Imagine this: you're in a well-established band for a while, perhaps even years, then all the sudden the original lineup of said band decides to get back together, leaving you bandless. On the one hand, it's a bummer, but on the other---it does give you the opportunity to strut your own stuff without the constraints imposed by the well-established band. That was the scenario for guitarist Bruce Kulick and vocalist John Corabi amidst the KISS and Motley Crue original lineup reunions. This is one of those classic "every dark cloud has its silver lining" situations. Bruce and John pooled their resources along with drummer Brent Fitz and bassist Jamie Hunting to create a new band called Union. The result is the band's self-titled debut album on Mayhem Records.

By Brynn McKenna

BRYNN McKENNA: What's so impressive is the fact that this sound is not a clone of anyone else's, not even your ex-bands'. It's also not an alternaclone---and there are so many of those out there it's pathetic. It's good to hear something great and original.

BRUCE KULICK: That's true; I know all about that. That was John's and my commitment to just do it our way and make music that kicked our asses. We would hope that people like yourself would go, "Fuck, that's great!" So thank you very much.

BRYNN: How did you get together with John Corabi? Had you known him before?

BRUCE: Well, I'd always been close friends with Nikki Sixx, so I knew him when they got rid of Vince and then they hired John. I wasn't, like, really close to him, but I kind of watched him settle into the situation because it's kind of similar to me not being an original member of a band. I thought John was really talented and I really enjoyed the record that they did. I understood why politically they went back to Vince and the timing of it, of course, was very ironic. They did that right after KISS did it. So it was actually Nikki who even said, "Why don't you hook up with John? I think you guys could work well together" and he was right! John's very talented and it was very easy to create a sound with him, as you can tell---as long as we were on the same path with being clear about not trying to rip off our previous bands and just being true to ourselves.

BRYNN: The album has its own vibe, completely. How did you acquire drummer Brent Fitz and the bassist---is it James or Jamie Hunting? I've seen it written both ways.

BRUCE: He likes Jamie, although sometimes I call him James. Brent's from Canada; he came down to L.A. to be in a band like Union. I met him through a singer I'd done a couple of shows with in Europe. He used to play drums with her. At first he was just my friend, to be honest with you. I didn't really know that he'd become the drummer of Union. But once John and I knew we had a new band, we needed to get a great drummer and bass-player. We knew it wasn't going to be a project, it was going to be a band. We just jammed a couple of new ideas---in fact, the first thing we jammed was "Old Man Wise." (First track on the album---ed.) He just had a great vibe, a great drum idea for it and it was like---"You're the guy." Jamie was a little harder to find. We were doing this by word-of-mouth; we weren't doing open auditions. I actually saw him in a club with Brent. We went out, there he was and I said, "This guy's great!" He was in a cover band. I was at this club for a party and the next thing I know, I'm getting his number and keeping in touch with him. He dug the music that we were doing and there was the missing link.

BRYNN: So how did the deal with Mayhem come about?

BRUCE: Well, we wanted somebody that was going to believe and get it the way you are enjoying it. It's very hard; the major labels are very difficult with rock and roll, as you probably know. I managed to shop the tape around. Some people---in the same way that you love it---didn't know what to do with it because it has its own sound. We were like, "Screw them, we're going to do what we want to do." We didn't want to hear feedback like, "Well, if you make it sound more like KISS or Motley, I think we can throw this at you." You know, money-wise.

BRYNN: Record companies were actually doing that?

BRUCE: Oh, yeah. So we stayed true to ourselves and from the second our friend Paul over at Mayhem heard it, he wanted to sign the band. So really, within a short period of time, when you think about it---we were shopping it in June and by Thanksgiving, we handed in the record to them---it was pretty fast and we were pleased with that.

BRYNN: Especially with today's music climate the way it is.

BRUCE: Yeah. That's why we weren't trying to time the market or anything; we just wanted to do what we wanted to do.

BRYNN: That's the spirit. One good thing is that you and John are bringing valuable experience into this band from your previous bands---about how the music industry operates and the business end of things. A lot of beginner bands don't realize how important the business aspect is.

BRUCE: That's true. I'm more the businessman of the band. I let John play rock-star (laughs).

BRYNN: How did you settle upon Union as the band's name?

BRUCE: Well, it was very hard to come up with a name that didn't sound like some metal band or an alternative band, because we don't feel that we're either; we're just a meat-and-potatoes rock and roll band. We just worked at it and worked at it and Brent was on the computer writing words down. We all came up with suggestions. I read them off to John and he liked the way 'Union" sounded right away. It kind of represents everyone coming together. That's why we have the symbol---four interlocking four-point stars. That's the union of us coming together and us with the fans. It has nothing to do with, you know, "our previous bands went into a re-union, so we have a union." It's not that. That's a little too tongue-and-cheek.

