The Year of '77- Part 2 of Our Interview With Ryan Roxie

The Year of ’77- Part 2 Of Our Interview With Ryan Roxie of Roxie 77, Alice Cooper and Casablanca

This article is dedicated to anyone who has ever played air guitar in their mirror and absolutely rocked it.

1977

The drum beats and bass lines pound in your chest. The guitar solos make your soul cry. The lyrics seem to know exactly what you are going through. The riffs make you want to rock.

Every musician has that one year of music that speaks to them, has a special place in their soul, and inspires them more than any other. We relate to those songs on an emotional level and cling to them for the rest of our lives.

The artists from that decade are the ones that make you want to be like them. They are the posters on your wall,your heroes,your reason for picking up an instrument in the first place.

For Ryan Roxie, that year was the 1977. Artists that came from that year became legends and left a legacy that has inspired millions of people to pick up an instrument and are still continuing to today. Artists like Cheap Trick , The Beatles and Queen were some of his biggest influences. When you listen to any of the songs that Ryan has had a part in writing, you can hear bits and pieces of the musicians that came before him and helped to make his musical style what it is today.

*Ryan’s band , Casablanca has an album ready to drop on September 25th called “Riding A Black Swan.”

You can pre- order it here:

https://www.bengans.se/popup/casablanca_riding/int.aspx?language=en

While on a break in Florida from this year’s Alice Cooper tour, Ryan Roxie took the time to talk about everything from his musical influences and inspirations,to his favorite guitar that he owns and what is coming up next for his own bands, Casablanca and Roxie 77.

Photo: www.annagable.com

Jessica: So, speaking of inspiration, who has inspired you musically?

Ryan: Haha! Good questions. I have a lot of inspiration from the 70’s. That’s where I grew up in and that’s where I figure a lot of my musical inspirations came from and the reason why is because I really think back in those late 70’s , 1977 in particular , there were so many great bands out there making great music. Musicians really were making, they weren’t making just songs, they were making albums, albums of songs that flowed together, went together. So the people that I was always inspired by were people that made albums that I could listen to from Track 1 to Track 11. It wasn’t just one song. You know? Obviously, they had hit singles and a lot of people I was inspired by had big individual songs, but for me it was more about the bands and the albums and the experience of listening to an album. So, those bands that I grew up on , bands like Cheap Trick ,The Beatles who had album after album after album, bands like Queen who had a spectrum of music on each album that wasn’t just one type of song repeated eleven times. It was a whole different palate of songs in a whole bunch of different colors on one album. So, those were the types of bands that I was inspired by. Like I said, if you Google the year 1977, and you find out all of those albums that came out that year, you’ll find out some of my biggest influences.

Jessica: At what age did you start playing guitar and do you play any other instruments?

Ryan: I started playing trumpet, actually before I started playing guitar. I picked up the guitar when I was five because there was one lying around the house. I was five years old, but I don’t think I really took it seriously till I was about eleven and that’s when I really sat down and said “Hey I want to do this 24/7” I sat and looked at myself in the mirror and played air guitar when I wasn’t playing real guitar and really took it seriously at around age eleven. Before that, though I played trumpet in marching band and also played drums. I had my own drum set and also played in the school marching band (snare drum). But, when I had my own drum kit and started playing drums, I was like, wait a second, you mean I have to sit in the back? I’m going to have to come early to set up all of my equipment? And I’m going to actually have to have a van or something to tote around all this equipment? Screw that, I wanna play guitar! *laughs* Stand in front. I always say playing guitar is the best job in the world, cause a front man/vocalist/lead singer, you’re asking for trouble. You’re asking to fight with yourself. You’re asking to battle with yourself because the instrument that you have resides inside you. Your throat is basically your instrument, but with guitar at least you know it’s something that is tangible. You can put it down. You don’t have to go on a completely different diet to play guitar, but sometimes with singing you do and now I know that because I sing and front Roxie 77 as well.