“Trying to Stay Sane in a World That’s Gone Mad”
Interview with Tony West
of Blacklist Union
Blacklist Union have released four albums to date and are putting the finishing touches on their upcoming release ‘Letters from the Psych Ward.’ The first two singles and videos for “The Queen of Everything” and “Letters from the Psych Ward” are out now. The next single and video, “Dirty Halo” will follow, with an album release in September. The album will be available on all digital platforms, in addition to CDs and Vinyl. The band will also be releasing its entire previous catalog on vinyl. I’ve been working with Tony West and Blacklist Union since their last album in 2015. It’s always great to sit down with Tony and talk about what’s new!
Alison “MetalBabe” Cohen: It’s been eight years since your 2015 release ‘Back to Momo.’ What have you been doing musically during this timeframe?
Tony West: I worked on a couple of side projects... One was with Jay Gordon. (The Savior Complex) I did another side project with Paul Roessler, (Silverstar) whose sister was in Black Flag. He’s a punk rock legend. He has a studio here in L.A. called Kitten Robot Studios. Paul and I recorded the Devo song “Gates of Steel” and the Bowie song “Golden Years” with D.H. Peligro from the Dead Kennedy’s and Zander Schloss from Circle Jerks at his studio. Of course, D.H. died… We are going to release these two songs as bonus tracks for our upcoming album ‘Letters from the Psych Ward.’
Also, like everyone else, I was dealing with Covid… Then the death of Todd Youth, who I wrote my last record with.
Metal Babe: When did you first start working on your upcoming release ‘Letters from the Psych Ward’ and how did you determine who was going to work on the album with you?
Tony West: After Todd died in 2018, I went to the Amazon Jungle in Peru with the Shipibo Indians and did Ayahuasca five times. This whole record was inspired by that. At first, since me and Todd has such good songwriting chemistry… I was searching for that. It’s like trying to find a spouse. I decided to write the record with Chris Johnson, who’s produced all the Blacklist Union records. He knows my style and my voice better than anyone.
Metal Babe: The first two videos are amazing, and completely different from one another. What are the concepts behind ‘The Queen of Everything’ and ‘Letters from the Psych Ward’ videos?
Tony West: “The Queen of Everything” is about my significant other. We fucking went through a lot of shit. Sometimes the feelings you have for someone don’t match the actions. That’s kind of the concept behind “The Queen of Everything” video.
As far as “Letters from the Psych Ward,” I don’t know if I should say this… But I actually spent a few days in a fuckin’ psych ward a few years ago because I was kicking psychotropic meds. Conceptionally, the “Letters from the Psych Ward” video is a live performance mixed with psych ward scenes.
Metal Babe: What can you tell me about one of the next songs and videos “Dirty Halo?”
Tony West: I’ve lost a lot of friends, like many of us have. It’s a tribute them. The most recent friend I lost is Wayne Swinny from Saliva. He was my good friend for two and a half decades. I’m wearing a shirt that has Wayne’s picture on it in the video. Of course, that song is written in part about Todd Youth, and my crew guy Damon Dodd. That was a fun really heavy video and a really special song for me.
Metal Babe: Tell me about the meaning behind the title of the album and second single, “Letters from the Psych Ward.”
Tony West: The world we live in is fucking nuts… We have to deal with so much shit in life. Whether it’s politics, kids getting killed in school, what the human race is doing to one other… Whatever pain you’re going through in life… We can all relate to this as human beings, and hopefully we can keep our sanity through music. “Letters from the Psych Ward” is about trying to stay sane in a world that’s gone mad.
Metal Babe: You cover a few songs on the upcoming album, including “Mia,” Which is an Aerosmith song that you named your daughter after. Tell me about your experience recording that song.
Tony West: Recording the vocals for “Mia” was epic. When I was about to record the vocals for “Mia” I texted Josey from Saliva that I was scared to do this. He was like, “you’re gonna kick ass.” Then the producer (Chris Johnson) and engineer (Ghian) were both like, “you know, this is kind of a hard song.” I was like, “no I’ll be fine.” So, I did one pass of the song and I’ll never forget… Chris and Ghian both stood up in the control room with their arms up in the air cheering because I nailed the song all the way through on the first take.
