Chuck Shute Podcast

Ace Von Johnson (L.A. Guns)

March 23, 2023 Ace Von Johnson Season 4 Episode 323
Chuck Shute Podcast
Ace Von Johnson (L.A. Guns)
Show Notes Transcript

Ace Von Johnson is a musician, voice actor and pit bull advocate.  He has played with the U.S. Bombs, Unwritten Law, Faster Pussycat and L.A. Guns, his current band.  They have a new album out on April 14th called “Black Diamonds” as well as some west coast live dates.  We discuss the new album, RocknPod, dealing with trolls, playing live and more!

0:00:00 - Intro
0:01:00 - RocknPod & Meet & Greets
0:05:45 - Nashville Rock Scene
0:09:34 - New L.A. Guns Album
0:16:15 - Cover Songs & Warped Tour
0:23:00 - Punk Rock to Hard Rock Gigs
0:31:31 - Trolls, Mental Health & Social Media
0:45:45 - Kind Fans, Gratitude & Opinions
0:54:12 - New Projects & L.A. Guns Playing Live
1:02:20 - Money Side of Music Business
1:11:17 - Pitbull Charities & Paying It Forward

Ace Von Johnson website:
http://www.acevonjohnson.com/site/

L.A. Guns website:
http://lagunsmusic.com/

Humane Society website:
https://www.humanesociety.org/

Linda Blair's Worldheart Foundation website:
http://www.lindablairworldheart.org/

Chuck Shute website:
https://chuckshute.com/

Support the show

Thanks for Listening & Shute for the Moon!

Chuck Shute:

All right, well, it's always fun when you can have a previous guest back on the show. And you've already done that you because you've already done their backstory, you know what to expect with how they're going to be in interviews. It's a much more laid back and fun interview, which hopefully makes it more enjoyable for you all as well. So it's great to have as Vaughn Johnson back on the show, you know, he's from his time and several punk bands as well as faster pussycat and now la guns. And he's teased another super group project that he can't announce yet. But what we can announce is that LA guns is back with a new album, titled Black Diamonds comes out April 14, and they'll be doing a string of shows as well. And we're going to discuss the new album, Aces experience at the recent rockin pod event event that we just both just went to dealing with trolls, rescuing pitbulls and so much more. Stay right there

Ace Von Johnson:

you want to start from the top?

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, well, hey, welcome to the show as well. And Johnson How the hell are you? I haven't I haven't seen you in a long time.

Ace Von Johnson:

so long since I've seen you, man. It's not like we've seen each other twice this week or already been catching up off off air. I'm good, man. Nice to see you again. Yeah,

Chuck Shute:

I'm good. Yeah, rockin pod. It was it was interesting. How was it for you? Because I think if I remember correctly, you're not a fan of the meet and greets and all the people and you need booze?

Ace Von Johnson:

No, no, no, that's not true. I don't mind a meet and greet or talking actually had a really good time, both Friday night and Saturday at the actual convention. I'm just, I have some trepidation about just being kind of thrown to the wolves at times. And I have found in my adult years that maybe a cocktail or two helps me sort of get out of my own head and worry less about, you know, you know, what are they called social lubricant. And so, I've found that, for me, that's, unfortunately, not that I'm advocating alcoholism. But I have found that to calm my nerves, whether it's doing a random jam with people I haven't quite met yet, or being thrown into a room full of people to make small talk and take selfies with maybe a cocktail might help. That being said, Saturday, I was completely sober. I was not drinking at all. And I had a really good time. And then Friday, I was definitely drinking all of it. And I had an equally good time. So Yunnan Yang, right. So yeah, well,

Chuck Shute:

let's see, how was it doing the Jam Session? I'll ask about that one first. Because I felt like I went so smooth. My buddy that I was with Rob lane, just straight to video who you met. He was saying he's like, Oh, dude, this thing's gonna go to like one in the morning. Like, he's like, I've been to jam sessions before. It's like, you got to set everything up every in between songs. And that was just like, two songs, boom, next people two songs. And there was no like, not a lot of setting up and such. I think the,

Ace Von Johnson:

you know, Tyson Leslie, who organizes that rare hair event has been doing it for so long, and sort of with some layover, overlap with the guys from the rock'n'roll residency, some of whom were involved and whatnot. I think they've really learned how to facilitate an event like that expediently, and you know, professionally and all that stuff. And, if anything, it might have been one of the few times where jam, you know, was started slated to start at eight o'clock. And, you know, this songs at 842, and the songs at 912, and the songs at 1052. And they were running early. That's something I've seldom seen, mostly, I think, Courtney Cronin told and Don Jameson and whoever else works sort of hosting in between, you know, that while people are setting up or, you know, plugging in or tuning or whatever, in between lineups, they will go, you know, this is so and so from such and such band, they kept it pretty short and sweet. There wasn't a lot of like rapping about nonsense. And the evening ended up I think they were, at least the last song I played was early. So which was the maybe in the second or third, the last third of the evening? So it went well. And, you know, it's very professionally done. And I also think that, you know, all things considered, there was maybe about I think there was 20 songs, and it was basically batches of two at a time, so 10 lineups so it was relatively easy to keep things going at a fluid pace, rather than, you know, I know they've had nights where it was like over 100 players and, and things get muddled and whatnot. So but it was a

Chuck Shute:

typical with the jam sessions. You don't there's no rehearsal, right? You're just you've never played with those people before.

Ace Von Johnson:

Most of the time. I mean, each person in their own scenarios pretty unique usually, but, you know, I mean, it's called the jam for a reason and Uh I had only been on stage with Jeremy as Brock of the to sort of groups of people I played with all and I've been on stage with Tyson as well. But for the most part, it was people I hadn't jammed with or even really just met sort of like while walking on stage. And with the exception of Jeremy obviously and tuck Smith, who's saying surrender we did towards the end of the night, which was a blast. Yeah, he's

Chuck Shute:

really talented. I want to have him on my show. You should

Ace Von Johnson:

yeah, talks a great guy, really great singer, songwriter. You know, what's a good word local authorea or whatever, you know, I don't know.

Chuck Shute:

Is he Nashville based?

Ace Von Johnson:

Yeah, he's an Atlanta guy originally, but he migrated out here not too long ago.

Chuck Shute:

Do you see a lot of musicians at the Nashville? I know you don't go out a lot. But do you ever go out I think is Moonies. Is that the only rock bar in Nashville? That's what I'm told.

Ace Von Johnson:

No, I'm not even familiar with Moonies to be honest. Um, I mean, when you say rock bar, it's kind of hard to pin a pin that down. There's there's a cool rock bar in like the touristy part of town, downtown called Bowie's. But always, maybe that's what I'm thinking of. Yeah, maybe I don't make it down there very often just because of where it is. But it is a really cool venue. That's very rock friendly. They do a lot of I think there's probably bands playing in there like seven nights a week. And then there's a cool like, you know, dare I say like rainbow esque sort of dive bar in East Nash called the Cobra. That's got a venue in the side building and then the front's just a total dive bar, you know, punk rock and heavy metal and you know, they'd like metal Monday nights, guys, DJ and play like, you know, flotsam and jetsam and stuff like that.

Chuck Shute:

Well, that's really cool. Yeah, go to Denver. I've been in Nashville. This is my third time. I never went to printer's alley until you've ever been there. That's kind of a cool little, like side part of Nashville.

Ace Von Johnson:

Yeah, I mean, you know, Nashville is like any other major city where like you walk five blocks downtown. And it's a completely different thing. I think everybody just thinks of like, tootsies, and the whole like, little touristy area, Broadway and everything. And there's so much more to the city than that. But uh, yeah, there's a lot. There's no shortage of stuff to do. And, you know, if you're a fan of music, we got it. I mean, it's obviously it's Music City, but I think it's no secret now. But even for the last 20 years, it's been way more than just country, you know, bluegrass and western music. It's definitely, you know, if you're in a punk rock, or you're in a heavy metal, or you're in a club music or whatever else, there's definitely something for you here as well. Which, yeah,

Chuck Shute:

it's good for musicians to be there, too, right. Because of the networking stuff. There's so many other like, You got Rachel Bolin? John corabi, Paul Taylor, who was there yourself? So many others that I mean, you guys network a lot and get together and write things? And

Ace Von Johnson:

yeah, I mean, I've gotten together with a few people to write Tony Higby and a couple other people. Like, I think I said, not any of the gentlemen you mentioned, but yeah, they're all here. And, you know, I didn't really move here to do music based stuff. I moved here more just because my social circle sort of migrated here. And every time I the story, I tell is, every time I came to Nashville, I'd be like, dude, Chuck, what are you doing here? And you'd be like, well, I moved here three years ago. And so it just kept escalating. And the more I realized, I was enjoying living in Los Angeles, which is where I'm, you know, from originally, less and less, and my money went, What's the opposite of further and further, less than less, I guess, you know, for you know, for what I had an was paying for my apartment in LA, you know, I've got a two story, two bed house, you know, on some some property here. And, you know, Ian Karadeniz, down the street from you, John's son, buddy of mine is tog refer is at the end of the street. Tony Hig B's about a mile and a half up the road. My buddy Josh Portman from yellow card. He's really close friend. He's about a five minute drive, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So it just made sense to kind of come out here. But yeah, it's a great music community for all genres. And definitely, I feel like this is the hub of writers getting together. I mean, I would love to work with with Paul Taylor and a couple of those guys, but um, you know, one thing at a time, I guess.

