The latest episode of Mars Attacks Podcast features interviews with Hades guitar tandem Dan Lorenzo, and Scott LaPage. The first half of the episode contains an interview with Scott in which he touches on his new band The Freeze Tag Assassins, his blues playing and the Hades reunion (among other things). During the Dan Lorenzo segment, he discusses not only the Hades show, but being featured in Moshed Potatoes, the soon to be released Hades and Non-Fiction split DVD, the possibility of their being new music from either band, and the current status of The Cursed which features Blitz from Overkill, and Scream Metal the cover band he shares with Alan Tecchio (also of Hades and Non-Fiction) and Mark Strigl, and John Ostronomy of Talking Metal fame.
Dan not being one to mix words has some interesting comments regarding the Big 4, and alludes to the fact that Hades was playing a certain Joe Jackson cover well in advance of another New York Tri-state area band.
This episode contains the second part of an interview I conducted with former Helloween lead singer Michael Kiske, sorry for the delay. As mentioned during a previous post, he just recently put out an album with Amanda Somerville called Kiske Somerville, and is currently working on an album with the band Unisonic. You’ve read a lot of things our there regarding his thoughts on metal music, well if you’re a fan, you need to listen to both interviews to see what he really things of metal, his fans, his future with Unisonic, and his former band mates, etc.
During the episode you’ll hear tracks off of the album with Amanda Somerville, and a bunch of classic Helloween that features Michael on lead vocals.
This episode contains the first part of an interview I conducted with former Helloween lead singer Michael Kiske. He just recently put out an album with Amanda Somerville called Kiske Somerville, and I was lucky enough to interview him regarding the album, his past with Helloween, and his current band Unisonic. This is a must listen to interview if you are a fan of Helloween as he discusses how and why he was fired from the band, why he thinks the band was never able to recapture what they did on the original two Keeper of the Seven Keys albums, and why Ingo
We also touch on a plethora of other topics, just take a look at the tags to get a rough idea of what we discussed. Part 2 should be up next week.
During the episode you’ll hear tracks off of the album with Amanda Somerville, some of his solo work (including a track that features Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith and ex Helloween guitarist Kai Hansen), a Helloween track that was retooled for a solo acoustic album, and of course some classic Helloween that features Michael on lead vocals.
During this episode we have interview with Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, and James Luna, lead singer of Holy Grail, and former lead singer of White Wizzard. Holy Grail have just released a great new album called Crisis In Utopia. During Luna’s portion of the interview we discuss the making of said album, his influences, playing Waken, and his time in White Wizzard, where he goes into detail to discuss the issues he and former member of the band (James LaRue, and Tyler Meahl both in Holy Grail) had with Jon Leon. Now before anyone jumps to conclusions I did try and contact Jon to get his side of things so that people can determine for themselves what really happened. One of the things that I love about doing interviews for my podcast is that listeners can directly from an artist. It isn’t like playing telephone where things are sensationalized just to put another notch in someone’s proverbial gun. Had I of been able to interview Jon people would have been able to (again) choose for themselves whether what all of these former members are saying is true, or not. Maybe Jon has a good reason that isn’t coming across? Or maybe things are cut and dry, exactly like all of the former members are saying, and is why the label, and Jon himself has decided to not come on the show.
Ripper’s interview was conducted late last year, it is one of a handful of interviews that were conducted for MarkStrigleRadio.com and has yet to be released as a podcast. During this episode we discuss Hail!, his solo album Play My Game, Yngwie Malmsteen, Beyond Fear, Charred Walls Of The Damned, and the abrupt end to his tenure in Iced Earth. Tim is very forth coming, and honest when talking about John Schaffer, and what was promised to him when joining IE, and how it differs to how Judas Priest and Yngwie Malmsteen approached him.
I recommend both interviews to anyone that has been following the dysfunctional history of Iced Earth or White Wizzard, or are fans of either one of these two great lead singers.
