Rock ‘n roll journey brings drummer back home

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This article was published 18/07/2012 (5086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brent Fitz was barely out of high school when he started touring the world with Slash, but it took Fitz 20 years to finally meet the man.

It was summer 1988, and the then fresh-faced John Taylor Collegiate grad was in the U.K. on a European sojourn with his band and choir classmates when he picked up Guns N’ Roses debut album Appetite For Destruction. We’re talking a copy with the album’s original cover design, involving a robotic rapist, deemed too controversial for the times.

A little more than two decades later, Fitz, now 42, is literally banging the skins for the famous rock star’s new band, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators.

The will band perform in Winnipeg Sat., July 21 at the Burton Cummings Theatre.

“I just remember that whole summer, that was my launching pad,” Fitz joked in a phone interview from his home in Las Vegas.

“I couldn’t wait to graduate and go on tour.”

Since banging on pails in his parents’ basement when he was just a child, to getting his first drum set at 10, Fitz hasn’t looked back on his rock ‘n’ roll journey.

After playing in local bands and shows when he was only 15, Fitz quickly moved on to touring with Canadian acts Streetheart, Seventh Heaven and Shake Naked.

Fitz was about 25 when he left his comfort zone — and Canada — to pursue the rock star lifestyle by moving to Los Angeles in the mid-90s.

There, Fitz tirelessly worked to build connections, eventually forming a band with Bruce Kulick of Kiss and John Corabi of Motley Crue.

“When I moved to LA, I started at zero again. I had a lot of playing experience but didn’t know anybody,” he said.

“I started working with as many people as I could.”

That band, Union, eventually broke up, leading Fitz to find work with Vince Neil and Alice Cooper, the latter of whom eventually recommended Fitz in a conversation with Slash.

 “It took me 20 years to hook up with Slash,” he said.

“I bit off little pieces of opportunity as I could. I started out always being the youngest in every band I played with. I was like a sponge. Playing with older people with experience, I shut my mouth and learned what to do and what not to do.”

Fitz’s parents — father Mervyn and mother Audrey — aren’t surprised to see their son find his place with marquee musicians.

“That’s where his focus has been ever since he was young. He just kept on working,” said Audrey, 69.

“He left because he felt he had done everything he could here.”

Although his parents admit they sometimes worry about his well-being, they say they always felt comfortable with him pursuing his musical dreams.

“He seemed he was making progress all the time. There was always a challenge he met and succeeded,” said Mervyn, 73.

“I thought, boy, he’s determined, even though macaroni and cheese was their mainstay to get them through a tight budget.

“He remembers people, he remembers names, and always keeps in touch. We let him go and he made his way,” he said.

The couple last saw their son perform in Winnipeg a few years ago. They have seen their son play live since he was 15, and keep planning to do so.

“It’s just to be there and to see him play and support him,” Audrey said.

“We want to let him know we’re still there for him.”

Fitz, meanwhile, likes to downplay the arc of his storied career as a Voyageur elementary student who just wanted to play the drums.

“The story of my life has been people recommending me. I hate tooting my own horn,” he said.

“I hate talking about myself. I don’t roll around with a resume.”

Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators perform at the Burton Cummings Theatre July 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

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matt.preprost@canstarnews.com