It’s one of the most well-worn of clichés, but in the case of rock drummer/vocalist/songwriter Deen Castronovo, the clouds that his life was immersed in a few years ago have now parted to reveal a series of solid silver linings, proving that sincere contrition, a willingness to change and grow, and a relentlessly positive attitude can pay positive emotional, spiritual and even career dividends over the long haul.
Castronovo has sat behind drum kits backing up everyone from Ozzy Osbourne, Paul Rodgers, Geezer Butler, Fear Factory, to lengthier, more permanent stints with Bad English and for 17 years, 1980s hitmakers Journey. A well-publicised arrest saw him negotiate a plea bargain and receive four years probation. But more significantly, he received a stern and life changing wakeup call that has seen Castronovo dedicate his life to sobriety and to the important relationships in his life – both personal and professional.
The arrest cost him the lucrative and prestigious Journey gig, but he retained his position in The Revolution Saints, a project dreamed up by Frontiers Records owner Serafini Perugino that sees Castronovo pulling both drum and vocal duties alongside Night Ranger’s Jack Blades and axe master Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake, Dio). That band released its self titled debut in 2014 and a second album, Light in the Dark in 2017.
That was a redemptive album, one that saw him back behind the drum kit in a recording capacity. But not long after that album’s release, a second massive vein of that silver lining opened up as he was offered to be the new drummer for rock super group The Dead Daisies, replacing another veteran drummer Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, Foreigner). Not only would Castronovo be recording the band’s new album, Burn It Down, which was released earlier in the year (see our interview with vocalist John Corabi here: http://www.musiclifemagazine.net/corabi-stoked-about-new-dead-daisies-album-burn-it-down/), but he has also been out on tour with them – a tour that returns the band to North America later this summer, including a stop in Harris Park in London Aug. 23, in Toronto on Aug. 24 at The Phoenix Concert Theatre. They hit the Brass Monkey in Ottawa the next night, and then wrap up their Canadian dates in Montreal on Aug. 26 at Foufounes Electriques.
“It’s just so great to be able to play again. It’s been a while. And bro, especially for me now being clean and sober, it’s really kind of a huge thing to be firing on all cylinders. It’s a great thing to be back doing music. Its an important part of my life and my ongoing recovery,” Castronovo said from his home in California, not long after The Dead Daisies returned from a successful tour in Europe. They are back over in Europe and the U.K. until the end of July, before their North American run begins Aug. 15 in Cleveland,
“From what I was told it was actually Brian Tichy the former drummer. He was the one who suggested maybe they should get me. He thought it was a no brainer because I sing, I play drums and said they should call me. So, Doug [Aldrich, who serendipitously is also a member of The Dead Daisies] texted me and asked if I was interested in coming down to see them and I said of course.
“And it went pretty quickly from there. I met them over a Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and then I went home to learn the songs and by that Friday I was in recording the new album with them. It happened that fast, it was less than a week from joining the band to recording. It was funny because when Doug called he asked if I was available. I said yes, when? And he said ‘now.’”
It was the quality of the music and the exceptional professionalism and pedigree of the existing band members that led to such a quick and enthusiastic response from Castronovo. The Dead Daisies have elevated themselves above many other similar ‘supergroup’ projects in recent years, especially with their previous album, Make Some Noise, which came out in 2016 and saw the band become a bona fide concert phenomenon in Europe and other international markets. The live reputation of the band spawned the release of the Live and Louder CD/DVD last year which encouraged the band to keep the momentum rolling by hitting the studio as soon as possible with producer Marti Frederiksen to put together material for would be the acclaimed Burn It Down album.
“I love the music these guys make, number one. That’s a huge thing for me. And I love the guys. All these guys are really just solid, down to earth people, and that is important to me nowadays. Its hard to play with guys who are gruff and mean or whatever and who treat other band members poorly. It’s so nice to have everybody as one cohesive unit and be happy to be playing together and spending time together,” Castronovo said.
“All the guys I am working with in The Dead Daisies are great musicians and are great at what they do. Listen bro, you can do a gig for money, or you can do a gig for prestige or whatever. But I want to do a gig because I want to do it, because the guys are cool and it’s fun. That’s a big deal for me. I think that’s what drew me in big time, was the chemistry between the four other guys.
