Currently Booming: Whitesnake - 'Here I Go Again' Original 1982 Version (Watch)

Exclusive Interview: Raiding The Rock Vault's Robin McAuley is Ready to 'Shake The World' with Black Swan's Debut Release

(Reb Beach, Robin McAuley, Jeff Pilson & Matt Starr- Black Swan Official)

We are flashing back to some of the best of the best content here at DailyBOOM.

ICYMI

The last time that I spoke with Robin McAuley he was as busy as ever, performing several nights a week in Raiding The Rock Vault (a popular Vegas all-star production) while touring the world with Michael Schenker's Schenkerfest. He also teased about a (not so) little side gig with Jeff Pilson (Foreigner & Dokken) and Reb Beach (Winger & Whitesnake), plus Matt Starr on drums. That little project has morphed into a thunderous labor of love called Black Swan. 

Two singles, "Shake The World" and "Big Disaster", have already been met with critical praise, leaving rock fans anxiously awaiting the full release of Shake The World, on February 14th. Black Swan is, perhaps, one of the best supergroups to come out of the last decade or so and not even a critical bout with Ecoli Sepsis could slow their momentum. I had the pleasure of catching up with the always gracious and jovial rocker a few days ago. Check it out below!

(Robin McAuley - Black Swan Official)

Robin McAuley on the illness that could have been deadly:

"Lord. I’ll make it very brief. I didn’t see this one coming. At all. I stay pretty healthy and I was about to leave my home to catch a flight to Florida. The good Catholic boy that I am, I went to church in the morning, we came home and had a family meal, a breakfast, and about an hour before leaving, I got extremely cold. I had no other symptoms, nothing, it was a great morning, and then in about a twenty-minute window my sorry old ass got hooked up to a gurney and taken to intensive care. One of my sons really jumped on it and called 911, thank God or I may not be here talking to you now. 

Everybody was shocked and I really didn’t feel much of it, other than the fact I was really cold. I had a temperature that was over 104 and I was going into shock and had no idea what was going on.  You could have fried an egg on my butt (laughing). The diagnosis I finally got after the long week in the hospital was that I somehow had contracted the E.coli virus and it had turned into a bladder infection. That went into my bloodstream, became sepsis, and it was starting to poison me. I was put in a 12-hour critical stage. I have a lot of tattoos but I hate needles. Go figure. Right (laughing)? I’ve never had so many injections and blood and, oh god, IVs, and you know the other things they strap to you but they were able to treat me with the proper antibiotics. 

It really was a shocker, didn’t see it coming at all! I know what septic means, I’ve heard of septic, but sepsis, not until now (laughing). I was a great believer in the idea that people get sick and then you go, ‘yeah, but there has to be something underlying. you don’t just get sick and you don’t just fall down,’ but, apparently you do (laughing). Thankfully I am now feeling terrific."

Robin on getting better and returning to the stage in mere weeks:

"I was sequestered. The doctor said, ''You might think you are going somewhere, but you’re not going anywhere,’ so I spent weeks on extremely strong antibiotics and strapped to an IV, so I was pretty shitty, to say the least. Even after I got all of this stuff removed from my body, that next week was miserable because I had no strength, at all. The doctors told me that when your body goes into shock, all of these muscles suddenly start to flare up, and my legs were like lead.  

The doctors were very funny and they told me, ‘You know, you’re the youngest person in here. You need to get the hell outta here. and… you know, we have more pending cases than yours,’ I mean, they were very encouraging. They encouraged me constantly to get better and go home. Because they said that as soon as I could get home I would then have an immediate turnaround. They were right and my wife was awesome, my boys were awesome and that kept me going.  The doctors gave me an extra two weeks off and I started back just last week at Raiding the Rock Vault. Now, when you’re offstage for a whole month it’s a little like riding a bicycle, but it’s also in new venue so I had to adjust to that. Right now, this will be my fifth day in and I’m rockin’. Thank god I feel great and I’ve got my legs back, plus my voice is in great shape. Thereby the grace of God, I am very thankful and grateful."

