Vince Neil knows a thing or two about entertaining a crowd. The Mötley Crüe frontman and solo artist has been dominating the stage since his days performing in the early ’80s with his band Rock Candy before getting discovered. Throughout his career, Neil has toured the globe with Mötley Crüe, released three solo albums, and put out a live recording titled Live at the Whiskey: One Night Only.
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GRAMMY.com caught up with Neil who gave us his official advice for putting on a solid rock show. He also discussed which microphones he can’t live without, his Facebook ineptitude, and the fact that he won’t be tweeting photos of what he’s eating anytime soon.
You’ve been in this band for so long. How has the way that you do your business with Mötley Crüe changed over the years?
Everything’s completely changed – the way you tour, the business has changed, the way we put out music has changed. We had to learn to get with the times. With touring now, we just make everyone very comfortable any way we can rather than jam everybody on one bus like animals. We don’t have to do that anymore after 32 years. You don’t even put out records anymore. That term doesn’t even exist anymore. If you ask a kid if he has some lost records of ours, he’ll say, “What does that mean?” It’s all downloads now. Everything’s changed but we just try and keep up with the times.
What is your secret to keeping your voice in shape? What do you do to maintain it?
I do absolutely nothing and it’s funny because my voice has gotten better over the years. I’m singing better now in the last 3 or 4 years than I have my whole life. And I don’t know why. I haven’t done anything unusual so I don’t know. I’m just lucky I guess.
What kind of equipment do you use in and out of the studio?
Well, I haven’t been in the studio in ages so I don’t really know anything about in studio gear at all. For me, it’s all the same. It’s a microphone. That’s it. I use Sennheisers. I find that they always give me the best sound both in the studio and also live. That’s the only mic for me
How involved are you with social media? Are you running your own Twitter? Have you gotten into all of that?
Yeah. I’m not on Facebook. I know there’s a Facebook account but I don’t even know how to get on Facebook. Twitter, it’s there but I’m not one of those people that have to twitter about everything. I’ll twitter about a show and let people know where I’m at but I don’t have to tweet about everything. I see a lot of people, they take a picture of their breakfast and they go, “This is what I’m having for breakfast.” It’s like, “So what? Who f*cking cares?” [Laughs]. People want a little too much information!
Has Twitter and social media made a difference in the way that you promote the band at all?
I wouldn’t say a difference. It’s just basically you let people know where you’re at. It’s a convenient way to do that. I’m doing my solo band stuff here but with Mötley, the places I’d play would put out their own advertising. With Mötley, it’s basically the same kind of advertising that we’ve always done, which is radio and press and that’s really it.
Do you have plans to make a new solo album anytime soon?
I probably won’t do it until after the Mötley Crüe thing ends. I think towards the end of the Mötley Crüe tour. I’ll hopefully put out a record just as Mötley’s finishing and then I’ll continue the tour with my solo band. It will be a couple of years. We still have a lot of Mötley stuff to do.
How is the songwriting process different when you’re in the studio doing your own thing versus when you’re writing material for albums with Mötley Crüe?
With Mötley, there are many people involved and sometimes when you get in the studio, everyone has done their part and there isn’t as much to do. We get together; we have some ideas and throw them together. With my solo guys, we’ll go and rehearse for a few days and put ideas out there – different riffs and stuff like that and just kind of make songs out of them.
Mötley Crüe is known for putting on a great visual show. For bands that are starting out, what’s the secret to entertaining an audience in this day and age?
You have to want to be there. I see bands go up there and just go through the motions of playing and I think there has to be a look, there has to be a passion for performing, there has to be all that. I hate watching bands that dress like they just came home from work at a car shop. Give the fans something! Give them over the top wardrobe and put some effort into it. I think that’s really it. As long as you can put effort into it and want to give people a good show, you’re going to.
What are you listening to for creative inspiration these days?
I haven’t really heard anything that exciting lately. But again I listen to what I like to listen to. I don’t really listen to radio. I just listen to classic rock basically and stuff I grew up with.
What’s the best lesson you’ve learned throughout the years as an artist?
I think for younger bands, my advice would be to play wherever you can, whenever you can. When Mötley Crüe was starting, we played sandwich shops – places like that. Get your chops together and build your reputation. I think if I gave any advice that would be it.
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