David “Rock” Feinstein and his veteran cohorts in The Rods have been a part of true American metal since it had training wheels on. In the 80’s they were one of the best bands on the scene and shared the stage with Metallica, Maiden, Ozzy…you name it! Feinstein was even playing amazing music at the inception of metal itself when he played in the mischievous, bluesy (and totally classic) Elf with his cousin Ronnie James Dio.
The band is another group like Anvil who meant the world to real metal heads but never got a big enough due. Go back and crank WILD DOGS or any of their material and it will blast the wax out of your skull!

After many, many years The Rods are back with the fully righteous VENGEANCE (Niji Entertainment Group), showing the young pups how it is done. Carl Canedy is a famed producer and the whole band know just what they want…classic heavy metal/rock n’ roll that makes you rowdy and feeling great to be alive. VENGEANCE is one of the very best straight up metal/hard rock records released in recent years and deserves all the accolades it has been getting (and more). “Livin’ outside The Law” and especially “Rebel’s Highway” are seriously great sing-alongs with true grit you can’t fake. “The Code” is also incredibly special as it features an amazing lead vocal cameo by the late-Dio (one of the last songs he ever recorded). Inspired by the topics discussed in THE DAVINCI CODE, “The Code” will give you goosebumps if you are a true metal fan.

I was honored to tall to David “Rock” Feinstein about The Rods’ triumphant return.

MORGAN Y. EVANS: It’s so great to hear VENGEANCE. You did your solo record but this Rods record is great too. It has a classic feel but is also current.

DAVID “Rock” FEINSTEIN: It feels great. The Rods never really broke up on bad terms or anything like that. We stopped playing because it got to the point where we needed to do different things. We got such a huge response from our reunion shows and it felt so great to play together. It was like we never stopped. It’s a natural thing for us three guys to play together. It felt really good. We decided we’d continue to do it around our schedules and everything. We decided over a period of time to put a new album together. We hadn’t recorded together in so long but we got a lot of response from fans all over the world. Now, all of a sudden 25 years later with the Internet we know where our fan base is and we hear from people all over the world! “I’ve got all the vinyl. Everything.” Wow! It’s amazing. We never realized what a fan base we had. It felt really good after all the time we spent to finally get the album completed. It was weird for us because we didn’t know how the album was going to be received by the fans and by the media because…it had been so long.

MYE: It must feel great to get the positive response.

DF: Yeah. The thing is…The Rods have an identity. It wasn’t that we went in and tried to sound like we did back in ’82. We just did the music and wrote the songs that we normally would do and that’s just the way it comes out. When I listen to the end product I am really happy with it. It’s hard to be objective when you’re the artist. You never know what the fans or media are gonna think of it. I’m happy with the way it came out. It feels really great after all these years to have a new album out.

MYE: There’s a great sound to it that sounds like The Rods, but it sounds modern. I also love the Krokus album that came out last year, HOODOO. You both found a way on your recent records’ to have a classic appeal and still have modern production and great, big sounds. “Rebel’s Highway” really kicks ass and appeals to fans of real metal.

DF: Thanks. I agree.

MYE: What were some of the best parts if writing VENGEANCE?

DF: Even back in the day Carl (Canedy-Drums) would write songs and I would write songs. We’d rarely collaborate together. That’s just the way it was. He’s an avid songwriter and so am I. We’d go to rehearsal and I’d have a song or he would and we’d try it. The one song we did collaborate on this album was the song called “Vengeance”. I wasn’t happy with it but Carl had an idea for a song lyrically called “Vengeance” and the lyrics fit really well with the track I had. The songwriting for the record was pretty much the same as we did back in the day…as a trio. We put it together. A lot of people like the song “Vengeance”.

MYE: What’s the meaning behind the name? Returning with a vengeance? Are you mad about something and want revenge (laughing)?

DF: Nothing in a negative way. We had some rough times back in the day. Nothing in the band, but within the music business. That’s what soured the band. The actual members of the band get taken advantage of by people in the business. Managers, labels, promoters. If it wasn’t for us…we’re the artist and are at the bottom of the food chain. I guess you could say there is a vengeance to come back but it’s in a good way. The band has always been a party band and close to the fans…part of the fan base! The most important thing is for us to have a good time and the audience to have a good time in turn. That’s the main thing.

MYE: You have good karma and the band is still tough and rock n roll. The Rods aren’t fake and write from a real place. You still have the party songs that kick ass.

DF: If you see us live we have just as much energy or more than we did back in the day. It just comes naturally to us.

MYE: What are you proudest of with VENGEANCE? How does it feel to have people still responding so well to The Rods or even the stuff you did with Elf?

DF: Each record is different, y’know? The other day I was asked what my favorite Rods record was. Every one is different and has a little bit of a story to me. They all have “The Identity”. The successful bands in the business are the bands that have the identity. You hear ZZ Top or Hendrix or AC/DC and you know it is them. When you have an identity and it sounds like you, that’s important. You can’t create that; it just comes from the heart. The sound. Within. For me, it would be impossible to play something other than how I would play it. That’s what’s important when it comes to any band.