During the episode you’ll hear the following tracks:
Holy Grail – Nocturne in D Minor
White Wizzard Shooting Star
Holy Grail – My Last Attack
Holy Grail – Requiem
Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens – Death Race
Beyond Fear – Save Me
Judas Priest – Blood Suckers
Overall we touch on the following topics:
Hail!, David Ellefson, NAMM, Samson Wireless, Andreas Kisser, Jimmy Degrasso, Mike Portnoy, Paul Bostaph, Ray Mayorga, Soulfly, Stone Sour, Spinal Tap, Sepultura, Alice Cooper, Testament, Simon Wright, Motorhead, Pantera, Judas Priest, Accept, Wendy Dio, Bob Kulick, Chris Caffery, John Comprix, Steve Stevens, Jeff Loomis, Michael Wilton, George Lynch, John 5, Scott Ian, Vinnie Paul, Rudy Sarzo, Billy Sheehan, Bobby Jarzombek, Road Runner Records, Road Runner United, Jeff Waters, Cory Taylor, The Grammys, Beyond Fear, SPV Records, Iced Earth, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Schaffer, Matt Barlow, Judas Priest, Ian Hill, K.K. Downing, Rob Halford, Charred Walls Of The Damned, Richard Christy, Play My Game, Heaven & Hell, Hannah Montana, Pink,Amon Amarth, Exodus, Mahevilant Creation, Deep Purple, Klaus Meine, Scorpions, Manowar, Merciful Fate, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Slayer, Witchfinder General, Racer X, Testament, Lamb Of God, Jeff Loomis, Nevermore, Danny Lohner, Nine Inch Nails, Metal Blade Records, Angkor Wat, Waken Festival, Matt Hyde, Steve Evetts, Nuclear Blast, Side One Dummy, Prosthetic Records, Exodus, Kiss, Erik Kluibert, Jon Leon, Sleaze Roxx, Metal Sucks, Metal Sludge
During this episode we have two interviews, one with Dan Lorenzo from Hades, The Cursed, and Non-Fiction. With Dan we discuss his entire musical career, covering all of the bands listed above, his solo work, and his involvement in Screaming Metal. We also discuss his love for basketball, various festivals, musical influences, etc.
The other interview included in this episode is conducted with brothers Joe and John from the band Misery. This interview with was conducted as a way to prepare for the release of their debut album. This interview goes over all of the basic information surrounding the band, touching on how the band got together, how they transitioned to be the band they are today, what is was like working with Joey Z, among other things. We’re planning on doing a follow up once the album has been released.
Tracks heard during this interview include:
Keep It Together – Dan Lorenzo
Save You – Misery
Take The Power Back – Misery
A Flower Without Sun – The Greatest Fear
In The Know – Non-Fiction
Absorbed – Hades
Evil In The Bag – The Cursed
Topics covered during both interviews include:
Misery, Visions Of Disorder, Metallica, Guns N Roses, Korn, Joey Z, Life Of Agony, Pantera, Super Metal Records, Method Of Groove Studios, System Two Studios, Metal Army America, Type O Negative, Devil Driver, Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Free Reign, Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth, Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath, Kiss, Aerosmith, Heaven & Hell, Dio, Steppin Out Magazine, Mark Strigl, TMetal.com, The Cursed, Tim McGillis, Big Blue Meanie, Non-Fiction, In The Know, Room Full Of Sinners, Overkill, Savatage, Pete Steele, Tom Coughlin, Hades, Bang Your Head Festival, Twisted Sister, Jimmy Shulmann, Scott LePage, Kevin Bolembach, Infernophonic, Keep It True, Alan Tecchio, Watchtower, Rick Colaluca, Ron Jarzombek, Doug Keyser, Zakk Wylde, Gary Howe, Dimbag Darrell, ZZ Top, Waken Festival, Metal Blade Records, JJ French, Lamour, Dave Mustain, Cassius King, Draw The Line, Talking Metal on Fuse, Screaming Metal, John Ostronomy, Ron Lipnicki, Metal Mike, Halford, Rob Dukes, Exodus, John Kosco, St. Caine, Drop Box, Steve Zing, Danzig, Mark Tornillo, T.T. Quick, Accept, Ace Frehley, Anomaly, C.C. Banana, Merciful Hate, Riot, Swords And Tequila, Judas Priest, Testament, Megadeth, Priest Feast, Cory Proctor, Mark Colombo, Scott Stapp, P.O.D., Don Jamison, Jim Florentine