Chuck Shute:

Sure. Well, we got to talk about the new album. It's called Black Diamonds. Now, I know that Tracy obviously wrote a majority of the songs but you you got one song,

Ace Von Johnson:

right? Yeah, I've got writing credit that throughout the record, etc. But the one song that I brought in solely that was mine,

Chuck Shute:

and I guess what it is you sure Okay, is it got it wrong? No. Is it lowlife? No. Is it like a drug Again, yes. Okay, well, I eventually got there. Yeah, I felt like the kind of the more punk songs were in the second half of the record. And so those were the first one I think was like God, it was like, Well, this one's really punk. I wonder if this is a song

Ace Von Johnson:

of No, you know, I, if anything, I tried to not bring in any sort of punk rock songs for the record, I feel like that's sort of Johnny Martin's modus operandi is is these quick, you know, two and a half minute bangers, you know, with some power chords, like a drug was riff I've been sitting on in a different key for quite a while. And kind of Thin Lizzy esque, you know, Thin Lizzy does Sunset Strip kind of thing. And when I'm turning in songs for the record, or records, or to the band, I'm usually trying to sort of mold something for what I think would fit la guns as a, as an entity. You know, it's a legacy act. And so it's not my role to just be like, Yeah, I wrote this random song. That sounds nothing like us. Although we've done plenty of that. I say we collectively. You know, I know some people get upset when they consider me a part of the band. Week, but um, yeah, when we do stuff collectively, I mean, like, look at what was the ballot off of checkered past the first single that came out? I can hear that was so good. Do you know I'm talking about

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, it was like the one that was you guys put out during the pandemic? I think, yeah, thank you. I can't of course, I can't remember what it's called. I can't remember either. But I remember hearing it and being blown away and thinking this song belongs in a like a movie. It sounded like it should have been on a movie soundtrack. Of course, I

Ace Von Johnson:

remember what it's called. I can tell you how to play it. I'm gonna have to look that up because he's looking up because it'll bother me. But when we got that song, you know, that was super out of left field. And the response was really polarizing. Mostly for the positive. And I thought it was great. That was obviously Tracy composition. That he built around a riff when he was just messing with a like a delay pedal.

Chuck Shute:

Is it let you down? Is that what you down? Yeah, thank you. So one, yeah, that's a great album. That whole album is that especially that song when I heard that I was like, well, because it did sound like a little bit of a departure but it was like a more mature sounding like, yeah, like you guys got better. I thought,

Ace Von Johnson:

thank you. I mean, I you know, again, a Tracy composition had minimally anything to do with it, but it's really something mature, progressing. You know? It to me. I like a well rounded album. I like I like eclectic. Like, you know, like the clashes London calling where every song sounds completely different. And, you know, I personally, I like to turn and stuff like that, where it's like, okay, this song might sound like cocked and loaded era, this song might sound like a metal song. This song is a 12 string acoustic ballad and mix it up. Personally, I don't want to hear the same song 11 times in a row. No than I did when it's it's a band. It's la guns, it's going to be Phil and Tracy, etc. So it's going to have that sort of Thruway cohesiveness, but again, I like to change it up. And I thought that was a perfect example. But I wouldn't, that wouldn't be something that I would bring initially to the table, I would be thinking more, you know, again, like the first two first three records. And so I sent trace a demo version of what became like a drug. I was like, hey, what do you think of this? And he was like, Dude, fuck, yeah. And I was like, Okay, I guess, I guess that's going on the album. And I think I sent something else in. And I think by that point, the album was already like, you know, book ended. So, and I know that happened with checkered past where I think I sent in three songs. I'll tell you off the air, for what checkered past the stuff I turned in, I had written for another artist. Who we all know is is a different genre, but they were rock songs. And, and she didn't use them. And I was like, Okay, well if I tweak these a little bit, they could be elegant songs. One of the three ended up being on checkered past. So you know, talking about Nashville and songwriting and stuff, I mean, all I pretty much do, unless you see me out there pounding the pavement with La guns. Is is right and record it this this little station I'm out here my little in my office, my nerdy nerdy man cave, but um, yeah, so I'm getting off topic there. But there's

Chuck Shute:

no Yeah, no, that's really No, I agree with what you're saying about the album. Being a collective because it is there's like songs that are more. There's definitely some Led Zeppelin vibes throughout the album, which I think is really cool. But there's a ballad there's the punky songs and then there's the song crying was also kind of fun was like kind of a catchy, almost Poppy song really? And I just see I like the difference. I don't know. You're right. I don't want to hear the same song 10 times, especially at this juncture in your guys's career, like, you know that you kind of did that on the first album. It's like, you don't want to just recreate that first out, but there's obviously the lowlife. I think it does sound like the first album if people liked the first album. That's a cool one. I think one of them sounded kind of Hollywood Vampires. He she shattered glass with a second out now. That's a great vibe.

Ace Von Johnson:

That was a that was a fun one. Yeah, it's it's, it's it's an elegance album. It's it's a collective, you can definitely hear some Zeplin influence. I don't think anyone has any surprise that that's a big thing for trace. And, you know, I mean, that's the cool thing is we all have a very eclectic palette. And so when we're sort of throwing stuff into the pot to make an album, it shows. And even Tracy, I don't want to give it away, but Tracy was talking about. Now, I can't even say what band it was. But he was like, oh, man, I really love this one band that you'd never imagined. He's like, I want to do a cover of this one song. And I was like, I'm totally into that. But it's the last band you would imagine la guns covering so and of course, that doesn't even mean it will happen that could have just been in that moment that we were he was all excited about it. But that would

Chuck Shute:

be cool. Especially I like when bands cover songs that are not their genre, but then they make it there's Metallica was famous for this. They cover all the punk songs but they made them sound more heavy like metal. Yeah, that's Yeah, well, I

Ace Von Johnson:

mean, depending on you know, that's a that's a rabbit hole I can dive into depending on the on the band. Some of those bands when you're talking about like discharge or like the misfits Earth ad era, stuff like that was basically proto Thrash. Anyhow, so it's a lot of or even the wait from the first Killing Joke record. Wait, is that the way? Yeah, anyways, I can't remember. You know, a lot of this stuff is very, at the time wasn't what you would call metal or thrash because that's genre almost didn't exist in 1882 or 83. Or 85. But when Metallica does you know? What's the song class caress?

Chuck Shute:

So what

Ace Von Johnson:

I'm trying to think of the other misfit songs not last caress, not die, my darling. But something off of Earth at when they do it. It just sounds like and of course, like it was a green hell.

Chuck Shute:

Oh, yeah. There's so many great covers like, they do the Bob Seger one they do. The old Irish song that Thin Lizzy covered like,

Ace Von Johnson:

yeah, yeah, I mean, they, they they definitely make it their own. I just was trying to not give them too much credit for making stuff. Sound metal when it sounded metal before they kind of got to it, I guess.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah. You've ever heard of me first and the gimme, gimme. He's like they just do. Of course.

Ace Von Johnson:

I've toured. I've toured with them. Yeah. Oh, you did? Yeah. ages ago. Warped Tour.

Chuck Shute:

Oh, when we were an unwritten law, or Yes. Oh, no, no, I

Ace Von Johnson:

was playing with this old skateboarder guy who's not going to get into all that. But we were on tour for 10 days or whatever. Must have seen. I probably see me first and the Gimme Gimmes. Probably like 30 times. Way back when I'm not to rant I But yeah, that's cool. I've never seen a wire with their approach to the cover songs.

