Richie Ramone talks Taylor Hawkins, Eilish; never expects another Zeppelin, Doors, Nirvana

CANTON — Small clubs like Buzzbin are where Richie Ramone enjoys hammering away at the drums and singing in his raspy growl while unleashing the punk rock fury of songs like "Smash You."

Crowds press up against the stage. Bass thumps, guitars blare. The former member of the legendary band the Ramones leans toward fans as they sing along to classic anthems like "Blitzkrieg Bop."

"That's what I prefer," the 65-year-old frontman said of clubs with the capacity for a few hundred fans. "I want the excitement of a small room.

"The energy is outstanding. I get people every night (who say it's) the best show I've seen in 20 years. It's like this show doesn't stop; it's full of energy. There's really no talking, and the band I have now is so good."

"The music isn't about me," he said. "It's not about us the band. It's about them; it's about entertaining our guests. The Ramones taught me that. Don't turn around and jam to the drummer and do all that silly stuff. Look at your fans."

Ramone is bringing that attitude and spirit to downtown Canton on Wednesday for a 9 p.m. show at Buzzbin, 331 Cleveland Ave. NW. Tickets are $15 and available at https://buzzbincanton.com under the website's calendar section. Tickets also will be sold at the door as long as they're available.

Ramone performs in Columbus at 9 p.m. Thursday at Skully's Music Diner, 1151 N. High St. Tickets are $10 and available at www.ticketweb.com.

Ramone's band features Clare Misstake, bass and vocals; Ronnie Simmons, guitar and vocals; and Chris Moye on drums.

A member of the Ramones from February 1983 through August 1987, he was the only drummer to be credited as a composer, writer and lead vocalist of a Ramones' song (six total).

Richie wasn't an original member of the band, which was formed in 1974 in New York City and inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

During the pandemic, Ramone began acting in independent films.

"I'm in a movie called ('Friday the 13th: Vengeance 2')," he said. "It's a fan film, and that should be coming out in two or three months. I have fights with Jason Vorhees ... and I don't want to tell you the whole thing, but that's real cool."

He's also working on a new album scheduled for release in 2023. Last month, he released the songs, "Not Afraid" and a cover of "Cry Little Sister."

"I try to top my albums each time, and this one is going to be probably the best of them all, because I'm really finding myself as an artist now," Ramone said.

"I am a singer now. I have the Ramones name, but I still don't have Joey Ramone singing ... so I am a new artist; it's taken time, and over the last 10 years, things have really been starting to happen."

For more information on the tour and Ramone's new music, visit https://www.richieramone.com.

During a phone interview on Monday, Ramone was gracious, conversational and passionate when reflecting on his tour, the legacy of the Ramones, his budding movie career, the death of Foo Fighters' drummer Taylor Hawkins and other topics.

The interview was edited for brevity and clarity.

The current rock music scene

"It's totally different, like rock and roll really isn't on the radio anymore, especially when you get into the music I play and stuff — it's not around. So the only way a kid growing up 10 years old whatever or 11, they either get into it through their parents who are Ramones fans (who) listen to that kind of music, or they're turned onto to it by someone in school, because they're not going to find it on the radio.

"They're just going to go the poppy, hip hop road, because every night I get dads or moms who come with their kids who may be 18, 20 years old now, and (they say), 'Yeah, my dad raised me on this kind of music,' so that's the only way that happens, so the audiences are dwindling, and you've got to remember that the Ramones, a lot of those people are in their seventies now, so they're not really going out to shows, so that's just what it is, except for Argentina and down there and these Latin communities. They're raised on this, it's a culture; the children ... when they're 3 years old, they're listening to the Ramones — it's really crazy down there."

The greatness of the Ramones

"The Ramones were extremely influential. They changed the sound of music in (1975), and people asked me how come that happened, why? Because No. 1, they were inventors, and, No. 2, they were good songwriters. And when you listen to a Ramones' song, they don't sound dated, even though they're from the 70s, 80s. They don't sound like a dated period like a lot of bands where you go, 'Oh, that's 1981 or something.' The Ramones are timeless."