Metal Babe: How does the new Blacklist Union album compare to the previous four
releases?
Tony West: We are working with professional top-class musicians. We have been shooting two videos at a time in Houston, TX with pros. For this album, we are on a much bigger scale than we have for any of our four previous releases. This is a much larger playing field for us. We have a great management team and are working with campaigns in the UK for European representation.
Metal Babe: You have your first show in quite some time coming up July 29th at The Whisky for Cruefest. What can fans expect from a live show?
Tony West: Fans can expect a kickass rock show. My goal is to always make the live show better than the records. When I see a band I wanna walk away and say “wow.” That doesn’t happen very often, but that is what I want people to do after seeing Blacklist Union. I want them to walk away saying “wow.”
Metal Babe: One thing that I have always admired about you and your music is that it is real, honest, and you are true to yourself. Whether it’s your lyrics, your outlook on life, or your appearance. Where does this come from?
Tony West: My daughter Mia said to me one day, “Daddy you can’t wear makeup when you pick me up at school.” I’m like, “Wait, what? I’ve been wearing eyeliner every day since I was 13.” She said all the little girls ask me, “Why does your daddy wear makeup?” And I’m like, “Tell them I’m a rocker guy.” She’s like, “I did.” I’m like, “Okay fine I won’t wear the eyeliner, but the nail polish stays.” Mia’s like “Okay, deal.”I’ve always f*ckin’ believed in live by the sword die, by the sword. Be ready to rock at a moment’s notice.
I’m not playing a character. I am who I am. There’s no portrayal of a character onstage or in our videos or anything, it’s me. I consider myself a rock n’ roll soldier. I’m a lifer. This is my life. No matter where I’m going or what I’m doing, I am ready to rock. I always have the same rock n’ roll presence. I learned a long time ago that you need to be ready to rock at a moment’s notice. I think when you’re authentic that kinda cuts through the bullshit and people feel that.
Metal Babe: What can you tell me about your tattoos? When did you first start getting tattoos and what tattoos are you working on now? Do you have any related to your songs or other bands?
Tony West: I’m fucking covered in tattoos. Now I am sleeving out my legs from the top of my thigh to the tops of my feet. It’s painful… Kevin Quinn is doing it. He’s mentioned in the Warrior Soul song “The Wasteland” where they are like “Quinn is drilling ink and we’re getting laid.” Kevin and Kory (Clarke) grew up together. Kevin is an old-school legendary tattoo artist. In the early days of Guns N’ Roses they would take Kevin on the road with them and he would tattoo them. I love him… He’s one of my favorite people.
I have a leopard on my knee, roses, there’s a Phoenix... All of it is very symbolic to me. The Phoenix is like rising from the ashes again. The last few years were gnarly for me in so many ways. Deaths of people, overdoses, all kinds of shit. Trying to stay sane, getting back in shape… I almost didn’t make it twice. This is about rising from the ashes and coming back stronger than ever.
Metal Babe: You sang in honor of D.H. and recently at The Viper Room. What is it like to be out there again performing after all this time?
Tony West: Yeah, I haven’t performed much lately… My first performance back was when D.H. died and I did a benefit for him singing Ramones songs.
I just sang a bunch of covers at The Viper Room the other night with Jon E. Love from Love/Hate and my buddy Cordell Crockett that was in Ugly Kid Joe. I’m so glad to fuckin’ be back in the mix. When we started, and the curtain opened at The Viper Room as they were doing an intro musically and I was feeling the crowd. It’s been so long and it felt so good. We blew the fucking doors off that place; people were freaking out. We did covers, so I’m looking forward to playing the new Blacklist Songs live at The Whisky July 29th. That’s gonna be killer.
Metal Babe: Thank you for the interview Tony! I am happy to be part of the Team and looking forward to all the great things you have in the works.
Please visit https://linktr.ee/blacklistunion/ for all things Blacklist Union! If you’re in L.A. grab tickets for Cruefest July 29th at The Whisky here: https://cruefestfiend.wixsite.com/cruefesthollywood/tickets
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