During an appearance on the latest episode of “The Ex-Man” podcast hosted by Doc Coyle (BAD WOLVES), former ANTHRAX and current ARMORED SAINT singer John Bush discussed how he has managed to pay the bills over the years while juggling his music career with other non-music-related employment opportunities.

“Music, really, has never been enough for me to do nothing else,” John said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “Those early days [with ARMORED SAINT], I wish someone would have told me — and probably the guy who was handing our money at the time and who was our attorney, he probably said, ‘Look, don’t quit your day job. Don’t quit your day job.’ But when you’re 21 and you just played arenas, even though you were a support act, you think you’re gonna be a rock star — you do — you think that you’re gonna be a rock star on that sort of level.

“If I was giving advice to somebody right now, I’d say take your merchandise advance, go on the road and then when you come back still do your job,” he continued. “So you’re not just depleting the money that you got as advances. That’s the conversation I would have with myself now. But I don’t regret any of those things. It’s not like something I look back on and go, ‘Man, I really screwed up.’ I just think that was the way life went. I [think that way] mostly throughout my career [about] almost all decisions I made. Many of them were probably not the proper decisions, but I don’t ever wanna reflect and really just kind of have regrets. So I just look at it go, ‘That’s the life went.’

“The bottom line is I’ve never really made enough money, even when I was in ANTHRAX, to justify not having to work again or not having another job,” Bush added. “So I’ve been working with my wife. When I married her 20 years ago, she had opened up this casting studio, and that was her thing. And when I actually left ANTHRAX, I kind of ingrained myself in her job. My daughter had just been born — she was a newborn — and I was not in the band anymore. So I was gonna just kind of be home and help raise my kid and kind of get involved in my wife’s business. ‘Cause I wasn’t really ready at that point — we’re talking right around [2004] or [2005] — to jump right into ARMORED SAINT again. So I said, ‘Let me do this,’ and we kind of followed this road. And it was the way life went. So I’ve stayed with her business — it’s our mom-and-pop business. It’s not this enormous cash cow, but it certainly helps pay the bills. And so I’m kind of ingrained in that when I’m home. I kind of juggle that with my music career. And that’s another way of earning money.”

John previously discussed his involvement with his wife’s business in a 2015 interview with Jägermeister. At the time, he said: “I have a business with my wife. She’s a casting director. We cast commercials. We have a business. It’s a cool little mom-and-pop thing that’s pretty lucrative and gives our family a good life.”

He continued: “I also used to do a lot of voiceover work. I did countless Burger King commercials in America, probably about seven years ago, for about three or four years. You can probably see them on YouTube. If was during a phase where Burger King was promoting ‘The King,’ which they don’t do [anymore]. Actually, they’re bringing them back, which is smart, because it was really a cool part of their advertising campaign. So I did that. It’s a very competitive world. When you’re going up against people like George Clooney and Jeff Bridges, it’s kind of hard to compete with actors on that level, but I like doing voicover; it’s still using my voice, and it’s creative.”

Bush fronted ANTHRAX between 1992 and 2005 but was sidelined when the group reunited with Joey Belladonna for a 20th-anniversary tour. When that collapsed, and relationships disintegrated with next frontman Dan Nelson, Bush returned for a time before Belladonna took the job back in 2010.

Last October, ARMORED SAINT released a new CD/DVD, “Symbol Of Salvation Live”, via Metal Blade Records, to celebrate the seminal album “Symbol Of Salvation”‘s 30th anniversary. It is a combination live album and video of the band playing the album in its entirety at New York’s famed Gramercy Theatre during their 2018 tour.

ARMORED SAINT’s eighth full-length album, “Punching The Sky”, came out in October 2020 via Metal Blade Records.

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Arizona-based death-doom troupe Thorn unveil “Hellmouth” off new album, Yawning Depths.
The post Track Premiere: Thorn “Hellmouth” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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Jeff Scott Soto has once again said that he has not idea why he was fired from JOURNEY.

Soto, who previously sang with Yngwie Malmsteen, joined JOURNEY about a week and half into a six-week summer 2006 tour with DEF LEPPARD, after Steve Augeri began having vocal issues. Soto had earlier worked with JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon and drummer Deen Castronovo in the short-lived side project SOUL SIRKUS. JOURNEY named Soto its permanent lead singer in December 2016 before firing him just five months later.

