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HIGHWIRE DAZE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sponsored by
THE SANDGAARD FOUNDATION
Publisher Highwire Daze Magazine A General Partnership Editor-in-Chief Kenneth Morton Managing Editor Danny S. Pasley Senior Photographer Jack Lue East Coast Editor Jupiter LeeJ Contributors Kenneth Morton Bret Miller Joe Schaeffer James Grover Cover Art by Yannick d’Assignies of Smart Works INTL. Cover Photos By Jack Lue Graphic Design Tyler Heath
HIGHWIRE DAZE 827 N. Hollywood Way PMB 419 Burbank, CA 91505-2814 www.highwiredaze.com e-mail: ken@highwiredaze.com
Opinions expressed within this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. All rights reserved. Nothing may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express and written consent of the publisher.
INTERVIEWS WITH . . . TODD SUCHERMAN OF STYX .............................................................. 12 THE OUTLAWS ....................................................................................... 16 THE QUIREBOYS ..................................................................................... 18 WEATHERS ............................................................................................. 20 BENEATH MY SINS ................................................................................ 24 FRANCCESCA DE STRUCT of FATE DESTROYED ............................... 26 AOR .......................................................................................................... 32 BONFIRE .................................................................................................. 34 DYNAZTY ................................................................................................ 36 FICTION SYXX ........................................................................................ 38 KHYMERA ............................................................................................... 40 STEVE NEWMAN of NEWMAN and COMPASS .................................. 42 STEELCITY .............................................................................................. 44 UNLEASH THE ARCHERS ...................................................................... 46 FRANCCESCA DE STRUCT of FATE DESTROYED POSTER ........................... 28 ALBUM REVIEWS ............................................................................................... 52 CONCERT REVIEWS .......................................................................................... 52 SKETCHES BY THE EDITOR ................................................................................ 6 BRET’S RAMBLINGS ............................................................................................ 8 IN MUSICAL ORBIT by JUPITER ....................................................................... 10 PRODUCT REVIEW by JAMES GROVER .......................................................... 51
DIANE & THE DEDUCTIBLES CHECK OUT THEIR REVIEW ON PAGE 10 BRAND NEW MUSIC VIDEO
WATCH
ON
YOUTUBE
“T E A R S”
LISTEN
ON
SOUNDCLOUD
COVID-19 has changed our lives..but we will be back! Look for our New Music LATE SUMMER 2020
www.DIANEANDTHEDEDUCTIBLES.com HIGHWIRE DAZE
May/June 2020
5
Sketches by the Editor
Welcome to Highwire Daze Magazine Issue #130, presented as we continue to confront the worldwide COVID-19 Pandemic. It has been an interesting time for the magazine as well as for the entire music scene. And while there are no concerts to attend, this has been an extraordinary opportunity to discover new music, In this magazine as well as on our website. there is more coverage of newer bands than ever. It has been a time to explore the Inbox at Highwire Daze and check into quite a few bands who I normally would have passed by in the funhouse/madhouse known as my Yahoo email.There are new bands and artists to be discovered everywhere - including on your very own Facebook, Instagram and YouTube social media pages. If you are reading this, I challenge each and every one of you to go on social media and discover five new bands who you have never heard of before and befriend them, And as for bands you do know, support their online shows and buy merch! I mean, don’t you want a collector face mask from the likes of The Hard Way, Clio Cadence or the many other bands selling unique products in this day and age? And that’s not to mention their music! Buy CD’s and/or sound files! They need your support more than ever! CrueFest Hollywood 2020 is one of the many live events being cancelled due to COVID-19. And like so many other tours and shows that have become a casualty of these turbulent times, there is a TON of unsold merch. CrueFest Hollywood 2020 apparel are destined to be collector’s items, so please check out their ad on the left and make an order for some of their very cool mech - including shirts, jackets and even socks!!! In closing this column, I would like to thank everyone who mail-ordered a hard copy of the previous Highwire Daze Issue #129, ventured out to pick up a copy at Mail Boxes and Accessories in Burbank, or who read it online at our virtual ISSUU platform located at https:// issuu.com/highwiredaze. A big thank you also goes out to the advertisers who have continued to support Highwire Daze during these times of uncertainty, And a very special thanks to Thomas Sandgaard of The Sandgaard Foundation for his wonderful support and encouragement. Please check into The Sandgaard Foundation and see how we could all “band together” to end the opioid epidemic. At press time, it was announced that Melissa Etheridge lost her son Beckett due to opioid addiction, Turn to Page 48 to read aout how The Sandgaard Foundation keep their commitment to save lives in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Also many thanks to Diane Adams of Diane & The Deductibles for her friendship and advice throughout this crazy time. I am so excited to announce that there will be new music from Diane & The Deductibles this summer! I long for the time when everything is back to normal, when we can see our friends again, and go back to the live concerts we all enjoy. And for me personally, I look forward to when I can see Grandma Daze and other members of my own family again. Stay strong and safe. We will get through this and live on to rock another day!
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May/June 2020
HIGHWIRE DAZE
Bret’s Ramblings BRET’S RAMBLINGS ISSUE #130 I’ve been interacting with three wonderful people and their music labels for the past several years and I thought I’d tell you about them.
BLACKJACK ILLUMINIST RECORDS Blackjack Illuminist is ran by Alexander Leonard Donat out of Germany. Donat also makes dark and complex electronic music as Vlimmer, complete with his sometimes deep-voiced, sometimes quietly sang, sometimes operatic vocals sung in German. He also has Fir Cone Children, a punky and catchy band with his English vocals and on many songs featuring Krissy Vanderwoude (Whimsical, The Churchhill Garden) on co-vocals. Donat is also part of Whole and Feverdreamt. Blackjack Illuminist has released CD’s from Brazilian electronic composer Phantoms Vs. Fire and French Post-Rock band Feu Follet. Alexander is a humorous, joyous person, an energetic, long-distance-running parent, father and teacher as well as label-runner and musician. He somehow has the energy to make his own CD packages for his and his label’s bands along with everything else. https://blackjackilluministrecords.bandcamp.com/
SOMEWHERECOLD RECORDS Jason Lamoreaux runs Somewherecold Records from his home in Shelbyville, Kentucky as well as has the Somewherecold blog and online store for clothing and more. He was a college professor and is also an ambient musician as The Corrupting Sea and has a wonderful ambient guitars album Here We Come as The Warm Jets with fellow local musician Christopher Boss. Jason has releases from the likes of Tombstones In Their Eyes, Outward, A.M. Feelgood, Nebula Glow, Star Guided Vessels, Airships On The Water, Blanket Swimming and The Microdance along with many interesting ambient releases from Giacomelli, A Journey of Giraffes and Akkad The Orphic Priest. Jason’s label is wide-ranging and has much to challenge your ears. Jason is politically involved, interested in educating 8
our minds as well as our ears. He also hand-makes all the CD packages and is signing bold bands as well as ambient artists with heart. https://somewherecoldrecords.bandcamp.com/
SHORE DIVE RECORDS Nicolas Pierre Wardell is a Brit by way of France living in Brighton on the southern coast of England. His label Shore Dive Records has been having success as of late with Dani Mari and her Primitive Heart CD’s and vinyl. “Nico” is also a one-man-band as Beatastic and the more electronic Xeresa and has many guest vocals and guitarists involved. Nico released yet another of his projects this past April called Tears On Demand. He is also part of the Insatiable Disquiet with singer/ producer Cat Hall Angeles. Nico’s taste run just as eclectic as mine, with the likes of Henry’s Sun, The Raft, Mwydu, The Washington Project, Velveteen, Sleepersound, Dawn Reason and Forever Vessels. Noisy Post-Punk, catchy Pop-Rock, heartfelt and quirky electronica from Primitive Heart and Xeresa and other inspiring artists. Nico is also a teacher, he takes wonderful mostly black & white pictures of nature and old buildings, he’s got a luxurious beard and a great sense of humor. He too puts his bands’ CD’s together by hand and Sleepersound and Primitive Heart have vinyl releases. You can hear his Beatastic Transmissions on Highwire Daze Radio on the first Saturday of the month. Check the Highwire Daze Radio page on Facebook for more info. https://shorediverecords.bandcamp.com/
SPLIT MOON CORRECTION Correction: As seen in the previous issue: Mark Starr is the singer and guitarist for Split Moon, not Mike as I erroneously wrote. Sorry for the slip and thanks again for the interview and your understanding!Get Split Moon’s album Slow Satellite now on vinyl and digital download: https://splitmoon.bandcamp.com/ Listen to Bret’s Ramblings at Highwire Daze Radio on Live 365 http://www.highwiredazeradio.net May/June 2020
HIGHWIRE DAZE
In Musical Orbit by Jupiter Jupiter at Highwire Daze Online Crew East Coast Editor.
Hey everybody, it’s Jupiter Lee. Good to be back at Highwire Daze magazine. Check out my record reviews here: Testament Titans Of Creation Nuclear Blast Records Released barely four weeks ago, Highwire Daze was able to obtain a copy of Testament’s latest offering,Titans Of Creation. Without ever repeating themselves ,they always sound like Testament. This band is on fire. From beginning to end they continue to build their thrash progressive platform. Chuck Billy is singing better than ever executing his lyrically graphic images. Some really abstract guitar soloing from Alex Skolnick on track three, simply brilliant. This album also has some of the most wicked drumming I’ve ever heard from Gene Hoglan. Would give anything to witness a rehearsal. Produced by Chuck Billy, Eric Peterson and Juan Urteaga, I think the collaboration between them gives the best of what the band is capable of sounding live. This is the first time they have recorded more than one album with the same lineup since THE RITUAL. While I was listening, I felt there was just a slight reference to the band MINISTRY. By the last track, you finally get to take a breath to find a very unexpected ending. The album is an hour long so be sure to leave time to experience all of it. Like a great book, I could not divert my attention to anything else. This being Testament’s thirteenth record, could be my favorite to date. Can’t wait for them to start touring.
Compass Our Time On Earth Escape Music From the UK with a brand new release, say hello to COMPASS. Coming out of the gate strong and you know you’re in for a journey as soon as the album starts. Powerful melodies and songwriting skills are apparent from the beginning. Laying down a great progressive rock 10
foundation with some RUSH influences. Vocalist Ben Green has a smooth, assertive and high vocal range . Dramatic and melodic riffs are throughout the album. On the title track, keyboards and light acoustic guitar bring in solemn instrumentation for a minute and then evolves into a completely different tune, so cool. On Caught In A Frame, the drummer really gets to shine on this one. On Neon, I feel like there’s some ties to very early YES with a refreshingly unique rocking sound including some siick drumming ideas. On to the epic A Warning From History. It is over ten minutes long with a whirlwind of instrumentations. It flows so nicely you don’t notice it’s all one piece. The final tune presents nice, beautiful piano, strings and acoustic guitar and breaks into a towering blaze of instruments that are fueling into the final track. Thick , lush production makes you want to turn it up! So glad a band has picked up the progressive rock torch. Could say Compass picks up where RUSH were heading. These guys seem to have gone to the same school of rock and share many of the same influences. Though the album has keyboards throughout, I feel it is more guitar oriented and without the embellishments of many keyboard dominated bands. The ending of the album, I believe will surprise you. I would love to see Compass live. Featuring the thrilling guitar work of Steve Newman from Newman!
