{"id":69637,"date":"2021-10-29T12:10:56","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T17:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=69637"},"modified":"2021-10-30T05:42:25","modified_gmt":"2021-10-30T10:42:25","slug":"interview-with-jim-peterik","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2021\/interview-with-jim-peterik\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Peterik"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

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Photo credits: Kristie Schram<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s something incredibly difficult and challenging about a moment when an artist who co-founded a band and kept on contributing significantly to its artistry and songwriting process is now out of it \u2013 for whatever reasons. For the genius songwriter Jim Peterik, it must have been 1996 when he left Survivor for good. And although this perpetually busy artist still keeps moving forward, he still recalls that moment \u2013 immortalized in a song \u201cYour Independence Day\u201d of 2015 Scherer\/Peterik album Risk Everything<\/em>. It\u2019s because it was what indirectly led Peterik to start the all-star studio and concert project World Stage. 2021 brings yet another installment in World Stage\u2019s discography, but this time the formula is given the refreshing twist because it showcases a wide range of female music talents, singers and instrumentalists. Hardrock Haven was privileged to catch up with Jim Peterik to discuss Tigress: Women Who Rock the World<\/em>, music, songwriting, feminism, fashion, charity… and more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hardrock Haven: Tigress: Women Who Rock the World<\/em> is set to be released via Frontiers Music SRL on November the 5th. As it\u2019s not the first time you release a studio album as Jim Peterik and World Stage \u2013 when releasing the first album under this moniker back in 2000, did you actually expect this project to continue for the next two decades, or was it supposed to be a one-off idea?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: You know \u2013 things develop as they go and you never know what the future is gonna hold… But for me and World Stage, when I left Survivor in \u201996 [it was like] \u2013 what to do now? And I decided it would really be nice to bring together a lot of stars on the same stage, and that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been doing since then. Every year, I do at least one World Stage concert and it\u2019s been very successful franchise. But a year and a half ago, I called up Serafino [Perugino, Frontiers Music SRL\u2019s President] and he says, \u201cMaestro\u201d \u2013 he calls me Maestro (laughs) \u2013 \u201cit\u2019s time for another World Stage album.\u201d And I go, \u201cYeah, but I just did a Pride of Lions record and I love Toby [Hitchcock, Pride of Lions\u2019 lead singer] and all that, but…\u201d Then I was like, \u201cWhat about an all-female World Stage?\u201d And he thought for a few minutes, and then he goes \u2013 \u201cSounds good.\u201d So he green-lighted it \u2013 and I started rounding up the troops and called some of my favorite people like Jennifer Batten, who of course was the Mohawk-ed diva behind Michael Jackson and Jeff Beck, or Cathy Richardson of Jefferson Starship who I actually mentored when she was only eighteen years old, or Leslie Hunt \u2013 same story there… and people I really admired, like Janet Gardner of Vixen [in 2019, Gardner left the band and was replaced by Lorraine Lewis, previously of Femme Fatale]. And I was trying to match the songs I write for this album with the personalities of the girls that have been some of my heroes through the years… And I demoed a song \u201cLazarus Heart\u201d for Janet and she said, \u201cJim, you nailed it. You captured what I\u2019m all about.\u201d And that was just a huge compliment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely! And in general, how different is working for the World Stage project from working with a regular band, like the Ides of March or Pride of Lions \u2013 or like you used to do with Survivor?