November 20, 2008 ISSUE 4 Baileys Comet Crystal Ball Dark Moor Deep Purple Def Leppard Emerald Rain Scott Gorham Gotthard Kelly Keagy Lana Lane Poison Queensryche Savannah Slash Kip Winger Single Issue Prices (inc postage): £4 - UK £5/e8 - Europe $10 - US/Rest of world Be sure to include which issue you want and make check/IMO payable to 'Bruce Mee'. only while supplies last email for availability Fireworks.Mag@ntlworld.com You can also pay through PayPal at: Fireworks.Mag@ntlworld.com For a 1 year, 6 issue subscription, send check or postal order to: Fireworks Magazine Subscriptions Dept. 10 Dunnock Close, Offerton, Stockport, SK2 5XD, U.K. £ 24.00 - UK £ 27.00 - Europe £ 35.00 - Other (airmail) £ 35.00 - USA/Rest of World ($65) Be sure to make check / IMO payable to 'Bruce Mee'. You can also pay through PayPal at: Fireworks.Mag@ntlworld.com

EMERALD RAIN by Phil Ashcroft They’re back with a new sound that’s in some ways an old sound, the arrival of a new drummer and also the return of an old drummer, Emerald Rain have gone heavier, but lighter at the same time. Time to get some straight answers from frontman Murray Daigle, but be prepared to be ‘Perplexed In The Extreme’. I think the new album is the best thing you’ve recorded so far. Are you happy with the way it’s turned out? Yes, we are really excited about the new record. It’s my favourite piece of work I’ve ever done both as an artist and producer. I love everything about it, the writing, the production, the performances and especially the sound. What I really like about this record was the whole experience of making it - it was so laid back, it just seemed so easy. ‘Perplexed....’ is a very varied record, some of the songs like ‘You’ and ‘Numb’ seem to be heading back to your heavier Pain era, especially the vocals. Was that intentional? Yes, that was very intentional. We really wanted to mix things up on this record. I really felt going into writing that we needed the sound of the band to grow if we were going to continue building. I think ‘Age Of Innocence’ and ‘Broken Saviours’ were great records and I am very proud of them, but I think that we had started to develop a bit of tunnel vision. We really focused on adding new elements and feels to the sound while trying to keep it very melody and hook oriented. Lyrically and musically ‘...Saviours’ was a fairly dark record and ‘Age..’ leaned heavily to the positive or lighter side. With ‘Perplexed In The Extreme’ we really wanted to push further outward in both directions. This CD has the heaviest material we’ve written and the lightest material, and we tried to get it all to blend together. Vocally I did step things up a bit to suit the material better. On the previous records we were always worried about falling back into the Pain sound - everyone has their ghosts & demons - and I think a lot of the time, instead of really going after the performance we were looking too much at the big picture. This is the fastest I have done my parts for a record, I just went in the booth and went for it and I am very pleased with it. I think my voice works a lot better in this sort of range and I feel a lot more comfortable with it. I think we really managed to come up with something with a bit more clever with more edge and more bite, but the melodies are still the key and anyone who liked the first two CD’s will definitely be into this one. Mike really smokes on this album doesn’t he? I have to say I am very proud of Mike because I taught him everything he knows. Unfortunately, that just isn’t true, I mean the part about teaching him everything, but I am very proud of him. I have been working with Mike for almost ten years now and he never ever fails to surprise me. We were working on our parts at the same time at different studios, so I didn’t hear any of the lead guitars until the record was almost finished. I heard a lot of his rough ideas, but when he brought the tracks over to my studio to put it together I was blown away. I am always so knocked out with the melodies he comes up with and the way his solo sections mould the sound and energy of the songs. Being a frustrated guitar player myself I think has made me a real fan of his work. You’re obviously influenced by your friends Harem Scarem/Rubber but you seem to be moving further away from that sound with this album, do you agree? I never have, and never will put any thought into how near or far our sound is from Harem Scarem’s while I am writing a record. We just write songs and they come out like they come out. I definitely think our new record is a progression from ‘Age Of Innocence’, just like ‘Age...’ was a progression from ‘Broken Saviours’, but there are still big backing vocals, lots of guitar solos and lots of melody in our writing. However, the music has definitely adopted some new elements and little more edge. One thing I always wanted to ask you is, have Harry or Pete heard Emerald Rain, and have they expressed an opinion about you? I know that Darren knows your music. What does he think? I am sure Harry and Pete have heard the stuff, they are always very up on what’s going on. However, I don’t really know what they think. I talked to Harry last week, but when you talk to other musicians, especially guys you have known for years, it isn’t something that really comes up. It’s more about “how’s your brother, how’s the studio, have you talked to so and so lately”, that kind of thing. I know Darren likes the stuff ‘cause he told me he checked it out to see if he’d be interested in touring with us. But Darren likes everything - he’s one the most open-minded musicians I have ever met. He listens to absolutely everything and he is very supportive of other bands. Where did the title ‘Perplexed In The Extreme’ come from? It’s a line from Othello. I was reading it while I was working on the record and I thought it summed up our concept of moving further to each extreme - dark and positive, heavy and light. We’re not out to confuse people, but were are hoping to intrigue them with the contrast and moodiness of the material. You’ve also had a personnel change, Kyle Lazenka is no longer in the band, why did he leave? Kyle left so he could put more time into his own band Very Jive. They just released their new CD, ‘Things We Do For Love’ over here this weekend. Emerald Rain was just taking up too much of his time and diverting his attention from his real ambition. He has been writing really great new stuff