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1. Let's go all the way to the early days of Blue Tears. How did you get your MCA deal? Well...I think it had a lot to do with the fact that we had a pretty big following around west Tennessee on the radio.....our demo's were actually being played on several radio stations....we were the top requested song....several of our songs....on a couple of 100,000 watt rock stations....so our shows sold big....caught the attention of Jon Hornyak...who became our manager....great guy....nicest person I have met in the music business for sure....he helped get me the first publishing deal, which led to the hooking up with Left Bank Management...which led to MCA...a chain reaction.....
I have no idea how many albums we sold...this was before sound scan....and there was a big issue involving how many records were sold back then..don't want to open any old wounds...so let's just say...I don't know. We did a video for Rockin' With the Radio....our director was Merrit Avis....great director...he has done some of my favorite videos in history...most or all of the "Joshua tree" era U2 videos...Springsteen videos...etc.....it did ok on MTV....had medium rotation....I was happy with the video...allot of fun to make. It was actually filmed in my hometown...the one I grew up in...Henderson, Tennessee...a beautiful little town......great place to grow up.....it had that American Graffiti look to it.....we had this Hollywood film crew in this little town for a week....a blast. 3. A related question to number one...how did you lose the deal? That's not the most tactful question I've been asked (RockUnited: well, we're still more tactful than MetalSludge! :))....but I'll answer it to a point.....we didn't "lose" the deal....we actually had to force our way out of the deal....our first record did ok...we were getting ready to do the second record...there was no question of a second record.....had some of the greatest material I had ever written ready for that second record.....BUT....let's just say I was young and naive...trusted the wrong people....I don't want to talk about the specifics because I'm over it.....I have moved on....I lost everything...and everyone...I had............the band...the money...my house...my wife...was stuck in a situation where I couldn't record...couldn't make a record...couldn't get out of the contracts, but couldn't make a record...LITERALLY......legally, couldn't do anything...it took me several years to bounce back from that....so let's just leave it at that...MCA was ready to make a second record...we were ready to make a second record...but a third party was involved that had control over everything...enough said.
Through a "friend of a friend"....from my end it was actually Robert Streets...who is now in Attraction 65.....he played the blue tears record to one of his friends...who played it to Michael Sweet about the time he left Stryper....I simply answered the phone one day and it was Michael asking me if I wanted to write with him for his solo record...I did, of course...and ended up co-producing it with him as well....Michael and I were great friends at the time...he is a force to be reckoned with musically...a great singer...writer...kickin' guitar player, obviously....and just a great guy...had so much fun making his record...which is saying allot because I was getting over all the mess that went down with Blue Tears...and getting ready to go through a divorce...he made me laugh...big time...every day....I would work with him again in a second....I heard from him a year or so ago...we have emailed each other a few times over the last several years...but I haven't seen him in a long time...I'm very glad to see Stryper is back together and doing a tour....Michael deserves another shot a superstardom....I wish him the best. 5. Was it weird to start writing Christian Rock Music all of a sudden? I didn't write Christian rock....at all........in fact, it didn't start out being "Christian" record...just a positive one...as far as I knew it was secular...toward the end of the record it sort of turned more that way...he came in with J.E.S.U.S. after I had done my part on the record......I didn't even hear that until the record came out....I wrote All this and Heaven Too about a girl.....he co-wrote that with me, but it was not a "Christian" song any more than anything else I write is....nor was Forever Yours....totally a romantic song.......allot of my songs have that positive vibe about them....I don't listen to contemporary Christian at all....I have nothing against it, I'm just not a fan of it. 6. After the first M. Sweet album, a little has been heard of you. What have you done during these last few years? I started a family. 7. "Date With Destiny" is the tune that's on MelodicRock.Com's sampler, and it has been floating around the net a while now. The original demo sounds like Meat Loaf, what's the story here? I originally wrote that for Meat Loaf....I was managed by Left Bank Management...who also managed meat loaf when he was working on Bat Out Of Hell II....I am a huge fan of his and Jim Steinman's..........and my manager knew this.....my manager asked me to write a song for him...I spent several months working on that....was told it was on the record at one point....then at the last minute was told that Mr. Steinman didn't go for it...he wrote all the songs...and to be honest, I completely respected that....I love his writing....who am I to nudge in his action anyway? I mean that in the most respectful way possible...Bat Out Of Hell was a huge influence on me...I still have that cd in my car.....I wrote A Date With Destiny thinking the whole time...I can't believe this could be on Bat Out of Hell II...a dream come true....but it wasnt' meant to be.....he didn't need it, he had a great record without it.