Jeff discussed his time with JOURNEY during a recent interview with Argentinian journalist Lucas Gordon. Asked what caused his split with the band, Soto responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “The problem is I don’t know. That’s the problem. If I knew what the problem was, if I knew the reason why I got fired, then at least I could be at peace with it; I could find a way to discuss it or talk about it. But I’m not legally supposed to talk about it, because when we finally… It got to the point where we had to take it a legal side of things. But to get away from the legal side, I signed a document that I wouldn’t talk about anything negative, anything bad about them. And I don’t wanna talk negative; I don’t wanna talk about anything bad. But if I knew the reason… And this is not bad — I’m not saying anything bad about them; I’m just telling you the truth. My truth is if I was told why I was fired, if I was told ‘your voice sucks,’ if I was told I killed one of the guys’ dogs, if I made somebody in their family angry, if I was told the reason why I was fired, I could make peace with it. But to this day, 14 years later — whatever it is — I don’t know. I don’t have the answers. I was never given a proper reason. The only thing I was told was they had a change of heart. It didn’t make sense to me. If you have a change of heart, call me up and we can say goodbye, we can hug and say, ‘Hey, hopefully I can get a couple of tickets to the show with the new singer.’ That kind of stuff. You can leave as friends. I came in as friends; I wanna leave as friends.”

He continued: “To this day, I say it in every interview when I’m talking about JOURNEY, if they’re willing to be friends, if they’re willing to… I don’t have an olive branch, but there’s a term, if you extend the olive branch and somebody accepts it, then you can be one again. I have been extending that olive branch and I’m happy to be on friendly terms with them. I’m 55. I don’t wanna leave planet earth with any enemies. I don’t wanna leave with anybody hating me. I don’t wanna leave with any arguments. I wanna leave with peace in my heart with everybody. And that’s including JOURNEY. That’s including Yngwie. That’s including anybody that [I had] any problems [with] or any bad history together. So as far as I’m concerned, I would love to be able to sit down with Neal one day and hug it out and talk and be friends again. I don’t want anything from them. I don’t wanna be in another band with him. I don’t wanna do SOUL SIRKUS again. I just want peace — I want peace, love and harmony, so that way, when I die, I can rest easy knowing that everything went in a positive way. That’s all I care about.”

Three years ago, Soto told “The Robbcast Podcast” that performing JOURNEY’s classic songs originally sung by Steve Perry was no easy task. “It was difficult — it was really, really difficult to adapt,” he admitted. “First of all, my voice was already kind of going through its changes. If I had gotten that JOURNEY gig even five years earlier, I would have destroyed, I would have just killed the range, the intensity of what Perry left behind.”

Asked if JOURNEY ever made him an official member of the band, Jeff told “The Robbcast Podcast”: “In December of 2006, when the entire DEF LEPPARD run was done for the year, there was an official press release that they inducted me as their permanent singer at that point. And this is the part that kind of pisses me off still to this day, because there’s zero mention, there’s zero attention brought to the fact that I was even in the band and I did those tours. You look at the JOURNEY web site, I don’t exist — my name is not there. It goes from Perry to Augeri to Arnel [Pineda]. It’s like it didn’t exist. It’s kind of strange. How can that not exist when I have… I have photo clippings. I even still have URL sites that show you when I was officially made a member of the band. And then for them to act like it didn’t exist or to say that they wanted a signature sound and I was only supposed to be a hired gun and just to get them through the tour, that kind of bums me out, man. ‘Cause have at least enough respect to tell the truth or to even sugarcoat it and say, ‘Yeah, Jeff was a permanent member of the band, but we realized, as we were going into that, that it was a decision we had to change and that’s why we moved on or eventually got Arnel,’ or whatever. Because I was in the background listening to Neal doing interviews when we were doing the European tour, saying I was their new singer and that we could finally get past the ghost of Steve Perry and blah blah blah. I was there, and I heard all of that. And to not have that acknowledgement now, it just hurts.”

Last year, Soto told the “Rehired” Internet show that he was left in a precarious position once he was fired by JOURNEY.

