RockUnited- Just blame it on rock'n roll... or drugs... or age? By the way, judging by the TNT DVD, exactly when did Ronni turn into a 60's hippie with matching hair and bandana?

"Don't make fun of my mentor" [Victor Borge] TNT

"Always been a hardrockhippie :-)" [Ronni Le Tekro] TNT

RockUnited- Besides walking out of all his live gigs, Mike also recorded a new album this year with "all" of his lead vocalists of the past. Was it not very difficult to get all the singers together for this album?

"Absolutely, that was a nightmare and I am NOT a patient guy, you know, ha ha ha… But, you know I play what I like and if you do not like it then fuck you. Take it or leave it". [Michael Schenker] MSG, UFO, Scorpions

RockUnited- Zeno Roth is another great guitarist from Germany (the younger brother of Uli Jon - Scorpions), how come the first Zeno album didn't nearly become as much of a best-seller as it should have been?

"Well, this is a long chapter, which ALSO could fill a book, but it was (in the 80s) not only the record company’s fault, who were a bit “helpless” in dealing with us, but also ours and – especially – the management’s, who, for instance, hooked us up to tour with Black Sabbath (of all bands), THE antithesis to everything we stood for in terms of music and ideas. (Like “Love Will Live” etc.) One night we met Greg Lake in a hotel in London, who liked our album and offered us to tour with ELP (then Emerson, Lake and Powell, I believe), and we (or the management, can’t remember) turned them down, which was plain idiotic, as this would have given us the opportunity to perform on a common platform with a “classy” band - it was simply a never-ending series of missed opportunities, misjudgements, mismanagement, also certain tensions within the band, and and and"… [Zeno Roth] Zeno

RockUnited- Okie-dokie, let's check what's going on in the world of Danny Vaughn today?

"Today? Well, I brokered a peace treaty in the middle east by 10 am, then on to giving Tiger Woods his weekly pep talk (what would he do without me?), then on to teaching a seminar in advanced biophysics, before preparing my own gourmet recipe of Duck Lorange for a gathering of 20 people in the lobby of the Louvre museum. Tonight I'll be shooting pool with Johnny Depp in Sri Lanka. Oh wait! Scratch that. Today I painted the living room". [Danny Vaughn] Tyketto, Waysted

RockUnited- Yup, he's a real pain-ter, Mad Max launched a new term "White Rock", to describe their kind of Christian rock. How did they come up with such a term?

"We called the music "White rock" because we thought that the common term "White metal" did not fit to our kind of music. MAD MAX is definitely a rockband like the SCORPIONS and no metal band". [Jürgen Breforth] Mad Max

RockUnited- Well, you don't have to be "White" to listen to your music, huh? You do know that "Mr. Mad Max" (Mel Gibson) is anti-jewish nowadays??? Let's talk about House Of Lords and their new album, the "featuring the keyboard productions of Gregg Giuffria" credit couldn't be any more elusive... what did he actually do on the album?

"Gregg's involvement was with everything pertaining to Keyboards on this CD. His hand is in the arrangements of the Keys as well as the sound and placement. It is a part of House Of Lords sound that Gregg knows so well". [James Christian] House of Lords

RockUnited- Hmmm... in other words, James probably asked Greg if he enjoyed the keyboard sound on the new HOL in which he replied... "whatever". Moving on, the title of the new Vanden Plas album is Christ O, what does it mean actually, has it something to do with Christ or with The count of Monte CristO???

"In fact it is pronounced Christ Zero, which means that it is non-religious in fact. It has to do with something evil, something bad. Initially the album was based upon the story of the count of Monte Cristo, but it also deals with the phenomena of schizophrenia. Andy is mainly responsible for the lyrics, so you better ask him about that if you like". [Stephan Lill] Vanden Plas  

RockUnited- Phew, I thought for a moment that he would say: 'Andy is mainly the schizo of the band'. Lovechild is a hardrock band from Liechtenstein??? Yeah, I know what you're thinking: "Liechtenstein? the mad doctor that created a monster from bodyparts of dead folks???" Nope, that's "Frankenstein", this is apparently a tiny little country somewhere in between Switzerland and Austria. Anyhow, where does the name "Lovechild" originate from? Are they perhaps fans of the Accept song by the same name??