Diane & The Deductibles Two DRAIA Productions Fresh from Huntington Beach , CA is this hard rock, yet melodic CD. Great , tight band with something exciting around every musical corner of each tune. Just a wonderful album to kick back and listen to. Every musician brings their particular strengths to the music. All of the musicians seem to have been carefully selected and work very well together. Easing their way into the first tune Breaking the Chain and then ,Wham! It hits you. Soulful vocals from Diane Adams, pounding rhythms, and incredible use of dynamics; these qualities I found very appealing. Unique tribal beats boast on song number three Light of the Moon with multi - meter tracks. Now on What a Feeling, I feel like I’m listening to a different band, so awesome! Sounds like some roots of FLEETWOOD MAC with a progressive twist. Really, this one is driven by drummer Ronnie Ciago. Sounds so good with awesome double lead guitar harmonies from Robert Sarzo ( Geoff Tates’ Queensryche , Hurricane) and Keith Lynch. Moving on to Light Me Up features an unusually dreamy soundscape. Sweet ending on Sweet Love & Emotion. Which brings us to the final track ,number eight . Oh yeah! For me, this gave a slight reference to the great band HEART on Tears. Also terrific bass performance throughout the entire album from Cliff Rehrig ex-Air Supply. The whole album has a great pace and flow to it. May/June 2020
HIGHWIRE DAZE
Todd Sucherman of
STYX
Photo by Joe Schaeffer
On The Last Flight Home with
Todd Sucherman of STYX
Interview by Ken Morton - Photo by Joe Schaeffer
Todd Sucherman has been the drummer extraordinaire for the legendary Styx since 1995, and has appeared on albums such Brave New World, Cyclorama and their latest critically acclaimed magnum opus entitled The Mission. And now in the midst of the tumultuous year of 2020, Todd has presented Last Flight Home, his first solo album ever! Jammed packed with melodic rock entreaties, Last Flight Home is sure to thoroughly impress all types of music fans looking to be transported above and beyond the grim age of Covid-19. Highwire Daze recently interviewed Todd Sucherman to discuss the creation of Last Flight Home, his thoughts on releasing new music in the middle of a pandemic, the pure magic of the Styx classic Come Sail Away, and more! Let’s talk about your new solo album, Last Flight Home. Is there any overall story or concept behind that title? I think as a touring musician for the last 25 years, and anyone who travels 100,000 miles every year could relate to the difficulty of actually trying to get home. [laughter] It seems like I never have any problems flying out to begin a run, but the amount of hours I’ve been stranded coming home over a quarter of a century is pretty astronomical. Now, no one wants to hear a rock musician complain, but we are all human beings and we have families, and a lot of times, I’ve been gone for 17 days and maybe I’m coming home for 3 days. So to be stranded 7 hours in an airport when I’m only going to be home 3 days; that’s precious time from my wife and daughter that I don’t get to see or spend time with. So those hours kind of pack a punch at the airport. Ultimately, yes, I eventually make it home, I’ve never not made it home. [laughter] But it just seems that it’s like a groundhog day in my brain of being stranded, because the litany of broken planes and inclement weather and missed connections; that’s what really spurred the feeling of being numb and stuck in the airport and just longing to be home, longing to have your head on your own pillow next to your wife. That’s really where they come from. The video for one of the songs is called Sacred Book of Favorite Days. What inspired the lyrics for that song? Funnily enough, I came up with the title of that song in 1992, the last time I ever dabbled in psychedelics. So I was on Neptune when I came up with that phrase, and it stuck with me all these years. I knew that I would use that for something, somewhere, sometime. So it materialized in that song and we sort of made it what’s more of a romantic connotation. But because it came from a psychedelic source, it became sort of a Beatles influenced vibe, with a mixture of latter-day XTC and Jellyfish, both which have Beatles and Beach Boys influences in them. So that’s how that song sort of naturally materialized from that experience. What inspired the song Ad Lib Everything? This whole record came into existence because my old friend J.K. Harrison had been harassing me for a number of years HIGHWIRE DAZE
May/June 2020
to do a record with him, and I never believed that I could. I always blew him off, sort of with the notion of, “Ah, it’s very cute and sweet that you think that I could do that. Thanks, but no thanks.” But finally, I relented, and a couple of things just happened naturally and organically, and I was going to be in Los Angeles for a few days and had some time off. So we got together and that’s really the genesis of the project. So, working with a guy like J.K., he has a bank of songs and demos and sections and nuggets and ideas. It was like walking around in a scrap yard but all the parts were shiny and brand new. And that’s how we wrote and re-pieced a lot of the songs together. It was a really fun, creative process. J.K. had the lyrics to Ad Lib Everything pretty much together by the time I discovered that piece in his scrap yard. I think that song to me - there’s an absurdity to it. It’s like a drunken night at the Moulin Rouge in 1890 and then, Elvis Costello is sitting there with a martini and a pirate comes and kicks it out of his hand. It’s a very cinematic piece, but ultimately, I think the statement is really, “You have to go through life almost like a jazz musician and ad lib and improvise daily. Because if you think you can structure everything and make all these plans, the universe is going to show you that all that’s going to go away. And you have to ad lib everything.” Would you like to tour or do a few shows for this album? No! [laughter] The funny thing here is through the entire process, I wasn’t confident that I could actually pull this off, so I wanted to release a record where I had to believe every line. I had to stand behind every bit of sonic information on the whole record. I feel like I climbed a particularly large mountain, and I’m quite satisfied with that accomplishment for now. The reality is whenever this current situation is behind us, and I think it will be a lot longer than anyone of us would like, there’s going to be 60 or 70 Styx shows that were booked and scrapped and will have to be made up somewhere. So I know that I will be very, very busy with the band once any severance of normality can truly and safely take place. I have no ambition to be some sort of singing celebrity. I just wanted to see if I could pull off something I did’t know I could pull off. It was a grand musical experiment for me. I’ve been playing drums for 49 years professionally, since I was 6. I feel very fortunate that I’ve done a lot of things, I’ve had a lot of great experiences. But this was an entirely new universe and a new landscape to explore, and I learned so much in the process. I think it’s made me a better drummer. It’s made me even more sensitive to the lyrics than even I was before, which is something that I always taught in my master classes. To emotionally attach yourself to the music, you have to know what the story of the song is line by line, and that was made blaringly evident to me through this process. What has it been like to release a debut album right in the middle of a pandemic? When the situation hit and it looked like this is going to be very serious in late-February; the record had been done, 13
mixed, mastered, manufactured, packaged, and sent off to me. My wife and I were in agreement, we can’t release a record during a global pandemic in a time of economic uncertainty, so I scrapped it indefinitely in my mind. But I had several musician friends come to me saying, “Hey, you have this record. It’s done. It’s ready to go. Maybe now is the time to do it. Maybe now, people have the time to sit and listen in a way that they haven’t maybe in years since the old days of LPs and headphones, and that was your evening.” So I started hearing that from more and more close friends, and then my wife started to change her tune and think, “Maybe this is the time.” So sort of with a conflicted mind and heart, I made a little video posing the question, “Should I release new music at this time? Would you be interested?” And put that on my socials - and it was a 99.9 resounding yes, we release new music now! So I actually moved up the original intended release date of May 30th to May 2nd without an infrastructure, without a plan, without having that part of the website built. I went into a sort of overdrive here to make sure that I was ready to actually put this record out into the world and have the infrastructure to do so. And onto a few Styx questions. How do you think the latetst album The Mission compares to the classic Styx albums? Well, it’s not really for me to say, being that I was involved in this record. It’s one of my favorites, so I love it. The thing that I’m most proud about The Mission is I never read a bad review, and I read a lot of reviews. And I know that critics probably were looking to have some fun with it, but the fact that they didn’t, I think that speaks for the work. What does the song Come Sail Away mean to you? I could easily superimpose being at my uncle’s house who had that record and hearing that for the first time there, right when it came out. So when you ask that question, the song means a lot of things, but I have to go back to the source, to the root, of hearing it for the first time. And it was on that trip that I really fell in love with the band and the record The Grand Illusion. Styx had always been on the radio going back to Lady. So I knew who they were, I liked them, but it was really that record that solidified it. When I got home from the trip, I bought that record. So that’s kind of what the whole record means to me. Anything that we play from “The Grand Illusion” has some sort of childhood significance, and it was so great to have had that tour in 2010 where we played The Grand Illusion in its entirety and then Pieces of Eight in its entirety. That was a dream come true. I didn’t know I had that dream, but that was one of my favorite tours I’ve ever done. I bet when you heard Come Sail and The Grand Illusion for the first time, that you never thought in a million years, you’d actually be playing these songs with the band Styx. No, it’s funny, here’s another Come Sail Away moment, which reads into that question there. No, I never could have imagined ending up playing in a band, who I saw three times as a kid growing up, who I played the material in other bands growing up, and that I had all the records. And a bit of a flash, the first time we played in Chicago, June of ‘96 at Tinley Park. At the beginning of Come Sail Away, all of a sudden on stage, I was cast back to the bedroom in the house that I grew up in, sitting on the side of my bed, air-drumming to records when it was too late to play the real drums, and I would sit there and I would air-drum. And you know, your mind is the mind of a boy, you’re pretending you’re at a big concert, and all your friends are there, and the girl you like is there, and 14
DIANE & THE DEDUCTIBLES
www.DIANEANDTHEDEDUCTIBLES.com
COVID-19 has changed our lives... but we will be back! Look for our New Music LATE SUMMER 2020
all that childhood bedroom thing. And here I am at the show where I’ve got 40 or 50 friends and relatives there. I thought to myself, “Well, it’s happening now. This is it, right now!.” So, that was a lightning flash from the childhood memory that happened on stage during that song, the first time at the Chicago event. Do you have any messages for Styx fans who are reading this now who might want to check your solo album out? I hope that the people are curious to check out the record. It’s not Styx-type material at all. When I’m hard-pressed to describe the record and what it sounds like, I’ve been saying, it’s sort of sophisticated pop-rock. If you like bands like Crowded House, Elbow, XTC, and Jellyfish, you might like this. There’s a lot of different types of flavors on the record, and that’s something I’m very proud of. So I hope that people check it out and that the music provides some sort of entertainment and connects at a time like this, because ultimately, even though there might be some melancholy songs on there, there’s always a thread of hope through everything. And I think we have to have a thread of hope with what’s happening right now. No storm lasts forever. I think this will be a lot longer than anybody would like, but we only have to get through this.
www.toddsucherman.com/ May/June 2020
HIGHWIRE DAZE
YEARS OLD
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A Legacy of DIXIE Highways with
The Outlaws
Interview by Ken Morton - Photo by John Gellman The legendary Outlaws present Dixie Highway, the next glorious chapter of their dynamic musical leagcy. For more than 45 years, the Outlaws have flown the Southern Rock banner like no other band in the land. With an album as visionary and fully realized as Dixie Highway, Southern Rock rides on as inspiring as ever! Highwire Daze recently interviewed guitarist Henry Paul discuss the making of Dixie Highway, thoughts on the retiring of Lynyrd Skynrd, his other country band Blackhawk, and other rocking topics of intrigue. Tell me about the title Dixie Highway, and is there any overall concept behind that title? We intentionally did not try and write a concept record. The themes of the song once you put them all together - there was a thread that sort of alluded to that, and it wasn’t an intentional effort on our part. So after the fact, we kind of got a little bit into that concept territory. The title of the album and of the song is somewhat of a metaphor for my musical career. 16
How do you think Dixie Highway compares to the classic Outlaw albums of the ‘70s? Our intention was to stay true to the musical personality of the band according to my view of it and my participation in helping create it early on in the band’s musical life. So, I think it holds up very well quality-wise and stylistically. I think it’s right in the realm of what the Outlaws basically represent musically. You know, any time you put yourself out there in that form or fashion, you always run the risk of rejection. It’s like anything artistically. It’s creative, it’s an interpretive piece and for those who get it, great - for those that don’t, they don’t. My view of the Outlaws and the new record is, everyone should probably really like this record. But I love the record, I love the band’s musical personality, and I guess having had to create it and caring for it how I do or looking after it like I do, I have a very invested connection with it. Tell me about the song Southern Rock Will Never Die, and what was the inspiration behind the lyrics? I know it was kind of a tribute to many different musicians. May/June 2020
HIGHWIRE DAZE
Well I think we used a number of the luminaries that have passed on to make a point in view of the loss of all these people, that the genre still will survive. And it will survive-- I don’t know if it’s a tribute as much as it is a declaration. And it’s a promise really made by a band that I think can keep it. So if the Outlaws are playing at a high level and the writing and recording is at a high level, and they represent a segment or a musical personality part of our genre of southern rock; well then I sort of internalize that sense of responsibility that I would make it the Outlaw’s business to do what they could to make sure that this music did not just stray into obscurity. And so, given the advantage of a label that loves the band and believes in the group, we were able to put this out there in that significant form and fashion. Lynyrd Skynyrd is running around the country playing their assumed final shows. How does that make you feel that they say they’re retiring? I have a very significant connection to that group, from the standpoint of a historical perspective. But I,m in no way connected to the decision-making process today. That being said, I think if that’s what they want to do, then that’s okay. I mean, they certainly have contributed their part. I don’t think that Lynyrd Skynyrd is going away. At one point I think Garry Rossington will retire, but I’m not a hundred percent convinced that the band Lynyrd Skynyrd will cease to be. There’s a lot of people out there that still love the band, and not to sound mercenary, but there’s a lot of money on the table with regard to that brand. And I would be personally surprised if they just roll it all up and went away. They may take a year off, but they may very well come back. Rickey’s got a lot left in him. Johnny’s got a lot left. The other guys in the band, they’re younger and capable, and so, again, I would be surprised if Lynyrd Skynyrd is playing its last shows. If they are, it’s a disappointment because the Lynyrd Skynyrd that we knew and love, and the Lynyrd Skynyrd that helped us get where we wanted to go as struggling musicians, has been gone for decades and so my connection to that is significantly memory driven, rather than reinforced by the current band. Dale Oliver recently joined the Outlaws. He is also with you in Blackhawk. What has it been like to have him in the band, and how did that come about? Well bands are funny. You live close together, you travel, you’re really sort of related in an every day sense of the word, even more so than you are to your relatives. And so, to make a change in the band for me was difficult. It was very, very, very difficult. I tried in every way to make what I had going on there work. But when Billy Crain was in the band, he and I had and till have a very good career,and a beautiful relationship as songwriters. Billy left the band and he and I still wrote, but to make records and to move the band up the road, I really was looking for help. You know, somebody who had the artistic integrity and the production chops and the songwriting chops to help me create this. And Dale and I worked together in Blackhawk making records. And then he and I co-produced artists outside of the realm of our every day musical career. We maintained a friendship over the years and a working relationship. HIGHWIRE DAZE
May/June 2020
And so, the idea of bringing Dale into the band for me was a win-win. I mean, I get a world-class performer and bandmate, and a fun guy to hang out with, and I get a creative partner to write songs with and to help me make a record on the band with, and he invested a good deal of his time. And quite honestly, not to bring money up again, but there is no money in the time that we invest in these songs. The only thing we really get out of it is just the sense of pride in the body of our work after the fact. So he showed himself to be very ambitious and very hard-working, and very accomplished as a songwriting partner and a partner in producing the record. Now that we’re on the subject to Blackhawk, what’s currently going on with the band? I believe you recently released a Christmas album. Yes, we did. We released a Christmas album late last year. We are currently in the studio putting the final touches on a double live record, Live From Atlanta. It’s kind of an acoustic version of all the great songs, and then we are writing and hanging on to a few outsides songs for a new Blackhawk studio album later this year. So we’re aggressively pursuing that band’s musical career. And as you can probably tell, if you’re going to try and keep that band in pretty good shape, with new music and you’re trying to keep the Outlaws also in shape, it’s a full-time job. What has kept you so passionate about the Outlaws for 45 years and counting? Well I was gone from the band for a while and my departure from the band was not exactly amicable and it was a very hurtful part of my profile. And I always wanted the opportunity to come back to the band and have control of it and try and give the fans what they deserve - number one. And number two, impress upon them the fact that I didn’t just walk away from the group because I wanted something bigger or better, it was a decision that was not mine, and it was hurtful. And so, there’s a certain amount of being in the band, of being in control of the artistic issues with the group that is fulfilling to me, and it helps me enjoy, at this late date in my life, my first love and my first encounter with success in the music business which was the Outlaws. I have a very abiding affection for that brand, and it’s really rewarding for me now to be able to affect it in the positive form and passion. And do you have any messages for Outlaw fans who are reading this right now? My message would be if you ever had an affection for the Outlaws, come and see the band. It’s not the original five members, but it is a band that is very respectful and plays very true to the original group. Since most of these people have either passed away or are unable to perform, it’s hard for me to bring the original band back together. So my message would be to come and see the band and just see for yourself what a great job everybody has done to respectfully resurrect the Outlaws musical brand and to push it on into the future.
