Hi Terry! First of all allow me to welcome you on www.hardrock80.com for this interview. It's a pleasure and an honor.
You answered our questions more than two years ago. What have you done during these months?
I have been busy trying to become a dad! I just adopted a little girl from China: Lily Melodie!
I finished the CD: Here and gone, worked on few jingles, few songs for TV and also have done lots of touring dates with my band Monsters of Classic Rock...

Your new album grants us with unreleased tracks covering a big part of your career. How did this idea come to you?
I thought it would be a good idea. I have a very close relationship with my fans and many have asked me to send them tracks I have recorded for TV, films, etc
I guess they wanted to follow my career so I said to myself: “Mais bon sang mais c’est bien sur !”  
So here is the CD... It should have been called: for the fans only!

Your website announces track with some of the most prestigious guest. Can you tell us how you came to work with these artists?
I work or have worked with these people over the years. Some I know very well and get to see very often others it was just a one-time thing. You know ultimately every body knows every one here in HOLLYWEIRD!

Can you tell us your own feelings about this album? I guess you have had already some feed back. How do media perceive it?
AH the media! We need it so I'll be polite. To be honest with you I do music to please myself! Then the fans. I’m blessed that most of them like my work but even if they did not I would still continue recording, just for my self I guess. You just would never hear about my work! So the media have been surprised! They did not know I could do this or that. Go from pop to heavy metal to Christmas song... I don t blame them most artists have only one dimension, one vision.
You and I know that I am French  (and will always be a little Frenchie!) so are musical culture is immense with Spanish, Middle Eastern, Classical. Annie Cordy aha ah ! But also lots of underground music. So we are more proud to accepting other influences. Ultimately it reflects in our music and every day life. Take my example I was born the son of a French mom and Spanish dad, grew up in the worst banlieue de France (La Courneuve near Paris) where every ethnic groups tend to mix so of course I will love all these genres of music because I heard them when I was a kid! In a way we the French are blessed!

Let's talk about your music now. You are involved in different projects. Isn't it too difficult to cope with?
Yes sometimes I spray myself too thin and wonder in wonderland! But I know when to stop everything and find my way home. But I like to create if I stop I feel lonely then get depressed. I am always working or going to Martial Arts if it was not for Music and MA I could have became un voyou de banlieue (a brat) but I got music via my dad, and MA because I had to defend myself, I was too small! I have been involved in the world of MA since I am 12 years old!

Few months ago, Michael T. Ross told us you would join ACCOMPLICE. Did you start working with them? Is an album planed?
We have done a bunch of dates with Deep Purple and other bands. It’s going great, MTR is a sweet heart. As far as a new CD we are working on it... See I never stop working...
My baby needs new shoes (joking) talking about baby! Wow! That’s a lot of work but I am so glad to have her she is making me a better man!

You sang with JK Northrup. Have you kept good relationships with him and another record with him would be possible?
JK is one of my closest friends. We always talk about working together on this or that...
I would like to produce a French band with him that would be cool...I got him to try escargots and foie gras he loves it...

Talking about yourself, you are now the lucky father of a little girl. Shall this wonderful and major event have an impact on your career?
You bet! Thank you.
Since I got her I am much more focused. You see before my world was turning around this complex individual name Terry "Thierry" Ilous. . Now somebody else needs me.
All of the sudden I am more responsible. I have news for you I m working very hard on rejuvenating my career more seriously then ever before. I am in top shape, sing like a canary! And hungry for success like NEVER BEFORE!
You know as far as the kid goes I have to tell you something. When I am with my daughter I feel like a million dollar! I feel like the biggest rock star in the world. All she has to do is say "Papa" and that is worth a fortune to me.
Few months ago I was a lonely individual and she was an orphan, and now she has a papa and I have a little girl! Talking about her, she just woke up I'll be back I have to change her! Ah ah ah <true>

Isn't it too difficult for a French guy to settle, live and work in the US?
It is and it's not. It depends on how cosmopolitan one is!
I mean you have to be able to embrace other cultures, if one is too French. I mean" le pinard, le foot ET bobonne le samedi soir"! Forget about it. But those people don't travel do they?

Two years ago, you launched an album where you sang in Spanish, a very special wink to your roots. Have you planned to do another record in this mood?
Gosh it’s almost finished. But not yet I m so busy, but I'll get too it. I looooooove the Spanish culture, thanks to my dad’s side of the family, they were from Madrid and Barcelona... My mom all French.I guess you are well aware of what is going on the French hard rock scene, with the birth of high quality bands. Do you follow some of them?So sorry but I was not aware of it. I would love to help if I can, I love to write and produce others. So let this be an open invitation. I can come to France and will be happy to assist a good band!

Shall we have someday (the sooner the better) the luck to see you live on stage in France?
I would love to play in France. Maybe your site can help sponsoring the dates.
I would also love to come and do a seminar.  But at the moment I am not sure... but it’s not over till it’s over and even though I'll come back as a ghost!

Would you say that your European origins influenced you in your career?
10000% I am very very European. We listen to other music's we are not closed minded so it shows in our writing, we are more diverse.

What does the 80's hard rock mean to you?
Fun, hope, big arenas, great looking girls. Great looking girls <did I say that already? ;-)> And superb memories. You know, I always say. “Don't be sad because it’s over, be happy because it happened”. And it happened to me... One in a million a little guy from France became famous here in the USA. I’m thankful

Is the Internet a useful tool for you? What do you think of its evolution?
I think the Internet is a great tool. In a way! Nowadays it’s much easier to communicate with our fans, the medias etc.  As artists, we are less isolated. But also more isolated as human beings. Why? Because everything comes from emails, no more phone calls. We in a way lost that human touch and I miss that. I'm a people person.

Do you think that websites like www.hardrock80.com can help in the promotion of your career, and to a larger extend, push forward hard rock ?
Let me tell you something about your website and others... If it was not for you, the scene would be dead! You guys are doing it for the love of the music, not for the chicks or the dope or the money! You, my friend, really love the MUSIC... And we artists should be thankful that you are still around.

As I finish my questions, I warmly thank you to have answered them. In the name of www.hardrock80.com readers, I wish you a lot of success and leave you the final words for them.

Thanks a lot and see you!
Sincerely,
Terry Ilous