Phil Vincent of D’Ercole

by Derric Miller
Staff Writer

Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Phil Vincent checked in with Hardrock Haven to talk about the brand new D’Ercole release The Art of Self Destruction; specific tracks on the new album like “The Last Time” and “Face to Face;” musical influences in D’Ercole and vocal influences in general; the possibility of an upcoming tour; and how Vincent ended up writing the Hardrock Haven theme song!

Vincent is a multi-faceted musician and has been a Hardrock Haven favorite for years. Tune in now to get to know Vincent and D’Ercole, and pick up The Art of Self Destruction immediately thereafter!

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Billy Farley of Ritual

by Derric Miller
Staff Writer

Ritual singer/founder Billy Farley checked in with Hardrock Haven to discuss their brand new release The Ancient Tome; the background his band which has been making music for well over 20 years; the studio/recording process as compared to the ’80s and sneaking into the Saturday Night Live studio to record some tracks; how Ritual ended up being part of Heaven and Hell Records’ Lost Relics series; and a whole lot more.

Ritual was one of those bands from the ’80s who were on the cusp of stardom but like thousands of other bands, they didn’t quite get there. Ritual is still making music today; head to http://www.heavenandhellrecords.com and get your hands on a copy of The Ancient Tome today.

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Nikki Dimage of Line of Fire

by Derric Miller
Staff Writer

Line of Fire guitarist Nikki Dimage checked in with Hardrock Haven to talk about their brand new studio album Momentum; how he’s doing after beating cancer; the behind the scenes vidoes they made to depict the “making of” Momentum; why they covered Dokken’s “Breaking the Chains” and the arrangement of the cover; upcoming tour plans; and a whole lot more.

After hearing Line of Fire, you’ll hear that Europe isn’t the only continent that can churn out world-class Melodic Rock — this is as good as it gets! Tune in now to get to know Dimage and Line of Fire, and pick up Momentum immediately!

Online: On MySpace

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Marco Ferreira

by Derric Miller
Staff Writer

Guitarist/singer/songwriter Marco Ferreira checked in with Hardrock Haven to discuss his band Ferreira’s brand new album, Better Run; his DVD/CD package in Goodbye Thrill called Keepsakes; the new Goodbye Thrill album Outrageous; the possibility of touring with Ferreira or Goodbye Thrill; and a whole lot more.

Ferreira is one of the most talented Melodic Rock and Hard Rock musicians out there — and he’s pumping out a lot of music you need to hear! Tune in now to get to know Ferreira and all of his projects, and pick up Keepsakes, Outrageous and Better Run immediately!

Online: http://www.myspace.com/marcferr

(If the embedded player doesn’t populate, click here to stream the interview in a stand alone player.)

Patrick Kennison of Heaven Below

by Deb Rao
Staff Writer

There is a whole new crop of new talent vying to make an impact in today’s musical market. Heaven Below, who hails from Texas and California, are getting ready to drop their self-titled debut release on Aug. 17. Famed Grammy award-winning producer Ben Moody produced the band’s first single, entitled, “When Daylight Dies.” Heaven Below recently completed a trek across the country and is gearing up for a major tour in August in support of its debut release.

Lead singer Patrick Kennison checked in with Hardrock Haven to discuss the making of the Heaven Below debut.

HRH: Patrick, thank you for checking in with Hardrock Haven. The band has just finished a string of live shows. How did the tour go? Any highlights that you would like to share with us?

PATRICK: Touring has been great. It’s inspiring to see that new music is still being considered by rock fans everywhere. The turnouts and feedback from our shows has proved that to us. The highlights would simply be our time on and off stage with our growing fan base. We’re stoked!

HRH: As a new band on the horizon, what do you hope to bring to the music scene?

PATRICK: I think an emotionally charged show and album are what the scene needs. There are already great bands already doing that, but few from the West Coast that I’ve seen. I’d love to think we could carry the torch with high-energy songs, guitar solos and vocal harmonies; not in a cheesy way like The Darkness, but in a cool way like A7X or Disturbed.

HRH: Tell us a little bit about the band. From where do you hail and what inspired you to get into music?

PATRICK: The band comprises half Texans and half Californians. John, our bass player, and I hail from San Antonio. Jesse, our guitarist, and Chad, our drummer, are Los Angeles natives. I got into music at a young age. My six older brothers and sisters always blasted Priest, Maiden, and Crue among others in the house as far back as I can remember. I started discovering my own bands like Slayer, Accept, Metallica, and I’d gotten a guitar for my 12th birthday. Life had changed.

HRH: As a vocalist, who are some of your influences?

PATRICK: My favorites include Dave Grohl, James Hetfield, Chris Cornell and any one that can play guitar and still maintain that frontman factor. It’s not an easy thing to do. I love the challenge. I always liked when Layne Staley played rhythm in AIC. Sick talent there.

HRH: How did you come up with the title of the band, Heaven Below? It kind of reminds me of Heaven And Hell.

PATRICK: I’d written a song called “The Laughing Dead,” which also was also a candidate for the name. It has a lyric mentioning Heaven Below. I’ve always felt that people should enjoy the “here and now,” rather than hoping salvation will come later elsewhere. So I feel like it makes a personal statement for my beliefs. Also, many fans think it’s sexual, which we get a kick out of.

HRH: How would you describe the sound of the band? I can hear some Alice In Chains overtones and some Metallica in a few of the song structures.

PATRICK: The fact that you mentioned two of my favorite bands is a humbling compliment. We’re not trying to reinvent anything, but rather capture a feeling or vibe that our heroes like those gave us. We feel like when we mix it up with my vocals, it takes on its own inspired sound. We’re not scared of vocal harmonies, guitar solos, or multi-tempo songs; we embrace it.

HRH: Heaven Below has just released its self-titled CD. Tell us about the writing process for the album?

PATRICK: I write most of the material. It’s my # No.1 place to take solace, anger or any other emotion and channel into something that’s a positive release. I also enjoy the challenge that writing a certain kind of song brings. The process is very rewarding and vindicating for me.