Chuck Shute:

I did not know you played on Warped Tour. That's kind of interesting.

Ace Von Johnson:

I did. Four years on Warped Tour I did a year. There's a punk band that's pretty well known in that genre called the Bouncing Souls. And the singer Greg and his wife Shanti actually lived with them in the valley in Los Angeles for about two years. I was 21 or something like that. And then I became her guitar player. This woman just Shanti not Ashanti but Shanti. And we put out a record and did work tour for a month, Joan Jett was on that year Bouncing Souls. Against me a ton of bands, of course, I don't remember because it's been 1718 years. I did another year, maybe a week or so when I was playing with this guy. Dwayne Peters, a skateboard guy mentioned. I did a bunch of dates. With another band I used to be in and then I did one year where I did about three weeks, basically, and I was 22. I did it as crew. Oh, and then I was out. Again, as a crew guy at 19 for maybe like a weekend four or five shows with my buddy's band agent 51. From San Diego. So different stretches of five days, 10 days to three weeks at a time but I've had a few stints on Warped Tour in my in my much younger years. Yeah, where does

Chuck Shute:

what is that? That's gotta be crazy being on the Warped Tour or is the warp tour crazy is it compared to like Motley Crue the dirt like those kinds of concerts and stuff? Is it more toned down?

Ace Von Johnson:

It's crazy just in the fact that if you like In bathing, it's not the place for you know, I mean, most of the bands on Warped Tour, were traveling in vans or, you know, sort of piecemeal vehicles. And you they'd pull into these like parking lots It was like they would build the stages and everything at like the venue's would be, it would be like a, like an arena or something like that, but you weren't playing in the arena, you were playing in the fucking parking lot. The whole point was, it was outside. And so you need to have people getting heat exhaustion and collapsing from the weather. And you know, you'd go 17 days without seeing a shower. And your best bet was like a porta John and some hand sanitizer, and it was definitely rough. You know, separated the, the, you know, the real dogs from the the weaker folk. And I wouldn't do it at this point in my life this point. Yeah, it's just too arduous. But for for, you know, 2345 days, it's a pretty good time. The really cool thing about it was, you know, you keep in mind at the time I was doing when I was doing this, I was like eight, when I went out with Agent 51, I was still in high school. So I was probably 18. So I was doing this from the window that I was personally like, 18 to like, 24. So I was young. And it was great for networking. And just like, you know, getting to hang out with your friends. And it's very much a summer camp kind of thing.

Chuck Shute:

Right? That's what I'm thinking like, it'd be the equivalent for most people like going to college. Like that's kind of what it was

Ace Von Johnson:

like punk rock music College, a lot of barbecues. A lot of after parties actually was just talking about that to a friend of mine. Maybe the day before yesterday, someone had mentioned the band, Alkaline Trio. Oh, yeah. And I said, I've got this great photo of Matt Skiba, the singer of Alkaline Trio. And then this guy, the Pete, who plays guitar for the Bouncing Souls and myself that I think Pete took, you can tell us his back before cellphones had cameras built into him. And he's holding my camera and we're all you know, like that. And I was like, oh, yeah, I think that was one of the last times I saw him was, you know, 1617 years ago. But um, yeah, just it's a great melting pot. You know, they'd get they always mix it up. Like one year Eminem was on it before he broke and Andrew W. K. I did I remember being on one of the stretches where Andrew W. K was on it before He kind of broke and just seeing him jumping energy drinks all over himself on stage and I was like, God, that's gotta be miserable to clean up after you're outside in the heat and you're covered and sticky. Soda. Yeah, water. But uh, yeah, so, um, you know, and I think anyone that kind of knows my background or whatever, I definitely come from a punk rock background. Clearly, I'm wearing a fucking sub t shirt. But um, yeah, I

Chuck Shute:

wonder if you would have kept going down the punk rock route. Like I mean, when you joined faster pussycat, you kind of took this alternate route, and then la guns, obviously. But what if you had just stayed punk rock and like, turn faster? pussycat down. I mean, would you you probably would have found some other punk band. Right? I probably would have ended

Ace Von Johnson:

up just playing in more punk rock bands. But I mean, that's not really true, I guess. Because at that point, so when I first went to teamies, and my initial sort of, you know, beginning of what became me working with pussycat, I was 26. And I had made sort of a, you know, mental. Note that at about 2023 24, I was like, I don't want to play in these punk bands anymore, I want to play I was listening to more rock I was listening more thinlit you know, that I you say less, I was listening to less stiff little fingers and more Thin Lizzy, and less discharge and more Danzig and less GBH and more guns and roses or whatever. And I just was sort of trying to advance as a guitar player and I wanted to do what I was playing, which was play more. Not intricate, but more involved, you know, guitar stuff, I was listening way more Alice Cooper, and kiss and stuff like that. So rock, you know, stuff and I felt like I had already even at like, 25 I had played in a couple bands that I had, like, kind of grown up listening to like Murphy's law or US bombs or whatever else. And you know, I was seeing a lot of these guys that I like looked up to as a kid and they're like, oh, yeah, I'm 56 and I still live with my grandma and just stuff like that. You know, and I just was like, man, you know, if I'm gonna do this for real and and try to make a living or you know, or continue to try to make a living. I needed to sort of up the raise the, you know, up the ante or raise the bar is what I'm trying Wanna say? And I ended up playing in a project called Charlie and the Valentine killers. That was kind of a melting pot of guys in LA that were known. Like, at one point Brian Forsyth from kicks was in the band.

Chuck Shute:

And Carrie Kelly, I think, yeah, we

Ace Von Johnson:

talked about them. Yeah, yeah. KK was in the band for a minute and, and he recorded us and Jerry Matano, from Danzig, and blah, blah, blah, which is how I met Chad Stewart from faster pussycat. So I was playing with him when I was about 2025. And at the same time, I was doing a project in LA, that was all cover songs. And they were for female singers. Okay. And, you know, that turned into two other projects, one of which I went with and became another band that we will talk about and, and so it was meeting like rock guys in LA, but between the Charlie and Valentine killers gig, and the covers gig, which was kind of like, basically a steel, Panther. metal shop, middle school kind of thing. Yeah, you know, we had a bunch of residencies in LA, and like the Viper Room and the dragonfly and the Roxy, every Wednesday or something like that, for like, eight months, I had a residency at the Roxy, which is a really great sort of learning curve. And again, I was like, 2425, I was a puppy. You know, and that's how I've, you know, that the rainbow every fucking night and all that. But that's how I met all these rock guys. And so I'm sure had I not joined faster pussycat, something else probably would have popped up, presumably in that circle, or genre or whatever you want to call it? Just because I started sort of meeting a lot of the sort of like 80s Rock, guys. And

Chuck Shute:

did you have any that you turned down? Like, was there any that danza reached out that you were like, no, no, but

Ace Von Johnson:

you know, funny, not directly. But funny enough at one point. At one point, I can't help how old was I was before pussycat. So let's say I was 2526. at the latest. I had this woman that I've known for forever. That was like managing me. And junkyard was looking for a guitar player for a European run. And it, it didn't work out just logistically, but for a minute, I was talking with those guys. And then coincidentally, in two days, I'm actually flying to the Bay Area, to host to DJ and host a, like a VIP event with junkyard. At the bottom of the hill. They're doing their whole first album tour, touring that with their original guitar player, Chris gates, and a promoter of the guy putting the show on as a buddy of mine. And he was like, you know, even last year, he's like, Dude, I want to have you come DJ, and Baba, because I used to DJ in Hollywood all over the place. For for years, that was what I did, in between tours, had a nice little residency kind of gig at a place called loaded. That's no longer there. I must have done for two years in between tours. And you know, the burgundy room and I would DJ events set this bowling alley in Hollywood. That's a rock venue as well. I can't remember what it's called, of course, but there was an event with Gene Simmons and Johnny Depp and I was the like, featured DJ, you know, so I mean, for, you know,

Chuck Shute:

like the mixing did you actually like mix the stuff or just push play? And like, no,