A veteran of the music scene, even before his lengthy tenure with Journey, Castronovo said having a prior connection to some of the current Daisies help make the decision to join the band an easy one and also made the transition and acclimation period pretty seamless.
“Marco [Mendoza, the band’s bassist] I have known for quite some time. I’ve done a couple of albums with him for Neal Schon because he had also worked with Neal. And of course, I have known Doug and worked with him on two Revolution Saints albums. The only ones I didn’t know were John Corabi [ex-Motley Crue] and [Dead Daisies founder] Dave Lowy but I got to know them pretty quick and they are great. John is hilarious, he will just keep you in stitches. John is like a brother now. He and I just hit it off, he’s a solid guy and we get along amazing. We hang a lot together and he is funny as hell. David is pretty quiet and reserved but he is definitely the boss,” he said.
“He has a great vision of what he wants for this band and that’s a huge part of this and it’s a great thing. So, it helped to know a couple of the guys; it helped a ton because obviously the pressure is off because you have a guy that has played with you and understands you as a player and that’s cool. Marco and Doug knew exactly what they were getting into when they hired me, and it worked out really well. The chemistry was perfect right from the get go. At this stage of the game I would take bullets for all these guys.”
Castronovo is a vocalist and writer as well and did do backing vocals on a number of songs on Burn It Down. And even though he came in too late in the game to contribute as a songwriter, he was given leeway to work out his own parts.
“As far as the arrangements, I kind of had free rein to do what I wanted to do as long as I played more for the song that trying to show off and be some crazy wild man. I knew what they were looking for and it fit in with my style, so I was able to jump right in,” he said.
“I think it’s just such an authentic band. When five guys are in there and they’re working and creating together it’s a really organic and special process. It’s just real, and I think that’s why people like the music so much. It’s all about the music, and that’s one of the things I really love about this thing, the musicianship is just stellar.”
The Revolution Saints is primarily a studio project, although a fun and rewarding one for Castronovo, Blades and Aldrich, and is more structured, with the bulk of the material written by the brilliant Alessandro Del Vecchio, Frontiers’ in-house songwriting maven and producer.
“With Dead Daisies we are given freer rein on the songs and how we approach the songs. With Revolution Saints most of the stuff was already written. We haven’t really written our own record yet, and that’s one of the things that we will do on another Revolution Saints records. All of us can write, so we want to do that because having the label write all the songs is nice, and they’re great songs, but it doesn’t really help us as a unit. And we are talking about doing another record, but it has to be right. As much as I loved doing the first two records, I don’t want to go back to that same format and process again, it would feel redundant, if you know what I mean,” he said, adding that he is excited about another Frontiers project that is about to be released, a collaboration with Johnny Gioeli, a former bandmate from the early 1990s band Hardline. Their album Set the World on Fire is set to be released July 13.
“I was asked by Frontiers if I could work with any singer, who would I want to work with and I said by far it would be Johnny Gioeli. I love his voice, I love the way he writes. He is great. And it was another situation where the chemistry was just right, and it works. And again, Alessandro did the bulk of the writing. He wrote the lyric and the music and I just wen in and sang them. But it was still great to work with Johnny again. We did Hardline together and that was a cool band back in the day. This time out it was so crazy effortless with him. I have been fortunate to have worked with some great people, and Johnny is one of those people.”
The almost gushing excitement Castronovo exudes for all of his musical projects is heartfelt and incredibly sincere. It comes from a place of deep gratitude and realizing that the hard work of staying on the straight and narrow path is worth it, when the rewards are so profoundly fulfilling.
“I am in a constant state of gratitude; I am perpetually grateful, every day. I am grateful to have my sobriety and my fiancé and my family. It’s just great to have everything back. And then the icing on the cake was to be able to play again. Everything else came back, and that was the last thing. And things are running smooth on that front. It’s been one day at a time. It is so nice to get out and play again. I am ready to go,” he said.
For more information on Castronovo and The Dead Daisies, including tour dates, visit https://thedeaddaisies.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