“I don’t really go into defense mode unless I’m being attacked where it’s not justified,” he explained. “I went more into warrior mode, kind of survivor mode — what do I do next, kind of thing. And to be honest with you, I was just more hurt about the situation and only hurt in the sense of, everything on their social media, web site, whatever, anything that had to do with me being in the band was removed. There was no photo of me; my name was gone. It literally went from Steve Perry to Steve Augeri to Arnel Pineda. And it stinks. It stinks to feel like I didn’t matter. That validation, to be able to front that band, to be able to sing those songs and to front them, and the trust and respect they gave me to be able to do that is completely washed away, because I can’t even be part of their history.

“I didn’t expect an invitation to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, I didn’t expect my name to be dropped, but even just to be able to see some level of positivity of my time with them, and to not have any of it, that’s the part that hurt,” he added.

Perry sang on many of JOURNEY’s best-known hits, including “Open Arms”, “Any Way You Want It”, “Don’t Stop Believin'” and “Who’s Cryin’ Now”.

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Gene Simmons has implied that he and KISS co-founder Paul Stanley are open to selling the band’s entire back catalog and the associated trademarks for “the right price.”

Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks and Neil Young are some of the iconic musicians who have recently sold off substantial rights to their music, whether it’s just for publishing or the original recordings, known as masters. Investors, major music companies and private equity firms have poured billions of dollars into buying song catalogs, believing that the rise of streaming and growing music revenues will make song rights acquisitions highly lucrative in the long term as they can be exploited for up to 70 years after a musician’s death.

Asked in a new interview with A Journal Of Musical Things if KISS will ever sell its catalog to anyone, Simmons replied: “How much have you got? Bob Dylan sold his stuff for $300-400 million. The problem — and I love the guy and worship the ground he walks on — but [his music] isn’t going to mean a lot to a 20-year-old. They don’t care about ‘The Times They Are A-Changin”, ‘Maggie’s Farm’ — they just don’t. Very few pieces of music stand the test of time. What KISS has that no other musical entity has is trademarks. Our faces are bigger than the music, bigger than anything.’

The KISS bassist/vocalist continued: “Springsteen just sold for $500 million and what you get is the music, not the imagery. I’ve never seen a Springsteen cartoon, comic book, or action figures. KISS is the only one. So what you’re buying into — if anyone does the right price — you’re into buying the imagery that has stood the test of time. Our analogy is Santa Claus/Superman: imagery that is trademarked so that no one can reproduce. And no other musical act has that.”

A year ago, KISS frontman Paul Stanley told Ultimate Classic Rock that the idea of older musicians selling their publishing rights in multimillion bundle deals makes perfect sense to him. “As far as I know, we only get one trip on this earth, and you can’t take it with you, so I totally get it,” he said. “If there’s money to be had and it’s going to make your life better, then why not? It’s a different business model, but it makes total sense… At some point in your career, you look at what you’ve created and what it’s worth. Artists do that; it’s what painting’s about. You don’t stash your artwork — you sell it.”

KISS continues to be among the most merchandised bands in history and a pioneering force in the music merchandise and licensing industry, with KISS-branded merchandise available in major retailers around the globe, including Nordstrom, Macy’s, Urban Outfitters, Hot Topic, Torrid, Tilly’s, Pacsun, Cotton On, Revolve, Nasty Gal, Princess Polly, Target, Walmart and Kohl’s, among many more.

Recent KISS deals in North America include Dead Sled Coffee, for pre-packaged coffee in the U.S.; a fashion and accessories collaboration with Robert Graham in the U.S.; high-end apparel with Lauren Moshi in the U.S.; a line of seasonal apparel with Ugly Christmas Sweater for Holiday 2021 in the U.S. In the international marketplace, recent strategic partnerships include Brands For Fans for gin and dark rum in Europe, Japan, and Australia; Metal Departments for real money gambling worldwide; Fexpro for apparel and accessories in Mexico, Central America, and South America; Konnekt for apparel and accessories in Japan; and EastPak for bags, backpacks and accessories in U.S. Europe, Middle East, Asia and Canada; among many others.

