Interview by DJ
Photos Credit: Robert Cavuoto, Robert Sutton, Adrian Hextall
After decades in Los Angeles, legendary rocker Ricky Warwick is planning a return to his Irish roots. But first, he’s got a scorching new solo album to unleash. The former Almighty frontman and Black Star Riders singer opens up about sobriety, songwriting, and staying true to rock & roll’s soul.
From his early days with New Model Army to fronting The Almighty and Black Star Riders, Ricky Warwick has built a career on authenticity and raw passion. Now, with his latest solo album “Blood Ties” on the horizon, the veteran rocker reflects on his journey while looking ahead to new horizons.
MGM: Before we get into the music and stuff, I wanted to ask you because I knew you lived in California LA for a while, right?
Ricky: I’ve been here 20 years this year, but we recently just bought a house back in Ireland. I’m spending more and more time back there. I just got back from there about a week ago. We were all over for Christmas and New Year and eventually probably within the next year or two, I’ll move back to Ireland permanently.
MGM: I was going to ask how your house, your family is doing with all the wildfires wrecking havoc over there…
Ricky: Thanks man. We’re lucky. We’re good. We’re okay. All around us is just complete travesty and chaos – so sad. We’re about two, three miles from Pacific Palisades, which has been completely destroyed. We’re in Beverly Hills, we’re in the lucky areas, but it came really close and it still might come in. The winds are picking up tonight, but so far so good. The air is just horrible. You just get… It’s just horrible. I really feel, but we’re lucky. We’re okay. We’re the lucky ones. So many people aren’t, you know, it’s just terrible.
MGM: Right. Yeah, I sympathize. I’ve been keeping tabs on it. Obviously, I mean, how can you not? Whole communities are being just burned away.
Ricky: Completely. It’s like an atomic bomb’s gone off in some of these neighborhoods. The desolation and just the complete destruction is just unfathomable. It’s crazy, crazy stuff. Very sad.
MGM: Yeah. Hopefully, the weather will turn for the best here this week and the winds are what causes a lot of this stuff and makes it worse and spread.
Ricky: I hope so, man. I hope it drops and if we could get a bit of rain, that would be great as well.
MGM: Yeah. Absolutely. That’s what I wanted to ask you about because that is your livelihood. I mean, you lose your home, you lose everything – everything you work for your whole life.
Ricky: Yeah, absolutely. We’ve been here a long time and yeah, it’s worrying.
MGM: Right. Well, I’m praying for you and your family and hopefully everybody makes it through. You mentioned moving to Northern Ireland, which is part of your past, obviously, where you’re from. Let’s get into that because fans who read our work and we’ve been around a long time, the magazine, but they don’t know your work, your solo work, your work with Black Star Riders, when you were with Thin Lizzy, tons of work you’ve done, The Almighty, picking up of a lot of steam over there when we spoke to you in October our UK brass over there. The question was brought up – are there going to be any more dates and all that stuff? Will get into that later, but you’re a busy guy. You’ve done a lot of stuff in the industry since the 80s. So let’s kind of go back to where it all started, right? In Northern Ireland, kind of where it all started for you, how you got into the music scene.
Ricky: Wow. Okay. Well, it didn’t really start for me – I left Northern Ireland when I was 14 and moved to Scotland. That’s where I met Stump and Floyd, who I’d later go on to be in The Almighty with. We started playing together pretty much as soon as I got off the boat. We were in various high school bands, changing the name every week, changing the styles every week. But finally, when we were in our early 20s, we formed The Almighty and things just took off from there. But prior to that, I got a gig playing rhythm guitar for New Model Army and I got to do a world tour with them in 1987. That was fantastic for me just to see the world and get a taste of what rock and roll was like. Either I was going to fall in love with it or hate it and go back to the farm, which I grew up on. Thankfully I fell in love with it completely and it just made me want more. So I formed The Almighty and that was it.
MGM: Right. And I was going to ask you about New Model Army. How did that happen for you?
Ricky: Basically, I was in a punk band. We did a demo and the demo got to New Model Army’s management. They really liked the demo. They paid for us to do some more demos. They gave the band some shows with New Model Army. And Justin, the lead singer knew I was a fan and he wanted an extra guitar on a couple of tracks. He said, “When you’ve done your set, will you jump up with us and play guitar on these tracks?” He knew I knew the stuff and I would be honored. They were one of my favorite bands. Did that for a few shows, didn’t really think anything else about it. Phone goes about a month later and Justin goes, “Look, we’re going on a world tour. We need a guitar player. It’s yours if you want it.” And I was like, “Okay, where do I sign up? Let’s go.” That was it. The first shows were in Germany. I think the second show I ever played with them was opening for David Bowie on the Glass Spider Tour in front of 85,000 people in Berlin.
