Cover songs are quite often a dime a dozen, offering very little in the way of reinterpretation. However, vocalist Terry Ilous (Great White, XYZ) has taken nine hugely popular classic rock songs and turned them “Inside Out” on his incredible new solo album, Gypsy Dreams. “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin, “Boys Of Summer” by Don Henley, “Love Bites” by Def Leppard, and six other quintessential cuts have been reworked with Latin and Flamenco flavours. 

The obvious first question posed to Terry by BraveWords scribe Aaron Small in this exclusive interview is, where did this wonderful idea come from? “A ha! Well, I’m part Spanish,” begins Ilous. “I grew up in France, also in Spain. My Dad used to take me to Flamenco shows when I was a kid; I used to watch those wonderful players and fell in love with the music. Later on in life, I became a rock singer. Things change of course, but I’d always contemplated the idea of doing an acoustic album with Spanish guitars; it was just a matter of time. As far as the album itself, to be honest with you, the song inspired the album – it’s exactly that. Are you familiar with the Monsters Of Rock Cruise? I was on that boat in 2014, and I heard these two amazing Latin / Flamenco style guitar players, Luis Villegas and Ben Woods. I asked if I could join them and jam? They said, ‘Alright, what do you want to do?’ I said, ‘Heaven And Hell’ by Black Sabbath. So, we rehearsed real fast, for about 30 minutes, and then we played in front of an audience, and the response was pretty amazing! They loved it, and that inspired me right away to do an album. I decided to put this together and hired the wonderful musicians that appear on this album. I wanted to surround myself with people that are wonderful artists, and I was blessed to be able to do that.”

Most people would never expect to hear a Flamenco version of “Heaven And Hell”. On Gypsy Dreams, there’s not one, but two songs originally sung by Ronnie James Dio; “Kill The King” by Rainbow also gets the Latin treatment. “I have to tell you the truth, I’m a huge Ronnie James Dio fan! Ronnie inspired me to become a better singer. When we have a hero, when we have someone we really appreciate; and I enjoyed Ronnie so much, he was just phenomenal! I used to listen to Ronnie and say, ‘Oh my God, that guy’s amazing!’ I used to try to sing his songs, and by doing that, I think I hopefully became a better singer. When he passed (in 2010 from cancer), of course it was a really sad moment. But he left behind him an amazing legacy. For me, Ronnie was one of the best heavy metal singers of all time, by far. So, I paid tribute to the guy. I used to listen to Rainbow all the time, and my guitar player Luis suggested we do that song. I’m always open to suggestions, so we gave it a shot, and we had so much fun doing it.”

Where did the title Gypsy Dreams come from? “The thing is… I’m a gypsy by heart, meaning I like to travel from place to place; a bit of a romantic I would say. Dreams are… I don’t know, they just come to you. I thought it would be a good title, better than Gypsy Killer – that didn’t sound too good,” laughs Ilous.

“Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak has become a romantic song in its own right. So many other artists have also covered that including: HIM, Il Divo, R.E.M., Stone Sour, Three Days Grace, Sin City Sinners; obviously that didn’t deter Terry from putting his own stamp on it. “No, and I’ll tell you why. I actually didn’t do my homework; I had no idea so many artists had covered that song. I guess I live in a bubble; I didn’t know that. I wanted to make it my own… I knew some artists had covered the song. I went on YouTube and I thought, that’s an interesting version, but none of them gave it that twist like I did. Nobody gave it a Flamenco vibe, and I’m quite pleased with it actually. I love the result. You know, I do things for me. It may sound selfish, but when I do an album, I do it for myself. I always believe, what if it’s my last album? I’m not trying to be pessimistic, but who knows what can happen in life? I want to be as good as I can be, I want to please myself first. And if I’m lucky, someone like yourself and the audience will say, ‘Hey, it’s pretty good.’ And so far, I’ve been lucky. But overall, I do things for me. That’s the way an artist should be; the fans are not the motivation, they come after. The motivation is to do something for yourself. You do it with passion; you don’t do it for money. You don’t record an album to make money. You do it because hopefully it will satisfy your soul. I have to be honest with you, I’m always amazed when at the end of the night after doing a show, I get money. I know it sounds weird but oh my God – I’m getting paid and I’m having fun! It’s amazing – all those fans like the music, I’m so blessed! I don’t take it lightly, I don’t take things for granted. I’m really grateful that people like what I do.”

Ilous initially launched Gypsy Dreams through Pledge Music, achieving 117% of his goal. And 10% of all money raised went to The Wounded Warrior Project – a non-profit charity serving injured veterans of the military. “I’m very patriotic. I’m from Europe, I came to America at a very early age. I think it’s very important to support the troops. I’m not trying to be political here. If you’re Republican, Democrat, Socialist, or whatever, you have to support your country. When the troops go to war, they defend their county, and I appreciate that. They do things I cannot do, I’m not a soldier. It’s tough to be a soldier. When you join The Army, The Marines, or whatever, you commit yourself to something amazing that is bigger than you. You commit yourself to becoming a protector of others, and that’s pretty noble. So, I believe it’s really important to give back to them. It’s not a lot of money, but it’s the least I can do. It’s not about political preferences at all.”

Seeing as Gypsy Dreams is an album of cover songs, what are some of your favourite cover songs done by other bands, and why? “Wow, that’s a good question! I would say first and foremost Joe Cocker. He did a cover years ago of ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ (by The Beatles). Dude, when I heard that song, the way he did it, I was blown away! That also inspired me to do something different with my covers. In fact, when I heard The Beatles version and Joe Cocker’s version, I didn’t think it was the same song. To me, that’s brilliant! The same for Jimi Hendrix – the way he did Bob Dylan’s ‘All Along The Watchtower’ – wow! I love Bob Dylan, don’t get me wrong. He’s a brilliant songwriter, but I like Jimi Hendrix’s version way, way more! I still believe that guitar solo is probably the best guitar solo ever! Those guys inspired me to push myself and not copy the original versions. When you do a cover album, why would you copy what’s been done before? Give it your own interpretation, and that my friend, is really important.”

Order your copy of Gypsy Dreams now at this location.