When you get a chance
to speak with a musician who was directly responsible for writing some of
metals greatest anthems and flag bearing songs, you get nervous. I rarely find
myself like this. A chance to talk with
Ross The Boss formerly of the Dictators and Manowar. I jumped at the
opportunity. Ross has been extremely busy with the metal all stars and such.
And of course his power metal tour de force, Death Dealer. This band is about
to drop a new album, Hallowed Ground on October 2nd. Hands down, destined to be
one of the top ten of 2015 and beyond. You may have caught the video for
"Break The Silence". Just the band doing what they do and lots of
fire. This is heavy metal always played on ten.
How is it going?
It is going very well
I would say.
The new album has
just an incredible metal sound. Do you guys jam together in a room or is this
all done via file sharing?
Well whenever we are
together. Whatever time we have, sound checks, we go over riffs. That being
said most of the writing is done through file sharing.
Do you find that
way is comfortable or do you lose any emotion recording like that?
I would say we don't
lose any emotion. It's just the reality of what we have to do. You know I will
come up with a riff and show it to Stu (Marshall) and that gets put into the
coffee pot. Then it coagulates and I'll ask what he thinks or he asks me. And
we pick it apart. It works its way out. It works for us.
Do you ever find
that after you play the songs live a melody might come into play that you
didn't hear before and the music changes slightly?
I would say the
song...the song remains the same (laughs). When you play live there is a lot of
adrenaline. Sometimes I play a little different. But we try to stick to the
template of the song because we feel that is the best version of the song. But
live there are always a lot of liberties taken.
You just concluded
a short tour or Europe. Are their plans for more dates?
Yeah about 14 dates. Absolutely this is just the beginning. We just
signed on for the motor boat cruise and then we are booking January on the west
coast. Then we start again in Europe. Titans of metal is coming up too. Plus
the dictators are touring again. I am very very busy.
How long did it
take to write this album?
Maybe a couple of
months. The one thing about Death Dealer is we have a song rich environment. We
all have riffs and lyrics already written. It's great. We already have enough
for our third record.
You can feel the
passion and the energy on the tracks. A lot of bands seemed almost forced to do
it. But Death Dealer seems to possess a certain energy not found in a lot of
today's metal acts.
I must say that I come
from a punk background with the dictators and very high energy music. Any band
I have been in is always a high energy band. But this band, something amazing
goes on when we get together. We have this energy level that is really scary.
People are noticing. Other bands sometimes seem to be going through the motions
but this band has insane energy. There is a street vibe to it. It just comes
out. Don't take this band lightly. We plan to do a lot.
Are you a fan of
social media?
You can reach a lot of
people. You personalize your fans. Which we do and they appreciate it. I like
it. But it is funny...the internet wrecked music. But it also allowed for a
band like us to exist so I guess we are kind of lucky in a way. I think heavy metal is better than ever.
Let's face facts. Iron Maiden just delivered a new record, Motorhead just put
out a new record. We have a new record. Things are really great. Bands are
delivering real fine music. Metal is very healthy. Never give up. As long as
you don't become something you're not the fans will stay with you. We are not
reinventing the wheel but we are true to ourselves and the fans will be true to
you. Social media, instagram, face book, twitter all that stuff is good. It's
good and it's bad. People are glued to their phones. Like their lives depended
on it. Addicted. It's ridiculous.
Does it bother you
when fans watch the whole show through their cell phones instead of actually
"watching" the show?
Well you know everyone
wants to be the next Francis ford copula. They want to be directors. It doesn't
do the band any good for their career. The quality is never good. A lot of
bands want to control this. Manowar confiscates phones.
Do you think they
do that because they don't want someone filming the performance or they simply
want the audience to physically enjoy the show?
I think they don't
want bad pictures of themselves. That is how it works. They don't want unflattering
pictures. I can't blame them, but we have no control over that. If people want
to see shows at unflattering angles then what are you going to do?
Getting back to
the guitar. Are you a digital guy or a tube guy?
On stage live,
straight tubes. Recording is a whole other matter now. Digital makes it quicker
and it sounds great on the records. I don't use any effects live. I plug my
guitar straight into the amp. Guitar, cord, and the amp. And a microphone. That
is who I am and how it will be till the end. I learned that from the blues
legends like B.B.King. Chuck Berry. They would just walk out onstage with their
guitar and cord and plug into whatever was there. They just played. It struck
me early in life to do it this way.
Heart, Hands, Head.
What is the craziest
thing you have seen either backstage or onstage that you can talk about?
(Laughs) Metal all
stars. It was Udos (Accept) birthday and our buddy from Los Angeles came
streaking onstage. Kind of reminded me of the 70's. I mean he had balls to do
that and we saw them as well. Literally.
- MetalRising
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