Sittin’ here listening to the under-rated but yes, classic Za-Za album, waitin’ for the new one (10 Cent Billionaire), and I can’t help but marvel and muse how damn good the BULLETBOYS were. But it ain’t a “were” anymore, because Marq Torien has a new bunch of boys and they tear it up like you gosh-darn never would have guessed they would. Seriously, no weak links here, but damn… Marq is like a hard rock PRINCE, singing soulful and powerful, front-manning like a maniac and then icing on the talent cake, ripping out guitar leads and licks and rhythms… like I say, first thing that came to mind is that this guy coulda held his own with Prince at that legendary Super Bowl performance a couple years back.

The new record is coming soon on Chavis Records, says drummer and keeper and protector of the Torien mystique, Ryche Green… “Well, here’s the deal, the album was supposed to be released on the 27th of July. We’ve already done pre-orders. Now, the pre-orders will go out, but then the opportunity to do Japan in November came up. So Bill Chavis had spoke to those guys, and in order to get over there, you have to have a release, and I think what the thing is, is in order for us to do that, they said, ‘Is the album out?’ Bill said, ‘No, it’s going to be about another week.’ And we said why don’t we delay it a few weeks and put it out to coincide, do a huge release out together so it doesn’t seem so separate? And so I guess the powers that be thought that is definitely a better idea. So that’s the thing - the pre-sales and stuff will go out. The discs are already made up and printed and everything.”

“It’s a reinvention,” says an ebullient Torien, jazzed beyond belief about the new studio spread. “It’s brand-new, but there are some elements of the old Bulletboys. Basically what it was, was that, when me and the guys started working together… it’s been five years now, and we’ve been touring all around the world. No one believed in us. When we first started five years ago, we started in the back of a truck, playing, playing covers, and it was packed. And we showed up to one gig and it was packed, and the promoter thought we were doing a Bulletboys show. We said, ‘No, we don’t know any Bulletboys songs.’ And they said, ‘Everybody is here because you were the Bulletboys.’ So we went up there and said to the crowd, ‘No, this is not the Bulletboys; this is a three-piece band, Sexual Chocolate.’ I said, ‘If you guys are cool, maybe we will struggle through a song’ (laughs), and we ended up doing that, and the place was so sweet, so lovable, and so much generosity. So we decided from that point, almost six years ago, to just decide to go back out there but to take it to another level.”

The positivity of the guy is infectious, and it’s no surprise that live, that spirit continues to radiate. “I have a vision as Ryche has a vision,” continues Torien, “Tory and Steve… we all have this vision, and a lot of people think I’m crazy when I say this, but my vision for my band is to definitely be back in the Top 20 on Billboard, and I believe that we have the ability to do that on this record. We are getting many accolades. As much as I don’t like reading or listening too much of the press, what they say, good, bad, or indifferent - I’m that type of person - but when writers are putting their names to these articles and saying ‘This is the best hard rock record of the past ten years,’ you’ve got to crack a smile. Because you know what? They’re getting our vision. Or getting what I want to do with this band. I am not trying to stay in the same genre that all these bands are. I’m not living in the past. I’m not trying to live... we evolved from the past to live in the now for the future. That’s our quote, and basically I went through a really, really bad time. Me and Ryche had been through some bad times in our personal lives - Tory and Steven also - and we are very, very, very close. I’m a lot closer to these guys than I was to the original guys. I was always put on the other side of the wall. It was always three against me. I wasn’t the most perfect bloke in the world either (laughs), back in the day. I was running around doing a lot of crazy things, but this band stands as a reinvention, and I’m amazed every night about what these guys do on stage.”

And why this title 10 Cent Billionaire?

“10 Cent Billionaire is a title that I came up with because I always feel that even though I don’t have a lot of money, I am rich in life, rich in heart. And I feel that our fans are that. And I also feel that the letters TCB - taking care of business. ELVIS PRESLEY, bro!”

And BACHMAN TURNER OVERDRIVE!

