SeaOfTranquillity.org recently caught up with SAVATAGE / TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA / DORO guitarist Chris Caffery to discuss his solo career and his activities with TSO and Savatage. The following is a brief excerpt from the interview:

Caffery: "The solo thing is not as credible as the band. It doesn’t make any sense - why can’t you have credibility as a solo artist? I could have named my band something, but with the craziness of the TSO thing, it’s difficult for me to say that 'Hey, you’re going to be in Chris Caffery’s band and this is what you are going to do, but because of the TSO schedule in October, November, and December, you’re going to have to find something else to do at that time', so it’s real hard to do that. Thinking that I’m going to have the same people in my band all the time is not realistic and pretty ridiculous, so I’m kind of doing what Ted Nugent has done all these years, is having people work with you when then can and have your friends come and have fun. Nowadays, is really difficult to get to a level of a Nugent or a Pat Travers where you can get that recognition of being a solo artist. So many people are rooting for a Savatage reunion that they hate anything that’s not Savatage from the Savatage family. They feel it’s getting in the way of a Savatage reunion, and it’s so untrue. The reason I am doing the solo thing is because there is no Savatage right now. If Savatage was playing right now, do you think I’d go out and lose money doing my solo thing? There’s got to be an easier way to lose money (laughs).

You know, I go out and I play with TSO and I make money, then I go into the studio and make a solo record and go out on tour with my band, and I lose it back. It’s a perfect plan! (laughs) I can go fishing and lose no money, and just wait for the TSO tour, and be just fine. I don’t need to go out and people smack me in the face because I’m trying to make music. It’s a weird thing. There’s a lot of fulfilling moments, but a lot of moments that make me sit there and go 'Why am I bothering?' Of course, there are a lot of people that are never happy with what you are doing musically. If a no-name band came out with Pins And Needles, nobody knew who they were; I’d love to see the reviews compared to the ones that were given to me. I guarantee, the magazines that gave me 2 out of 10 would be giving that band 11 out of 10, but because its me and they are expecting my records to sound a certain way, they already have a preconceived notion of what they want to hear."

Go to this location for the complete interview.