"The phone rang one day, and there was a manager saying, ‘Hello James, would you be interested in coming to play with the Scorpions?’ It was really that simple."

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They’re a little rock royalty and a lot of raucous rawk. Frontman James Kottak, aka Jimmy Ratchitt (longtime drummer of the Scorpions), and his gorgeous wife, Athena (lil’ sis of Tommy Lee), along with Price Vernon (bass) and Johnny ‘Hot Sausage’ Lucas (guitar) make-up this potent concoction.

The band describes their music as, ‘Cheap Trick meets Green Day on a bad day.’ “Throw in a dash of Social Distortion and Papa Roach and you have a recipe for a freight train barreling right through the arena!” says Ratchitt.

They’re not a band for shoe gazers or the bearded bunch that stand in the back of the venue defying the band to entertain them with thought provoking lyrical content. This is a band bringing back the fun in rock n’roll, and a big, fat middle finger to those that don’t want it or get it.

While Jimmy typically sits at the back of the stage at his drum throne, in this band, he takes to front stage with the energy of Iggy Pop and attitude of Johnny Rotten. Athena plays the drums in this band, and not just by comparable note to that of her big brother; this chick independently and fiercely holds her own and hits harder than most guys could ever aspire.

I recently interviewed this formidable foursome. With a new CD in the can, and a US tour planned, this is a bash you’re not going to want to miss. Also, for all those boys (and girls, what the hey!) out there with mad crushes on Athena, be sure to check out the video following this interview by the unscrupulous and brilliant filmmaker, Pauly Fernandez.

KNAC.COM: How long have you guys been together?

KOTTAK: As a band?

KNAC.COM: No, no, Athena and you, personally. I’ll get to everyone else soon. Price, you’ll get your time in this interview. I promise. (Laughing)

KOTTAK: We met in like ’89. Way back then. We were together off and on, We’ve been married for like 13 years. It’s not always easy, but it works.

KNAC.COM: You also have kids together, right?

KOTTAK: Yup. Three kids. Our middle son, he’s an incredible drummer and he’s out to kill, and our youngest son is twelve and he’s also artistic. We’re very, very fortunate.

KNAC.COM: So the whole family plays or is into the arts?

KOTTAK: It’s a music-oriented family.

KNAC.COM: How do you guys pull it together, beat the odds, and actually stay married and keep a family going with such a rock ‘n roll lifestyle?

KOTTAK: We’re like any other family. We have the same problems, the same ordeals that everyone else has. Only ours are usually based around our tour schedule, or what concert’s going on, or what problems there are with our backstage passes, or things like that. We try to keep a sense of humor about everything and just go with the flow.

KNAC.COM: Do you guys take the kids out with you when you’re touring?

KOTTAK: Our kids totally grew up backstage, on tour with like the Scorpions and the only thing they know is rock & roll basically. We’re trying to teach them business and other things too. They’re growing up a little different than other kids, but it’s been pretty interesting.

KNAC.COM: You have quite the long resume of playing drums with various bands. You’ve been with the Scorpions how long now?

KOTTAK: I’ve been with the Scorpions for 13 years. That’s a long time for any band. I have to say, I’m very fortunate. Those guys are first class all the way. It’s an incredible organization to be involved with. It’s kind of like a law firm. It’s like I’m a junior partner and things get better every year.

KNAC.COM: Secure that partnership!

KOTTAK: Junior partnership. It’s kind of like the Rolling Stones; you’ll never really be part of the club. I’ll always be the new guy. No, no, not the new guy, now the bass player is the new guy. I’m just very thankful and grateful to be with such a great group of guys.

KNAC.COM: How did you get that gig?

KOTTAK: The phone rang one day, and there was a manager saying, ‘Hello James, would you be interested in coming to play with the Scorpions?’ It was really that simple. Actually, back on the Monsters of Rock tour, I was with the band

Kingdom Come and I got to know the guys [from the Scorpions] back then. That was Van Halen, Scorpions, Dokken, Metallica and Kingdom Come. And then I also played with Michael Schenker in MSG, I did the last MSG record, and I got to know Michael. And you know, rock & roll is such a small world and seriously, literally the phone rang one day and it was the call asking me if I wanted to come play.

KNAC.COM: So, did you tell them you’d get back to them, after you think about it for a while?

KOTTAK: Actually, I did think about it for a few days and I called back and said, ‘Sure, I’ll come check it out.’ I was really burned out at that point. Like all things, it had a happy ending.

