

R.V.B. - All major Broadway actors.

P.K. - There was Tony Randall, remember him?

R.V.B. - Oh yeah, "The Odd Couple".

P.K. - He started his own theater company in New York. He did "The Seagull"... he did a bunch of his plays, but I did the music for his production of "The Seagull". (Hahaha) He would call me on the phone and invite me to these parties. It was just crazy... it was just ridiculous... I used to watch The Odd Couple.

R.V.B. - I did and I think 90% of America did at the time. (Hahaha)

P.K. - (Haha) He'd call me up in his character. The funny thing is, the character that he was portraying on "The Odd Couple" was very similar on how he really was.

R.V.B. - Really? He was a neat freak?

P.K. - Yeah, kind of a neat freak and very formal. He was very sociably polished. He would call and leave me messages, and say "Kater, this is Tony. I'm calling you rather apologetically and belatedly to invite you to this party this afternoon. (Hahaha) He would just go on and on. (Hahaha) I was living outside of Washington D.C. at the time and I'd hop on the train, and go up there.

R.V.B. - Now during that time you also had a long standing working relationship with John Denver. No. 1, how did that come about and No. 2, how enjoyable was it to work with him?

P.K. - It was the same thing. I got a call one day from one of the producers... he used to hold these events every year up in Aspen called "Choices for the Future Symposium". He would always have music as a part of it, because he was a musician... obviously. The producers called me up and asked if I would come up and perform at it? I said "Of Course". These are like 4 day events with speakers from all over the world. "New Thought" thinkers... "Quantum Physicists"... "Environmentalists"... "Humanitarians"... people from the UN... musicians from everywhere. It was a think tank symposium and 8 or 9 hundred people would attend. So I went up there and I played, and he was really into collaborating with people. I'm playing "Country Roads" with him... "Rock Mountain High"... some new songs that he had never recorded before. He really liked playing with me. I wound up pretty much coordinating the music for that event for the next ten years. It was one of the high's of my life. Those weekends were just like some of the best times ever. I met Kenny Loggins at the UN in 1995. We were both receiving this United Nations Environment Leadership award. He had Kenny come and play... and John sing. There were some of my other favorite musicians like David Darling, R Carlos Nakai, and there was a really close knit family vibe that began to happen. John was a great guy. When he died in that plane crash, it was just a tragedy.

R.V.B. - It was a shock. He really stood up for what he believed in... even to the point of going in front of Congress.

P.K. - Yes, he was a true humanitarian... true activist, and it was a shame that the media like to pick on him.

R.V.B. - Because he smoked a joint or two here and there.

P.K. - He got a D.U.I. and he had pot in his car. "Big deal" I mean come on.

R,V.B. - Exactly. People make a mountain out of a mole hill. So you ran into a Native American Flute player... and again you switched things up. How did you meet him?

P.K. - Again, it was something that just happened. I was doing all these jazz clubs... jazz festivals, and working the charts... Billboards, and I was given a cassette tape of R. Carlos Nakai's "Earth Spirit" album. I put it on, and it was solo Native American flute. It was so cool, the way the instrument sounded. There was so much space in it. It really sparked my imagination... what it would be like to be out west in the prairies, before civilization hit. It was just Native American culture living off the land... playing their flutes. It just really interested me. I started playing the piano along to this cassette and there was so much space in it. I thought it sounded really cool, so I tracked him down. I had no idea where he lived... whether he lived on a reservation...  a house, or what. He agreed to fly out to Denver so that we could talk and maybe get some music together. We didn't really talk that much because we were both kind of uncomfortable and apprehensive about each other. Once we got in the studio and started playing, it was like "Oh my God", all kind of magic was happening. I was still thinking it was going to be this little side project that I was doing just for me. I didn't really think there was going to be a market for it. Then this record company was interested and wanted the record. I was happy to give it to them, because I had no idea what I was going to do with it. All of a sudden, it started selling 10X as much as my other stuff. I was doing good in the jazz world and all of a sudden, this Native American flute and piano album started selling hundreds and thousands of units.

R.V.B. - That started a nice long relationship and a lot of creativity.