  

(Robin McAuley- Official Facebook)

Robin on getting ready for Schenkerfest:

  
"I have so much to learn for that still (laughing). We leave for Japan the first week of March and Japan is already sold out, it’s amazing. It’s a huge undertaking because Simon Phillips will be a second drummer on this one. Ronnie Romero will be coming in and guesting on vocals. Barry Sparkson was also one of the earlier MSG bass players who will also be coming in as well so it’s a hefty lineup. Then we will leave Japan and we’ll hit the UK and the rest of Europe in April. Then US dates will maybe come at the tail end of the year. I’m waiting for those dates to be confirmed."  

Robin on Black Swan:

"My favorite band of all time, I want to tell you right out the gate, it’s my favorite. Even the artwork is part of excellence. I just love it, I absolutely love the logo. Jeff (Pilson) came to me with this idea. Frontiers had approached me maybe two years ago about wanting to work with me because I was possibly the only guy left (laughing) just kidding. I was so busy with Rock Vault and Schenker at the time. Plus they wanted to put me in with some of their in-house writers and producers, who are fantastic, but I wasn’t ready to just do a record. It wasn’t right. So anyway, Jeff called me about a year ago and we go back a very long way and he said, ‘well how would you feel to write with Reb Beach?’ Well, who wouldn’t want to write with Reb Beach? I met Reb during my Survivor days when he was with Night Ranger for a short spell, so I already knew him. 

Jeff and Reb got together at Jeff’s studio and they had sent me sort of a basic idea for a song just to get the ball rolling. I came into the studio and I had a melody and I had a lyric and it was called ‘Big Disaster’, and Reb just looks at me and goes, ‘For a new project, that is probably not the best name.’ (laughing) and that’s kind of how we started. Nobody was thinking it should be a little MSG, a little Dokken, make it White Snakey. Now, why would you ever want to do that? Why can’t we just be what we are and have what we have as Black Swan?"

Robin on the writing process with Black Swan:

"Jeff went to see Bohemian Rhapsody and sent me a short note at about midnight saying he got home and set up the piano and wrote something called "Divided". It was this amazing chorus and idea for a verse and I thought wow, people will never expect this. It’s an amazing song.  

One of my son’s almost ended up at the Borderline Grill where that massacre in Thousand Oaks took place. I was actually in Poland with Schenker, and I got this text saying he was on his way there, but he got a call to come into work instead. There was this line dancing thing he and his college friends would all do. When we were writing this record, this massacre was weighing heavily on my mind so I had this idea of writing a song around the soldier that comes home from active duty and things are not the same at home as he left. When we think of soldiers we think of men and these are kids. They are kids. Kids with guns and bombs in their hands that are not properly counseled. Unfortunately, it’s a bunch of innocent, beautiful, young kids out at a bar that gets hurt.  

Part of what we’re saying with this Black Swan record will shake the world because things are a big disaster and we are so divided. It’s not a political platform because I don’t know politics, but I know my own mind. I don’t like using music as a soapbox, you know for that purpose, but sometimes if something weighs heavily on your mind and on your heart then it just comes out in the writing. We need to shake things up, we definitely do. You know, we have a voice as we always say and we are supposed to be allowed to use it. Um… But, as long as you put up with it nothing is ever going to change."

(Robin McAuley- Official Facebook)

Robin on the name Black Swan:

"Reb came up with the name Black Swan. We were kicking names around and we had some god-awful names and they all got trashed (laughing). Then Reb says, ‘Well, I like-- I like Black Swan,’ and I’m going, ‘Well, isn’t there a movie and a book?’ (laughing).  Frontiers actually got clearance because there was a big brass school band, The Black Swan-something or other, and so they had to get clearance on the name. They obviously managed to get it, and it fits perfectly, I think. It fits the music and just sort of gels with everything else."  