https://www.outlawsmusic.com/ 17
The Quireboys An Interview with Guy Griffin at The Whisky
Interview by Ken Morton - Photo by Joe Schaeffer The Quireboys presented The Amazing Disgrace Tour – their first trek across the United States in 7 years! This would include a stop at the world famous Whisky A Go Go on the Sunset Strip, where the band not only played their songs from a vast catalog of music, but they would be joined onstage by the likes of Share Ross, Britt Lightning, and Lorraine Lewis of Vixen, Taime Downe from Faster Pussycat, and former Quireboys member Nigel Mogg! Prior to their explosive late night set, Highwire Daze went backstage to chat with guitarist Guy Griffin to discuss their latest album Amazing Disgrace, performing with Joe Elliott’s Down And Outs, working with Sharon Osbourne early in The Quireboys’ career, plus many other rip roaring topics… How has the Amazing Disgrace Tour been going so far and what have been some of the highlights? It’s been fantastic really. The album’s been really well received – some great reviews – and we’re really happy with it. We’re almost a year down the line now, but there’s about 3-4 18
songs in the set from the album tonight and they seem to be going down well – and you could tell that people have actually heard them before, which is always encouraging. Tonight you’re playing the world famous Whisky on the Sunset Strip. What is your history with this iconic nightclub or is this your first time here? This is actually only the second time we’ve played here. We played here about 7 years ago. I personally lived in Los Angeles for about 15 years, so I’ve seen all kinds of bands here. So yeah, it’s a special gig. This is the first US tour for The Quireboys in 7 years. Why were you away from us for so long? I think doing to Monsters Of Rock cruises helped – it sort of got our name back out there – and you’ve got all sorts of people on that cruise including business people and booking agents. Chuck Bernal of Artists Worldwide who represents a few bands who are on those cruises – they saw us and they really wanted to book a tour for us. We always go down really well on the cruise – we’re quite popular on it – so yeah, we’ll May/June 2020
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see how it goes. Just spread the word and try to get our music out there like we’ve always done. You’ve got Bam Ross of Dogs D’Amour on this tour! How did that come about? Our last drummer Dave McCluskey – he wanted to pursue other interests so to speak. So we were in sort of a predicament – and the first name that came up was Bam. We were going to be playing in America and he lives in America also, and he was also on the Cruise as well. We go back a real long way with him obviously – over 30 years – so everything comes full circle kind of… Amazing Disgrace is the 6th Quireboys album in 7 years. What has prompted this outburst of creativity and imagination? It’s more that we’ve got the facilities to be able to do it. We have good management in the UK – our manager is Johnnie Davis and he really just kicks us up the ass and says “Alright, you’re going in to do an album!” And I’ll make excuses “Well you know, I haven’t written any songs.” And he says, “Well then you better write some, because you’re booked to go into the studio.” And so we go in and do it and it’s worked so far. It has been quite a creative time for us. Is there any story behind the album title Amazing Disgrace? What does that title mean to you? We always try to come up with a good title. Some of these things are sort of off the cuff types of remarks, and you go, “Oh hang on! That would be a great album title!” I think someone was talking about the song Amazing Grace and I heard someone say “Amazing Disgrace is more like it.” And I said “Hang on. There’s a good title!” It kind of sums us up really. One of the songs on that album is called California Blues. Tell me about that song, and are you having the California Blues today? Oh no, no, the opposite. That’s another one that sounded like it was a cool title and it sort of fit. But the lyrics are about some of the problems that happen in the cities like LA – it could be any city – a lot of cities around the world with kids and gangs and gun violence. It’s sort of alluding to that there. You recorded Amazing Disgrace at Rockfield Studios. They’ve had Queen, Black Sabbath, Foghat, Oasis. What was the experience like, and how did it shape the overall recording of this record? It was quite inspiring being there and it was the first time in a few years where we’ve done an album where it was like kind of a residential thing with all of us staying at the same place for the duration making a record. We only had ten days, so we had kind of a production line going on. I’d be in the studio putting down rough tracks with our drummer, and then Spike would be up in the house writing lyrics. And I’d go back and say “What have you got? Is that ready?” And then I’d get him down there to sing them. Obviously all the greats have been there – we used a Wurlitzer and Fender Rose that Queen used on some of their old albums. So it was pretty cool. So many bands have recorded there – Oasis, Ozzy Osborne, Robert Plant… And now The Quireboys... Yep, yep. HIGHWIRE DAZE
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What was that experience like recently playing your 35th Anniversary Show in London? It was sold out and everything! It was fantastic! 2,500 people. It was really, really cool! We’ve got a couple of show booked for later this year which is with an actual orchestra. That’s the next project to try and figure all that out. Our manager comes up with these great ideas and then we’re the ones who have got to try and implement it. Is that kind of scary to be playing with a full orchestra? Yeah it is! We’ve done it years ago with a string section and extra musicians. We’ve done it before. We’ve just got to decide on which songs – there’s a lot of songs that lend themselves to it. Once we’ve got this American Tour out of the way, then it’s the next thing we can concentrate on. You’ve been a member of The Quireboys for nearly 32 years now. How does it feel that you’ve been a member of anything for 32 years and counting? It’s absolutely crazy! Because within yourself, you don’t feel any different. And then you think back on stuff, and you realize you’ve lived a few different lifetimes. In this profession, it’s so intense and you’re travelling all of the time and you meet so many people and have so many different experiences. We’re lucky really. It’s more than a lot of people get to do. What were your impressions of working with Sharon Osborne? Things with Sharon – she was the right person at the right time really. We had a lot of momentum and the band had a big following before the first album came out, but she kind of made it even bigger. She knew how to make it worldwide. And that’s basically what she did. Our first album – I’ve got gold and platinum records on the wall because of that. And a lot of that has to do with what Sharon did. Are you still doing Joe Elliott’s Down N’ Outz? Yeah, in fact we’ve got a new album out in a moment called This Is How We Roll. It’s doing well at radio in America. We’ve got a song out at the moment called Creatures which I think is in the Top Twenty as we speak in rock radio. And hopefully we’ll get to do some shows with it at some point. It’s just difficult with everyone’s schedules. We’ve got Share from Vixen in the band as well and they’re busy. The Quireboys are always busy – and we all know that Def Leppard are very busy. So hopefully we’ll get to do some shows at some point. And what happening what other bands you’ve been involved with in the past – Glimmer and The Deserters – if anything? It’s funny – a couple of friends from Glimmer are here tonight – and Angie the singer of The Deserters is going to be here tonight. Those were all fun things to do. A lot of people ask me if we’re ever going to do another Glimmer album. Hopefully one day… Do you have any messages for Quireboys fans who are reading this now? Thanks to anybody that’s still supporting us. People are still buying the records, and that means a lot to us. It’s our livelihood, and we’re always very appreciative of all the support we receive from people. It’s fantastic!
http://quireboys.com/
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Introducing
Weathers Interview by Ken Morton - Live Photo by Jack Lue
Weathers is a dynamic up-and-coming alternative rock and roll band ready to bust out of their Los Angeles hometown and make their presence known all across the nation and beyond. The band has already toured with the likes of Badflower and Echosmith - and were on the verge of experiencing their very first headlining trek before a worldwide pandemic put an end to all live shows. With so many people at home, now is definitely the time to discover new music, and pop rocking fans of all ages should really check into what Weathers has to offer the world at large. Highwire Daze recently caught up with Cameron Boyer, the charismatic front man from Weathers to find out a whole lot more about this amazing band on the rise. Read on... First of all, you guys are based out of Los Angeles. What do you think about our local music scene – and how does Weathers fit into the scheme of things if at all? I feel that LA is such a big music scene for so many different genres. You’ve got such a melting pot of different kind of styles here. When it comes to the alternative scene, I think 20
there’s a lot of exciting cool things happening and I think there’s also a lot of room for new artists. There’s a lot of really big names that have been around for a long time who kind of hold the crown in alternative in general. And I feel like that LA being one of the biggest markets in alternative – especially on radio – I think there should be a lot of room for new artists. And I think that Weathers being an upcoming artist – I think there’s a lot of room for us and trying to make things exciting. How did your tour with Echosmith go and what were some of the highlights? It went really well. It was really cool to see a lot of familiar faces come out to the shows. We were kind of shocked, because it was a support tour, how many of our fans came out. That was super validating and really made us feel really cool. It was so cool seeing familiar faces and making new fans. Echosmith is a big band – they have a lot of people come out to their shows – it was cool to make news fans and I felt like we did real well. Some of the highlights – honestly some of the shows were insane! We played a show in Salt Lake that totally surprised us by how awesome the crowd was and how May/June 2020
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people were there for us. And our show in LA was super fun. It felt really good. Another amazing band you toured with was Badflower. What was that experience like? That tour was so much fun! Those guys in Badflower are so cool – they’re such good people and their whole team is really awesome. We really enjoyed Badflower a lot – we’ve actually kept in contact with them. We’ve hung out and written some music with Josh. That was just such a good tour. It’s always nice to be on a tour where the headliner makes you kind of feel at home. You’re on their turf, and that can be kind of intimidating and kind of scary at times. So when the headlining is super welcoming and friendly, I think that’s important and says a lot about the band and who they are as people. So that was a really awesome tour! Josh from Badflower gets really nervous before going onstage. How do you deal with your nerves and get prepared before you go onstage? So Josh and I actually talked about that. At one of the first show we were talking to each other backstage and he was telling me about how he was super nervous – and I was telling him about how I get not nervous, but super anxious beforehand – and I just can’t freakin’ relax. My stomach turns and I get kind of shaky – and the same thing kind of happens to him. We were kind of bonding over that which was kind of cool. Honestly, dealing with nerves – there’s really no easy way to do it. You’ve just got to kind of power through. That whole time when you’re doing a soundcheck and playing a show – you’re just constantly waiting in anticipation to go onstage. So for a few hours, you are just totally anxious. There’s a couple of little things you could do to help relax or be distracted – you could go walk around or do something. There’s really no easy way. Let’s talk about a few of the new Weathers song. What was the inspiration behind the new song Feel Good? Feel Good was written after a time in January of 2019 when we were on tour and I was feeling very – I guess lost and kind of depressed – and it was one of the first signs that I might have depression. I couldn’t quite pinpoint what exactly it was that was making me feel so terrible. It was hard to get up in the morning – it was hard to play a show – everything started to feel kind of meaningless and pointless – and I felt like I wasn’t going anywhere and I wasn’t sure of myself. I started to not really know who I was anymore and losing sight of my goals and everything that I wanted. It really sucked a lot and I really didn’t know how to get out of it. And what really sucks too is when you’re on tour – it can be really great to be on this adventure – but when things go wrong, you’re completely stuck on the road – you can’t go home – you can’t go and see your friends – you’re stuck and you’re in a foreign place in a van and in hotel rooms – and you’re constantly out of your comfort zone – which can be really fun but it can be really dangerous at the same time. When we finally did get home, my guitar player Cameron Olsen and I got together with our producer Tim Pagnotta – and we talked about it and Tim mentioned how he went through something similar when he was in his band Sugarcult. And so we kind of combined our experiences and wrote a song about it. HIGHWIRE DAZE
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And let’s talk about Lonely Vampire. What is the story behind that song? Lonely Vampire – like Feel Good – it’s a super fun song to play live – that’s always a favorite for me. But I remember thinking a little while ago – it’s really hard for me because I’m kind of socially awkward. I don’t always know how to handle myself in social situations where I don’t know people. Usually when I know the people I’m around I’ll be fine, but when I’m in a foreign situation I could kind of close up and not know how to act properly. And also, I think that being a band, there’s kind of that added pressure where you meet people that you want to be friends with and you work with – and you want them to think that you’re cool – and they kind of expect you to be cool. And even when you talk to your fans who love you and some of them might look up to you – and there’s that pressure of I have to live up to their expectations – I have to be this cool frontman – I have to be this cool version of myself that I might not always be. It’s kind of hard to handle myself in social situations, so Lonely Vampire is kind of about that – about being in a career where it’s always hard to be what people expect. Vampires – the metaphor 21
there I guess is they live alone in the shadows and that’s how I sometimes want to feel or already feel… How did your working with Tim from Sugarcult come about? We got in contact with him in 2017. I think our manager knew someone who knew him and reached out to him at the time. We got together and ended up writing one song – and that song ended up being Problems. It went over really well and we worked together really well, and he helped us find our new sound. We kind of reinvented ourselves after Happy Pills and I Don’t Want To Know because we wanted to have more fun with our music. We were growing up and we wanted our music to grow up with us. Tim’s production style was the direction we wanted to go with, and he was super easy to work with already. So that’s kind of how that came about. How close are you guys to releasing an EP or a full length? Haha, I can’t totally say at this time, but I can say we do have new music that’s coming very, very soon. I guess I’ll tell people to keep an eye out and you’ll see something very soon. And also we’re always dropping very subtle hints – like little Easter eggs you find in movies – we’re always dropping stuff in our music and in our social media posts on Instragram. So keep an eye out and you can kind of piece together some stuff and figure out what music you’re going to hear or what the lyrics are going to be for the next song or when it’s going to come out. So keep an eye out… How has this pandemic affected your touring plans and life as a musician for you? It’s been interesting. It always sucks to have to postpone
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shows – that’s a huge dagger to the heart – especially because this new Our Little Secret Tour was going to be our first ever national headline tour. And we were super excited to do it and start it in May, but then this whole crisis just happened. We had to postpone which sucked because this was our first headline tour and we don’t want to postpone. But we also obviously care about our fans and we don’t want our fans coming to our shows feeling unsafe. So we postponed and we have new shows now starting in July and August. You know, this pandemic right now has actually forced us to be more creative with our content online. And it’s forced us to stay active creatively, because everyday you’re just sitting in your room, so you want to try and stay as productive as possible – and the means writing new music. I just finished editing a new video last night that people might see pretty soon. We all did some filming and I just edited the video – so it kind of forces you to be creative. It really hasn’t been that bad, because it just gives you an excuse to do what you love everyday. Do you have any messages for Weathers fans who are reading this now? Thank you guys for being so supportive and being so awesome during this crazy time. We hope everyone is staying safe and we can’t wait to show you all what we’re working on next… Weathers is Cameron Boyer (vocals, rhythm guitar), Cameron Olsen (lead guitar,vocals), Cole Carson (drums, vocals), and Brennen Bates (bass, keys, vocals).
www.instagram.com/weathersband/
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Featuring Roy Cathey (Cold Sweat), Mike Floros, Jason Cornwell, BJ Zampa & Tony Stahl.
