To support the release, DARE will embark on a 12-date UK headline tour in October 2022. Planet Rock will start at 48-hour ticket pre-sale at 9am on Wednesday 12th January via www.planetrocktickets.co.uk.
Road To Eden follows Dare’s critically acclaimed albums Sacred Ground (2016) and Out Of The Silence 2 (2018). Both albums reached Number #1 in the Amazon Classic Rock Charts in four countries including the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Dare entered the top #5 in the official UK Rock charts, number #6 in the US Amazon Classic Rock Charts and Number #1 in Japanese rock imports.
Road To Eden is destined to be another modern DARE classic. Produced by their lead singer songwriter Darren Wharton (ex-Thin Lizzy) at his studio the majestic mountains of North Wales. The new album has a harder rock edge than previous albums, whilst still retaining the atmospheric sound, and anthemic melodies that has become the band’s signature trademark.
Road To Eden features ten brand new beautifully crafted songs that captures the very heart of DARE. With a full headline UK tour set for the UK in October 2022, plus dates in Spain, Scandinavia, and Germany, it’s going to be an exciting year for the band.
“We wanted to write an album that translated well to live performance,” says Darren. “Road To Eden has some great anthems, energy and power. We can’t wait to play the new songs live.”
With previous DARE albums now having well over 4 million streams on Spotify, it’s clear that for the growing army of DARE fans, the wait is nearly over, as they prepare to join DARE on The Road To Eden.
BAND LINE-UP
DARREN WHARTON – VOCALS, KEYBOARDS VINNY BURNS – GUITARS NIGEL CLUTTERBUCK – BASS GUITAR KEV WHITEHEAD – DRUMS MARC ROBERTS – KEYBOARDS
TRACK LISTING
1. BORN IN THE STORM (4:45) 2. CRADLE TO THE GRAVE (4:21) 3. FIRE NEVER FADES (3:51) 4. ROAD TO EDEN (4:07) 5. LOVERS AND FRIENDS (3:43) 6. ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG (4:37) 7. I ALWAYS WILL (4:24) 8. GRACE (3:44) 9. THE DEVIL RIDES TONIGHT (3:49) 10. THY KINGDOM COME (4:30) 11. BORN IN A STORM (ROMESH REMIX) (4:21)
PRODUCED BY DARREN WHARTON
Planet Rock in association with The Gig Cartel presents
Swedish hard-rock/metal band who released 7 albums from 1992-2011, before taking a break, but returned last year with Back On Track, a 15 song CD of hard rock, melodic rock, and metal. A well produced album, with attention to detail on song intros, solos, backing vocals, and well placed keyboards. Lots of hooks, melodies, and changes from song to song. I will say that I am not a fan of long albums, 10 tracks i enough for me, but hey, fans of the given band will appreciate more.
The title track leads off this album with a brief intro leading in to the heavy crunchy riff. A fine opener and first video released from this album. Favorite tracks rocks include rockers “Narrow Mind Land”, “Get Down To Biz”, “Doctor Lööv”, and “Rising”.
*check out the press release and links below …
It’s time, not just to celebrate the 30:th anniversary of the first M.ILL.ION album, but also to get back to that pure feeling of joy of the early days! Take note, people: This is not a reunion of tired middle aged men for nostalgic reasons. This is for real and a serious attempt at creating great new rock music, to kick some classic ass on stage again and to have lots of fun doing it all! Four original M.ILL.ION members reunited in the autumn of 2020: Hans Dalzon (Lead Vocals), CT Rohdell (Guitar) Marcus Berglund (Keyboards) and B.J Laneby (Bass Guitar). New, and very talented recruits Henrik Andersson (Lead Guitar) and Magnus Rohdell (Drums) completes this powerful six piece. Founder & bassist B.J Laneby comments: ”It’s so much fun, creativity & energy again! It’s really like the title track says: ” BACK ON TRACK – Time to make boys out of men!” The band has spent the spring of 2021 working on the reunion album BACK ON TRACK. This 15 track production includes three brand new songs and two re-recordings/re-arrangements of tracks from the No.1 album. Adding to this: Rare recordings have been found, remixes have been done + remasterings of songs from the first three albums; ”No.1”, ”We, Ourselves & Us” and ”Electric” as well. All very highly praised albums, all getting updated sounds. Indeed, quite a cool package of classic melodic hard rock! The new recordings on the Back On Track album were mixed by the world famous British producer Simon Hanhart (David Bowie, Bryan Adams, Saxon, Marillion, Asia, Yngwie Malmsteen, Waysted. a.o). Mastering was handled by another world class guy: Tim Debney of Fluid Mastering, UK. (Deep Purple, Rod Stewart, Judas Priest…) M.ILL.ION recently signed a deal with the well known German label AOR Heaven for the European release.
Track list: 1. Back On Track, 2. Rising, 3. Circle Of Trust, 4. 90-60-90, 5. Sign Of Victory, 6. Judgement Day, 7. Eye Of The Storm, 8. Narrow Mind Land, 9. Lovely Eyes, 10. Burn In Hell, 11. Doctor Lööv, 12. Mother Earth, 13. Get Down To Biz, 14. Tear Down The Walls, 15. Candyman . So, ladies & gentlemen, rockers & rollers: Get Ready! M.ILL.ION is BACK ON TRACK! http://www.millionsweden.com //http://www.facebook/Millionbackontrack
John Verity marked 50 years as a performer & recording artist with 2020’s album – Passion. The British guitarist/singer/songwriter was a part of Argent and then Phoenix in the ’70s,, and since 2001 has been releasing his own albums pretty regularly. Passion features Verity delivering 8 new blues rock, and blues ballads tunes. The first 2 tracks jump out right away – “Higher”, a great driving rock tune, followed by “Wise Up” with a cool guitar riff opener and a heavy drum sound (this one being in that Zeppelin / Bad Company class), love the organ throughout this one (courtesy of Jamie Pipe of The Mentulls), lyrically dealing with frustrations of worldly issues. “Sand In My Pocket” is a mid tempo blues number, a nice groove, fantastic playing and vocals. Next up is a bluesy ballad dealing with global environmental issues, delivered in this rather laid back and sad feeling tune “Broken Heart”. John pays tribute to Ginger Baker in the heavy blues cut “Red Devil”, while doing the same to Chuck Berry on “Bad Boy”. “Passion” ends with another heavy blues number titled “Big Stick”. Also included is the slowed paced, reflective guitar piece “The Open Road”; love the playing and the feel on this.
What I like a lot about this album is, aside from the fantastic playing, singing, and songs, is that Passion is kept to a solid production, without any excesses of added instrumentation, guests, and pieces that detract from the flow of it all, simply letting John (and company) deliver an appropriately titled album. Now to start working my way backwards through John’s more recent solo releases….
Line-up: JV – guitars & vocals / Bob Skeat & Roger Inniss – bass / Liam James Gray – drums / Jamie Pipe – keyboards.
