EXTREME guitarist Nuno Bettencourt is featured in a new interview with Norway's Metal Express radio. An excerpt is available below.

Q: What was the catalyst that set the wheels in motion for you getting the band back together?

Nuno: "Money of course !! Money, money, money!! Ha!! No, really, if it was just about money we’d have done it a long time ago. We got together about four years ago, just for fun, in our home town and played two or three shows. We thought, let’s do it, why not? It’ll be fun. So we did it and it was great. It was good to see everybody again and the shows were sold out. At the end of it there was a sort of depression and I wasn’t sure why I felt so down. I said to Gary that I felt like an Extreme tribute band. We went out and had played all of the songs that people wanted to hear but there was something missing and that was new music. The thing that kept us moving along and kept us passionate was the next song. We could never play together just to make money or because we were bored or nostalgic. We needed to have the same passion that we had before and we said if we could go into a room and still have that chemistry and we come out with something that we’re proud of and that we’re excited enough to share with people then we’ll do it."

Q: What were those initial rehearsals like? Did it really feel like all those years had passed?

Nuno: "In many ways no, but in some ways, yes. The first hour or so was pretty strange but it was like riding a bike and we soon clicked again. We thought we might be able to write three or four songs together but after two weeks we’d written 24 songs or so. The chemistry had definitely kicked back in."

Q: In so many cases where a band has gotten back together and released an album of new material it’s fallen pretty much flat on its face. Fortunately, you’ve managed to avoid that trap and released an album as strong as Pornograffiti and III Sides To Every Story. You must be pleased with how it’s turned out?

Nuno: "I put everything into making an album and I listen to them and I’m very excited about them but then it’s hard for me to go back later and listen to them. It’s like looking at an old photograph where I think I should’ve done this, I should’ve done that. I usually like most of the album but think I could’ve done some things differently. With this record I can still put it on now and I agree with my initial thoughts when we were making the record. When we finished it I said that I thought it was our best record and it’s the first of our records that I can listen to and haven’t got sick of. I haven’t listened to it and thought it sounded dated or wanted to change parts of it. I think it sounds like Extreme and I love the songs."

Go to this location for the complete interview.