Mark Fox accompanied Udo Dirkschneider on a recent promotional trip to London for the latest Shakra album ‘Infected'. Over a few beers I had the opportunity to interview him to find out what Shakra is about.

Mark, you certainly made an impression on me when you supported Hammerfall and Stratovarius in 2005 at the Koko Club in London. As this is the first time that Shakra will be featured in Fireworks, can you tell us something about the band?
Okay, Shakra is a Swiss hard rock band with me on vocals, Thom Blunier on lead guitar, Thomas Muster on guitar, Oli Linder on bass and Roger Tanner on drums. It is our tenth anniversary this year, and we are celebrating it with a new album called ‘Infected'.

And is there space in a country of such a small population for another hard rock band?
Of course, because we are not the same as the Krokus or Gotthard. Krokus is kind of hard rock that is quite like AC/DC, Gotthard is closer to Whitesnake. I think we are really going towards Motley Crue - more this kind of music. So there is a place for us, of course.

How did Shakra get together in the first place?
Well Thom Blunier had a band doing some hard rock music in Swiss German. He then formed a new band with Pete Wiedmer on vocals and Pete's brother on guitar. They called the band Ruckus and they made one album. Then Thomas Muster came along and brought Roger with him and a bass player, so this was the first incarnation of Shakra, and they released the first self titled album. They had a deal with Point Music in Germany so they did a lot of concerts there, not just in Switzerland. It was good to get the name out there. After ‘Power Ride', the third album, Pete developed epilepsy, so every time he had an epileptic fit he forgot all the lyrics. It was a really horrible time for him. When I heard that, I was kind of thinking "What was he doing" but I have a lot of respect for him for trying to keep going. So the band decided the best way forward was to find a new vocalist, because if you have ambition and are busy a lot of the time you don't have much time to slow down and concentrate on such a major health issue. I can only imagine it must have been a very anxious time for him, because of the worry of having a fit on stage, and the pressure of the worrying could only add to the problem.

Obviously you got the job – how did this happen?
Well, there was no advertising. They asked people they knew from the music business in Switzerland if they knew anyone who would fit the bill. A friend of mine was looking after my Swiss German solo album which I was about to finish in the studio at the time, and he was dealing with the labels for me. He was in contact with Shakra's booking agency and he was asked if he knew any good vocalists to let them know and the band would give them a try. I had done a Swiss German version of AC/DC's ‘Touch Too Much' (much laughter ensues) and he decided to send this to Shakra, as the other songs I had done were more pop rock, and not so much heavy metal. Anyway, the band listened to it and I got a phone call saying "Shit, here is someone who sings like Bon Scott!" Personally I don't think so, but they seemed to think so (laughs) – even if it was in Swiss German! They sent me all the albums and the lyrics, and gave me one week to rehearse ‘Out in the Rain' from ‘Power Ride'. We met at the rehearsal room, we did the song one or two times and recorded it, and then when we were sitting listening to the results, Thomas Muster said "Okay, you are the guy now." Just like that, no discussion with the others. So I guess my story is a case of right place, right time. And my friend who got me that contact is now Shakra's manager!

Who are your influences as a vocalist?
There are a lot of influences. I would say Steven Tyler, Bon Scott and Brian Johnson, but more Brian than Bon – he is more of my era.

And how would you define the Shakra sound?
Well, we kick ass! It is hard rock, but if you listen to the instrumental parts, it's much harder than hard rock, but with the voice of kick ass rock and roll, so we are really a mix of two kinds of music. If you listen to heavy metal, for example, it isn't based on blues, but we do some blues too.

And how does the song-writing process work?
The song writing happens between me and the two guitar players. The songs are almost every time based on a guitar riff that we work out, and if the sound is good enough we try to find the perfect melody. In the end I write the lyrics based on the atmosphere of the song.

I am most familiar with two Shakra albums – ‘Power Ride' (with Pete) and ‘Rising' (with you!) There is a definite difference in vocal styles, and the band sounds heavier. Was there a change of direction when you joined?
Well, I was not there for the songwriting for ‘Rising', as it was already in progress when I joined the band. As for me, I sing how I sing. I did not want to copy Pete because this would have been difficult for me. When I joined the band, I was thinking "What shall I do there; how will I do things now?" because I hadn't had the experience of anything this big in the music business. So I knew if I tried to copy Pete, it would not function.