Robin on how Black Swan is a unique experience for him:

"I’ve recorded a lot of stuff, my name is not a name that rolls off of people’s tongues, but I’ve recorded quite a bit. I will say that of everything I’ve ever had my name on or recorded, I think this is my favorite of everything. I just love the production. It’s real. It’s not processed. It’s exactly like it is in the studio. It’s how we wanted it. And, it was one of my big things like, I just want this to really rock and be powerful. 

Jeff did an absolutely monstrous job of it. His playing is amazing considering he didn’t want to play bass. You know, Reb and I had other ideas about that (laughs). He had all of these great bass players lined up for whatever reason, and as we were writing, he’d be laying down his bass tracks just as a guide, and I went, ‘Yeah, some guide. So, are you going to get a bass player in here and show him everything you just played?’ (laughing). Then, of course, Matt Starr came in and completely put the icing on the cake."

Robin on the possibility of live dates:

" (Laughing) It’s the million-dollar, Black Swan question. You know, of course, ideally, with every band, you want to go live. Reb’s schedule is crazy, as is Jeff’s, and then you have Matt and you’re going, ‘How the hell is this ever going to happen?’ So, we’re hoping that a window of opportunity will appear. God, I hope we get to do it. We’ve all agreed, all four of us have agreed, that we’d love to do it."

Robin's thoughts ahead of the Feb. 14th release of the full Shake The World record:

"I’m really happy. I know everybody says that about their record, but I am (laughing). I never thought that at my age, I could actually make something that I could boast about. This is just, I couldn’t be in a better place. I never in my wildest dreams thought that we’d be churning out something of this quality, it’s just great. It’s great. So I’m very happy with it. I hope the listeners are equally as happy and we have a go forward with it. It would be terrific. Not that I need more work, but I love this particular work so much." 

Follow Black Swan on Facebook for more news & updates. Grab your Black Swan merch here. Also, check our Robin's official site & Facebook page for updates on everything that he has going on. 

Currently Booming: Let The Music Play: The Tipping Point Official Trailer (WATCH)

A short documentary by DailyBOOM Media on Covid-19's crushing impact on the music industry as seen through the eyes of artists, musicians, promoters, venues, merchandisers, etc. A follow-up to the Award-winning Let The Music Play Documentary, the story picks up as they deal with the aftermath of being shut down and out of work for over a year. Featuring: Jeff Pilson- Foreigner/Ex-Dokken Joel Hoekstra- Whitesnake/Cher

John Waite- The Babys

Michael Sweet- Stryper Haley Johnsen- American Idol/Indie artist

Todd Kerns- Slash & The Conspirators Sabrina Nieves- The Cover Girls Chip Z'Nuff- Enuff Z'Nuff Ron Keel- Ron Keel Band

Tony Hall- The Neville Brothers

Jeffrey "Soave" Martinez- Freestyle artist

Stacey David Blades- Crashing Wayward and more. Trailer music: Original Score by Jack Miele Productions

Exclusive Interview: Whitesnake's Joel Hoekstra on Touring, Playing with Cher & More

Since Covid-19 has brought gigs to a screeching halt we are flashing back to some of the best of the best content here at DailyBOOM.

If you're a rock fan then Joel Hoekstra is a man who needs precious little introduction. He spent several years on stage in the Broadway production of Rock of Ages and used that experience to launch a career that has him now playing beside some of his childhood heroes. Hoekstra believes that greatness comes from playing as often as he can and working with bands like Foreigner, Night Ranger and of course, Whitesnake (to name only a few) has helped to shape him into a versatile virtuoso. 

Hoekstra has been busy with Whitesnake rehearsal's this week as the band is gearing up to hit the road for the Juke Box Heroes Tour with Jason Bonham and Foreigner, but he was kind enough to give me a few minutes of his time.

(Photo: Cate Meighan)

Cate Meighan: I know that Whitesnake's rehearsals just started a few days ago, how's it going so far?

