Mike Nunez

For FLORIDA TODAY

Corey Feldman has been performing music for a long time.

His albums include "Angelic 2 the Core," "Still Searching for Soul" and "Former Child Actor"

Corey's inspiration for music? The King of Pop, Michael Jackson

Love him or hate him, Corey Feldman is someone you can’t take your eyes off of.

An enigma that is polarizing to watch and an indelible part of pop culture, Feldman still is going strong at age 46. Actor, dancer, singer and performance artist could all be used to describe the former star of such classic hits like “The Goonies,” “The Lost Boys,” “Stand By Me,” and “License to Drive.” He had smaller roles in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Gremlins.”

In the ’80s, he filmed a few movies with another famous child actor named Corey, the late Corey Haim. In 2007, they teamed up for a brief reality show called “The Two Coreys” where it was revealed both suffered sexual abuse when they were young. Feldman has been vocal about “the dark side of Hollywood,” in interviews and in his memoir “Coreyography.”

Having met Feldman at his many appearances at the Celebration Exotic Car Show, I can say that he is charitable, interesting and hard not to like.

After a September 2016 performance by Corey Feldman and the Angels on NBC’s “Today” show went viral, the band quickly found their live shows to be more in demand than ever before; a live show that includes a stop Tuesday at Wynfield's Sports Bar in Satellite Beach.

QUESTION: You have been performing music for most of your career, but only recently people have started to take notice. Has social media played a major role with that?

ANSWER: Absolutely. I couldn’t have done it without social media and the Internet. It gives an artist a hard line directly to the fans when before you had to rely on press conferences, press releases, publicists and more. Now you can talk directly to fans. Before you couldn’t succeed in music without a record label supporting you, but now there are things like CD Baby and more that gives artists a way of distributing their music and ways to be heard.

[ WHAT?!? We interviewed 'Chunk' from 'The Goonies,' too ]

Q: Your "Today" show appearance went viral almost immediately and whether people liked it or not, everyone was talking about Corey Feldman the next day. Was that in some ways maybe the underlying goal of the performance?

A: Not at all. I couldn’t have had that kind of immediate impact and the Internet sensation it was if I had planned it. Not even a genius would know if I did A, then B would happen. I mean how many artists have been on the "Today" show — if they knew that’s what it would take to go viral they all would have done something like that. We took over the headlines, and it was a phenomenon. We would have had that same reaction no matter what show we were on, but I thank NBC for giving me the opportunity to have my music and my artistry heard. You know, for so long my artistry was hidden from the public and I was shielded from people seeing my music and artistry. People tried to keep me in a box for so long. I just never had the chance to do a live performance like that where people could see what I was all about. I didn’t know it would dominate the airwaves and people would freak out the way they did. I am glad the producers had faith in me and my music to be seen. We were already climbing the charts before that organically but that exposure was huge for us.

[ LEWIS BLACK: 'Country could use lesson in etiquette' ]

Q: How hard was it to deal with some of the criticism and bullying that came about after the performance?

A: It was really hard for the first 24 hours or so. I mean, this is my music, this is my art and to see people saying hateful things ... This is my whole life and my whole (purpose) has been about music and trying to get it out to the masses, so the negativity was tough. I realized it (the negativity) was really only coming from the media. Real fans got what I was doing and were cutting straight to the message. I am an independent artist doing things on my own, and I don’t think the media and record labels want a guy like me succeeding because people will realize you can be successful without a record label. They are afraid some big rebellion might happen and artists might start doing it on their own. The thought of one singular unified voice is scary to them.

[ SAL THE VOICE: From delivering pizza to performing with Heidi Klum ]

Q: How has the audience reaction been to your shows. Do people come out to hear your music or more to see, “What is Corey going to do next”?

A: I have never had a negative reaction to my shows. I haven’t really had a negative reaction to my movies or shows either. Everything has mostly been very positive. When I had criticism after the "Today" show performance, there was like 50 major publications all with almost the same headlines and saying things like, "Corey has lost his mind,” “Corey is Weird,” “Corey is Bizarre.” But, despite all that, fans loved it and thought it was powerful. People didn’t know I was a real artist that way. I try and spread a positive message and that was a wake-up call to them. The negative comments from the media seemed like an orchestrated attack on me, but the fans loved it and we have been selling out most of our shows since then.

[ KATHY GRIFFIN: 'I expect a walk out at my show' ]

Q: When you spoke out about the underground sexual abuse in Hollywood, the drug abuse and the pedophilia, were you scared of being blackballed in the industry?

A: I was never afraid it would have any effect on my music at all because that's a different side of this business. I worried a bit how it might affect my film career, but it needed to be told. I wanted people to know what Corey (Haim) and I had been through so people would be a little more understanding of me and not so quick to judge. It wasn’t really about me, but more about letting people know what I and others had to endure and to clear things up.

Q: What is the message of your music?

A: Love and light. Positive thinking and positive energy. I want people to know they can make their dreams a reality. People can have any life they want. It helps to have God and some spirituality in your life, but even if you don’t have that you can be positive about life. Being negative eats at you. People can be more positive in everyday life, and you increase your chances for something good to happen. That is the message of my music.

If you have an artist/band you’d like to recommend for review, contact Nunez at srkmusic@cfl.rr.com or follow Mike on Twitter: @srkmusicflorida

The details

Who: Corey Feldman and the Angels

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 25

Where: Wynfield's Sports Bar, 190 SR A1A, Satellite Beach

Cost: Tickets are $25 and $75 for a meet-and-greet.

Info: Call 321-773-8640 or visit ticketfly.com.