One of the classic albums of the melodic rock genre is surely Hardline's 'Double Eclipse', a fantastic collection of catchy, hard rocking songs that saw guitarist Neal Schon shred like he seldom had the chance to in Journey. The core of the band was formed around brothers Johnny and Joey Gioeli, with Johnny's voice being the other stand out feature of the album. Now Hardline are back together again, albeit without Schon (Joey Tafolla taking up the lead guitar position), and a new album is due out early next year.

Kieran Dargan got in touch with Johnny Gioeli and began by asking him his feeling on the cult status bestowed upon that debut release...

"You know, I hear this a lot and I'll tell you, it blows me away. I had no idea. I mean we all had no idea. We knew it was a good record but to have it held in such high esteem after such a long period of time, well...wow. Amazing!"

When the band split up initially, and there was a lot of money involved...$6 million I believe, you have gone on record previously as saying as soon as the money was gone, Neal Schon and Todd Jensen split as they had lifestyles to maintain.

"And you know what, you've done your research well. When the record deal was gone and the money gone. Neal, Deen and Todd had a lifestyle they had to keep consistent and that was a shame. We could have gone with any label, with any budget and created a great record. We were a very powerful band, both live and in the studio, very strong songwriters and it was a shame...the money was gone and everybody took off."

Six million dollars was a hell of a lot of money to go through.

"Six million was our total deal. It was a two plus two plus two deal. Two albums plus an option on another two, plus an option on another two. It wasn't like they gave us that money in cash, but it was one of the largest new deals out there."

You were signed to MCA, who over the years have earned the nickname 'Music Cemetery of America.

"That's right. The only reason we went that way was Herbie Herbert had such a comfort level with the people operating the label because they were all Columbia people that he knew from the Journey days, that he had a strong relationship with and he knew we would be taken care of, and you know...they did! They sunk stupid money into the band. We did TV commercials that I never even saw. They spent our money like it was water to try get a result, even though they get the bad rap they did the best they could. It was our fault in going with a label that didn't really have any power. It would have been a lot easier if we were with Geffen. They would have had so much power...you want the new Guns and Roses record? Sure, but you gotta play the new Hardline record too. MCA just didn't have that kind of clout. Good people, but $500,000 to make a record? Come on! On this next record if I spend more than $25,000 I'll shoot the producer!"

So who is the producer?

"It's a guy called Bob Burch. He comes from a very 'now' type of mindset. He produces a lot of Christian artists...not the glitzy, slushy stuff but the heavy edged stuff. He has a wonderful imagination. What I'm trying to do with this record is create a mix of what was and what is. If anyone is expecting an overproduced slick record with a big snare drum that just pops through your system...you know, picking up from where they left off...well that's not what it's going to be. It's going to be the melody, the voice, the great songwriting, but with a today production. Some people may notice it and go 'Whoa, that's different' and others may go 'Cool'."

Just to back track a moment. What was the final nail in the coffin of the original line up?

"We went into a meeting and our A&R guy had left to go to another company. They bring in Ron Oberman who was well known and signed a lot of great bands. He also had worked with Neal in the past. This was the nail in the coffin! Are you ready...we're in this meeting, we have a brand new A&R guy. He has nothing to do with us, he doesn't know us, he didn't sign us...he has just been assigned to us. The first suggestion out of his mouth was actually a good one. He suggested bringing in a new, young producer, one of these guys producing the Pearl Jams and Soundgardens. You know, record companies were getting scared with the change in the industry right then. Well Neal went nuts and cursed him, like I would do to my worst enemy and said, quote, "Fuck you, fuck that! We're not doing that. We're not spending that kind of money. I produced the last record, I'll produce this one too!" and Kieran, as serious as a heart attack, we all walked out the door and I said to our personal manager 'We're done', and that same fuckin' day we were dropped. Neal denies it today...he has selective amnesia. He believes whatever he wants. That's cool. That was it, that's what drove the stake through the heart."

What did yourself and Joey decide to do in light of the situation?

"We tried to keep it together. We pulled in some other members and it just wasn't the same. Then we burned out, completely freakin' burned out. I didn't want to do it anymore, Joey either. We were done."

What time period was this? '93 ?

"No, really it wasn't until 1995 that the whole thing finished."

Is this mythical second album'Gravity' actually done and complete, or in fact does it actually exist?

"'Gravity' was with the new Hardline members. It was basically Joey and I who had written an incredible amount of songs, teetering on weirdness a little bit. Outside the norm. That's what the unfinished record was...it was stuff that was going to be on the second record with the original line up but..."

Did Neal, Todd or Deen play on any of that material?

