Frankie Kazarian Talks Christopher Daniels Title Win, His Band VexTemper, ROH Future & More

Former TNA X-Division, Tag Team Champion, Two-time Ring of Honor Tag Team Champion and current Ring of Honor star Frankie Kazarian The Rack Radio Show Podcast to discuss his new band Vex Temper and how the group got started, when we can expect to see the band out on the road and how that affects his in-ring availability, teaming with Dalton Castle and if Castle is an up-and-comer in Ring of Honor, how it was to put on over on the Bullet Club and help his long-time friend Christopher Daniels win the ROH World Title, his thoughts on the Star Wars The Last Jedi trailer and the loss of Carrie Fisher and so much more.
Below are the hightlightS:

How his band “Vex Temper” got started: “It’s not necessarily new, but our album and our music is new to listeners. I’ve been in this band, or this project, for probably close to the better part of 5 years and it started as me and four buddies just jamming; when I moved back home to Southern California in late 2011, I got together with some buds and started jamming. We’ve had a line-up change over the course of that time, but we’d write some original stuff and do some covers and realized we started taking this kind of seriously and had a collection of what we thought were some really good songs and thought ‘Let’s make a demo’. What turned into a demo then turned into us recording these seven tracks and the decision was made to try and get the album made and out to the people.

I was very lucky to have a very strong support system in my wrestling fan base, which is really super cool, and I was able to parley that into getting Vex Temper out there. We recorded the album from about September to December of last year, mixed it the early part of this year, had it mastered and released it April 7th. I’m excited with the response and the feedback we’ve gotten from wrestling fans and rock and metal fans and we’re just continuing to push it to try and get people to listen to it. It’s just another really cool, exciting venture that I love doing as much as professional wrestling.”

What are some of his and Vex Temper’s musical influences: “Yeah, I mean we’re all pretty much into the same type of music, we’re all about the same age, with some guys a little older than me, but we’re all heavily influenced by 80’s thrash metal, basically the ‘Big 4’ of Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth, and certainly bands like Black Sabbath, The Rolling Stones, Pantera, Motorhead, AC/DC and even some newish bands like Soundgarden and stuff like that. But we all come from the same place musically, we are all on the same page and it has kind of created what we have labeled Desert Metal; kind of a throwback to older school, straight-forward rock and metal sound.

… It’s not returning to the mainstream, of course, because rock and metal have never gotten the love or the respect that they, I think, deserve from the mainstream, in terms of radio/air play and popularity. But I do agree with you that there are a lot of bands coming out and going and doing it and not over producing, making it sound too perfect. I know, in terms of Vex Temper, that is our philosophy: just go out there and rock and have fun. If mistakes show up, then mistakes show up and that is organic and makes it sounds like human beings made it, not a machine or a robot and I really hope that trend follows and we get people just coming out and producing just straight rock-n-roll and getting away from this pop-rock nonsense that we’ve come to know in the past 15-20 years.”

Are there any plans to tour soon with Vex Temper and how will he fit that into his busy wrestling schedule: “Well, that’s the thing; This is my labor of love and passion project away from wrestling and unfortunately the bad side of that is often time I have to turn down or can’t do gigs because gigs in bars and clubs happen on the weekends and is often at times when I am wrestling. We just did a gig the last weekend and do plan on gigging all throughout summer. In terms of tours, those are obviously are going to have to start out small in the Southern California and Northern California area, Arizona and Nevada area, because aside from me being busy, the other guys in my band are all working-class guys and all have jobs and families and responsibilities but love doing music and if something were to come our way, we’d certainly up on any opportunity. But, like you said, trying to squeeze this into my schedule as well as being a husband and father and with a lot of other responsibilities but I take the Carpe Diem and ‘Seize the Day’ method and try to get in as much as I can into a day’s work.”

His upcoming match at ‘Masters of the Craft’ with Christopher Daniels and Dalton Castle and if Dalton is a rising star within Ring of Honor: “Oh it’s undeniable. The guy is incredibly popular and very, very unique; he’s a very interesting character, which I think the business is missing these days. He has all the tools: he can wrestle, he’s extremely entertaining, he can talk, he’s got a great look. What’s not to like about him? It’s just a great character in the professional wrestling business and a huge addition to our roster and a guy I’m very much looking forward to being on the same team with. I’ve wrestled him in singles and had tag matches against him so it’ll be interesting to be on his side again and rekindle that old love affair we’ve had with The Young Bucks.

Anybody who knows Chris (Daniels) and I know that we, at times, can be a little bit on the obnoxious and ridiculous side, so Dalton really fits right in into our game, we’re all on the same page in terms of that so that wasn’t really an issue at all.”

How was it to help your long-time friend win the ROH Championship and get one over on The Bullet Club: “A lot of people thought that and when that turn initially happened, I had a lot of hate tweets sent my way. I had a lot of people congratulating me for joining the Bullet Club and all that means to me is that we fooled everybody; that we got them. In 2017, to fool a wrestling fan, who has social media and leaks things the way they are, it’s a pretty good accomplishment. SO, I was really happy that all the work and months or preparation that went into this and executed, went off without a hitch. When Las Vegas happened and I came to reveal that I am not a Bullet Club member and that I was and always will be a member of The Addiction, it took a lot of people by surprise and was the culmination of a great night and a great match and ended up with Christopher Daniels winning the Ring of Honor World Championship which is a career highlight for me being his best friend and being a guy that got to see it all unfold.”