Royal Hunt
Music is Addictive

31.07.2008

Once again we’re at Apelsin Club in Moscow, once again there are Royal Hunt members and technicians running around, and the sound of soundcheck sometimes breaks through in the conversation. The last time we interviewed Royal Hunt was at exactly the same location a bit more than a year ago, but since then the band went through some dramatic changes, parting company with singer John West and recruiting new member Mark Boals, who rose to fame working with Yngwie Malmsteen on his album “Trilogy” (1986). After that Mark had a long career full of ups and downs, which included a variety of solo released and successful fronting of the band Ring Of Fire with yet another ex-Soviet keyboardist, Vitalij Kuprij. And since we’ve interviewed Royal Hunt mastermind Andre Andersen quite a few times over the years, we decided to talk to Mark this time and find out more about what it’s like to be a full-time singer and work with difficult people…

As far as we understand, you contacted Royal Hunt yourself and said you were interested in becoming their singer. How did you get to know about the band, and what do you like the most about Andre’s music?

I knew about the band because they were on the same labels as my own band in several countries, particularly in Japan, so I was familiar with their music for many years. I never met them before, but they were always a good band making good albums. I had much respect for them, and I never heard any bad things about them from anybody. When they were looking for a singer, I wasn’t busy for the whole year last year. I was trying to put Ring Of Fire back together, but everyone was busy, for instance, Tony (Macalpine, guitar) and Virgil (Donati, drums) were on a whole-year tour backing this French artist (Michel Polnareff). So I decided to give it a try, I didn’t know if it would be good or not, but it turned out very well. I recorded a couple of songs for them in Denmark, I went over to Copenhagen to work with Andre and meet the band, and it turned out great.

It’s the second time you’re working with a keyboard player from the former Soviet Union…

(laughs) Vitalij doesn’t like to hear that. He says Ukraine is different. (everybody laughs)

How much do Andre and Vitalij have in common? Can you say their mentality or working attitudes are different to people from Europe or America?

I think Vitalij is different. Andre is pretty much a world class keyboard player, I wouldn’t separate him from any keyboard player anywhere in the world for his attitude and his playing, he’s compatible to everybody and very easy to work with. Vitalij can be difficult sometimes, he’s a little moody. He’s very defined in what he is and what he wants to do, he’s not so flexible, whereas Andre is more flexible, easy-going and more versatile. Vitaly is great in what he does, but he’s very defined in one area that he wants to do and that’s it.

Can you say a few words about your studio experience with Royal Hunt? Was the recording of the new album “Collision Course – Paradox 2” different from the way you worked with other bands?

This time I recorded the vocals first to some demo tracks, and in almost all my other recording experiences they record music first and the vocals last. This time I got to put in the vocals first, and then they recorded everything else.

In his lyrics for “Collision Course”, Andre deals with a very touchy subject – religion and East vs. West. Do you agree with the view he expresses in his lyrics, can you relate to them in any way?

Yeah… (laughs) It’s a little dangerous touchy subject, like you said, and some of the lyrics – not actually the words that I sing, some of the background parts – may be controversial quite a bit. But I understand what he was trying to say with the album, and it’s a positive thing that he’s trying to do. He’s trying to make people aware of the ridiculousness of mind control that certain and political religious leaders are imposing, they steer people in a wrong direction where they don’t really want to go. I’ve been all over the world, and people are pretty much the same everywhere. They’re not really that different, they’re all good people. There are some bad people everywhere, but most of them are good persons, I think. I think we should be able to get along, it’s just these leaders who push people towards wars and stuff.

I remember that 10 years ago Royal Hunt had problems in the U.S. because of the content of “Paradox 1”, and they even changed the cover artwork for the U.S. version of the CD…

Oh, I didn’t know that!

Yeah, they had to remove Jesus and the cross from the cover.

Wow, I would like to see it! Nobody has told me about that…
 
As long as you live in America, how do people there react to the lyrics and cover artwork for the new album?

