BLACK STAR RIDERS Talk DEF LEPPARD Frontman Joe Elliott Bowing Out Of Producing New Album - "He Couldn't Apologize Enough, But We Understand"
January 7, 2015, 9 years ago
Ricky Warwick and Damon Johnson of Black Star Riders recently spoke with Sweden's Rocksverige about their new album, The Killer Instinct. An excerpt is available below:
Q: You ended up working with Nick Raskulinecz instead of Joe Elliott. When Joe told you that he wouldn´t be able to produce the record, didn´t you just wanna slap him in the face?
Damon: (laughs) I think maybe Ricky did a little, because he and Joe are best mates and Ricky had told us; 'Holy shit this is gonna be great! Joe wants to do our record.' So, knowing (a) their relationship and (b) Ricky´s enthusiasm about it, it was like 'Alright, sounds good. Let´s go!' The initial reaction was just that we were disappointed. Joe Elliott knows a thing or two about great songs and about making great rock records."
Ricky: "Joe was genuinely gutted though. He was really concerned about how we felt and that was very obvious. He couldn´t apologize enough, but we understand. If it had been us, we´d done the same thing. You´ve got to look after your band and if Def Leppard´s your gig, come on! But it was one of those things where you just pick yourself up and go 'Ok, what do we do now?' We had thought about other names and other people and certainly Nick was one of those, but to be honest with you, we thought Nick was out of our league, just because of what he´d done. We didn´t think we´d be able to afford him to be brutally honest and would he wanna come work with us? That´s where Damon came in."
Damon: "It was an accident. Both Nick and my family live in Nashville, but we literally met backstage at an Iron Maiden concert, in Nashville of all places. Our wives became faster friends than Nick and I did. Nick and I talked about Rush and Maiden, but the girls were just hitting it off. Fast forward another three or four weeks and Joe gave us the call. As soon as Ricky called me and told me what was up, I sent my wife a text and said 'Hey, do you think Amber would be comfortable to pass along Nick´s number?' because just like Ricky, I didn´t think we could afford him and I just thought there was no way his calendar was gonna be free in 10 weeks? But it was and he worked within budget."
Go to this location for the complete interview.
Black Star Riders have offered up the first taste of their sophomore effort, The Killer Instinct, due out on February 20th (Europe), 23rd (UK), 24th (North America) via Nuclear Blast. Check out "The Killer Instinct" single and lyric video below. Frontman Ricky Warwick comments: "The video is about strength, endurance and overcoming adversity. It's about belief, love and compassion in a world of doubt."
The band toured 2013’s All Hell Breaks Loose for a year – playing across the globe. October 2014 saw them gather in Nashville, TN and enter the studio with heralded producer Nick Raskulinecz (Rush, Foo Fighters, Alice In Chains, Mastodon) to start recording the follow up. The result is The Killer Instinct.
Ricky Warwick explains: “Life's not fair, never has been, never will. Sometimes you have to live with a killer instinct just to survive in the ongoing pursuit of happiness. Because nobody can do for you what you should be doing for yourself.”
The Killer Instinct will be released in different formats: CD, Limited 2-CD Digibook, Limited Gatefold Black Vinyl and Limited Gatefold Clear Vinyl (available for mail orders only).
Frontman Ricky Warwick talks about the new artwork “It’s a bit of a continuation from »All Hell Breaks Loose«, people will see the link, it’s very rock n’ roll. It’s going to look cool.”
Formats are as follows:
Limited 2CD Digibook
“The Killer Instinct““Bullet Blues”
“Finest Hour”
“Soldierstown”
“Charlie I Gotta Go”
“Blindsided”
“Through The Motions”
“Sex, Guns & Gasoline”
“Turn In Your Arms”
“You Little Liar”
Bonus CD:
“The Reckoning Day”
“The Killer Instinct” (Acoustic)
“Blindsided” (Acoustic)
“Charlie I Gotta Go” (Acoustic)
“Finest Hour” (Acoustic)
CD
“The Killer Instinct“
“Bullet Blues”
“Finest Hour”
“Soldierstown”
“Charlie I Gotta Go”
“Blindsided”
“Through The Motions”
“Sex, Guns & Gasoline”
“Turn In Your Arms”
“You Little Liar”
Limited Gatefold Black vinyl
Side A
“Bullet Blues”
“Finest Hour”
“Soldierstown”
“Charlie I Gotta Go”
Side B
“Through The Motions”
“Sex, Guns & Gasoline”
“Turn In Your Arms”
“You Little Liar”
Limited Gatefold Clear Vinyl (Mail Order Only)
Side A
“Bullet Blues”
“Finest Hour”
“Soldierstown”
“Charlie I Gotta Go”
Side B
“Through The Motions”
“Sex, Guns & Gasoline”
“Turn In Your Arms”
“You Little Liar”
According to a press release, the energy in the studio from a year of touring, and Black Star Riders gelling as a creative force has resulted in a truly powerful sophomore effort. From the Irish-tinged rock of “Soldierstown” to the balls-out twin guitar riffing of “Sex, Guns & Gasoline”. From the dirty groove of “You Little Liar” to the acoustic “Blindsided”, this is a band coming of age. The Killer Instinct« will see Black Star Riders cement their place as one of the most exciting contemporary rock acts.
Damon Johnson says, “Nick Raskulinecz came riding out of the sunset like a Viking warrior, with his record collection and arsenal of killer guitars and amplifiers and proved to be the world class producer we had heard so much about. Indeed, the rumors are all true. There's no doubt that Ricky and I had written a sizable number of songs, but Nick patiently walked through the full song list with the entire band and made sure we focused on the material to best represent Black Star Riders in 2015”
Black Star Riders head out on a co-headline UK and Eire tour with EUROPE throughout March 2015. All dates can be found Blackstarriders.com.
