By Steve Newton Back in April of 1997 I did my first interview with Geddy Lee of Rush, while the band was touring behind its Test for Echo album. The year before Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson had released his debut solo album, Victor, so at one point in the conversation I asked Geddy what he … Continue reading That time Geddy Lee told me that he was proud of Alex Lifeson for making his solo album
By Steve Newton I haven’t interviewed that many drummers over the years, mainly because when I cover a band I shoot for the guitarist, since that’s the instrument I’m most drawn to. But after interviewing Alex Van Halen in advance of a Van Hagar show on the 1995 Balance Tour, I should probably chat with … Continue reading Ten minutes on the phone with Alex Van Halen
By Steve Newton Back in May of 1985 I interviewed Supertramp drummer Bob Siebenberg. The conversation took place nine days before the official release of Brother Where You Bound, Supertramp’s first album without Roger Hodgson. This was an unusual interview for me, because most of them are done over the phone with musicians while they’re … Continue reading That time I asked Supertramp’s Bob Siebenberg what the band was like without Roger Hodgson
By Steve Newton I was fortunate enough to have interviewed Canadian guitar wizard Jeff Healey three times. The first time was on June 25, 1988, when he was just 22, and still three months away from releasing his incredible debut album, See the Light. Healey–who, sadly, died from cancer in 2008 at age 41–had just … Continue reading That time I asked 22-year-old Jeff Healey what Patrick Swayze was like to work with on Road House
By Steve Newton I interviewed Rickey Medlocke in 1997, the year after he’d joined Gary Rossington and Hughie Thomasson in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s three-guitar lineup. While Rossington was a founding Skynyrd guitarist, and Medlocke had played drums for them in their early days, Medlocke and Thomasson had made their names in two of my other fave … Continue reading That time I asked Rickey Medlocke if he and Hughie Thomasson might get to sneak a Blackfoot or Outlaws tune into Skynyrd’s set
By Steve Newton I was playing some of my old interview cassettes from the ’80s a while back and came across a short conversation I had in 1984 with David DeFeis, the singer and main songwriter for New York metal band Virgin Steele. At the time he was promoting the band’s second album, 1983’s Guardians … Continue reading That time back in ’84 when I asked Virgin Steele singer David DeFeis what the metal scene was like in New York
By Steve Newton Back in January of 1992 I interviewed the Cult vocalist Ian Astbury while his band was touring behind its fifth studio album, Ceremony. That LP–and the one before it, the Bob Rock-produced Sonic Temple–had featured American session drummer Mickey Curry, who is best known for his work recording and touring with Bryan … Continue reading That time the Cult’s Ian Astbury told me that he thought session drummer Mickey Curry was “totally wasted” with Bryan Adams
By Steve Newton Back in April of ’97 I did my first interview with Rush bassist-vocalist Geddy Lee, while the band was touring behind its Test for Echo album. For that disc the band had brought in studio ace Andy Wallace to mix, a process that Lee had referred to in the latest Rush bio … Continue reading That time Geddy Lee told me how Rush views the mixing process
By Steve Newton Back in June of 1988 Tesla frontman Jeff Keith called me up from his home in Sacramento in advance of his band’s Canadian tour with Def Leppard. Early in the interview I asked Keith what the group had been up to since releasing its debut album, Mechanical Resonance, a year and a … Continue reading That time Jeff Keith called me up and told me what Tesla had been up to since releasing its debut album
By Steve Newton Way back in January of 1984 I did my first interview with heavy-metal master Tony Iommi, famous for creating the most powerful hard-rock riffs known to man. At the time Iommi was touring behind Black Sabbath’s much-maligned Born Again, which is quite possibly the raunchiest Sabbath album ever recorded. At one point … Continue reading That time heavy-metal god Tony Iommi told me that he wasn’t into new-wave, but he liked the music from Flashdance
By Steve Newton When I interviewed Alex Van Halen on August 9, 1995, Van Halen was in the midst of a North American tour in support of its tenth album, the Bruce Fairbairn-produced Balance. As on all Van Halen albums, the songwriting credits on Balance were shared between all four members. At one point in … Continue reading That time Alex Van Halen told me how ideas for Van Halen songs sprang from Eddie just noodling around
By Steve Newton I did my first interview with American rock legend John Fogerty back in August of 1997, when he was touring behind his fifth solo studio album, Blue Moon Swamp. Two nights earlier he’d performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, so at one point in the conversation I asked him if … Continue reading That time I asked John Fogerty if “Fortunate Son” was a favourite tune of his
By Steve Newton Back in 1994 I did my first interview with David Lee Roth while he was promoting his Nile Rodgers-produced Your Filthy Little Mouth album. At one point in the conversation Roth started discussing how the changing times over the past decade–since his last album with Van Halen, 1984–had affected his life and, … Continue reading Ten years after Van Halen’s 1984, David Lee Roth ponders how condom use changes lyrical content