I haven’t been home that much to get many reactions. I’m not even sure when it was released, so when I get back home, I’ll find out.

In a few interviews after your split with Yngwie Malmsteen, you said you were not quite satisfied with your cooperation, because Yngwie did not allow you to write anything. Now you are once again in the situation when you have to sing what Andre wrote for you. Are you comfortable in it? Or do you expect to be more involved in the next Royal Hunt album?

When I joined the band, the songs were already written, so there wasn’t any debate about co-writing anything, it was all finished. The songs were completely done, except they weren’t recorded with the band. He had recorded finished demos without a singer. There wasn’t an option on this, but I’m sure in the future it would be an option to co-write things. Andre was very easy to work with, it was totally different than… the other guy. (laughs) He’s the most difficult person I’ve ever worked with. I always thought he would change, but no, he stays the same.

How much of your time does Royal Hunt occupy? Do you have any time for your own projects?

Not right now, because we’re on tour. But when I get home, I will. I’m working on a solo record right now, I’m hoping to finish that and have it out by the end of the year.

Do you have a favorite Royal Hunt song to sing? Are there any songs in the band’s back catalogue that you dislike and would refuse to sing?

No, there’s nothing I would refuse to sing. Some of their older material to me is not up to date, but a lot of the fans like it, so I don’t mind singing it. As to my favorites, I don’t have any either, but I really love the whole new album.

A lot of people have got used to you wearing long hair, but now your visual image is quite different. Why did you decide to have your hair cut?

I just wanted to start fresh. I have a lot of native American friends, and in an Asian way, too, when you want to cut the past and start anew, you should shave your head. (laughs) This will separate you from everything you had in the past. I kind of did that.

Did it work?

Yes! I’m very free now. It’s not that I wasn’t feeling free before, but I’m more free now. (laughs)

There were two quite big breaks in your musical career, one after Yngwie’s “Trilogy” and the other one in the past three years? What were you doing while you were away from the music business? Do you have any profession outside music?

The first time with Yngwie, I was just fed up with the music business, and I tried working in movies. I did some voiceover work, I did some songwriting for television, and I worked with Warner Brothers for a while. But I had to come back to rock, it’s my life. The last break that I had – I really just took a long vacation. I had some personal issues, my mother passed away, a friend of mine passed away, so I needed some time off, that’s it. But music is addictive.

You say that you have never had any singing lessons, but still you used to sing opera arias. How do you manage to do it? Many singers are saying that the singing techniques in rock and in opera are very different…

I’ve done some reading, I’m self-taught. I’ve done some self-training, I’ve just never done professional training or any kind of schooling. I studied classical styles of singing on my own, and I love it. It really helps to strengthen the rock vocals, and it helps the voice. Any kind of singing helps your voice. It’s kind of extreme singing in another way, and I like extreme singing! (laughs)

You did your own vocal clinics in Japan. What kind of an event is a vocal clinic? Here in Russia we have many famous drummers and guitarists doing clinics, but we don’t think there’s ever been a vocal clinic here…

I was kind of disappointed, because I prepared a whole program, but when I got there, they didn’t want me to do the program, they just wanted me to sing and answer questions. It was a very simple kind of thing, but I guess it was good for them, they appreciated it. I guess they god some answers they wanted to know, not the things I wanted to teach them. (laughs) I’ve done it in LA too, once or twice.

Speaking about operas, you played the main character on the first two parts of the “Genius” rock opera. Can you say a few words about your involvement in this project?

It was one of those projects done over the Internet. They sent me the music, I did my tracks in my own studio and sent them off, not knowing how it was gonna come out. But it came out pretty nice.

Why did you stay out of the third part?

The schedule was bad for me, I couldn’t do it in time for their deadline. So they got another guy.

By the way, how do you evaluate your contribution to this rock opera and the opera as such? We know that it was criticized a lot…

I don’t know if I would have done it the same way, but I didn’t have any control over it. I wasn’t the creator of it, I was just playing a role in it.

