Metal Rules Interview With Rob Rock
Interviewed by Rick Maloney
Rob Rock is one of the greatest voices in Metal today.
From his early days with M.A.R.S. through his long association with
Impellitteri, Rob has proved consistently that he has what it takes to
be a major player on the metal scene. Rob Rock has finally released a
solo cd and has enlisted the help of long time friend and Bruce
Dickinson cohort, Roy Z. Together they have created an outstanding piece
of metal that is sure to get Rob the recognition he deserves. I recently
had the opportunity to pose these questions to Rob Rock.
Why did you want to do a solo album and how did
you come about doing "Rage of Creation"?
I wanted to do a solo album so I could record some
great songs that I have written that would never be heard on an
Impellitteri record. My opportunity came about when JVC/Victor
Entertainment Japan was interested in the songs I had written with Roy
Z and wanted to release them in Japan.
Was this something spur of the moment or had
you been planning it for awhile?
I've been planning and hoping for four years or so, that the ideas I
had for a solo album would finally become a reality and slowly it came
into being with the commitment I got from Japan.
What kind of metal do you classify the music on
"Rage of Creation"?
I'm not exactly up on the latest labels or terms people use to
describe records but I would say "melodic metal" or
"power metal".
What is the significance of the title?
"Rage of Creation" is an acronym for R.O.C.K. (as in Rob
Rock), but I never did find a good word for the "K"!!
It also evokes the vibe of the album which to me is aggressive,
powerful and creative.
Roy Z produced, wrote songs and played on
the CD. How did you come to have Roy work with you on Rage Of
Creation?
Well, some of the songs that I had written were co-written with Roy Z
around the time we were in Driver together. We used the riffs and
ideas from our old demos that stood the test of time and re-wrote them
and also wrote a whole bunch of new songs just before we started
recording. Roy and I have been good friends for a very long time
and we always wanted to do an album together and it just seemed so
right to do it now while everything is falling into place.
How did you and Roy split up the song writing
duties. Did you collaborate on all the songs or were some already done
by one of you or Roy and just the rough edges fixed up?
We did it together in a lot of ways. Most songs were collaborations,
some were re-writes of our original demo ideas, and some were written
around a riff from Roy and some were written around melodies that I
had and would sing to Roy and he would come up with the music to
accompany them. It was great to write in a variety of ways and the
results were fantastic! It is so fresh and inspiring to me to work in
such a great atmosphere of cooperation.
The CD has the trademark crystal clear yet
chunky production of Roy Z. How is Roy to work with as a producer?
Roy is awesome and destined to be a huge producer in metal and I
believe he's well on his way already. Roy is able to communicate and
to inspire those around him to be the best they can be. We agreed to
record this album in a raw fashion and let the talent, songs and
performances speak for themselves. I can honestly say that this is the
best album I've ever recorded and by far the best mix of any album
that I've been involved with. I'm very happy with the results,
which was very important to me, especially when I'm stepping out on my
own and putting my name on it. It's very satisfying to work with Roy
who worked so hard to make sure we achieved the results I was looking
for.
Your band contains some great metal players.
Roy Z (Bruce Dickinson, Tribe of Gypsies), Butch Carlson (ex-Jag
Panzer) and Jake E. Lee. (ex-Ozzy) among others. How did you get this
band together and did each person bring anything special to the CD?
Everyone involved brought their best to the recording and it shows.
Roy Z is smokin' everywhere on the guitar, Butch is pounding away on
the drums and Jake came in the studio and laid down some killer leads.
Greg Analla (Tribe of Gypsies) came in and helped me with the backing
vocals and Ray Burke (Life After Death) came up with some great bass
lines and performances on the songs he recorded with us. My friend Chris Leibungut helped out a lot with getting everyone
together and even played bass for us when we did some pre-production.
Did the finished product "Rage of Creation" fit the
vision that you had before starting the recording?
When it's all said and done, "Rage of Creation" is the best
album I could have hoped for. I thank God for the results. I was a bit
nervous at times because it's the first album where I'm on my own,
it's my name and my responsibility to deliver a great album and
because of Roy Z, I was able to realize a long time dream of making a
great solo album.
Do you have any favorite songs on the CD? And
why?
