The solo album: It’s a plight many a legendary band member has taken. For Kix singer Steve Whiteman, not only is it a new chapter in his 40 year career, but an unexpected one at that. Such spontaneity has characterized Whiteman’s career. Through it all, he keeps a positive attitude and an infectious enthusiasm no matter what life throws his way, whether it be platinum albums and Top 40 hits, or a tidal shift in music and a career altering pandemic. We had the chance to sit down with Whiteman to discuss his solo venture, You’re Welcome, as well as life in the rock n’ roll circus that is Kix.
Greetings Steve and welcome to Defenders of the Faith! How are you doing this afternoon?
Steve Whiteman: I’m doing great! I’m poolside with a cool drink and I’m talking to you.
Alright! It’s a beautiful day here in Chicago too, so it’s nice that we’re both enjoying the weather.
SW: Yeah, we’re sitting at about 100 today.
I think we’re at about 80, maybe 85.
SW: I love it.
First and foremost, I’d like to congratulate you on this upcoming new hard rocking album, You’re Welcome.
SW: Well thank you.
I read that this album came to be as a result of the COVID pandemic. Were there ever times in the past when you considered or came close to making a solo album?
SW: Well without ever being called a solo album, when Kix disbanded in ‘95, I started a band called Funny Money. I wrote the first two albums all by myself and most of the third album. I didn’t collaborate with the other guys until the fourth. So I had done solo records. I just never called them “Steve Whiteman”. I always wanted it to be a band project. This is my first actual solo record under my name.
Was there ever consideration of putting this out under the Funny Money moniker, or did you know from the get-go these were solo songs?
SW: Honestly, I had no intentions of creating a solo album until Jimmy Chalfant and Brad Divens were just playing around in Brad’s studio, doing cover material and putting it out on Facebook. Jimmy said to Brad one day, “You know Steve is sitting on a pile of songs. It doesn’t look like Kix is doing anything anytime soon.” Brad was looking to get more experience in his studio. I put all of my songs in a bag and took them over to Brad. He listened to all 12 tracks and said, “Let’s do ‘em all!” I looked at him and said, “We’re making a solo record, aren’t we?” “I think so!”
While there are some songs on here that would fit on a Kix album, most would not. Was there a conscious effort in writing these songs that they wouldn’t come off as Kix under a different name?
SW: No, that’s just the way I write. I don’t write for one project, one genre. I just write. If I like it, I write it. I realize that I have different influences than the other guys in Kix. We all share the love for AC/DC and Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones. Those were probably the biggest influences for Kix, but growing up for me, I was a Beatles fan. I liked The Monkees, Three Dog Night, Grand Funk Railroad, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple. Those bands were more influential to me, so when I write songs, those influences come out of it.
It’s funny you mention that because while listening to this album, I heard a lot of 60s and 70s influences. It’s retro sounding, but still fresh, if that makes any sense.
SW: Yeah, again, nothing was intentional. I’ll get an idea. If I think it’s got a good hook, and if I can get some good melodies and harmonies together on it, and if I can write a funny little lyric, that’s my goal.
There’s a lot of funny lyrics on here. I’ve always appreciated that about you and Kix. You’ve got a tongue in cheek sense of humor and a positive outlook. I imagined that helped with the last year and a half we’ve had.
SW: Absolutely. Honestly, the break wasn’t a bad thing for a lot of us who were just road dogs for 40 years. We finally just got a chance to sit back, catch our breaths, and look at life and reality. I honestly didn’t miss it (touring) too bad. We started this record around the beginning of November. That’s when everybody started to get a little antsy. Having this record to do really helped everybody involved. I was very fortunate to have Brad and Jimmy come on board, and Bob Paré who is now playing in Kix, replacing Ronnie (Younkins) until he gets better. And I had an old friend, Dean Cramer from Funny Money, come in the studio and help us out.
Speaking of Brad Divens, he played with you way back on the Cool Kids album. What was it like working with him again?
SW: It was great to get reconnected with Brad. Brad’s had a crazy past lifestyle. He just goes off and lands on his feet. He’s been running front of house engineering for bands for the past 10 or 12 years. He’s done some big headline acts. He’s been working with Enrique Iglesias for the past several years. Just being able to reconnect with him and call him a friend once again and have dinner with him and his wife, it’s been great.
