somebody. I tested a few singers, but it didn’t work out as well. And then all of a sudden 2 ½ years ago I played a show with my solo band Herman Frank at a festival in Germany. I entered the venue, and I was listening to a band I had heard. And said to Michael “That’s a good band! Who’s this?” And so, I watched the whole show – it was The Order – that was Gianni’s original band – and after he finished the gig, I immediately started talking to him about the Victory thing I had in mind. And he said, “I’m very pleased and interested and honored.” So, I sent him a couple of playbacks from the classic hits from Victory – Temples Of Gold and On The Loose and stuff like that – and he sent them back two days later. And I said to myself “My goodness, that sounds like Fernando Garcia and Charlie Huhn in one person.” It was obvious, so I said “Okay, let’s do it!” At this time, we had decided to do an anniversary tour of the Temples Of Gold and Culture Killed The Native albums, because they had been the most successful. But then Corona showed up. And we said we have such a great singer with such a great voice, it might be worth it to write a couple of songs and come up with a new CD or something. So, it happened. We started writing songs, and after a few songs it was so easy for me to write all these riffs and all these songs in the style of Victory. It felt like yesterday. So that’s the reason why we came up with the album. The tour had been cancelled and festivals had been cancelled. And then we and the record company decided we were going to release this album right now in November. How do you think this new album Gods Of Tomorrow compares with the classic Victory releases? The most successful Victory albums have been Culture and Temples Of Gold. And at best, this album is in the same style. I tried to keep the face of the two successful albums in this album and I think we succeeded. But it’s sounding way more modern and with the same freshness as these previous albums. That’s maybe because we have new members in there. I’m really proud of this thing. For me it’s the best and as good as the successful albums. How would it feel to do a tour with Victory and The Order on the very same bill? Nah! Never do that. I really would split all of these different bands – it really doesn’t look that good. If Victory is going on tour, we’re going on a headlining tour. I don’t want the singer to blow out his voice when he’s doing a supporting show. Nah, that’s not good. That’s a little bit strange for me. I could easily tdo a festival – Gianni’s band The Order, my solo band Herman Frank and Victory or vice/versa. That would be one thing. But each for his own. I’m So Excited by The Pointer Sisters is a cover from the previous Victory album Don’t Talk Science. What made you decide to cover a Pointer Sisters song? Actually, I did this song for an album that I did with my wife Martina for Poison Sun. I did this cover and I said HIGHWIRE DAZE
December 2021
this has such a good drive and is such a good song. Jioti heard this version that I did and said we should do this! It’s gotta be a rocker! So that’s the reason we decided to do this because it turned out good – like a rocky metal version of the original. Do you still keep in touch with Charlie Huhn who is now running around the world in Foghat? Once in a while he gives me a comment on Facebook, and I give him a comment. But I haven’t met him in a long, long time. I interviewed Charlie from Foghat a few years ago and he told me he loved his time spent in Victory. He is a such a great singer and he’s a nice guy. But it’s much easier for him, because he likes to do this blues rock thing and I think he fits perfectly into Foghat. Your recent solo is album is titled Two For A Lie. What does that title mean to you? The title was coming up in my mind – I met so many people in my life and I have to say that a couple of people have lied to me – especially in this kind of business I work in. But you could also say in the normal society and especially for politics – if there’s two people, there’s mostly a chance that somebody is lying to you. And when I came up with this title, I got this cover in my mind – the good guy and the band guy – the Ying and the Yang. The guitar Michael in Victory also appears on Two For A Lie. How did your collaboration with Michael come about? He’s very good – very talented. He’s a couple of decades younger than me, but he still has the same vibe in his hands when he plays guitar. But he’s able to copy my style mostly, perfectly – and the best thing is that he’s also living 27