Ace Von Johnson:

no, I mean, I would use a console. And then it was basically like, whatever the setup was, I used to drag my vinyl around. But it became pretty arduous. So I started using a program that I wish I still had in my computer. I think it was just called DJ. And, and it was basically like anything that was like taking, you know, analog and making it digital, so I would just import all my, all my stuff digitally. If it was something I didn't have, like, you know, like, Sam Hain or whatever, you couldn't get on iTunes. And then I would just do it on on on the computer. But uh, yeah, so I'm getting way off track here. But I made the rounds and I just I networked and I stayed busy. And I don't I'm sure there were plenty of people that might have hit me up. I just don't remember. I won't say what band it was. But there was a band that's known for having a sort of super technical guitar player from the same genre or at least era that the drummer at the time was a friend of mine, and he was like, Hey, we're, we're auditioning guitar players. Do you want to come audition? And I was like, Dude, I can't play. I can't play that stuff. Like all that Tapi I was like, I'm like, Johnny thunders. You know Mike Ness slash at the best stat school you know, I'm none of this sweep arpeggio stuff. There's a place for it, but it's definitely not in my wheelhouse. So yeah, a couple about

Chuck Shute:

because Alice Cooper recently need us star was left and there was like, then the old guitar player came back. But there was a brief and now I think she's back again. But if there was a brief time where he was didn't have a guitar player, like, did you do try to reach out for something like that? Or send a demo or something? Or how do you you don't even

Ace Von Johnson:

know. I mean, that's the kind of thing

Chuck Shute:

you're not happy with La guns. I don't want that to be the headliner. No, that's just like, I'm sure even Tracy and Phil would be like, You got Alice Cooper, like, they'd be happy for, you

Ace Von Johnson:

know, I would love to play with Alice. But all my all my dream gigs from being, you know, a young man are all pretty much. They either don't exist anymore, or they're, they're so far into their sunset, where it's like, it wouldn't really like I was thinking about the cult the other day. And I was like, Man, I want you know, it's like, at one point, I wanted that like rhythm gig. And then they hired a buddy of mine, Damon, Fox. I don't think he's playing with them anymore. But it was, there was a gear shift where they were like, well, we don't want a guitar player. We want a keyboard player who can play a little bit of guitar and I was like, okay, that's not even me, anyhow. Yeah, I just, you know, ultimately, you know, at least in the last maybe year, 235 years. I you know, I love my band. I love LA. I love LA guns. I love the band that I play in. For those who have a problem with me calling in my band. I love the band that I play guitar in.

Chuck Shute:

Why do people have a problem? Like, is that something that the some trolls say? Or something like people are so mean to Yes, a troll a troll? More than one though more than just a troll?

Ace Von Johnson:

Yeah, people are miserable. And, and I'll leave it at that, because it's not worth harping on or paying attention to. But you

Chuck Shute:

got into it with him sometimes. And like I saw one interaction with you go back and forth on Twitter. And I mean, it was hilarious. But the same time I was like, dude, maybe he's just like, block this guy and be done with it.

Ace Von Johnson:

That's no fun. Most of the time. Most of the time, I don't pay any attention, or I'm too busy, or I just don't care. But if you catch me in the right mood, or I'm not, you know, I mean, I work from home. Like, what do you want? Like, I'm like, Yeah, I work today in my pajamas, right? Where I'm sitting with my dogs. What about you? You know, and so if someone if I open Twitter, and someone's like, Hey, man, fuck you, then I'm gonna go. My first thing is always this. I'm gonna go. And I'm going to look at their page and I'm going to look as this as some isolated incident, did I you know, did I not look him in the eye? At the, you know, VIP event? Did I you know, did I what? Did I do something here or are you just a miserable? Cunt? And more often than not, it's the latter. And these, there's a certain mindset with people, I get to watch what I say. There's a certain mindset with certain people where that's just what they do is like, they're gonna open blabber mouth and be like, you know, what, whatever the topic du jour is they have some they have an opinion on it. They want you to know. And then when you fire it when I say you, I mean me. When you the artist fires back, you're giving them what they want. They want someone Yeah, they want someone to argue with. They want someone to be miserable, because that's what they are. And most of the time I don't give a fuck. You know, there's a guy that insists that I work at Carl's Jr. Still. I say still because every time someone shares a blabber mouth article. There's this guy that's like, oh, a bit ace is still working at Carl's Jr. First of all, I've never worked at Carl's Jr. I don't know if he's if he's referencing my, my first job as a teenager jack in the box, but maybe but regardless, I mean, that's really, you know, hardly relevant by today's standards, so and

Chuck Shute:

so what even if you did who cares? Like it? Maybe? I'm sure a lot of musicians have to do other stuff to pay the bills like, oh, no, I'm

Ace Von Johnson:

not. I mean, fuck, there's nothing. I mean, I got friends that drive Lyft and Uber and you know, work at, you know, music stores, and, you know, there's no shame in any of that. I mean, fuck so what if I did work at Carl's Jr. Right now gives a fuck what's what I pay a lot right now not about it's not about what it is. That the guys trying to demean me. Right. Exactly what looks like no reason. And and I don't know, I don't really want to keep going on about it because it's stupid. But I've had a specific person that was like, You can't call it your band. And I was like, Okay, so when I'm referring to La guns, how should I word it? How would you like me to word it? You want me to say the band that I play guitar in the album that's coming out I'm on with my songwriting. I'm you know, because all you know when I say oh, yeah, so me and my band. We're on tour. Oh, it's not You're banned. Okay? And some people probably know who I'm talking about. Some people don't. And he's not worth mentioning. But or just again, stuff like, that drives me nuts because it's like, really, this is how you're choosing to spend your time is focusing on it on my vernacular. Yeah. Samantha, really, you're a grown man, or woman or whatever. And you're choosing to focus on on my wording of the band that I play guitar in. Okay, good for you. Yeah,

Chuck Shute:

I was gonna ask you, but I know this isn't really your issues. This is more Tracy thing. But like I did, I did see the stuff about that where he was having some anxiety issues. And again, you don't need to go into the personal stuff. I think it was important to I invited Tracy to come on the show, because I wanted to educate people about what he was going through. Because I think if I'm not mistaken, he's diagnosed with panic disorder, which that is a real thing. And a lot of people have struggled with that. And some people take Xanax. And so the fact that he still wanted to play and he's like, Look, I can't be on stage, but I'm still gonna play. And that maybe he wasn't, I'm assuming that he wasn't popping Xanax if he was having to play in the bathroom. I mean, I don't think that's anything to be necessarily ashamed of. I don't think it's something to be proud of. But the fact that people wanted to demean him for that, I mean, that was just,

Ace Von Johnson:

it could be I mean, that obviously, I could see how on paper would look like something to poke fun at, yeah, when you're playing at 645 in the afternoon, outside, right, as the sun is cresting in front of you, and it is 106 degrees out, and you're maybe you know, on some sort of medication, or you have a health, whatever, that's preventing you from standing there for 50 plus minutes, getting cooked in the sun, you can either cancel, or you can find an ulterior scenario, and that's what worked for him. And at the time, we were like, oh, man, you know, but we played, and he played, and it was what it was. And of course, there are people out there that will make, you know, make fun of anyone for anything. And unfortunately, it says more about those people than it does about, say in this instance, trace. But, you know, that's not what's getting clicks or ad revenue for people now is it? So, you know, some people are just miserable, and they would much rather drag you down with them then contribute anything worth a shit to society, or let's say the music scene, or what have you, and it is what it is. And I think as social media has become more prominent, it just becomes more and more, you know, apt to be subjected to stuff like that. I mean, well, I

Chuck Shute:

think some people ask for a little bit, they get out there and they they do something boisterous or they talk shit and then people put it you know, then they talk shit back and it's like they kind of like started a feud. I mean, I won't mention there's a bunch of stuff I'm sure you check blabber mouth right now, there's a little feuds going on, but I mean, tracings.

Ace Von Johnson:

I don't look at it. I don't look at any of that. And, and, and wink wink. I think there's people that think that I'm sitting there looking at it. I don't remember the last time I opened blabber mouth, probably when someone sent me an article about our our album coming out and I just looked to see what the content was. What she's

Chuck Shute:

interested in, you think if these people are true music fans, I mean, they should know the history with all the mental health and substance abuse stuff that I mean, you look at the list, Chester Bennington, Chris Cornell. I mean, what if some, it was something that somebody said to them, that led them then down a dark path? Like I just think they should be more careful with that kind of stuff. I think if you're asking for it, but

Ace Von Johnson:

I think most of those people are so malicious are so incredibly malicious that it you said something to someone and they killed themselves. I think they'd be like, well, good. They do. Because that's how horrible a lot of these people are. You got to keep in mind that you're also asking somebody who's I'm a complete misanthrope. I am not a fan of people. I know this is being recorded. So you're gonna watch what I say.