The recent death of Foo Fighters' drummer Taylor Hawkins

"I've learned. Listen, I know how to party, and I've partied in the past, and I still do it, but I realize when you get older, you have to be careful, and some of these (late rock stars and icons) aren't. All of them have too many drugs in their system, and it's a shame, because what happens is maybe they're on anti-depressants.

"Artists, the really good ones, always have some deep, dark thing going on, which is there, but you need to know how to control that and not let yourself just go too crazy. And sometimes that's what happens, and it only takes one little second ... when you're not 25 and 30 anymore. I'm in my sixties; you got to be a little cautious about that and aware of that ... like, 'Whoa, ok, I'm not going to do that,' and just try to control your demons in a different way, because we all have them..."

"But Taylor, he was a great guy. I met him last at the CBGB premiere. Just a really nice guy, but it was just the wrong time, and boom, you do something wrong, pow, that's it, it's over – it can happen that quickly. He had 10 drugs in him at one time (according to a toxicology report); come on, you can't do that anymore – you can probably get away with that when you're younger.

"And that's how I've lost a lot of people. That's how we lost Dee Dee (Ramone). Dee Dee, my whole tenure in the band, he never did drugs, he never did heroin or none of that stuff, and then the one time he did it years later, your body isn't used to it, and boom, it's over. So it's a terrible thing; it's really sad to see this..."

What to expect at the Canton show.

"I have my stuff and stuff I wrote for the Ramones, and ... I have more rasp to (my voice), so I like to do the heavier stuff from the Ramones. I don't really do the sweet, poppy stuff because that's not me. I don't really know how to write a happy song. I've never really written a happy song. I'm more of a dark writer.

"... I play drums and sing some songs, but you can't front a whole show behind all that metal and wood (of a drum kit). There's no connection to the audience, so you've got to get out front ... and the band is just hot and hopping, and that's important, because without them, I'm just like an old guy singing a song on a stage."

Will there be another culturally-defining rock band like The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Guns N' Roses or Nirvana?

"It won't happen ever again. The times of '60s, '70s, music was changing every day. Now, it's just basically machines making music, and it's cheap for the couple of labels that are out there to make. I mean, they would spend like two weeks on getting Van Halen's drum sound just in the studio. They would spend hundreds of thousands and maybe $1 million in making a record.

"That doesn't happen anymore. Most of it's done at home. Billie Eilish made the record at home, and then they mix it in the studio. So it's all electronic and it's cheap to make... (Record labels) only want singles; they only want a hit that they can make money, so they'll be nothing like (those legendary mainstream rock bands) anymore – that's my opinion.

"Which isn't a bad thing; that's fine. I listen to all that stuff ... but these supergroups that come along in time, they'll never be that anymore; there's no more guitar heroes — none of that stuff."

New movie career

"I do these conventions, horror conventions or comic cons, where you sign autographs ... and this one director came, and (he wanted me) to be in this movie, which is called, 'Headcheese the Movie,' which is out now (on Amazon Prime Video), and I started with him. And these are like B-roll movies, where the audio isn't perfect. It's not blockbuster movies ...

"I play the king vampire, (in the 2022 movie Protége moi) who has all these women at his feet. They're chained to me, and I let them go, and it's like every man's fantasy. You don't have to do anything. If you want your nails done, you stick your hand out and they take care of you. They bring me girls to feed on and stuff like that, so it's very interesting."

Reach Ed at 330-580-8315 and ebalint@gannett.com

If you go

WHAT – Richie Ramone's punk rock band, with opening acts Public Nature and Leather Weather.

WHERE – Buzzbin, 331 Cleveland Ave. NW in downtown Canton.

WHEN – 9 p.m. Wednesday; doors open at 7 p.m.

TICKETS – $15 at https://buzzbincanton.com. Tickets also will be sold at the door while supplies last.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Richie Ramone talks Billie Eilish, Taylor Hawkins and future of rock