After 30 Years Of Being A Musician, Keith Roth of SiriusXM Just Dropped His Debut Solo Album

Keith Roth is one busy guy! He’s on several channels on SiriusXM including Hair Nation and Ozzy’s Boneyard. It seems as if he is always on the air. So, when does he time to be a musician? He’s in The Dictators and he’s also in Frankenstein 3000, both of which recently released albums. The Dictators released their sixth album, the self-titled The Dictators, in September of 2024. Frankenstein 3000 released a compilation double album called Lost in Space Volume 1. On top of all of that, what did Keith suddenly decide to do? After 30+ years in the business, he decides to begin work on his debut solo album. Does he ever sleep? That album, The Law of Diminished Returns, dropped in March of this year via Deko Entertainment. It features appearances by many of his musical comrades including Angel guitarist Punky Meadows, Dictators/Manowar guitarist Ross the Boss and more. We sat down with Keith for what I have to honestly say one of the coolest conversations we’ve ever had.

If Gene Simmons is the “Man of 1000 Faces” then you have to be the “Man of (at least) 1000 Sayings.” Of all your classic sayings, what made you decide on The Law of Diminished Returns for the name of your debut solo album?

Keith Roth: I always liked the term because it was so true in life in so many things. Let’s use alcohol for example; the first drink is always the best and then it slowly diminishes with each one. I always said if I ever did a solo record that’s what I’m going to call the album.

You could probably say all of your life, but how long have you been working on this album?

With Frankenstein 3000 we have small clusters of fans throughout the universe. I was working on The Dictators’ new record and it was a real prolific time for me. My buddy Danny (Farrow) from Angel said that a lot of these tunes were more about me. Not everybody knows Frankenstein 3000, but people know Keith Roth from radio. Also my buddy Bob (Pantella) played drums on the record and he also plays in the band Monster Magnet. He said these were biographical and it started taking on a life of its own. Deko reached out about releasing the album. We finished it in December and the mixing was done but I am so neurotic that I kept going back and working on it. There was one song that we added to just the cd version of the album (“I’ll Get By”). If there ends up being another album, I guess that’s the direction that we’ll be going in. Christmas mixing and mastering.

Was this the first time you have been that prolific with your songwriting? What do you think contributed to opening the floodgates?

I always consider myself a songwriter. I’ve written stuff for other people as well as Frankenstein. At this point, we thousand but at that point was just flowing out of me and it was really weird. The Frankenstein 3000 record that came out a few months ago was really a 25 year compilation which was cool. At that point, I was in the thick of making this record and I was on tour in Spain with The Dictators. They said how about a greatest hits or compilation record. A lot of the earlier records did not have proper distribution. Frankenstein was distributed through MainMan Records which is distributed through MVD. While on tour in Spain we had a lot of these long six-hour rides. I came up with about 40 songs and I had to cut it down to 20 which were why it’s called Lost in Space Vol. 1. All of a sudden I was writing all these tunes and I knew which groups I can put them in. I don’t know why but it’s never been as prolific as that. Now I feel like I can’t write a song if you paid me (laughs). I feel drained the moment.

Frankenstein 3000 opening for **The Winery Dogs** at The Patchogue Theatre of The Performing Arts in Patchogue, New York on February 18, 2023 (Photo: I’m Music Magazine Photographer Amanda Packey)

When I first got the promo and I was reading the songs on the back and I thought and he can’t be doing a cover of Curtis Mayfield. So I pulled up Mayfield’s “Superfly” on YouTube to make sure I had the song. Then, I started listening to yours and, I kid you not, I said out loud ‘holy shit!’ Where in the world did you pull that one out from?

Thanks man; I grew with two older brothers so that soundtrack is part of the blueprint of my life. I grew up in the Bronx and my middle brother is 12 years older than me really into music. As a little kid I went to the city Cinema to watch these great movies in the 70s and Superfly was a classic movie. One of my prized possessions in my collection is the Superfly soundtrack signed by the great Curtis Mayfield.

We were just jamming and I remember telling the guys that I always wanted to jam on the song “Supefly.” Bob laid down the groove and Scott plays bass in the band. He also plays in Moroccan Sheephearders. We went through the arrangement and we laid it down for fun and I didn’t even know if it would come out. Bob did some mixing on it and added all that great percussion and I thought wow. Then I really took it seriously and I thought this song is part of my life. It’s real hard to pay tribute to Curtis but after we did it I thought this is really cool. It’s one of my favorite on the record.

