The new Dead Boys live record, Live in San Francisco is great! The sound quality is good and the performance is fantastic! What do you remember about that show? Peter Wolf did the introduction. I remember the place really well, the Old Waldorf. It was the first time we met the Avengers and the Nuns.

Wow! Peter Wolf! Did you all know the J. Geils band? No! We met him down there and we started talking. We invited them to the show and he came down and did the intro.

So, you were J.Geils fans? Yeah… We saw them open for the Alice Cooper band all the time.

I love Alice Cooper! I never made the A.C. D.B connection but it makes sense Before the Dead Boys, I was in a band that did all Alice Cooper band covers called Sarah blue. I knew all their shit. Glen Buxton was my favorite guitarist player. I ended up buying one of his guitars. That’s one of his guitars on “Aint’t It fun.” One of the roadies ended up breaking it, though.

Do you remember the specific Old Waldorf show at all? I can do overall take of the show. It was part of a West Coast tour. We just played the Starwood. We wanted to play the Mabuhay, so we ended bouncing back and forth between Mabuhay and Old Waldorf for a month.

What’s weird is that on the CD, Stiv says that he likes playing The Mabuhay, but the show is said to be at the Old Waldorf. Was that a joke on stage? It had to be a joke. Look, are we going to talk about the A.I. thing?

Sure! Uh… tell me what you want people to know about the whole A.I. controversy. I want equal time as Jake. It’s been a rough year for the Dead Boys. I was in the hospital in February, April and July, ya know. I wasn't able to play. I broke 10 bones in my spine back in July. I was in the hospital, so I was on a morphine drip. During that period, Jake was supposed to go and do vocals for the new record. First he recorded the vocals and then he saw the contract and saw “A.I.” and had a knee jerk reaction.

He said we couldn't use it and I said, “sorry, this is my band, motherfucker!” I don't just say no to something because I don’t understand it. We did a lot of research and the time to stop A.I. was back in 1990! Nobody should have ever bought a cellphone. It’s been a component in society for like 30 years! You can adapt and use it in legitimate ways. I don’t want to just fake someone’s performance. I can’t have that.

So, we did find one song called “you don’t really love me.” It’s Stiv’s last full song that sounds like a performance. It sounds like it’s a record. After that there’s nothing. We used A.I. to restore Stiv’s vocals. We didn’t cut or paste or edit it. We only used A.I. to restore it and put it in the mix so you can hear it. A.I. was the only way to pull out the recordings. we tried pro-tools and everything else and it didn't work. We actually used Kirk Winio, who was a friend of Stiv's to do it. We wouldn't let anyone else touch it, out of respect to Stiv. He was my brother.

We couldn't tell Jake because he is a loose cannon. Keeping secrets is not his forte. It was supposed to be a surprise for Record Store day.

Brian [of Cleopatra records] had an idea. Try restoring it and and if I like it, they would put it on a record. But, I didn’t even hear it because Brian didn’t even like it, so it didn’t come out. Cool, I dodged a bullet.

How do you feel about Jake right now? I don’t want to bash Jake. But, I’m pretty pissed off at Jake. If he quit drinking, I consider bringing him back. But I don’t want him back in the condition he is in.

When’s the last time you spoke to him? I spoke to him in a dressing room in San Francisco and it almost got physical- that was last Saturday night.

Are you hurt? Are you really angry? How are you feeling? I’m confused. I tried a lot to reach him and we had an untenable situation. If you put me in a corner and make demands, I say, “fuck you!” I was nice enough to ask him to join the band. I tried to avoid firing him.

Did he quit the band or was he fired? He says he quit but he was going to get fired.

What is the status of the Dead Boys as a band? Are you resilient? Are you in shambles? I feel like we are under attack. I feel happy that the other three guys decided to stay with me. It’s one of the best bands I’ve ever been in. I’m not a prick to work with, but I do want good work. Right now we are off until February. We've got a little time. We have gigs in April and we are booking shows. There are several things on the table. It’s going to be a busy year, the band is totally moving forward. With Jake, I just want this shit over.

There is the new Dead Boys record with you, Clem Burke, Glen Matlock, and James Williamson on the horizon I’m not happy that we are calling it a Dead Boys record. Cleopatra can call it Dead Boys or Cheetah Chrome- that’s their authority under the contract. To me, this is not a Dead Boys record. It’s a Cheetah Chrome, Clem Burke, Glen Matlock record. Everybody is so fucking good. This album we were in different studios. We weren't all in the same room. We had a good time. What a great bunch of musicians. Cleopatra put that together for me. I'm really happy with it. There’s no A.I on that at all. .All those guys are old friends of Stiv. Everybody else had no problem with the contract. Jake did not understand A.I.

So the new record is done? The one we are talking about is done. It’s being mixed. Then there is another Dead Boys in progress. That’s the first Dead Boys record in 40 years if you ask me. I don’t know when that will be finished..

Do you have an idea of who will be the new singer for Dead Boys? I haven't actively pursued another singer. I like to think about things before I do them. This all just happened over Thanksgiving.

If you saw Jake walking down the street, what would you say to him? If he was listening in a clear mind, I’d say lets go have a beer. But, if he’s not in a clear mind, I’d go to the other side of the street.

Is there anything else you’d like people to know? I’m a little pissed at my fans for turning on us so fast. I almost don't want to play for them, but I’ll get over it. I’ll get back there. I’ll be back in the spring and want to get out there then. Let me say this- talk to me before you start believing other shit.