MYE: Why fake your music? I love honest bands like for example the great new band Destrophy, because if you meet them they are so for real about why they do what they do and what they play.

DF: Either people will like it or not like it but do what you like. If nobody likes it, it doesn’t really matter as long as you like it. If nobody else likes it…too bad. If you do something that you like and other people like it, that’s a bonus. You made something that makes you happy and others happy. It’s a bonus.

MYE: I’m glad to hear you say that. You are feeling it and it is honest. I wanted to ask you…I was lucky enough to reach Ronnie (James Dio) a few years back at the Viper Room in L.A. and he signed my jacket. He was one of my biggest heroes. How does it feel to have had things come together and have him appear on “The Code” and have things work out with VENGEANCE and Wendy and everything? It is full circle in a way and is kind of trippy in a good way that you released this music together. And what kick ass songwriting!

DF: I feel fortunate. We’d talked about an Elf reunion or something Dio related or him singing a song on a solo album of mine or a Rods tune. We’d wanted to do something for years. Logistically it was difficult ‘cuz he lived in California and I lived in New York. His schedule was very demanding and there wasn’t much time to work on a project. Before he had taken ill, about three years ago he was coming back home here quite often. One time he was home we was gonna be in town an extra day or two and said,”I’m gonna be in town an extra day or two. I could sing a couple songs!” I said,”That’d be great.” As it turned out I had just written “Metal Will Never Die” and we chose that song and “The Code” for him to sing. Ronnie came up and heard the demos and did a world class job on both the songs. That was three years ago and we put the songs on the shelf. Then I started working on my solo album last year and put “Metal Will Never Die” on it. We put “The Code” on the new Rods record. I went out to visit Ronnie when he got diagnosed with the cancer and he said “Why don’t you bring the record out and we’ll master it together?”. He introduced me to the engineer at the studio he knew out there and we mastered it together. Then the tragic had to happen. What it does it make “Metal Will Never Die” become the most important song I’ve ever written and part of Ronnie’s legacy. We feel it is a tribute to him and are really honored to have him had come to sing on the two songs. It is just sad the tragedy happened. He looked forward to so many other things and we really wish he had been here for this. I know he was working on a MAGICA 2 album and we’d planned to do a new Elf album. There was a lot to be done. Ronnie had a lot to give the world as a person and artist and it got cut short by the tragedy. I’m just really glad we got to do something together.

MYE: His later career was so strong. Just as powerful as anything he ever did. The Heaven and Hell Radio City DVD or the songs with you. It’s so true what you said about being yourself as an artist and you and Ronnie are great role models like that. You really inspire me. I’m very glad I’ve gotten to talk to you and you are so committed to music…so, thank you.

DF: Ronnie treated people well and was the best singer in the world. He could sing anything and make it great. He sang from the heart and with a lot of feeling. He made any story he was telling believable because of the way he sang it. Ronnie had that something about him that made him different from the pack. He had a LOT of feeling and was an honest person about it.

MYE: Could you share some stories about moments from The Rods career that were great memories? New or older?

DF: There are a million things. We went through a lot. The very first album we did we were playing bars and carrying boxes of 2 inches tapes in hotel rooms and out of hotel rooms. Going to the studio at college campuses ‘cuz we’d gotten studio time at a school studio. Those were great times. We were on the road a lot. Playing gigs and going into the studio. It was tough going, just scraping’ by, but when you have a product like that you REALLY appreciate it. It’s not like someone gave you a ton of money to go into the studio and record this. It was a lot of sweat and blood that went into all of our albums, but it is always the 1st one you remember. It’s like your first girlfriend. Each album was different. The second album, WILD DOGS we went to the UK and had a producer that was signed by the record label. It made it slightly different and we did a thirty-day tour with iron Maiden. When I think of that album I think of the tour with Maiden and the things that we went through while we were over there. That was the time of the New Wave of Heavy Metal. We were at the beginning! A lot of bands followed after The Rods. We didn’t realize it at the time but we were one of the leaders that started that era.

MYE: Absolutely. You were right on the cusp. A lot of times you were in the midst of so many pivotal moments of music, David. You’ve had a key role. Even in Elf you could hear the music getting heavier and it still had boogie. I wish I could just pick your brain about it!

DF: There’s a lot of feeling in the Elf and Rods music. It’s not very technical but there’s a lot of feeling. I love technical things or guitar players that play that way but The Rods is more simple. Elf was heavy for the day but is more of a pop/country boogie band now. That’s probably why it held up so well over time. You hear that first Elf album from 70-71’ and people still love it. They can dig that and relate. The music sticks and they can relate it to their lives.

MYE: The new Rods album too you are talking about believing in rock music and yourself, also.

DF: That’s always been the image of the band…Freedom. Believing in yourself and what you feel.

MYE: Any advice for people today trying to write songs?

DF: I’m older now, obviously, than back then. We’re older but still think like we did twenty years ago. It’s about feeling good. That NEVER changes. If you felt good twenty five years ago, maybe the same thing will make you feel good today. We want the fans and audience to have a good time and that’s kind of what we always hope to do.

MYE: Thank you so much. I really wanted to do this interview.

DF: Thank you. There’s a lot of history here. Thanks for having me.