Passion was issued on CD and Limited vinyl, and can be ordered at John’s site > http://www.johnverity.com
Many years back I had written to John Verity (ex Argent, Phoenix, Charlie). I really dug that first Phoenix album, and had picked up one of his solo albums, his albums with Argent, and Charlie. But I still had a lot to get, so many of my questions were a bit of ‘fishing’ as I wasn’t familiar with a number of projects. We also didn’t have youtube back then or Discogs to research on…. Anyway, I tried to get a good account of John’s career, and he replied with lots of information and stories. With the recent news of a new release – the ‘lost’ Phoenix album, I decided to re-post this (w/ a few edits), and links and tracks put in.
John Verity has been in the rock business since the late ’60s, but his name came to prominence in 1975 when he replaced Russ Ballard in ARGENT. After 2 albums with Argent, Verity formed the band PHOENIX – who released 2 albums, before releasing a few solo albums, recording an album with US aor band CHARLIE, and getting into production work. John Verity still records and gigs to this day, and is currently readying a new album as well as re-releasing some things from his own catalogue. For more on the man check out>http://www.johnverity.com
What can you tell me about your early days — bands? – people of notoriety you played with? earliest recordings? breaks? etc…
I Started in the 60’s with groups in my home town, Bradford, Yorkshire. Played R&B, Pop & Blues. Got my first real break when I was asked to play guitar for 60’s R&B/ Pop star ‘Dave Berry’ – great experience as we gigged solidly & toured heavily until the band was asked (without DB) to go to the Bahamas for a stint at the ‘Jokers Wild’ club in Freeport, Grand Bahama, in 1968. We stayed for almost a year – I did my first singing then ( I was never allowed to sing before, but we did so many sets, 7 nights a week that our main vocalist needed a break!). In ’69 a promoter from Miami spotted us playing at Jokers Wild and invited us to Florida to do some serious gigs. The band didn’t last long, but I stayed behind & formed the first JV Band with US musicians, gigged with Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Mountain, Canned Heat, PG&E, and others before moving back to UK. Got my first record deal with ABC / Dunhill on my return to UK in 1970/71.
What do you remember of this album? who produced it? any ‘name’ people involved? how did it do? read ‘was recorded late ’72 for Probe/ ABC Dunhill’.
Sorry.. No names on the album. Produced by Steve Rowlands who produced the Herd, Family Dogg, and other pop bands in the UK around that time.
Who was in the first Verity Band? any stories from Hendrix , Mountain, or Canned Heat? what kind of music were you doing back then?
The US JV Band was a three piece – Teddy on drums & Mark on bass. No surnames I’m embarrassed to say – its a long time ago! Nothing earthshaking to report on the other bands I’m afraid. Hendrix was kinda unhappy because people were shouting for the old stuff – he was into the Band of Gypsies thing — line-up was Billy Cox & Buddy Miles. The gig was in Miami – I believe it could have his last in the US.
How did you come to join Argent ?
My first album ‘John Verity Band’ was released on Probe/ABC Dunhill late ’74 and I went on the road touring as support to Argent. Russ Ballard decided to leave on that tour, and recommended me as his replacement.
You played on just ‘Circus’ and ‘Counterpoint’ albums? anything else? [live or unreleased?]
There are unreleased tracks, also we ‘reformed’ to do some sessions in ’77 – the line-up was Rod, Russell, Bob Henrit, Jim Rodford & Me. The tracks were never released & and the ‘reformation’ never happened. I ended up spending quite a lot of time in the studio with Russell working on his songwriting projects during that period – ’78 to ’81. Russell was also involved in the final ‘Phoenix’ recordings in 1980. The lineup was me Bob & Ray, plus Dave Wintour on bass and Russell on piano. We recorded two songs that Russell had written – ‘Juliet’ & ‘I Surrender’. The record company Charisma didn’t like ‘I Surrender’ – said it wasn’t a commercial song! & released ‘Juliet’ as a single instead with no success. B side was ‘I’m In Love’ from “In Full View”. Russell used our version of ‘I Surrender’ as a demo, and ‘Rainbow’ picked up on it. The rest is history…
Were you familiar with Argent prior to joining them? what band did you [and John G.] come from?
I wasn’t really familiar with the band prior to the support tour – but the sheer quality of their musicianship just blew me away.. I think I’ve covered my background prior the Argent. John G was much younger with little band experience – he was a truly natural, gifted musician though, but never liked the touring aspect – well, he hated it really!
Did you feel any pressure/criticism having to fill in Russ Ballard’s spot, baring in mind he wrote a lot of the earlier classics? [did you write songs in these days? ]
I did feel pressure – I just wanted to be good, and make my mark. I did write songs (I had written the John Verity Band album), but there was no chance of writing songs for Argent with someone with pedigree of Rod around!
What was the plan or direction / aim of the new line-up when you joined?
The band was getting into Fusion/ Jazz Rock which I didn’t really like, and anyway they were such a great rock band. I think we lost our way really… musically.
Was Rod the musical ‘director that lead the band away from more rock stuff?
Kind of. The rest of the band seemed happy enough at the time, to go along with this ‘new’ direction. I suspect Robert was a little unhappy at the change but probably I was the only one who felt really uncomfortable with it. I was quite shocked when the new songs were first presented to me, but I didn’t have the confidence to speak out at the time…
How do you feel the 2 Argent LPs you were on compared to previous Argent LP? Were there any successful singles? Why did the band split?
I didn’t feel that the later albums were as successful musically as the earlier albums, though they had their moments. There were singles, but no success. The band split because (a) we weren’t making any money! (b) Rod & John G were sick of touring. (c) Rod wanted to move in a different direction musically (I was agitating to move back to Rock & Roll) (d) I wanted to form a straight ahead power trio with Bob & Jim – ‘Phoenix’.
How much of the drums did Phil Collins play on Counterpoints?
About half. Some tracks are half Bob & half Phil!.
Were you happy with this radical shift away from the anthemic early 70s heavy rock in the Free vein towards spacey jazz-rock, and if so, were you instrumental in this switch?
No, hated it!
How did The John Verity Band [1974] come about, who were the members, where from (which bands)?
All the members of the JV Band were from local bands in my home town (Bradford). We met when I returned from US early ’70’s. The earliest sessions for the album in ’72 were done with session musicians, but I wasn’t happy & formed a ‘normal’ band line-up with Geoff Lyth (guitar & keyboards). We had various bass players & drummers, and the line-up finally settled at Jerry Smith (bass), & Ron Kelly (drums) in time for the album sessions which began at Advision studios in London late ’73. Album produced by Steve Rowlands.
Any singles released? much success, tours, breaks…? How did that one album do on the market?
Lots of gigs – toured with Argent, the line-up changed. New line-up included Biff Byford (Saxon) on bass, and guitarist Paul Quinn (Saxon). I produced the first Saxon album a couple of years later.