P.K. - Yeah. We never discuss what we're going to play, we always improvise. We get up on stage and we just pick a key...

R.V.B. - That's one thing I wanted to ask you... the Native American flute, depending on how it's made can be not in true pitch. How do you work around that?

P.K. - You have to get one that's in good pitch. They only play in certain scales. The Native American flute plays in a pentatonic scale. It's different than a diatonic scale. The pentatonic scale is missing several notes, and it only has an octave and a half range. You have to know what the flute can do, and you have to be aware of what notes you are playing... and not playing. That's something that I got good at.

R.V.B. - I want to ask you about some of your performances. Let's go with the jazz genre. What was one of your favorite performances prior to the Native American music?

P.K. - There was a lot, but the first one that comes to mind is, I headlined the Norfolk Jazz Festival in Virginia. There was a ton of people there, and I remember it was hot and humid. I had a 5 piece group with me... piano, bass, drums, saxophone and guitar. I had just released a record called "Gateway" and on that record was a song called "Reunion". It was No. 2 nationally, at the time. I had this great sax player named Bob Rebholtz. I remember it was just a very "on" gig. The audience was really into us. When we left the stage we were dripping in sweat and soaked. It was a great experience.

R.V.B. - You've played overseas a few times right?

P.K. - Yes. I went to Japan and Korea.

R.V.B. - How did the audience take to your music over there?

P.K. - Amazing... especially in Japan. A lot of the Japanese people keep themselves pretty guarded emotionally, up until a certain point. When they're around music, they let themselves go. It was such a gratifying experience... playing music there. It was great hanging out at some of the after parties, with the Japanese people. It was emotional and generous. My music tends to be on the emotional side. I played my own set and I also played with John Denver over there. Since he was super huge there. I kind of reaped some of the benefits of being part of his group. I was treated like royalty... it was beautiful.

R.V.B. - What about some of the performances that you had with R. Carlos? I gather it's a whole different experience playing live him... more spiritual.

P.K. - Yes, it's very, very different. It's more subtle. A lot of times, the contemporary jazz thing is about chops... licks... how cool that line is... how funky the groove is. Playing with R. Carlos is like... (haha) so quiet. There is a lot of subtle textures with the flute and the piano. It's much more of an inner, deep listening experience, other than an outward party experience.

R.V.B. - Did you ever perform that music to Native Americans?

P.K. - Yeah. We played in front of some of Carlos's core Native American followers in Arizona.

R.V.B. - How did they take to a non Native American playing with such a purist?

P.K. - It was mixed... to be honest. I didn't always feel like I was always part of the group. R.C. was always kind and generous. I sometimes found myself being quiet and off to myself. They have a very different culture, than a European culture.

R.V.B. - Did you experience other Native American instrumentalist? Did you get teamed up with other artists, maybe on the same bill?

P.K. - I worked with a lot of different Native American artists. The records that I did with R. Carlos were so well known and so popular, that the record companies would ask me to play with other artists. I have collaborated with a lot of different flutists and singers. I collaborated with Rita Coolidge. I did a couple of records where I had a different Native American on each song.

R.V.B. - I see that you've performed at a lot of classic venues such as: The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Red Rocks, and even the United Nations. How did you enjoy playing in those venues, and how different was the sound from playing in a local theater?

P.K. - Playing at all of those places was a rush, because of their reputation and all the amazing talent that has played at those venues. They were all different. Carnegie Hall was much different than Red Rocks. It was great to be on that stage and be a part of the lineup for that year. Unfortunately when you're on stage, you don't reap the benefits of the acoustics of the hall, because we're listening to the music through monitors. You have to have trust in the soundman to make sure it sounds good out in the audience.

R.V.B. - The stage volume and the stage sound is very different than what is being projected out. Where do you see yourself in the future? What would you like to have happen in your career?

P.K. - I thought I was going to move to Maui to just chill out and not focus so much on my career. Then all of a sudden I realized that I haven't really given my career 100% attention. I'm at a good spot right now where I have a lot of wherewithal to do pretty much whatever I want. I decided to go to Los Angeles and really give it my best shot for the next few years. I don't know if it's going to be 2 years, 5 years, or 10 years. In that time period, I feel like I want to do my best work. I want to do some collaborations that I'm really excited about. I want to do some projects that can really use all of my capabilities and experience as an artist. So when I'm done, I can really feel like I gave it everything I had, and I can walk away feeling good about it.

