Way back in issue two of Fireworks, House Of Lords was my very first interview for the magazine. Even at that time the reunion wasn’t exactly running smoothly with the band fighting Gene Simmons for the right to use the name, and then the band changing their line-up on magazine deadline day. The frantic re-writing of the article and volley of e-mails between House Of Lords’ press agent and yours truly almost put me off interviews for life. Now a mere three years later, and with leading light Gregg Giuffria recently quitting the band in favour of a solo contract, the remaining quartet of vocalist James Christian, bassist Chuck Wright, guitarist Lanny Cordola, and drummer Ken Mary have finally finished the record. I spoke to band spokesman Chuck Wright about the long process that led to one of the most eagerly awaited reunion albums finally seeing the light of day.

It seemed that at the beginning you were all eager to get the album done and out there, but during the delays you all went on to other things, did it become a chore to finish in the end?

"Yes, we were eager to cross new boundaries with this record and I think we did to a degree. We had tightened reins on us throughout the making of the record however. The last couple of months were a bit of a nightmare but we'll get into that later. All in all I do feel that this record stands up to others in the genre and has some amazing performances on it. In the beginning, we had to deal with the name problem and we had had serious logistical issues having everyone spread all over the country, coast to coast, and scheduling problems to deal with not to mention a tug of war with the label over material and funding. You have to keep in mind, we are and were all very active in our own endeavors. Lanny and Ken producing records, James having his own business to run in Florida and I was on tour with Montrose and then Alice Cooper for quite awhile and doing a myriad of other music and art related projects. These are just some of the reasons this record took so long to complete. Under normal circumstances we can get an album done in 6 to 8 weeks."

I understand Frontiers didn't like the original demos you did, did this cause some friction within the band?

"We wrote a lot of new material, actually over 30 songs. We tried to make a record that would sound the way we would if we’d stayed together for the past decade. We actually covered Bjorks song ‘Army Of Me’ but of course our label would have none of that. If we made a truly modern record it wouldn't be House Of Lords would it? There was a style, a high level of musicianship and sound we were known for, so we had to try and stay within those guide lines to a degree or we would have our material rejected by the label. We found this out in the early goings. We did use a couple of songs that were intended to be on a mid 90's release that we re-recorded. We didn't care when or where the songs came from, we just wanted the strongest material that the label would accept. It didn't cause friction within the band just between us and the label. We were upset at one point that Frontiers chose to put out the David Glen Eisley ‘Lost Tapes’ record that had nine songs on it that we played on. I mean Gregg, Ken, Lanny and myself wrote and recorded those tunes back when we were demoing songs for the first HOL release. This of course, took the wind out of our sails for a while."

Was it a shock when Gregg pulled out of the project?

"Yes I would say so! Two months before completion, as we were still awaiting any ideas whatsoever, keyboard parts, anything from Gregg, he signed a solo deal with our label (Frontiers) and said , "Now that I have my own deal I'm not doing this House Of Lords record". He didn't seem that into it anyway since he didn't partake in the compositions. He did have plenty of opportunity to contribute however - two years should be enough time to come up with a song idea I would think. After this the label said our deal was now diminished by what they still owed us because Gregg was not on it, so we had to finish the record ASAP, and now being under-budgeted to complete it the way we originally intended."

‘The Power & The Myth’ is a very varied and mature record. How do you think your fans will react to it?

"Well, we are hoping that they've matured right along with us and will appreciate the song composition and lyrics. We can't write a ‘Looking For Strange’ anymore and take ourselves seriously".

Things like the title track and ‘Mind Trip’ are a long way away from what you were previously known for. Personally I like it a lot but did you have any other material that you thought was too distanced from your previous albums to use?

"I came up with the music for the title track in England while on tour with Alice Cooper. I knew we should have that traditional instrumental opener like 'Pleasure Palace' and 'Sahara'. Alas this was not to be as Frontiers re-sequenced the song running order and it’s now sandwiched in the middle somewhere. ‘Mind Trip’ is a seventies retro track a la Deep Purple's ‘Machine Head’ days. It's very raw and we really get to show off our chops. There's a musical breakdown section in the middle where Ken gets out of control. Lanny and I are big fans of the prog rock days and bands like King Crimson, so we thought we'd throw this into the mix. We have a ton of other material that wouldn't really fit with keeping to the House Of Lords sound, again we had to walk that line. We tried and it was rejected."

On the other hand, did you have anything you thought might have been a little too 80's for this album?

"Yeah, we had a few of those as well. We had a thing called "The Gag Factor". If a vocal or music part made you gag because it was too 80's or corny, we'd drop it."

There's a lot going on instrumentally in most of the songs that could almost be called 'Progressive', I'm sure you had a ball playing them?

