Dave

"A Piece of the Rock"

An Exclusive Interview with Dave “Rock” Feinstein

By Ken Boyd

Biography Information

"We're a heavy metal band, and we've stuck to that because it's the kind of music we do best and love the most. We've kept our stuff pure and straight-ahead rock 'n' roll. It's music from the street, and that's what the kids go for." - David "Rock" Feinstein, The Rods

"The Rods exploded into prominence last summer with their awesome eponymous Arista album, and songs of such loveable lambasting lunacy as Power Lover, Music Man, and Rock Hard quickly established the group as strong faves within the metal cognoscenti." - Geoff Barton, Sounds

The Rods pride themselves as being the loudest, most ferocious purveyors of virile rock to come along for ages, and with their second album, Wild Dogs, they drive the point home forcefully. The LP was titled as a tribute to the fans who come out in force to unleash their hard rock fervor, and it contains such ram tough tracks as Too Hot To Stop, Violation, The Night Lives To Rock and the self-explanatory title track.

"These guys mean baad bizness. They're gonna make yur nose bleed crimson, burn holes in your eardrums like vitriol, melt your studded wristbands, explode your brain right outta your hide. Get it?" - Philip Bell, Sounds

The Rods are natives of central New York State. An early installment of the band once recorded a limited-edition independent LP that was distributed locally and at gigs. It was called Rock Hard. A more concise categorization of their philosophy wouldn't be possible.

Lead guitarist Feinstein began his professional career in t he mid-'sixties playing with Ronnie Dio (his cousin, now singer in Black Sabbath) & The Prophets. During the psychedelic era the named changed to the Electric Elves. Several singles were recorded, but the band's progress was halted by an automobile accident in which one member was killed and the others injured. After their recoveries, The Elves were born, and Feinstein took over as lead guitar chores. Singing with Epic in 1971, the band shortened its name to Elf. Feinstein recorded one album with the band, writing most of the songs, and toured extensively throughout the U.S. on bills with Deep Purple and Uriah Heep.

In 1972, "Rock" left Elf and the music business, moving to a secluded area outside Cortland in a log cabin of his own construction, without electricity or telephone. When he had "recovered from the 'sixties," he rejoined civilization (he still lives in the cabin), determined to carve out a reputation as "the meanest, loudest, fastest man ever to pick up a guitar."

"The Rods first took off," he says, "when I met Mr. Carl Canedy, who is out-and-out sick, and probably one of the top five drummers int he world." A student of such renowned percussionists as Tony Williams and Carmine Appice, Canedy has been playing and traveling with various regional groups for the better part of the decade, and is a significant part of the melodic and harmonic structuring of The Rods' music, as well as its production.

"We went through two bass players before we found Garry Bordonaro," "Rock" confesses, and when the trio was completed, they were together only a short time before recording The Rods, which contained some songs that had previously appeared on Rock Hard. Tracks like Crank It Up, Power Lover and Get Ready To Rock 'n' Roll earned them instant attention and considerable acclaim (Metal Mania called them "the rawest bunch of American gatecrashers since Jesse James & Co...They produce music to bend iron to, in a fashion unprecedented since the early days of nuthouse Nugent").

The band went on to cause quite a stir on a U.K. tour on which they opened for Iron Maiden and headlined their own date at the Marquee in London. Their LP had received strong reviews over there ("one album absolutely packed full of hell-raising riffs," said Record Mirror), and The Rods were so impressed with the heavy metal atmosphere that they decided to cut their next record in England, co producing with Martin Pearson (Queen, Yes, etc.). Feinstein said, "British heavy metal bands seem to capture a live feel on disc, and that's what we wanted to do."

Their Wild Dogs album (featuring a full-throttle version of Holland-Dozier - Holland's "You Keep Me Hanging' On") lives up to that aim, and The Rods are typically immodest about their future goals: "We're gonna outdo every other band, in every way. And that's a promise." And a number of metal watchers concur; one British review summed it up: "They're going to be big, mark my words."

KEN: Rock, first off let me take a moment to say thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to conduct an interview with The Man On A Silver Mountain—I appreciate it and I know the fans out there are REALLY looking forward to it!

Rock: thanks Ken, I appreciate YOU taking the time to do this and all.

KEN: As with anything, the best place to begin is at the beginning. Would you give us a brief introduction to your years with the band Elf?

Rock: The years with Elf were great years. They were a time of free love,

revolution, flower power, and Psycodelic music. Elf was real. We lived

our music, and our dreams. The combination of musicians, and personalities

was certainly something special. I know at the time we didn't realize how

special we really were. They were some of the best years of my musical

career.

The only elf album that Rock was a part of--later to be replaced by Steve Edwards.

Anyone recognize THIS little guy?