MGM: Wow.
Ricky: Which was my second show with New Model Army. I’d literally gone from the farm the week before to that within a space of a week.
MGM: You had to be nervous, right? I mean, a little bit.
Ricky: Oh, terrified. Absolutely terrified. But just couldn’t believe it. It’s a dream come true. Not only playing guitar in a band that I love and am a huge fan of, but being a complete Bowie nut as well, to open for the great man and then to be in Berlin… The main stage was set right in front of the Reichstag. The wall was still up. The wall used to run behind the back of the Reichstag and you could hear people on the East listening to the concert – they were up against the wall listening to it. It was a really powerful experience. One that I’ll never forget.
MGM: Wow, that’s amazing. That’s a great story. See, if you know that that’s a great story, I wouldn’t even think about that, but the time frame fits right.
Ricky: Yeah, that’s when it all started. I toured with them for about just over a year and it was great. Then they wanted to go into the studio and keep the nucleus of what they had for writing. So they said, “You got six months off.” And I said, “Look, this has been amazing. I’ve loved being part of this, but I want to do my own thing and I have an idea for a band and I want to see if I can get that up and running.” And that was The Almighty. So I went back to Scotland, called up Stump and Floyd and said, “Look, I have this idea for this band. You might think I’m crazy, you might not, but I think we got a shot.” They were great. Fair play to them, they bought into it and we started rehearsing. Things just happened really quickly. Within a year we were signed to Universal to Polydor Universal and we were off to the races, as you say.
MGM: Yeah. It’s funny, I was listening to your promo for the new solo record when I got it this past week. That got me into listening to the Almighty stuff just because I’ve been listening to a lot of The Almighty stuff last year. Some of it’s been re-released or different deluxe editions that were sent to the media. I started following your career with your solo work and then with Black Star Riders and then Thin Lizzy. I didn’t go back as far as The Almighty yet when I started listening to your music. So I had to catch up on a lot of that stuff. But when I went back and listened to those records, The Almighty records, there’s some great stuff. I mean, this is some killer hard rock.
Ricky: Thank you.
MGM: I don’t know if fans in North America are necessarily as familiar with The Almighty as they are in Europe. Because you guys were breaking all kinds of ground over there during that era from my recollection of what I’ve read and seen and your history. But if you have not checked out The Almighty, I want everybody to go and check out that stuff because there’s so much great music there. You’re known as a prolific writer on top of that. You said in the interview with us in October, Mark Lacy, who’s a journalist who does stuff for us in the UK, asked about something you said about the current state of the music scene. It’s just very – I’m using the word synthetic, but that’s not what you used – it’s very formulaic music nowadays, right? You were saying you pointed to The Almighty and said, “We’re these old geezers who can come out and just go out there and play. And it still sounds like it did 30 years ago.”
Ricky: There’s way too many shortcuts now that kids and people can take and anybody can make a record. There’s no filter. There’s no learning your craft or really learning an instrument or learning the craft of writing songs or learning to play with other people. I think a lot of that has been replaced by technology. And I don’t care how good you say technology is going to be or is going to be. We know it’s coming. You can’t replace soul. You can’t replace the human spirit. And for me, a lot of records just sound the same. It’s the same production, same plugins. It’s the same auto tune. It’s the same formula. It just sounds the fucking same and it’s bland and rock and roll was never, ever meant to be that. Never. It was all about taking risks. It was all about playing from your heart, from the soul, from your gut, interacting with people, grooving off people, getting a vibe going, learning your craft. And to me, that’s what it’s about. Yeah, some of the stuff’s great and it saves time in the studio and I get it and I’m guilty of it as the next person. But what I’m not guilty of is not standing there singing and actually playing the whole way through the song. I don’t use auto tune. I sing it till I get it right. And that’s something that Keith Nelson from Buck Cherry and I are very passionate about on the new records in the last few years. It has to be real. All the gear we use is vintage and all the stuff is the real deal. And that, to me, that’s why it has soul.
MGM: Right. Well, you said it best. The reviews from over there when The Almighty played earlier in the year, some of the dates over there in England and London and other places were great. Adrian our UK Editor, who does our shows, takes pictures, does reviews – he was there at that show and he said the guys sounded amazing. And it’s hard to get that feel for a live band.
