Outland: Melodic Rock from Los Angeles
Interview by Ken Morton Outland is from Los Angeles, the melodic rock/AOR capital of the world - and their latest album Where Do We Go From Here is sure to enrapture fans of classic bands such as Foreigner, Toto, and Whitesnake. Now signed to MR Records of Australia, music fanatics all across the globe may experience the sonic reveries Outland has to offer. Highwire Daze recently interviewed Outland members Jeff Prentice and Rob Nishida to find out more about the making of Where Do We Go From Here, signing to MR Records, working with Pat Torpey of Mr. Big on their Long Way Home endeavor, future plans, and more... Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Outland, and how long the band has been together. Rob: Jeff and I started Outland in 1999. We started the band when we were offered the opportunity to be featured on a compilation CD for a melodic rock covention that took place in Los Angeles in called Ultrasound 2000. Our songs Valerie and One More Night wound up on that CD and really help launch the band, garnering us interest from a number 46
of labels. I play guitar, bass, keyboards and sing background vocals. Jeff: I Sing Lead, Harmonies, Play Keys and play most of the lead guitar. Where is the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there? Rob: We’re based in Los Angeles. The music scene here is actually pretty healthy but not necessarily for a band like Outland. Jeff: We’re basically in the beach area southwest of L.A. How did you wind up signing with MR Records? Rob: We’ve always had a great relationship with Andrew McNeice who used to run the melodicrock.com website. He introduced us to the guys at Melodic Rock Records. Is there any overall story or concept behind the album title Where Do We Go From Here? Yes, at least for the title track. We started writing for this CD in 2005, and one of the biggest news stories of that year was Hurricane Katrina and the havoc that it caused in the New OrJuly/August 2022
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