Chuck Shute:

On my last episode,

Ace Von Johnson:

I don't like people. I don't like people I don't like,

Chuck Shute:

I don't believe you. But I understand where you're just, I just have a relationship.

Ace Von Johnson:

I feel like I've had so many negative experiences for you know, unprompted, that it's just made. It's like you were talking about like doing the rockin pod like, oh, you know, it's like, you don't know what people are gonna say to you or come up to you or expect from you or, you know, you know, I'm gonna give you a like a PG scenario. I had a guy at a meet and greet a couple years ago, it was pre pandemic. I was inside at the venue ordering, like a meal and my tour man, like for lunch. And my tour manager came in and said, hey, it's time to do the meet and greet. Everybody's here. So okay, cool. And so I came in, and a guy and a guy was stood out as being really like kind of loud, and, you know, one of 15 or 20 people. And during the meet and greet he was asking about what I was wearing. And I replied, I said, Oh, I'm in my pajamas. As in I was wearing like a hoodie and some shorts. You know, and like a hat like I wasn't, you know, I think he was important. Like, he was like, Oh, you're gonna play like, you're gonna play in this? And said, Oh, no, no, I'm just in my pajamas. It is 330 in the afternoon after all. And then he asked me for a guitar pick. And I said, Oh, I'm sorry, I don't have one on me. I'm in my, I'm, in my day, close my pajamas. And I said, but I'll get you on. And I went over to my guitar tech, and I said, Hey, can you give this guy the topic? And not? Three days later, he sent some scathing email to management saying how rude it was that I didn't have a guitar pick ready for him? And how dare I show up on presentable and in all, our rock

Chuck Shute:

band, what is this like you work in a bank or some shit? Like just all this

Ace Von Johnson:

stuff? And of course, bowel management just dismissed it, but it was so infuriating that I was like, man, like, you know, you asked me for a pic. I got you one like, Yeah, I'm not really sure what I did. or didn't do. But just stuff like that. Is this constant? Or like, God forbid, there's any article about, you know, the band, or any band or me or you or anything? There has to be a guy in a basement somewhere or 100 of them, or whatever, that has some snarky, negative shitty thing to say. And look, man, you know, for every you know, there's got to be the Yin with the Yang, and I don't give a fuck. I mean, I've had I've had people call me thin skinned for years. They don't give a fuck, just because I respond, doesn't mean I give a fuck. It just means you caught me at the moment where I felt like engaging. I know the guy you were referring to? And I told you what happened to him, right? Yeah, I

Chuck Shute:

think so. I feel I feel bad. I don't want I'm not even gonna we're not

Ace Von Johnson:

even gonna. We're not even gonna get into it. But a guy was randomly trolling me on Twitter. Maybe what, two months ago?

Chuck Shute:

I was trying to find you. I couldn't find it. But I just remember one of the things he said, which I still to this day, it doesn't even make sense. He said, Oh, it's something you dress like a third grader and I was like, what third grader dresses like a rockstar and has tattoos and like, I was like, that doesn't make any sense. Third graders dress like very plain when you're a little you're very at your aura lab. I didn't I just didn't understand he was talking about it was very odd.

Ace Von Johnson:

I don't have the time to dwell on any of this kind of stuff. More than weirdest part though. It was at the very end as it's passing me by. Yeah,

Chuck Shute:

cuz at the very end, you're right, because he said about the how they have fun with this. Because at the end of it, he goes, Wow, thanks, guys. That was the most fun I've had in months or something. And I was like, This guy is sick in

Ace Von Johnson:

the head. And then he goes thanks to you my engagement and my numbers are up and I'm looking and I'm I didn't see that. I got like two two new followers by trolling the the band that I play guitar in. Okay. That's why they do it to get followers. I think it's just I ultimately think like that. What's the old expression about press? any press is good press. I think a lot of these people are just so I'm trying to be diplomatic here. I think some of these people are just so sad in their own lives that like any attention is good attention. And I think there's certain like gosh, I think there's certain people out there that their whole persona is just fucking with people. And you know, I'm really trying to not name names. I think you know, when that Garner's you attention, whether it's Kip winger, or me or whoever is responding, going, Hey, man, fuck you. Then they're going they're going like, oh, yeah, I'm getting, I'm getting that fix. And that's what life is. That to me. It might Sorry to cut you off. It might spoil my mood for like 30 minutes, but by tomorrow, I don't give a fuck. I don't remember your screen name or what you look like, these guys are seething, you know, like,

Unknown:

How dare striper put out a new song without the original tambourine player,

Ace Von Johnson:

you know, and it's like, man, that's your that's what your fucking life is. You know, so, um, it is what it is, man. And I understand that we're I'm sure there's people out there that like that. Shucks, you guys podcasts us? Yeah, I'm not saying all of it, or even anything to do with me. A lot of it is just sheer jealousy and vitriol for the fact that you're, you know, Joe Schmo in fucking Duluth and that's, that's it and so all you can do is not that I don't have my you know, not that I have a problem with to lose. Is is that's all you can do is kick up hornet's nest over and over again and hope someone will give you Yeah.

Chuck Shute:

So like, I try to be like a positive troll. I try to like write stuff and just be really nice and like write comments. I don't do it as much as I should. But I try to write mostly or all positive comments like, Wouldn't it be nice to make someone else's day? Like, I always want to reach out to other podcasters? Have I listened to interview with a guest I'm having and I'm like, Dude, that was a really good interviewer, like, you're gonna make especially a podcaster, we don't get a lot of like praise or anything. So if you reach out to another podcaster, and say, Hey, that was a good interview, like you just made that guy's day. Like, why wouldn't that feel good to somebody?

Ace Von Johnson:

I wish more people had that approach with just anything. And you know what? We're giving too much attention to the like, one in 10. People that are just fucking really less than that offs. There are so many great like, like, I hate it sounds almost derogatory. But there are so many super fans. You know, like a perfect example, I have a Patreon that keeps me busy seven days a week and kind of gives me incentive to do and create and yadda yadda. Yeah, so many of these people, like I engage with them just so supportive and kind and like, Hey, I saw you were networking for this cat in Duluth, and I want to pledge to this rescue and stuff like that. You know, don't get me wrong. Ricky, you're ready to capture Ricky and I talked about this all the time to stop fueling those people that are like, you know, yeah, you know, and just, yeah, those people are out there. And there's nothing you can do about it really, other than point and laugh in private. But I'm there

Chuck Shute:

because it's, yeah, it's more than just music where it's a problem. Like, it's politics, it's, it's, it's all of our societies have reached media, social

Ace Von Johnson:

media, its social media has enabled everybody to treat everything, like a fucking Yelp review. And, you know, I have an expression, and I live by it, and it the expression is, it is what it is. And so you can say whatever you want about me, or you or, you know, my dog, or what the fuck ever this politician to this actress, or whatever, and it is what it is, you know, your that's your opinion, and you're entitled to that. And that's usually where it stops. But I think most people, myself included, need to focus more on the positives. And, for example, you know, I'm very fortunate in the sense that, you know, I make a living, being an artist, I hate that term, but like, I play music for a living, you know, people pay me to do cool stuff, like the junkyard DJ set, or have a Patreon, or replay on someone's album, or whatever. And, and unfortunate enough that I don't have to work at Carl's Jr. You know, and again, not there's nothing wrong with that, you know, fuck. And that's awesome. Some of us should be so lucky. You know, I mean, and, and, and I take everything with a giant grain of salt, and try to always, you know, this sounds so douchebag cliche, but I try to stay at least in my own little mind as humble as possible. Because I, you know, I mean, I've been fucking homeless before I've lived in my car, and, like, literally been there, you know, and, and so I know, what it's like to go from that to, you know, like, you know, shopping for a new car. So, I'd like to think that that spectrum for me, personally, has allowed me to, to have, you know, a good anchor in what, you know, what life is like, as gratitude. It's how you gravitated? Right. Yeah, it's I'm grateful every day, you know, grateful. I'm grateful that that guy goes online and talk shit about me, because he's the one talking about me, I don't even know his name, right now. So, I mean, that's one way to look at it. And, you know, at the end of the day, I'm really grateful for the 990 8% of those people that bought the album, or just left a nice comment, or like, man, that's cool. Or were those people and I need to focus as I'm doing it real time less on the to the, you know, 2.4% of the people that are like, you know, but you and I like that, you the, you know, and, and whatever else, but we're all I mean, you get to do this podcast, you know, we I woke up today, my feet work. I have three dogs that I love. You know, I have some great friends most of whom are here in Nashville. I ate today, you know, it's like, those are the things you know,

Chuck Shute:

now that's really good. You had a saying I walk away

Ace Von Johnson:

being grateful for I don't give a fuck about internet trolls. It just it came up and I was like, Oh, I have a comment.