with Very Jive since he’s left, so I think it’s really paying off for him. The drummer on your new album is one of Canada’s top percussionists, Randy Cooke. How did that come about? Mike met Randy while producing a CD for a band called Monx. They had recruited him for his reputation, he’s one of the top session guys in Canada. His playing is just incredible and Mike and him got along quite well, so when Kyle left and we needed a drummer for the CD we gave him call to see if he was interested. We really needed someone who could get caught up quick ‘cause all the songs were already written and we were ready to record. In just two days we had all the parts worked and on tape. We also talked to Darren Smith, but schedule wise we just couldn’t make that work. Working with Randy was awesome, he was very fast in the studio and incredibly intuitive. From there it just seemed like all the pieces fell into place. He still plays for Kim Mitchell and Rik Emmett amongst others, so will he be touring with you? Randy plays for everybody who’s anybody (oh ya, and us too), he is always in very high demand. We are just getting the details on a tour sorted out for May and unfortunately he is unavailable. We talked to Darren about that and again the schedules just don’t work out. It looks like we will be bringing Lorne Boyle, the original ER drummer. I was really excited when he heard about the tour and offered to come with us. Lorne and I are really good friends and I have played all over the place with him in cover bands, he’s a lot of fun to travel with and he’s a killer player so I’m sure we’ll have a great time. Mike, Sean and yourself seem to be very close. Has that been a problem for the drummers you’ve had? I got the feeling that Kyle always felt like an outsider. Mike and Sean are my best friends in the world, no doubt about it. I don’t think that necessarily alienates anyone else who works with us although Ican see how it is possible that someone might feel like that, especially on the musical side of things. We have a real ability to build and concept a game plan and stick to it, once we’ve put ideas into place a lot of our communication is very intuitive. It’s a little hard to describe, but we just know how we all think and we all know what to expect of one another. The three of us are all workaholics too so I would definitely understand if Kyle felt a bit of left out at times, especially being so young and not having the confidence that comes with a little more experience to jump in and take the bull by the horns. Are you still on speaking terms? Absolutely, I was at the Very Jive CD release party the night before last. I produced their record. Kyle is a good friend of mine and I am still very involved with producing and shopping his band. I would love nothing better than for him to get a record deal and start working at things on his own terms. He is a very talented player and song writer, and he really deserves a serious chance. We have a lot of plans to get the band off the ground. Kyle and the other guys are so focused and determined and the music is so good that I have no doubt that this band has a bright future ahead. Which of the songs on ‘Perplexed...’ are your favorites, and why? ‘Numb’, just ‘cause I feel like someone took the reins off and let me run. I also really like ‘Wasted Time’ and ‘Just Like Anyone’, ‘cause not only are they very strong musically and lyrically they also cover very new ground for us. ‘Open Up Your Eyes’ is another one I really like and not for any particular reason - it just sits well with me, my kinda song. There seems to be a big Classic Rock scene happening in Canada for the older bands but nowhere for younger bands playing melodic rock to play. Is there no sign of that changing? No, not at all. The market here is really gone, it’s all Limp Bizkit and Blink 182. All stuff I like, but unfortunately not stuff I play. I just don’t think music buyers over here are as loyal as music fans in Europe and Japan. It’s all flavour of the week... or minute. I guess you’re all lucky to be able to make a living from playing and producing other artists at your studios, how much other work do you take on, and what was the last thing you did? Mike, Sean and I all work full time at the studios and then some. We usually set aside a given amount for the ER projects each year and the rest is all outside work. As I mentioned before, I just finished the Very Jive CD. I’m also just finished mixing a record for a band from Norway called Hush. The record is going to be coming out on Now & Then but I haven’t heard a release date yet. Watch out for it though, it’s a great record, very melodic, awesome vocals by Patrick Simonsen. Right now I am mixing an album for one of the ex-members of Malhavoc. It’s really heavy industrial sounding stuff, really interesting and I love it. As soon as I finish that I’m going to be singing background vocals for a CD Sean is producing by a band called November Echo. Then I start working with a very promising young blues artist and I have a power-pop band that I’m going to be doing a record for after that. You play in a covers band to pass the time. Tell us about that. It’s a real outlet for me musically. I play bass, sing a lot of background vocals and the odd lead vocal. We do tons of old rock ‘n’ roll and classic R&B stuff. Lorne Boyle is the drummer and he runs all the business side of things as well. It’s a great chance just to play music for fun with guys I really get along well with. I’ve travelled all over the province I live in playing tunes I like, and playing bass which is really different for me, and at the end of the day they pay me for it - pretty cool eh? In fact, I played last night here in my home town. What’s your next project? Well I am really looking forward to working on the blues and the power-pop thing I mentioned before. I have also started work on some material of my own, but who knows if I’ll ever find time to finish it. Right now my focus is on the tour and getting those wheels in motion. I am dying to play the new ER material live, I think the energy will be awesome. The guys will be playing some shows in the UK around late May with Now & Then labelmates Lost Weekend. Hope to see you all there! This interview was reprinted with permission from Fireworks Magazine. "We lay so close in the dark, yet so far apart. You're like a stranger in my arms."

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