Joel Hoekstra: We started on June 4th and it's really great to see the guys. Everyone in this lineup gets along so well and that makes it really great to be back together again. The band sounds really tight already. Everybody did their homework leading into rehearsal (laughing) and is remembering all of the songs. David (Coverdale) is in great spirits and is singing fantastic, so we're all excited to get back out on the road again.

CM: You were last on the road together for the greatest hits tour two years ago. How will this show compare to that one?

JH: It's different in that we're sharing the bill and playing the bigger venues this time around. It's going to be a great night of classic rock. Jason Bonham will be playing all of the Led Zeppelin stuff and it just doesn't get much cooler than that. Of course, then you'll get the Whitesnake catalog and the Foreigner catalog which means that it's realistically going to be a night where just about everyone knows every song played. That's the kind of show that just doesn't come around that often.

CM: There has been so much excitement and speculation surrounding the new album, Flesh & Blood, which recently had its' release date pushed back. Is there a chance that the first single from that project, "Shut Up & Kiss Me" might make its' way into the setlist?

JH: I'm not 100% able to discuss the setlist (laughing) because it might get me in a bit of trouble. I'm sure it'll be up online right after the first show so I've got to at least make you wait until then to find out!

CM: How does it feel to have the band back together again?

JH: It's really great to be back. I've spent a decent amount of time with David and Reb (Beach) over the last year working on the new music, which is cool. I feel like my relationship with both of them has grown. Just to finally see everyone else too and have us all together is truly the best part.

CM: I know that mixing it up and doing different kinds of projects seems to have really become your forte. Michael Sweet of Stryper recently mentioned working on something bluesy with you. Can you tell me more about that?

JH: It's in both of our plans to do that and hopefully while I'm out on this tour I can send him some ideas. We both like to work quickly and Michael is so talented and just a super nice guy. It's going to get done, I promise (laughing). We just have to find the time in our schedules to actually get together and do it. It'll be cool though because we're on the same page with exactly what we want to do.

I had a friend take me to see Stryper when I was a kid and still in school. They put on such a great show, I was totally blown away. They put on such a killer show even back in the 80's. Now to actually know the band and to be able to call them my friends is just incredible.

CM: I bet that kind of scenario happens to you a lot now!

JH: It really has been a recurring story over the last ten years of my career- getting to know guys that I looked up to as gods when I was a kid. There was a moment this year when I was out with David (Coverdale) for his birthday. It was just him, his wife, Reb and I at his birthday dinner. I sat there for a minute just thinking that if someone had ever told me when I was still in high school that this moment would eventually be happening I would never have believed it (laughing). I would never have thought that it would ever be possible. I have a lot of moments of clarity like that and it's really cool.

CM: I know that you've spent the early part of this year working with Cher and the rest of her band in Las Vegas. How was that experience?

JH: It was great. My interaction with her was so limited though. The most that I've talked to her is a minute before we would go onstage when we're in a circle exchanging pleasantries. That's literally about it (laughing). She's great to work for though and it's a very professional organization. The musicians are amazing and it has been a real joy for me to have a chance to get to know a lot of them.

It has been really nice to broaden my horizons during my downtime from Whitesnake and break that rock stereotype a little bit. There are showman moments in it where I get to step out and then there are moments when I get to step out with someone that's a pop icon. She's a legendary performer and the set is really diverse musically, which is fun. I get to play anything from 60's pop to disco, all the way up to her 80's hard rock thing. There's a lot happening stylistically and that's fun from a musical perspective for me to be able to play it.

(Photo: Jay Marz)

CM: Does mixing stuff up help you to stay creative?

JH: I really just want to keep working and mixing things up allows me to get paid while becoming a better player. That's how I've always wanted to establish becoming great on the guitar and I think that playing a lot is how you get really good at it. Wherever life takes you and whatever opportunity presents itself, that's how you're meant to get good at it.

