D.R. : Hi! It’s a pleasure for me!
Heavy Paradise : So, let's start with your "Hollywood Rocks" album. I have to say that this album really grabbed me from the very first listening. It's a really a great piece of pure melodic hard rock stuff! Can you tell me some things about the creation of Wheels Of Fire?
D.R. : Thank you very much! In the beginning the name for this project was “Dave Rox”, but according with Gregor Klee at Avenue of Allies we decided to choose a more agreeable and sellable moniker of a band. So Dave Rox turned into Wheels Of Fire. In 2006 I met the guitarist Stefano Zeni, we played together in a rock cover band for a while and I saw immediately the enormous potential of this guy…I had found the perfect guitarist for me. The other two guys who joined the band during the recording sessions were Roberto Galli on bass and Andrea Zingrillo on drums, currently replaced respectively by Marcello Suzzani and Fabrizio Uccellini. The last guy who joined us is Andrea Vergori on Keyborads.
Heavy Paradise : I'm sure that you have read the reviews all over the net. You guys have received some pretty cool comments about your album. How do you feel about that?
D.R. : Yes, I’m very proud of it! We receive many messages from the fans trough the various social networks telling us they enjoy listening to “Hollywood Rocks” and I can’t stop to thank them all! This gives us the desire and the strength to already work in some new stuff for the second act!
Heavy Paradise : Michele Luppi was involved with the production of your debut. But also he was your vocal coach. I think that with Michele Luppi by your side you can't go wrong. Can you tell me some things about this collaboration?
D.R. : I met Michele in 2004. As you mentioned he was my vocal coach at that time. I remember that during a lesson he heard some demos of mine and he offered his help to record an album. His great experience made the difference in the arrangement of the songs. You can also hear him playing grand piano, bass in “Hollywood Rocks” and “You’re So Cool” and singing background vocals.
Michele did an amazing work, and his contribution in this project has been really significant. Through these years spent on working on the album, we have developed a great understanding, I trust him and he trusts me. I think this is very important especially in a working relationship. I expect great things from our collaboration in the future.
D.R. : For me it’s really hard to choose. You know I took care of each songs as if it were the hit single. But I could tell you those that mean the most to me though in a different way:
-"Hollywood Rocks" - it was written during my first time in L.A.! Walking down sunset blvd I saw a writing on the wall “Hollywood Rocks”. I said to myself, what a great title for a rock song! So I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what it meant to be there in the 80’s…all I felt was rock n roll!
-"Love Nest" - this song means a lot for me. It was written during a time of great changes in my life. We spent much time recording this song trying to get the best. A great work on strings, grand piano and final guitar solo’s arrangement. I’m really proud of it.
-"Little Prayer" - This song is dedicated to those who have meant so much in our lives and gave us more and more, and that will certainly continue to do so even if they are no longer close to us.
-"You’re So Cool" – Because is the very first song I wrote for the album, about 10 years ago!
Heavy Paradise : Nowadays,
D.R. : You’re right! During the last years in Italy are emerging many great melodic rock - aor bands and this is simply fantastic! I suggest you also Shining Line, Edge Of Forever, Skill In Veins, Perfect View, Danger Zone…
D.R. : Well I’m pretty optimistic for the future. I think that today more than ever we can really enjoy some very good melodic rock releases from new bands like we are but also from our old heroes like Nelson, Unruly Child, Mr.Big…are the 80’s finally coming back?!?
Heavy Paradise : From what I'm listening from "Hollywood Rocks" it's not difficult to guess about your influences...:-) . Good old fashioned hard rock or are you listening some other stuff also?
D.R. : Well, I grew up listening to the 80’s rock scene! So my heroes are band such as Bon Jovi, White Lion, Europe, Danger Danger, Winger, Motley Crue, Mr.Big and so on. I also like listening to something different, for example I admire Muse very much, Mutt Bellamy is a genius.
Heavy Paradise : Avenue Of Allies is a new born record label. But also by this label came out some melodic gems over the last two years. Do you feel lucky that you have a contract with Avenue Of Allies? I'm asking that cause, through the interviews, I realize that nowadays is a bit difficult for a band to get a good record deal.
D.R. : Yes, I think that signing with Avenue Of Allies it was the best choice that I could do, really. Gregor Klee is a great fan of melodic rock and a great worker. He immediately showed to believe strongly in this project. He did and still doing an amazing job promoting the band. I’m very lucky to be part of the Allies!
Heavy Paradise : If you had to pick your five top albums ever, which would that be?
D.R. : Bon Jovi "Slippery When Wet", Europe, "Out of This World", Winger "Pull", Mr.Big "Lean Into It", Def Leppard "Hysteria" !!!!!
Heavy Paradise : Are we going to have "Hollywood Rocks" follow up album in the near future?
D.R. : Yes of course! We have already started working on new songs and I’m really excited about the way they sound.
Heavy Paradise : Do you think that with the internet (blogs/facebook/myspace e.t.c.) it's easier for a musician to promote his music?
D.R. : I think that especially in these days, all the social networks such as myspace, facebook, twitter, youtube etc…give you the opportunity to get in touch with a lot of people and new fans all over the world and of course you can promote your band in a faster way. So this is a good thing, on the other hand downloading can damage the band because sales are very lower than some years ago. I think that if people love the music and really care about a band they think that deserve, so they should help them by buying cds and not downloading.
D.R. :
a. GOD – Hope
b. MUSIC – Life
c. SUCCESS – Power
d. LIES – Betrayer
e. WHEELS OF FIRE – Rock N Roll!!!
Heavy Paradise :Any message to your fans Dave?
D.R. : I want to thank you all for your support, we really appreciate! Hope to se you soon on the road! Rock on!!!
Heavy Paradise : Thanx a lot for sharing these things with Heavy Paradise. It was a great pleasure and I would like to wish you all the best!
D.R. : Thanks to you Vasillis! Take care,
Dave
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