KEN: There is another story that I feel the fans would love to hear about. The day you and Ronnie were shooting the cover for the Elf Debut album, Ronnie is in this elaborate get up of make-up and getting ready for the shoot. What happened on your way to the site?

Rock: Ronnie and I did the photos, Ronnie being the evil looking elf character,

and me being the photographer. In the car on our way to the country, we

got some incredible stares from people in other cars and on the street when

they saw this evil looking little character. It was so cool. Anyways, we

got to the country, and Ronnie spent the afternoon running around the woods

in his birthday suit, while I took his picture. It was a fun time.

File Ronnie Elf

File Elf Photo

File Naked Ronnie

KEN Now, there is a story about when you left Elf. It has something to do with you going off into the woodlands near the Courtland area, where you built a cabin and sort of lived off the land—no electricity, no telephone and so on?

Rock: Yes that's true. I guess it was just my way of recharging after

overload. I guess I just needed a rest and a change in my life. I always

regretted leaving the band, but at the time I thought it was something that

I had to do.

File The Cabin

KEN: After Elf you got the music bug again and formed a band called The Rods. Can you tell us something about that?

ROCK: I got the urge to rock again, and honestly I wanted to give Ronnie a call and say "Hey I'm ready to come back", but I felt that Ronnie was set in what he was doing, and didn't need me at the time. The Rods were formed mainly to have some fun out playing music, and to make a few bucks. Before I knew it I had written some tunes, we had a record deal, and I was on a
plane to the U.K. to tour with Iron Maiden. It happened very fast. We became very popular in Europe. Now 5 of the 7 Rods records have been re issued on CD on High Voltage records, a German label.

KEN: You actually had a number of chart hits with that band, correct?

ROCK: Yes, we did have some major success, especially in Europe.

KEN: Now, there is one release you have under the moniker “Hollywood”—the only change in the credits and line up seem to be some fellow named Rick Caudle. What can you tell us about that release?

ROCK: The Hollywood album was actually recorded after the band had broken up. I had written some songs through the life of the Rods, that weren't really Rods style tunes, but decent tunes non the less. So we got this fellow named Rick Caudle to sing them, and the album was released as a Rods album.

Rock talks about other albums

KEN: Now before we really get into some information about your new CD and release, I MUST ask you the two questions on EVERYBODY’S mind right now, concerning Rock Feinstein.
#1 Rock Feinstein in Dio? Many reports indicated this was more fact than fiction. But at the last minute seemed to not quite gel. What can you tell us about this?

Rock talks about joining the band Dio

ROCK: It's been a dream for me, and still is ,to be playing once again in Ronnie's band. It could have been a reality last year, but at the time, do to some business related commitments, I was not free to leave. You don't know how disappointed I was to not be able to do what I had dreamed of for many years. I am still hoping that sometime in the future that I might be able to play second guitar with Craig Goldy in Dio. It would be the ultimate for me. We'll just have to wait and see.

KEN: #2 The New Elf album? This too seems to be set in more than just rumors. In fact I spoke with Ronnie about it, who seemed to indicate not so much “IF” but a matter of “WHEN”; Likewise I spoke with Joey DeMayo who indicated a discussion HAD in fact taken place between Ronnie and himself, and that he was very much looking forward to being a part of a project like an Elf reunion.
What can you tell us from your side?

ROCK: Ronnie and I spoke about a new Elf album many times. It would be great, and I think it will probably happen when time allows. Everyone seems to have such a busy schedule, it's hard to find enough time to actually put it together. When we do get around to working on it, I 'm sure it will have the Elf identity, as well as the Dio identity. I know it will be great.

Rock talks about the Elf reunion

KEN: Any material been written, or even some roughs laid down? Will it all be completely new material? Will some of the signature Elf sound be preserved—i.e. the keys sound of Mickey Lee Soule, the classical rock n roll drumming of the late Gary Driscoll?
Might there be any bonus tracks from early Elf tunes never published, or live tracks remastered?
Will there be a supporting tour, or at the very least some shows?
Knowing what a vocalist you can be, will we see Ronnie back on the bass for any tracks?
And, by chance will the credits show—just one last time—Ronald Padavona?

ROCK: These questions are great ones, but can't be answered until we actually get into doing it.

Editor Excerpt:

This is from an interview with Dee Snider by Bob Nalandian of Shock Wave. It relates a conversation about Dave and his band The Rods.

Shock Waves DEE SNIDER Interview
by Bob Nalbandian

SW: The NY bands I remember, and who I was really into from that time was, of course, Twisted, and Riot, The Rods, Starz...

Dee: The Rods! They were great...David ROCK Feinstein! They had some great songs, but a horrible look...

SW: The funny thing is...I read about all those, and other American metal bands, in British magazines, like Kerrang! None of the US magazines or radio were hip to this music so we had to get all our info overseas. I remember Twisted Sister's first EP, "Rough Cuts," was originally released only in the UK. And even your first album, "Under The Blade," was huge in England, but only an underground cult record here in the States...Didn't Fast Eddie from Motorhead produce that album?