KNAC.COM: Do you have a favorite band you’ve played with?

KOTTAK: My favorite band is definitely playing with the Scorpions. My second favorite was Wild Horses, the band I had with Rick Steier (Kingdom Come/Warrant).

ATHENA: (In the distant background) Your MOST favorite band?

KOTTAK: (Laughs) My most favorite band of course, at the moment, is Kottak.

KNAC.COM: Of course it is! Right answer.

KOTTAK: And if somebody shelled out 5 million right now, it’d be my ALL TIME favorite!

KNAC.COM: So now on to Kottak. How did you guys form? Was it just friends jamming or a conscience decision?

KOTTAK: With the Scorpions schedule, in the beginning, we would have months off and I’d get really bored and really edgy, super quick. So, Athena and I would start writing a bunch of songs. They were kind of funky, poppy kind of stuff. So Athena was like, ‘Well, man, let’s make a band.’ And I go, ‘Yeah, but we’ve got to get a singer.’ And she finally goes, ‘Why don’t you be the singer and play guitar?’ We were just kind of doing it for fun. We made an album in 2000, and released it for fun, but we got a lot of requests to go play it live. A lot of good response and requests to make a second album, so we did. We did the second album in 2005, and that was Therupy. With that we got a deal with a Swedish record label, and it came out in Japan. We did pretty well with that. And now we’re coming in to make a third one. What started off kind of like a joke and just something to kill some time, became something, I wouldn’t say serious, but we’re really having a blast with it.

KNAC.COM: You guys were called Krunk prior.

KOTTAK: We were called Krunk, until Lil’ John Crunk Crew on Atlantic hijacked that name. (Laughing)

KNAC.COM: Was it a tough process to change your name?

KOTTAK: Actually, the record label suggested we change it to Kottak, and we just kept saying no. We tried 50 other names, but they said because of the familiarity of my name and the association with the Scorpions in Europe and the rest of the world, it would help sell more records. Which it did. I never cared for bands that had the last name of the guy that’s in it, you know? But we went with it. In this band I’m also known as Jimmy Ratchitt, the singer’s alter-ego. My initials are JRK, so Jimmy Ratchitt, JRK, jerk, and Jimmy Ratchitt’s kind of an ass. He does all the stupid things, like messing up hotel rooms and whatever. So, anytime I do something stupid, it’s Jimmy Ratchitt.

KNAC.COM: Man, I need one of those!

KOTTAK: Everybody should have an alter-ego.

KNAC.COM: Jimmy doesn’t come around the kids much, I take it?

KOTTAK: (Laughs) Actually, if you want to go back to the name Krunk, when the kids were little, we didn’t want to cuss around them, so we used the word Krunk every time we wanted to cuss. Krunk this or get the Krunk out, Krunk you. It was the all encompassing word for any cuss word you could think of.

KNAC.COM: You guys describe yourselves as Cheap Trick meets Green Day on a bad day. Who came up with that?

KOTTAK: I kind of spit it out in an interview one day, and the person giving the interview laughed for about 5 minutes. So it kind of stuck. We don’t really label ourselves or pigeonhole ourselves as just that. We have so many different layers. We’ve got country flowing in there. We’ve got a little bit of everything in there. We are punk, but we’re rock. We’re everything rolled into one.

KNAC.COM: I’ve always hated association with bands that way. Then you’ve got a preconception of what it’s going to sound like, or supposed to sound like.

KOTTAK: Most interviewers ask what your stuff sounds like.

KNAC.COM: That’s when you say to them, ‘Well, listen, you tell me.’

KOTTAK: Exactly.

KNAC.COM: Are you guys signed now, or preparing to sign?

KOTTAK: We have a couple offers on the table, for a couple of different situations. I can’t say the names of course. We have some guaranteed deals to release it in Japan and Europe of course. You know, the whole industry is in a funk.

KNAC.COM: Does it make it easier to shop your music though, because of all the rock royalty that’s in your family?

