Rob Rock fans

by sidestepstudios Fri Sep 11, 2020 10:07 am

I was reminded today that back in 2011 - 2012 I worked on a song called "Obsession" at my studio in Nashville. I was fortunate enough to get Rob Rock to sing the vocals on this song. Michael Wagener mixed and mastered the song (he did Master of Puppets, Skid Row, Dokken, Ozzy, etc) and it turned out better than I ever hoped. It was just a personal thing I had always wanted to do. I figured there might be some Rob Rock fans on the board who have never heard it before and it might be cool for your collection. It's on iTunes and Amazon and you can listen on Reverb Nation too.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/9-years-denied/id546157566

If you are interested in the full story behind it, let me know and I'll post more.

Thanks,
Scott

by TZ75 Fri Sep 11, 2020 8:07 pm

Thanks!

I’m a fan! I would like to know more about it.

by Follower of Jesus Fri Sep 11, 2020 11:01 pm

Wow! That sounds great! I wish there was a whole album of that!

by sidestepstudios Sat Sep 12, 2020 10:13 am

Thanks for the compliments. It's an interesting story. I originally wrote the song in high school in 1987. I remember a guy played me a new album he had gotten called Project Driver with Tony Macalpine, Rudy Sarzo, Tommy Aldridge, and Rob Rock. When I wrote the song, I actually had Rob's vocals in mind.

I moved to Nashville in 1997. I met Michael Wagener in 2008 from a Craigslist ad when he came to buy one of my guitar amps. I had no clue who he was, but we hit it off when I found out he was using the same recording software. I moved into a new house and built a pro-studio shortly after that and ended up living a few minutes away from him. We both had some of the same people working on our studios almost at the same time, and we liked hanging out at the same sushi place for lunch. That is when I found out who he was. He has some great stories! If you still don't know who he is, you can look through his bio here:

http://www.michaelwagener.com/html/discography.html

in 2011 I had the studio completed, and we were talking. I said I would love to make a song that I could be proud of - something that sounded like it would be on a hard rock radio station in the 80's played right along with some of those famous artists he had worked with. I asked if he would help me make it happen. I played him a demo of the song, and he asked me who was going to sing it. I told him that I originally had Rob Rock in mind when I wrote it. He picks up his phone and says, "Well, let's ask him." My jaw hit the floor. I forgot that Micheal had mixed Impelliteri's "Eye of the Hurricane" in 1997, so he knew the band. He calls Rob and asked him to do it, and 5 minutes later I have the singer of my dreams ready to sing my song. No pressure!

I hired Tony Morra to play the drums. The benefits of being in Nashville is access to great studio musicians, and Tony is a Christian brother who is also an awesome drummer. He did a great job. Here is his web site.

http://downtownbatterie.com/

Michael worked with me to get the drum tracks ready. I added the guitars and bass at my studio, and we had a rough mix ready for vocals. Rob flew into Nashville Friday night about 6 p.m. and we had dinner. I put him up in a hotel close to my house. I picked him up about 9 a.m. the next morning. By noon we had completed all vocals and were eating lunch! We drove him back to the airport and he was back at his home in less than 24 hours. Rob is a total pro, a gentleman, and humble. He is exactly the person you hope he would be in person, the nicest guy, no huge ego. When I was driving him around we had a chance to share with each other about our faith and he answered a lot of questions I had about how he navigated the metal scene as a Christian without getting trapped into the "Christian labeling and categorizing" that we all know happens. It was a great conversation.

Micheal was over at my studio helping me track Rob's vocals, and coaching me. He purposely put a lot of pressure on me as I adjusted the faders and pushed the buttons. He was treating this session like it was a major label record being done in the 80's with a big budget - that over-the-top type of pressure. He wanted me to know what that was like. I can tell you that the stress of that experience explains a lot about why bands break up and why people fight in the studio. There is no amount of education that can teach you that kind of thing - you have to experience it yourself.

After Rob left, I finished tracking the rest of the stuff and turned it over to Micheal to mix it and master it. I was there for most of the mixing exercise. Watching Micheal mix is kind of like watching Bob Ross paint a picture, and it is very cool. It turned out EXACTLY like I had in my head in 1987. It was a surreal moment to hear the final thing playing in my truck and on my home stereo mixed in with other bands from back in the day and feeling like it belonged. Bucket list item #245 accomplished!

I know there are a lot of other musicians out there who would have loved to have experienced this, so I feel grateful I was able to do it. I wish I could have produced more songs, but it was just too much to add to my schedule at the time. I will always be thankful to both Michael and Rob for giving me this wonderful present. I have since moved away from Nashville and I am no longer recording music, but I still love to think about this.

Somewhere I have some video footage of the session and some pictures. Maybe I can find them and share them one day.