Ray Luzier talks David Lee Roth and Hideous Sun Demons

Ray Luzier is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. He seems to always have a smile on his face and is always willing to give some of his time to you. Ray was actually one of my teachers when I was at Musician’s Institute and all of the students seemed to gravitate towards him because he was so nice, sincere and because he is just a monster of a player. He can also twirl a stick like no other.

When Ray got the gig with David Lee Roth and we learned that he was leaving MI to play with Diamond Dave, we were all sad to see him go, but at the same time extremely happy for him because here was a guy who finally got his break, and who really truly deserves a cool gig playing with one of the greatest front men of all time. I have personally seen Ray play in lots of different bands, like his original band Freak Power Ticket, as a fill in drummer for Speak No Evil, in the Monday night cover band that is the spectacular Danger Kitty (AKA Metal Shop), and of course with the David Lee Roth band. Every time I see him play, I am amazed at the sheer power, how great of a showman can be, and with how great of a player he is. This guy might be one the heaviest chop guys that is on the OCDP roster.

Hideous Sun Demons

OCDP: What all do you have on your plate right now?

Ray: I really want everyone to check out "Hideous Sun Demons"... it'll be out worldwide on 9/28/04 on Magna Carta Records (magnacarta.net).. It's not a typical instrumental record where everyone just noodles the whole time, it has some great melodies on it. We released it on our own last year but the new version has been re-mastered and features some new art work. We'll be doing some US shows soon.

OCDP: How did the Hideous Sun Demons come about?

 Ray: I've always wanted to do a killer instrumental CD that you didn't wanna turn off after 2 songs because it drove you nuts! So DLR guitarist Toshi Hiketa and I started writing songs. He can play anything under the sun, he's freakin' awesome. DLR bassist James LoMenzo heard some of the ideas and asked if he could play on it and we were so stoked because we're all already in the same band (DLR). So, we had a break from a DLR tour and recorded a CD that we're quite happy with. It's mostly rock/fusion with some other flavors thrown in. I engineered and mixed it myself and had it pro-mastered (so of course, you can hear my OC's just fine!).

Orange County Drum & Percussion

Hideous Sun Demons