HRH: Also, “When Daylight Dies,” which was produced by Grammy.award-winning, multi-platinum artist Ben Moody of Evanescence. How did this transpire?

PATRICK: Out here in Los Angeles, you get the opportunity to meet up with your heroes and friends in the business. Ben was one of those friends in the circle. After he heard my demo for the song, he insisted that he produce it. We feel he brought a cinematic and ambient feel to song. The guy truly is a mad genius. Check out his new band, We Are The Fallen.

HRH: As a guitarist, you recently have been endorsed by B.C. Rich guitars. This is quite the honor. Tell us about the B.C. Rich guitar that you use onstage.

PATRICK: I endorsed BC Rich back when I had a band called The Union Underground in 2001. I’ve amassed a killer little collection, which includes six- and seven-string Mockingbirds, a Warlock, a Custom Meegs Model, which is an arch-top tele style. As well as a double-neck Bich. Jesse also has some killer stuff from them. You will never see Heaven Below lost in the world of Les Pauls and Strats.

HRH: Any future tour plans in the works?

PATRICK: Absolutely. We’re currently putting together a tour that will take us through the southern region of the U.S. to promote our album, which drops Aug. 17th, as well as our radio single, “When Daylight Dies.” Please checkout www.heavenbelow.com for the gospel and words of metal.

Morgan Rose of Sevendust

by Deb Rao
Staff Writer

The Carnival of Madness Tour featuring Shinedown, Chevelle, Puddle of Mudd, Sevendust and 10 Years made a special New England stop in Mansfield, Mass., at The Comcast Center on Aug. 1st and will be appearing at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Aug. 4th.

Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose checked in with Hardrock Haven to preview the upcoming concert and discuss in-depth the band’s latest release Cold Day Memory:

HRH: Morgan, Thank you for checking in with Hardrock Haven. Sevendust currently is on the road performing on The Carnival of Madness Tour. What have some of the highlights been so far?

MORGAN: It has been going great. We are kind of in the front of the middle of the lineup. So we are protected all over with bands before us and after us. It has been very cool to not to have to carry the weight. We have been headlining for so long. You have to carry that weight on the tour when you are doing that. It has been wake up, do some interviews, go to the venue and play for 45 minutes and grab some food out of catering, relax with have a few beers, watch TV and watch some bands. It has been really laid back for us. It has been a lot easier than what we have been used to. We are really close to a few of the bands on the tour. We get to hang out with them daily. It has just been really cool.

HRH: Tell us about the set-list for this tour. Is the band playing a lot of new songs off of Cold Day Memory?

MORGAN: We are doing a few. It is kind of a short set. We have eight records. It is not easy to put anything together that is going to make everybody happy. We switch them around every few shows to try and keep it fresh. We are doing a few new ones, and then we will be headlining in October, when we will be playing a lot off the new record and a lot of the old stuff, too.

HRH: The response has been phenomenal for Cold Day Memory. It is receiving so many great reviews. Tell us about the writing process for this album.

Morgan: We wrote the majority of it before we went into the studio. It was just a really fun album to record. I wrote a bunch of riffs. Then we got together in Atlanta. There were a handful of songs that didn’t make the actual recording process. We have a handful in the tank right now for extras that I think are amazing. It was a typical Sevendust writing session. We got into the studio in Chicago about halfway through the process. We had a head start when we got in there.

HRH: You also worked with producer Johnny K. Do you think he knows the band’s sound well?

MORGAN: Yes, he was respectful. He didn’t want to change the band, but he wanted to trim the fat. He wanted to give his opinion out there for us to listen to. When it was all said and done, he definitely was one of my favorites [producer] that we ever worked with just because he didn’t overstep his boundaries. He just kind of laid it out there with, “This is what I think, take it or leave it.”

HRH: Do you think that a lot of the success of the album is due to the fact that a lot of the fans can identify with the songs? A lot of the songs seem to deal with personal experiences.

MORGAN: Yeah, that has always been our thing, letting our guard down and allowing people into our personal life. If they can relate to it, sometimes it is unfortunate, but we let them know that we get it. If we can shine a little light for anybody that is going through a tough time, then that is an extra bonus to us. That is the kind of band that we have been for a long time. We will continue doing that.

HRH: Was the album collectively written?

MORGAN: I predominately have written most of the lyrics on the last three records. Then on this one, Clint was back in and was really involved with lyric writing with me. Lajon wrote some stuff. It definitely was a team effort on this one. Clint wrote a lot of lyrics, a lot of riffs and a lot of songs.

HRH: Would you say the band has come full circle with the return of Clint Lowery?

MORGAN: Yes, that sound is something that makes the band. The thing that started to depart was the fact we had three voices and a soulful singer on top of real heavy music with heavy vocals, and another singer in Clint that could go along with that. So we had three different voices. When we first came out on the scene, that was something new. I think that set us apart from other bands for a little awhile. When Clint left, we lost that extra voice. We lost his guitar playing, which was just something we had to have. That has been a full circle move for us, I believe.

HRH: What inspired the title of the new album?

MORGAN: That actually was Clint’s idea. We were in Chicago, and it all just kind of came together that way. It was freezing cold while we were there. We were just tossing song titles around. He had written that line in a song. Actually, that was a title to a song that we ended up changing that title to and using it as the album title. It was just that memory of being up there and it being freezing cold everyday.

HRH: As a drummer, you have inspired so many musicians and fans. What was it like to be voted by Drum magazine as one of the top drummers of all time? What was running through your mind when you heard the news?

