Former Dio drummer Vinny Appice discussed his run in the supergroup Kill Devil Hill with Pantera bassist Rex Brown in a new Hard, Heavy & Hair interview. Vinny blamed some Axl Rose type behavior for ruining the band.
“The being-on-time thing is important. I played in a band, Kill Devil Hill – it was notorious for time. We’d say, ‘Let’s rehearse at two o’clock. 3:30, people are getting there. I can’t stand that shit!
“That’s actually what broke the band… Well, me leaving the band was – I couldn’t deal with that stuff anymore. You call rehearsal at two. I’ve got things to do. I’m there at two. And we rehearse and then go home.
“This was just a waste of time. And then it became that at the gigs. We were supposed to go on at 9:30. OK. By the time everybody got their shit together, it was 11 o’clock and we’d go on – and on Monday night.
“So people there that’d see the band, they’d stay for one song, and they’ve gotta go to work the next day. It’s like, why are you self-mutilating this band?
“When I played [in Black Sabbath] with Tony [Iommi], Geezer [Butler] and Ronnie [James Dio], we rehearsed at two o’clock. I’d get there at 1:30. I see Ronnie pull up. I see Tony’s in the room already playing the guitar and getting a sound out of his rig or checking out his effects or doing whatever.
“It’s 1:30 – we’re not even starting yet.
“And that’s the way it’s always been – no one’s ever been late playing with those guys. And Dio [band], the same thing.
“Vivian [Campbell, guitar] is always on time. Jimmy [Bain, bass] not so much – Jimmy stumbles in a little late but we could deal with it.
“That’s what I mean by being on time because this is ridiculous – a waste of time. And everybody gets burned out.
“If you’re getting together at two and nobody’s there till three or four o’clock, you’re sitting around for an hour, an hour and a half, and you kind of get a little more burned out ’cause you’re waiting so long…
“Gene Simmons did a Rock Camp – I do a lot of Rock Fantasy Camps – and he said the same thing. He said, ‘I still feel blessed to be stepping on this stage.’ He was supposed to be at the Rock Camp at one o’clock or something, and he was there at 11.
“And then he showed his book of appointments that day, and there were all these things that started at six in the morning.
“He goes, ‘Look what I did today.’ It says, ‘Rock Camp – 2 PM.’ And he goes, ‘It’s 11:15 now, and I’m here.’ He’s early. So, he stressed the point of being on time, which was a really good point – of working together and not being somebody carrying your weight in the band.” Ultimate-Guitar transcribed his comments.
