HARD ROCK HELL RADIO DJ PROFILE: CHARLOTTE HOOPER HARD ROCK HELL RADIO DJ PROFILE: CHARLOTTE HOOPER

Hi Charl! Let’s start at the beginning…You are now part of the Media Team for HRH, but we need to know about how you got to where you are today, so please introduce yourself to the HRH MAG readers.

Hey - thanks for having me! I’m Charl, I’m head of Audience, Broadcast and Press for HRH X and I also have a radio slot every Friday 10am-midday called The Rule Breakers which plays the best in grunge, folk, unplugged and everything in between! I’m a huge lover of music and a big fan of vinyl!

Tell us about your formative years, have you always been interested in working in music and media?

Since high school I’ve always wanted to do something music related as a career. I played a variety of instruments in a number of orchestras, one of which I joined to tour different parts of Spain and Italy with. I ultimately wanted to be a performer but I failed my music A level and wasn’t authorised to re-sit the test. I have never in my life felt as lost as I was in that moment. Having to refocus my vision and look at other ventures, I carried on my creative path with media studies and pursued this as a degree at uni, and not really looked back since! In terms of actual work, I’ve had a number of jobs since the age of 16. Starting as a pot-wash picking potato skins out of the drain in a local pub, working in cafes, other pubs and hotels. Throughout university I worked three part-time hospitality jobs alongside volunteering at MMH – The Home of Rock Radio and a few other, extra projects towards my work experience. I eventually worked my way up to Assistant Manager at a bar and restaurant by the time I was 23, and after a few other hospitality roles, I was offered my first paid media-related role as a Creative Assistant for a entertainment company –looking after social media accounts for a variety of vintage acts and also creating content such as graphics, short videos and advertisements. HRH then entered my life as a fresh chapter and the rollercoaster certainly hasn’t disappointed so far!

What was the soundtrack to your life as a kid, what were your parents listening too when you were growing up?

My Dad is a hardcore fan of The Beatles so their entire back catalogue has been the main core of my love for music and I never get tired of listening to them, even now. My first ever concert was Paul McCartney when I was 8 years old. My sisters gave me a knowledge of early noughties RnB I didn’t know I needed but certainly helped me get out of some teasing at high school and uni! As I got older I started to appreciate music in so many different ways. I discovered Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell (a fave of my Mum’s!), Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and all the other folk legends when I was about 11 and from then I was desperate to listen to music of ALL genres, understand its history and soak in any piece of knowledge

Interview By: Viki Ridley

shared with me. My parents were extremely encouraging with my love for music, mainly because it was shared across the household. We would travel a lot to see various different music related locations and the total highlight for me was visiting Kurt Cobain’s house in Seattle on the 15th Anniversary of his passing – truly incredible. I was prime emo age at high school with Paramore, My Chemical Romance and A Day to Remember mostly being played on my iPod shuffle! I’d go to a lot of concerts too like seeing the original line-up of the Sex Pistols a few times, Bob Dylan, Yes and Slipknot multiple times as well as many others – I love music that I love!

You went to Uni to study Media and Radio, what was your dream when you first started your Uni journey?

For my bachelor’s degree I studied Media and Communication and specialised in Radio for my third year which was my final degree title. I then spent a year studying and achieving my Masters degree in Radio and Audio Production with my final dissertation focusing on Canadian Heavy Metal Music. My idea of my ‘dream job’ changed a lot throughout my studies, and the beauty with media is you naturally cross over a variety of areas that become useful skills in ways you would never imagine. I remember leaving uni wanting to be either a radio producer, documentary maker or key researcher, with the idea of eventually working my way up to Production Manager or a Station Manager. The main thing I love about the role I have now, is that no two days are the same. I have the creative freedom to put my own mark on certain things, I get to work and connect with some really cool and interesting people, and I get to learn skills that I never knew I would need! I don’t think I have an idea of a ‘dream job’ anymore – I’m just excited to see where I end up!

Do you think this gave you an insight into the real world of events management, the music industry and the business side of it all? The course modules I chose were more creative rather than business or events based, so it wasn’t until I volunteered for a Mental Health awareness festival that I understood the nitty gritty of how an event is ran. Obviously now with HRH I’ve gained tons of great opportunities and I’ve been extremely lucky to have been given some mind-blowing experiences.

What brought you into the HRH Family, had you been to any of the events, did you know what a crazy world you were entering into? knew of HRH prior to joining the team from my work with MMH, but had never attended an actual event, so to use your phrase – I had no idea what ’crazy’ world I was getting involved with! But as I mentioned before the people, both audience and team, have been some of the loveliest and most passionate people I’ve ever met. Wouldn’t change it for the world.

