Richie Sambora has a lot on his mind.
Beyond the brotherhood that is Bon Jovi, guitarist/vocalist Sambora has had to contend with personal demons throughout the last decade, often documented in the tabloid press. "I'm a big boy and knew full well what came with the territory," says Sambora. "It's the nature of celebrity, part of my vocation. I'm used to it - it was really intense when I was living with Cher - but I don't have to be happy about it."
It's those intimate ordeals and entanglements with their ensuing hassles and mediation and Sambora's struggles to find peace that are at the lyrical heart of Aftermath of the Lowdown, his first solo album in 14 years. To the accompaniment of Sambora's guitar-led melodies with their psychedelic blues-meets-Bowie vibe ("I told everybody in the band on this record that we should play like we were 16 years old again"), Sambora created a narrative about the commonality between his struggles and those of the guy he'd meet on the streets.
"I lived this stuff, sure, but I never realized that it would be an album," he says, laughing. "That's what made it truly organic in my eyes. It really just came out. When I realized that I'd be talking about me for a little bit, I relaxed and thought about what would make this common to other people. It wasn't hard. Ups and downs happen to everybody. The difference with me is, I do these things in the glare of the media."
Though Sambora wrote most of Aftermath's lyrics, he had formidable help on "Weathering the Storm" from Elton John's famed main man, Bernie Taupin: "Beyond being an honor to have him involved, we became friends, moved beyond the topic of anything lousy I went through and wrote about the fact that there are a whole lot of people with more troubles than I have."
Along with showing off passion and vulnerability, Sambora wanted to go back to his roots before he joined Bon Jovi as a young player and a one-time indie label owner. For an intimate album such as Aftermath, he's decided on playing sheds and not stadiums and releasing the record on Dangerbird rather than his usual major label mega-launch.
"Everything about this record goes hand in hand," says Sambora "I tried to make a record authentic to who I am. What that means is that there's little between me and this music; hence the smaller label. When you're in a band, it's about compromise, which I don't mind. They're a really good band and I have a lot of fun there. But this record was a hill that I needed to climb, creatively and personally."
Philadelphians naturally want to know what happened to Sambora's condo at The Residences at Two Liberty Place, the one that set him back $3.58 million. Sambora chuckled when he said that the space was a bust and that he lost money on the deal. "When the real estate market got crushed, everything went south. Listen, though: That's life. I've been buying real estate since I was a young man. There are economic downturns and upswings. You pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and you go to work. Whatayougonnado?"
Richie Sambora really does have the same problems that we have.