MORGAN: It has been pretty cool. Whenever I see the people that win this, I kind of give a half smile and look around and say, ‘that guy is not the best guitar player in the world.’ I will see the list and Steve Vai is not even on the list of the top 100 guitar players of all time. My point is: I took it with a grain of salt. I was flattered. I believe, popularity-wise, I was voted that way. I won metal drummer of the year and performance of the year and knocked Lars Ulrich out of that spot. When that happened, I just kind of shrugged my shoulders and thought, ‘I am not the best drummer in that category, but my Mom will this so.’ My Mom will really like those awards. I don’t take compliments really well. But I was flattered, and I can’t lie; it was nice to hand that stuff over to my parents.

HRH: What inspired your clothing line Alien Freakwear?

MORGAN: It was pretty funny. We were doing a signing one day; Vinnie was right after me after the signing at this table. There were a lot of people in this line. Vinnie would sit there and talk to people. We call him the Mayor. I do talk a lot with people, but I would get to the point that I didn’t know what else to say. I started doodling. I had a few people that would make jokes that you look like an alien with your hair all crazy and how you act. I was doodling, and I doodled that little alien on somebody’s signature. After the signing was over, people that didn’t get that little guy started coming back to the line, asking me to put that little guy on their signature. Somebody told me you should put that one a T-shirt. That is a cool logo. I said, ‘Who would buy it?’ They said that we have a lot of people that follow your band. You might be surprised. So we had three tries at it. I had the misfortune of allowing people that I haven been in relationships with handle it. It is not the financial side of it that bums me out. The first go-around, when the split happened, people weren’t getting any of their stuff. The person quit sending the stuff, and fans were angry. I didn’t know who was supposed to be getting anything. I have it handled now by somebody that I am not sleeping with. You have to go to www.alienfreakwear.com to get it. I just kind of kept it underground for now.

HRH: Last year, you filled in for Tommy Lee on Cruefest when he injured his hand. What was that experience like. Are you good friends with Tommy Lee?

MORGAN: Yeah, I have known him for a really long time. It was a nightmare and a dream come true all in one. I was really excited to be able to hang with him. Contrary to what anybody might think, I had never played a Motley Crue song in my life. I had an hour and 20 minutes to get ready for that concert. There were six or seven songs off of Doctor Feelgood that I never even heard in my life. It was really stressful to be sitting up there and have Tommy Lee talking in the microphone in my ears telling me, ‘Here comes the bridge and count me off 2, 3,” and I would change. He would say, ‘We are going back to the verse here.’ It was really nerve wrecking to be learning a song with someone kind of guiding you through it in front of 25,000 people. It was pretty awesome. I have been close with him for a long time. I love him. We have a really cool friendship. I went to the Bahamas with him in between the tour, when we had a break. It was a really, really cool thing.

HRH: What are your future touring plans after COM wraps up?

MORGAN: Yes, we are going to headline in October. On this tour, we are doing a bunch of meet-and-greets. The Monster people have been fantastic. It has been a really cool tour. I didn’t know what really to expect. All the guys are awesome in Shinedown. We go out in the crowd a lot. It has been a really successful one, too. Nowadays, it is not easy to get a bunch of people in seats.

HRH: I think, too, the ticket prices are at a moderate price so the fans can afford it, which is good. The bands are outstanding. Some of the best touring bands in the business.

MORGAN: I have looked at the numbers that everyone is doing on some of the other tours, and there is not much going on that is doing more than this. It is pretty exciting. I am glad to be a part of it.

Rob Wylde

by Deb Rao
Staff Writer

Sins Of America currently is taking the East Coast by storm. The band has garnered a huge following in the Boston music scene, helping to re-shape the scene with its innovative hard rock, glam-rock style.

Sins of America frontman Rob Wylde, who also fronts Teenage Casket Company, brings a riveting stage presence that has Boston’s rock audiences taking notice. Teenage Casket Company recently signed to Jamsync Music, and Hardrock Haven’s managing editor Derric Miller wrote the liner notes on the upcoming Teenage Casket Company release Best Kept Secret.

Hardrock Haven is proud to present an interview with Sins Of America singer Rob Wylde, who discusses Sins Of America, Teenage Casket Company and much more.

HRH: Thank you for checking in with Hardrock Haven. We are excited about the news that Teenage Casket Company was signed to Jam Sync Music. How did this transpire, and when is the new CD going to be released?

ROB: Basically, what happened was our bass player, Laney, was on tour over here, playing bass with The BulletBoys. The BulletBoys had just released an album on the same label. The head executive of the label came down to see the BulletBoys and didn’t realize that he was a member of Teenage Casket Company. A long story short: It turns out that he was a big fan of Teenage Casket Company, and he was going to start a new label. He was finding bands. He e-mailed Laney and said he wanted to put out Teenage Casket Company in the States. We decided that rather than re-releasing both albums, we thought we would take the best songs from the first and second album. We also had a single, “Best Friend Is My Radio,” that was released in the UK last year. So, basically, we put all the songs together. We remixed and remastered the entire thing. Another cool thing is the single “Best Friend Is My Radio” is going to be remixed by Bruno Ravel from Danger Danger. The CD is going to be called Best Kept Secret, and I believe it is going to be released in America in September.

HRH: Are you going to be touring with Teenage Casket Company in the fall?

ROB: Hopefully; we have talked about it. I am going back to my annual visit to the UK in September to visit family and stuff. We have been offered a few dates in the UK. Maybe we will do a few shows in the States. Putting together a tour in the States is going to be a lot easier because I permanently live here. It has opened a lot more doors in that respect. We will see what happens. As of right now, we are looking to doing dates in the UK in September. With fingers crossed, maybe doing dates in October or November in the States to coincide with the CD release.

HRH: Any plans to release a video?

ROB: We would love to. We put out “Don’t Look At Me Like That” from our second album. That did wonders for us. You can only do so much on the Internet. It all comes down to money and who is going to fund it.

HRH: I heard that my editor, Derric Miller, is going to write a foreword on the album notes.