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Well, a lot of similarities \u2013 but a lot of differences. The band that you hear on Pride of Lions [albums] is basically my World Stage band: Klem Hayes on bass, Ed Breckenfeld on drums, Mike Aquino on lead guitar, Christian Cullen on keyboards… They\u2019re all amazing \u2013 they really are. But the Ides of March is a whole different thing, you know. We\u2019ve been together now for fifty-eight years, which is just insane (laughs), but in a good way. The original four guys… Larry Millas, a guy who does my tech work, is also an amazing producer and co-writer, etcetera etcetera… He actually discovered me (laughs). No, I mean, we met in the third grade, and we started putting a band together in about the eighth grade, and that one became the Ides of March. So that\u2019s a whole different thing then, a stable four men line-up that we add [to]… like we added Scott May on keyboards thirty-two years ago. And of course, you know, Survivor was the amazing part of my career even though I left in \u201996 so I could really do other things. That was kind of a tight ship, you know, where certain people in the band didn\u2019t want to do anything outside of the band \u2013 and I really wanted to expand my horizons. So I left the band in \u201996 and never looked back. So it\u2019s been good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: So, having said that female artists included on Tigress <\/em>were actually heroes of yours \u2013 who would you call your favorite female artist of all time? And yes, I know it\u2019s a difficult question…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Yeah… I actually tried to get a couple of my heroines, if you will, but they were unavailable. To me, probably one of the greatest Rock singers of all time is Ann Wilson of Heart \u2013 she\u2019s just a goddamn thing! I also tried to enlist Stevie Nicks in \u2013 that didn\u2019t work schedule-wise. But that\u2019s fine, because I found so many amazing singers like Kate French or Rosa Laricchiuta [Black Rose Maze, Trans-Siberian Orchestra], as well as amazing fiddlist Abigail Stanshmidt, who plays the fiddle on \u201cTigress\u201d… And it\u2019s just a great assortment of female talents, not only with singers, but also with instrumentalists, like the bass player Ashley Reeve, who\u2019s just tremendous. Or Jennifer Batten \u2013 I don\u2019t have to tell you a thing about that, \u2018cause she\u2019s just one of the best guitar players on planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: So apart from these already mentioned, were there any other singers who you thought about initially but eventually they couldn\u2019t make it, for example due to some other obligations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Yeah, sadly there was a couple, but I try to forget them (laughs). No, they were very polite, but we couldn\u2019t get our schedules to meet and I was very disappointed in a couple of people, but I\u2019m not gonna go there (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Right, so let\u2019s leave it as it is… So with the album basically revolving around women \u2013 women in music, women in Rock music \u2013 would you say women are still somehow underrepresented in Rock, especially Melodic Rock?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Women are underrepresented in every musical genre I can think of, sadly. In the Country market especially… I mean, it\u2019s a boys\u2019 club \u2013 it\u2019s starting to change, thank God, but in Rock\u2019n\u2019Roll… I mean, the radio playlists are still largely male-dominated, and when a female artist tends to break through, it\u2019s like, it\u2019s a miracle! (laughs) And that\u2019s not right. It\u2019s a boys\u2019 club, and it\u2019s gotta change, man. But the problem is, a lot of the record company people are males, and a lot of the [music] industry people are males… So they\u2019re gonna have to start changing their ways because as soon as they realize there\u2019s a lot of money to be made with females, they\u2019re gonna start changing their tune (laughs). I mean, money is just one consideration of success, but truly there\u2019s a market hungry for female talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely! You were quoted as saying that – when writing the new material – you needed to switch to more female perspective as a songwriter. How much of a challenge was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: I grew up with two sisters \u2013 one is ten years older than me and one is twelve years older than me, so you know, I was their little plaything. And I\u2019ve learnt a lot from them as far as the feminine ways and style… I think I owe my sisters a debt of gratitude because there was the three of us in the backseat of our old \u201952 Chrysler going down to Florida every year, strumming ukuleles and singing really corny camp songs (laughs). Then I\u2019ve learnt the feminine side of things and it was a very valuable lesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: There\u2019s also generational difference \u2013 did you keep the age of particular singers in mind, or are some experiences and emotions simply universal? You\u2019ve mentioned the singers\u2019 personalities, but what about the age factor?