I love actually making music. I love being part of a band and musical scenarios where I'm working with other musicians and doing the best that I can with that. I also live in NYC and so just the sheer expense of it means that I should keep working and making money to pay my bills (laughing).

CM: After all of these years of playing with so many great musicians, what inspires you these days?

JH: I keep going to improve.. My definition of success is to never have to do anything other than play guitar. That's the modern day musical dream for me. Forget about someday wanting to own a mansion with 17 sports cars that I can crash and replace whenever I want to (laughing). I'm just trying to work and have a good time while doing it. Hopefully, I'll even be considered a good guy in the process.

It really is a job for us. Sure there's a lot of fantasy to it because you get to be onstage in front of an audience and sometimes you're treated really well, but essentially, it comes down to working hard. I keep that in my head at all times because it's important to keep yourself grounded. Ego will kill your career. I think you need to work hard and then as opportunities present themselves, do what you can with them. That creates your life story more than just having one solid goal. You can't make your goals that narrow.

As a kid I never would have said that I wanted to play guitar in a Broadway show, it was not on my radar at all but doing Rock of Ages turned out to be a huge break for me. It was a six-year gig that changed my whole financial reality. I did the best that I could with it and it led me to right now. I think that you need to do your best with every single thing and then you'll see where it leads you.

It sounds like a cliche, but I do believe that the harder you work the luckier you'll get. Just about every big moment that I've had I can actually trace back to another moment that made no financial sense for me to be doing at the time (laughing). Sometimes you need to do things for the experience and to invest in yourself. You plant some seeds and then wait to see what eventually grows.

CM: What would you like to say to those fans that have supported and continue to support you in everything that you do?

JH: I appreciate their support so much and I try to be thankful every day for the chance to do all of this. I have a laundry list of things that I'm thankful for every day and the fans are definitely on it. It's amazing to be making a living playing music and to have the opportunity to do all of this. The fans are a big part of what makes it all possible.

If you don't already have tickets to the Jukebox Heroes Tour with Whitesnake, Jason Bonham and Foreigner then check out tour dates here. Visit Joel's personal site here to stay up to date 

on everything that he's doing.

Exclusive Interview: Adrian Vandenberg Returns with a New Band and Heavier Sound on the Dynamic '2020'

ICYMI

When you think of 80's rock, with those heat scorching guitar riffs, Adrian Vandenberg is one of a handful of names that quickly comes to mind. He has played with many of the greats, including a twelve-year run beside David Coverdale in Whitesnake, but his own band, Vandenberg,  has always been the crown jewel of his career. It has been 35 years since the band has released a new studio album and earlier this year it was announced that Vandenberg's return is imminent, with a brand new lineup and a full album entitled 2020  set for a May 29th release.

I was able to catch up with Adrian recently and while social distancing literally on opposite sides of the world, we chatted about all sorts of things, including why now is the perfect time for the world to be reintroduced to all that Vandenberg has to share. Check it out below!

Adrian on dealing with a pandemic:

"It doesn't make much of a difference for me right now. I'm not out on tour so I would be home now working on my music anyway. I can still cook a nice meal or hang with friends as long as it's not more than a few of us together. It's a lot more dramatic for a lot of other people but my life is mostly the same. The one thing that does bother me the most is that I can't visit my mom who is 94. She's all alone and my brother and sister and I can't visit her now, which is more than a little sad, so let's hope that this is over soon. This time makes you rethink a lot of the things that were perfectly normal a couple of weeks ago. When you have no choice but to go back to the basics you realize how much you've taken for granted."

Adrian on why now is the right time to bring back Vandenberg:

"It was really a natural thing (laughing). People have asked me to do this for years and I just didn't want to do a nostalgic type of thing. There are two reasons why I decided to finally dig in and do this now and it is partly because of writing. The more that I got into it the more I realized that I wanted to come back and expand with some harder, faster stuff, different from what I've done with MoonKings over the past five years. The other thing that led me to this had to do with the singer in MoonKings. He owns a really big farming company and at this point, he can't really leave the country for more than one day and I just love touring and doing shows. I want to keep playing all over the world and he wasn't ready to leave the farm behind, so it only made sense for me to go in another direction.

