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Michael
T. Ross, who his playing keybords for the greatest names in
Hard Rock, particularly HARDLINE, kindly accepted to answer
our questions. Fasten your belts, this gentleman's great !
First
of all, in the name of www.hardrock80.com and its readers,
I wish to welcome you on the site and to thank you for the
time you spend answering our questions.
The ACCOMPLICE
brand new album has been launched recently. Can you describe
what this album means to you? Can you tell us how you feel,
right after giving the world this new gift?
This album is special
to me because it is with a group that I grew up playing with
and we finally got to release a record together. Also, getting
Johnny to record the vocals was a blessing for us. He really
did an amazing job. Recording the record at the infamous Leopard
Room in Hollywood Hills was a great experience and getting
to work with such fine musicians. I’m very pleased with
guitarist Sean CLEGG’s writing capabilities in the AOR
Rock genre, as he wrote almost all the music and lyrics to
this record. We knew Johnny’s voice over his songs would
be killer.
This
new project is composed of quite famous members, you first.
How did the idea of bringing ACCOMPLICE together come to you?
In which way such a band can differ from, by instance, HARDLINE?
While I was working with
Accomplice in the pre-recording stages of the record, I joined
HARDLINE and one day, I played Johnny some of Sean’s
songs, and he agreed to record on the album. ACCOMPLICE has
a much more progressive background than let’s say HARDLINE,
but of course, having two members from Hardline, you can definitely
hear a resemblance. I would classify them both in the same
AOR Melodic Hard Rock category.
I guess you
have had already some feedback on this album. Were they positive,
encouraging enough to you? Does it sound exactly the way you
wanted?
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Truly, we have
been overwhelmed with the amount of positive response so far.
We have been getting high ratings at various rock sites and
mentioned on MelodicRock.com w/ 2 mp3s. We are on the new
Fireworks Magazine compilation CD with the track “Cry
Again”. And Sean has a 3-page feature article in the
new Guitar World Magazine for owning the lost Randy RHOADS
guitar and he talks about using it on this record.
How would you
describe this album?
The opener “Take
Love” is on the hard rock side, while “Everywhere”
is a ballad you could find on a Hardline record, and there
is the neo-classical instrumental “Last Hurray”,
that has fancy guitar/keyboard trade offs. Overall, I would
say it is a melodic AOR hard rock record.
The ACCOMPLICE
band is composed of strong personalities. Is there, amongst
you, a “natural leader” or is the lead equally shared
between you?
Sean leads the group
as the guitarist, composer and mans the ship. I do a lot of
the marketing, Rich handles financing, and Scott gives killer
tattoos!
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Do you think that ACCOMPLICE is a long term project or just
a “one-album-band»?
The core of the
group has been around for many years, so the entity won’t
be going anywhere soon, and the follow up to this record is
already in the making. Of course, we would love to have Johnny
back for another one, but it isn’t looking likely at
this time, so we have thrown around names of great singers
such as Terry ILOUS and Ted POLEY.
Coming to the
music itself, did any band influence the ACCOMPLICE work?
With Sean writing most
of the material and lyrics, I would say the bands most influences
come from him. I would say VAN HALEN, WHIESNAKE, QUEEN, Steve
VAI, BOSTON, EAGLES and DREAM THEATER are stuff he’s
into. He has a Masters Degree in Classical Music and that
influences his song writing, like the breakdown in “She’s
on Fire”, and the instrumental “Last Hurray”.
Can we go on,
focusing on you? To start with a classical question, how did
you come to keyboards and who are the musicians that influenced
you?
My older brother played
keyboards first and when I was 8, I wanted to do whatever
he was doing. He was in rock bands and had all the keyboards,
so I used his gear and started gigging in junior high school
in bands. Growing up, my brother always put on YES, THIN LIZZY,
QUEEN and TOTO records. All those influences helped shape
my style and song writing that is being utilized in the new
ANGEL material today, which is an honour for me to be apart
of.
Having a look
at your website, you show participations in so many projects:
HARDLINE, ACCOMPLICE, ANGEL, Terry ILOUS…You plan to
play in California with SLAVIOR… How can you manage this,
especially for tours?
Living in Hollywood,
I can get around to the rehearsal halls, recording studios
and nightclubs fairly quickly because I take side streets
and they aren’t that far away from each other. There
are a lot of musicians to work with that live close by. I
finally got a great manager Michael FISHMAN who has been doing
a killer job in assisting me to get where I need to be and
on time.
Was being the
heir of Greg GIUFFRIA in ANGEL a challenge for you?
