Charlie Mills was the drummer for the reunited SKID ROW, replacing original member Rob Affuso. Now, during their tour with KISS, he suddenly left the band and got replaced by Phil Varone (Saigon Kick). We contacted Charlie to get the reasons for this decision and some more infos about him.
You just left Skid Row during their tour as support for KISS. Why? Is it true that it was lack of income? How comes?
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(By courtesy of J. Hoffmann Photography) |
People don't realize the enormous
expense in keeping a band on the road. The income generated by being a
part of the KISS tour covered our basics - bus, crew, gas, hotels, etc....
But left very little for salaries. As a guy who supports himself and his
wife solely by drumming, I had to send money home, at least
semi-regularly. The initial idea was to add regular headlining club dates
to the tour, but it seems that idea lost a bit of steam as the tour went
on.... After juggling my finances at home, doing everything I could to
avoid leaving the tour, I presented the problem to the guys. We sat down,
looked at the financial situation, saw no money in the immediate future,
and had to decide - My home, or continue the tour? Here I am...
Did you only leave the tour or also the band? I left, being replaced by Phil Varone. Will you remain in contact with the guys? |
Of course.
You got replaced by Phil Varone (ex-Saigon Kick). Your opinion of him?
I loved his playing with Saigon Kick, and on the Prunella Scales stuff he did with Rachel. We've only met a few times, but I got a good vibe from him.... There's no hard feelings, if that's what you mean...
| Tell us a bit about the
experiences you had on the road with Skid Row.
It was all great! We had a lot of laughs, met a ton of new people, had some really awesome moments as a band... I mean, how cool is this - every night, I got to see KISS, hang with Tommy Aldridge, one of my drumming heroes, and play for 10,000 people! How can I complain? How were the fans‘ reactions towards the new members Solinger and Mills? All the comments I've heard were positive. We were - I should say "I was" - expecting a lot more shit to be thrown Johnny's way from the diehard Bas fans. That only happened a handful of times. And every time, Johnny handled himself well, like a true pro. |
Charlie, Snake, Rachel, Johnny, Scotti |
And how did the original members treat you newcomers on tour? Did you have to carry their bags and suitcases?
It was all good.
What are you currently doing? Looking for a new project?
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(By courtesy of J. Hoffmann Photography) |
I'm digging being home for a few,
although I'm looking for another tour... One that pays, preferably.
When and how did Skid Row contact you? I was involved with the Ozone Monday thing 2 years ago. When that fizzled out, we kinda just rolled into the Skid thing together... How did the auditions for the job go off? How many guys applied? For me? As far as I know, no one else was auditioned for the drum chair. With the singer, I think we auditioned 4 or 5 other guys before Johnny came in. What were you doing before you joined Skid Row? |
I toured the US, Canada & Europe for 5 years with Dee Snider, former Twisted Sister frontman. I was also doing a lot of local things here in the New York/ New Jersey area. I had a heavy trio called STRENGTH, which was out with Dee as well. I did weekly club dates with several different bands, as well as running a drum school, teaching 40 kids myself, while overseeing 5 other teachers and 90 other kids..... Anything to do with music, I tried to keep involved...
Original drummer Rob Affuso called the whole reunion without him a farce. What do you reply?
| Mixed feelings - sour grapes on his
part, understandably. I've heard the comments made to Rob with regard to
his involvement in Skid Row by the other band members... They could have -
and were, obviously - misleading to him, causing all of the crap flying
around the Internet regarding the subject. Rob has never said a bad thing
about my involvement with the band, so whatever funk there is, is between
the original guys...
Skid Row have been touring now for a long time. Did you also talk about a new album? A new record was the reason for us getting up & running in the first place-the KISS tour came to the table 72 hours after we decided Johnny was the new singer - How do you pass an opportunity like that up? |
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What’s your opinion of the whole fuss between the band, Sebastian Bach and Metal-Sludge?
I have none.
Metal-Sludge already interviewed four members of the band. Did they also ask you? What do you think about their role in the rock biz?
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Yeah, I think they asked me, although
it was thru one of the other guys. The whole thing reeks of a National
Enquirer / Jerry Springer vibe - let's dig up some shit, get people to
comment on it, and throw the shit all over everyone involved! Funny stuff,
if you don't take it seriously...
Kiss now made an offer to Sebastian Bach to open the last leg of the tour. Isn’t this becoming rock n‘ roll comedy? That's a new one on me! Yeah, if there's any fact to that one, it would be pretty comic! What is your opinion of the current reunion wave in the rock biz? |
I think it validates a certain belief I've had all along - that good music and good songs, no matter how you dress it up, stands the test of time. People will always listen to Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Leonard Bernstein, Cole Porter, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, Led Zeppelin ... the list is as diverse as it is endless. You make emotional connections to songs, or bands, at certain times in your life. Those emotions get rekindled every time you hear those songs. If you're fortunate, the artist is still alive & able to go out & bring it to you live... I think, as a fan, I'm very lucky Jimmy Page is still out doing Zeppelin, or the Who haven't called it a day just yet...
Thank you very much for the interview, Charlie. We wish you all the best for your future projects.
Charlie permitted us to publish his private e-mail address. He said he'd like to see what people have to say. So feel free to write him at CMILLSRUN@aol.com.
Thanks to http://www.skidrowonline.com/ for letting us use the band pic.