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Yeah, I see a common denominator in all the girls I\u2019ve worked with. But there\u2019s something about, for example, Rosa Laricchiuta being very fiery… And everyone\u2019s a little bit different. Lindsay Kent, who sings \u201cDear Life,\u201d she\u2019s twenty-one years old and you can feel the fire that she has… You\u2019d just really need to see Lindsay grow \u2013 I\u2019ve known her for many years, since she was, like, fifteen… and now she\u2019s so excited about this Tigress <\/em>record, as am I. Leslie Hunt \u2013 I\u2019ve been working with her since she was fifteen two, and now she\u2019s thirty-three or whatever… She wasn\u2019t quite ready to soar yet, but man, she\u2019s now one of my favorite singers on this record. Mindi Abair on saxophone \u2013 she plays on the last song on the album, \u201cBrave Is Beautiful.\u201d And it\u2019s really a spiritual anthem to the woman, because so many of them have been put down and under guys\u2019 thumbs and \u201cBrave Is Beautiful\u201d [is that] you gotta stand up to your oppressor. So many women get abused \u2013 mentally, verbally or otherwise \u2013 by males, and that\u2019s gotta stop, and that\u2019s what \u201cBrave Is Beautiful\u201d is all about… standing up to this kind of people… to the bullies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Definitely! So with this perspective that you have as a songwriter, would you call yourself a feminist in a way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Absolutely! Like I said, growing up with sisters made me see both sides of the story and I\u2019m definitely a feminist and I\u2019m proud to say it. But mostly it\u2019s women are really brave and strong. If you\u2019re on this record, you\u2019ve made it. You\u2019ve made it through the initial gates \u2013 and proudly. And everyone that I\u2019ve worked with on this album was so confident, and they weren\u2019t afraid to say this or that \u2013 like, you know, \u201cthis song could be better\u201d or \u201cI don\u2019t like that line\u201d… And I was like, \u201cFine, let\u2019s change the line.\u201d It\u2019s fine with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: So, with so many exceptional guests on the album, can you take us through it track-by-track?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Well, \u201cTigress\u201d is the title track of course. And it\u2019s really a groove song \u2013 it\u2019s like jungle drums and you picture this tigress in the jungle… And [there\u2019s] Jennifer Batten, Abigail Stanshmidt – and of course Kate French who rules it. I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re familiar with her \u2013 she\u2019s really a Metal singer… Have you ever heard her with the Heavy Metal bands that she\u2019s been with through the years?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Not really, but I\u2019ll keep it in mind to check her stuff out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Yeah, look her up \u2013 it\u2019s a totally different voice (imitating the raspy manner of singing). You know, Heavy Metal voices. And I said, \u201cCan you sing regular?\u201d, and she said, \u201cI think so\u201d and boy, she killed it. \u201cProm Night In Pontiac\u201d \u2013 that\u2019s Chloe Lowery from Florida, recommended to me by Joel Hoekstra who had worked with her on this Frontiers\u2019 album from 2016 [what Jim means is probably Joel Hoekstra\u2019s 13 album Dying to Live<\/em> released in October 2015 and reviewed here<\/a>. On the aforementioned album, Chloe Lowery sings a duet with Jeff Scott Soto on \u201cWhat We Believe.\u201d] This girl played Janis in Canada [touring with Janis Joplin\u2019s legendary band Big Brother and the Holding Company]. That\u2019s just a super talent. And [alongside] Chloe, there\u2019s Anika Nilles on drums \u2013 she\u2019s from Germany \u2013 and Ashley Reeve on bass. \u201cA Cappella\u201d is a new video… Probably not the last video, by the way \u2013 \u201cTigress\u201d will be the third lyric video alongside \u201cA Cappella\u201d which has came out already \u2013 and that\u2019s Chez Kane, who\u2019s just amazing singer…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Definitely! She was our guest<\/a> some time ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Yeah! \u201cLiving for the Moment\u201d is my dear friend Cathy Richardson, Jennifer Batten on guitar and Linda McDonald on drums… Another discovery is