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Warner Chappell Music (WCM) and the estate of David Bowie today announced that WCM has acquired the global music publishing rights to Bowie’s revolutionary song catalog. The landmark deal, worth upwards of $250 million, according to Variety, includes Bowie’s entire body of work, encompassing hundreds of songs spanning the iconic artist and songwriter’s six-decade career, including trailblazers such as “Space Oddity”, “Changes”, “Life on Mars?”, “Ziggy Stardust”, “Starman”, “Rebel Rebel”, “Fame”, “Young Americans”, “Golden Years”, “Heroes”, “Ashes To Ashes”, “Modern Love”, “Let’s Dance”, “Where Are We Now?”, “Lazarus” and many more. The agreement comprises songs from the 26 David Bowie studio albums released during his lifetime, as well as the posthumous studio album release, “Toy”. It also includes the two studio albums from TIN MACHINE, along with tracks released as singles from soundtracks and other projects.

In making the announcement, WCM co-chair and CEO Guy Moot said: “All of us at Warner Chappell are immensely proud that the David Bowie estate has chosen us to be the caretakers of one of the most groundbreaking, influential, and enduring catalogs in music history. These are not only extraordinary songs, but milestones that have changed the course of modern music forever. Bowie’s vision and creative genius drove him to push the envelope, lyrically and musically — writing songs that challenged convention, changed the conversation, and have become part of the canon of global culture. His work spanned massive pop hits and experimental adventures that have inspired millions of fans and countless innovators, not only in music, but across all the arts, fashion, and media. We are looking forward to tending his unparalleled body of songs with passion and care as we strive to build on the legacy of this most extraordinary human being.”

“I’d like to thank everyone involved with making this wonderful deal happen,” Moot continued, “including Bill Zysblat, Tom Cyrana, and the entire Bowie team at RZO, attorney Allen Grubman and firm, as well as our very own ‘Team Bowie’ made up of Warner Chappell colleagues Alice Aleksandrovich, Steve Butler, Michael LoBiondo and David Woirhaye.”

This agreement with WCM follows the announcement last year of a global, career-spanning agreement between Warner Music Group (WMG) and the Bowie estate through which Warner Music has licensed worldwide rights to Bowie’s recorded music catalog from 1968. With this new deal with Warner Chappell, WMG is now home to Bowie’s body of work as both a songwriter and recording artist.

WCM co-chair and COO Carianne Marshall noted: “This fantastic pact with the David Bowie estate opens up a universe of opportunities to take his extraordinary music into dynamic new places. This isn’t merely a catalog, but a living, breathing collection of timeless songs that are as powerful and resonant today as they were when they were first written. We were pleased that the estate felt that Warner Chappell has the knowledge, experience, and resources to take the reins and continue to promote a collection of this stature. All of our global leaders and departments are incredibly excited and primed to get to work with these brilliant songs across multiple avenues and platforms. And with both sides of WMG now representing Bowie’s career, we couldn’t be better set up to represent this illustrious body of work.”

On behalf of the David Bowie Estate and RZO, Allen Grubman added: “We are truly gratified that David Bowie’s body of music will now be in the capable hands of Warner Chappell Music Publishing. We are sure they will cherish it and take care of it with the greatest level of dignity.”

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Video of SEPULTURA drummer Eloy Casagrande playing the song “Hope Refuge” from CASAGRANDE & HANYSZ, his prog metal project with João Hanysz, can be seen below.

CASAGRANDE & HANYSZ’s debut EP, “Edge Of Chaos”, was released in September. The effort was produced, recorded and mixed by Andre Kbelo and was mastered by Carlinhos Freitas.

Last summer, guitarist Andreas Kisser spoke to France’s Loud TV about how Casagrande’s addition to has affected SEPULTURA’s sound.

“We’re very lucky to have such great musicians here in Brazil, especially in drumming,” he said. “We have great drummers and percussionists. You see [Carlos] Santana and all those great names, Paul Simon and stuff, always using some Brazilian here and there regarding the drum world. And Eloy started playing drums very early. He was made for SEPULTURA, man. I mean, he played in some other bands and stuff, but here with SEPULTURA, he’s really exploding; he’s really free to express himself the way he wants to, and SEPULTURA’s music really provides that. And in exchange, he gave me especially to write many new possibilities. I think ‘Machine Messiah’ and ‘Quadra’ are the consequence of that interaction we have, which is great. It’s so inspiring. It’s fantastic.

