Former Trans-Siberian Orchestra and current Wizards Of Winter vocalist Guy Lemonnier is featured in a new interview with Dan Roth for Music & Art Interviews. He discusses his seven years touring and recording with TSO, his drama-filled dismissal from the act, and his involvement with the group made up of TSO alum, The Kings of Christmas. He also talks about recently joining the current Christmas prog-rock sensations, The Wizards of Winter. An excerpt is available below:

DR:  For six years, you sang the same two songs at every show. Did it ever get old?

GL: "Of course. When you consider that it's about ten minutes of your day that you are on stage. But it never got old when I was in the moment, as I stepped to the mic. I couldn't help but feel that emotion and immerse myself in it when I have a row full of children and families looking up at me. But outside of that time, it absolutely got old. And a big reason for that was because there was no real room for elaborating or creativity. I could stick a little grace note in there and get slapped down that night. I had a whole ending for the 'Kyrie among nations' that didn't just sit in that same droll way that everyone was singing - I had an R&B; line over top of that that went over big, even Pitrelli and the guys on stage loved it. But it had to be taken out immediately. That's what makes something stale. Do I blame Paul for that? No. Do I think his vision is a little limited? Yes, absolutely. 

You have to remember, the show is backlit for a reason. They would much rather have you see flowing hair and cardboard cutouts than actual people. No one has ever spun a solo career off of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. If you're playing 60 shows a year, twenty thousand people a night - don't you think you would get a following? Never. They don't nurture their own people. You're a tool and you're there for a reason."

DR:  Can you talk about the circumstances that led to your separation from TSO in 2007?

GL: "My ending was horrendous and life-changing, like many people's were. All I want to say about it - and I do want to say this - is that I was fired over hearsay. And the hearsay came from an unreliable source, especially in light of the behavior that occurred afterwards. There was enough drama to fill a reality show.

Everybody has his or her story - particularly with that organization. Michael Lanning was fired just after his son died and was wrongfully accused of drinking on the tour. If you can allow me to refute that on tape right now, that was bullshit. Absolute bullshit. We lived in tight quarters, together all the time; we knew what he was doing. In fact, we were the ones that would tease him about having a drink, and he refused every time. So that accusation was perhaps the most wrongful of all of TSO's many firings, in my opinion. It was a blatant lie, he didn't have a drop to drink, and that was the reason they used for getting rid of him. All of the firings - from Michael Lanning to Mark Wood to Tommy - were all done in such a tactless, cowardly, horrible way.  

The bottom line is that Paul decided that he wanted kids up there and that's what he has now. Leather-clad, long hair, the chain-wallet look. No offense to the folks who take the stage today, but that's the vision that Paul decided he wanted and older guys with tux tails on are not going to fit in that image. Young, blonde-haired kids with hair down to their butts does. I get why he wanted that image - that's what he thinks a rock show should look like. Never mind how successful it had gotten over the years with talented, experienced people that didn't quite fit his vision all of a sudden."

Go to this location for the complete interview.