What happened afterwards – why did it break up? [anything recorded after the 1974 album that didn’t get released?]
We were rehearsing for a new album when the Argent gig was firmed up. Biff, Paul & the guys gigged as the John Verity Band without me! before forming ‘SonOfABitch’ which became Saxon.
You formed Phoenix with Jim Rodford and Rob Henrit [from Argent days]. How did this band begin? Was it intentional to make it a heavier sounding band than Argent?
Yup. [See above] – during the final Argent US tour, I had the feeling that we should be moving into a more straight ahead direction. I knew that there was a niche for us & Bob & Jim agreed. We signed to CBS though, and it took too long to get product out, by which time the UK music scene was being swamped by New Wave/ Punk. We were Dinosaurs in the UK by then.
You all contributed to the first Phoenix album, which was a classic LP IMO. What happened with the first album — much success, etc… ?
We did well in some areas. Lots of great response to gigs – we toured UK/ Europe & Scandinavia with Aerosmith, but I decided to get into Production.
Who else did you produce of note?
Saxon, Tank, Motorhead, Searchers, Marseille, BlackSlate, Brian Connelly (Sweet) – plus lots of bands’ ‘first albums’.
Can you explain the change prior to the 2nd Phoenix LP in which Jim left and was replaced by Ray Minhinnett – who played guitar, while you doubled on bass [guitars, vox…], and also added Ronnie Lee Cunningham on keys?? [where did Ray and Ronnie come from?]
Ray was/ is a buddy of mine. He was with Frankie Millers Full House. Fantastic guitar player, and we wrote songs together. Jim was offered the gig with the Kinks & went with our blessing, but we decided not to replace him – I played the bass parts & then added my guitars later. The other guys were brought in as session players by our American producer. Great musicians but I didn’t feel the album worked – no ‘Band’ vibe.
In Full View also featured a few outside penned tracks — “I Don’t Mind” [Walden] – where did this come from? as well it included Russ Ballard’s “Just Another Day” – why did you do this song?
I’m always open to good outside material and we felt ‘I Don’t Mind’ was a strong song (sent to us by the Publisher). I had engineered & played/ sung on Russell’s demo of ‘Just Another Day’ and asked him if we could do it for Phoenix.
What happened on the 2nd LP that would explain the change from the debut? Was there outside interference, recording company, etc.. ?? How well did this LP do?
The record company was responsible for the change of direction which I felt was a disaster. It didn’t do well.
Any examples or stories pertaining to this?
Not really – the business was in real upheaval at that time, and the UK scene was particularly screwed up, so Charisma decided we should go to America to record. I was thinking New York – they were thinking LA. We went to LA. WRONG!
I presume Phoenix split after the 2nd LP!? what were the highlights of this band for you? what happened in the end?
The highlight was the early period when we first came off the road with Argent. We were all match fit and playing well. Bob, Jim & I have great respect for each other as musicians & people. I loved that band, but it should never have been allowed to change direction musically, or be interfered with by outside producers & record company personnel!. Bob & Jim are good friends to this day and often form the current JV Band line-up for gigs & recording. I love them both like brothers.
What did you do in the years following Phoenix and the first “Verity” LP? any other bands, recordings, ..?
Mostly production & writing/ session playing. Russ Ballard, Ringo Starr, Colin Blunstone, Bowowow, Tank, Motorhead, Saxon etc.
You auditioned for Uriah Heep. were you disappointed this didn’t pan out ? What do you recall of the auditions? Have you had any other contact or association with an Heep guys?
Not too disappointed as it was only intended that I fill in until the band found someone permanent – which they did with Pete Goalby. All good players – Mick’s an excellent guitar player. Pete G’s a fantastic singer & good friend today.
What’s Pete up to these days? Ever worked with him?
Never worked with Pete – just jammed at a gig one time, but we’re buddies – been through a lot of the same music biz bullshit. He’s well, but having a break from it for a while.
Interrupted Journey was a very classy ’80s HR album, and still stands up pretty good today. You produced and engineered the album, as well as guitar & vocals, and had a long list of guest players,..Was it really a solo album? and who exactly was in the band? Who toured with you, etc.?
Yes, it was a solo album initially, which I began recording in ‘down time’ at Livingston Studios in between production projects. As recording progressed I began to ask my friends to sing & play on it. The touring band had Steve Rodford (son of Jim!) on drums, and my old mate Terry Uttley (Smokie) on bass, who became my partner in crime for some time until Smokie re-formed.
What can you tell me about how the guest-list became on this album > Rutherford, Argent, Ballard, Terry Uttley… ?
Mike Rutherford contacted me because he’d heard that I was doing a solo album. He wanted to produce or participate in some way. I went to Genesis’ studio where we recorded 3 songs with just me, Bob Henrit, & Mike playing. I added all the extra stuff at my own studio. Dave Wintour was doing lots of bass sessions around that time, including Russ Ballard & Leo Sayer.
Why did you re-do “Just Another Day” – the Ballard song that you had recorded with Phoenix? and what can you tell me about some of the other outside penned tracks, such as the Mike Rutherford song, “Love Is Blind”, “Stay With me Baby”, “Chippin Away At The Stone”… ?
I re-recorded ‘Just Another Day’ because I felt that we had screwed it up on the Phoenix album. The other songs were just great pieces that I wanted to do my own version of. Mike wrote some stuff especially for me which was nice. ‘Stay With Me’ is my favorite song (I’m re-doing it on my new album!)
What were your favorite tracks on that album? Any singles? much success, etc.. ?
I don’t have a favorite track. It’s my best work to date, with the exception of the first ‘Phoenix’ album.
What can you tell me about your association with CHARLIE? Did you only play on the 1 album? What happened with this gig?
I was brought in to ‘rough up’ Charlie’s sound in a production sense, and Terry was going to get involved in the production of a new Phoenix album. In the event, I ended up singing & playing on the Charlie album, and I brought in Bob Henrit on drums. The Phoenix album was abandoned. I thought the Charlie album was good, but I didn’t enjoy the ‘painting by numbers’ approach so I left to start ‘Interrupted Journey’.
What can you tell me about the 3rd Verity album Rock Solid? [who played on it? how well did this LP do?]
Rock Solid was done in my own studio. I did a lot of the work myself, with my usual guests dropping by. Unfortunately the label went broke soon after release, but I hope to get it re-released soon.
What have you done since the last Verity album? Recordings? Bands? [what can you tell me about such albums as Hold Your Head Up, etc…?]
Hold Your Head is a compilation of various JV Band stuff. The title track is an un-released track which I originally recorded for Interrupted Journey. I’ve continued to gig & record/ do production & try to help young musicians develop their careers. I’m currently working on a new album & preparing older material for re-release.
What are you involved in outside of music? hobbies, interests… ?
