VICIOUS RUMORS are back with the new album „Electric Punishment“ and ready to strike again, when mastermind Geoff Thorpe called me from California he was in an excellent mood to talk about the new album, Heavy Metal itself, the frequently changing line-up and Borussia Dortmund.
Interview: Dennis Rowehl / Pic: Kris McD, by courtesy of Oktober Promotion
entertaim.net: Hey Geoff, strong, new album … „Electric punishment“. I read that you already had about 30 different members in your band VICIOUS RUMORS. Isn’t it hard that the VR-sound remains unique?
Geoff: No, not at all. I’m responsible for the song writing and so all songs sound like Vicious Rumors. By the way … I guess there have been more than 40 musicians, if you count all the different live musicians, so wikipedia is not totally right (laughing).
entertaim.net: Do you still know every Vicious Rumors musician?
Geoff: Actually I can’t remember who’s in the band right now (laughing)! … Puh, well, I need some time to think about it but I guess so (laughing). But to get back to your question. I do the song writing and I’m still growing, the different musicians add the different flavor by playing some great guitar solos and stuff (…) but all Vicious Rumors musicians are excellent world class musicians. I love guitar solos and crazy guitars, sometimes we have 4 different solos in one song, on the new album on the track „D-Block“.
entertaim.net: Two of your guitarists with huge names are Vinnie Moore and Brad Gillis …
Geoff: Brad is awesome. You don’t have to explain that much. You introduce a new song and he’s able to play it with his typical guitar sound right from the beginning. This is very professional. I love this.
entertaim.net: There are so many old Heavy Metal bands like you, Metal Church, Overkill, Exodus and they are still successful. You’re in the early 50s and still rocking and kicking. How can you explain this Heavy Metal success?
Geoff: Because it’s great music! Heavy Metal is getting older, we are getting older but we have still fun doing this and we grow and grow and grow regarding the live performances, the song writing, the sounds … I’m still hungry and I love doing what I do. So this year we’re going to play 70 shows, festivals and we’re on the road all that time and the feedback is amazing. There are already 3 generations of fans, especially the festivals are very important for us that also the younger metal heads are able to listen to our stuff and if they see us live they’ll love it.
entertaim.net: When you’re headliner how long do you play?
Geoff: About 2 hours!
entertaim.net: Wow, that’s something. Do you have a special diet or special exercises to stay in a good condition to be able to play a great show?
Geoff: Especially on tour I try to live healthy. I do some workouts, I walk alot … at least 1 hour …, do some yoga as well, some stretching and stuff like this. Honestly I lost more than 25 pounds. If the food on tour is too good I’ll have to take care of my weight when I’ll be back home (laughing). And by the way … I love sports!
entertaim.net: What kind of sport?
Geoff: Any kind. Baseball, surfing ….
entertaim.net: … you live in California. So you’re a real surfer as well.
Geoff: Yes, I’m a Heavy Metal beach boy (laughing), but right now I live in the North of California where there’s the Great White breeding coast … so that’s not the best place for surfing but I surf in Southern California and I like Havaii. I grew up in Havaii … that’s the best place for surfing
entertaim.net: Do you like soccer?
Geoff: I know that soccer is very famous in Germany and Europe, since 2010 I’m rather interested in soccer. I like the team from Dortmund … the BVB! They are pretty good.
entertaim.net: Definitely! (…) Geoff, nice talking to you. Thanks so far and good luck with the album and your tour.
Geoff: Thank you very much and it’s cool you like the new album. See you on tour.
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