Boch producing Hollywood Vampires Doc

While the dreams of turning Norwood into a Halloween filming destination are at least on pause (and have been for the last few years), Ernie Boch Jr. has been working on a different angle.

Boch helped to produce the documentary, “Unleashed Spirits: The Rise of the Hollywood Vampires,” which is premiering on Sept. 18 at the Boch Theater as the kickoff film for this year’s Boston Film Festival. Tickets can be found at https://gvimes.link/hllywdvmptx

The Hollywood Vampires is a supergroup formed by Alice Cooper, with permanent band members Joe Perry, Johnny Depp, and Tommy Henrickson. While the band has had innumerable guest band members over the years (including Boch himself), it all started on a bit of whim.

But back up a second: Boch said his affiliation with the band came from his longtime fandom of the music, which he said was almost a requirement when you grew up in the 1970s.

“When I was in the 70s, they handed you a guitar, the Pink Floyd album, and Peter Frampton’s Come Alive,” he said. “I’ve always liked rock’n’roll, and through happenstance, I got involved with the Aerosmith camp. I’ve sold them all cars, hung out with them, too, and I’d say I’ve known Joe Perry for 40 years.”

So that’s one connection down. Boch said he first met Extreme drummer Paul Geary in the 90s, right after Geary got into artist management from playing the drums, and they became good friends. He said his friendship with Geary opened up the backstage world and introduced him to a number of musicians through the years.

“Since then, I’ve developed my own relationships and my relationship with Paul is tighter than ever,” he said. “Every time he’d manage a band, get this or get that, I’d always be involved. We’d always hang out, and in a very quick moment we opened a record label, Open E, developed Steel Panther, and produced Extreme’s live record in Boston. You know, just various things, and I ended up shutting down that record label – like most people end up shutting down record labels – but through that I made a lot of friends, and then somehow Paul got involved with Johnny Depp.”

Boch said Geary invited him over to Depp’s house one evening after he had taken over management of Depp’s music career.

“We got there in the afternoon and left at 4 a.m.,” he said. “I don’t consider Johnny a friend, I consider him an acquaintance. But I do have his phone number. And this whole thing just bubbled in the background.”

Cooper had, a little later on, asked Depp to sit in on a small bar gig he was doing. They first met on the set of Dark Shadows, and Cooper and Depp felt they played really well together.

“And Johnny was living at Joe Perry’s house at the time, and so those guys all got together and started the Hollywood Vampires,” Boch said.

Boch said he first saw Hollywood Vampires singer Alice Cooper (the “Godfather of Shock Rock”) when he was in high school, and Cooper later played Boch’s Christmas party.

“He spent two nights at my house,” he said. “And when the Vampires played a late night TV show I got to go to that, and then through various things I got to know Alice Cooper over the years. Alice Cooper is just the most amazing individual you will ever meet. I’ve known Joe for 40 years, I respect Alice, Johnny is an A-list icon, and then I got to know Tommy, their music director, through a bunch of other people. I’ve known the guys at Aerosmith forever and I know all of Alice’s band, and so it was just natural with the Hollywood Vampires for me to fit in.”

But Boch said that doesn’t mean he’d just go out and see them when they came around here.

“I’ve been on the road with them a bunch. Three years ago I was on the road with them for a month, And I was with them for the first four gigs for this year’s tour,” he said. “I was out on the buses through England, Wales and Scotland with my girlfriend, who is a rock’n’roll journalist.”

The supergroup is named after Cooper’s old drinking club, which first formed in the 1970s at the Rainbow Bar and Grill in Hollywood, California. Cooper says in the documentary’s trailer that a waitress said he and his friends only came out at night and all they did was drink, just like vampires. So it became the Hollywood Vampires Drinking Club.

Boch said that part of the rock’n’roll life is over for most of the current participants, but when one door closes, a window opens.

“They’re really fun to hang around with; all the drinking and drugs is gone, but it’s just nice dinners, good conversations and they’re just a joy to be around,” he said. “With Alice, I’ve never felt uncomfortable or anything… The media perception of Alice – and who Alice really is – is the complete opposite. Alice is probably one of the most intelligent guys there is. He’s so smart and world traveled, I’d put Alice against any politician, head-of-state, or president.”

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And it was from this comradery and friendship that the film happened.

“I’m in Europe with the guys three years ago and I’m out for a month, and I’m getting coffee with Tommy every morning, doing this and that, and me and Paul were talking, and we look around, I mean when these guys travel, they get whole floors of hotels, and with Johnny, there are usually hundreds or even thousands of people outside the hotel,” he said. “Paul and I were talking, and we said, ‘You know, we’ve got to document this.’”

Boch said he and Geary started going through the footage, and though most shows were filmed, most of it was not up to a film standard. So he and Paul Geary talked with Henrickson and they agreed when the tour came to the Boch Theater in Downtown Boston, they would film it to the highest standard possible.

“We filmed them live, and I’m talking big trucks, drones, high quality sound, it was amazing. And it was a complete film of a complete show,” he said. “Then we started talking and came up with the idea to do a documentary about how the band started – with each individual guy – and what they thought of each other, and it’s just a fascinating documentary. And we completed it.”

Boch said they pitched the film to a number of different film festivals, and they all accepted, but with the Boston Film Festival, they were able to show the film at the Boch Theater.

Boch also mentioned that this was a time he was able contribute.

“And then Tommy said, ‘Coop wants you to sit in with the band when we get back (to the U.S.),’” Boch said, referring to one of the Boch Theater shows. “I was like, ‘Tommy I can’t come on,’ and he said, ‘You’ve got to do it.’ ‘Well Tommy you’ve got to show me the songs and show me the stuff.’ And he did, and I was a Vampire for just one night, and I’ve got pictures I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. That was the second gig when they came back to the U.S.”

For more info, a trailer and tickets, go to https://gvimes.link/hllywdvmptx