that Jennifer Batten was a good switch forager as she knows everybody. She recommended Linda McDonald and boy, she was right. \u201cAgainst the Grain\u201d is Rosa Laricchiuta \u2013 I\u2019ve told you about her already… Just a tremendous, fiery, sexy singer. \u201cStrong Against the Wind\u201d is again Kate French \u2013 it\u2019s her second song on the album. \u201cFull Moon Crazy\u201d is with Cathy Richardson and Jennifer Batten. I wrote that in Nashville with a fellow named Tommy Yankton who loves this version. He hasn\u2019t really made it yet and he\u2019s so thrilled to be a part of this. Just a great, great songwriter that I co-wrote this one with. \u201cLazarus Heart\u201d and Janet Gardner… Like I said, she made me feel so good that I kind of captured that Vixen thing. Next are \u201cTaller\u201d with Leslie Hunt and \u201cThe Best in Us\u201d with Cathy Richardson and Kimi Hayes. Kimi Hayes is not a household name perhaps \u2013 she lives in Chicago and she\u2019s a big deal. She plays all the clubs and she\u2019s just a tremendous, tough singer. She does a great duet with Cathy on this song. \u201cDear Life\u201d is Lindsay Kent, who we talked about, and Sina on drums. Sina is an Internet star, playing drums and every other instrument in the whole room. I really was impressed with her drumming and I got a hold of her manager, who\u2019s her father, and I said \u201cI really want Sina on this record.\u201d He said, \u201cOh, she should be honored.\u201d And then I asked, \u201cHow much will she charge?\u201d and he goes, \u201cOh, nothing.\u201d (laughs) I said, \u201cOkay, but why?\u201d And he goes, \u201cBecause she loves the opportunity of working with music professionals like yourself\u201d and I said, \u201cWow. That is really so generous.\u201d \u201cMusic in the Aire\u201d is another Chloe Lowery [song], and in \u201cSin to Believe A Lie\u201d we\u2019ve got Cathy Richardson and Madden Klas on drums \u2013 an amazing, very young drummer… just a nineteen or twenty year old, out of New York… She really, really impressed me and she was so sweet, you know, [asking] \u201cAre you sure if it\u2019s good enough?\u201d And I said, \u201cYeah, all right\u201d, but she was like, \u201cLet me do that again\u201d (laughs). And she did it again \u2013 and it was even better! (laughs) \u201cStronger at the Broken Places\u201d is a great Canadian singer Marine Lacoste and B3 player the Ides of March\u2019s Scott May recommended to me \u2013 he\u2019s a Hammond representative, and Marine is one of his endorsees. She came into town and just knocked me out \u2013 fiery red hair and really attractive… So she sings \u201cStronger at the Broken Places\u201d. And there goes the last track we already talked about \u2013 \u201cBrave Is Beautiful\u201d \u2013 with Leslie Hunt and Mindi Abair on sax and harmony vocals… And it\u2019s just a really touching song about the strength that a woman has \u2013 or anyone really, for that matter, but it\u2019s really, really about women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Right. Another 2021 album you\u2019ve contributed to is Dennis DeYoung\u2019s 26 East, Vol. 2<\/em>. While commenting upon your collaboration, he was quoted as saying you convinced him to do this album and also the previous one, Vol.1<\/em>. Was it so indeed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Oh yeah (laughs). He didn\u2019t really want [doing an album]. He said, \u201cJim, why would I do another album…? It\u2019s not gonna sell anyway.\u201d (laughs) And he was like, \u201cTimes have changed and now everyone\u2019s downloading, and blah, blah, blah…\u201d And when I was sitting there with his wife and my wife, I said, \u201cDennis, people want Dennis DeYoung. It doesn\u2019t matter if you sell forty copies or forty thousand copies \u2013 or four hundred thousand copies… When you were in high school, you weren\u2019t worried about the mathematics of how many copies are you gonna sell. You did it \u2018cause you had to do it, \u2018cause it\u2019s in your DNA.