"No, not at all."

Is there any unreleased material lying around recorded by the original band?

"There's tons of shit! As a matter of fact a song that I'm doing on this album, 'Face the Night', was completely recorded, and along with another called 'The Gift' were both recorded for MCA. We also did a bunch of extra tracks: 'I will Survive' and 'On and On and On'. Will they make this record? I don't know. 'Face the Night' definitely, but the rest of the tunes... I don't know. I'm flushing out all the ideas that have been running through my mind since 1995...that's a long time man."

Do you think any of that material will ever see the light of day, either through official channels or through your web site as a demos album or something?

"Quite honestly, I don't know how that would work. MCA legally own those those masters. I never wanted to record that amount of songs but Neal refused and had us record a whole bunch of stuff. To try get MCA to do something with those songs, I'd possibly have a better chance of having lunch with the pope this afternoon!"

Do you and Neal speak still?

"Oh yeah. I say fuck you, he says fuck me right back. Actually we haven't spoken for a while. He was married to my sister. They were together for many, many years, long before Hardline. They split up... they had an okay parting, but since they split up he hasn't been so kind to his daughter and that tweaks me."

So do you talk to Deen or Todd?

"Not really. Joey Taffola, who's playing guitar on this record, speaks to Deen occasionally. It's not that we're on bad terms or anything. I could pick up the phone and speak with Neal today and we could have an okay conversation. I try not to mix issues. Am I pissed at certain things... fuck yeah. I haven't seen Todd in a while, I thought he went back to school to be a teacher. I gotta tell you, some of the best times I ever had in my life were with Hardline. We laughed so hard together on that tour bus, crying laughing and you know what, that's the most disappointing part about all this... no more laughs."

So where did the idea to revive Hardline come from? What made you decide to get up and do it again?

"Serafino from Frontiers was breaking my balls every day to do this deal. It started with an e-mail asking me to do a Hardline record and I turned him down. He thought it was a money issue. Thank god I don't have money issues in my life. It was about, do I want to resurrect this, do I want to open this can of worms? I mean you know as a fan the ramifications that can occur if stylistically I want to get a little creative. You know... ouch. I'm a big boy now I can do what I want. On this new record I just want to say, what I write now is different to what I wrote when I was a kid. I can't sit down and say I have to write this way... you can't do that as a writer. You have to write what you feel, what comes out through your finger tips."

How many tracks will make the album?

"There will be eleven tracks on the album for all territories."

Including Japan?

"Yep, the only thing I will be doing extra for Japan is touring."

Okay, so now we're talking tours. Here's a serious one... do you REALLY want to tour?

"Yes, I do. With the full band. The people deserve it. We sold in excess of 90,000 copies in Japan on import. I swear to you I have nightmares to this very day about not playing there. I will make it up to them. I live with a guilt every single day."

So at what stage are you at with the new record?

"We're still in the writing/pre-production stage. As I keep telling Frontiers, who get more nervous by the day, when I put this deal together the one stipulation I made was I would deliver the record when it's finished, not when somebody wants me to. I can't do that in my life. I have over 100 employees and 300,000 square feet of property. I'm a bust son of a bitch. I'm doing this for the fans, and for me, not the money. There is no fixed time frame. I don't know when it's coming out...the actual recording process... I don't know if the fans know this but we recorded 95% of the first record in two weeks...solos, everything at A&M. The only thing that we worked on a little longer was the vocals. This time we're cutting the basic tracks in the Record Plant and then we'll take it to my home studio -the Box. I've all the mod cons and fun stuff, so hopefully we'll finish it there. You know Serafino and I get into it at times. We're human. He wants the record as quickly as possible and I want it right, but we enjoy working together. I'm the weird artist and he has to put up with me at times."

As a matter of interest what type of numbers did the first record do?

"About 300,000 in the USA, another 90,000 plus in Japan...maybe close on 500,000 worldwide. But to be honest I'm not sure. I 'm not motivated by sales at all."

While I think of it, you'll be delighted to know Neal was nominated for a 'Fuck You' award from the European Journey fans as a response to his and Journey's unwillingness to tour over here.

"Did he? Wow, wonderful. He's getting a 'Fuck You' award from me too because some tidbits of my music that I worked on with Neal appeared on 'Arrival'. But that's a whole other ballgame."

You're not chasing his ass for that one are you?

"Oh, I'm already chasing. Be sure of it."

So is there anything you would like to add?

"Well, I would like to thank all the Hardline fans out there for their years of support. I'm working really hard on the new record and it is for you. I hope you enjoy it and god willing I'll see you all on the road shortly."