KOTTAK: You know, it’s a double edged sword. Like when I say, James Kottak of the Scorpions, a lot of people conjure up an image of some old guy. The Scorpions are old, but we’re in excellent, tip-top shape, you know? I kind of got to age 26 and stopped. It’s great for people who know us, but if they don’t, we kind of let the music do the talking first. If that doesn’t work, then we say, ‘Oh by the way…’ It’s like saying, ‘Hey, our producer is Tommy Hendrickson who co-wrote 5 songs on the new Daughtry record.’ Which is the truth, and it’s great and it’s good ammunition because Daughtry is at the top of the heap right now. But if you say this is so and so who wrote 5 songs on the Cars record twenty years ago, nobody cares. So, it depends on the situation and who you’re dealing with.

KNAC.COM: Your band has a pretty raw, edgy feel to it. When you guys formed, was that the kind of sound you were going for and do you think you’ve achieved that?

KOTTAK: Of course, to be on radio you have to make things sound a certain way in the studio, but where our whole band comes together is when you hear the CD, you go, ‘Oh, that’s good,’ but then when you see if live, you go, ‘Oh, now I get it!’ There’s been like 50 bands like that, where I’ve kind of gone, ‘What’s the big deal?’ and then you go see them live, and you go, ‘Wow!’ A perfect example of that for me is like Motorhead. I mean, I like their CDs, I really dig them, but when you see Lemmy live, and you get the full picture, it’s like, ‘Oh, I get it!’

KNAC.COM: Any single that you have that you think is radio friendly?

KOTTAK: We have probably five songs I would go for. We’ve got ‘Don’t Wanna Go Home,’ ‘Sunset Blvd,’ ‘Daddy, You Are My Star,’ all these songs we feel could be on the radio, no problem. ‘Drunk Uncle Pete,’ the list goes on.

KNAC.COM: You guys flew to Nashville to work on your CD. Why there?

KOTTAK: Because Tommy Hendrickson, our producer who’s been based in LA for the last fifteen years, just moved to Nashville. We’re going there again to finish up the record. We’re finishing up the drums at Tommy Lee’s studio, so we get to try his new studio out and we’ll maybe do some mixing there as well.

KNAC.COM: Cool. Now with you being known as a drummer, what made you even consider stepping up to the mike and playing guitar?

KOTTAK: We couldn’t really find anybody we liked. Athena and I were writing, and we had a certain sound in our mind. Plus a lot of it had to do with money. (Laughs) There’s no money. We were just doing this for fun. In my old club days before we moved to LA, I was the drummer, but I was kind of like the front guy. I was singing like twenty songs a night. It’s just a creative outlet outside of the Scorpions. The Scorpions are a great band, and I have some songs on several different albums that I’ve written and all that, but this is our baby.

KNAC.COM: So, I have to ask you, and I’ll ask Athena the same question, who’s the better drummer in the family?

KOTTAK: Me!

KNAC.COM: Will she say the same thing?

KOTTAK: (Laughing) She’ll say the same thing. She can’t hear me right now, but I guarantee you, the same thing. Great, she just looked at me like, ‘I’m gonna kick your ass!’

KNAC.COM: She’s honestly, hands down, the best female drummer I’ve ever seen.

KOTTAK: She’s the best female drummer and she’s the hottest female drummer. I can’t believe that Playboy or all these magazines haven’t come along and tried to do a thing on her. She’s the hottest drummer in rock & roll! Let me pass you over to Athena.

KNAC.COM: Hey Athena! So, I just asked Jimmy who thought he was the better drummer in the family.

ATHENA: I’m going to say our son, Miles.

KNAC.COM: That’s safe. That’s really safe.

ATHENA: He’s really good, though.

KNAC.COM: Well, between you, daddy and even his uncle, how could he not be? Did he get lessons from you guys?

ATHENA: No. That’s what’s really cool because this is all his own thing, because he’s a lefty. So, we couldn’t, because everything’s backwards. Yet he can still sit down at one of our kits and throw down too. He’s taken like drum line in school forever. He’s coming up on his forth year with jazz and concert band. He’s just playing like non-stop.

KNAC.COM: Those kids are phenomenal when they come off drum line.

ATHENA: Yeah, he doesn’t really want to hear what we have to say. He’s his own planet man. I think that makes him proud too, you know.

KNAC.COM: Does he not think that mom and dad are, like the coolest?

ATHENA: Oh no, yeah, he’s down with us. We played the night after the gig where you were, we were at this outdoor festival in the fucking desert at 3 in the afternoon and it was like a hundred-and-eleven degrees outside. It was ridiculous. We couldn’t even cool off. I was dizzy. Jimmy had to throw up. So our son Myles was there, and I just said, ‘Hey, Miles, get over here and play drums.’ So he jumped up and played for me while I went and cooled off. It was great! He’s going to start coming with us all the time! (Laughing). He’s up there going, ‘This rocks,’ and I’m like, ‘well get used to it!’ (Laughs). He just gets thrown into these situations.

