BROUGHT TO YOU BY: MARSWORTH
The Bastard Children of NYC take over Ohio for a couple of dates on their everlong tour between opening for Ace Frehley and headlining shows of their own. We were grateful to be able to catch their frontman before a show in Toledo, Ohio at Prime Nightlife. After chatting about the early days, what the band has become, and what it will be, we’re certain that these guys need to stay on all of our radars. I’d like you to meet Kore Rozzik.
KORE ROZZIK: I feel like tonight will be a debaucherous night
MARSWORTH: for why?
K: I don’t know. I just got a vibe because it’s more like a club show.
M: So we’ll start with way back. Do you remember the first time someone stopped and recognized you? What was going through your head?
K: I was thinking, this is pretty cool.
M: That’s it!?
K: Yeah, I know. Well, because it’s a reward. Again, we’re not super famous or anything, but anytime that someone recognizes me, I take it as a huge compliment. That means that you’ve resonated some sort of an impact on somebody. Right. The first time. That’s hard to remember because I came out of the New York City scene where everybody kind of knew everybody. So it’d probably be a little later on in my career, I would say, like in more recent times, sometimes I’ll be like, at a show in Atlantic City or in Pennsylvania and someone will- I remember we got hooked up. We went to see Motley Crue in Atlantic City when John 5 just played with them.
M: Recently.
K: Yeah, because we know John. So I got hooked up. I know. So I got, like, the VIP treatment. I got escorted through security and there was some guy in the sand like, yeah, glamorous, dude.
M: Heck yeah, dude.
K: Well, we’ve been getting around post pandemic with Ace Freely and stuff, obviously. So there’s more eyes on us, I guess which isn’t bad.
M: Which is never a bad thing.
K: Not at all. That’s what it’s all about.
M: Exactly. So if you didn’t fall into all this stuff, if you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing?
K: It’s a good question. If I wasn’t a musician, I’d probably be a really bad stand up comic.
M: Okay. So if you were in a world where money didn’t exist, we paid for things via laughs, would you be rich?
K: I would have enough money to pay my bills because there’d be enough degenerates that would find what I say funny, but would I be Dave Chappelle status? Probably not.
M: Hey, I mean, you got some wealth right here. I’m laughing.
K: I’d be like a poor man’s, like Andrew Dice Clay or something like that.
M: Just like a dollar store version (laughs)
K: Yeah, like a dollar store. No, because I did stand up for a period of time when nothing was happening with my music. Okay, I tried it for a little while, but it was a weird kind of amateur DIY thing where when you do stand up and you’re starting out in the beginning right. You have to find a bunch of people to pay to watch you suck for, like, five minutes on stage. And I said to myself, well, that’s a lot to ask of people: 2 drink minimum and all this money to watch me suck for five minutes. Or if I’m in a band, you could watch me suck for, like, 30 minutes.
M: I enjoy the 30 minutes of music.
K: Yeah, because at least that gives you enough time to really see if you really suck that much in five minutes. You may not be warmed up yet, but by 30 minutes, you’ll know whether they really suck or not.
M: Exactly.
K: Yeah. You need a few songs to determine well, I don’t know. That’s how bad you are, but yeah, I always loved comedy and stuff, and that’s something I would have done. I just like all forms of performance. I was big into professional wrestling. I did that for a little while. Yeah. I have a few friends that work for the WWE.
M: Not to brag or anything.
K: You know what it’s like, as a matter of fact, I’ve been very fortunate to get to know some people in different circles over the years. I mean, it’s not overnight or anything, but just out of sheer luck.
M: Yeah.
K: A lot of times it is who you know, but again, I’ve also learned the hard way that sometimes just because you know people doesn’t mean that you’re going to get handed something. You might get a little advice and you might get a favor once in a blue, but not everything is guaranteed just because you know people.
