{"id":69016,"date":"2020-12-13T17:03:14","date_gmt":"2020-12-13T22:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=69016"},"modified":"2020-12-13T17:04:46","modified_gmt":"2020-12-13T22:04:46","slug":"interview-with-stevie-janevski-of-wicked-smile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2020\/interview-with-stevie-janevski-of-wicked-smile\/","title":{"rendered":"Stevie Janevski of Wicked Smile"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Alexandra Mrozowska
\u2014 Senior Columnist \u2014<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The general assumption about the \u201880s Hard Rock scene is that it was style over substance and perhaps that\u2019s why the genre is more often thought of in fashion terms rather than in terms of content. Snooty music scholars minded on criticizing everything that was \u201cin\u201d then may for instance argue that almost all songs of the era revolved around parties, love and sex. Well, maybe with certain yet rare exceptions to this perfect soundtrack to reckless youth in the Reagan era, like Poison\u2019s \u201cSomething To Believe In\u201d or Warrant\u2019s \u201cUncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u201d. Still, nine out of ten people remember Poison more for \u201cTalk Dirty To Me\u201d and Warrant for \u201cCherry Pie\u201d or \u201cHeaven.\u201d It\u2019s a bit more of a variety with contemporary bands though. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although inspired much both with the \u201880s sound and the aesthetics of the era, they\u2019re not shy of more serious subject matter every once in a while \u2013 from political to social issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of them is the Wicked Smile led by mastermind and main songwriter Stevie Janevski. Having already released a bunch of singles and their first EP Delirium <\/em>in July 2020, now this group from the Land Down Under is preparing now to march into 2021 with a brand new single and also \u2013 a full-length debut currently in the works. Hardrock Haven caught up with Stevie to find out more details about Wicked Smile, collaboration with Paul Laine and Bruno Ravel of Danger Danger and The Defiants and playing Melodic Rock in the land of the mighty AC\/DC. And, as it\u2019s supposed to be when two fans of the \u201880s scene get together, to talk some influences as well…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hardrock Haven: More and more bands that are featured on Hardrock Haven and other webzines these days come from Australia. Is this due to how rapidly the musical scene develops right now, or is it simply better promoted worldwide?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: That\u2019s a good question. I think that we in Australia do our best to promote [ourselves] \u2013 maybe because we\u2019re a bit far away from the other Rock scenes of the world. But we do work very, very hard and I know with Wicked Smile we try our best to get our music out there and spread the word as much as possible. It\u2019s a tricky question. But I don\u2019t know if we are working harder [than others] \u2013 I can\u2019t really say, unfortunately. But we do work hard! (laughs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: (laughs) Speaking of the Australian scene, the obvious AC\/DC association makes it a bit difficult to see past this \u201cAussie pub rock\u201d sound… Do you see a lot of variety when it comes to the local scene?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: Absolutely. It\u2019s very true what you said… I love AC\/DC, but that\u2019s one of the first things that people get in their head when they think about the Australian Rock music. They think of AC\/DC. And it\u2019s a fair point in some way I guess, because this band\u2019s so successful, but I know that in terms of my influences and the band\u2019s influences, there are so many different ones apart from AC\/DC… It might be anything from Melodic Rock to Glam Rock to Hard Rock\/Heavy Metal or Hair Metal… whatever it\u2019d be. We like a bunch of different music and you put it all together and you end up with Wicked Smile music. So anything from Icon, Dokken, Skid Row, through Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Savatage, Queensr\u00ffche to even heavier stuff… And in general, there is a lot of variety when it comes to the Australian scene \u2013 we\u2019ve got lots of Rock acts. For instance my daughter, Cassidy Paris, who\u2019s just turned eighteen years old, she\u2019s a Rock singer and a part of a new movement. And all those Glam Rock bands are here, and it goes all the way to Power Metal to even Death Metal…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And is there any influence of yours or your bandmates\u2019 that your listeners might be surprised with, or any act or genre you\u2019d consider your guilty pleasure?