Would you say that it’s better to record in the same studio with the other performers?

(emphatically) Yes, yes! Definitely! Sometimes in the record business budgets are strung out, especially when you’re working with somebody from another country. It can still be a good experience, for instance, I did an album with The Codex last year, and it turned out really well. But I still haven’t met Magnus Karlssson (Codex mastermind – ed.), I would like to, but… Maybe I will meet him at Sweden Rock this year, because he’s playing there, too. This was the case that turned out rather well, but I would have rather been there and met him at least. (laughs)

Do you have any plans to continue working with Ring Of Fire?

I don’t know, it’s up in the air right now. It depends on how the schedules are. I’m still good friends with Virgil and Tony, the two main players, and Philip (Bynoe, bass) also. As to Vitalij, I don’t know if it will ever happen, because he’s a little difficult, and he doesn’t like working with Tony sometimes. They’re all great musicians, and they all have personalities, but with Virgil and Tony, I’ve known them for a long time, and they’re really close friends. If the schedule allows, we will probably do something again.

On the cover of your first solo album “Ignition” you are pictured with a guitar. What instruments do you play, and what instruments do you use when you compose songs?

I play a little bit of guitar and keyboards. I play a lot of bass, I started out as a bass player. I don’t play drums at all, I have to admit. (laughs) I usually write on guitar or piano, mostly on guitar.

Can you say a few words about your solo records? And an even more important question is – are they available anywhere except from file-sharing systems?

I don’t know, but  I need to work on that. I’ve been meaning to make them more available.

Most of the musicians you have been working with are Europeans – Yngwie, Daniele Liverani, Andre. But you are still living in America. Have you considered moving to Europe, like Mike Terrana did 10 years ago?

Yes, I recently thought about moving to Sweden, I like Sweden a lot, but I haven’t passed the “just thinking about it” stage. (laughs)

How big is the market for classic hard rock music in America nowadays? How many fans are still there?

I think there’s a lot of fans around, but there are no record stores anymore, and there’s no promotion for this kind of music anymore. But I think the fans are there, so something has to be done to connect with those fans. However, I don’t know what it is or what it’s gonna be. I think there’s still demand for this kind of music.

We’re actually quite concerned about the intention of American artists such as Nine Inch Nails or Smashing Pumpkins to become fully digital and stop releasing physical records. What do you think about prospects of the music business? Will CDs and record companies still be around in five or 10 years?

I don’t know if it will work or not. I actually know Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins frontman – ed.), I’ve been talking to him about it, and he told me he’s gonna only release EPs every few months, not even albums. Every few months another four songs – but I don’t know how it’s gonna work out. Some new system has to be installed, somebody has to invent a new way for fans to get music without problems and for artists to receive some kind of compensation for it. But it’s not there right now, it’s a mess. It’s very hard to make a living in this business.

Do you follow the present-day music scene? Are there any young artists that have recently caught your attention?

There are so many! It’s just overwhelming, there are so many project albums, new bands… I try to listen to new bands, but I can’t tell you a name that has caught my eye right now, because there are so many of them. I’m sure there’s a lot of very good ones, but you have to go through so many to find them.

You performed in St. Petersburg yesterday. How did you like the show, the fans and the city?

Oh, it was fantastic! A great audience and a very nice venue. It was an old theater, a big stage, very nice.

In general, how much has Russia live up to your expectations? You must have heard a lot of things about our country in the U.S. – how many of them are true?

We’ve only played one show so far, and I didn’t get to see St. Petersburg really, and I haven’t been able to see Moscow yet. But the fans are great, they are much better than my expectations. The interest from the fans is very nice.

Royal Hunt on the Internet: http://www.royalhunt.com

Special thanks to Irina Ivanova (CD-Maximum) for arranging this interview

Questions by Roman “Maniac” Patrashov, Natalie “Snakeheart” Patrashova
Photos by Natalie “Snakeheart” Patrashova
May 25, 2008
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