Chris Caffery Interview
December 5, 2004
By: April Bower

AB: Hi, this is April with The Prog Palace. I’m on the phone with Chris Caffery, from Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra and a host of other projects. Chris, how was the show tonight?
CC: Well, it was amazing. We did 3 shows here in Wilkes-Barre in the last 2 days, I think there was about 22,000 people at the 3 shows, and tonight’s was by far the best. It was great. I think we’re going to play for about 90,000 people in Pennsylvania alone this year.

AB: TSO has certainly taken on a life of its own, hasn’t it?
CC: Yeah, it’s something that I can’t even explain. When we started this, the first tour was 7 shows, and to see it leap ahead to what it is now, I can’t even … it’s weird, you pull up to these arenas where we used to go see these shows as a kid in these places, and now you’re headlining in them and selling them out. It’s a tremendous and cool feeling.

AB: You broke into two touring groups last year, right?
CC: Yeah … well, actually, we broke up into 2 touring groups in the beginning, because after the first tour we knew that it was going to be difficult to cover X amount of markets with one band. There’s only so many days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so they split up into TSO East and TSO West, but if the band ever plays non-holidays it will be just one (band).

AB: How much of your yearly working time is taken up with TSO?
CC: Well, we’re not recording steadily. I was doing my solo record so I didn’t have a tremendous amount of time on that. I mean, when we’re touring it basically starts October 15 th and then they have me until New Years.

AB: So what do you do during the rest of the year? I know that when I saw you at ProgPower V you were with ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ with Jon Oliva. Is Savatage still active?
CC: Savatage is really kind of in a dormant stage right now. I mean, there’s still a Savatage but … it’s kind of weird. I’ve watched Savatage to 1 record in 7 years. I love Savatage, it’s the reason why there’s a TSO, it’s the reason why I am who I am in my career, and I can’t force Savatage to play. Savatage has to want to go on the road, and certain people’s lives have moved into modes to where they’re not pushed into that. Regardless of what anybody in the band tries to say about why Savatage hasn’t played, if Savatage wanted to play Savatage could play. We could call up anywhere in the world tomorrow and say we want to book a gig in Holland , just for no reason at all, and they would book us. So for anybody to sit there and say there’s a reason why Savatage isn’t playing besides Savatage itself, it’s wrong. Savatage the band has to want to play before that’ll happen, and when it does I’ll be here, but in the meantime I can’t want and that’s why I’m doing my solo record.

AB: Tell us about your new CD. Is this your first solo disk?
CC: Yeah, it’s my first one. It’s actually the time I’ve ever sang. It’s been very challenging, but it’s really fulfilling to watch it unfold. I didn’t want to go and have to join another band because like I said I don’t know when my band’s gonna work, and I didn’t want to work with people that I wasn’t sure about, so I just to wait and put this thing together, and I’m happy with the results.

AB: And the title is?
CC: It’s called ‘Faces’, and there’s a bonus CD called ‘Goddamn War’ which is going to be completed and released separately, probably in June (2005).

AB: I’ve heard the promo you gave us, and of course it’s a heavy album like we would expect, but there’s also a gospel version of ‘Amazing Grace’ in there that is one of the most moving things I’ve ever heard. What made you put that on your CD?
CC: Well, ‘Amazing Grace’ to me is one of those songs that seems to be like, when somebody is really desperate and reaching towards God, and in that kind of situation I think that’s probably the most popular gospel song ever. On the war CD, basically who’s singing that on that CD is a soldier who’s out there and doesn’t know at what given time he may die. That was basically supposed to be a soldier on a battle field singing, sitting in the middle of the desert not knowing if the next person who goes by him is going to shoot him or blow him up or blow his vehicle up. That’s what that song was.

AB: That’s certainly a timely and a powerful message. Is that theme going to be in your promo material?
CC: The war CD is separate, and everything’s going to be elaborated a lot more. I never really thought of having 2 CDs, I just wrote too much material for one, so that’s 6the situation I put myself in. I’m fortunate to have recorded it all because I think there’s a tremendous variety between ‘Faces’ and the war CD. The war stuff is really like my heavy metal face, and without that there I think there’s something huge missing.