Just listen to it...that's all I ask....I'm not going to sit here and hype it...at all........it completely buries Blue Tears....no offense to Blue Tears...but I was really young when I did that record...hadn't developed as a singer at all.........and now I have.......this record is the best record I could possibly make, and it's the best work I've ever done....the band kicked....they are my 4 best friends in the world.....and the songs are very passionate...spacious.....just listen to it.....and for the record...this might as well be Blue Tears chapter 2.......I wrote all the songs, sang lead and played the guitars on that first blue tears record...and I do the same here.....just a different name....Mike from Blue Tears is in the band on all over this record.....it's the next step for that band.....with some new faces on board and a new name....we have a very "modern" sound without following any trends....it's very song oriented.....as opposed to riff oriented.....or hook oriented.....I hope you all love it as much as I do, I am very, very proud of these songs and the band. 9. Gotta bug you about the band's name...Sum 41, Blink 182...do you plead guilty at bandwagon jumping? :) NO...i don't............ATTRACTION 65 is a sign on the interstate that I see everyday on my way home...it's the exit I get off on to come home......there are various "attractions" around the state, probably the country...and we happen to live off an exit that has one of these "attractions".....thus..ATTRACTION 65. 10. Do you have any live dates planned for the band? If so, where and when? We are going to be booked by THE AGENCY GROUP....they are huge!!!!!!!! They handle just about all the new rock bands...as well as many of the classic bands.......very excited about that partnership. You should check out their website...the list of band they promote is amazing. 11. Let's thrown in a couple of hypothetical questions now...as a songwriter, besides the people you have already worked with, who would you like to co-write with? Now that's an excellent question...my favorite writer of all time is Bruce Springsteen....Bono and the Edge....Melissa Etheridge is an amazing writer...I'm a huge fan...Elvis Costello.....Brian May.....this is a dream list, of course......would never happen.....I think the guys in Creed are great writers....all amazing musicians....I spend half the time just listening to the drummer.....I love that band....Stapp has that voice too.....but the songs are what makes them stand head and shoulders above their peers in my opinion......I'd really love to write with Carl Bell from Fuel....he and I used to do music together, we went to school together too.....his writing is out there....he writes from this great surreal place....his guitar parts are so different from what I would probably hear and I think we would make a great team as far as writing goes.....really, really cool guy too.....writing is the closest to my heart of all the jobs I have in this band....writing is the essence of the whole thing.....that's where it starts...that's where your message lies....Jon and Ritchie would be a dream come true as well.....I don't think last names are needed for those guys....that's a pretty big list, isn't it...? Like I said...good question...want to really get me started...start asking about the writing. 12. If you could have your song placed on any artist's album, who would that be? For instance, do you think that some artist could turn an old Blue Tears song into smash hit? Well, first of all, I don't think there's anything worth re-doing on the old blue tears record....I have alot of songs that would be great for other artists...but not from that record...that's a pretty dated record.....great for the time......kind of like a love letter you might have written to a girlfriend when you were 17...or 18....now you are 30 and you go back and read it....would probably make you cringe a little...well, that's how the blue tears stuff is for me.... Most of the artists I would think of write their own songs, so that's a tough question..... 13. Let's get really serious now: what do you think of the current state of music, and what kind of visions do you have of the future of it? I think the current state of music is better than it has been in 10 years....I'm not talking record sales...I'm talking the fact that rock is back on the charts...there are alot of new bands out there making it.....and on that subject...it's a little frustrating to read some the comments readers put on the various "melodic" rock websites about "nu rock" .....the thing is.....Creed is what Bon Jovi or Def Leppard was for us in the 80's...I saw their show a few months back and it blew me away.....and I've seen ALOT of shows in my time...you see them talking about people like...say blue tears for example...maybe complimenting us but putting down nickleback or creed....??? That's an obviously closed mind....these are the rock stars of today...and they are great....Default...3 doors down....Lifehouse....Fuel...Fuel is just the bomb...I love them....I would love to see these folks that are all caught up in the 80's music realize that it's happening again and they are missing it....???? Listen to the old stuff...wear it out...I know I do...but also listen to the new stuff...give it all a chance....I like the fact that nowadays you can turn on American Top 40 and hear Rock, then Hip Hop, then Jazz (norah jones)....then pop....maybe country....it's a big mix these days......remember the god awful days of grunge? Thank god that is over.... My vision of the future is a bright one...I'm doing the best music of my life...and I'm very lucky to have a second chance, most people don't get that...I thank God for that daily..believe me..........I wish everyone the best....and I hope you enjoy our new record, I could not be more proud of it.....take care. Interview
by kimmo@rockunited.com
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2.
Have you any idea how much the album actually sold, and did you do any
videos for the songs?
4.
How did you hook up with Michael Sweet?
8.
Now you're about to release the debut of your new band ATTRACTION 65.
What can we expect of it?