KNAC.COM: Awesome opportunity for him though. So you, my dear Athena, are honest to god the best female drummer I’ve ever seen. I loved watching you play!

ATHENA: Oh that’s really cool, ‘cause I couldn’t hear these guys at that show. I was mostly paying attention to them, and I like to not pay attention to them. I don’t care what they’re doing because they’re all so weird, you know what I mean?

KNAC.COM: They’re boys.

ATHENA: Yeah, yeah. At one point I looked up and Jimmy I guess fell off the stage. Did you see that?

KNAC.COM: No! I missed that!

ATHENA: He still had a video recorder in one hand and a drink in the other, and he fell off the stage and came back up. I don’t know, it was weird. And I was like, ‘well what just happened?’ I missed everything, but that’s okay.

KNAC.COM: He’s a pro! He didn’t spill the drink.

ATHENA: He didn’t spill a drop, and the camera was still on. Alright! That’s how we do it.

KNAC.COM: He’s a great frontman. He really gets the audience going. He’s not one that just stands back with his hands in his pockets.

ATHENA: That’s why I like this band, because it’s different. And I’m not joking, every single show, something stupid happens. Like one time, I was playing, and I couldn’t see Jimmy and I didn’t know where he went. I knew he left the stage, but I didn’t know where he went, right? And then all of a sudden, he’s standing in front of me, and he has like ten or eleven purses. He went out in the crowd and he started getting these girls purses, and hats, and he comes up and he’s wearing their purses and hats. And they don’t even care! And because I’m a chick, I go, ‘You can’t take their purse!’ (Laughing)

KNAC.COM: Yeah, that’s a little personal. (Laughs)

ATHENA: Yeah, and he’s looking through them. I’m like, whatever. It’s just a party band. It’s all about fun, that’s the whole thing. We’ve just been to so many shows where they’re just so serious. You know, once you’re at the Staples Center, and you’ve paid $75 to be pissed off, I don’t get it.

KNAC.COM: It’s rock & roll. It’s supposed to be a good time. It’s nice when a band can bring the fun to you and not just sit back. I noticed with all the other bands you guys played with that night, the whole audience was sitting across the room. I thought that only happened here in the Northwest with our elitists. But as soon as you guys got up, Jimmy brought them forward.

ATHENA: Oh yeah. Did you see how serious they all were? I mean, the bands were all good for what they did, it’s just not our style. If I’m going to go be that serious, I’m going somewhere else and do it. I’m there to have fun. It’s like yikes, somebody’s pissed.

KNAC.COM: Yeah, I agree. And really, we have enough of seriousness already in day to day life; let’s get away from it for a minute, right?

ATHENA: Exactly.

KNAC.COM: Do you hate to be compared to your brother?

ATHENA: You know what? I don’t even see it. There’s no comparison. I’m in it for totally different reasons. You know what I mean? It’s just all about fun for me.

KNAC.COM: You’ve won some awards for your drumming as well, which is quite an honor. You were nominated for Best Drummer with the LA Music Awards, and that’s never happened to a girl, ever.

ATHENA: That was really cool. That kind of blew me away.

KNAC.COM: Was it that surprising, really?

ATHENA: Yeah, because as long as it has been going on, it’s always been guys nominated. I didn’t win or anything because there were some fucking smoking guys on there, but just to be nominated was so cool. You guys think I’m like worthy to be in this category with you, that doesn’t suck! I totally wasn’t bummed!

KNAC.COM: (Laughing) So tell me what it was like growing up in your family. Greek families are notorious for being loud, happy, and close. Was it like that for you?

ATHENA: Yeeeaah. Loud yes. Really loud. My brother was a lot of fun. A lot of stupid shit too. When we get some time, I can sit and tell you stories that were just freaking hilarious. He just tortured me though. I’m still waiting to get him back. He did just like bonehead stuff, like making me stick bobby pins in light sockets. You know, stuff where I could really, really get hurt.

KNAC.COM: That’s awful.

ATHENA: Yeah, and he would just laugh his ass off, and I never got it. I was just like, whatever. But you know what though? What was really cool, because I was always on guard; he kind of taught me not to be a dumbass. I was always, you know, looking out. I had to!