AB: Do you plan on trying to tour to promote it?
CC: Oh yeah, I’m going to be touring wherever I can go. I gotta finish this and the record comes out in the States on January 18 th. Then I’m going to start booking shows, and I’m gonna come off the road when I darn near drop dead.

AB: Who’s in your band?
CC: Well my band in the studio was Jeff Plate, from Savatage and TSO, and played drums. Dave Z from TSO, and he’s got his own band called ZO2, he was playing bass. Paul Morse from Rainbow plays keyboards. I’m hoping everybody can do the tour, but Dave and his brother are very active with the ZO2 thing. I’m hoping that he can do it, but it was one of those things where I wanted to use friends and really get a good band feeling for this record, and I couldn’t have asked for a better band than what I got.

AB: I know that you and the guys that are with you in TSO have a great rapport on stage and work really well together.
CC: Yeah, we’re definitely a select group of misfits. Good thing.

AB: What kind of gear do you use in the studio?
CC: Most of the guitars were done by my 1 Jackson Randy Rhodes guitar, then I used a Peavey head, a Soldano head and a Marshall head for the recording. I really don’t use a lot of effects. I think I have like a Vox Valve Tone is the only thing I use to push my amp. From there I don’t really use that much stuff.

AB: So you don’t use much in the way of digitized technology?
CC: Well, we use digital delay and I was using like a Rotovibe for some stuff, but I’m not really that effect-driven on anything. I find it more challenging to get specific tones out of your hands than to try to get them out of a plug-in.

AB: Is this the same gear you tour with?
CC: With TSO we use Pod stuff live, that works great for us because that’s a controlled stage volume situation.

AB: It’s easier to tote around too, I’m sure.
CC: It’s not that. We have 5 tractor trailers just for lights. It’s a question of, in this environment, it’s a quieter stage volume, it’s consistent every day, our drums are electronic and guitars are digital, so it really gives a lot of control to our soundman. When I play live with my own band I’m not too particular about amps. I like Marshall 900s but I’m not too particular about what I use, as long as it gives a good clean head and can use a cabinet without the speakers blowing up, I don’t care.

AB: Let me ask you about another TSO project, ‘Beethoven’s Last Night’. One of my favorite things to listen to, because my background was all in classical music before I found rock and roll. So I have a couple of questions related to that. First of all, I’ve been hearing rumblings for a while now about taking that on the road.
CC: The Beethoven’s Last Night tour? There’s a joke going around now. We’ve been likening that tour to the Loch Ness Monster of rock tours. It’s something everybody keeps talking about, a few people may have seen, but nobody knows if it exists for sure. Until I play the first note for the first show for the Beethoven’s Last Night tour, I’m not gonna believe it. I mean, it’s gonna happen, I just don’t know when,

AB: Well, if that doesn’t happen in 2005, what is going to happen for you in 2005 that you know of so far?
CC: We’re going to finish a non-holiday TSO CD called Nightcastle, I’m going to finish up the ‘Goddamn War’ CD, me and John are going to record for an American re-release of the first Doctor Butcher record, and then I’m gonna hit the road with ‘Faces’, and that’s gonna go on probably until next October when we do TSO again.

AB: Excellent! That’s great news. How many trucks and buses are you guys up to now with TSO?
CC: Well altogether with the 2 tours I think it’s 12 buses and 12 trucks I think altogether. It’s a lot of stuff.

AB: Does it get bigger every year?
CC: Yeah, it keeps growing. We’re kinda like Elvis Presley, we get bigger every year! (Laughter)

AB: How old were you when you started playing guitar?
CC: When I first picked one up, I was 5 or 6. When I first started playing I was 11.

AB: What made you choose guitar over, say, keyboards or bass or something else?
CC: Well, I had no desire to play bass, I had no desire to play keyboards. I started out playing drums but I couldn’t write music on the drums. I feel bad for drummers sometimes, bless their sorry souls (laughs). You know the way they are. Drummers are funny. I love ‘em but I can only imagine what goes through a drummer’s head because after I while I have to make and play music. They’re making their part of music but there’s no melody. It’s weird for me, I need to sing, I need to hear melody, I need to write melody, and that’s why I play guitar.

