In a new interview with Andrew DiCecco of Vinyl Writer Music, former Poison guitarist Richie Kotzen talked about his time in the band & their expectations.

When asked how he landed the gig, Richie said:

“I had done three albums with Shrapnel, so I had already been on the cover of one of the guitar magazines a couple of times. At that point, I had completely abandoned the instrumental guitar scene, and I was writing songs in which I was singing. I had signed to Interscope Records – they bought my contract from Shrapnel – and I was in L.A. and going to make what would have been my major label debut album, and I found myself at odds with the record company. So, it didn’t fare well for me, and I was released from my contract because I was so stubborn in the direction I wanted to go versus where the label wanted to go.”

Richie further added:

“During that process, the label – they were great people – and they understood that I was really, really young. Their attitude was, “We’re gonna let this kid out of his contract so he can go figure it out because we’re not gonna be able to work with him.” And during that time, Bret Michaels was calling Tom Walley, who was the president of Interscope and the person who signed me to the label. They were interested in me joining the band, so they came to me because I was already known, and I think they knew that I was from P.A. So, I went to Bret’s house in Calabasas, had a meeting, and hit it off.”

On whether Poison allowed him lots of room to express himself, Kotzen responded:

“Yeah, that’s what they wanted. Bret had explained that they wanted a songwriter and that he liked the songs I was writing, so that’s how it happened. Whoever they got, wanted that person to have a musical voice and direction. They wanted a strong personality because C.C. [DeVille] is a writer and a stylist and has a strong personality, so that’s what they wanted. They did not want just some random guy to come in and play parts. They wanted writers.”