R.V.B. - Well your career has been fantastic already, even up to this point. You've done so many things. You've done music in different genres. I guess the good part of collaborating is that you're getting input from a different source.

P.K. - Especially if it's with an artist that you really admire and respect.

R.V.B. - I wish you all the luck with your future plans. I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me.

P.K. - Thanks Rob

Interview conducted by Robert von Bernewitz

This interview may not be reproduced in any part or form without permission from this site.

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Bang - Music shot from a gun - An conversation with Frank Ferrara - "I really believe that if you work hard enough for something, you can inflict your will and make things happen."

 Frank Ferrara Interview

Bang is a rock band from the Philadelphia area that produced three albums on Capitol Records in the early 1970's. In that time, Frank Ferrara, Frank Gilcken, and Tony Diorio rehearsed for approximately 18 months and decided to take a trip to Florida with their equipment and check out the music scene. While stopping in a record store for necessities, they found out that Rod Stewart and Deep Purple were performing very soon in Orlando. They headed to the show and drove right through the gates and talked their way into opening the concert. The concert promoter was very impressed and had them play other major shows. Before you know it, they were signed to Capitol records. After various music business issues, "Bang" eventually called it quits. On 1/6/2014 the band reunited. The two Franks and current drummer Jake Legar, will be performing at The Shop in Brooklyn, New York on May 10th 2015. I recently caught up with Bassman Frank Ferrara.

R.V.B. - Hello Frank

F.F. - Yes this is Frank, how are you?

R.V.B. - I'm doing pretty good. How are you?

F.F. - I am really good. I'm soaking up the sunshine from my picture window, so I'm doing good.

R.V.B. - Well I wish I could say the same because it's cold as heck up here.

F.F. - Where are you?

R.V.B. - I'm by Port Jefferson.

F.F. - Oh, that sounds cold. (Hahaha)

R.V.B. - I know that you're from the Philly area... where do you live now?

F.F. - Actually Rob, I'm still in my family home. I came here from Italy when I was a young boy, when I was about five. I live about fifteen miles south of Philly on the Pa/Delaware line.

R.V.B. - Oh I see, so you got a warmer day than we do, I guess.

F.F. - A little bit yeah. It's all good. Our guitar player Frankie moved to Virginia and our drummer Jake is from Pittsburgh. It's weird that we're separated. I remember as a kid, we all lived on the same block basically. It was pretty cool back then.

R.V.B. - After reading your bio, one thing that I admire is the go-gettiveness' of you guys. You guys set out for a dream, with not really a major plan other than practicing, and you went out and made it happen.

F.F. - You know Rob, I think back... the Bang story is so unique, in just what happened. The fact that it was in 1971... six years after The Beatles were on Ed Sullivan, when I think back on how far back it was... basically you're right, I think rehearsing every night for eighteen months got us so tight... not just musically, but as people and friends. I really believe that if you work hard enough for something, you can inflict your will and make things happen. The fact that we just decided on a whim to go to Florida and walk into a music at five minutes to nine because we needed rolling papers, and ended opening up for Rod Stewart and Deep Purple. Think about that... five minutes in either direction, the store would have been closed, we would of never heard about the show, we would have never went to Florida. I believe that break came to us because of the hard work and the eighteen months that we put into it.

R.V.B. - That, and the fact that you didn't wait around for things to happen. You made things happen. You went into the music store, albeit it was for rolling papers.

F.F. - (Hahaha)

R.V.B. - . I share a common thing with you... I'm a huge Sabbath fan myself. When you were rehearsing did they have an influence on you?