You work for a company who’s roots are firmly in rock and metal, who are your favourite musicians, bands or artists? What really brings you joy or makes your heart pound?

I love this question! I’m a total grunge girl at heart, depending on how I feel depends on what I listen to but my music taste is pretty vast – one album that will always hold a soft spot for me in Nirvana unplugged, but a few other favourites include Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Stevie Nicks, Mama’s and Papa’s, The Doors, Crosby, Stills & Nash to name a few! I’m an absolute sucker for harmonising, acoustic vibes so people such as Hozier and The Staves are big favourites there too.

Have you met or worked with any of your musical or media heroes yet and if so, how did you react?

I’ve been extremely fortunate with my work experience and job roles. One of the first Download Festivals’ I covered, I was able to interview L7 which was a total fan girl moment for me. The following year I had a 10 minute chat with Stone Temple Pilots backstage for a radio interview, and I’ve also interviewed the likes of Atreyu, Godsmack, Frank Turner and quite a few others. Working with The Darkness for Hard Rock Hell 15th Anniversary was something rather special too.

If you could speak to 18 year old Charl, what advice would you give yourself? What do you think your reaction would be to hearing about your life now?

I still pinch myself now especially in situations like these where I have the opportunity to reflect and appreciate how far hard work can get you. I was always told throughout uni that I need sharper elbows to make it in this industry, that I’m too soft, I won’t be able to handle it, and I always said – even if it takes me longer, I will get there and I will be working in the industry but on my terms. I’m never going to change who I am to get where I want to be. I think 18 year old Charl would be looking at a completely different person to who she envisioned being. My advice would be, to be patient. No matter how big the problem, everything is fixable. Always be professional. Don’t change who you are as a person to suit a job description or requirement.

Rock legends Winger will release their eagerly anticipated new studio album Seven on the 5th of May. The 12-track record was produced by Kip Winger and recorded in Nashville. The band’s latest offering also marks the celebration of the band’s 35-year career.

Seven will be Winger’s first new release since 2014’s Better Days Comin album. As the old analogy goes – all good things come to those who wait. But what took the band so long this time around? “I wrote a musical and I do a lot of classical music and Reb Beach was the longest-running member in Whitesnake,” explains Kip. “They [Whitesnake] were playing a lot and doing albums, while I was doing a lot of solo shows. So, we just never had the time to do it because he was doing Whitesnake, and that was fine with me because I was working on all our projects.

Thankfully, the group’s schedules aligned, and an opportunity arose to make the band’s new album. “It was supposed to come out before COVID,” says Kip. “We got started before COVID. We thought it might come out in 2020 or 21. But COVID just beat everybody. And so, it took longer to get it together because of a lot of logistical difficulties.”

Whilst many groups resorted to writing and recording remotely, the Winger frontman preferred to opt for a more traditional approach. “I refuse to do an album where somebody mails in their part by email,” he says. “I bring everybody into the studio. Because for me, it’s a visceral thing, you have to be sitting in the room with somebody going into this. I don’t want somebody to just sit home and do their parts left alone to their own devices, because I have a very particular way, I hear stuff.”

Logistical challenges aside, inspiration is something that can’t be forced. “I only want to make records when I’m inspired to do it. I’m not one of these artists that wants to put out 10 records of the same sounding stuff,” says Kip. “Or, hey, this album has got three amazing songs, and the rest of it sucks, which is what too many rock bands fall into the habit of doing. I’m not that kind of an artist, I have to just keep rolling forward. And if I don’t feel inspired by it, just because I have a brand and a successful franchise or whatever you want to call it, I don’t want to cheat the audience out of something that they deserve.”

The frontman had a strong idea of what he wanted from the band’s new release. “I wanted to capture the inspiration of the first album combined with kind of more depth of composition in from the third album,” he says. “I also was very insistent in having all the original members play on every single song. So, what you’re hearing on this album is all the original members plus John Roth playing on every single song.” The result of this approach has had a huge impact on the release. “It’s actually the most true Winger album of all of them even like on the first album.”

But what has been the secret to the band’s longevity? “We have a great time. That’s the thing about our band. The reason that we’re still together, the original members is we’re friends. We’ve never had legal battles; we’ve never got into any big fights. We all dig each other. We love the hang. It’s not like hey, we’re just doing this for the money. It’s nothing like that. We dig the hang. We like playing gigs with each other. We respect each other.”