AB: It is a totally different perspective.
CC: Yeah, absolutely, without a doubt. Like I said, I can’t imagine what goes through the head of a drummer. That’s where they come from every time they play music.

AB: So how did you get from starting to play guitar at age 11 to being in Savatage? The Reader’s Digest version …
CC: I started playing in bars when I was 14 years old. By the time I was 18 I had ran into the singer from the band ‘Heaven’ who was produced by Paul O’Neill. They were looking for a guitar player and I got the gig. I finished their ‘Knocking on Heaven’s Door’ tour, and Paul was producing Savatage at the time for ‘Hall of the Mountain King’. When they were going out on tour with the old Megadeth, they decided to add another guitar player for the tour, and that was me.

AB: And how old were you?
CC: I had just turned 20. I was 19 when I got the gig, but I was 20 when we left for the tour.

AB: How old are you now?
CC: I just turned 37. It’s been a while, you know?

AB: Well you’re one of the fortunate ones who’s been able to live off of it.
CC: Yeah, you know what, I can’t complain. My whole entire life, especially when I was a little kid, I wanted to see shows at Madison Square Garden . Most of the bands that were around in 1990 that Savatage was touring with or on MTV, most of them now are non-existent or playing clubs. We just sold out Madison Square Garden , so I really can’t complain about anything.

AB: If you could work with anybody living or dead, who would be in your fantasy band?
CC: Vocals, Ray Gillen without a doubt. Ray was the singer for Badlands and Black Sabbath. He passed away from AIDS in 1993, the same year Chris Oliva did. If I could have Jon Oliva on keyboards, Chris Oliva on guitar with me, Ray Gillen as the lead singer, and have Jeff Plate on drums coz I love playing with Jeff. On bass, I love Hal Patino from King Diamond. He was one of my favorite friends and just one of the coolest rock and roll stars I ever worked with. He could play bass in that band.

AB: What do you think you would be doing with your life if music was not an option?
CC: I’d be in the middle of the desert digging for some lost skull in a pit with a bunch of other drunk archaeologists.

AB: Archaeology is a love of yours?
CC: No, I just was fascinated by it. There’s not much I would have wanted to put the time into other than music. I don’t really know, I mean who knows? If I would have started something maybe I would have found another love for it. Now I enjoy writing. I write a lot of literature on my website. It’s difficult to say. There’s so many different things I like to do but I’m doing what I’m doing and I’m fortunate to be lucky that way. I really don’t know, I just never got into that position.

AB: Who do you listen to when you get a choice?
CC: I really don’t even have the time. It’s weird, I go out to a bar, hang out with friends and listen to whatever they’re playing on the jukebox.

AB: One question related back to WMD. Any plans to record with them?
CC: No, that was just a name we put on that because we weren’t allowed to use the name ‘Savatage’, we were asked not to.

AB: That was certainly a fun gig.
CC: Yes it was, absolutely.

AB: Is there anything else you’d like to add about your solo disk or anything else going on in your life?
CC: If anybody goes to www.chriscaffery.com, they can read about it, they can hear some samples. It’s coming out in the States soon and I’m looking forward to getting on the road and singing. It was a lot of work but there’s a lot of music that’s going to be coming out of me in the future, and I appreciate all the support of my fans throughout the years. It’s going to be an interesting road but I can’t wait to see what happens.

AB: Can they still get the Santa hat?
CC: Oh, I wear all kinds of hats!

AB: Well Chris, this has been great. You’ve given us a lot of information and I appreciate the time. I know you guys are really busy.
CC: It’s funny, we’re actually on the bus on the way back to the hotel, and in 15 minutes I have a radio interview with Fargo, North Dakota! When you think about my day, we had 2 arena shows, and I’m still going and it’s 1 o’clock in the morning. It’s great, I love what I’m doing.

AB: That’s great to hear. Chris, thanks again, I hope to have you back soon.
CC: All right, great! Thank you.

Prog Palace Radio would like to thank Chris Caffery for taking the time to interview with us and a thanks to April for taking the time to setup the interview.