KNAC.COM: Front line lessons! Yeah, go ahead Athena, stick that pin in there *snicker snicker.* Bad boy.

ATHENA: I see our kids do this all the time. Our older guy just tortures the shit out of younger kid and he still trusts him. He’ll still go do something that he says to do. And I just can’t believe that he still falls for it. It’s bad.

KNAC.COM: You mentioned a pink drum kit, and I learned that you had a battle with breast cancer. Does the pink drum kit represent that time for you?

ATHENA: No! I just have these because I like them!

KNAC.COM: You’re healthy now?

ATHENA: Totally healthy. For like eleven years now.

KNAC.COM: Congratulations! That is awesome.

ATHENA: I still can’t play like I used to, because they removed my back muscles on my left side and swung them underneath my armpit. I’ll have to show you. You can see my ribs on my left side.

KNAC.COM: Holy crap. Wow.

ATHENA: I don’t have any muscles on my left side, so I’m kind of like a jellyfish. If you hit me too hard, I’ll fall down. If I’m standing in the crowd and somebody bumps into me, I’m down. That’s the only thing that sucks that came out of that. I had so much surgery that my left side is just not what it was. That’s why a lot of stuff I play is very basic and straight forward. That’s what I like anyway. But like all the cooking fast shit, I can’t do that. Because physically, my body can’t do it. A lot of people are out there and are like, ‘Oh well, yeah, she can play but she doesn’t do a whole lot of runs or fills.’ And it’s because I can’t. I don’t go around saying it, it’s just the way it is. I wish I could, but I can’t. So whatever.

KNAC.COM: You do just fine. I’ve been playing around with the drums for a little while, and after seeing you, I said, ‘I’m never going to play again.’

ATHENA: We’ll have to get you up and sit in for a song.

KNAC.COM: Oh no, no, no. (Laughing) Let me just laugh at that! It’d be a really simple 4/4 beat the whole time!

ATHENA: Just fly down a day early, and I’ll work with you. We’ll get it down.

KNAC.COM: A day? Your optimism is amazing. But I have to say, that would so rock! I can’t do fills either, and that’s not for any good reason, other than I pretty much suck.

ATHENA: So what? That’s great. Let’s do it!

KNAC.COM: I’ll practice my paradiddles then. (Laughing) Well how ‘bout some time with Johnny?

LUCAS: Well, hi.

KNAC.COM: Hi Johnny. So how did you end up in this band?

LUCAS: We were all just really good friends and we used to hang out all the time. It turned out they were looking for a guitar player, so I just said, ‘Hey, I’ll do it.’ And Jimmy said, ‘Great.’

KNAC.COM: What’s your background? Have you played with a lot of bands?

LUCAS: I have a clean background. I have no arrests. No felonies. Nothing. I’m one of those guys that’s always hung out. There’s a lot of people that I know, that Jimmy and Athena know and kind of always ran around the same circle, but wasn’t really in the business. Honestly, I’ve never pursued it. Some guys sit there and need to find a band. For me, it wasn’t like that. It wasn’t a forced thing. The band kind of found me.

KNAC.COM: Okay, the big burning question for you. On my phone, which Price plugged in your number, it’s titled, Johnny Hot Sausage.

LUCAS: Johnny Hot Sausage? (Laughing) Alright. If you really want to know, the Ramada, room 47, that’s where you’ll find out. (Laughing hysterically) No seriously. What it is (in a serious tone)... Price named me that because I’m the guy that like, has everything. All the gear you can imagine. I’ve got the answer for everything. Anything you need. You need a ¾ inch socket, here, I’ve got it right here. I also do all the planning and booking for Kottak.

KNAC.COM: If I have any questions, about anything, no matter what time, I’m calling Mr. Hot Sausage.

LUCAS: Oh yeah. You can throw the stupidest question about something, and I will probably know the answer to it. Even if I didn’t know, by the time you left the conversation, you’d go, ‘Wow, I can’t believe he knew that,’ and could just be making it up. But it sounded like it made sense to me.

KNAC.COM: Factoids. You have a bank of factoids.

LUCAS: There you go.

KNAC.COM: Tell me about your touring.

LUCAS: We’re going to Phoenix and Albuquerque. We’re planning a tour around January to go out to Oklahoma, and all over. Our myspace has all the info. Do you remember the hotel number?