ROB: Yes, Derric has been one of those guys that have been behind Teenage Casket Company from day No.1. I actually remember sending him a level 3 demo way before the first album came out. He gave it a very good review. We put out the first album out in 2005, and he loved that. He has been real cool support! I actually have read the liner notes, and they are really cool. I have talked to him a billion times on the phone. I never actually have met him in person. He really hits the nail on the head with the liner notes. He has been an awesome support with the band. I can’t thank him enough.

HRH: How would you describe Teenage Casket Company vs. Sins Of America? You kind of have the best of both worlds going on.

ROB: The thing is, when I put Teenage Casket Company together, it was four guys who grew up listening to completely different styles of music. I grew up listening to Def Leppard and Bon Jovi and all these big-hair bands. Jamie, who left the band last year, was a big punk fan. Laney was into a lot R and B. He likes Goo Goo Dolls. Our drummer was a Rush and Yes freak. So when you put all that together, it kind of made it, although the songs are rock songs. I think TCC is a lot more diverse. Sins Of America is four guys who grew up on Motley and RATT. It is kind of a more straight-ahead hard rock thing.

HRH: Sins Of America currently is taking Boston by storm. How do you hope the band will help revive the Boston scene?

ROB: I don’t think the Boston music scene is very receptive for the kind of band that we are.

HRH: Do you feel the scene is more underground these days? I know the band is going to be playing at the Cantab Lounge in August. A lot of the bands that play there are kind of underground and are on the verge of breaking out of the scene. It’s kind of like word-of-mouth these days.

ROB: Yes, I definitely agree. It’s kind of like we are out playing all the time. We constantly play. We are not one of those bands that just sits at home. We are out all the time. Whether we are out playing to a ton of people or just two people, we really don’t care. Obviously, we are playing with bands that look and sound nothing like us. The one thing that we have found through constantly playing is the fact that when we finish our set whether we played with a mean and nasty death metal band, I think that everybody secretly has a Motley Crue or Poison album in their closet. Do you know what I mean? If you look at rock bands like AC/DC or Aerosmith, they have survived all different kinds of trends that have come and gone. I think people can appreciate what we are doing.

HRH: You currently are in the studio with Sins Of America. Is the recording finished?

ROB: Yes, we have an album coming out, Songs For The Broken Hearted, which is going to be released on the Trashpit Label, the same label that released the Teenage Casket Company back in the UK. It is an 11-track album. We are finishing up the album, and that is going to be out sometime in September or October.

HRH: Oh, that is the same time as TCC.

ROB: Yes, you get a double dose the British band and the American band.

HRH: How do you feel about the U.S. audiences versus the European audience? Do you see any differences at all?

ROB: Not between the UK and the U.S. Growing up in the UK, I thought America was like the “Holy Land.” (Laughter) It was where all of my favorite bands came from. I grew up on all American bands. We did two tours with Teenage Casket Company. The thing that we learned when we are on tour is that you can sell out on one night, then play to one or two people on a Monday or Tuesday night. It is funny because I think a lot of American people want to come over to England, the home of The Beatles and The Stones and all that. I think people tend to be a little bit disappointed. (Laughter)

HRH: That is very interesting. Now how would you describe the sound on the new Sins Of America album? Does it have the ’80s Motley Crue vibe?

ROB: The thing we are trying to put across with Sins Of America it is a real good-time rock and roll band. There are lots of guitars, tons of melody, big hooks and huge choruses. We also recorded acoustic songs on the CD. We are really looking forward to what people think of it. It is a real good-time rock and roll album. If you are down in the dumps, put this CD on, and you will be happy.

HRH: Is there anything else that you want to say about the tour and album?

ROB: I would just like to say that we have the Sins Of America CD, Songs For The Broken Hearted coming out sometime in September or October. Teenage Casket Company’s Best Kept Secret is coming out in September. Check out the band as we continue to tour because we need you guys.

www.myspace.com/sinsofamerica

Don Mancuso of D Drive

by Derric Miller
Staff Writer

Guitarist Don Mancuso (Lou Gramm Band) checked in with Hardrock Haven to discuss the release and recording of the brand new D Drive album titled 3D; how they came up with the concept for the 3D artwork and title; touring with D Drive and the Lou Gramm Band; individual tracks like “Dig Down” that featured Billy Sheehan; the CD release party July 24; upcoming tour plans; and a whole lot more.

D Drive features one of the best singer/guitarist combos you are ever going to hear, and if Classic Hard Rock is your flavor, then you need to pick up 3D today. Tune in now to get to know this talented guitarist and band, and pick up the new album once it hits the streets.

Online: www.ddrive.com

(If the embedded player doesn’t populate, click here to stream the interview in a stand alone player.)

Erlend Jegstad of Outshine

by Alissa Ordabai
Staff Writer

Bred on the fertile ground of the contemporary Swedish rock scene, Outshine reflect many tensions and paradoxes this pressure-cooker environment imprints on its up-and-coming bands. Diverse, robust, competitive and ferociously creative are just a few ways you could describe the Swedish rock underground these days, but still no amount of knowledge about it – from old-school death metal to the current-day 80s glam revival – will prepare you for what Outshine have to offer.

A melting pot of styles from gothic and doom metal to post-punk and grunge, the band instantly stands out from the crowd by not following any one genre, but still managing to sound accessible, transparent, and seamlessly coherent. A lot of it has to do with Morrison-esque authoritative stance of singer Erlend Jegstad, or simply E.J. – a frontman par excellence who single-handedly shapes the band’s identity and distills their own inimitable character from a pool of diverse influences. Those range from Velvet Underground to the Doors to Jeff Buckley, but the way in which E.J. can mix so many favors to produce one unified creative vision is nothing short of genius.

At once highly styled, yet full of swagger, visceral, yet organic, Outshine have managed to hit the jackpot with their newly released album Until We Are Dead as no other Swedish newcomer was able to do before them. If anything, Outshine showcase a different, more subtle and intelligent side to the scene they have emerged from – dark, brooding and clever, but at the same time so confidently poised, you’d want to keep their new record right next to the likes of the Doors, Nine Inch Nails and Iggy Pop on your CD rack.