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The Rapturous Symphonic Metal of
Beneath My Sins
Interview by Ken Morton Meet Beneath My Sins, a female-fronted symphonic metal band from France ready to captivate the world with their imaginative sonnets. I Decide is the name of their latest magnum opus, a mesmerizing epic of a recording now available through Pride & Joy Music. Beneath My Sins has opened for the likes of Kobra and the Lotus and were slated to tour with the legendary Liv Kristine prior to all live shows being canceled worldwide due to these pandemic days. Highwire Daze recently interviewed lead vocalist Emma Elvaston and guitarist ClĂŠment Botz to explore the absolutely rapturous refrains of Beneath My Sins... Where is the band based out of and what is the local metal scene like there? Emma: Beneath My Sins is a Symphonic metal band based in France, near Paris. 24
Symphonic metal in France, compared to other styles of metal, deeply suffers from prejudice and is often rejected or under-represented in metal festivals with regional or national scope. Some metalheads do not consider symphonic metal to be metal and non-metalheads are simply afraid of a music style that contains “metal�. Metal in general is very well represented in France, given the number of metal bands existing, but it is certainly not a popular style. French mainstream radio stations do not broadcast metal and you will find at best 2 or 3 rock radio stations. In addition, there are very few places that can accommodate small metal bands, first because they cannot always manage the volume and then because they fear that the attendance will decrease. Being a symphonic metal in France is certainly the worst situation when trying to stand out from the crowd. May/June 2020
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How did you wind up signing with Pride & Joy Music? Emma: Once the album was mixed and mastered, we created a web presentation page and started to solicit labels. Among the labels interested was Pride & Joy. We compared the offers received and we asked some other bands who signed with Pride & Joy how their collaboration was going. All have made only positive feedbacks. We have therefore chosen to sign with Pride & Joy and do not regret it. It is a responsive, serious and professional label that really fits our current needs. Is there any overall story or concept behind the I Decide album title? Emma: Overall, the album delivers a message on willpower, which can overcome any situation, any criticism but also bypass our reason. That is what is behind the title I Decide. The title also means that we are proud 100% of the result of the album, and that we assume totally the choices we made for it. Select two songs from I Decide and what inspired the lyrics. Emma: In Beneath My Sins, until now, I’ve been the only one to write the lyrics. Most of the time they are taken from a situation or an experience that made me feel huge emotions, positive or negative. One positive song is My Guardian Angel. This song is about how a chance meeting on social networks can transform one’s daily life and make this person fulfilled. Another song, Kick Me Out deals with the complexity that can be a relationship between brothers and sisters, and of the indestructible bond that unites them. Who did the cover art for I Decide and how much input did you have on it? Emma: The artwork was made by Eddy Talpo, an Italian graphic designer. We chose to work with him after having seen the artwork he’s made for the album of Temperance The Earth Embraces Us All and the artwork of his own band Afterlife Symphony. I am fan of his style, his ways of choosing and mixing colors. As the aim of Beneath My Sins’ music is to move the heart of the audience, we needed to choose a graphic designer whose work was likely to move ours. We are extremely happy with Eddy’s work! Everyone who saw it loved it! Michele Guaitoli from Visions of Atlantis and Temperance were amongst the special guests on the new album. Michele was just out here in the States touring with Visions of Atlantis. What was it like working with Michele on the new album and how did it come about? Clément: With Emma, we’ve always admired Michele even before meeting him. By chance, our (new) drummer Leonardo happened to know him! That’s how we had a first contact, and Michele accepted to work with us on this song What You Feel. He did a great job, and was at the same time helpful and humble, so all went incredibly smoothly! What could one expect from a live Beneath My Sins show? Clément: I truly think the stage is where we shine, that’s where our music is the most convincing. We had a lot of HIGHWIRE DAZE
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comments on our live shows, mainly stating that it was not a conventional way of playing Symphonic Metal, that we were breaking the conventions and codes of the genre on stage. We do put a lot of energy in it, we love being on stage – and I think that people can feel it throughout the show! What was it like touring with Kobra and the Lotus and how did those shows go? Clément: First it was really a great opportunity for us to tour with Kobra and the Lotus. We were really thankful to have been chosen for these gigs. But even more importantly, all the musicians from both bands (Kobra and the Lotus, Ravenscry) were so nice; there was a genuinely good atmosphere in the tour. Kobra and the Lotus are really impressive on stage, particularly precise and technically good, it was even more motivating for us to do our best on these shows. What are you looking forward to the most about your upcoming show with Liv Kristine and Valkyre? Emma: I think what we want above all is to play and finally to be able to share our album with the Belgian public who we particularly love. It is very difficult for us to release an album and not be able to promote it live, because we are all big stage addicts . Of course it is an honor to open for a singer with a career so rich as Liv Kristine. In a solo group, accompanied by other singers or not, on stage or in the studio, this singer gives us performances full of emotions and talent! We can only be admiring this singer. If Beneath My Sins could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why? Emma: There are dozens of groups for which we would be very happy to open. If we had to choose an existing band, it would be Epica as they are unanimously loved within Beneath My Sins. In addition to being exceptional musicians, most of the members are great authors and composers. More personally, I would choose from the past Nightwish, with Tarja on vocals. It is thanks to this band and this singer that I decided to get into music. Without this line-up, I would probably not be answering this interview today! What’s up next for Beneath My Sins? Clément: We’ll start by promoting our new album live and perform those long awaited gigs, once this whole COVID-19 situation is over. We miss touring! Meanwhile, we already have a few songs in store for the next album, and the writing process is once more on track. So expect a lot of gig for the end of the year, followed by the work on our next album! Any final words of wisdom? Emma: We encourage all of our fans to be extremely careful during these quarantine periods and not to take any risk either for their health or that of their loved ones. The less risk we take, the faster we can finally find ourselves sharing wonderful concerts and good beers together! Take the opportunity to listen to music, it’s a great way to support groups, and discover new ones! Besides, Beneath My Sins has just released its second album available on all streaming platforms! Enjoy!
https://www.beneathmysins.com/en 25
Meet Franccesca De Struct of
Fate DeStroyed
Interview by Ken Morton - Photo by Jack Lue Meet Franccesca De Struct, the captivating lead vocalist of the almighty Fate DeStroyed. Based out of the legendary Los Angeles music scene via Texas, Franccesca De Struct has worked with the likes of The Dreaming, Stabbing Westward and Motionless In White before unveiling her own creative outlet through the music and innovation of Fate DeStroyed. Franccesca recently completed a photoshoot with famed photographer Jack Lue and a few of the pictures are featured in this very issue - including the center poster. Highwire Daze recently interviewed Franccesca De Struct to find out more about one of the most compelling performers within our local music scene today. Read on... Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Fate DeStroyed and how long the band has been together. My name is Franccesca De Struct, and I am a Los Angeles based musician and model who is currently the vocalist for Fate DeStroyed. Since 2012, I have been in LA pursuing my 26
passion for music. I started off playing bass in various touring bands, which I loved. It granted me the opportunity to visit so many places in this country and outside of it and establish long lasting connections in the LA music scene. In 2018, I formed Fate DeStroyed and decided to step out of my role as bass player and into the role of lead vocalist. Our first single, Break Free dropped in 2018, and we have been working hard to earn our spot in the metal scene ever since. What do you think of our local Los Angeles music scene prior to the days of quarantine and how does Fate DeStroyed fit into the scheme of things? What I love most about the LA music scene is the diversity. There is a little something for everyone, and I love that unlike many cities, in LA you can always find a place to enjoy the music you love with great people. As a teenager living in Texas, I never thought that one day I would be on stage at the legendary Whisky A Go-Go, but the beautiful thing about LA being such a landmark city is that the opportunity is there. I do think that establishing a fan base here can be very tough, May/June 2020
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especially for newer bands. The market is saturated, and I feel that, for the most part, people attending concerts in LA do so to see bands they already know, or friends they already know, which can make it harder for newer bands to stake a claim. Thankfully, there are plenty of truly devoted music enthusiasts here that do their part to keep the scene alive! Select two Fate DeStroyed songs and what inspired the lyrics. Our debut single, Break Free, was inspired by a time period in my life where I felt I had hit rock bottom. I was struggling with personal demons and the lyrics echo the feeling of being trapped and unable to be the person that you want to be. When I wrote that song, I had lost myself, and all I could do was stare into the face of a person I always wanted to be and felt like I would never be. Shattered, on the other hand, is inspired by rediscovery. The theme of the song focuses on introspection and finding power from within. No matter how lost you think you may be, there is a piece of you there that can never be taken from you, and with that you can always rebuild. I feel that lyrics should be very subjective. They have personal meaning to me, but I hope that whoever listens finds something to which they relate and can draw upon their own life experiences to find the real meaning and inspiration behind the words. What was it like working with Matt Zane on your music video Break Free? Matt Zane is one of the hardest working videographers out there. When we filmed Break Free, I didn’t even have a full line up set. He was able to help me translate my ideas into something beautiful and truly representative of the song and the band as a whole. He also directed and filmed our video for We Fall, and both experiences with him were nothing but positive. He works like a mad man, its really admirable. What made you decide to cover In The Pines by Lead Belly and later covered by Nirvana. To be honest with you, I wanted to cover that song as a personal challenge. I wanted to cover a song so far outside the bounds of the music that we make that it almost wouldn’t make sense. I felt that if we could pull that off, then we were in a good place. It took a lot of patience and experimentation to create the cover we did, and I feel that the best way to grow is to try things outside of one’s comfort zone. The In The Pines cover was definitely that! What could one expect from a live Fate DeStroyed show? In a word? Intensity. Every single member brings it 100% for our live shows, and I feel that the visible passion for the music resonates with the audience. We try to be dynamic, and incorporate hard hitting, face melting metal with slower, more melodic songs to create some diversity throughout the set. I love crowd interaction, and have no qualms about stepping off the stage to engage with the audience on a personal level. Where the venues allow, you may also expect to see a little fire breathing, because why go to a show if its not a show. If Fate DeStroyed could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why? HIGHWIRE DAZE
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This particular question always gets me, because there are so many different answers and different reasons for those answers! I know that everyone in the band would be honored to open for Trivium, as they are a huge inspiration to us all. How did you wind up in The Dreaming and Stabbing Westward and what was that experience like? I wound up working with Chris (the singer for both bands) in the same way that many people score gigs - I lined up an audition and had to learn some songs and come to a rehearsal and show I had the chops to handle the music. My good friend was leaving as their bass player in order to play in Combichrist and he helped me line up the audition. I had been a fan of both bands since I was a teenager, so when the opportunity presented itself, I was in complete shock. I would have to say that my time working with Chris taught me more than anything else ever has musically. I learned so much about how an established band functions, tour etiquette, dealing with technical issues during live shows, marketing and branding a band, and building a live show while I was playing with them. We always make the joke that working with Chris is Rock School 101, and that is definitely true. I’m really grateful for that experience and honestly wish The Dreaming were still playing shows because I miss it. What was the experience like touring with Motionless In White and do you still keep in touch with them? My tour with MIW was as a performer and not as a musician. It was absolutely incredible to travel to various countries and be a part of a show with such high production quality. The entire crew is a well oiled machine, and every working part has its place and function. It was incredibly intense, and their schedule is exhausting in all the best ways. It has been almost 7 years since I toured with them, and since that time we have fallen out of touch. I do hope to share the stage with them one day, and I am always curious as to whether or not Chris would like the music I’m making. How long have you been fire breathing and where do you learn a skill like that? I started breathing fire when i was 16 years old. Believe it or not, I actually learned from fire performers at a local Renaissance festival. It was a long process to learn, and I definitely injured myself along the way. I love it though, its an adrenaline rush and I feel that it adds to the show! What’s up next for Fate DeStroyed? We are working hard on our first full length album, which will be released in late July or early September. We had so many plans this year, but with the current state of affairs, its so hard to look forward and guess what the next steps are. Our main goal is to enhance our stage show and grind out the best music we possibly can. Any final words of wisdom? I named this band Fate DeStroyed because I believe that no one is bound to some pre-ordained plan. No matter who you are, you have the ability to define your life, on your terms. It’s never too late to rebuild or redefine your life’s path.