M: Exactly. So another fun one, at least this is my favorite one. So in a universe where taste and hearing are all mixed up, what would Kore Rozzik’s music taste like?
K: What would Kore Rozzik’s music taste like? Wow. Probably would taste like some sort of a custom burger, like on garlic bread or something.
M: Okay. That sounds amazing!
K: Well, because we’re all American, you know what I mean? But we got a unique style to us, so it probably has some sort of, like a secret sauce on it. Maybe have a pierogi on it. A lot of us are Eastern European, so it probably would have a pierogi on it.
M: Hey, I work at a bakery where we make pierogies.
K: Really? From scratch? What kind of pierogies?
M: Any pierogies. Not just potato cheese. We have potato onion, sauerkraut, and sweet cottage cheese. But we also do like blueberry and spinach mozzarella.
K: You got cherry?
M: Yeah.
K: Okay, so you guys got the real deal.
M: Exactly. We have Ukrainian ladies in the back making them.
K: That’s beautiful. Yeah, I’m part Ukrainian as well.
M: So next time you come through Ohio, let me know! You gotta travel the distance to get them.
K: I appreciate it. The name Kore Rozzik has been around for a while, so there’s a little bit of a footprint to it. But as far as Daisy, I created Daisy like, a year ago. I didn’t create him. He’s got his own style. He’s brought a lot of energy to the band. Basically, our rhythm section is the new blood. Daisy and Will, me, Alex, and Andy, we’ve been together since 2016. Yeah, but these guys are really taking it to the next level.
M: I didn’t know that. How do you stay motivated and inspired when facing creative blocks or difficult times in your career?
K: You know, it’s funny. That is a really good question, and it’s hard to answer it because my initial gut reaction is you just kind of- I mean, listen, there’s moments where I’ll go to another person’s concert and go, okay, man, that’s fucking great. And that just reminded me how much I love this, and this is why I want to do what I want to do. So there is that. But I also feel with some people, it’s just in you. There is no giving up. I mean, you might get discouraged or burnt out or whatever, but it’s your mission, and it just stays your mission.
M: You can do it.
K: I mean, this is what I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid, and I don’t think at any point I ever really didn’t want to do it. I think there was a time where I was in New York and I was having a hard time finding serious quality musicians, and I was like, all right, I guess I’ll do this stand up thing for, like, five minutes. You know what I mean? No joke, like legit. But I don’t think at any point I was like, oh, I think I’ll go be a garbage man or something. I always wanted to do this. There’s nothing more that I love to do than perform on stage. I think it’s why I was created. I don’t know what else. There’s other things I can do, but I think this is what I do best.
M: But this is what you’re meant to do.
K: Yes, that’s the right word. I’m meant to do this.
M: So is there, like, a story behind it? Kore Rozzik, that is.
K: There’s a little bit of a story behind it. Well, I’ll give you the short story. So pretty much in a nutshell, what happened was I had decided at a certain point to kind of just brand myself. When I was in high school, my friends nicknamed me Hardcore because I used to do a lot of backyard wrestling and I was like the one rocker kid of the group. For some reason in high school, I was more with the wannabe gangster stoners types. Something’s never changed that would freestyle and do the Cipher and all that. And I was like the one rocker kid. So they called me hardcore. So I thought, well, and then everyone would start just calling me Core and I figured, well, if I do it with a K, that would be a little different. Yeah, right. So I did that and then really Rozzik is just an offshoot of my real Ukrainian last name.
M: Oh yeah?
K: So that’s basically where I came up with the name Kore Rozzik. And then I was still doing other bands under different names, but I was always like the driving force behind every band that I was in. And I just thought that the name Kore Rozzik was such a unique name that stood out that I was kind of like, what’s the point of trying to come up with some other cool name.
M: When you’ve got something rad right here?