\u201d And you know, it really made sense to him. So, I was in Italy doing a show for Frontiers and I was walking through a graveyard, which I love to do because it\u2019s so peaceful. No one will bother you (laughs). And there\u2019s so much beauty around, with plants and everything, and gravestones… And I started writing this song, and it\u2019s called \u201cLand of the Living\u201d ironically (laughs). And I\u2019ve sent Dennis just a real rough iPhone demo and he loved it, and it pulled his chain and started him going, so we didn\u2019t look back. And I love both Vol. 1 <\/em>and Vol. 2 <\/em>of 26 East<\/em>… He\u2019s one of my heroes. And literally, we\u2019ve become such dear friends \u2013 I mean, back in the day we were almost like friendly rivals, you know, when Styx was rising up the charts and Survivor was struggling up the charts… Sometimes they have had a #1 and sometimes we have had a #1, and it was all in good fun and we\u2019re really, really close now, almost like brothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And as Dennis brought up this argument of music not selling decently these days, would you agree or argue with it? With all your experience under your belt, what do you think about the business side of making music these days and the current situation of artists?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Well, there\u2019s always gonna be the artists that break through the glass ceiling and show everybody that music is still a viable source for downloads \u2013 to some extent, for CDs as well, for commercials… Still, if you make a great record, you\u2019re gonna break through the glass ceiling. And there\u2019s gotta be stars!… I love people who keep reinventing themselves, like Bruno Mars for example. A brilliant artist. He\u2019s amazing because he respects his past and respects the roots that he came from, the old style R&B. And you\u2019re seeing him live, and he\u2019s dressed in the duds and the songs are like Motown or like Thom Bell used to do with The Stylistics… I love that!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely! And in general, when you write, does the songwriting process differ from project to project or album to album in your case, or is there one method you always follow?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Well, that\u2019s such a great question! I think every project I approach separately and specially, depending on who I\u2019m working with. When I was writing with 38 Special, I could always count on them for, you know… (playing the Southern Rock-esque riff on the guitar) …some really great riff that I could take off and then I would go crazy with the lyrics and the melody. And with Sammy Hagar, the same thing. You know, I\u2019ve never met Sammy Hagar before, but when we got together, I had my guitar on my neck and he said, \u201cYou know, my manager said there\u2019s this new movie coming out, an animation called Heavy Metal<\/em>… and we should write that.\u201d And I said, \u201cWrite what?\u201d And he goes, \u201cWe should write the theme song for Heavy Metal<\/em>.\u201d And I said, \u201cI\u2019m game!\u201d We picked up the guitars and we\u2019d just go (playing the riff to \u201cHeavy Metal\u201d and singing), \u201cHeadbangers in leather\/Sparks fly in the dead of the night…\u201d And in the matter of just three hours we\u2019ve had the song, we sent it to the manager and he said, \u201cThis is gonna be the title track to Heavy Metal<\/em>, I guarantee you.\u201d And it was, and we\u2019re still very good friends with Sammy, and almost every show he encores with \u201cHeavy Metal\u201d, which makes me really happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely, it\u2019s an anthem of sorts. Also when writing, do you keep a vault of ideas and revisit it to recycle older concepts when needed, or do you always write with a particular album in mind, for a specific purpose?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: I try to keep that open, you know. Keep it open \u2013 and fresh. Anything can happen, when you\u2019re co-writing especially, you hear, like, musical tofu \u2013 you just gotta take in the flavors of the room. And you gotta keep your antenna up for ideas. If it wasn\u2019t for me listening really close to Don Barnes and their [title] \u201cHold On Loosely\u201d and Jeff [Carlisi] with his guitar riff, you wouldn\u2019t have [the song \u201cHold On Loosely\u201d]. You have to be an open page. You have to be very open to other people\u2019s ideas, and then you add your own. And then you have something, you have musical stew that can be really, really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Definitely. And being one of the most prolific songwriters in history, have you ever experienced writer\u2019s block?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: (laughs) Yeah. If you go to my basement \u2013 which you won\u2019t, \u2018cause it\u2019s nothing pretty down there and it\u2019s a mess (laughs) \u2013 but I have bookcases full of notebooks [gathered] through the years. And they\u2019re all dated, you know. And they probably started back in 1968 or even before that. And sometimes you can start a song, but you don\u2019t have the wisdom to finish it \u2013 and then I just close my eyes and grab a notebook I\u2019ve been shelving in my basement for many years \u2013 and maybe by this time… You know, I\u2019m almost seventy-one and maybe I\u2019ve lived long enough and maybe I\u2019ve had enough experience to really know how to finish that <\/em>song… So it\u2019s almost like collaborating with yourself \u2013 and that\u2019s kind of my gimmick around writer\u2019s block.