RICHIE KOTZEN Says New SMITH/KOTZEN Single ‘Black Light’ Was Nearly Scrapped: ‘That Song Almost Didn’t Survive’

During an interview following SMITH/KOTZEN’s March 5 acoustic performance at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen revealed that “Black Light” — the group’s current single and latest music video, and the co-title track of SMITH/KOTZEN’s forthcoming second album “Black Light/White Noise” — nearly died on the cutting room floor as he and guitarist/vocalist Adrian Smith (also of IRON MAIDEN) were writing material for the record.”Funny enough, that song almost didn’t survive,” Kotzen said. “I knew there was something that was cool about it, and I kept pushing Adrian on it, but Adrian [was] like, ‘There’s something wrong. Something’s off.’ It was the rare time where I couldn’t see it clearly. I was like, ‘What doesn’t he like about this?’ And then one day, I’m like, ‘The chorus is wrong. The lyrics are wrong. I get it now.’ The music was right, and the beat was right. Everything else was right. It was just [that] what we were singing was wrong.”We muted the vocals, and I left the room and [Adrian] started messing around,” Kotzen continued. “We were at my house doing this, and I was upstairs and I heard him do the verse and I came running downstairs. I busted into the room. I interrupted him and I said, ‘Hey, that’s it. Whatever you doing, keep doing that.’ Sometimes you try something and go, ‘Oh, scrap it,’ and go to the next thing. I said, ‘Don’t erase that. Keep doing that. Save that.’ And then I went away, and they come upstairs and say, ‘Oh, I think I’ve got something.'”Then we talked about the chorus. [Adrian] came up with the idea of [the title] ‘Black Light’. ‘What do you see under the black light?’ And I felt like we had this conversation where I don’t know who said what, but it was revealable [quoting the song’s lyrics] ‘under a black light, I see your colors come through; you’ve got a fine way of hiding the truth; black light, I see the devil in you,’ whatever the next line is. Now we’ve got a story, and now we’ve got a song, and now we put it together.”Added Smith, “Sometimes, if you’ve got a strong title to get behind, it sort of gives you a focus to finish the song, I think.”Kotzen went on to discuss the significance of songs’ lyrical content and the need for artists to have – as he titled his 1997 solo album – something to say. “[On] this new record, there’s a song called ‘Heavy Weather’,” Kotzen said. “I had it demoed with fake singing, and [Adrian] said, ‘I like the chorus. It sounds like you’re singing “heavy weather.” ‘Oh, you mean like a thunderstorm? How can we write a song about that?’ Then we started talking, and it’s like, ‘How about you came up in your time, and you faced a lot of adversity and a lot of things you had to fight and struggle through to get to where you’re at. Now, you’ve got a child, and the child is kind of born into this luxury that you’ve earned, and they’re complaining about things – but you’ve never faced heavy weather in the way that I have.’ That’s the thing that I love the most about writing – not so much the riff and how heavy it is. I like the story, because to me, that’s what a song is. When we do the riffs and we’ve got a melody and a good hook, a cool attitude and the beat’s cool, [that’s fine], but what the fuck are we going to say? If you don’t have anything to sing about, that means nothing needs to be written right now. So, you go take a break. For me, I go outside and work on the property – rake leaves or whatever the fuck it is I do. Then you get an idea – ‘Okay, that’s what I’m going to do.'”SMITH/KOTZEN’s second album, “Black Light/White Noise”, will be released via BMG on April 4.Recorded at The House, Los Angeles, California, produced by Richie and Adrian and mixed by Jay Ruston, the ten-track album is a masterclass in modern rock, with Adrian and Richie’s prodigious talents as songwriters, musicians and vocalists on full display.The official music video for “Black Light”, produced and directed by Kevin and Richard Ragsdale a.k.a. The Ragsdale Brothers (DAUGHTRY, Dorothy feat. Slash, THEORY OF A DEADMAN),features the duo performing with bassist Julia Lage and drummer Bruno Valverde, alongside acclaimed Russian acrobat, contortionist and former Cirque Du Soleil performer Gyulnara Karaeva.Last July, Smith joined Kotzen on stage at the Islington Assembly Hall in London, England to perform THE YARDBIRDS classic “Shapes Of Things”.SMITH/KOTZEN released the “Better Days …And Nights” EP in September 2022 via BMG. The effort comprised five previously unreleased live tracks, plus for the first time ever on CD, the four studio tracks featured on their sold-out, limited-edition 12-inch vinyl EP, “Better Days”, released in conjunction with Record Store Day in November 2021.The live songs were recorded during SMITH/KOTZEN’s inaugural whistle-stop tour of the U.S. and U.K. at the start of 2022, which attracted unanimously rave reviews from fans and media alike, celebrating the duo’s debut on stage together with stellar back-up from Richie’s wife, internationally acclaimed bass player Julia Lage (VIXEN),and drummer Bruno Valverde of ANGRA.Japan’s metal bible Burrn! magazine reviewing the Whisky A Go Go show in Los Angeles pronounced it, “An amazing night….this rock n’ roll band is very different from any other…totally unique …and bringing you great songs!”. U.K.’s Classic Rock magazine said the show was a, “masterclass in guitar playing and performance”.The original EP tracks were produced by Kotzen and Smith and mixed by Kevin Shirley. The live tracks were produced and mixed by Kotzen and Smith.SMITH/KOTZEN’s eponymous debut album was released globally through BMG in March 2021 to media and fan acclaim, charting No. 10 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart in the U.S., Top 20 in the U.K. as well as in other major markets such as Germany, Japan and Canada.Smith is best known as one of IRON MAIDEN’s principal guitarists, having also enjoyed success as a solo artist. Kotzen is the frontman for THE WINERY DOGS as well as having been the guitarist for both MR. BIG and POISON during his long and acclaimed career, which has to date seen him release more than 20 solo albums. Both artists are also prolific songwriters.Photo credit: Piper Ferguson[embedded content][embedded content]