"Yeah, we love to stretch out when it's appropriate. Ken is one of the best rock drummers in the world and a pleasure to work with. I always say, "I'm only as good as my drummer" and you need a good foundation to build a track on. Lanny of course is one of most diverse players anywhere. For instance, on the song ‘The Rapture’, he plays a lot of exotic instruments like the Bazouki and Koto. We also brought in a violinist, cellist and ethnic percussionist. This instrumentation was important to getting across the musical landscape and mood of the lyrics."

Lanny does some excellent work on the album, is he a Ronnie Montrose fan because that's who he reminds me of in parts?

"I asked him about that and he said he's always been a big fan of Ronnie’s but didn't realize it found it's way into his style of playing on this record. As you might know I was playing with Montrose for a while and what an honour that was. He's influenced a lot of players out there."

What songs are your favorites and why?

"Lanny and I are both really fond of ‘The Rapture’ because it's so unique for a House Of Lords track, the variety of instrumentation, and James sings his ass off on that one, but ‘Child Of Rage’ has to be his best vocal performance to date on any record. Derek Sherinian really blew me away with his work on the title track. I dig the groove on ‘All Is Gone’. For me, they all have something special in them to offer that I like."

You said before that things happened towards the end that made the album maybe not as good as it could have been. Would you care to elaborate?

"I explained some of this when you asked about Gregg bailing on us. Aside from that, we had plans to mix the record at Ken's new state of the art studio. He has an SSL mixing console and a ton of outboard gear. He's a 4 time "Dove Awards" winning producer/engineer. (The Dove is like a Grammy in the Christian Music world). Under the demands of the label we had to finish the record with an engineer of their choice, fortunately he was cool but the studio situation wasn't stellar and we had harsh time requirements to finish it within."

James' voice is much drier on this record, was that intentional?

"That was the mixing engineers call. I prefer a lot more depth to a lead vocal."

How involved was James, did he come over to L.A. to record or did he do his parts in Florida?

"Again, under the budget constraints and his business responsibilities in Florida he had to record most of his vocals there. We would've loved to have produced him and work with him more directly. We did all work together on the song ‘Child Of Rage’ back in the mid 90's and ended up keeping the awesome vocal performance that James did on it. Lanny, James and I performed the song "The Rapture" at The Gods Festival in London at that time. This song was always intended for a new HOL record. James really brought a lot of passion to the vocal performance on this one."

Did you consider getting in a replacement keyboard player or were the other guys brought in just to get the album finished?

"We had to scramble to get the record done and use guys that were available. No thought about replacing Gregg ever came up. If enough people dig the record, we will figure out a way to get out there and play live and do all that comes with that. We'll find a great replacement at that time, ... Keith Emerson perhaps??"

How was the Vanilla Fudge tour? And how was touring with Alice?

"I was just filling in for one of my early inspirations, Tim Bogert, for the Vanilla Fudge European dates. I loved playing with those guys because there were no limits. I mean, I get accused of over playing sometimes but these guys want that. It was demanding vocally but a real challenge. I really enjoy playing with the legendary Carmine Appice. We've worked together before and are good friends. He put together a real old school sounding band with Bill (Pascali) and Teddy (Rondinelli). These guys are the real deal. The five month, seventeen country tour I did with Alice Cooper in late 2002 was so fulfilling. A great band, great crowds and seeing places like Moscow, Paris, London and Barcelona, who could ask for more? I felt very blessed to have been a part of it."

You were heavily involved in the ‘Mr Big - Influences & Connections’ album, which was ‘Part 1’, when’s ‘Part 2’?

"Yeah, Lanny and I did 8 or 9 tracks. It was daunting having the icon himself, Billy Sheehan, in the room as I played the bass for his trademark song ‘Addicted To That Rush’. One of my favorite tracks is ‘Take Cover’, Doug Pinnick's voice is awesome on that. John Waite was interesting to work with, all in all a great project. Will there be more? I'm not sure at this time, hopefully so."

What else are you involved in at the moment?

"I have a new production company that is involved in a new music driven movie project, and we're shopping some music projects overseas. As you might know, I'm also a graphic artist. This past weekend was the NAMM show. A big event, but bigger for me this time because I created all the graphics for a sound company’s booth exhibit. I've never seen my work on that huge of a scale. I mean some of my art pieces were 8 feet by 10. I also did the CD package for the new House Of Lords record of course."

Have you spoken to Ricky (Phillips, Chuck’s flatmate)? How are the Styx shows going?

"I just saw Ricky play with Styx and it seemed like he's been in the band for ten years. He fits like a glove in all areas. They were so tight musically and vocally, they also have some rabid fans."

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

"I hope the rock fans out there will judge this record from a clean slate and not thinking it's a follow up to ‘Sahara’, you know, like it was 12 years ago. We'd like nothing more than to get back to Europe and play where this kind of music is really appreciated. Until then, turn it up!!"