F.F. - Oh yeah, I think so. They were our favorite group back then too. You know what Robbie??? there's only eight notes in the scale. There's only so many ways you can bend strings. Yeah, we were fans of Black Sabbath and we were playing that genre pretty much with the "Death of a Country" album... which as our demo. It was never released by Capitol. That's when we just started. We were influenced by everybody, it wasn't just them. It was Led Zeppelin, it was Grand Funk. We got cluttered in the heavy metal genre but we were a rock band more than anything. We were a grove band. We were a boogie band. We were more rock than anything else. Everybody that you like influences you to a point. We couldn't sound like Black Sabbath, simply because we weren't. We sounded like Bang. People tell me all the time that I sound like Ozzy. I think I sound like Frank Ferrara. It's just my voice. Frankie's guitar playing... I think he should of been one of the top ten of all time. That's just my opinion. Today seems to be all about speed. How fast can I put 10,000 notes in three seconds. I would rather hear three notes that are bent the right way and say something melodic. Frankie was able to do that with his playing.

R.V.B. - I totally agree with you. There's such a thing as over playing.

F.F. - Oh big time. It's about a song... your setting a mood... your telling a story. Now it's "How fast can I get through this." To me there's no heart in it anymore. We found this out on the Pentagram tour... there was twenty and thirty year olds who came out to see us. That was our first tour in forty-some years. To twenty and thirty year olds with our Bang album... singing with me... knowing the words... I tell you what buddy, "I'm hung like a peanut but I felt like I had a ten foot dick." (Hahaha)

R.V.B. - (Hahaha) Well you know, I listen to your music and I like it myself. I'm a semi-professional low level musician myself. Now you guys were really young when this Florida trip happened right?

F.F. - Yeah, we were seventeen... just turning eighteen. We decided not to finish high school. It was either go back to twelfth grade or sign with Capitol Records. We made a hard choice.

R.V.B. - Now you say you were hung like a peanut but you sure had a lot of balls to go into that stadium and talking your way into opening up.

F.F. - Hey Rob. They don't call me the elephant man because of my trunk, ok.

R.V.B. - (Hahaha)

F.F. - The peanut was an exaggeration. You know Rob, when that guy pretty much challenged us in that music store... he was putting it in our face. We saw the sign and it said "Concert in the part on Saturday." It was kind of a battle of the bands. That was in Daytona. When we saw that poster we asked "Is that show tomorrow?" He said "No, that's an old poster." We told him where we were staying and that we were from Philly... "We have our equipment in the U-Haul to play for people in Florida." He goes "Oh, you got a band? Rod Stewart and Deep Purple are playing in Orlando. Why don't you go there, maybe they'll let you play?" He was being a smart ass.

F.F. - We got the papers and went back to our tent in the campground. We were drinking a little bit and we were smoking joints... the good Florida pot that we had back them. We just started talking "WTF, we're just going to Florida on a whim... we're just taking a vacation... let's just go there and see what happens." Robbie check this out, when we got there, there was nobody there. we pulled the fucking U-Haul and station wagon right backstage. Right through the metal fences, and there was nobody there. We got out of the car and we were a little nervous. We could have got arrested... we were crashing a show. We walked in and they were setting up the PA... we kept walking until we saw a door and knocked. That's when we saw a guy and we said "We're Bang and we're from Philly and we're the best fucking band in the world and we want to play." We were expecting to be arrested but we couldn't have found a better guy. We ran into Rick Bowen, who happened to be the promoter of the show. He was the right guy to see. After that, we set up our equipment and played a couple of songs he said "You guys have balls the size of boulders. I have to let you play. You guys sound really good." Seventy two hours after we left Claymont Delaware with no idea where we were going, we're playing to 8,000 people, opening up for Rod Stewart and Deep Purple in Orlando.

R.V.B. - That's an amazing story. It obviously didn't stop there. How did you eventually get hooked up with Capitol?

F.F. - What happened was, East Coast Concerts was part of a company out of Dallas called Concerts West. They were the ones who did all the shows back then, Robbie... Zeppelin, The Who and everybody and their brother. Rick had the southeast portion of that. When we got our publishing deal... Jimmy Ienner had a publishing company in New York. He was the guy who put The Raspberries together. He had connections with Capitol. In fact, it was between Capitol and Atlantic. When we went into Criteria and did what turned out to be our demo "Death of a Country", Capitol was one of the labels that was interested.

R.V.B. - So you went in and did a demo of eight or ten songs?