K: Yeah, I’m like, what am I going to call my band? You know what I mean? Like Wednesday’s Funeral or It Dies Today. What the hell am I going to call it that’s going to stand out from all this other stuff that’s out there? Because the market is so flooded with bands good, bad and indifferent. But there’s a lot of shit out there. And I just thought that the Kore Rozzik name stood out. I’ve always been kind of like an Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie kind of guy, so I kind of thought I’ll be the one guy who does it solo. But see, like, Alice came from the Alice Cooper band and Rob Zombie came from White Zombie. Like I’m going to be the one asshole that’s just going to be solo from Jump Street. It’s like I came out of some famous band. Like I’m just going to be Kore Rozzik. I could hope for the best and it’s been a challenging thing because it was hard in the early days to get people behind the image and the whole vision and everything.
M: But the right people are going to find you.
K: Yes. And we’re finally on track now, luckily. Took me long enough.
M: How long has it been?
K: It’s been a long time.
M: I know you said 2016.
K: Yeah. I was trying to do the band before ‘16, so it’s probably been going on for about ten years now. But for most points of interest, I consider 2016 really the genesis of because that’s when we really started doing better shows with a better band and finally getting out of New York. Our first big break was Rocklaoma in Oklahoma. And once we did that, we were kind of like, “Okay, yeah. I really like being on the road.” This is where it’s not to knock anybody, but from the New York City scene. There’s a lot of local big dogs guys that just want to be a big fucking band in New York City. And they feel like if they’ve done that, they’ve kind of made it, which is fine, but a lot of people are content with just being a big dog in a small pond. And we were just like, no, we want to be road dogs. We want to be like, on the road doing our thing.
M: Big dogs, big pond, rockin’ it out.
K: Exactly, of course.
M: If the audience were reacting negatively, what would you do?
K: Usually I just tell really bad jokes and piss them off really quick. (laughs)
M: (laughs) So do you follow any ritual or some kind of thing before you go on stage to rid nerves?
K: Well, I am always a bundle of nerves. I’m a walking panic attack. My anxiety is terrible, but it’s weird for some reason. For as bad as my anxiety is, when I’m on stage, I’m good. It’s the rest of the day that gets you.
M: Alright.
K: But as far as a pre-show thing, I mean, when I have the space, I usually do some stretching, like some yoga stuff. And depending on the day, sometimes I will do some vocal warm ups depending on where we’re at, if I’m fresh or if I need to stretch it out from a long show the night before. And yeah, I try not to get too fucked up, but it’s so fun. I don’t know. I never go on stage fucked up.
M: I always wondered how people could do that.
K: I don’t know. There’s a lot of people that put them in the right frame of mind or something. Not me. I like to be very much focused and in control of what I’m doing. So I wouldn’t want to put on a lackluster performance because I’m like, “Fuck that!” That takes a lot of focus.
M: So are there any upcoming releases or projects you can talk about?
K: Yeah, so we got to decide on what we’re going to do. But we are working on some new material. We’ve been thinking about maybe doing a live record or something. So when we’re with Ace [Frehley] in Texas, we’re going to be recording live from the soundboard and we’ll see what comes out. I mean, if it sounds really good, because I feel like we’re a fun live band, it would be cool to do that. But we’re going to put something out in the fall. I don’t know what it’s going to be yet. Well, yeah, it’s been a long freaking time. Well, things got weird with the record company and then the Pandemic, and then the new lineups and rebuilding everything. I never intended to go five years without putting out music. Believe me, I’m still upset about that. But I also don’t want to rush things because nowadays if you don’t have a big label behind you, you have to have a really strong plan. Otherwise you’re just like clicking a button to put on Spotify and then no one knows it exists.
M: Right.
K: So I’ve been very sensitive about that. So we want to put stuff out.
M: You’re a man with a plan.
K: Well, I need to have the right plan and then pull the trigger on it.
Click the image below, if you’d like to know anything more about the band or just to keep up with them on the regular. Catch them on Instagram, Facebook, or even grab some tickets to see them on the road!