Tensions between intelligence and sensuality, between the underground and the mainstream, as well as between different members of the band who come from different stylistic backgrounds, are just some of the things HRH discussed with EJ a few weeks after the release of their superb new record.

Hardrock Haven: Hi Erlend! Thank you for finding time for Hardrock Haven and congratulations on the new album.

Erlend Jegstad: Thank you.

HRH: Are you happy with the way this record has turned out?

EJ: Yes, very happy. It was a struggle to get it done, but in the end everyone is really happy.

HRH: Do you think enough time has passed since its release for you to take an objective look at it? And how long does it usually take you to begin seeing your work objectively? Because it’s not your first album, it’s your second full-length release.

EJ: In one way this is our first album because it’s the first album that feels like it’s been properly made. The first album we did on our own, thinking, “Oh, we can do it, we can record and mix it ourselves.” We do like our first album, but with the second one we feel it’s been done in a right way – from production to getting the whole thing done. And I haven’t listened for it for a few months, and then listened to it again the other day and still it feels right. There is no other way to describe it.

HRH: Do you have favorite tracks on this album?

EJ: Me personally or the band?

HRH: You personally.

EJ: I am not the “heaviest” member of this band [Laughs], so for me it would be tracks like “Ain’t Life Grand” and “I’m Sorry” which reflect my personal preferences.

HRH: Outshine is a mix of different characters, and you come from different backgrounds, from different genres of music, so how did you guys get together, how did it all happen?

EJ: Well, basically, I’m Norwegian, but I was living in Sweden, and I didn’t have a band, so me and Jimmy met through an ad in a newspaper. He was looking for a different singer because he’s always been in heavy rock bands and he’s been working with singers who sounded “like a guy from Metallica”, or this guy, or that guy, and he just ended up wanting something different. I gave him an album of my music which was singer / songwriter stuff – just guitar and singing – and this is how we hooked up, me and Jimmy, the guitarist. And then a year later Fredrik, our drummer, joined us. There have been a lot of changes, but the three of us have been together for almost five years now.

HRH: So you’ve been in the current line-up for five years now?

EJ: Yes, the drummer, the guitars, and me, but we kept changing bass players.

HRH: This like Spinal Tap, isn’t it? [Laughs].

EJ: I think we are now on our sixth or seventh bass player. [Laughs].

HRH: Incredible!

EJ: But it’s hard because the three of us have a good chemistry and it’s always something – and not always from our side – that the bass player doesn’t fit. It’s like finding the right girlfriend. Sometimes you don’t like her and sometimes she doesn’t like you. It’s both ways. [Laughs].

HRH: Were there any tensions initially within the band because someone is into heavier music, and other people, like yourself, come from a singer / songwriter background?

EJ: That’s how it was on the first album – constant arguments and compromises because we are so different. Let’s say it takes two hours to make a song and then 20 hours of discussions for everyone to be happy with how it sounds. But in the end all three or four of us are able to say, “Yes, we are really happy with this song now.” But in the beginning there was a lot of tension there.

HRH: It’s quite incredible you say that because the whole album sounds so unified, as if you guys have such a clear idea about who you want to be and what you want to project. And it’s so finely wrought as if you sat down and thought about the entire concept for this band and for this album for a really long time. It sounds like you’ve been working on it for years and it’s now in perfect balance.

EJ: Thank you very much. But that’s how it is – it took us three or four years to find the sound. On the first album we were compromising in a different way, saying, “This song is going to be more like EJ, and this song is going to be more like Jimmy,” but in the end for the last two years we worked on the sound and the style that is us. It’s such a cliche to say, but it’s been a long journey looking and searching to find the perfect balance.

HRH: Did you start out with a clear idea of how you wanted to sound on this record and what you wanted to do, or did it all happen spontaneously as you went along?

EJ: No, honestly, I just love singing and what comes out is what we do. I was into so many different styles from the beginning that I don’t feel I have to compromise.

HRH: But how does songwriting work in Outshine? Do you all work on material together, do you all sit together in one room, or do you work on stuff separately and then bring the material to the table?

EJ: Normally we start out with just a guitar riff and then we just jam. Everybody gets in and contributes stuff. Then we argue for fifteen hours and basically that’s it. It starts with a riff and then we all help each other.

HRH: How do vocal melodies come to you? Do they come to you as you go about your daily business or do you have to sit down and isolate yourself?

EJ: [Laughs]. Both yes and no. Basically, when we jam, I don’t have any lyrics, I just sing melody lines, we figure out rhythms and melodies for the songs, and then maybe an idea for a song comes up and then I do things in my own time. I always walk around singing, so it just pops up.

HRH: Wow. Magic.

EJ: I think it’s more to do with the unconsciousness. It’s there somewhere and it just needs time to evolve. It’s jamming and then letting it go for a while, and then it comes back to you. [Laughs].

HRH: Many reviews draw attention to your vocal style. How has it developed? Is it something that you have worked on over the years, something that you have purposefully crafted and carefully constructed, or does it come naturally to you, sort of just comes out and that’s it?

EJ: It’s hard to say. Well, of course a big part of it is technique because I’ve been singing in choirs, I’ve been playing in a lot of different bands, everything from country to folk music, to rock. It’s just what I’ve been influenced by and also what I feel and how I like to sing. If you were listening to me with just an acoustic guitar, I’d sound like someone like Edith Piaf or Tracy Chapman. [Laughs]. In this band I have aggressiveness and anger to me that I’ve never had in other bands. I don’t know if it’s the influence of the guitarist or just the way those songs are written. On this album we are more aggressive, which probably reflects what we’ve been through.

HRH: Who were the singers you looked up to when you were growing up?

EJ: There were many. One singer no-one mentions that I sound like, which I sometimes feel, is Jeff Buckley whom I like. He was a big influence. But when I was younger I also liked Jim Morrison. Bruce Springsteen is another influence. I loved music since I was born, and it’s never been that much about certain genres. I just love what I hear, any guy or girl who can sing well. When I get the feeling, then I like them. Music is a feeling and I’m influenced by everyone who touches my heart.