"We like Accept and this song, but this was not the reason. The reason was the meaning of the word "lovechild" itself. For us a child of love personifies the pure and original innocence of everything, like it should be with rockmusic". [Werner Schweizer] Lovechild

RockUnited- Holy Cow! now that's a krazy gang, I've never heard anyone talking in the terms of "innocence" or innocent when it comes to hard rock music. Anyhow, speaking of 'gang', we asked Fraze (ex-Brighton Rock) why they haven't gone for the 'Nu-Metal' or Nickelback sound? The Fraze Gang CD is very much a traditional 80's sounding album.

"I guess 80's music is what still gets my rocks off. I like fun music! A lot of today's music is all about anger. I've got enough anger inside me that I don't need to add fuel to the fire. I need music that put's me in a good mood. That's what FRAZE GANG is all about. Having a great time". [Greg Fraser] Fraze Gang, ex-Brighton Rock

RockUnited- What is the greatest thing a fan ever gave you ?

"Their...virginity ! Nah... I hope my wife understands that"... [Henrik Danhage] Evergrey  

RockUnited- Freudian slip there? Henry, did you have any personal relationship to the lyrics of "Is He Better Than Me" from the album "Beat Street" :-)

"I am five foot four, and they call me needledickthebugfucker... what do you think?" [Henry Small] Prism

RockUnited- Ehem, thank you Henry X2, The album cover by the band Tourist is... well, something quite different. Whose idea was it and would they care to enlighten us about it?

"Mark: I wanted to do something that was different, but that would tie well with the title of the CD. "The relevance of motion" came from a personal perception that we as people are overwhelmed with the need to be constantly working towards the achievement of goals, while failing to stop and appreciate what we already have. Hence the simplicity of the red rubber boots on green grass, a nod towards the purity of a childhood appreciation for the simple enjoyment of life's everyday experience without the worry of responsibility.
Blaine: Wow. And here I've had my own little story about this kid that we met, and the boots messed me up for days cuz I was tripping out on mushrooms". [Mark & Blaine] Tourist

RockUnited- Hmmm... two completely different stories, yet, the very same bong??? Why do you think they call it dope? OK, Pretty Maids, you have a new label now, the Italian company Frontiers. Did they try to steer you to a particular style?

"We talked to a few record companies who wanted more keyboards and stuff. We just said fuck off, we're not gonna sign. We don't want any record companies to tell us how to write the songs. After 25 years we don't want anyone to interfere with our writing. The record company should trust us that we know what we're doing. Frontiers never asked what we were doing and we had complete freedom". [Ken Hammer] Pretty Maids

RockUnited- Yeah, just tell 'em to f**k off... how come Elixir decided to name their first album "The Son Of Odin"? They're not Swedish, Scandinavians, or especially Viking-ish??? Or?

"No we are not Vikings, but if we had written a song about what we do for a living, it would have been boring!! [Phil Denton] Elixir

RockUnited- He's probably right, you know. Here's Kip, did you know that he was waiting tables as a job in New York? That's prior to joining the Alice Cooper tour band. By the way, waiting tables??? were have they been? huh?

"Everything with Alice Cooper was a funny story! You know, I came to New York and tried to get a job as a musician, played some sessions and auditioned for a lot of shit. I was lucky to be able to play on Alice's "Constrictor" album, I played on four songs on it." The first tour with Alice was Kip's first taste of "Rock'n Roll lifestyle". "Alice was always into golfing, so we'd be up partying all night and we'd come in at 6 in the morning and he'd be leaving the hotel to go tee up! It was a big tour for women too, At one time I had like eight naked chicks in my hotel room... I don't do that so much anymore (laughs)". [Kip Winger] Winger, Alice Cooper  

RockUnited- Ehem, at one time on the 2006 Winger tour, Kip had a eight legged chick in the hotel room!!! Yeah... kinda sad actually... it's not "quite" as glamourous anymore. Anyhow, we asked the Germans of Human Zoo if the band’s name is a tribute to Gotthard?