“Yeah, yeah, that’s right! So this album is solely for fans, and new fans, and people that just want to hear a great hard rock record. There are no frills on this record and there are no fillers. Every song is an epic thing, hopefully (laughs). That’s the way I wrote it. I really took the time for this record.”

And it really is a good time for hard rock right now. If you think about it, five, ten years back, an eight- or nine-year-old coming up, it would be about rap. Now it’s classic rock…

“Yeah, it is, and that has a lot to do with Guitar Hero. We’re all very lucky that thing came out. Because you’re going, ‘Oh wow,’ because first they’re playing a game; now they want to really learn how to play guitar! And I think that is so awesome; that’s great. They are taking music out of our schools. They are taking recreation out of our schools. Physical education. They’ve taken everything away from our kids. This is the only game that brings that feeling of music back into our children, around the whole world. And we need music. We need music in all facets. But I really believe we need music that is uplifting, that has something to say, in this time, in this day and age, and it doesn’t have to be preachy, it doesn’t have to be ‘I told you so,’ but it has to be uplifting. Even if it’s a bit dark. But just something that has a feeling of, ‘You know what? He got through it. I can get through it.’ When I used to listen to music, and I still do, I go wow, this person got through this, and this is filling my heart with a lot of joy, because I can understand where they’re coming from. And I think as writers, as the old Bulletboys, I don’t think we ever touched on the heart of our fans. And I feel that this record really does.”
“I went through a really bad time in my life, with a marriage that didn’t work for me,” confides Marq. “It is, and will always be the worst experience in my life, without question. And it was time that I rebuilt, and I got baptized, went back to my faith, and I really believe in God, and I believe that God is the reason why I’m here, and why we are doing these things. I can’t even tell you, because this isn’t me that is doing these things here with my closest friends. We are doing this thing, we’re here in Canada, it’s beautiful, it’s just awesome. And I’m trying so hard now not to let anybody take my joy away from me. You know, there are so many negative people in the world, and you just get bogged down with all these little trifle things that people try to nitpick at you, and I just try to not let it get to me too much. Because I wear my heart on my sleeve. I’m pretty much an artist that feels a lot of emotion. I’m a sensitive guy (laughs).”
“It’s such a blessing though, bro,” concludes Marq with a perennial smile, getting set to just KILL IT on stage in a slot between Bang Tango and Faster Pussycat, this being an all too rare hair gig for a deprived Toronto. “You see this and you go, ‘Our band is really blessed.’ We’re trying to do the right things. We’re angels with dirty faces, trying to live like fun loving criminals. That’s our way. We’ve all been in some type of trouble at some point in our lives. Even getting into the country here. You know, we’ve all been a little something something, you know, in our lives (laughs). So when you come here and you are treated... nicely. You know? You’re treated with respect. It says a lot, and I wanted to come here. We haven’t been here in over 15 years. I mean, last time we rolled through here, the show was sold-out. But we’re making our way back, and we’re doing Japan this year, we’re trying to hit China, Russia, we’ve got a lot of irons in the fire, for the end of the year.”

“We don’t know the word quit, bro. This band, we go out, we have friends all around the world that we love. But when we hit that stage, it’s not friends mode. It’s about going out and destroying. And people can scoff and laugh, but I will get up there with anybody younger than me, I don’t care. I don’t care, because we grew up with people who carry on, brilliant, wonderful musicians that just won’t stop. So that’s what we’ve seen. And now there’s others musicians that go, ‘Oh well, I just don’t have the stomach for it. It’s a great record, what a great record - no, I’m out.’ I’ve never had that mindset. My mindset is always to try to write the best stuff I can for our fans, and try to be the best people we can for our fans. Because if we didn’t have our fans, people who were into our music, we wouldn’t be talking to right now.”

Check out the Bulletboys o’er at their myspace page, where you’ll find the album’s first single ‘Road To Nowhere’, as well as a more than promising sampler pastiche of much of the rest of the record.