http://fatedestroyed.com/ 27
F RA NCCE SCADEST RUCTOF Â
J ACKL UEPHOT OGRAPHY PRE SE NT E DBY
HI GHWI REDAZ EMAGAZ I NE
AOR and A Tribute To The WestCoast Spirit
Interview by Ken Morton
AOR is the project of mastermind Frederic Slama, whose all-star guest lineup features some of the finest musicians in the business. The Best Of The Westcoast Spirit is the name of AOR’s latest release. a collection of earlier remastered selections now available via Perris Records. In addition to the multi-talents of the maestro Slama, The Best Of The Westcoast Spirit also includes appearances by Steve Lukather of the legendary Toto, Bill Champlin formerly of Chicago, and a whole lot more! In addition, Mr. Slama has authored several books about the legacy of AOR / West Coast style music. Highwire Daze recently caught up with Frederic Slama to find out a whole lot more about this artist and his passion for all things AOR and West Coast. Read on... How long has the AOR project been in existence and where are you currently based out of? The AOR project was created in 2000, already 20 years ago. Based between L.A., London and Paris, what started as a simple album with just a few guests became over the years the biggest project of the genre with as many as 50 guests on some albums including members of Toto, Chicago, The Eagles, Rainbow, The Storm, Talisman and so many others, without counting the best studio musicians in the world! How did The Best Of The Westcoast Spirit come about and what made you select these particular songs to spotlight on this album? My 7 first AOR albums were more Westcoast oriented, and the latest 15 albums were more Melodic Rock with often a cool song or two on each CD. So I thought it was time to reconnect with the fans who really loved my cool Westcoast side, and offer them a remastered “Best Of Compilation” with the best songs of my discography. Though The Best Of The Westcoast Spirit is a cool album, you’ll find songs reminiscent of Toto and Chicago, played and sung by the best musicians of this style of music. So there’s never a boring moment due to the fact there are many different singers and different arrangements, always in the AOR style of course. What was it like working with Bill Champlin on his songs for this particular album and do you still keep in touch with him? Yes i always keep touch with Bill who sang in 6 or 7 of my albums. He’s one of the best singer around and it’s always an honor to an honor to have someone like Steve onboard, always so nice and professional ! have him on board the AOR project. He’s always a perfectionnist and comes up with great ideas for backing vocals, The AOR album covers are always so imaginative and though I exactly know what I want on all my songs. inspirational. Who did the cover art for The Best Of The Westcoast Spirit and how much input did you have on it? Steve Lukather of Toto makes an appearance on this album I did all the artworks myself on my 22 albums (if you include as well. What was he like to work with at that time and how the Best Of CD’s , that makes 22!) except just for a couple did he become involved? (more than a decade ago). Usually I start working from pics I knew Steve since the late 70’s in Los Angeles, and met him I took myself (mostly in L.A.) and I work them around a many times over the years. When I recorded one of best selllittle bit with Photoshop. I do all the booklets and promo pics ing album from 2002 L.A Reflection, I offered him to play on myself to ensure the quality I want and to keep the same style a couple of songs and he kindly agreed. He’s a fantastic playwith Californian sunsets and beautiful girls. That’s also part er, maybe the best one out there! He was back on a couple of of the AOR success over the years. more songs of mine later on other albums, and every time it’s 32
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Have you ever become star struck by any of artists who have appeared on your albums? I love absolutely every musician and singer that appears in my albums. I’m usually a big fan of theirs, that’s why I asked them to be part of my CD’s. I’ve grown up listening to the music or solos from many of them, so it was an honor to have them all in my albums. For each of my new CD’s, I ask myself “Hummm.. Who do I really like and not got on any of my albums yet?,” so I complete my “Chrismast shopping list” that way ha! ha! That’s why I have recorded with over 200 different musicians abd singers and I would say that 150 of them are pretty famous in the AOR / Westcoast / Melodic Rock community. You have quite a few books out on the subject of AOR and West Coast music. How rewarding and intensive has it been to write about such a massive genre? Yes I’ve always been a big music collector with over 20,000 CD’S & LP’s, including the rarest ones ever, like some private pressings released by the artists themselves in the 80’s. I listen to may genre like Blues, Hard Rock, Contemporary Jazz, Country - but my specialty is of course AOR music, Melodic Rock, and Westcoast from the 70’s & 80’s. At that time I was also a music journalist specializing in that genre and I wrote more than 5,000 reviews and did more than 1,000 interviews of the biggest rock stars like Queen, The Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Cheap Trick, Status Quo, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, The Eagles, Toto, The Doobie Brothers, The Cars, Foreigner, Blue Oyster Cult, Paul McCartney and hundreds of others as famous. It was a lucky time to access and interview all these big stars, but it’s true I worked for several famous magazines, so that helped a lot ha! ha!. Concerning the books, I decided a couple of years ago to self publish with Amazon a music guide with some rare AOR / Westcoast stuff inside. The Westcoast Bible was born, and I had a huge, huge success with it (though volume 1 was the least complete of them all). So I published a second one about CCM Music (Contemporary Christian Music - AOR Style) then one about the women in AOR, another one with the AOR classics and others with the rarest stuff. So now 12 volumes are available on Amazon worldwide, just type my name there! Though I’ve been recently aware that Amazon U.S. didn’t always carry all of my titles, all the time. So maybe it would be a good idea to check out some other Amazons too to complete your collection. A lot of great music stars and friends did forewords for most of these books and they talked exclusively about the recording of their masterpieces. There is also never seen before pics and all the albums are compared with at least 2 other artists to know how it sounds like. It’s a real database with some of the most obscure great albums recorded by Westcoast / AOR artists. In a way these books are the memory of this great music past, but of course you’ll also find the classics and the “must have” albums every serious collector should own! Your last album of new material was the wonderful LA Darkness in 2016. How close are you to writing and recording all new material? I’ve finished many songs and I could record 2 albums in a row. The problem is that I’m waiting for specific singers (huge stars, and i mean huge!!) so I’m depending on their schedule. I’ve already recorded 5 songs with incredible singHIGHWIRE DAZE
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ers but i’m still missing at least 5 more. I want for this new album only legendary names and I’m in no hurry of releasing it anyway, so it might be hopefully next year! When you look back on the first two AOR albums LA Concession and Next Stop: L.A., what do you think of them now? These 2 albums were Demos albums that helped me pitch my songs as a songwriter to famous artists. Strangely there is a big following of fans who loves this sound and style, that’s why you can find several tracks of these 2 albums in my new best of “The Best Of The Westcoast Spirit” on Perris Records. After these 2 CD’s the sound was much better on the next ones, and the guests way more prestigious, but there are songs among my favorites in these 2 albums ! What’s up next for you and AOR? Well I had a couple of concerts scheduled in Japan that will be postponed in 2021 - of course if I still can get the same team of famous musicians who agreed playing with me. I’m finishing several productions and of course finishing the next AOR album before 2050 if possible ha! ha! Any final words of wisdom? As long as the fans support their favorite artists by buying their albums, and not illegally downloading them, there will be good music out there! Please check out The Best Of The Westcoast Spirit for a cool evening with cool melodies and fabulous singers. And don’t hesitate to say hi on Facebook or to visit my website:
www.slama101 www.facebook.com/AOR4ever perrisrecords.com 33
A FISTFUL OF
BONFIRE
Interview by Ken Morton Bonfire from,Germany has been rocking the world since 1985 with their vast and epic catalog of heavy metal albums. Fistful Of Fire is their latest and greatest endeavor, now available through AFM Records. Featuring standout selections such as Rock N’ Roll Survivors and When An Old Man Cries, Fistful Of Fire presents a legendary band at the very height of their creative prowess. Highwire Daze recently interviewed bassist Ronnie Parkes to discuss the almighty Fistful Of Fire, the prospect of releasing a new album right smack in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, his work with the likes of Seven Witches and FarCry, and other combustible topics... How do think Fistful Of Fire compares to the classic Bon34
fire releases? We definitely tried not to reinvent the wheel. We tried to keep the Bonfire trademarks, like the catchy hooks and the big choruses, and the background vocals and the ripping guitars. Things are a little bit heavier than the past releases. We somehow matured and went into a more heavier realm, but you can still consider it Bonfire for sure. Rock N’ Roll Survivor is such a standout song. What does that song and that title mean to you? Bonfire has been around since 1985. So to still be here in 2020 doing it - we’re definitely Rock N’ Roll Survivors for sure. Nobody in the band is 20 years old. We’ve all survived somehow this long. I don’t know how, but we did, so that all really hits home. May/June 2020
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Another standout is called When An Old Man Cries. Give me a little background on that one. Since we aren’t so young anymore, we do have children. And one of the guitar players, his son is about 21 years old and he really got into a lot of problems with drugs and the police, and different things. And the guitar player whose son it is, he doesn’t do drugs anymore. He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t do anything. And in 1986, he partied like it was 1986. So this song is basically all about that. It’s really about anything else. You know, he’s saying that, “Now I lived this life and that’s not the way to go.” . You joined Bonfire in 2014. How did you wind up in Bonfire? And what has it been like being in a band that has such an amazing legacy in music? Yeah, and the funny thing is,some people know Bonfire and some people don’t know Bonfire. Because Bonfire is really a European band. There were three big bands in Germany at the time. It was the Scorpions, Accept and Bonfire. And the Scorpions and Accept made it to the USA and really had success here. But Bonfire for some reason, didn’t. They had a lot of success in Europe. But in the U.S., they just kind of never really made it here. So they never really did any big tours. I think they did one little tour and that was it. But I was here (in New Jersey) and I was working with a couple different bands. And there was a singer who had a short time in Accept (David Reece). So, you know, I did so much stuff for this guy that he eventually said, “You know what? The next thing I get. I’m bringing you with me.” And the next call I got was from Bonfire, calling him for his solo band, Easy Living. So that’s how it started. And then we went over and we toured with Easy Living and somehow we turned into Bonfire. Bonfire ended up splitting up and Hans took us as his band and I’ve been here since. (Editor’s Note: David Reece left Bonfire in 2016 and was replaced by current vocalist Alexx Stahl.)
and tour with Bonfire in Europe, but they couldn’t do it. So he’s in another band called Jaded Past and they were actually going to do the tour. But then this hit and got everything got messed up. What has it been like to release a major album on Bonfire in the middle of a pandemic? That’s really funny because right before everything started getting really crazy at the beginning of March - they were talking about the release and all of a sudden Amazon wasn’t delivering and some of the big media stores that carried records were closed. So they were going to cancel it. And I really put up a pretty big fight about it that saying “You know, people are home. They want to hear music! Just because all this stuff is happening doesn’t mean that they don’t want to hear anything, or nobody wants to buy a record, or download a song, or see a video on YouTube. Now, let’s do it!” And we did. So now, that’s what we’re doing. Somehow it worked out. Do you have any messages for Bonfire fans here in the States? Yeah, if you haven’t checked out this record yet, check it out because it is really good. It’s really full of hooks and catches and catchy riffs and all kinds of things. And we’re really happy with this record. So, you know, if you can, check it out...
http://bonfire.de/english/home.php
What was it like working with Jack Frost and Seven Witches and will you be involved with the new recordings that they’re planning to do? I don’t think I’ll be involved in the new recordings because I do so much work with Bonfire. I was going to be moving to Europe in May but that obviously got squashed. I’m supposed to be on tour right now and that also got squashed. I was supposed to move in May and I talked to Jack not so long ago. He brought James Rivera back, and they were going to do some shows. I’m not sure if they’re actually going to record or not. And I’m not sure what he’s going to do with the rest of the band. I don’t know if he’s going to continue with James in some way, or we’re going to do another record. I actually don’t know. I don’t know. I mean most of the things that I’m finding out, I’m finding out from the Internet or something. I’m not finding out from Jack. I’m not taking that as a sign that I’m still even in the band. So I don’t know. Another band that you were in was FarCry. What was it like working with Pete Fry and the band? That was great. That was my first experience with actually being on a record label and doing some really big huge shows. We did a couple of festivals. One record was already out when I got in, and then we did another record. Pete is a great guy. I love Pete. I still talk to Pete. I just talked to him actually earlier and I’m going to do his show on Friday. I liked FarCry and I even offered Pete if he wanted to come HIGHWIRE DAZE
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The Heavy Metal Delights of
DYNAZTY
Interview by Ken Morton
The almighy Dynazty has just unleased The Dark Delight, their latest heavy metal magnum opus now available from AFM Records. In this age of Covid-19, the music of Dynazty is as inspring as ever, with selections such as Presence Of Mind and The Man And The Elements leaving a lasting impression on all who give a definitive listen. Highwire Daze recently caught up with lead vocalist Nils Molin to discuss the making of The Dark Delight, his thoughts on their first album Bring The Thunder, his participation with Amaranthe, and a whole lot more... Is there any overall story or concept behind that titled The Dark Delight? This is not a concept album per se or anything like that. There are individual songs and individual themes throughout the album. But The Dark Delight, the title itself, represents temptation and all the different kinds of shapes and forms that temptation can take, and negative consequences of giving in to temptation or positive consequences of giving in to temptation and all that stuff. Select two songs from The Dark Delight and what inspired the lyrics? I can start out with the first single, Presence Of Mind. In terms of lyrics, that one is about overcoming struggles and finding that you always have the power to view failures or failed attempts in a certain way - that you can bring the positives out of it and have it be a learning experience. And the fact that we’re all going to make missteps; we’re all going to crash and burn at some point, and the important thing is to learn a lesson from it, then to pick yourself up. Learning from your mistakes and not repeating them. It all stems from there - from the power of the mind and the presence of the mind. The Man And The Elements is really about the individual struggle against the powers to be, or forces that are against you, and they are metaphorically represented by the elements: earth, wind and fire. But it might as well be any kind of struggle that you’re fighting against - and that the key is to not give in and not let yourself be brought down. What has it been like to release a major album right in the middle of a pandemic? Unfortunately, we’ve had to cancel all our touring commitments for April and May, and that is of course a very sad thing 36
- hopefully we can pick everything up later on. The world is a seriously dark place at the moment. Globally, we’re going through something that nobody’s seen in our lifetime and nobody knows exactly for how long this is gonna go on, and it’s just a high level of uncertainty. We are all affected by it, and the music industry and the touring industry is no exception. We’ve been hit pretty hard by it, I would say actually. The good thing nowadays is that actually in this digital age and all of that, the music will be out there on digital platforms. And as far as I see it, people are still getting their pre-ordered CDs and vinyls and stuff like that. So that is still working and they’re getting them on time. The way it looks now, it’s still pretty natural to release an album. I can still sit here and do interviews and stuff like that. So we have the modern technology to thank for that. But of course, we had to cancel or postpone our touring commitments for the spring and let’s see what happens in summer. What has made Dynazty so prolific for just over 10 years now? I think you’ve done like seven albums in 10 years. May/June 2020
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We are creative people. We like to write music. And I think there’s always this sense of trying to one-up ourselves to become the better version of ourselves basically. There’s always something with the previous album that you want to perfect for the next one and the overall drive and want to write more songs. And I think that in my opinion with each release, we grow stronger as songwriters, we grow stronger as producers and we make stronger and stronger albums. And so I don’t see any point in slowing it down. Dynazty is pretty busy and yet you have found time to become involved with another band. How did you become involved with Amaranthe? What made you decide to take on another band when you’re probably busy enough? Sweden is a pretty small country that there’s a very good music scene there, and most bands run into each other sooner or later. So I’ve known the Amaranthe guys for many years before I started playing with the band. And they first asked me a couple of times over the years to see if I would do some live shows with them filling in for the original singer, and I didn’t really have the right opportunity to do it until 2017. And when I started playing with them - I did some tours with them over the spring and then I started realizing that at least this year, it looks like I will have a lot of time. And I started thinking about it more and more and I realized that-- hey, I’ve got an abundance of time actually. I want to do more. I want to do as much as possible. So I decided that this is definitely doable with both bands so I will go for it. Tell me about your experience with that first album Helix and will there be a new Amaranthe album this year? Well, first off there would be a new Amaranthe album this
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year. Actually, the recording of that album has just started now. And if the plan doesn’t change due to the surrounding circumstances of the world, the album should be released in the Fall. And my experience with the Helix album-- well that’s the first Amaranthe album that I did, and of course, a completely new situation for me. I’ve done plenty of Dynazty albums and we work in one way, but this was something new and something different for me to record and to adapt to a completely new band. So it was a new experience, a learning experience but a very fun experience. When you look back on the very first Dynazty album Bring The Thunder, what do you think of it now in retrospect? I am kind of proud of that album actually because we were very, very young when we did it. It was the first songs that we ever wrote, and we had never recorded an album before. We barely did any demos for the songs. We just decided to book a studio and to record the album. And I think the album is very youthful in a fun way. I can still listen to it and enjoy it for what it is. It’s the first step of a long journey. I’m quite fond of it and it brings back a lot of memories. Do you have any messages for a Dynazty fans who are reading this right now? Thanks for all the support. I guess that mostly everybody has a lot of time off now these days, so that’s a good opportunity to sit down and really listen to our new album The Dark Delight. We’re very happy with this album and we hope you enjoy it. And later on when the world is in a better place, see you on tour.
