TAB BOOK

Bill Leverty - Interview Firehouse

'Its a firehouse, wooh! wooh!...'

 

AFTER WINNING AWARDS AND CHART ENTRIES, FIREHOUSE STARTED TO DISSAPEAR INTO THE DARKNESS OF THE 90'S. BUT, AS BILL EXPLAINS, THEY NEVER GAVE UP AND HE DOESN'T PLAN ON GIVING UP ANYTIME SOON .

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March 2007

FIRST OFF – HOW ARE YOU GUYS AND WHATS IN THE WORKS FOR YOU AT THE MOMENT? We’re doing great, thanks. So far this year, most of our gigs have been sold out. I see an upswing in our touring. It’s great to have so many people coming out to the shows to hear our style of music. We’re staying pretty busy out on the road. When we’re off, I’m trying to be a great husband, father, and I play ice hockey whenever I can. FIREHOUSE OF COURSE BURST ONTO THE SCENE AROUND ’89 AND TOOK THE CHARTS BY STORM? Actually, we didn’t sign our record deal until 1990, and everybody calls us an 80’s band! J Our first album came out in September of 1990 and the record company didn’t release a single until January of 1991.

Our first single was “Don’t Treat Me Bad”.t It went to #10. The label then released “Love Of A Lifetime” which went to #3. I wish the label had released something a little bit heavier first, like “Overnight Sensation” or Home Is Where the Heart Is”, but they decided to go straight for the safe bet. I think that we would have made more long-term fans is we had exposed our harder edge sound firs

YOU GUYS WERE PROBABLY THE LAST OF THOSE GREAT 80’S ROCK BANDS.YOU WON AN AMERICAN MUSIC AWARD (BEATING OUT NIRVANA & ALICE IN CHAINS!) THAT WAS PROBABLY THE LAST GOOD AWARD THEY HANDED OUT? Thanks! I have a hard time watching any award shows these days, but then again, the music I like isn’t on these shows anymore. The winning of that award was very gratifying, especially since it was voted on by the fans, not the industry pin heads. DID YOU EVER WISH YOU COULD’VE COME ALONG A FEW YEARS EARLIER? Absolutely! We tried, but the labels didn’t see us as a band that would sell. Six million albums later, I’m thinking some A&R guys were fired, or at the very least, kicking themselves in the ass. If we had been signed and released even just 1 year earlier, we could have been able to get some exposure of our second album, “Hold Your Fire”, which I believe was an album with some songs on it that would’ve struck more people in a good way. MTV played our video for “Reach For The Sky” only once. That video cost us over $100,000.

Back in the day....

I THINK TOO MANY BAND IN THE 90’S CHANGED STYLES TO FIT IN. WE SHOULD HAVE JUST POWERED ON? We never changed. Yes, we did stretch on a song here and there, but our albums have always been melodic rock albums for the most part. We never wanted to try to be anything that we didn’t feel in our hearts. Chasing the latest trend is not our style. OBVIOUSLY THINGS HAVE CHANGED AGAIN AND GRUNGE IS LONG GONE AND FORGOTTEN? Yes, and it seems to be lame now, even for those people who were into it 10 years ago. Most of those bands are gone now. Most of the fans of that music have finally realised that grunge music is extremely depressing.

This photo and the top one is by Doug Raflik

YOU GUYS CAME BACK WITH PRIME TIME A FEW YEARS AGO, WHICH WAS REALLY WELL RECEIVED? Thanks. Yes, that album got better reviews than any album we’ve ever put out. I’m very proud of that album, and we decided to put it out ourselves on our own label. We’ll be putting our next album out the same way.

SO WHATS NEXT? WHEN DO WE GET MORE FIREHOUSE? We plan on going into the studio this coming winter. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get all the songs together and record them for a spring/summer release. YOU NOW HAVE WANDERLUST AS WELL. I TAKE IT YOU ARE STILL ALIVE AND WELL IN FIREHOUSE THOUGH? Absolutely! I’m not leaving the band! I just write a lot of songs that don’t fit the FireHouse sound, and I need a way to put them out. WANDERLUST is a side project. I put it out myself. Michael Foster played drums, and the late, great Bruce Waibel played bass. It’s been very well received. I was influenced heavily by a lot of Southern bands like The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, and The Dixie Dregs. This album is an album of songs that I sing, touching on my Southern influences. Please check it out here: www.wanderlustband.com. SO TELL US ABOUT YOUR SOLO THANG; WANDERLUST?? I never decided to make a solo album until I had 10 demos that were just sitting around in my studio doing nothing. It was then that I decided that I should release them on an album so that I could play them for someone other than my wife. J, I wrote these songs about my life experiences. One song, “Anytime” was written for my daughter before she was born. Many people who hear the album had never heard me sing before. It’s surprised a lot of people, and it’s an album that I wrote completely from the heart. I had no audience in mind other than myself. It’s a pretty diverse album with some acoustic playing on it,some Hammond B3 that I play, some horn

