Interview

[Editor's Note: We caught up with Michael Jahnz, Gary Richrath's former lead singer and rhythm
guitarist, during the Summerfest activities in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he was enjoying a variety of
bands over an 11 day extravaganza at the World's Largest Musical Festival in July. Michael granted this
exclusive interview to talk about his years with the Richrath band, his new CD called Project 3:13, and
what the future holds.]

Kathy Stover: It's great to talk with you, Michael! What were some of your early musical influences?

Michael Jahnz: REO, of course! In the 6th or 7th grade, my friends were listening to "You Get What You
Play For," and one of my favorite songs on that album -- that I listened to over and over again -- was "Like
You Do."That's where my appreciation of REO started.

K: What was it about that song that hooked you?

M: Gary's guitar! There were interesting "chirps"

in there that kept sticking with me. It's kinda ironic,

because he was able to make his guitar sound like

it was actually talking. That's how I first got into it.

K: A Peter Frampton-type of thing?

M: No - the actual "Gary Richrath chirp."

K: Why do you call it a "chirp?"

M: Because after playing with him for so many years,

I know what it sounds like. [Laughter.] It's a chirpy-

type of sound.

K: How does he get that effect?

M: From his pick, and the way he holds his guitar. It's actually a chirp with the pick, though. It's an
interesting combination that he's real good it.

K: I know you also play the guitar, but do you "chirp" as well? [Laughter.] When did you start?

M: When Gary forced me to. [Laughter.] I used to play bass for many years prior to Gary, with my old bands
in Milwaukee, and then when I moved out to Los Angeles. I actually had more of a Yes - style bass playing,
which is a little more than a standard kick-back bass. When I was seven years old, I accidentally cut my
finger off when a drum cymbal fell on my hand, so a lot of the nerves and tendons in my fingers are very
sensitive. Every time I actually tried playing guitar chords, it was really painful. Through the years I always
wanted to play the guitar, but it was easier to play bass, since the strings are thicker. No one ever pushed
me hard until I met Gary. He really pushed me, because he wanted me to be both a singer and a great rhythm
guitar player at the same time. I'm very grateful to him, because I learned a lot more about song writing just
by picking up the chords that we used. Gary really encouraged me, and I really wanted to do it. It was just a
lot easier with someone like Gary helping me. Because he took the time to encourage me to do it, it was very
satisfying to me, because that meant something. So I pushed harder to do it. By the time I got it down
better, my fingers got callouses on them and the nerves weren't as bad, even though it's touchy sometimes.

K: You were playing in a band before you joined Richrath?

M: Actually, when we first started playing together, we met Gary in Thousand Oaks, California. My original
band, Vancouver, moved from Milwaukee out to Los Angeles in 1985. We were more of a three piece band
where I did vocals, played bass and keyboards, and we also had a drummer and guitar player. We played
the circuit -- Gazaries, the Roxy, Whisky A-Go-Go, and all those places -- and we had a couple of record
company auditions. Before I went to L.A., I did a tour with Badfinger. Tony Kaye was with Badfinger at the
time, and he liked us and referred us to Atlantic Records. We then moved out to Los Angeles because he
was with Yes, and Atlantic had Yes. We did some things with them, and got close to a deal. At that time my
drummer, Tracy Martins, actually met Gary when he bought a house in Newberry Park, which is right next to
Thousand Oaks. Gary simply came into a convenience store one day when Tracy recognized him.
Obviously, since we were all from the Midwest, we were huge REO fans. When Gary saw Tracy's hair, he
said, "You must be in a band!" andTracy said, "Yep."

K: Gary could tell Tracy was a musician just by

the length of his hair? [Laughter]

M: Yeah! Gary then told him he lived in Thousand

Oaks, and they should get together sometime and

jam. Tracy thought, "Yeah, right. Gary's really

gonna do that." This was in early '89, when Gary

with still with REO.

K: Were you aware any split was happening?

M: No, I had no idea. But time went on. Later that year, during football season, we'd watch the Packer games
on satellite at a friend's house out in California that was originally from Milwaukee. We'd heard that Tracy
had met Gary, but we thought, "What's gonna happen with it? Nothing, right?" Well, I was at my friend's
house watching the Packer's game on satellite dish one Sunday afternoon, and Tracy called and said,
"Gary's at our house! You gotta come over here now, and jam!" And sure enough, Gary was over at our
studio, jammin'.

K: He just showed up?

M: Yep, he just showed up. So I went over there and started playing. He really liked my voice and how I
sounded, so after we were done, he asked me to come by his studio and do some demo's.

K: This was the very first time he met you?

M: Yeah, the very first time. So I went to his house that following week, and he showed me the demo's he
was working on with some of the members of REO. He was actually doing them with Bruce [Hall], Neal
[Doughty], and the drummer from Santana, Graham Lear. They had recorded some of his songs with another
singer at the time for MCA. He had these demos, and he first asked me if I would do some background
vocals. So, I did the background vocals, and he liked really them. I then worked on some other songs that
he had written over theyears from REO, and he asked me to do lead vocals.

K: These songs were never previously recorded?

M: They were already recorded, but he had his studio. He did some background vocals, he did some guitar
tracks,and then he overdubbed my background vocals on them. Then he said, "Let's try you on one of the
lead vocals." I said, "OK, fine" and he loved it. We did another one, then another one. In the meantime,
months had gone by, and I believe that's when the split happened with REO. At that time, I was just happy
to be working with Gary. Things eventually didn't work out for Gary with the band, so he asked me if I
would be his singer.