F.F. - No Robbie, we actually had a concept album called "Death of a Country." It was about eight songs and it was a psychedelic metal record. Frankie was taking jazz lessons at the time. He would come to rehearsal with the augmented 19th chords. We were just having fun, and we came up with a style. We're talking about all this music Robbie, but Tony's lyrics were A+. The songs were written around the lyrics more than anything. To make a long story short we went with Capitol because The Beatles were on Capitol... The Band was on Capitol... Grand Funk was on Capitol, but in hindsight... From the minute we signed with them Robbie... I think they signed us because we were in front of 50,000 people and not for the music. We didn't do tours. We didn't go on the road for a month with one band. We'll do a gig with Three Dog Night one night and jump over to Cactus... or do Mountain. Our manager was basically guaranteeing Capitol that we could be in front of 50,000 people a week. That was a lot of money that Capitol was saving as far as promoting the band. It was a bad label for us the minute they decided not to release "Death of a Country" and their reasoning was, we were a groove band and people wouldn't understand a concept album. They're idiots of course. In my mind they challenged us when they sent a producer down and said "You got two weeks to write a record." In nine days we wrote the Bang album... which was technically just inducted into the heavy metal hall of fame. That was really nice... Forty three years after it's release. I don't care if it's the "Tom and Jerry Hall of Fame". The fact that people remember it after all these years and that it inspired a bunch of people, is a pretty humbling thing for us.

R.V.B. - I could imagine. When you had to come up with those songs in two weeks, did you have any in the can or did you write them all in that period?

F.F. - You know what Robbie? We had bits and pieces of riffs. None of the songs were complete. Me and Frankie just sat in a room and put on a cassette player every riff we could. We said alright, this one is in the key of E... this one's in the key of A... let's put these two together. It was kind of like a jigsaw puzzle. We wrote the full album in two weeks. Me and Frankie were in one room and Tony was in the other room writing "The Last Will and Testament" and "Questions" and "Future Shock".

R.V.B. - He did most of the lyrics right?

F.F. - 99% of the lyrics were written from Tony Diorio, our original drummer. He still does lyrics to this day. To me, I always go back to the lyrics, because you know what? I've lived through the disco era, I'm living through the rap era, where it's how many words can you rhyme with bitch. Back in the day songs were about something, they told us a story... there was a chorus...  there was a solo. Good music stopped in 1979. then we got into the big hair syndrome. Before 1979 everybody had their own style and brand. There was The Who, The Stones.

R.V.B. - But you also had to go out there and make it... kinda through the underground. You had to build your audience. It's not like today where you put a video on Youtube and you see how many hits you get.

F.F. - Yeah Robbie, you hit it right on the head. That's what happened with the whole Capitol thing. They didn't know how to promote us. Atlantic was a more aggressive rock label. In hindsight, I feel we should of went with Atlantic but coulda', woulda', shoulda'. Capitol records is... believe it or not, one of the few record labels still standing to this day. There might be three of them. Atlantic doesn't exist anymore. They got soaked in by Sony or somebody. Back then everything was so commercial. FM was so deep underground. Helen Ready was number one "I Am Woman." It's about timing, and we were on the cusp. We would show up at gigs and there would be no records in the stores... no promotion and I blame that on Capitol. Within six months after we signed our deal, everyone that was involved at Capitol after signing us, moved on to another label. The president went to Motown. The producer took off and went to Epic. Everyone was gone within six months. You realize at that point, it's not the music business, it's the business of music. It's like selling shoes. In a business like music where it's all about heart and emotion, it's a hard lesson to learn.

R.V.B. - It also must have been disconcerting for them to tell you to use a different drummer.

F.F. - That happened after the first album. Tony had only been playing for four or five years at that point. He was ten years older than me and Frankie. He was the guy that had the wife and the kids and the job and the money. Frankie was sixteen years old when we met Tony.

Was it an issue with Tony leaving his family to go to Florida?

