| INTERVIEW
WITH ROSS THE BOSS (italian
version) by Giancarlo Bolther You’ve played with a lot of artists, from punk to epic metal, with your 30 years carreer, who is Ross the Boss today and what is that pushes you to play again with such a great enthusiasm and energy? Thanks for nice question. My love of music and guitar has drivenme my whole life. To any young musician , that HAS to be your driving force. If you are thinking of getting rich and blasting right to the top - THINK AGAIN. Why did we have to wait that long for a solo album and why now it was the time to do it? First of all, New Metal Leader is not a solo a record. It was made by 4 musicians contributing equally. New Metal Hero is an album in true epic metal style, close enough to Manowar stuff, after so many years why did you felt the desire to play again epic metal tunes? Why did you choose to sound close enough to Manowar with the new solo album, and also the logo and the artwork reminds to Manowar too? First of all, I was waiting for the right time and the right group of musicians to make this record. As far as the logo artwork, I feel I have the right to do anything I want. What was really happened at the time you left Manowar and how hard was that choice? It will be possible that you play again with them in future or it’s a close chapter? I left Manowar due to creative musical differences with Joey. Actually, he asked me to leave. Would I play with them in the future? Probably not. We did the reunion so why do another. Plus, I am too busy right now. In my opinion the best albums did by Manowar were Hail To England and Sign Of The Hammer, after these albums (to me) the band seemed to run out of ideas… what’s your opinion? I disagree – I think Fighting the World and Kings of Metal had plenty of great ideas on them Manowar’s songs were mostly credited to DeMaio, but I have always believed that your contribution was relevant as we can see with your new album, what can you tell us about? Well I wrote the music to Manowar, Death Tone, Shellshock, Fastaker, Dark Avenger, Secret of Steel, Gloves of Metal, Each Dawn I die, Army of the Immortals, The Oath, Kings of Metal, Hail and Kill - How’s that? In my opinion New Metal Leader is better than the stuff lately made by Manowar, but don’t you fear the risk to be considered too much nostalgic? This record is true metal made by a band of energetic and talented musicians ready to kill . There is nothing nostalgic about that. The songs that impressed me the most were the opener “I.L.H.”, “Blood of Knives”, “God of Dying” and “Immortal Son”, can you tell me more about these ones, please? There songs – All of them – are different – God of Dying and Immortal Son would be considered Epics, Blood of knives would be considered a rocker with an actual guitar riff and I.L.H. – Infinite Lost Horizons is a call to arms for New Metal Leader How much tradition and how much modernity there are into this new album? The tradition of old school music being we play together in the studio using traditional drums and real amplifiers but we did have the help of protools and swapping files between New York and Germany on very few occasions but most of it was recorded together. Is New Metal Hero an album of faith in the future, of passion for your work or of confirmation of what have you done over the past? The past is the past, the futre is all that matters. Of course the passion will never die. Does it was hard to find a good deal for the album? Actually it was very easy. I was helped by a lot of great people. How are going the responses from the fans and the critics? All that matters to me are the fans – we know we made a great record. Not everyone is going to think the same things but I have been in this business for a long time and you learn to deal with critics all the time. I’m a great fan of Brain Surgeons and I think that Denial of Death was a superb album, the one that could rise the international interest in the band, why did Albert put the band into a hiatus? Do you plan to record again in future? Albert and Deborah are in the middle nasty divorce so that put an end to the Brain Surgeons. Yes I love Albert he is a tremendously creative musician to work with. Albert was the drummer of the mighty Blue Oyster Cult, a band that has never received the attention deserved, what do you think about them? I really dig Blue Oyster Cult – I always have – I don’t’ know about deserving the attention but Albert has like 5 Platinum records hanging on the wall. That’s a lot of attention If you could choose one, which is you fave record from your huge diskography and which is the one that you dislike and why? New Metal Leader is my favorite album at the moment because it is the newest and I really love it. Manifest Destiny from the Dictators is my least favorite record at the moment. You have collaborated with a lot of artists, what is that it pushes you to work with so many different musicians and who is the one that impressed you the most? I respect every musician, every artist has something beautiful about them that I can learn from. I realty don’t have a favorite artist. There is something about your past that you would like to change if it will be possible? Yes I wish I had found my new band sooner. But I was also very busy raising my son and working as a musician. Which memories do you like best to remember about the '70 and the ’80, and how much is changed the music biz? Those decades were great. Labels were selling, people were buying and not stealing. Rock N Roll was KING, still is in my mind but it was GREAT FUN all the time. Will never happen again. I know that you are full of projects, which are the most important ones for the near future? As of now, there are no more projects. All that matter is Ross the Boss band and New Metal Leader and our future. Thanks a lot Ross! Feel free to end with a salute or a message… Thanks for this nice interview, come see us on tour. Let us prove ourselves to the metal faithful and the rest of the world. Reviews (only in italian): New Metal Leader Web Site + MySpace |