http://www.dynazty.com/
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FICTION SYXX EXPLORING THE REALM OF THE ALTERNATE ME
Interview by Ken Morton Fiction Syxx is a rocking AOR extravaganza whose passion for music and life may be heard throughout their soaring compositions. Featuring band members whose credits are absolutely epic in scope, Fiction Syxx present each and every member at the very height of their creative energies. Their latest album is entitled The Alternate Me, a sweeping work of auditory artistry now available worldwide through MelodicRock Records! In addition to dynamic songs such as My Darkest Hour and Monsters In The Mist, The Alternate Me features a thrilling cover of Uriah Heep’s classic tune The Wizard. Highwire Daze recently caught up with Fiction Syxx mastermind Mark Lanoue to find out a whole lot more about the realm of The Alternate Me, their amazing band membership, covering the almighty Uriah Heep, and a whole lot more! Read on… Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Fiction Syxx, and how long the band has been together. How ah ya?! My name is Mark Lanoue. I am a songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist for Fiction Syxx. The band has been around since 2016. I came up with the name Fiction Syxx around the time that my former band, Biloxi, played their last show at Rocklahoma in 2008 and was looking to change the name and record new material under a new name. We settled on the name Chasing Karma and I held on to the name, Fiction Syxx, until my hooking up with JK Northrup years later. JK also remastered some of my earlier work with Dean Fasano (R.I.P.)(Prophet/Richie Sambora/Message), Persian Risk (USA) with Carl Sentance (Geezer Butler Band/Nazareth/Don Airey), some Chasing Karma tracks with Bruce S. Foster (KISS/Richie Sambora) and Biloxi. It was obvious that he also had some Rad production skills. Where is the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there? The industry has changed much since the dawn of the digital age and the collapse of the industry as we once knew it to be. This group’s members live in several places. Eric Ragno, JK Northrup and Larry Hart live in California. Rory Faciane lives in Nashville, Tennessee. And I live in Northwest Arkansas. Rory and I used to be in a band together in 90-91, called 38
Society’s Child. Some live videos can be found on YouTube still. Each of these areas have their unique and diverse music scenes. Is there any overall story or concept behind the CD title The Alternate Me? Absolutely! I first have to start with the meaning behind the name Fiction Syxx as there is a connection that is linked to the last two releases. Fiction Syxx was created based on several things. First, my birthday is 6666. Since 666 is always referenced in relation to the beast and the Dark/Evil, many people just clump the number 6 into that narrative. 6 being evil and 7 being good. However, the sequence of 4 ‘6’’s is considered to be both the Angels number and the devils number. The yin and the yang, the Gemini, the Alternate IDs. I am also big into the spiritual, the unknown, symbolism and history. Lastly, the six is spelled differently, due to my being a huge Styx fan during my childhood days. May/June 2020
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The Alternate Me is much like the concept of the Gemini. Both JK and I are Gemini creatives, so it fit well from the beginning. The Alternate Me is that other self. The one that is portrayed in the light, while the true self waits to come out. That suited executive, for example, who is really a hardcore musician/rocker that shows up after closing time. It is what we truly want to be and to convey, yet it is suppressed by the persona that is to be carried out to survive to make a living to uphold the overall perception that others may judge. Select two songs from The Alternate Me and what inspired the lyrics. Angel of Mine – I wrote the lyrics while recording the vocal for this one. It was written for a friend and the situation he and his daughter were/are in. His daughter is sick and slowly dying. All I could think about was my love for my children and wife and how I would do anything to take that burden from them. Like many of the songs I have written, there is some connection to my spirituality and faith. Monster in the Mist – this track is about those who hide between avatars, fake names, blocked server IDs, and lies on social media. The bullies who have no spine and pick on others. Those monsters in the mist. Has Uriah Heep heard or commented on your cover of The Wizard and what made you decide to record that song? A friend of the band and the cat that runs the official Stryper Podcast communicates with Uriah Heep and he shared it with them. He stated that they dug it! As a youngster, I was really into that track. I found that one in my parents huge record collection. The Wizard fit closely to that mystical magical stuff that I was always intrigued by. What did JK Northrup of XYZ, King Kobra and many other bands contribute to the recording process and how did JK become involved with Fiction Syxx? I cannot say enough about the members, my brothers, in Fiction Syxx. I leave the canvas open and everything I write is open for their interpretation. They have free reign. Besides, I believe their back stories say plenty. I met JK while I was a guest on several of the Liberty N Justice albums between 2008 and 2012. I realized his talent right away! Plus, we are both Gemini Musical Creatives that also play guitar... The recording process starts with an idea that is sent to our drummer, Rory Faciane. It is then drafted by me into the rough structure of the tune and sent to the sensei (JK Northrup). JK does write with me on some tracks and adds the icing on the tracks. He is the reason the material sounds so awesome, in that he is the producer for the material. JK also adds background vocals from time to time and shares the lead guitar spots in the albums. He is a smoking guitarist. Larry Hart adds the bass guitar at Alien Productions Studio with JK. Once these talented and seasoned cats add their magic; our keyboard extraordinaire, Eric Ragno, has free reign and always does magnificent work. I am truly honored to be working with each and everyone of these awesome people. Keyboardist Eric Ragno has worked with quite a few bands such as Graham Bonnet, Joe Lynn Turner, Tony Mills and London. How did he become involved with Fiction Syxx? First, Eric is a kick A$@ keyboardist! His resume is proof of that. Eric had already been working with JK on a number of HIGHWIRE DAZE
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projects and was also providing keys for some of the Liberty N Justice material. JK asked Eric if he would be interested in playing and getting involved with Fiction Syxx. It also seemed like a great fit, in that both Eric and I are from the same stomping grounds in Central New Jersey and actually knew a lot of the same people/musicians from that area. Besides that, what’s not to love about his playing. Eric has been phenomenal on the Fiction Syxx material! How did new member Larry Hart of Montrose and King Kobra become involved with Fiction Syxx? Tony “The Fretless Monster” Franklin (The Firm/Blue Murder) played on the first release Tall Dark Secrets. Tony’s schedule with other projects became to much to continue recording with Fiction Syxx, so JK mentioned Larry. Larry had been playing, performing and working with JK for many years and it helped that he is not only a Smoking bassist, he is also an awesome human being. Love his playing, indeed! Are you involved with any other bands or projects outside of Fiction Syxx? Other than some fun cover stuff and a project here and there; Fiction Syxx is my musical life blood. JK and Larry have a cool project called The Mood Groove. And Eric has a cool Journey tribute band called Wheel in the Sky. Larry gigs regularly outside of Fiction. Rory and I are working on a cool Cover project (Triumph, Rush, Deep Purple, Styx,etc) with a cat out of Orlando, FL, Scott Campbell. It is obvious that music is a part of us all. How close are you to writing and recording Fiction Syxx 3? There is framework for about 5 songs for the 3rd release which has a working title at present of The Ghost of My Fathers Past. I and Rory have already been hashing out that framework. I have recorded guitars and vocals on some already and am currently working on the others. Feeling really good about this one. The last release was in the first round of Grammy Voting last year and I am looking for this one to meet the deadline for this year. Any final words of wisdom? First, thank you for thinking of us for this interview. And thanks to our brother Eric Ragno for talking us up in his last interview. I would just like to thank everyone that supports Fiction Syxx, who supports me and supports every member of this band! Our family, friends and fans are awesome! I also want to thank the musicians/friends that supported us from the beginning with our debut release; Tony Franklin, Bill Leverty, Jimi Bell, Carl Sentance, Richard Kendrick, Lee Small, Andy Lee, Christian Wentz, David Cagle, Steve Brown, Karl Cochran, Thorsten Koehne and our label mate, Andrew McNeice. And remember “Reality was once the tapestry of the dreamer.” Love, Light, Blessings & Keep the Faith!
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Keyboardist Eric Ragno discusses
KHYMERA
Interview by Ken Morton Eric Ragno Photo by Cara Guidice Keyboardist Eric Ragno remains very much in demand., having found himself working with the likes of Joe Lynn Turner, The Babys, London, Fiction Syxx and more! One of his recent projects was performing keyboards on the just released Khymera album Master Of Illusions, now available via Frontiers Music Srl. Khymera is the masterwork of Dennis Ward from Pink Cream 69, and it’s a stunning AOR endeavor well worth seeking out. In this interview with Eric Ragno, we discuss his working on the new Khymera magnum opus, his upcoming album with Farcry, collaborations with Jack Frost of Seven Witches, how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected his life and livelihood, and more. Read on... How did you initially become involved with KHYMERA and meet up with Dennis Ward? I’ve had a long standing relationship with Eric Ragno and Dennis Ward of KHYMERA Frontiers Records, who are the biggest label out there for melodic rock music. Their president Serafino sions? Perugino suggested that I work with him. Dennis initially I wrote the ballad, Father to Son. My marriage was ending, recruited me for albums with Fergie Frederiksen (TOTO) and it was tough on our families. It affected my dad’s health, and Harry Hess (HAREM SCAREM) – both were respectand I really didn’t know when I might see my boys again. I ed 80’s vocalists who were returning to the recording scene sent the song to Dennis, who wrote the lyrics about a father after a long hiatus. Both albums did really well, and launched and son having to say goodbye. I received his demo on follow-ups for the artists. And our relationship began. Father’s Day, and the kids and I listened in the car and cried in silence. These songs all have depth and meaning. What was the first KHYMERA album you played on and what was that experience like? Are you a fan of Dennis Ward’s main band PINK CREAM I was recruited for KHYMERA’s fourth album, The Grand 69 and have you ever seen them live? Design. Recording began while I was working with THE I am, and I have! I’ve been a fan since the 90’s, and they BABYS. Both bands have a very keyboard-centric sound, so played the ProgPower Festival in Atlanta on the same weekit was an intense time for me. The album was a great opporend I performed with DC Cooper (ROYAL HUNT) in 2005. tunity to show off what I can do – deep textures, some quick I met them briefly and thought their show was amazing! I latfills and the occasional synth solos. I was already getting er recorded the solo album for their singer David Readman, attuned to that Jonathan Cain vibe, and it really bled into which Dennis produced. this record. What brand of keyboards did you use in the recording of How do you think Master Of Illusions compares to the preMaster Of Illusions? vious KHYMERA releases? I utilize a wide variety of keyboards. There is definitely more It’s a natural progression from the previous disc. I think it’s Hammond on this record. I use a little of everything, played a little heavier – there’s just one ballad. It’s been five years through my Alesis setup. Because Alesis is the best! since our last album, and you can hear how our playing and perspectives have grown. Have you ever played live with KHYMERA and if so, how did the shows go? What are some of your favorite songs on Master Of Illu40
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KHYMERA hasn’t played any shows to date. If the stars align, I think we’d all love to do that. We’re all super-busy, especially Dennis. He’s one of the most in-demand producers in the genre. You and Dennis collaborated with Harry Hess of HAREM SCAREM on the FIRST SIGNAL record. What was that experience like? It was my first full production with Dennis, and I wanted to make a good impression. I didn’t want to turn him off by overplaying, and I also didn’t want to lay back and seem uninterested. So I gave him the nuts and bolts, along with some additional layers to try. He liked that I was using some pulses and percussive sounds to color the breaks and the down sections. It was all fresh and new, although I guess it’s more common now on these melodic rock releases. I also used some classic 80’s elements, like horns and brass on accents. Some of those ideas are left by the wayside in today’s productions. I gave Dennis a little of everything, and he used 98% of it. Another release you have coming up this year is FARCRY. How is that coming along and what could we expect from the new FARCRY album? The new FARCRY is a return to form, and heavier than the last one. Pete Fry is the mastermind, and he let me run wild on their previous record, Optimism. But it got away from what he wanted the band to be. He definitely kept me in check this time. This record brings things full circle, and will hopefully arrive later this year. What albums did you work on with Jack Frost and what was that experience like? Jack and I are childhood friends from the neighborhood. After many years, we found each other at NAMM around 2002. He looked for ways to include me – he’s a great guy – but I was always concerned whether his metal audience would accept me and my keyboards. I did demos for his SEVEN WITCHES album Year of the Witch CD, but the timing wasn’t right. I later guested on his Out In The Cold solo record, followed by the SEVEN WITCHES CD Amped, and their live DVD Years of the Witch. We still do jams and things together from time to time. Jack taught me a lot, and I’ll always respect him for that. What was the final live show you did prior to Covid-19 shutting everything down and how has the lockdown affected you as a working musician? Our Journey tribute WHEEL IN THE SKY performed in Seal Beach on March 12, just as this virus was ramping up. The promoter called to confirm that we were performing that night – that’s when I realized how uncertain things would get. Thankfully, I’m not as financially hard hit as my peers. But I love playing live in front of crowds! And I also don’t want them to get sick. The world is still struggling. My son HIGHWIRE DAZE
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still has breathing problems from this bug, and his mother struggled with it for three weeks before that. Some friends were hospitalized, and one didn’t come home. But people are also struggling financially, and looking for an answer. So I try to see both sides of it. Rock and roll is about rebellion, and everyone wants to take to the streets and kick this thing’s ass! Many won’t consider a passive solution. I imagine some can’t afford to. I hate it just like everyone else, and I hope we all bounce back soon - and with a vengeance! What’s up next for you in 2020 and beyond? That’s the question, isn’t it? I had a big opportunity this year, which is sidelined for now. So that was a shift. A lot of artists are taking this time to write the music of their lives, and thankfully some have hired me to help. I’m so grateful for that. It takes a lot to pull yourself out of this funk and be productive. If we can master that, I think the sky is the limit. 41
From Newman, Compass, and Beyond
An Interview with Steve Newman
Interview by Ken Morton Steve Newman is the mastermind behind the long running AOR outfit Newman, who has been releasing high quality music since 1998. Ignition is the name of Newman’s latest album, now available worldwide through AOR Heaven, In addition to his amazing work throughout the years in Newman, Steve has launched a new progressive rock project known as Compass. Our Time On Earth is their debut endeavor, released through Escape Music, and it’s a thought provoking auditory experience well worth seeking out. In this interview, Steve Newman talks about releasing two very different albums at nearly the same time, and introduces us to Ben Green, the impassioned voice behind the almighty Compass. Read on... How does your new album Ignition compare to your previous recordings? Steve: Hi Ken, thanks for taking the time to talk to me. I think Ignition is probably a return to a more straight forward AOR sound for me, I’d already completed work on Compass, which I know we’ll speak about later. But I wanted to come back to a more AOR sound feeling fresher than I have done before. 42
Is there any overall story or concept behind the Ignition album title? Steve: I wrote the title track as series of two songs, I had just written a track for Escape Music for one their albums, the brief was to write a song in a more Robert Palmer/Prince vein. I really like the song I submitted to Escape Music, so I decided to write another in the same style. This ended up becoming Ignition. The artwork concept came faster, and I was really pleased with the way it turned out. Select two songs from Ignition and what inspired the lyrics. Steve: I’d have to choose Chasing Midnight. Over the last few years the band has travelled out to places like Ukraine and Greece. We always have a great time in these cities, and this song is about having a good time and maybe over indulging on occasion. :) The Island has a theme that is very dear to my heart. My family and I travel to a little island in the Carribean called Antigua, and it’s become our second home over the years. I wanted to write a song that gave me that feeling each time I return. The lyrics for this song were actually written on Valley Church Beach, so they have a lot sentimental memory for me. May/June 2020