arrangemants, and I sing a couple of different vocal styles on the album. One of the songs, “Never Going Home” has some 6 part vocal harmonies I’M LISTENING TO IT AS WE SPEAK, I DON’T KNOW WHAT ALL THIS TALK OF ACOUSTICS IS, IM HEARING SOME BLAZIN BLUESY SOLOS? There are 2 songs with acoustic guitar on the album. The rest is electric guitar. I love big, bluesy rock guitar. I think that the feeling in that style is so powerful. That style is my favourite, even though I consider myself as a musician who loves many different styles, but southern, bluesy hard rock is my favourite, by far. PLAYING A GAME IS VERY COOL? Thanks. That song started off as an instrumental, but I came up with the lyrics and had to make it a vocal song. I’m recording another solo album now that is all instrumental. It’ll be ready this by this summer. YOU GUYS DID THE METAL MAINIA STRIPPED THING WITH DON’T TREAT ME BAD, THAT WHOLE THING HAS REALLY TAKEN OFF? It sure has. We’re on another release from that label as well. They’re using the version of “When I Look Into Your Eyes” from our GOOD ACOUSTICS album. The guys who are releasing these albums are having a great success with them, especially because there are so many people who love this style of music. SO LETS TALK ABOUT THE NEW GREM GUITAR; MAN IT’S LOOKING PRETTY HOT? The Bill Leverty Signature Grem Guitar is the greatest guitar I’ve ever seen, played or heard. I’m so honoured to be a part of the company. They are brand new and only make top of the line guitars. They don’t cut any corners. Everything is made to perfection. They are made in the USA in Fort Wayne, Indiana. These guitars will never warp and are set up so well that they play effortlessly. My guitar is wired to make it possible to get a

HUGE variety of sounds out of it. It’s a very versatile instrument of the highest quality. I’ve played a LOT of fine guitars in my life, and these Grem guitars are heads and shoulders above anything else out there. NECK THROUGH BODY ETC. HOWS THE TONE OUT OF THAT THING? The tone is absolutely stunning. The wood used in the neck-through section of the guitar is purple heart, and the sides are mahogany. The tone is thicker than a Les Paul in my

opinion. The solidity of the woods are really heard and felt by the player. I finally have a guitar that fills out all of the frequencies that the guitar needs to fill out a 3 piece band. I can get a thinner tone by switching my pickups to single coil, and/or out of phase, but most of the time, I’m playing that thick, lush sound that I’ve only dreamed of until now. SO WHAT MADE YOU CHANGE AFTER ALL THOSE YEARS WITH YAMAHA? Yamaha used to make guitars that fit my style. They’ve changed their product line over the years, and have almost completely eliminated 24 fret guitars with locking tremolo systems. Grem Guitars approached me and asked if I would like to check out their guitars. I did, and I was blown away. YOU GUYS ARE HEADING OUT WITH WARRANT AND L.A. GUNS SOON? We’ve been playing gigs, off and on, with both bands for years. We’ll be playing gigs on our own this spring/summer, and we’ll also be playing a lot of gigs with these bands as a package called the “80’s Invasion Tour”. They are both great bands and we get along real well with all the people involved. WELL ITS BEEN GREAT TALKING DUDE, GOOD LUCK WITH THE FUTURE AND HOPEFULLY WE’LL TALK AGAIN SOON? Thanks! It was great talking with you too. And thanks to your readers for taking the time to read this interview, and please check out our websites: www.firehousemusic.com www.leverty.com / www.wanderlustband.com

The ol' Yamaha 'aint what it used to be

THANKS TO BILL FOR TALKING WITH SAVIOURS OF ROCK. HE'S A GREAT GUY AND WE WISH HIM ALL THE BEST FOR THE FUTURE. GO CHECK HIM OUT AT Interviewed by Jarrah Loh Check Firehouse out on tour now: 03/30/2007     Apple Valley, MN *Bogart's* 14917 Garrett Avenue (Apple Place Bowl) Apple Valley, MN 55124 / tel: 952.432.1515/   03/31/2007     Waukesha, WI *Rooter's Nightclub* 901 Northview Road / tel: 262.544.9600   04/13/2007     Coeur d' Alene, ID *The Grail* 4720 Seltice Way / tel: 208.651.3428   04/14/2007     Lakewood, CO *Ecks Saloon* 9890 West Girton Drive / tel: 303.989.2991   04/21/2007     Charlotte, NC *Amos Southend* 1423 South Tryon Street / 704.377.6874   04/26/2007     Orlando, FL *Hard Rock Hotel - Velvet Sessions* 5800 Universal Blvd / tel: (407)370.5900   06/08/2007     Waukesha, WI *Taste Of Summer* with Brett Michaels   06/15/2007     Sioux City, IA *Awesome Biker Nights 2007* 801 Historic 4th Street Sioux City, IA 51101   06/16/2007     South Haven, MI *Harbor Fest* Waterfront Marina South Haven, MI 49090 / tel: 269.637.7391   06/22/2007     Lincoln, NE Open Air Auditorium w/ Warrant / 1800 State Fair Park Dr. tel: 402.473.4265   06/23/2007     Cedar Rapids, IA *Hawkeye Downs Fairgrounds*   07/02/2007     International Falls, MN *Roadhouse Night Club*   07/05/2007     Detroit Lakes, MN *Lakeside Tavern* 200 West Lake Drive Detroit Lakes, MN 56501 Tel: 218.847.1891   07/07/2007     Rdwood, MN Redwood County Fair   07/14/2007     Pryor, OK *Pryor Creek Music Festivals - Rock LaHoma* 114 South Mill Street   07/20/2007     Denmark, WI *Lion's Park* Firemen's Benefit   07/25/2007     Shippensburg, PA *Shippensburg Community Fair*   07/28/2007     Louisville, NY *Massena Town Beach* Upstate Music Festival w/ Warrant. For tickets, call (315)769-3525, online at www.ticketweb.com or by phone at (866) 468-7619 (USA), and (888) 222-6608 (Canada).   08/03/2007     Twin Falls, ID *Kruzer’s* 121 4th Ave. South / (712) 545-4000   08/10/2007     Ironwood, MI *Gogebic County Fair* US 2 Cloverland Drive / www.gogebiccountyfair.com   08/18/2007     Columbus, NE *Creston Nebraska Park*

 

 

 

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