♦ What have you been doing in the past six years (since you released ‘New World Asylum’)?
We’ve been playing shows, including festivals like Keep It True and Rocklahoma, worked on music here and there, worked day jobs, and in my case played lots of water polo.
♦ Why did you release a live album and not a studio album?
Well, we’ve had several line-up changes – mostly on the guitar front – in the last few years so we really haven’t had time to settle down and write together. Plus, it’s not like the old days when all we did was music and the band was everyone’s main focus. We all do other things for a living because music doesn’t pay the bills for bands at our level. That’s the reality of today’s music business for many of us. We had done a live album in 1999 when we first got back together, which we weren’t entirely happy with. With Rob and Greg now in the band it just made sense to do a live album and introduce the new line-up that way. I’m really happy how good the old songs sound with the new guys in the band.
♦ When and where you the songs were recorded?
We did some touring in the U.S back East last summer where we recorded the tracks. We gave them to Roy Z to mix who’s been a friend of ours for years. He used to come see us play back in the 80’s and was a fan so it was great to have him work on our stuff. He’s a great guy and did an awesome job mixing the album.
♦ How have helped the three guitars in order to have a better sound when you play live?
Do don’t use three guitars all the time because Mike, our singer, doesn’t play guitar on all the songs when we play live but the 3-guitar thing just adds another element other bands don’t have. Maiden have 3 guitar players now but their sound isn’t any different than before. With us, we utilize it much more and Rob, Greg and Mike will do triple harmonies or we’ll have Rob and Greg harmonize and the third guitar fattening up the sound.
♦ What are your plans for this upcoming 2014?
Hopefully write a new record and play as many shows as we can and have as much fun as possible. Hopefully we’ll make it back to Europe this summer and catch a couple of festivals.
♦ Any final comment for all your latinamerican and spanish fans?
Keep the faith and keep supporting the artists you love by buying their music and going to shows. Don’t forget to check out ‘Unchained Live’!