My personal favorites are "Streets of Madness" (powerful
song, cool lyrics, great performances), "Forever" (awesome
melodies, best outro solo ever recorded, great song), "In the
Night" (heavy metal vibe is intoxicating, vocal screams), "Eagle"
(awesome
vocals, atmospheric vibe, cool solos, great song), "Sun will Rise
Again" (grand entrance, powerful and ripping tune, positive
lyrics, great drumming) and "Judgment Day"( Cool Biblical
concept, 2 ton riff, great musical passages, fresh). Every song on the
album has it's own merits, and that's why it's a great album.
I
agree . Almost every song on there is a great tune.
There is a cover of
"Eagle" by Abba on the CD. How did you come about doing a
cover of this song? And how did you make it
your own?
This song was suggested by Chris Leibungut. Roy Z said it would fit
the album the way he heard the production, and once I heard the song I
agreed. I made it my own by my vocal performance and by the
arrangement Roy came up with where we added the metal atmospheric vibe
of Black Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell".
I know the CD is out in Japan. How is it doing
sales wise?
The CD is doing great sales!! I was a bit disappointed to realize that
I am a "new artist" in the record companies eyes after all
those Impellitteri albums I recorded, which means my budget is small
in all areas, but the fans in Japan know a great album when they hear
it and I'm happy that it's selling so well.
I just got the news that you are signed the
Massacre Records for Europe. Will you be getting a distribution deal
for North America?
Yes, the album will be out in America. The details are not written in
stone yet but the album will definitely be available from my website www.robrock.com
in late October in any case, and all over the web.
Do you have any plans to tour behind this CD?
Europe? North America? And will Roy and the rest of the band be the
same for the tour?
I plan on touring in Florida and in Germany so far. I'm hoping Japan
sales will dictate a Japan tour too, but I may have to wait till the
next solo album to do that. I hoping to tour Europe sometime after my
release on Massacre Records.
As far as band members, I'm not sure at this point. Roy said he would
be there if it's possible to fit the dates into his schedule, so we
have to wait and see at this point and hope for the best.
I have to ask you. I know that you are not a
member of Impellitteri anymore. Can you tell me what happened and why
you are out of the band?
Chris said he didn't care if I do a solo album . Once the album was
finished, he changed his mind. He was not comfortable with me having a
solo release going on because he felt it would compete with
Impellitteri. So, I was forced to choose between Impellitteri and a
solo career.
Will you be doing anymore CDs with Impellitteri
or will you be focusing on your solo career?
I'm definitely focusing on my solo career. This also gives me the
opportunity to do other recording projects that come along too. Chris
and I remain friends but we won't be recording together in the
foreseeable future.
What was your level of involvement in
Impellitteri? Did you have major input into the band or were you just
the singer?
I was the co-songwriter of the band, lead singer and did some
promotion work too. Chris was the major input for the band and
ultimate decision maker.
Why are the Impellitteri CDs so hard to find
over here? I have heard many of them but they are so expensive to get
as imports. Could the band not get a distribution deal for Europe or
North America?
I was not the decision maker for Impellitteri and Chris wanted things
to do things according to what he thought was right. A few albums came
out in Europe though, Screaming Symphony, Eye of the Hurricane and
Crunch.
You also worked with Axel Rudi Pell. Seems that
you have a history of working with great guitarists. How did you get
involved with him and why did you only do one CD with him?
I was already committed to recording the Impellitteri "Grin and
Bear it" album in L.A. when I received a call from Axel's
manager. We all agreed it would be a one time studio album and I
needed the funds at the time to move back to L.A. from the East Coast.
So, I heard the demos and I agreed to do the album. Then I flew to
Germany to help write and record the album and from there I flew back
to L.A. to start the Impellitteri record.
Could you tell the readers of Metal-Rules.com a
little about some of your previous bands. Namely M.A.R.S., Driver,
Angelica and Joshua. Were these just projects or actual bands that didn't
get past the first release?
M.A.R.S. was a band with a new album recorded and we were looking into
touring possibilities when Rudy Sarzo and Tommy Aldridge got an offer
they couldn't refuse from David Coverdale. They joined Whitesnake and
Tony MacAlpine went back to his solo career and I joined the Joshua
band. Joshua was signed to RCA but after our record was recorded the
band just fell apart. I decided to do my own band DRIVER at that point
and was recruiting players when I did the studio gig Angelica as a
favor to my friend Ken Tamplin, who was producing the album. Then I
put DRIVER together with some guys from Joshua and Roy Z and we did a
24 track demo as we were searching for deals. After playing the East
and West Coasts and doing a lot of demos, we ended up going our
separate ways as "grunge" was invading the rock scene.
That's when I recorded the A.R.P. album and joined Impellitteri back
in L.A.
