Vocalist / guitarist Lita Ford is featured in a new interview with BackstageAxxess.com discussing her comeback after 15 years of silence and the resulting album, Wicked Wonderland. An excerpt is available below.

Q: You’ve made the Warlock (guitar) pretty synonymous with your face. What new and/or old gear did you use for this record?

Lita: "That is so cool that you asked that question! The man who made my old guitars, which I will be playing tonight - my double-neck is messed up, damn it... well, maybe they fixed it - anyway, the guy who made my Warlock, his name is Bernie Rico. He passed away. So his son Bernie Rico Jr. was taking over the company, and recently I called Bernie Rico, Jr. and I asked him - he’s the only one, y’know - it’s like a family recipe, these guitars, it’s like an old family spaghetti sauce recipe or something. He’s the only one who knows how to make these guitars. So I said, 'Your Dad made me these guitars, and I want new guitars.' So he says 'Man, we’re making these new guitars now called Rico.' They’re not B.C. Rich, but they’re the same manufacturers and he’s putting me together some new guitars right now as we speak. I should have the first one next weekend for the Sturgis Rally."

Q: Is it going to be a signature line?

Lita: "We’re working on that right now. we don’t have one yet. We’re just kind of gearing up to that."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

As previously reported, earMUSIC/Edel will issue Wicked Wonderland on October 2nd in Europe. BraveWords.com recently received the following press release:

Pioneering hard rock queen Lita Ford returns to action this fall with Wicked Wonderland, a disc brimming with loud and lusty new tunes - songs that might make listeners feel as breathless and dizzy as Alice after a trip down the rabbit hole. But rest assured, you’ll never hear anything like this at a tea party!

“Everybody has their own Wicked Wonderland,” says Lita. “It’s a place where you can do whatever you want and get as freaky as you feel. These songs are my version of that – they’re all about my life... well, the parts that happen when the kids are in bed and my husband and I get into the boudoir.”

The five-pack of tunes contained on this sampler paint a mighty vivid picture of that room – and the inner workings of Lita’s life and libido. Propelled by her distinctive guitar work – a potent blend of blues-based licks, good ‘n’ greasy slide and punishing post-millennial riffage – they touch down in places that diehard fans will recognize. But there are plenty of expeditions into previously uncharted territory as well, from the gnash and bash of 'Scream' to the enveloping 'Love'.

“This is definitely the heaviest stuff I’ve ever recorded,” she says. I’ve evolved and matured as a person and so has my music. It’s lyrically very real.”

In addition to Lita’s own evolution, these songs showcase the family-affair nature of how they were made. Wicked Wonderland was largely recorded at the island home she and husband Jim Gillette share with their two sons - who actually appear on the disc reciting the pledge of allegiance prior to mom kicking into the loud and proud 'Patriotic S.O.B.' Gillette’s presence is also felt throughout the disc, in both his production work and backing vocals - harmonies that provide a perfect yin to Lita’s yang.

“We recorded all the vocals and lead guitars at home with Jim engineering and I wouldn’t have been near as comfortable recording with anyone else,” says Lita. “Jim and I are soul mates and we’re just about joined at the hip. It’s almost like the stuff they say about twins - we’re always finishing each others sentences and doing the same things musically. There were times when I’d listen back to a song and be like ‘which one of us is that anyway?’”

The double-barreled intensity provided by Gillette’s presence only serves to highlight Lita’s room-filling personality, which resonates loud and clear throughout the disc - not to mention a live show that will cast her in roles as diverse as a naughty bride and a catsuit-draped super-heroine. As ever, when Lita is good, she’s good, and when she’s bad, well, she’s Wicked good!

Stay tuned for further updates.