Ricky: We didn’t change anything. To get together after 30 years and step into rehearsal room with the original lineup and just play – we didn’t stop. Nobody stopped. Nobody fucked up. We didn’t look at each other. We played the first song the whole way through and it was like 30 years never happened because all the guys are great players and that never leaves you. The fact that The Almighty can still go out and play to 2000 people a night after all this time is a testimony to the band and what it means to people, and what it means to us personally. It obviously means a heck of a lot to a lot of people. And that’s just a wonderful thing that after all this time, people still love the band as much as they do.
MGM: Right. Absolutely. And I don’t want to take all the time on The Almighty, but I feel it does deserve time because there’s just ton of great music there. Some of the questions were open-ended in October when we talked to you over there about possible new music, more dates. I know all the guys are busy doing other things. You’re busy all the time too.
Ricky: Well, we’re doing it because we want to, not because we have to. And that’s the big difference. We’re not doing it because we’re broke. We’re not doing it because we need to put out a record. We’re doing it because we want to because we’re enjoying it and it’s fun. And we’re very conscious that as soon as we start going in the studio or saying “Let’s go out on the road for six months,” suddenly the dynamic changes, we may be back to where we were 30 years ago arguing and fighting. And right now we’re not. Right now we’re getting on great. We’re really enjoying it and it’s a lot of fun. And we love playing the songs. So it’s just, let’s take it one step at a time. If you’d asked me five, six years ago if the band would get back together, I’d probably said not a chance. But here we are. So if you say to me, “Is there going to be new music?” it would be really crass of me to turn around and say, “Well, this is not going to happen because it could.” Yeah. It could.
MGM: Yeah. And you know, Damon said the same thing when I talked to him about the Brother Cane reunion stuff that they did, which again, he said a lot of the things that you’re saying in terms of soul and kind of the essence of some of these bands that people, in my opinion, both your band, The Almighty and his band should have been a lot bigger honestly because they were making great music in that era. And for whatever the reason, things probably beyond not your control or anybody else’s control, it didn’t work out.
Ricky: Yeah, it just happens. We tried, we just didn’t get a real shot at America with The Almighty, which is unfortunate. A lot of things conspired against us. I can sit here and blame this, that and the other. It just didn’t happen. And it’s a shame. But thankfully, we got to be very successful in the UK and Europe and the Far East. And that’s great. So I’m not going to sit here and bitch and moan. It would have been lovely that I think the band could have done really well in America. But for whatever reason, it didn’t happen.
MGM: Yeah. I mean, it happens. But at the end of the day, the legacy is there and to still sound the way you guys do, obviously, there’s still a lot of chemistry left there. So that’s a good thing, right? For fans.
Ricky: Yeah, absolutely. 100%.
MGM: Let’s get into the new record, Blood Ties. You’re prolific for songwriting, you have a bunch of solo records and they’re all great from the acoustic stuff to other studio stuff that you do. And that’s a big part of when you got back into the music scene. I know that years ago, you thought about giving it up at one point. And you came back with your solo stuff and it’s been something that’s carried you over to these other ventures like Black Star Riders and Thin Lizzy. So talk about the new record that’s not out till March, but there’s a lot of really great artists on this one. Lita Ford and you mentioned Buck Cherry, your buddy Billy Duffy. So Charlie Starr as well, right? He plays as well.
Ricky: Yeah, there’s a lot of really great musicians on here. But it still sounds like me. They’re great musicians that are friends, and that’s amazing. I mean, I’m a fan of all these individuals as artists, but I can call them friends as well, which is just amazing. And the great thing about doing a solo record is the narcissism that comes with it because it’s you and you can do what you want. You don’t have to have a democracy of like, “Hey, what do you guys think?” I’m in bands where I get to do that and that’s okay. It’s great where there’s three or four other guys where you go, what do you think? But I love the freedom of just getting in the studio. It’s me and Keith and just doing what the hell we want to do. And if that means calling Billy Duffy and seeing if he’ll come down and play on a few tracks, then we’ll do that and thankfully Billy will come and play. That’s the beauty of it. And it’s a real buzz for me. And it’s the freedom that it gives me doing a solo record. I love it.
MGM: Yeah, absolutely. I was going to ask you about – so is it true that you and Billy were in a band years ago together?
Ricky: Billy and I played in a band called Circus Diablo for a little while. We made one record way back in 2007. It came out with myself, Billy Morrison, Billy Duffy and Brett Scallions from Fuel. That was the band. We did a few shows, but the record came out and it’s a good record. It’s a really good record. You should check it out. But I’ve known Billy – I go way back to the early 90s with Billy from when I was living in London and The Almighty was starting. And we were huge Cult fans. And I remember Billy and Ian coming down to the Marquee club in London to check us out and just being so excited that they were taking the time to come and see The Almighty play. And we’ve been friends ever since. Billy’s great. He sort of moves between UK and the States, but when he’s here in LA, we hang out.