K: This was right after the break up?

M: Well, it must have been in '89-'90.

K: So, Gary wanted to go right back out and start making

music again?

M: Well, at first, I think Gary was very confused. After awhile,

REO's Management started to tell Gary he needed to find a

different kind of singer than me, someone with more of a raspier

voice.

K: At that point, what were you thinking?

M: At that point, I pretty much thought I was SOL, and that I wasn't going to be playing with him. So, I just
took things day by day. He finally called me up later and said he was going to do what he wanted to do, and
he would rather play with me than some other singer he really wasn't happy with. So he asked me to come
back. At the time, this other singer had laid down some more tracks, but Gary asked me to sing over the top
of them. So that's pretty much where that stood. We needed to get a band together by that time.

K: So it was just you & Gary?

M: Yes, and then Gary wanted to know if I knew any people. I told him my drummer Tracy was interested,
and Tracy really wanted the gig. And then we got our bass player, Jim Sorensen, who was out in Thousand
Oaks and actually doing some work for us on the side. So it was a four piece thing, because in the meantime,
I started playing guitar. But we did some studio work here and there. I remember we first did the song,
"Holly Would."

K: Didn't Gary have a recording studio at his ranch?

M: Right, but we also went to another recording studio in Westlake. Neal [Doughty] actually came and did
some tracks, and we started doing "Outlaws." Bruce [Hall] came out to his house at the ranch, and played
on the original "Outlaws" and "Holly Would." Those were some of the first things we did as a band, once
we solidified that Gary and I were working together.

K: All of this was done without any written contracts?

M: No, nothing! We were just trying to have fun.

K: A couple of guys getting together and having fun jammin'?

M: Right. A couple of months had gone by since all this stuff was happening. Kevin Cronin was pursuing a
solo deal, which didn't work out. Gary thought he might be able to get a deal with the rest of the band
members with MCA. I think they were trying to get hooked up because Irving Azhoff was with MCA. But,
whatever the situation was, they decided it wasn't right for them. Gary was disappointed, and so were we,
but he and I decided we would just go out and start playing.

K: Without a record deal?

M: Right, without a record deal. We thought we'd just go out and play. Gary said that was basically how he
did it in the early days of REO - they just went out and played and played and played! And then they got
the popularity groove. Obviously, he knew what he was talking about, so we followed his advice.
Eventually, through Baruck Consolo, we got hooked up with In Tune Talent out of Hollywood. At the time,
they were booking another band called "Love Hate" that Baruck Consolo also managed. So we hooked up
with them, and they got us shows. Then, it was non-stop concerts. It kept happening, and we went out
there. We were playing everywhere.

K: Primarily along the West Coast?

M: Everywhere! We started out on the West Coast, then we went up to Canada, then all the way over, until
we hit the Midwest. Everyone started hearing that Gary was out on his own. This must have been through
the end of '90 into '91. By that time, we were playing so much, it was just unbelievable. We played
constantly. We were out on the road constantly. And people kept asking us if we had a record out, so we
thought we'd better try to get a recording contract. In Tune Talent took over management and our booking
agents - the business side. And they tried to get us hooked up with a couple different labels. Crescendo
was one of the labels that gave us an offer. It was an independent deal, which gave us a lot of control over
our own material, so we figured, "What the heck, we'll go for it." So we went ahead, in the middle of '91, and
we recorded the Richrath CD.

K: Did Gary pick the title of the Richrath CD, "Only the Strong Survive?"

M: Yes. Gary felt he wasn't going to give in. And that's when a lot of the conflict started. We were playing a
lot, and inevitably REO would play in some of the same cities. And some people felt there was conflict. But
we went ahead and put the CD out, and wanted to get out and play as much as we could. The CD came out
in '92.

K: You collaborated with Gary quite a bit, but some of the songs were entirely yours. How did you decide
what went on that CD?

M: I had a lot of songs I had been working on before. Then, when we started working in Gary's studio, we
had quite a few songs - songs he did before, and songs he had through the years he was going to do with
REO, and songs that the other guys didn't seem to like, so he had them tucked away. He brought a lot of
them to my attention, and I said, "Let's try 'em. Let's go with 'em!" So, we worked some of the songs up. We
actually recorded, I believe, 17 songs for the Richrath CD, and 13 came out. And there's that 13 again
[Laughter.]

K: Yes, and we're going to talk about your lucky numbers! [Laughter.] But, did Gary have the ultimate
discretion what went on the CD?

M: Gary was never like that. Gary was pretty much open to whatever would work. We had more of a band
discussion about it. Obviously, it was his name, and his popularity that got us to do what we were doing.
We told him, "Go with what you think works." Since we were doing a lot of his hits before, that's why "Only
the Strong Survive" is on there. And he really liked that song, so we put that as the title, and it turned out to
be the whole theme of the CD.

K: "In Your Letter" was also on there.

M: He really loved that song, too. That was another one of his favorite songs through the years. It wasn't a
mega-single like "Take It On the Run," but it still was a great song. He thought about doing "Take It On the
Run," but changed his mind. He only wanted to put one, actually two, of his songs from before, and didn't
wantto go too crazy. So he settled for that. Continued next page