Johnny Lima: A Californian boy! Johnny Lima talks about the frustrations of life within the melodic rock scene in 2003 and in detail about his new album Made In California. So Johnny, all this time we've been mates and I've been plugging away for you on the site, but this is our first interview?!! Thanks for pointing that out by the way...make me feel bad and all!! Yeah, I was beginning to think you didn't like me. HAHA! So Made In California is done, complete, finished and on the verge of a release. Can you believe that? I won't believe it until I have the finished product in my hand. I keep checking my mailbox, but nothing's arrived yet. Even better - can you believe you and Danny Danzi have album's released in the same month??? You mean to tell me Danny's album is out and that little bastard hasn't sent me one yet?!!! Not yet, but it's out in Japan December 17. Made In California is a great album - you must be very pleased with the results, but how do you view it now, looking back over the last few years and past albums? I still think it's a ...

G'Day John, Congratulations on a fine new solo record. Earth Maker is your third solo CD - how do you compare it to the other two? Quite different actually. A new line-up, heavier sounds. Lyrical concept album. Two questions there - how did you set about writing for the story within this CD and what drew you to this particular story line? I had it come to me in a dream. I have Native American background, so it is very important to me. How long did you work on the lyrics and the music for Earth Maker and also, how long did the recording take? The whole thing took about two years to do. The record, while retaining the concept, is quite musically diverse. You have classic rock, modern heavy metal and traditional hard rock elements, not to mention a couple of epic tracks! Do you have a preferred style for writing? I don't want to limit myself to any one style. That is the whole point in doing a solo album for me. What about the band featured on this release? How do you know the guys? I've met and worked with all of them in the past on ...

  SO IT'S 2002 AND SILENT RAGE IS STILL A RECORDING ROCK GROUP! WOULD YOU HAVE EVER BELIEVED THAT YEARS AGO? Yes, because my experiences as a Recording Artist have been positive, and memorable. You don't always know what the future holds, but back then I knew that the music was such, a driving force for us, that we would be involved in it for the rest of our lives… HAS THE BAND BEEN IN HIATUS – MAKING THIS A FULL COMEBACK, OR HAVE YOU BEEN OCCASIONALLY GETTING TOGETHER IN CALIFORNIA? Yes the band had been on an extended hiatus, and this comeback brings a renewed desire! Occasionally Silent Rage would appear and perform a few songs at some LA clubs. YOU OBVIOUSLY KEPT IN CONTACT WITH THE REST OF THE GUYS? Yeah, we'd get together and socialize, you know, birthdays, holidays, some concerts, and even a cruise. Every Christmas Holiday, we throw our annual Silent Rage Christmas Party. WAS ANY OF YOU AT ALL HESITANT TO MAKE THIS COMMITMENT TO RECORD AGAIN? We all had questions, and concerns to hash out, and there were plenty of meetings to talk about our different schedules, and all the logistics involved, but when this ...

November 1997 Hey Jack! Are you happy with the end result of Baton Rouge? Yeah I'm happy. It's Cool. I think it's better than the other two by a long shot! Thanks you, I appreciate that. You seem to have a bigger sound on this album. Well, it was a little bit different approach. So how did you approach it? I actually think we tried to make it a bit earthier. And it was pretty much Kelly and I were left to do what we wanted to do. We kind of had fun with it, rather than being microscopic. It sounds rawer. Yeah, definitely that kind of vibe. And there was no major label distractions? Yeah it was pretty much doing what we wanted to do, rather than doing what we were told to do. You have more fun that way. You have a huge guitar sound on this record. It was probably because of the studio really. More than anything else. Pretty much the same amps and the same guitars used on 'Baton Rouge', 'Shake Your Soul' and 'Lights Out In The Playground'. I think the difference in the sound is probably the studio this time around, as much as ...

Neal Schon: Doing It His Way Guitarist Neal Schon makes his claim for Guitar Hero status on the new Journey album Eclipse. I talked to Neal just prior to the band hitting the road in the USA for their 2011 Tour - Leg 1.   Hello Neal! Andrew! How are you, buddy? I'm doing ok. How are you? I'm doing good, man. We're just, you know, booking out here, trying to keep up with this, man; it's a lot of work! You know-the travel. Absolutely. We're just in from Italy-last night from Milan. We had a great show there. We just did sound check and I did another interview for Guitar Player Magazine. And so, here I am! I've been ready to do you for a while but I understand you had some other things going on. Oh yeah, sorry. I flaked out on you a couple of times there—held up and then kids. You know what it's like with 3 young kids. (laughs) I understand. It happens. So thank you at least for staying patient and good to talk to you again. Same here! Yeah! Are you completely sick of talking about this ...