The cover of this album features your signature, accompanied by a stick figure self portrait. What is your most memorable fan meet and greet/autograph signing story?
SW: Girls come in and want you to sign their tits which is, okay, you know I’ll do that. I always ask them to sign my dick but they never do *laughs*. It just kind of runs together with the meet and greet. It’s really kind of impersonal. You spend several seconds with a fan and you try to give them something special. That’s where that little stick guy came from. Everybody would come through the line and say, “Can you write something special for me?” After about three hours, I ran out of special things to say. I said, “I’ll just give you a self portrait.” and I drew that little stick man. It’s been part of my autograph ever since.
And it’s stuck, no pun intended.
SW: Exactly *laughs*! Now when you buy my record, you’ve got my autograph, you’ve got the stick man, and I say “thank you” and “you’re welcome”.
You’ve got the whole package, literally!
SW: Yeah and that really is my personality. I try to keep things light and have fun. The album cover really expresses who I am.
Would you consider doing another solo album in the future?
SW: It depends on how this one does. If it’s accepted well by the fans and they ask for another one, sure. At the same time, I’ll just be writing. If Kix takes the time to do a record, I’ll throw my stuff in the pile. If they pick ‘em, great. If not, I’ll save it for myself.
This year marks two major anniversaries for Kix. The first is the 40th anniversary of the band’s self-titled debut album. What memories stand out from making that album and what was it like working with Tom Allom?
SW: Tom was one of the funniest people ever. We did a lot of laughing making that record. The overwhelming fact that we were in New York City, Atlantic Studios, working with Judas Priest’s producer, and just walking into this massive studio, it took our breath away. We’re just a bunch of rednecks from Maryland. It was a whole different lifestyle after that. That whole project was overwhelming.
Do you have a favorite song off that record?
SW: A lot of them. I’ve always loved “Poison”. I always thought that was a great song. Of course everybody loves “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah”. The like that stupid story that I said. You know, before that record was out, I used to do that section every night, but I did a different rap. It was never the same. For whatever reason, when we sent a live demo to Atlantic Records, that particular rap was on the demo. They made me do that verbatim. They printed it out and they said, “Do what you did the night we came down to see you.” “I have no idea what that is.” They had it on the cassette tape, printed it out for me, and I had to read that rap for the record.
This year also marks the 30th anniversary of Hot Wire. Coming off the heels of the platinum selling Blow My Fuse, did you feel there was pressure when writing and recording this album?
SW: Of course, and we knew what was coming up our ass really soon with all that grunge stuff. There was a lot of pressure. We sort of knew the end was coming when Nirvana and all those other bands got all over the radio and MTV, pushing us out of the party. We had high hopes for that record and we still think it’s a great record, but once again, bad timing.
A lot of your peers jumped that bandwagon in the 90s, but you guys always stayed true to yourselves and continued to play fun rock n’ roll music.
SW: We couldn’t do a phony baloney. We couldn’t just hop a bandwagon. We are who we are and if that’s not what you’re looking for, don’t look at us.
Amen. Finally, what are Kix’s plans going forward? I know you must be excited to headline M3 this weekend.
SW: Absolutely. Being in our backyard with our loyal fans who have been following us for 40 years, they’re really proud of the fact that they get to see their local heroes headline a big venue like that. That’s one of our big shows of the year.
Is this the longest the band has gone without performing live?
SW: Yeah. We did a couple shows here and there. We played some guy’s house *laughs*. We played some cornfield where they socially distanced with bales of hay. And we played a couple of drive-in shows which actually didn’t suck. The production that these people set up made for a lot of fun and was different. People really enjoyed it. It was memorable for them. So we weren’t totally not playing, but it was few and far in between.
I’m sure it’s going to be a thrill to see the venues packed and everyone going wild like the old days.
SW: Oh yeah. In the past three weeks, we’ve been to Dallas, Houston, Florida, North Dakota, and Denver, so we’re starting to get a taste of it again. We’re definitely looking forward to M3 where it’s gonna be 10 to 15,000 people.
You’re Welcome comes out independently on July 2, 2021. Pre-orders are available at this link: https://www.rightrocksportswear.com/kix/steve-youre-welcome. For more information on Steve and Kix, visit www.kixband.com.