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: The last time I\u2019ve had the privilege of interviewing you for Hardrock Haven, it was 2015 \u2013 right when Peterik\/Scherer album Risk Everything<\/em> was released. Two years later, we\u2019ve had Scherer\/Batten collaboration you were also involved in. Will your collaboration with Marc continue?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: That\u2019s funny, \u2018cause only about three weeks ago I brought Marc over to the studio and Larry and I worked with him on a couple of new songs and I didn\u2019t really have a master plan for where these songs are gonna go. I just wanted to work with him again. And it reminded me of how great he is as a singer. And of course Jennifer [Batten] loves working with him. So I think there could be a future there, with another Scherer\/Batten or Scherer\/Peterik or something, but he\u2019s too good of a singer and too good of a guy not to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely. You\u2019ve mentioned mentoring some of the singers who now sang on the Tigress <\/em>album, and also as a member of the Ides of March you\u2019re involved in a charity scholarship fund called Vehicle For Education. How important is it to you personally to support young talents, including the support through charity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Well, this is my sixth year of Vehicle For Education and it\u2019s been really rewarding, \u2018cause every year we grant a young man or woman from our high school \u2013 Morton West [in Berwyn, Illinois] \u2013 with a good sizeable chunk of money to further their career in music or the Arts. And there\u2019s always a concert where the Ides of March do two or three songs on stage for the audience and then we award a person with their money. It\u2019s been very successful and very rewarding for the band and for the high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And do you think it\u2019s actually the obligation of more established artists to pass on the knowledge and the experience onto the young talents? Maybe there should be more charity scholarship funds like that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: I think it revolves in a circle. I think you receive by giving, and just the way it makes us feel to help a talented person \u2013 it comes back to us in ways one can\u2019t even imagine. So I would say it\u2019s a great thing. Charity work is a very rewarding [experience] in itself, so I think more people could do it and really enjoy the process \u2013 and help the world too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And you also happen to work with your son, Colin, in various projects. What kind of experience is this for you to combine the role of a music collaborator with this of a father?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: (laughs) Well, it\u2019s mainly he\u2019s so talented. And he\u2019s a self-starter \u2013 I\u2019ve never pushed him into music, because that\u2019s the worst way… or maybe, the best way of turning off your kid is to [say], \u201cYou should be a Rock star\u201d (laughs). That doesn\u2019t work. And a kid\u2019s gotta find it themselves, which my son did. I mean, when he was four years old, he got up at a birthday party and played \u201cHappy birthday\u201d flawlessly. And I went, \u201cWell, this kid\u2019s got the gene.\u201d But he really had to find his career himself and now he\u2019s thirty-two, he\u2019s finally ready to release his first official Colin Peterik album. He\u2019s got a manager and he\u2019ll release the record, he\u2019s got a booking agent and he\u2019s performing… I\u2019m really, really proud of him. But he found it his own way in his own time. It\u2019s not daddy pushing him. It\u2019s him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And would you say you\u2019ve learnt something from your son while working with him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Absolutely. You know, I have trouble not stealing his music (laughs). It\u2019s so good. It\u2019s like, I\u2019ve been working on something and then, \u201cOh no, that\u2019s in Colin\u2019s song. I can\u2019t do that!