"No. A lot of people have asked us about this, but we chose our band name mainly because of its sound. We think it has a good ring to it. And, because we are musicians first and foremost and sounds are our business, we decided to call the band HUMAN ZOO." [Zarko Mestrovic] Human Zoo

RockUnited- So... I guess their "sound" is quite similar to a bunch of animals in a cage??? Anyhow, speaking about primal, animal, screams, we asked Henry Small (again?) about that famous scream on "Nightmare", the legend says he was unable to talk for a week afterwards?

"That's bullshit, I still can't talk". [Henry Small] Prism

RockUnited- Now that the band lineup has changed, will you be continue using the "Norwegian black metal" make-up?

"Good question...hehe...Yeah, it has worked because people talk about us and our image, some think it's cool, some think the make up sucks...haha....I guess all publicity is good publicity so all this talk have been good for us I guess. We'll see what will happen for the next album". [Fredrik Bergh] Bloodbound

RockUnited- OK... but do anyone talk about the music? What the heck is a song titled "Generation Jedi" all about.... really?

"It's about a generation of people - our generation - who have a tendency of fleeing into a fictional world of knights and demons- of clear-cut ´good and bad´- since they can´t make out these essential values in their day to day lives anymore. Every ethical value seems to be corrupted and blurred these days and its most important to redefine and re-establish these values. Otherwise we won't have a future..." [Ule W. Ritgen] Fair Warning

RockUnited- Our generation? Wait a minute... how old is Ritgen anyhow? Like... I'm not even sure it was a "fictional" world of knights and demons while he was growing up??? Let's ask Jon about his trip to Holland instead. I believe it's his favourite country outside of the states? Why, huh, dude, why, huh, far out... dude... yeah... dude, huh, groovy.

"I like that you can do what you want to do and I like to smoke! I think that it is kind of fucking ridiculous that I cannot sit in my living room at home and smoke a joint and that I can go to jail for that! That does not make sense, that is a nice thing about Holland, you know, but it is also a beautiful country, I love windmills, man". [Jon Oliva] Savatage

RockUnited- Yeah, sure, the "windmills"... "beautiful" country... c'mon... Oliva spent all his days smokin' joints at a Café in Tilburg/Holland. Dude, he wouldn't have known the difference between Holland and The Netherlands. We asked Rob from Saracen if he's into religion, religious, or merely into the historic aspect of their new concept album (based on the davinci code).

"The history only. We are not a 'religious' band, and are not attempting to preach here. Anyone with half a brain knows that the modern religions are all nonsense, built on lies and fiction. Yet incredibly successful. The Catholics have been conning people across the globe for 1,700 years. An unrivalled marketing campaign, and it's still running! Beat that Microsoft". [Rob Bendelow] Saracen

RockUnited- Ouch, there goes the true spirit of christmas. Well, that's pretty much it for now. * Merry X-mas & Happy New Year to the lot of ya'*. C-Ya in 2007!!! Just a couple of things though, Danny, is there anything else you would like to say to our readers?

"Shennanigens". It's one of my favourite words".[Danny Vaughn] Tyketto, Waysted

RockUnited- Ehem, okay, that make sense, hey, John, could you be so nice and put on your best smile and your Father Christmas outfit and sum up the entire year of 2006. Simply tell us if you've reached a certain point in your life, where loud guitars are definitely out of the question? Have you slowly but safely turned into your parents?

"Fuck off!" [John Waite] Bad English, The Baby's

Article by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,

www.RockUnited.com (c) 2006