“We are kind of always writing,” he continued. “Sometimes he sends me some drum loops and I send him some riffs and stuff, and it’s really cool that we build stuff from there. And he’s a very professional guy — the best drummer in the world; at least for SEPULTURA he’s the best. [Laughs]”

In February 2020, SEPULTURA singer Derrick Green told Australia’s Everblack Media that Casagrande has had “a tremendous impact” on the group since he joined in 2011. “It’s undeniable because he’s such a strong force,” he said. “He loves playing metal music. He’s one of the most talented drummers I’ve ever seen, honestly. That power is consistent from beginning to the end. It really has rubbed off on all of us to really push ourselves further. He’s such a perfect match for the band. He really is always influencing us in so many ways to really go beyond — above and beyond.”

In 2019, Eloy told Drumtalk that he didn’t care about the long-simmering feud between founding SEPULTURA members Max and Igor Cavalera and his current bandmates. “I respect all the history,” he said. “I have total respect for the past drummers, Igor and Jean [Dolabella]. They are amazing guys, incredible guys, but we just live in the present. I really don’t care what happened, what didn’t happen. I respect all the music. I respect their music nowadays. It’s just that we have to follow our path and that’s it.”

Casagrande joined SEPULTURA 10 years ago as the replacement for Dolabella.

SEPULTURA’s latest album, “Quadra”, was released in February 2020 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was created at Sweden’s Fascination Street Studios with renowned producer Jens Bogren.

SEPULTURA comprises Green, Kisser, bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. and Casagrande.

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FOZZY has parted ways with longtime drummer Frank Fontsere and has replaced him with Grant Brooks (THROUGH FIRE).

The Chris Jericho-fronted outfit announced Fontsere’s departure in a social media post earlier today. The band wrote: “After almost 2 decades, Frank Fontsere is stepping down as the drummer of FOZZY to focus on his family and other projects. We wish him nothing but the best and thank him for his years of maximum rock!

“However, we are SO excited to announce that after an extensive audition process, our good friend Grant Brooks is the new drummer for FOZZY!! We are stoked to unleash the pure energy & talent that Grant brings to the band and we are ready to EXPLODE in 2022 … as we look forward to the BIGGEST year in our history! Love you guys and see you soon! – Chris, Rich, Billy & PJ.”

In a separate statement on his personal Facebook page, Brooks said that he was exiting THROUGH FIRE after four years and that he is “super excited” about his new gig.

He wrote: “For 4 years I have played with THROUGH FIRE. I joined the band in the summer of 2017, starting with some of the biggest festivals I have played in my music career- from Louder Than Life with OZZY OSBOURNE to Sonic Boom with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, followed by touring across the USA several times. Being with THROUGH FIRE took me from being a local musician to a national touring artist and I will never forget these memories with my brothers who will always be my family. However, my time has come to an end with THROUGH FIRE. There is no bad blood and they will continue to shine with the new music coming out, that I love and know all of you will as well!

“Having said all that, I’m very happy to announce that I have accepted the offer to be the NEW official drummer for FOZZY! I’m super excited to start this journey with my friends and crew in the band. So thankful for this amazing opportunity!

“Huge shoutout to Rich Ward, aka The Duke and Chris Jericho for reaching out to me and offering me the gig.

“My first shows will be on the Jericho Cruise setting sail from Miami, Florida to Nassau, Bahamas on March 14-18!

“Thank you all for the support and can’t wait for the future. So many more exciting announcements coming soon!”

Fontsere was a founding member of FOZZY, having formed the group in 1999 with Jericho and guitarist Rich Ward.

FOZZY will release its new album, “Boombox”, on April 15. The LP, which includes the top 10 singles “Nowhere To Run” and “Sane”, was once again produced by Johnny Andrews.

FOZZY’s “Save The World” 2022 U.S. tour, featuring special guests GFM, KRASHKARMA and THE NOCTURNAL AFFAIR, starts on March 31 in Detroit, Michigan and wraps on May 16 in Sauget, Illinois. Additionally, to celebrate the arrival of “Boombox”, FOZZY will play an album-release party on April 11 at Irving Plaza in New York City, where fans will be able to purchase and listen to the full album exclusively in advance of the release.

FOZZY debuted a brand new song, “Purifier”, during its September 2021 concert in Flint, Michigan and has been performing it live ever since. Back in July, FOZZY played another new song, “The Vulture Club”, during its concert in Iowa City, Iowa. The band also performed its latest single, “Sane”, live for the first time.