HRH: When you formed this band five years ago, did you have a clear idea of what your audience was going to be like and who this music was going to be for? I don’t want to say “market”, but what kind of crowd did you have in mind?

EJ: Jimmy had this band as an ongoing project for a long time before that already, like eight years before I came into the picture. But I think – this is me speaking for Jimmy now – that they knew from day one what they wanted to sound like, but when I came in, it changed a bit. Because you get influenced by people you play with. Basically, we all agreed that there were going to be hard rock riffs, but it was also going to be very dynamic stuff. We don’t like music that’s too technical, we don’t like millions of guitar solos, we don’t like squeezed into one genre. We were after rock or metal with dynamics.

HRH: What are your hopes for this album? What would be the ultimate dream-come-true for this record?

EJ: The ultimate dream is to get the freaking foot through the door. It’s so hard these days. We love to play and everyone in the band really feels that this is a great album, and there are more songs to come. It’s hard when people are afraid to give you a small chance. A foot thorough the door would be good. Give us one chance at Wembley and we’ll fix it ourselves.

HRH: Are you hoping to tour this record?

EJ: We really want to tour with this record. We have toured in the States one time before, but we have to eat too. If we don’t get a sponsorship or don’t have songs on the radio, we’ll have to carry on with an odd concert here and there. But we’d really like to tour.

HRH: What is the Swedish rock scene like these days? Because journalists from outside are getting very mixed signals. Once it was all death metal and doom metal, and the perception was that it was all very dark, and then the other message we are getting is of the glam metal revival, and it’s suddenly all about the 80s. And now an act like yours comes along and we are totally confused.

EJ: I think the whole of Sweden are confused themselves. It’s a little bit of everything. I feel that if you go to rock festivals now, it’s everything from Slash, Guns’n’Roses and Iggy Pop to In Flames. And also before Gothenburg was all about metal, but now there is also indie and pop… I don’t think you can label those cities like you could before – in the 90s or the 80s. That’s my view. I feel it’s everything. Everybody’s trying to be different.

HRH: Is it a healthy environment though? Is it exciting? Is it the place where you want to be?

EJ: You mean the scene in Gothenburg or in Sweden?

HRH: In Sweden in general.

EJ: Yes, I think it’s healthy that there are a lot of styles.

HRH: I mean, you don’t sit there thinking, “Oh, we should really make a break and go to LA”?

EJ: No, the thing with Sweden is that we are a big export of music, but also it’s only eight or nine million people here. How many people are there in Europe? And it almost doesn’t matter if you make it here anymore. That doesn’t mean the rest of the world will find out about you. So in terms of being healthy, the answer is both yes and no. There are a lot of things happening, but, to be honest, I don’t think Sweden is the place where one has to stay forever. That’s my view. I think you need to get out to Europe or the States or wherever.

HRH: Japan?

EJ: Wherever. We played in the U.S. a couple of times and it’s harder there.

HRH: In what way?

EJ: Well, there so many fucking bands there! [Laughs].

HRH: The sheer competition! [Laughs].

EJ: And you need to drive for like 12 hours to get to the next town! [Laughs]. And nobody knows who you are, it’s hard to make a name for yourself. And even though people say that you have to get your stuff on the internet to get noticed, it still feels like you have to be on a label with money to get stuff out. It’s hard to get on the radio on your own. So wish us luck.

HRH: It is a combination of luck and being with the right label, and all sorts of things. But listen, thank you very much for your time. If you ever find yourselves in London, please get in touch for a live review.

EJ: We are hoping to tour, and to get either to London or to Berlin.

HRH: Sure, that would be amazing! And good luck with the record and with touring.

EJ: Thank you very much.

HRH: My pleasure, and thank you for your time.

Photographs by Olof Stenlund

Steve Blaze of Lillian Axe

by Deb Rao
Staff Writer

Lillian Axe will release their latest album Deep Red Shadows via Love & War Records on July 20. Recently Lillian Axe announced that former Metal Church singer Ronny Munroe will be taking over vocals duties replacing Derrick LeFevre on Aug. 1. Ronny is slated to make his debut with the band at B.B.Kings in New York City on August 9th. Lillian Axe has just announced that they will be performing at Rock N America Festival on July 25. For tour dates visit www.myspace.com/lillianaxe.

Guitarist Steve Blaze has checked in with Hardrock Haven to discuss the upcoming tour and the future of the band with new singer Ronny Munroe.

HRH: Steve, Thank you for checking in with Hardrock Haven to discuss the exciting news regarding Ronny Munroe joining Lillian Axe as new singer. How did this all transpire? What prompted Derrick LeFevre to leave the band? Was he tired of being on the road?

STEVE: About a week before we started to do his vocals, right in the middle of doing the record he informed us that he wasn’t going to go out on the road and tour. He would only do sporadic things here and there. That really took us all by surprise.

HRH: That was a bad time to leave. You are making a record and naturally you want it to be the best you can. You would figure you would be touring with the singer that is on the record. Correct? You must have been in shock? What was your reaction to the news of his departure?

STEVE: Exactly. We were totally in shock. I was like; you got to be kidding me. Not again. He wanted to stay closer to home. For whatever reason. We never really got a real answer on it. He didn’t want to go out and tour other than doing a few shows here and there like weekend warrior stuff.

HRH: Looking at the situation, it could be a blessing in disguise because Ronny Munroe has a great following and vocal style. How did you get Ronny to join the band?