Chuck Shute:

No, I know you. That's why like, it comes with the territory. Oh, and I think that's why I do the podcast is to make people aware because yeah, I mean, we do a podcast we can discuss it more. It's not like a social media. I'm commenting on somebody's stuff. For years, we're actually discussing it. This is how people should talk to each other. I mean, preferably more in person than zoom, but it's pretty close. But social media when you try to have conversations that just usually goes haywire, but might use your saying was a, what is it? It is what it is, you might say, Gandhi, quote, be the change you want to see in the world. So I try to like, leave more nice comments on people's things. Because enough bad ones out there.

Ace Von Johnson:

It's there's definitely enough. And if I don't like something, I just don't say anything. Because why do they need to hear it? Yeah. Well, I mean, you know, what was it that our moms used to say, you know, if you've got nothing nice to say, you know, don't say anything, if you can't say something nice, or whatever the fuck I was, you know, and that, you know, that's what my mom used to say. And then on the flip side, my dad, one of the greatest pieces of advice my father ever gave me was literally two words, it was fuck them. And I say it all the time. So when some guys go, and I don't you know that, right? Whether it's about me, or you or Steve down the street or whatever, I'm always like, Well, alright, okay. You said, he said, what he said, Fuck them, and on with my life. And, you know, like, even our conversation Friday night, you know, we're talking about some stuff. And I said, what I said, and at the end of the day, fuck them, you know? And, you know, you want to Yeah, that was a fun one. Yeah, well, you guys is awesome. You want to see though, I mean, like, if you love to me, it's like, if I love a band, relevant actor, I love a comedian or painter or whatever. And I see their stuff, you know, literally a painter and I'll be like, Man, that's amazing. You know? And if I see a painting of that artists, and I go, Well, that's, that sucks. I'm not gonna write well, that's the best. It's like, what? Why are you even artists objective, you know, and it's like, you might not like it, but somebody out there probably does.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, we're like in sports, when they say like, you know, you suck or whatever. It's like, when they lose the game. It's like, okay, clearly they lost, like, I'm sure they're upset about, uh, why do you need to comment? I don't know, it gets silly. Again,

Ace Von Johnson:

everybody. Everybody thinks that their life is a Yelp review. And, you know, of course, everyone's got an A in it. You know, it's like, Oh, this guy lost that match or game or whatever, fumbled a touchdown, or, I don't know, I don't do sports dropped the golf ball. You know, it's, of course, you're gonna like, what a real you know, what a jerk. You know, but like, you don't need to go online and be like, I'm gonna, I got to ask the team. Just, it's like, nobody cares. Like, everybody's got an opinion, man, you know, and unless you're like, the coach, or the guy that's hiring the team players or whatever it's like, alright, so you're mad that the guy lost the game or whatever. Like, and, like, Are you also a professional athlete? This is a good example. Are you a professional? or you're not? Okay. So your opinion is valid in this industry? Why? Oh, cuz that one. Okay, great. Well, so everybody else has an opinion. And just another piece of advice. My father said, he goes, you know, opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one. And they're usually full of shit. So it's like, okay, and, you know, you're entitled to say, I suck, or this sports team blows, or whatever. But like, what, what are you contributing? Are you actually contributing anything? All right, you know, and, and I wish more people were just a little less, you know, hostile in their approach to things because, you know, I might watch a game be like, Oh, wow, I can't believe that guy lost the match. I'm not going to be like, hang on. I gotta go on Twitter. Right, let someone know, I'm mad that Steve Jones fumbled the football. It's very important. You know? Don't you have anything better to do with your day? Go put on a record or like, have a piece of pizza man?

Chuck Shute:

Yeah. Have you ever seen those videos of people like throwing their TVs out the window? Like if they're when their team lost the Superbowl?

Ace Von Johnson:

I mean, those are staged because nobody can do that. As if you had like a massive amount of money riding on a sports thing. But otherwise, it's like, Get over yourself, man. Yeah. Anyhow, that's an anyway TED Talk. will need to be people need to be kinder. I think that's really the takeaway from my rant, if anyone's even Absolutely. And for the people are going to kill you to be kind. Yeah.

Chuck Shute:

Well, the people are fans. You guys have a new album. And then you have a few tour dates, a couple of California shows and here in Arizona, which I'm going to try to go to. It's in Mesa. I never heard of this Mesa Music Festival. So that should be exciting. Yeah,

Ace Von Johnson:

I think it's a new thing. Probably outdoors. I'm assuming it is indoors. I know. It's like it's indoors within I believe so.

Chuck Shute:

I'll try that'd be perfect weather for outdoors. And April April's amazing here.

Ace Von Johnson:

Well, I mean, either way, I mean, you know, the band the vehicle stops and I get out and shuck and jive and indoor.

Chuck Shute:

How do you stay fresh without getting sick of of being? I mean, you've been playing these songs for how many years? Like is it just working with other artists and other projects like because I think you're doing something with the electric Frankenstein guys and An Australian guy and like some other stuff like that too, right? Um,

Ace Von Johnson:

yeah, actually, I'm doing a like a punk rock supergroup with some friends, I think, Wow. But the TB TBA as far as who's in it? Really?

Chuck Shute:

I mean, tree. Yeah,

Ace Von Johnson:

I just wait, go ahead.

Chuck Shute:

I was just I'm intrigued about the punk rock. You can't say anything about it, though.

Ace Von Johnson:

I don't want to say anything about it until there's at least something tangible to say, Okay, I literally got a text about a week ago that was like, hey, guess, guess what? And I was like, huh, I was like, you're in a band with so and so. And so and so and so and so. And I was like, oh, okay, like, we're waiting to hear if so and so we'll play drums. And it was like, cool. I like these people. I like these bands. And of course, these are people I've known for a lifetime. So it's not like, you know, I'm taking it like a joke. But

Chuck Shute:

would it just be like a one album, kind of like a studio band or whatever?

Ace Von Johnson:

I'll tell you what I know more about it probably, you know, with the way things are now, technology wise, we'll probably do an album and maybe some shows, but who knows. You know, you're not again to talking about touring. You don't have to pay me to get on stage. I love playing I play every day, if I could, but it's not that that part that you have to pay me for it to travel. It's the travel and the being away from home, and the you know, sleeping on a, you know, you know, bag of bricks or whatever, that's the that's the anyone who's toward knows, you know, that's the arduous part. But, you know, as far as keeping it fresh. I mean, the cool thing about LA guns is there's no shortage of music. I don't know how many albums, the band in all inceptions has released, you know, at least 15 Or so I don't know. You know, and it is it is a really cool legacy to be a part of, and this is my, I guess, technically my third full length, if you count the live album, and yeah, to keep stuff fresh, changing the setlist? You know, it really just depends on the venue and the audience. For me. I mean, if I play a show every day, and the audience is super pumped and excited, and that's enough for me. There's probably two or three songs in the set, like any band, where I'm like, Oh, God, I gotta play this one again. But even some of the stuff it's, you know, playing with Tracy and Phil, is always an interesting thing. Because, you know, there, there's so much like energy on stage. And, you know, just interacting with trays or, you know, throwing a shoulder into fill or whatever. I mean, it's hard not to have a good time playing with these guys. And I'd like to think that translates on stage, if you come to a show, and yeah,

Chuck Shute:

no, I've seen you guys. And then you feed off of that, right? Because then the crowds like into it. Even if it's song maybe not your favorite. If everyone's like pumped for it. Like that's got to give you a little bit of a high. Of course,

Ace Von Johnson:

of course, you know, and, and that's the difference. Like, if we walk into rehearsal, we're playing electric gypsy at rehearsal, and I'm like, okay, but then you're doing it on stage with an audience. And for real, then it's like, you know, Oh, yeah. Okay, there it is, you know, so, it, it, you know, it changes every day. And I mean, there's been shows where it could have been the best show of my life and something goes wrong. And it's, it's, you know, it's very, in, in flux at all times. And that's live rock and roll. Sure, like, that's why there's mistakes or stuff gets unplugged, or someone jumps on stage and grabs a mic, or, you know, does a fight in the audience or whatever. I mean, it's always exciting. And I don't mean that specifically, but I mean,

Chuck Shute:

keeps it interesting.

