By Jay Tilles
Ronnie Radke has a lot going on: tonight (November 4) Falling in Reverse kicks off the Super Villains tour with Attila, Metro Station and Assuming We Survive. From there, Falling In Reverse goes right into the Christmas Vacation tour with Atreyu, one of Radke’s favorite bands. Also, he’s got a clothing line that he’s promoting. But he still made the time to speak to Radio.com about all of that, as well as about his well known girlfriend, Caroline Burt. And about his dog.
How did you choose the bands for the Supervillains tour?
Well, I’ve known Trace [Cyrus, of Metro Station] for a while. I’ve written a couple of his songs and been in the studio with him for a little bit. I do know Attila, but not as long. The name of the tour came about because the bad reputation that I kind of have. Trace just started getting that too, like last year or earlier this year. And the singer of Attila, the Fronz guy [Chris Fronzak], he kind of has that reputation. So I was like, that’s actually a really good idea for a tour name.
And as soon as you came up with it, did you immediately think of an comic book-like imagery?
Yeah. Yeah, that exactly. But the production for the tour for our set plays right into that whole idea. It’s pretty cool. It’s like a cityscape that looks more like standing on top of buildings, and the windows are like crazy lighting effects.
When you build these tours, do you have final approval on the set, for example? Is someone bringing you sketches for your approval?
Yeah, I have the final say on the major stuff, but on the little stuff like laminates and stuff, they just go ahead and do them. I just don’t really care about the little stuff like the artwork for the laminates, but when it comes to like the production and the musical aspects, yeah, for sure. And the merchandise.
I have a clothing line that’s coming up on the tour as well that does really well, and I’ve got separate booths and everything. It’s pretty cool. It’s called Hood$ Up. I just bring it on every tour, and it’s been doing so well, it’s pretty crazy. It’s like a different stream of income, and the kids really love it too.
Is this stuff all designed by you, or do you have a team? Tell me a little bit about it, because I’m not familiar. I’ll definitely check it out.
The team consists of just me and my old friend too; I’ve known him for a while. He owns this company called Black Mask Clothing which is massive right now. They sell a lot of clothes. I’ve known him for a long time, so we just got together, and I did my clothing line with him. Me and him come up with the designs; his team that does his clothing line prints our clothes.
Let me go back to the super-villain theme. Are there good parts to being a bad boy of rock, or is it just dealing with the lowest common denominator on Twitter?
Everybody just talks crap all the time, to everybody, to each other. It’s ridiculous. But the good part is, I guess, that people will talk crap, and they’ll be so interested, you know what I mean? And girls, I guess they like it. It’s like that whole old “bad boy” thing, good girls like the bad boys, whatever.
But the downside would be, like, just going on Twitter and Instagram and seeing kids. They just talk crap. I’ve got thicker skin, though. That’s actually the good thing that’s come about from that. The best thing that’s come about from it is I’ve gained way thicker skin. At first when it started happening, I was like, “Oh, my God,” my feelings were hurt. But after a while —- it’s been years —- I don’t see it all the time anymore, but every random now and again I see someone that will say something really f—ed up or messed up or whatever, and it doesn’t bother me.
You’ve said a couple times, “Hey, I’m human.” You’ve literally used that phrase, “I’m human. I have feelings.” And I guess from an outsider, it doesn’t seem like kids perceive that you’re human. You’re like this demi-god supervillain guy that they can just throw kryptonite at, and it bounces off.
Yeah. Yeah, it seems that way, and I used to like feed into it and tweet back, and every now and then I do it because it’s funny, but I used to do it because it offended me. And it doesn’t offend me anymore. I’ve gotten used to it or immune to it now. It’s crazy.
And you’ve used some of that as fuel for your current album.
Oh, yeah. Definitely. I love that.
Let’s talk about your Christmas Vacation tour also coming up. You’re dovetailing one tour right into the next. Is Atreyu co-headlining or opening for you?
I never thought about that; I don’t know. All I know is that they’re a really good band live. That was my favorite band when I was a kid. It’s wild that we’re even playing shows with them. They’re like the nicest guys in the world too, so it’s like a double awesome thing. I was in Australia with them, and they had me come onstage and play one of their old songs, or sing one of their old, or scream one of their old songs. The 17-year-old in me was like stoked.
Were you nervous?
No. No, I wasn’t. Because they were so welcoming; they were so nice and warm about it, there was nothing to be nervous about.
That must be weird growing up listening to a band and then singing one of their songs onstage with them.
Yeah! Exactly. And they got so big, at one point they were massive. They’re still doing really well, but I remember just seeing them come from the bottom and then see them play at the Pearl at the Palm, it’s called, it’s like a mini-arena. So it’s just wild we’re doing a tour with them.
How do the shows at the beginning of your tours differ from those at the end?
You get exhausted mentally and physically. You’re confined in a bus with like 13 men. But it’s fun all the way to the end. You just get really stoked at the end when you come home. It’s weird, because when you’ve been away for so long, it’s hard to explain, but it’s exhilarating coming home if you’re at the end of it. Like last week of tour the shows are really fun, but it feels like it slows down, like it feels like another month of tour, but it’s only a week because you know you’re gonna go home after you’ve been on the road for two months or whatever.