F.F. - No, it was never a problem with his family. We were just taking a week to go down there. We didn't know what would happen. We had rehearsed for eighteen months and we had played at this local club in Kennett Square... this local town. We did our "Death of a Country" set. A guy from the other band said "Look, I know some people in Miami who are looking for bands." Tony got the itch, and at the time Frankie - our guitar player was deeply into drugs. He was doing some bad drugs and fighting a demon back then. We thought getting away... getting out of town was a chance for him to clean up and chill out. There was a combination of reasons why we went down. Tony had the station wagon and a friend had the U-Haul van and it was June. It was just time to go somewhere. Tony wasn't actually forced out of the band or asked to leave until we did the Mother sessions, which was our second album. Back then Rob, you did two albums a year. One every six months. Now they have one every five years maybe.

R.V.B. - I found something kind of funny. Was it true that you got jaywalking tickets the day before your big party?

F.F. - Yes it's true. That's the thing about this whole Bang story Rob...

R.V.B. - It's kinda Spinal Tapish'.

F.F. - It is Spinal Tapish', but it's true.

R.V.B. (Hahaha)

F.F. - It's not fiction. I got lucky because we recorded the Bang album in Miami at Criteria. We wanted to do some vocal tracks over, so I got to fly to LA... I was eighteen years old. Michael Sunday... our producer who did the Blue Cheer album right before our record... picked me up at the airport on a fucking motorcycle. I don't know if you've been to LA but it's like freeway city. He took me to his place in Hollywood Hills and then I went and re-recorded the vocals. The second time we went to Hollywood, Frankie stayed back at the room for some reason, and me and Tony wanted to go to Hollywood Boulevard. So we went out... it was late in the evening, and we're walking down Hollywood Boulevard for about six or seven blocks and we turned around to go back to the Holiday Inn, and we cross over the street, and about halfway across it turned red. The next thing you know, this cop car came up. He asked for our ID's and we said "We're from Delaware." They said "It doesn't matter." So they put handcuffs on us and put us in the back seat and took us to Hollywood's police station. Tony, the poor guy was in the cell, (hahaha) I was outside the cell and I was talking to everybody. In about two or three hours our manager bailed us out. Later that morning Robbie, was "Bang Day" at Capitol Records. That was our day to meet and greet everybody at Capitol. So the night before we get busted for jaywalking... we get bailed out at five... and at 10 o'clock we're at the Capitol. and they're playing Bang music in the elevator and showing porno films.

R.V.B. - That's funny         

F.F. - These stories, I'll tell you what... I hooked up with a friend who has a publishing company and he's a writer. We had been thinking about the Bang story, and as much as we love the music and the fact that it still stands up after all this time. The Bang story itself is just an incredible assortment of shit that happened to us. It's Spinal Tapish', but it's real. This writer emailed me "Is this Frank Ferrara from Bang?" and I said "Yeah". He said "Man, I bought your fucking record when I was fourteen years old." He was ecstatic about doing a book. This could be a movie... this could be a lot of things. The story itself is fascinating... it's documented. With the book, we've touched base with our producers and engineers. They're gonna be a part of the book obviously. Criteria studio was Atlantic records home studio. They all went to vacation in Key West so they needed a studio down there. Criteria became one of the biggest studios in the 70's. The Allman Brothers, Hotel California...

R.V.B. - I think even Sabbath recorded an album there.

F.F. - Oh Yeah, Sabbath did. Our engineer Karl Richardson went on to be the producer for the Bee Gees, that ushered in the entire disco phase. We've crossed paths with people who were involved with the whole evolution of music. Having these talks with old producers really enforces the fact... you know every band has a story. I'm not gonna say that our story is better than anyone else's story, but to talk our way into opening for Deep Purple, you just can't make it up. The biggest thing I'm excited about is after all this time, at age 62 after doing this when I was twenty. I feel like I'm the most blessed man in the world.

R.V.B. - Well it's a good feeling when people appreciate your music. That's why you're in the business. When somebody says "That was great man", it's a whole lot better than someone saying "Here's fifty bucks."

F.F. - Oh stop it. If it wasn't for the sheer joy... 99.9% of the business is about dealing with bullshit. For that hour and a half when you get on stage... the things that you have to go through to get there. They're soul crushers... it's negative shit. It's hard to stay enthused but you know what, when you get up on stage and make a connection with somebody... I always tell people, it's better than sex... it's better than any drug I've ever had. It's mental, it's physical, it's psychological, you feel like a lava lamp... you're just undulating. People know the fucking words to my songs better than I do... that's sobering.