KNAC.COM: At the Ramada?

LUCAS: Well, at least you remembered the hotel. That’s enough.

KNAC.COM: I think there’s more to this Hot Sausage thing. I’m going to have to get more out of this story I suspect.

LUCAS: I’m not lying.

KNAC.COM: Let me ask Price that one.

LUCAS: Oh God. I hope he wouldn’t know anything about it. (Laughs)

VERNON: Krishta!

KNAC.COM: How are you doing?

VERNON: You wanna know the truth?

KNAC.COM: Of course I want the truth.

VERNON: Well, I’m fuckin’-A fantastic. I’m a little out of my mind right now with football. I’ve been bored for three months straight, and now I’m happy! Growing up in Oklahoma, I have two things in my life. Rock & roll and football.

KNAC.COM: No girls in there?

VERNON: Well that’s a given. But they do take a backseat to rock & roll and football.

KNAC.COM: Well, after the Hot Sausage story, I was a little worried. (Laughing) So, you’re the guy that slipped in to fill in for a couple of shows as bass player, then refused to give up your spot in this band.

VERNON: Yeah. Luckily for me, I’m big enough and bad enough that when I said, ‘replace me,’ no one was brave enough to do it. I was ready to fight anyone who wanted my position in this band.

KNAC.COM: How long have you been with the band?

VERNON: I filled in for the other bass player about 2005. Or 2006. I smoke a lot of pot, I don’t remember. So I’m going on four or five years now.

KNAC.COM: How does the last guy feel about you replacing him?

VERNON: The problem with him is that he really wasn’t that disappointed. He’s got a full time gig with Michael Schenker, and Steelheart and all these other bands. His name is Rev Jones, and he’s from Oklahoma as well. He’s played with everybody. He’s probably the best bass player I’ve ever met in my life. Really, really talented guy. He was in Germany with Michael Schenker when Kottak had a gig, and he called me to ask if I could fill in. I said, ‘Hell sure. No problem.’ And I never left. I’m like 220, he’s like 120. (Laughs)

KNAC.COM: What’s your background?

VERNON: I’ve played bass all my life. I played in Oklahoma City. I was signed to Pavement Music in about 1992 to a group called, Uglystick, back in the grunge days. We put out one record and we were pretty much the biggest band in Oklahoma City at the time. Probably the only band that ever got signed out of that area for the grunge thing. We played around, and then Kurt Cobain blew his head off so that was the end of the grunge scene. It was also the end of our record deal along with about a thousand other bands.

KNAC.COM: Well, I’m glad you’re part of this band.

VERNON: You know what? More than awesome, we have so much fun together.

KNAC.COM: It shows. It’s rare for an entire band.

VERNON: Yeah. Maybe one or two guys are like the bros, and you have one or two other hired guns. I would say there’s probably only 4-5% of all bands out there, where all the members of the band are truly friends. Which is the case in this band. And probably 99% of what keeps us all in this band is we’re a family. We’re sitting here talking to you, playing a gig or eating at McDonalds; we’re all together. We are a 100% bona fide, pure American party band. I think there’s a big glaring gap of American party bands. It’s been years. There’s a lot of political bands, but where are the bands that come out and say, ‘you know what? Just blow all that off, let’s have a good time.’

KNAC.COM: We’ve got enough of that in our everyday life.

VERNON: Well then welcome to Kottak.

KNAC.COM: Okay, in closing, tell me about this Johnny Hot Sausage thing.

LUCAS: Hot Sausage? You’ve got to tell me the truth, how did you know that?

KNAC.COM: You told me! You put it in my phone!

VERNON: I can’t believe I was that drunk. That is my personal name for Johnny.

KNAC.COM: Not anymore.

VERNON: I just cannot remember anyone’s name, but if I give them a nickname, then I’ll remember it. How great is that name though.

KNAC.COM: It’s pretty great.

VERNON: I just gotta say, we’ve worked with KNAC.COM before and we love you guys. You’ve been awesome to us.

KNAC.COM: Thanks guys. And hey, Rock & Roll Forever!