You may not have thought you could but you guys did it and did a damn good job on it. Lou Reed has such an extensive arsenal of songs. Of all of his songs, why did you decide to cover “Strawman”?

There was a time where I was feeling like the Laws album was done. Ross the Boss, my guitar player in The Dictators, and I were talking and he said he wished he had played on the record. The record was mixed and getting ready to be mastered and I thought you know what Ross The Boss is such a BB King fan. People don’t know it because they’re used to the playing he does in The Dictators and Manowar. I love the way he plays in that BB King style of playing. We’re both Lou Reed fans and we both had wanted to cover “Strawman.” We laid it down and you listen to it and he lays down those BB King riffs. So, it was really an afterthought to get Ross on there. It was another one of their songs embedded in me for years. There is a concept there and it is a concept record but you have to kinda plug into my brain to feel that concept. There is a story there and it’s somewhat autobiographical about people I’ve known, experiences that happened to me and Ross has definitely been a part of my journey musically so it’s great having him on there.

That’s one heck of an afterthought dude.

Right? There are freaks of guitar players out there who are really great guitar players. Then, you get into that great zone and Ross can hold his own with anybody that’s out there.

I had a later appreciation in my life for the band Angel. I’m a huge KISS fan going way back and I remember the band. It was much later that I researched the band and listened to them. I actually got to interview Punky (Meadows) several years ago. With the song “Down in the Room (Outta Time)” on your album, which came first the chicken or the egg? Did you record it and then decide you needed Punky on it or did you know you wanted Punky on the album and wrote it with him in mind?

Keith rockin’ the stage with The Dictators

Now there’s an interesting story. That’s a song that I wrote for The Dictators and it’s on the new Dictators album but it’s called “All About You.” Me and Andy got together and finished it and it didn’t sound anything like the demo I had given to them. Danny in Angel is a really good friend of mine. He’s the guy that said I should call this a Keith Roth record instead of a Frankenstein record and got the wheels spinning. I told Danny I have a melody for a song and it was stuck in my head. I sent it sent him and he came back with a really cool different structure for a verse and an outline for the melody. Then the floodgates opened and I told him he needed to come into the studio with me. We cut it and he added that little acoustic bit and the great Beatles harmonies. I have a lot of history with Punky when he first came out of retirement. Felix (Robinson) was the original bass player for Angel. Felix had some health issues and they had me fill in to do a West Coast tour and finish of East Coast dates. I even wrote two songs on Punky’s album. Danny said I think Punky would be great on here. He said it just needed a great Punky Meadows rippin’rock solo and he knocked it out of the park. He’s such a great guitar player and a great guy and one of the best. Like with Ross, Punky is right in that league of guys on that level of playing. So, as for the chicken or the egg thing, it was Danny that came up with. It’s funny because The Dictators heard it and they said it doesn’t sound anything like what was on The Dictators’ record which was great. Danny was the one who helped me change the scope of it.

“Children of Men” was one that I was really getting into the groove in it and then it was over. I was like wait that’s only a minute and a half! Where’s the rest of it?

(Laughs) That’s a tradition that started in the Frankenstein records and I’ve heard just what you said from someone else. I come up with something that sounds like a cool riff or melody and right when you think it’s going to turn on it shuts off. I’m like, well there you go, the leave them wanting more kind of thing. “Children of Men” is based on this really cool movie that I saw. If you saw the film in the early 2000’s then the song makes sense. It’s kind of a tradition that I’ve been doing.

“Cosmic Scene” is really trippy and another one that I really loved.

Thank you man; I really appreciate you taking the time to really listen to the album.

I remember initially you told me that when I got my copy to just listen to 30 seconds of each track and I said no way. I have to give it a real, true listening to. You put headphones on and tune out the world and give it a deep listening.

You sound like me man; we grew up in the days of vinyl where you get an album you sit on your bed or couch or whatever. You read all the credits and it was an experience. That’s what I tried to do with this record and it’s funny because I was talking to someone the other day about cosmic saying. They said it reminded them about band called Luna which is a trippy New York band. I did find and buy a couple of their records back in the day and who knows maybe it crept in there. I wrote that song in five minutes sitting there strumming out that cord. The lyrics came to me in two seconds and I was going to the studio that day. The guy who was coproducing said dude you need to cut that. We recorded the whole thing in about an hour. It was conceived in a day and done by dinnertime. It’s one of my favorite songs on the record.