MGM: Excellent. And his guitar work is very authentic.
Ricky: He’s great. What was great about Billy is that when he played on the record, he turned up. He didn’t bring a guitar, he didn’t bring an amp. And we handed him a Les Paul and we had a couple of amps in the studio and we just said, “Hey, which one?” And he said, “I’ll use that one.” But the minute the guitar was in his hands, he started playing it just sounded like Billy Duffy. It’s in the hands, you know, and the way you play. And he was great. And Billy’s just so cool and laid back and he played on two or three tracks and they’re all amazing.
MGM: So one of the songs, “Don’t Sell Your Soul to Fall in Love.” That’s one of the songs with Billy.
Ricky: Yeah.
MGM: And “The Hell of Me and You” – both great songs. And you can say, “It’s very iconic on guitar playing.” It’s just the way he picks the guitar, right? The strings.
Ricky: That’s his own, as we all know, he’s got that unique Billy Duffy guitar sound. And as soon as you hear, it’s like a singer, as soon as you hear a certain singer say, “You know it’s that singer.” Billy’s like that with the guitar. As soon as Billy starts playing guitar, that’s Billy Duffy.
MGM: What about the Lita Ford collab, “Don’t Leave Me in the Dark”?
Ricky: Oh man, that was just awesome how that came about. That was one of the first songs that was written for the record. Keith and I demoed it about four or five years ago. And we were just sort of sitting on it. And the more I sort of listened to the demo, I sort of thought, you know, this should be a duet. This sounds like a male/female duet vibe going on. But I wanted a real kind of gritty rock and roll female singer like Lita Ford. I’m a huge fan of the Runaways. And I wanted like a Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Chrissie Hynde, you know, that kind of real meaningful personality in the voice, the real deal.
So purely by chance, my management picked up Lita Ford to manage. And I was like, “Ah, I have this song.” So the manager sent the song to Lita. And Lita loved it. And she just said, “I’m in 100%.” And she came down to the studio and knocked it out of the park. And then I said, “Look, I’m going to make a video for this. I’d love you to be in the video.” And she said, “Absolutely, no problem.” And that was amazing. And I said, “Hey, will you bring your original hammer guitar that you used in the Runaways?” She said, “Absolutely.” And I can’t say enough good things about Lita. She’s just fantastic in every respect. Like her work ethic. And she’s the real deal. And it was wonderful getting to work with her. And a dream come true for me to have her on there. And she just sounds amazing.
MGM: Yeah, she does. It’s a great song. I liked the video as well when it came out. That was cool. It’s funny you mentioned the Runaways. Today we just published an interview with former Runaway singer, Cherie Currie. She had some interesting things to say about the Runaways, which is kind of interesting with the whole Lita Ford thing.
Ricky: Yeah, well, you know, they were a hell of a band. And there’s a lot of history there. And again, a band that probably should have been way bigger than they were. But they’re definitely done in rock and roll culture. They left a mark.
MGM: That’s right. Absolutely. That was one of the stuff that we talked about with her. They still, I mean, they sounded great for the time. They were kind of revolutionary when they were making music. But that’s cool. That’s a cool story with Lita. I’m glad that worked out. It’s one of the better songs. I mean, the whole record is good. I was going to ask you about this specific song because it didn’t matter how far you get away, man. Your voice, you know, is your voice, right? So whether you were doing the Thin Lizzy gig, before Black Star Riders, or even your solo stuff. And I know you probably mentioned it before. Like, it’s just you singing. I mean, you’re not trying to imitate anybody.
Ricky: Well, you know, I obviously wrote most of the Black Star Riders stuff. And the difference with this record was with Black Star Riders kind of being on a hiatus right now. I didn’t have to hold anything back. So everything I was writing, I write something, I kind of go, “Oh, hang on a minute. I need to keep that for Black Star Riders.” So with this going into the solo record with the Black Star Riders being on hiatus, I didn’t need to hold any ideas back. I was like, this is all going on the solo record. So again, talking back to what we talked about earlier, the freedom to do that was the first time I really had that. Making a solo record when out with Black Star Riders. So all the recent ideas I could just go, “Hey, these are all going on the solo record.” That was really liberating to be able to do that.
Place of Origin: Ireland
Album Title: Blood Ties
Album Release Date: March 14, 2025
Record Label: Earache Records
Genre: Rock
For Fans Of: Black Star Riders, Wayward Sons, Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons
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