GREAT WHITE / XYZ singer Terry Ilous is featured in a new interview with Daniel Pavlica at The Rocktologist. An excerpt is available below.

Q: There has been a lot of turmoil lately around the right to use Great White name. How does that affect the guys in the band?

Terry: "Well, Daniel, I have to tell you that everyone is a bit annoyed and upset… I don’t want to get info controversy, all I want to say is that the history of the band is very simple. The history speaks for itself. Mark Kendall started the band in 1978 with a different singer, a different drummer and a different bass player. Then band was by then called DANTE FOX. This line-up toured for about two years, before Jack Russell joined the band. Basically, the band then toured and changed the name, but the point is that the band was started by Mike Kendall back in 1978, at the time, in 1978 Jack Russell wasn’t even around, Jack Russel was in jail. Now, how does he defect me and the band…it’s really annoying to be honest with you. I’m not saying anything bad about Jack whatsoever, but I’m starting to get annoyed. I’ve never heard of a singer leaving a band and taking the name with him, I mean, when Steve Perry left JOURNEY he called himself Steve Perry formerly of Journey, the same goes for Lou Gramm (FOREIGNER), Ozzy Osbourne or David Coverdale. The bottom line is that when you leave the band, let’s not forget that Jack never got fired, he left the band on his own accord."

"So once again, the situation is very annoying to be honest, because it’s affecting our shows, it’s bothering our fans, not to mention that the fact that Jack is saying so many bad things about us is just wrong. You know, I wish Jack only the very, very best, success and health; whatever he want I’m good with that. Still, I don’t thing that saying bad things about his former band members is right, I think he should be more of a gentleman. It’s like a relationship with your ex-girlfriend or your ex-wife. When it’s over, it’s over, and you have to remember the good times and move on."

Q: Great White is now up against Jack Russell’s Great White. Are you confident in reaching the top spot?

Terry: "Absolutely! (laughs)"

Q: No problem there, then?

Terry: "No problem there! You know, Jack was a great singer, and he did wonderful things with the band. I would never criticize Jack. I’m not that kind of a person. If he can comeback with a great album I would say good for him. All I want for us is to move on and be happy. I just want to be left alone and do my thing, that’s all."

Q: One more question about Jack. He in particular has an army strong pack of devoted fans. How does it feel stepping into his shoes, on stage that is?

Terry: "I’d like for him to step into my shoes if he can do it! I’m a lead singer from XYZ and everybody knows that I have lots of chops. Singing my songs is not easy. Anyway, every time that I go onstage it’s always a pleasure for me to sing songs that Jack and Mark have written or co-written… I know that Mark was mostly the writer in the band…it’s always a pleasure to sing this songs. In a certain way Jack will always be with me onstage, because I will be singing things like 'Save Your Love' and 'Lady Red Light'. Every time I sing those songs the fans would be singing thinking about him, and to be honest with you, they should thing about him, because he was the voice in Great White before. So I only have respect for him, even my new fans should respect him as well.

As far as going on stage and filling his shoes…well, Jack was a great singer, and I’m also a great singer. It’s not like, 'Oh my God I don’t know if I can do it!' The truth is that Jack and I are very similar but we are different also. I’m European so I’m very flashy onstage. My influences are Freddie Mercury and people like that, you know, people that put on a great show. So again, Jack and I are very similar, that’s why I am the singer in Great White now, because of the similarities, the blues, the rock, except that I’m a bit heavier that him. I grew up listening to Ronnie James Dio, my heart is into metal but also blues, because I’m very personal."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Great White's new album, Elation, is out now. The tracklisting includes:

'(I've Got) Something For You'

'Feelin' So Much Better'

'Love Train'

'Heart Of A Man'

'Hard To Say Goodbye'

'Resolution'

'Shotgun Willie's'

'Promise Land'

'Lowdown' (Bonus Track)

'Just For Tonight'

'Love Is Enough'

'Complicated'

'Hard To Say Goodbye' (Acoustic Version) - Japanese Bonus Track

Great White 2012:

Terry Ilous – lead vocals

Mark Kendall – lead guitar

Scott Snyder – bass guitar

Audie Desbrow – drums

Michael Lardie – guitar, keyboards