STEVE: I met Ronny in Seattle two years ago. I always keep in mind other talented musicians that I have met. Because you never know when yourself or somebody is going to look for somebody of good caliber. As soon as it happened, I wasn’t expecting it. The first thing I thought of was Wow. You can find guitar players or drummers those guys are a dime a dozen. But to find a singer even a decent singer is so difficult to. I started thinking not only did we play with Ronny; he was really good a great front man and really nice guy. But I ran into him at Rocklahoma as well. I talked to him there for ten minutes and just that little bit of a click it told me enough that I wanted to talk to him. We contacted him. I did my homework here. I thought I got to look beyond the box here and don’t think there is going to be another voice exactly like Derrick or Ron. Because those two guys very similar to each other. The chances of that happening for the third time are going to be virtually impossible. Do we really have to have that? I need a great frontman and a great human being. I need an individual that is going to come in and not only sing well but be an integral part of everything that we have done. A person that we want to have in our family. We started talking and we got along really well. He researched Lillian. We researched him. We flew him down and we spent three days together. We were joined at the hip for three days. He walked in and the blend was there. The magic was there. I do all the back-up harmonies live. He and I were spot on. Lot of times when you harmonize with a singer you have to learn all the nuances and really understand how they sing. So you can match your harmonies up with them. He and I just blended perfectly. It was great. It was better than I thought it was going to be. We got along just wonderfully. I am really anticipating and looking forward to where we are going to be able to go with this. It is a blessing. God has blessed us with the right guy. We didn’t have to search that far. My fear was sitting around and sitting though video after video listening. How long do you really find out who is the right guy by listening to a guy sing? There are a lot of good voices out there. But what are they going to be like onstage or with you? What are they going to be like living with you on the road? Those are the kind of things you have to look for. You might find a guy that is just the perfect talent and he likes to have sex with chickens. (Laughter) I don’t know what somebody is going to be like or what kind of weirdness they are going to bring in? We were fortunate in that Ronny and I when we talked to each other and thought that is exactly what I was thinking. Like we were talking to ourselves. It was just meant to be.

HRH: It is awesome that you found a perfect replacement. Do you think the direction and signature sound of Lillian Axe will change or be affected by the new line-up?

STEVE: No, Lillian Axe is going to always sound like Lillian Axe. From the first album up to the new record so much has changed. There is so much growth and directional change but it all sounds like Lillian Axe. The only thing I can really attribute that to be is one of the main things I have always been the prominent songwriter in the band. I utilize the strength of the guys that are around me. I know how they shine and what their strengths are. When I write material I know that they are going to bring the best out of these songs. My songwriting that won’t change. It will improve and continue to grow and get better and continue to grow. Having somebody like Ronny will just allow me to write stronger and better songs and take the band I wouldn’t say a different direction but a growth of direction. He is the kind of guy that will sit there and will work with me. He is a lyricist and I am going to work with him and collaborate with him lyrically as well. Because I respect what he can bring to the table. I am not going to lie to you. I have always been very protective of the songwriting of this band in the way that I openly welcome ideas. If somebody brought ten great ideas to me that were better for the band. It is not about me having my songs on there. It is about what is the best for the Lillian Axe record. I am always open to collaborating. Most of the time the band has been like hey we love your writing. That is the signature of the band. Keep doing it. Now Ronny is going to be able to bring his own thing to it as well. I think it is just going to improve everything all around.

HRH: I totally agree. Now the new album Deep Red Shadows comes out on July 20. How did you come up with the title of the album?

STEVE: Actually, we have a song on our Psychoschizophrenia record called the “Deep Blue Shadows.” Because of the fact that this album started out as an EP with just four or five songs that we were going to put out and be loosely based around vampire lore and immortality. It had a gothic kind of feel to it. As we got into we started realizing that there are other songs in the past that would be great acoustically done that would fit the theme of this record as well. There is a dark side and light side but everything is kind of heavy passionate kind of feel to the whole record. I love the title Deep Red Shadows. I am glad it popped into my head when it did. But the whole blood theme of this record. I always thought that would be a great title for an album of songs that have a thematic red line running through it. So I wrote the instrumental called Deep Red Shadows. It works perfectly with the whole theme of this record.

HRH: That is great. The one thing that you mentioned is that there are a lot of acoustic tracks on this album. Now you worked with some great people on this album. Sylvia Massy produced “47 Ways To Die.” Tell us about this song that is the upcoming single for the album.

STEVE: : Sylvia Massy actually mixed “47 Ways To Die.” One of the gentlemen that is working our record at radio knows Sylvia and he brings her songs now and then. She liked a couple of them. She heard this song and really liked it. I was very honored to hear her comments on that. It really made me feel good because of her abilities and knowledge for her to like the song as much as she did. She also wanted to re-track the whole song. So due to the time restraints we couldn’t do that. The next best thing we sent the tracks to her in California. She mixed the song from scratch. She did an amazing job.

HRH: When are you going to be shooting the video for “47 Ways To Die?”

STEVE: We are talking about that right now. There is so much going on because the record comes out in a few weeks. Then we got to work Ronny in. The song is just going to radio right now. Hopefully, we are going to have some success with that because videos and singles go hand in hand. I would say September we will be able to knock down a video for this song. We are throwing some ideas around right now.

HRH: You also worked with Ty Tabor from Kings X on the song “The Quenching Of Human Life.” How did this transpire?

STEVE: I have known Ty over the years. I really like Kings X a lot. I was able to be instrumental in getting Ty hooked up with a guitar company that I have my own guitar line through. Now Ty has his own guitar line too. It is called Gilford Guitars. I have done a few guitar shows with Ty over the last couple of years. I got to hang with him. So I asked him if he wanted to master the record and do a solo on one of the songs. He was happy to oblige. He did a great job. It was a great honor.

HRH: Tell us about the upcoming tour in support of your upcoming release Deep Red Shadows.

Steve: We just got added on to the Rock N America Festival on July 25 in Oklahoma at 3 P.M. Then we come back and do a New Orleans show, a show in Louisiana and then we pick up with Ronny for 2 1/2 weeks. I do know we are doing B.B.Kings in NY. The last day of the tour we will be on Eddie’s Trunk show. I know it is an East Coast kind of thing. We are still waiting to get the schedule.