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: I\u2019ve been very open for many years. If a song is good or an album is good, then it\u2019s good \u2013 no matter what genre. So, whether if it\u2019s an acoustic or if it\u2019s a full-blown electric, you can normally tell if something\u2019s a good song just by the voice of the singer and the good melody. So, I like anything from bands like Loverboy all the way through to the really, really heavy stuff. I\u2019ve grown up with a lot of Heavy Metal bands, like Accept… I also played in a Power Metal band Black Majesty for twenty years, so I know the scene very well, and toured around the world playing with some of these bands and has been fortune enough to play some of the biggest stadiums. As is Danny [Cecati], our singer. He actually came from bands like Pegasus and Eyefear \u2013 and Pegasus in particular got to tour overseas with HammerFall, Primal Fear and so on… There\u2019s lots of influences. From me, I guess it\u2019s a lot of the Melodic Rock stuff \u2013 I love Rick Springfield too, which surprises some people, but then again I love stuff like Dream Evil as well, which is more Heavy\/Power Metal…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: With all that \u201880s vibe and some modern touch to Wicked Smile, do you follow other newer bands from other parts of the world and are there any you found particularly impressive?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: Yeah, I definitely do. I\u2019ve been a big fan of music before becoming a musician. First of all, from America I really liked the band called the Biters and I like Tuk Smith, their former frontman who\u2019s now gone solo. For other bands, I like the Scandinavian [band] H.E.A.T. which has been around for a while now, as well as Avantasia… But if it\u2019s good, it\u2019s good \u2013 it is true. There\u2019s a lot of Scandinavian bands that seem to be dominating the music scene right now, but I\u2019d like to think Australia has many bands too which are definitely up and coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely. And speaking of impressive \u2013 as this difficult year slowly comes to an end, what do you think are the best albums released in 2020 and why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: I\u2019d probably say one of my favorites is H.E.A.T [H.E.A.T II<\/em>] \u2013 it was just a very consistent album. And it\u2019s gonna be interesting now that the vocalist change all over again as I know they\u2019re going back to who they started it with, but I think Erik Gr\u00f6nwall did a great job and he\u2019s a great singer and a fantastic frontman. Some other stuff that I really liked this year was obviously AC\/DC that\u2019s come out recently… I also really like the Vandenberg CD. I think it\u2019s good and I really like [Adrian] Vandenberg as a guitar player for quite a while. And there\u2019s another one by Michael Grant and the Assassins; that\u2019s another favorite. He used to play in a band called Endeverafter and his new CD is a bit more modern than that with perhaps some Butch Walker [ex-SouthGang, Marvelous 3] influence as well… I also listened to the old stuff a lot, anything from Ozzy Osbourne solo to Gary Moore to TNT… Shotgun Messiah is still one of my favorite bands and I\u2019m hearing they\u2019re gonna be coming out with something new again, so I\u2019m looking forward to it. Anyway, I can say I\u2019m still a fan of buying CDs \u2013 I still like to own the real thing because of the liner notes and credits and stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Speaking of releasing music, in spite of all the things going on 2020 was an important year for Wicked Smile. First you started with singles, releasing them one by one, which might not be the usual band policy these days…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: Well, Wicked Smile is a band I basically formed last year. And in the beginning, it was just myself and Danny Cecati, the lead vocalist. I\u2019ve been working with Paul Laine [The Defiants, ex-Danger Danger] previously with my other band The Radio Sound, so there was a good connection. For me it was all about having good songs and I wanted to get back to my roots. Years and years ago, one of the first bands that I\u2019ve played in was a band called Cyclone Tracy and that band had more of a Hard Rock sound, kind of along the lines of Skid Row, Sven Gali, I guess Crashd\u00efet these days… that kind of style and sound. And I wanted to get back to my roots a little bit there. We recorded the first single \u201cWe Fall\u201d in December \u2013 we put a little sample of it on the net and the response to it was just fantastic, so we were like, \u201cLook, the album\u2019s not ready yet, so let\u2019s release the single and let\u2019s see what people think…\u201d We were just blown away by the response when it came out in January. Then we thought, \u201cWell, we\u2019re not there yet. We haven\u2019t got an album\u2019s worth of songs, but we do have many songs \u2013 maybe about four or five \u2013 so let\u2019s release a single every month or close to it\u201d. That way we\u2019re keeping the quality, but we\u2019re also developing our fanbase which has grown really well and the response has been fantastic. And then we released the EP in July and the response has been absolutely awesome, and that was the Delirium <\/em>EP\/CD. Right now we\u2019re still writing a full-length debut album, so that will be out probably mid-next year roughly. And one thing about Wicked Smile is that we really pride ourselves on our lyrics in terms of we cover things such as [issues] about the government, or about bullying which is a real issue \u2013 particularly with teenagers. A real problem for all ages actually, but I\u2019ve watched my daughter going through high school and sometimes she was given a hard time because she wants to play rock\u2019n\u2019roll and it\u2019s not hip these days… So these little things that I just really wanted really to catch on that I think are important and people need to be aware of them to hopefully make the world a better place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Exactly, you\u2019ve