DRUMMER OF THE GIANTS
Interview Part 1
Interview and Article by Adriana Rubio
“Getting in the Rock and
Roll business is not difficult if you really want to work, staying is the
difficult part…” -James Kottak-
James Kottak is an American musician and
composer internationally known as the long term talented drummer for the German
band Scorpions. And although James
is in a permanent hiatus from the band since 2016, he is warmly remembered playing drums, recording
and touring with Scorpions for 20 memorable
years.
James began his
musical career in 1985 when he joined the glam metal band Buster Brown to replace drummer Bob Koestel. After the release of the record Sign of Victory in 1985, both he and singer Johnny Edwards were hired by guitarist Ronnie Montrose for the recording of the album Mean in 1987 by his revamped band Montrose. In the same year he joined singer Lenny Wolf to found a new group called Kingdom Come, in which he participated in two albums; Kingdom Come in 1988 and In Your Face in 1989.
In November
of 1989, after leaving Kingdom Come,
James Kottak participated in the
debut album of guitarist Michael Lee
Firkins. Sometime later with Johnny Edwards
and Rick Steier founded the band Wild Horses and recorded Bareback in 1991. The following year he
was hired by “McAuley Schenker Group”
for recording sessions of the album M.S.G
In 1994,
along with Rick Steier both joined
the Warrant Californians to replace Joey Allen and Steven Sweet respectively.
James Kottak also collaborated with the
band DIO for a few on-tour concerts
in replacement of Vinny Appice, another
talented drummer.
The musical
trajectory of James Kottak goes
beyond the limits for his determination to making it happen and becoming one of
the greatest drumming paths in Rock and Roll history.
“When I was
9 years old my friend played trumpet. He was in band classes, so I went to band
classes with him. I got a trumpet and played trumpet from first grade all the
way through college. That was my main instrument”.
“But I saw
this drummer play and blew my mind. He was so fast. I couldn’t figure out how
he was doing this stuff work, the pedals and cymbals, and I just said WOW! I
became obsessed”.
“Somehow I
got a drum set with the help of my brother and I started playing, honestly I
never stopped. I used to play before going to school and when I came back home
from school. But I continued playing the trumpet in school”.
“I started
my first band when I was 12 years old, then when I was 15 I got a pretty good
break with an original band out of Kentucky. We toured everywhere from New Mexico
to Florida and in between I took the year off from school, my Mom allowed me to
do it, unbeliable! I then finished school, but even in high-school I played in
bars 5 or 6 nights a week and continued playing, it kept going and going, and
never stopped”.
“I was very
fortunate. In 1985 I ended up hooking up with this pure original metal band.
Montrose was like God to me. In 1987 we recorded “Mean”. From that on I went to
Los Angeles and joined Kingdom Come, a great overnight success, we toured the
Monsters Of Rock with Van Halen, Scorpions, Dokken, Metallica and Kingdom Come,
we were the opening act. That’s when I met the Scorpions, it was 1988”.
“Kingdom
Come and Scorpions were on the same label Polygram and used to be booked on the
same hotels and tours. We also had the same producer”.
PART 2 OF THIS INTERVIEW WILL BE UPLOADED NEXT
WEEK
STAY TUNED!
THANKS SO MUCH JAMES KOTTAK!