Would you say it was an opportunity to find your own real voice?
Yes, of course. It's hard to find a band who just wants to make music and has ambition to succeed. One or two years before this happened, I had said if I had the opportunity, if Steve Lee some day cannot sing, I am gonna join Gotthard (laughs). At this time they played good hard rock. They changed a little bit when they started going for a bigger audience, but the first Gotthard albums are awesome. I was a very young guy at the time, and I just kept thinking "I can do that."

Now it's the 6th studio album for Shakra. Who decided on the title ‘Infected'?
It was me! It's always the same, trying to find the perfect name for an album and after lots of brainstorming in the rehearsal room, we couldn't come up with anything. We had had some personal problems in the band with the ‘Fall' album. It was a real critical period, with lots of little things gathering together into one big problem. It was to do with respect and that sort of thing, really personal stuff.

Then after the Stratovarius/Hammerfall tour we were like the best friends ever. This changed many things in our minds, and we began to work on the ‘Infected' album and we first wanted to give it the name "Phoenix" because of the new beginning. But actually, I don't know why, we all thought it wasn't good enough, it was like ‘Rising', then ‘Fall', then ‘Phoenix'. We didn't want to continue this theme for the press. We gave the ‘Fall' album that name because it was the time of its release, not because we were on a down-turn. But the press thought it was stupid for a band to call an album ‘Fall'. We didn't want to continue this theme, because the press always latch on to such things. So I had no clue what to use as a title, neither did the others. One day I just thought "These guys are doing music together, having problems together – after all it's no problem doing music for a long period of time, there has to be a virus in there somewhere, so the members of the band have to be infected with something". So it's Shakra infected, and now the people are about to be infected with Shakra. For that reason I took the biohazard logo and made the "S" like this (draws it out in the air).

What tour plans do you have to support the album?
We are going to do as much as possible, so first we're going to begin with the festivals and things like that. We would like to do Sweden Rock and Bang your Head, but the problem is that they want us for next year, which is a bit late (looks exasperated).

Would you prefer to try to get onto a support slot or would you do a club tour yourselves?
Well, that's the big discussion at the moment. If we do a support like last time with Stratovarius and Hammerfall, we can reach out to many people and introduce something that they've not heard before. On the other side of the coin, a band with 6 studio albums should be able to do some headline shows with a full 2 hours' playing time, not just 30 minutes. I think in the next 2-3 weeks we are going to decide. I'd like to go everywhere!

Are you in a position as a band where you could just put all your stuff in a van or a truck and just get out there and play?
Yes, we could, but it would take an enormous amount of organisation, and it is a little bit difficult at the moment because everybody is waiting for this new album, especially the people who are arranging the concerts. They are waiting to see how the album does, how popular it is.

So, if it was up to you – support or your own tour?
For me, it would be support, but I have talked a lot to Nils from AFM, and it is very expensive. You can't do a support without a nightliner, there are issues around buying on to the tour and things, so for the label it can be very expensive.

You're on a promo trip with Udo Dirkschneider, a true metal legend. How are you two getting on?
Well, I am learning a lot from him. We travel a lot now, and you have a lot of time to discuss things, and he is always asking me questions about Shakra, and then when he hears my answer, he offers suggestions. He's like my Dad (laughs). It's a fantastic opportunity to go on a trip like this with him, but this is the second time we have done it, you know? When we were promoting the ‘Fall' album, he was promoting ‘Mission Number X', we had the same release date and everything, so we did a similar promo tour then.

Are your bandmates happy to leave the responsibility of promotion to you?
Well, they know I am good at marketing things, I can talk a lot, I speak a lot of languages and I studied marketing, so they know they can rely on me. I'm not the kind of guy who sticks to a formula with interviews, like I must say things this way and that way. I just talk honestly about things, and I think that's the best thing to do. If I do an interview with someone who has no reaction after my answer, this speaks to me not to tell them too much, because these are the people that write everything about you even if it has not been in the conversation.

"Infected" was released on AFM Records on May 21st.