Backstage Axxess spoke with Gary Cherone of Boston rockers EXTREME about the new live CD/DVD, VAN HALEN and the future of Extreme. A few excerpts from the interview follow:

Backstage Axxess: The band will be releasing Take Us Alive in a CD/DVD combo on May 4th. This was recorded in your hometown of Boston. Tell us about the decision to do a live record.

Cherone: "First thing that comes to mind is why haven’t we done a live record? We had a 13 year hiatus, but we've been scratching our heads saying what took us so long to do a live DVD, a live CD? I think a while after we got back together and we put out some new material Saudades de Rock, we went out on the road and… I think this is going to be the norm, we hope, from every tour. For us, this is exciting because we grew up with all of those bands like AEROSMITH, QUEEN, and CHEAP TRICK Live at Budokan. Not to compare us to them, but some of our favourite records were live, like KISS Alive II and all of that stuff, so now we have our official double live CD/DVD to go along with it. We’re excited about it!"

Backstage Axxess: Going back on your previous comment on future tours. You said that your fans can expect new recordings after each one?

Cherone: "Whether we like it or not, there is this thing called YouTube (laughs) and it’s going to be recorded anyway. No.. no (laughs) .. that is the plan. We did a recording on the Pornograffiti Tour in '90 while we were in Europe. They filmed the tour and think we filmed like two nights in Hammersmith in London. We were going to put out a documentary/movie. It never materialized. Why? Management change, money and all of that stuff. But we still have that footage. Hopefully someday, with a new record, we can put out bonus material of that era."

Backstage Axxess: It’s been 13 years since Van Halen released a studio record and you were the last vocalist to lend his voice to them doing one. Do you still have a relationship with the Van Halens?

Cherone: "The only one I really keep in touch with is Michael. Not for any other reason, I kept in touch with Eddie right after that. Then we just kinda moved on. It’s fine, I’m sure he can call me and I can call him, we just haven’t talked. It was great… that period. It’s surreal to me that it has been ten years. Michael is great. I was hanging out with him at the CHICKENFOOT gig in Boston. I got to hang out with Sammy and Mike and the rest of the guys. Sammy has always been real good to me."

To read the full interview go here.