Firehouse - CJ Snare

By Jim Hackett

RMS:  I just caught the show at the Mohegan Sun in CT.  You guys were amazing!
CJ:  Thanks Man!
 
RMS:  FireHouse has toured heavily around the world for 20 years.  Where haven’t you toured, that you would like to?
CJ:  Anywhere we haven’t played.  We have not played in Australia.  We really, really want to get to Australia.  I think it would be really easy because there’s no language barrier and that’s one continent we haven’t touched on yet.  Another place we’re working on for next year is China.  We’re supposed to get to Taiwan.  It would be cool to play in places like South Africa too.  We will go anywhere.  If there’s a crowd that wants to hear FireHouse music, we’re gonna turn it up and play!

RMS:  You’ve played arenas and clubs, which do you prefer?
CJ: Ya know, they are all fun.  The little tiny venues, let’s say like the Wolf Den, that’s really cool - the way the stage is set up.  You can move around differently, then you would on a 40x40 stage.  It’s kind of circular in the front, it’s a semi circle....

RMS:  It’s a lot different than a arena and you can get a lot closer and intimate with the fans.
CJ:  You were there.  I kinda of got off the stage and on to the booths and went out half way into the audience and jumped down into one of the booths.  I like doing stuff like that too, it’s very cool and has a good vibe too.
I don’t know if you’ve gone to my Facebook, I have some videos up there of the crowd in Russia and South Korea and there's a sea of faces all singing the words to our songs and sprinklers going off and and pyro.  That’s a whole other vibe.  So I really don’t prefer one over the other.  As long as there’s plenty of all of them.  What I don’t like is not working.  If I’m working and FireHouse is working, I know we're happy.

RMS:  You’ve been through a few bassists over the years.  How did you find Allen McKenzie?  What has he brought to the band?
CJ:  Al was referred to us by Tom Avitar.  At the particular time he was out performing with Jani Lane from Warrant, on his solo project.  We thought he was a great fit because of his vocal ability.  I mean if you come into FireHouse, you have to be able to sing very high above me, whether it’s falsetto or full voice.  He was able to fit that bill.  He’s a rock solid bass player, a one heck of a nice guy.  I think he’s brought back the the stability to FireHouse and the sense of comradely and everything.  We played our show the other night, which happened to be a local one for us, and the guys were all over here at the house.  It’s good to have that brotherhood, ya know?  And Al brings that too.

RMS:  You’ve been singing for over 20 years now.  How do you keep your voice in shape on the road before a show? 

CJ:  I’m a big fan of water, and I always try to warm up before a show.  There have been some exceptions, where sound check happens before they open the doors.  Then we have to do what they call a throw and go.  We throw our stuff up there and go, and then I can’t warm up so much, but that’s been very rare and I’m pretty diligent about it.  So that’s another thing, but I think some of it’s genetics too.

RMS:  How did FireHouse first get together?
CJ:  We were like bar bands, playing on the Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina circuit as cover bands, but we aspired to be more, and we were writing.  I was in the band with the original bass player Perry.  Our guitarist Bill, and our drummer Michael, were together in a band called White Heat.  Then we broke up and took their name.  We joined forces, but by the time we got to the record company, they were like there’s too many 'White' bands out there.  There’s Great White, White Snake and White Lion, we want you to change the name.  There were about 3000 names we couldn’t all agree upon and Michael suggested FireHouse, and it stuck.


RMS:  Have you ever thought of doing a solo disc or project?
CJ:  Absolutely.  I have actually written something that’s gonna fill the FireHouse fans needs.  It’s sort of heavy and progressive and still very, very melodic with an English guitar player named Chris Green.  He’s in a band called Furion and they are a really heavy band out of England.  He’s actually coming to my studio and we’re doing some tracks and get them up on I-Tunes, so you will be hearing some 'CJ Snare sans Firehouse' material.  It’s actually going to be CJ Snare and Chris Green.  Plus, I am also going to be doing some Christmas music, which I am getting up on I-Tunes as well, because we had a song out called "Christmas with You."
Also Neil Zaza (who was the guitarist who filled in for Bill, when we just over in Southeast Asia), we are starting to work on some adult contemporary kind of stuff.
So pretty soon you’re gonna get the Firehouse 20^thanniversary, a CJ Snare disc with Chris Green, a CJ Snare disc with Neil Zaza, and a CJ Snare with Christmas stuff.

RMS:  What is the best thing about being in FireHouse?
CJ:  To be able to make a living, making music, going around the world.  When we were in the room in the studio writing these songs, who would have know it would have such an impact on people all around the world and that it would have last at least 20 years?  That’s what’s good about being in FireHouse.