Interview with Little Caesar Vocalist Ron Young
By Mick Michaels
Cosmick View: Hello! Welcome to The Cosmick View. Thanks for taking some time out of your day to speak with us. It's greatly appreciated.
CV:
For you, does having an album re-released, like “American Dream,” give you a new perspective on the material? Does
it give new context to the songs and their meaning?
Ron Young: It’s always nice to revisit our material. It
forces us to evaluate, process, and interpret songs…many of which get pushed to
the back of the “catalog” due to the fact that we have 8 albums of other material
in the bin. Recordings are moments in time. To revisit them allows us the
ability to refresh our take on a song with the new perspective a reissue
allows.
CV:
Do you consider these "re-packagings" as a way to breathe new life
into not only the back catalog, but the band itself as well?
RY: Most certainly! It gives us a kick in the butt to
work up songs we haven’t visited in awhile. It becomes invigorating and
motivational. So many full albums have tracks that see less of the “light of
day” on them and a repackage allows fans a way to possibly here tracks that had
less light put them during the “push” on an initial release.
CV:
Do you see new material emerging as a result of the success of the re-releases?
Can fans expect an all new Little Caesar
album coming sometime soon?
RY: For sure. We are currently working up new material
and now that all the drama and logistical difficulties of COVID subsiding, we
can put more focus and time on it all.
CV:
As a band and as an individual artist, do you feel trapped by past successes in
anyway, such as possibly making potential future projects more challenging to
do? Are there expectations always lurking in the shadows being an artist in
your opinion?
RY: We are fortunate in the fact that the band has
always been reverent to more “classically” based songwriting and production
values…meaning we were “dated” even when we first emerged LOL. That allows us
to continue to be true to the band’s roots which we never presented as either
breaking new ground or dependent on the bands competing with a sonic
presentation that might sound dated today. We are just a blues based Hard RnR
band. When we first emerged, that style was being replaced by more “pop” and
“glam” based Metal and RnR. It was our intention in the late 80’s and early
90’s to get back to that more 70’s based approach to our genre of music.
CV:
Do you believe that an artist's best days are always the ones that still lie
ahead of them or is there some truth in the practice of keeping the past alive
to avoid dealing with the future?
RY: I keep reading quotes and thoughts on this subject
that come from the icons of 80’s RnR saying that they don’t want to make new
music as it seems to fall on deaf ears. I think that bands always need to
create new work. I understand that for those classic artists, the costs of how
they make records is hard to justify when they don’t see it get recouped in
sales of their new work…but everything can’t be about commerce, it has to be
about expression.
CV:
Many people feel streaming services have robbed artists of a fair payday for
their music. Regardless of one's stance, streaming platforms have become a
necessary component to an artist’s overall audience awareness. Do
you see a way that these services can exist in a better capacity where the
compensation is genuine and the service itself is more than just a necessary
evil for artists and bands?
RY: Streaming has cut our sales revenue by 70%. It’s
definitely a problem for artists. But we are still “selling it door to door”. I
can see how many artists are angry at the lack of revenue that comes their way
to them from their distributors who have set up an inequitable business model.
I am hoping it becomes fairer to our side. But that being said, the freedom for
a band like us, for new fans to hear our music via digital streaming outlets,
that allows them to hear our music for the first time, hopefully opens up a
growing fan base.
CV:
As an artist, do you feel censorship ultimately robs future generations of an
expressive creative outlet? Can censorship in form actually work in your
opinion?
RY: Censorship is a terrible thing. We have a problem
with cancel culture right now. I give people more credit to vote with their
ears, eyes and minds so that we don’t have to let the snuffing and quelling of
the few angered individuals disallow the exposure to the masses of someone’s
thoughts, sounds and ideas.
CV: Thanks again for taking the time to share with our readers. We wish you all the best and continued success.
Check out Little Caesar at:
www.littlecaesar.net/
www.dekoentertainment.com
Video for “Dirty Water”: https://tinyurl.com/443rd2ec
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