Classic Rock UK - April 2019

(Martin Jones) #1
Neal Schon has
reached out to Steve
Perry ahead of the
former’s Journey
Through Time shows,
which focus on the
band’s earliest
catalogue, to propose
the idea of a guest
appearance. Joined
onstage by
keyboardist Gregg
Rolie, drummer Deen
Castronovo, multi-
instrumentalist Marti
Frederiksen, bassist
Marco Mendoza and
Chris Collins on
guitar/keys, Schon
tweeted: “Here’s an
open invitation to
Steve Perry to come
out [and play]. I would
love to see you, Steve.”

Having ended a three-
year hiatus Heart say
that this summer’s
Love Alive shows will
“look, feel and sound
bigger than other
Heart tours so far”.
With a selection of
support acts including
Joan Jett And The
Blackhearts, Sheryl
Crow, Elle King and
Lucie Silvas, the
Wilson sisters tour
North America from
July to September.

PledgeMusic is no
longer taking money
from fans on its active
crowdfunding and
pre-sale campaigns as
the company attempts
to recover from
ongoing financial
issues. It hopes to
resume all such
activities “shortly”.

Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale
(pictured) has hit out
at the Grammys,
claiming on Instagram
that “our genre is still
not given the respect
that it deserves” after
the 2019 ceremony
failed to mention key
names from the world
of hard rock, including
Pantera’s Vinnie Paul
and Pete Shelley of
Buzzcocks, in its
musicians to have died
in the last 12 months.

Ace says Gene is an “asshole
and a sex addict”.

And has bassist Cliff Williams
joined him?

The AC/ DC rumour mill has stepped up
a gear with vocalist Brian Johnson appearing
to confirm his return to the group, along
with speculation that bass player Cliff
Williams may also be back on board.
Although Jonno was forced to sit out the
conclusion of the group’s Rock Or Bust
world tour due to hearing-related issues, he
was with them during a recent recording
session in Vancouver. The existence of
a new AC/DC album is the worst kept secret
in rock and when the members of metal
band Terrorizer bumped into their hero at
an airport and asked about the gossip
Johnson replied that “yes” he is on the
record, also that he is “sick of denying it”.
Meanwhile, a photograph has emerged
online from December last year, showing
Williams – who retired from AC/DC in 2016


  • and Johnson together at Vancouver’s
    Shangri-La Hotel. Furthermore, US radio
    host Eddie Trunk claimed to have heard from
    a “very, very, very well-placed” source that the
    album is completed, and will include material
    recorded by the late Malcolm Young. DL


With a farewell world tour from Kiss
now under way, Ace Frehley has launched
an attack upon Gene Simmons after the
bassist ruled out anything more than special
guest roles from the band’s former members.
“Would we welcome Ace or Peter [Criss] to
jump up onstage for a song or two? Of
course,” Simmons told Guitar World. “[But]
could we depend on either Ace or Peter to do
a full set night after night? Not on your
fucking life. They were fired three times for
drugs, alcohol and bad behaviour...”
Now over 12 years sober, Frehley snapped
back: “Gene, I was never fired from Kiss –
I quit twice because you and Paul are control
freaks, untrustworthy and too difficult to
work with.” Frehley then called Simmons an
“asshole and a sex addict who’s being sued by
multiple women” also alleging that Gene had
“groped” and “propositioned” his own wife.
Frehley also threatened that unless he was
given back his old job by “removing Tommy
[Thayer] from the throne that I created,” the
“shit will hit the fan.” DL

Frehley Mouths


Off At Simmons


Jonno Back In


AC/DC?


Running from the law, White Stuff and a five-foot pizza
covered in weed with New York's alt mavericks.

Royal Trux


NYC death-glam champs Royal Trux
crashed the party in the mid 90s with an
audacious sense of fashion and a bruising,
Stones-in-hell racket that deconstructed
rock’n’roll and put it back together in
jagged shapes of impossibly cool and
occasionally terrifying rusty junkpile
noise. The band imploded in 2000, but
last year, founding members Neil Hagerty
and Jennifer Herrema buried whatever
hatchets were left and they have just
released White Stuff, possibly their best
album yet. Herrema spills the beans while
avoiding LA cops.
Literally...

What just
happened?
I had to park. I was
driving and I saw
a cop. I’m not
supposed to be
driving, it’s a violation
of my probation. It’s
a long, stupid story.

You’re an outlaw.
Shit. Well, that seems to be the preferred
way to portray me, as some outlaw
fuck-up.

Do you think there was an
inevitability that you’d get back
together? Or would it have been ok
with you if there was no reunion?
I would have been happy to never do
Royal Trux again. I never expected Neil to
ever utter the name Royal Trux again,
much less beg me to fuckin’ come play.
But I’m a team player, so I put my other
band Black Bananas on hold for a minute.

It might be your best record, but
I can’t quite see you guys going,
‘Okay, we’re gonna blow everybody
away with the greatest Royal Trux
record ever.’
I mean, it’s supposed to be better. You
only stop making records when you think
you’ve made them all already.

Your record is called White Stuff. That
means a lot of different things to
different people.
I came up with this title, Championship
Pizza, and I did this photoshoot where I
bought a five-foot diameter pizza and I
just layered shit all over it, weed and all
kinds of stuff. You know, like a
championship pizza would be the most
layered, craziest pizza ever. That’s us,
that’s the Royal Trux. But the idea
completely escaped all the people I tested
it out on. They thought it sounded like old
dudes in a bar. So, we
had a song on the
album called White
Stuff and I thought it
sounded cool. Really
simple, wide open,
says a lot without
saying much at all.

Is this a one-off or are
you back for good?
I’m gonna make a lot more records. I’ve
been making records since I was 15, and
I’m not gonna stop now. Whatever
capacity Neil wants to participate is fine.

Has rock’n’roll gotten too polite since
the Trux broke up? I can’t remember
the last time I saw somebody throw
a bottle at a band.
I think this sums it all up. I saw on the
news that the other day they had a big
Chris Cornell tribute show, and Dave
Grohl and Metallica were there, people
like that. And on the news they were like,
‘All that was great, but it was really Miley
Cyrus who stole the show’. My brain
exploded. That’s what the general public
took away from that. I mean, people
really don’t fuckin’ know what rock’n’roll
even is any more.

Well, maybe this Royal Trux record
will show ‘em.
Okay. Tell people to go buy it. KM

White Stuff is out now via Fat Possum.

JAY

(^) GIL
BER
(^) X (^1)
“People really
don't f**kin' know
what rock'n'roll
even is any more.”
18 CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM

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