Music Music Music – boring old rock fart!
Can you give me a few of your favorite guitar players, influences, singers, songwriters, ? What do you listen to these days?
My influences are wide – Hendrix, Beck, Clapton, Aretha, BB King, Beatles, Dylan. I listen to whatever takes me.
Interview – Kevin J. 2000. / *top photo from Johnverity.com
WONDERWORLD is the name of the power trio consisting of Roberto Tiranti, Ken Ingwersen, and Tom Fossheim. From 2013 until last year the band played alongside Ken Hensley, as his LIVE FIRE band (including 2013’s Trouble album and 2019’s Live In Russia). During that time the band also doubled as their own heavy rock outfit releasing 3 albums under the Wonderworld name. So, it is most fitting that Wonderworld’s 4th album pays homage to their former mentor and band leader via a newly recorded collection of songs they performed as part of Ken’s support band, under the name Live Fire!
The album consists of 12 tracks – 6 Heep tracks, 5 from Ken’s later albums, and 1 instrumental opener to the album. It is essentially songs that the band (Live Fire) would’ve performed the most while with Ken Hensley. There are the Heep standards like “Gypsy”, “Easy Livin”, “July Morning”, “Circle Of Hands”, “Look At Yourself”, the first video “Sunrise”…. and despite Ken’s absence [there is a guest keyboard player on various tracks]. These are not simply tired ol’ rehashes, as the band really does an exceptional job performing,. Lots of energy. Both [singer] Tiranti and [guitarist / producer] Ken [Jr] Ingwersen sing and play with a lot of emotion and it shows throughout this album. I love this version of “Look At Yourself”, and how the band work out the ending here. Digging this version of “Gypsy” as well. [*There is No “Lady In Black” on this album! 🙂 ]
For me though the highlights are the post Heep tracks, notably “The Last Dance”, “Ready To Die”, and “The Curse” — 2 of the best songs Ken Hensley wrote in the last 2 decades. I will always hail Ken’s original take of “The Last Dance” as the best [with his own vocal], however Roberto pulls off a strong performance of it that I will gladly take. “Ready To Die”, from the Trouble album is also a favorite here; tho it lacks a bit of the weight without Ken’s Hammond organ, I think Roberto gives a better vocal here, and the band still delivers it with power; a great track for the heavy hitting drumming of Tom Fossheim here. And lastly – “The Curse” – what made this song so great the first time was the interplay from the 2 Ken’s during the 2nd half – the instrumental section of the song. So the keyboards take a different approach here, but Ken Ingwersen plays this so well, as his guitar stands out even more here, definitely the highlight of the album for me! The disc ends with “The Longest Night”, another track I think Hensley really liked from his latter days, and it is the only track here to feature him, as it’s a duet between Ken and Roberto. (not sure where Ken’s vocal came from – an alternate take from ’13?] , but it sounds great.
Cover art nicely done by Ken Ingwersen, which follows nicely in suit with the other Wonderworld covers.
The success story continues for NESTOR, consisting of five childhood friends from the small town of Falköping, Sweden, who chose to restart the band they once formed back in 1989, that’s been lying dormant for just over three decades.
Their debut full-length album Kids In A Ghost Town was released on October 22 and reached first place on the Swedish Hard Rock Album Chart as well as an honorable second place on the list for Physical Album Sales. The album has been unanimously acclaimed by rock press and media, both at home in Sweden and abroad in Europe, the UK, and the US, where many have mentioned it as a given candidate for Album Of The Year.
Their music has already reached close to 1,5 million streams on Spotify and more than 500 000 views on YouTube of their music videos, among them the one for the single “Tomorrow” – an epic ballad duet with 80s icon Samantha Fox, that together with the videos for the two prior singles “On The Run” and “1989” showcase the band’s love for the 80s and all its attributes, with a sense of detail that is hard to match. With their live debut accomplished in conjunction with their album release at a sold-out gig in Stockholm, where the only real complaint was that the crowd wanted more, NESTOR have several upcoming live performances, both at the big arenas in Sweden and on the trustworthy summer rock festivals.
NesTOUR DATES 2021-22:Nov 20 – Keep It True Rising, Würtzburg, GermanyDec 10 – Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden (w/ Takida)Dec 11- Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden (w/ Takida)Dec 17 – Malmö Arena, Malmö, Sweden (w/ Takida)Feb 4 – Vulkan Arena, Oslo, Norway (w/ H.E.A.T)Feb 5 – Berns, Stockholm, Sweden (w/ H.E.A.T)Feb 18 – Amager Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark (w/ H.E.A.T)Feb 19 – Trädgår’n, Gothenburg, Sweden (w/ H.E.A.T)Feb 26 Folkets Hus, Blomstermåla (w/ H.E.A.T)June 4 – Atlas Rock, Gävle, SwedenJune 11 – Sweden Rock Festival, Sölvesborg, SwedenAug 3 – Sabaton Open Air, Falun, Sweden Many more dates to be added.
NESTOR embraces influences from the 80s in their nostalgic rock, with tongues-in-cheek and a lot of heart along with great passion. The album Kids In A Ghost Town is produced by Tobias Gustavsson, mixed by Sebastian Forslund (The Night Flight Orchestra), and mastered by Thomas “Plec” Johansson at The Panic Room.
NESTOR ARE: Jonny Wemmenstedt (guitar) Mattias Carlsson (drums) Tobias Gustavsson (vocals) Marcus Åblad (bass) Martin Frejinger (keyboards)
Released early this year, Wilderness was the first album recorded as the world went in to the Co-vid pandemic, and Robin would follow it up with 3 more albums since! He’s also edited and remastered 4 other releases during this time, so the man has been very busy! (All 8 releases available at his website). But going back a bit, British guitarist / songwriter / producer Robin George spent much of his career being more known for the names he had collaborated with early in his career – David Byron, Phil Lynott, Robert Plant, Glenn Hughes, Roy Wood,….. plus he had a huge hit in the 80s with “Heartline” from his 1984 debut album Dangerous Music. He remained busy, but his next solo album wasn’t until 2001’s Rock Of Ageist. Wilderness is the follow up to 2018 album Rogue Angels, and it’s a good rock album, with lots of great guitar work & mixes, lots of blues and groove throughout this album. There’s a great feel to the songs via Robin’s playing and the drumming of the legendary Charlie Morgan [Elton John] . For me the album starts out rockin’ with “Eyeball Kid”, and just gets better, with favorite tracks like “Deadwood”, “Freedom”, the title track, and “Belief”. Love the heavy riff that intros the outstanding “Cocoon”, as well. Robin’s vocals are kinda in that Marc Bolan style, which suits his songs, and there’s plenty of smooth backing vocals which add to the overall atmosphere, especially on the acoustic based tracks “Belief”, “Bittersweet Heartbeat” and “Rainbow Ridge”. Lots of stories told throughout these songs, with Robin being a poet and storyteller. Am looking forward to hearing more of his ‘rockdown’ albums that followed this.