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How does your new project Compass compare to what you are doing in Newman? Steve: With Compass, I wanted to try and move away from the standard AOR sound and structure. I have always been a fan of bands like Pink Floyd, Rush, Dream Theatre. I grew up with Pink Floyd from an early age, so progressive rock has always played a part in my life. I thought it was time to go down that road and have the freedom to take the music and lyrics whereever the inspiration led. What was the inspiration for the concept behind Our Time On Earth? Steve: Our Time On Earth encompasses everything that we do while we are alive, the decisions we take, and how that influences our lives and the people around us. So all of the songs on the album carry that theme. Some are obvious links as in the title track, some are about our relationships (Neon) and other are consequences of our actions such as Caught In A Frame and Warning From History. I know we have Ben here with us, I‘d like to ask a couple of questions to you both .What made you decide to use a Ben for Compass and Ben, what is your musical background prior to Compass. Steve: I wanted to make sure it stepped right away from my Newman sound, and I knew that would involve getting a singer to fulfill that role. However, I didn’t want a typical metal singer, I was looking for a particular tone and a singer who could project the lyrics forward and create a story. Ben: Nice to talk to you Ken. I’ve had a very musical background and have fronted bands since my early teens. In terms of studio recording, my experience is less so. I’ve recorded demos for various projects. I’ve never put out a whole album. I found out very early that I had a great working relationship with Steve and managed to get the vocals down in quite a quick time frame. I’m really please with the way this has all come out. Steve: The whole process was really easy with Ben, and it became a very creative process, I think we’re both really excited about the album. Would Newman and Compass ever want to tour or do a live show together? Or has that already happened? of families and loved ones, including health workers is paraSteve: That would be great, There will be plans to bring Newmount. man out on the road later this year, and next, if the Compass album is successful then it may be considered. Although I What do you think has kept you so passionate and creative would like to move into a different area with Compass, and I with Newman for over 22 years and counting? am not sure that die-hard AOR fans will like some of the direcSteve: Whenever I approach an album I have to be enthusiastion that this album takes. tic about doing so, I have never lost that excitement. I love to perform and record and say something through my music and Ben: Yeah, I’d love get out there and present these songs live, lyrics. I am so pleased that I have a great fan base who follow but as Steve says, we have to hit the right audiences. each album and appreciate everything I do. It makes it all worth it, and keeps me going!! When you look back on the first two Newman albums Self-Titled and One Step Closer, what do you think of them now in What’s up next for you? retrospect? Steve: I am working on two studio projects as engineer and Steve: I still like to listen to them. I think they have stood the producer currently, so that is taking up my time, and then later test of time very well. I think I have progressed as a songwritin the year, dependant on the current situation I will either start er since those first albums, but I am always very grateful that to rehearse and perfom again with the Newman band or start I was signed at that time, and I have continued to be able to more recording. produce albums for all these years Any final words of wisdom? What has it been like to have not one but two albums come Steve: I’d just like to thank all my fans and of course the out right in the middle of a pandemic? And has COVID-19 readers of Highwire Daze for your continued support. It truly affected any shows or tours? means the world to me and we will hopefully see some of you Steve: Yes, we have had two shows cancelled already, I am out on the road later this year, and early next. hoping that we will be able to resume the schedule later in the year. But I also hope that every government uses this time Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions! wisely and makes sure that we are over this before opening And congrats on two very amazing albums! borders and subsequently lifting lockdowns. I think the safety Steve: Thank you for your kind words Ken. Much appreciated! HIGHWIRE DAZE
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43
A Hard Rocking Journey To
SteelCity
Interview by Ken Morton Photo by Jeremy Saffer The mighty SteelCity is primed and ready to rock your world with their dynamic anthems. Initially conceived as a solo project by founding member, principal songwriter, and guitarist Mike Floros, SteelCity evolved into the band that it is today. Included within the SteelCity membership is Roy Cathey, lead vocalist extraordinaire best known for his mesmerizing vocals within the ranks of Cold Sweat. . The dynamic rhythm section consists of Jason Cornwell from The Eric Martin Band and West Bound on bass and BJ Zampa from House Of Lords and Obsession on the almighty drums. Rounding out the group is Tony Stahl of DeadRisen, whose keyboards bring texture and depth to SteelCity’s songs. SteelCity recently unleashed Mach II through Perris Records, and it’s sure to thrill the senses all of hard rock fanatics. Highwire Daze recently caught up with SteelCity founder Mike Floros to discuss the making of Mach II, the 44
recent addition of Roy Cathey from Cold Sweat infamy to the lineup, releasing a new album in these pandemic days, and other raging topics… Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in SteelCity and how long the band has been together. Hi, I’m Mike Floros. I’m SteelCity’s songwriter and guitarist. The band got its start in 2018. Over the past couple of years, we’ve put out a couple of CD’s and I’ve had the pleasure of working with some great producers, engineers, and musicians in the process. Where is SteelCity based out of and what is the local music scene like there? Hmm, that’s a great question but a tough one to answer. All of our members are based in different states. Tony Stahl, our keyboardist, is in New York. Jason Cornwell, our bassist, is from Boston, MA. BJ Zampa, our drummer, is from Connecticut. Our lead singer, Roy Cathey, lives in North May/June 2020
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Carolina, and I’m based in Los Angeles, CA. BJ and Tony have shared that the NYC and New England rock scenes still have a lot to offer. Jason, who also plays in those areas, also floats over to the West Coast quite often to play with his other band, West Bound. Roy is all over the place with The Fifth, Cold Sweat, and his Boston tribute band, Don’t Look Back. Me? L.A. has a good scene but honestly? I’m a homebody. I tend to stay away from all of it and just play the travel shows when we’re booked. How did you wind up signing with Perris Records? We have to give credit to our friend and label mate Duane Morano for that. He’s the guy that connected the dots for us. We were having some concerns with our former label, who wanted to be more involved with everything from production to artwork. While they are very good at what they do and cater quite well to their core audience, that wasn’t working for us. Much like with our last album, Fortress, we had our vision and our direction and were determined to stick with it. We also wanted a stronger distribution network and the ability to get our music heard by a broader audience. After talking with several people who gave nothing but stellar references regarding Perris, we signed with them, as they offered all that we were looking for. Tom Mathers was supportive in letting us do “our thing.” The best thing about being on his label? The band has freedom and we feel we’re treated like equals on a label that has bands like Helix, Dirty Looks, and many other killer acts on the roster. The distribution and promotion from Perris is top notch, as well like a dream come true. How did Roy Cathey from Cold Sweat become involved with Steel City? Towards the end of 2018, our original singer, Bryan Cole, shared that he wanted to focus on his solo material and some other musical projects that were on his plate. After wishing him success and parting ways, our old label asked if we’d be interested in working with Roy Cathey. I knew Roy from meeting him at Rock N Skull over the last couple of years and was just in awe of his voice and stage presence. He was also a pretty cool cat, to boot! The initial phone calls were set up by Kivel Records and I ended up speaking with both Roy and his manager, Dave Tedder of Head First Entertainment. Once both men were satisfied that SteelCity would actually be a good fit for Roy, we moved forward with the recording of Mach II. And while I’m extremely proud of that first album, I think it’s pretty clear that Roy is a better fit for the sound we’re trying to accomplish. Select two songs from Mach II and what inspired the lyrics. Cool, I’d love to! I am not sure if you know but we do a weekly segment on our band website, www.steelcityband. com, called “Behind the Song.” Essentially, it’s a blog about everything involved in the production of each song. The lyrics, the mix, how the song came together, etc. So, the first song? Let’s talk about Hearts on Fire. One of the things we absolutely love, more than anything else, is interaction with our fan family. The lyrics on this one are pretty HIGHWIRE DAZE
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straightforward, paying homage to our family and the love of playing live. Studio time is great but there is no greater gift than sharing that musical bond with your people. I also love that this one is a co-write, lyrically, with Roy. Another cool song is Down to One. Basically, the song is a love letter to my wife. I was ready to leave Los Angeles and move back to Tampa, Florida. Then SHE happened, LOL. The song is essentially about the greatest love of my life, the most significant change in our lives, and the lasting bond between husband and wife. What has it been like to have an album come out right in the middle of a pandemic? Man, it’s strange, you know? The album was delayed from its original release date of Summer, 2019. After a lengthy delay, we fast tracked with Perris to get the album released in March, 2020. Yes, it ended up being in the middle of a pandemic but it’s turned out to be a blessing for a host of reasons. The album is actually selling very well and that’s one of the reasons, certainly, but it’s not the most important one. Music has really been the “go-to comfort food” for a lot of people during this time. We’re just humbled and happy to be a part of that. Are you involved with any other bands or projects outside of SteelCity? Prior to SteelCity, I was in a band with my lifelong friend Brian Colkitt and the band was called Idora. We self-released a couple of CDs in 2015 and 2016 but we’ve put that band on hold. Both of us have a lot happening in our lives right now and can’t really give it the time it deserves. Presently, I’m pretty focused on SteelCity but you never know what the future might hold. I’ve got a lot of songs written that really don’t fit what SteelCity does and sooner or later, they’ll need an outlet. What’s up next for SteelCity? Hopefully, we’ll get some live dates later this year. We’ve got some stuff scheduled for Fall 2020 and are looking for more shows. With the guys being in so many different bands, we do our best to make sure the dates will work for everyone. That’s become a daunting task, though, as we all await the aftermath of the COVID-19 lockdown. We’ll all be scrambling soon enough, I’m sure. As far as recorded music, I’d guess the next album will be out late in 2021 or early 2022. It’s actually already written, for the most part. Any final words of wisdom? Yes. Wash your hands! Also, I just want to take a moment to thank you for your time and thank those who continue to support SteelCity and Perris Records. We appreciate the love and look forward to seeing everyone very soon. \
www.steelcityband.com perrisrecords.com/
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Unleash The Archers Invade The City Of Angels
Interview by Ken Morton - Photo by Jack Lue The Dragonforce Tour made it’s way to The Regent Theater in Downtown Los Angeles, featuring solid support from Unleash The Archers and Visions Of Atlantis. Prior to the amazing show (the last live event I would cover before Covid-19 shut everything down), Highwire Daze caught up vocalist Brittney Slayes and the Unleash The Archers brigade to discuss the tour, their recently released Explorers covers EP, and news on the next recorded epic for Napalm Records. Read on... How is this tour with Dragonforce been going and what have been some of the highlights? You’re just on day two? Brittney: Yeah, it’s only day two. So I haven’t really gotten into it that hard quite yet, but the first two shows have been sold out. So that’s a great start in my opinion. Is this your first time in Los Angeles? Brittney: No, we’ve played here a few times already. We toured this dates back in 2012, 2015, 2016, and 2018. 46
What do you think of Los Angeles and Hollywood and this entire area? Brittney: I think it’s great. We played Whisky A Go-Go the last time we were here. So that was really cool that we were on the Strip -- a lot of history and everything. We went to some crazy cool diner that was really well known (The Rainbow.) There are a lot of stories around this city, and the music industry itself has kind of revolved around LA for a long time. So it’s just an honor to play here. You recently put out an EP called Explorers. What made you decide to select these two cover songs on the EP - Northwest Passage by Stan Rogers and Heartless World by Teaze - and has anybody from either party heard them or commented on them? I know that Stan Rogers probably cannot comment... Brittney: You never know - just depending on what you believe. So Northwest Passage was actually recorded back when we did Apex and we were thinking that it was going to be the bonus track for that album that we released in 2017. That song really means a lot to all of us and we just loved it so much that we thought maybe it should get its own special May/June 2020
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treatment. So we held onto it. We recorded something else as a bonus track for Apex and just waited a couple of years and then decided to put out Northwest Passage as a 7” inch with a B-side. So then we went through the whole rigmarole trying to decide what would be a good B-side because we wanted it to fit the same feeling. We wanted it to have the same tone and we also wanted it to be Canadian. So we went back and forth about that for a really long time. I had known about the band Teaze for a little while. I really love this song Heartless World. Let’s do this one. I think it fits. It’s the right kind of tone. And we did hear from a couple of the boys in Teeze about the cover for Heartless World, which was awesome. After we put it out, they were like “Hey cool. Thanks for covering our tunes. We’re going out on tour this summer. So we really appreciate you giving us some PR.” They approved so that was really nice. And actually Stan Rogers’s son has heard and shared the song. I believe his Facebook post was something like “you might not be into it but here you go.” He wasn’t saying it one way or the other, but I like to think that he approved because he gave it a share, so it was really cool. Very cool. And then for Stan Rogers himself you’ll just have to do a seance or something Brittney: Yeah, Ouija board. How close to you guys to writing and recording a new fulllength. Have you started? Brittney: It’s done and it’s ready. We’re just doing the mix right now, so we’ve been back and forth with our producer / engineer Jacob Hansen over the last couple weeks. Hopefully we should have the full masters in hand pretty quickly here and then we’ll send it all off to Napalm. We’re going to film
Metal Babe Mayhem
LOCKIN’ ROCKIN’ HEADBANGER SALE!
some music videos when we get home from tour and should hopefully have it in your hands by July sometime if everything goes as planned. How will this compare to the previous releases? Brittney: It’s a sequel to Apex. It’s going to continue the storyline because Apex was a concept record. So we’re going to follow The Matriarch and The Immortal again through their wonderful adventures. It is a bit different. You’ll still get the feeling that “Oh, yeah, this is Unleash The Archers,” but we’ve added synth in there now and we’ve kind of experimented a little bit. Our influence has changed a little bit but it’s still that classically inspired Unleash The Archers -- just a little bit of growth in there. If Unleash The Archers could open for any band either now or from the past has this is for you all can talk. Who would be and why? Scott Buchanan (drums): I think my dream would be opening for Danzig. I’m a huge Danzig fan and I’ve always wanted to meet him and I think that’d be the only way that I’d be able to meet him. Brittney: I’ve always wanted to play with Iced Earth. I just love their music and I love Stew and just kind of been a fan for a really long time. So that’s probably kind of my bucket list. One of many. Nick Miller (bass): I think I would like to see us open for The Midnight because I really like that band and I like to see where our fans kind of meet in the middle somewhere. I think that’d be a cool line up for a show. Andrew Kingsley (guitar): Let’s go with Iron Maiden cause that would be super sweet. Grant Truesdell (guitar): Oh, Andrew just took my pick. I’ve got many many reasons. Iron Maiden was the band that got me into metal and they are still my favorite band, even if I don’t listen to them as constantly as some other bands now. They still hold a dear spot in my heart.
