Words about DT

---

---

“The wave of Guns N Roses changed a lot on the West Coast as early as 1985/1986. Motley Crue almost didn’t exist for a while when the dam broke for Slash and Axl. I think me getting asked to join a once glam band turned old school rock wasn’t even on my mind at all when it happened” Jason McMaster said in an interview with Get Ready To Rock. “I was still in the thrash band Watchtower up to 1988 but l took a side gig playing with Dangerous Toys around 1987. At the time Appetite for Destruction was blowing up and l think the label were looking for another GnR, they always run to the streets to find another band that sounds like something else, even if it’s only a little bit, so they can sell a copy to the same person that bought the original.”
      “It wasn’t even on our minds to get a deal and tour. We were having a blast as a bar band in Texas then all of a sudden there was a record deal and money. Getting a deal was almost an accident for us. I had to leave the band Watchtower which was rough. After we got our record deal we ate like we had never eaten or seen food before. It was a happy time, some of us spent our money and some of us saved it.”
      “Our label brought in producer Max Norman” McMaster told Sleaze Roxx. “We were so green at the time. We didn’t know what we were doing but we all knew who Max Norman was! We were fans of the Ozzy records he worked on and l was a fan of Armoured Saint and l loved what he did with them.”
     “It was so cool working with Max Norman” McMaster told Full in Bloom “He told us so many good stories about Randy and Ozzy, also Dirty Looks who he worked with as well. Max would make me sing things about twenty times, it was a lot of work but he taught me a lot like how to get the best out of tracks. We all learnt a lot. It was hard work with long days, usually only one day off a week but we learnt a lot about recording, about vibe, feel and timing. Our budget was around three hundred thousand dollars and l think we went over budget a bit as well. We went Gold but there were so many middlemen that by the time it got to us we didn’t make a lot of money. I don’t think we ever recouped any expenses. These days the best money we make is in reunion shows.”
      “The music videos were way too expensive” McMaster admitted to Legendary Rock Interviews. “Videos were costing us between 80K and 115K, l mean come on! We didn’t need all that catering and hair and makeup. Now you could make a video like that for 5K or less. It was a learning experience and a lesson to all bands, look into your contract! I was almost having a heart attack looking at the budget set for these videos. All this was coming out of our pocket in the end. Recoupable was one word l had to learn real fast.”
     “I think the earliest songs l wrote with Dangerous Toys ‘Queen Of The Nile’, ‘Here Comes Trouble’ etc were literally the first songs l had ever written” McMaster told Metalliville. “Songs that had stories to them and weren’t just imagery like a lot of metal lyrics. It was fun to learn that, what l call the study of the craft. It’s always a mystery to find out the right way to write and record a song. I have pretty much found out that there are no rules at all. It’s whatever makes you comfortable and whatever you believe to be the right way of working at that moment.”
      “People got the message early on that the song Scared was about Alice Cooper” McMaster commented to Sleaze Roxx. “I wanted to celebrate Alice and the song pretty much wrote itself from there on. I remember we were playing the Whisky and our label gave out tickets on KNAC the hot rock station at the time. The place was jam packed. I’m in the dressing room and someone told me Alice was walking up the stairs at that moment! I went white as a ghost. It was the first time l met him, we talked for a bit and took a few photos. He was complimentary about the song Scared and said he was honoured. We also did some press with him for the tour we did with him and Judas Priest. I was in a tank rolling down Sunset with Alice and Rob Halford. I was trying to be cool but l wanted to man hug those two dudes! I’m a fan first and foremost like you and everyone else. I’m so incredibly grateful to have got to the top of the mountain for just a glimpse.”

---