Winger will shortly be embarking on a UK tour alongside Steel Panther. This was something that Kip felt would be a great touring package for the band. “It was my idea. I texted Michael Starr and I was like, dude, let’s do some shows together because I love those guys. Not only that, they’re really good musicians, they’re a great band. They’re great people,” he says. “At this stage, I don’t want to work with any assholes, I’ve met a lot of them. Everybody that we tour with, they’re great. I really like those guys and I just think actually in this case, it’s a very special opportunity for the audiences to see a band from the era that the show parodies and Steel Panther. So I think it’s a very unique pairing and I’m excited about it.”

The band’s upcoming run with Steel Panther will also be Winger’s first band shows on this side of the pond in many years. Speaking about his relationship with the British audiences Kip said: “UK fans are amazing. For years I did a yearly acoustic show at The Borderline in London and it was usually sold out every time. The audience sings every song it’s the greatest.”

Of course, Winger had many hits throughout their long and successful career. Although early in their career, the concept of singles over albums was something that the artist didn’t think too much about. “I’d never thought singles. I remember being in the studio playing the album for an A&R Director. And the first time they were like, oh, that could be a single. I was like, really a single, I was totally clueless man. Naive in a bad way. So, I totally didn’t get it,” he says. “We were very lucky because there was a fella who was one of the radio promoters at Atlantic who fought for Headed for a Heartbreak to be a single. He was like, this is really unusual and out of the norm, and it’s going to set them apart. He fought for that. And he was right because the rest of them wanted to put out Without the Night, which was a much more inside ballad.” Kip adds: “It was something that set us apart. But I personally had no clue.”

Winger’s recent single Desperado is a track that the group are proud of. “It’s like a rock anthem for the people that have lost faith in things that they believed in and been led down a path that turned out to be crap,” he says. “Reb and I had that song and that was one of the first songs we wrote for this album.”

Kip called upon the assistance of a music legend on the track. “We had the music and the melody and everything. And I was just stuck on lyrics. I ran into Desmond Child at a rock and roll fantasy camp where he was doing a master class. I asked him if he would help me write this tune, and he said, yes. I’d never written with him. I’ve known him for a long time. And so, he helped me knock the words out,” said Kip. “He really contributed a lot to those lyrics, and I was really proud to be able to write a tune with him after all these years. So, I’m very happy with that song.”

Kip believes that the rock scene is strong presently. “I think the Def Leppard Motley Crue stadium tour is a really good example of the demand for this kind of music and the staying power of it,” he says. “It can’t get any bigger than Def Leppard, Motley Crue - they’re doing stadiums. I think the fallout from that it’s just helping everybody.”

Moving forward touring is very much on the Winger agenda. “We’re doing a bunch of shows. We’ve got the Tom Kiefer tour in the summer. Steel Panther in May and tonnes of headline shows. We’re looking at going to Australia in September. Maybe Japan in September. We’ll tour through the rest of the year for sure. And into next year, I’m sure.”

Seven, the new studio album from Winger, will be distributed worldwide by Frontiers Records and is due out on 5th of May.

Words: Adam Kennedy Photo Credit: Press Supplied

Sweet & Lynch, the musical union of vocalist/guitarist Michael Sweet (Stryper, Iconic) and guitarist George Lynch (Lynch Mob, The End Machine, ex-Dokken), have announced the long-awaited release of their third album, “Heart & Sacrifice” on May 19th. The combination of Sweet’s powerful, high-octane vocals and Lynch’s immediately recognizable guitar heroics once again prove to be an unbeatable combination sure to please the hard rock faithful.

Time away from the road proved to be a creatively fertile time for guitar legend George Lynch. “I’m going to be sort of a contrarian here in the sense that I elevated my output and my productivity during the pandemic years,” he says. “In the post-pandemic years, I think I’ve sort of exhausted myself looking down the road here going, well, I kind of did everything, I don’t know what else to do.”

The third album from Sweet & Lynch came together with the assistance of Frontiers Records. “We weren’t sure we were going to do a third one, because of the way that we wanted to record the record, which was to bring Brian Tichy out, and bring James LoMenzo out, and go to the studio on the east coast and work there for a while, and then come back to California work on it for a while,” he says. “It just got to the point where it wasn’t cost-effective. So, it was really logistics and finances. It’s just a practical consideration. It’s just we can’t do the record we want for the kind of money that we have to spend on this record. So, it just wasn’t going to happen.”

In the end, the band and their label collectively came to a solution. “What ended happening is we worked it out with Frontiers, our label, and we made some concessions, which didn’t hurt the quality of the record at all and made it financially viable to do.”