*Wilderness comes with a 12 page booklet of poetry and words.
British keyboard player [+ writer, producer, singer] Paul Hodson produced this album in 2004. Hodson recorded with the likes of Ten [Gary Hughes], Bob Catley [Magnum], Cloven Hoof, John Parr, and Peter Goalby [Uriah Heep]. I got this album well after the fact [British bands like Magnum and Ten were not in my collection til the mid 2000s], but it is a very strong album and heavier than the band’s mentioned above, which is due mainly to the guitar playing and sound of Vince O’Regan [Escape], as well as Hodson’s vocals, who at time can be as ‘eavy as Bruce Dickinson, but hey toss in the likes of Graham Bonnett and Gary Hughes too., …. But yeah, some huge guitar sound – riffs and big lengthy solos, love the lead off track “This Foolish World”, epic ” The Calling”, “Soulman”, and a pretty good cover of Rainbow’s “Light In The Dark”. 9 track album ends with the ballad “The Swan” [co-written with Eddy Morton, ex The Bushburys] – which features a nice fast keyboard/guitar break. Bass – Josie Vespa, drums – Lynch Radinsky.
*Great cover art from Al Barrow [former Hard Rain bandmate, ex Magnum]. A shame there was no follow up, but an excellent one-off project / release worth checking out.
Nestor is a new [old] band from Sweden, who’s 3 videos from their debut album have amassed over a million views. Well….actually, they are old band, but have returned decades later with their first album. The band music is a return to the ’80s in sound and image, and their album (see my review elsewhere on this site) is full of great ’80s hard-rock. If you were a fan of aor/HR in the ’80s and Kids In A Ghost Town had come out in the mid ’80s – you’d likely already own it! Here is an interview with Tobias Gustavsson of the band detailing their return in 2021, and their exciting debut album. *Check out the links below.
Can you give me a bit of background on the band — you guys existed briefly and released a few singles!? What do you recall of those songs, and why/when did the band split back then?
Yeah, Nestor was founded back in 1989, we all grew up in a small town together in Sweden, found each other through music and started playing together. We released a couple of EPs up til ‘95. The first EP was all over the place genre wise. We mixed all kinds of influences, everything from U2 to Europe for example, but it’s hard to hear because it really sounds like crap. The second EP was a bit more unified, with influences like Queensrüche and Dream Theater, I’ll have a listen to that second EP from time to time and I’m quite proud of it still. We never really split up; we just went on a looong pause… haha!
Is there a bit more you guys can mention about your past in music, be it recordings you’ve been a part of (as musicians or producers)? Tobias, can you mention a bit about your success as a producer [assuming this is your site – http://www.25media.net/tobiasgustavsson/ ?]
Yep, that’s me. All of us kind of worked with music in one way or another, played in different constellations and bands, but I (Tobias) went on to become a songwriter and producer and had a couple of projects, among them a duo called Itchycoo, and later a band called Straight Frank (that our guitar player Jonny was a part of too). I also wrote for other artists and made some pretty successful songs here and there through the years. I’ve kept on working with music in some form or another through all the years.
Sweden (as well as Norway) has a lot of great musicians & bands in the hard-rock, AOR, metal genre. Why do you think that is? And any favorite (or recommended) artists or albums from your country?
That’s a tricky question, right off the bat I think that the long winter has an impact when it comes to great musicians and bands (there is nothing else to do other than being in band or in a sports team). Also, success breeds more success probably, so thanks to ABBA and Roxette and all the other greats the tradition sort of goes on and inspires new Swedes to succeed maybe.
Some favorite bands from Sweden right now – Niki and the Dove (80’s pop with contemporary influences) and Ludwig Hart (sound like a mix of Tom Petty and Springsteen with a touch of Aha which is a great band as well by the way). Another band in our own genre worth mentioning are H.E.A.T that we’re joining in February on their Scandinavian tour! That’s gonna be fun!
It was the time during the pandemic that brought you guys back to record a full album, correct? Or was it merely one song that led to another and so on?
I would love to say that we had this master plan from the start, but the truth is a bit of both – one song led to the other and then the vision became clear; “to make the album now that we didn’t have the skills or possibility to make back in ’89.”
What did you do to get in that head space of writing so many great 80s type rock songs during the making of this album — did you guys go back and listen to a lot of stuff from that era?
Yes, we did, we listened to a lot of music from that era but also read magazines and watched a lot of movies etc to get the vibe to get back to that feeling from that time in our lives.
The videos have been well planned, very detailed, and humorous. What sort of inspired those type of clips, seeing as MTV went out decades ago, and not many bands put in such effort these days?
The inspiration was plain and simple 80s metal videos – they always had a story back then. Personally, I always liked the fact that music is entertainment and that kind of got lost somewhere in the mid 90s. We have a saying in Nestor that our mission is “to protect the legacy and re-invent the iconography of rock”.
Can you touch briefly on some of the songs, as far as musical or lyrical inspirations? On The Run, Perfect 10, Firesign, Kids In A Ghost Town…. etc. Are many of the songs written from personal experience?
All of them are personal, the songs are about being a kid with big ambitions in a small town! The song Perfect 10 is a description of my boy room mixed with my first real crush, Johanna. “Darryl Hannah wouldn’t stand a chance – next to her she’s just a cheap romance” hahaha!
Can you tell me a bit about the song “Tomorrow”, and how you ended up getting Samantha Fox to guest on it?
When I wrote the song, I immediately felt that it was written as a duet. Thinking about the perfect duet partners (once again, going through the posters on my wall back in ‘87) Sam popped up and I can’t think of any other singer/artist that sets the tone of the 80s and represents that era better than her.
I contacted her management and asked if she would be interested in participating on the song. She heard the song and loved it, and the rest is history in the making! We also got her to appear in the music video which turned out really great.
Will there be any more video singles from the album? Any you’d like to do?
We’d like to make videos for all the songs on the album but unfortunately, they aren’t cheap… Hopefully there will be more. Stay tuned!
You also co-wrote a number of songs with Andreas Carlsson, who has had credits on some pretty big albums. How did you guys wind up working with him, and what did he contribute to? [songs]
I knew Andreas from before as we’ve worked on some projects together. We wrote the lyrics together for Perfect 10 (Eyes like Demi Moore) and These Days. Andreas wrote the lyrics to Stone Cold Eyes on his own.
Can you guys (each) give me a few lists (5-10) of favorite albums and bands from the ’80s or that you grew up with (the 70s??)
