CIRCLE II CIRCLE / ex-SAVATAGE frontman Zak Stevens is featured in a new interview with Rock Realms UK. An excerpt is available below.

Q: Can you remember what led to you becoming a singer in the first place?

Zak: "What really sealed the deal on me becoming a rock singer was when I saw IRON MAIDEN on the Piece of Mind World Tour when I was in high school. After I saw what Bruce Dickinson brought to rock-n-roll, I said 'That’s what I want to do' to my best friend and it hasn’t been the same ever since."

Do you come from a musical family?

Zak: "My mother was a really good singer growing up, and she sang in beauty pageants that she won as a teenager as her talent, so I got some of my singing talent from my Mom. My Dad doesn’t really have any musical talent, but he’s a great dancer so maybe that helped my on-stage moves a little bit Ha Ha! My aunt (Mom’s sister) is a very talented pianist and organist, and her son is producer Butch Walker (Avril Lavigne / Pink / SEVENDUST). So we have a lot of musical talent floating around in the family genes I guess."

Q: Who were your early influences, and who out there do you really rate these days?

Zak: "My influences growing up in the '80s and '90s were Ronnie James Dio (R.I.P.), Bruce Dickinson, Geoff Tate, David Coverdale, Ian Gillian, Ray Gillian (R.I.P.), and Rob Halford just to name a few. I like the singer for the band DISTURBED a lot. He’s got a great range. I also like the singer for SHINEDOWN; he’s got a really interesting voice as well."

Q: You‘ve worked with a number of different acts over the years. Do you purposefully get involved with new projects to keep your musical life fresh, or is it more about getting where the work is?

Zak: "Doing side projects for me is definitely about expanding my vocal universe and using new recording situations to stretch my comfort zone when I can. I usually don’t have time for side projects when there is an active album cycle going on for CIIC, so 2009 was a good time to get a few projects under my belt and think outside the box vocally."

Go to this location for the complete interview.