The guitarist extraordinaire has been recently out on tour with his band Lynch Mob. “I think touring is the lifeblood of any band,” he says. “I’ve got a really wonderful group of guys that I’m hoping we’re going to stick around for a while. I know nothing’s forever, but so far, it’s stuck. And I feel so confident with this band. And I know, every night we walk out on stage that we’re going to deliver, and we do consistently, we don’t have bad shows. There’s not a weak link. And we’re all just having a blast and killing it. And I don’t want to oversell it, but I’m just saying this is it for me. I love this band and with this group of guys.”

One of many of the artist’s upcoming albums is the new release from Lynch Mob. “We have a new record that we’ve been working on, it’s just got delivered, called Babylon. And again, going back to how excited we are about our little babies. We love this record so much,” confirms George.

Lynch Mob has recently been on tour alongside the guitarist’s former outfit Dokken. “It’s a really good natural fit. I think it serves that purpose of being more than just a billing because there’s something in between the bands,” he says. “George is on the same bill, as the guy that replaced him playing George’s songs. And then George comes out and plays his songs after the other guy played his songs. Then there’s the me and Don dynamic and all that has been built up over the years. Obviously, are they going to get in a fistfight, or they’re going to hug it out, and all this kind of little personality, human stuff that is more compelling, maybe, or just as compelling as the music.”

However, these shows also illustrate the evolution of the artist’s career. “Lynch Mob came out as an extension, or got launched off Dokken, and so it’s kind of a reaction to Dokken. And so, there’s all these little ways of thinking about it, and these different dynamics at play here. So, it’s a good fit, and we’re in the entertainment business. So that all helps rather than just have it be a one-dimensional thing,” confirms George. “All that other stuff in the back and drama is ancient history to us. Everybody gets along, we all have fun, all the band members and everything. And we’re all there for the same reason, we’re there to play our hearts out and do a good show every night, to make the audience happy and enjoy ourselves.”

Bringing Lynch Mobb and Dokken together on tour took a bit of effort. “It’s something I’ve pounded the table about doing for at least two decades with different agents and could never get an agent motivated to make it happen. And eventually, our current agent is also Don’s agent and thought it was a good idea and did make it happen. They got Don on board, got the promoters on board, and it’s works. Maybe this won’t go on forever. We do great numbers, and we make people really happy,” said

George.

One of the tracks from the Dokken era which became synonymous with George is the instrumental number Mr. Scary. “Mr Scary is no different than 99.9% of everything else I’ve recorded in the studio, none of it’s premeditated. The structure of the song is premeditated. I mean, you go in with the drum and the bass player and you record the rhythm parts, and you arrange a song. In the case of Mr. Scary, what happened was, it was intended to be a vocal assault. I’ll work something out and do something on it. But he told me he couldn’t come up with anything for it. So I didn’t want to lose it off the record. So I decided to make a stab at instrumentalizing,” explains Lynch. “I had the drums, I had the bass, I had the rhythm guitar with an arrangement doing the riff and the chords, but I didn’t have all that other stuff on top of it that made all the ear candy stuff, and all the little tricks. All the layers that were there that had no idea what I was going to put on there.”

Besides Lynch Mob and Sweet and Lynch, the guitarist has a busy year of releases ahead. “I’ve got nine releases coming out this year,” he says. Plus, I’m getting older. Naturally, you think you should slow down a little bit. So, you probably want that somewhat. But I’m going to keep making records. I’ve got a couple of records in the pipeline. I’m going to look at making probably another Heavy Hitters record with Jeff, that’ll be our third, and probably another KXM record with dUg and Ray. And we play around 50 dates a year.” The artist concludes: “I’m going to tour pretty steadily this year, and in the next year, I will probably start winding down.”

Heart & Sacrifice, the new album from Sweet & Lynch, will be released on May 19th.

US rockers Buckcherry are preparing to release their landmark 10th studio album, which is aptly titled Vol 10. The 11-song album features 10 new Buckcherry originals and, as a bonus track, a cover of the Bryan Adams classic Summer of 69. The album was produced by Marti Frederiksen and recorded at Sienna Studios in Nashville, TN.

To have reached this milestone in their careers is quite an achievement for Buckcherry. “We’re celebrating 10 records in the game. I’ve said this before, but not a lot of bands get to do this in their careers. I’m so grateful that I still get to make records and get to do it after all these years,” says frontman Josh Todd. “Our first record was in 1999. So, to hit that milestone for us is, it’s really exciting.”