R.V.B. - How did you guys get back together after the long break? Who's idea was it?

F.F. - We kicked it around for a long time. I stayed single... I never had any kids. My guitar player had three kids from three different women. He had like forty years of paying alimony and hanging up his guitar. After things calmed down, now it was his time. I've tried to have other bands and do other things over the years. I had always thought putting a band together would be easy...music would be hard....music is easy finding the right musicians is what's hard. It's just finding the right people with the same chemistry. Over the fifty years that I've been playing, he's one of the only players that I've spiritually connected with. It's a very easy thing for me and him to sit down and write, and put Bang music to Tony's words. No matter how much time goes by Rob... if you make magic with somebody, it never goes away.

R.V.B. - Is Tony still involved?

F.F. - Yes, Tony's still involved. He still writes lyrics. He maintains the website and does some graphics for us. He stopped physically playing drums, right at the beginning of the Mother sessions... right after the "Bang" album. All he played on was "The Death of a Country" demo and the original "Bang" album. Later in the year, we went in to do "Mother" and they decided to make a change. That's water under the bridge. He's still an integral part of the band. That's why I admire bands like Aerosmith, the Stones, all the same guys stayed together.

R.V.B. - It's not easy either.

F.F. - No it's not, but if you make the effort... we just love to play and we have fun with each other... it's natural. To me, I think that we can be more valid than before. Because at eighteen, you think that it's never going to end. Not having it in our lives for forty years makes this whole experience genuine. This is God's way of saying "Hey guys, finish your legacy." That's inspiring.

R.V.B. - I got a quick question. Why did you go with the bass?

F.F. - Frankie was the guitar player, and I met him when he was about ten or eleven years old. He said he needed a bass player. I didn't even know what it was, but I went and bought a bass. I became the bass player.  When I was sixteen we had a band, and we were lucky enough to open up for The Young Rascals at The Spectrum in Philadelphia in 1968. The bass was a need. We needed a bass player and I just decided to play it. I never played the guitar or anything else. That was my first instrument. We were having problems. We were only three piece because we couldn't find a fourth member. We couldn't find anyone else who could sacrifice and do what it took to be in a band. Frankie, our guitar player was the singer, and when we signed with Capitol, Michael Sunday came down and he looked at me and said "You're the singer."

R.V.B. - In the early songs, did you guys share the singing?

F.F. - We always did a lot of two part harmony on most of the songs. Later on, I started doing them all by myself. When we did the "Bang" album, we had the harmonies which was part of our signature.

R.V.B. - Was it a pain in the neck to get a copy of "Death of a Country" after they shelved it for so long?

F.F. - We had to do it ourselves. When Tony first put up the website, we were thinking that it would be great to have our records on CD. All we had was vinyl. We contacted Capitol and said "We're "Bang" and we used to be on your label." and they had no record of us. They had no idea who the fuck we were. (Hahaha) "You were never on Capitol Records." I've got newspaper articles, and I have pictures of us standing on your roof with helicopters going overhead. If you pull up Wikipedia, we're in there. Frankie's brother Bobby is attached with Brian Setzer from The Stray Cats. He was in Frisco and he was able to find the "Bang" record, the "Mother" album and the "Music" record, still hermetically sealed. The promotional copies of vinyl. We had them re-mastered and put them on CD's. .

R.V.B. - That's kink of what they did with the old 78's

F.F. - Yeah exactly. People all over the world have been bootlegging Bang albums for thirty years. As a musician, selling records is your pension. You count on your royalty checks. Since the internet took over, everything is stolen. The minute one song is out once, it's all over the world. You can't control it. These days you have to sell merchandise, sell some CD's or vinyl...

R.V.B. - And do a lot of touring.

F.F. - And do a lot of touring. We're hoping to do a lot of that real soon. We're looking forward to the New York show on the 10th on May. Then we're flying out to LA to do Psycho shows, which I'm excited about. This will be the first time that we're "Bangin' Cali." There will be a lot of music business people that will hopefully open up some other opportunities.