Did you actively search out guitar shredder
types like MacAlpine and Impellitteri? Or is it just a coincidence
that you seem to always team up with great guitar player?
By coincidence both Impellitteri and MacAlpine happen to be from my
home town area in the Massachusetts/Connecticut area of New England. I
do like a strong guitarist and they like a strong singer so it works
out well. I think the best situation is where you have a great singer
and a great guitar player and they both concentrate on writing great
songs like Roy and I did with "Rage of Creation".
Do you have any contact with Tony MacAlpine?
And if yes do you plan on doing anything with him in the future?
No, I haven't been in touch with Tony much over the years. I think it
would be cool to do another M.A.R.S. album in the future if everyone
else was into it. I've grown so much since that first album, singing
and songwriting wise, that I feel we could make an even stronger
statement now.
I
for one would love to see a new M.A.R.S. CD!
Rob
you seem to be heavily involved with the internet. You have a great website at www.robrock.com How has the internet helped you in your career? How about metal
in general?
The web has been a great tool for reaching tons of people that were
very hard to reach before. I think it opens up a whole new world to
the musicians out there and it also allows a much greater distribution
center for new music and for metal. Luckily for me, my wife is a web
designer and I'm able to have a professional web site at my disposal.
This "store front" on the web will also help me to get my
album distributed and available to millions of fans worldwide who were
unreachable before without major label help.
Will you be selling "Rage of
Creation" on your website?
Definitely!! "Rage of Creation" will be available around
October 26 from www.robrock.com
Rob. You have one of the greatest voices in all
of metal. Did you always want to be a singer? What kind of vocal
training, if any, training do you have? How do you keep your voice in
top shape? Any hints?
Thank you! I'm glad you noticed! I started off as a drummer and I've
always sung background vocals and then came out front to sing by the
request of the band I was in at the time. Most of my training is
self-taught by trail and error, recording and listening, and playing a
lot of "live" shows. I did take 10 vocal lessons in L.A.
before the Joshua "Intense Defense" record. They taught me
some warm-up exercises and pitch transitions. I do warm-ups everyday
in the shower and I'm usually demoing songs or rekearsing the songs
I've already recorded to sing "live". I've got a section on
my website called "Vocal Tips", and I put up a new comment
every month so there is a lot of hints and tips right there!
Who are some of your influences? And what draws
you to create metal instead of some other form of music?
"Whole Lotta Love" from Led Zeppelin is my earliest
influence in music I'd say and that was when I was a child. As a young
teen I was into Styx, Kansas and Boston and I was drumming and singing
then. Once I became a singer, I really loved the melodies of Lou Gramm
of Foreigner, the power of Ronnie Dio of Black Sabbath and the screams
and attitude of Rob Halford of Judas Priest. Metal just gets me going
and I love the power and drive of the music. I never really got into
anything else. Nothing moves me like metal with great vocals!
Word has it that you are working on the new
Warrior CD with Joe Floyd. How did that come about?
When I was mixing my solo album, I had Roy Z and Joe Floyd doing the
engineering and knob twisting. We recorded and mixed at Silver Cloud
Studios which is Joe's studio. After the mixes were done and the album
was finished, Joe asked me if I would be interested in working on his
new Warrior album. I've always loved and respected Warrior so I was
very interested in writing and recording with Joe. Warrior is a great
metal band and Joe and I both thought my voice would be a great asset
to the new album and the future of Warrior.
Will this be a permanent relationship
with Warrior?
I hope so! Right now it's a sort of wait and see what happens
situation. I will pursue my solo career and also make myself available
for Warrior.
Is the CD near completion? When will it be
released?
The album is nearly finished. I believe they may re-mix one or two
songs before mastering. I don't know when it will be released yet.
How does your work with Floyd impact on your
solo career?
I love to work and create great metal music so I really don't see any
problems doing both things. I hope Warrior opens me up to a wider
audience and I look forward to the opportunities as they arise.
Is there anything else that you want to say to
the readers of Metal Rules!!
I just want to thank all the readers who have supported me and welcome
all the new readers who are just discovering me now. Please, check out
the "Rage of Creation" album, you will not be disappointed!
Out of the thirteen albums I've recorded, this is my best work yet!
Check out www.robrock.com
for a complete history and discography plus monthly news, reviews,
vocal tips, photos and link updates.
Thanks for you time Rob and Good Luck with
"Rage of Creation"!!
Thanks Rick!!
©2000 Metal Rules!!