In May, FOZZY dropped a video for its first new song in two years, the aforementioned “Sane”, which hit one million views in its first two weeks. This first-of-its-kind video was filmed on the longest wooden roller coaster on the planet today.

In the summer of 2020, Chris revealed that FOZZY’s next LP would contain 12 songs, including one cover.

Ward and Andrews once again did “the lion’s share” of the songwriting for the new LP, which was recorded primarily in Atlanta, Georgia.

In addition to producing “Judas”, Andrews previously co-wrote FOZZY’s “Lights Go Out” track back in 2014. He has also written songs with the likes of ALL THAT REMAINS, THREE DAYS GRACE and HALESTORM.

In November 2020, FOZZY appeared in its first global live streaming event from Madison Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.

FOZZY is Chris Jericho (vocals), Rich Ward (guitars, vocals), Grant Brooks (drums), Billy Grey (guitars) and P.J. Farley (bass).

FOZZY ANNOUNCES NEW DRUMMER!! pic.twitter.com/bYiEYWmrbm
— FOZZY (@FOZZYROCK) January 3, 2022

Hey guys, I have an announcement to share!

For 4 years I have played with Through Fire. I joined the band in the…

Posted by Grant Brooks on Monday, January 3, 2022

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Wendy Dio, widow and longtime manager of Ronnie James Dio, spoke to Argentinian journalist Lucas Gordon about the upcoming career-spanning documentary on the life and times of the legendary rock icon. It is the first documentary about Dio to be fully authorized by the artist’s estate. BMG is both financier and executive producer of the film.

“It’s coming out [later this] year,” she said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “I [recently] saw the first cut of it. It was very emotional. It’s very different from [Dio’s autobiography]. ‘Cause the book finishes in 1986, with Ronnie playing Madison Square Garden. But the documentary goes all the way through his life till the end. And it was very emotional. I was watching it with my publicist and a person from BMG, who are funding the documentary. And we all cried. It was very emotional. But it’s really interesting and really good. Rob Halford is great in it, talking about stories. Lita Ford [and] Jack Black [are also in it]. Eddie Trunk [SiriusXM radio personality] and Mick Wall [author of Dio’s autobiography] both kind of narrated it and everything. I’m very pleased with it. I don’t know exactly when it’s gonna come out [this] year, but it’ll be out [this] year.”

Last August, Wendy told SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” about what fans can expect to see in the documentary: “There’s a bunch of stuff from [old] Super 8 [tapes] and some other stuff. There’s fantastic interviews with all kinds of different people about when they were working with Ronnie or what they were doing at the time, maybe supporting Ronnie. It’s totally different to the [recently released Dio] book. And I’m very interested to see this cut. I’m excited, actually, to see it. And I think it’s gonna be great.”

In October 2019, Wendy told the WSOU radio station that the documentary “will go from Ronnie’s childhood all the way through [to the end of his life]. I think they interviewed Jack Black, and I think they interviewed all of Ronnie’s bandmembers and Doug Aldrich and, I think, Jeff Pilson. They were getting ready to go to Arizona to interview Rob Halford and Lita Ford. And then they were going into England to interview Tony Iommi. They already did Geezer [Butler]. So there will be very interesting stories from different people. I think it’ll be a great thing, and it’ll show people a lot of things that people have never seen before.”

Ronnie James Dio passed away of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010 at the age of 67.

Dio was renowned throughout the world as one of the greatest and most influential vocalists in heavy metal history. The singer, who was recording and touring with BLACK SABBATH offshoot HEAVEN & HELL prior to his illness, was diagnosed with stomach cancer in late 2009. He underwent chemotherapy and made what is now his final public appearance in April 2010 at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles.

Dio’s autobiography, titled “Rainbow In The Dark: The Autobiography”, was released last July via Permuted Press.

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KROKUS frontman Marc Storace will release his first-ever solo album, “Live And Let Live”, in North America on February 5. The effort was made available in Switzerland last month.

The official music video for the “Live And Let Live” can be seen below. Audio samples of the entire record are available at Cede.ch.

