Tommy Henriksen Interview: Alice Cooper, Crossbone Skully + More

Tommy Henriksen joined Loudwire Nights on Wednesday (Oct. 28) to dive into all the different worlds he's part of, from playing guitar in Alice Cooper's band to his work as a Hollywood Vampire to his own band, Crossbone Skully.

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

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"I've just been working on Vampire songs right now because we've got a Vampire record coming out and we're in writing mode, pre-production and it's going good," Henriksen shared with Loudwire Nights host Chuck Armstrong.

The Hollywood Vampires are comprised of Cooper, Johnny Depp, Joe Perry and Henriksen, and as he put it to Chuck, the writing process is a bit "crazy."

"It's insanity, but it's beautiful," he admitted.

"It's as Robert DeLeo I think called it, it's beautiful chaos. Alice and myself will always get together. Alice will say, 'Hey, I want to do a song, blah, blah, blah.' And I'm like, 'Alright, cool. I got this.' And then I go back and forth with Coop. Joe's got a bunch of stuff he's working on right now. He'll send me riffs and then we'll go back with Joe and then Johnny's already got like four songs."

That beautiful chaos is a lot of fun for Henriksen because once the four of them get in a room together, they work everything out and then hit the studio — which isn't a very different experience.

"The record will be recorded pretty much like we did last time, not a lot of overdubs, pretty much raw, you know," he said.

"I'm looking forward to it."

In addition to new Hollywood Vampires music, Henriksen is prepping for the release of his next record with Crossbone Skully, Condemned to Rock n' Roll, out on Jan. 29. Among other surprises, Henriksen partnered up with Def Leppard's Phil Collen again for a new song on the album, "Thunder Love."

"Having him back was amazing, because Phil is a solid human being," he said.

"It wouldn't have happened if, you know, we were doing the Alice Vegas thing and it was Def Leppard's last night at their residency. I was like, I've got to go see Def Leppard. I had tickets and no passes because I don't want to bother anyone. I saw my buddy there who's a buddy with Leppard after the show. He's like, 'Did you get passes?' I was like, 'No.' He's like, 'I'll sneak you back into catering.'"

So, Henriksen gets snuck backstage and runs into Collen.

"Phil comes over and gives me a hug," Henriksen recalled.

"He's like, 'Come on back, Tommy. How are you, blah, blah, blah.' And then he looks at me and goes, 'How's Mutt [Lange]?' I go, 'He's doing great.' He goes, 'Do you got anything for me to play on?' And I went, 'Yes I do. I have the track, dude.'"

Henriksen explained that he wrote a song trying to bring back the power of Def Leppard's "Photograph," and so he sent Collen the track and he called him right back.

"He goes, 'I need to play on this.' I was like, 'Yeah, you do. And you also need to sing' ... And you know what? He did."

What Else Did Tommy Henriksen Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

Why he works well with so many different artists like Phil Collen and Alice Cooper: "You learn from all these people, man. I work hard. I don't sit back. I'm not one of those guys to talk about myself and be like, 'Oh look what I did, hey, here's me.' I hate doing that stuff, I don't like to talk about myself. But when it comes to working hard, I work every day, I try and write a song, dude."
Why simple is better, especially when talking about AC/DC: "It's the sound and it's the chords. Those guys and the rhythm, it's just everything, dude. They are the masters. And rhythm guitar to me is so much more important than lead guitar. I sit back, I get a kick out of these Instagram guitar players and stuff. You need to get onstage. I mean, I'm glad and happy you've got like 700 million followers in your bedroom, but put the guy on stage at 100 degrees, humidity, guitar out of tune, trying to perform and then talk to me about that stuff."
Why he works so hard: "The reason I work so much, I say to myself, I go, 'Man, we're going to be dead soon, bro.' I've got to get as much stuff as I can done. I'll sleep when I'm dead. I'll relax when that happens right? Until them, I'm always working and writing and just trying to be a good dad and stuff like that."