Ace Frehley Bassist Anthony Esposito interviewed

RN: What’s up man how have you been?

Anthony Esposito: Great man.

RN: I caught your show in Allentown PA. You guys did a killer job.

Anthony Esposito: Thank you. That was a crazy show. It was a lot of fun. That was the first time we have been back there since the New Years Eve show a few years back.

RN: First I wanted to ask what kind of bass are you playing.

Anthony Esposito: I am so honored to have been asked to play this bass. The guys name is James Trussart. The body is metal and it’s hollow. It has to be one of the best basses I have ever played. You can find him on line. I urge everyone to look him up.

RN: I wanted to ask you, how did you get the Ace Frehley gig?

Anthony Esposito: Well about five or 6 years ago. I went to his house for an audition and we just clicked.

RN: What’s next for the Ace Frehley band?

Anthony Esposito: We were supposed to go to England but those shows have been canceled. Ace broke his wrist. I think we are going to be touring in support of Ace’s book. That landed on the New York Times best sellers list. I know there is talk about doing a 1978 solo album tour and there is some talk about doing a new CD.

RN: What do you consider some of your best moments on stage with or without Ace?

Anthony Esposito: When I was in the 5^th grade I played this talent show. I remember doing two Ramones songs and doing two Kiss songs. As an adult I was in a band called The Remains with Marky and Dee Dee Ramone and I played those two Ramones songs with them and now playing with Ace I am playing those 2 Kiss songs. Playing with members of two of your favorite bands as a kid is pretty awesome. Every night when Ace goes into the solo of  “Love Gun” I get chills. There are a lot of moments that you don’t even think of until they are over. And you think back and go wow. Playing Mr. Scary with George Lynch when I was in Lynch Mob was pretty cool. We did a gig with Ace in Sweden in front of 85,000 people. The bill was us, Def Leppard, Tesla and White Snake., and playing Cold Gin along side of Ace in front of 85,000 people is just incredible. Another one was a few years back we played a Halloween show opening for Alice Cooper. We all wore Ace’s make up. Being in the space man costume and looking over at Ace playing with out face paint was crazy.

RN: How is that going from 85,000 people to a small club?

Anthony Esposito: I know this sounds like a cop out and a lot of people say this but I prefer the small clubs. The fans are right in front of you with no police barricade. It just feels right.

RN: What do you do when you’re not playing with Ace?

Anthony Esposito: When I lived in New York I owned a studio called School House Studios. We did Ace’s last record there. We did bands like the Misfits, The New Your Dolls and Green Day. I moved the studio to Pennsylvania when I moved there. I just produced my first band there called ” 1 Echo 1 ” they are a really good band from Harrisburg PA. So you can say I am open for business.

RN: Did you produce the bands as well?

Anthony Esposito: I didn’t produce all the bands. I did produce some. I engineered some. Ace pretty much produced his album himself. Ace and I did all the pre-production. Anton did the drums. A lot of his song ideas were on various digital recorders that he had during the Kiss tour and it just all came together.  Than we got Anton in there on the drums and just played everything out to see how it would all fit together, and that’s pretty much    how Anomaly happened.

RN: What’s the name of your new Studio?

Anthony Esposito: Obscenic Arts. It’s In Dillsburg, Pennsylvania.

RN: What do you like the most about producing music?

Anthony Esposito: I really like helping younger bands get more out of their songs than they thought they had. It’s fun. That’s what I enjoy.

RN: Can you tell me about the band Pisser you are also in?

Anthony Esposito: Pisser is a band that I am in with Frank Ferer who is in Guns N Roses and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal on guitar who is also in Guns N Roses and this amazing singer Eric J. Toast.

RN: How would you describe Pisser’s sound?

Anthony Esposito: I would say 1970’s AC/DC with Iggy Pop singing that’s what Pisser sounds like. It’s a lot of fun.

RN: Even though you guys are all in different bands and are on the road a lot Pisser is something you guys are going to move forward with?

Anthony Esposito: Yeah…The problem is that those guys are on tour with Guns N Roses and I’m out with Ace it’s hard to find time to do it. As soon as Guns N Roses gets off tour we will record. We are just not home at the same time. But Pisser is a joy to be in. It’s like four friends that just get together and have a good time. The band really is something to see live and we are going to try and capture that on CD.

RN: What else will you be working on in the New Year?

Anthony Esposito: I’ll be working with Todd Youth on his band called The Chelsea Smiles. I think we should be doing that in January. And I should be starting work on a new Pure 13 record.  Any day making music is a good day in my book.

FOR MORE INFO CHECK OUT:

Obscenic Arts On Facebook

Anthony Esposito

Pisser On Facebook

Ace Frehley.com

1 echo 1

For Pictures Of the Ace show in Allentown PA CLICK HERE

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