Getting The Balance Right with Pete Fry of FARCRY and JADED PAST
Interview by Ken Morton - (FarCry Pictured above) Guitarist Pete Fry has certainly been busy during these pandemic days and beyond. A brand new FarCry album entitled Balance has been released via AOR Heaven as well as a Jaded Past Live And On Edge magnus opus which has been presented via MR Records. If participating in two bands isn’t enough, Pete Fry also has a weekly radio show entitled FRYday Night with Fry!, playing classic rock, AOR, metal, up-and-coming bands, and whatever else he and his listeners want to hear. Highwire Daze recently caught up with Pete Fry to discuss the current happenings of FarCry, Jaded Past, his radio show and a whole lot more! How did the connection with AOR Heaven come about? First and foremost, when it comes to melodic rock, I’m a fan. I play this music cuz I love it. I listen to it myself. I was very familiar with AOR Heaven as a listener for the last handful of years – in fact for a bunch of years. They’re one of the premier melodic rock labels out there. So, when we decided to look for labels, we wanted one that would specifically be a legitimate European release, because honestly that’s where the heartbeat of melodic rock really is – in Europe and 38
Scandinavia. So, we kind of wanted to be where it’s all happening. That was important to us, so we talked to a number of different labels. And Georg (of AOR Heaven) was great – he’s very nuts and bolts about everything. He’s straight up, and I’ve heard that from a number of people who’ve dealt with him before – and I can honestly say since we’ve started dealing with him, everything that he says he’s going to do he does. It’s not as hassle – it’s not a drama – it’s just done. So, we’re very happy with that. Let’s talk about the new album Balance. Is there any overall story or concept behind that title? There is! And if you look at the cover, it won’t tell you that story. It doesn’t really have anything to do with it. But if you listen to the song – the title track itself – that was one of the first songs Bob Malone the new singer and I collaborated on – and it was something that we came up with at his house. And it’s basically about reality – balancing life and work and family and all of that stuff – and just trying to keep everything together. It speaks to a lot of people who listen to melodic rock because hey, we’re all kind of grown up now, you know? What was it like to work with Steve Newman (Newman, June/July 2021
HIGHWIRE DAZE