HRH: We wish you the best of luck on the upcoming tour and with your new vocalist Ronny Munroe. I hope to catch the band at one of the East Coast shows this summer.

STEVE: Thanks for the support. Stay tuned for more East Coast dates. C’mon out and say hello.

Lillian Axe will release Deep Red Shadows via Love & War Records on July 20th. Guitarist and founder of Lillian Axe guitarist Steve Blaze checks in with Hardrock Haven to discuss the upcoming release with a special Track By Track. “47 Ways To Die” is slated to be the first single and being sent to radio stations across the country with a video that is scheduled for a September filming. The song was mixed by famed producer Sylvia Massy.

The old cliche’ that life revolves around change could not hold more true for the band Lillian Axe. As previously reported, singer Derrick LeFevre is leaving the band on July 31. Former Metal Church singer Ronny Munroe is stepping up to the plate as lead vocalist. But not before the release of the new Lillian Axe album featuring Derrick LeFevre.

They say you can tell the strength of a good band by just the way a simple acoustic song is performed. Founding member Steve Blaze takes the band to new heights with his guitar wizardry on the acoustic re-make of four songs that have become Lillian Axe classics and fan favorites. The entire album has a very young “Twilight” vampire feel and mystic ambiance. The song ” Nocturnal Symphony” would be a great song title for the next “New Moon” saga. The band is evolving and will be performing to new and old fans on July 25 at Rock N America with a set time of 3 P.M.

Guitarist Steve Blaze takes on the horrors of the oil spill and everyday real pain that the people from the Gulf Coast are facing everyday on the song “The Quenching Of Human Life” and the Katrina aftermath and recent oil spil on “Sad Day On Planet Earth.”

Hardrock Haven is proud to feature a special track by track by founding member of Lillian Axe Steve Blaze.

Under The Same Moon -”It tells a story of an actual individual being transformed into a vampire. The whole physical and emotional changes that he goes through as he watches his last sunset and realizes that all of his loved ones will now be gone from him. His entire life will change. The pains of falling in love with people that going through life that will already die as you go on. The curse of immortality. It is a very dynamic, passionate roller coaster ride of a song. Actually, my personal favorite on the record.”

47 Ways To Die -”Is about mankind’s penchant for trying to kill itself all of the time. We have become a society that we do so many things to get ahead. We are so greedy and selfish that we don’t care and the reality is that we sell ourselves and we hurt ourselves in getting to that one goal. So many people around the planet have turned so selfish. There are a lot of wonderful people on this planet but at the same token, I see us at a downward spiral because quite frankly, individuals in all societies have started to become really self indulgent and self absorbed. As we get like that everybody is trying to be the best looking, the richest, the best in their field. You see people going to no ends to get to those situations for themselves. In the meantime, they leave a wake of hurt people behind them. Basically, they kill themselves physically and spiritually at the same token. 47 ways is just an arbitrary number showing there is so many different ways that we can kill ourselves and there is only really one-way to live. If man can screw himself up, he will find a way to do it.”

The Quenching Of Human Life – “This song is about how frail this life is and how easily we can lose it. Time waits for no man. Time is going to go on. You make the best of it with what you will. It is all up to us to do what we can do to make our lives better. You can’t blame other people. You have to move forward because life is so fragile and so easily extinguished and taken from us.”

A Minute Of Years – “It is about the curse of immortality. You can’t appreciate life if you don’t have death involved. You can’t appreciate goodness with bad. There is no reference point. What if we were given the gift of immortality and we could live forever? What kind of pains would that put you through?”

Nobody Knows (acoustic) – “This was on the first album. A lot of people thought that was going to be a big single for us. I wrote this song a long time ago. We did it acoustically because I really wanted Derrick to get the shot of singing it. Because he did such a great job on it. It is always such a big crowd pleaser. Because our first album it is not the easier thing in the world to find. It felt like it was a song that needed to be re-done. The method in which we record acoustic songs and utilize the keyboards. If you take the acoustic songs on this record and crank them up especially with headphones they sound so good. Derrick did such a great vocal job. It sounds like you are sitting in the room with 3 or 4 guitar players. They just sound so nice. We wanted to take a few of our catalog songs that were fan favorites and re-do them a little modernize and give them a different kind of feel to them. I thought it was time it got rejuvenated.”

The Day I Met You (acoustic) – “If this song was on Top 40 radio, I think it would be one of our biggest songs in our career. This song has gotten so many hits on you tube. Even metal heads listen to that song and get choked up. I wrote this song. It is on Psychoschizophrenia. Once again, I thought that it needed to be rejuvenated. Recorded it a little differently. The original version is just one guitar and vocal. Added some strength with cellos. I had Derrick sing it his style. It is one of those songs if I hadn’t written I would have been jealous of who wrote the song. It came to me very quickly and it was very pure. I think it is probably the most liked of all Lillian ballads.”

Sad Day On Planet Earth (acoustic) -”This was the title track on the last record. I wanted to see how it would be done with all acoustic parts. It is about how beautiful this planet is
but how we keep screwing it up. Like the oil spill we are dealing with here in Louisiana. Every time I write a song it seems like people prove me right in my ideas.”

Nocturnal Symphony (acoustic) -”This was on the last record too. In a heavier version. It has been one of the fan favorites live. Being that this album had kind of a vampiric overtone to it. This song is a vampire love song. It is about an individual offering immortality to his love interest. We wanted to do this all acoustically as well. When you do a song acoustically it allows you to approach the vocals a little differently. It allows you to utilize keyboards in a different way when you can get them in a mix and they are not drowned out by drums and bass. We took a different approach to this song,”

Deep Red Shadows (instrumental) – “That was the last thing I wrote for the record. I have a lot of acoustic ideas. I wrote it and recorded it. I had no idea what I was going to do with it. But I just started playing and that is what came out. I was happy with it so I did the overdubs and layered it and tried to make it a beautiful ending to the album.”

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