Guitarist Rick Nielsen: "We Are CHEAP TRICK... We Make Our Own Mistakes"
January 5, 2010, 14 years ago
Greece's Rockpages has issued an exclusive interview with CHEAP TRICK guitarist Rick Nielsen regarding their band's new album, appropriately called The Latest. The following is an excerpt:
Q: You released the album yourselves, which I think is a statement.
A: "Yeah, we’ve been around longer than any of the record companies we’ve ever been with. We’ve been told through the years, 'you should do this', and 'you should do that', but we are Cheap Trick! We make our own mistakes!"
Q: Do you think that this is the way for the future for every band? Since, piracy is up, and record sales are down?
A: "I think for such a band like us, the record sales are down overall, but at the same time we are involved in more things than we ever were. We are involved in TV shows, movies, ring tones, video games… things that weren’t around when we started. And the fact that we are still playing a lot, and we are putting out records with the original guys, this is a thing that nobody can buy, or put together. For example, nobody ever bought an Epic record, or a “Michael Jackson” label; they bought their artist, they don’t care about the label. I think that something that the artists have found out is that the labels really have not been there for them. People come to see Cheap Trick, they don’t come to see the record company. It’s nice to have someone to help you promote, but then you have to pay that money back anyhow. They are doing a little favor, but not much!"
Read the full interview at this location.