just mentioned \u201cStronger\u201d which is perhaps the most significant one. So as you\u2019ve said, this kind of idea developed from watching your daughter growing up but isn\u2019t it more and more common? Do you think bullying might be a particular problem for the young Rock and Metal fans, who these days may be bullied for the mere fact of having a different music taste than the rest of their peers? Should the Rock community try to do something about it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Stevie Janevski: Well, I think it\u2019s been an issue for many years, because Rock and Heavy Metal has always been swept under the carpet. I know in the \u201880s and the \u201890s it got brought to the forefront, but you know, a person who wore a denim or leather jacket with all the patches and stuff or had long hair was always looked upon as someone different and frowned upon for being a little bit different. That\u2019s quite strange to me, because I see it as unique whereas some people say it\u2019s different and being an easy target. I still think it\u2019s harder now because Rock and Heavy Metal is definitely way in the background because it hasn\u2019t got a band like Def Leppard or Bon Jovi that set the forefront. So that makes it a lot more challenging, but at the same time as I said, there\u2019s a uniqueness and coolness about it when the Hard Rock and Heavy Metal people come together. But for the general community \u2013 for example, when you\u2019re in high school and you\u2019re one or two of these people \u2013 it\u2019s very, very hard and very challenging. But I know when I was in high school, if you were carrying a guitar case and going to school and playing the guitar in a music class, you were considered more of a cool person. These days it\u2019s not because you\u2019re a kind of a weird person \u2013 that\u2019s too different. People just don\u2019t understand others who are not into what they\u2019re into, and they don\u2019t even want to. So I\u2019m a big believer in uniqueness and praising people who are unique as opposed to trying to put them down. I\u2019m very, very proud of my daughter because of the way she\u2019s been able to speak to myself and the rest of our family about that. She gets to talk about how some people have given her a hard time, but some people are not as fortunate to have that kind of family, so that makes it hard. Cassidy\u2019s doing great because she has a lot of supporters online as well as\u00a0 she also became a person who indicates for anti-bullying Heavy Metal community called Metalheads Against Bullying. That\u2019s been really positive for her, but has she had comments on YouTube or via Messenger like \u201cThis is not good. You can\u2019t do this…\u201d? Absolutely, and that\u2019s really sad. My point is, if you don\u2019t have anything nice to say, don\u2019t say it. If you don\u2019t like it, that\u2019s fine, no problem. But why to give somebody a hard time about it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely! And as you\u2019ve already mentioned as well, the first single \u201cWe Fall\u201d also doesn\u2019t entirely fall into the scheme of \u201880s Hard Rock lyric-wise. Do you think the days when Hard Rock lyrics revolved only around the themes of relationships and parties are long gone now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: Well, I don\u2019t think so… You know, we\u2019re still touching upon that. \u201cWe Fall\u201d is initially about being proud of being a rock\u2019n\u2019roller, because we mention a person wearing Heavy Metal patches, tattoos, leather jackets etc. and that actually comes through in the first verse. And only then we kind of drift into talking about the government and stuff. But I think there is a place [for that], but at the same time I think people want to hear a variety and we also have a song called \u201cLove\u2019s Got A Hold On You\u201d which is more tradition lyric-wise. I guess if the things are done well, it works no matter what because we\u2019ve had a lot of response for \u201cLove\u2019s Got A Hold On You\u201d and that\u2019s more traditional one about meeting a partner. So it\u2019s gonna be a balance for my band, I think. We\u2019re more than just writing about the traditional stuff. Having said that, I love bands like Warrant and [songs like] \u201cCherry Pie\u201d or \u201cMr Rainmaker\u201d… I mean, in particular, if you listen to their second album Cherry Pie<\/em>, songs like \u201cUncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u201d and \u201cMr Rainmaker\u201d… they\u2019re great, they\u2019re one of my favorite songs ever in any genre (laughs). So if it\u2019s done well, I think it\u2019s good, but if it\u2019s bland or the quality\u2019s not there it can be cringeworthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: You\u2019ve just mentioned Warrant in terms of songwriting being one of their particular strengths from early on and as you\u2019re a main songwriter for Wicked Smile, is Jani Lane one of your role models when it comes to songwriting? And who else is on this list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: Of course. For me, Jani Lane is just one of the best songwriters ever and it\u2019s really a huge loss to the industry. Ronnie James Dio, the same thing \u2013 I\u2019m a huge Dio fan, solo, Black Sabbath, Rainbow… I guess Paul Stanley from KISS is a huge influence as well \u2018cause I remember just listening to KISS as a kid and just being so inspired… and I started to realize that a lot of KISS songs that I loved were Paul Stanley\u2019s songs. Not always, but predominantly. And I love his 1978 solo album. It\u2019s one of my favorite albums of all time as well as his Live To Win <\/em>album [2006]. Also Dave \u201cThe Snake\u201d Sabo and Rachel Bolan of Skid Row \u2013 definite favorites! I actually had the pleasure of meeting Dave in Wales in the United Kingdom when we were billed together and they were headlining and it was just a buzz for me. Actually, I told him, \u201cLook, you\u2019re one of my favorite songwriters and Skid Row has always been one of my favorite bands.