For sure! First of all,
getting those tones was actually a bit more complex then I
though with the today’s digital boards. Thank god for
Nord keyboards because they really know how to get a great
analog sound. Bassist Randy GREGG really helped me out in
the beginning with learning the songs. He would call me from
his basement in Queens, NY at like 2 am my time, which was
5am his time, and he would read me off notes as the song was
playing in the background. I had to run to the local shops
looking for Angel cds to buy, so I could learn them! I remember
my first rehearsal in Burbank and Barry was so intimidating
to me. He would stare and then yell at me. I would never have
guessed how we ended up working so intensely together on a
new record and becoming good friends. I just kept thinking
of how much magic he wrote with Gregg. Well, going on 4 years
and we’ve gigged from festivals in Germany to nightclubs
in Hollywood and now working on a new record, I couldn’t
be any happier with the band.
Like Johnny
GIOELI, you are playing in well-established bands. Is there
any place for family or to a larger extend private life, as
it seems you would need to have 48 hours a day to achieve
all these?
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I
do feel like I’ve sacrificed a family live for the
music biz because I’ve never been married or have children.
I always felt it would be easier to keep things simple and
focus 100% on the music. I’m happy with my cat and
my keyboards. Then again, I admire guys like Johnny who
have a successful music career and a close family life.
Can you tell
us exactly in how many current projects you are involved
in ????
I finished writing
songs with Barry BRANDT for the new ANGEL record and we
are getting ready to go to New Orleans to Steve BLAZE’s
studio and record the record with the band. I finished the
keyboard tracks for the new HADLINE III. I recorded keys
on Terry ILOUS’ new record and I was a special guest
on a cd from friends of mine in Italy called MARKONEE. I
recently played in Hollywood with PROJECT STEIGER at the
Knitting Factory and shot a live DVD with Inside Out Records
and newly signed SLAVIOR featuring drummer Mark ZONDER (FATES
WARNING) and guitarist Wayne FINDLAY (MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP).
As a musician, isn’t it difficult
to bring each band you participate in the creativity in
line with the specificity of each of them?
I look forward
to working with each of my projects because it takes me
back in many different times. Working with Barry, it’s
like stepping back into the 70’s and approaching the
music in that fashion versus jumping up on stage with SLAVIOR
and playing cutting edge progressive hard rock music of
today. Like many, I play many styles and get to exercise
each of them with various groups, so it is fun and easy
rather than an issue.
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Few
years ago, bands as a whole, were pursuing success. Nowadays,
it seems that individual musicians are seeking stardom for
themselves. How can you explain such a change?
Being a keyboardist,
it seems it’s always been that way for this instrument
for the most part. It was shocking when Rick WAKEMAN quit
YES and Kevin MOORE quit DREAM THEATER, but they are to this
day, one of the most talked about solo artists. With websites
and the Internet it made it easier to control images of yourself
and launch it at a level that you want it rather than being
in a band and hoping you get your name mentioned. After a
while, artists figured out that no one cares about your career
more than yourself and you need to promote it yourself no
matter what band you are in at the time.
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I guess that, with all the projects you are involved in, you
shall soon tour intensively. Shall we have the luck to see
you in France, as there is a strong fan base for melodic hard
rock here?
I want to do shows in
France of course and be ready to deliver some killer rock
with any one of my groups. I’ll keep you informed!
Can you tell
us when the forthcoming HARDLINE III album is to be launched?
I’m guessing before
summer of 2007 because the last I heard Johnny was just about
finished with his vocal tracks and Josh had a few guitar parts
to do and then it would be ready for mix, but honestly I don’t
know. I’m positive it’s a 2007 release and I can’t
wait because I’m sure the fans are going to love it,
and there are tons of keys on it.
You are quite
active on the Internet. It seems it is very an important tool
for you. Can you tell us what are your feelings on the Web?
Is it a good way to promote all the hard work of yours? Do
you think that websites like www.hardrock80.com
can help in pushing the music genre we like?
Thank God for the Internet
or most of us may not even have a career. That’s great
with the MySpace popularity, but I still stay strong with
the .com sites. There is so much more you can do with .com
in many graphic ways. Thank you to awesome rock sites like
yours that helps us artists promote our music!!!
A French label
has had the idea to give each buyer of an album an access
to a private server where he can download, legally, extra
tracks, and mainly live ones. Do you think this can be a good
idea?
It sounds like a good
idea as long as it’s trackable to the artists and is
a secured site that no one is able to hack into it.
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©
Hardline I
© Hardline II |
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It’s
time for me to thank you for having answered our questions.
Maybe you wish to say few words to our reader, so I leave you
the floor! Many thanks!
I appreciate HardRock80.com
for allowing me to share my music with your readers and I look
forward to touring your way this year! To all you diehard Johnny
GIOELI fans, the new ACCOMPLICE “She’s on fire”
is a must to pick up. Go to www.cdinzane.com
to purchase your CD now! For more information on Michael or
any of his groups, go to www.michaeltross.com
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