{"id":41327,"date":"2014-06-09T16:01:17","date_gmt":"2014-06-09T21:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=41327"},"modified":"2014-07-08T07:09:31","modified_gmt":"2014-07-08T12:09:31","slug":"interview-with-kip-winger-of-winger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/interview-with-kip-winger-of-winger\/","title":{"rendered":"Kip Winger of Winger"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s been five years since some of us pumped our fists to \u201cDeal With The Devil\u201d and dealt with the \u201cStone Cold Killer\u201d \u2026 as well as walked down memory lane when, during the very same gig, the classic Winger tearjerker \u201cMiles Away\u201d started with the well-known line, \u201cSo this is love, or so you tell me \u2026\u201d The American quartet are not to rest on their laurels, though \u2013 and finally, after these five long years, the follow-up to Karma<\/em> has seen the light of day. The new Winger album, titled Better Days Comin\u2019<\/em>, was released a few months ago via Frontiers records. <\/p>\n

Although busy with the band currently on the road, frontman Kip Winger shared a few concise thoughts on Better Days Comin\u2019, giving Hardrock Haven readers a sneak peek into the process of making the album and Winger\u2019s current plans.<\/p>\n

\"Winger<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: It took the band five years to complete a follow-up to 2009 Karma<\/em>. I believe the band members were engaged in various side activities throughout this period \u2013 can you tell us more about what kept you busy?<\/p>\n

Kip Winger: We all have various outside projects. Reb has Whitesnake, Rod teaches at Berkley, I have my solo and classical projects, John has Starship \u2026 on this record we got together when everyone was available.<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: Can you take us through your personal highlights of Better Days Comin\u2019<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Kip Winger: Highlights to a record are different for everyone. So I leave that up to the listeners. The highlights for me are writing and recording with such fantastic musicians. They can play anything I throw at them.<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: Many reviewers define Better Days Comin\u2019<\/em> as a cross between IV<\/em> and Karma<\/em> with some melodic undertones of the early Winger. How would you describe it music-wise?<\/p>\n

Kip Winger: Exactly that. It turned out to be a collection of every aspect of what we do.<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: Where did the idea of the title come from? <\/p>\n

Kip Winger: It was just the name of a song. And a friend suggested it made a good title. After a while it stuck.<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: How did the songwriting process look and did it evolve throughout the years?<\/p>\n

Kip Winger: It\u2019s always been the same, Reb and I sit down with a drum machine and knock out riffs. We\u2019re a riff-oriented band. We start with that and then add sections and melody. Lyrics always come last. We\u2019ve never changed the formula.<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: So far, three official videos were released: \u201cRat Race,\u201d \u201cMidnight Driver Of A Love Machine\u201d and \u201cTin Soldiers.\u201d What are the reasons behind such choices?<\/p>\n

Kip Winger: Basically those are the first ones finished, we\u2019re still finishing “Queen Babylon” as well. We knew these were the ones to release first, the order didn\u2019t matter so much to me. Any of these three would have been fine.<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: Is the elaborate guitar outro to the final track \u201cOut Of This World\u201d a deliberate reference to one of your biggest ballads \u201cHeaded For A Heartbreak\u201d?<\/p>\n

Kip Winger: Well, it\u2019s sort of a tradition to always out a song with a long guitar solo at the end of our records. \u201cWitness on Karma\u201d and now this. I like to showcase the players in the band as much as possible. I think the \u201cOut Of This World\u201d solo is one of Reb\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: Why did \u201cAnother Beautiful Day\u201d remain only a bonus track?<\/p>\n

Kip Winger: Record company decision, And I\u2019m not a big fan of records with more than ten songs on them. I\u2019m from the \u201870s when albums only had eight songs on them but ALL the songs were great!<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven:I believe Better Days Comin\u2019<\/em> is available in a standard (CD) and deluxe (CD+DVD) edition. Will you follow the current trend and release the album also on vinyl?<\/p>\n

Kip Winger: Good question \u2026 I believe this and Karma<\/em> are available on vinyl. I never listen to vinyl but I think it very cool that people still do.<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: With a dozen U.S. and U.K. tour dates already announced, can we expect more dates and venues to be announced soon for the fall\/winter?<\/p>\n

Kip Winger: We\u2019re in the process of building our touring schedule through the end of the year. Hopefully we\u2019ll be able to go back to Europe and do a more extensive tour in the fall . <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: What is Winger up to at the moment? Any particular plans?<\/p>\n

Kip Winger: Right now we\u2019re just doing live shows. Working out the kinks in the new songs, figuring out what works and what doesn\u2019t. It\u2019s always a blast to be on the road with Winger, we have a lot of laughs.<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: Thank you for the interview? Is there anything you\u2019d like to add in the end?<\/p>\n

Kip Winger: Thanks for the support!<\/p>\n

Visit Winger online: http:\/\/www.wingertheband.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Columnist — It\u2019s been five years since some of us pumped our fists to \u201cDeal With The Devil\u201d and dealt with the \u201cStone Cold Killer\u201d \u2026 as well as walked down […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":41330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10850],"tags":[9407,5081,203,9408,9405,9406],"class_list":{"0":"post-41327","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcint2014","8":"tag-better-days-comin","9":"tag-frontier-records","10":"tag-interview","11":"tag-karma","12":"tag-kip-winger","13":"tag-winger"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}