Tobias: Kiss – Animalize, Asylum, Crazy Nights / Van Halen – 5150 / Europe – Out of This World, Prisoners in Paradise/ Bon Jovi – New Jersey / Queensrÿche – Operation: Mindcrime / Giant – Last of The Runaways / Twisted Sister – Stay Hungry / Bryan Adams – Waking Up the Neighbours / Def Leppard – Hysteria / Motley Crüe – Theatre of Pain
Martin: Helloween – Keeper of The Seven Keys Part 1 / Giant – Last of The Runaways / Kiss – Crazy Nights / Magnum – On A Storyteller’s Night / Queensrÿche – Operation: Mindcrime
Marcus: Queensryche – Operation: Mindcrime / Kings X – Out of The Silent Planet / Toto – IV / Judas Priest – Defenders of The Faith / Accept – Metal Heart
Mattias: Rush – All The World’s A Stage / Queensryche – Operation: Mindcrime / Deep Purple – Machine Head / U2 – War / Van Halen – Van Halen
Jonny: Judas Priest – Screaming For Vengeance / Gary Moore – Wild Frontier / Ozzy Osbourne – The Ultimate Sin / Kiss – Animalize / Yngwie Malmsteen – Odyssey
Firehouse came out at the end of the ’80s with their hugely successful, high energy debut album, which featured the hits “All She Wrote” and “Don’t Treat Me Bad”, as well as favorites “Shake & Tumble”, “Love Of A Lifetime”, and “Rock On The Radio”. There’s a new reissue of that album out [Bad Reputation Records], which adds 2 acoustic tracks, and a 2nd CD of live tracks. In December of 1999 I interviewed guitarist / songwriter Bill Leverty for the band’s latest album at the time – Category 5. The following year bass player Perry Richardson left the band, and has since joined Stryper in recent years. Firehouse is currently playing live shows, but their last studio release was 2011’s Full Circle. Since 2007 Bill Leverty has released 5 solo albums, including last year’s Divided We Fall. *You can check out Bill Leverty’s solo albums and stories at http://www.leverty.com
“FIREHOUSE’s latest album is called Category 5. The band, for a decade has included vocalist [and keyboardist] CJ Snare, bass player Perry Richardson, drummer Michael Foster, and guitar player Bill Leverty. I recently had a nice conversation with Bill about the band, the new album, and almost everything else pertaining to FIREHOUSE. The new album [on Mystic Records] is recommended to those in to the melodic rock, featuring a number of great pop-rockers and powerful ballads. For more on Firehouse check out www.firehousemusic.com , or check out Bill Leverty’s own site http://members.aol.com/leverty”
How’s the response been to the new album?
Overwhelming! The people who have heard it, a lot of people are saying it’s our best album ever.
I must confess that I’m not overly familiar with the band apart from what I’ve heard on the radio in the past, so I don’t know what I expected, but thinking from seeing you in the Metal Edge pages and that that probably accidentally lumping you in with a few other bands would be a big mistake. This album’s got a real good pop-rock feel to it.
I think we have elements of the metal-edge thing in our music too, and elements of other stuff, and it’s just kind of mish-mashed in to our style, and we’ve always been liking all kinds of music so much that we really didn’t know what to put on our records. The way we do it is everybody writes and we take the best songs, and put them on there every year. And these were the best songs we had this year. It’s kind of interesting because we didn’t have any pre-conceived notions about what we wanted this album to sound like, we just wanted the best songs that we could come up with on there. There’s a little bit of diversity on there, I think.
There’s quite a bit. For instance like “I’d Do Anything” – which has kind of a country feel to it.
There’s a Southern feel on a couple of songs. We’ve all kind lived in the South for so long that it’s hard not to have that as an influence, and we really love the soul-ful vibe of Southern music, whether it comes from Country or Southern rock, or even old blues and stuff like that.
Where abouts are you guys based out of?
I grew up in Richmond, Virginia, but I live near Tampa, Florida now. We kind of live from Tampa to South Carolina, to Virginia — scattered about the South-East there.
Now you guys have been together for about 9 years now!?
It’d be 10 years now. We got together in ’89, actually really late ’88, but we’ve always said ’89. So it’ll be 11 years coming up.
When you guys started out did you have any plans of long-term goals that you sort of achieved or are still looking for?
We just wanted to make a living playing music, and trying to get our music out to as many people as possible, and have fun doing it. We had no idea that we’d get any real success, although we believed in ourselves and we had our dreams. Our goals were really to get a record deal, and we were really luck we got a record deal, and that record company pushed the buttons for us back there in ’91 and we had a lot of things happen for us, so it overwhelmed us all. Back then we were just happy to be playing music, especially music that we wrote because before that we were playing a combination of other people’s music and ours. I still like playing other people’s music, it’s just that it’s that much more gratifying when you’re a songwriter and you get your songs played on to an audience that knows them.
What did you guys grow up on?
Everybody in the band has very diverse influences, which is kind of neat. My earliest influences were Stevie Wonder and Led Zeppelin, and then I got in to Eddie Van Halen, Ted Nugent, Michael Schenker, and then Randy Rhoads. Perry grew up , and when he was very young played in a gospel quartet, and his dad played bass, and he learned the bass from that. Michael started playing drums when he was 3, ridiculously young, he’s been playing them forever. I didn’t start until I was 15. But his parents were really in to Elvis, so he had Elvis on all the time in the house, so he was rocking and rolling at a very early age. And CJ was classically trained in the beginning as a pianist, and then he got to sing, and he was in a choir. He was in the Pennsylvania State Choir, and he was first chair tenor. in the Pennsylvania State Choir by the time he was a teenager, so he was studying real hard with that. But then he started listening to Alice Cooper and Kiss, then Judas Priest and things changed. So, we all come from a very diverse background, but our common love is Hard-Rock…..and Soft-Rock, but you know – Rock n Roll.
You guys do a lot of harmonies, probably some of the best harmonies out there that a lot of hard-rock bands try to do, and it seems so natural for you guys. Have the harmonies always been there, what influenced that?
Oh thank you. I think that was a big influence on us all from the very early days. We’ve always tried on all our albums to have a lot of background vocals because it just adds to so much to so many songs where you could really emphasize words, and add layers of sounds to make the band sound bigger. We’ve all come from bands where we had that many people singing in the band, and when we put this band together we wanted to make sure that everybody could sing, even sing lead because we wanted our background vocals to be strong. And that’s one thing that we really concentrate a lot on when we rehearse is the vocals. A lot of times we’ll rehearse without our instruments, which is good, and just sing. We put a lot of emphasis on that.
When I listen to you guys I hear a little bit of Cheap Trick, a little bit of Bob Jovi [on the lighter stuff], and a little bit of Uriah Heep [on the harmonies]. Is there any bands out there that you guys kind of look upon that maybe this is where you want to go – direction wise, or who you want to compare yourself to?
