Cherry St. Revisited: 30 Year Anniversary with Tom “Monroe” Mathers of Perris Records
Interview by Ken Morton The Sunset Strip was bustling with musicians and fans, all creating what would become a music scene that would be heard all around the world. One of the bands to create kickass tunes and other havoc in Hollywood was Cherry St. who would sell out shows at iconic venues such as Gazzari’s, creating quite a buzz in the music business. The band would find themselves signed with JRS/BMG, where they released Squeeze It Dry - their only output on a major label. You can’t keep an awesome band down - ever! Guitarist Tom “Monroe” Mathers would create Perris Records to release their first batch of demos prior to the BMG experience. And once grunge reared it’s head to basically obliterate anything having to do with hard rock and hair metal, Mathers and Perris Records would continue to issue Cherry St. albums as well as other bands within the realm of hard rock, hair metal. and AOR. Highwire Daze recently interviewed Tom “Monroe” Mathers to discuss the 30 Year Anniversary re-release of their sought after Self-Titled debut on Perris Records, the stories of Cherry St. and those crazy nights on the Sunset Strip, what the members are up to today, and more... Introduce yourself and tell me what you do/did in Cherry St.? My name is Tom “Monroe” Mathers. I played guitar and did the all of the business responsibilities for the band. What was the local Los Angeles music scene like when Cherry St. was on the scene playing shows in the late 80’s / early 90’s? The scene was crazy. There were thousands of people lining Sunset Blvd every Friday & Saturday night. Thousands of bands hanging out, handing out flyers, and trying to sell their pre-sale tickets if they were lucky enough to have a show at one of the clubs. The Cherry St. debut being reissued is from 1992. Looking back, what do you think of the music now being reissued on this 30th Anniversary edition? I can’t believe it has been 30 years.Time flies by so quick. Some of our music is being bootlegged in Russia and other places. Unfortunately, there are many thieves in the music business ripping off labels and bands by releasing their 42
music without authorization and keeping all the cash. I realized it was 30 years ago we released the “Self titled” so I thought it was great reason to re-release it again now, and also hopefully keep Russia from making money on unauthorized versions. It is also a major milestone for me since it was the 1st CD on Perris Records and started a lifetime career for me. The CD is almost sold out, being a limited pressing of 500 CDs. I still love the music and I’ve really enjoyed people telling me they are digging it and are glad to hear it again. What was it like being on the Pay To Play segment of MTV with such bands as Guns N’ Roses and Warrant? There was major buzz about the band on the Sunset Strip when they were filming the segment. We met with Carla Diamond from MTV and shot the interview for the Pay To Play segment that aired for a couple weeks with heavy rotation on MTV. Our phone blew up with calls from all over the USA. By that time, we were headlining the clubs in Hollywood and preparing to tour the USA before even having a record deal. May/June 2022
HIGHWIRE DAZE