\u201d He was lovely. It\u2019s great to meet your heroes and see they\u2019re actually nice people… I\u2019d also add Butch Walker [ex-SouthGang] from his Marvelous 3 era \u2013 I really like his stuff… Europe\u2019s Joey Tempest is another one and I think he\u2019s just a fantastic songwriter and a great singer. And Europe played here for the first time quite recently \u2013 I think it was last year \u2013 as they have never toured Australia previously… They were amazing and he [Tempest] absolutely blew me away… And Iron Maiden\u2019s [Steve] Harris of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Too many to speak about them all probably… Previously you\u2019ve mentioned working with Paul Laine when the singles we discussed were in the pipeline yet. I believe the band was in the middle of line-up changes or line-up completion then, especially with Paul supplying bass and backing vocals. With Dave Graham now joining the band as the second guitarist and the rhythm section also in place, do you think you\u2019ve finally reached stability in terms of a line-up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: One hundred percent yes. It was more like forming a band then \u2013 wasn\u2019t really like ex-members or anything like that… In the beginning \u2013 as I said, in November 2019 \u2013 I had the idea of writing some songs and after writing a couple of tunes, I think about three songs in total, I sent them to Paul, who\u2019s my friend, to Canada. I asked him, \u201cWhat do you think, what\u2019s your opinion on the songs…?\u201d He loved them and he helped me write a couple of them and he\u2019s just a fantastic, brilliant producer, songwriter, musician… And from there, we formed the band pretty quickly. A couple of months later we had Glen Cav who\u2019s an awesome bass player, fantastic musician and a nice person. We also auditioned drummers and we settled on Jason Tyro \u2013 again, a fantastic drummer! And recently, as you\u2019ve said, we completed the line-up with Dave Graham on guitar who\u2019s a brilliant guitar player in terms of he plays melodic and can shred as well. So, we\u2019re very happy with things we\u2019re at although we\u2019ve been a band probably now for about six months whereas Dave Graham just joined the band in the last fortnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: We\u2019ve just mentioned Paul Laine collaboration, and it needs to be added as well that he produced the EP too while Bruno Ravel also of Danger Danger and The Defiants did the mastering part. I know you\u2019ve already worked with Paul on your other band The Radio Sun, but what kind of impact did he and Bruno have on the Wicked Smile recordings?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: I\u2019ve known both Paul and Bruno for quite a long time because I have played in Paul Laine\u2019s solo band \u2013 his backing band \u2013 and it\u2019s been quite a few years. So it\u2019s a friendship as well as a working relationship. Bruno I met when I was in America, playing some shows as well… So, again it\u2019s about working with good and talented people. They have definitely brought the expertise to Wicked Smile. So as I said earlier, I have written quite a few songs with Paul and he\u2019s also helped playing bass when there wasn\u2019t a bass player. Glen Cav has been playing all the bass recently, but we surely appreciate Paul\u2019s stepping in there for sure. And a lot of people don\u2019t know that Paul was actually a bass player before [becoming] a singer, a keyboard player or a guitar player \u2013 a fantastic bass player! And Bruno put the icing on the cake in terms of mastering the CD and giving his opinion on things \u2013 I think \u201cDaze Of Delirium\u201d  is his favorite song. That made me smile, because this was the one that was a little bit different to the rest of the songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Was the current pandemic situation we deal with worldwide reflected in the songwriting process for the EP?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: Lyrically no, I\u2019d say. Maybe on \u201cDaze Of Delirium,\u201d as that kind of focuses on mental health \u2013 but the other songs not so much. Just because I wanted to have a break from what was happening. In particular in Melbourne, Australia, where I live, we were in hard lockdown for about six months and I think in April we were up to eight hundred cases a day almost, and right now we\u2019re on zero. So it took us about five-six months to get things back on track \u2013 it was really, really strict where you could only go to the store to buy groceries and you could only go out for an hour-long walk and you still had to wear a mask etc. so it was all very strict and hard for everyone that lives here. But for me it was a time when I could just go into the studio and work on the material \u2013 and even now I continue to write songs. We have a new single coming out on the 15th<\/sup> of January, so we\u2019re really, really excited about that because of the hard work that was put in during the lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Can you actually reveal anything about the new single?