The New York Dolls was another band that I first heard of because of KISS. I developed a much later appreciation of them and their contributions. I read that you toured with David Johansen. Were you in his band or opening for him?

David and I have a long history together. I worked as a producer for his radio show for 23 years. I also played in the David Johansen band and I’ve recorded some songs with him. On the last Frankenstein album there’s a remix of the song he and I cut of an old New York Dolls song “Babylon” which is on the Frankenstein Lost in Space compilation. He was one of the bestest friends and it was an honor to work with him. I think about him every day and ironically The Dictators had some shows that last weekend of February. We were playing up in Woodstock and I knew he had been sick but everything seemed to be in check. He had fallen down the stairs during the holidays and he broke his back. His wife sent me a message saying he wasn’t good and she didn’t think he was going to come out of this. I went to see him in mid-February and my expectations were that this would probably be the last time I saw him and it was. When I left there I thought he was gonna be around for a while. He had been in hospice care at home. He’s like a Lazarus; he just keeps coming back. When I was visiting him he looked physically great and he got out of bed. He stood up next to me and his back was healing and everything was good. We were talking about future stuff. We made plans to see each other that Saturday and she told me he wasn’t feeling great so we would do another day.

We went out and did those dates with The Dictators. There was a Sweet Relief fund raising money for David for some of the hospital bills and a lot of these T-shirts people were wearing said on it LUV like the Dolls song. After the gig was over, the first show was in Woodstock New York at The Colony, I gathered up a few of them after the show and I took a photo. I sent it over to his wife and that’s when she responded back that he had passed. I was just frozen. I worked with him very closely for 23 years and I know I’m a little long-winded on this but I produced his radio show, I played in the Johansen group, I had the honor of being on stage with him and recording in the studio so there’s a lot of history there. I am blessed to say I knew he had a heart of gold and he was one of the most talented people I ever worked with. He was always the most talented person in the room, always the smartest guy in the room and I’m honored that I had that experience.

I am so sorry for your loss and I did not know you guys were that close. They had sent us a clip that his wife had made for the Sweet Relief of the two of them in the hospital bed. They had sent it to a lot of outlets to post in hopes of getting them some help.

He had not been able to work. The Martin Scorsese documentary that came out a couple years ago was from the last show he recorded. David was one of those guys that would never ask anybody for anything and they had all these bills. They’re such wonderful people and they do so much for people behind the scenes so it was great that somebody stepped up and made things a little smoother for them.

Well, we’re about to wrap things up here so we’re going to go to some tough questions for you that we call Three For The Road. Here’s the first one; do you remember who your first celebrity crush was?

Yes I do, I’m trying to think if four or five counts or as a teenage counts. If it’s four or five it was Raquel Welch. I saw that cover of that BC thing and I thought holy shit. As a teenager, I remember buying the first Runaways album and I had crushes on all of them. I would stare at that centerfold, that gatefold photo. I bought it as an impulse buy; I had the honor of playing with Cherie (Curry) and Sandy West. I would say The Runaways was my first celebrity crush.

If you could have literally anyone’s voice (actor, cartoon character, historical figure) be your own inner voice, who would it be?

That’s a great question; who would I want? The funny thing is we were talking about David Johansen. He used to do a great impression of me so I think I’m going to go with him.

Alright, here’s the last one. I think you are an old-school fan wrestling fan. If music and SiriusXM were over with today and you had to go into professional wrestling, what would your wrestling name be?

Oh that’s really good; this is good stuff. That is such a great question (laughs). I’m thinking about old-school wrestling like Superstar Billy Graham, Ivan Putski, The Magnificent Muraco, Mil Mascaras. I love 70’s and early 80s wrestling. I think I would go with Keith Roth the Three Toed Sloth!

(Laughs)That is great man!

These are such great questions man.

Thanks dude; you always make me laugh and you always make me smile when I listen to you on-air. It’s nice to return that small gift to you.

You just made my day by saying that.

Interview by I’m Music Magazine Owner/Editor Johnny Price