Ace Von Johnson:

keeps it interesting. You don't know what you're gonna get, you know, so

Chuck Shute:

Well, you guys do play new songs. And I'm assuming like one or two or like,

Ace Von Johnson:

we're talking about doing at least adding a few into the mix, whether that'll be mean, we'll play all of them each night. I can't imagine. But, you know, again, who knows? Usually, I guess Tracy usually picks a set, but we usually have some input. I've lobbied for a few songs to get added back. Early, newer ones or older ones now mostly older ones. Really? Yeah, we took a we took a band vote on what we would play off the new album, actually, several people, myself not included, lobbied to do like a drug, which I thought was cool. That's super cool. We'll see if it happens. But that and when for example, when Waking the Dead, got issued on vinyl, maybe two years ago for the first time. I was the one that was like, Yo, we should play songs off this because now people are getting it again. And so we re added maybe HellRaisers ball and fuck I don't know what it's called. I can I can tell you how the guitar riff goes there's a song on there early into might open the album what? What song opens Waking the Dead? It's got a very Papa Roach. Last Resort kind of riff.

Chuck Shute:

Is that? Is that like the last one that they did before they broke up for a while?

Ace Von Johnson:

Yeah, maybe but it's a real in my opinion. It's a really strong album from LA guns as an entity.

Chuck Shute:

Is this city of No Don't Don't look at me that way. Look at that way a

Ace Von Johnson:

great song. If you're in LA guns fan, you should check that song.

Chuck Shute:

Thank you. I want to say Yeah, cuz i i remember the last time I saw you guys, I think I think you played that one or you played one of the songs from that record. And I was like, Oh, that's cool. I really remember that record might have played

Ace Von Johnson:

we might have played that. We might have played that because it's been in and out of the setlist. So yeah, I mean, I'm always trying to, you know, think you know, of course, as the band, you're like, We got to play a bunch of the new stuff. And then as the fan you're like, I hope they don't play a bunch of the new.

Chuck Shute:

So big of a fancy I like checkered past. I like this new album. I like hearing the new stuff. Now if it's a band that I'm more of a casual fan of, then yeah, I just want to hear the songs that I know but when you're gonna figure the average

Ace Von Johnson:

fan is a casual fan and I don't mean us I mean every band in general like if I know humans, I want the first couple albums

Chuck Shute:

it depends because if you're if it's like this mate, what does it make some music festival you guys are like probably the only band they probably want to they're probably a fan of you guys so you want to hear more of the deep cuts but now if it's a thing where it's like you're playing with Skid Row and you know winger and like a bunch of other ones then yeah, maybe like most of the audience isn't there just for you. So they just want to hit her the hips,

Ace Von Johnson:

you got to clobber him with the hits. Yeah, I mean, you want to keep the set, a bit mixed, but also, you know, lien on the singles and the popular songs like it would be weird if the band didn't play Never enough electric gypsy ballad Jane Shara compare some of the sort of obligate Tori stuff but yeah, I don't know. I forgot what the the My point was, as I was talking about

Chuck Shute:

that the other setlist and playing the average fan maybe doesn't want to hear a bunch of the new songs, but I think sprinkling them in is cool. Yeah,

Ace Von Johnson:

it's a Friday. I agree. I agree.

Chuck Shute:

I agree. The fans don't like it. They can. That's when they can go get a drink.

Ace Von Johnson:

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Chuck Shute:

So you guys get a part of the bar tab. Ever. Is that still a thing or no? Now the bars are trying to take part of the merch table I heard. I guess that's the thing. It's been gone a while. That's crazy.

Ace Von Johnson:

That's been going on as long as I've been touring is a cut out, you know? I don't understand that. But because to me, it's like well, the venue's not making any money. If the band doesn't perform there, the birth in theory the band could perform elsewhere. So you're getting a cut of our merch, why? And yet you're selling alcohol and food and pretzels and whatever, we don't get a cut of that. That's fair. But why do you you get to put a hand in our kitty makes no sense to me.

Chuck Shute:

Because then that would just encourage you to not sell merch, because it's to tell people to get it online. Oh,

Ace Von Johnson:

what it encourages, or I should say forces our hand and I say our meaning just touring musicians, is it makes us raise our raise the rate? So it's like, okay, if a T shirts $20 But you guys want 10% while at this venue, it's$25. Okay, so it's just, it's just all these bullshit industry things that have become standardized that really shouldn't be, you know, and I could go on a whole other 90 minute talk about why the music industry is designed to fuck everybody but the art way to only fuck the artist.

Unknown:

And not in a fun way. But

Ace Von Johnson:

no, not in not in a fun way. You know? So, yeah, I mean, from publishing to album sales, to merchandising, to touring. You know, we're traveling t shirt salesman. And that's really what it's kind of turned into, which is why you see more VIPs and meet and greets and package tears, and outsourcing things like Patreon and all these other things, because it's not 1991 anymore, and there's no you know, half a million dollar record advance anymore, and things like that. And when you go out and go on tour, you know, that's what I tell people all the time. And like, if you have a favorite band, you should support that band, you know, by their shirts, by their CDs, by their whatever, whatever it is the calendar, the sticker, the button. Some of them are doing. I think Ricky's got Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I mean, and stuff like that. physical media is a lot of the ways that a lot of these only ways some of these artists are able to sustain because the industry has changed so much in the last 1520 years. And it seems like for the better for the consumer, but much for the worse for the people actually creating the art. So, you know, that's a whole other talk unto itself. But uh, yeah, if you like a band go by their album and a shirt and your hoodie and the hat, because they'll appreciate it.

Chuck Shute:

Definitely one I think yeah, I mean, I think fans are getting more creative with the meet and greets and the the other merchant stuff, like I think some of the merchant can be really cool. Like, especially that to get people to buy the album. They do some sort of VIP like vinyl comes with a T shirt, kind of, you know, cool, but I think Dee Snider had like some cool like CD that came with like a wooden box. Like, it's pretty cool way to present his album.

Ace Von Johnson:

You gotta you gotta keep the fans invested. And, and I'm gonna show you this real quick. This is what I keep looking over and laughing at can you see the tongue? Yeah, yeah. I'm distracted by my old man here is passed out.

Chuck Shute:

And that's normal.

Ace Von Johnson:

Sometimes, but yeah, I mean, I'm a fan, I'm still a fan. Everything in my life is I mean, I'm surrounded, you know, 1200 pieces of physical media behind me. Yeah. And, you know, if, if Prime example prime example subhumans old British punk rock band, super important political, political punk band from the UK, from the early 80s, they put out a box set on vinyl, with everything from the inception of the band to the orig to the first breakup, and like 88, or something like that, right. And it was like limited, and it came up. And I was like, you know, bought it immediately. And it sold out within like a matter of hours. And so, doing stuff like that, and thinking outside of the proverbial box, for creating stuff, I hate to sound so blase about it, but for the consumer, for the fan, is a way to keep your business going. And whether it's not only just putting out a new album, but like a deluxe version, a signed version, a meet and greet version, you know, the album and a button and the shirt version, you know, and so you have to keep doing stuff like that, you know, to keep your audience engaged. And I'm not unfortunately, but it's no longer like it maybe was 20 years ago, or 40 years ago, at least 20 years ago, when I got into the music industry sort of professionally, where you put out an album and you tour and you'd make some money, and you'd go back and you'd work on another album, and you make some money and you'd go out, it's, it's a little more business savvy, you have to be a little more business savvy now, because otherwise, if you're just putting out your album, yeah, I put my album on Spotify. Like, you know, you and 100 million other artists of all genres. So you got to you got to be a little more. There's a lot of bit more entrepreneurial ship required nowadays. And I'd like to think as again, as I self congratulate, I'd like to think that at times, that's something I've gotten pretty good at. I mentioned that Patreon and yeah, done over the years where there was like, roadie for a day, or different merchandise aspects where

Chuck Shute:

you have some cool shirts like isn't it? Didn't you have the shirt just said, like, Who the fuck is as Vaughn Johnson or something like that?