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: Sure. The new single is gonna be called \u201cKiller At Large\u201d, and the whole idea with this song is that I wanted to get back to more of a Dokken or Icon-kind of riff with maybe some TNT in between as well. I just messed around with that idea for about two months and I\u2019ve just finished all the music. We started working on the melody and again, on this one I asked Paul to help me out and we\u2019ve written this together. Lyrically, the title of \u201cKiller At Large\u201d sounds in some ways one-dimensional, but there\u2019s more to that. You\u2019ll have to hear it to understand, but it\u2019s got a little bit of old school and I think it will work beautifully with the other songs that we\u2019ve released so far. A very catchy song and definitely a riff-driven one, and in some ways maybe a little bit of Lynch Mob influence in the guitar parts… or that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been told by some members of the band (laughs). We\u2019re excited to release that and just keep moving forward, so that single will come out on the 15th<\/sup> of January as a digital release and then, slowly we\u2019ll work towards releasing the album maybe mid-2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And is it too early to ask about the details of the upcoming album?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: Not at all. We\u2019ve also got some other songs finished and we\u2019re probably going to be finishing off two or three more songs and then the whole album will be done. But then it takes time to reflect, and I\u2019m very keen on making sure the song order works really well, \u2018cause we\u2019d love to release the album on LP as well \u2013 so we gotta think in terms of Side One and Side Two… So there\u2019s all these extra things to think about, and planning how to launch things. We were very disappointed earlier in the year because we weren\u2019t able to do a launch [party] for the EP and we\u2019ve had so many people in our hometown of Melbourne asking, \u201cWhen are you playing…? When are you playing…?\u201d So we\u2019ll be launching that early next year and then the album. But we don\u2019t have an album title yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Will the songs off the EP be actually reprised on the full-length album, or will it remain a separate entity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: I think we have to, because we have so many people saying that they really love it! So I think we\u2019re definitely going to use most of the songs. If all of them make it on the album, I\u2019m not one hundred percent sure yet, but definitely quite a few of them \u2018cause people have really liked it. And it can work two ways \u2018cause I remember when I was younger and there were some bands putting out an EP and then putting all the songs on the LP which sometimes made you think \u201cAhh, I\u2019ve heard those.\u201d But at the same time, we\u2019ve got almost a thousand copies with our EP and once it\u2019s sold, it will be finished. You\u2019re not gonna get it anymore and I hate to think that people can\u2019t get the songs anymore (laughs). I\u2019m very proud of these songs and they\u2019ve taken a lot of work, so it was always the plan to definitely put some \u2013 or most \u2013 of them on the album. We\u2019ll see how many. But I remember for example when one of my favorite bands as a kid, which was an Australian band called Roxus, didn\u2019t put my favorite song \u201cBody Heat\u201d on the album. I was really disappointed, \u2018cause it was only a part of the EP [live EP released by Roxus in 1990, a year prior to the full-length album Nightstreet<\/em>]. I thought it was a mistake at first because it\u2019s such a strong song… So it\u2019s gonna be interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Although Wicked Smile is a new band, I guess the visuals that you use have already become your trademark of sorts. Obviously, a display of female beauty with a bit of horror doesn\u2019t hurt, but what was the idea actually prompted by?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: Great question. I love the idea of having a little bit of a gimmick when people relate to Wicked Smile right away, so I\u2019m glad. That\u2019s working and people really like that. It has a little bit of a vampire-esque vibe to it, but we\u2019re not going too gore or anything with a little bit of blood only… And we\u2019ve even touched lyrically upon it on one of the most recent songs that we released called \u201cWait For The Night\u201d which has the Nosferatu-background to it. So we\u2019ve worked that into what we\u2019re about and we just think the identification is very, very important, like I know back in the day we had Dio with his motifs and his albums and obviously Iron Maiden who did so well with Eddie. I think it\u2019s a great part of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal personally, so that\u2019s the reason behind that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: As you\u2019ve already mentioned, all of you guys in the band come from different bands. How do you think it translates into Wicked Smile?