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What are you looking forward to the most about the rest of the tour since you’re only on day two? Brittney: I love getting up on stage and playing for our fans. It’s the best part. So I’m just really excited to see if any more of these shows sell out. That’d be super awesome. And I just get to hang out with our fans. We’ve been kind of doing these little impromptu meet and greets after the show at the merch booth. So that’s always a really fun time to get to actually talk to people and interact with them and hear their stories and how they discovered you and all that kind of stuff. So that’s my favorite part...
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May/June 2020
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The Sandgaard Foundation News The Sandgaard Foundation keeps commitments to help save lives in light of pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic is proving that we are only as strong as the most vulnerable among us—and now more than ever, they need us. That includes an often-invisible subset: those in the addiction recovery community who are susceptible to relapse and often have compromised immune systems. In an effort to be an advocate for those in recovery, The Sandgaard Foundation has recently worked with nonprofits centered around recovery to help ease the recovery process.
Opioid Crisis Response Fund Thomas Sandgaard, founder of The Sandgaard Foundation, has made a donation to the Opioid Crisis Response Fund (OCRF) to help save as many lives as possible. OCRF is an organization that helps those suffering from addiction through targeted naloxone distribution, a drug designed to rapidly reverse an overdose. As of Feb. 29, funding for this distribution has led to 1,619 overdose deaths prevented. That’s more than three lives-saved per day, at a cost of $99.29 per life-saved.
Thomas Sandgaard and Macklemore at a MusiCares event
Foundation for Recovery The Sandgaard Foundation has donated 400 meals to Foundation for Recovery homes. Foundation for Recovery is a Las Vegas-based nonprofit with a mission to promote the positive impact of recovery and enhance the lives of individuals and families affected by addiction. Though the 400 meals help to support those in recovery, this does not begin to cover the full need for those in recovery. If you are interested in donating meals to Foundation for Recovery, you can find more information here: https://forrecovery.org/add-peer-recovery-resource/
Mobilize Recovery The Sandgaard Foundation has donated a substantial grant to Mobilize Recovery – an annual conference to learn innovative strategies and tactics for grassroots organizing of recovery programs. Mobilize Recovery is scheduled to meet on August 18-20 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Each of these programs and foundations serve the same mission as The Sandgaard Foundation – to save lives from the opioid epidemic, help people escape the cycle of relapse and support victims and their families. 48
Suzanne Hammer (Hammer of Associates) and Ryan Hampton at a past Mobilize Recovery event
For more information on
The Sandgaard Foundation and its mission, visit
www.sandgaardfoundation.org May/June 2020
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First class Swedish Melodic Rock!
Available from May 15th, 2020!
Produced by Oliver Hartmann! Co-produced by Sascha Paeth (Avantasia). Feat. Ina Morgan (Avantasia) on the duet “When The Rain Begins To Fall” and Tobias Sammet (Avantasia) on the live duet “Brothers”!
Available now!
HARTMANN - 3
Now available again – the reissue of the 2009 album „3“! #HartmannBand
www.oliverhartmann.com
All Pr ide & J oy Music releases are available via www.prideandjoy.de/shop (ships world-wide!) #prideandjoymusic #prideandjoymusic
www.prideandjoy.de
Product Review by James Grover TREM KING Flush mount Tremolo System for Guitar
In 2012 I was introduced to this fabulous Product called The Trem King Tremolo for Fender style Strat bodies by Rusty Bickford of Trem King.
The Trem King Tremolo is one of a kind unit in which the top plate is mounted to the body and does not pivot up or down like traditional Strat Tremolos. The Trem King consists of a mounting plate with individual string saddles that are 100% flexible for intonation. It has an internal tone block that moves inside the spring cavity with a Return to “0” position block to keep instrument from going out of tune while dive bombing or with expressive Tremolo techniques. The Trem King is available in 3 colors Chrome, Black Chrome and Gold, it is available for Strat and Tele styles guitars. As a guitarist and a Luthier I have made a guitar using the Strat style unit in my custom build and I can’t not explain how smooth and accurate this unit works. I recently had a conversation with Master Luthier Jeff Scott of Illusion guitars and he has incorporated The Trem King Tremolo System in some of his custom Tele style builds. Likes and Dislikes: Like: What I really like about this Tremolo System is that it’s a great product constructed of high quality material, it only uses 2 springs one for the tone block and the other for the return to “0” block. By using only 2 springs there’s hardly any tension resistance when using the unit. Dislike: This is not a drop in and use unit. There are some body modifications that are required to install the unit consult with a trained luthier to help you with installation, templates are available with each unit. If you have a vintage guitar with a genuine fender Tremolo and you care about the value of your instrument I recommend to leave it as is. , For more info on Trem King Tremolo: www.tremking.com For more info on illusion guitars: www.facebook.com/illusionguitars/ Reach James Grover at: https://www.facebook.com/james.grover.311 HIGHWIRE DAZE
May/June 2020
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Slaves To Humanity Gallagher’s Pub, Huntington Beach, CA., May 9, 2020
WØNDERLVND Despain (Self-released EP)
Review by Ken Morton Photo by Slaves To Humanity Crew
In this age of Covid-19, bands and live music venues have certainly been resourceful in bringing entertainment to the people. Gallagher’s Pub in Huntington Beach has been presenting a series of live shows. While actual attendance in the club was limited at best due to the social distancing standards of the day, the performances have been broadcast live via Facebook courtesy of onlinevideoservices.com. And on a Saturday in Huntington Beach, Gallagher’s presented the dynamic Slaves To Humanity upon the world wide web. Consisting of 5 massively talented teens from Orange County, Slaves To Humanity unleash their own concoction of “Sunset Grunge.” With their superbly memorable songs and the high energy shows to back it all up, there is no doubt that Slaves To Humanity are well on their way to the top. Opening with the slamming refrains of Riot Addict and then exploding into the ferocious incantations of Insanity, the Slaves To Humanity experience was gripping and exhilarating – even if you were watching it on the computer screen at home (which this reviewer was actually doing.) And what an amazing lineup Slaves To Humanity possesses, with each and every member so passionate about their live performance. 15-yearold lead vocalist Aidan Amini is extremely charismatic, and performs with a striking amount of drive and conviction. Also at 15 is lead guitar Pierce Akers, whose soloing throughout the set was vibrant and inspiring. Max Hickman, the oldster in the band at 19, fills in everything with imagination and flair on rhythm guitar. And the amazing rhythm section is brought to you with a kickass intensity by Nathan Johnson (18) on bass and Shane Ryan (16) on drums. Other songs in the set which made lasting impressions including I Love It, Get In Line, and Battleground. When the country opens up and we are all able to witness live shows again in person at music venues, Slaves To Humanity is very much on the top of the list to see!. Thanks to Gallaghers’ Pub for taking the time to stream these live shows and Slaves To Humanity for livening up an otherwise sleepy Saturday night in the midst of a global pandemic. You can see the entire show online at the Gallagher’s Pub Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GallaghersPubHB/ 52
Review by Ken Morton Matt Skajem has truly experienced quite a life in music, with his past pop punk bands such as Out With The Old and Best Kept Secret impressing fans at the Vans Warped Tour and beyond. Very outspoken and massively talented, Skajem presents Despain, the next compelling chapter of his auditory destiny. WØNDERLVND is the name of Despain’s debut endeavor, and what a stark and cathartic adventure this 6-song EP unveils. Skajem has always been fearless and open, and the lyrics and soundscapes found within the vast confines of WØNDERLVND show an artist grappling with his own personal demons and reinventing himself in the process. While there are no easy denouements to be found within this situation we all call life, Despain presents his own WØNDERLVND with absolutely gripping results. In the midst of living in this deceptively magical metropolis known as the City Of Angels, Despain presents trip hopping ear candy beats while rapping out deeply personal lyrics. The subject of addiction is what this journey through WØNDERLVND is all about, and the tunes found within are sure to haunt and possess the listener long after Skajem implores America, Help Yourself at the devastating grand finale of the EP. Whether traversing through the witchery of Chemical (running through my head) or wading through Pools Of Hennessy, Skajem’s Despain confronts a life of “being fucked up again” and the results are nothing short of mesmerizing. Hollywood is filled with talented individuals who have a story to tell, and Matt Skajem’s Despain is a tale of losing yourself within the throes of any kind of addiction you can find, and trying to regain control through your art. In the true DIY spirit, WØNDERLVND by Despain, even at its most relentlessly despairing, is nothing short of a triumph for an artist we’ll be hearing a lot more of in the future days ahead. “Lost. hoping that I find my heart again,” expresses Skajem on Buried In The Backyard – with the unveiling of WØNDERLVND, Despain has certainly found a creative outlet that pulsates with imagination and intrigue. https://www.instagram.com/xdespainx/ May/June 2020
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New LP release Streaming on all outlets CD and 180g Vinyl available at cdbaby & bandcamp www.HusBand.Rocks @HusBandRocks
Album Reviews Valor The Opium Cartel Apollon Records
by Bret Miller
A few nights ago I was listening to The Opium Cartel’s second album Ardor and found myself getting quite emotional over the uplifting arrangements. Jacob Holm-Lupo is the mastermind behind White Willow and The Opium Cartel as well as the more electronic Donner. Holm-Lupo also does remasters from the likes of Airbag and Lupus and masters albums out of his Dude Ranch Studio. On Valor, his third album as The Opium Cartel, Holm-Lupo strays farther away from the sounds heard on the previous album, which was more of a piece with White Willow’s Future Hopes yet his personality and melodies continue to shine through. What is new about the music is the more straightforward songs, featuring ‘70’s synthesizers and a classic pop clarity. Opening track In The Streets has popping bass and understated guitar, courtesy of Ole Øvstedal (Ole & Silje Huleboer, Spirits Of The Dead, The Island Band), Silje Huleboer on vocals creating a whistful and hopeful sound. this isn’t a cheesy wink-wink pastiche of 80’s synth-pop but Holm-Lupo still includes a killer saxophone solo from Ilia Skibinsky just to prove he’s serious about this nostalgic song. Slow Run begins almost annoyingly slowly. The sweet and sad vocals, rubbery synth bass and chiming guitars keep your ears interested just long enough for the song to really kick in to a soulful soft-rocking and memorable experience. Nightwings is another synthy and upbeat pop song with Holm-Lupo’s 13 year old daughter Ina A on lead vocals. Her delivery is assured and sassy and a joy to hear and I can imagine an album in the future with Ina singing on every song. On Under Thunder a funky beat from Lars Fredrik Frøislie and slapping bass puts a new spin on the familiar melodicism of Holm-Lupo’s output with Huleboer’s voice becoming a chorus of loveliness. The song progresses from funk to spacey soul to the outer reaches of pop with well-placed guitars, various synth textures and hand-drums. A Maelstrom of Guitars begins with plucky piano, synth bass and percussive touches, a slow and soulful guitar takes us on a journey through emotion and memory. Valor, like White Willow’s Future Hopes, ends with a cover, this time of Ratt’s What’s It Gonna Be. I had to go listen to the original, if only for research, but found myself enjoying the clean and catchy song found on Reach For The Sky from 1988. (Full disclosure: I was a fan of Ratt for a few years.) Filtered through Holm-Lupo’s sensibilities the song sounds like it’s right out of the late-’80’s with its electronic drums and focus on cheesy synths. The heavy guitar solo is a welcome surprise and Alexander Stenarud (Zuma) returns with his dramatic sophisti-pop vocals. In Jacob Holm-Lupo’s arrangements you’ll hear 50 years of progressive and space rock filtered through his sensibilities creating something modern yet classic and like nothing you’ve likely ever heard before. The mix of instruments on his albums is stunning and makes these ears wish more bands worked with 54
Holm-Lupo for his pristine recordings. While Valor seems like a digital-only release, CD artwork with cover photography by Glen Wexler who has done photos for Van Halen and Rush album covers is included with the download, giving hope for a physical release in the future, maybe on vinyl?
theopiumcartel.bandcamp.com/
I Love The New Sky Tim Burgess Bella Union/PIAS
by Bret Miller
You may know Tim Burgess as the singer for The Charlatans UK and that band’s rock sound with forays into dance music but until now never heard him solo. On his third solo album I Love The New Sky you’ll hear joyous and oftentimes surprising pop songs with plenty of piano and keyboards and quite a lot of appealing and melodic vocals. Burgess wrote the songs in secluded Norfolk and recorded the Echo Collective string section in Brussels. From the opening chords of Empathy For The Devil with it’s Boys Don’t Cry piano and guitar intro you know you’re in for a treat. The song has some sweet violin courtesy of avant-jazz violinist Peter Broderick. Daniel O’Sullivan plays bass, drums and piano as well as arranging and production, making him I Love The New Sky’s architect enabling Burgess’ vision and leadership. Sweetheart Mercury has a weird 8-bit synth voice underlying the piano-led melody with Tim’s beautiful soft vocals. Those vocals get layered up one on top of each other in the middle to pleasant effect. Comme D-Habitude has Burgess singing closemiked and accompanied by female background vocals, Daniel O’Sullivan’s rollicking piano and ThighPaulSandra and Nik Colk Void’s futuristic synth squelches. Strings from The Echo Collective and “ooh’s” and “aah’s” are thrown in as comforting counterpart to the tightly wound sections. The song skips from Southern California sunny pop to tightly wound paranoia to interesting effect. Sweet Old Sorry is a pop ballad with plucked strings and a soulful saxophone. The Warhol Me rides on a steady beat, a repeated piano melody, pumping bass and more synth squeals and such recalling both Spiritualized and The Velvet Underground with its psychedelic swirls and unwillingness to break the tension. Lucky Creatures is another beast entirely with a dramatic opening of strings and militant drums. The song morphs into a smooth rocker and while the music is peppy and wistful, Burgess’ vocals betray a little bite behind the cool vibes. Timothy has some frolic to it with various entries of playful piano and keyboards and quick changes of tempo. Burgess’ vocal delivery meets the personality of those parts dancing from soul to trippy pop to 70’s soft rock. Writing in solitude, working with talented musicians and recording in new locales certainly influenced the mood and sound of I Love The New Sky though I feel the album is simply another side to Tim Burgess than we’ve heard before, or at least a different interpretation of the music in his DNA and its an amusing and soulful document of where his is now in life.
timburgess.bandcamp.com May/June 2020
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