BRYNN: Who produced the album and who did what aspects of the songwriting?

BRUCE: Well, John and I started off a lot of the songs and we got my good friend Curt Cuomo involved. Curt was involved in writing songs with Paul Stanley and I on the "Carnival Of Souls" album. I was a big part of that; I sing a song or two on that album and there was a really big radio hit for KISS called "Jungle" that I wrote---Curt co-wrote that with me, too. Curt was very valuable, I enjoyed working with him and I'd told John when I met him that he's our third guy for the team when we need help for some ideas or some lyrics. Curt's also a really good producer, although I didn't want someone else producing without me getting a producer credit. John's very creative, too, although he's not Mr. Businessman. So, the three of us produced it together and the three of us, by large, wrote all the music on the record.

BRYNN: Who sang the backup vocals?

BRUCE: Myself, Jamie and Brent.

BRYNN: Everyone will be able to relate to something on the Union album. You think, "I'm glad I'm not the only one experiencing that" or "I know somebody like that!" You recognize people in these songs.

BRUCE: And the truth is that all these lyrics came from real-life things that were going on for us. Obviously, if you want to write a good lyric, you want to make it a little more---you know, something to do with a rhyme to make it sound a little more colorful---but it does absolutely deal with things that are real. Both of us went through a lot of changes, as you know, and not only the bands---we both went through a lot of relationship problems, too. But that's a good source of inspiration.

BRYNN: The music is just as impressive. Was I hearing a mandolin in there along with the guitar in the song "Let It Flow?"

BRUCE: You know, it's actually a twelve-string guitar. We made it sound like a mandolin. I know there's a picture of Jamie holding a mandolin in a past issue of Metal Edge Magazine, where it was misquoted that we used it on the record, but we didn't. So you got the scoop there, okay?

BRYNN: That's cool when guitarists can make their instruments sound like something else entirely than a guitar.

BRUCE: Oh, yeah. I've got my tricks.

BRYNN: That shows talent. I understand that you have extra tracks on the Japanese version of the album?

BRUCE: There'll be one song called "For You" that I sang for the Japanese release. It's a great song. I wanted to say something kind of special for the Japanese import version. We also cut the Beatles' song, "Oh, Darling," but we'll see what happens with that. We can always play it whenever we want.

BRYNN: Did John play any guitar on the record?

BRUCE: On just about every track. He's actually a very, very good guitarist. Not so much like Mr. Lead Guitarist; he's just a strong rhythm player. Both of us will be playing guitar live. We have a really full sound with the two guitars, bass and drums. It's really cool.

BRYNN: What inspires you as a guitar player?

BRUCE: Oh, all the British rock. At first it was people like Cream, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, then Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck. I like approaching the music the way Jimmy Page would kind of layer guitars, and he's always been a big influence for me. Although I don't think I'm imitating Jimmy Page, but I'm borrowing what I know from what he's created.

BRYNN: I think every generation of musicians borrows from the previous one and that it's unavoidable. It goes all the way back to the blues of the 1920s.

BRUCE: Yeah, exactly. The person who like just gives you those chills---you know, Hendrix has been a big, big influence for me, so I'm going to borrow those kinds of things.

BRYNN: I heard some of that wah-action in there.

BRUCE: There you go. There's also some really heavy bone-crunching riffs and wah-action on "Carnival Of Souls." I prefer our record, though, and I'm not just saying that because this is my first album without KISS. I think it's a little more accessible, actually---Union's a little more meat and potatoes where KISS was in its dark period when we did that. It was kind of a very, very heavy album. I'm really proud of it.

BRYNN: How long have you been playing guitar?

BRUCE: Oh, a long time. I started when I was like ten, so it's been forever.

BRYNN: Is Union planning any videos?

BRUCE: It's possible, but let's be honest that MTV is not supportive of any rock band that I know of, except maybe an Aerosmith.

BRYNN: We're hoping to change that, maybe with this magazine.

BRUCE: It's been very hard, I know.

BRYNN: Did you help KISS in pre-production for "Psycho Circus?"

BRUCE: Yeah, I did some demos with Paul; he asked me to play guitar on some things. It was exciting, but to be honest, I don't know which of those songs they cut or which they used, know what I mean? But it was kind of fun to be involved in that way. So I feel very proud that I didn't burn any bridges, if you know what I mean. He was comfortable enough to call me. I thought that was really cool.

Copyright 1998, BallBuster, The Official Int'l Underground Hard Music Report