\u201d (laughs) So it must be pretty good stuff. But I gotta be careful. I don\u2019t wanna steal from my own son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And one of the interesting non-musical facts about you is that you have your own fashion line and you co-design your outfits together with Richard Kickmunter, who I believe is an immigrant from my homeland Poland. Do you think it\u2019s empowering to have a say when it comes to your stage image?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Absolutely (showing off the latest of his and Richard Kickmunter\u2019s creations to the camera). I do help him… it\u2019s a really collaborative kind of a thing. But I knew I wanted stripes and the laces… we collaborate. It\u2019s been a great collaboration. And I think it\u2019s important for a performer to have an identity of some kind. You know \u2013 my hair isn\u2019t naturally purple, for instance (laughs). But it\u2019s a gimmick. It\u2019s a hook. And as a performer you wanna stand out and you wanna be different. So Richard has been a great piece of that puzzle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Definitely. Now, for many Melodic Rock listeners one of the most accurate songs released in 2020 was your song \u201cEmpty Arena.\u201d Now that the world opens up, although not without some significant troubles and halts along the way, what are your plans for the future? You\u2019ve already mentioned the new songs with Marc Scherer…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: Well, what happened is that right now I\u2019m working with the group Chicago on a new Chicago album. And that\u2019s great, because you know, when I was just coming up with the Ides of March, with the brass, it was a few bands like Chicago and Lighthouse, to lesser extent… But we were all about that big horn sound, so to write with Robert Lamm is like a big deal for me. So I\u2019m excited about that. Possibly some more writing with Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys too… Larry and I actually co-wrote with him and Joe Thomas a song that was very popular in 2012 called \u201cThat\u2019s Why God Made the Radio\u201d which made a big splash and went to #1 on Billboard… so I\u2019m hoping that happens again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: So with these collaborations, would you say that in spite of being a music hero and inspiration to many, you\u2019re still also a music fan \u2013 and remain one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: That\u2019s what I am. More than anything else, I\u2019m a fan. You know, you can\u2019t help growing up with Elvis Presley and the Beatles and not being the eternal fan of music. And I always look up to these people \u2013 I\u2019m never as good as that guy over there or that guy over there (laughs) and I think that\u2019s what keeps a person hungry. It\u2019s always striving to improve and be better than \u2013 or as good as \u2013 some of your heroes. And that\u2019s always my mindset.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And is there anything you\u2019d like to add in the end?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Peterik: My guitar\u2019s out of tune (laughs). And besides that \u2013 I\u2019m just really proud of the Tigress <\/em>record. I\u2019m anxious to see what it does in the marketplace. I think America\u2019s really gonna embrace it \u2013 as well as the world, hopefully. But I think it\u2019s got a really American vibe with \u201cProm Night in Pontiac\u201d which is almost a Country song. Almost (laughs). It\u2019s Country Rock, let\u2019s say. And I hope to get some airplay with this song and the others. But I just did wanna say that it\u2019s coming out on November the 5th<\/sup>, as you know, as a download and as a CD, but in the mid-December it\u2019s gonna be released on double orange vinyl, like the tiger color. That\u2019s exciting, because I still love vinyl and my turntable downstairs is warming up and ready to go. It\u2019s all about putting the needle on the groove. It\u2019s very exciting to me. But I think you covered a lot Alexandra, and I really appreciate the interview!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Thank you so much!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Visit Jim Peterik online: Official Site<\/a> | Facebok<\/a> | Instagram<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check out videos off Jim Peterik and World Stage’s Tigress: Women Who Rock the World<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cProm Night In Pontiac\u201d feat. Chloe Lowery, Anika Nilles and Ashley Reeve<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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