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adam-ant.net:
Please tell us where and when you were born. Is there anything
memorable about your childhood?
Bruce:
Born in the Bronx in 1962 went to PS 91 until I was 10 and then
moved to South Miami and lived there through 1984. I really didn't
play much before I was 10, but, I used to listen to the Jackson
5, The Archie's and Simon and Garfunkel. One thing I do remember
is that I cannot recall the names of any of my teachers through
Jr. High except my music teacher.
adam-ant.net:How old
were you when you started playing a musical instrument?
Bruce:
I think I was about 11 years old. I wanted to play the drums.
adam-ant.net:Who
were your musical influences?
Bruce: I'd have to say the guys that where in the
band my mom managed when I was a kid had the most influence on
me. Of course, The Beatles have to be one of the most influential
bands of all time for any songwriter. In the late 70's I think
that if it weren't for Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson and The Police
I might have quit music.
As I grew older I realized that I was more influenced by British
bands,even though Elvis Costello is Irish, He has to be my favorite.
adam-ant.net:When did
you learn to play the bass guitar? Do you know how to play any?
Other musical instruments.
Bruce: When I was 12 my Mother started to manage
a rock band in Miami. These guys always had trouble keeping the
booze and drugs away from their bass players.
They must have had 5 different guys over a period of 2 years so
I guess I thought they would need my help one day so I started
to learn the bass. I mostly play guitar to write songs and piano
to have fun. My secret dream is to play drums for ACDC.
adam-ant.net:You were
in a band called Flux before is this correct? If so, tell us about
the band and what happened to them?
Bruce: Flux was a band I put together in 1994. It
was basically a pop band, but, I think we were hiding good songs
under some loud Nirvana type of production chasing a major record
deal. When Adam did The Wonderful Tour I was opening the shows
with Flux on the West Coast and the East Coast to showcase for
the majors lables. Then I would change my clothes and go out to
do Adam's show. It was hard work but I had a great time. In the
beginning, I don't think Adam was too happy about it but it seemed
to workout o.k.
adam-ant.net:Where
and when did you meet Adam Ant?
Bruce: My sister in law has been friends with Adam
for a long time. She used to bring him to my house for the holidays.
He would come out and see my band every once in a while.
In 1993 he asked me if my band would back him up at the KROQ Christmas
show in Los Angles. I think he decided to do another record due
to the overwhelming response at that show.
adam-ant.net:The album,
Wonderful was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, an infinitely Famous
and unique location. How did you fell about recording there? Was
it a special place for you knowing that bands like the Beatles
also recorded there?
Bruce: It was so cool to walk the halls of Abbey
Road you could just feel the vibe. We recorded The Wonderful record
in studio 2,that's where most of the magic was recorded. It was
an amazing experience I can't believe I was paid for that.
adam-ant.net:Did you
feel that you contributed a lot to the Wonderful album or did
Adam more or less tell you 'Right, this is how it's done, etc.?'
They say Adam is a perfectionist, did you think that while recording
with him?
Bruce: Adam definitely knows what he wants and is
always prepared. When we started the recording, most of the stuff
was on demos by Marco, Adam and Boz, but, the songs were left
for us to give our input. At first I was a little shy about speaking
up, but, when it comes to music it's hard for me not to speak
my mind. In the studio there is no wrong or right there's just
opinions and sorting through them is probably the most exciting
and sensitive part of making a record.
adam-ant.net:What is
your favorite song from Wonderful? What was your least favorite?
Bruce: The single Wonderful happens to be a great
song and probably my favorite. That was the only song that I had
played with Adam on the Persuasion Tour that we recorded. The
other song that really stands out to me as being my favorite AND
least favorite is Angel. It is such an amazing pop song, but,
I think the producer tried to make it more than it was. I don't
think we beat the demo.
adam-ant.net: What
was it like working with Marco Pirroni, Adam Ant and Boz Boorer?
Bruce: Adam has to go down in history as one of
the best live performers of our time. He works so hard on his
presence and has such personality , he's right up there with guys
like David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Frank Sinatra. Just to keep
up with Adam onstage is a workout.
Marco is one of my favorite people that I've ever worked with.