Not really. I would love to be a band like say The Eagles – they’ve been around forever, and they have so many songs that people know and some of them are really hard-rockin’, and some of them are slow and soft, and some of them are kind of twisted. But I also like bands like The Scorpions too. I love the Scorpions, I love The Beatles, I thought Zeppelin was awesome, Aerosmith is a great mentor-type band for Firehouse, and Kiss; certainly Aerosmith because they still have their 5 guys together, which we do too which is so neat to see a band like that that has been together for that long, like the Stones. And they can keep putting out good music – I mean the last Kiss album was great, the last Aerosmith album was great, and I like the last Stones record too. It gets tougher and tougher for rock music as time goes on, but I really think that longevity is the key, and that we’ve got what it takes to be around for a long time, because we all love to write music, and we’re obsessed by it.
You guys all write, how do you come together with the songs?
When we’re touring it’s very difficult to write, I have a hard time anyway. I used to try to do it, but there’s so many distractions. What i do is I go home, and I’m off for a day and then I’m going nuts for something to do, so I just go in my studio and stay in there for weeks at a time, and don’t shave, and some times I don’t even shower. And I just go through all these ideas that I’ve been storing in my mind; like we’ve been on the road for 18 months on this last tour straight, so I came home with a lot of ideas in my head that I just wanted to document, and then I just keep developing them, and at some time we’ll get together and collaborate as a team, and we’ll come up with some more songs. Usually CJ and I put our stuff together, and we complete each other’s songs, and we co-write on a lot of other new ideas, and then we’ll get everybody together again and have another writing session, and then we’ll have pre-production for the album, and put all our songs together that we got – the demos, and listen to them, and then we decide which songs we’re going to put on the album.
How many songs do you usually come up with before you actually lay down the album?
Generally I say between 30 and 40.
You guys do a number of ballads here, and what I like about the ballads is you guys don’t do the ‘A typical’ rock ballad, like a lot of bands that have the formulated rock ballad down. Take a song like “Dream” – which is a very different to what’s out there, and it’s a great song.
Well, we’ve never done a song like Dream before. We heard the demo, and we really liked it. Perry had written it with 2 of his friends in Myrtle Beach. It’s a song about a child dying in their parent’s arms. Before we heard the song Perry told us what it was about, and then he played us the song, and we were like all in tears by the end of the song; and then we were like “yeah – that’s gotta be on there!” That song is really a beautiful song. We’ve been playing it live, and it’s a lot of fun to play live.
You guys also do a lot of pop-rock stuff like on “The Nights Were Young” and “Have Mercy”, i love the keyboard intro on that. (BL: “Thank you!), and “Can’t Stop The Pain”, obviously.
That’s the first single that Mystic Records has chosen, and that’s a song about the loss of my father. I wrote the skeleton of the song with Perry and Michael, and shortly after Perry’s father died, and he wrote a really good part to add to the song, and we recorded it. I’ve gotten a lot of e-mails from people who’ve said it’s helped them with the loss of a loved one, and they can relate to what the song’s about.
Do you incorporate a lot of life experiences in to the songs?
Absolutely. If it’s not our life experiences, it’s somebody else’s that we know.
Well, that’s an obvious choice for a single. It’s a great catchy song, and lyrically has something to say. What stands out for you on the album – songs that you like to play live, or you’d like to see as a single?
We’ve been playing Can’t Stop The Pain live, and that’s a great song to play live, for me because there’s a lot of guitar and soloing; it’s rocks too and people get it right away, people have been enjoying that song a lot. We’ve also been playing Dream, and we’ve been playing Have Mercy [which you also mentioned]. It’s so difficult because when I hear the album I like every song for something different because it reminds me of something different. I like the mandolin part in I’d Do Anything. I like the song “If It Changes”, and the sitar part that i played; it was fun to play, it has sort of an Eastern vibe.
You guys get a lot of different sounds in there with the sitar, the keyboard, and the mandolin; it’s not just your basic 4-man set up of guitar, bass and drums.
We try to stretch as much as we can without getting to be too strange; we don’t want to sound too weird. We want a sound that’s solid and that people can relate to. We’re not all that twisted as people, so we don’t really write to come up with something twisted or hard-core.
Is there anything as far as attitudes and your everyday life that influence the music as far as keeping it positive?
Yeah, we definitely try to accent the positive in our lyrics and in our everyday lives, on and off the stage. We’re guys that we’re not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but we try to do the right thing in our personal lives as well. We try to write about things that you can give to your neighbor and he can play it for his kids as well, because I don’t have any kids yet, but I have nephews and nieces and I want them to be able to hear my music. And as soon as you put language like in the locker room then you limit your audience and you also offend people, and we’re not into being an offensive band, I think.
Do you have a problems with bands that are?
No, not at all. It’s great to be America where you can say whatever you want, but I have chosen to do it this way.
Where are you guys now – on the road?
Well, we’re writing songs for a new album right now, and we a ‘live’ album coming out real soon also. We recorded one night in Japan. That’ll be out right around Christmas, and available on our web-site which is > http://www.firehousemusic.com < . In the meantime we’re going to be writing and then recording. We might go out and do a string of dates in February, we’re working on that now. But the plan is if it doesn’t look good for that then we’ll wait for the spring, and finish the album – then go out and tour the summer. We’ve been out on tour for 18 months in support of this album. We just got off the road actually. I know it sounds different where you normally put out a record and then go tour, but we didn’t have a deal when we first put out this record, and we went out on the road and played every club in every town, and by doing so i think it helped get us a deal and get some people realizing that we’re still together and we hadn’t fallen off the face of the planet. VH 1 came out and did a “Where Are They Now?” special on us, which was real cool. And that wouldn’t have happened if we weren’t on the road at the time, so it all happened for a reason. And we’ve played every place about 2 or 3 times, so we kind of need to come back, write another album, and get out on the road in the spring, and we plan to go out with a package, which we’re working on, until the summer.
Any other bands you’re teaming up with?
Yeah, we have a manager named Perry Cooper, he works with Atlantic Records for 18 years as a vice-president in the Artist Development department, and he was introduced to me through a friend named Brian Johnson – who you might have heard of!?
From AC/DC!?
Yeah, and actually Brian’s helping us with a song. He’s writing a song with us for the next album.
What have been the highpoints for you guys over the years?
To me the most memorable high was when we won the American Music Award for Best New Hard-Rock / Heavy Metal Band. It was at a time where so many things were going on that were really good, but that is the one thing that I can look at every day and say “I remember those days – that was great!” It was also gratifying because we were voted on by the people, and not by the industry, not that the industry’s bad, but because it’s good to know that the listeners are out there; the real people that buy the music picked us and not some people in a boardroom that made a political decision.
Since the award, how about your favorite things such as live draws? Or bands you’ve toured with that stood out memory wise?