He and I are good friends and he also didn't want to stand in the way of my ambition. I figured that if I could find a really good singer then maybe I could put Vandenberg back together and that's what has happened. We are a modern and kind of in your face band, but then we also have the legacy too. 

The record is fresh and it just doesn't sound like a tired band that's trying to revive itself. My ambition was for this to feel like a progression of the band and I think that it has worked out like that." 

Adrian on how he writes:

"My writing process has most certainly evolved because when I started the early Vandenberg in 1981, I didn't have the guts to tell people in the studio what I really wanted. Now many years later I do have the guts and I know how to make a record really sound the way that I hear it in my head. When I found Ronnie (Romero, lead vocals) willing to join the band it just opened up everything writing-wise because he has no limitations. That gave me a lot of freedom because I really try to tailor the songs that I write to the singer and so writing with him gave me a lot of inspiration. His emotional way of singing opened up so many possibilities for me. It's a great feeling to be able to do what you feel in your soul without any restrictions there. It's such a beautiful thing and it has made me so happy."

Adrian on the chemistry of the band now:

"I didn't know these guys before putting this band together and we really do click big time. When I first flew to Madrid to meet Ronnie we had an instant connection and I was so happy. If you're going to be writing with someone then I think you really need to have a great connection. David Coverdale and I were a great example of that in the past and now, so are Ronnie and I. When I started looking for a drummer I checked out a Dutch magazine that lists the top ten leading drummers and their best guy, Koen Herfst, was on top for several years. I was blown away by what he could do and then a similar thing happened with our bass player, Randy van der Elsen. I actually have a band that can do these songs the way that I hear them in my head and that has led to us having a beautiful connection within the band.

It's all really cool now and I feel very fortunate. I'm not the kind of guy that takes things for granted in my life and I really value the quality of my life. This music and the band are an important part of it and I'd rather not do it at all if people don't get along or if there are bad vibes. I'm grateful that things are going smoothly and I also believe that in order to write good music you have to feel good about the situation. So we are very fortunate to be able to write this music and to know that somewhere down the road in the future, we'll be able to play it live for the fans."

Adrian on accomplishing his goals:

"I'm not somebody that thinks too far ahead. I do live in the moment and I want this moment to be a good one. I'm kind of like a freight train with my goals though and when I run into an obstacle I'll run right through it and I'll clean up the mess later (laughing). That's basically how my life goes. It's funny because my sister is a classical piano teacher and we are very different with how we do things. She doesn't understand how I can do these things without reading notes and I tell her that I just focus really hard when I'm writing and recording. Everything else is left to the side, which can cause a lot of other problems (laughing) because once the music is gone then I have a big mountain of other things that I have to do. It's the only way for me to do it though, with that singular focus, otherwise, I end up limiting my creativity. If I start and then stop it changes what I'm writing. Maybe it won't be worse but I'll have lost my original path with the song."

Adrian on the desire to tour again:

"I can't wait to hit the road with them. That is definitely the plan and ambition, this album isn't meant as a one-off kind of thing. We're really secure as a band and this music was created to be heard in a live setting. I love being able to interact with a crowd and to tell them stories about the music. I'm dying to do international tours again because I really miss it. I love being on the road and being able to focus on just making music with a bunch of great people while getting the crowd going too. It's almost an addictive rush that you get because you can feel the hearts of the people in the venue, whether it's ten or ten thousand, it's such a beautiful thing. Those moments cross all borders and they connect everyone that's there. What a beautiful thing to be able to share with the fans and I can never get enough of it."

Check out Vandenberg's official site to preorder '2020'.  Follow the band on Facebook and Twitter for updates on the music and future gigs!