He is so innovative with his guitar playing that only the cool
people get it. He was so much fun on the road and he has a great
sense of humor. Boz was the first guy to take me to the pub when
I got to London for rehearsals. He showed me around and made me
feel at home. He's a great songwriter and guitar player and has
a hell of a record collection.
adam-ant.net:You also
toured with Adam and the band, how long did this last? Did you
enjoy touring?
Bruce: The first tour I did with Adam was The Persuasion
Tour it was about 6 weeks long. He financed this tour by himself.
It was a lot of fun. We played across the United States and had
some great shows. The Wonderful Tour lasted about 3 months we
started in Europe and then went to Seattle and finished in New
York. There were a lot of big shows and I got to do the Tonight
Show which was so cool.
adam-ant.net:Due
to Marco and Adam's illness, the Wonderful tour was cancelled
earlier, much to a great disappointment for fans. Did you and
other band members at this time expect the Tour to reconvene or
was it obviously that it was called off for good?
Bruce: Actually there were only 2 weeks left on
the tour. What I have learned the most about touring is you had
better have a good booking agent and tour manager. The routing
on The Wonderful tour was a bit loony. We were zig zagging all
over the place. We spent too much time on the bus and by the time
we got to Atlanta we were all getting a bit run down. Adam and
Marco got the flu and were laid up in New York for two weeks before
they went home. I don't know what went down with the record company
but the single was # 30 with a bullet and still gets played alot.
Why they stopped pushing the record, I don't know but that's the
music business. (MUSIC BUSINESS) two words that should not go
together.
adam-ant.net:What have
you been up to these past 5 years since 1995 and the Wonderful
Tour?
Bruce: After the Wonderful tour I started doing
the record company dance with the band Flux, unfortunately nothing
came of it. I started a record company called Pop Squad Records,
and have been running my recording studio in L.A. I've done a
bunch of local records and have also done demos for Iggy Pop,
The Foo Fighters, Ben Taylor and a few others.
adam-ant.net:Do
you ever see Adam, Marco or any other former band members (Boz
Boorer, etc.?)
Bruce: I saw Adam about a year ago with his beautiful
daughter he looked great and seemed very happy. We talk every
so often. Marco and I e-mail each other. He hasn't been back to
the states since the tour ended. I saw Boz over the Summer while
he was on tour with Morrissey We took our kids to Disneyland is
was a laugh.
adam-ant.net:If Adam
asked you to perform with him again, would you consider it?
Bruce:
If I weren't doing stuff with SUPREMIUM... absolutely.
adam-ant.net:What
other musical projects have you been involved in?
Bruce: Besides recording my own records, I did a
compilation record of songs from 1978 that I released on Pop Squad
Records. We have local bands, each doing their favorite song from
the year 1978. It was a lot of fun and is available on the Pop
Squad web site. In addition, I played bass and guitar on a Vanesa
Parsdis record. For those, not familiar with her she's a very
talented French singer. She also had Pete Thomas (From Elvis Costrello)
playing drums that was a thrill for me. Vanessa is very popular
in France and has several records out. She also did a record with
Lenny Kravitz a few years ago.
adam-ant.net: Tell
us about your new record label Popsquad? How did you come up with
the name?
Bruce: PopSquad started out just being an avenue
for me to release my own records. After a few months I decide
to do the compilation record "1978" and now I'm recording an LA
based Band called Teen Machine. They're like The Partridge family
meets T. Rex they 're really cool. About the name, I just wanted
the word pop in the name and PopSquad seemed good I guess.
adam-ant.net:Tell us
about your new band, SUPREMIUM.
Bruce:
I formed Supremium with the drummer from Flux who happened to become
a great friend of mine. After Flux we took about a month off and
started up again. Since then we've done two albums. About a year
ago Coz Canler from (The Romantics) joined us he plays guitar and
we have a great keyboard player named Doug Nahory. We had our record
release party at The Viper Room and have been playing around LA
promoting the new record entitled "Lucky". We hope to get on the
road this summer. You can hear sound clips on our Web site www.popsqaud.com
that 's easier than me telling you what we sound like.
Listen
to Supremium Sound
clips! 
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