Ace Von Johnson:

Yeah, I did that. That was just a nod to the Mick Jagger thing. I just thought it was funny. That was sort of me taking the piss. And, you know, if there's one thing I'm good at, it's self deprecating. But, you know, because who the fuck am i right? And so I just thought it was funny. And I put it on, I have a thing that's merchandise thing with Teespring, where it's just you can pick like, if you want it as a coffee cup, or a flag or a sticker. And I upload the artwork. And if you as the fan or whatever, want that, then you you can purchase it and it comes from a third party. And then I put it up there just you know, like anything and just was like, Yeah, someone buys it, they buy it. They don't they don't, you know, it is what it is. And, and I started seeing them shows repeatedly. I was like, Okay, I guess that's a good one. So cool. Yeah, but you have to do stuff like that to stay not irrelevant, but to keep your fans invested and keep the lights on that's, you know, it's like, you can't just play the guitar and show up and do the gig, there's a lot more involved. And

Chuck Shute:

well, you can but or somebody's got to be doing the business thing. And you know, jazz have a manager?

Ace Von Johnson:

Yeah, we do. Yeah, we're, we're with Tim hiney. And who manages Tom Kiefer, as well. Oh, nice. And unfortunately, off the top of my head, I'm drawing a blank on the management organization. But yeah, you know, and that's, that's strictly pertains to La guns as an entity, whereas, you know, I'm sort of my own business, etc. But um, yeah, you know, and I think my coffee starting to wear off now

Chuck Shute:

I hear Yeah, well, yeah. Well, hey, we'll wrap up. I know you gotta get ready for the tour, and stuff. The new album's coming out. Is it now I think that change the date from April 14 to August. Is that right or no? No, it's April 14, still?

Ace Von Johnson:

Ah, that's news to me.

Chuck Shute:

Why did I think that maybe I just misread So only the only thing

Ace Von Johnson:

I can think of that you might be thinking of is that the vinyl won't be available. And that's what it was. Yeah. So because all the vinyl plants are backed up for ages,

Chuck Shute:

which is a good sign, so that's yeah,

Ace Von Johnson:

I mean, let what was I forgot what they said something last year, like 2022 was the first year that vinyl outsold CDs. Sure, since like, 1985 or something like that. And I believe it. I don't remember the last time I bought a fucking CD. I really don't mean Oh, no, that's not true. I bought a CD from a band I really liked called unto others.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, I heard you talking about them. The newer ban hmm, yeah.

Ace Von Johnson:

Newer band out of the Pacific Northwest. Sort of somewhere between Metallica Killing Joke. Tyco Type, Type O Negative, do me catchy golf metal rock. I don't know what they are. But they're awesome. And big fan of their so they reissued their first album, and I was like, Well, I've got on vinyl. might as well buy it on CD, so I can play it in the car. And so we did you know, supporting my favorite artists, right. And yeah, but I'm not a big CD guy or let a lot of vinyl though.

Chuck Shute:

Cool. Very cool. Well, there's that. And then of course, we always promote your Pitbull charities. I think there was several that we mentioned last time, I can put those same links in the show notes. If people have some extra money.

Ace Von Johnson:

Yeah, one of the one of them was like, Linda Blair. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Chuck. I was talking over, you

Chuck Shute:

know, I was talking over you know, it's okay.

Ace Von Johnson:

What are you saying?

Chuck Shute:

Well, I remember I was going to re listen to our old episode. I think you mentioned one of the chairs like Linda Blair's charity, and there's a couple other ones. So yeah,

Ace Von Johnson:

Linda Blair World Heart Foundation. God bless her. She's a wonderful human being and does a lot of advocacy and rescue stuff. She's in the California area. And she has some property. And so she does. She does a lot of you know, hands on work and, and she's just a saint. But uh, yeah, there's so many rescues out there, I mostly usually find myself telling people gonna look whatever city you're in, find, you know, if you're, if you're a cat person, you know, or you're, you know, into opossums or whatever, you know, excuse me, flirt furry critter floats your boat, find a rescue in your area, and see, you know, reach out actually reached out to an organization here in the Tennessee area, just south of Nashville about doing some transport, which I'll be doing probably in May. And, you know, just, they say go here and pick up this animal and drive it to this. Other, you know, usually a, like, not a compound, but like, facility somewhere else. And such and such, which I've done before is really rewarding. And, you know, I just tell people to, you know, find something in your area, and it can be as you know, sending $5 a month, you know, if you get 100 people that do that every month to the local organization, that's 500 bucks a month, you know, so it all adds up, you know, and, and I did a thing in the end of the year called choose a charity. And I raffled up not raffle, auctioned, whatever the word is, and I had a guitar that I signed, and I drew a name out of a raffle, I guess. And I had, I tallied it up, and it was basically I think the bottom rung was $25, or $50. I can't remember. But if you donate X amount or more, you're entered into this raffle to win this guitar. And I tallied up all the donations of I don't know how many people was maybe like 80 or 90 people just shy of 100. And it was over $22,000. So that went out across all platforms. And it wasn't just animals. It was and it can be any charity organization of your choosing choose the charity, right? Yeah. And so there were a lot of like St. Jude's and cancer research and children's hospitals and all kinds of wonderful organizations, and then a lot of rescues as well. There was one guy who donated I can't remember like, 1000s of dollars. And I'm assuming it was probably just like his end of the year tax write off, but I was like, Hey, man, you had to be dated from the date that I announced it on. You couldn't be like, Oh, I donated in March. It didn't count. So I think I think that was around Thanksgiving. And I ended it on my birthday, which is December 27. So I guess basically gave everyone a month. So if you donate in this window for this much or more, you're entered. And so yeah, we raised over $20,000. And this woman, Joanna, I can't remember her last name doesn't matter donated repeatedly, and kept, you know, I opened my email and it was like three new emails. She's like, because she asked she said if I donate $100 here, does that count? And I said sure. And so Um, you know, so she just kept basic was like buying raffle tickets. And she no surprise, I think she entered 20 times or something absurd in a good way and won this guitar. And then I had another guy who was a runner up as well. And so I'll probably do that again this year. And again, I don't want to sit here and be self congratulating. But yeah,

Chuck Shute:

that's great because I follow you on Twitter. I'm

Ace Von Johnson:

busy with stuff. Yeah, stuff like

Chuck Shute:

retweeting the pitbulls and stuff. Like, I mean, you practice what you preach, I guess is what I should say. So it's cool to see.

Ace Von Johnson:

Well, you know, I, you know, I'm trying to not be self deprecating at the moment, but, you know, for all the things I hear about myself, it is what it is, right. So I try to pay it forward as much as I possibly can. Sometimes to my own detriment. You know, I don't, so I was at the perfect example. So Saturday was at the convention, and I sold some merch. And I donated, I don't know 60% of what was sold to Nashville humane, it wasn't a lot, but was over 100. It's like 100 and change. And, you know, I didn't have to do that. I wasn't obligated to do that. But that was just what I thought. Yeah, if you're going to buy something from me, at least it's going to something rather than, you know, my bar tab or whatever, right.

Chuck Shute:

But you're sure you got that for free?

Ace Von Johnson:

Cheese. I don't know what how many drinks I had on Friday. 678 Maybe, but probably only paid for three of them. But that's not what we're here to discuss. But yeah, just for someone, for someone who thinks poorly of himself, I am constantly trying to at least influence other people to do nice things. So oh, I might see if I can help some animals along the way. At least I've got that going. Yeah,

Chuck Shute:

you helped animal you helped me. You came on my show early. When I started the show you you followed me on Twitter and retweeted the episode. I was like, I was kind of blown away, because a lot of people don't do that, you know. So you took the time to share that helped out a lot. I appreciate it. Of course.

Ace Von Johnson:

Well, I appreciate your friendship. And I appreciate you always sticking up for me and getting to talk with us always a treat. So

Chuck Shute:

once again, the new la guns album Black Diamonds drops on April 14, or may already be out depending on when you're listening to this. So I've heard the whole thing and it's a great eclectic mix of rock and I think there is something on there for everyone. So make sure to support the band and Ace by following them on social media. Check out Asus Patreon, if you haven't already. And as I mentioned, his Twitter is a great follow. He practices what he preaches, and he shares a lot of the posts about rescuing pitbulls. So if you want to support the show, you can follow us on social media LIKE SHARE, COMMENT, all that good stuff. And if you want to go above and beyond giving us a rating or review wherever you listen or watch, we really help us and of course, make sure you subscribe to the show if you haven't already done that. Thank you so much for watching. Have a great rest of your day and shoot for the moon.