Take a listen to these REAL Audio streams:

The Rods, POWER LOVER

The Rods, The Night Lives To Rock (LIVE)

The Rods, Ship On A Stormy Sea

KEN: Okay, now let’s talk about the new CD! What moniker will you be going by? The Rods again? Something new?

Rock talks about what the band's name will fly under.

ROCK: This new CD is a solo album. It consists of songs that that I wrote around tracks that I planned to work on if I was able to join up with Ronnie. I didn't want to trash can the Ideas, so I completed the songs, recorded them, and figured it would make a nice solo album.

KEN: Can you tell me a little about the guys in the band?

ROCK: I got local people to play on the album. Jeff Howell on bass, ex bassist for the Outlaws, and Foghat, a guy named Nate Horton on drums, and Lonnie Park on Keys. I also had Garry Bordonaro, ex bassist for the Rods, come and sing vocal back up with me. We had a great time.

KEN: Are there any promotional shots of the band available yet? I would love to put some up for the fns out here to check out.

ROCK: I will send more pix

KEN: If you could pick one or two tracks that you think really “say” something on the new release, what would they be? And what is their message?

ROCK: Almost all of the songs have a message. A good positive message. I don't think I can pick one. You'll just have to judge for yourself.

KEN: Do you intend this to be the beginning of something? Or are you simply enjoy music again and want to share it with other people?

ROCK: I don't intend this to be the beginning of something. It's simply a solo album. If I were to play out, and believe me I would love to, I feel that playing with Ronnie would be the only way I would want to do it

KEN: How would you compare the sound of this new release with that of your work in the past?

ROCK: This recording sounds a little more polished than Rods music, but believe me it's still pretty raw and heavy. The title of the album is " One Night in the Jungle " and I don't think the fans will be disappointed.

KEN: How would you say that breaking into the music industry today differs from back in the early ‘70s?

ROCK: In the early 70s you definitely needed a record deal to do anything. Now days you have the internet, that allows you to be worldwide with no help from anyone. You can be heard by a lot of people. That wasn't possible in the 70s.

KEN: What modern music do you listen to today?

ROCK: I listen to all types of music, but I still favor the heavy side.

KEN: Who were some of your major influences and inspirations to get into the business? Are they still today, do you think?

ROCK: Back when I became interested, it wasn't really an interest in the Business per say, it was the interest in the music. Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Who, Deep Purple, Jeff Beck, this is the music I grew
up with, and the music that has influenced me.

KEN: For the technical guys out there, what kind of gear are you running now?

ROCK: I've always, and still am a Marshall guy. I went to the Marshall factory in England when on tour with the Rods, and got to meet Jim Marshall. Got some cool pictures. I mainly play Gibson guitars, but on occasion used a number of different ones to get a slightly different sound when recording.

KEN: I always like to ask this question of everyone I interview, as it always throws a little fun in. If you could tell us any one story that you have experienced on the road—either funny, frightening, or just plane bazaar—what comes to mind?

ROCK: There were many funny, bazaar things that have happened on the road. One night in Chicago when Elf opened for Uriah Heap, Mick Box ripped his pants while playing their set. I thought it was pretty funny until we got up to play and the same thing happened to me. The worst part about it was that my underwear was pink because I used to was all the colored clothes with the whites. Needless to say, it was embarrassing. I'm hoping that you will see me on stage someday, and that I'm standing next to the king of Rock and Roll . You know who that is.

KEN: Again, it was a pleasure to speak with you. I wish you the best of luck with your restaurant and the new CD. I hope to see you out there on the road some day—I’d love to experience some of that “Elf Stage Magic” you mentioned.

ROCK: Ken, I'm sorry this took so long to get to you. I hope it's satisfactory. I think the free giveaway of CDs, and autographed photos is a great idea. I will keep you updated on the CD, and will get you a copy as soon as I receive them. I plan on seeing Ronnie in New York at their show the end of this month. Take care. Rock

Editor Note:

Another guitar player from the Courtland, New York area--Mike Butler--made a contribution to this new album. Mike plays the guitar solo on Invincible. Mike has also played a role in another bands in the Upstate New York Area.

Invincible, David Rock Feinstein with Mike Butler on Guitar solo

What Mike Butler had to say about working with Rock Feinstein

What Mike experienced the first time he met Rock

Mike on his guitar style

Mike And I Talking Misc.

Here are some pictures of Mike working with Rock on the new album:

This is a REALLY great album. Please make sure to pick it up! You WON'T regret it!!

I want to thank Rock Feinstein for the time and efforts in doing this lengthy interview. Thanks for the give a ways and prizes for The Man On A Silver Mountain! And thanks for the MUSIC!

You Rock!!