R.V.B. - I'm really happy for you that you're back together and doing what you love to do. I'm glad you're coming to New York. I understand you had an Experience with Hendrix. No. one, just seeing him must have been awesome.

F.F. - In 1968 before we hooked up with Tony, Temple University did a show with Steve Miller, The Grateful Dead, The Ides of March and Jimi Hendrix. We were part of the crew. We had to go to the airport and pick up the Dead. What was happening with Hendrix was, He had to have guys help him to walk to the stage. Whatever he was doing... it looked like heroin. He couldn't physically stand up and I'll never forget when he got on stage, he was playing with his right and while on his knees, fucking with his pedals, to try and get the sound that he wanted. It was really hurtful to see him that fucked up. I also saw him at the original Electric Factory in Philly. I also saw Cream there. When Three Dog Night first came out they weren't top 40. They were considered a pretty heavy rock band. To see those bands in their prime in a great venue... I really think I lived in the best generation of music. The 60's and the 70's. I'm still grateful to do at whatever age to do today that I love, and for it to be as real today as it ever was. I couldn't be happier. Knock on wood... I could die tomorrow a happy man. If you follow your passion and do what your heart tells you... that's all you can expect out of life.

R.V.B. - You have a great attitude. Like I said "You have drive and you're a go getter, and you make things happen." With that combination, things are going to happen.

F.F. - I always tell people "Just step outside the box. Take a chance. Do something different." Friends that I grew up from her were like: going to Atlantic City, going away, running on the beach... there's so much to see in this world. Give yourself a chance and go places and experience other lifestyles. You can be gone a week, two months, two years, but when you come back home, it's still the same. It's "Groundhog day" all the time. You have to do something different and you have to give yourself a chance. I believe in a positive attitude and a strong work ethic. The other thing is to be humble. A lot of people come up to me and say "Frank, it's an honor to meet you." It's like wait a minute "Time out." You honor the Lord and you honor your parents. I'm just a musician who writes some music. Honor is too strong of a word. You can say "It's real nice to meet you" but there's a fine line between full of yourself and being humble. No matter how good you are, you need to stay humble. People don't like egotists.

R.V.B. - One more question. How come the Phillies stink so bad.

F.F. - Because they're from Philly (Hahaha) New York isn't much fucking better are they?

R.V.B. - The Mets are kicking ass but it's still early.

F.F. - Don't rub it in. We had 60 years of nothing but I'll tell you what... I've always been a Philly fan and on 07 and 08 when we had that great team and we were just kicking everybody's ass. It's amazing everyone becomes your friend when the team wins. When you're getting coffee in the morning... depending on whether you won or lost your either slapping everybody's hand and if they lose it's like the world just ended. I don't like the GM. They just handed out monster contracts to guys who had their glory years. The Mets always had the money and they always spend it. The first baseball game I saw was at Shea Stadium in 1965 with Tony Taylor and Cookie Rojas.

R.V.B. - Those names are Philly royalty. I had their baseball cards. Don't forget about Richie Allen. Smoking cigarettes in the dugout

F.F. - Yeah Richie Allen. I remember him hitting a ball out of Connie Mack Stadium off the scoreboard. When we were kids everything was a lot more exciting. These days when you go to a stadium where a team doesn't have a lot of talent. I'd rather watch grass grow. (Hahaha) Hey Rob, now that we broke bread, we gotta stay in touch. Look me up on facebook.

R.V.B. - I will. We'll friend each other on Facebook. How many Frank Ferrara's are there?

F.F. - Just look for the Italian guy who looks like Carmine Appice. I'm from Italy and there are a lot of Ferrara's. I'm the last one in our blood line. When I went to Italy to visit my old hometown... if you die, they put a big poster up on the street. I must have passed about ten death notices of Frank Ferrara.

R.V.B. - (Hahaha) That's hilarious.

F.F. - Thank you you're interest in doing this story, I appreciate it.

R.V.B. - No problem. It's my pleasure and we'll talk soon.

Interview conducted by Robert von Bernewitz 4/24/15

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