We’ve had so many great tours, we’ve been real lucky. In the beginning we went out with Warrant, and that was a tour that was hugely successful, selling out every shed and venue that we went to. And then we went straight in to the studio and recorded our 2nd album – “Hold Your Fire”, and before we even finished mixing the record we were out on the road with Tesla on a tour that was supposed to last 6 weeks and that lasted for 9 months, and that tour sold out every where it went, and it also went around twice to a lot of the same places because it was so successful for so long. And then we actually went out with Poison right after that for a little while, and then Damn Yankees, and that was a really good tour as well. It was also a great honor to be open for like Ted Nugent, Tommy Shaw, Jack Blades, and Michael Cartellone – a great band. It was cool to open for Poison too, they’re a great band, they got a great show, and we learned a lot about what to do in the music business and what not to do also. That was interesting, and that was always one of the bands that i wanted to open up for because they had this huge following, and they had a type of music that was good-time rock n roll – and that’s the kind of rock n roll we’re after. Bon Jovi would be a great band if we could open up for them too, but we’ve never been able to.
I think the last Bon Jovi album was their best.
Yeah, I think Richie’s such a great guitar player, and a great artist. His solo album was awesome.
What are your thoughts on the current scene? There’s a lot of crap in the business with a lot of good basic rock bands being left out due to trends and stuff. Where do you see the industry at the moment, as far as being good for you guys and some of the other bands you mentioned?
I think it’s good for us right now, it’s not great, but it’s good, and getting better, a lot better than it was a couple of years ago. The industry – radio programmers, video channel programmers, record store managers and so forth have come to realize that that whole decade of music that we had from ’82 to ’92 was very successful, and a lot of people that listened to that really liked it. And all of sudden there’s a couple of bands that came out that were very different, maybe some sounds were over-saturated, and everything changed, and everybody said “we’re not playing that kind of music anymore.” Well it’s just until recently that people are going – “Well — those people didn’t just fall off the face of the planet either! There’s people that like that kind of music, STILL like that kind of music, and missed it.” And they’re finding out that, you know – you put out these ‘Ballad’ albums or these ‘Rock n Roll’ albums and they all sell over a million copies that this type of music is still hot, and that they made a mistake by shutting the door to it. They should’ve played every type of new music, but not alienated the last decade that they had supported in the past 10 years or so.
It’s good to see a resurgence in melodic rock, because a lot of it got shoved to the side in the early ’90s, which kind of sucked.
I see a huge resurgence, and I also see a huge resurgence on the road. When we go to a town and let’s say we went to a town back in ’96 or ’97 we couldn’t get any radio station to do anything – and now they’re calling us, and saying “Hey before you come here can we arrange for you guys to come in and sing a song for us on our ‘5 o’clock Drive Home’?” Which makes us go “Hmm.” Maybe they’re saturated with all the stuff that sounds alike. And that’s happening everywhere. Even these ‘Perfect Hair Shows’ on a lot of these stations, for lack of a better name, they should call them ‘Melodic Rock Shows’ because they’re the most popular shows on the stations is what a lot of these guys are telling me. They’ve got one in Tampa. It started out as “Perfect Hair”, and they started off as once a week, and then it went to every day for half an hour, and then they increased it for an hour because everybody calls, and it’s such a huge hour for them.
Even the stations around here, a couple of stations brought back the ’80s Weekend’ or a ‘Hair Fix At 5’ where they play some Poison or Bon Jovi or whatever. And a lot of that stuff really got shut off the radio for a few years.
It did. It was not cool at all to be a part of that. And they’re finding out that “Gosh – it actually was cool, and some of this other stuff we’re listening to is so primitive.”
Do any of you guys do anything outside the band such as guest appearances or solo things?
We really haven’t at this point. We’ve just focused all our time on Firehouse, and that’s what we really have to do right now. That’s what pays the bills. As soon as we get Firehouse at a level where people know who we are, …I think our songs are more famous than the band. People know songs like “Love Of A Lifetime” and “Don’t Treat Me Bad”, I don’t think everyone knows the name of the band, and also we have to change the perception of the band because everybody thinks that what we are – Don’t Treat Me Bad and Love Of A Lifetime because that’s all they’ve ever heard, and there’s a lot more to us than that. Until that happens I don’t know if we’ll have time for other projects unless something comes along that we can’t refuse then we’ll have to make time for it. But right now, Firehouse takes up my time 365 days of the year.
Any hobbies outside of music?
Recording…..just music. [ha ha]. Actually, I’m an ice hockey freak. The Red Wings are my favorite team, and I also like the Leafs a lot. Cujo is a great goaltender, and I got a Leafs’ jersey that a friend of mine in Toronto gave me, it has my name on the back of it. My favorite player on the team is Steve Thomas, he’s wicked, got a great shot, he’s a great player.
I was over in Buffalo a few months ago, saw Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Did you really?? We opened up for Lynyrd Skynyrd and that was like a dream come true! They were the biggest influence on me as a kid, a musical influence as far as writing, and learning how to play a whole song all the way through. When I first started I learned all these Lynyrd Skynyrd songs, and played them in my band. And we got to open up for them and meet them; it was just awesome! We played 3 shows with them on the Poison tour.
I love their new album, and seeing them live was just unbelievable!
Yeah, I’ve met Rickey Medlocke a couple of times, and he’s great, and it’s cool that he’s back in the band after all those years.
Are you familiar with Uriah Heep?
Oh yeah! That was one of Perry’s [our bass player] biggest influences. He brings a lot of that to the table when it comes time to lay down the fifth harmony, the real high, ya know!? [sings the words ‘Easy Livin’]. He was really in to that. And I love Uriah Heep! Great band! I just love the sound of the organ too, “Sunrise” and all that stuff.
What are you listening to currently?
I’ve got Jeff Beck’s new album – “Who Else?”. I love Jeff Beck, he’s one of my favorite guitarists of all time. It’s a really cool album, and he’s just from another planet, ya know! I like everything he’s ever done, and I got to meet him too – which was another dream come true. I have to say that’s the best. On the radio and on the video I’ve seen the new Foo Fighters, and I think that’s a good song. I’ve always like the Foo Fighters ever since they came out, Dave Grohl’s really talented, and he deserves every bit of what he’s got. He writes very melodic songs that are ‘hip’ and ‘today’. What a great writer, and a great singer. I think the guy’s got a great voice. I really have a lot o respect for him. He also comes from my home state of Virginia.
What is this “Compassion In Action” that is mentioned on the CD?
It’s a charity that Perry turned us on to where it goes to help pay for Hospice care for people who are about to pass away. They have shelters out in San Francisco, and they’re trying to get more shelters. This guy named Damion Brinkley, who is the head of it, and he’s been on Oprah Winfrey like 7 times, and he’s physically died several times from being by lightning and other accidents, and he’s come back with a lot more spiritual and wisdom and knowledge than he ever had before, and he’s turned his whole life in to doing things that are good for people.
Familiar with the Canadian scene?
A little bit.
Any bands in particular?
Yeah, Harem Scarem. We met those guys in Japan just this past year, great people. I liked their music too – they sent me a record which was really good.
Outsider Rock 