Arriving at this point hasn’t always been easy. “We’ve weathered a lot of storms, a lot of peaks, a lot of valleys. Also, what’s happened with the rock’n’roll genre, as well, to be here after all that is pretty cool,” he says. “I’ve learned a lot over the years, and I’m still developing. I’m still a student of the game. I still really enjoy getting better at songwriting, and finding new places in my voice that I can add to my whole bag of tricks. So, it’s still interesting to me, I really love it.”

Like many bands, enduring COVID was a challenge for Buckcherry. “It was like a big learning experience. We wrote Hellbound in 2020. Thank God, we had that record to focus on because of all the chaos that was going on. But because of all that chaos, we wrote, really, one of the best records of our lives. And there were a lot of feelings and situations for me as a lyric writer to access. It became pretty exciting, and I’m so glad that we had that record to focus on,” confirms Josh. “That being said, I’m so glad that we’ve come full circle, and here we are. Vol 10 is a much more fun record because it coincides with us coming out of that whole situation. So, I’m grateful for that.”

Buckcherry worked with producer extraordinaire Marti Frederiksen on their new album. This was something the band enjoyed immensely. “I love Marty, and I told him that many times,” says Josh. “He’s a really talented individual. And when we get in the room, it’s very exciting for Stevie and I. And we write really great songs together, we have a great chemistry, and I don’t want to not do that anymore. I told him I don’t want to make any more records without you, because of that dynamic, it’s really great. So, hopefully, we can carry that on as long as I’m in this game.” Josh adds: “He’s like a sixth band member when we get in the room with him. And there’s just a lot of trust on both sides. And because of that, we always do what serves the song best, and there’s nobody with a hidden agenda or anything like that. You’re seeing the results of that with Vol 10 and Hellbound. So, it’s been a lot of fun.”

The opening track of Vol 10, which is titled This And That is a real earworm at the top of the release and immediately grabs the listener’s attention. “That was actually from the Hellbound demos, it didn’t make the Hellbound record. And there were two songs on Vol 10 that came from the Hellbound writing sessions, and that’s This And That and Turn It On,” explains Josh. “We just all really liked This And That. And Marty said, I really think that we can do this; this song would be really good. And we thought so as well.” He adds: “It’s just got a good groove. And everybody liked it.”

Perhaps one of the most surprising tracks on Vol 10 is Buckcherry’s take on the Bryan Adams classic Summer of 69. “We would throw that out live, especially during the Hellbound tour. We did this thing where we go. We’ve got time for one more song. What do you guys want to hear? Then everybody says Crazy Bitch. And we’re going you want to hear Summer of 69. And then we go into Bryan Adams, and we rip it out. And everybody gets into it,” he says.

“Our manager was there one time and saw it and he was like, this is f*cking great. You’ve got to record this song. And we’re like, ok, and he just kept on it all the way to the end. It was the last song we recorded. And we’re like, ok, we’ll record the song. But I don’t think it’s going to be on the record, maybe a bonus track. So, we ripped it out, and we do it a little faster than Bryan Adams. And when you put my voice on it, it automatically sounds like a Buckcherry song.” Josh adds: “We’ve done so many records. It’s good for us to do a cover every now and again.”

The first single to be released from Vol 10 was Good Times. As the title indicates it’s a feel-good slice of rock and roll. Speaking about the track Josh said: “It just made me want to write in the vein of why I got into rock music. When I was going to see a rock show, AC/DC was big for me, and so it was fun. It was a party, you could dance to it, you could rock to it. Girls and guys are going to the shows. It was somewhere to be - it was a community, with fun, and I feel like it hasn’t been that way for a long time. So, I wanted to write a feel-good rock and roll, dancey type up-tempo groove and that was it. That’s what came out.”

For the foreseeable future, Buckcherry will be focusing on their new release. “It’s promoting this record Vol 10, which drops June 2nd, and you can get it on all digital platforms, where you get music, you can preorder it right now and get two songs. So, we’re going to be out promoting that of course and touring, doing what we do best and how we built our foundation. As we put records out and we tour on them, we still do that. So, that’s what we’re going to do.

Buckcherry, completed by Stevie D (guitar), Billy Rowe (guitar), Kelly LeMieux (bass) and Francis Ruiz (drums), are due to release Vol. 10 on 2nd June 2023. UK, EU, AUS and NZ fans can find it for pre-order at earache.com/buckcherry on limited edition splatter and colour vinyl, signed CD, cassette and more.

Words: Adam Kennedy Photo Credit: Press Supplied