“Live And Let Live” track listing:

01. Live And Let Live (3:41)
02. High On Love (3:57)
03. Lady Of The Night (4:44)
04. Carry The Burden (3:16)
05. Broken Wings (3:41)
06. No Place To Hide (3:22)
07. Don’t Wanna Go (4:40)
08. Love Over Money (3:53)
09. Time Waits For No One (4:14)
10. Paradise (2:59)

In a recent interview with Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon from Canada’s The Metal Voice, Storace said about how his solo album came about (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Twenty years ago, I wrote the title song of the album, ‘Live And Let Live’. ‘Live And Let Live’ was written with this guitar player who was a neighbor of mine. I used to go over to his place, a little studio, on cold or rainy days and icy days. We spent hours writing songs, and we came out with about 20 of ’em. And this is one of ’em which fits for the album. And it’s the opener. It’s a great song.

“Anyway, so many years later, we did the [KROKUS] reunion, and I’ve been busy with KROKUS,” he continued. “And as soon as lockdown started, I first did some stuff which I put on YouTube and Facebook, some karaoke stuff which I found. I did duets with my daughter, Giuliana. After that phase with Giuliana, I kind of fell in a hole of the lockdown boredom, and I thought, ‘No way. I’m gonna get creative.’ I opened my drawer [and out came] a pile of lyrics — bits and pieces, leftovers, new stuff. And I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got enough material. And I need a guitar player.’

“This guy I got in touch with, he’s in Newcastle, in England,” Marc added. “We started communicating about ideas — he’d send me ideas, and I’d send him feedback, and I’d fit lyrics and build songs and stuff. So we built quite a few. And then I already went in contact with a couple of musicians whom I got to know when I was doing this big event, film series for television in 2019. And this thing came out during lockdown. But while we were filming this, I also started thinking, ‘Well, we’re on a farewell tour, and I don’t really wanna stop.’ And this thing came out during lockdown, which helped reduce the boredom, and in between I was writing songs. And then I got to know these two other guys — a drummer and rhythm guitarist — and they also produced the whole music side of [the TV series]. And they asked me during the filming stuff, in between, ‘You should do a solo album now. It’s gonna be over with KROKUS. What are you gonna do?’ I said, ‘I don’t know yet. It’s not over until it’s over. And I’m still enjoying it. So I’m not thinking that far. I’m taking it — carpe diem. Day by day.’ Cause you never know what tomorrow brings. And too much planning sometimes you’re doing for nothing. Overthinking is unhealthy anyway.

“So, anyway, I came to that point. And then I called them. I said, ‘Guys, you wanna do it? ‘Cause I really enjoyed working with you.’ … So we started. And at the end of last year, they already sent me two ideas, and at the beginning of this year, they sent me some more. And I got busy working, working, and we did demos and stuff. And here we are — it’s ready. It’s all recorded, and it’s in the mix.”

Asked about the musical direction of his solo album, Marc said: “It’s energetic, heavy, melodic hard rock. And there’s also a couple of ballads. I’m a singer — we love ballads. And then there’s something out of the ordinary — it’s a blues song, which is not the typical blues song. It’s something I saw as a challenge. When they sent me that music, I thought, ‘What? It doesn’t really fit.’ But then I thought blues is always inside the rock family — a body of rock always has blues in there, as opposed to jazz maybe, although that’s also integrated sometimes. And then there’s this one song — I think it’s gonna be the last one on the album — which is quite acoustical and more light-hearted.

“I’m saying it’s great, because I’ve worked for it and I’m emotionally involved with it,” he continued. “But people around us and around me have been telling me I’m on the right track, and the results are good. So, now I’m nervous and excited for the release date.”

KROKUS released a new CD/DVD, “Adios Amigos Live @ Wacken”, in February 2021.

Back in April 2020, KROKUS was forced to postpone its last-ever concerts in USA and Canada due to the coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping the globe. The 13-date trek was originally scheduled to kick off at Canton Hall in Dallas, Texas on September 18, 2020 and conclude at Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California on October 10, 2020.

In September 2018, KROKUS announced that it was going to embark on a farewell tour dubbed “Adios Amigos” before calling it a day. At the time, they said their final show would take place on December 7, 2019 at the Hallenstadion in Zurich, Switzerland. However, in June 2019, Storace posted a message on Facebook indicating that the band would play additional concerts beyond the Zurich date.

When KROKUS first announced its decision to embark on a farewell tour, the band explained in a statement: “KROKUS shows have always been special and should stay that way. That’s why we decided to stop when it’s still really good. That’s how the fans should remember us.”

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