For more info and tour dates on Kottak, please visit: www.myspace.com/Kottak
To view Athena’s awesome video by Pauly Fernandez, please go to: this location

Live photos by Krishta Abruzzini
Outside still shot by Dwayne Cavanas
Studio shot by Neil Zlozower

BENNYtaCRUSHER - 11/6/2009 12:12:41 PM
7thRingofHell - Buster Brown? DANG!!! - I remember them! - and JK IS a Slammer on the Drums!

goin-blind - 11/4/2009 2:38:35 AM
i still want to know what athena lee has done in her " career" to warrant any kind of attention other than being tommy's sister?..somebody?..anybody?

12kaos - 11/3/2009 6:31:09 PM
maybe hell end up in the cover band hall of fame.

trevor12 - 11/3/2009 12:12:27 PM
Anybody heard their stuff?

Cakeboat - 11/3/2009 5:36:16 AM
I like this article. why should anvil be the only failed bar band to get press?

goin-blind - 10/28/2009 6:35:52 PM
so you name a band after a shoe?

7thRingofHell - 10/28/2009 1:26:56 PM
Hey bitch! The 'rock royalty' tag was mine for Heep! Aside from Seattle chicks who cant write. James Kottack is one Bad Mo Fo. I saw this guy at the Brass A in Nashville in 1983 SLAMMING in a cover band called Apex. UNREAL! Then in 1984-85 James joined the most bad ass cover band I had ever seen in my life called BUSTER BROWN out of Louisville KY led by Johnny Edwards on vocs ( Northrup, Montrose ). All you little pussy tribute bands these days didnt hold a candle to Buster Brown. They mixedd originals with Priest and ACDC covers and just ripped it up, why Johnny never ended up in VH or Judas Priest Ill never understand. James was such a killer drummer, it was clear that he was destined for rock stardom with the Scorpions. James is a larger than life drummer and to much for clubs. He merits all the places hes rocked. Check out Johnny Edwards CD with JK Northrup. They won the Yamaha Soundcheck battle of the bands in 1987 over 1000's of bands. They were the best unsigned band in LA in 1988. Go homeboy! James tell Johnny and everyone Fish and the Sals Gang said yo.

goin-blind - 10/27/2009 7:50:13 PM
fizz, i dunno i know stet howland ex of wasp used to do a drum solo dribbling a basketball

fizzgig - 10/27/2009 1:16:39 PM
Isn't James Kottak the guy that does the drum solo whre he breaks beer bottles while he plays?

kittybeast - 10/27/2009 8:29:25 AM
KOTTAK SOUTHWEST TOUR DATES Oct 30 2009 8:00P RUBY ROOM - PHOENIX AZ. Oct 31 2009 8:00P COPPER STATE TAVERN GLENDALE AZ Nov 2 2009 8:00P ATOMIC CANTINA ALBUQUERQUE NM Nov 4 2009 8:00P THE BLOOZE BAR NORTH PHOENIX Nov 5 2009 8:00P THE JACKASS BAR,PRESCOTT VALLEY AZ Nov 6 2009 8:00P THE CHEYENNE SALLOON - LAS VEGAS Nov 7 2009 5:00P KOTTAK LIVE AT ROCKFEST 2009 WITH WARRANT AND GREAT WHITE. LAKE ELSINORE, California F O K THE HATERS!

Whiskeyinthejar - 10/27/2009 5:37:42 AM
I was happy when Kottak joined the Scorpions. They finally got a good drummer in that band.

goin-blind - 10/26/2009 6:47:24 PM
well, i would say being on every 'documentry" known to man as "tommy's sister" is milking it, and exactly what bands has she been in? it's not a matter of tommy having "more" success, it's a matter of athena not having " any" success in the music business, fuck roxy petrucci has had more success in music than athena has, fuck shelia e has had more success as a drummer/precusionist than athena has had. it's kinda like the the ex wife of a big star who dosen't change thier last name back to thier maiden name after the divorce, just livin off the name, when athena does something ( anything really) career wise, let me know

sweetone1 - 10/26/2009 5:30:51 PM
goin-blind...no resume other than Tommy Lee's sister and she milks it? Really? How? Just because they share the same genetic material and she's a girl? She's won awards for her drumming and has been in bands for years. Because her brother has had more success in a band means that she shouldn't play because people like you will think she's milking it? You're an idiot.

HollywoodRocker - 10/26/2009 4:50:50 PM
Athena and James Rocks, Hi Kitty.

metaldominator - 10/26/2009 4:30:31 PM
I really like Kingdom Come's first CD. Saw them on Monsters of Rock and thought they were good. Thought all the bands were good..shit, it's been 21 years since that day.

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