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: I think it has a big influence, \u2018cause as I said I played in a band called Black Majesty for almost twenty years which is Power Metal, and I also play in The Radio Sun which is more Melodic Rock and the amount of people that have seen it, they love what I\u2019m doing with Wicked Smile now. It\u2019s absolutely fantastic and I know with Danny who\u2019s worked with bands which are Power Metal and Progressive Metal \u2013 for him doing more of a Hard Rock thing it\u2019s been amazing. He\u2019s just such a good singer he could sing anything, but this team of Danny and myself and the guys is being a breath of fresh air for people. So they\u2019re really, really happy with that. Glen Cav has done a lot of things and he\u2019s very appreciated around \u2013 he played in the band called Virtue for many years. But again, he\u2019s now happy to be a part of what we\u2019re doing and it\u2019s just amazing that everybody is \u201call in\u201d in regards to \u201cthis is my band and we\u2019re all very, very proud of it.\u201d So even though I\u2019m writing a lot of material, the guys are doing their own things and putting their own spin on things. We can\u2019t wait to play live, so it\u2019s very, very exciting and a great experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Having brought up The Radio Sun once more, what\u2019s the current situation of the band?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: It\u2019s on hiatus. The main reason is… well, we\u2019re a new band (laughs). Even though it sounds like an old band \u2018cause we\u2019ve released five albums and an EP, but the band\u2019s only seven years old… We worked so hard on our music and we released five albums and an EP in five years as well as toured in Europe, Japan and America quite a few times. It\u2019s just we\u2019re having a good break because it was a lot of work. It\u2019s just a hiatus, but I think it\u2019s good \u2018cause when we do get together again, it will be fresh. We probably needed a break after such hard work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Is there anything else you\u2019re up to right now, like any other projects, or are you one hundred percent focused on Wicked Smile right now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: Well, right now it\u2019s pretty much I\u2019m focused on Wicked Smile. \u2018Cause as I\u2019ve said before, we\u2019ve got a new single that\u2019s going to be released, it\u2019s called \u201cKiller At Large\u201d out on January the 15th<\/sup> next year. And after that we focus on the EP launch in our hometown of Melbourne and then some more work and then the album. I guess I\u2019m also continuing a lot of work with my daughter. Cassidy is going to play some live electric shows next year, so she\u2019s got some stuff happening in January and throughout so that\u2019s very, very exciting and she\u2019s got a new single that will be out early next year which is just so good! I\u2019m just very, very proud of her and what she\u2019s doing and like I said before, she\u2019s just turned eighteen years old and she\u2019s got a very great, bright future \u2013 that\u2019s for sure. I know I\u2019m biased because I\u2019m her dad, but I\u2019m very proud of her and she\u2019s definitely got that special something that\u2019s for sure which will continue to evolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: We\u2019ll surely keep Cassidy on Hardrock Haven radar, always on the hunt for new talents. Is there anything you\u2019d like to add in the end?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie Janevski: Just thank you for your time \u2013 I really appreciate it \u2013 and thank you for having me on the website. I\u2019d like to thank all our fans for supporting us and taking a chance on a new band Wicked Smile because we\u2019re just starting. A lot of people have been saying beautiful things about the EP, which is being lovely, but just wait \u2018till you hear some of the other songs. We\u2019re all about going forward with the band and we\u2019re a real band in terms of touring when we\u2019re allowed to. We\u2019re definitely gonna travel the world with this \u2018cause I\u2019m that confident in the material and in the band chemistry as well. We all get along very well. I\u2019m very, very excited that people wanna support us. They can contact us on our Facebook page and also on Instagram. We\u2019re all very much of a \u201chands on\u201d band in regards to chatting with the fans \u2013 we have a fan forum as well on Facebook with more and more people joining and discussing things. We just love hearing the feedback from people and when they\u2019re writing fantastic reviews \u2013 I know Laurie [Micallef] has just written a fantastic review of the Wicked Smile EP. So cheers to everyone, thanks to you as well!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska\u2014 Senior Columnist \u2014 The general assumption about the \u201880s Hard Rock scene is that it was style over substance and perhaps that\u2019s why the genre is more often thought of in fashion […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":69018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[203,15245,15246],"class_list":{"0":"post-69016","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-interviews-recent","8":"tag-interview","9":"tag-stevie-janevski","10":"tag-wicked-smile"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}