So it’s like a kid waiting for Christmas.
Yeah, exactly. That’s perfect. Yes, exactly.
What do you enjoy the most when you’re on the road touring?
I’ll go to play a show and I’m like, “How many tickets were sold?” Then you go to the next show, and then it’s like, “How many tickets?” And then it’s, like, a thousand more than we did last time. That’s like the most exhilarating thing ever, for sure. And I bring my dog on tour; his name’s Charlie.
That was my next question is what keeps you grounded? And it sounds like you’ve got a dog, which is very good for that.
Yeah, therapeutic. I’ll bring him back cake to the bus. And he eats pizza. He’s not supposed to. He eats everything.
Have you brought him on stage?
I used to bring him on stage in 2012, and I had these things called dog muffs you put over his ears. But I haven’t brought him onstage at an indoor venue. Maybe I will this tour.
That would be a good photo.
I’m gonna put him in a supervillain costume.
The little satin shorts and the cape?
Yeah.
Related: Falling In Reverse Parodies ‘The Voice’ in New Video for ‘Just Like You’: Watch
Tell me about the fans, how they’ve changed over the years. Are they bringing new tattoos with your lyrics plastered on them?
Oh, yeah, for sure. I get at least twice a week someone with my face tattooed on them. And since we’ve started to get radio play, I’ve started seeing older people coming to the shows. A cop and his wife came to the show. They came to the meet and greet, a cop and his wife. I’m like, “Oh, are you here with just her?” Like “Yeah.” I’m like, “[What] the hell?” I’ve just seen a demographic change, like 50-year-old bikers, there’s like older ladies, it’s crazy. It’s wild to see that too. You get on radio a little bit, there’s a crazy change that happens. It’s pretty cool.
But that’s what you set out to do, right? You wanted to touch a wide audience.
Oh, yeah. For sure, yeah. It’s so awesome to see that.
I saw your funny video where you’re walking the Hollywood Walk of Fame with your quiz, and you seemed really at home, really natural. Have you done any other TV work, and have you been approached?
Uh-uh, I never thought about it. I remember Jacoby Shaddix [of Papa Roach] was on that show called Scarred though. You remember that?
I do, but I think that would be the wrong thing for you. I thought you were a witty host in your reactions to the people on the street; it was genuine and funny…
Really? Yeah, I’m trying to do my own thing right now. I’ve never been approached for a crazy show or a game show, you know what I mean? But that would be awesome.
Have you considered creating your own TV show around a tour? There’s gotta be some crazy stories.
Oh yeah, there is; some insane things happen. That’s in the works, actually. I’m not really allowed to talk about that.
Gotcha. But we can tell fans at something cool will happen with you and video in the foreseeable future.
Yeah, for sure.
What’s the reaction been from friends, family, fans, bandmates around your DASH Dolls appearance, peripherally with the Kardashian clan?
It’s really funny, they’re like, “What the f—?” They’re shocked. They’re like, “What is going on?” Because it’s like, “You?” It’s just fine with people that know me; fans would never expect. And some of them, they were just flipping through the channels, and they’re like “What the—” They didn’t see me tweet about it or that I’m gonna be on this TV show. Some of them are surprised. Like old friends are that way too, like, “What?”
How did you and Caroline [Burt, of the DASH Dolls] meet?
Caroline? I’ve known her for a long time. She came to one of my shows in Los Angeles, she just came up on a bus or whatever. She had all her entourage with her. I’ve known her for a little while through mutual friends as well.
So you guys just clicked.
Yeah.
Supervillains Tour Dates
Nov. 04 Phoenix, AZ – The Pressroom
Nov. 05 Los Angeles, CA – Club Nokia
Nov. 06 San Diego, CA – SOMA
Nov. 07 Riverside, CA – Riverside Municipal Auditorium
Nov. 10 Lubbock, TX – Lonestar Pavilion
Nov. 11 Dallas, TX – House of Blues
Nov. 13 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
Nov. 14 San Antonio, TX – Alamo City Music Hall
Nov. 15 New Orleans, LA – House of Blues
Nov. 16 Corpus Christi, TX – Concrete Street Pavilion
Nov. 18 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade – Heaven
Nov. 20 Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
Nov. 21 Fort Lauderdale, FL – Revolution
Nov. 22 St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Landing
Nov. 24 Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore Charlotte
Nov. 25 Silver Springs, MD – The Fillmore Silver Spring
Nov. 27 Hartford, CT – The Webster Theater
Nov. 28 Boston, MA – House of Blues
Nov. 29 Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
Dec. 01 New York, NY – Best Buy Theater
Dec. 02 Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
Dec. 04 Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
Dec. 05 Cleveland, OH – Agora Theatre and Ballroom
Dec. 06 Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
Dec. 08 Chicago, IL – House of Blues
Dec. 09 Clive, IA – 7 Flags Event Center
Christmas Vacation Tour Dates
Dec. 11 Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater
Dec. 14 Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo
Dec. 15 Portland, OR – Roseland Theater
Dec. 17 San Francisco, CA – Warfield Theatre
Dec. 18 Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades
Dec. 19 Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
Dec. 20 Fresno, CA – Woodward Rotary Amphitheatre